Hi people! Here I am again with the new chapter!
Thanks everyone for your reviews, I'm really appreciating your efforts.
Answers for the reviewers:
abhishekunnikm: Yeah, I know, not everyone likes my style of writing romance. But this is my style – turbulent emotions and a lot of passion. =)
Silent Reader 6100: Thanks =)
Ashcrow Knight: Man, trust me – I'm perfectly aware about frustration, which bad grammar may cause. I'm trying to find some beta reader for my stories for about three months by now. But most of the people who agreed to help me appeared to be busy and worked too slow, or just disappeared without saying anything.
As soon as I manage to find someone who will check my chapters faster than I'm writing them, grammar and spelling should improve.
Orchamus It was a bit obvious, isn't it? But actually, Erza got Flame dragon slayer magic, not Fire =) (Think of Atlas Flame who donated a bit of his essence) Why I decided to use "Flame" instead of "Fire"? You'll see soon enough, for now I'll just say that it's not as it seems anyway. =)
Everyone else – many thanks for your reviews, I hope you'll enjoy this chapter too.
Few words about Erza: As many of you already guessed – I made her a dragon slayer. Why I decided to do it? Because I like explosions and her native magic is not explosive enough. And I love dragon slayer magic =) Also I wanted to make her suffer from motion sickness xD… Damn, it seems as if I'm some kind of a sadist… I like this red-haired girl so I made her suffer? Oh, well…
Chapter updated 24/11/2016
Chapter V – Damned and Denied
…
July 8th, Year X784, 12:10, Clover town, Guild Masters League meeting hall.
Inside of a large, emasculate brick building, guild masters from miles around were having their regular meeting ongoing. Makarov was sitting on one of the tables, drinking and talking with the other guild masters as they continued their meeting, his face was a bit red from all the alcohol he's already drank. The fat man, whose looks is impossible to describe with common words, came closer to Makarov's table. It was Bob, Master of the Blue Pegasus guild.
"Makarov, it sure must be nice to have all your little wizardies so pepped up," Bob said as he moved around the table with excited look. "Oh, I heard that you gave some aristocrat a good trashing, something about your new member."
"Oh, that was my newest recruit, Lucy. She's great!" Makarov replied as he looked at his colleagues with half-drunk sight, "What a boyoyoing figure she got!"
"Stop it, old jerk! You can't talk about your subordinates like this!" Bob commented as he waved off Makarov's perverted words. "As far as I know – she was on a mission with that lovely guy who was in the magazine last week."
"Yeah, it's some kind of our guild's tradition – Natsu invited Lucy for the tutorial mission," Makarov confirmed with proud look. "I hope she will get used to our guild's lifestyle quite fast, Natsu is a perfect exemplar!" He added with laugh.
"Is this something to be laughing about, Makarov?" Asked a man with a spiky chocker around his neck – the master of the Quatro Cerberus guild, Goldmine. "Yeah, it's great they're energetic, but they go way overboard. There are people on the council who're worried Fairy Tail's gonna crush an entire city one day, you know."
"I'd like to be crushed… by Lucy's boobs, that's it!" Makarov Exclaimed with careless laugher as he raised chicken leg above his head. "Besides, there is no way something like this could happen – destroying an entire town is too much, even for Natsu… at least for now…" Makarov's grin faded a little before his attention was taken away when he heard a tiny voice calling out.
"Master Makarov, Master Makarov!" A little blue bird, wearing a purple hat, chirped as it stopped right in front of the old man. "I have a letter from Mirajane-san for you, sir!" The bird announced as it handed the letter to Makarov.
"Ahh… Thanks," He said as he activated the letter and a small magical seal appeared over the envelope with a miniature projection of Mirajane on top of it.
"Master, hard at work at your regular meeting, yes?" Mirajane's image said as Makarov began showing her off to the other guild masters.
"What do you think? This here's our poster-girl! Quite a looker, eh?!" Makarov exclaimed with enthusiastic look.
"Oh my…" Several peoples said simultaneously.
"Little Mirajane, huh? She sure looks like she's grown up…" Goldmine said with his arms crossed.
"Actually, something incredible happened while you were gone!" Mira said with excited look. "As we've guessed – Natsu and Erza really are dating. Just yesterday they announced their relationships to entire guild! However, it's not all! It appeared that they are already engaged, wedding is planned for October, 13! Whole guild is invited!" Somehow, things become quiet around Makarov's table.
Mirajane continued, "Also they said that they are going to form a permanent team! As their first mission, they both going to help Gray with the assignment which you have discussed earlier! Doubtlessly, this is the most powerful team Fairy Tail ever had!" As Mirajane continued to speak Makarov's face was growing paler and paler as his body was sweating all over. "I figured I should report this, so I wrote you a letter. Talk to you later, good luck at the meeting, master!" Lil Mirajane said and disappeared.
"A-are y-you kidding me!?" Makarov exclaimed in shock and fear as he became completely white. He stood for a few seconds staring into space before he collapsed on his back.
"Makarov! What happened?" Several peoples asked as they came closer to check Fairy Tail master's condition.
"It seems those worries might actually come to pass, oy…" Goldmine said as he watched Makarov's fall.
Okay, this old man wasn't a fool, and he has a lot of life expirience. He guessed that Natsu and Erza are dating and mentally he was prepared to face the inevitable. But wedding?! Already planned?! And, even worse – permanent team?! And now they are going to help Gray?! Together?!
'Goodness gracious… Natsu, Erza and Gray on the same mission?! Either of those two, Natsu or Erza, are bad enough by themselves. But two of them in the same team, and with Gray being added to the roster… THEY REALLY COULD SMASH AN ENTIRE CITY!' Makarov thought in panic before trying to get a hold on himself. 'The regular meeting will end today and I can go back to the guild tomorrow… Please let nothing happen until then, I'm begging you!
July 8th, Year X784, 13:05, Kunugi station.
When Natsu and his team arrived to the cliff just over the station, they watched as the civilians were explaining to the soldiers what has happened here. Some people were in panic and others were angry as the knights were trying to defuse the situation.
"I could understand getting on a cart or a boat, but train?" Lucy spoke out in confusion.
"Yeah, it's quite strange, what's the benefit of escaping on a train that can only move on rails?" Gray scratched his cheek as he once again appeared in his boxers.
"It's pretty fast, however," Erza said as she stood outside the vehicle, enjoying these few minutes without motion sickness, though she seemed slightly dazed.
"Yes, it seems that those rats from Eisenwald are in big hurry, they're up to something, no doubts," Natsu speculated. "But at least we can guess their destination – it is somewhere you can get, following the railway. And fortunately for us – there are no junctions – only one way till the very border of the country."
"But the army is already on the move…" Lucy noticed several soldiers on the station's platform. "Isn't it only a matter of time until they're caught, right?"
"It would be nice, if it happens, but…" Erza said as she unwillingly entered the vehicle.
"…but there's a zero chance that just the army will be able to handle an entire dark guild, two dangerous criminals and mass-death curse magic," Natsu finished Erza's phrase as he again let his fiancée to sit on his lap. "We have to hurry, let's move, quickly," Natsu ordered as Erza let out a painful moan when vehicle moved forward.
July 8th, Year X784, 13:42, Inside the train, on the span between Kunugi and Oshibana.
"Flies? On this train?" Erigor asked with a pretty cold voice.
"Yes. He was on the train until minute ago. He attacked me and tried to get the flute. I was about to get rid of him, but Reina's sphere exploded and he was able to escape," Kageyama explained with nervous expression on his face, he also severely misrepresented the situation.
With an evil sneer, Erigor made two very fast swings with his scythe, wounding Kageyama's ears and scaring several other guild members.
"CYAAAHHH!" Kageyama screamed as he grabbed his slightly incised ears.
"A fly from Fairy Tail? So, you let him see the Rarabai [Lullaby] flute and get away without saying a thing? Yeah, Kageyama?" Erigor asked with disappointed expression.
"It's not like our plan is blown! And even if he did notice, there's no way he knows a thing about the flute! it's not like anyone can stop us now, right?!" Scared Kageyama exclaimed as he fell on his knees.
"Of course," Erigor spoke out as he plunged his scythe right in front of Kage, scaring him even more, "But it is important that we take extra precautions. Did I make myself clear?" Erigor asked, looking at his other subordinates, "We are going to put that plan into action."
"So, at Oshibana station…" Rayure said.
"Flies, huh?" Erigor chuckled with dark sight, "There are some forests where they really shouldn't be flying around. Teach them all a lesson."
"Yeah!" Several guild members shouted simultaneously.
July 8th, Year X784, 13:42, on approach to city of Oshibana [A/N: Word "Oshiba" means "Pressed leaves", so town's name "Oshibana" could be translated as "Herbarium"]
Team Natsu's vehicle made a skidding turn as Natsu poured more of his magic into the machine to increase its speed. He took the S.E. plug several minutes ago, reasoning that he can't let anyone from his team to reach the destination without magic powers. Gray remained on driver's seat, all he has to do now is watch the road. S.E. plug was conducted inside the vehicle's salon through a window.
"Natsu, you are forcing too much magic into the vehicle! It's hard to keep it on the road!" Gray shouted from the driver's seat. "Look, S.E. plug is inflating!"
"There's not much choice, Gray," Natsu replied, despite the situation his voice was as calm as ever. "Those imbeciles somehow managed to lay their little dirty hands on a device, capable of mass-murder, so we can't afford to waste any time, we need to stop Eisenwald before they decide to play some song," Natsu added while he continued to force his magic into the vehicle.
"If we let… this flute to be played… a great number… of innocent people… will become victims… Human lives will end… by the melody of the flute…" Erza moaned scarcely.
"No way I would allow something like this to happen, amica mea, I swear it," Natsu whispered calmingly.
"What are we supposed to do when we get there, and you don't have any magical power left to fight?" Gray warned as the vehicle turned another corner.
"Watch the road Gray, I'm well aware of my magic reserves. I have more than enough to catch up with the Eisenwald and fight against them after it," Natsu replied indifferently as Erza gave him a barely noticeable smile.
"No… he is right… You may need this magic… in battle… who knows… what they're planning… please… plug me instead…" She asked him.
Natsu attentively looked into her eyes before saying "alright". Then he removed her right glove and placed an S.E. plug on her wrist, vehicle's speed didn't change at all. Looks like even in her current condition she is able to control the flow of her magic.
"Are you insane?" Gray asked "Look at her condition! Yet you let her to use magic!"
"I trust her Gray, she knows what she is doing," Natsu replied emotionlessly, "Just focus on the road."
On the opposite seat, Lucy and Sin were discussing some of the Fairy Tail mages. Suddenly Sin said "…by the way, Lucy, I have a strange feeling that I have to say something to you… I can't remember what it is, though…"
Lucy looked at him with curious look, "To me? What? Is this something important?" She asked, making Sin to nod his boney head. If he would have a face, it would be showing that he is thinking hard about it. "Try to remember, you're making me curious," Lucy asked.
"I'm trying…" Sin replied. "All I can remember now is that it was something that has something to do with you… hmmm."
Suddenly, a sound of large explosion echoed throughout the town, making the four mages and a magical familiar to look in the direction from where this sound originated; soon they all were able to see a smoke rising up into the sky.
"W-What the hell was that?!" Lucy exclaimed as she stuck her head out the window.
"…I think we just found Eisenwald." Gray said as he turned the wheeler towards the smoke. "Let's just hope they won't try to involve civilians into this…"
July 8th, Year X784, 14:30, Oshibana station.
When the team arrived to Oshibana Station, there was a huge crowd of people in front of the station building. Most of them were trying to find out what is going on as the employees were failing at their attempts to calm the people down. Natsu's team got off from the vehicle and moved toward the station through the crowd.
"Ladies and gentlemen! Please stay back. It is too dangerous at the moment to enter the station!" A station master was speaking through a megaphone while his subordinates were trying to keep the people from forcing their way through. "A train was derailed by an accident, so no one is allowed to go inside of the station! Until we can confirm the safety inside, the station will be closed to the public!" The station master has dine speaking, but the crowd did not break.
"A train derailed? Really?" Someone from crowd said with skeptical tone.
"I heard rumors that some dangerous guys are holed up in the train station…" Another one said.
"Are you okay?" Natsu asked his fiancée, who was leaning on his shoulder as he started to push his way through the crowd, toward the station master, the others were following right behind them.
"I will be alright, in a few minutes… I just need some time to catch my breath…" She replied and tried to smile (without much success).
"But they said the station's closed," Lucy noted, watching Natsu pushing people out of the way. "Wouldn't it be bad to force our way through?"
"We don't have time to listen to them…" Erza retorted as she managed to recover a bit.
"Besides, we are not going to "force" our way into the station," Natsu noted, examining the surroundings. "We are here for the mission, so they should not try to stop us." He then addressed to Erza, "Can you stand?"
"Yes," She replied simply as she lightly kissed Natsu's cheek and removed her hand from his shoulder.
"Then let me talk with that man a little," He said, gently touched the tip of her nose, and went towards the station master. "We are here on behalf of the magic council, report," Natsu addressed the man with quiet but firm voice.
"Y… yes sir!" Station master reported as he saluted to Natsu. "The station was captured by a large group of unknown terrorists. We do not know their intentions and they did not put forward any demands yet. As far as we know, there are no civilians inside the station building. A military platoon entered the building a few minutes ago, but we lost contact with them," Station master finished his report.
"We are here on behalf of the council? Really?" Lucy wondered.
"Of course not, Lucy, don't be silly," Sin snorted.
"Can't say I like this method, but I also can't deny its efficiency," Gray commented as he again stripped to his boxers.
"Why'd you strip?" Lucy blinked.
"Okay, I'm going into the building with my team, try to keep civilians as far away from the station as possible," Natsu ordered to the station master before returning to his team.
"I heard everything, nice work," Erza whispered to Natsu as he came closer. "Eisenwald is inside the building, a few army units entered the station earlier however none of them have come back yet," She informed the others. "Come on, we have to hurry".
"It's very likely that military platoon engaged Eisenwald in battle," Erza guessed as team was running through station's main hall. Knight-mage was running first, looks like she knew where to go, somehow.
They soon came across a number of footmen that were lying on the floor and stairway, they were battered and obviously defeated in violent battle, not all of them survived the encounter.
"Look, the military! They've been wiped out!" Lucy exclaimed with a scared voice.
"An army platoon hardly stood a chance, they were up against an entire guild. Every single one of them is a mage, after all," Erza said as she clenched her fists. Since not all the soldiers have survived this battle, she realized that Eisenvald is playing va banque. Situation seemed more and more dire with every passing minute…
"Do not relent, Eisenwald will get what they've deserved," Natsu ordered as he followed his fiancée.
"Sometimes, reality is quite different from those novels of yours, does it?" Sin asked as he landed on blonde's shoulder.
"C'mon, we almost at the platform," Gray urged the team.
The group soon made it to a large room where they saw an entire Eisenwald guild waiting for them.
"I knew you'd come. You Fairy Tail flies!" Erigor snickered, staring down at Team Natsu with quite an arrogant sneer. Whole Eisenwald guild stood behind him, near the hijacked train. "We've been waiting for you…"
"Look at how many there are!" Lucy exclaimed as her eyes moved back and forth to each end of the large group of dark wizards.
"So, you're Erigor, I take it? You bastard!" Gray shouted angrily as he clenched his fists.
"Hey look! That's the guy from the other day…" Byard said as he took a good look at Gray, "Now he is dressed, though…"
"I see, so it was you who leaked out our plan," Karakka guessed as he looked at the Ice wizard.
"Flies… It's all because of you! It's your fault master Erigor did this to me," Kageyama growled in anger as his hands drifted to his bandaged ears, which was still hurt.
"You have to calm down Kage-chan," A Rayule told him from behind.
"So, we've met again, just as I've promised…" Natsu gaze shifted to see Kageyama holding his bandaged ears as he was glaring at a god slayer. "That's the guy I met on the train… he's the one who unsealed the device."
"What are you scoundrels after? Depending on your answer, I might have to make you pay for it!" Erza demanded an answer as her magic powers started to build up. Erigor's evil smile became wider.
"Oh, you know, we just wanted to fool around," Erigor said, making his entire guild to laugh. "We've got no job and we're really bored," The Shinigami said as he used his Kaze no Mahō [Wind Magic] to soar in the air.
"He flew!" Lucy exclaimed in surprise.
"That's Kaze no Mahō," Sin explained.
"Did not you understand yet?" Erigor asked as he landed on top of one of the speakers of station's broadcasting system. "What do they have inside of this train station?" His obvious hint made Erza's eyes to burn with bright-yellow flame as Natsu's left eye flashed with dark blue light.
"Are you going to broadcasting the song of Lullaby through station's speaker system?" Erza growled in anger.
"There are hundreds… no, thousands of people, gathering around this station now. If we broadcast it loud enough, maybe even the entire town will hear… the melody of death," Erigor explained with loud laugh.
"What's the benefit you could possibly get by killing thousands of people, which have nothing to do with any magic-related organization?" Natsu asked, he was speaking calmly but marble floor cracked beneath his feet.
"We are simply cleaning up. Those fools who live their lives, enjoying their rights… not knowing that there are people who have been revoked of their rights. Their sin is living without knowing that this world isn't just. And so… the Shinigami has come to punish them! A punishment called "Death!" Erigor announced.
"You're not going to get your rights back by doing something like this!" Lucy exclaimed, making Erigor to smirk.
"Now that we've come this far, we don't want rights anymore. We seek authority, the power! If we have authority, we can simply wipe off the past and control the future!" Erigor replied, showing the flute to team Natsu.
"Authority?" Natsu snorted, as if barely holding back laughter. A large amount of crimson energy started to swirl around him. "Trash like you really wants power? Seriously? Now that is really stupid… Ah, alright, I'll show you what authority really means…"
Whole building started to shake as Natsu's power began to manifest itself. Large, half-transparent figure appeared above the God slayer. The female figure, about eighty feet in height. She was dressed in black shirt and shorts, chainmail gloves, elbow pads, knee pads and boots. Her chest and shoulders also were protected by a chainmail armor, made of peculiar, rose-silvery metal. Her eyes were glowing with crimson light, just like Natsu's. She was extremely beautiful, especially her long and luxury salmon-colored hair.
"This… is…" Lucy stuttered.
"Yes, this is Natsu's mother. High Queen of Pandemonium, The Supreme Goddess of War – Morrigan Bloodfallen-sama," Sin confirmed Lucy's guess.
"She is… real…?" Blonde couldn't believe her eyes. In Fiore, and, most likely, on this entire continent, no one ever heard of her, so Lucy wasn't the only one who was impressed but confused with the apparition. Whole Eisenwald guild looked at the goddess' image in shock… except for Erigor.
"Erigor, I'm getting tired of you buzzing around like an annoying bug. Heavens belong to the Gods and their beloved, nonentities like you should crawl on the ground," Natsu announced and prepared to cast a spell, but…
"So, Natsu Bloodfallen, the infamous Crimson Cardinal himself, in the flesh, came to our little party… I'm flattered," Woman's voice called from the Eisenwald member's crowd. "It's been a while, Natsu-kun, isn't it?"
Reina's speech caused quite a stir among the dark guild members – seemingly, many of them heard about Natsu. "Do not falter!" Erigor shouted at them, "He's just one guy against the entire dark guild!"
Natsu completely ignored Erigor's words, his attention was focused at the only woman among more than a hundred of dark mages. "Reina…" Natsu said with somehow nostalgic expression as Morrigan's apparition disappeared "…It really has been quite a while…" His glowing eyes were focused on a pretty tall woman, with long green hairs and same-colored eyes, dressed in a long red dress, as she appeared in front of the Eisenwald's members. "I have to say that I'm surprised to see you among these scums, Reina. Mass-murder… it's not quite your style…" Natsu said as he examined his once escaped bounty.
"Times change, Natsu-kun… And people do, too. You, Natsu Bloodfallen, for example, became much more handsome than you were two years ago…" She smiled as her compliment toward Natsu made his fiancée to growl a little.
"Do you know her?" Erza asked, looking at Reina with narrowed eyes.
"Yes, though, as I told you earlier – she is well known to almost every bounty hunter in this country. Two years ago, I came to the Hargeon to capture her, but revealed myself due to lack of experience and she managed to escape aboard one of the ships. But this won't happen again…" Natsu promised. "You too have changed, Reina, especially the bounty for your head grew up quite a bit. And this time, I'm going to collect it…"
"Catch the bear before you sell his skin, Natsu-kun," Reina smiled calmly.
'You've fallen into our trap, Fairy Tail. We had to spice things up here and there… But now it's back to our original plan. There is someone who has to hear the melody of the flute… Someone I must put to death!' Erigor thought with victorious look.
"Reina, c'mon. We have to hurry, let's play some music!" Shinigami shouted as he flew out of the station's hall through the window.
"See you soon, Natsu-kun!" Reina smiled as silver surfboard appeared beneath her feet and she followed Erigor. When Reina was already outside the window she shouted, "Rest is up to you guys. Let them see how fearsome a dark guild really is!"
"I really hate flying insects…" Natsu sighed as he had no chance to hit any of those two from such a distance while they were in mid-air.
"We have to go after them!" Erza proclaimed as she and her team watched at the broken window. "Those two need to be stopped before they get a chance to broadcast the curse!"
"You're not going anywhere!" Kageyama spoke up as a magic seal appeared beneath him. "You won't get to see the new Dark Age because you're heading to the afterlife!" Shadow mage launched several shadow tendrils at the group along the floor.
"You're an imbecile, stop bothering us," Nastu said coldly as he saw Kageyama's actions. He extended his arms forward and generated a large amount of crimson energy between his palms, before unleashing it in the form of a powerful energy stream, aimed towards the opponent. "Spin ever downward. Fall. Disappear. Senjin no Yōshihō! [War God's Proton Cannon]" A broad, powerful beam of energy flew forward and easily destroyed all the tendrils, before making contact with many of the dark mages and producing a powerful blast, sending them flying into different directions.
"That should handle them," Sin commented.
"Do not relax, we still have more of them to deal with," Erza ordered as she stared at the remaining dark mages who managed to avoid Natsu's spell. "With so many of them to deal with, we won't be able to catch up with Erigor and Reina in time…" Titania said with concerned voice.
"I could've destroyed the entire station together with broadcasting system and all those fools…" God slayer waved towards Eisenvald mages, freaking Lucy out, "But with that crowd of onlookers so close to the building, I'm afraid it's not an option," Natsu shook his head. "So it seems we'll have to do it the old way, we'll split up and search the building. Reina and Erigor are still somewhere around here, I still can feel Reina's magic nearby." Then Natsu pointed at the crowd, "…and these cretins are looking at our girls too intently, I think you should become… better acquainted…" He pronounced, turning towards his fiancée.
"You just read my mind," Erza nodded, stretching her arms.
"W-wait, you want to leave only the two of us here?!" Lucy asked in shock and fear.
"Hey, I'm here too!" Sin exclaimed resentfully.
"We'll be fine," Erza responded before looking at her fiancé with a serious expression. "After we deal with them, we will join you in search, but if we don't hurry then a lot of innocent people could be in danger. Now please, go!"
"We're on it, you be careful," Natsu said as he looked into Erza's eyes before running off along with Gray, leaving Erza, Lucy and Sin to face the dark guild.
"Hey, they are running away!" Exclaimed one of the dark mages.
"Leave them to me!" Rayule shouted as he released a bunch of black wrappings out of his sleeves and climbed at the second floor's balcony. "I am, the great Rayule, will bring them down!"
"I'll go too!" Kageyama grunted as he assumed a kneeling position, he activated a magical seal before disappearing into the shadows, "I won't forgive that sakura-head!"
"Oh boy, Rayule and Kage are so belligerent… I bet it's more fun to play with the girls than those guys…" Byard said with concerned look.
"It's all for the plan. They are much more respectable than you," Karakka replied emotionlessly.
"After we clean up these guys, we're heading after the flute, too," Erza said to Lucy, keeping her eye on dark guild members.
"O… okay, but… two girls against this many?" Lucy stuttered in fear.
"What can two girls do… both of them are gorgeous though," One of the dark wizards sneered.
"Too bad we have to kill them…" Another one said with quite a stupid smile.
"How about we catch and sell them," Third one suggested. To this moment Erza already was steaming with rage.
"Wait until we get to see the fairies strip show…" Fourth stated with hearts in his eyes.
"But we're so cute… You wouldn't dare…" Lucy said as stars shines around her.
"Lucy, get a hold on yourself!" Sin yelled at her.
"Silence, idiots! One more stupid smile and I'll drown you in blood!" Erza shouted as she stuck her hand out in front of her when a red magic seal appeared. A bright glowing object erupted from the seal and fell into Erza's hand after the glow disappeared. Erza held in her arm a long sword with the shining blade and wing-decorated hilt. "Pathetic trash, I'll show you your place!"
"Here we go again… Natsu's behavior…" Sin mumbled.
"A sword appeared from nowhere!" Lucy exclaimed in surprise as Erza took the battle stance, "A magic sword!"
"That's not so rare! We have a lot of Ken no Mahō [Sword Magic] users here, too! We'll just strip that armor off of you!" Several of dark wizards shouted as they charged at Erza with different weapons in their hands. Erza stood calmly and silently, watching the dark mages approaching her; as soon as the wizards got close enough, she dashed toward them and swung her sword with such power and speed that it destroyed all of the dark wizard's weapons. Dark mages themselves get several wounds and were sent flying across the hallway. Erza did not stop as she quickly moved with another charge and stormed right into the large crowd of dark wizards and started to wipe out the Eisenwald forces.
Another swing and more dark mages fell on the ground with bleeding wounds. Erza's attacks were fast, precise and deadly, just as Natsu described them. "Now I've realized how Natsu managed to improve his sword skill so quickly during last few months…" Sin noted as dark mages continued to fly all around the station, battered and defeated.
"Damn bitch! Taste my Rasengan!" Another wizard shouted as he and two others started to prepare some ranged spells in form of white glowing balls. Erza noticed this and rushed toward them as her sword started to glow and turning into a long spear.
"Spear?!" Lucy asked in shock.
She landed a quick blow with her spear, sending mages (which tried to use ranged spell against her) crashing into the wall. She landed one more blow as she flipped backwards into the air and transformed her weapon again as she pulled the glowing object apart and as she landed, the glowing weapons turned into twin swords and she struck down a couple more enemies with ease.
"And twin swords this time!" Byard said with a sweatdrop.
At this moment Erza's twin blades turned into the large two-handed axe and she wiped out several more dark guild members.
"Axe!" Karacka said to Byard in shock.
"This woman… How can she ex-quip her weapons so fast?!" Several of the Eisenwald's members were screaming in fear.
"Ex-quip?" Lucy asked, tilting her head in confusion as she overheard their voices.
"It's called Exchange-and-Equip, or short form, Ex-quip, Lucy. It is similar to your Seirei Mahō [Stellar Spirit Magic], when someone uses Kansō they can call out weapons that are stored in an alternate space," Sin started to explain. "And Erza got quite a number of different weapons, stored in her magic space. We call that procedure of switching between weapons: ex-quipping."
'I think now I did realize why even someone like Natsu could've fallen in love with her. She is beautiful, her magic is elegant and powerful… Her only huge oddness is her personality but it seems he likes it as well… Mira-san was right – they are a perfect couple,' Lucy thought as she watched in awe how Erza smashed another group of enemies.
"Wonderful…" Lucy whispered.
"Not yet Lucy, actually Erza's just getting warmed up," Sin smirked.
'Did that… thing… just said 'Erza'?' Karakka's eyes widened as he overheard Sin's words.
Erza stopped her assault to look at the remaining Eisenwald's forces, "There are still so many left… What a pain in the ass… I'll just wipe all of you out at once!" As soon as Erza finished speaking, her armor started to come off with glowing smoke circling around her.
"Whoa! Her armor's coming off!" Several dark mages exclaimed simultaneously.
"Uhhh youu!" Others shouted.
"W-What's going on?" Lucy asked.
"Ken no Mahō users usually fight by ex-quipping different weapons," Sin continued to explain as Lucy watched in awe as the magic glow faded and Erza appeared in new, quite a peculiar armor. It was now made of a silvery metal, with large metal wings on her back and with a sword in each hand. "But Erza increased her own abilities, she can fight while ex-equipping different magic armor sets as well. That's Erza's magic. It's called Za Naito [The Knight]!"
"Whoa!" Lucy exclaimed with widened eyes and a little blush on her cheeks.
"Woooaaahhh!" Some of the enemies cheered with hearts inside their eyes.
"Dance, my blades!" Erza used the ability of her Tenrin no Yoroi [Heaven's Wheel Armor] as many swords appeared around her and began to spin in circle formation. Next moment she unleashed the attack at the rest of the Eisenwald guild: "Tenrin: Junkan no Ken! [Heaven's Wheel: Circle Sword]"
Powerful blow smashed most of the remaining Eisenwald members, sending them flying all over the hall. "Whoa, she wiped most of them out in a single blow!" Lucy exclaimed in awe. "I think I'm gonna fall in love with her…"
"Lucy, watch out!" Ezra suddenly shouted as she noticed that the last group of Eisenwald's members tried to attack Lucy from behind, as blonde was too fascinated with Erza's magic to watch her surroundings.
"Eh?" Stellar mage noticed danger too late to do something.
"Enryū no Hōkō!" [Flame Dragon's Roar] Stream of white-yellow flame bursted out from Erza's mouth toward enemies, creating huge fireball, which exploded at the contact with the enemies and sent them flying with major burns.
"What?!" Lucy was shocked again… and Sin too was surprised, this time.
"You bitch! I'll be your opponent!" Byard shouted as he rushed toward Erza with his hands cowered with magical glow. But Erza just watched at him with apathetic sight before coating her right leg with flame, "Enryū no Kōshū!" [Flame Dragon's Steel Kick] She landed a powerful blow, which exploded, sending Byard flying over the entire station hall, smashing him into the hijacked train.
"There is no doubt! She is the strongest woman of Fairy Tail – The Fairy Queen: Erza the Titania!" Karakka screamed in horror as he watched Byard made a hole in the train's carriage.
He was too focused on Byard's flight and did not notice that Erza appeared right in front of him with two streams of flame protruding from her hands, "Enryū no Yokugeki!" [Flame Dragon's Wings Attack] She swung these streams at Karakka, blowing him away with massive burns. "Damn, I tried to hold this magic as a trump card, but it's too convenient… and it's so tempting to use it…" Erza mumbled to herself.
"What is this magic? It seems somehow similar to Natsu's…" Lucy asked.
"Actually I… have an idea…" Sin mumbled. "So, this is how he decided to use those trophies…"
"This magic is a gift from my Natsu," Erza stated proudly, confirming Sin's guess. As a dragon slayer, of course she overheard Lucy and Sin's conversation even though she was at the other side of the station's hall.
'Your Natsu?' Lucy thought.
"This was his gift in honor of our engagement. I did not ask for anything – his love is more than enough for me… But you know Natsu – he loves to overdo things," Erza started to explain. Lucy noted how dreamy became her eyes and how affectionate became her voice when she was speaking about God slayer. "Along with the wedding ring he gave me an ancient grimoire which contains teachings of Metsuryū Mahō [Dragon Slayer Magic]. This type of magic is similar to Natsu's Metsujin Mahō [God Slayer Magic], however, Metsuryū Mahō intended to fight against dragons instead of gods."
"So, after all, he decided to go with this method…" Sin noted to himself. It was hard to tell what he's actually thinking about.
"This magic allowed me to acquire some qualities of a dragon, qualities of Enryū [Flame Dragon] in my case. Dragon's lungs to breathe flame, a dragon's scales to dissolve flames and dragon's claws to wrap in flames. It's called En no Metsuryū Mahō [Flame Dragon Slayer Magic]. Of course, learning magic from a book is not as effective as from an actual dragon, and to compensate it I got a Dragon Lacrima implanted into my body. The special lacrima which contains a part of the soul of an ancient flame dragon. It seems that grimoire and lacrima are one set…"
Lucy listened with saucer-wide eyes. Dragons?! Dragon Lacrima?! Part of dragon's soul?! Dragon slayer magic?! Oh, it's just too much for her. She had just got used to the fact that Gods could teach humans their magic (and to the fact that gods actually do exist), and now it appears that dragons can do the same? 'Wait, dragons also do exist!?' Lucy just realized that.
"…it's an extremely rare and pricy stuff. I tried to refuse but he threatened me to deprive me of pleasures of love… nasty boy, how could I refuse in that situation? Oh, his stubbornness and resourcefulness are so sexy…" Erza continued to talk with dreamy face.
"Okay Erza, we got it, you don't have to tell us about your intimate relationships," Sin interrupted her as Lucy gulped a bit from unexpectedly frank comment.
"Oh, sorry guys…" Erza's cheeks blushed a little as she realized that she blurted out too much. "However, I'm asking you two to keep the knowledge about my new magic in secret for a while, can I trust you with that?" Erza asked, sending at Lucy and Sin her signature glare.
"Of course, it won't be a problem!" Lucy and Sin assured her simultaneously.
"Thanks," Scarlet-haired girl smiled. "Now, help me to tie up these guys so we can safely leave them here and join Natsu and Gray in search for Erigor and Reina. But first I have to do some announcement to the public…"
"Um?" Lucy looked at the knight-mage questionangly.
Natsu and Gray were currently running down through the stone hallway, keeping an eye out for any signs of Reina or Erigor. "Something here is not convergent…" Natsu noted, mostly to himself, as he still could feel Reina's presence somewhere around here.
"What do you mean?" Gray asked.
"I mean that things, which I know about Reina, does not fit here. She has an impressive list of crimes, but murder never was among them. I think there is something more… ah, never mind that, whatever the case – we should find her fast," Natsu waved off his own doubts.
"By the way, Natsu, don't mind my asking but why have you began dating with Erza all of a sudden? She's not an… exemplar… of femininity, you know…" Gray asked, carefully choosing words, "I'm not talking about her looks, of course, but…"
Natsu replied calmly, he actually was expecting such a question for a while, "Yes, she is beautiful, the most beautiful of all. All other things about femininity are pretty subjective, and I'm not a victim of clichés and stereotypes… As you know, I have a capability to distinguish human's souls. When I saw her for the first time I was fascinated with the beauty of her soul. Graceful, gentle, kind and just – it's impossible to describe it with words. I was just too young and arrogant back then to properly recognize and express my feelings..." Natsu rolled his eyes, remembering his own childish behavior. "But let's talk about it later, right now we have a job to do."
"Speaking of job…" Gray said as two of them stopped when they saw the hallway splits into two different directions. "I guess we will have to split up," Gray said making Natsu to nod his head. Gray took the hallway to the left, which was marked "Old line" whilst Natsu took the one to the right, which was marked "New line". However, before Gray could start moving, God slayer's voice called out.
"Gray…" The ice mage turned to Natsu, who was looking somewhere far away into the corridor, "…Reina got massive bounty for her capturing for a reason. She's a relatively strong and quite cunning mage, so if you run into her – do not underestimate her, especially number of ways she may use to escape. No doubts, she'll continue to be a pain in the ass until she's locked away from the society, as such, she must not be allowed to escape…" Reina's image appeared inside Gray's mind as Natsu was speaking.
"It's not only she, Natsu… also we're up against an idiot who's trying to let loose some seriously dangerous magic here… so if you find him, give him a trashing," Gray grinned at the last words.
"Rest assured – he'll get the lesson he won't be able to forget… or not?" Natsu said as his left eye blinked with dark blue light. And again, he was speaking emotionlessly, but intention, mixed into his words, made Gray to shiver a little. "Good luck, Gray," God slayer added and disappeared behind the corner.
Gray headed to opposite direction, but after he made several tens of steps he stopped as his sight fell on one of station's speakers. 'Wait a minute… if he's planning on broadcasting the Rarabai's melody… then I should check that place first!' Gray thought as he rushed toward the broadcast booth.
"This is it," Gray said to himself as he approached to the booth and quickly kicked door down, destroying it in the process. When he walked inside, Gray saw that room was filled with different broadcasting equipment all around the broadcasting booth but there was no living person inside. "Why is he not here? This is the only room to make such a broadcast… Wait… It's strange that he is not here… Does it mean that Natsu was right and everything is not that simple? Erigor never planned to broadcast anything in the first place…" Gray thought aloud as he walked to the center of the broadcast cabin.
As Ice mage continued to examine the cabin, large black wrappings shot towards him from the ceiling. Gray managed to notice the threat at the last moment and successfully leaped out of the way. He landed near wall, looking around.
"You… I knew you'd come here… Your instinct is too good. You'll be a nuisance to our plan," A voice said as Gray looked up at the ceiling to see the dark mage who descended from the ceiling hatch, his black wrappings squirming around in his hands. "But this does not matter. You can't possibly comprehend the full greatness of our plan!" Rayule said with a sneer as Gray smiled a little.
"So there really is something going on, huh?" Gray asked with a grin as he prepared for combat, "Geez… and you were complaining about not having any real work to do…"
July 8th, Year X784, 15:40, Oshibana station.
Huge crowd of people stood outside the station, anxiously talking among themselves.
"What's going on inside?"
"Military personnel went in, but they haven't come back out yet…"
"Have they been defeated by the terrorists?"
"By the way, the wind's really strong today…"
"Look! Someone's coming out!" Shouted someone as he saw scarlet-haired woman walking down the stairs to the balcony.
"You! You are the one of those council agents! What's going on inside?!" Station master inquired but he got no response. Erza came close to him and roughly snatched the megaphone from his hands. She came closer to balcony's fence and began to speak.
"If you value your lives, get away from here immediately! The station has been taken over by evil wizards! Area around the station is not safe!" The dragon-knight's words made all the civilians to become silent and stood still as she continued to speak from the balcony. "Those dark mages are attempting to perform a magic that will kill every person here! Evacuate as far away from here as you can!" She finished her speech, causing chaos as everyone began to run away in panic.
"Hey you! Why did you make everyone panic like that?" Station master asked Erza as she dropped the megaphone on the floor. She looked at him and his subordinates for a moment before speaking.
"What I just said is the truth. It's better than to see them die. Of course, we are doing our best to prevent it, but we can't guarantee your safety, so it's best for you to evacuate too," Erza said with steady voice, but her statement left no room for arguing. Station's employees were scared and quickly left, seems that they have no intentions to take any chances.
'The Lullaby… A forbidden magic that kills whoever is exposed to its melody… Erigor is planning to commit a mass-murder using that. But now there is almost no one here, it'll be meaningless to use the flute. Well… how would he react?... Eh?!' Erza thought as she suddenly felt dramatic strengthening of wind. When she turned her head, Erza's eyes widened as she saw that the whole station now has been encased within a huge tornado. "What?! The station is being surrounded by wind?!" Erza asked in surprise "What's going on here?"
(Inside the station, with Gray)
"Raaagh!" Rayule shouted as he shot his black wrappings towards Gray at a great speed, causing the Ice mage to leap away once again before the black wrappings made contact. "I'll kill anyone who gets in the way of our plan! No one can escape from my Urumi!" He shouted before sending another wave of black wrappings at Gray.
"Really? I'm pretty sure I did just that," Gray replied with a grin as he dodged another assault. "Plan or whatever, if you want to broadcast the melody of the flute, this is the only place to do it. If Erigor, who has a Lullaby, isn't here, why did you occupy the station?" Gray inquired.
Instead of answer Rayule once again tried to hit Gray by his Urumi. Ice mage dodged it and black wrappings smashed the broadcasting equipment. 'He destroyed the broadcasting equipment without hesitation! They've never planned to broadcast the melody of Lullaby to begin with!' Gray thought as he watched the equipment being turned into a pile of junk.
"Let's see how long you will be able to avoid my attacks!" Reyule shouted as he attempted another assault.
"…This foolishness is starting to become annoying…" Gray said as he stood into his stance with one palm open and the other hand in a fist lying on top of the palmed hand."Aisu Meiku: Shīrudo! [Ice Make: Shield]" Ice mage shouted and large sunflower-like shield made of ice appeared in front of Gray in an instant. The black wrappings slammed into the shield without making any damage to it as Gray stood behind his creation.
"Kōri no Mahō?! [Ice Magic] Heh," Rayule smirked, looks like he was not impressed too much.
"What is your real plan?" Gray asked as his shield disappeared.
"It's about time that Erigor-san's Mafū Heki [Wind Wall] forms…" Reyule said as he stopped his attacks toward Gray for a moment.
"Mafū Heki?" Gray was confused a bit.
"It's a wind barrier to keep you guys from leaving this place!" Reyule explained with evil smile.
"What?!" Gray shouted as he was unpleasantly surprised.
(Outside the station, with Erza)
"How's this possible? Is it a… wind barrier of some sort? Hmm, Erigor?" Erza asked, slowly turning around. She managed to hear him even through the noise of wind from Mafū Heki.
"You noticed me?" Erigor was a bit surprised that Erza spotted him without even looking around. "So, you're the one who made the bystanders run away…" Shinigami floated above her, looking at dragon-knight mage with a smug look on his face.
"Did you do this?!" Erza demanded answer.
"You know, Titania, I wanted to fight the Fairy Queen just once… But unfortunately, I don't have time for that right now," He said as he created a wind gust and sent it toward Erza. She raised her hands to block the attack, but pressure of the wind pushed her inside of the wind barrier, "Just stay inside and be a good girl."
"How dare you!?..." Erza snarled as she tried to punch the wind wall by her right elbow. But wind just ripped to shreds her metal glove, damaged her arm and pushed her back.
"Don't even try… This magic wall of wind is one-way: you can only pass from outside to inside," Erigor commented as he watched Erza's fruitless attempt to get out.
"May I add some silver into this wind?" Reina's voice asked from outside. Few moments later Erza noticed that several tens, maybe even hundreds of metal spheres merged with the wind and started to swirl around the station.
"Erigor! Reina! What are you doing?!" Erza demanded an answer.
"It's a birdcage… Or rather, a flycage… Though, it's a little too big for that," Erigor laughed.
"Erigor, thanks to these idiots we've wasted quite a lot of time, c'mon, we have to go," Reina said.
"Farewell!" Erigor shouted before he and Reina disappeared into the air.
'Damn… this is what I got for being too talkative…' Erza thought as she clenched her wounded fist, 'This station wasn't their real target…'
(Inside the station, with Gray)
Gray once again assumed his casting stance, "Aisu Meiku: Nakkuru!" [Ice Make: Knuckles] He threw several magic spheres right beneath Reyule's feet, creating a large glowing circle underneath dark mage, which turned into several large ice fists that shot towards Rayule. All the ice fists made contact with the target simultaneously as they slammed into Rayule's body and sent the dark wizard crashing through some machines and stone wall into the next room. Gray followed after him and went through the hole into the next room, keeping an eye on slightly dazed Rayule. "I hate complicated stories, so just tell me what's going on. You're not going to broadcast Lullaby's melody using the speaker system… Then what your guild really wants to do?"
"We trapped the flies in here because you guys came out of nowhere," Rayule explained with an evil smirk. "Originally, we occupied this station to block off all transportation access to Clover station, the last stop. That town is on the other side of a huge ravine, and there's no transportation other than this train… Unless, of course, you can fly like Reina or Erigor."
"So that's where you're going to use the flute? Why?" Gray demanded an answer but Rayule just sneered.
"Try and recall… You know what's at Clover station, aren't you?" Rayule hinted as his black Urumi began to silently make their way from his hand. "An opening!" Dark mage shouted as his black wrappings shot out at Gray, who wasn't able to dodge from the close-range attack and bought his arms up to block it. The force of the blow sent Gray into the air, as he flipped his body and landed back on the ground, Gray's eyes went wide as he figured out what Rayule was talking about.
'Clover… That's the town where the old men are having their regular meeting!' Gray thought angrily as he glared at the dark mage who was against him. "Your true objectives are the guild masters?!"
"So you've finally noticed? A bit slow on the uptake, are we?" Rayule laughed with a contented smirk as he saw the rage in Gray's eyes. Dark wizard charged forward and hit Ice mage again with the black wrappings, but Gray blocked his attack once again.
"You're doing a pretty outrageous thing against geezers with powerful magic, don't you think?" Ice mage asked as he dodged another attack.
"Playing the flute for geezers who are unaware of what's going to happen should be easy. I'm sure Erigor and Reina can do it just fine on their own." Rayule charged again while Zōkei Madōshi [Molding Mage] stood still as the attack hit, Gray didn't even take a step to avoid the attack. "Besides, people like you guys who are in our way can't leave this station! Yep, that means no one can stop us now!" Rayule laughed as his black wrappings now wrapped themselves around Gray's body, trapping the Ice wizard. "We're taking revenge for the oppression we had in the past! Everything will disappear into thin air!" Rayule seemed a bit carried away.
"Eisenwald… You are fools… Every last one of you… You cannot even imagine the forces you are facing now," Gray said, the tone of his voice made a shiver go up Rayule's spine, before ice wizard unleashed a strong wave of his Kōri Mahō [Ice Magic] around himself, turning Rayule's black threads into ice. Dark mage was shocked at how quickly the Fairy Tail wizard froze the wrappings and didn't know what to say as Gray broke free of the bindings and stepped hard on one of the destroyed ice fragments. "Do you really think you guys have any chance against any Fairy Tail wizard?" Gray asked as he used his ice magic and began to freeze Rayule's body, the dark wizards' legs were already trapped in a thick, cold covering.
"You think dark guilds are scary? Comparing to those two…" Gray mentioned Natsu and Erza, of course "…your entire guild is as scary as a firefly," Ice mage said as Rayule's teeth started to chatter from the low temperature. "We'll stop you! And we'll make you pay for targeting the geezers, including our own master. Those old men are like our parents!" Gray declared as he roughly grabbed Rayule's face. The ice wizards hand released a huge amount of ice that covered the room in white. "We'll show you there're guilds way scarier than any dark guild," Gray added as he walked out of the room, leaving a completely frozen Rayule standing there with a look of horror stuck on his face.
'I have to find Erza or Natsu and let them know what is happening!' Gray thought as he headed back to the station's main hall, looking for the scarlet-haired sorceress and others.
(Station main hall, with Lucy and Sin)
"How many people are here? My hands already hurt all over…" Lucy complained as she continued to tie up defeated Eisenwald members.
"You better stop complaining and hurry up or else Erza will punish you…" Sin noted, freaking her out a little as he brought more ropes to Lucy.
"Ah, don't say things like that!" Lucy cried tearfully as her strengthless hands dropped down. "It's just too many of them…"
"How's it going Lucy?" Erza's voice called out as she appeared from the one of the corridors.
"We're almost done here!" Lucy reported with a bit frightened voice.
As Erza came closer Lucy noticed the missing glove and blood on her hand, "Erza, what's with you hand? Do you need bandaging?"
"Don't bother with it, we have a problem on our hands. I have to interrogate some of these guys…" Erza looked at tied up Eisenwald members and headed toward the hole in the carriage where defeated Byard was still lying out cold.
"Erza!" Gray's voice called out from above. Scarlet-haired girl raised her eyes to see Gray on the second floor's balcony.
"Gray! What's going on? You are not with Natsu?" Erza asked.
"We had to split up, Natsu went to search out the newer section of the station… Ah, never mind that now!" Ice mage shouted with worried voice. "Eisenwald's real objective is the town down the line from here!"
"What?!" Now Erza was worried too.
"The Clover town – it's the place where the old men are having their regular meeting! They intend to use Lullaby over there!" Gray explained.
"So that's what you are planning?!" Erza growled as entire hall started to shake from her fury, her eyes erupted with bright flame once more.
"Eeeh!" Some Eisenwald members cringed in fear.
"Damn! And this station is surrounded by a magic wind wall!" Erza exclaimed as she watched Gray jumping over the balcony fences and landing on the main hall's floor.
"Yeah, I saw it a moment ago. You'll be mincemeat if you try and force yourself out," Gray commented as he came closer to dragon-knight.
"I'm well aware of that…" Erza muttered and clenched to her right arm.
"Erza, your arm…" Gray asked with slight concern in his voice.
"It's nothing… But whilst we're sitting here, Erigor and that bitch gets ever closer to where the Guild Masters are…" Erza said as she stood with eyes closed, trying to figure out some solution. Suddenly, something popped up inside her mind. "Ah yes… There should be someone they call "Kage" in the Eisenwald. And if I remember correctly, you mentioned that he was going to break the seal of the Lullaby all by himself! And it seems that he succeeded!" Erza exclaimed with hope in her voice.
"You mean he is a dispeller!? Then he might be able to handle the magic wall of wind!" Gray agreed to her idea.
"Then we should go and look for him, and let's hope we will be able to find him before your boyfriend do, or, depending on situation, this "Kage" may end up in condition fitting only his own burial…" Sin commented.
"Hey, easy, Natsu isn't like that!" Erza pointed at Sin, as if challenging him.
"I'm not saying that Natsu's going to execute him on the spot, but his interrogation methods aren't too civil, you know. But if you want that "Kage" to help us he may still need his hands!" Sin exclaimed, trying to convince Erza.
"Yea… this could be an issue…" Erza slowly nodded in agreement, ignoring freaked-out Lucy. "Come on!" She shouted as knight-mage and the others started to run toward the corridor which leads to the newer part of the station, "Let's look for him! Capture Kage!"
(New Station Sector, with Natsu)
"This is bad, her presence is fading…" Natsu said to himself as he couldn't feel Rheina's magic anymore, "Are those two still in the station's vicinity?"
Behind the God slayer, a shadow was following after him, keeping some distance. A head raised from the shadow a little to reveal Kageyama watching Natsu with narrowed eyes. 'This guy can try to look all he wants, but since Reina and Erigor are no longer in the station, he's just wasting his time.'
"Have I again made the same mistake?" Natsu asked himself as he used a bolt of crimson energy to make a hole in the nearest wall and then he entered through this hole to search the room. Looks like it was some kind of storage room – large number of wooden crates were inside. "Never listen to criminals… If they really intended to use the station's broadcasting system, they had plenty of time to do it already. The intentions they declared to us were all the lie from the very beginning… Which means that they must be after something or someone else… But what are they really after? However… may be there's still a way to learn the truth?..." Natsu said as he stood facing the wall, he was feeling someone else's presence for a while – this was his chance.
'Well, it would be no problem if I'll just leave him alone for now, but…' Kageyama thought as he exited his shadow fully, before placing his hand on the ground '…but I won't have a peace of mind if I won't punish him!' Shadow mage released several shadow tendrils at Natsu.
God slayer stood still with his back to the enemy, but when shadows almost reached him, he instantly turned around and once again slashed all the tendrils with his sword. "What's wrong? You don't like your new haircut?" Natsu mocked Kage. "But it's very fortunate that you came here. Now you going to tell me where Reina and Erigor are, and what are they planning to do."
"You wanna know what's going on? Okay, I'll tell you if you defeat me," Kageyama smirked.
"That was the plan from the beginning," Natsu pointed at Kage with his sword.
"Let's see how you handle this!" Shadow mage placed his hands on the floor and magic seal appeared beneath Kageyama, which released multiple shadow snakes with their fangs ready to strike Natsu, "Shadōorochi [Shadow Python]!"
"I wonder how…" Natsu said emotionlessly. When snakes made of shadows were close, his left arm shot forth, and moment later all the shadow snakes were writhing in fury, as they all were caught by Natsu, and now he was holding them all by their throats with his left arm, "Somehow like this, I guess…"
But that wasn't the end of it, or rather, it was just the beginning. To Kageyma's horror, all shadowy snakes stopped moving as they began to turn dark blue. Two seconds later, 'corrupted' parts of shadowy snakes crumbled, leaving only a black dust on the floor. Natsu released his arm, but, worst of all, corruption continued to spread, defiling remains of shadowy snakes' "bodies", slowly approaching Kageyama's own shadow, from which those snakes were extending.
Kageyama froze on place with horror… or due to some other reasons, but alas, he couldn't move a muscle. Natsu was slowly approaching him, together with corrupted shadows. "I think it's time for you to start talking," God slayer noted indifferently. "As soon as my curse will reach you – you'll turn to dust, just like these shadows, so you'd better make me interested enough, don't you think?" Natsu's left eye was burning with dark blue flame.
Kage just barely nodded, he already wet himself and now he was barely conscious. He was a member of a dark guild and Erigor's underling, but only now he realized – what is the true terror.
He told Natsu everything – all that he knew about the Lullaby, about Erigor's plan, and about Mafū Heki around the station.
"Well, as I thought – pathetic people can only think of pathetic things," Natsu noted. "Thank you for your cooperation, but I need you no longer," God slayer added, and before Kage could realize what's going on Natsu smashed his left fist into Shadow mage's face, eliciting dark blue flash. Kage crashed into opposite wall, and entire building trembled due to the force of the impact.
"What's going on!?" Lucy screamed as plaster rained down on her from the ceiling.
"It's Natsu! C'mon, we're close!" Erza urged the others, she already picked up Natsu's scent and her group was almost there.
"Oh my… yet again I ended up with damaging the place… Why does it always end up like this? Well, doesn't matter…" Natsu was thinking aloud. "Mafū Heki, is it? Well, that's not an issue at all…" Natsu turned towards the corridor, from where he already could hear heavy footsteps. "Erza, amica mea, it's time for you to show the results of your efforts…"
Spell list:
Kaze no Mahō – Wind Magic
Rarabai – Lullaby
Senjin no Yōshihō – War God's Proton Cannon
Ken no Mahō – Sword Magic
Kansō – Ex-quip (Requip)
Seirei Mahō – Stellar spirit magic
Za Naito – The Knight
Tenrin no Yoroi – Heaven's Wheel Armor
Tenrin: Junkan no Ken – Heaven's Wheel: Circle Sword
Enryū no Hōkō – Flame Dragon's Roar
Enryū no Kōshū – Flame Dragon's Steel Kick
Enryū no Yokugeki – Flame Dragon's Wing Attack
Metsuryū Mahō – Dragon Slayer Magic
Metsujin Mahō – God Slayer Magic
En no Metsuryū Mahō – Flame Dragon Slayer Magic
Aisu Meiku: Shīrudo – Ice Make: Shield
Kōri no Mahō – Ice magic
Mafū Heki – Wind Wall
Aisu Meiku: Nakkuru – Ice Make: Knuckles
Zōkei Madōshi – Creation (Molding) Mage
Shadōorochi – Shadow Python
Okay people, this is it, chapter V completed. I hope it was enjoyable for you. And I would like to know your opinion about this chapter, so be sure to REVIEW it!
See you in the next chapter – Chapter VI – The Silver Wind!