Haloha, everyone! Sorry for the reupload, was having some technical issues, it's all sorted out! Just a quick announcement, I'm currently facing semester exams, so this and the next chapter might be a bit on the shorter side, so I apologize for that! Well, have a good day! Here's chapter 6!


Chapter 6 : Battle of Nightglades!

"LIGHTNING FIRE DRAGON MODE!"

Ice Demon Slayer Mode.

"STAR DRESS : LEO FORM!"

"REQUIP! HEAVEN'S WHEEL ARMOR!"

Dragon Force.

We're all fired up now!

The minions roared and charged against the Fairy Tail Wizards.

"Let's go!" The group yelled in unison and directly split off.

Immediately, Erza launched herself forward, using her two blades to slice down everything with such precise movements in her path. "Keep them busy! I'll take down the Whisperer!" Erza dashed upwards, decimating any minion with ease as she hunted down the source of these demonic entities. "PENTAGRAM SWORD!"

More minions appeared and encircled the remaining wizards. Their hoods stretched open to reveal mouths with spiky teeth, releasing piercing energy beams on to the wizards from every direction.

"ICE MAKE RAMPART!" Gray spread his hands outwards, unleashing a wall of ice around them, shielding them from the blasts.

"Let's go, Happy!"

"Aye, sir!" Happy grabbed Natsu by the back of his collar.

He turned to Wendy and Carla. "Let's show them what we're made of, Wendy!" He grinned.

"Yeah!" Wendy exclaimed back.

Quickly, Happy and Carla flew their dragon slayers out of the confinement from the ice walls. The minions turned their attention to them and began shooting energy beams at them.

Both the Exceeds dodged swiftly along with their dragon slayers out of harm's way, avoiding every single attack from the minions with skillful twists and turns.

"Time for some payback!" Natsu raised both his arms above his head. "Lightning Fire Dra…agh!" Natsu clutched his left arm reflexively. Earlier, he had severely injured his left arm. Raising his arm sent him a wave of pain throughout his body, making it difficult to cast his magic spells.

"Natsu, are you alright?" Happy asked with concern, slowing his pace.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine." Natsu assured him. He slowly raised his left arm again, trying to gauge how much pain he could withstand. Not really much…

"SKY DRAGON WING ATTACK!" Wendy swiped her hands forward, releasing a devastating gust of wind, blowing a good chunk of the minions out of the way.

"Wendy, above you!" Carla flew Wendy out of the minions' attacks raining from above.

Wendy signaled for Carla to bring her towards the enemies. "SKY DRAGON CRUSHING FANG!" Carla released her and Wendy immediately leapt upwards and swiped her targets, generating a large burst of wind on impact.

Noticing her, Natsu just couldn't leave all the fighting to Wendy. His pride wouldn't allow it. He would fight alongside her the best he could. Injuries be damned.

Natsu gritted his teeth, raising both his arms above him again, bearing the pain in his left arm. His right arm ignited in flames, his left arm sparking in lightning. "LIGHTNING FIRE DRAGON BRILLIANT FLAME!" Natsu smashed his hands together, generating a massive ball composed of fire and lightning elements. He hurled it at the minions targeting him, creating a massive explosion on impact, obliterating a sizeable portion of the forest, and leaving a crater in its wake.

"Now that's more like it! Ugh…" Natsu held his left arm. It seems using both his elements caused a lot of strain on his injuries. This still hurts like hell…

"Way to go, Natsu!" Happy flew him down and let him go on the ground.

Focusing on his injury, Natsu didn't realize minions had already appeared behind him.

"What the-" He realized a second too late.

"REGULUS STRIKE!" Lucy roundhouse kicked the minions attacking Natsu, defeating them in a single swoop.

"Lucy!"

"Keep your focus, Natsu!" Lucy smiled, turning her attention to other minions.

Natsu nodded. "This sure feels like old times, eh Luce?" He grinned, putting his back against Lucy.

"It sure does! Let's kick some butt!"

"Aye!" Happy exclaimed.

In an instant, they both charged against the minions, as if they had planned this from the start.

"REGULUS IMPACT!" Lucy glowed her fists in golden light and struck forward, blinding and removing the minions from existence.

"FIRE DRAGON SWORD HORN!" Natsu ignited his body in flames and launched himself rapidly towards the minions, burning through and destroying them.

Multiple minions appeared once more and began launching energy beams towards the dragon slayer and celestial wizard. Natsu and Lucy charged towards them together. They glanced at each other and playfully smiled.

"You thinking what I'm thinking?"

"Yeah!"

Natsu jumped up and flipped himself forward, igniting his legs in flames while Lucy dived under Natsu and enhanced hers with Regulus light.

"FIRE DRAGON TALON!"

"REGULUS LUCY KICK!"

With perfect harmony, they both swiftly thrusted their feet forward and struck the minions at the same time, unleashing a Unison Raid that went blazing in beautiful and dazzling, golden flames.

With those attacks, they wiped out all the surrounding minions with ease.

"Way to go, Luce!" Natsu grinned, pumping his hands up for a double high-five.

"Hell yeah!" Lucy smiled brightly and accepted his high-fives with both her hands.

Wendy glanced at them from the corner of her eye, noticing how good their synergy was. They're so in sync… No, in fact, their synergy was perfect. They knew each other that well to time their attacks, to fully trust in each other. The unison of Natsu's flames and Lucy's Regulus was… breathtaking. They were an amazing fighting duo. Even Wendy had to admit this. This depressed her a bit, sending her heart a sting of jealousy.

"Wendy, look out!" Carla shouted.

"Huh?" Wendy snapped out of her mind, noticing minions had surrounded her from all sides. They immediately charged against her with their long and extended, bony claws.

"ICE MAKE ICE GEYSER!" All the minions were frozen almost instantly in ice erupting through the ground. The ice soon shattered piece by piece, destroying the minions within as well.

"Gray!" Wendy spun to him.

"You alright, Wendy? Keep your guard up." He ran to her.

"Is something bothering you, child?" Carla asked, concerned. "It's not like you to lose focus in the middle of battle."

"No, it's fine." Wendy denied it. She shouldn't be thinking about Natsu at a time like this. In her defense, she was rather worried about Natsu's injuries. But this wasn't the place nor the time for it. She shook her head to clear her mind. Carla slowly flew her down to the ground.

"Gray! Wendy! You guys done?" Natsu shouted, walking with Lucy towards them.

"Yeah, no problems here." Gray replied.

"This was… surprisingly easier than I thought." Lucy said, a bit confused. She transformed out of her star dress.

"No kidding." Gray said. "They're not showing up as quickly as I thought." He scanned his surroundings. "I don't even see any of them now. Makes me wonder how Natsu could even have a tough time. "He jokingly smirked at him.

"I could have handled them all by myself." Natsu scoffed at him, puckering his lips.

"Do you think Erza's already found the Whisperer?" Lucy asked.

Natsu tilted his head. "Not sure." He sniffed the air a couple of times. "I don't smell her nearby, or that annoying smell either."

"That must mean the Whisperer isn't nearby... or at least whoever was controlling those things." Wendy guessed.

The ground suddenly shook beneath their feet, causing the trees to rustle greatly.

"What the… what was that?" Gray asked, looking around hurriedly.

"An earthquake?" Happy hid behind Natsu's leg.

The ground shook again, even stronger this time, causing Natsu to nearly stumble over.

"Woah!"

A great shadow loomed over all the wizards. They all turned their bodies towards the source of the shadow.

The wizards were left speechless at what they witnessed. A giant cloaked, earth golem was stomping its way towards the wizards, destroying every tree in its path and leaving giant footprints. Long, spiky claws protruded from its back. Bony blades resembling human spines were attached to each of its rocky hands. Dark miasma was surrounding its body that towered of the wizards.

"WHAT IS THAT THING?" Lucy shouted in fear.

"Whatever the hell it is, it sure ain't friendly!" Gray replied, shaking a bit.

"IT'S GOING TO EAT US!" Happy cried out in panic.

"P-Pull yourself together, tomcat!" Carla said, trying to calm herself mainly.

The golem let out a destructive roar, blowing the trunks of nearby trees away from the ground. It directly charged at the wizards, shaking the earth with every step.

Gray stepped forward, bringing his hand in front of his chest. "You ain't going anywhere! ICE MAKE SILVER!" He clenched his fist, immediately freezing the golem in a mountain of ice. "It's time for you to cool dow-"

The ice suddenly shattered, exploding outwards into numerous fragments. The golem extended its bony blades and hurled it down on to the Fairy Tail wizards.

"What the?! MOVE!" Gray warned everyone. He and Natsu dodged to the right side, while the others dodged to the left. The golem's blade ruptured the ground, splitting it in half and nearly sending the wizards flying away by its shock wave.

"No way! It broke through my ice?!" Gray backflipped in midair and held the ground beneath him with his palm, forcing himself to stop moving from the impact while regaining his balance.

"This guy's tough, that's for sure! Gugh…" Natsu rolled over and directly stood up, bearing the pain from his wounds.

The golem spread out its claws and let out a screeching roar, shaking the ground beneath them.

Natsu immediately leapt forward towards the golem. "Gray!"

Without as much as a thought, Gray understood what Natsu was implying. "Yeah!" He charged alongside Natsu.

The golem turned its head towards the duo, raising its blade to attack a second time.

Natsu and Gray abruptly stopped a safe distance away out of the golem's range and shifted into their casting stances swiftly, their backs facing each other. They both took deep breaths, filling their lungs.

"FIRE DRAGON ROAR!"

"ICE DEMON RAGE!"

Powerful streams of scorching heat and freezing chills were simultaneously blasted out from their mouths, fusing together into an intense wave of fire and ice. The Unison Raid pierced through the golem's abdomen, pushing it backwards in the process and exploding on impact, being covered with smoke. The golem erupted in flames and ice.

"Whew…" Natsu dropped his hands to his knees. That attack took more out of him than he thought, despite not using his lightning element.

"Did we get him?" Gray squinted his eyes towards the explosion.

Almost instantly, a bony blade had cleanly cut through the smoke, being aimed at Gray's direction.

SLASH!

"GRAY!" Natsu quickly shoved Gray out of the way, taking the full impact of the golem's attack and was sent flying backwards.

Gray got back up immediately, turning his attention to Natsu. "NATSU! Grrr!" He growled at the intimidating golem.

The golem lifted its mighty arm and slammed it downwards on to Gray. However, it felt its arm locked in place.

"Grrr…. I'll freeze you this time!" Gray had blocked its arm with his hands. He pressed his palms on to its arm and began releasing his magic power through its body, attempting to freeze it in place.

The golem's arm was slowly covered in ice, being unable to move. The golem raised its other arm, about to slam it on to Gray.

"LIGHTNING FIRE DRAGON SWORD HORN!" A body of intense flames and lightning rushed against the golem's attacking arm, completely cancelling out its attack. Natsu had jumped back into the fray.

Seeing this as an opportunity, Gray lifted the arm away, almost tipping the Golem off balance. "ICE IMPACT!" Gray slammed his right fist on to his left palm, creating an icy structure above the golem, and sending it crashing downwards.

The golem fell down to the ground, shaking it to its core. Moments later it stood up, its body now glowing an intense shade of purple. Its lifeless eyes focused on Natsu.

"Damn, it's still standing? Guess I'll have to knock you down a few sizes." Natsu glared back, igniting his right arm in flames.

The golem swiped its right arm, attacking Natsu's side. Natsu dug his feet into the ground, trying to block the impact of its attack with his flames. A second later, Natsu was blown away, being slammed to a nearby tree.

"GUGH!" Natsu cried out in pain, grabbing his left arm, now even in a worse condition.

The golem stepped closer to Natsu, intending to end his life.

"Don't forget me! ICE MAKE LANCE!" Gray spread his hands apart and summoned multiple lances made of ice, launching them towards the golem's back.

Ignoring Gray's attacks, the golem still continued on to Natsu who was still in pain lying down on the ground.

"SKY DRAGON ROAR!" A sudden, spiraling hurricane forcefully blew the golem a few meters away from Natsu, temporarily stealing its attention away from him.

"Wendy!" Gray turned around and saw the others were safe.

"Gray, are you alright? Where's Natsu?" Lucy asked, running over to him with Wendy and the two Exceeds.

"He's over there, we need to get him out of here!" Gray worriedly motioned to Natsu who was struggling to stand up.

"Natsu!" Wendy instinctively took off towards Natsu, not noticing the golem's impending blade attack.

"Wendy, look out!" Carla grabbed Wendy by the back of her collar and barely flew her out of the golem's blade swing. "Don't be so careless!"

"But Natsu's hurt!" Wendy couldn't calm herself seeing Natsu in such a state.

"This is a pain in the ass!" Gray growled, focusing his magic power to his demonic side. "I need you two to take Natsu and get out of here! I'll distract it!"

"I'm not down yet…" Natsu stood up, igniting himself in fire and lightning once more. He was pushing himself beyond his limits.

"Natsu!" Lucy cried out. "Please, get out of there!" She wanted to grab him and take him away, but the golem wasn't going to make this possible.

"Natsu!" Happy cried out, afraid for his friend's safety.

Natsu ignored their pleas, walking towards the golem.

"That idiot… take care of yourself first." Gray whispered and furrowed his eyebrows. Well, he wasn't surprised. Natsu doesn't back down that easily. "Wendy, enchant my magic power! I'll end this in a single blow!" Gray turned his attention to the golem.

"Right!" Wendy shifted into her casting stance, putting on a deliberate pose. "Power of the stout arms that tears heaven... ARMS!" A magical light blue rune appeared below Gray, raising his offensive power.

"Ice Demon…" Ice of a purplish hue raised around his feet, emitting demonic energy around him. In his hands was an ice bow and arrow being molded. He aimed it at the golem's head.

"Dragon Slayer Secret Art…" Natsu shifted into his casting stance for a powerful move, facing the golem head on.

The golem let out a screeching roar, then reared its head to Gray, its eyes glowing a mysterious white light.

"Gray, now's a good time to take a shot!" Lucy urged him.

"ZERO DESTRUCTION BOW!" Gray released a powerful demonic, freezing arrow, now homing in on to the golem at blazing speed.

"FLAME LOTUS EXPLODING LIGHTNING BLADE!" Natsu swiped his arms in a circular fashion, releasing a powerful and massive, piercing wave of flame and lightning, flying against the golem.

The golem stretched out its arm towards the arrow Gray had shot, as if to stop it.

"I'd like to see you try to stop that!" Gray smirked, feeling this was going to be his victory soon.

The golem's stretched arm glowed a faint white light, releasing mysterious magic power outwards. Moments later, the arrow was covered in the same white light, though it wasn't being stopped at all. Rather, it seemed to be changing its course of trajectory… towards Natsu.

"What…" Lucy's mouth went agape in horror.

Gray's pupils diminished in shock, realizing what the golem was now planning. "You….! NATSU, GET OUT OF THE WAY!" He tried to warn him. It wasn't planning to stop it, it was planning to change its direction! Why is it able to do that?!

The destruction arrow avoided the golem, and instead collided with Natsu's lightning blade, creating a massive explosion on impact.

"Huh…?" Natsu's eyes widened in confusion, turning them towards Gray. What the hell are you doing?!

SLASH!

Moments later, the destruction arrow phased through the explosion, ultimately piercing through Natsu's abdomen, spilling out blood everywhere.

"Huh…?" Natsu grunted and looked downwards, realizing he had just been shot through the abdomen. He felt cold and prickly sensations spread throughout his body. He fell on to his back, unable to react or scream out in pain. If anything, it seemed shock was the most prominent expression on his face.

Gray, Lucy, Happy, and Carla's eyes widened in shock and horror, witnessing Natsu taking a direct hit. They were all paralyzed to the ground.

Wendy's heart stopped at the sight of Natsu. It felt like time moved in slow motion, watching the arrow piercing through Natsu, watching droplets of his blood fly around. Soon, she could only hear the sound of her beating heart which gradually increased in volume. Her feet were locked into the ground, unable to move no matter how much she forced them.

"NATSU!" Wendy cut through the silence, snapping everyone back to reality. She didn't care if she got hurt. She didn't care if Carla would berate her. She had to reach him. She couldn't lose Natsu now. The thought of him not being here anymore sent her heart an aching wave of pain. The thought of him dying…. No, she wasn't going to let him die! Focusing all the strength into her legs, she leapt out towards Natsu at full speed.

"Wendy!" Carla called out to her, reaching out her paws.

The golem raised its bony blade above a nearly lifeless Natsu, and quickly swiped it down. But not before Wendy dove in front of his body, crossing her arms in front of her and intending to block the impact head on.

The golem smashed its blade downwards, crushing Wendy's arms, as well as the ground beneath her. Wendy's arms took the full force of the impact, causing her to scream out in pain. Using an overwhelming amount of force, the golem pushed its blade downwards, shattering the ground beneath Wendy and Natsu in half.

"Gugh!" Wendy tried to absorb the impact with her arms as best she could. Her arms received a visible cut, slowly bleeding out. Losing strength too quickly, she was forced to tap out of her Dragon Force. She didn't care about herself, she just wanted to protect Natsu.

The ground started splitting in half and shifting apart, revealing several steep waterfalls underneath. Having faced the full impact of the golem's attack, Wendy slipped through the cracks in the ground, but suddenly felt her arm being grabbed.

"I got you!" Natsu grabbed her arm as she fell with his right, his left arm holding on to the edge of the newly formed cliff. Natsu gritted his teeth, his left arm sending him waves of uncontrollable pain. They were both hanging from the edge now.

"Natsu, hang on!" Happy jumped forward and flew directly towards Natsu.

"Wendy!" Carla beelined towards her.

Lucy hurriedly grabbed her whip from her belt and uncoiled it. "Hold on!"

"I'll get you out of there! ICE MAKE GRAPPL-"

The golem immediately landed another downwards strike towards Gray's direction, generating a shockwave that blew him and Lucy off the ground as well as the flying Exceeds away.

"Wendy, I'm going to throw you up there, alright?!" Natsu focused his energy on to his right arm, gripping Wendy tightly.

"What about you?!"

"Just go!" With all his might, Natsu attempted to swing her upwards.

"No! I'm not letting you go!" Wendy tightened her grip on Natsu's hand. She wasn't going to lose him. Not now. Not ever.

The golem let out a destructive roar, shattering the ground beneath it. Natsu held on to the edge as best as he could, bearing the increasing pain from his left arm. His left arm eventually gave out, and he had to let go of the shattered cliff. The dragon slayers fell through the ground, slowly being shrouded in darkness, the sky disappearing out of their view. Their own screams echoed through the forest, being swallowed in nothingness.

They could only hear the screams and cries of their own names.

Descending into darkness.