"We're dark mages!" - Talking
'We're dark mages!' - Thinking
"We're dark mages!" - Communication via Lacrima / Telepathy
"WE'RE DARK MAGES!" - Screaming
"Fairy Law!" - Spells
[ Here / Now ] - Place / Time
Chapter 6: A Festival of Fairies and Shadows
[Magic Council's Fiore Branch / 15th October X784]
"So, are you all ready?" Grady asked, turning to the thirty or so men, obviously swindlers and dark wizards, who were hiding among the trees surrounding the Magic Council building. Without passing near the main road, the large group had managed to get undisturbed to the base of the huge building, or at least the part not floating in the air.
"Are you really sure about this plan?" a small humanoid-shaped creature named Snarl asked back, looking at Grady with dubious eyes "We have never seen you, why on earth should we trust you?"
"I showed you the guild mark, didn't I? I was simply on a mission when you tried to kill the guild masters, otherwise Erigor would have brought me too." Grady replied with a grin on his face "We will now free Erigor and the others before we leave and regroup. If we're lucky, the old master will be here too."
The remaining members of Eisenwald, that is, those who had managed to escape arrest after the huge fiasco with Lullaby, looked at each other uncertainly before a male voice made them shiver "Don't tell me you're backing off right now? As soon as he's free I'm sure my brother will want to sharpen his scythe on your necks."
Turning towards the direction of the voice, they saw a tall, thin man who looked like a perfect copy of Erigor except for the fact that he had longer and completely black hair. His gaze was as menacing as Erigor's, and it was enough for the other wizards to convince themselves that he was their leader's brother.
"I-I didn't mean that Elagor!" Snarl quickly raised his hands before pointing at Grady "It's just that this one looks very suspicious to me!"
"We are dark mages now, you idiot." growled Elagor "Being suspicions is our job, now stop wasting my time and get ready!"
The other wizards nodded in fear before approaching the edge of the bush, where they saw a large wooden door at the base of the building with two Rune Knights guarding it. Without saying anything, Elagor was enveloped in a light breeze before vanishing into thin air like a mirage and reappearing seconds later in front of one of the two Rune Knights, breaking his neck with his bare hands. The other soldier did not even have time to scream that Elagor grabbed the spear of his first victim and used it to pierce the throat of the second one, who fell to the ground vomiting a large amount of blood, dying after a few seconds.
Grady quickly approached his position before opening the heavy doors and letting everyone enter, pausing for a moment to look at Elagor and for a few seconds, instead of the creepy man with long black hair, he saw Sylva with an amused grin on her lips.
In the blink of an eye, the illusion was activated again and Elagor, Erigor's "blood brother" was standing once again in front of him.
"Shall we go?" asked Elagor with an amused voice.
"After you, Elagor-sama." joked Grady before following the other members of Eisenwald.
As they continued down a corridor, heading for the dungeons of the building, Grady couldn't help but think about what Grady and Asteria were doing.
'Eh...they are probably having fun in their own way.'
[Magnolia/ 15th October X784]
"This is so boring..." yawned Naco with his eyes half-closed.
"You tell me...can't we start a brawl or something?" asked Asteria while standing at the back of the main building of Fairy Tail.
Asher shook his head with the arms crossed over his chest "It would blow the cover and we can't afford it. We must first understand what Laxus is going to do." he then looked to the side, where Poppea and Kazumi where eating from a basket full of popcorn "...where the hell did you get that?"
"There was a stand outside! These are chocolate flavored popcorn! They are very sweet and good!" explained Poppea with a smile before eating more popcorn.
"Did you really pay for such a thing?" asked Asher ignoring Asteria as she took a handful of popcorn.
Kazumi quickly moved his hands [ Of course. The seller was a very nice old lady. ]
Asher looked at them without batting an eye.
[ Poppea got the money back as soon as we walked away. ]
"That's not an excuse."
While they talked to each other or waited for action, Siegmund let his gaze wander through the crowd, intently watching whoever caught his attention, which was never a good thing.
'Natsu Dragneel, Gray Fullbuster, Gajeel Redfox and Elfman Strauss...mid B-rank to low A-rank power level, could be useful toys to pass the time.' he looked to the left, feeling a powerful source of magical power 'Makarov Dreyar...S-rank power! He would be a more than worthy opponent, although I'm afraid his age would be a nuisance. There is no fun if my opponent dies of a heart attack during the fight.'
'Attack him! Let me taste his blood! Let's battle that titan!'
'Not yet...not yet.' Siegmund replied to the demonic voice in his head while opening and closing his right hand 'Soon, very soon we will fight this little fairies!'
His guildmates quickly realized his intentions, especially thanks to the hungry grin that was slowly opening on his face and they were sure that shortly thereafter his blood-lust would be felt throughout the building, however a man with a microphone arrived on stage just then.
"People of Magnolia Town and people from nearby towns! And those who especially came from the underworld, don't forget to go back to your graves when it's over, okay!?" the crowd laughed at his words as he moved around the stage "Now, for what you all have been waiting for! The Fairy Tail beauties will perform right in front of you! Let the contest begin!" moving one arm, he created a trail of sand "The announcer will be me, the sand magician, Max Alors!"
"Idiot."
"Buffoon."
"Waste of air."
[ Horrible hair. ]
"His bow tie is cute!" as one, Naco, Asteria, Asher and Kazumi turned to Poppea who shrugged with a smile on her face "What? I like the bow tie, not him."
"May I introduce to you our first contestant! Miss Cana Alberona!"
As Cana entered the stage and performed with her cards before being left in only a simple bikini, Siegmund watched her with interest for a few seconds, cataloging her as a high B-rank mage; a good toy like all the others but not his primary prey.
"Second contestant, the new member of Fairy Tail! Miss Juvia Lockser!"
Hearing that name, Naco and Asteria quickly became more attentive before carefully observing one of their targets, completely ignoring the purpose of her performance. They could both feel the magical power within her and it was clear that she would give them a more worthy fight than the other members of Phantom Lord, even if their main course was a red-eyed dragon slayer sitting across the hall, intent on eat pieces of iron.
"Juvia is yours, the dragon is all mine." grinned Asteria while staring at him.
Naco narrowed his eyes "Why the hell should I leave to you the dragon slayer?"
"Because your magic is most effective on her, plus if you defeat her quickly you may still face Laxus. Isn't that what you want?" replied Asteria, already knowing she had won, and judging by the way Naco began to grumble, he must have understood it too.
After Juvia, Mirajane Strauss took the stage and, despite her purely comic performance, all the magicians of Shadow Soul could feel the magical power that resided within her, easily on the level of their strongest wizards. Feeling all that latent power, Siegmund's eyes immediately lit up with an unstable madness harboring within them, arousing the worry of his guildmates.
"Not now, Siegmund." hissed Asher, even knowing that the 'Berserker' needed nothing more than a second to kill him. But the mission had priority and they couldn't risk attracting attention even before they understood what Laxus was planning.
"I was thinking that Mirajane is currently Fairy Tail's second strongest woman..." said Poppea while looking at the ceiling, earning a glare from Asher "...but people like Erza, Laxus, Gildarts and Mystogan should be stronger than her. I wonder if they're not around here?"
Her words seemed to awaken Siegmund from his momentary madness and his eyes became more focused, starting to look around. Asher gave a slight sigh of relief, sending a silent thank you to Poppea as Asteria and Naco looked around like the S-class wizard.
"According to our information Gildarts is still on a mission, but Mystogan is not and it seems that his illusions are far superior to Faye's. Maybe he is really around here, intent on observing us." said Naco with sparks dancing in his eyes while Levy McGarden took the stage.
Asteria snorted "I have worked with her for several months and I can recognize when someone is hiding behind an illusion; he's not here. However, I can't even feel Erza Scarlet's presence...don't tell me she went on a mission." she then distractedly noticed Bisca Mulan's mundane performance, stating that Reina could have done much better with her bow.
When it became clear that neither Mystogan, Erza or Gildarts were around, their attention shifted back to the stage just in time to see a small argument between a blonde girl, whom Naco and Asteria recognized from the casino in Akane Beach, and a woman with the eyeglasses, but she raised them before looking Lucy straight in the eyes.
"Lucy! Don't look into her eyes!"
Under the shocked gaze of the crowd, Lucy was transformed into a stone statue with no way of reacting and Max hurriedly created a sand arrow above himself, inviting everyone to escape. As the crowd fled in fear from the building, Siegmund and the others stood against the wall near the exit without taking their eyes off the stage.
"What are you doing, Evergreen?! Are you trying to ruin the festival!?" shouted Makarov moving towards the stage.
Evergreen grinned amused while raising a small torch with which she set fire to the curtain "Shouldn't a festival have a main show?" and in a few moments the petrified forms of all the other contestants became visible to the eyes of the Fairy Tail wizards.
Makarov ordered Evergreen to get them all back to normal, but then a powerful lightning struck the center of the stage and a blond-haired man stood to his full height flanked by his bodyguards "Oi, Fairy Tail idiots...the real festival begins now!"
"Laxus and the Thunder God Tribe?!"
"When did they come back?!"
"Why don't we play a game, old man?" grinned Laxus staring down at his grandfather.
"Don't do something stupid!" replied Makarov "We have to get ready for Fantasia, so turn them back to normal now!"
"Fantasia is late at night, if we hurry, people might be able to see it." the ceiling above them lit up for a moment before lightning struck Lucy, missing her by mere inches; Laxus then put his arm around her shoulders "I'll take these girls as hostages. I'll destroy them one by one if you break the rules...this is the main show after all."
A vein begins to throb on Makarov's forehead "There are things that can't be taken as jokes, Laxus!"
His grandson, however, did not seem in the least disturbed by his words "Of course, I'm dead serious right now."
Fried calmly looked at the wizards in front of them "It's just a game, to find out who..."
"...is the strongest here, in Fairy Tail!" Bickslow concluded with his tongue dangling out of his mouth.
"The rules are very simple! The last survivor wins!" grinned Laxus with electricity dancing around his body "The Fairy Tail War starts now!"
BOOM!
Everyone turned to the source of the deafening noise only to see a table flying in the air and Natsu standing with a raised fist and a wide grin on his lips "Isn't this great? This is way too easy to understand! I'm fired up!"
"Ah Natsu...you''re always up for a good time, aren't you? I kind of like that..." said Laxus with an amused face, remaining perfectly calm when Natsu started running towards him with his right fist surrounded by flames "...and yet, I can't say I like your total lack of style. Now calm down, Natsu."
Natsu did not even see the lightning that struck him, making him scream in pain, before falling to the ground with his body completely black with soot.
"If you want to free these lovely ladies, you'll have to defeat us first." Evergreen then said, explaining that the playing field was the whole city of Magnolia and that if one of them found a member of the Thunder God Tribe, the fight would begin, then adding that the time limit was only three hours "If you cannot defeat us before that time is up, then these girls...will be reduced to sand."
That sentence was the straw that broke the camel's back and Makarov suddenly grew bigger with a mask of anger on his face "DON'T YOU SCREW WITH ME!"
"You need to calm down, old man. Let's enjoy this little bit of entertainment!" said Laxus, before creating a strong flash of light in his right hand that blinded everyone present. By the time they were finally able to look back at the stage, Laxus and his bodyguards were gone.
After a few moments of confusion, all the wizards present ran towards the exit to hunt down Laxus, but none of them could see the floating form of Poppea as she flew overhead, watching them with an amused smile. After a few seconds, she brought two fingers to her right ear, where a small blue spherical Lacrima was visible.
"Can you hear me?"
"Yes, I can hear you loud and clear." replied Asher in her mind.
"We really have to thank Lorenzo as soon as we see him! His research department outdid itself with these Communication Lacrima, they're even compatible with my magic!"
"Apparently they don't work with Kazumi though, probably because he can't talk." noted Asher while looking at his side, where Kazumi was holding Poppea's body in his arms while hiding in an alley not far from the guild. Shadow Soul's six mages had come out just before Laxus blinded everyone so they wouldn't be noticed "What do you see?"
"Let's see~ for some reason master Makarov is not leaving...he seems stuck." Poppea watched the situation for a few seconds before tilting her head to the side "Confirmed the presence of Fried Justine's magic, his Jutsu Shiki are blocking Makarov within the building. The rules applied are that people over eighty or stone statues cannot leave the guild."
"Mh...with those rules in place we can't even try to recover Juvia Lockser." Asher began to think about what to do before asking "Anything else?"
"..."
"Poppea...?"
"I didn't know that Makarov was over eighty!"
Very calmly, Asher took a long, controlled breath "Anything else USEFUL for the mission?"
Poppea levitated next to the Fairy Tail master, aware that he could not see her "Mh...apparently a spherical-bodied wizard has gone into hiding rather than going with the others and Makarov is asking him to go to the forest east of Magnolia to find a cure for petrifaction. Oh, and Natsu Dragneel just woke up."
Asher could distinctly hear the dragon slayer's scream as he ran before being abruptly silenced "What happened?"
"Strange as it may seem...he can't get out of the building. He is over eighty or is a statue." explained Poppea as she, together with Happy, Makarov and Reedus was watching Natsu's face planted against an invisible wall.
"Really? Could there be a mistake in the Jutsu Shiki?"
"I don't think that's the problem...I'll contact you as soon as they find out."
"Understood.. In the meantime, we will keep an eye on the situation. A Fairy Tail civil war could come in handy, but we need to understand how and especially if Laxus has any chance of victory." Asher then closed the communication before looking at Kazumi, who was staring at him with a nervous smile.
Slowly, very slowly, Asher took a deep breath.
"Excluding Poppea, it's just you and me in this alley."
Kazumi nodded.
"The other three probably left by the time we got here."
Kazumi nodded again.
"None of them took a Communication Lacrima, so we can't contact them..."
A third nod.
Asher took another deep breath.
When everything is over, he will have some words with the mistress! Consequences be damned!
[Magic Council's Fiore Branch / 15th October X784]
"Remember the plan. Free Erigor and then head straight for the exit." said Grady in front of a crossroads. Both directions would lead to different sections of the dungeons and therefore they had to split into two groups to have a better chance of finding Erigor, even though Grady had failed to say that he knew very well where the wind mage was.
"Just make sure you don't get arrested. If I find my brother, I'm not going back for you." replied Elagor with a glare directed at him, but Grady merely grinned.
"Don't worry, I can quickly create a way out."
Without further ado, Grady and fifteen of Eisenwald's men went to the right while the others followed Elagor to the left. The one-eyed wizard moved quickly down the hall, pausing only to kill a couple of Rune Knights who had been in the wrong place at the wrong time. Finally they found themselves in front of a huge double wooden door and opened it quickly, being able to then observe a long series of cells on both sides of the room.
"Guys!" looking to the right, they saw a chubby man with green hair and large lips, who was staring at them with shocked eyes "What are you doing here?!"
"We are here to free Erigor and everyone else! We must take revenge on those fairies!" explained Rayule, a man with a tight hood covered in black and light stripes "Now get away from the bars!"
Within minutes, the dark wizard used his magic to cut the iron bars of the various cells, freeing even those who were not part of Eisenwald, so that he could create more havoc in their escape. Grady clapped his hands a couple of times to get everyone's attention "Okay, listen to me! We set you free but now we have to leave before the alarm goes off and this place is set on fire...by the Rune...Knights..."
Turning slowly towards the door they had come from, Grady remained in perfect silence causing all the others to worry, they then followed his line of sight only to see a figure advancing towards them from the end of the corridor with a calm and rhythmic step. Oddly enough, that person didn't seem to make any noise as they advanced and when they stopped at the door, the former prisoners immediately recognized the man who was now standing before them.
"N-No way...Acier Grey!?"
"W-Why is the Ice Steel Demon here?!"
"W-Wait! He's alone, we can beat him!"
"Silver Bullets." Acier did not waste even a second before creating a sphere of liquid metal from which he fired three small orbs that hit in the face the three wizards who had spoken, breaking their nose and making them fall unconscious to the ground.
"Garbage like you should remain silent." Acier shifted his gaze to the other wizards, making them recoil in fear "Now, why are you here, thrash?"
"Tch, another crossroads." growled Elagor before pointing at the aisle on the left "All of you, go that way. I'll take the right path."
"Are you sure about this decision, Elagor?" asked Snarl with Byard at his side.
Elagor glared at them "All of you together are perhaps worth a third of me or my brother! I am more than capable of fighting alone, now don't waste any more time, and see that you don't lose that." he added at the end, looking at the scythe in Byard's hands, a gift for Erigor since his original weapon had been confiscated and they didn't know where it was.
The wizards of Eisenwald nodded in fear before running to the left. Elagor stood still for a few seconds before sighing and, like a mirage, the man vanished leaving room for Sylva, who was wearing a dark-colored travel cloak with vine pattern along the hem edges with its hood covering her face. She shook her head slightly "Honestly, how did they survive all this time? Taken together, perhaps they have the same level of magical power as Abi..."
Without wasting any more time, Sylva headed right quickly looking for her target, which was completely different from wanting to free Erigor and the other wizards; that was just a cover after all.
Through some informants and some documents obtained in unlawful ways, Sylva was able to map the entire structure of the building, so she knew very well where she had to go and after a few minutes she found a stairwell which she climbed quickly making as little noise as possible. Once near the upstairs door, she activated her magic that completely enveloped the surrounding area, making the door seem always closed even when she opened it to see if there were any guards.
Once she was satisfied with the absence of hostiles, she closed the door and canceled her magic before moving along the wall to the first corner and, leaning slightly over it, saw two Rune Knights stationed in front of a door. With a quick flick of her wrists, she activated her war claws before using her magic once again and running towards the two soldiers on guard; the first of them didn't even notice when Sylva slit his throat with three claws before falling forward spewing blood. The second Rune Knight looked to his left only to see his dying companion collapse to the ground before being slaughtered as well.
"Rune Knights are too lazy when it comes to anti-magic defenses. We're also not the first guild to have attempted such a thing." recovering the keys from the dead bodies, Sylva opened the door and found herself in what appeared to be an archive full of shelves "Now I just have to find the right section...let's see, letter E...letter F...letter G!"
Quickly removing some tomes from that shelf, he placed them on a nearby table before starting to flip through them quickly. It took her several minutes, and the girl she swore she heard screams coming from downstairs her, but she eventually found the documents relating to two people: Zeedr Gradun and Ursa Gradun, Naco's parents.
"Mh...so he's really a former Eisenwald member. He was practically born into the guild, a bit like Kazumi with Shadow Soul." Sylva read on for a few seconds before nodding in satisfaction "Now I have all the information I need, I might as well cover my tracks."
Searching with one hand in her tunic, she pulled out five small red Lacrima which she threw at the shelves around her. The Lacrima burst into flames on first contact and began to quickly devour wood and paper, while the mage of illusions had already left the room, vanishing again like a mirage.
'My job here is done, now I have to get to Grady and then we can leave.'
"Boss!"
Erigor blinked before looking at his former guildmates as they tried to open the door of his cell with the keys recovered by two dead guards "What the hell are you doing here? How did you get in this place?"
"Grady organized everything!" replied Snarl finally managing to open the door "Your brother also helped us even though he's not here now!"
"Grady...? Brother...?" repeated Erigor while Byard handed him the scythe "What are you talking about...?"
Byard looked at him with confused eyes "Your brother, Elagor. He told us he was on a mission all this time and came back to get you out."
Erigor gripped the scythe before cutting off Byard's thick tuft with a single swipe, scaring the other dark wizard "YOU IDIOTS! I have no brother and I don't know any Grady! You have been deceived!"
"W-What?" Snarl backed away from him "B-But they helped us and they had our guild mark!"
"A trick! A fucking trick and you fell for it!" hissed Erigor moving his gaze toward the exit "It is also too late to escape."
Confused by his words, the wizards of Eisenwald turned to the door only to see a Rune Knight armed with a strange blue spear watching them with cold and focused eyes.
"Well, if it's not the Tempest Knight, Winter Driver himself." grinned Erigor moving in front of the others with his weapon ready to kill "Are you here to stop me from escaping?"
"That goes without saying, Erigor." replied Winter without missing a beat "Now go back to your cell and I won't have to resort to brute force to make you give up."
"Why the hell would a Rune Knights captain be here?!" shouted Snarl with the others preparing their magic "They should all be in Era!"
Erigor glared daggers at him "Those who deceived you must have known that he was here. I wouldn't be surprised to find out they were Magic Council spies either."
"I'm afraid I don't know anything about it. Another captain and I were here awaiting new orders." said Winter, slightly intrigued by the idea that someone had tricked so many dark wizards into the arms of the Rune Knights.
'Another captain? Shit...if it's the Ice Steel Demon I'll never make it out of here. I have to take advantage of these idiots who have been fooled and run away as soon as I have the chance.' thought Erigor before starting to gather magical power "First and last chance to leave before I kill you!"
Winter did not seem at all disturbed by his threat and simply took a fighting pose "You're really desperate if you think you can intimidate a Rune Knights captain with those words. You've had your chance to fix it all without bloodshed, but it's clear that you dark wizards only understand things in the form of violence."
"KILL HIM!"
Obeying Erigor's order, all the wizards of Eisenwald launched their attack without noticing that the wind wizard was left behind.
Winter closed his eyes for a second before opening them again and squeezing his weapon tightly.
"Cursed-Spear Style; Third Form: Elysium!"
[Magnolia/ 15th October X784]
"Did you find them, Alzack?!"
The gunman turned to Jet and Droy "They are not over here! And you?!"
"Not a trace!"
Alzack cursed Laxus and the others before kicking some wooden crates "Damn it! We have no idea where they are and we only have three hours to save Bisca and the others!"
His outburst was cut short, however, when he and the other two sensed the activation of a spell and, looking around, saw that a wall of dark energy had been erected from the road ahead and behind them.
"Jutsu Shiki!?"
"I think we should deal with Fried first."
After a few moments, runes appeared in midair in front of them, and as they read them, the three Fairy Tail wizards were speechless.
{~RULE: ONLY THE STRONGEST OF THE MAGES TRAPPED WITHIN HERE MAY LEAVE~}
"What the..."
"So we have to fight each other to get out? Is this some kind of sick joke, Fried!?"
"I'm sorry..." Jet and Droy turned to Alzack, who had already drawn his two pistols "I have to save Bisca. I can't just hand around here doing nothing. Spark Shot!"
The two wizards threw themselves to the side avoiding Alzack's bullets and Jet immediately activated his magic, managing to hit him with a very fast kick, causing him to crash into a wall. The gunfighter, however, did not stand still and aimed his guns again at Jet before quickly firing several bullets downwards which exploded in large patches of mud, before throwing himself to the ground and avoiding the vines created by Droy.
Turning to the plant wizard, he fired several flaming shots that destroyed Droy's root shield, but this allowed Jet to leap at him and hit Alzack with a knee in the face. However, Jet was unable to move away due to the large patches of mud that caused him to lose his balance before being hit by a tornado fired by Alzack.
The three wizards spared no effort and fought fiercely for two minutes before Alzack jumped high and managed to hit them both with paralyzing bullets, knocking them both out. Panting from the effort, Alzack apologized over and over to his two guildmates before staggering to the rune wall, but was confused when he found it still active.
"What...?" he looked at Jet and Droy "They are unconscious...so why is the wall still here?!"
"Mmm...so these runes apply to everyone, not just Fairy Tail wizards."
Surprised by that female voice, Alzack looked up and saw a girl with long, wavy brown hair sitting on the edge of a roof, looking at him with an amused look and a disturbing grin on her face.
"W-Who are you?" asked the gunman as she jumped down, landing near Jet and Droy.
"Oh I'm just a simple passing girl. I had come here to have fun and yet here I am, locked up in a runic field."
Alzack's eyes widened in shock "You're a mage!? Damn you Fried! Haven't you even thought about the possibility that there were other wizards in town?!" after a shaky breath, he looked at the girl "Look...I'm...really sorry about this situation, but this wall will not disappear until only one wizard remains standing."
Her grin seemed to widen "I know, isn't this great?"
"W-What?"
"That way I don't have to chase anyone! It is perfect for me!"
Alzack felt a shiver run down his spine and, very slowly, he aimed a gun at the girl "Who are you...?"
"Asteria Nikos, but you can call me Nebula! Now, let's fight! Meteor!"
The Fairy Tail's mage barely managed to fire a shot before leaning back and dodging a kick from Asteria aimed to his head. The girl then spun in midair to hit him from above but Alzack threw himself to the side and tried to shoot again, however the girl was significantly faster than Jet and she had already moved behind him. This time Alzack couldn't defend himself and was hit in the side with a well-placed kick, breaking some of his ribs. The young wizard rolled to the ground before stopping and raising a gun, but unfortunately for him Asteria appeared in front of him and grabbed his wrist, pointing it towards the sky.
"Sorry cowboy, but I'm a lot faster than you!"
The last thing Alzack saw was a fist wrapped in a golden aura.
Dropping the unconscious wizard's body to the ground, Asteria watched the wall of runes vanish instantly and without hesitation jumped on top of one of the nearby buildings, looking around with predatory eyes.
"Now...where I can find more fairies~?"
"Mh? What is that...?" Makarov looked at the runes appeared in front of the main door "Fairy Tail War progress report...?"
{FAIRY TAIL WAR PROGRESS REPORT}
{ ~ ALZACK vs DROY vs JET vs A$&£§?& ~ }
"W-What is that!?"
"Uh? Why would they fight among themselves?" asked Natsu with a confused face "And what the hell is that fourth name?"
{ ~ WINNER: A$&£§?& ~ }
{ ~ ALZACK, DROY AND JET ARE NO LONGER ABLE TO FIGHT ~ }
{ ~ FAIRY TAIL MEMBERS REMAINING: 80 ~ }
"Oh this is interesting!" Poppea looked at the runes with a smile on her face before moving two fingers to her right ear "Asher, can you hear me?"
"Yes, do you have any news? I'm looking for the others but it almost seems like a war has broken out in the city." replied Asher from the other side "Under these conditions it is more difficult to track Laxus."
"The clashes you see around are the work of Laxus, or rather Fried Justine. It seems that he has set traps all over the city, and to escape from them the wizards are forced to fight each other, but I have just received confirmation that Asteria has just defeated three of them." explained Poppea continuing to read the report as it was updated "Oddly, her name isn't shown in full, just the first letter and then a series of weird symbols."
"It could be the guild mark, although I didn't know it had this function." Asher then asked "Do you know by chance tell me where to look for them?"
"Unfortunately these are simple post-battle reports, I can't help you any other way. I will update you whenever I see something about others."
"Understood, I should hurry and...I think I just found Naco."
"How so?"
"Lightning."
"Mh..."
{ ~ VIJEETER vs NAB vs N £% ~ }
{ ~ WINNER: N £% ~ }
{ ~ VIJEETER AND NAB ARE NO LONGER ABLE TO FIGHT ~ }
{ ~ FAIRY TAIL MEMBERS REMAINING: 66 ~ }
"Yep, that's him!"
"I'll try to pass him a Communication Lacrima." and with those last words, he ended the contact between them.
"What part of this is normal!? Our comrades' lives are on the line here! Everyone's deadly serious!" Poppea looked at Makarov as he was shouting at Natsu before lowering his gaze "At this rate, everyone who was petrified will end up as dust...and they'll never be coming back."
Natsu blinked at him before smiling "Ah come on! Even Laxus wouldn't do that. He can be an ass sometimes, but he's still a member of our guild, isn't he?"
'It must be said that, despite having the instinct of a dragon, he is tremendously naive and optimistic.' thought Poppea with a giggle before looking at the stage 'I could make a statue move to make it fall but it wouldn't solve anything. Juvia can't go out until she's petrified and Gajeel...' looking behind the bar, she saw the dragon slayer's black hair as he ate some metal cutlery; strangely, neither Makarov, nor Natsu, nor the strange blue cat had yet noticed his presence.
{ ~ TIME REMAINING: 2:18 ~ }
{ ~ COMBATANTS REMAINING: 40 ~ }
'Forty?' thought Makarov with shocked eyes 'Just through comrades fighting one another there's already less than half of us left...and we still don't know what those strange names made of symbols are. Fried has always been meticulous, he would never make a mistake in his Jutsu Shiki...so what is going on?!'
[Magic Council's Fiore Branch / 15th October X784]
"Silver Spikes."
Grady and the others avoided a large amount of metal spikes from the ground, although some of the former prisoners were badly injured by the spell, remaining helpless on the ground. Kageyama tried to attack the Rune Knights captain with a multitude of shadow snakes but dozens of small metal bullets tore them apart, forcing him to take cover behind Acier's newly created spikes.
"He's insane!"
"We must try to catch him off guard!" growled Rayule at his side "Twins! Go and get him! Karacka, prepare your magic!"
The two orange-haired boys nodded before pulling out a say each and running in different directions to be able to hit Acier on the sides. Meanwhile Karacka created a magic circle under himself and passed across the ground, vanishing into the floor.
Acier stood motionless in front of the only possible exit with his arms folded, when the twins appeared on the sides, however he did not even deign to look at them making them angry. After nodding at each other, the two ran towards Acier to stab him with their weapons and even thought they could kill him when the Rune Knight did nothing to defend himself, however they were shocked when their blades bounced off his skin. Or rather, on the layer of metal that had formed on his skin, blocking their attacks. The twins tried to attack him again but the metal returned liquid before solidifying with each new blow, preventing them from hurting Acier.
After yet another failed attack, Acier lost his patience and grabbed the wrists of the hands holding the weapons before snapping them with only his physical strength, making the twins scream in pain. The two dark wizards let go of their weapons and Acier grabbed them both before using the knobs of the two sais to strike his opponents from below, hitting them in the chin and smashing several teeth before knocking them unconscious. The twins hadn't even fallen to the ground that Acier leapt up, avoiding the hands of Karacka, who had just come out of a magic circle, before thrusting both blades into his shoulders. The man did not have time to scream that Acier hit him in the back of the head with a knee, smashing his face against the floor. Needless to say, Karacka immediately stopped moving.
"You fucking dog! You don't even care if you kill them!?" shouted Rayule jumping from one of the metal spikes before using his magic "Urumi!"
"If they're that weak, they shouldn't have come here." replied Acier pointing a hand at him "Iron Web."
Being in mid-air Rayule was unable to avoid the wires of liquid metal which, in addition to piercing and destroying his bands, wrapped around him like a spider's web before solidifying, imprisoning and making him fall badly to the ground. The wizard of Eisenwald began to struggle to try to escape but Acier calmly approached before stomping Rayule's head with his foot, knocking him unconscious.
After making sure Rayule and everyone else were knocked out, he turned to the last remaining wizards: Grady, Kageyama, and a simple mage with black hair that the others called Fortune Teller.
"What do we do now? We are only three and he is not even tired!"
Kageyama looked at his guildmate "I have an idea, just stand in front of me!"
Fortune Teller did as requested by standing in front of Kageyama along with Grady, but Acier's bored gaze was the last thing he saw before a shadow snake coiled around his neck before snapping it, killing him instantly. Releasing the corpse, Kageyama looked at Acier before sighing "Don't you feel like you're exaggerating? You almost hit me before!"
"You have to be at our level, not stoop to theirs. Your attack was too weak."
Kageyama rolled his eyes "Yes, you spend more than a month without magic in the cell and with little food...then let's see how you fare against Siegmund or Shirros."
"Oh come on, no need to be prickly." chuckled Grady patting him on the back "It's been a while Kageyama!"
The black haired man grinned at him "Maybe too much Grady, a few more days and my mark would be gone." he then moved the sleeve of his prison gown, showing the guild mark of Eisenwald which then morphed into the one of Shadow Soul.
"Sorry for the delay, but we have been busy." Grady then looked at Acier "How long do we have?"
"Not much, the other Rune Knights will be here in a moment."
"Guys!" Sylva arrived at that moment and then stopped next to Acier "I'm done on my side, they're probably already trying to put out the fire. Good to see you again Kageyama!" she looked at the metal mage "You too Acier!"
The captain of the Rune Knights did not return the greeting and walked towards the exit "Leave now. I'm going to report on an escape attempt."
"Sociable as always..." said Grady with a sigh.
"You know him, we certainly couldn't expect him to chat with us." chuckled Sylva before looking at Kageyama "Ready to go home?"
"Now more than ever!" nodded Kageyama before placing both hands on the ground "Shadow Gate!"
His shadow widened several meters creating a perfect circle below them and the three wizards sank into the shadows without leaving any trace of their presence.
Their mission successfully accomplished.
"Damn insect!" flying quickly around the room and ignoring the helpless forms of his unconscious comrades, Erigor lunged at Winter with his scythe which was promptly blocked by his opponent's spear. After a momentary stalemate, Erigor was pushed back before the two began a heated blade duel, generating multiple shock-waves and sparks.
Winter had to admit that Erigor knew his stuff with that scythe, however he was too reckless in his attacks and the Rune Knight was perfectly capable of blocking or deflecting them all, even if he was unable to take advantage of it due to the agility of his opponent, also due to Erigor's use of his wind magic.
Trying with a lunge, Erigor dodged the attack by rising into the air before pointing his left hand at Winter "Storm Bringer!"
A powerful tornado was generated from the palm of his hand, aimed at Winter, however the captain aimed his weapon at the incoming attack, the tip of which began to glow before being engulfed in flames "Cursed-Spear Style; First Form: Assiah!"
Thrusting his spear forward, Winter released a burst of flame from the tip of his weapon that crashed into Erigor's tornado. The two attacks continued to collide for several seconds in a stalemate before canceling each other out. Erigor then launched himself at Winter to attempt to decapitate him, but his opponent leapt backwards before attempting a quick series of thrusts which Erigor deflected by rapidly spinning his scythe.
Letting his magical power flow, Winter assumed a new fighting stance before thrusting his spear forward "Cursed-Spear Style; Third Form: Elysium!" and other than the blade of his weapon, several blades of energy appeared around the tip, all hitting Erigor's defense, who could do nothing before being thrown back with several open wounds along the body.
"It would be better if you stopped resisting and surrendered to justice. A criminal like you can't get back on the loose." said Winter standing firm in front of the exit "I find it admirable that your comrades have gone this far to free you, but dark mages like you can't hope to get away with it."
"Tch, these idiots got fooled by some asshole out there." growled Erigor standing up with hatred in his eyes "And who are you to talk about justice!? We were a legal guild before you threw us into darkness!"
"The rules exist to be respected. Accepting assassination contracts is not something the Magic Council would approve of."
Erigor snorted "Please! I'm pretty sure you fools have made a lot of people disappear without saying anything to anyone! Killing others is only fair if you get something out of it!" magical power began to float around his body after which he began to spin his scythe quickly "Once I get out of here, I'll kill the other guild masters and then take care of you Magic Council buffoons! Storm Mail!"
Within moments, a swirling armor of wind covered his body and the dark wizard lunged at Winter, again trying to hit him with his magic-enhanced scythe. The Rune Knight managed to defend himself but with each blocked hit, a small cut opened on his clothes.
"It's useless, dog of the Council! Now you can no longer protect yourself from my attacks and you can no longer hit me!" laughed Erigor while sending several wind blades against Winter, who destroyed them all with his weapon before assuming another fighting pose.
"You talk too much." pulling back his spear, water began to condense around the tip of his weapon before he thrust it forward "Cursed-Spear Style; Fourth Form: Takamagahara!"
Erigor did not care about the attack, being certain that his defense would hold up, but he was completely shocked when, upon contact with his spell, a powerful jet of water was released from Winter's blade, piercing the wind defense as well as his right thigh, opening a large bleeding hole. After the first few seconds of confusion and astonishment, the pain was finally registered in Erigor's mind as he flew across the room screaming in pain before falling to the ground, losing his scythe in the fall.
"You! YOU BASTARD!" screamed Erigor holding his wounded leg "I'll make you pay for this!"
Winter walked toward him "Give up now and we can heal your wound. If you don't hurry you risk bleeding to death and I can't allow it."
"Screw you! I won't surrender! Never!" getting up with some difficulty, Erigor accumulated all the magical power he had left before pointing his arms at Winter, who had stopped sensing the imminent threat. With a mad grin on his face, Erigor overlapped the index and middle fingers of each hand in an X sign "Let's see what your justice can do now! I'll wipe out you and the whole damn palace!"
'He's too far to stop him in time. I have to block his attack.' confusing Erigor, Winter planted both feet in the floor and managed without difficulty to destroy the concrete, carrying his spear to the right side of his body as magical power accumulated in his weapon "I can't let you do it. There are many innocent people behind me and I will not let you kill them!"
"Then try to protect them and die, dog of the Council!" Erigor's magical power reached its peak in that moment "EMERA BARAM!"
Not more than a second later, a large, concentrated blast of wind blades was fired at Winter, destroying the floor and ceiling and killing or further injuring Eisenwald's wizards scattered around the room. The Rune Knight closed his eyes, letting his magical power pour even more into the spear.
'Father, give me strength.'
Opening his eyes again, a thick and powerful magical aura was released from his body as the wind began to swirl around the tip of his spear like a drill.
"Cursed-Spear Style; Second Form, Swarga Loka!"
Thrusting his spear forward with all his strength, Winter faced Erigor's attack with his own, creating a violent shock wave that further damaged the room, causing a violent explosion of rubble and wind that generated a big cloud of dust. The prisoners still inside the cells stood up after being thrown to the ground and stared at the result of the attack with wide eyes.
Erigor was at the back of the room, short of breath with his right leg covered in blood and his arms still outstretched after his spell which had carved a huge path of destruction into the floor, also damaging the ceiling.
"Impressive."
Erigor and everyone else hardly believed their ears when Winter's voice came from the cloud of dust and a few seconds later, they saw him still standing with his right arm outstretched like his weapon. The whole limb was littered with bloody cuts, while on the ground were visible two furrows made by his feet when he had been pushed back by Erigor's attack.
"Im...possible..."
"With power like that, you could have helped a lot of people. Too bad you chose the dark path." with his calm eyes, Winter stared at Erigor "This is the end."
"No...I won't...accept it!" Erigor tried to attack again but fell to his knees, having lost too much blood by now "I can't...loose...!"
Moving quickly, Winter cleared the distance between them before hitting Erigor at the base of the neck with his right hand, knocking him unconscious. Then looking around him, Winter shook his head when he saw the lifeless forms of several dark wizards who had found themselves in the middle of their fight.
"Even though you were dark mages, you didn't deserve such an end."
"Compassion for the garbage?" looking toward the exit, Winter saw Acier walking in with several Rune Knights who immediately went to help the wounded after putting special anti-magic handcuffs on them.
"They weren't garbage, just wizards who had walked the wrong path. If they survived in the future they could be redeemed." argued Winter with narrowed eyes, demonstrating his aversion to Acier's line of thinking "What is the situation in the rest of the building?"
"The fire in the archive was put out but we lost all the documents inside. From my side two wizards managed to escape with a spell, all the others have already been captured."
Winter raised an eyebrow "Someone managed to escape you?"
Acier shrugged "I can easily destroy this palace with my metal magic, but against some spells even mine can do nothing."
"You look strangely calm. Two dark wizards managed to escape from here after all."
"They were trash and if two have fled, at least a dozen of them have been captured so the loss is theirs."
"Those two could cause more damage out there!"
Acier did not even flinch and walked towards the exit "My job is not to be a prison guard. If the Magic Council really cared about this place they would have put more Rune Knights in defense. Complain to them."
Winter watched him go without answering, then turned to some Rune Knights "I want all the injured to be taken to the infirmary and send a message to the Council requesting an audience with them."
"Yes sir!"
Winter then shifted his gaze to Erigor as he was carried away on a stretcher 'Such a pity...with the right guidance you would have become a great Rune Knight.'
With nothing else to do, Winter left the room to go to the infirmary and have his arm bandaged, after which he would speak to the Council.
It was time to raise the bar in the fight against dark guilds and he would be on the front line.
[Magnolia/ 15th October X784]
"Put my sister and the others back how they were!"
Evergreen barely raised his glasses forcing Elfman to run with his eyes closed before hitting him with her fan, hurling him into a flower shop as the crowd ran away from them. Elfman emerged from the shop moments later, transformed into a horned beast but with a tight bandage over his eyes.
"You really think you can defeat me blindfolded?" asked Evergreen with an amused smile before dodging his fist. She was then surprised when he immediately tried to hit her with other attacks, always missing her just a little "I see, you have a beast's sense of smell, right?"
Elfman stopped as soon as he sensed something strange in the air as a golden dust surrounded him.
"But I'm afraid you're already caught in my fairy dust! Fairy Bomb: Gremlin!"
A violent explosion shook the entire area and Elfman collapsed forward with multiple injuries and burns on his body as Evergreen landed crouched in front of him "You know...I like statues. Even the most disgusting of monsters can be considered beautiful when fashioned out of stone. Now, look into my eyes and abandon your body to beauty."
Elfman's body was immediately turned to stone and Evergreen adjusted his glasses again, however she was so busy looking at the new statue of her creation that she did not see a girl lurking on a roof not too far away.
With a sinister grin on her face and her eyes fixed on Evergreen's back, Asteria began to accumulate magical power.
"Found ya~!"
{ ~ EVERGREEN vs ELFMAN ~ }
{ ~ WINNER: EVERGREEN ~ }
{ ~ ELFMAN IS NO LONGER ABLE TO FIGHT ~ }
{ ~ FAIRY TAIL MEMBERS REMAINING: 39 ~ }
Happy looked with worried eyes at the runes "Even Elfman has been defeated! The Thunder God Tribe are making their move!"
"Ngh...and Gray is out there fighting Bickslow! I wanna join in!"
"Ah! They've taken out Reedus too! He was supposed to be bringing us the medicine to turn the petrified people back to normal!"
Natsu crossed his arms looking at Happy "There's not much point since he's obviously just bluffing."
"Oh? You think I'm bluffing, do you Natsu?" Poppea and the others looked back, where a Laxus projection had appeared in the middle of the room "What are you doing here anyway, Natsu?"
"SHUT UP! I can't get out!"
Laxus arched an eyebrow "Really? Then I could ask Fried to check the runes. It's not fun if not everyone participates."
"Damn right!"
The blond mage then looked at his grandfather "Do you surrender, old man? Mira is a statue, Natsu cannot go out and Erza is not here so your chances of victory are almost nil."
'Strange, he didn't mention Gildarts and Mystogan. Is it possible that they are both untraceable?' thought Poppea looking at the discussion from above.
"There's still Gray! He is as strong as Natsu!" said Happy earning the ire of the dragon slayer.
Laxus laughed at them "Really? Gray? You're all betting on that loser?"
"I wouldn't underestimate Gray if I were you, Laxus." replied Makarov with serious eyes.
'Cliche much...?' Poppea let out a small giggle before looking at the bar 'And still no one has noticed Gajeel!'
Gray chased his opponent into an alley, but as soon as he found himself between the two walls, he had to look up to see Bickslow, legs apart and feet pointed against the walls to keep himself off the ground.
"Dammit...what are you trying to pull?!"
Bickslow showed him his long tongue "I told you, didn't I? I just want to play!"
At that moment a series of runes rose at either end of the alley, surprising Gray.
"A trap?!"
"It's times like this that remote-control-style magic really come in handy." grinned Bickslow.
"The mannequins?!" Gray just had time to see one of Bickslow's dolls before he was hit by an energy laser; the explosion threw Gray to the ground and the other mannequins began to fire repeatedly creating a thick blanket of smoke.
"Hyahahahahah! Too bad for you! It seems even the great Gray is nothing without his magic!" shouted Bickslow before noticing a shadow jumping on the walls "Impossible!"
With one last leap, Gray threw himself at his opponent and managed to punch him in the face before they both fell down, but while Bickslow got up quickly, Gray remained unconscious on the ground.
"Well...what do you know. It's over already!"
Walking out of the alley, Bickslow set off towards the city center to hunt down other opponents, but after a few meters his eyes shifted to another side alley where he sensed more magical power. With an amused grin, thinking he has already found someone, Bickslow walked in that direction and immediately saw a guy with deep royal purple hair on the other side of the alley next to a sleeping girl on the ground.
No, she wasn't sleeping, he couldn't see her soul.
"Well...what do we have here? A murderer?" asked Bickslow staring at the other boy, who glared at him with cold eyes "Oooh scary~! You know, right now I'm on the hunt for fairies, but I think I have time to put a criminal like you in his place!"
After one last look at Poppea's body, Kazumi stepped forward pulling out two daggers from under his clothes, then stopping a few meters from Bickslow, who was now grinning like a mad man at him.
"Ooooh? Wanna go down with a fight?"
His grin, however, faded from his face when Kazumi brought a hand near the scarf that covered his mouth, lowering it.
"STOP!"
{ ~ BICKSLOW vs GRAY ~ }
{ ~ WINNER: BICKSLOW ~ }
{ ~ GRAY IS NO LONGER ABLE TO FIGHT ~ }
{ ~ FAIRY TAIL MEMBERS REMAINING: 23 ~ }
Everyone except Poppea and Laxus looked at the report in shock before the lightning wizard burst out laughing again "What did I tell you, huh?!"
"No way! You must have used some nasty trick!"
"Who's going to beat the Thunder God Tribe now?" grinned Laxus before looking at the new report with a raised eyebrow.
{ ~ BICKSLOW vs K $=?! ~ }
{ ~ EVERGREEN vs A$&£§?& ~ }
"Those names again huh?"
"Do you know who they are?" asked Makarov, noting that Laxus also seemed surprised by those strange names "Many wizards have been defeated by them."
"I have no idea, but I think someone crashed the party." said Laxus in an annoyed voice, not at all happy with it "I'll send Fried to take out these troublemakers."
"You don't even know who they are!" shouted Makarov "They could be mages who came here for the festival who got stuck in your stupid game!"
Laxus laughed at his words "So some unknown wizard is defeating all your brats? This guild has really fallen low recently! But you know how to end it all, don't you? You just have to give me the guild master position!"
'So that was his purpose. He is power hungry.' thought Poppea listening to the conversation until the Laxus projection was interrupted. At one point, Makarov seemed suddenly angry, wondering if there was anyone out there who could defeat Laxus and when a glass fell to the ground, the three turned to the bar.
"Gajeel?!"
"Don't eat the cutlery!"
'Yeeee! They noticed Gajeel!' thought Poppea with a giggle before staring confused as Gajeel was blocked by the runes, just like Natsu 'Well...that's strange.'
Completely shocked by what just happened, none of the Fairy Tail wizards felt the magical power build up not far from the guild, where Naco watched the room with electrified eyes as the air around him seemed to distort.
"Come on...come on..." his eyes quickly moved from Gajeel to Juvia and vice versa "Come on...! Let them out! Let them out now!"
A storm was about to hit Fairy Tail, and it wasn't Laxus's doing.
{ ~ FAIRY TAIL MEMBERS REMAINING: 2 ~ }
"Only two people are left?!" said Makarov with shocked eyes before looking at Natsu and Gajeel who were arguing with each other "Wait...two?"
The two dragon slayers looked at him in confusion.
"Don't tell it's just these two left!?"
"We weren't even included in the numbers?!"
Makarov looked at the floor with defeated eyes 'We have no mages left to battle unless the Thunder God Tribe come to fight in here. Is this the end...?'
{ ~ FAIRY TAIL MEMBERS REMAINING: 3 ~ }
"Huh?"
"It went up?"
"Who...?!" Natsu looked at the statues "All are still there, no one is back to normal!"
"Wait...this magical power..." Makarov closed his eyes to concentrate before opening them again with a huge grin on his face "Mystogan! He's back! He must have just entered Fried's marked territory!"
'Siegmund will be happy about this! I wonder if Asher managed to deliver the Communication Lacrima to him...' before Poppea could ask for confirmation from her comrade, a new notice appeared before them.
{ ~ FAIRY TAIL MEMBERS REMAINING: 8 ~ }
"Eight?" Natsu blinked at the number "Who...?"
"Even better! She's back!"
'Oh Siegmund will definitely be happy!' she quickly moved her fingers to her right ear "Siegmund do you happen to receive me?"
"Yes, I do." she could clearly hear the excitement in Siegmund's voice "And I already know, so don't bother me anymore."
"Nyaaa! I'm hungry Er-chan!"
"If you want to eat you should ask in a dandy way."
"I'm sorry you missed the first part of the festival because of us, nee-san..."
"Don't worry about that, it was necessary for your training and anyway we are perfectly on time for Fantasia."
"...guys, there is smoke rising from Magnolia in several places."
Hearing those words, everyone else watched in shock at the state of the city from the top of the hill they were standing on and without hesitation, the woman in armor in charge started running towards the city with the others immediately behind her.
Erza, Millianna, Simon, Wally and Shô.
Team Erza is reporting for duty, and waiting for them is the shadow of a Berserker!
TO BE CONTINUED...
And never say I don't love you! Two chapters in just one month! Wooo-hooo for me! I hope you enjoyed this chapter with all of its little plot twists! Can't wait to know what you think!
We found that Kageyama was actually always a member of Shadow Soul (I never said only OCs would be part of the guild!) and was successfully rescued, while it turns out that Naco was born inside the guild Eisenwald and that his parents are still imprisoned!
As another plot twist, we have that Millianna & co have become part of Fairy Tail to form Team Erza and they have just returned, just in time for some battle!
As for the distorted names in the war report, it has always been said that the battle and the mages were from Fairy Tail, but the rules applied in the city were defined for "mages" and that's it, without distinction, so Asteria and the others are subject to rules, but Fried's Jutsu Shiki cannot bypass their names as they are not Fairy Tail wizards!
Now, a little note for everyone. Unfortunately I can't always show all OCs in all chapters, so I hope you understand if for one or two chapters your characters don't appear in the story. My initial idea was to send Acier and Winter to Magnolia during the festival but it would have been more messed up, instead as I did at the end, I could also add Grady and Sylva, as well as being able to enter the Kageyama plot twist!
This you have just read was just a preparation for the clashes that await us in the Harvest Festival!
The next chapter will see the conclusion of this story arc!
I look forward to your reviews!
See you next time!
P.S: Remember! If you have seen an OC that caught your attention and would like he/she to be in the love story with your OC, please let me know via PM and I'll see if it's feasible or not!
P.P.S: Eisenwald mages with proper names and the twins are real manga/anime characters! You can search for them on the wiki!