Chapter 44 Grimoire Heart Strikes Back
The three members of the leader of the Baram Alliance ran through the forest. Bluenote Stinger lead Rustyrose and Azuma as they searched for the allies from Tartarus who'd stabbed them in the back by hurting Master Hades. They would find the four demons that accompanied them, Keyes, Silver, Jackal, and Kyouka. All of those demons would feel the wrath of Grimoire Heart! They would prove they were the stronger dark guild, and no one would think of double crossing them.
"It seems there will only be one leader left for the Baram Alliance after this is done," Azuma stated as they moved.
"Don't forget, we will have to wipe out the rest of Tartarus as well." Rustyrose said.
"We'll deal with that when the time comes. There is something I want to find here as well though," Bluenote said.
Suddenly they came on a disturbing sight. Dozens of corpses on the ground.
"Our soldiers!" Azuma exclaimed.
"They're all dead!" Rustyrose said. "Ah well. They were mere pawns anyway. Tis a shame they were sacrificed in this battle but it is the role of pawns to be sacrificed."
"Somethings not right here!" Bluenote said. "I'm still detecting…"
Then the dead soldiers suddenly rose and surrounded their own superiors! The sight was enough to chill even the strong dark mages.
"What a shock!" Rustyrose exclaimed.
"Well, it seems you dumb humans have finally caught on to the fact you've been betrayed." A voice said.
It was the Skeleton member of Tartarus. Keyes.
"This one is mine!" Azuma stated. "My fight with two S-class wizards was interrupted by the message! I want this one for myself!"
"As you wish my dear strong Azuma! I will look for more members of both Tartarus and Fairy Tail!" Rustyrose said.
"Make sure he suffers!" Bluenote said.
The two dark mages left, and Azuma faced the Necromancer.
…
Meldy bent over Ultear with teary eyes.
"Hang in there, Ultear. I'm giving you the emergency medicine!" Meldy said.
Ultear grunted as the magic serum was injected into her body. It felt like her blood was on fire, but her wounds quickly began to heal. Meldy smiled at her, but Ultear only sat up and looked down.
"Zeref… can't fix my life," she said. "He can't turn back time to when everything was fine."
Meldy hugged her friend, the one who'd looked after her ever since her family and village had been destroyed.
"It will be alright Ultear."
"How can it be alright?" Ultear snapped. "The last spark of hope I had was destroyed!"
Before Meldy could answer however, two of their comrades appeared.
"Meldy! Ultear!" Rustyrose greeted. "I'm glad to see you are both able to fight still!"
"Come! We must find the one who did this to Ultear!" Meldy stated. "They are my number one kill priority right now!"
"Don't bother Meldy! It won't solve anything," Ultear said. "The Zeref we came here seeking is… not who we thought he was. He said that… those keys being able to awaken him were just a lie."
"Either way the black wizard can still be of great use to us," Rustyrose said. "We will get the truth from him and he will help us bring about the grand magic world."
"Let us go Rustyrose!" Bluenote said. "Meldy, you and Ultear go out and find more enemies to deal with!"
"As you wish. I still have a mark on Gray Fullbuster's head!" Meldy stated.
Bluenote and Rustyrose ran further into the forest, following a pair of footprints that moved away from where Meldy had found Ultear. They could sense it, two sinister powers nearby that had to belong to Zeref, but he seemed as though he were getting stronger by the moment. The other belonged to Kyouka.
"There she is Bluenote!" Rustyrose said.
They saw them, Zeref sat with his back to them, bent over something. Kyouka saw them coming.
"You will not disturb Lord Zeref! I have finally returned to him and his grand plan will soon be underway!" the bird helmed woman declared.
"While I would certainly like to see what he has in store, I find myself disgusted with the sight of you now," Rusyrose said.
"Can you fly?" Bluenote asked.
"Hmm?" Kyouka looked at him curiously at the question.
"Can you fly? As in can you not fall before me?" Bluenote asked.
Suddenly a great amount of gravity pressed against Kyouka, she struggled and fell to her knees as the immense pressure immobilized her.
"Jet black sword!" Rustyrose chanted.
His clawlike sword appeared in the place of his arm and thrusted at the demon. She grunted as she felt it pierce her and she collapsed.
"I did not ask for your help Rustyrose!" Bluenote said.
"Apologies Bluenote but this is the leader of the party that betrayed us," Rustyrose reminded him.
"So be it. Well there is Zeref," Bluenote said.
…
Kyouka was already down, the combined efforts of the two strong humans had overpowered her quickly. Gravity magic to immobilize her and then a sword thrusted at her, quite a combination. But her work had been enough for Zeref as he looked at the single page on the Book of E.N.D.
Soon, Zeref would be able to die at last. But there were still some things left to do. There was one other evil that Zeref wished to see destroyed.
As if on que, an ominious feeling filled the Black Wizard.
"He's coming! Acnologia!"
…
Far away, a man with long blue hair and markings all over his body growled ferociously.
"I sense a lot of magic power somewhere. The Black Wizard, Demons, and … dragons! Filthy Dragons!" the man shouted. "I… Acnologia will wipe them from existence!"
And he transformed, turning into a gargantuan black dragon with blue markings on his body. His wings spread and he set course… to Tenrou Island!
Well I was kinda torn on who would be the one to face Grimiore Hearts wrath. But Kyouka seemed most fitting. It might have been too easy for her to be brought down like that but Bluenote and Rustyrose would probably make a pretty good combination with Bluenote's gravity magic and Rustyrose's Arc of Imagination, and someone had to take the fall for the title of the chapter here. Oh wait, Bluenote is on a level near Gildarts who is probably stronger than Erza at this point, so it might be too much for Kyouka as she might not be as strong as she is in the Tartarus Arc 7 years later. Ah well. Soon Acnologia will enter the picture and the final battle will be underway. But first we deal with the remaining members of Tartarus and Grimiore Heart.