"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 11: Alliance vs Oración Seis vs Shadow Soul

[Worth Woodsea/ 26thOctober X784]

The first to move among the members of Oración Seis was Racer, who sprinted forward but in an instant vanished from the sight of the others.

"Motor."

Natsu, Gray and Bacchus stared in surprise when Racer materialized behind them in the blink of an eye, and while the two Fairy Tail wizards were easily hit and knocked to the ground, Bacchus managed to cross his arms in front of his face, but was still thrown backwards by the power behind the blow.

"Natsu! Gray!" shouted Lucy, worried for her friends, only to then notice that next to her there was a girl identical to her "What the-!"

"Foooool!" armed with the same whip as the Fairy Tail mage, the fake Lucy began to whip her with incredible brutality, opening several cuts on her back and arms.

Winter looked at the scene with confused eyes "A clone?" but he was immediately forced to focus on Racer who tried to hit him with a kick in the head. Turning quickly, Winter attempted to stab him with his spear but Racer was already gone, so the Rune Knight focused on the other opponents and sprinted towards Cobra but the dark mage easily avoided his thrusts with minimal movements.

"That won't work. I can hear your movements!" said Cobra with a grin while his purple snake tried to bit Winter, without success.

Not far away, Lyon and Sherry attempted to attack Hoteye but the man quickly moved a hand after bringing it to his face and the ground beneath their feet became a tsunami of slime and they were both flung towards Mira before she could get too close, forcing her to take off with her wings. However she failed to react in time against Racer who hit her with an elbow sending her towards the ground where she was hit on the fly by a large ice hammer created by Gray, although it was evident that he was only a clone, as the real Gray had just stood up with Natsu only to be hit again by Racer and then be submerged by a wave of earth.

Bacchus attempted to hit Hoteye but was forced to avoid an attack from behind by Racer, then followed by ice eagles created by the Lyon clone who was trying to hit him from his blind spot, however Bacchus easily managed to destroy them all with precise blows. Cobra then tried to hit him in turn but Winter stepped between the two and forced the mage of Oración Seis to desist, after which Winter and Bacchus jumped backwards to avoid Hoteye's magic. After landing, they avoided some ice arrows shot by Gray's clone while the real Gray together with Lyon launched ice attacks against Cobra but he avoided them without problems.

"Why the hell is this guy sleeping?!" shouted Natsu after noticing that Midnight was still sleeping on his floating carpet, then attempting to hit him with a blast of fire but was shocked when he saw his own flames being deflected by something invisible.

"Quit it. It would be scary if you were to wake Midnight." said Racer behind Natsu before sending him against Lucy with a kick.

Mira immediately stepped forward to attempt to hit Racer along with Winter and the latter also managed to wound the dark mage on the cheek with the tip of his spear, but the two lost their balance momentarily when Hoteye used his magic on the ground beneath their feet. The snake of Cobra immediately took advantage of it to hit them with its tail and throw them back but had no way to continue as Bacchus immediately intervened between them, almost managing to hit the reptile with his palms.

The two groups continued to exchange blows after blows but on the side of the alliance only Bacchus, Mira and Winter seemed able to react in time, while the others were constantly hit by the magicians of Oración Seis.

Brain watched the scene with an amused grin on his lips "Ooooh...these are some famous faces, aren't they? The Demon, the Drunk Falcon and the Tempest Knight. It might take longer than expected with those three as opponents, so it's better if I intervene. Hoteye, assist me!"

Having heard this, Hoteye waited for the moment all three of their main opponents were close before activating his magic "You saw the power of money, right? RIGHT?!" and with a quick movement of his hand, Bacchus, Mira and Winter were surrounded by a wave of soft ground as Brain pointed his staff forward.

"Dark Delete!"

Dozens of spheres of darkness were hurled at high speed by the crystal ball at the tip of his staff, creating a series of explosions and hitting all the targets, knocking them to the ground with different types of damage and burns on their bodies. When the cloud of dust that formed dispersed, all the mages of the alliance were on the ground, injured and in pain, even if some like Mira and Winter were already trying to get up.

"You trash, should all vanish." said Brain with an ice cold voice before raising once again his staff, starting to amass a surreal amount of dark magical power that made many of his opponents shiver.

"W-What is this magic power…?!" breathed Sherry looking at him with scared eyes.

"The air itself...is shaking!" noted Lyon trying, and failing, to get up.

"Disappear! Dark Rond-!" just as he was about to release his spell, Brain stopped, having noticed a little blue-haired girl hiding not far behind a rock with two cats "Wendy…?"

As Wendy crouched behind the rock, more terrified than before, the other members of Oración Seis looked in her direction with confused looks, wondering if she was an acquaintance of Brain. But their leader didn't seem to hear their questions, staring at Wendy's shelter with a grin.

"Yes it is definitely her, the Sky Sorceress. Looks like I've found someone of inestimable value." and from his staff came a thick purple smoke that spread to Wendy before enveloping her and pulling her towards him. The alliance mages could only watch in shock as Brain attempted to kidnap Wendy, but suddenly Gray jumped out of the trees near their enemies, his hands ready to use a spell, while what everyone believed to be Gray crumbles into a pile of ice.

"Do you really think we'll let you do your own thing?!" shouted the ice mage, only to then feel an agonizing pain in his right leg and, looking down, he saw with horror the huge snake of Cobra intent on biting him at the calf.

"I already told you. I can hear you." grinned Cobra while his snake tossed Gray against Natsu and Hoteye used his magic once again to throw them all to the ground while Wendy vanished in a cloud of smoke along with Happy, after grabbing his paw in an attempt to escape.

"Happy!"

"Wendy!"

Tired of hearing their voices, Brain turned his staff against the alliance "I no longer have business with you scum, leave my sight!" and without hesitation he unleashed a wave of ghostly energy at them, with the clear intent of eliminating them once and for all.

Sensing the imminent danger, the various mages of the alliance tried to protect themselves in any way while Mira was finally able to get up, having already brought both hands to her right side "Everyone stand down!" and after creating a swirling sphere of darkness she brought it forward with her right hand, releasing a torrent of dark energy "Evil Explosion!"

A blinding black flash illuminated the surrounding area for a moment before a violent explosion shook much of the forest, causing a violent shock-wave that uprooted trees and rocks as if they were made of paper. The ground shook for several seconds before stopping and when the various mages of the alliance were able to get up, they saw the devastation caused by the clash between the spells of Brain and Mira, with the latter having returned to her human form, covered with wounds and out of breath.

"Mira! Are you okay?!" asked Lucy running toward the barmaid, who showed a small smile.

"Yes, nothing too serious, don't worry." said Mira before looking ahead "But Oración Seis managed to escape...and they took Wendy and Happy."

"Damn it...they were really strong." said Bacchus, sitting on the ground with a scowl on his face.

"Grrr...where are they?!" growled Natsu looking around before starting to run in a random direction in order to find them to save Happy and Wendy, but before anyone could react, Winter grabbed him by the scarf causing him to fall to the ground.

"Calm down, Natsu Dragneel." said Winter with a calm, yet cold voice "We just suffered a crushing defeat and we were all together, what do you think you can solve by going alone?" Natsu immediately stood up glaring at him but Winter raised a hand to silence him "We need to regroup first and I'm afraid our problems don't end there."

Blinking in confusion, Natsu looked to the side and only then did he notice Gray lying on the ground holding his leg with a sore face. Beside him, Lyon and Lucy were trying to help him in any way but without success.

Kneeling beside them, Mira made a small tear in Gray's pants and saw the snake bite "This is bad, it has been poisoned and it is not a common poison, it is spreading too fast. We have to slow it down somehow." and removing the belt from Gray's pants, she tied it around his thigh to try to slow the blood circulation, while Lyon used his magic to freeze his leg around the place where he had been bitten.

"This will do...for now." said Mira, looking at Winter with worried eyes.

"Captain Winter!" looking in the direction of the voice, they saw a large group of Rune Knights running towards them, with two of them intent on supporting Jura, who had a bandaged belly. Seeing the surrounding devastation, the bulk of the Rune Knights rushed to medicate their wounded comrades as the others approached Winter and the mages "Sir, we were sent to support after losing contact with you. We found Jura-san not far from the meeting point wounded by a stabbing weapon, but it seems that he was also poisoned. Our medicines can't stop the poison."

"I understand." nodded Winter, looking at the whole situation. Jura, with the help of Sherry and Lyon, was made to lie down next to Gray and the various injured Rune Knights, before explaining how he had been tricked and wounded by Angel, apologizing for not being able to help them in any way.

"You don't have to apologize in any way, Jura-san. We've been outclassed from the start, those bastards are stronger than expected." said Lyon before looking at Winter "What's the plan?"

Winter took a deep breath before looking at everyone else "Our ultimate goal has not changed, but it is no longer the top priority now. First of all we have to find a method to cure Jura-san and Gray-san, as the Rune Knights' medical equipment is not enough, and sadly I doubt that defeating Cobra will be enough to stop the snake's venom. Even if we manage to capture his snake, I don't know if we will be able to develop an antidote in time."

Natsu and all the others looked at each other, as none of them had a magic capable of healing the wounds they did not know how to find a solution, but Carla stepped in just then attracting their attention "Wendy can save them." everyone blinked in confusion at her words "It is not time to stay here and waste time, we must save Wendy, her magic can help your friends."

"Can she heal others? It must be a powerful support magic." said Lucy in awe.

"A lost magic maybe?" added Sherry.

"Not just any lost magic. She's the Sky Dragon Slayer." said Carla, shocking everyone "I'll tell you the details later, all you need to know is that we have to save her if you want to save others."

Winter nodded at her "Very well, now the priority list is clear: our main purpose is to rescue Wendy and Happy, to have Wendy arrive here safe and sound to heal Gray-san and Jura-san, and later find and defeat Oración Seis before they find and activate Nirvana!" he then pointed at the others "We cannot hope to find them if we all move together even though I know that splitting up is dangerous, but we have no other choice. My Rune Knights will stay here to defend the position to monitor the condition of the wounded. Natsu-san, Lucy-san you will be the first team."

"I'll come too." added Carla as a matter of fact.

"Mira-san, Bacchus-san, you're the second team." added Winter "Lyon-san, Sherry-san, you're with me as the third team, but before you go…" beside him, some Rune Knights placed a large blue Lacrima on the ground with a light pulsing inside, while other soldiers gave everyone small spherical Lacrima.

"These are special LPS, Lacrima Positioning System. Just activate them and they will show you the way back to the main Lacrima, so you can immediately find the correct path if you find Wendy."

"All right! Now that we are ready, let's go save Wendy and Happy!" shouted Natsu and a brief cry of encouragement, the three teams dashed inside the forest.

Their personal hunt had begun.

[Worth Woodsea – Oración Seis Hideout / 26thOctober X784]

Wendy was thrown into what looked like a small stone altar and Happy immediately tried to scold Brain for his violence, but was immediately grabbed by the face and knocked to the ground without hesitation. Behind Brain, the other Oración Seis members watched the scene in silence before Racer sat down on a rock "So Brain, who is this girl? Do you know her?"

"Does she have anything to do with Nirvana by any chance?" asked Cobra with Cubellios at his side.

Angel looked at Wendy with a raised eyebrow "This little girl? I can't really see it…"

"Oh I see!" said Hoteye with an exited voice "We can sell her and make a profit out of it!"

"She's a used of the sky magic, healing magic to be exact." said Brain, a knowing smile on his face.

"Healing magic?!"

"A lost magic?"

"Now that sounds valuable!"

"Zzz…zzz…"

"A little brat like this…?" wondered Cobra before widening his eyes in shock "Wait! You mean…?!"

Brain stretched out his arms "Precisely! We will revive him!"

"I...I...I won't help bad people like you!" shouted Wendy, trying to intimidate them.

The leader of Oración Seis was merely amused by her words "Oh but you will. He will be revived, be sure of it!" he then looked at Racer "Go, bring him here."

Racer told him it would take at least an hour but Brain didn't seem bothered by it and told him it was okay, so Oración Seis' sprinter instantly vanished using his magic. Meanwhile Cobra had a grin on his face, stating that with his help, Nirvana would be theirs for sure.

"Cobra, Angel, Hoteye." Brain called three of his remaining mages "You three keep looking for Nirvana, we must be prepared for any eventuality."

As the three nominees walked out of the cave to find their target, Wendy could only ask "W-What kind of magic is this Nirvana?"

"A very special magic." said Brain, with the grin still on his face "A magic to make light and darkness change places with one another, and with it, we will plunge the world into eternal darkness!"

[Worth Woodsea – Northwest of Bob's Palace / 26thOctober X784]

"So if Wendy is the Sky Dragon Slayer…" wondered Natsu while running in the forest with Carla and Lucy at his side "...what does she eat?"

"Air."

"Is it tasty?"

"Who knows."

"Isn't that just like breathing…?" asked Lucy with a sweat-drop.

The group of three, however, was then forced to stop after a few meters when they found themselves in front of several completely black trees. The very air around them felt heavy and smelled of death.

Lucy looked at the various trees with worried eyes "W-What's going on with this forest…?"

"That's the influence of Nirvana. Ain't that right, Zatô-niisan?"

"Gyahoh! It's just such a terrible magic! It's making the land itself die, Gatô-niisan!"

Within seconds, several people appeared all around them. From the branches of the trees, from the various bushes...dozens of men surrounded them in the blink of an eye, with two of them, whose faces resembled that of apes, on the front line.

"Woooh! Monkeys! There are two monkeys!" said Natsu looking at them with surprised eyes.

"YOU?!" behind the two 'monkeys' appeared a bald man who pointed his rifle at Lucy "I remember you! If it hadn't been for you I would have been able to rob that damn bank!"

"How can you still be free?!" shouted back Lucy, wondering if the Rune Knights actually served any purpose.

"We are Naked Mummy, a dark guild under Oración Seis." said Gatô, completely ignoring the bickering between his guildmate and Lucy.

"Gyahoh! Let's have some fun!"

Carla looked around, visibly worried "So there are more than six enemies...? This is not good, not good at all!"

"This suits me just fine." grinned Natsu with his fists already wrapped in flames "I can warm up a little and then have you tell me where Wendy and Happy are!" and without further ado, he lunged at their enemies, sweeping away a large number of them with a roar of flames.

Meanwhile, despite the disadvantageous situation, Lucy immediately used one of her keys to summon Taurus while putting her hand on her whip in the process. Her Celestial Spirit did not hesitate to strike all nearby enemies with his ax, defeating them all in one blow.

"I'll have my revenge now!" shouted the dark mage from before, shooting at her with his rifle, but Lucy managed to dodge to the side while also using her whip to catch his weapon and snatch it from his hands. Before he could attempt to retrieve it, Taurus was behind him and smashed him to the ground with a single punch, knocking him out.

A loud explosion caught Lucy's attention and the young girl saw Natsu making his way through their enemies without any difficulty. The two Fairy Tail wizards fought for several minutes until there were only two Naked Mummy mages left, Gatô and Zatô. Natsu, however, immediately tried to hit them from above but the two dark mages avoided his attack by jumping to the side, finding themselves one on the right and one on the left of Natsu.

"Looks like this guy is pretty good, Gatô-niisan!"

"Shall we give this a shot, Zatô-niisan?" asked his brother but suddenly, under the shocked eyes of everyone else, a ray of green energy burst from his left, piercing his chest without any difficulty, spilling blood all around. Lucy covered her mouth with both hands to hold back a scream while Natsu and Zatô could only watch the dark mage's body as he slumped to the ground with a thud.

"G-Gatô-niisan!"

"Ara? You monkey are still alive? I thought I was aiming for both of you." asked a female voice from the forest, and within seconds Angel made her arrival, watching the scene with an amused smile on her face.

"Y-You killed him?! We are on the same side!" shouted Zatô, glaring daggers at Angel but she was unfazed by it.

She waved a hand in dismissal "You are just trash working for us, nothing more, maybe less."

"You...you! I'll kill you!" roared Zatô, ready to use his magic to avenge his brother but just then there was a loud whistle in the air and Natsu sprinted back to tackle Lucy to the ground just as a meteor hit the spot where Zatô was, creating a loud roar and shaking the ground. Angel was forced to raise her arms to protect her face from debris and splinters while Natsu covered Lucy with his body until the ground stopped shaking. When they got up, they saw a thick cloud of dust clearing and after a few seconds they were able to see Zatô's body, planted face down with a fist stuck in the back of his skull, from which a lot of blood was leaking.

Currently seated on his corpse, there was a young woman with pierced ears, long, wavy brown hair and two amber eyes who were watching intently at the still conscious wizards. The grin on her lips seemed to grow out of all proportion and after a few seconds she stood up, lazily waving her right hand to clean it of the blood.

"Fucking finally! I thought this forest was a nest of weaklings and Rune Knights!"

"Oh my...and who are you supposed to be?" asked Angel, looking at the newcomer with a raised eyebrow "You are definitely not a member of the alliance and-huh?" she couldn't help but blink in surprise upon seeing a large pillow floating to the ground from above, with a girl sleeping on it.

"Zzz… zzz… zzz…"

"Hey Bonnie, you were right! There are some interesting people here!" grinned Asteria, looking from Angel to Natsu and vice versa.

"T-There's another one who sleeping…?" asked Lucy with a sweat-drop, remembering Midnight, the Oración Seis member who had only slept on his flying carpet during their previous fight.

"Oi. You, with the piercings."

A cold shiver ran down Lucy's spine as she heard Natsu's voice. Looking at him, Lucy couldn't help but take a step back when she saw the boy's furious gaze, noticing how his nose was constantly twitching.

Asteria shifted her gaze to him "Yes? What is it?"

"Are you the one who nearly killed Evergreen?"

Lucy gasped, immediately shifting her gaze to the girl who had killed Zatô, while Angel watched the interaction between the two curiously. Asteria, on the other hand, tilted her head slightly before shrugging "You'll have to be more specific, I've killed and nearly killed a lot of people."

Natsu began to walk slowly towards her, clenching his fists more and more "You also fought against Juvia and Gajeel."

Asteria suddenly snapped her fingers "Oh you're talking about the Harvest Festival, right?" she then pointed at her eyes with one finger, grinning even more "That girl with glasses was pretty quick to escape, but she never thought about being caught. I also bet she didn't see me coming."

In a single, powerful burst of flames, Natsu was in front of Asteria with his fist ready to strike her, but the dark mage spun around and hit his fist with the heel of a spinning kick and then hit him with a fist wrapped in a golden aura but Natsu raised his other arm to protect himself, however he was thrown back several meters.

"You know, I have mixed thoughts right now…" said Asteria, blowing on the punch she had just used to punch Natsu "On one hand I can fight the one who defeated Gajeel during the war with Phantom Lord, on the other hand I can't stand the heat of your flames...couldn't you turn it down a bit?"

In response, Natsu's entire body exploded with powerful flames that instantly seared the ground beneath his feet as his rage-filled eyes were focused solely on her "I will burn you to ashes!"

Asteria simply grinned at his words before taking off the hoodie she was wearing and throwing it on the ground "Bonnie, can you take care of the other two? I'll probably be busy for a few minutes." and as soon as she said those words, she was forced to avoid another attack by Natsu, who started following her like a furious beast.

Without saying anything, and continuing to sleep, Bonnie moved towards Angel, who looked at her in amusement "In my opinion you and Midnight would get along very well. However I assume you are our enemy today…if what Cobra said is true, an old acquaintance of ours is here, which means that most likely you are part of Shadow Soul too, correct?"

Bonnie didn't even open her eyes, but simply moved an arm, then let it dangle off the pillow, creating a magic circle in front of her "Dream Knock..."

Dozens of bubble-like projectiles were hurled at Angel but the Oración Seis' sorceress leapt past them all before pulling out a silver key, startling Lucy "Open Gate of the Chisel! Caelum!" and a strange metallic sphere materialized in front of her.

Lucy stared at them with shocked eyes "She's a Celestial Spirit mage too?!"

"But of course I am, however, I'm far superior to someone like you, who couldn't even summon a single spirit during our first fight." said Angel, mocking the blonde mage before pointing at Bonnie with one hand "Caelum, kill her!"

Caelum instantly transformed into a strange cannon and fired a beam of green energy at Bonnie but the pillow moved quickly and the Shadow Soul mage emerged unscathed by the attack while Angel was feeling something strange.

'Why do I feel like I'm tired? It's like I have to fall asleep at any moment.' she then thought back to the attack Bonnie used earlier 'Ah I see, Sleep Magic...you would definitely get along with Midnight!'

As the two dark mages were fighting each other, Lucy looked at the scene with a troubled face while Taurus asked her "What we should do now?"

"I don't know Taurus…" to the side, a new explosion shook the ground as Natsu tried in vain to hit Asteria, who was much faster than him "I really don't know…"

[Worth Woodsea – North of Bob's Palace / 26thOctober X784]

The last member of the dark guild Dark Unicorn fell at the feet of Bacchus after being struck with a deadly palm blow to the chest. All around him and Mira were a few dozen of unconscious wizards, all from the same dark guild that had attempted to ambush them and ended up being wiped out within minutes.

"Honestly, the level of dark mages has dropped quite a bit these days. With a few exceptions, dark guilds are filled with people who can barely be considered mages…" said Bacchus after a yawn. The 'battle' had been so boring that he hadn't even tried to drink some alcohol; it would have been a waste to drink it against certain enemies.

"By now nearly all dark guilds answer to one of the three pillars of the Balam Alliance; these were just some of their subordinates but they don't care if they are strong or not." said Mira with a calm voice, while still in her demon form, before shifting his gaze toward a group of trees "Bacchus…"

"Yeah, I feel it too." nodded the martial artist before jumping up with Mira just when the ground under their feet became a mass of mud.

Landing a few meters away, the two wizards silently watched the figure that was approaching them, when a short amused laugh reached their ears "As you would expect from two aces of their respective guilds. I guess you both have a lot of money, yes?" Hoteye looked at them for a few seconds with a cold smile "After all, the only thing that matters in the world is money!"

"I can't say I disagree, after all without money I couldn't buy my beloved alcohol." said Bacchus with a small smirk, carefully observing his opponent.

Mira didn't answer him, moving her gaze to the right, on the highest branches of one of the closest trees, where he could distinctly feel a presence even if faint "Come out! I know you're there!"

Both Bacchus and Hoteye quickly looked in the same direction and, on one of the branches, a young girl appeared out of the shadows, wearing a dark violet cloak, whose hood completely covered her face but the two brilliant golden eyes were visible to all. Tilting her head slightly, the girl looked at Mira "So my Shadow's Hood can't fool a demon. Good to know."

"Ooooh! If it isn't the Huntress!" said Hoteye with a warm smile on his face "I haven't seen you for three years, when you last robbed me!"

Reina arched an eyebrow "I just collected that bounty before you, it's your fault if you're slow."

"Do you know her?" asked Bacchus, moving closer to Mira, but she shook her head.

"He seems to know her, and if she has actually collected a bounty she could be a dark mage or a simple mercenary." said the white-haired mage, staring at the newcomer.

"Oh I know I know, but I've discovered something that could pay me back for my lost money." said the member of Oración Seis, with his smile suddenly turning cold "Your now defunct clan was very wealthy right?"

Reina's golden eyes turned ice cold, and her pupils changed from mere dots to slits, as a curved bow that appeared to be made of bones immediately appeared in her left hand "Think carefully about your next words, Hoteye. We have strict orders to kill Brain, but I can still add you to my target list."

Hoteye didn't seem perturbed by her words "Once we activate Nirvana, I will make sure all their wealth is mine." and the next instant he had to use his magic to erect a wall of earth to block an arrow that would otherwise have pierced his skull.

"You just sealed your fate." hissed Reina before looking at Bacchus and Mira "You can leave if you want, I want his head now."

Mira and Bacchus exchanged a quick glance but then the Fairy Tail sorceress shook her head, starting to accumulate magical power in her hands "We can't leave since we are here to stop Oración Seis, and unless you're a mercenary, you must be a dark mage, right?"

Reina shook her head with a sigh "I don't think I can handle all three of you, but since you wanted to decline my invitation, there's nothing I can do but get you out of the way." in a flash, her cloak was replaced by a shorter and gray one that immediately released a thick curtain of smoke.

When Mira sent a wave of air using her wings, Reina was already gone but this time Mira couldn't locate her. Bacchus looked around trying to locate her, while Hoteye calmly watched the two mages of the alliance, as Reina's grim words echoed through the trees.

"You're all my preys now."

[Worth Woodsea – Northeast of Bob's Palace / 26thOctober X784]

"A deserted village to the west? Like...an ancient ruin?" asked Lyon, looking at the mages of the dark guild Red Hood scattered around him. Like the other two teams, they too had been attacked by a dark guild but had managed in a short time to defeat them all and find out where the main base of Oración Seis was.

"Now that's what I call digging your own grave." said Sherry looking at Lyon and Winter "They tried to attack us and ended up telling us the location of their own base instead."

Winter nodded, though puzzled by the fact that no one had noticed the arrival of so many dark wizards in that forest. Was it possible that no one on the Magic Council had noticed anything like this? Deciding not to think about it for the moment, the Rune Knight was about to head west when he sensed a strong magical presence approaching their position and apparently Sherry and Lyon noticed it too, for all three turned in the same direction, in time to see two people emerge from the shadows of the trees.

While the first was a young man with short, curly light brown hair, a short beard, a patch over his left eye, wearing metal gauntlets and boots, it was the second person who immediately attracted Winter's full attention, for a ghost from his past had just appeared in front of him.

Walking alongside Grady, Aki stopped to look for a moment at Lyon and Sherry, and without hesitation she bowed her head in greeting before staring at Winter with a determined gaze "It's been a while, brother."

"Brother…?" repeated Sherry, looking with confused eyes at Winter, only to took a step back when she saw his cold eyes trying to dig a hole through Aki's skull.

"So he's your brother huh? At least this time is just an adoptive family member." said Grady after a quick look at Winter "To this day I still wonder if Naco's parents were really his parents." he then shifted his gaze toward the other two "Well I'll be...my dear Sherry, is that you?"

She gulped when she finally recognized that mage "Grady…"

"You know him?"

Lyon looked at Winter, who had just asked that question. His eyes were colder than his magic and were focused entirely on Aki, as hers were on him, yet he seemed to be aware of what was going on around him.

With a sigh, he nodded "Months ago me, Sherry and other two mages were independent wizards, bordering on dark mages. My only goal was to awaken one of Zeref's demons, Deliora, so that I could kill it with my own hands. I knew where it was but I had to take it to Galuna Island, only none of us were able to move that huge mass of ice...so we enlisted the services of a dark guild." he looked at Grady who was grinning at them "They didn't tell us their name, just their price. We paid and they told us to wait on the island...then after three days we saw that ice mountain moving on the water and that guy there was standing in a little boat, holding Deliora, and all the ice it was sealed in, with one hand, like it was a pebble."

"I well remember your faces, so surprised and incredulous...but deep down I'm capable of this and much more. No one could have done what I did." said Grady with a light chuckle but that didn't last long when he realized that Aki and Winter still hadn't looked away from each other. Looking back at Winter, he narrowed his only eye 'Now I understand why Acier labeled him as a threat; I can perfectly perceive the amount of magical power he possesses...Aki is not even remotely comparable to him, I'm afraid that currently only Siegmund could stand up to him and kill him.'

"Aki Tamashiro." everyone looked at Winter, who pointed his spear at her "Surrender now and your actions will be judged and convicted by trial. Resist arrest, and I will drag your corpse before the graves of those who died because of you, so they can finally find peace."

Even though she had prepared herself for that meeting, Aki couldn't help but feel a certain pain in hearing her step-brother talk to her like that, but now she couldn't go back. Closing her eyes, she took a deep breath before opening them again, summoning in a red flash her trusted Kaimon "We both know how this is going to end, brother."

He didn't seem to hear her and simply took a fighting stance with his spear "So you've chosen death."

"Aki, are you sure about this?" asked Grady, looking at his guildmate.

"Yes."

He merely shrugged "Guess I can't stop you now. Oi! You two!" Sherry and Lyon looked at him as he walked away from Aki, but kept his eye on them "Let's give these two some privacy, it's a family reunion after all."

Sherry and Lyon looked at each other, undecided about what to do but it was Winter who told them to go, never taking his eyes off Aki. Sherry was the first to go while Lyon stayed behind, glancing at the Rune Knight for a moment "I don't know your story and I can't pretend I do, but if it's about revenge…let it go, it will just consume you…I speak from experience." and with those words, he followed his guildmate.

Winter didn't answer him and waited for the three wizards to be far enough away "This story ends today, Kinslayer."

"Whatever the outcome of our fight, I never meant to go that far, brother."

"I'm not your brother. Not anymore."

Aki shook her head "You will always be my brother, just as William will always be a father to me."

Gritting his teeth, Winter's eyes widened in anger and the grip on his spear tightened until his knuckles turned white "Don't you dare say his name. My father didn't deserve to die and you took him away from me!"

"So that's what they told you…" whispered Aki, raising her sword "It seems that they have told you many lies, brother...but I know you won't change your mind about me, so let's get it over with."

In a speed buster, Winter was in front of her.

His spear ready to pierce her heart.

"Die, Kinslayer."

[North of Worth Woodsea/ 26thOctober X784]

Cobra was walking briskly among the trees of that forest. Occasionally he could hear fights taking place elsewhere in that sea of trees, but it wasn't his problem. Brain had ordered him to seek Nirvana and that he would do. At his side, his trusty snake moved without making a sound, seeking their target with its master.

"I just hope Angel and Hoteye are doing what they have to do…although I bet Hoteye is just thinking about money." murmured Cobra before stopping abruptly, confusing Cubellios, who turned to face him. The dark wizard said nothing or gave the impression of wanting to move, yet a maniacal grin appeared on his face and, very slowly, he brought his right hand closer to his face. Then, in the blink of an eye he turned back with his mouth placed between his index and middle fingers and his cheeks puffed.

"Poison Dragon's Roar!"

A huge cone of red and black poison shot out of his mouth, destroying several trees and quickly rotting those that weren't instantly destroyed. Cobra wasted no time in observing his work and crouched instantly, thus avoiding a large broadsword thrown from his left, which otherwise would have decapitated him. The massive weapon slammed into the trunk of a tree and an armored figure then landed on the hilt of the weapon.

Looking in that direction, Cubellios hissed menacingly while Cobra grinned "I can hear you, Siegmund. Have you forgotten by any chance?"

Shadow Soul's Berserker leapt off his weapon before pulling it out of the tree with ease, slinging it over his shoulder "I just wanted to see if you hadn't gone deaf." Cobra could hear the hungry grin in his voice "I yelled pretty loud earlier, yet you didn't come looking for me."

"I had to do something else, like getting rid of those useless mages of the alliance. Brain and the others know you are here." said Cobra with a shrug while his hands were slowly covered in crimson and white scales "I knew you wouldn't hesitate to hunt me down. Tell me, does the wound I left you still burn?"

Siegmund moved his free hand to the right side of his belly "It started to burn again when I learned that I could finally kill you. Last time I almost died from your poison, but this time I won't go down that easily." he then pointed at Cobra with his sword "I see you haven't replaced your right eye. Afraid of losing it against me again?"

"I don't need an eye when I can ear you." grinned Cobra with poison dripping from his fingers "Brain gave me an order, but I think he won't mind if I kill you first!"

"Unfortunately for you, my mistress also gave me an order: retrieve the Lacrima that gave you your powers. Since to do this I have to kill you, I will carry out this task with great pleasure!" and without waiting any longer, he leapt at Cobra to strike him with his greatsword. Cobra easily evaded the blow before attempting to strike Siegmund with his claws while Cubellios attempted to bite Shadow Soul's dark mage, but Siegmund lurched backwards to avoid both attacks.

"Earlier you asked me if I could hear Death calling for me…" said Cobra with his eyes glowing with power as more poison was released from his arms "I can hear her very well, but she's here for you. Only for you."

"Unfortunately I will have to decline her call like every other time." Siegmund swung his greatsword and aimed it at Cobra, gripping it with both hands "Now enough talking, it's time for you to die!"

With a mighty battle cry, the Poison Dragon and Shadow Berserker clashed once again.

[Northwest of Worth Woodsea/ 26thOctober X784]

Racer moved quickly among that vastness of trees, carrying on his shoulders a huge black coffin in the shape of a cross, with several chains wrapped around it to keep it closed. The huge object was a considerable weight and Racer knew that, without that coffin on his shoulders, he would have already reached his destination but Brain had ordered him to carry it and so he would.

It had also been quite easy to break the weak encirclement set up by the Rune Knights around the forest, mainly thanks to his speed but also to his personal guild Harpula, which had acted as a diversion when he returned with the coffin. Now all he had to do was go back to base and deliver the coffin to Brain so that blue-haired brat could use her powers on him and bring them even closer to Nirvana.

"Far Grasp."

Or at least, that was the plan.

Feeling the weight off his shoulders, Racer stopped instantly leaving two ruts in the ground. Looking slowly to the right, he saw a young man with short, red hair and black eyes crouched on some roots, his right hand resting on the coffin. A vein began to throb in Racer's forehead as the wizard of Oración Seis turned fully towards the one who had stolen the coffin "You just stopped me in my tracks."

"I didn't do anything like that, I just took this." the newcomer gave a light pat to the coffin, while keeping his eyes on Racer "None of you are reported to be deceased, so there is something or someone in this coffin that is important for your purposes."

Racer said nothing, but in an instant he vanished in a burst of speed, reappearing behind the young man to kick him in the neck, only for his opponent to vanish in a blink. The wizard of Oración Seis just had time to hear that mage's voice again "Blink." before moving quickly and returning to the point from which he had moved first. Looking back, he saw that his opponent didn't appear to have moved, only that he now had a curved sword gripped in his left hand.

From the moment Racer had tried to hit him, barely a second had passed.

"You weren't among the mages of the alliance and you just tried to kill me." said Racer, touching with one hand the collar of his racing suit, where a large cut was visible at the height of the neck "You are part of Shadow Soul."

"Yes." said Asher without missing a beat. No point in lying at his opponent.

Behind his sunglasses, Racer narrowed his gaze. Brain had said that they would also wipe out the Shadow Soul mages along with those of the alliance, however the mage in front of him was not one of the ones they had information about. Reveeina, Siegmund, Shirros, Reina and Kazumi...those were the best known wizards among the ranks of Shadow Soul, and Brain had been able to recover various information about them, especially on the rare occasions when the two dark guilds had found themselves on opposing sides.

'He must be one of those wizards only suited for assassinations and espionage.' thought Racer without moving a muscle. The idea of facing an unknown opponent didn't worry him too much, but it was clear that it was a wizard with a particular space magic, which could be a problem for the sprinter. Besides the fact that Brain had requested that coffin and it was a very important matter, so Racer couldn't waste time.

Racer bent his legs slightly, preparing to use his magic, when a calm female voice echoed around them, catching them off guard "Dark Jammer." and before they could react, a small black and gray magic circle was created between them, from which a semi-transparent dome formed and engulfed them before expanding further. Both Racer and Asher noticed that the spell had caused neither of them any harm, however they quickly realized that they were no longer able to draw on their reserves of magical power. A silent glance between the two let them know that whoever used the spell was not their ally, yet neither could think of a mage in the alliance capable of using such magic.

While Asher was busy looking around, trying to locate the one who had activated that spell, Racer began to grind his teeth "Not only did you dare to stop me, now someone else wants to stop me from running…? Running is what I do, and I'll never stop running, even in the face of low-level spells like this."

The Shadow Soul mage watched him intently as Racer reached into his pocket and then pulled out what looked like a dagger wrapped in a leather thong. Quickly removing it, Racer showed his opponent a dagger that appeared to be made of ruby before driving it into his right shoulder. Asher arched an eyebrow at the strange gesture, but his confusion soon turned to shock as Racer, after removing the blade from his own flesh, managed to use his magic and vanish in a burst of speed, moving beside him, then managing to hit him with a kick in the side that sent him several meters away.

Asher immediately managed to get up, having managed to protect himself in time, but by now Racer had already disappeared and with him also the coffin. Narrowing his gaze at the loss of his opponent, Asher looked around again as his magic was still useless. The one who had inhibited his magic hadn't attacked either of them and even now she didn't seem willing to attack, assuming she was still around.

All of this led Asher to only one hypothesis, so he ventured to ask "What do you want?"

In the branches above the mage of Shadow Soul, a solitary figure was intent on observing him, perched on very thin, but strong enough wires to support her weight, with one hand intent on writing the last notes in a notebook.

Ranmaru didn't seem at all irritated or nervous by what was happening below her, as she herself had set the stage for an ambush on Racer after sensing his magical power and calculating the most plausible route he could have taken to move in that forest. Honestly, she could only be slightly disappointed by the ease with which she was able to identify the exact point of his passage, but perhaps she expected too much from the dark wizard of Oración Seis; she could only hope that the infamous Brain was a tougher opponent to overcome.

Back in her current situation, Ranmaru regarded the wizard below with the same gaze as a scientist intent on observing an experiment. Contrary to the expected reaction of most dark mages, or even better contrary to the expected reaction of anyone walking into one of her traps, the red-haired wizard hadn't started yelling at her to come out or asking who and where she was. He had simply asked her what she wanted.

'The lack of visible emotion denotes a mind attentive and prone to examining the situation rather than reacting without considering the consequences.' she could respect that, though she couldn't help but notice that he hadn't yet searched carefully above him, only around him. Momentarily putting this omission aside, Ranmaru could only think of the guild name Racer had spoken seconds before: Shadow Soul.

She'd heard that name before, but only when she got closer to the underworld of society, always managing to get shreds of information about them, and more often than not the information was dated or came from unreliable sources, making the information irrelevant in her eyes. Being able to interact with a member of that guild was an opportunity she couldn't pass up, especially if she could get something useful from such a meeting. Furthermore, the wizard of Shadow Soul had already helped her indirectly with his brief confrontation with Racer, which had allowed her to collect some interesting data, including that crystallized dagger that Racer had used to free himself from the effect of her magic.

The only sore point was having lost access to that strange coffin that Racer was carrying, but Ranmaru already knew where she could find it. Honestly, after being attacked by two different enemies, Racer was still heading towards their main base…maybe she overestimated him too much.

"Are you one of the shadows?" she asked, using a simple magic trick to make her voice reverberate, making it seem like it was coming from all directions; furthermore at the level at which she was she could use it without risking instant detection, unless she was against someone extremely gifted in that field.

She saw him stiffen for a moment before nodding, ceasing to look around and keeping his gaze straight ahead. She had probably confirmed his doubts about her presence, but that didn't matter at the moment.

"Are you here to destroy the Nirvana?"

"Our main goal is the elimination of Brain, with possible capture or elimination of the other members." replied Asher without a trace of emotion in his voice "Retrieving the magic they're after is our secondary goal."

Given the way he answered, Ranmaru could immediately deduce something about him.

'He is one extremely dedicated to the orders and the mission, but he is not the leader of the group I sensed earlier at the edge of the forest. The one with the highest magical power is engaged in a fight not far from here, it is possible that he or she is the current leader.' thought Ranmaru before shacking her head 'Without further data I cannot confirm this; I can't infer something like that based on ability power level alone.'

The fact that Shadow Soul wasn't interested in stopping or destroying Nirvana, but merely retrieving, worked in her favor, as it wouldn't have prevented her from gathering all possible information about it. Oración Seis and the coalition of legal guilds and Rune Knights however could be a hindrance; they wouldn't stop her, for sure, but they would probably slow her progress.

Now, she just had to make sure her fortuitous encounter with Shadow Soul was completely in her favor.

And she already knew how.

Moving with the grace of a cat, she leapt towards a branch making only a slight sound; she had yet to get to the point where she could move in complete silence, but the situation was to her advantage and she could afford that flaw, even if it left a bad taste in her mouth. She then repeated the action a couple of times and finally dropped straight down, landing several feet in front of Asher. Standing up, she noticed that Asher didn't seem perturbed by her appearance and hadn't even attempted to strike her suddenly by hurling his blade. Her earlier observation about his possible logical mind was further confirmed by that little detail, not to mention that without his magic, he was no threat to her.

"Greetings, member of the shadows." her eyes searched for a possible reaction from her interlocutor. They found none. "Information about your enemies and their location is what you are looking for, is that correct?"

There.

Despite his expressionless face, Ranmaru managed to catch the faintest change in his eyes.

Asher stood silent for a moment before asking "What is your price?"

The hooded girl tilted her head even so slightly "I didn't show myself to you to receive mere money. I yearn for knowledge, now tell me...how much knowledge do the shadows hide?"

The Shadow Soul mage seemed to consider her words before answering "Much more than you can find in any legal guild."

She didn't perceive any lies in his words, which suited her particularly well. Subterfuge and lies were only harmful when both sides could get something of value, which was why she didn't listen to a single word from politicians or royalty.

"Then it is knowledge in exchange for knowledge." she said with her calm eyes still looking at him without a trace of worry in them "Do we have a deal, shadow?"

With a small nod, Asher sheathed his sword.

"Yes, we have a deal."

First part of the plan completed.

Now all Ranmaru had to do was wait and make sure the second part worked out too.

TO BE CONTINUED…

Hello everyone! Here we are with a new chapter! I really hope you enjoyed it even if it was short (shorter than many others) but it was just a chapter of preparation! I'm not entirely convinced of how it came out, especially for the final and the initial part, but I'm having serious problems with my pc and today I was able to use it after four days that it was dead, so I wanted to finish everything and update! I'm a little sad for the little feedback I got in the last chapter but I guess everyone is busy with their own lives.

In this chapter I wanted to point out how Lyon, before the start of the manga, had managed to transport Deliora to Galuna Island, since I don't think it was ever explained and that demon was fucking giant!

Also, the dagger used by Racer is the one he uses in the anime story arc with the Reborn Oración Seis (albeit slightly different), but that arc won't appear in my fic so we might as well give the current Oración Seis a little buff!

Now, as usual, I remind you that if you have any love interests for your OC, contact me to let me know and I'll see what I can do!

On the other hand, all of you have marked spells for your OC, but it is clear that all of them will age over the course of the story, so if any of you had any changes in mind for your OC (in terms of clothing, physical appearance, magic, etc...) or any new spells you would like your OC to learn, let me know!

This is it and I hope you will read many and leave many reviews! I love reading them!

See you next time!