In the main hall of the station, all the members of Eisenwald that Lucy and Erza had defeated were tied up. Except for one, who was on the floor, being interrogated by the red-haired knight while she was holding him by the shirt. He wasn't the first to go through this, many of his guildmate had also had to endure the woman's interrogation. An interrogation that only consisted of one question: how to undo their leader's barrier. So far, all of them had given the same answer: it was impossible.
The questioning was interrupted when a familiar voice called the girl's name. "Erza!"
When said woman turned her head towards the source, she saw Gray standing on a balcony above her, leaning on the railing with both hands. "What are you doing here? You were supposed to be with Natsu." she responded in obvious frustration.
"We had to split up but it doesn't matter now. Listen, I beat one of Eisenwald's members into telling me their real plan. Their real target is Clover. Erigor plans to use Lullaby to kill the guild masters gathered at the conference. He's on his way there as we speak." the ice mage explained with fear and panic in his voice.
After pouring out her anger on the man in her grasp, Erza stood back up and resumed her conversation with her guildmate who had come down from his elevated position and was now at her level. "We also have an additional problem: the station is surrounded by a wind barrier. If you try to force your way through it, it will tear you apart. I know, I tried."
"Are you okay?" the ice mage asked in concern.
"That's not important right now. What is important is finding a way to get out of here and stop Erigor before he can go through with his scheme." Erza responded before sinking deep into her thoughts. "Maybe Natsu has some secret trick up his sleeve that could help us…. Wait a minute, the man who broke Lullaby's seal, Kageyama I think his name was, we need to find that man Gray."
"A dispeller, huh? Yeah, he should be able to take down the wind barrier." the man concluded.
After both of the Fairy Tail wizards ran off to find their new target, the man Erza had last questioned, and who had listened to their whole conversation, was laying on the floor, too beat up to move but not to talk. "Karacka, are you going to keep hiding back there?"
At this point, the man Lucy had been tasked with chasing down phased through a wall. "I'm sorry but Titania's so scary."
"Find Kageyama before they do and make sure he won't be able to help them."
Back with Natsu, he was currently facing down the very man everyone else was looking for. Said man was looking at him with an angry yet confident gaze.
"I've wanted to pay you back for a while now. It's because of you that Erigor got mad at me and punished me." he said which got his interlocutor to raise an eyebrow.
"Because of me? I didn't make you promise a serial killer that you would get him his new toy. And, for that matter, I didn't make you join a dark guild altogether. Those people only ever care about themselves." Natsu countered.
"Shut up! If you hadn't meddled in my affairs, everything would have been fine. And for that, I'm going to make you pay." Kageyama threatened while taking a fighting stance but that didn't make Natsu worry in the slightest.
"Are you sure about this? It didn't work out so well for you last time." the pinkette inquired which got a tick mark to appear on his opponent's head.
"You took me by surprise last time and got a lucky shot in. But this time will be different because I've got you all figured out. You eat your own elements to increase your powers and that's where all your famous strength comes from. But now that I'm aware of it, it should be easy to stamp out." the black-haired mage stated confidently.
"Not quite, but close enough, I guess. While we are on the subject of theories, I have one I was hoping you could either confirm or deny. Erigor is going to attack the guild masters in Clover, isn't he?" the Fairy Tail mage said, not expecting an honest answer from his interlocutor but paying close attention to his reaction. The shocked expression he got was all the answer he needed.
"Now, I definitely have no to kill you. Knuckle Shadow!" the dark mage declared after recovering from the shock and his shadow shaped into fists that traveled down the floor before punching Natsu in the jaw.
Although he could have easily either blocked the attack or dodged it, the pinkette let himself get hit, just to show Kageyama how insignificant his attack would be. And indeed, his head didn't even budge under the impact. "My turn. Fire Dragon's Iron Fist!" he called out as he jumped at his opponent with his fist ablaze.
The resulting impact caused a shaking through the entire station that signaled his position to his guildmates.
Kageyama, now sporting a large bruise on his cheek with the top layer of skin burnt, realized he had to end the fight as quickly as possible if he wanted to have any chance of winning. "Snake Shadow!" he yelled while placing his hand on the ground. This shaped his shadow into multiple snakes to attack and bite his enemy.
"Ice Dragon's Wing Attack!" Natsu countered and two long tendrils of ice particles formed around his arms which he then swung at the snakes. When the two attacks collided, they canceled each other, leaving the space empty and the dark mage baffled.
'Okay, you've had enough fun. Time is of the essence, remember Natsu.' Mavis pressed.
Agreeing with his old friend, the pinkette threw a ball of purple energy at Kageyama which propelled him against a wall with great force and sent another shockwave through the building. After crashing into the wall, the dark mage slumped into a sitting position with his back resting against the wall. With all the injuries he had sustained during the day, he was unable to get back on his feet.
"Now that this is done, there is another question I'd like answered. Why has the wind been acting so strangely?" Natsu asked and was slightly surprised when his interlocutor started chuckling.
"If this is the case, you and your friends have already lost." was the only answer he received.
Before he could question it further, Natsu was interrupted by a distant voice calling his name. As he turned towards the source he saw Erza and Gray running in his direction.
"Do not harm him! We need him alive!" his female teammate instructed.
'Alive? Did she really think I was going to straight up kill him?' the pinkette wondered but didn't dwell on these thoughts too much as he noticed Titania jumping towards him, sword in hand. 'What is she gonna do this time?'
He prepared to defend himself but in the end, he didn't have to for Erza wasn't aiming for him but stabbed the wall beside him, stopping right next to Kageyama's head. "You will dispel the wind barrier at once. And you will do so without question or complaint. Understood?" she ordered with authority.
'A wind barrier? I might be able to do something about it.' Natsu thought to himself.
"Alright, alright, I will." the dark mage gave in but was stopped when a hand went through his chest, much to everyone's shock. "Karacka, why?" he asked while falling on the ground, revealing one of his guildmate behind him, partially phased in the wall, appearing shaken by what he just did.
While Erza and Gray attended to the dark mage's new wound, the man responsible for it was left frozen in shock at what he had done, which Natsu took advantage of and grabbed him by the wrist at lightning speed. He then pulled him out of the wall completely and threw him on the ground, knocking him out in the process.
Natsu's gaze then returned to the downed dark mage as a familiar voice ranged through his head. 'You did warn him something like this would happen.' it said.
'Yeah, but I'm not going to say "Told you so". That would be childish.' he responded and heard Mavis giggle.
The two were so caught up in their conversation, they didn't notice Erza repeatedly shaking Kageyama by his shirt in an enraged attempt to wake him up. All the while, Gray was sweat dropping at the ridiculousness of the action. And that is the rather awkward sight Lucy and Happy were greeted with when they arrived.
A short time later, the Fairy Tail wizards and a still unconscious but bandaged Kageyama were in the main hall of the station. Natsu was standing in front of the wind barrier, studying it thoroughly. Erza was still desperately trying to wake their prisoner up. And Gray was explaining the situation to Lucy and Happy.
"What?! Erigor wants to use Lullaby on the guild masters?!" the blonde girl exclaimed.
"Yes. That's why we have to stop him." Natsu confirmed, not taking his eyes off the tornado surrounding them.
"That's easier said than done. Our only way of reaching Clover has been cut off and Erigor already has a good head start." Erza argued.
"Maybe we could catch up to him on the magic mobile. But it is on the other side of this barrier." Gray noted.
"So how do we cross it?" the blonde wizard asked.
"Maybe one of your spirits could help." the ice wizard theorized.
"Not that I know of. Maybe some other spirits could do something about it, such as Everlue's, but I can't help as it is." Lucy explained which caused the cat of the group to have a sudden realization.
"I remember! There was something I needed to tell you, Lucy!" he said while running to the Celestial Spirit mage.
"Yeah, what is it?"
"Look!" the blue feline exclaimed, holding up a gold Gate Key.
"Where did you get that?!" Lucy questioned while snatching the key from his paws.
"Virgo, the spirit that worked as a maid for Everlue, asked me to give it to you. Apparently, her contract with Everlue was broken as soon as he got arrested and she wanted to form a contract with you, Lucy." the cat supplied.
After that, Lucy started to examine her new key in thought, Gray was looking at her, awaiting for her to have an idea and Erza was trying to formulate a plan of her own. This meant that none of them noticed when the hand of their pink-haired teammate grabbed his blue-furred partner.
"I know! Since Virgo can drill holes, she may be able to dig a tunnel so that we can get under the barrier!" the blonde finally realized.
"She can? Then what are you waiting for? Hurry up and call her." Erza ordered.
"Y-Yes ma'am." Lucy accepted in fear before turning around and pointing the key towards where she was facing. "I call upon thee, in the world of the Celestial Spirits. I beckon you to my side at once. Pass through the gate. Open Gate of the Maiden! Virgo!" she called out and a considerably different version of the Celestial Spirit appeared in a flash of blue.
Indeed, while she still had her pink hair and blue eyes as well as the same attire as before but her body had changed significantly, now resembling the more typical appearance of a petite beauty. "You called me, mistress? Can I be of assistance?" she asked.
"W-What happened to you? You look like a totally different person!" her summoner asked in shock.
"I'm a very loyal spirit who will do anything necessary to please her wizard, including changing my appearance to whatever form my wizard will find most appealing." the pink-haired spirit explained.
"O-Oh, I see. Anyway, we are in a bit of a situation right now. So do you mind if we make our contract later?" the Celestial wizard asked.
"Of course, whatever you want, Mistress." the spirit answered.
"Please don't call me that." the blonde requested.
"Would you rather I call you "Queen"?" the maid proposed.
"Not really, no." Lucy refused.
"What about "Princess"?"
"Fine, that'll do." the Celestial wizard relented.
"Would you refocus on what really matters?" the ice mage asked in annoyance.
"Right. Virgo, I need you to dig a tunnel so we can get under this wind barrier…" the blonde girl instructed but trailed off at the end when she pointed to where said barrier was. Or rather where it used to be.
Indeed, the tornado that trapped them in the station was now gone, as were Natsu and Happy. This left the rest of the Fairy Tail mages stunned with their lower jaws hitting the floor and their eyes opened wide. As for Virgo, she was just confused and lost.
"I apologize Princess but I can't dig under something I can't see." the spirit said but was ignored.
"W-What happened?" Lucy wondered.
"Natsu must have happened." Gray answered with an exasperated sigh.
"How dare he leave us behind to fight Erigor on his own?! After him!" Erza exclaimed in outrage.
"What about him?" the dark-haired member of the group asked, pointing at Kageyama.
"Let's take him with us." the knight answered.
"A-Are you sure about that?" Lucy asked in surprise.
"He may be an enemy but he needs medical attention and I'm not going to let him die." Erza declared. "Gray, pick him up."
The ice mage obeyed without question just as his new passenger started regaining consciousness. When the group left the building, they looked behind and up, searching for Erigor's tornado but it was completely gone.
"Good. At least that has been dealt with. Now, we need to find our vehicle." Erza stated.
"You're wasting your time." Kageyama spoke up with closed eyes and a smile, bringing the Fairy Tail mages attention to him. "You'll never catch up to Erigor. And as for your pink-haired friend, even if he does reach him in time, it'll only lead to his early death."
"You do realize you're talking about the very guy who wiped the floor with you without breaking a sweat, right?" Gray asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Erigor is many times stronger than me. Salamander doesn't stand a chance." the dark mage declared confidently.
"You'd be wrong to underestimate Natsu. He might not be the best guildmate, but he is a very competent wizard." Erza rebutted.
Erigor was currently flying above the railroad linking Oshibana and Clover at great speed. He was so focused on his thoughts of revenge that he was completely caught off guard when a foot surrounded by purple energy struck him in the back, the magic sending him crashing to the ground in the blink of an eye. When he looked up at the source of the attack, he was astonished to see none other than the Salamander, floating in the air with a pair of small feathery angel-like wings.
"You can fly now?!" the silvered-haired mage asked in shock.
"Yes. Well, no. Well, it depends. But he can." Natsu answered, pointing to something behind him at the last part.
"Aye!" a voice said just as the head of a blue cat appeared from behind the pinkette's shoulder.
"How did you escape my Wind Wall?" Erigor questioned, anger replacing his initial surprise.
"I didn't. Well, not exactly. You see, all I had to do was heat the wind up. And since hot air naturally rises higher in the sky, your "Wind Wall" simply dissipated on its own after a while."
"Argh, you will pay for interfering in my business!" The Reaper shouted in rage, jumping at the pinkette with his scythe to slice at his chest.
"Yeah, whatever dude." the Salamander nonchalantly responded, sending a jet of water from his hand. It was powerful enough to send Erigor back on the train tracks.
"Natsu, I'm getting tired. I won't be able to keep carrying you for long." Happy informed.
"That's fine. Put me down on the tracks, I'll handle the rest." Natsu said.
"Aye." the feline agreed and dropped his partner. He then landed a safe distance away and sat down while deactivating his magic to rest and enjoy the show.
"You know, no matter how much of a scumbag you are Erigor, I'm grateful to you for one thing." the pinkette stated while turning back to Eisenwald's ace who had been staring at him, trying to size him up. He then extended his right hand to the side and, in a flash of crimson light, requipped his sword. "Because you use a weapon, you provide me with a rare opportunity to train my swordsmanship."
However, surprisingly, Erigor put on an evil smirk. "Looks like I do get my chance to fight the Salamander after all. This should be fun." he declared and extended his free hand. Then, a strong gust of wind blew out of said hand and went towards Natsu at lightning speed.
In response, the pink-haired mage ignited his sword's blade on fire and rose it so that it was in the way of his opponent's attack. When the two collided, the air stream was dispersed in different directions before dispersing completely and disappearing. Natsu then lowered his sword to his side but kept it on fire. "Is that it? I've known a 6 year old girl to create winds stronger than that." he mocked.
This got The Reaper to grit his teeth in anger. "You haven't seen anything yet."
He then jumped high in the air with the help of his magic, then fell down and tried to bring his scythe down on Natsu. However, the Salamander leapt backwards and dodged the attack. As a result, Erigor's massive weapon hit the rails so violently it got stuck.
Capitalizing on this, the Fairy Tail mage rushed back where he previously stood and hit the dark mage with the hilt of his sword in the cheek. The impact was so strong that it sent Erigor a certain distance away and, because his grip on his scythe was quite firm, it also unstuck the weapon.
When Erigor regained his bearings, a large bruise was already forming where the blow had landed. It looked quite painful but Eisenwald's ace was more focused on his rage and humiliation. Nevertheless, this did make him understand how formidable of an opponent the pinkette truly was. Therefore, Erigor decided to start fighting seriously. Thus, he once again took to the skies and swept his empty hand horizontally. "Storm Bringer!" he yells.
Immediately after, an extremely tall and violent yet thin tornado formed around Natsu. Luckily for him, he had bullet-like reflexes that made him stick his sword into one of the metal beams that made up the rails he was standing on. Additionally, his body was surrounded by a light purple aura signaling that he was using his Gravity Dragon Slayer Magic on himself to keep from flying away.
At first, the pink-haired mage planned to wait for the spell to end but he quickly got annoyed and ran out of patience. As a result, he created a column of fire around himself that was just as tall as Erigor's tornado but considerably thinner. However, it gradually got thicker and ended up dispersing The Reaper's spell form the inside out. When it was completely gone, Natsu dispelled his fire and gravity magic except on his sword which he pulled out of the rail.
As for Erigor, he was left in utter shock and denial of what had just occurred. "B-But h-how? T-That's impossible." he stuttered with his eyes wide.
"I tend to do impossible things." Natsu answered.
This got his enemy to recompose himself. He growled and spoke up again with an enraged expression. "We'll see about that, Salamander. So you like fire, eh? Too bad for you. Fire can never defeat wind! Storm Mail!" While calling out his spell, The Reaper crossed his hands before him. This prompted many air currents to gather around him, creating a hurricane surrounding his entire body.
The flying mage paused, expecting to see fear in his opponent's eyes but was frustrated when he only saw a bored look, indicating how much of an idiot the pink-haired mage thought he was. Giving in to his fury, the silvered-haired wizard propelled himself towards Natsu, leaving a long trail of swirling wind behind him.
Natsu jumped over his attacker, thanks to flames that he lit on his feet to get a jumping boost. While he was above Erigor, he gave him a blow of sword. The wind and weapon struggled for a few seconds before both mages were pushed back. Upon inspecting his sword, the Fairy Tail mage noticed that it was undamaged but the fire around the blade had been dissipated.
When he saw the same thing, Erigor started sneering. "Do you see now? The winds of this technique blow outwardly. If fire gets too close, it gets smothered and you are unable to use it against me."
Once again, Natsu stared at him as if he were the biggest moron on the planet. "I suppose I will just use another one of my magics then."
Those simple words caused Erigor's amusement and confidence to die a brutal death as panic emerged within him. "Storm Shred!" he called out and fired barrages of wind blades at his opponent by swinging his arms. These, unlike normal wind blades, took on a more compact form, resembling flat, elongated and arched projectiles of sort.
"Ice Dragon's Iceberg!" Natsu shouted and swept his hand horizontally. A big pile of ice and snow appeared on the tracks between him and the oncoming attack. As the projectiles hit the pinkette's defense, chunks of it were torn off and fell into the ravine but by the time Erigor's spell ended, there was still a good majority left. Natsu then started advancing towards his opponent and his whole body was lit on fire. "Actually, you know what? I have changed my mind. I'm still going to use my fire, just to show you that you're wrong."
The further the light mage got, the hotter and bigger his flames got, to the point where his previously formed pile of ice melted in a matter of seconds.
At the same time, his opponent's dread soared. He decided now was his last shot at victory. He gathered most of his remaining strength and initiated a spell by bending his arms and pointing his hands towards the sky, with their index and middle fingers stretched. He subsequently placed his two index and middle fingers in an "X" shape in front of him, generating a halo of light around his hands, from which a large, concentrated blast of wind blades was fired towards his enemy. "Emera Baram!"
However, Natsu was no longer amused and had no interest in prolonging the fight. Instead, he decided to show Erigor how deluded he was about his own strength. To this end, he extended his free hand towards the attack of the said mage and waited for it to come without using any magic. When the blast of wind made contact with his hand, it tried to break through. But the struggle didn't last long and soon both the Emera Baram and Storm Mail from Eisenwald's ace were dissipated.
Not one to admit defeat easily, or at all, The Reaper brought out his scythe and lunged at Salamander. Natsu used his sword to block the strike and to push his opponent's weapon away. He then took the opportunity to kick Erigor in the chest and put more distance between them.
He then brought his blade down with both hands on the dark mage who barely got enough time to raise his scythe to protect himself. Much to his surprise, it didn't stop the attack as Natsu's sword went through the scythe's blade, cutting it into two pieces.
Before he got time to fully comprehend what had just transpired, he received a second, much harder blow to the head with the handle of the pink-haired mage's weapon and fell on his back, unconscious.
When the victor realized his opponent wasn't going to get back up, he requipped his sword away and let out an exasperated sigh.
He was interrupted when Happy reminded him of his presence with a loud cheering. "Yay! You did it Natsu!"
"Was there ever any doubt?" the pinkette joked.
"Why did you take so long though?"
"I wanted to have fun but then I didn't." Natsu explained.
"Whatever. What are we gonna do now?" the blue feline questioned.
"Knowing Erza and the others, they must already be on their way by now. Let's just wait for them." Salamander answered while sitting down on the rail and his partner followed suit.
'Well done Natsu.' the blonde girl inside him complimented.
'Thanks Mavis.' her host thanked.
'There is one thing I've been wondering though. That little girl you mentioned at the beginning of the fight, was that your little sister?' the ghost asked.
'Yes. What about it?'
'Nothing, it's just, you don't really talk about her much. That's all.' Mavis responded.
'That's because I'm not exactly proud of what I did back then.' Natsu explained.
'What do you mean?'
'I abandoned a 6-year-old girl to wander alone in the wild while she loved me as an older brother. Yes, her own mother did even worse and it was for her own good, but I still feel terrible about it.' the pinkette supplied in a guilty tone, eyes lowered to the ground.
'You want to talk about it?' the spirit offered.
'Why not? From the looks of it, we have some time before the others show up.' the pink-haired mage accepted.
A little later, Natsu's enhanced hearing picked up the sound of the magic mobile closing in and he stood up.
"Natsu!" Lucy called.
"What took you guys so long? Erigor has been defeated for some time." Natsu teased.
"Aye!" Happy agreed.
"Good job." Erza simply said.
As everyone got out of the vehicle, Erza was staggering slightly and Gray had lost his clothes…again. All of them started walking towards their pink-haired teammate except Kageyama, who was now doing a bit better, stayed close to the magic mobile.
He was in shock at seeing his guild's ace in such a state. 'No way, Erigor never loses.' he thought but was distracted when he noticed something shining in the tracks.
"I can't believe you just took off by yourself like that." Gray complained.
"To be fair, I did try to tell you that I had gotten rid of the wind barrier several times, but you weren't listening. And since, like you said, there was too much at stake, I decided to go take care of Erigor on my own." Natsu countered.
"Whatever." the ice mage shrugged.
"Anyway, well done Natsu. Thanks to you, the guild masters will be safe now. While we're here, we might as well make the rest of the way to Clover to join the guild masters and tell them what happened as well as ask them what to do with the Lullaby Flute." the red-haired knight said.
"And hand over these two." the pink-haired mage added while motioning to the two Eisenwald's members they had with them.
At the same time, a hand made of shadow discreetly went towards the flute and seized it. However, before it could bring it back to its caster, a black leather boot landed on Lullaby.
Looking up, Kageyama was horrified to see that the Salamander had noticed his action and was staring at him with an angry expression. Moreover, his physical condition meant that the dark mage had no chance of snatching the flute from under his foot. He was too petrified to try anyway, mainly because he could have sworn he saw the pinkette's eyes turn crimson for a split second.
"Oh no. You're not going to do this twice. Now, if you know what's good for you, you'll sit in the car and not say a word." Natsu said in an angry and authoritarian but calm tone.
Kageyama deactivated his magic and silently obeyed while visibly shaking. Simultaneously, Natsu picked Lullaby up and noticed the slight pink glimmer in all of its three eyes, which made him frown. His attention was diverted when he heard Gray talking behind him.
"That guy, what did he think he was doing?" he said. Erza, Lucy and him looked outraged and angry at what the shadow mage had tried to do.
"This is how he pays us back for saving his life?" Lucy rhetorically asked.
"This is unacceptable!" Erza added.
"He's a dark mage, guys. That's what they do. Now, come on. Let's put Erigor in the car and get out of here." Natsu instructed and shortly after, the group was on its way to Clover.
Later in the day, when night had fallen, the Fairy Tail mages had handed over both of their prisoners to the Rune Knights but had kept the flute. They were now closing in on the building where the conference was being held. As they were walking, Natsu suddenly stopped and looked into the distance with a confused look. When his guildmates stopped as well, they were about to ask him the reason for his action but stopped when they heard strange noises in the direction Natsu was looking. It sounded like…kissing. As they got closer, most of them were shocked to see that their own guild master was the source of those noises and that he was paying close attention to one of his…favorite magazines. All of them dropped their jaws and widened their eyes, except for the pinkette who facepalmed instead.
"What the hell are you doing?" he asked. As soon as he heard that, the old man jumped and threw his book away into the woods.
"It's not what it looks like. I was looking for new potential guild members and I…" he tried to justify himself while waving his arms frantically.
Upon hearing a familiar giggle in his head, Natsu got even more exasperated. 'Don't laugh at that.'
When he noticed what the pinkette was holding, Makarov stopped his blabbering and became curious. "Tell me, that's one creepy looking flute you've got there, Natsu." he said.
"Of course it's creepy. It is a demon from the book of Zeref after all." the pink-haired mage answered as if it was the most obvious thing in the world but it made the guild master to widen his eyes in shock.
"A demon, you say?" a voice near them questioned and, when they looked at whom it belonged to, Gray and Lucy jumped backwards in surprise. It was master Bob of the Blue Pegasus guild.
"Yes. The one called Lullaby to be specific." Natsu confirmed.
"Lullaby, eh? I thought it was in the Magic Council's vault." Goldmine, Quatro Cerberus' guild master commented.
"It was, until the dark guild Eisenwald stole it with the idea to use it against all of you at this very gathering." Erza supplied this time. "Fortunately, we managed to stop and defeat them all. But because we didn't know what to do with Lullaby we decided to come here and ask you."
'I knew what to do, you just didn't ask me.' Natsu internally noted.
Just then, the flute's eyes shined pink and the skull's mouth opened. "I am done with you, cowardly wizards! If you won't give me souls to feast upon, I'll take them myself!" it declared, shocking everyone but Natsu who still dropped it to the ground, knowing there was no stopping what was to come now.
With pink lightning bolts, the flute transformed into an extremely tall wooden and humanoid beast. There were many cutouts in its body.
Among all the people looking at the Etherious, some were surprised, some were scared, some were staring at it in study. But the most unexpected reaction was probably Natsu's who was staring at the wooden creature with a kind of nostalgia and melancholy. 'Hello, old friend.'
'Do you know Lullaby?' Mavis asked.
'Not personally, but we are of the same species, in a way. Perhaps, if I revealed my true nature to it, I could make it listen to me and defuse this situation. Although, I have a feeling my guildmates won't give me a chance.'
"Now, which one of those delicious souls shall I eat first? I know, all of them." the demon said.
"That's not gonna happen." Erza declared and right after, she and Gray jumped to attack it.
After some hesitation, Lucy started running after her two guildmates to assist them. Natsu was about to join in on the action too when Makarov raised his hand to stop him. "I know you could probably end this fight in two seconds. That's why I'm going to ask you to let them handle it. It'll be good for them and give me the chance to see how far they've come." he requested.
At first, Natsu was reluctant. Lullaby was one of his brother's demons and therefore under his responsibility. After a few seconds though, he nodded in acceptance, believing his three guildmates to be strong enough to take Lullaby down.
'He's going to regret that, isn't he?' Mavis asked.
'He sure is.' her pink-haired friend confirmed.
Unsurprisingly, Erza was the first person to reach the wooden demon and used her magic as soon as she did. "Requip: Heaven's Wheel Armor!" She then used her great speed and flight ability to cut two deep slashes into the side of the demon's torso with her long swords.
Shortly after, Gray made his move as well. He brought his hands together and yelled. "Ice-Make: Lance!" This sent long, curved ice lances at Lullaby, making it scream in pain and damaging its body.
"You are really starting to anger me!" the former flute declared and tried to sweep the two wizards away. Although they both dodged, the attack destroyed a big rock formation.
Seeing this as her chance, Lucy took one of her golden keys and pointed it at the demon. "Open Gate of the Golden Bull! Taurus!" she recited which summoned another spirit.
This one was an extremely tall, heavily muscular and athletic humanoid whose physical features were highly reminiscent of a bull. His body was covered in a black and white pattern, and the upper part of it, from the waist up, seemed more massive than the lower one. His head was bovine in shape, with small, elongated ears jutting outwards from the sides of his head, and a pair of horns, testifying him as a bull, sitting on top of it. He had dark eyes, and his flat nose bore a large golden ring in it. His muscular chest sported six teats: two on his pectorals and four on his upper abdominal area. The tail sprouting from his back, ending in a dark tuft, was rather small, if compared to the large mass of his body. Taurus' massive body was mostly left bare: he was wearing a dark indument, similar to a pair of swim briefs, covering his groin, held up by a red, studded belt, with a circular, thin, golden metal buckle, with a pair of curved protrusions jutting outwards from it in its upper part. He also wore simple dark boots with lighter upper edges, consisting of three lines circling his legs, and had a red belt circling his neck, to which a golden cowbell was attached. His forearms were wrapped in bandages, and he sported brown fingerless gloves. Crossing his chest diagonally and passing over his right shoulder was a large, plain dark belt closed by a simple buckle. Finally, he was carrying a massive double-sided axe as a weapon.
"It's been so long since you last summoned me that I forgot what a nice boooody you have, Miss Lucy." the bull said with hearts in his eyes.
"And I forgot how much of a pervert you are. But we don't have time for that right now. I need your help to defeat this guy." the blonde girl instructed.
"If that's what you want." Taurus replied and then charged and planted his axe into the demon's foot.
Not wanting to be left out, the Celestial Spirit wizard started using her whip…as well as she could under the circumstances.
At the same time, Erza and Gray resumed their assault.
Getting increasingly frustrated, Lullaby started gathering air and curse power in its mouth, scaring many of the onlookers and killing the surrounding plants in the process. "A single note and your souls will be mine!" the demon declared. It then screamed and then emitted what could unanimously be described as the worst song ever. But much to Lullaby's surprise, it neither killed nor even hurt anyone. "I don't understand! Why is my melody of death ineffective?!"
What no one noticed was that while Lullaby was singing, Natsu's hand was glowing with a slight dark red and dark purple light. Well, almost no one.
'You canceled out its curse?' the first master of Fairy Tail questioned.
'Of course I did. I created the damn thing, didn't I?'
Although everyone was just as confused as Lullaby, they didn't care about the reason nearly as much. Especially Gray who saw this as an opportunity to strike. "Ice-Make: Floor!" he called out and froze the ground underneath the massive wooden creature, making it slip backwards.
While it was falling, Erza landed a heavy blow on its forehead to accelerate its fall.
As expected, the resulting impact was pretty violent. What they didn't expect however, was that Lullaby would land right on the building where the guild masters conference had been held, destroying it completely. This turn of events got Makarov to drop his jaw in horror.
'And there we go.' Natsu thought and heard his dead blonde friend laughing to her heart's content.
"Natsu! Go and finish off the demon!" Makarov instructed in panic.
"Are you sure? I don't feel like we have all seen quite enough of their skills in action." the pinkette teased.
"No! It's fine! I don't need to see more! Please, end this fight before it causes the destruction of the whole town!" the old man pleaded.
"Alright, fine." Natsu accepted and started slowly making his way to the demon.
As it was getting back up, the wooden being noticed the new man's appearance. "One more puny human wizard for me to destroy. What difference does it make?"
When Natsu got close enough, it spoke up so low, only the demon would be able to hear him. He also released a part of his curse power, too small for any human to detect but big enough for a demon to feel it. "Human, eh? Don't you recognize your own kind, Lullaby?"
The massive creature's eyes widened but before it could say anything, it was engulfed in flames and burnt down. In its ashes laid the very same flute that started all of this. Natsu picked it up and stared at it for a short time before it was consumed by dark red and purple flames, destroying it completely this time.
As people started celebrating, the guild masters noticed the collateral damage the fight had left, and they weren't happy.
When Makarov realized how much this was going to cost him again, he freaked out. "Everyone, run!" he said and all the Fairy Tail wizards obeyed, except Natsu who just stared at them as they left in a hurry.
"Aren't you going to run too?" a guild master asked.
"From you? No, I don't think I will. But if you want to try to take me on, be my guest." the pinkette answered while starting to walk away with a small smirk on his face.