"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 7: Shadows, Thunder and Fairies
[Magnolia/ 15th October X784]
"Well...this is definitely interesting!" grinned Bickslow despite being immobilized by Kazumi's magic "Voice activated magic...some form of voodoo magic maybe?"
Kazumi didn't answer him, just staring at him with cold eyes before running towards the Fairy Tail mage with his daggers ready, however he quickly realized that Bickslow had not yet lost his grin.
"Babies!"
Above him, Bickslow's five dolls fired several green energy lasers, forcing Kazumi to stop before jumping backwards to avoid all attacks, but the dolls gave him no respite before stacking on top of each other and firing a large vertical blade of energy. Unable to avoid such a blow due to Poppea's body behind him, Kazumi crossed his blades before blocking Bickslow's attack, being forced back several meters before the energy blade dissolved.
Bickslow whistled, impressed by his action "Those must be some fine blades if they weren't destroyed by my babies!"
Kazumi let out a sigh, feeling his arms shake from the effort. His two daggers were slightly damaged where they blocked the energy blade, and he was sure he couldn't block such an attack yet; certainly Atonnis would have had his work done in repairing them. Squeezing them tightly, he shifted his gaze again to Bickslow, who was moving again having overcome the effect of his magic.
"I have to say that you are making me enjoy this fight a lot more than my weak guildmates! Let's see how long you can last! Babies!"
"AIM UP!"
Despite the activation of his magic, Kazumi immediately noticed how the five dolls of Bickslow were shaking without being able to look up, starting to shoot lasers all around, however forcing him to avoid a few shots. At the last second he managed to avoid an elbow from his opponent, who had approached using the attacks of the dolls, but could not avoid the kick to the sternum that made him fall backwards. The dolls, now free from Kazumi's control, fired more lasers and managed to hit him several times but the Shadow Soul wizard stood up before sprinting towards Bickslow, trying to hit him with his daggers, however Bickslow managed to avoid his attacks with an agility unthinkable for someone of his size.
"Are you having trouble with your magic, murderer? My dolls are controlled by me, don't hope you can control them as you see fit!" grinned Bickslow before jumping high, plating his feet on the walls.
"FALL!"
Behind his mask, Bickslow's eyes widened in surprise as his legs gave out and he fell down. His dolls tried to stop his fall, but Kazumi still managed to drive a blade into his right leg, causing Bickslow to grind his teeth in pain. Despite the wound he still managed to intercept Kazumi's other dagger with three dolls, while the other two hit his opponent in the chest, causing him to roll back. Kazumi then stood up and hurled his two daggers, but Bickslow managed to grab both of them and then use them to deflect several throwing knives launched by his opponent, who then pulled out two more daggers.
"SNAP!"
A strange metallic sound caught the attention of Bickslow who saw in surprise Kazumi's blades in his own hands snap where they had blocked his attack just before. Rolling to the side, after discarding the now useless weapons, Bickslow dodged his opponent's new blades before his dolls shot at Kazumi, who dodged all lasers by running along the alley wall, before turning and running towards Bickslow, managing to confuse the dolls. Due to the leg injury, Bickslow was unable to avoid all the slashes before unnaturally tilting his back, placing his hands open on the ground and starting to spin around on himself, kicking several times Kazumi, who was thrown against some wooden crates, destroying them with his body.
"Never met a murderer like you, you almost make me want to let you go so I can catch you later." said Bickslow with a grin on his face, while slowly removing his mask "But Laxus expects to win this game fast and I can't waste time with you, so how about solving it by looking me straight in the eye?"
Kazumi rose at that moment from the destroyed crates and his eyes met Bickslow's, immediately being overwhelmed by the magic of the wizard of Fairy Tail and, as his skin darkened as a byproduct of the magic, his opponent struggled to his feet due to his bleeding wounds. Bickslow grinned victoriously at the sight of his immobilized opponent, however he became confused when he saw Kazumi grin back, albeit with difficulty.
"LOOK...UP!"
'Don't tell me he already knew about my eye magic!?' thought Bickslow, trying not to look up without success, immediately feeling the grip of his magic vanish from Kazumi's body "Babies!"
His five dolls fired multiple lasers just as four throwing knives lodged in his body; three in the arms and one in the right pectoral. At the same time, the energy lasers hit Kazumi causing a loud explosion that threw him across the alley.
Removing the blades from his flesh, Bickslow raised an arm "You don't give me a choice, my babies and I have to take you out here and now! Baryon Formation!" and above him, his five dolls formed a circle before starting to whirl faster and faster creating a ring of green magical energy. However, before his attack was ready, one of his dolls vanished into thin air and the accumulated magic lost all balance, causing a loud explosion that knocked Bickslow into a wall.
"What the hell happened?" wondered Bickslow before looking up, having sensed the presence of his missing doll, only to see it in the hand of a boy with short, slicked back red hair "Who the hell are you?! Don't touch my babies without permission!"
The boy merely looked at him "Blink."
Bickslow's eyes widened in surprise as Asher vanished into thin air only to reappear before him with his curved sword ready to decapitate him, however the Fairy Tail wizard cocked his head to the side, losing only one of his blue wisps. His dolls, although damaged by the previous explosion, immediately tried to hit his new opponent but Asher jumped to the side several times before stopping next to Kazumi, who had just stood up with several burns on his body.
"Status?"
[ I'm okay. ]
Asher looked at him for a moment, obviously not believing his words "Just don't get in my way. I don't need dead weight."
Kazumi showed him a small smile before nodding, then looking back at Bickslow, or rather at Bickslow's feet since his eyes were still exposed and the mage of Fairy Tail could still use his magic through them.
"Another murderer?" wondered Bickslow with a grin and his five dolls at his side "Since when did Magnolia become a den of criminals?"
"Blink." just like before, Asher vanished into thin air but this time Bickslow was not caught off guard and two of his dolls turned to shoot, forcing his opponent to teleport again to avoid the lasers, while Kazumi ran forward with the daggers at the ready to hit. Bickslow watched Kazumi intently, but the Shadow Soul wizard kept running while keeping his eyes on the ground, moving sideways whenever he felt lasers being fired at him, however that tactic prevented him from blocking one of Bickslow's dolls which hit him in the head, opening a large cut on his forehead.
"Not looking me in the eye is the only way to avoid my magic, but not my babies!" shouted Bickslow before looking at Asher who cut in half two of his dolls "And you can destroy as many dolls as you want, the souls will remain intact!"
As if to answer his call, two toys flew towards them to join his dolls before firing more lasers at Asher, who teleported to a roof to avoid them. Having momentarily freed himself of one of his two opponents, Bickslow looked back at Kazumi, who tried to hit him with quick swipes but the Fairy Tail's wizard did a back flip, despite the injuries, managing to hit Kazumi in the chin with a kick, causing him to stagger backwards. His babies then fired a series of lasers forcing Kazumi to back away further, allowing Bickslow to lean back in an unnatural way, just in time to see Asher jump at him from above and for a moment their eyes met.
"Blink."
However before Bickslow's magic could activate, Asher vanished into thin air, alarming his opponent who had already guessed what the wizard of Shadow Soul would do.
'Gotta mov-!'
"STOP!"
His body instantly stiffened and a moment later, a blade came out of his lower abdomen, causing him to vomit a large amount of blood. Asher was below him, flattened against the ground after teleporting with his magic and his left hand gripping the hilt of his sword in a reverse grip. Kazumi took advantage of that moment to lunge forward so he could deliver the killing blow to Bickslow, however the Fairy Tail wizard raised his right hand as her dolls began to glow green.
"Let'g go...babies! Crumble!"
Bringing his hand down with all his might, the Bickslow dolls glowed even more and, having now sensed what was to come, Asher teleported to a safe distance as Kazumi leapt back crossing his arms in front of his face before a large explosion lit the alley. The shock wave caused Kazumi to fall to the ground, but he immediately got up, while Asher stood with his bloody sword in front of Poppea's body, carefully observing the large cloud of smoke, ignoring the terrified screams of citizens fleeing that area.
After a few seconds, a few coughs were heard in the air and Bickslow's form became visible to the two wizards; the mage of Fairy Tail had most of his clothes destroyed with major burns on the body, several stab wounds including the last one inflicted by Asher, and was leaning against a wall to remain standing.
"You really...did a number...on me..." he wheezed, pressing one hand against his wound "But that...will not stop us...right...babies!?"
Behind him came some toys similar to the previous ones, but before they could attack, Kazumi took a deep breath ignoring the sharp pain in his throat "COLLAPSE!"
Bickslow immediately felt a strong tremor shaking his body before some bricks and dust fell from above. Looking up, she saw the wall he was leaning against, now heavily damaged by all of his attacks, begin to collapse on him. The injuries he sustained were too severe and by now he had reached the physical limit of his body, so he could only look at Kazumi with a grin on his face before showing his long tongue.
"Well played, murderer! But it's not over..." he shouted with blood dripping copiously from his mouth "I'll take you out! I swear! Isn't it right, babies!?"
The echoing responses of his dolls were lost when he was buried alive by at least two tons of brick, wood and glass.
When the tremor subsided, Kazumi approached the pile of rubble and, when he no longer saw his opponent, walked toward Asher and Poppea.
[ We won. ]
"Yes, but you took too much damage. You are unable to fight now." said Asher while cleaning his blade with a cloth "Take Poppea and find a new safe spot, I will update her on what happened. Laxus has lost one of his three mages, now he could take the field." and after having said his speech, he looked at the roof of the building before teleporting there and vanishing from Kazumi's sight.
Kazumi looked at Poppea's body and then at his own body, noticing how dirty it was with dust and blood; he felt a little tired but didn't pay much attention and, looking around, he saw that the collapsed wall had made a kitchen visible. Entering that house, he began to search in the various furniture before finding a large clean tablecloth, after which he returned to the alley and with extreme care wrapped it around Poppea's body so as not to dirty her with his own blood. Once satisfied with the result, he took her in his arms and after a brief look on the street, he walked towards the edge of the city, looking for a safe place to rest.
A sudden tremor made him turn his gaze towards the city center, where he sensed a familiar magical power, causing him to smile again.
It seems that Asteria was also having fun.
"Come back here, fairy bitch!"
The citizens, as well as all the people visiting Magnolia, threw themselves to the ground when two figures flew overhead at great speed, kicking up a strong gust of wind. The first was a young woman dressed in green with wings coming out of her back, while the second was a girl of the same age wrapped in a golden aura, who had a big grin on her face despite having been chasing her prey for a few minutes.
Evergreen glanced over her shoulder for a moment before turning sharply into an alley, being followed by her opponent who, not only did not belong to Fairy Tail, but had also attacked her suddenly and if it hadn't been for her reflexes she would have already lost with the first attack. Releasing gold dust from her body, Evergreen looked at Asteria waiting for her to be inside the cloud of magical dust before grinning "Fairy Bomb: Gremlin!"
A violent explosion engulfed Asteria before she could move away from the dust and Evergreen stopped to turn and see her opponent fall to the ground; after all with that attack she had defeated Elfman while he was transformed into a hideous monster. However, much to her shock, she saw Asteria emerge from the cloud of black smoke, but the girl was still enveloped in her golden aura and despite the burns on her body she had not lost her wild grin. Before Evergreen could even move, Asteria hit her with a head butt in the belly and they both crashed into the building at the end of the alley, destroying two walls and several furniture before stopping.
"Don't think you can escape again!" hissed Asteria, standing up despite the severe headache due to the impact, but after a few steps toward her opponent she realized she was once again in the center of a cloud of golden dust "Oh motherfuc-!"
BOOOM!
People ran away in terror when yet another explosion devastated the ground floor of the shop where Evergreen and Asteria had landed, and the latter was thrown out before bouncing twice on the ground and crash into a shop window across the street. Within seconds the street was deserted and Evergreen staggered out of the building with several wounds and bruises all over her body "Don't think you can defeat me with so weak!"
Despite the injuries and exhaustion, Evergreen distinctly felt Asteria's magical power before seeing her fly out of the shop, headed for her. The Fairy Tail sorceress reached out to her glasses to lift them and Asteria, already aware of her magic, closed her eyes to avoid being petrified, but that allowed Evergreen to step sideways before kicking her in the belly, causing Asteria to crash into tables and chairs outside a bar.
However before Evergreen could follow with another attack, Asteria had already raised an arm to the sky "Pleiades!"
Six spheres of light were created around her and quickly ascended to the sky before swooping down towards Evergreen, which took flight with her wings to avoid them all, only to feel again the magical power of Asteria, which had already risen to her feet aiming an arm against her "Jiu Leixing!"
Nine swords of electricity shot through the air to strike Evergreen, but the Fairy Tail mage crossed her arms before unfolding them surrounding herself in her golden dust "Fairy Machine Gun: Leprechaun!"
Dozens upon dozens of energy needles crashed into Asteria's swords, causing a mid-air explosion and Asteria took the opportunity to take off after being wrapped in a golden aura but after a few seconds she realized that Evergreen was no longer where it was before, but under her. Looking down, Asteria saw her opponent fly in circles very quickly while releasing that golden dust with which she created a large tornado that completely enveloped Asteria.
"Fairy Explosion: Nymph!"
A series of chain explosions quickly released the tornado and Asteria soon found herself in the center of those explosions taking continuous damage until the sorceress swooped down ignoring the burns on her body and bringing both hands down "Petite Chariot!"
The explosion that came from her hands was enough to sweep away the golden dust of Evergreen and throw away the winged sorceress, who was promptly hit with a knee on the nose by Asteria, only to be reciprocated in midair with a kick to the right temple. The two sorceresses fell to the ground at the same time, but Asteria immediately stood up with a large grin on her face "Yes! Yes! This is what a real festival should be! Tell me you're still alive, fairy bitch!"
"Fairy Lance: Unicorn!"
A large, spiral lance made of golden dust was her response and Asteria, after wrapping herself in her golden aura, intercepted the attack with her right fist, creating a strong shock wave; despite the impact, the Shadow Soul mage managed to destroy the enemy attack before looking at her hand, noting how it was a bloody mess now. Without losing her grin, she launched herself at Evergreen just as she tried to get her glasses up again. As before her, Asteria closed her eyes to avoid her opponent's magic, but this time she concentrated enough to understand which direction Evergreen was moving and was able to hit her with a kick in the left side.
Coughing up blood and saliva, Evergreen rolled to the ground while still managing to fire several energy needles which, however, were avoided by Asteria thanks to her speed. The sorceress of Shadow Soul then launched at full speed at her Evergreen, when she managed to get up, and hit her with a dropkick in the chest, smashing several ribs. The momentum was so great that Asteria kept pushing her away for several meters before stopping, letting Evergreen break through the wall of a building with her body.
Taking off what was left of her black zip-up hoodie, she followed Evergreen into the building, noting that it was a public bathroom from which several naked men were fleeing. Ignoring them, she focused on her prey that was trying to crawl away and without hesitation she lunged at her grabbing her wings with both hands "How about we remove your chance to escape again?" and pulling with all her strength, she tore the wings from Evergreen's body, enjoying her desperate cries of pain.
"Now, it's time to go to sleep!" and after grabbing Evergreen by the hair, he slammed her face violently against the floor tiles, cracking them. Without hesitating a second, Asteria raised Evergreen's head again and slammed it back against the ground, and again, and again, and again...until the only audible sound in the air was the one of flesh hitting the floor, now destroyed and covered with blood. After nearly a full minute of beating, Asteria let her go, gasping for breath from the constant strain, when she finally noticed the slaughter around her.
"Maybe I let myself go a little bit." laughed Asteria before looking at the unmoving form of Evergreen, even if she was still alive as her back rose and fell, albeit slowly. An insane light lit up in Asteria's eyes who, leaning forward, brought her hands close to her opponent's face.
"You know, it would be a problem if you decide to create other stone statues with these eyes...so what about if we get rid of them for good?"
A chilling scream of fear and pain was heard throughout Magnolia.
{ ~ BICKSLOW vs K#$=?! AND A$§?# ~ }
{ ~ WINNER: K#$=?! AND A$§?# ~ }
{ ~ EVERGREEN vs A$&£§?& ~ }
{ ~ WINNER: A$&£§?& ~ }
"Those names again...? Who the hell are they and why is it now possible to fight as a team? Is it possible that Fried's rules only apply to Fairy Tail wizards?" said Makarov before looking at Mirajane and the others as the effect of Evergreen's magic wore off, returning them to normal.
Above them, Poppea watched calmly as the sorceresses who had been petrified were updated on the latest events, to the point that everyone agreed that Laxus should be punished for what he had done, however while Natsu seemed intent on fighting the others for fun, several black screens with a skull in the center appeared throughout the guild.
"Can you hear me, old man?" asked Laxus' voice "It looks like that, thanks to some rats, we have lost one of our rules...so I'm going to instate a new one! In order to keep this festival moving...I'll activate the Thunder Palace!"
"The Thunder Palace?!"
"Only one hour and ten minutes remain...do you think you can defeat us? Or will you play nice and retire, master Makarov?" and with a loud laugh, the screens vanished into thin air leaving only shocked wizards and a completely enraged man.
"What the hell are you thinking Laxus!? Are you trying to drag innocent civilians into this sick game?!"
Suddenly, however, Makarov fell to the ground putting a hand on his heart, soon being surrounded by the others under the curious gaze of Poppea.
"He's ill...?" tilting her head to the side, she watched the others worry about the old master when Mirajane returned to them with some medicine for him, telling them that something terrible was going on outside. Even more curious than before, Poppea floated in the air to exit the guild and immediately noticed the countless black orbs that were levitating around Magnolia in a large circle.
"What are those?"
"Thunder Lacrima?"
"Each of those Lacrima is overloaded with a large amount of magical electricity." said Cana looking at those crystals "If they were to be activated...the whole city would be hit by a huge lightning storm."
"Is that so? Well I'm not going to let that happen!" said Visca bringing out her sniper rifle before shooting at one of those Lacrima, destroying it with just one bullet. However, the moment of jubilation that followed was short-lived because Visca was immediately struck by a strong electrical discharge that knocked her unconscious, shocking the others.
"What the-?!"
"Visca!? Visca can you hear me?!"
Cana looked at the other Lacrima in the sky "This is...Organic Link Magic?!"
Poppea seemed to ignore the explanation relating to that particular magic, being already aware of its effects, and merely looked at the city from above, distinctly perceiving Siegmund's presence towards the wooded area just outside the city, where he was most likely waiting for Erza. Looking down again he saw Cana and the others, with the exception of Levy, Natsu and Gajeel, heading out of the guild to attempt to stop Laxus or evacuate the citizens of Magnolia.
"Guys, can you hear me?" asked Poppea through theirs Lacrima "Apparently the petrifaction has been undone, but Laxus appears to have used one of the spells. The Lacrima in the sky are charged with his electricity and will hit the city when time runs out."
"We will be away from the city before then." replied Asher with a calm voice "Fairy Tail will come out weak from this fight, and Laxus will get nothing this way. We can also withdraw now and inform the mistress."
"No way! Juvia just left the guild and I can finally fight with someone decent! She and Gajeel are still part of our mission!" yelled Naco "You can leave but I bet you won't be able to take Siegmund away before he has faced someone strong."
"I'm having fun, I don't want to leave yet!" added Asteria "By the way Poppy, what about Gajeel?"
"Still stuck inside the guild, but it looks like one of their mages may be able to bypass Fried's runes or nullify them altogether." explained Poppea floating back inside the guild "Also, master Makarov is being taken to the infirmary after falling ill."
"Interesting." mused Asher "This could be an opportunity to eliminate him, but without a direct order from the mistress we cannot act."
"Who cares about an old man anyway? Mystogan, Erza, Mirajane and Laxus are here, we can have more fun with them!"
"That's not the point of the mission, Naco." Asher scolded him "Focus on Juvia Lockser and Gajeel Redfox, they are the primary targets of your mission."
"Yeah yeah yeah...bloody spoilsport...try to catch up with me, Juvia and the card girl are heading east."
"I'm on my way."
"Take it easy, I want to have some more fun!" said Asteria, even if the others had already cut off the communication "Wonder if Siegmund is having fun or not right now."
A small giggle was heard on Poppea's side "I'm sure he's enjoying the festival just like you."
'The Thunder Palace...you would actually go that far, Laxus?' thought Fried while looking at the back of the blonde man with worried eyes.
"So, Fried?"
Laxus' cold voice seemed to rouse him from his thoughts "I've double-checked my runes but there's nothing wrong with them. I don't know why Natsu and Gajeel can't get out of the guild...plus most of my runes were designed specifically for Fairy Tail wizards, that's why those who defeated Bickslow were able to work as a team."
"Which means he lost to a couple of rats...since when did you get so weak!?" shouted Laxus punching a column to his left "Go back out there and hunt down the remaining fairies as well as those rats. I will take care of Erza and Mystogan, you think of Cana and that Phantom girl...feel free to kill them, I don't need people like them in my Fairy Tail."
"Kill them?!" Fried looked at him with shocked eyes "We may be fighting them right now, but they are still member of-!"
"DID YOU NOT HEAR MY ORDERS?!"
A surreal silence followed Laxus' outburst as electrical discharges danced around his body. Fried looked at him more and more worried before closing his eyes, reopening them a few seconds later, now with an unnatural calm in them "Now that we have come this far, I fear there's no turning back. I'll accompany you along this path, even if it leads to hell." turning to the exit, Fried began to walk before dissolving into magical runes "I will accomplish my mission and I will be aiming to kill. Don't get cold feet now."
Laxus grinned at those words "Very well, Dark Fried. It is time for you to show them your true power." he then looked at the church entrance, grinning even more "Now, who will be the first to face me?"
"Still nothing?" asked Erza while running toward the city with her team behind her.
"Nothing." Simon shook his head "I cannot contact either Warren or master Makarov."
Shô looked at Erza with worried eyes "Nee-san, what do you think is going on?"
"I don't know, it could be an enemy attack but most of the Fairy Tail mage should be back for the festival, so I don't know who would dare to attack the city today." said Erza while thinking about who could have caused such a disaster, not to mention the Lacrima that were floating above the city; those were definitely the work of Laxus. However she was forced to stop abruptly when she felt a malevolent presence a little further ahead and, raising one arm, forced the others to stop too.
"Er-chan...?"
Erza did not answer Millianna, as her eyes were fixed on the figure that was advancing towards them with a calm step. The young swordswoman might as well have mistaken him for a mere passerby, were it not for the immense blood-lust he exuded from all of his being. Simon and the others had noticed him too and a cold shiver ran down their back when they saw the man stop a dozen yards from them, with a strange smile on his face.
"Erza Scarlet, the famous Titania." said the man while clapping his hands "At long last, I have the pleasure of meeting you."
The red-haired girl narrowed her gaze "Who are you?"
"I'm a big fan of yours of course." he gave a far too exaggerated bow "And I've come this far to fight with you and see if the stories about you are real or just lies."
"Out of the way!" shouted Shô while grabbing his cards "We have no time for you, can't you see what's happening in the city?!" and Wally also came to support him, aiming his gun at that man, while Millianna and Simon began to accumulate their magical power.
The smile slowly faded from the man's face and for a single moment, there was no sound, not even the sounds of animals or the wind in the leaves of the trees.
"Kids like you..." hissed the black-haired man suddenly releasing a wave of blood-lust and malevolent energy that washed over the group in front of him "...should learn to stay in their place!"
Shô's head fell to the ground with a thud, his body still standing without a drop of blood leaking from his neck.
Wally's body split vertically in half and the two parts fell to the ground, spilling blood and organs all around.
Simon's head vanished in a blast of blood and bones, as if hit by a cannonball, and his headless body fell back without resistance.
Millianna found herself falling forward but, when she was upside down, she distinctly saw her legs still standing, however from the belly up her body had been cut off.
Erza could only watch in sheer horror as her friends were killed in moments before her eyes, staining her face with blood. Her body didn't seem to respond, she couldn't breathe or scream.
Her friends were...right beside her, alive.
"...eh?"
Shô, Millianna, Simon and Wally were by her side, without even a scratch, but all of them were white as corpses and were shaking with strong tremors as rivulets of sweat trickled down their skin. Wally lost the grip on his magnum which fell to the ground next to Shô's cards, while Millianna was now crying desperately before falling to her knees and throwing up everything she had in her stomach. Simon seemed the only one still stable of the four but his only eye was fixed on the man in front of them and he was terrified of him.
Slowly, Erza looked back at the man who stood between them and the city "You...what are you?"
The grin returned to the man's face, even though it was colder and hungrier now "I am Siegmund Hildolfr, the Berserker. Now..." he looked at the others "...get out of my sight, I don't need lame toys like you. I want to fight a real warrior. Go cry in your guild."
Erza watched him silently before shifting her gaze to her teammates "You should go."
"Eh?!" Millianna looked up at her "B-B-But Er-chan...! H-He is-!"
"I know, but it is clear that you are not at his level. You have to go to town, notify the master and find out what's going on." said Erza summoning two swords in her hands "I'll catch up with you as soon as I'm done with him."
Simon and the others seemed opposed to the idea of leaving her alone, but a brief glance at Siegmund was enough to convince them and so they began to run quickly towards the city, but with each step that drew them closer to that man their hearts beat faster and faster. When they were next to him, Shô toyed for a moment with the idea of attacking Siegmund from behind and giving Erza an advantage, but the vision of his own death spurred him to run even faster, as if his whole body was yelling at him to go as far away from that thing as possible.
Siegmund did not even deign to look at them and let them run away without taking his eyes off Erza, who after a few seconds said "Thank you for letting them go."
"There are two types of people in this world: those who, at the sight of the death of their loved ones, let themselves go into a blind fury and make mistakes. Those are the most boring to fight." explained the man without a care in the world "The second type, on the other hand, are the ones who are encouraged to protect those they love. Those are the ones I hate the most..." his grin turned extremely evil "And that is why after killing them, I also kill their loved ones."
Erza's eyes widened in shock before disappearing in a burst of speed and zeroing the distance between them to hit him with both swords, however a flash of light ignited in Siegmund's right hand and, using only that hand, he blocked both attacks using a crimson broadsword, with a vine-like pattern with thorns crawling up the blade and thin strands of black miasma rising from the blade.
"I like the fire in your eyes, Titania!" Siegmund rejoiced before pushing her back with physical force alone, forcing her to leap backwards to distance herself from him.
"I will never let you hurt my friends." growled Erza as her armor disappeared in a flash of light only to be replaced with a silver armor with four wings "Requip: Heaven's Wheel Armor!"
Siegmund watched in rapture and his body began to tremble with excitement "Yes! Finally! Someone who may be a worthy opponent! Requip: Demon Armament Nidhogg!" and under Erza's surprised eyes, his clothes vanished in a black flash before being replaced by a pitch black armor made of scales which covered his entire body, with a bat-like helm covering his entire head bar two eye sockets covered by red lenses.
Clutching his broadsword with both hands he brought it forward "Are you ready, Tyrfing?"
"Yeeessss~!" Erza was even more surprised when a demonic voice was heard coming from the sword, which now released even more black miasma with every single movement "Let's kill the woman! Let's battle her! Kill her! Kill her!"
"Well now, Titania..." she could almost feel the grin his in voice "Let's dance!"
In an impressive display of speed, Siegmund was immediately in front of Erza to attempt to decapitate her, but the redhead ducked at the last moment losing only a lock of hair before moving on to the counterattack. With admirable dexterity she began slashing both swords, summoning others around her which she hurled with her magic, however her opponent must have been a sword master because he managed to deflect all her attacks, avoiding the thrown blades with her telekinesis by making as little movement as possible. With a violent side slash, Siegmund forced her to leap backwards but she took advantage of it to summon a dozen swords that began to spin quickly around her.
"Dance, My Blades! Circle Sword!"
After throwing the disc of blades at Siegmund, Erza lunged at him to attack him immediately after her swords, however her opponent again surprised her with his strength since with a single blow he destroyed at least five swords, sweeping the others away with the shock wave. Without losing control of his broadsword, Siegmund immediately tried to hit Erza with a one-handed slash from above but she tilted her body in midair just enough for the blade to pass in front of her face without touching her and she, in turn, tried to hit him with an X slash, however the man was quick to take a side step and avoid the two blades. Without giving him time to recover, Erza slashed to the right with one arm but Siegmund used his free hand to grab the redhead's sword and destroy it with only physical strength, after which the two separated again a few meters.
Erza was silent, dropping the hilt of her shattered sword as Siegmund again took hold of his weapon in both hands. After a few seconds of silence, Erza's armor vanished in a golden flash "Requip: Black Wing Armor!"
Siegmund perked up at the sudden surge of magical power from his opponent and his grip on his sword tightened even more when he clearly saw Erza's black armor, who was holding a single double-edged blade in her hands.
The two observed each other for a single moment before disappearing into thin air and reappearing one in front of the other in a clash of swords that created a large crater under their feet as the shock wave from their blades ripped open gaps in the ground and surrounding trees. After a brief stalemate, the two took a step back before starting to slash faster and faster whereby their arms looked like blurs. Flashes of light flared in the air as their blades crossed, and a symphony of metallic sounds echoed in the forest around them, a combination of sounds that would impress even the toughest of warriors.
A cut opened on Erza's right cheek before the left wing of Siegmund's helmet was cut cleanly, falling to the ground, but neither seemed to notice as they continued with that dance of death, and even though Erza couldn't see his eyes because of the helmet, she was sure her gaze was intertwined with his. With each slash blocked, with each attack denied, the ground beneath them was adorned with new gashes as new marks appeared on their armors.
Firmly grasping her sword, Erza struck a side swipe that was promptly blocked, however Siegmund was pleasantly surprised when Erza managed to throw him back several meters with her physical strength alone, and he didn't even have time to react when she changed her armor again, into a blue and gold one, with which she hurled a large and extravagant spear. Normally he would have dodged it, given the distance, however two rocket-like appendages gave the spear a further thrust, forcing him to parry with the flat side of his blade, being pushed further and further back while digging two furrows in the ground with his feet.
Now that he was far enough away, Erza was able to catch her breath. She didn't understand how, but it seemed that her stamina was dwindling very quickly and it was probably the fault of that black miasma coming out of Siegmund's sword, yet she didn't have time to find out. Taking a quick glance behind her, she looked up at the sky above Magnolia where all the Lacrima of Laxus were still standing. Something was about to happen but Erza didn't know what and that worried her more than anything else, mostly because she could distinctly sense a large amount of magical power enclosed in each of those Lacrima. Sensing a sudden spike in magical power in front of her, she quickly returned her attention to her opponent and saw him run quickly towards her after destroying her spear, before jumping up.
"Requip: Strong Armament Thor!" the black armor was replaced in a flash by a simpler armor, apparently made from the pelts of some beast, while now Siegmund wielded a large steel war-hammer in his hands, which he raised over his head before bringing it down with all his might and Erza could distinctly hear her instincts scream at her of the imminent danger.
"Requip: Adamantine Armor!"
Changing armor instantly, Erza brought her arms close together thus joining the two shields placed on her forearms before creating a large magic circle in front of her, which was hit by Siegmund's weapon. The impact that followed could only be described as devastating, and all the trees around them were uprooted from the ground as Erza's feet sank into the ground due to her opponent's monstrous strength. A brief stalemate arose between attack and defense, but after a few moments Siegmund leapt backward, before placing the hammer against his right shoulder.
"That's a really good shield if it survived an attack from my hammer Mjollnir." grinned Siegmund before adding "Even if it did not come out unscathed."
To confirm his words, both of Erza's shields were covered with various cracks and the redhead could feel her arms shaking after parrying that last attack.
'He didn't destroy it, but such a power...could he be equal to the Jupiter?' thought Erza with shocked eyes before focusing on his new armor 'He wasn't that strong before...and he defined his Requip as Strong Armament. His physical strength was most likely doubled, if not tripled, by that armor.'
"You seem to have understood the special effect of my armor, Titania. What will you do now? Don't tell me you'll hide behind that shield until I destroy it..." Siegmund seemed particularly disappointed and bored with that idea "It would be a horrible way to keep this fight going. Show me what you can do!"
"So be it." hissed Erza with her patience running out. Although she had heard his name before, she didn't know why Siegmund was picking a fight with her, but she had no time to waste when she didn't know what was happening in the city. In a flash of light, her armor was replaced by an all-black one with several spikes all over her body and a large spiked mace as a weapon, while her hair became wilder and her eyes seemed to glow red.
"Requip: Purgatory Armor! None has seen this armor and lived to tell the tale, witness it and despair!"
"Are you telling me that you actually killed your opponents after equipping that armor?" asked Siegmund with the grin on his face now bigger than ever "Now this a surprise! Show me your resolve, Titania!" and with a single leap he was back on Erza who met his war-hammer with her spiked mace and the impact between the two weapons generated a violent shock wave that made them stagger backwards. Bringing down their front foot, the two opponents gripped their weapons in both hands before colliding once again, managing to withstand the shock wave that followed.
Distancing for a moment, the two warriors clashed again and again without being able to prevail over the opponent, and after yet another null result, their weapons were thrown backwards, however neither of them let them go with their right hands and instead they stepped forward while raising both their left fists. The next instant, the two fists connected with the opponent's face and while Siegmund managed to break Erza's nose, her armored hand opened several cuts on his face, even cracking the bones of his skull.
Taking a step back due to the blow suffered, the two opponents simultaneously twisted their torso counterclockwise to strike again with the weapons in their right hands, adding kinetic energy to their physical strength. A thunder-like roar rang through the forest as the ground beneath their feet exploded from the pressure of the two weapons alone. Roaring at the top of their lungs, the two warrior mages resumed their dance of death with renewed vigor, ignoring the damage that the weapons began to suffer blow after blow. The breaking point occurred after a particularly violent collision where Erza's mace broke in half as Siegmund's hammer lost its head and part of the handle.
The two didn't hesitate for a second before throwing away their now unusable weapons and continuing to fight using only their fists. Siegmund was taller than his opponent and this allowed him to hit her with a right hook to the left temple, but the redhead quickly retorted with a right fist to the pit of the stomach, causing him to lean forward before hitting him with a left uppercut to the chin. Siegmund's head shot back but the man managed to punch Erza in the face again, causing her to suffer the same fate.
For just a moment, the two stood perfectly still before bringing their heads forward and colliding with each other, which was enough to create another crater under their feet as blood gushed from their foreheads along their faces and as Erza's face was a mask of fury, Siegmund's face was dominated by that grin that seemed to have lost all form of sanity. Immediately after the two had brought their faces back, Siegmund's left fist struck against Erza's right cheek, while her right fist struck his left cheek and that was enough to knock them backwards.
Siegmund quickly stood up spitting some blood but was slightly confused when Erza got up with a back flip before leaping up and equipping her first armor with four wings, summoning twenty or so swords around her, however instead of using them on him, she hurled them all at the Lacrima closest to her.
'Time to see if these Lacrima can actually help me or not!' thought Erza as her blades flew into the sky managing to destroy exactly twenty Lacrima and after a few moments, she could feel the imminent magical attack that was about to hit her "Requip: Lightning Empress Armor!" and then, a very powerful electrical discharge struck her, causing her to grind her teeth in pain despite the resistance provided by her armor.
Siegmund's confusion (as well as fear, as he could not accept that he had won if Erza was defeated by an attack not his; that would have been a more than disappointing conclusion) soon turned to excitement as he saw electricity gather around the tip of Erza's spear, creating a huge, albeit distorted, blade of lighting.
With a grin on his face, Siegmund's magical power flared around his body like a powerful flame and in a flash of red light, a new armor, made up of a set of golden, red, and black scaled mail with a golden crowned helm, covered his body, while in his right hand appeared a curved sword whose blade was pervaded by scarlet flames. The ground beneath him seemed to burn instantly and all the remaining vegetation in the vicinity caught fire as Siegmund brought his sword to his right side, gripping it with both hands as the intensity of the flames grew more and more.
"Requip: Infernal Armaments Muspelheim!"
Above him, Erza firmly gripped her spear before descending on her opponent with a battle cry, delivering a powerful vertical slash; at the same time, Siegmund slammed his front foot violently on the ground, releasing even more heat from his armor before making a horizontal slash with all his strength.
The blades of scarlet flame and lightning collided generating a violent shock wave before crashing into a stall that was literally destroying the surrounding terrain, until in a blinding flash of light, a powerful explosion shook the entire forest, forming a thick column of black smoke that rose skyward. After a few seconds, the smoke began to clear and Erza stood up, her armor mostly destroyed and her weapon in pieces. The Fairy Tail sorceress was covered from head to toe with cuts and bruises and she was holding her right shoulder from which a lot of blood was oozing.
A few coughs caught her attention and, looking across the smoking crater, she saw Siegmund stand up with his armor badly damaged and sword still whole. Spitting up a lot of blood, the man looked at the burns on his arms before moving his gaze to Erza, grinning "AH! I knew you were a worthy opponent, Titania! Before today only one other person has managed to resist the flames of my sword Surtr!" he took a few seconds to catch his breath, as his magical power was also reaching its limit and with a simple thought, he switched his damaged armor for his Demon Armaments, raising his broadsword "Now, shall we continue?! This isn't over yet!"
Erza gasped for a few seconds before gritting her teeth and summoning her Heaven's Wheel Armor, preparing to face him again.
"Ground Shattering Wave."
Suddenly the ground beneath Siegmund's feet seemed to glow purple before several waves of magical energy rose from the ground and enveloped the wizard of Shadow Soul, locking him in place. The man didn't hesitate a second before trying to break free, immediately noticing how resistant those restrictions were, while Erza looked confused at the scene before a person made himself known to his right "Are you okay?"
She looked in that direction and her eyes widened in shock "Mystogan?!"
The masked mage nodded "I met your friends while they were trying to reach the guild; they explained to me what happened and I ran here after sensing your magical power. I don't have much time to explain, but it looks like Laxus is trying to take control of the guild by force. All the others are scattered around the city, injured or unconscious."
"What?!" Erza looked at the Lacrima in the sky "Then those are-?!"
"A spell from Laxus, it's called Thunder Palace. We must hurry to stop him before the city is destroyed."
"Do not even think about it!" both of them looked at Siegmund, who was slowly breaking free thanks to his physical strength "My fight was with Erza, but now that you are here too, the situation has become much more interesting! If you think I will let you go without a fight you are very wrong!"
"I'm sorry, but we are in a hurry. For now...sleep." said Mystogan pointing one of his magic staves at the enemy "Five Layered Magic Circle: Sacred Song!"
In a column of purple light, five magical circles appeared above Siegmund before the spell struck him, generating a violent explosion. Mystogan paid no attention to the smoke before putting a hand on Erza's good shoulder "You're wounded, I'll take you to the guild before I go find Laxus."
Erza wanted to retort and say that there was no need to worry about her, however she had used a lot of magical power in her fight with Siegmund and, as said by the masked wizard, she was somewhat injured. Nodding reluctantly, she gave him the green light and, raising his magic stave, Mystogan enveloped them in a white aura before they both vanished like mirages in the air.
However with their departure, neither of them saw an armored arm coming out of the ground where Siegmund had been struck, and the dark wizard himself stood up and planted the greatsword in the ground while his armor now had more damage than before even though it was still intact. Looking around, he immediately noticed that his opponents had vanished into thin air.
"Don't fuck with me..." growled the man with blood-lust oozing out of his body "Do you really think you can run away?!"
"Cowards, both of them! Kill them! Kill the cowards!"
"Yes...I will kill them." hissed Siegmund, already running toward Magnolia despite the wounds and weariness "And I'll kill anyone who decides to get in my way!"
"Juvia, how long do we have until the Thunder Palace is activated?"
"Juvia thinks we have about half an hour left."
"ARGH! To hell with Laxus! He is hiding somewhere without a fight! How the hell can we beat him in these conditions?!" shouted Cana with Juvia looking around in search of their target. They didn't have much time left after all and had already wasted several minutes searching in vain, not to mention the violent explosions they had heard towards the forest just outside Magnolia. Maybe some of their comrades were fighting again?
"Laxus is saving up his own magic." said a voice from above, catching their attention "He means to have an all-out battle with his grandfather."
Cana glared at the green-haired boy "Fried!"
"This is the man behind those runes?" asked Juvia before being forced to chase him with Cana when he started running, however after just a hundred meters he stopped in the middle of the road and before the two sorceresses could react they found themselves locked in one of his traps.
{~RULE: ONLY THE STRONGEST OF THE MAGES TRAPPED WITHIN HERE MAY LEAVE~}
"I'll take on the winner myself. Whenever you are ready, you may fight." said Fried looking at them with calm eyes.
"Are you joking Fried?! Do you want to fight one on one?! I'm fine with that, get me out of here and I'll face you with or without your traps!" shouted Cana punching the barrier between them "Or maybe you're just afraid of facing two girls at the same time? Yes, it has to be!"
Fried did not even flinch at her words "I am merely attempting to limit the number of people I am forced to kill to the best of my ability."
"What the fuck was that?!"
"I suppose...this leaves us with no choice..." said Juvia with her body already turning into water, surprising Cana "Fried, you promise that once one of us is incapacitated, you will fight other like a man?"
Fried nodded "I'm not the kind of man to break his own rules."
"Good." and without further ado, Juvia transformed into a torrent of water before ascending to the sky, confusing Cana while Fried remained calm as his runes had no real height limits. However, what followed shocked them both as Juvia aimed directly at the Lacrima above and destroyed it with a single blow before being electrocuted, screaming in pain.
"Juvia!" Cana immediately ran to her companion when she fell to the ground, covered with burns and with ruined clothes as the runes around them dissolved "What the hell were you thinking?!"
"J-Juvia...just wanted you...t-to accept her...as...a member of Fairy...Tail..." said Juvia with a small smile as tears were visible in her eyes "Juvia lov-!"
A sudden, powerful electric shock struck her at that very moment, causing her to scream again in pain until she passed out.
"Juvia!" Cana looked at Fried with enraged eyes "What the hell are you thinking?! She couldn't fight anymore!" however, she was confused when she saw that Fried too had been shocked by what just happened.
"Ah, he has nothing to do with it, that lightning bolt was my merit."
Cana immediately turned to the stranger's voice as she pulled out her cards "Who-!?" but a hand instantly grabbed her face without giving her time to react.
"Touch of Thunder."
A cry of pure pain rose up the throat of Cana as her entire body was struck by powerful electricity; the torture as well as her screams went on for several seconds until she stopped moving and her smoking body was dropped to the ground. Fried watched silently, albeit with confused and shocked eyes as the young black-haired boy who had just attacked Cana approached him with a grin on his face.
"Who are you?"
The boy tilted his head to the side "You can call me Naco, but that doesn't matter right now. What matters is that I can take revenge on you for snatching away my prey with those hateful runes of yours."
Fried blinked twice "What are you talking about?" but before he could receive an answer, a red haired boy appeared out of nowhere near Juvia before placing her over his right shoulder.
Who were these two? Fried had never seen them and he didn't see the Fairy Tail mark on any of their clothes.
Without saying anything, the newcomer walked away taking Juvia with him while the black-haired boy continued to observe him, while electric sparks danced around his eyes.
Fried narrowed his eyes "You are after that woman? Why?"
"I've already told you what really matters now." replied Naco with lighting dancing around his whole body before pointing two fingers at Fried "It's time for me to have some fun too! Lightning Bolt!"
Fried's eyes widened in surprise when a powerful bolt of lightning was thrown at him, yet he was the leader of the Thunder God Tribe also thanks to his power and abilities, and with a quick movement of his right hand he activated his magic "Dark Écriture: Reflect!" and when the lightning struck the single line of runes in midair, it was sent back at Naco who, without losing his grin, struck his own attack with the back of his electricity-cloaked right hand, deflecting it against a house wall nearby, destroying it.
"Well well well...I don't often encounter opponents who are able to reflect my attacks in this way. That girl from Phantom Lord had pathetic magic, and today I haven't met even a single fairy who could touch me."
"I am the head of Laxus' bodyguards and have trained with him several times. I know how to handle wizards like you..." said Fried before focusing on some of the words spoken by his opponent "You fought other Fairy Tail mages today but it's clear by now that you don't belong to the guild...so you must be one of those rats that Laxus was talking about."
"Maybe." Naco wasted no more time before running towards his enemy, accumulating electricity in his hands "Or maybe your runes are flawed! Lightning Daggers!"
Fried quickly drew his sword to block Naco's two electric blades before starting a long series of slashes and thrusts, while defending himself from the onslaught of the opposing wizard. After successfully blocking one of his blades, Fried managed to hit him in the chest with a slash opening a long cut while activating his magic "Dark Écriture: Pain!"
Naco's mind was suddenly flooded with pain as his body seemed to have been cut in two, despite being only a superficial wound, however the dark wizard managed to push past the pain and hit Fried's left arm with his second blade, letting the electricity pass through his body. The haired boy gritted his teeth in pain and again attempted a slash, but Naco blocked him with one of his weapons, however this time Fried used the stalemate to run two fingers across Naco's arm "Dark Écriture: Pain!"
As before, Naco felt an unbearable sensation of pain throughout his body and the bones of his right arm in particular seemed on the verge of shattering. Without giving Fried time to attack again, Naco thrust a dagger into Fried's right shoulder, electrocuting him and forcing him to retreat, allowing Naco to transform his daggers into two balls of electricity which he hurled at his opponent, however Fried was ready for him.
"That won't work on me! Dark Écriture: Reflect!"
As with the lightning bolt from before, this spell was also sent back to the sender however Fried immediately noticed that Naco had disappeared and out of the corner of his eye he saw a trail of electricity moving in the air towards him.
'This is Laxus'-!'
"Lightning Body!"
Using his right knee, Naco struck Fried in the right cheekbone, knocking him to the ground before firing two lightning bolts from his hands again. This time, however, Fried did not block the two attacks but avoided them thanks to a pair of wings that came out of his back, allowing him to take off. Firmly grasping his sword, the wizard of Fairy Tails then fired a multitude of blades of energy while Naco wrapped his right arm in electricity before striking the ground with his fist "Lightning Field!"
Powerful electrical discharges pierce the ground around him protecting Naco from the incoming attacks, which however caused a series of explosions that shook the area. The resulting smoke blocked Fried's view but he did not let himself be distracted and swooping in, came to skim the ground before moving towards the point from which he could sense Naco's magical power. As soon as he saw the silhouette of his opponent in the smoke, Fried quickly sheathed his sword while still keeping his hand on the hilt.
"Dark Écriture: Destruction!"
With a single, lightning-fast slash, Fried hit Naco in the chest creating a large gash in the ground beneath them as well before flying away with the speed of his wings, however after a few meters he suddenly froze in midair feeling something around his right ankle. Looking towards his feet, he saw a whip made of electricity wrapped around his ankle, with the other end gripped in the hands of Naco, who despite the large cut on his chest was still grinning.
Without giving Fried time to free himself from his whip, Naco rotated his torso to crash his opponent into a house through the outer walls, then continued to rotate on himself to hurl him onto a nearby bridge, which began to collapse soon after the impact. A strong electrical was released through the whip before Naco struck Fried with two more lightning bolts, completely destroying that part of the bridge. Spitting some blood, Naco walked to the edge of the destroyed bridge and looked down, where he saw Fried already intent on getting up despite his injuries.
"You said you trained with Laxus, didn't you? Is it possible that my lightning bolts are so strong...or maybe his lighting magic is terribly weak?" grinned Naco with his magical power flaring up.
Fried glared at him before he took off and landed on the other side of the destroyed section of the bridge "Don't overestimate yourself. Laxus' lightning bolt is much stronger than yours, and he can never use the full power of him otherwise he would kill us all in one fell swoop."
"Is that what you think or is it really so?" Naco's grin was meant to provoke his opponent, and judging from Fried's face, it was having success.
"I'm done talking to someone like you. Dark Écriture: Absolute Shadow!"
Under Naco's intrigued eyes, a dark aura enveloped Fried before he transformed, taking on a more menacing form with black armor covering his upper body and a demon-like helmet on his head. The Fairy Tail wizard stood motionless for a few seconds before vanishing in a burst of speed and Naco's eyes widened in surprise, barely managing to tilt his head to the left, feeling Fried's fingers open a cut on his right cheek. Looking over his shoulder, he saw Fried standing several meters away in a relaxed posture.
"Well, this is a surprise! That was really quick!" charging himself with electricity, Naco jumped on his opponent before engaging in hand-to-hand combat based solely on speed, with their arms looking like blurs. Attempting with a round kick, Naco missed the target as Fried jumped high creating a ball of electricity in his right hand with which he then attempted to hit the wizard of Shadow Soul.
"Electric Shockwave!"
"Touch of Thunder!"
Raising his right hand, completely pervaded by lightning, Naco grabbed the sphere of electricity, managing to stop Fried's attack without neutralizing it completely and the two were later thrown backwards by the explosion that followed the impact of their magic.
"Confront a lightning wizard with an electric spell? You are not as smart as you seem."
"I just needed some distance between us." replied Fried before rushing toward Naco even faster than before with his right hand ready to strike "Dark Écriture: Slay!"
With a quick swipe of his hand, Fried opened a long gash in the ground but Naco turned his body into pure electricity before passing around Fried, electrocuting him for the umpteenth time until he fell to his knees. Stopping on the roof of a house, Naco raised both hands and closed them like a mallet as a vast amount of magical power wrapped around his arms.
"Take this and survive if you can!" bringing his arms down, Naco released all his accumulated magical power "Supreme Lightning!" and after a blinding flash that lasted only an instant, a massive column of lightning struck Fried from the sky, causing a violent explosion that further destroyed the bridge and part of the nearest houses. However a few seconds later, Naco was hit by several powerful electric shocks that forced him to transform his body into electricity to mitigate the damage he took.
"What the hell...?" looking up, he he saw that at least ten Lacrima had been destroyed by his last attack "What a cheap trick...lucky that I can block even the bulk of electrical damage with my magic."
Ignoring the screams of injured civilians or those fleeing in terror, Naco jumped off the roof and approached the huge smoking crater where in the center of it lay Fried, whose clothes were mostly charred and his body was covered with horrific wounds.
Approaching his opponent calmly, Naco then stopped a few inches from him, giving him a light kick in the head "Oi, are you dead?" a barely audible moan of pain made him realize that Fried was still alive.
"Well look at you, the head of Laxus' bodyguards, on the ground...it seems that in the end you were the one who overestimated himself." laughed the black-haired boy before planting his foot over Fried head, applying a lot of pressure "I hope your boss is stronger than you, otherwise there will be no fun in becoming the most powerful lightning wizard after beating him."
"L-L-Laxus..." Naco tilted his head to the side, listening to Fried's words "Will...s-stop...you..."
Naco burst out laughing, unable to stop for several seconds, before wiping away his tears with one hand "Maybe you are right, but my aim is to defeat him and I will do everything to beat him, and like I said, if you're even remotely strong like him, I don't have to worry too much."
"Guys, I inform you that Gajeel Redfox and Natsu Dragneel have left the guild and split up." said Poppea in his mind "Also a little while ago Mystogan arrived and left Erza here; now she is in the infirmary with the other wounded and an elderly woman with pink hair. Oh and it looks like Erza's team is looking for Laxus along with the others."
"It appears that Siegmund enjoyed himself with Titania, although it is strange that he did not kill her...maybe he is getting old and therefore he is running out of steam." added Asteria with a chuckle.
Siegmund did not fail to answer her immediately in a voice that was far too ferocious "After I kill her and Mystogan, I'll kill you too."
"Naco, the bait is ready. Get to the place as soon as possible. Asteria is already here." said Asher, ignoring their useless chatter.
"I'm on my way." replied Naco before looking at Fried "Today is your lucky day. I can't stay and play with you, but if you can, then pass a message to Laxus for me." he leaned forward, crushing Fried's head even more "Tell him that someday, I'll come for his head, and nothing will stop me."
Without even making sure Fried had gotten the message, Naco wrapped himself in his electricity and quickly moved away from the scene, towards his next victim, just when a violent explosion destroyed the windows of the Kardia Cathedral in the center of the city, where another clash was taking place.
Natsu was running over the rooftops of Magnolia towards the church after hearing the explosion and feeling Laxus' magical power in that direction. Luckily Levy had managed to get both him and Gajeel out of the guild, because by now the situation was much more serious, especially due to the unknown wizards who were fighting around the city, one of whom had fought against Erza even managing to injure her. Not only that but judging by the explosions heard around the city the other unknown mages were also switching to the heavy artillery and, seconds earlier, the dragon slayer had seen a pillar of lightning towards the edge of the city. For a moment Natsu had thought it was Laxus, but then he had sensed the power of the blond wizard within the church immediately after that loud explosion.
"I must stop Laxus and then deal with that wizard who fought against Erza! She couldn't defeat him without Mystogan's help and if I manage to beat him it means I'm stronger than her!" shouted Natsu, wishing that Happy was with him at the time but his surrogate son had headed off with Lucy in search of the injured mages to bring them back to the guild, taking advantage of the fact that Porlyusica had come to the guild to check on Makarov's condition.
When he was finally close to the church, he jumped out onto the street just in time to see Erza's team arrive, except for the redhead "Guys!"
"Natsu!" Simon and the others moved quickly toward him "Did you feel that?"
"Yeah, Laxus must be inside the church! Let's go stop him!" and with his usual calm, Natsu ran towards the half-closed doors of the church before opening them with a fist wrapped in flames "LAXUS!"
Inside the huge church, Natsu and the others immediately saw their target but it seemed that Mystogan had arrived before them, however the masked wizard seemed troubled by the arrival of other wizards and this allowed Laxus to hit him in the face with a lightning bolt, destroying his bandana and the veil that covered his face. Under the confused gaze of Natsu and the shocked gaze of Millianna and the others, a mass of blue hair soon became visible as Mystogan glared at Laxus.
"J-Jellal?!" shouted Millianna with her eyes wide open.
"Uh...? Aren't you the one from the Magic Council?" asked Natsu, having seen him a few weeks ago when he went to 'rescue' Erza during her trial.
"What the hell are you doing here, Jellal?!" growled Shô, bringing out his cards "Are you here to hurt Erza?!"
Mystogan seemed torn about what to do, but finally sighed as he looked at his guildmates "I'm sorry, I would have preferred you not to see this face. I know the Jellal you're talking about, but I'm not him."
Wally arched an eyebrow "What? You are obviously him! You should learn to lie in a more dandy way."
"No wait..." Simon stopped them staring at Mystogan with his only eye "He's telling the truth."
"You can't be serious Simon!" Millianna looked at her teammate with shocked eyes "He's Jellal!"
Simon shook his head "No, he only looks like Jellal, but if you try to concentrate, you will notice that there is not even a trace of his magical power and having been close to him for several years you should be able to recognize it by now."
Not knowing how to react, and since Laxus seemed particularly amused by the drama unfolding before his eyes, Bobby, Millianna and Shô focused on Mystogan. After a few seconds, they looked at him even more confused than before.
"It's true..." said Millianna "You're not him..."
Mystogan showed them a small smile "Glad you understood this without reacting badly. Now we need to stop Laxus and his Thunder Palace before it destroys the entire city." and opening one hand, the five magic staves flew towards him, returning to position themselves on his back while one remained in his hand
"And how do you plan to do? There are just five minutes left and there are still..." Laxus looked for a moment at some runes floating in mid air "...two hundred and sixty-nine active Lacrima. You can't hope to destroy all of them."
"We just need to beat you to a pulp!" said Natsu slamming his fists together, igniting them.
Mystogan watched Laxus closely before shifting his gaze to the dragon slayer "Natsu, can I count on you to defeat Laxus?"
Natsu looked at him with a toothy grin "Of course! I'll take care of him right here, right now!"
"Then I'll leave him to you." the formerly masked mage then looked at the others "You need to come with me. I need help to destroy or defuse those Lacrima."
"Huh? Are you sure...? We...we are not very strong." said Shô remembering the encounter with Siegmund, whose magical power must have been on par with Laxus, a clear sign that none of the four of them could hope to face Makarov's grandson and hope to defeat him. His cards might contain powerful people like Erza, but the young wizard doubted Laxus would let himself be captured without reacting.
"Yes, any help will be more than welcome and now we have little time." bringing his free hand to the collar of his cloak, he pulled out a hidden hood which he used to cover his head before walking out of the church "Follow me!"
Simon hurried after him but not before looking at his guildmate "Good luck Natsu!"
"Yeah, defeat him for us too!"
"Beat him in a dandy way!"
"We count on you Natsu!"
When they were gone, Laxus laughed "And they are the new wizards to join the guild?! Pathetic, all of them! In my Fairy Tail there will be no room for such people!"
"There will be none of your Fairy Tail, Laxus." grinned Natsu with fire engulfing his whole body "They have only been here for a short time, but I already know that they will protect the guild at all costs and I can trust them! Now that I can focus on you, I'm all fired up!"
Lightning completely enveloped Laxus' body, who looked at Natsu with an amused look "Feel free to try Natsu, but the result will always be the same!"
Propelling himself forward with his flames, Natsu brought his right arm back "Here I come Laxus! Fire Dragon's Iron Fist!"
"Where is Asher?" asked Naco while walking inside an old warehouse near the center of the city.
Not far away, Asteria was doing leg stretches "He said he would go find Laxus so he could observe the situation better and he has a Lacrima with him to contact the mistress if necessary."
"Hm...what about Kazumi?"
"He has found a place to rest and protect Poppea's body, although she should be back soon. I doubt you will be able to get any new information in the Fairy Tail building." said Asteria before looking at the chained form of Juvia, who was locked against a wall by special handcuffs that blocked magic. With a grin on her face, she turned to his guildmate "Ready?"
Naco grinned back "As always." and after approaching Juvia, he put a hand on her head before electrocuting her, waking her up and making her scream again. After a few seconds he released her to allow her to catch her breath.
"W-Who...a-are...you..." whispered Juvia, feeling incredibly weak.
"Don't worry about that. For now you just have to focus on yelling as loud as you can." said Naco with a fake sweet voice.
He touched her head.
She screamed again.
He released her again, sensing a strong magical power approaching. Both he and Asteria turned to the warehouse door just as that source of magical power was nearing its arrival.
BOOOM!
Walking inside the warehouse, enveloped in a silvery-green aura, Gajeel looked at the two dark mages with ill-concealed anger in his eyes.
"Oi, what do you think you are doing to her?"
"Relax, we are not going to kill her...maybe." said Naco, raising his hands in surrender "After all, her beautiful voice led you to us. Now, how about playing a little with the shadows?"
Gajeel eyes widened in surprise when black guild marks appeared on their arms, depicting the head of a snake with its jaws open "Shadow Soul! So what master Jose told us is true, you were really in league with him."
"Technically he was in league with us, as we provided him with a lot of stuff, but that's all in the past now." said Asteria with a shrug "Our mission is to make sure you don't tell others about anything. Sol and Aria are already buried underground and Totomaru has sworn that he won't say anything."
The dragon slayer glared at her "If your intent was to speak peacefully, you have failed miserably. There's no way I'm going to stay on the sidelines after what you did to the Rain Woman."
"We know, that's why we tortured her a little bit." grinned Naco releasing his magical power with Asteria soon mimicking him "We don't know if we'll ever get a chance to fight a dragon slayer again Therefore it is better to take advantage of the situation!"
"Remember that I'm only letting you face him because you couldn't fight Juvia." said Asteria while cracking her knuckles.
"Yeah yeah, I'll buy you an ice cream later!"
"You..." hissed Gajeel covering his whole body in metal scales "I'll kill both of you!"
Asteria merely flipped him off and with a mighty roar that shook the entire warehouse, the dragon began his battle against the shadows.
TO BE CONTINUED...
And here we are! How did this chapter seem to you? Did you like it? Did it disgust you? Let me know in the reviews! I could have updated yesterday, but my connection was having a tantrum all the time and I was unable to do anything...since we are already in May, if I manage this month you will have two chapters like in March!
In the last chapter I said that this here would be the final part of the arc, however as I wrote it I became more and more aware of how long it would be at the end, so I preferred to separate it in two. Now, I can say with certainty that the next chapter will be the concluding part of the arc!
Speaking of the chapter, I hope you enjoyed it, between clashes and changes I made to the canon, including things like no "Lucy, Erza and Mira vs Thunder God Tribe", or some more magic for Mystogan as well as a more constant presence on his part. It always disturbed me that he only left because Erza saw his face, when they still had to defeat Laxus and his Thunder Palace...
Well I hope you will read many and leave many reviews! I love reading them!
See you next time!