Chapter 18: Iron Dragon Slayer
"How much farther, Levy?" The clone carrying an unconscious Droy asked.
"Just four more blocks ahead!" The girl replied breathlessly.
The trio decided to pick up the pace a little bit. Levy was lagging behind as the two blondes powered ahead of her. She desperately tried to catch up but unfortunately, she was never the physical type of person. She preferred to solve problems with her mind and intellect rather than jumping into the middle of scuffles and fights. Clearly this wasn't the case since Naruto's two clones were holding back just for her to keep up with them.
Worst of all, she had been useless when her friends were attacked. She just stood by and watched while Jet and Droy didn't even hesitate when they stepped up to shield her. She couldn't even defend herself from the dragon slayer and if it weren't for Naruto, she would be in the same state as her two teammates. How pathetic...
"Levy…" Naruto's voice startled her.
She had been so lost in thought that she didn't notice one of the clones reducing his pace to run alongside her.
The solid script mage was met with the most amazing set of intense blue eyes she had ever seen. Within these two orbs was a deep and vast bottomless well of emotions. The most prominent were determination, courage, and above all else, unfathomable kindness.
"It'll be alright." He assured. "Once we get to Mira and Elfman's house, I want you to find a way to contact Master Makarov and tell him what happened."
"But-," Naruto cut her off before she could say anymore.
"We need to inform him about the situation immediately. First aid won't be enough for Jet's condition and Droy isn't any better. He can take them to that healer you guys were telling me about. Let Mira look after them for a while. I'm sure that they'll be in good hands until then."
Levy thought about what he was saying and Naruto continued. "After we drop them off at the Strauss's, Elfman and I will gather the closest guild members we can find and assist my original self as soon as we can. Hopefully I can stall Gajeel long enough for back-up to arrive."
Any suggestions or arguments she had died in her throat. He spoke with such confidence and authority that it left no room for her to doubt him. This was an entirely different person from the easygoing and goofy attitude he always displayed. Apparently, there was a lot more to the enigma that was known as Naruto.
"I'll admit. You are one tough bastard." Gajeel grudgingly said. "Now hold still so I could pummel you! Iron dragon's Spear!"
Gajeel's right arm morphed into a huge pointed tip and extended toward Naruto, hoping to impale him. The blonde narrowly dodged it by jumping straight up into the air. He then summoned a clone next to him and his copy quickly pushed him back toward the ground.
The blonde shinobi landed on the long metal spear and the point ended up embedded in the ground before it could crash into the window of a nearby flower shop.
The dragon slayer retracted the spear and it morphed back into his arm.
Naruto narrowed his eyes as he took a quick glance at the small crater the attack left behind. The two of them have been going at it for a few minutes now. None of them were going all out yet, although for different reasons. Gajeel was merely testing him to see if he could have a little bit of fun with his opponent while Naruto held back because he didn't want things to get too rough since they were currently in the residential part of town.
They resorted to close range, hand to hand combat for a while. Naruto refrained from using shuriken and kunai since his opponent was an Iron dragon slayer. If he was anything like Natsu who could eat flames, then tossing him some weapons made of iron would put him at a slight disadvantage. He might as well say: Here, eat some of this so you can rearrange my face!
The blonde knew the type of person his opponent was. He was the hot-headed and wild kind of person who enjoys a little bit of carnage every now and then. He could see it in his eyes. Gajeel wouldn't hesitate to destroy a few houses. His only weakness was that he doesn't seem to be very intelligent and that he prefers using his fists to solve his problems.
Gajeel was predictable but still dangerous. Naruto would have to play this carefully and stall him for a bit longer.
An idea popped into his head and shouted. "Hey ass wipe, catch me if you can!"
The Phantom mage was surprised and outraged as the blonde ran vertically up one of the houses. He cast a mischievous look over his shoulder and began to dash amongst the rooftops.
"Running away? You're nothing but a spineless coward after all!" Gajeel yelled. He transformed his two legs into iron poles and shot upward. He landed heavily on top of the roof of a nearby house and spotted the retreating figure. Naruto sent him another look and curled his fingers at Gajeel, daring him to follow.
Gajeel was not one to back down from a challenge and swiftly followed the blonde.
Naruto had to smirk as he sensed the presence of the iron dragon slayer starting to catch up with him. Now all he had to do was lead him into a less populated area to cut loose. He could hear him throwing insults and taunts.
"I never thought that Fairytail was a mage's guild full of cowards!" Gajeel shouted at him. "You're all a bunch of cowards and weaklings!"
Naruto clenched his fists tightly in anger. He had no right to talk trash about them when he destroyed their guildhall while their backs were turned. Now he had the audacity to brand them as weak and worthless. His eyes flashed red for a moment before he reigned in his temper under control.
He felt the momentary surge of the Kyuubi's chakra enter his system. He won't allow himself to rely on the fox's power this time or else he might end up destroying Magnolia.
They neared the edge of town and Naruto leaped into the forest with an irate Gajeel following behind him.
"I'm sick of this!" Gajeel yelled. "Iron Dragon's Spear!"
The blonde was caught unprepared by the sudden attack and the pointed tip pierced his left thigh. He stumbled and fell as pain flared up his left leg, failing to support his weight. He groaned as he pushed himself off the ground and leaned against a tree for support. The wound was deep and blood ran freely down his skin. He transferred most of his weight onto his right leg to put pressure off of his other limb.
He heard something heavy land a few feet away from him and turned to face a smirking Gajeel.
"Now then, let's get back to business." He said cracking his knuckles.
Naruto pushed himself off of the tree and took up a fighting stance as best as he could with his injury. He could already feel the fox's chakra starting to heal him but it won't be able to close the wound as fast because of its size and only a small portion of the chakra was seeping out of the seal at the moment. He would have to avoid using that part of his body for now.
"I guess I'm down to my last leg, so to speak." Naruto quipped. Even though he knew this was a serious situation, he couldn't resist.
Gejeel rolled his eyes in annoyance and grunted. "You're still trying to act all tough huh? Let me see if I can beat some sense into you."
Naruto just shrugged before he showed him a feral grin. "Just because my left leg is out of commission doesn't mean that I still can't beat the crap out of you."
To prove his point, he swiftly threw a kunai at Gajeel.
Being the arrogant man that he was, the phantom mage waited until the object was close enough before catching it between his teeth. Obviously, he didn't know that he could eat metal and that it only gave him an energy boost. He was about to swallow the knife when he noticed a piece of paper attached to it with some string.
Suddenly, Gajeel found himself blown away as the piece of paper exploded right in his face.
He slammed against a tree and before he could recover, two of Naruto's clones rammed their fists into his gut. He coughed up a small amount of blood before a third clone planted his foot on his face.
Gajeel doubled over as he coughed up some more and greedily inhaled some air. The follow up punch to his abdomen really knocked the wind right out of him. It's been a while since he found someone who hits this hard. This guy was serious.
"That was for Droy," He heard the blonde's menacing voice. "I'm just getting started."
He straightened up to see Naruto being supported by a clone. His right arm draped over his copy's shoulder as he kept himself upright. The two of them were glaring at Gajeel. The two of them growled in unison.
"You're going to pay for what you did to my friends tonight."
Erza was woken by the sound of frantic knocking on her bedroom door. She quickly dispelled of her drowsiness and magically changed into her armor as she got out of bed. Only then did she realize that this was not her room and remembered that she was at Gray's house.
She opened the door to find a slightly agitated and half-naked Gray standing outside. The ice mage raised his eyebrows in surprise and blinked a few times.
"You sleep in your armor?"
Erza barely managed to avoid rolling her eyes at him. "What is it?"
The raven haired boy turned serious again. "It's Naruto, he's gone."
"What?" She exclaimed as she pushed past him to find an empty living room and kitchen.
"I woke up a few minutes ago to get a drink of water before I realized that the other couch was empty." Gray said from behind her.
"He wouldn't just sneak off in the middle of the night for no reason at all." Erza stated. She spotted the window slightly ajar and walked over to it. Naruto must have jumped out the window instead of using the door to avoid making noise.
Gray shrugged. "Maybe something happened or he went to go check something out. I just can't shake off the feeling like something's up, you know?"
Erza only nodded. Naruto may be dense at times but he was very far from stupid. She couldn't help but feel a little worried about her friend rushing off into the middle of the night, especially with the situation between Phantom Lord and their guild. She knew she was being silly, the blonde could take care of himself and he was fierce in battle, but the lingering feeling of doubt still remained.
A loud knocking brought her out of her thoughts and she was immediately alert. She summoned one of her swords and Gray brought his hands together, a thin layer of mist swirling around his enclosed fist. They couldn't take any chances.
Erza made her way over to the door and grasped the handle. Gray nodded and she yanked the door open and pointed her sword at the doorway.
Elfman took a step back and raised his hands up in surrender. "Guys it's just me."
The two of them relaxed and lowered their guard.
"What is it Elfman?" Erza had a feeling she already knew the answer. Dread was starting to spread throughout her chest.
The tall mage's face was grim. "There's been an attack. Jet and Droy have been injured. Naruto's dealing with the bastard who did it and told us to get help."
Erza and Gray didn't even hesitate. "Lead the way."
Naruto barely managed to dodge as a huge sword cleaved the space where he was minutes ago. As if the sword wasn't massive enough, small pointy edges whirred to life as Gajeel took another swing at him. Luckily, he was able to substitute himself with a nearby log. The piece of wood shattered into splinters as Gajeel's Iron dragon sword sliced it.
The Phantom mage found the blonde leaning against another tree to support his weight.
So far, they've managed to take their fight to a higher level and now things were really starting to heat up.
Naruto cursed when he saw Gajeel bounding toward him with his sword poised to thrust. His injury was slowing him down too much. He can't launch a counter attack of his own. The dragon slayer was relentless and kept unleashing a barrage of attacks. Who knows how long he'll be able to keep evading.
I guess I'll just have to wing it this time
Naruto rolled out of the way just in time. Gajeel's sword embedded itself deep into the tree where he was a few seconds ago. The blonde was able to get back unsteadily to his feet and crossed his fingers. "Shadow clone justu!"
Seven clones puffed into existence and rushed at Gajeel. The sword transformed back into his arm. The dragon slayer saw them coming and smirked. Larger numbers didn't make a difference. He would crush them all.
"Bring it on!" He shouted.
He was able to deliver a brutal elbow thrust to the first clone and a quick head-butt to the second clone. He caught the third clone's punch in his right hand and sent a roundhouse kick of his own. The fourth clone's drop kick was blocked by Gajeel's forearm. As fast as a cobra, he readjusted his hand and grabbed the clone's ankle before hurling him into a tree.
The fifth clone however, snuck up behind him and locked his arms in place.
"Eat this!" The sixth clone burst out of the bushes holding a bright blue sphere in his right hand. "This is for Jet!"
"Rasengan!"
The clone rammed the spiraling orb into the dragon slayer's gut. Gajeel grunted in pain when it made contact and he was blasted backwards, breaking through a few trees in the process. The clones puffed out of existence and Naruto shakily got back up on his feet. He held on to a tree for support. His eyes scanned the trail of wreckage.
He frowned. That was almost too easy…
Suddenly, a giant metal spearhead went flying toward him. Luckily, he was able to react fast enough to dodge. If he hadn't been able to lean a little bit to the left, he could have ended up impaled.
A maniacal laughter echoed through the forest and he could hear footsteps and snapping twigs getting closer. Gajeel emerged from the tree line a few moments later.
"Impressive," He smirked. "But it's going to take a lot more than that to put me down." It was then that Naruto noticed the change.
The dragon slayer's skin had transformed into iron scales. An armor that resembled a dragon's hide gave him a more beastlike appearance. It didn't even appear to be heavy, like it was a natural part of his flesh. Great, now what was he supposed to?
Naruto saw him cock his fist back and managed to leap out of the way as he heard a shout of: "Iron Dragon's Club!"
It took a huge amount of effort but he managed to land on a thick tree branch. He was loosing ground fast and he had to think of something to turn the tides. He needed a way to pierce his platinum like scales. Naruto tried to come up with something when a distant memory resurfaced.
An image of a bearded man with a lit cigarette in his mouth gave him some advice: Imagine two surfaces grinding against each other and make it as thin as possible…
The image of Erigor the Reaper came to mind along with his magic of wind. It was then that he remembered he had an affinity for wind as well.
"Iron Dragon's Roar!"
Naruto jumped off the branch just before the attack obliterated the spot where he was seconds ago. He ducked into a roll and ended in a crouch on the ground. A heavy thud alerted him that Gajeel landed behind him.
Flashing a set of hand seals, the blonde turned around and inhaled deeply. "Wind Style: Drilling Air Bullets!"
A barrage of wind bullets erupted from Naruto's mouth and headed straight for Gajeel. He focused on one point instead of hitting multiple areas of his opponent's body. The repeated force of the attack caused the iron scales on his chest to crack a little bit. The dragon slayer noticed this and jumped out of the way.
Gajeel inhaled deeply. "Iron Dragon's Roar!"
Naruto dashed out of the way and hid behind a tree. He took out a pair of kunai knives and thought about his next move. He definitely managed to make a small chink in Gajeel's armor. Now he needed to exploit that and use it to his advantage. Still, it was only a small opening for him to use. He needed to make it bigger.
"I know you're there!" Gajeel exclaimed. That was Naruto's only warning before he leaped forward as the tree he hid behind was sawed in half by the dragon slayer's gigantic sword.
The two now stood a few meters apart, staring each other down.
Naruto gripped both of the kunai in his hands tightly. He took a deep breath and exhaled slowly to calm himself. It was time to finish this.
Without hesitating, the blonde shinobi dashed forward.
Gajeel smirked at the sight of the incoming attacker. What the hell was he supposed to do with those knives? He won't even be able to make a scratch on his Iron dragon scales. He grinned, showing his row of pointed teeth when he noticed that the blonde still had a bit of a limp. He transformed his right arm into his Iron dragon sword and stood to meet the blonde's assault.
The blonde gritted his teeth as he felt pain shoot through his left leg each time he took a step. He was slower than normal because of it. Naruto forced himself to move in spite of the discomfort.
He held his two kunai at the ready. He started pumping wind chakra into the blades. A slight humming noise told him that it was working. If things went smoothly, he could take down the dragon slayer right then and there.
The Phantom mage was ready for him. He dodged a swing from his massive sword by ducking underneath the weapon. Naruto thrust out his right kunai but Gajeel saw it coming and sidestepped the attack. The blonde decided to follow it up by pivoting on his right foot toward the left to strike the dragon slayer with his other kunai.
However, Gajeel managed to grab his wrist with his free hand. "Nice try, punk."
Naruto smirked. He tossed the two knives he was holding into the air by flicking both of his hands upward. Naruto brought his hands together to form a hand seal and a clone puffed into existence above the two of them. The shadow clone caught the two kunai that were still laced with wind chakra and brought them down viciously in a cross marked slash.
Gajeel staggered backward. His face was in a mixture of shock, anger, and disbelief.
Impossible! He thought. Not only were the knives able to cut through his armor, they were able to cut into his bare flesh underneath his scales. Now his chest had a huge X carved into it, causing more cracks and chips in his armor. His face contorted into one of rage as he felt something warm running down his chest: Blood.
"YOU BASTARD, I'LL CRUSH YOU FOR THIS!" Gajeel yelled. He looked up and his eyes widened.
He never even got a chance to move. While he was in his state of shock, the dragon slayer wasn't able to see Naruto's clone forming a blue orb on the original's outstretched hand. The clone dispersed as Naruto suddenly appeared in front of Gajeel.
"One more time," Naruto said. "Rasengan!"
He slammed the orb at the center of the x mark on Gajeel's chest. The dragon slayer howled in pain as soon as it made contact. His Iron dragon scales shattered into pieces and the phantom mage was blasted backward.
"Ouch! Man, that stings lady!" Naruto said. Porlyusica just rolled her eyes at the blonde.
"Oh quit your whining! It was only some salve that will stop the bleeding." The elderly woman said irritably. She applied a fresh set of bandages on Naruto's leg and went to check on her other two patients.
The blonde's gaze lingered on Jet and Droy on the two beds next to him. They were both sleeping peacefully at the moment thanks to a medical concoction of Porlyusica which acts as a painkiller. Thankfully, they were both in stable condition and diagnosed to be able to make a full recovery in a matter of days.
"Thank you," Naruto said to the healer.
Porlyusica just huffed before exiting the guild's medical wing.
Makarov spoke. "You'll have to excuse my friend's attitude Naruto. She doesn't like humans that much."
The blonde just nodded.
They were able to track him down earlier thanks to Natsu's enhanced sense of smell. They found him sitting on the ground leaning against a tree. Aside from his leg injury, he was perfectly fine if not a little exhausted. Erza and Lucy helped him on his feet and took him to the guild's medical ward where Jet and Droy were being treated. Natsu and the rest took off to see if they could still capture Gajeel who was defeated by Naruto. Unfortunately, they were unable to locate the missing Phantom mage and deduced that he already made a hasty retreat.
Levy sat in between her teammates' beds, tears streaming down the sides of her face as she looked upon the state her friends was in. Lucy sat next to her and tried to come up with some way to cheer her up. Unfortunately, the petite solid script mage was inconsolable at the moment.
Everyone was gathered around the two injured members of their guild. Natsu was pacing back and forth restlessly. Gray crossed his arms and leaned against the wall with a frown on his face while Mira kept fiddling with her dress. Elfman sat on the other side of Droy and kept clenching and unclenching his fists.
"This is all, my fault…" Levy muttered under her breath. Although her voice was barely above a whisper, everyone heard her.
It was Erza who spoke up. "Levy, if anyone should be blamed, it's Phantom Lord."
"She's right, Levy-chan." Naruto seconded. "The three of you were unprepared and simply outmatched. Those cowards just love to stab their opponents' backs while they weren't looking."
The solid script mage just nodded. She still wasn't convinced.
Another long silence filled the room before Naruto noticed Makarov's hands clench into fists.
"Jose's gone too far with this stunt." Makarov growled. Everyone turned their attention to their guild master. "He can destroy a thousand guild halls for all I care! He needs to be reminded that he should NEVER lay a finger on my children! If he wants a war, then he's got one."
Everyone in the room felt bolstered by their master's speech. They all knew that no one gets away with hurting one of their own. It was in this sense that Fairytail was a big family, where everyone looked out for one another. Now, it was time to take action.
"Everyone, gather the rest of the guild!" Makarov commanded. "We move out at first light!"
Everyone gave their shouts of affirmative. Natsu's fist caught on fire and he had an excited but fierce look in his eyes.
"I'll burn them all to a crisp!" He declared before leaving to round up the rest of the guild members. Gray, Elfman, Mira, and Lucy followed. Erza was about to do the same when her gaze drifted over to Naruto.
Erza noticed that Naruto had fallen silent. His eyes were downcast and had a faraway quality to them.
"Naruto, are you alright?" The red-head asked.
The blonde looked up and he forced a smile. "Yeah, I am. I was just...thinking."
That was a lie. She could just tell by looking at him. Something was bothering her friend, but she didn't know what. She made a mental note to talk to him about it later. Right now, she had to do her part for the upcoming attack on Phantom Lord.
"I'll see you later Erza-chan." Naruto called out. She flashed him a small smile before exiting the room.
As soon as she left, the blonde's thoughts began to turn to the future battle that was sure to take place. He placed his face in his hands and let out a deep sigh. All of this fighting was pointless. His guild will strike at Phantom but of course the other side won't just sit by and let that happen. They'll retaliate as well.
An image of a middle aged man with long spiky white hair appeared in his mind.
"I believe that there will come a time when people can really understand one another." He said.
Another face appeared and this time it was a young boy with black hair.
"I believe that when you have someone precious to protect, that is when a person becomes truly strong."
Damn it. Who were these people? Why couldn't he remember them? Every time an image pops into his head, it fades away just as fast. He felt like shouting just to relieve his frustration. It was painful to remember the faces of people from your past but not remember who they were or what they meant to you.
"Naruto…" Master Makarov's voice brought him back from his thoughts. He looked down to see the small old man staring back at him in concern. "I know that we've already discussed about what would happen if Phantom pulled something like this on us. I know how you feel about getting even but I hope you can understand my decision."
The blonde shinobi nodded. "I understand. Although I have to wonder: why would they provoke us to the point of starting an all out guild war?"
"I don't know what Jose might be thinking." Makarov muttered. "I can tell you this, he has something planned and I doubt that it will end well for us."
Naruto stood from the bed. "In that case, I'm going with you guys. I'll help-,"
"No." Makarov cut him off. "I and the others will be enough. I have a bad feeling about what is about to transpire and that is why I need you here. Laxus and two of our other S-class mages are currently out on missions. I can't count on them for assistance. I need someone I can depend on to look after the few guild members that will not take part in the battle. Naruto, I've only known you for a short time but I can tell that you are a strong and trustworthy person. I'm placing the guild in your hands while I'm gone, understood?"
Naruto's eyes widened at the amount of responsibility the master was placing on him. It felt overwhelming to entrust you with the safety and well being of your friends and comrades. Strangely though, it felt familiar.
"You can count on me." Naruto said.
Makarov smiled. He felt relieved and grateful that he could count on the blonde's help. He meant every word of what he told the young man. It really was peculiar that he was placing a huge amount of trust to someone he only met three weeks ago. Makarov erased any shred of doubt he had on his mind at the moment. He had a battle to fight.
Jose Porla looked down at the beaten and ragged form of Gajeel. He was surprised by what his dragon slayer reported. A young mysterious blonde man was able to defeat one of his most powerful mages in combat. That was strange. He thought that he knew all of the promising and powerful mages in that wretched guild of Makarov's.
"Are you sure that it was not Laxus who defeated you?" The guild master of Phantom asked.
Gajeel shook his head. "It wasn't him. He doesn't use lightning magic. He kept on making copies of himself and he had like whisker marks on his cheeks."
Jose pondered on this for a while. Makarov's grandson didn't have the description his subordinate supplied him with. It couldn't possibly be Mystogan either since his face was always hidden by a mask. Also, it couldn't possibly be the legendary Gildarts or else he would be picking up pieces of his dragon slayer instead of talking to him. Who was this mysterious mage?
The guild master just chuckled. "It doesn't matter. The old fool would never let this incident slide. Two of his precious children were attacked and injured. I would expect them to arrive tomorrow morning so I suggest you prepare. Besides, there's only one blonde I'm interested in at the moment. Tell Sol and Miss Juvia to pick up our young Heartfilia."
The dragon slayer nodded and left the room.
I'm waiting, Makarov. It's time to show the world who the better guild really is!
Mira read the note that was placed on the countertop of the bar. She was one of the few who opted to stay while the others launched an assault on Phantom. She knew Lucy, Levy, Naruto, and a few others chose to remain and watch over the guild as well. It was times like these when she wished she was her old self: A tough and fearless S-class mage who could be useful and not some barmaid who has to sit and worry in the guild all day long.
The note was from Naruto.
Dear Mira,
I'm going to train out in the forest for a while and I may not come back until tomorrow. If something bad happens, I was told that you have some kind of flare that would shoot up into the sky. Use that in case there's any sign of trouble and I'll be back as quick as I can. There's just something I have to do.
-Your friend, Naruto