Disclaimer: I own nothing
Chapter 24: "Outclassed"
(Year: X784)
Cana stood over a group of defeated Phantom Lord mages and swept her eyes across the two biggest distractions in the area. The closest distraction was actually a positive. Phantom Lord's guild robot had slowed significantly in writing the destruction spell. Sure, it hadn't stopped completely, but their allies inside now had a lot more time to stop the Abyss Break.
The other distraction was less positive. Cana could only see chaos on the mountain where Naruto and the Nature God Slayer had gone. The destruction was so great that the entire mountain was mowed down and made bare. That was before it was covered in what appeared to be a sea of black grass.
The card mage could only shake her head at that. God Slayers were truly monsters…even by the monsters of Fairy Tail standards. They could tear down a mountain just to build it back up in an instant. Not only that, but also in their own image. Cana was once again grateful not be near that.
More crashes from the Phantom Lord guild hall turned Cana's attention back to the looming figure. The battles in there must be intense as well. For not the first time, Cana felt overwhelmed. How was she ever supposed to be effective when surrounded by such monsters?
"Cana…" Mirajane approached the other woman.
"Mira," Cana looked over her shoulder, "You shouldn't be out here. Without your magic…"
The end of the sentence was left floating in the air. Mirajane was smart enough to know the implication. Cana wanted to say 'you're useless' or 'you're defenseless.' The card mage was too kind to say that, though…even if it was the truth. Mirajane knew that her fighting ability was almost nonexistent after Lisanna.
She just…she just lost the will to fight after watching her little sister fade away like that. Why could someone so good and pure be taken so easily? It wasn't fair.
Shaking her head out of those thoughts, Mirajane addressed the card mage, "It looks like you guys got things pretty well covered."
Cana nodded at that. Most of the fodder Phantom mages were down, but that didn't mean that they were completely safe yet, "Still you should…"
CRASH!
Both mages looked up to see the head of the robot get tore open from a burst of magic. It seemed like someone nearly got thrown out of the guild hall from that attack. The person was…
Mirajane shouted in horror, "ELFMAN!"
Naruto noticed as the grass below him began to wrap around his feet. Forcing magic into his feet, he cut himself free of the grass and raced towards the other God Slayer. Arashi's smirking form was quickly hidden from the jinchūriki's vision when the grass grew up to the size of a building. Cursing, Naruto brought out twin kunai and pumped them full of magic.
"Sky God's Tantō!"
As the wind blades extended, Naruto swiped his kunai and cut through the grass with ease. With the tall, black blades of grass flying through the air, Naruto rushed towards Arashi's previous location. A few steps in that direction revealed that the God Slayer of Nature had disappeared. Before Naruto could sniff the air in an attempt to track the other blonde, the giant grass blades he cut burst into what appeared to be pollen pods.
The deep sniff Naruto took caused him to sneeze. With the grass blocking his vision, the pollen blocking his smell, and Arashi moving completely silently…the jinchūriki was effectively lost in the sea of grass.
"Nature God's Maze," Arashi's voice seemed to echo off of every blade of grass, "Go ahead and try to cut through it. You'll only make it harder for yourself."
With a snarl, Naruto pumped magic to his feet once more, "Sky God's Jets!"
Small tornado's jumped from Naruto's feet sending him flying into the air. Once he was above the still growing grass, the blonde looked around in an attempt to track his enemy. Besides the sea of black grass, there was only one thing in sight. A large black tree seemed to be growing at the peak of the mountain.
'That's his most likely position,' Naruto rationalized. He once more created the jets in his feet to propel him in that direction as he fell back to the earth below him. As he fell, though, he realized that the grass was growing at an even faster rate now…and it was all racing towards him, "Shit!"
Once again, Naruto swiped his Sky God's Tantō at the grass. Like before, the cut blades of grass were sent flying above him. Unfortunately, the ever growing grass did not stop. As he fell, Naruto was forced to continuously cut through the offending foliage. Halfway to the ground, Naruto thought began to think about the best way to land. This was a fruitless thought, though. He never made it to the ground.
Something grabbed onto him from above. Eyes darting up, Naruto saw that the blades of grass he cut were still active. They grabbed onto him like living strands of hair. Unable to move, Naruto could do nothing as the grass below him reached up and grabbed onto him as well. With the kunai in his hands ripped away, Naruto was effectively trapped.
Not willing to accept that, though, Naruto began to pump magic out of every pore of his skin. The black wind pushed the blades of grass away and gave Naruto a bit of room to move. Using this opening, Naruto began to spin, "Sky God's Twister!"
The concentrated twister around Naruto effortlessly cut through the blades of grass around Naruto. This time, Naruto was not just content with cutting apart, though. Instead, he used the twister to reduce the grass to dust. Once that was done, Naruto stopped spinning and prepared to land at the base of the continuously growing tree Arashi created.
That did not stop the grass. To Naruto's shock, the grass dust continued to attack him. The grains rammed into his skin. Surprisingly amount of pain rushed through his body as the dust attacked his individual nerves. Naruto cursed and desperately grabbed at every part of skin that was open to the air.
"That is why you cannot win," Arashi's voice echoed from the plants once more, "Other God Slayers could just obliterate my plants. Your elements cuts, shreds, and tears. Unless you create a vacuum, all you're doing is creating more angles I can attack from."
Roaring in rage, Naruto let out another attack, "Sky God's Bellow!"
Spinning, Naruto used the breath attack to mow down the grass around him. As this happened, the wind picked up the grains assaulting his skin and flung them away. Once he was completely free from the grass, Naruto released the attack. He then collapsed to his knees gasping and shaking from the shock of the last attack.
"Never learn, do you?"
The blades of grass in the air flew towards the tree which now stood as tall and as wide as the Phantom Lorde guild hall. As soon as the grass made contact with the bark, the blades hardened to the strength of pure steel creating a thick lining of razor knives around the tree.
Arashi's voice then jumped from the tree, "No matter how great the storm…No matter how hard the wind blows…No matter how much the heavens cry, nature will always defiantly remain. Life will always reform itself. Each time, deadlier than the last."
The tree began to move. It struck down at Naruto.
"Nature God's Execution Tree!"
Another wall collapsed as Natsu tackled Gajeel in a blaze of fire. Grunting at the burning sensation that hurt him despite his iron scales, Gajeel threw the Fire Dragon overhead and into the room they just crashed into. Natsu managed to flip in mid-air and land on his feet.
Both of the dragons ignored the screaming Phantom Lord mages that were fleeing the room. They didn't matter in this fight. It was best that they leave. If they didn't, then they would get more than a few broken bones.
Still scorching from Natsu's last attack, Gajeel thrusted his hand forward for his next move. His hand turned a dark metallic color and extended forward, "Iron Dragon's Club!"
In the blink of an eye, the iron club rushed towards the Fire Dragon. Natsu managed to barely jump to the side to avoid being smashed by the iron club. He was forced to continue moving as Gajeel followed up with another club attack. After a few jumps and flips, Natsu decided to go on the attack himself.
The pink-haired threw balls of fire towards the other Dragon Slayer. Gajeel was forced to shorten the iron back to a more movable size. He then shifted the dull club into a sharpened sword. With a swing of the sword, he cut through the flames and protected himself from damaged. With each fireball blocked, the Iron Dragon Slayer moved forward to close the distance between him and his enemy.
Once in front of Natsu, Gajeel brought his sword down in an attempt to cut his enemy into two pieces. Natsu flung himself backward to avoid the attack causing the sword to leave a deep gash in the stone floor. Gajeel wasn't about to let him get away. He rushed forward again and continued to swing his arm sword. As he moved, Natsu used his flames to try to push Gajeel back while also using them as a boost to speed up his movements.
As they continued to move across the room, the dragons left a trail of destruction in their wake. All the furniture and walls were either set ablaze or cut to shreds. Finally, after a few minutes of this, Natsu finally managed to stop the swinging blade by using his palms to catch it on the dull sides of the sword. Grinning, the Fairy Tail mage used his new advantage to send a devastating flame empowered kick to his enemy's stomach.
Despite the iron scales covering his body, Gajeel grunted in pain from the force of the attack along with the intensity of the fire. Coughing out, the Phantom Lord mage dismissed his sword and tackled Natsu. They both flew into a new room which was soon to fall victim to the trail of destruction they had already left in their wake.
Elfman groaned as he was thrown into yet another wall. Jose's Darkness magic held a strong grip over the takeover mage. Despite how the larger man struggled, he couldn't escape. His only hope was for his friends to save him. Unfortunately that didn't seemed like it was going to happen any time soon. Neither Erza nor Fu had the ability to directly free him from the Darkness magic, so they attacked Jose directly.
This did not go very well, though. Jose had created a shield of darkness around himself. Despite the sword attacks and explosions that the women sent towards it, the shield held. It did waiver a few times, but Jose quickly healed that damage.
A crumbled wall and a flash of sky revealed that Jose had shoved him through the wall with that final blow. Barely able to move, Elfman was floated over to Jose's side. A surge of darkness forced the S-rank mages to retreat. Unlike the man, the female fighters were completely unharmed. Sure, Jose wasn't specifically targeting them right now, but they managed to avoid getting captured like Elfman was.
"Five minutes," Jose mocked, "That's all it took."
Elfman just glared useless at the Wizard Saint.
"It's pathetic that you were the one that showed up before me instead of your sister," Jose noted, "The 'Demon' Mirajane. I used to view her as a threat, but now she's even more useless than you isn't she?"
"Why don't you shut up!?" Fu's wings popped out of her back. She flew towards Jose, but she was forced to stop when a pillar of darkness jumped in front of her. The same thing happened to Erza.
"Can't you see that I'm talking?" Jose rolled his eyes, "Really…kids these days. No respect for their elders. Fine, if you want some attention, then I'll give you some playmates."
With a wave of his hand, dozens of hooded shade creatures popped up from the ground. Some of them rushed towards the women, while the others rushed out of the opening Jose created. The shades then rushed down to the nearly victorious Fairy Tail mages below.
As the women fought off the shades, Jose turned his attention back to Elfman, "Where was I…Oh right. Your pathetic family. One dead sister…one has-been sister…one useless brother. Such a sad story. Perhaps you would all be better off dead."
"AAAHHH!"
"Mira!" Erza turned to see the robot's free arm holding Mirajane. She tried to rush to help her friend, but the shades held her back just like with Fu.
"How about both you join your sister?" Jose suggested, "That way you won't embarrass her memory anymore."
Lucy felt another concentrated ball of air smash into her face. She was flipped backwards and landed face first onto the ground. A low groan escaped her lips. That was the seventh time one of those hit her. Each one felt like a sledgehammer to her body.
"Lucy!" Her currently summoned spirit looked at her in alarm. Taurus was a massive black and white humanoid cow creature wearing a giant battle axe. He was also a giant pervert, "Are your boooooooooobs okay?!"
"I'm fine, Taurus. You know my orders," Lucy hissed while hiding her face, "Do not turn away from Aria."
With a pained look, Taurus turned away. Lucy hated being so harsh with her spirits, but this was a battle where neither of them could afford to look away for a second. Aria outmatched her in every conceivable way…except one…hopefully. He was the one that drained Master Makarov of his magic after all, but Lucy had a feeling that it was because of Jose that the plan worked.
With Taurus turned away, Lucy finally pushed herself up. Her body trembled in pain. Pain shot through her left arm suggesting that it was broken. Her once flawless face was covered in deep bruises, and her right eye had swollen shut. That was mostly why she didn't want Taurus to look at her. Despite his perverseness, Taurus had a good heart and would try to help her. She couldn't have that. For her plan to work, she needed him to keep his attention on Aria.
Out of all of her spirits, Taurus was the best at fighting. Of course, Aquarius was the most powerful, but Lucy needed water to summon her. Cancer and Virgo wouldn't be effective against Aria's invisible wind. Besides her silver keys, which Lucy wasn't planning on using at all if she could help it, all she had was the mystery key she got from her illegitimate S-rank mission…and that would be a gamble. The key had the symbol of Sagittarius, but Lucy did not know what the horse spirit could do.
As such, she needed Taurus to stick around as long as possible.
"Sorrowful…" Aria held his held down for a moment, "It's so sorrowful…WAAAH!"
To their shock, Aria brought his head up to reveal tears pouring out from under his blindfold, "Why must you be in so much pain?! WAAAH!"
"Idiot!" Lucy snapped, "You're the one that hurt me!"
"WAAAH!" Aria wiped his tears away, "It's so sorrowful…A poor girl trying to find her freedom only to be captured and pulled away by a selfish guild…"
"You're the one trying to capture me! Don't cry about it!"
With tears still streaming down his face, Aria spoke once more, "To end this sorrow…I will end this fight…"
"Like I'll let yooooooooooou!" Taurus lunged at Aria with his axe raised. As the Celestial Spirit swung his weapon down, Aria disappeared, "Huh?"
Aria appeared behind Lucy. His palms pointed down to the smaller Lucy. Light flooded off his body, "Metsu!"
The airspace around Lucy began to shift in order to drain the energy from the girl. Oddly enough, the blonde didn't seem worried, "You know, you shouldn't cry in the middle of battle. It makes you weak, impairs your vision. Letting your emotions overcome you will get you killed."
Aria's magic stopped when a knife slid into the man's stomach. The large man gasped out in pain and shock, "What?"
"You're better than me as a mage in almost every way possible…except for one," Lucy viciously pulled the knife from his stomach, "I'm a lot smarter than you."
Aria stumbled back in shock. His hands clutched at his bleeding stomach. This allowed an opening for Lucy to jump up and kick him in the head. The Phantom mage fell onto his back.
"Master Makarov has the eyes of a hawk," Lucy explained, "He has to with how Fairy Tail is. That means you had to have used that drain attack from behind him. Now, I couldn't be certain that the spell requires you to be behind the target so I had Taurus constantly stay in front of me to guarantee that you would come at me from behind. I had that knife ready from the start."
"You…you took those hits to make me underestimate your reaction speed," Aria groaned.
"Yep. Everything I've done in this fight was to mislead you," Lucy smiled, "Just like this. The only reason I'm explaining this to you is to distract you from Taurus."
Aria cried out in further pain when Taurus landed on top of him and drive the battle axe into his shoulder. It was then that Aria realized that he had made the same mistake that Makarov did. He had underestimated his enemy. That wasn't a mistake he would make again.
Naruto knew that he couldn't fight in the area anymore. Arashi had way too much control over the mountain now. Staying there would be a death sentence. He had to get away and lure his enemy to a better location. That was why Naruto immediately turned and ran away from the execution tree.
With a burst of speed, he rushed away from the tree just as a branch came crashing down. Said branch instantly tore through the grass and dirt with ease leaving a large crater beneath it. Naruto ignored that, though. Instead, he focused on getting as far away as possible. He used simple bursts of wind to push the grass out of his way because cutting it would only seemed to cause more problems.
Just as he was about to make it out of the tree's range, though, Naruto was stopped when a giant hedge burst from the ground. Covered in thick thorns and spikes, the wooden hedge looked very menacing. Seeing that it was growing higher by the second, Naruto knew he would have to act. Jumping in the air would leave him exposed with minimal dodging abilities, so he decided to force his way through.
Creating his Sky God's Swords, the blonde tried to cut his way through the hedge. As the spiraling drills made contact, though, he quickly learned that getting through the hedge would not be easy. The bark was so thick and strong that his drills only manage to cut halfway through. Not only that, the hedge was regenerating. It would take hours to cut through the hedge like this.
Before he could think up a new plan, the hedge suddenly unleashed a torrent of thorns and spikes at him. Naruto managed to dodge most of them, but a few of them stabbed deeply into his skin. With the hedge now ready to attack him, the blonde was forced to move back, then he had to lung to the side to avoid getting crushed by the execution tree's branch.
Cursing, Naruto desperately thought about what to do. There was no way for him to get away now. The hedge had grown all around the mountain. All the grass limited his movements. Plus there was still the execution tree, 'I'm trapped…The only thing left to do it go in and try to take out the tree. I don't have time to charge up the God Slayer Secret Technique…I'll have to use Sky God's Rasengan…but if I switch twice like that…then I'll be defenseless when my magic gives out on me…'
Without a real plan, Naruto circled the mountain while dodging the grass, hedge, and tree. Before he could come up with a real strategy, his feet were suddenly caught by something. Looking down, Naruto saw that black roots had jumped up out of the ground to grab him and stop his movements. The roots were quickly cut away, but they had already accomplished their goal.
A large shadow loomed over Naruto as a branch with the shape of a hand reached down to grab him. With no way to dodge after the roots threw him off balance, Naruto decided his only chance was a power struggle. He thrusted his hands out, "Sky God's Spear!"
The concentrated whirlwind of black wind met the branch and stopped its momentum. Naruto's attack forced Arashi's attack back. Unfortunately for the jinchūriki, though, he was stuck in a death pit of Arashi's creation. Standing still and focusing an attack like he was doing left a big opening.
"AH!" Naruto shouted out in shock as the hedge behind Naruto shot out thorns and spikes once again. While the main was minimal, the surprise and accurate hits to his joints forced Naruto to stop his Sky God's Spear. Now completely vulnerable, he could do nothing as the branch reached all way down and grabbed ahold of him with its razor sharp grip.
With one giant of burst of flame and iron, both Natsu and Gajeel went rolling away. Their battle had made them force their way through half of the Phantom Lord guild hall. Eventually, they had made their way to a large room with a lot of equipment. All of it was quickly destroyed, leaving a massive room covered in flames and scraps of metal.
Breathing heavily, the two Dragon Slayers forced themselves up. They shook and trembled with each movement. Both of them were covered almost completely in injuries. Their battle had proved that the two of them were almost completely even in terms of fighting prowess. Every time one of them threw an attack at, they were met with an equal blow. The fight may very end in a draw at this rate.
The duo glared at each other for a moment before they burst out in laughter.
"Hahahahahaha…" Natsu shook his head, "This is great…Even the stripper and I haven't had a fight like this before…"
"Hehehe…I knew picking you as my opponent was the right move," Gajeel grinned, "Even if fire isn't as good as iron…You're a real Dragon Slayer..."
"I was thinking something similar…" Natsu wiped the blood and sweat from his brow, "I just wish we could have fought in better circumstances…After all, you're guild is trying to destroy mine. And…you did hurt Jet and Droy."
"Who?" Gajeel questioned.
Natsu scoffed, "Exactly. Hurting my friends without even knowing their names…I can't let that stand."
"Psh…Gahahahahahahahahaha!" Gajeel burst out laughing, "You know, it's that pussy ass line of thinking that's going to make you lose."
"Wrong," Natsu argued, "It's the reason I'm gonna win. I'm fighting for Fairy Tail's name. I can't lose no matter what."
Gajeel sneered, "Well, you're going to be disappointed when I prove you wrong."
In unison, the two dragons took a deep breath. The fire was immediately sucked into Natsu's gut as the iron and steel flew into Gajeel's mouth. After the duo consumed the elements that had been spread from the destroyed equipment, their magic surged despite their worn out bodies. With a roar, they rushed to each other one final time. This time, instead of dragons, two ideals were about to clash, and that would be all the difference in this fight.
Despite his large appearance and cries of manhood, Elfman always knew that he could never compare to his sisters. They were just always better than him at their magic. Sure, Lisanna was never particularly talented at fighting, but she could do full takeovers despite being years younger than him. And Mirajane…Kami, he didn't know where to start with her.
His nee-san had been the best from a young age, and he always aspired to be just as good. That never came to be, though. To his eternal displeasure, the only way for him to become stronger than her was for her to get weaker. It was all because of him. His own ego forced him to try and use a full takeover with the Beast. That was his greatest mistake.
Because of him, Lisanna had died.
Because of him, Mira had been broken both emotionally and physically.
Because of him, his family had been torn apart. And now, because of his weakness, his family was about to be destroyed.
Watching Mira scream in pain from the metal fingers made his heart twist. Why did he have to be so pathetic? Couldn't he just do one thing right? Once again, he was weighing everyone down. He was a nuisance that put everyone in trouble.
"Dammit…" Elfman hissed. He struggled to escape Jose's hold, but it was a fruitless effort. Just using Takeover on his arm wasn't strong enough. He had to do more, but last time he tried more…
"AAAHHH!" Mira screamed in agony.
Elfman's eyes narrowed. He didn't have a choice. Even if he did go out of control, then Jose would kill him. That wouldn't be much different than what would happen to him anyway. At the very least, he would go out trying to do something…anything to save his sister.
"Huh?" Jose raised an eyebrow when he felt Elfman's magic shift, "What are you…Are you trying a full takeover? Fool, I know that—"
With a roar, magic exploded off of Elfman. His form grew, and his muscles expanded. Fur burst from his skin just as horns burst from his forehead. Snarling with his sharpened teeth, Elfman broke free his magical restraints. In his surprise, Jose was unprepared as a massive fist smashed into his face and sent him flying into the far wall.
Ignoring the stunned Jose, Elfman catapulted himself over the shocked women and the shades they were fighting. After landing, the Beast Takeover mage jumped one more time to make it to the outside of the building and onto the robot arm. With ease, he ripped over the metal holding his sister and pulled her to freedom.
"E-Elfman?" Mira questioned. Her voice trembled in fear at the thought of losing her brother to the Beast Takeover again.
The massive Beast gently held onto the woman. Tearful eyes looked at the woman, "I'm sorry Nee-san…I know that you never wanted to see me like this again…"
"You…you're still you…" Tears began to roll down Mira's face.
"I never wanted to do this again…It's because of me that Lisanna died…" Elfman gasped in grief.
"It was never your fault," Mirajane argued, "You were just trying to protect us."
"But I couldn't protect her…she died…"
"But I'm alive…because of you," Mira hugged her brother lovingly, "Thank you, Elfman."
Lucy had thought she had won. She was wrong. Just as she was about to help Taurus finish Aria off, a massive blast of wind threw both of them away. Long before Taurus could even land onto the ground, the wind tore him to shreds. He was sent back to the Celestial Spirit World in the blink on an eye.
As soon as Lucy landed, she flipped back up and moved backwards. She glared through her one good eye at Aria. Unbelievable amounts of magic was rolling off of him. In his right hand, Aria held his blindfold. Strange glowing eyes stared right at Lucy.
"I will admit that I underestimated you…" Aria snarled at her, "But I won't make that mistake again. I will unleash my full power on you."
Sweat began to pour down her body. This was very bad. The sheer power of the magic force was making it difficult to move. Lucy knew instantly that her tactics and tricks weren't going to work a second time, and based on the look on his face…he wasn't trying to capture her anymore. This was now a desperate fight to survive.
Lucy's mind raced. No water meant no Aquarius. Virgo's traps would prove useless against Aria. Cancer would get blown away. Her only chance was…
"Open Gate of the Archer!" Lucy thrusted her newest key forward. In a burst of light, a new figure appeared. It was a dark haired man…wearing a horse costume. Sure, why not?
The horse man took a step back in shock at the situation he had been summoned into. Like Lucy, Sagittarius instantly broke into a deep sweat. He looked like he wanted to run, but the sight of the injured Lucy kept him from fleeing.
"Please…" Lucy gasped out, "I know that we haven't made a contract yet…But please tell me you can help me?"
Sagittarius pulled out his bow and arrow, "Mushi mushi…I can try…"
The Celestial Spirit sent several arrows at the Phantom mage. All of them bounced off the air around Aria. None of them got even close to the wind user. It was useless.
"I…" Sagittarius trembled and lowered his bow, "I am sorry…"
"It's okay…" Lucy shook her head, "It was just a gamble. You can go. You shouldn't have to suffer because of me."
"No…I cannot just leave you," Sagittarius stepped in front of Lucy despite his fear, "I will protect you until the end, my new master."
"Oh…How sweat," Aria noted. He thrusted his hand forward and dozens of invisible concentrated airspaces impaled the horseman. Sagittarius disappeared just as quickly as he appeared, "Now, let's finish this."
Lucy decided to use the only strategy she had left, "You won't kill me…It's your mission to capture me alive…"
"That's the thing, little girl," Aria disappeared and reappeared right in front of Lucy. He grabbed her by the throat and lifted her up, "I don't care anymore."
"Let her go!"
The new voice drew their attention away from each other. In their distraction, they never noticed that someone new had created an opening in one of the doorways.
Lucy blinked, "Loke?"
Natsu and Gajeel traded blows in a flurry of motions. Despite their exhausted bodies and swelling bruises, neither of them were willing to move back at all. After a few minutes of this, Gajeel let out one last angry shout and put everything he had into one last punch. His fist landed square on Natsu's nose. The fire dragon wasn't willing to step back to relieve the pain, but the ground cracked from the force and caused Natsu to go skidding back.
Gajeel stumbled forward with a grin. He did it. He had…Wait…Natsu hadn't fallen…
"Not yet," Natsu spoke despite his bloodied noses, "I'm not done yet!"
Fire exploded off of the pink haired man. With one last roar of his own, he lunged himself at his enemy.
"Dragon Slayer Secret Technique…" Natsu shouted, "Crimson Lotus: Fire Dragon's Fist!"
Gajeel only felt the first punch that rammed into his face. That wasn't the only blow, but the others were numbed out immediately after. Dozens of burning fists smashed across his body. The Iron Dragon Slayer faded in and out multiple times through the combo. Eventually, the barrage came to an end. Covered in burns and smoking bruises, Gajeel went flying back and into a wall. Said wall collapsed around him. Buried beneath the debris, Gajeel lie defeated.
"Yeah!" Natsu cheered, "Take that! Fairy Tail's the best—"
CRACK!
Natsu blinked as the entire building began to shake. It looked like the trail of destruction they had created had unstabilized the building, and that last broken wall was the last bit needed to cause everything to collapse. Despite the situation, though, Natsu continued to grin.
This is why people shouldn't mess with Fairy Tail.
Elfman heard the guild hall breaking before he felt it. Before the metal below him collapsed, he hugged his sister tight. In seconds, the guild hall collapsed along with the robotic hands. It seems as though this at least stopped the Abyss Break. Though the guild was safe from the destruction spell, Elfman didn't get the chance to celebrate as he fell from the tower sized build.
He landed on top of the rubble with a crash. His legs ached from the landing, but that didn't matter, "You okay, nee-san?"
"Yes…" Mirajane looked around, "Where did that come from?"
"I don't know…but I got a feeling that it involved Natsu."
Mira giggled, "That's a safe assumption—"
The white haired woman was silenced when she and her brother were suddenly surrounded in a blanket of darkness. In a blur of motion, they were thrown into a large piece of concrete rubble. Elfman managed to turn himself at the last second so that he absorbed all of the impact to his back. The force of the throw was so great that the concrete shattered from the force.
Still holding onto Mirajane tightly, Elfman could do nothing as he was suddenly pulled up into the air and then slammed back down to the rubble. Like before, he managed to turn himself so that he took the brunt of the damage. To Elfman's dismay, this sequence happened again.
In a gigantic burst of magic, Jose rose from the rubble. Dark energy rolled off him in waves. His eyes glowed with magic showing how abundant it was in her body. With a snarl, he rapidly raised and lowered the hand he had pointed at Elfman. Said mage involuntarily followed the man's commands.
"You dare strike me…you worm…" Jose hissed. He raised his free hand to wipe the tiny amount of blood that exited through his split lip, "I'll make you suffer…then I'll torture every last member of your pathetic guild for the sin of destroying my guild!"
As Jose continued to destroy Elfman, Erza and Fu tried to attack him from his blind spot. To their surprise, the magic around Jose acted like a natural shield. They slowly managed to push through, but it was a difficult process. As they drew near to the man, they realized that they had to take him down immediately. Jose was on another level compared to anyone at their age range. He was a Wizard Saint of Makarov's level.
With one final toss of Elfman downward, Jose turned to the two woman. His magic surged even more to outrageous levels. Pointing one hand at each of the women, he sent out a blast of dark magic. Although the S-rank mages managed to block the attack, the sheer force of the attack sent them flying back. They crashed through rubble before coming to a stop.
"No more games," Jose's eyes turned black. His hands moved in rapid motion to write spells in the air, "Dark Storm!"
Magic burst from the writing, and the women were suddenly caught in a storm of Darkness magic. They were surrounded in the swirling storm of dark souls and moans of agony. Both of them quickly lost their place through the disorientation. Still, they didn't give up despite being covered in the most powerful spell they ever encountered.
Seeing that he had effectively dealt with the S-rank mages, Jose turned his attention to the downed Elfman. It appeared as though his Takeover had faded away. Mirajane had pealed herself from the unconscious man's arm and was now kneeling over him.
"Elfman…" Mira cried over the man, "Wake up, Elfman…"
"So he saved you from the damage…If I didn't hate him so much, I would respect him," Jose reached down and pulled Mira up by her hair, "Get away out of my way, useless girl."
Jose tossed the girl away uncaringly. She went tumbling away. Ignoring her cries of pain, Jason raised his foot and brought it down viciously on Elfman's head. Then, he repeated that action. He began to speak. Between each word, the brought his foot back down on Elfman's unmoving body.
"You…pathetic…worm…Dare to…hurt…me! I'll…kill you!" Jose snarled. He stomped his foot down one last time and began to squash his head, "I'll enjoy showing your little friends your lifeless body."
"No!" Mira tried to lung at Jose, but she was quickly stopped by a wave of Jose's hand. A burst of dark magic sent her down to the ground once more.
Jose glared at her for a second, "You're nothing."
Tears fell down Mira's cheeks. She reached out useless as Jose charge a magical beam to first at Elfman's chest. He was going to kill her brother. Once again, she was about to lose a little sibling right before her eyes. She couldn't do anything…Her brother was going to die…Elfman was going to die…
No.
No more death.
She wasn't going to let that happen.
"Never again!" Mira stopped Jose with her shout. No, that wasn't accurate. The change in her magic flow stopped him. Like her brother before her, Mira sucker punched an unsuspecting Jose. This hit was far stronger than Elfman, though, as Jose was sent crashing through debris. He quickly came to a stop and looked to see a truly frightful sight.
The Demon of Fairy Tail was awake.
Lucy was never more thankful for Fairy Tail's destructive tendencies than she was right now. It seemed as though Loke's last second distraction was just the amount of time she needed, because as soon as the rust haired man appeared, the building collapsed. This forced Aria to let go of her and allowed her to breath.
Through the falling rubble, Lucy quickly pulled out a key, "Open Gate of The Maiden!"
In a burst of light, a pink haired woman dressed like a maid appeared. Virgo quickly grabbed onto Lucy. She then used her manipulation of the earth and ground to soften the crumbling rubble around them. They actually manage to land safely through the crumbling building.
As the wreckage settled, Lucy let out a relieved sigh, "Thanks, Virgo."
"You're welcome, mistress," Virgo looked at Lucy expectantly, "Will you punish me now?"
"No…" Lucy was too tired for her normal outburst. Why was she always surrounded by crazy people?
"Lucy!" Loke landed next to the downed Celestial Spirit mage. He seemed to come out of the wreck unscathed, "Are you okay?"
"Yeah…thanks, Loke…"
"Loke…Leo?" Virgo stared at the well-dressed man, "It's been a while."
Loke nodded in acknowledgement, "Virgo."
Lucy blinked, "You know each other?"
Virgo answered, "Yes. He's a Celestial Spirit."
"He…what?"
Loke sighed, "It's a long story, but—"
The newly revealed spirit was silenced when Aria burst from the rubble. He had a look of complete rage on his face, "This is unacceptable! Fairy Tail…I will destroy all of you for your sins!"
Aria's magic shifted once more. The airspace turned with it. Suddenly the spirits and mage found it very hard to breath and move, "This the airspace that consumes all life! Zero!"
The air around the area began to swirl and twist. All three of them felt like the breath was being sucked out of their lungs. Despite this and the fear they felt, Loke jumped up and stood defensively in front of Lucy and Virgo, "No! I won't allow another Celestial mage to die!"
Lucy looked up at him in shock.
Tears rolled down his face, "My last owner died because I wouldn't help her…She may have been abusive, but…she didn't deserve to die! I've had to live with what I've done…banished to the human world…I accept that, but I couldn't just ignore another Celestial mage about to die!"
"Loke…" Lucy forced herself to stand despite the pain from the Zero airspace. She didn't notice as she stopped providing magic to Virgo, and the spirit disappeared.
"I won't let you kill Lucy!" Loke rushed forward to attack Aria. Said Phantom mage just laughed at him and sent out concentrated airspaces to stop him. The attacks landed on Loke and began to tear him apart, "Run, Lucy!"
"No!" Lucy lunged after the spirit and hugged him from behind. Like the spirit, she began to be torn apart as well. Despite this, she refused to let go and refused to cry. Not yet. She still had a battle to win.
Closing her eyes, she began to push her magic into him. Lucy reached to find what she felt every time she summoned a spirit. It was there. The door to the Celestial Spirit World. Usually, Lucy's keys allowed them to open, but now she just began to push at it.
"I can't allow you to do that," A booming voice sounded out. Time seemed to freeze for Lucy. The image of a giant appeared in front of her. The giant was dressed in bright armor and had a large crown adorning his head, "This is Leo's punishment, my old friend. He committed the greatest sin a spirit can make. He deliberately caused the death of his master."
"Who…who are you?"
"I am the Celestial Spirit King," The giant explained, "I rule my world and regulate all the contracts between your kind and mine, and I have already decided Leo's fate."
"Hasn't he suffered enough, though?" Lucy questioned, "He's lived with his actions for years, right? Isn't that enough? Does he really deserve to die?"
"The Law is immutable."
"I can't claim that I know the whole situation…but I do know that Loki is my comrade!" Lucy began to push at the door once more, "I can't allow him to die! I won't run! I won't compromise! If your law is really absolute, then you're killing me by letting him die!"
"Thou…would really die for him, old friend?" The Spirit King questioned.
"I would die for all of my friends in Fairy Tail! We are a guild! We are family!" Lucy pushed as hard as she could. To the king's shock, she actually began to move the door. Despite the locks and barricade holding her back, she began to open the door, "He's been punished enough! I'll take responsibility for him! As of right now, I'm his new master!"
"I see…Thou are very much like thy mother, old friend. Thy passion pulls at this old man's heart strings," The Spirit King smiled, "Very well. Leo is thine to use, Lucy Heartfilia. I look forward to seeing what thou does in the future."
The door was suddenly shoved open as if the locks were removed. Lucy felt the familiar weight of a key in her hand, "Open Gate of The Lion!"
An unbelievable amount of magic surged off of Loki. The force was so great that it pushed back and destroyed Aria's most deadly airspaces. The Phantom Mage's jaw dropped in shock, "What?! That's not possible!"
"Nothing's impossible for Fairy Tail, bitch!" Loke was smiling from ear to ear. He hadn't felt this good in…ever. He gathered all of his golden magic into his right hand, "Regulus Impact!"
Loke punched forward and slammed Aria with his glowing fist. The massive man was covered in a burst of golden magic in the shape of a lion's head. Roaring in pain, Aria was sent flying away. He crashed through several feet of rubble until finally coming to a stop. His prone, smoking body twitched in pain but did not rise. The final member of the Element Four had been defeated.
With the battle finally over, Lucy allowed the tears she had been holding back to fall, "We did it…"
"No…" Loke turned and held Lucy to keep her from falling, "You did it, Lucy. You…you're amazing. I'm honored to be your spirit."
"Good…" Lucy felt her body go numb, "But try…not to be…too big of a flirt, okay?"
"No promises," Loke lifted Lucy up into a bridal carry, "Hey, where did Levy go?"
"She…was ambushed," Lucy tried to keep her eyes opened but was fighting a losing battle, "Need to find her."
"I'm on it," Loke noted. He needed to return to the Spirit World soon, but that could wait for later. Right now, there was still a war that needed finishing.
Naruto was in an excruciating amount of pain. The grass blades that were sticking out of the bark was stabbing into him from every direction. Hissing, he used his wind to cut through the blades. That dealt with the immediate blade issue. With that dealt with, Naruto focused on healing the new wounds across his body.
Arashi took advantage of that. The branch holding Naruto swung up above the main body of the tree. All the branches of the tree reached up and surrounded the branch holding Naruto. The bark then hardened to the point of near steel. Now effectively having his enemy trapped in a thick cage of branches, the Nature God Slayer decided to attack the now healed Naruto.
Roots, smaller branches, and vines burst from the sides of Naruto's dark prison. They all immediately wrapped around the blonde and held him still. As they did this, more thorns and spikes bursts from the foliage. Once again, Naruto shouted out in pain as he was stabbed from almost every directing. Things only became worse when the thorns began to actually move.
The Sky God Slayer tried to free himself by releasing bursts of wind, but this proved fruitless. There were too many different vines and roots holding him. They just regenerated and held him tighter. Despite his struggles, Naruto's arms and legs were held apart and far away from his weapons. He also couldn't do hand signs for his clones.
There was still the seals written on his armor. No way to use an earth wall…He couldn't generate water without a source…Fire could burn the wood, but with him trapped in the wooden prison that would be a death sentence for him.
'I don't have any options…except…Kurama…'
'Oh? Finally resorting to calling in some of my chakra, huh?'
'Not like I have a lot of choice here.'
'True. Kick his ass, Kit.'
Red chakra began to burst from Naruto's skin.
Arashi's voice echoed through the tree, "Nope. Sorry. That won't work. Mokuton: Sealing Pillars!"
Naruto was shocked when different wooden pillars wrapped around his body. Kurama's chakra was immediately pushed back, 'No…It can't be…'
'Kit! This is for real! He's using chakra!'
"What? Did you think that you were the only person from the Elemental Nations that was called to be a God Slayer?" Arashi sounded amused, "Nope. My ancestor, the one that wrote the book on Nature God Slayer magic, came for your home world. I'm sure you've already heard of his last name at least...the name he passed onto my mother before she married. Senju...and that Senju kept all of his notes on his ninjustu techniques hidden the book as well. A lot of it was Mokuton techniques just in case any of his ancestors could use the bloodline. None could...until me. Even if I'm a fake human, my mother's DNA passed on chakra to my body. With both the right genetics and the blessing of a literal Nature God...Well, Mokuton is child's play for me."
Naruto was shocked. That was insane…but even if that was true, then how…
"I bet you're wondering how I can use Mokuton effectively like this without actually practicing on a jinchūriki," Arashi answered Naruto's unspoken question, "Tell me, haven't you noticed a trend of God Slayers allying with jinchūriki? Now, what jinchūriki would willingly let me train my Mokuton on him for the right price…"
'Han…' Naruto realized, 'He would do that…and with his ability to combine his magic and chakra so effortlessly…this wouldn't affect him in a real fight anyway…It was the perfect deal for him…'
"Did you really think that I would fight you without knowing everything about you…without a plan where I knew that I would win? I got you trapped, Naruto Uzumaki. There's no way out without a secret technique up your sleeve."
Naruto didn't have any more tricks. Pain shot through Naruto's entire body as the sentient tree began to tear him apart. He could do nothing but scream, "AAAAAAHHHH!"
"I didn't think so. You never stood a chance, Uzumaki."
Thank you all for reading and please remember to…
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