Chapter 9: The Great Charge of Flames and Runes

"Come at me… Fairies!" Fang snarled, his tongue hanging low once more.

"Ya ready, Freed?" Natsu asked his ally.

"Yes!" Freed answered, nodding to him.

"You can do it!" Happy cheered.

The two Fairy Tail mages charged at Fang, who was also lunging at them with a terrifying laughter that emitted from his lips.

Natsu took a deep breath, and then he exhaled a breath of fire from his mouth.

"Fire Dragon Roar!"

Fang evaded the stream of fire, and he spread his arms outward as purple magic gathered around them. He then dashed at Natsu, his purple magic transforming into blades.

"Poison God Thanatos!"

With one swing, Fang managed to strike Natsu in the right side of his abdomen; however, that wasn't enough to take down the Fire Dragon Slayer.

Another swing managed to strike Freed in the left side of his abdomen, though he was still standing as he endured the pain of the attack.

Intensely burning flames emitted from Natsu's right elbow, allowing him to boost his striking power as he struck Fang in the left side of his face.

"Fire Dragon Bursting Elbow!"

Fang was sent flying as a result of the powerful assault, and Natsu jumped to him as flames engulfed both of his arms and he swung them at the blue-haired.

"Fire Dragon Wing Attack!"

Though he was sent upward in the air, a sinister smile formed on Fang's face, indicating that he had another trick up his sleeve. He soared down toward Natsu as purple magic circled his feet, and with one strike from his each leg, he sent Natsu and Freed flying across the field.

"Poison God Nessus!"

Natsu and Freed groaned in pain, struggling to get up in the wake of being struck by Fang's newest attack.

"And now… Poison God Bellow!"

Fang exhaled the massive ball of poison magic at them, and it was strong enough to strike them once more. He could hear them cry out in pain from the immense power the attack had, and to him it was music to his ears.

The two Fairy Tail mages somersaulted across the field, crashing into the bushes with Happy watching in shock.

"Natsu! Freed!" he cried.

Though Fang believed he had won, he was unaware that Natsu and Freed had survived the attack, as they groaned in pain. They were thankful that the leaves from the bushes had caught them, and they would have had been much worse if it weren't for them.

"Wow, that was quite a blast from that attack," Natsu stated, brushing the leaves off of him. "But these bushes did cushion us."

Freed simply nodded to him, as he was also brushing off the leaves from his clothes. He glanced down and sighed lowly at the sight of dusty dirt on his coat. That was his favorite, and aside from Fang's Poison God Thanatos the filth from the fall had now ruined it!

Oh, dear. Now I'll have to replace this coat with a newer one, he thought.

Fang growled infuriately at them, his eyes glaring directly at them. He didn't understand; his Poison God Bellow should have wiped them out!

"Why won't you give up already?!" he snapped.

"It's because…," Freed started.

"…we are Fairy Tail, and we never run away!" Natsu finished.

Both men charged at Fang with valiant battle cries, and Natsu went first by igniting his feet with flames. He swung his right leg at Fang, striking him in the face with a vigorous force as Fang could feel the burning flames against his skin.

"Fire Dragon Claw!"

With one more fiery kick, Natsu sent Fang's body upward into the air, to Happy's amazement. Flames engulfed the pinkette's entire body as he propelled toward Fang with high speed, and he was able to strike the Poison God Slayer with a headbutt.

"Sword Horn!"

"GAAH!" Fang cried out, feeling the burning flames against him once again.

With their opponent now completely immobilized, Natsu turned to Freed and shouted out to him loudly:

"FREED! NOW!"

Freed nodded to Natsu, having remembered his queue as he wrote some runes on himself, and in an instant, he transformed into a knight clad in dark armor. Its darkly impeccable design wowed Happy as his eyes were twinkling like stars.

"Dark Ecriture: Absolute Shadow!"

"I… I can't lose…!" Fang cried, his amber eyes widening in horror. "There's just no way…!"

"This is for Ariella, the woman you harmed with your poison mist!" Freed shouted, as a large electrical orb began to form in the palm of his right hand. The crackling of the electricity was similar to fizzing firecrackers and the sight of the orb made Fang's jaw drop in astonishment. He had never seen such an attack from anyone he faced before, and now he was going to be in for a shocking defeat.

"Electric Shockwave!"

The moment Freed's orb struck Fang, its electricity was numbing the Poison God Slayer's body and Freed could hear him screaming in pain from the electrification. That was exactly what he needed to hear, as he had been yearning to make Fang suffer since Ariella was poisoned by him.

Natsu and Happy were delighted at the sight of Freed's triumphant move, and his remarkable strength left them unbelievably starstruck. They were on the edge of their seats, eager to see Freed finish him off once and for all.

With an incredible speed, Freed moved toward Fang and struck him with tremendous strength, causing the Poison God Slayer to let out a strident cry that rang throughout the forest. His body fell straight down from the sky and crashed onto the ground, just as Freed landed before him and reverted to his normal form. The sight of Fang's eyes blanked out, his mouth wide open and injuries all over his twitching body made the Runes Mage smirk; yet at the same time, he was proud that he was able to avenge Ariella, just as he had promised her.

I've carried out your promise, Ariella, he thought of her.

In the infirmary, Ariella's left hand twitched, having just sensed her beloved's victory over her attacker.

"Freed…," she said feebly.

Lucy's brown eyes widened in surprise the moment she heard her friend say his name. She didn't expect that to happen the entire time she was monitoring her condition.

"Did she just sense him?" the celestial wizard wondered aloud. "I think Ari and Freed must have a telepathic connection with each other, since their love is so strong."

Just then, the door to the infirmary swung open and Juno rushed inside, the bag containing the obtained ingredients on hand. She panted in exhaustion from all the sprinting she had done, and to her, it was like running in a marathon.

"Gran!" she said to the healer, holding up the bag. "We've done it. Lis and I got all of the ingredients as you requested!"

"Excellent," Porlyusica said to Juno, taking the bag from her. "Now I can work on your sister's antidote."

Though Lucy was thrilled of the exciting news, she noticed that Lisanna was not with her best friend and she was starting to become concerned about the Animal Soul Mage.

"Hey, Juno," she said to her. "Where's Lisanna?"

"She's still in the East Forest, holding off a Vulcan," the raspberry-haired girl answered her. "But don't worry, I sent out someone to help her."

In the East Forest, Lisanna was panting in exhaustion, as she was in her Animal Soul: Harpy form. She did everything she could to stall the Vulcan, engaging him in a game of cat-and-mouse throughout the forest. Now she was helplessly backed into a corner after having run into a dead end.

Just as the Vulcan was about to strike her, he was suddenly slammed into the ground by a colossal figure. It turned out to be Elfman in his Beast Soul, and he had been notified by Juno earlier when she returned to the guild.

"Big Brother Elf! You came!" Lisanna exclaimed.

"A real man… protects his family!" Elfman declared.


Back on the battlefield, Fang's body was lying on the ground, burnt to a crisp by Freed's Electric Shockwave and Natsu's Fire Dragon Slayer moves.

"Alright! We've done it!" Natsu exclaimed happily, raising his right fist upward.

"Way to go!" Happy cheered.

Freed nodded to him; however, he didn't want to end it from there. His vengeance toward Fang was burning like a wildfire as he approached Fang's body lying in the crash site.

"What are ya doing now, Freed?" Natsu asked, raising an eyebrow. "We just defeated him!"

"I think he may have something else up his sleeve," Happy assumed.

Fang groaned as he opened up his eyes, and his vision blurred until it eventually became completely clear. Freed was standing right in front of him, giving him an icy, vengeful stare.

"We may have been victorious, but I am far from finished," Freed said to him darkly. He pulled out his sword and aimed it directly at him, making Fang tilt his head with curiosity.

"What you have done to Ariella is unforgivable, Fang, and for that, I will carry out a severe punishment on you."

With a few swift strokes of his sword, Freed wrote some runes onto Fang's chest, making Natsu and Happy wonder what move he was about to make.

"What is this writing?" the blue-haired exclaimed. "And what are you gonna do to me with that?!"

"Dark Ecriture: Pain!"

Fang let out a scream of agony as he could feel the immense pain throughout his body, even though it wasn't actually damaging him.

"Stop it, Freed!" Natsu protested. "There's no need for you to keep going any further! We won our battle fair and square!"

Freed disregarded Natsu's objections, and he wrote another set of Runes on Fang's chest, horrifying the Poison God Slayer.

"To increase your pain: Dark Ecriture: Suffering!"

The pain that was already present had amplified, making Fang scream once again. He wrote another series of Runes on his chest, to the horror of the Poison God Slayer.

"To erase your courage and conceited nature: Dark Ecriture: Fear!"

Fang could feel his courage being drained from him, and all he could do was clutch his head and continue to scream in agony.

"Please stop!" he beseeched, tears forming in his eyes. "I don't want to die here! I'm far too young for this!"

What was once the Sharptooth of Medusa's Gorgon was finally no more. His arrogance and valiance were completely wiped clean, and Fang was reduced to someone who would be afraid of death and pleading to be spared.

"That's enough, Freed!" Happy protested. "What Natsu said is right! We know that you wanted to make Fang pay for poisoning Ari and we understand how much you care about her, but there's no need for you to go on like this!"

His pleads had fallen on deaf ears, unfortunately, as Freed applied multiple Pain runes onto Fang, continuing his torture on the Poison God Slayer. His pained screams were music to Freed's ears, and he would continue to enjoy listening to them until he prepared to make his final move.

"Now… to finish you off once and for all," the green-haired said to his opponent in the same dark tone of voice.

Fang whimpered in pain, his body no longer handling the tortuous pain from Freed's runes. He was clutching onto his left arm, his body trembling in reaction to the pain as his eyes were glancing at him. Though Freed could tell that in Fang's eyes he was begging him for mercy, he would intend not to give mercy to those who would dare to harm the people close to him.

"Dark Ecriture… Death."

Death?! Natsu thought, his onyx eyes widening greatly. All he and Happy could do was watch, and soon, Fang had lost consciousness as the pain vanished. Having fulfilled his vengeance, Freed panted in exhaustion from the usage of his magic power from the battle and his intention to torture Fang. Then again, it felt so good to see his opponent writhe in agony from his series of Runes.

"Now my work here is done," he said, as he stored his sword back into his sheath.

Viper's eyes widened in shock, having sensed his son's devastating loss to Freed. He was unaware that Natsu had helped the Runes Mage in the fight, as he had been occupied with observing Laxus's battle with Brutus.

"No…! It can't be!" he exclaimed, his body trembling. "My son, the great Sharptooth… defeated?!"

"So he has just crushed Fang…," Laxus assumed, a confident smirk forming on his face. "Well done, Freed."

"Yeah! I knew he was gonna beat him!" Bickslow cheered, as he gave Evergreen a high five.

"He showed that no one messes with the Thunder Legion!" the Fairy Mage said to her teammate.

"That's right! That's right!" Bickslow's dolls replied, joyously floating around the pair.

The celebration was brief, as because the group's priority was to obtain information on the merchandise Medusa's Gorgon pillaged. Laxus glanced over at Viper, his grey eyes leering bitterly at the guild master.

"Alright, Viper," he said to him. "Tell me where your guild's hidden the stolen goods from Oak Town. You better spill the beans, or else I'll give you the same treatment as I did to Brutus."

"I'll tell you the location of the items…," Viper answered, as he stepped forward from his throne. "…if you can defeat me."

"Boss," Bickslow said to Laxus. "You've wasted most of your power on Brutus, so are ya sure you're gonna go through with this?"

"I'll be fine," Laxus answered him. "You and Evergreen will search the guild hall for the items. Notify me with your communication lacrimas if you're able to find them."

"Yes, sir!" Bickslow and Evergreen said to him with a nod, and they immediately headed out toward a door that would lead them to a corridor of doors.

With them finally gone, Viper chuckled deeply as he approached Laxus. He began to glow a green magic aura, as the Lightning Dragon Slayer got into position, ready to fight.

"Allow me to show you my true power, Laxus Dreyar," the brute said to him. His skin soon changed into green scaly skin, and his silver gauntlets shattered, exposing his muscular arms as his nails extended into sharp claws. His teeth shifted into fangs, and a long crocodile tail grew out from his above his backside, waving back and forth. His boots had ripped off, revealing scaly feet that were too large for them to handle.

This must be a Take-Over power similar to Elfman's, Laxus observed.

Once the transformation was finally complete, Viper emitted a loud roar as he announced:

"Behold… my Take-Over Magic… Crocodile Soul!"

"Your gator-like appearance doesn't scare me at all," Laxus said to him with a smirk. "And you call yourself the master of Medusa's Gorgon with that power?"

"You should never judge a book by its cover," Viper chastised him. With another roar, he charged at the blonde and whipped him with his tail, sending him crashing into a wall. Laxus groaned as he stood up, realizing how powerful Viper was in his Take-Over form.

"Damn… Bickslow was right about me wasting most of my power on Brutus," he snarled. "I have to use it wisely, so I'll just have to throw my fists at him for now!"

Laxus swiftly charged at Viper and the two opposing mages began exchanging physical blows with one another, as they gave one another vicious glares. The final battle at Medusa's Gorgon had just started, and with Bickslow and Evergreen browsing the corridors for the stolen goods with no luck yet, the fate of Oak Town's three robbed stores were on the line, and the owners were counting on the Fairy Tail Mages to salvage them!


Freed finally fulfills his promise to Ariella thanks to Natsu, and Laxus prepares to take on Viper! Will he defeat him in spite of his magic power running low? Find out in the next chapter!

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