Hello everybody ! Well, I feel like I should warn you that this fight in this chapter is not necessarily the one I prepared the most. I am going to do everything that I can to make it as pleasant as possible, but it is also possible that I end up losing myself in it. I hope that you will know how to forgive my errors if there is some.
Well, let's drop the talk, let us get to the heart of the subject.
Chapter 23 : Diamond empress and royal armor.
The inhabitants were used to being disturbed by everything and anything in Magnolia because of the local guild. Between the daily fights which forced them, if they happen to walk near the guild when a fight broke out, to dodge tables, benches and even mages who were thrown through the windows, the constant risk of seeing the city collapses if Gildarts stumbles when he came to visit the master or even the numerous times when the city were partially, or even totally, destroyed because of an enemy of Fairy Tail, they had enough to be constantly on their guard, but the last threat in date had been much worse because, from what the inhabitants had been able to hear and understand, it could come from anywhere and at any time without warning. So, when the residents of the trade district heard glass being broken and body hitting the pavements of the street, they suspected that their insurances were once again to be useful to them. Even if they had some hopes that that it won't be as destructive as usual. Indeed, the girls of the guild were generally less destructive and more calm than their male counterparts and there were only women who stood in the street facing each other.
Erza, Levy and Lucy were standing still, looking closely at Rachel and the whirlwind of broken glass which surrounded her like a translucent defensive wall behind which the Strizer smiled, waiting patiently for somebody to launch the first offensive, which Lucy did, grabbing one of her keys.
" They may be sharp, but it still is glass pieces. He should be able to broke them easily. "
OPEN, THE GATE TO THE GOLDEN BULL : TAURUS !
The spirit of the bull made its appearance, axe in his hands, ready for the fight, rushing at Rachel. But the presence of the massive bull did not intimidate the young woman who raised a hand in front of her, pointing towards the bull, the glass shards gathering in a unique point, forming what seemed to be a big sphere.
CANON DE VERRE !
All of the glass shards were then thrown like a glistening torrent on the spirit which was thrown backward, the glass slashing his stomach which had been struck quite hard by the attack, landing in a deafening crash in the building behind the mages who had had to throw themselves on the sides to avoid being taken by the bull. Once the spirit disappeared, too hurt to stay, the mages postponed their attention to the Strizer which called back her shards, re-forming the same whirlwind around her. But her whirlwind was not going to stay ready for a very long time.
ASSAUT DES COLIBRIS DE VERRE !
The glass pieces then began to change form, some assembling between them to form small birds with sharp beak and wing flapping furiously. Then, when Rachel's gave the signal, the birds attacked the mages, swirling around them by assailing them on all sides, their beaks sharp enough to drill the skin of the young women. Erza, thanks to her usual armor which she had put on and the two swords destroyed the birds that approached. Levy had summoned a SHIELD which she used to try and counter the pecks and in the other hand, she had a SWORD which she used to break the birds. Lucy from her part had called up Scorpio and Aries who used wool and sand to try to block birds, without much success regrettably. But the most crippling thing was the fact that the birds that were destroy immediately auto-repaired themselves, which then returned to the literally ceaseless assault. The mages even began to get tired when Levy finally had an idea.
- "Lucy, Erza, protect me for a moment. I have a plan !"
Both mages did as they were told without discussing. Levy was not one of the most intelligent, if not THE most intelligent, members of the guild without a reason. So if she said she had an idea, it was worth trying.
SOLID SCRIPT COMBO : VACUUM HOLE !
A HOLE appeared on the ground but unlike the usual HOLE, a VACUUM had appeared in the middle and the hole began, like a vacuum cleaner, to suck on everything that was around it, which included the hundreds of translucent hummingbirds which interrupted their attack to try to escape the hole, alas unsuccessfully. In only a few seconds, the hummingbirds had all disappeared, leaving a defenseless and stunned Rachel behind them.
- "Mon dieu, I did not expect that. Well done, chérie !" Congratulated Rachel, without really noticing that Erza was not going to let such an opportunity pass out.
- " We'll now see what you are really made of, now that you cannot hide behind your pieces of shop window any more. " Erza equipped herself with a spear, that she began swirling, getting ready to attack the Strizer, who just smiled, sure of herself. Erza then thrust her spear but shockingly, Rachel had stopped the assault bare handed, with just a single hand on the weapon.
- " I wasn't protecting myself from you. " She declared looking at Erza in the eyes, an almost savage light in her pupils. " I was protecting you from me. "
She then violently pulled on the spear, pulling Erza alongside it and, spinning on herself, Rachel brought down her tightened fist on the side of the redhead face who was thrown away towards her friends who helped her to get up while Rachel, ending her rotation, was once again facing the mages, arms stretched out towards the outside, pointing each one of them towards one end of the street they were situated in. By focusing just a little bit, the fairies heard noises of crackles coming from everywhere around them. Observing the neighborhood, they noticed that the windows of the surroundings buildings were cracking more and more as Rachel wrinkled the fingers. In a sudden movement, she closed her fists and all the windows of the street broke into pieces before beginning floating in the direction of Rachel, but this time, they did not just spun around her in a whirlwind. They fused in several glass spheres which orbited around the Strizer, some sort of waves appearing to their surfaces. But even before they were able to make do anything, Levy had reused her VACUUM HOLE to get rid of the glass formations one more time. After all, if that worked once, it could work twice, isn't it ?
No.
One of the spheres went straight to the hole of HOLE, blocking it and preventing the others from being inhaled. But it did not stop there.
PLUIE D'AIGUILLONS TRANSLUCIDES !
The other spheres began spinning quickly around the 3 mages while bombarding them with glass spikes like a crystal hurricane which surrounded them and trapped them, the spikes penetrating their flesh at every opportunity, their defense useless against such an assault at the moment, even Erza's armor was pierced every now and then. They were basically defenseless.
Or are they ?
REQUIP : ADAMANTINE ARMOR !
Taking on her most defensive armor, Erza raised her shields to protect herself and her friends from the ceaseless assaults of their opponent who was delighted by this show. The fairies were going to have to find a solution quickly because they weren't going to succeed by remaining hidden behind shields. Meanwhile, Rachel stayed stone-faced, but she seemed to lose patience. This small game was not going to amuse her for a very long time. It's after a good minute of bombardment that something finally happened. A light appeared in the middle of the group of mages before disappearing as fast as it had appeared, which intrigued Rachel. She knew the mages could be tricky if they could do as they wanted so she had to prepare something just in case. For that, she called one of her sphere back.
GANT À POINTES DE VERRE !
The sphere melted and wound around her right fist, forming a kind of big glove of glass covered with several centimeters long spikes. She advanced on the mages when suddenly, a hole opened under her feet and the Strizer understood what was this light which she had seen.
It was due to a summoning. Virgo's one to be precise.
The spirit just jumped out of the hole by delivering a powerful punch in Rachel's stomach who was thrown in the air, her breath taken away by the strike. She had however the reflex to strike Virgo back with her glass-covered arm, the strength of the blow sending the spirit crash on the ground before disappearing. Touching the ground, staggering slightly because of the damages caused by the blow of the spirit of the virgin, she called back her spheres which she transformed into a flock of glass javelins which gathered in a wide bristly sphere.
ANIMAUX DE VERRE : HÉRISSON !
The sphere began spinning on itself, accumulating some speed before throwing itself on the mages who, strangely, did not try to go away and even despite the fact that they had already tasted what it was to be cut by her glass, their bodies and faces, the latter especially real for Erza, wearing the marks left by the last assaults. But the reason of their stoicism was a small mage with the blue hair who had another ace up her sleeve.
SOLID SCRIPT : LAVA !
An enormous LAVA raised itself between the mages and the hedgehog, the latter stopped dead inhis tracks by the lava which also melted the glass in a matter of seconds. When the lava had cooled down and harden, Rachel's glass was stuck inside the volcanic rock and, since she couldn't call them back, that she was going to be defenseless for a moment, something the mages didn't hesitate to exploit.
REQUIP : GIANT ARMOR !
OPEN, GATE OF THE LION : LEO !
Erza changed her armor, now equipped with her armor specialized in throwing, and Lucy called upon her spirit of the lion and the latter attacked, his fists glittering with a golden light.
REGULUS IMPACT !
Leo shot a right jab at Rachel's face, a thing this inveterate womanizer would never do normally but the protection of his mistress was, as a spirit, more important than anything else. Rachel was throw back against the facade of her store, or at least what was left of it, in a wooden crash. She got up with difficulty, but her suffering was not about to stop here. Equipped with the infamous De-Malevo-Lance, Erza threw the spear on Rachel, who would have received it directly in her stomach, but she reacted just in time to cover herself with a gem like protection which prevented her from ending up totally impaled, but the spear took her for a ride anyway, bursting through several lines of buildings before stopping in a cloud of dust which covered the zone destroyed by the attack. Looking at the cloud of dust, the three mages, still on their guard, remained intrigued about what could have happened to the Strizer.
- " You think that we have already finished it ? " Wondered Levy, a light hope in her voice. Hope that Erza killed shortly after.
- " No, she is still conscious. If she had been killed or if she had lost consciousness, the boys would have been freed from their prison. " Reminded Erza without looking away from the cloud of dust which began to fall again. However, to the general surprise, Rachel, who could be seen spread eagle in the rubbles, disappeared suddenly in a small spark of light under the dumbfounded eyes of the 3 friends who wondered where she could have gone. They all got up and were ready for anything. Or almost.
RÉFLECTO-CANON !
The three mages cried in pain at the same time, perfectly synchronized. They had been shot in the back by an attack which had burned them, as if they had a violent sunburn, and yes, even Erza's armor couldn't protect her totally from the heat. This sensation reminded Lucy of her fight against the Strizer of the sun and so she was the first one to turn around towards the point of origin of the attack, expecting to find Xun there, but the only thing that she saw was a mirror which floated above ground level and in whom she saw Rachel's reflection who was looking at them scornfully. However, while the reflection shown Rachel standing in the middle of the group, there was nobody with them. Levy and the others then had no problem to understand what was happening.
- " She can move in the mirror world ? " Theorized Levy aloud, which made Rachel, still in the mirror, confirmed the theory by moving closer to them.
- " Tout à fait, Levy. " She asserted by stepping out of the mirror, the surface of the latter waving whereas Rachel's real reflection was now visible as it should have always been. " My powers gives me a control over many things, and mirrors are part of my favorite assets. Let me show it to you."
ARSENAL DES MIROIRS : GALLERIE DES GLACES !
In a flurry of flashes, mirrors appeared all around the mages, suddenly more tensed as before. They were observing the mirrors, warily, except Erza who was staying focused on Rachel who was still standing in front of her.
- "I don't know what you are trying to do. But I'm not going to let you do as you please."
REQUIP : BLACK WING ARMOR !
Now clad in her black winged armor, she threw herself on Rachel, piercing her with her sword. Rachel, taken aback by such a speed, did nothing to evade and was motionless, hiccupping with pain. But Erza felt that something was off for a reason. Looking down on Rachel's stomach, she noticed that there wasn't a single drop of blood was flowing out of the wound. Raising her head, she saw that Rachel was smiling at her before disappearing in a halo of light, a mirror behind her breaking down, the shards disappearing after that.
- "Désolé, but it was a reflection." The voice of Rachel came from the various mirrors which surrounded the mages. "Then one of my powers allows me to summon my reflections out of the mirror world. You want a demonstration ? With pleasure."
ESCOUADE DES REFLETS !
Following a bright flash, all of the Rachel came out of the mirrors and rushed at the 3 mages who didn't know which side they should protect themselves from. Levy was sending Solid Script after another to defend herself and bring down some clones at the same time. Lucy had changed into her Star Dress Cancer, cutting everything she could and Erza did the same with her Rabbit Armor. But the assault, which lasted several minutes, was far too violent for the mages, even Erza, took more blow than they could send back. After a while, the Rachel had returned to their respective mirror, leaving behind them mages covered with wounds and tired by the harassment of the reflections. But the mirror weren't finished yet.
RÉFLECTO-RAYON : TIR DE BARRAGE !
The mirrors began to shine then they start shooting rays of white reflected light on the 3 mages. Dodging those would have been easy if the beams weren't bouncing on the other mirrors, which created a zone in which the shootings harassed the mages relentlessly, exploiting the slightest dead angle and leaving no time to breathe to the girls who were unable to refrain from heaving a sigh of relief when the shootings stopped. Erza and Lucy were panting, but were globally fine, having already seen worse, which was not really the case for Levy who wasn't used to being manhandled as much as that. Rachel then got out of one of the mirrors, appearing in front of the faeries, smiling but the wound on her belly made her suffer nevertheless, a hand on the wound which bled but without being really dangerous for her since, like Lucy and Erza, she had already seen worse. Lucy grinded her teeth, grabbing another keys, well decided to put an end to all of this.
STAR DRESS SAGITTARIUS !
Preparing her bow, Lucy loaded several arrows of light which were all shot at Rachel. The arrows came in different angles, but it didn't impress the Strizer.
- " Don't even try. Struggling won't help you. " Provoked Rachel, her mirrors repositioning with a gesture of her hand.
DÉVIATION RÉFLECTRICE !
Lucy's shots were intercepted by the mirrors and, the arrows being made of some kind of light, rained down on Lucy but this time, despite the astronomical quantity of missiles, she managed to dodge them much more easily, Rachel noticing that Lucy's eyes had taken a strange green color of the same tint as her dress.
" She uses the marksman's ability granted by her dress to keep an eye on the arrows and dodge them*. Furthermore, it may be easier to dodge for her since those are her shots. Let us see how far she can push herself with that technique. " Wondered Rachel before noticing that some of her mirrors were slightly cracking. The intensity of the shootings became dangerous, also she decided to put an end to what Lucy was doing.
( *: I'm implying that a marksman's eyes had to be sharp to spot his targets, thus this Star Dress grants her the same capacity.)
ACCÉLÉRATION RÉFLECTRICE !
The mirrors partially repaired themselves but the mages noticed that Lucy had more and more difficulty, despite the boost provided by her dress, to dodge the shots which were getting closer and closer to reach their target. The shots were spinning faster with every rebound. And the inevitable happened. Lucy lost track of the shots despite her improved eyes and was literally crushed by her own arrows, the stellar spirit mage collapsing on the ground, out of commission even if the desire to fight was still there. But Erza was there, and took her place. And she had a plan.
REQUIP : HEAVEN WHEEL ARMOR !
Rachel smiled almost triumphantly by seeing the mage taking on her armor, but what she did took her by surprise. She pointed every sword towards a mirror and she broke them all at the same time, which made Rachel lose her smile. Erza called her swords back and got ready to charge at Rachel when the latter surprised the mages by doing something no one expected.
- " Wow, stop right now ! " She shouted forming a T with her hands. " I hadn't planned all of this ! I'm off ! "
And in a flash, she disappeared, leaving stunned mages behind her. Erza couldn't understand why she gave up like this, but she nevertheless to went her friends. Talking about friends, Levy was thinking deeply. There was something they were missing. She began thinking about the boys, since she had to start somewhere.
" Why did she runs away ? She could hide in a mirror, even go at the other end of the city, unless she can't stay in the mirror world for a very long time and that she can't go out wherever she want but just near the place where she entered it ? It's probably the reason that. " Thought Levy " And when she showed us Gajeel and the others, they were in mirrors, but there was no mirror when Gajeel disappeared. He was standing in front of a shop window, not in front of a … Wait ? "
Suddenly, everything clicked in the small mage head, who raised her head to look at Erza, who held out her hand to Lucy. But in the eyes of the latter, she saw something who confirmed what she thought.
- " ERZA ! GET AWAY FROM HER ! " But regrettably, Levy's shout reached the ears of the redhead one second too late. A hand, then a whole body seemed to go out of Lucy's eye, said arm going to pierce Erza right under her right shoulder, a sheaf of blood spilling from her mouth slightly opened by the surprise, Erza getting thrown on the ground, as shocked as Lucy. Rachel had just appeared out of Lucy's eyes, Levy bringing them the explanation to that.
- " She doesn't control only mirrors. She controls the reflections in a global way. " Explained Levy, which made the Strizer smile.
- "Indeed. You understood, but a little too late, I'm afraid." The mirrors reappeared around her, but all the reflections around her were shining. "Whatever you are doing, as long as I have access to the slightest reflection, I'll have ways to attack you or even run away if I have to. Give up, you have no chance to win."
- "Maybe, but you have just confirmed something else. When you tell you have to have access to a reflection, it means that you only those in whom YOU are reflected." Rachel squinted, not understanding what she wanted to mean there whereas Lucy and Erza just looked at the two, convinced that their partner had a plan. It was not in Levy's habit to do preposterous things. "Hence my question : what would happen if there is NO reflections ?"
Rachel opened wide eyes : Levy had understood and judging by her wild carnivorous smile, sign that Gajeel influenced her way much more than they though, that she indeed had a plan, Lucy and Erza already ready to act.
SOLID SCRIPT : DARKNESS !
Coming out of nowhere, a black gigantic DARKNESS appeared and diluted in the air, forming an opaque cloud which blocked all the light. Not leaving Rachel the time to think about what she could do, Lucy and Erza moved into the attack.
STAR DRESS CANCER !
TRINITY SWORD !
Erza and Lucy brought down their swords at the same time on the Strizer which felt the metal penetrate her flesh, the wounds bleeding dangerously, but it was not going to stop there for her.
SOLID SCRIPT COMBO : FIRE BOMB TORNADO !
A wide and swirling TORNADO, filled with FIRE and BOMB tore the darkness and swallowed the fashion queen who added burns to the list of her wounds, but also bruises due to her great and brutal shock with the ground on which her body fell heavily after several seconds of gliding flight. She got up after a few seconds and by seeing her face, the mages couldn't help but feel proud of themselves. No more smile on the now bruised face of the Strizer who was now distorted by a deep anger. Her uncombed and burned hair fell in irregular bangs on her face, which she wiped with the back of her hand to remove the trickle of blood flowing on her temple.
- "Don't go thinking that it's enough to ger rid of me, girls !" She declared through clenched teeth. "I'm going to show you why I am the Strizer of gemstones. Glass and mirrors, those are just an aspect of my powers. And now, it's time to take out the big guns."
EMPERATRICE DES GEMMES !
An intense light blinded the mages for a few seconds, forcing them to look away. But if Rachel had not taken the opportunity to attack, it is that she had something else planned and the fairies had a hard time feeling comfortable with what they had in front of them.
Rachel had undergone a total makeover. Her garment had all without any exception replaced by an armor that looked like a dress which seemed completely made of precious gemstones. The longline bra was made of a mixture of ruby and amethyst, shards of sapphires, topazes and emeralds traveled the long cape which hung attached to her shoulder straps of aquamarine, which also composed her leg warmers, strewed with pink amethysts fragments. She was literally shining, the sunlight being reflected on the stones, creating a halo of multicolored light around her. Being afraid that so much light could create other reflections, Levy got ready to call on DARKNESS again, but Rachel did not leave her the opportunity. She covered the distance which separated her from Levy in an instant, sliding on the ground as if she had become a ghost.
POINTE DE RUBIS !
Rachel's leg covered itself with a thick slightly sharp layer of ruby which she used to struck the mage with such a strength the shockwave of the attack cracked the ground. The spike on the tip of her feet sank into Levy's side which bent over in pain before being beat up by Rachel who threw kicks after kicks at a blinding speed, leaving not a single moment to Levy to take a breath. And before the others were not able to move to stop Rachel, the latter ended it.
BÉLIER D'ÉMERAUDE !
An enormous ram, cut in an enormous piece of emerald, crushed Levy who found herself stuck on the crystal before ending crushed against a wall. Sandwiched between stone and emerald, Levy remained motionless a single moment before collapsing on the ground, completely out cold, which frightened the other mages. Erza recovered rather fast to attack Rachel.
REQUIP : PURGATORY ARMOR !
Now equipped with her famous black armor armed with her spiked mace dashing towards Rachel, determined to avenge Levy, but this armor had a bad reputation. Considered powerful, it never held two seconds each times Erza had used it. And today was not different.
JAVELOT DE SAPHIR !
In a single movement, Rachel threw a spear cut in a blue ore on Erza, the mage struck quite hard by the crystal missile which pierced her armor like it was made of card box, in the same way as she had made done with the De-Malevo-Lance, Erza stomach was pierced by the spear, the mage rolling on the ground on several meters before stopping. Despite her wounds, she got ready to get up when Rachel, aware of the problems Erza could cause to her, decided against it.
ÉTREINTE DE TOPAZE !
A mass of yellow topaz appeared around Erza, preventing her from moving. She tried to free herself but the stone was too hard, not breaking fast enough to allow her to go. Prisoner of the block of precious stone, she could do nothing and could only watch what will happen next, the wound on her stomach making her suffer horribly.
- " LEVY ! ERZA ! " Roared Lucy by seeing her best friends being rendered unable to fight before turning to Rachel, her eyes filled with hatred. " You are going to pay for what you did to them ! "
- " Come on, I'm waiting for you. " Taunted Rachel, instigating Lucy's fury.
STAR DRESS : LEO !
Dressed with the powers of the spirit of the Lion, Lucy threw himself on Rachel, who did not move at all, as if she already know what will happen.
REGULUS IMPACT !
The fist, charged with light, of the beautiful blonde came in contact with Rachel, an explosion of light and dust wrapped both young women, making them unable to see each other. But when the dust fell again, she saw that Rachel had intercepted her blow with a hand covered in amethyst. Closing her hand on Lucy's one to immobilize her, Rachel covered her other hand with a glove of diamond.
DIRECT DESCTRUTEUR DE DIAMANT !
A diamond gloved fist crashed on Lucy's face who was trapped on the spot, Rachel's hand preventing her from being sent flying by the attack, making Lucy's arm also suffered. Using the hand which she had closed on her opponent, she pulled her towards her before throwing her far off, Lucy's body, like a ragdoll, rolled on the ground violently, stopping a dozens of meters away from Rachel, who looked at the glove of amethyst with a critical eye.
- " I don't really know what you expected. " Rachel wondered. " I use ores from my world. It maybe because of that that you dealt some damages on my stones. " She looked at her glove made of amethyst which was cracked. " It is probably the difference between our worlds, but it's not as if you had what was needed to beat me, anyway. "
Hearing this statement, Lucy, still on the ground, realized that she was wrong. She did had a way to fight who could work. It was risky, but she had to take the risk, she thought to herself, a hand going to her waist. From her part, Rachel turned to the guild, looking intrigued.
- " I think that this is weird, by the way. With the noise and chaos we are causing, it is strange that nobody from the guild came to see what was happening. Let's go visit them. I might find some challenge there, who know. " Decided Rachel, still dressed in her dress-like armor of gemstone. Erza struggled to try to go out of her prison unsuccessfully, but everybody stopped what they were doing with what happened next.
A powerful wave of magic was felt coming from behind Rachel, who turned around, looking in the direction of this new source of energy with Erza. But what they saw there shocked them to their core.
In front of them stood Lucy, wearing, if they should guess, a new Star Dress but by seeing the Star Dress in question, Erza was almost jealous of the blonde. She was dressed in some kind of plate armor made of shining metal. The upper part of her body was covered by a white chest plate, her shoulder were protected by green pointed pauldrons and her forearms were hidden behind plate made of the same metal as the chest plate. Below the armor, she was wearing a chainmail and green gloves were covering her hands. The same kind of armor as the upper part of her body covered her legs, knees protected by golden pieces of armor shaped like stars, gold that also composed the waist guard made of two pointed plates covering the top of her legs. Her hair was combed in a long ponytail, which got out of the top of a kind of helmet identical to the one Erza's was wearing in her Sea Empress Armor, but with stars standing where Erza's had fins. She was carrying a long sword in a hand, whereas a shield covered with the symbols of the constellations stood on the other hand. The most impressive was not the armor, which was impressive nonetheless, but the power which radiate from Lucy who literally shone with power. Rachel and Erza didn't needed a long time of reflection to understand what she had done and the redhead was the first to break the silence.
- " Is that … The Star Dress of the Celestial Spirit King ? " She wondered in a loud voice while looking with admiration at this armor which made her a little jealous of Lucy.
- " AHAHAHAHAHAH ! " Laughed Rachel, returning her attention on Lucy. " You are completely out of your mind, girl ! The King possesses divine powers, your body will never withstand it ! "
- " You're right. " Admitted Lucy, whose face began to cover itself with small cracks. " But even if it is only for a few minutes maximum, during this short period, I'll be more than strong enough to beat you. "
- "AS IF !"
RAFALE DE POINTES EN DIAMANTS !
Rachel called upon her diamonds and threw a huge wave of small but deadly diamonds shards at Lucy who didn't moved. Instead, she just raised her shield and the diamonds disappeared as they came close to her. They weren't destroyed, they were sent somewhere else thanks to the Teleportation power the armor was granting her. Rachel was just then realizing what was happening. Lucy's body might break due to that strength, but as long as she was standing, she was far too powerful. And Lucy proved her right by finally walking the talk by disappearing to reappear the in the next second behind Rachel, her sword raised. While we would have been able to believe that nothing happened, Rachel's face showed the opposite. Struck in a flash by the sword charged with stellar spirit energy, her dress-like armor got blown into smithereens as if it had been made of glass, a profound laceration crossing her body from her right shoulder to her left-hand side near her waist. Lucy left Rachel, who writhed in pain on the ground, to visit Erza, whom she freed in just a swing of her sword, the topaz breaking into small pieces like a glass had fallen on the ground.
- " Thank you, Lucy. And this armor, the power it release is impressive. " Commented Erza, filled with admiration for this armor which she was hesitating to touch.
- " That's nothing. " Answered Lucy with a smile which Erza found quite wrinkled. " But we should finish it quick if we … GAH ! " Lucy spat without warning a rather impressive sheaf of blood that greatly worried Erza, but Lucy knew where this was coming from. " I'm not going to be able to keep this armor on for a very long time. We have to finish it. "
- " Sorry, but I'm not going to stay here and wait for you beat me. " Spat Rachel who had got up, blood gushing from her mouth and wound. " I just have to wait for you to let go of your armor to finish you all ! "
Once these words were pronounced, she ran towards a fragment of mirror which was not far on the ground, reminder of what happen before. Erza didn't reacted quickly enough to stop her and Lucy, taken by another hemoglobin vomiting, could do nothing either. But it was without taking into account the 3rd member of the group.
SOLID SCRIPT COMBO : NUMB SLEEP !
Rachel was struck right in the face by a NUMB SLEEP of cloudy aspect and in a matter of only a few seconds, she collapsed on the ground, sending a look toward Levy, the latter still stretched out on the ground, her arm stretched out towards her with a derisive smile on her face.
- "Bitch". It was the only word Rachel was able to pronounce before falling asleep. Erza and Lucy were relieved to see their blue-haired friend awake, but the blunette reminded them that they still had works to do.
- " She's not going to sleep for a very long time, get rid of her as quickly as possible ! "
- " Erza, throw her as high as possible. I will *GAH* finish it but I don't want the city to suffer more than it already did. " Asked Lucy, still spitting some blood while the cracks on her face kept on appearing and widening, letting loose what seemed to be the pure energy which was consuming her slowly.
REQUIP : GIANT ARMOR !
Erza ran, grabbing a sleepy Rachel with her high-powered hand and threw her high into the sky, Lucy jumping in her suite. When Rachel woke up, she was way over the city, face to face with Lucy whose sword shone with a dangerous dark blue energy and covered with stars looking white points. She tried to call her gemstones to protect herself but regrettably, her body, under the influence of NUMB SLEEP, was still numbed and refused to obey. She understood that this fight was indeed finished. She had lost.
METEOR BLADE !
Lucy, swinging down her arm, struck Rachel with her sword, an explosion of stellar energy gobbling up the Strizer which give a shrill roaring which reverberated in all the city. The power of the explosion and its shockwave were so powerful that city walls all shooks, windows cracking due to the vibration, which worried the inhabitants but since they didn't felt other shocks, they quickly moved on. Erza, in spite of her wounds, caught Lucy in her arms, the blonde mage having got rid of her armor just after she finished Rachel to avoid suffering any longer. Bringing the blonde to Levy, Erza saw lights coming out of glass shards who were scattered almost everywhere and a few seconds later, Natsu, Gajeel and Jellal reappeared and, after a few seconds needed to understand where they were, they rushed to their friends.
- " Shit, girls. You rock ! " Complimented Gajeel who had taken Levy in his arms, the words of the Dragon Slayer of metal intriguing the girls.
- " We saw everything. " Explained Natsu, helping Lucy to stay standing up. " Moreover Lucy, it wasn't a little bit dangerous to do that? The thing with the King ? "
- " Hey, you aren't one who can tell me that I did something dangerous, mister hot head. " Lucy had joked with a small hesitating smile, suffering enormously because of her wounds, blood still flowing out of her mouth, even if it wasn't as bad as before. " Besides, I had no other choices if I wanted to get rid of her. "
They set off in the direction of the guild silently, each boy taking care of his respective girlfriend/partner. But after a small moment of hesitation, Jellal came up with a question that Rachel has asked herself before Lucy destroyed her.
- " Why nobody from the guild came ? " Jellal said, the others nodding silently since they also asked themselves the question. " There is a big fight in town but there is no one who comes to see what is happening. "
- " You think that they have problems ? " Asked Levy but before anyone had a chance to, somebody else answered her.
- " They are in a meeting. "
Turning their head to the voice which they had just heard, they first saw Rachel, completely out of commission, burned and covered in bruises and cuts, which had landed in front of the guild, forming a crater in the pavement. But the voice came from the other side the crater, from a man with a sun-tanned skin and short sand-colored hair. His brown eyes shone in the sun while he looked at the mages, arms crossed and a small smile stretching his lips. He wore some kind of vest with long sleeve that looked like a tailcoat, with the back being longer than the front and a pair of baggy pants, the whole holding colored in beige, brown and orange, with a small pair of glasses perched down on his nose.
- " In a meeting ? But who are you ? " Asked Natsu who, liked the others, didn't like the fact that someone they didn't knew was standing casually in front of the guild as if he was guarding the building entrance like some kind of bouncer.
- " I am Kareem Merabet, Strizer of the desert. " His words surprised the mages who felt ill at ease all of a sudden and it was understandable why they felt like this : they clearly were not ready to face one of these guys so early after they just finished fighting another one. The boys could fight, but they'd also have to protect the girls and they'd be put at a disadvantage doing that. " You probably already know it but there is only 2 of us left, me included. There were recents events which obliged us to change our plans. "
- " And what changes are we talking about, exactly? " Asked Jellal.
- " We decided that it's about time. " Kareem recovered a little, suddenly more serious. " It's time to explain to you why we came. "
The mages looked at each other, without knowing what to think of that, but they knew that whatever they thought, what was happening inside the guild was probably going to change everything.
OK ! And 23 ! And we are finally going to know what the Strizers want ! I hope that you liked this chapter despite the delay in publication (I explained why in the notice I posted before this chapter) and that you will like the next ones. See you !
Next time : The 2 Strizers that didn't fought. Strizers and monsters : origin and explanation.