Fairy May Cry - Devil's Retribution

by Iron117Prime

After seven years, Dante and the rest of Fairy Tail have returned from Tenrou Island. So much has changed since their absence; a guild called Sabertooth is now at the top spot, the forces of the Underworld are starting to become more active, and what's this new religious movement called the Order of the Sword? Times might have changed, but the insanity of Fairy Tail has not.

12. Calculations and Faith

Hi everyone, thanks again for your patience. Things are really going to get interesting in this chapter as new surprises begin to pop up for this arc. A few questions might be answered here, but new ones might present themselves as well; I'm really loving all this mystery stuff I've been writing; it adds quite a lot of lore to this combined world of Fairy May Cry. So, with all that being said, let's get started.

Calculations and Faith

The group consisting of Dante, Natsu, Lucy, Lisanna, Happy, Romeo, and Michelle glanced up at the massive clock rings inside the underground cathedral, having found their target.

"So, this is the clock piece?" Happy said in awe.

"It's way bigger than I'd expected it to be." Lucy said.

"No way we're gonna haul this thing out of here." Dante commented.

"I've already sent a message to everyone else." Lisanna revealed, holding a magic card Cana gave her before they left the guild. "They're gonna meet us here once they get their pieces."

"So, all we have to do is wait then, huh?" Romeo said. However, none of the group seemed to notice Coco was hiding behind a broken window near the ceiling, having spotted the clock piece as well.

"How am I gonna snatch something so big without them noticing?" She wondered aloud.

The group heard a pair of groans as they turned around to see Nero and Dan pulling themselves up, having regained consciousness.

"You jerks still wanna fight?!" Natsu looked more than ready for round two, only for Dante to put a hand on his shoulder and stop him.

"Cool it, Natsu. The fight's over, right?" Dante glanced toward Nero as he was fully on his fight. "In fact, you never even wanted to fight; you were just testing us."

"Testing us?" Happy and Lucy questioned at the same time, with Lisanna and Romeo looking to each other in confusion.

"Could you explain what you mean by that, Cousin Dante?" Michelle asked.

"It's like a warrior's instinct kind of thing." Dante explained. "When you've been fighting for so long, you learn to read people while you fight. People can say one thing and do another, it doesn't take a whole lot of effort to lie. But who you really are is determined by your actions, and if you know how to read someone as they fight, you can tell if they have malicious intentions or not."

Nero gave a slight scoff with a smirk. "Here I thought I was the only one who knew how to do that."

Dan looked to Nero in surprise. "Wait… so you were pretending to fight?!" He questioned, with even the-still-hiding Coco more than a little shocked.

"Sorry, but I had to make sure." Nero said. "Cause this whole thing is really suspicious."

"Let me guess, you saw those empty Angelo armors, too?" Dante assumed.

"Yep." Nero confirmed. "Wasn't sure who I can trust after that. But… now I can tell that you people aren't the bad guys here." He then felt his sore shoulder. "Did you have to pack such a hard punch though?" He glared slightly toward Dante.

"Hey, what can I say? I love a good fight." Dante smirked.

"And you're gonna give me a rematch later, too!" Natsu smirked towards Nero, who scowled slightly toward the Dragon Slayer in annoyance till Lucy pulled him back.

"Your name is Nero, right?" Lucy began. "When you guys first came to the guild, you said you wanted to talk things out with us. So… why don't we talk?"

"Yeah, that sounds like a plan." Nero nodded.

"You sure, Nero?" Dan asked.

"I'm sure." Nero confirmed. "So, you can come out of hiding, Coco!" He called out, confident that she could hear him. "I know you're nearby! Come on out!"

Coco looked more than a little unsure as she hid slightly. "But… our mission…?"

"I don't trust it!" Nero called back, having heard her voice, and now looked directly at her through the broken window, with everyone else looking in the same direction. "And I'm not gonna follow blindly when I don't know what the hell is going on! Come, on! We need to chat with these guys!"

She had to admit, ever since she saw that those Angelo armors were indeed empty, she had begun having doubts and questions as well. Plus, Lucy did help to save and bandage her even though they were enemies. Maybe if they talked, they might be able to get some answers. So with that, she leapt down from her spot and into the church, but winced as she landed, holding her bandaged wound.

"Coco!" Lucy was about to approach her, upon seeing her stumble, but Nero was already there with Dan right behind.

"What happened?" Nero questioned as he saw the injury.

"One… that Alto Angelo… he attacked me." Coco revealed, causing Nero to scowl with Dan looking clear shock.

"What?!" Dan questioned. "Attacked you!? Why?!"

"I don't know!" Coco stated as Nero helped her to stand and sit down one of the benches. "But… they were right. That armor didn't have a person inside. In fact, it felt almost like…"

"Like a demon?" Dante questioned with a raised eyebrow and crossed arms, causing Coco to look away slightly, all but confirming it.

"Which one of you patched her up?" Nero asked the group.

"It was me." Lucy said. "But I did have some help." She gestured to the rest of her friends behind her.

"Thanks for doing that." Nero said simply, causing Lucy to smile with a nod in assurance.

"Alright, now that we're all here, how about a truce?" Lisanna proposed. "Let's talk, and maybe finally get some stuff figured out."

"Will you please tell us what the Order of the Sword's goal is?" Michelle asked. "Why are you trying to gather all the clock pieces?"

"Yeah, spill it!" Happy added. "What's with the demon-possessed armor anyway?"

"I don't know what exactly is going on with the armor, but all I know about these pieces is that they're parts to some kind of doomsday weapon called the Infinity Clock." Nero explained. "Don't know what exactly it does, but apparently if it fell into the wrong hands, it could potentially kill billions of people."

"The whole reason we were trying to gather the pieces is to keep bad people from getting their hands on them." Coco added before looking down in shame. "Sorry if… we ever thought you were bad."

"But we can't exactly let a weapon like that just float around where some random stranger could stumble on it." Dan said. "Best to have it locked up where no one can get it."

"Does make a good point." Romeo said.

"Well why the hell didn't you just say all that at the beginning?" Natsu questioned.

"That's what I wanted to do!" Nero quickly responded irritatingly. "Damn it… Mary." He pinched the bridge between his eyes. "All this shit could have been avoided."

"Well given all the shady stuff going on with the Order right now, I guess someone would have started a fight." Dante assumed.

"True." Nero acknowledged. "But I got someone I trust looking into it."

"Really? Who?" Happy asked.

Nero smiled slightly. "Arguably the smartest and most resourceful person I know."

Coco recognized the look in Nero's eyes and knew who he was talking about. "Kyrie?! You're having Kyrie go behind everyone's backs?!"

"Who's Kyrie?" Lisanna asked.

"His girlfriend." Dan answered. "And one smoking hot mama! I mean… look at her!" Dan presented a series of photographs of Kyrie to the group of Fairy Tail. "Have you ever seen someone like her!? She is the true definition of beauty, with brains to boot! A genuine angel!"

"Why the hell do you have photos of my girlfriend, asshat?!" Nero exclaimed with an anime anger tick on his head.

"Yeah, seriously who the hell does that?" Natsu questioned. "She's dating someone else dude."

"Well, I'm not gonna find true love if I limit myself." Dan smirked as he gave a thumbs up. "The world's a buffet! And every gal is a dish I'm dying to try!" He was then knocked down with a fist to the head, courtesy of Nero's demonic arm, which caused him to leave a hard impression on the ground.

"You deserved that." Coco commented.

The rest of the group either looked annoyed or even repulsed by Dan's statement, even Dante. He may be something of a flirt at times, but he wasn't a stalker or a notorious womanizer, even he had some standards.

"Dante, can I please borrow your pistols so I can shoot him?" The irritated Lucy questioned.

"So, you got this Kyrie-chick doing some digging." Natsu was the first to get right back to the point as he spoke to Nero. "You sure she's gonna get this figured out?"

"Trust me. If anyone can figure this stuff out, it's her." Nero assured.

---

Fortuna

Kyrie found herself venturing through a series of old tunnels that was underneath the main city, using a map to guide her while holding a torch to light the way. Right after Nero, Credo, and everyone else left, Kyrie immediately went to the library to get some information on the older parts of the island. She was surprised to learn that the Order of the Sword was originally founded on this very same island, though she had heard this sort of thing before, she honestly thought they were just stories. Anyway, she traveled through the tunnels of the old sewer system that had been closed off for years, it seemed like the best place to look if one was hiding secrets.

As much as she hated the idea of Credo working with something sinister, she also trusted Nero's instincts and had to be sure what was going on. However, there was one thing on the map that stood out to her. She had found what was supposed to be a dead-end on the map, only to find that there was an extension to the tunnel, which appeared to be newly built as it led toward the surface. Kyrie glanced at the map again to make sure she didn't make a wrong turn, but she had gone in the right direction.

"Someone was here recently…" Kyrie thought to herself. She pulled out another map, this one was of the surface of the island. According to the map, the location above her was an abandoned mining camp called Ferrum Hills. Why would someone build an extension to the underground tunnel system that leads there? Believing she had found something, she decided to venture forward.

Kyrie followed the tunnel that began to curve upward before leading her to the surface. The camp of Ferrum Hills looked deserted enough, but that wasn't what stood out to her. Once she was outside, she gave a gasp at the sight of what appeared to be a large, black, monolithic structure that laid at the top of cliffside on the other side of the camp.

"Is… is that… a door?" Kyrie wondered aloud at the sight of the door-like monolith. However, she was caught off guard by a large rumbling sound that came from the other side and gasped as she saw an orange glow coming from the monolith itself. Acting quick, Kyrie quickly ran back towards the tunnel and hid around the corner just as she saw something emerge from the structure in a fiery explosion and land in the middle of the abandoned camp.

It was a demon! A massive creature that had the lower body of a large bull, with lizard-like feet and legs. It had a humanoid upper body, almost like a centaur. It also had a lion-like face to it with large, curved horns on the side of its head. But two things stood out the most from this creature. The first was the massive flaming sword in its right hand; the other was the fact that most of its body was also covered with flames, such as the fire-like wings on its back. It gave a powerful roar that created a fiery shockwave to blow all the dust away, nearly causing Kyrie to stumble back as she could feel the intense heat from here.

"The human world…" The demon looked around for a moment before taking a few whiffs of the air. He then turned in the direction Kyrie was hiding. "I can smell you, human!" Kyrie did her best to avoid being seeing, keeping her own mouth covered with both her hands as the demon began to loom closer. "Your scent bares resemblance to the other human I've seen. A sibling, perhaps?"

However, before he could advance closer, something forced him to stop. He growled as he glanced down to see a chain wrapped around his neck, made entirely out of red energy that stretched from him all the way to the structure he emerged from. He snarled in disgust.

"You creatures make me sick! To use me as a guard dog is nothing short of insulting! For I am Berial! Conqueror of the Fire Hell! You cannot keep me contained forever!"

Kyrie then ran back underground as fast as she could, tempted to scream, even as the demon continued to roar in her direction. She was scared out of her mind. She had seen more than a few demons herself in Fortuna, but those were all small and easy for the Holy Knights to handle. But that thing… That thing was unlike any demon she had seen before, something far more powerful. But one thing it said caught her attention. It said that she had a scent similar to another human who he has seen, perhaps the one that is keeping it chained to that odd structure it came out from.

'No… it can't be…!' Kyrie tried to deny it, no matter how much it made sense in her head. 'Credo… What have you done…?!'

---

Meanwhile; the team consisting of Modeus, Gajeel, Levy, Panther-Lily, Jet, and Droy stood on the mountain top as they faced Samuel, who hovered in the air alongside three Bianco Angelos and one Alto Angelo.

"So, you're here for the clock piece too, huh?" Gajeel glared at the bespectacled Exceed.

"I am. It's a pleasure to meet you, my name is Samuel. One of the finest minds of the Order of the Sword."

"I remember him." Modeus stated. "He was at the Heartfilia estate." He said while Panther-Lily had an odd expression on his face. Though there was a part of him that felt bad about fighting another Exceed, he would still stand beside his comrades in Fairy Tail without a second thought.

"Well Sammy, if you want that clock piece, come get it! I dare ya!" Gajeel challenged.

"Please do refrain from abbreviating my name. Only one may call me that, everyone else will call me Samuel."

"Don't worry, I can take him down." Panther-Lily stated as he stepped up.

"I'll deal with the Angelo soldiers as well." Modeus also stepped forward. "The rest of you find that clock piece."

"You're Panther-Lily, correct?" Samuel spoke to the black Exceed challenging him. "I'm honored to meet a senior Exceed. You know, when you think about it, that essentially makes you like an older brother to me."

"You're not worthy of calling yourself my brother!" Lily stated as he drew Baskerville and hovered in the air to face Samuel.

"Now, now, don't be so cold-hearted. I mean, we're both Exceeds, we should at least try to be friendly, brother." Samuel spoke that last word in a tone indicating he was trying to provoke Lily, but Lily didn't seem to fall for it.

"You'll have to do better than that to vex me, Sammy." Lily smirked, causing Samuel to glare slightly.

"Come on." Levy said to Gajeel and her team. "Let's go dig up the clock piece while Lily and Modeus keep them busy."

"Ugh, fine." Gajeel grunted, not liking the idea of leaving his Exceed partner alone, even if he had back up in the form of Modeus. "Don't blame me if you guys loose!" He and Shadowgear turned around and ran toward the spot they were digging, leaving the pair of Fairy Tail swordsmen to face their enemies.

"I know about both of you quite well." Samuel spoke to his foes. "Modeus, also known as the Demon of the Moon, and former apprentice to the Dark Knight himself. I'm also quite honored to meet someone who has trained under the Legendary Sparda, much like him, you are a demon who sides with the human world. And you, Lily, an Exceed born in Extalia who sided with the humans in Edolas. Though it's obvious to know just how the Underworld react to when another one of their own turns against them, I am curious as to know why you decided to leave Extalia, Lily; as well as how our brethren reacted to that."

"What I did was based on my convictions, and even now I don't regret my actions!" Lily stated.

"I am the same." Modeus said. "I value all forms of life, human, demon, or otherwise. Just as my master had before me, I will stand and protect the people of this world, even against my fellow demons."

"A shame that you also choose to stand against the Order of the Sword." Samuel said to Modeus directly. "After all, are we not following the will of your former master?"

"When you attack the innocent without provocation, I no longer care who you claim to serve." Modeus stated. "But I will allow you a chance to explain the reasoning behind your actions. Tell us what the Order seeks from these clock pieces, and perhaps we can find a compromise."

"According to my calculations, it won't make much of a difference whether or not I choose to explain it to you." Samuel replied. "So, I won't make an unnecessary hassle."

"Just remember though, every action has a consequence." Lily told him. "And if you choose to fight us, then I guarantee those consequences will be painful."

"I can at least agree that every action is followed by an equal and opposite re-action." Samuel said. "But I am going to retrieve that clock piece. You can either step aside, or we will force our way through you." He said as the Angelos around him readied their weapons.

"You'd avoid talking, but sooner resort to conflict?" Modeus questioned as he drew Hunter's Moon. "I suppose then a fight is inevitable."

Lily seemed to agree as he transformed into his Battle Form. "Let's go, Sammy! Show me what you can do!"

"As you wish." Samuel adjusted his glasses one more time before transforming into his own Battle Form as well.

"En garde!" Lily exclaimed as he shot toward his opponent.

"I'm much more than a bookworm with wings! Allow me to demonstrate!" Samuel drew his dual white swords to clash against Lily's Baskerville, while Modeus began his engagement against the Angelo soldiers.

"Demon Sword: Residual Moon!" He slid past one of the Bianco Angelos, slicing Hunter's Moon past it. Less than a second later, a crescent-moon shaped mark formed on the artificial demon before it exploded entirely.

'I held back before because I believed they were men in armor.' Modeus thought to himself as he glared against the Alto Angelo with the two remaining Bianco Angelos on each flank. 'But now that I know they are artificial constructs made from demonic energy, there is no need to restrain myself any further!" He lunged at them with a determined expression.

---

Meanwhile, Gajeel had dug a hole deep enough that it soon collapsed in on itself, taking himself, Levy, Jet, and Droy deep into a large chamber. Around the walls of the chamber were decorated with twelve large statues that resembled the heads of Sparda in a circular fashion, along with two large and long pieces of stone that stuck out in different directions from a small pedestal at the center of the chamber. From a bird's eye point of view, the floor of the chamber looked almost like a clock face.

"Where in the heck are we?" Jet questioned.

"Look at all these Spardas, kinda remind me of bobble heads." Droy commented.

---

Back outside, Lily sliced Baskerville down toward Samuel, who parried with a dance of his own blades before maneuvering around to deal a kick to Lily's back and send him hurtling through the air before he stabilized himself.

"That's a Devil Arm you wield, isn't it?" Samuel said as Lily turned to face him again. "Ironic, our kind was once perceived as angels or even deities, yet you wield the weapon of a demon. Then again, considering the Order of the Sword worships a demon, I suppose I have no room to talk." He then flew backwards to avoid another slash from Lily's weapon.

"Don't run away!" Lily exclaimed. "Come face me like a true warrior with your own blades!"

"There are more uses for swords then simply swinging them around like a neanderthal with clubs or a child with a baseball bat." Samuel commented as he brought his blades together by the handles and spun them around like a helicopter blade to block a slash from Lily's Baskerville, while also disorienting him and leaving him open for a kick across the face. "There is far more to conflict than physical strength and brute force. An intelligent fighter considers strategies, methodology, and outcomes before they attack!" He flew toward Lily, who swung Baskerville at him again, only for Samuel to cross his blades and catch the Devil Arm in-between his own swords, allowing him to flip over and land both his feet onto the top of Lily's head and knock him back.

Meanwhile, on the ground below, Modeus blocked the sword strike from the Alto Angelo before leaping back as the two Bianco Angelos lunged their spears toward him, but he was ready.

"Demon Sword: Phantom Moon!" He swung his blade to generate a series of crescent-moon projectiles, shooting them at the Bianco Angelo pair, forcing them to shield themselves. However, that was as Modeus intended as it allowed himself to get in close to one Bianco Angelo and bring his sword down for a vertical slice, cleaving the Bianco Angelo in two before it exploded and vanished in bright light. However, out of that light, shot the Alto Angelo with a swing of his own sword, forcing Modeus to block it, but the force of the impact sent him skidding back on his feet, but he still held his ground; even as Lily lowered himself closer to Modeus' side; with only a single Bianco Angelo and the Alto Angelo remaining, along with Samuel himself.

"You don't seem all that surprised to find these Angelos are nothing more than empty shells." Modeus said toward Samuel.

"Indeed, they are merely empty suits of armor fueled by demonic power." Samuel replied. "While it isn't common knowledge of the Order, it was rather easy to figure it out if you actually have a brain. I noticed how each of the Angelos act similar to that of machines, not responding to any verbal taunt or order other than an acceptance of said order and the action to carry it out. And as someone who's spent most of his life studying Devil Arms and other forms of demonic power, it didn't take much to put the pieces together."

"You support using demonic power like this?!" Lily exclaimed. "Are you insane?!"

"If you believe we are similar to the likes of Grimoire Heart or even Devil Hand, then you truly are dumber than you look." Samuel began. "Those imbeciles practically wanted to bathe in demonic power with the foolish desire to become demons themselves. Our organization has spent years studying these methods, using only the bare minimum to do what needs to be done. Take these Angelo soldiers for instance. As I've said, they are akin to machines, following any order without question, while this does make them rather easy to outwit if you know how to fight them, it also enables us to use them as both a distraction and even a method to overwhelm our adversaries. But more importantly, as they aren't truly alive, they're expendable and replaceable; it's a far more preferable option then sending human soldiers to die; so not only is logical, it's also morally better as well."

"That may be true." Modeus commented. "Perhaps this method can indeed keep people from dying by sending them to battle. But if you become too dependent on such a method, you become complacent and are ill-prepared for when a dangerous should attack you!" He launched another Phantom Moon attack straight toward Samuel, only for Bianco and Alto Angelos to intercept and block the attack with their shields before charging straight at Modeus, forcing him to block the simultaneous strike from lance and sword alike.

As Modeus continued to engage the Angels, Lily shot at Samuel again, swinging Baskerville at him, while Samuel blocked and parried the Devil Arm with his swords before swerving around to slice at Lily's side.

"Of course, there is always the risk of our Angelo soldiers failing and forcing us to battle as well, but we are prepared even for that!" Samuel exclaimed, making sure Modeus heard him even though he was facing Lily. "The Holy Knights of our Order have endured training far more intense than you can imagine, therefore we can cope with any situation! My victory is assured!"

This time, Samuel flew on the attack, slicing his smaller blades at rapid session, forcing Lily to use Baskerville as a shield and block the attack. But when Samuel quickly spun his blades together again, the force was able to knock Baskerville away and leave Lily open for a powerful kick that sent him crashing down the side of the mountain.

"Lily!" Modeus exclaimed and was about to leap and help him, only for the final Bianco Angelo to fly around and block his path. However, Modeus ran forward and ducked underneath the lance's thrust, before Modeus quickly swung Hunter's Moon to slice off the Bianco Angelo's arm entirely, and then swiftly decapitate it. However, he was then attacked from behind by the Alto Angelo, once again, forcing him on the defensive.

"Precisely as I calculated." Samuel said, taking note of not only Lily's fall, but Modeus' engagement with the Angelos. "I think you'll find the Alto Angelos are far stronger than the Bianco ones, so you should be more worried about yourself than your friend."

"I could say the same to you!" Lily suddenly shot up from the ground behind Samuel, swinging Baskerville at him, but he flew back to avoid the devastating swing.

"You're remarkably stubborn, aren't you?" Samuel commented.

"I'm not going to fall for the same trick, twice in a row!" Lily stated before looking down toward his comrade. "Don't worry about me, Modeus! You just stay focused on your own fight!"

"Right." Modeus steeled himself as he continued to parry blades against the Alto Angelo. "Our friends will find the clock piece, so I would say your victory is far from assured, Samuel!" He called to the enemy Exceed.

"Such confidence. Are you not aware the ruins are filled with traps?" Samuel smirked, causing Panther-Lily and Modeus to look in surprise and worry.

---

"Nothing up here!" Jet said as he looked around from a perch on one of the large Sparda busts decorated along the wall.

"I don't see anything that looks like a clock piece." Droy also said as he looked around.

Gajeel walked closer to see if there was anything at the pedestal in the center and spotted something. "Hey, there's some kind of weird writing here!" He called to Levy, who quickly walked over to read what he had found.

"Let me see." She could tell it was Ancient Podomelian. "It says… 'When the thirteenth our strikes, what you seek will be revealed'."

"Thirteenth hour?" Gajeel questioned. "Doesn't a clock only have twelve hours?"

"Hey!" Jet called out to the rest of his group as he stood on the same perch. "From up here, this whole room looks like a giant clock face!"

"I can see a number on this one!" Droy was at one of the heads where he spotted the Roman Numeral X on its chin, indicating the number ten.

Levy looked in-between two heads, one that had the numeral I, and the other had XII, meaning it was one and twelve. She did a quick count to see there were twelve heads in total, and each one likely had the numbers one through twelve on them. She began to think before she snapped her fingers as an idea came to mind.

"That's it!" Levy exclaimed with a grin.

"What's it?" Gajeel questioned.

"There are twelve hours on a clock face, but the day consists of twenty-four hours." She explained. "So, technically speaking, the thirteenth hour would also be one pm on a normal clock!"

Gajeel could see where she was going. "Okay, so all we gotta do is move the thing so it points to one, huh?" He walked toward the hour hand and converted his right arm into an iron-pillar to punch the hand and begin moving it. The others followed suit and began to push the minute hand to the where it was pointing at the head that had the numeral twelve on it, right as Gajeel pushed the hour hand toward one.

Just as Levy predicted, the chamber began to shake as the clock hands sank into the ground before a large platform rose up with a stone pedestal in the center and a large clock face embedded in it at the top.

"Looks like we found it!" Levy smiled.

"It's an actual clock face." Droy noted.

Gajeel sniffed the clock face for a minute before licking it, causing the others to cringe slightly.

"Was there a reason for that?" Droy questioned.

"It smelled like iron, I just wanted to make sure." Gajeel replied.

"Well now that you know, you can carry it." Jet said in minor disgust.

Levy noticed some more Podomelian runes written below the clock face. "There's some writing… I bet I can read it."

"We don't got time to study the thing, sweetheart." Gajeel stated as he began to pry the clock piece off.

"No! No! No! Wait! Don't take it off!" Levy tried to stop him, but it was too late as Gajeel had plucked the clock face off the pedestal. The second he did, however, the entire chamber began to shake as the platform rose higher from the ground, much to everyone's shock and Levy's frustration.

"I tried to tell you!" She exclaimed at Gajeel. "It says 'Warning! He who takes this shall face the Guardian!'"

The quartet jumped off the platform just as said guardian was revealed. It turned out to be a massive stone statue of Sparda in his demonic form, wielding a sword and capable of moving on its own. A pulsating red jewel shined at the top of its forehead as it eyed the clock face in Gajeel's hand before raising its massive blade to bring down on to the group, forcing them to run just as the weapon struck the ground and shook the entire chamber.

"I told you not to take it, but no! You just had to go and do it, anyway!" Levy scolded Gajeel as they ran.

"Next time, talk faster!" Gajeel argued.

"Next time, listen to me!" Levy argued back.

"Could you save the arguing for later!?" Jet and Droy shouted at the same time.

---

Meanwhile, back outside, Modeus locked blades against the Alto Angelo; while Samuel had placed Panther-Lily into a lock, wrapping his arms around his neck and his legs around his body. The group took note of the shaking as it felt like the entire mountain was vibrating.

"It appears your comrades have managed to spring the trap!" Samuel noted.

Modeus thew his blade out to knock the Alto Angelo back with the intent of helping his friends, only to find he was somewhere else entirely from where the fight started. His eyes widened in shock.

"You lured us away!" He exclaimed to Samuel, who continued to hold Lily in a tight grip.

"Of course, I did!" Samuel replied. "You were trained by Sparda himself, and Lily is strong and capable of flight. Both of you were clearly the biggest threats to my mission, and removing the biggest threats is essential to victory!"

"All the more reason to end this quickly!" Modeus stated as he leapt back to avoid another swords slash from the Alto Angelo before reading an attack. "Demon Sword: Chaotic Moon!" He thrusted Hunter's Moon forward, generating a large red moon which surged with chaotic energy that had shot directly toward the Alto Angelo, engulfing it in the attack before the entire thing exploded, destroying the final Angelo soldier.

"Oh, I don't think so!" Samuel saw that Modeus was attempting to run back and assist his allies. But he quickly spun his own body, along with Lily whom he kept in his grip, before releasing him and sending him crashing toward Modeus. Both however quickly recovered as they saw Samuel block their way. "Defeating a squad of Angelo soldiers, including an Alto Angelo, is certainly no easy task; but it is none the less a possibility, one I calculated for. Taking on two opponents at once is nothing new to me." He brandishes his blades, ready to face him both.

"He definitely knows what he's doing, that's for certain." Lily commented as he and Modeus stood together. "But it seems he's relying too much on his strategy and calculations."

"Then let us teach him the error of his ways." Modeus said.

"You don't seem all too worried." Samuel said to the pair. "Need I remind you that your friends are currently in grave danger?"

"Yes, but that is nothing new to us." Modeus replied, purposely repeating Samuel's previous statement.

"You've made a mistake underestimating Fairy Tail, and that mistake will prove to be your undoing, Sammy." Lily smirked as he and Modeus shot at the enemy Exceed.

---

Back in the chamber, Gajeel converted right his arm into an iron-pillar and used it to block the sword strike from the massive Sparda-statue, while keeping the clock face tucked underneath his left arm. Though he was strong enough to hold it back slightly at first, he was eventually pushed back as his teammates regrouped around him, with Levy taking note of the pulsating gem on the statue's forehead.

"I think whatever's emitting that red light is its power source." Levy theorized.

"Yeah, and I bet that's it's weak spot!" Jet stated.

"Alright you fake-Sparda! Team Shadowgear is about to chew you up and spit you out!" Droy challenged the Sparda-Statue as it approached the group.

"I'll immobilize it first. Solid Script: Oil!" Using her magic, Levy wrote the word 'OIL' in literal oil, which sent a wave of the black and slippery substance directly under the Sparda-Statue, causing it to lose its footing and almost trip up, forcing it to use its own sword to stabilize itself and keep it up right.

"Now it's my turn to bring the pain! Chain Plant!" Droy threw out a series of seeds into the oil below the statue, which rapidly grew into a large cluster of vines that entangled themselves around the Sparda-Statue to bind and completely immobilize it.

"Time for me to finish it off! High Speed!" Jet ran at his trademark super speed straight up one vine that would lead him directly toward the pulsating gem at the statue's forehead.

"See that? Does Shadowgear rule or what?" Levy smirked toward Gajeel.

"Not too shabby, but it ain't over yet." The Iron Dragon Slayer said. That proved to be correct as the statue was able to break its sword-arm free from the binding plants, causing the one Jet was running on to snap and letting him fall.

"Catch him!" Levy exclaimed to Droy.

"Right!" Droy threw out more seeds, which quickly grew into a series of massive leaves to cushion Jet's fall, even as he fell right through them and into the oil-covered ground, getting himself covered in the slippery substance.

"You okay?" Levy asked.

"Other than being covered in oil, I'm just fine!" Jet said in clear sarcasm.

"Incoming!" Gajeel warned as he quickly leapt in front, his right arm converted into an iron-pillar to block and parry the sword strike from the Sparda-Statue. Even though its right arm was free, the rest of it was bound and immobilized. "Any time you wanna take this thing down, go for it!" He told them.

"Here goes round two!" Jet kicked into super speed again and tried to run up another vine that would lead him closer to the statue's weak spot. However, due to being covered in oil, he was unable to get good traction and ended up slipping on the vines and falling back into the oil. "Sorry guys! My high speed is useless when I'm all slicked up like this!"

"Looks like it's up to me!" Droy ran forward up the same vine, unfortunately he didn't get very far as he ran out of breath due to being overweight and was forced to come to a stop. This was yet another mistake as the Sparda-Statue brought its blade down on the remaining vines to cut itself free, causing Droy to fall and land right on top of Jet, comically squeezing the air right out of him. "I knew I should have gone on a diet sooner…"

Gajeel smacked his hand against his forehead while Levy just winced. "They're both down. Guess it's up to me…"

"Don't be stupid, I'll handle this!" Gajeel stated as he forcefully handed the clock face to Levy, freeing his arms as he charged directly at the statue.

"I'm perfectly capable of handling this myself!" Levy exclaimed, but Gajeel was already on the attack.

"Iron Dragon Roar!" Gajeel unleashed his breath attack at the freed Sparda-Statue, aiming for the gemstone on its head. However, the giant brought its massive sword up to block the attack like a shield.

---

Back outside, Modeus swung Hunter's Moon at rapid succession toward Samuel, however, he seemed capable of blocking and parrying each strike. Even as Modeus leapt back to allow Panther-Lily to fly in with a thrust of his massive Devil Arm; he once again spun his blades together like a makeshift shield with enough force to knock Baskerville off target. Though before Samuel got a chance to strike back, Modeus tried to come in from the side, but Samuel flew into the air to avoid the attack.

"I saw that one coming!" He told the pair.

"Taking a Battle Form is strange for an Exceed born in Earthland." Lily stated.

"Yet it's the truth." Samuel replied. "I was born in this world, same as your friends Happy and Carla."

"Then how could you know of my history or even about Edolas?" Lily questioned.

"Seven years ago, the Shagotte and the rest of the Exceeds came to Fortuna." Samuel answered. "They told me of their history, about you, and even the reason for sending my egg and the others to this world. They offered me a chance to join them in their new home, but I refused, and they respected my choice."

"Why?" Modeus questioned. "Why did you refuse to go with them and remain with the Order of the Sword?"

"The Order took me in when I was hatched and gave me a place to call my own. Credo even brought me into his family and has been nothing short of an older brother to me!" Samuel exclaimed. It was true, he felt the same to not only Credo, but also Kyrie and Nero who even helped to raised him when they were only children. "I owe everything to him and the Order of the Sword! Repaying that debt is more important to any Exceeds or Edolas!"

Samuel flew straight toward the pair, but Panther-Lily met him head-on, clashing their blades once again. Modeus realized that Samuel wasn't about to let them get to their friends, so instead of drawing out the battle, the former apprentice of Sparda plunged his blade directly into the ground, channeling his own demonic energy into it, causing the entire mountain top to collapse inward.

All three of them fell down into the chamber below, the entire ceiling collapsing with Gajeel and Levy doing their best to avoid the falling debris, which only seemed to bounce of the near indestructible body of the Sparda-Statue. Though Modeus continued to fall, Lily and Samuel were both able to hover in the air thanks to their Aera Magic.

Modeus took notice of the large statue that resembled his former mentor and was attacking his friends, quickly realizing it was a guardian of some sort, he went on the attack. "Demon Sword: Chaotic Moon!" Modeus launched another Chaotic Moon attack, which struck the statue's side, though it did disorient it a bit, it caused the Sparda-Statue to divert its attention toward Modeus, swinging its blade at him. Modeus was forced to use Hunter's Moon to defend himself, though the force of the impact sent him crashing and skidding down the wall. But he was quick to stabilize himself and land on his feet near Gajeel and Levy.

"Modeus, are you okay!?" Levy asked with concern.

"I'm fine. But this guardian is much more resilient than it seems." Modeus noted.

"Yeah, no shit." Gajeel grunted in annoyance. "If we don't take down that red gem thing at the top, we'll be at this forever!" He exclaimed as the trio ran and split in separate directions to avoid the massive sword strike that left a crater on the ground.

"Gajeel…" Lily looked with worry, not only for his Dragon Slayer Partner, but also the rest of his comrades.

"It's just as my calculations, predicted!" Samuel stated triumphantly. "I shall defeat you, brother. While your comrade may indeed be an apprentice of Sparda, I know that he has long since laid down his sword. Even if he decided to take it up again, he's been out of the game for two thousand years, and that's more than enough time to get rusty. Once the guardian defeats him and his comrades, I shall take the clock piece at my leisure."

Unfortunately for him, Gajeel's Dragon Slayer senses had picked up what Samuel had said. "Hey Modeus, Sammy up there thinks your rusty." He said with a smirk. "Why don't you show him how wrong he is."

Modeus smirked as he faced the Sparda-Statue directly. He took a stance and channeled his energy into Hunter's Moon, causing the red sword to glow a bright white. Soon, it began to take the form of a large bow made of white demonic energy, which he pulled back on the string, with an arrow materialized in the center; the glow catching the attention of not only Lily, but a surprised Samuel.

'I didn't just learn sword techniques from Sparda.' Modeus thought to himself as he readied his attack. 'He choose to pass his strength and will onto me. I will prove that he was not mistaken. I have faith in not only my comrades and friends, but myself as well!'

"Lunar Goddess of the Hunt: Artemis!" He fired his energy-arrow. Even as the Sparda-Statue attempted to slice at it with his sword, the arrow shattered the sword on contact and pierced through the chest of the Sparda-Statue, causing it to tumble backwards onto the wall.

"Impossible!" Samuel exclaimed. "How is he wielding such power!"

"It's down!" Levy exclaimed. "Finish it off Gajeel!"

"You got it!" Gajeel grinned widely as he ran straight toward the downed guardian, running up its leg toward its knee and leaping straight up

"Go get him." Panther-Lily smirked.

"No! He can't!" Samuel couldn't believe what was about to happen.

"Dragon Slayer Secret Art: Karma Demon Iron God Sword!" His right arm transformed into a massive iron-blade that was about half as big as the fallen guardian, which he used to bring down on its head, completely obliterating it as well as the jewel that served as its power source, destroying the guardian as it crumbled to dust.

"Our business here is done." Gajeel smirked towards Panther-Lily as Modeus and Shadowgear regrouped around him, with the clock piece in-hand. "Finish yours up so we can get out of this dump."

While Lily smirked back, Samuel looked like he was having a panic attack. "It's inconceivable! How can this be?! I've never once come across anybody who can illude my calculations! Perhaps they were incorrect, but if that's the case, all my strategizing was completely meaningless! I can't take this! It makes no sense!"

Panther-Lily calmly put Baskerville away as he addressed his fellow Exceed. "A fight is a dynamic thing. Strategy helps, but you must be willing to adapt if things go wrong." Samuel flashed a glare at him as Lily smirked. "Looks to me like you've still got a lot of learning together, Sammy."

"Only Kyrie calls me that, you troglodyte!" Samuel lashed out with one of his swords, foregoing all logic and strategy entirely, which Lily easily avoided as he flew over and grabbed him by his other hand by the wrist.

"You left yourself open!" He pulled Samuel into a punch straight toward his gut to knock the wind right out of him before bringing both his fists down onto Samuel's back to send him crashing onto the ground.

The second after he landed, Samuel transformed back into his smaller form, which Lily did the same as he slowly hovered down to help Samuel up before straightening out his back. "Still, you are not without talent." Lily commented as he was about to walk away. "If you challenge me again in the future, I'll be happy to oblige you."

"I know when it's time to admit defeat." Samuel accepted, causing Lily to turn around. "And thanks to this battle, I now know there are people in this world that defy calculation."

"So, you've realized your own inexperience?" Lily asked.

"On the contrary, it's quite obvious that I've simply failed to anticipate all the variables!" Samuel exclaimed stubbornly as he began to write into his journal. "Next time, I'll be sure to incorporate every possible detail into my calculations! And then I'll show you barbarians the power of the only muscle that truly matters!" He pointed toward Lily, who was becoming annoyed with Samuel's attitude. "But right now, I need to record every single bit of data from this fight while it's still fresh in my memory…"

"WHO ARE YOU CALLING A BARBARIAN, HUH!?" Lily exclaimed as kicked Samuel so hard he was sent flying straight up into the sky where he vanished from sight.

"Well, he was certainly a character." Modeus noted as he, Levy, and Gajeel stepped closer to Lily.

"Guess Exceeds come in all types too, don't they?" Levy added.

"What's wrong? Miss him already, brother?" Gajeel teased his Exceed companion.

"We're not related in the slightest." Lily grumbled as he crossed his arms in annoyance.

---

Meanwhile, at a valley consisting of two large lakes, Freed had dived into one as he began searching for anything that might look out of the ordinary. Fortunately, it seems he had found what appeared to be a large plug at the very bottom. Based on first glance, he'd say the plug weighed several tons, far more than any normal man could lift. Even if someone had the ability to swim and breathe underwater, they would have a hard time removing this from the ground. This was both simple and effective he had to admit. However, he would not have to lift at all with physical strength alone.

Freed quickly wrote a series of Runes which formed around the plug, the Runes creating an invisible force that pulled the plug up and began to drain the water out of this lake and straight into the other one, filling it up to capacity.

"Look, the lake's shrinking!" Elfman noted as he, Mira, Evergreen, Bickslow, and Wally saw the water drain from the lake.

"Guess Freed must have found something down there." Mira noted before they slid down toward the drained lakebed and met their comrade in the center. They noticed something behind Freed, causing him to turn around as well as they appeared to have spotted their target. It appeared to be a large orange clock bell, embedded in a stone at the very center of the lakebed.

"It appears we have found the clock piece." Freed said.

"That's it? We just had to drain a lake?" Bickslow questioned.

"Seemed a little too easy." Evergreen noted.

"To the contrary, it is anything but." Freed explained. "This plug weighs several tons, not to mention the water pressure at such a depth would make it all the more difficult to remove. One could drown if they are under too long, and even if they could breathe underwater, they would not be able to move this drain at all."

"You know, if you think about, that actually is kinda clever." Mira said.

"How'd you manage to pull it out and stay under water so long?" Wally questioned.

"I created a lift enchantment on the plug, allowing it to lift up on its own." Freed replied. "And I have trained myself to hold my breath underwater for quite a long duration, such training is necessary for one of the Thunder Legion."

"Dang, not bad." Wally smirked impressively.

"Now that's a real man, right there!" Elfman stated, only to get smacked on the head by Evergreen's fan. "What the hell was that for?!"

"I told you how sick I was of that whole 'real man' thing, but you don't seem to get a clue!" She stated.

"Hey, get a room later lovebirds, we got a mission to complete." Bickslow reminded.

"Yeah, make-out later. Later." His dolls added.

"He's right. Let's grab the clock piece and meet up with the others." Mira said. "I promise, you two can make out after that."

"Shut up!" Evergreen and Elfman both shouted as the later went to try and pry the clock piece out of the rock. Though he was able to do it with some great effort; for some reason, he ended up throwing it away. "Manly throw!"

"What the hell did you do that for?!" Evergreen questioned. Even Elfman was surprised as he didn't intend to throw it away, but he quickly realized why he did it as he saw someone who made him wince.

"Oh crap, not her!"

"Thanks a lot, big guy." Mary Hughes smirked as she stood over the clock bell with her wand-in-hand, having used it to make Elfman throw the clock bell toward her. "I should thank all of you for helping me get the clock piece, without like having to get wet!"

"Who the hell is this broad?!" Wally questioned as the rest of the group began to walk around and completely encircle Mary Hughes.

"She's with the Order of the Sword!" Elfman stated.

"So, she's the enemy then." Bickslow said, getting serious.

"Care to explain how you knew where to find us?!" Mira questioned.

"I followed you here." Mary began to gloat. "I figured it was easier to let you find it, and then totally steal it right out from under you. I'm like a genius! Although technically, it I guess it was Samuel's idea."

"Ugh, I hate cocky women like her. They're such a pain." Evergreen glared.

"Looked in a mirror, lately?" Elfman snarked, causing Evergreen to comically glare at him with an anime anger mark on her head.

"Hey, where's that blonde bitch with all the lightning?" Mary asked. "I've been wanting to get some major payback on her for what she did to me!"

"Trish has better things to do than tutor you in humility, but I guess we can do it if you want, right babies?" Bickslow commented.

"That's right!" The dolls all sang.

"So, what's the deal with this broad, anyway?" Wally questioned as his right arm transformed into a polygon-shaped rifle resembling a tommy gun.

"Based on what the others told us, that wand of hers allows her to control the body of anyone she aims it at as if they were her puppets." Freed said as he drew his sword. "Consequently, she's only able to control one person at a time. She can't control all six of us at once, so surrender is highly advisable."

"That's why I tots brought some back up." Mary smirked as she glanced upward, revealing a group of four Bianco Angelos, that shot down towards the group from the sky with their lances pointed forward, forcing the group to leap back and avoid the strike that broke the ground they were previously standing on. They were soon joined by the Alto Angelo in charge as it descended and hovered just above Mary Hughes.

"You've gotta be kidding me…!" Elfman questioned.

"That's right." Mary's smirk only grew. "You losers are about to get your asses handed to ya by the top brass of the Order of the Sword! Get em boys!" She commanded, prompting the Angelos to attack.

"Fairy Machine Gun: Leprechaun!" Evergreen shot a multitude of energy projectiles toward two incoming Bianco Angelos, but they seemed able to protect themselves with their wing-shields. Meanwhile, Wally tried the same thing as his arms both transformed into tommy-guns as he opened fire at an incoming Bianco Angelo, who shielded itself in a similar manner with its wing-shield to block the bullets.

The fourth Bianco Angelo lunged its lance toward Mira, who backflipped to avoid the impact. Seeing his sister was in trouble, Elfman immediately ran toward her.

"Hang on, Mira!" Elfman exclaimed as his right arm transformed into its Iron Bull form. Only to find said arm actually deck Mira and send her crashing against a rock. His pupils shrunk, not just that he struck Mira, but why he even did it. "Crap! I forgot!"

"Yep." Mary mocked. "Even if it's just one of you losers, anyone I use this baton on is totally my puppet."

Freed, meanwhile, used his sword to block and parry the sword strikes from an Alto Angelo. He leapt back to try and get some distance and unleash an attack, but Bickslow quickly leapt in between them to face the incoming Alto Angelo.

"Bickslow, what are you doing?!" Freed questioned.

"Showing this amateur how a real puppet master works." Bickslow took off his mask to open his eyes and reveal the green glow inside. "Seith Magic: Possession!" Once he cast a glance at the Alto Angelo, it suddenly stopped as the red energy inside the empty armor suddenly turned green, indicating Bickslow now had complete control over it.

"Even though this thing is basically haunted armor, it still has living demonic energy inside that." Bickslow said. "And as long as it's alive, it has a soul, and I can control it." He smirked.

"Very clever, as expected from you, my friend." Freed smiled.

Meanwhile; Mira did her best to dodge not only the attacks from the Bianco Angelo currently fighting her, but also that of her controlled brother as he swung his transformed arm at her.

"Come on, Big Sis! Go ahead and take me down!" Elfman told her as he tried to strike at her again, but she ducked underneath the swing and rolled behind him. "Use your Satan Soul!"

"I can't!" Mira refused to use her power against her own flesh and blood, but she feared she may have to if they couldn't stop the laughing Mary Hughes.

"Oh yeah! Now that's some brother-sister rivalry right there!" She continued to laugh.

"It's called sibling rivalry, genius!" She heard Bickslow's voice from behind and turned around in shock to see the Alto Angelo under Seith Possession fly at her to swing its blade, knocking her back.

"Hey! What the hell are you doing!? I'm on your side!" Mary exclaimed to the Alto Angelo.

"Not anymore he ain't!" Bickslow smirked as he stood at the Alto Angelo's side. "You're not the only one who's good with puppets, kiddo. Oh, and unlike you, I don't have to control one-at-a-time. Right babies?"

"Hell yeah, baby!" Bickslow's dolls sang from behind Mary Hughes, causing her to look in total shock as she was blasted in the back by green energy beams from the dolls.

With Mary Hughes distracted, it feed Elfman from her control. "Ugh, now that's more like it." He flexed his transformed arm before reaching out to grab the Bianco Angelo from behind that was currently focused on Mira. He grabbed it by the back of its head and lifted it up with one arm before smashing it into the ground and used the strength of his transformed arm to pry the head off entirely.

"Dark Ecriture: Destruction!" Freed slashed at the second Bianco Angelo with his sword, though it was blocked with its shield, a series of runes were written on its shield before its entire body lit up with dark energy and exploded.

Evergreen flew over the third Bianco Angelo, spreading her fairy dust around it before unleashing her attack. "Fairy Bomb Attack: Gremlin!" A powerful explosion erupted around the Bianco Angelo, destroying it one blast.

"Polygon Attack: 32 Frames Per Second!" Wally split his body apart in a series of blocks that spread in all directions across the final Bianco Angelo before they all shot at it in rapid succession. Unable to block the attacks, the Bianco Angelo was blown apart as Wally reassembled himself and adjusted his hat with a smirk.

Just like that, all the Angelo soldiers had been destroyed, save for the Alto Angelo currently under Bickslow's control as it, along with the rest of the heroes surrounded Mary Hughes once again.

"No freaking way!" Mary exclaimed. "How'd you do that?!" She shouted mostly toward Bickslow.

"Like I said, I'm a bit of a puppet master too." Bickslow smirked. "Not sure exactly what these Angelo-things are, but this one clearly has something of a soul. So long as it as has a soul, I can control it."

"This is totally unfair!" Mary continued to rant. "Fairy Tail is supposed to be the trashiest guild in the entire kingdom! You're all supposed to be weak!"

"It seems you've gravely underestimated us." Freed stated.

"Why are you doing this?" Mira questioned. "Why are you and your friends going to such lengths to steal these relics!"

"We ain't stealing them, we're just doing our job." Mary said. "We're following the will of His Holiness, and by extension, the will of Sparda himself."

"Will of Sparda, huh?" Elfman spoke with contempt, knowing that this woman was doing anything but.

"If you're only doing what you're told…" Evergreen narrowed her eyes.

"Then you're just a puppet, sweetheart." Wally finished, knowing exactly what it was like to be a puppet, reminding himself of when he was being manipulated by Jellal at the Tower of Heaven all those years ago.

Mary gave a slight gasp at the mention of her being a puppet before her eyes narrowed. "You don't say. Well then, how about I make you my puppet, little miss She-Devil?" She aimed her wand directly at Mira, as the hand-figuration began to glow and change, to the point where two of its fingers began to extend and point at Mira.

"Conducting Art: Second Movement!"

Suddenly, Mira began to glow a bright yellow before she screamed in agony as dark energy began to be forcibly pulled from her body, her eyes and mouth glowing with the same dark energy, much to her friends' shock and concern.

"Mira!" Elfman exclaimed at his sister's pain.

"What the hell is she doing?!" Wally questioned.

"This technique is only meant to be used to exorcise demons who are possessing people." Mary explained in a sadistic tone of voice. "I'm like not supposed to use it on people who aren't possessed, but I'll tots make an exception for you!"

With a wave of her glowing wand, Mira's Satan Soul was separated and pulled away from her body, which began to fall over into unconsciousness in her brother's arms.

"What did she just do to you?!" Elfman shouted.

"No way…" Evergreen muttered as she, Freed, Bickslow, and Wally looked in genuine shock at Mira's separated Satan Soul as it appeared to be moving according to Mary's will as if it were own very puppet.

"Did she just pull out her Satan Soul?!" Bickslow exclaimed.

"She said that technique is meant to exorcise demons." Freed seemed to understand. "She must have used the same method to extract the demonic essence of Mira's Satan Soul and take control over it!"

"You got that right." Mary's sadistic side really began to show as she directed the separated Satan Soul to turn directly at the frightened group with glowing red eyes and a demonic growl before charging forward.

"Take Over: Beast Soul!" The transformed Elfman tried to lash out with a punch, but the Satan Soul quickly ducked and rolled underneath the strike before unleashing a dark-energy attack so powerful it sent Elfman flying straight toward the nearest mountain top with a crash.

"This is so freaky awesome!" Mary exclaimed as she directed the Satan Soul towards the rest of the group, who were forced to scatter and do what they could to avoid the multitude of dark blasts the Satan Soul set their way as Mary continued to laugh. "This is the greatest thing ever! Anyone who dares defy the Order of the Sword is also defying Sparda himself! And anyone who defies Sparda, have like gotta be punished!"

Freed, Evergreen, Bickslow, and Wally attempted to combine their respective ranged attacks; with sword slashes from Freed that sent waves of Dark Ecriture magic, green energy beams from Bickslow's dolls, golden fairy dust bolts from Evergreen, and magic bullets from Wally's tommy gun arms. All four attacks soared directly toward the Satan Soul, but Mary had it unleash a powerful Evil Explosion attack to not only overwhelm the combined assault, but even sent all four combatants flying backwards.

Mary directed the Satan Soul toward Wally first, before he even had a chance to get back up, the Satan Soul stomped its foot hard into Wally's gut to knock the wind right out of him.

"Not cool kicking a man while he's down!" Bickslow shouted as he directed his controlled Alto Angelo toward the Satan Soul, with the dolls about to flank and attack it from behind as well.

"No way I'm gonna fall for that twice, pal!" Mary directed the Satan Soul to blast a wave of dark magic to destroy Bickslow's dolls before delivering a powerful punch followed by a Darkness Blast to obliterate the controlled Alto Angelo. "What was that about calling me an amateur?" She mocked toward Bickslow before having the Satan Soul deliver a devastating kick into his face to send him crashing on the far side of the lakebed. "I may control only one puppet at a time, but it looks like my puppet is way stronger than all of yours!"

"Dark Ecriture: Pain!" He wrote an enchantment on the Satan Soul, but it had little-to-no effect as it delivered a punch toward him, but he quickly parried the strike with his sword, thought he impact sent him skidding back on his feet. 'Of course, that wouldn't work. It's living magic, it's incapable of feeling physical pain!'

Elfman, still in his Beast-Form, suddenly appeared behind the Satan Soul and grabbed it in the form of a bearhug. "Evergreen! Turn it to stone while I hold it down!"

"It won't work because it's not a living creature! It's sentient magic!" Evergreen told him.

"Then blast it! I can't hold it much longer!" Elfman told her as the Satan Soul thrashed in his grip. "Come on! I can take it!"

Evergreen didn't like the idea, but they were running low on options. So, with a wince, she went on the attack. "Fairy Bomb Attack: Gremlin!" She unleashed the biggest explosion she could muster. However, almost immediately, the Satan Soul right out of the smoke and landed a powerful punch onto Evergreen's face to send her crashing toward the other side of the lakebed as well, with the injured, but still transformed, Elfman falling backwards. Before he could get up however, the Satan Soul grabbed him by the head and threw him toward the incoming Freed, who rolled out of the way as Elfman skidded to a halt on the ground before losing his transformation and falling face-first on the ground.

"No… They're all down…!" Freed didn't have time to panic as the Satan Soul now shot toward him. "Dark Ecriture: Wings!" Freed inscribed runes on himself that allowed him to grow his titular wings and soar into the air.

"Aw come on, don't run away!" Mary shouted, her sadistic smile only growing. "This is the most fun I'd ever had!" She directed the Satan Soul upward, which also grew its wings, and flew directly toward him.

"Don't get overconfident! I know some forbidden spells of my own!" Freed declared as he wrote another set of runes on himself. "Dark Ecriture: Darkness!" With that, Freed transformed into his more beast-like appearance. The Satan Soul delivered a punch, but the transformed Freed was able to parry and deliver a powerful strike of his own to knock it back.

"Oooh, looks like you got a dark side too, eh pretty boy?" The crazed Mary chuckled. "Let's see if it's any stronger than your friends?" She directed the Satan Soul to unleash another Evil Explosion attack, which the transformed Freed braced himself for before going on the attack.

'This is starting to feel quite familiar.' Freed couldn't help but recall when he and Mira fought during Laxus' attempt to take over the guild. Though he did loose, and with Mira overpowering him being a major factor in that battle, Freed also instinctively held back at that time as he at his core did not want to hurt his friends any more than he already had. But now was different. This wasn't the real Mira he was fighting, which meant he didn't have to hold back.

"Darkness Flare Bomb!" Freed brought his hands together to slam a sphere-like bomb of his own dark magic at the Satan Soul, sending it crashing toward the ground. "Darkness Breath!" He unleashed a powerful breath attack, not even giving the Satan Soul a chance to recover. However, Mary quickly directed a powerful Demon Blast attack to meet the Darkness Breath head-on in the form of a struggle of opposing attacks. It only lasted a few seconds before exploding.

"Holy crap! This is freaking awesome!" Mary exclaimed as she spoke directly toward Freed. "You're like freaking strong dude! I'm honestly impressed!"

"I'm not interested in any flattery from the likes of you." Freed stated.

"It ain't flattery, it's the truth. You really are strong; you might even give Credo a run for his money. But… what about the rest of your friends?" She smirked, causing Freed to look in shock as she directed the Satan Soul to unleash a familiar attack toward his downed and unconscious comrades.

'Soul Extinction!' Freed's pupils shrunk, knowing how potentially fatal an attack like that was. With nothing else to do, and no time to write a defensive enchantment, he quickly flew straight down and landed in front of his friends just as the Satan Soul unleashed its most powerful attack.

*BOOM!*

The entire valley shook and lit up the entire area with a powerful wave of dark magic. The shockwave was powerful enough to shake Mira awake as she weakly glanced up once it subsided to see most of her friends defeated and laying scattered around the battlefield.

'Elfman… Bickslow… Evergreen… Wally…' However, once she saw what was in front of her, she gasped as her pupils shrunk.

It was Freed, having lost his transformation, his clothes were torn, and he was covered in bleeding scratches and bruises. His arms stretched out, having taken the full brunt of the Soul Extinction attack as he appeared out of breath. Even though he still stood on his feet, he looked like he was about to keel over any second.

"You're safe…" He glanced back towards Mira with a smile. "That's… good…" He uttered before he fell backwards and lost consciousness right then and there.

"Freed!" Mira practically screamed as tears were already filling her eyes. She then directed her gaze toward the laughing Mary Hughes.

"Wow, what an idiot." She gloated. "He totally took the full force of that attack all just to save his weak little friends? Man, I can't believe it! What is it with these self-righteous types always throwing their lives away for nothing?" She continued to laugh.

"Shut your damn mouth!"

Mary was completely taken off guard by the sharp tone in Mira's voice as she pulled herself up to glare at the spiteful woman.

"He did that to protect his friends because he cares about them! But I wouldn't expect a heartless witch like you to know." Mira continued to glare, as Mary glared back at her. "And I also know that if Sparda himself saw you right now, he'd be so sick to his stomach he might just throw up."

That caused Mary to look with anger at her. "Oh, like a sinful bitch like you knows anything about the Dark Knight. I think I'm done playing with all of you. I'll take that clock piece and go, but once I'm done with all that, just now that I'm gonna be taking your power with me and I'll use it to rip that blonde whore Trish apart limb-from-limb!" She readied the Satan Soul to unleash another Soul Extinction attack.

"Just try it." Mira challenged as she stood her ground.

"Whatchya gonna do?" Mary taunted. "Your helpless now that my sacred baton has control of your powers! This is the end of the line! Bye-bye Fairy Tail losers!" Just like before, the entire valley shook as a dark flash lit up the sky. Mary continued to laugh, believing she had won. "Who knew this chick was so strong? I think I might have overdone it a little."

However, once the dust began to clear, she saw something that made her gasp in surprise. The shockwave had also awoken Elfman, as well as Evergreen, Bickslow, and Wally, though Freed still remained unconscious, and they all saw the same thing. While most looked in either surprise or confusion, Elfman looked almost horrified.

"Uh oh… we got trouble now!"

"What the heck is that?!" Wally exclaimed.

It was Mira, but she appeared to have transformed into something more powerful than her Satan Soul. Her hair had grown much longer as she currently wore a light and dark blue stripped one-piece suit with pointed shoulder pads revealing her arms and legs, along with her wide cleavage, upper back, and most of her stomach Her arms were covered in sky-blue scales that stretched up to her elbows, along with her legs that stretched up to her thighs. She also had an aqua-colored tail with massive aqua-blue colored wings that appeared to point upside-down. She also had the same-colored scaled horns that stretched up from the sides of her head.

"Calm down, Mira! Don't let it take over! Stay in control!" Elfman tried to calm his elder sister.

"No way! That's impossible!" Mary exclaimed. "No one told me she has another Satan Soul! You'd think they would have like warned me!"

"Elfman… what is that…?" Evergreen questioned as they all stood up, with her and Bickslow carrying the arms of the unconscious Freed over their shoulders.

"Yeah, seriously. I've never seen that type of Take-Over before either." Bickslow added.

"This is bad!" Elfman stated. "We gotta get out of here while we can! That form is different from her normal Satan Soul. The reason none of you have seen it before is because Master forbade her from using it. It's known as… the Demon Goddess Halphas."

She opened her eyes and flashed an ice-cold death-glare right toward Mary Hughes. It honestly felt like something had gripped Mary by the heart as she looked into those soul-piercing eyes. She was scared, and that only made her even angrier.

"What are you waiting for?! Attack her!" Mary directed the Satan Soul to attack the transformed Mirajane, which was in the form of a powerful Demon Blast, only for Mirajane to simply wave her hand, creating an invisible force that completely deflected the attack to the side, causing a large explosion that only blew Mira's own hair back slightly.

Taking this as their que to leave, Bickslow and Evergreen carried Freed away, who was beginning to regain consciousness, while Elfman carried Wally over his shoulder.

"It's not manly, but time to run like hell!"

"Don't have to tell us twice!" Evergreen exclaimed, but even as they ran, a powerful shockwave from another deflected attack sent all five of them rolling.

"This is no fair! She's totally cheating!" Mary Hughes ranted. "I had no idea she was like an actual demon! How am I supposed to fight her?! She's so sinful and wicked!"

"To be honest with you, I have nothing but respect for the Dark Knight." Mira began as she hovered in the air over her opponent, as if to showcase her dominance. "A demon who defected to the human world to protect them. Every action he took was to protect those who could not protect themselves, he set a fine example that many today even dream of following. So, when I heard there was a religious movement that worshiped him, I had hoped they would follow the example he set, by using their own strength and power to protect those without, no finer way to honor his memory. However,…" She waved her hand to create a dark magic shockwave that blew both Mary and the Satan Soul back. "If everyone else in your precious Order is like you, I know for a fact that Sparda would be every bit as disgusted with your actions as I am! You use your power to hurt those weaker than you, even going out of your way to humiliate and torture them for your own amusement! Even worse, you think all these heinous actions are justified by using his name! You and the rest of the Order of the Sword are a disgrace to Sparda's memory! So much so that it makes me want to throw up!"

To say Mary was livid with all of that was an understatement. "That's it… I'VE HAD ENOUGH OF YOU!" She shouted as she channeled all the magic power she could into her wand, where all its fingers extended and pointed outward. Her entire body was engulfed in a vortex of golden magic energy as she prepared her spell. "I'M SORRY, SPARDA! I KNOW I'M COMITTING A SIN! FORGIVE ME! I'M DOING IT ALL FOR YOU! CONDUCTING ART: THIRD MOVEMENT!"

The Satan Soul was pulled directly over Mary and into the vortex before it converted back into its original magic power in the form of pulsating dark magenta energy that shot down like a bullet directly onto Mary, filling her body with the dark magic as she took control of the Satan Soul Take Over for herself.

"What the hell just happened?!" Elfman exclaimed.

"She… She has merged with Mirajane's Satan Soul!" Freed stuttered as everyone else looked in shock, save for Mira herself who looked more annoyed than anything else.

The transformed Mary gave a laugh as she felt the intense power of the Satan Soul flowing through her veins while speaking in a distorted voice. "Using this forbidden technique, I will defeat you with your own power!"

Immediately, she flew directly toward Mira and threw a punch directly at her, which Mira caught with no effort at all. This was followed by a salvo of rapid punches from Mary, but Mira blocked and parried them all before landing a palm-strike to Mary's face. She tried to retaliate with even more punches and kicks, which Mira blocked and parried still before delivering a kick to Mary's stomach.

"So, this is what you call a sin?" Mira questioned in a tone indicating she was both insulted and disappointed.

The rest of the group looked up from the ground to see a multitude of shockwaves throughout the air, but they seemed incapable of seeing the combatants creating them with their repeated clashes.

"Holy shit…!" Bickslow muttered. "What kind of battle is this!?"

"For real!" Evergreen agreed. "They're moving so fast, I can't even see them!"

"Bro, Elfman…" Wally spoke to him. "No offense, man. But your sister is downright terrifying!"

"Heh, no offense taken." Elfman said with a scared smile.

Freed looked up in pure amazement. 'I've trained myself to such a degree that I had hoped one day, I would not only be considered an equal to Laxus, but even surpass Mirajane, thinking I could match her Satan Soul Take Over. But her Halphas transformation makes that look like nothing.' A small smile formed on his face. 'Seems I still have a long way to go.'

"BEGONE!" Mary tried to unleash a massive Demon Blast attack at Mira, but she waved her hand to create an invisible forcefield around herself that easily deflected the blast around her, destroying even more of the valley around them, while leaving Mira herself completely unphased, much to Mary's horror. "No way! That attack didn't even scratch her!"

Suddenly, Mira appeared directly behind her. "As far as I'm concerned, you've committed an even greater sin!" She delivered a punch followed by a roundhouse that sent Mary crashing to the ground. "You've had your fun, now you'll pay for taking my power and using it against me! Halphas Blast!" She opened a single palm to fire a massive blast of dark blue and purple energy that completely engulfed the transformed Mary in a powerful explosion that created a massive crater in the lakebed. "But most of all, you'll pay for hurting my family!"

At this point, Mary had lost her stolen transformation as her own magic was completely drained. She laid in the crater, unable to move as her whole body ached, covered in burns, bruises, and scratches. She could only look in genuine terror as Mira slowly descended toward her.

"You used my magic to threaten those I care for! That's unforgivable!"

"Stay… Stay away…" Mary begged, even as Mira leaned close and delivered a punch to the side of her head, creating a large crater by her cranium. "Please… don't…!"

"I won't kill you." Mira told her. "Instant release like that is too good for someone like you. Instead, you'll live with the guilt of all the sins you've committed." She then flicked her finger to Mary's head to knock her unconscious.

Evergreen, Bickslow, Wally, and even Freed looked a little nervous at the transformed Mira, even as Elfman slowly walked toward her, something that made Evergreen even more nervous.

"Mira…? Sis…?" He approached her with caution, causing her turn around with her icy-cold stare, which made Elfman stop for a brief moment before continuing forward. "Are you… still in there…?"

However, she smiled before transforming back to normal in a brief flash of light and gave her usual sweetly smile. "Don't worry Elfman. I'm still here." This caused Elfman to breathe a sigh of relief, which turned into joy as Mira wrapped her arms around him, which he was happy to return with a hug of his own. "I'm glad you're okay, little brother."

"Yeah, me too."

The Thunder Legion and Wally each looked relieved as well.

"Ya know, for a second, I thought she was gonna go all rabid monster on us." Wally commented.

"We wouldn't have lasted ten seconds if she did." Bickslow said in a slight joke.

"Yeah, lucky us." Evergreen said.

Freed soon pulled himself from his friends, though he shook slightly, he was able to stand on his own two feet as Mira quickly ran up to him with a hug.

"I'm so glad you're okay, Freed. I was worried you got hurt." She said, feeling beyond relieved that her friend was alright.

Freed smiled while returning the embrace. "I'm the leader of the Thunder Legion, if I were to fall in battle so easily, I have little doubt I could ever stand as an equal to someone like you or Laxus." Mira chuckled as she pulled away. However, Freed's smile vanished as he regained a serious expression. "However, our mission is not done yet. We must gather our clock piece and regroup with the others as soon as possible." He and the rest of his comrades glanced toward the clock bell with serious expressions of their own.

---

Meanwhile, back in the cathedral within the underground ancient city, both Dante's and Nero's groups had spent quite amount of time comparing their notes with the goal finding out what the Infinity Clock truly was and what secrets the Order of the Sword might be hiding. However, there was one revelation that really stuck out for Nero, Dan, and Coco.

"WHAT!?" All three of them practically screamed as their eyes where white circles before pointing at Dante. "YOU'RE SPARDA'S SON!?"

"Yep." Dante confirmed.

"The son of the Dark Knight, Fairy Tail's own Crimson Knight, Dante." Lucy commented with a proud smirk.

"And don't forget, the coolest cousin you've ever had, right?" The half-demon smirked back.

"Don't push it." Lucy joked.

"Sparda's… son… Sparda's…. son…" Coco looked with swirls in her eyes, as if trying to put all the pieces together in her brain, which seemed to short-circuit slightly. "How… how… I…"

"Huh, I'll be damned." Nero commented. "And you're his cousin?" He looked toward Lucy. "So, you're part-demon too?"

"No. Our moms were sisters and both human." Lucy explained. "She married a human man and then had me. So, I'm one hundred percent human."

"And your old man was Jude Heartfilia, one of the richest guys in Fiore, right?" Nero recalled.

"That is correct." Michelle also confirmed. "In fact, Mr. Jude and his wife were rather close with Sparda and his wife. We assume that's how Mr. Jude was able to get possession of the clock hand, because we think Sparda may have gave it to him."

"But you guys don't even know what it is either?" Coco asked.

"Nope." Lisanna said with a sigh. "No offense to Sparda or Lucy's dad, but I really wish they would have just left a note or something with a solid answer."

"Tell me about it." Natsu agreed. "All these riddles and stuff are making my brain hurt."

"You say that because you never use your brain, Natsu." Happy joked.

"Shut up, Happy! You don't use your brain either!" Natsu comically yelled.

"I use mine way more than you use yours!" Happy argued back.

Dan then snapped his fingers. "Hold on a sec, isn't there someone else who says he's Sparda son? I've read a few newspapers about the top guild in Fiore called Sabertooth having someone like that."

Everyone in the Fairy Tail group suddenly had their mood turn dim. "Vergil, my brother." Dante responded.

"Yeah… we try not to… talk about him." Romeo said, even as Lucy had a conflicted expression on her face. Though she knew full well what Vergil had done, she also wanted a chance to talk with him and work things out as he was just as much her cousin as Dante was.

"Okay, not talking about that jerk anymore, what's your story?" Natsu directed his attention toward Nero.

"My story?" Nero questioned.

"Yeah, I mean obviously your part demon." Natsu said bluntly, causing Coco and Dan to look in surprise. "Besides that freaky arm of yours, you certainly smell like your part-demon. In fact… you look and smell almost exactly like Dante." He leaned in closely to Nero, in a way that was uncomfortable for him.

"Yeah, he really does look a lot like him." Happy leaned in close as well, followed by Romeo.

"Kinda bears a resemblance to Vergil too." Romeo added.

Suddenly, all three were comically shoved back by a large, transparent, and spectral arm from Nero's Devil Bringer. "You're too damn close!"

"But seriously, what is going on with that arm of yours?" Dante questioned. "I got a real familial vibe from that thing, so…"

Nero said nothing at first as he looked at his demonic appendage, glancing to see the expecting looks from the rest of the Fairy Tail team, as well as the concerning looks from Dan and even Coco. He then gave a sigh before giving his reason.

"I don't know." Nero began. "My arm wasn't always like this. I was born like a normal person, and I thought I was a normal guy. But… about a month or so ago… I had a weird dream. I heard a voice in my head while I slept…" Everyone paid close attention as he continued. "'Power', it said. 'Power… to protect those who can't…'. Then I felt a massive jolt in my arm. When I woke up… I got this." He showed his demonic limb to everyone else. "Up until this whole mess started at your guild, nobody else has seen it."

"Not even Kyrie?" Dan asked.

"No." Nero shook his head.

"If you don't mind us asking, who were your parents?" Michelle asked.

"No idea." Nero shrugged.

"It's true." Coco added. "Nero was left at the orphanage on Fortuna when he was only a baby, at least from what I heard. Credo's family took him in, he grew up alongside him and Kyrie."

"Little tikes even raised Samuel together." Dan gushed. "You should have seen how cute they were. A couple of little kids raising that cute little kitty cat from his egg. So adorable."

"Hey, you know what else is adorable?" Nero flashed an irritated look at Dan before comically smashing him into the ground with his demonic arm.

"Huh, they raised their Exceed from an egg as little kids." Lisanna noted with a reminiscent smile. "Sound familiar, Natsu?"

"Yeah, good times." Natsu smiled as well.

"Pretty sure I was cuter back then than you two combined." Happy joked.

"But seriously, your parents didn't leave behind a note?" Lucy asked Nero.

"You don't even have a family picture or anything?" Romeo also asked.

"Nope and nope." Nero shook his head.

Dante and Lucy found themselves looking toward each other a bit before nodding. "Hey, after this whole mess with the Infinity Clock is taken care of, why don't we try to figure all that stuff out together?" Lucy offered.

Nero looked more than a little bit surprised. "Wait, serious?!"

"Sure, why not?" Dante shrugged. "Us half-breeds gotta stick together, right? Besides, we got a few outside contacts with our guild, so we can probably dig something up."

"But why?" Nero questioned. "We barley even know each other."

"Do we need a reason to want to help out someone?" Lucy asked rhetorically with a smile. "Besides, even though we got off on the wrong foot, I can tell right away that you're a good person. And helping people out is just what Fairy Tail does."

Nero looked away trying to hide the look of shame in his eyes. "Even though I stole your old man's memento?"

"You were just following orders." Lucy said. "Yeah, it hurt, but you weren't trying to hurt me. Like you said, you were just trying to keep a potential weapon from falling into the wrong hands. Now that we're all on the same page, it'll be a whole lot easier going forward if we work together."

"Yeah, what she said. Fairy Tail's crazy, but we got it where it counts." Dante added. "So, what do ya say, kid?" He offered his hand with a genuine smile of his own.

Nero was nothing short of surprised. Despite being enemies at the start of all this, these people were willing to let bygones be bygones and were even offering to help him better understand what's been going on with him and his mysterious abilities. He could tell right away that they meant every word they said. Before he even got a chance to answer, he felt Coco touching his hand, his demonic one, as she looked to him with a smile.

"Maybe we should listen to them, Nero." She began. "I mean, despite everything that's happened, they still wanted to talk things over. Lucy even risked her own life to save me. I was wrong… they really are good people. And you've always been the big brother I've never had, if they want to help you, then I'm going to help too."

Even Dan put his arm around Nero's shoulder buddy-style. "Come on pal, if we do this, it means I might get a chance to sweep lovely Lulu and Lissiliss off their feet…"

"Not happening!" Lucy and Lisanna exclaimed in comic anger towards Dan.

Despite all this, Nero couldn't help but laugh. "Since when did this turn into a damn soap opera? Alright, fine. I guess we can call a truce." He stood up as he faced the Fairy Tail group with Natsu, Dante, and Lucy up front. "But let's get this conspiracy-thing with the Infinity Clock out of the way first, one crisis at a time."

"Sounds like a plan." Dante nodded.

"How disappointing. I expected the three of you would have the clock piece by now."

The sound of that familiar voice, as well as the rumbling of the building caught everyone's attention.

"Shit! It's Byro!" Nero exclaimed.

"You mean the octo-jerk?!" Natsu questioned.

Suddenly, the entire building began to cave in and collapse as the massive octopus called Kanaloa broke in from the roof of the building, forcing everyone to scatter with Nero grabbing Dan and Coco and pulling to the side; Dante did the same with Michelle while Natsu pulled Romeo and Lisanna out of the way, as did Happy with Lucy. The group looked toward the massive octopus as well as the towering man that rode on top.

"I cannot understand why the three of you would forsake your mission for these guild rats!" Byro stated in a scolding tone toward Nero, Coco, and Dan.

"Ah man… as if we didn't have enough to worry about." Coco looked more than a little nervous, while Nero gently nudged her behind him as he glared at Byro, ready to fight him if he had to; while those from Fairy Tail noticed the wrapped clock hand Byro had in his possession.

"Isn't that…?" Lucy looked in surprise.

"Mr. Jude's piece of the Clock!" Michelle exclaimed.

"Hey, Octo-geezer!" Natsu pointed at him challengingly. "That clock hand belongs to Lucy! Hand it over, or I'll come up there and roast ya!"

"And I'll scratch ya!" Happy added.

Byro flashed them a deathly glare. "I warn you; you won't live to regret it!"

"Bring it on, pops." Dante flashed Rebellion. "Bring it on."

Done.

And so, both Mira and Modeus' teams have defeated Samuel and Mary Hughes respectively and have retrieve the last two clock pieces. And it seems we have a few more revelations; Samuel has figured out that the Angelo soldiers are artificial demons, but he seems alright with it as he thinks it's better to have automated and expendable soldiers (basically robots) fight dangerous opponents as it's a better alternative than having human soldiers with families fight and get killed.

But Kyrie's behind-the-scenes investigation has led her to finding one of the Hell Gates located throughout Fortuna, and has even met Berial. However, unlike in the games, Berial (as well as other similar 'bosses') are magically chained to these Hell Gates so that they act as 'guard dogs' so-to-speak and keep snoops from poking their noses where they don't belong. So, the mystery of the Order of the Sword continues to deepen.

And now, just as Dante's and Nero's teams were about to call a truce, and as we learn a bit more about Nero's past, Byro has arrived and doesn't appear to be interested in negotiations. What's in store next for our heroes? How will they overcome this opponent who may or may not have a few surprises of his own in store for them? Find out next time on Fairy May Cry!

Oh, and on a personal note, I am now fully vaccinated, and I encourage everyone else to do the same as well.

Stay safe and stay healthy out there.