One's Road to Remembrance

by Insane Dominator

For 4 years, a lone guy has been suffering from memory-loss, and can only remember his name: Craig Crius. The 4 years have been very unfriendly, and in turn has become rather desolate. With the help of Cana Alberona and from Fairy Tail, Craig will endure horrific hardships, take on dangerous tasks, and unleash power he never knew he had in order to understand who he was. OCxCana.

61. Path of the Wargods

The halls of Valhalla raged with walls breaking apart, and the lives of those in tales told to children were taken liberties doing battles outside the crumbling palace. Many Asghar citizens and warriors laid dead or were being slaughtered by the golden armored army lead by Prometheus. Him and Odin had engaged in battle not too long ago, and even though the palace was made to stop even war gods, the gods of Yakuma had but no place in the realm, especially since half their numbers were already dead.

Another pillar of pure Magic Power exploded into the skies above the palace. The entire land quaked with forces rivalling an earthquake. Hell broke loose as fragments of Magic Power slit into linear shockwaves all over the ground. The domain was all over Asghar. Many enemies and allies alike were wounded already, but they stood no chance as some were enveloped in the raw concentration of magic created from gods.

As the pillar dissipated, two figures were seen as the size of peas within the bright light fading. One figure forced the other high into the air and arched down towards the ground. Clutching Odin by the neck, Prometheus moved at a velocity so fast that he appeared in the courtyard a few seconds later, slamming the back of his head into the ground. A huge crater erupted, with even more shockwaves sending enemies and bloodied friends falling over.

Dust cleared, revealing someone anchored by the throat. He was someone who adorned golden armor as well. He had silver hair that was shoulder length, including the baldness he carried. He had a long beard and moustache, and what made his ensemble other than his cracked helmet with a golden mohawk destroyed on it, he had an eyepatch to cover his missing eye. He adorned a navy-blue cape that was all tattered and as broken as the staff and armor he adorned.

Prometheus held him by the throat, his frown as deep as the glares he was giving to the weakened Odin. "Still think someone like me isn't better than you, Odin?" he challenged with heavy glares. "Look at yourself. You can't even stand!"

"You…cretin." The old god strained. He tried to get up, but found it to be of no use.

"I gave man the power of flames eons ago, and this is how you thank me? And here you said I was selfish. Words cannot describe the worthless pity I feel for you." He clutched the neck tighter, causing Odin to gag. "This isn't retribution. This is anything but that! Look around you, your people are suffering because of your arrogance! What I did may have been out of line for a god, but crossing boundaries and seeing who can change the world that we deem inferior; weren't those your exact words?"

Odin's one eye glared deep daggers into Prometheus. A normal mortal could've had pure Magic Power compressed from the stare bore holes through their heads.

"I didn't mean to take it this far, but how else was I supposed to reason with you? You kept taking gold from Earth Land and all other worlds just so you can live and make heaven a place truly prosperous. That material is finite, is fire not? Well…" he used his spare gauntlet and raised it, revealing an intricate flames of dark rainbow embers. "Do you know what this is?"

Odin gasped at the sight. "You wouldn't…"

"That's right. This is the Flame of Rebirth. According to Helios, this flame can be used to resurrect the life of any god. However, he also said if combined with the fountain of Yggdrasil, it will set everything ablaze. Including the mortal realm…" His eyes narrowed. "I'm going to melt away all that gold that you stole and let it rain down towards Earth Land, and then watch the lands burn." His claws on the neck dug deeper, making it harder for Odin to breathe. "Since you like to watch the mortals struggle, how's about I see for myself when I sit upon that 'intricate; throne once I met it away…to reveal the disgusting hell that you buried beneath this heaven!"

He raised the flame, ready to unleash his full fury and strike down the selfish superior.

"YOU FOOL~!" Odin cried loudly before Prometheus slammed his hand down on his face. The rainbow flames erupted at point-blank range, enveloping Odin's sheer body beneath the cracked armor in fires. It happened so fast as Prometheus burned Odin away, leaving only fire in the shape of his body image.

The god slowly stood up, looking down with a half-grin on his face. He was pleased to have finally stopped the tyrant, but if he couldn't help a world below there's, then no one could. He was a charitable god, and he was thrown into hell because of it.

As he did his part, there was a loud explosion in the distance. His head jerked up, as did the thousands of other soldiers stabbing and piercing prey. They all were getting the attention of the massive smoke bellowing from the gate entry to Asghar. They saw flames and smoke bellow profusely beyond the bridge surrounded by now what was dark, tainted water.

They all fell silent as eyes narrowed on sight.

From the smoke and flames at the gate entry, time was very slow as the serious face of Craig with Excalibur in hand went darting on. Behind him was Alator and Maponus, the latter playing his bagpipes loudly and energetically, getting everyone set for battle. The majestic animals and demons following behind were all coming into view, following Craig's solemn charge.

Prometheus' eyes widened in sheer shock over the sight. Upon locking eyes with Craig around the rainbow embers that was once Odin, he reached out at them, commanding his army to lunge back. They all rushed for Craig and his army, all of them yelling out like deranged animals and bellowing demons set for destruction.

The two armies closed in, with Craig making the big leap with the enchanted blade over his head. The blade came straight down on a bulky warrior, the blade cleaving straight through the blade and chest of the tanky man. As he fell over, Craig stepped onto his body and glared ahead, he saw two more godly men attacking head on. Their bare tainted bodies of tattoos meant nothing, even if their powers were enhanced, the shield that came with Excalibur arose on Craig's side on its own, blocking both attacks like a fly on a windshield. With the opportunity at hand, Craig brought his arm around, swiping the blade thoroughly. He cut deep into their chests like butter, making their blood gush and fall over. With them defeated, he pointed Excalibur towards the fray, urging everyone behind him to follow along.

The memory of Craig's anti-God sword was a stuff of legends, but as the sun began to set over the western hemisphere, the last rays of sun were like the shimmering glints the blade held when Craig wield it. The memory stung as deep as the scars beneath Shinigami as his cloak was as dark as shadows themselves. 'To think that we gods entrusted our powers to a mortal to slay us in this civil war. The birth of God Slayers, the flame that refuses to be snuffed out. And to think Arthur foresaw this.'

As he lowly thought about the events of Ragnarok, the sun continued to pierce rays through the atmosphere, almost as loudly as the cheers coming from the Domus Flau colosseum.

---

"Man, what an exciting match this has been, wouldn't you say, Mr. Yajima?" Lola questioned, smiling with jovial shock. Even if nothing had happened for a short while now, it was still needed to have some commentary.

Yajima nodded. "Mhm, sure was. These matchups were alright in my books."

"Well I'm just glad that we're nearing the end." Mato admitted. "It's been such a long day, but hoo boy, I could barely contain myself the whole time!"

"And neither can the audience. I think these final rounds against the last legs of Sabertooth, Jura, and the one who everyone has been talking about, Fairy Tail's Craig Crius! And may I add what a very interesting person he has been today for us all."

"I'll say." Yajima interjected. "Having been through all those battles and still have audacity to follow through. The kid's got some power alright."

"Yeah! And let's not forget how he beat 4 competitors blindfolded. I don't even know how he's doing that!" Mato reminded.

Yajima crossed his arms. "Hmm, this does bring inquiry towards his magic."

"Yes, you are right about that." Lola agreed. "For some reason, our monitors aren't tracing any magical energy. Is this some sort of advanced magic he uses so that no one can see him?"

"Oh! Maybe it's Perception Magic! Maybe that's how he was able to beat Lyon and Orga!"

"Probably, but there's still the fact he returned fire. And – awkwardly – used miscellaneous…uh, material, to win. He is resourceful, but power is something we cannot determine."

"Also…" Lola looked up at the screens, seeing all of the absent of Fallen Prometheus. "It still seems that Fallen Prometheus is still at large here. We can't find them anywhere. Just where did these mysterious contenders end up at exactly?"

"Now that they mention it, where did they go?" Sherry wondered.

"Yeah, it's not like they up and left, right?" Chelia asked. She and Lyon were sitting on the benches in their team's corner, both wounded and bandaged up. Chelia was the only one who was conscious, while Lyon was still resting up.

"I TOLD YOU TO REST UP!" Obaba barked.

"R-right, sorry!" Having been frightened, Chelia fell back beside Lyon, staring up at the ceiling. The medics were able to get her and those in the area around her – Lyon, Arana, Orga, and Rufus – to safety and healed up. While Arana and Orga were minor, Rufus was still unable to move, no different from Chelia and Lyon. Of course Chelia was able to keep conscious thanks to her healing wounds, but stamina was depleted. She couldn't turn over if she wanted to. She still felt unhappy that she lost, but she was even more deterred that her most powerful attack was tripled in strength and struck her and Lyon. She was even told of the collateral damage, and knowing that was enough to make her feel a spine shudder.

Obaba looked towards the screen and snickered. "Not to worry, because Makarov and everybody else' guilds haven't a chance. Not while Jura is still in this game."

With Fairy Tail, Cana looked ahead, her eyes narrowed with arms crossed. She had the most perplexed look on her face, and she wasn't liking how this was going one bit.

"Huh? Hey Cana, you alright?" Bickslow asked.

"What?" She looked at him. "Sorry, you say something?"

"You seem to be spacious. Are you feeling worried?" Freed clarified.

"Yeah, you've been rather quiet. For someone with quite a tongue." Evergreen cocked a brow.

Cana looked ahead, ignoring the comments given. "I'm fine. It's just…has anyone else been getting this strange feeling up their spines?"

"I've had that feeling since we were just down to Craig." Jet admitted.

"Yeah, and since Fallen Prometheus hasn't shown their faces in a long time." Droy added.

"Where'd they go?" Lisanna wondered.

Cana looked at the monitors, worrying as her purple eyes glared daggers at the empty streets. She saw a few figments disappearing, but they were Sting and Minerva moving in various tandems, closing in on Craig, that is, if they found them. No one can sense him since he has no magical energy inside, so he's basically a looming ghost, but that makes him easily as hard to calculate as well. Finally having enough worries to stomach, she knew what she had to do. 'I can't do this.' She got down to the ground and crossed her legs. She pulled out her tarot cards and started to shuffle.

Levy turned around, hearing cards shuffled. "Huh? Hey, Cana, what are you doing?"

"What's it look like, I'm trying to figure out what's going on." She answered as she looked at her cards.

"You're using your Fortune Telling?" Makarov questioned.

"Yeah, so?"

Mirajane stifled in a giggle. "My, how thoughtful, Cana."

"What?"

"You trying to find ways to make sure Craig makes it out in one piece?" she cooed and turned her head back to wink. "Or are you just trying to find a right time to ambush him with a congrats party?"

Cana gave Mirajane a harsh glare and a growl. A tick mark grew on her forehead. "Real funny." She pinched the bridge of her nose. "No, I'm trying to figure out something here. Something about this whole thing is just completely bizarre."

"You mean other than the fact that a mysterious power imprisoned about almost everyone on our team?" Carla interjected.

"That's not very helpful, Carla." Wendy chided.

"But she does have a point; there's a lot of mysteries unfolding that we don't know yet." Pantherlily interjected. "Maybe Cana's Fortune Telling will give us some clue."

"About right, now…" Cana started to spread all the cards out, laying them all perfectly labeled and making sure they were faced down. Her magic began to course into the individual cards, but this process was going to take some time. 'Alright Cranky, better keep your ass in the game. I've got enough to deal with right now other than you being our lifeline.'

---

In a street, there was still barren trash and a few cans toppled over. It was one of the streets that suffered collateral damage from Craig's earlier Bide Exploder, and this was a reasonable place to hide. Given that he's more of a scavenger and able to survive in a lot of places, he could also hide out quite well. In the debris field on a fallen building, there was a box, a cardboard box. The box had a few open holes that were spearheaded thanks to the likes of a sword. Underneath the turned-over box, Craig was doing what he did best: sleeping. Or so people thought.

Underneath the box, Craig was actually finding a nice, quiet, and secluded domain. It wasn't much to go off of, but he could definitely feel the chi. He was "resting" for a few hours without anyone having to be around him, but using that time, he was using the art of chi to breath deeply and get his spiritual entity to relax. It worked remarkably well, as it always has. Already, he felt no throbbing in the muscles that he exercised all day. His body was a solemn temple, and the chi energy all around him was focusing in. He felt for miles who was where.

As he stayed quiet, he saw chi waves in his mind. As usual, there were flashes of red, indicating Slayos was observing within the few winks from slumber. The chi flow was grand, and his body was actually starting to heal. It wasn't shown physically, but the cool feeling running through his veins was like his whole center expelling energy. His body was starting to give off a compressed pressure as everything was as clear as day in his mind.

It was all a map, and that map made him indicate who was closing in. His eyes opened beneath the box, still saying nothing as he knew whose chi it was. He could tell it was strong.

The box was lifted, and Craig moved his arm back to his side. With eyelids half-open, he stared at the face of Jura Neekis, who smirked upon seeing him. Craig held his frown as he slowly arose like someone who had taken a nap.

"I found it odd seeing a plain box with holes on it lying around here. That sounds like you, am I wrong?" Jura greeted.

Craig finally grinned. "Whatever floats your boat. Would it kill you guys to leave me alone if I went back beneath and wrote 'DO NOT DISTURB' on it?"

Jura chuckled. "Not for me it won't."

"And it looks like we have finally got some targets on Craig's back ready to aim!" Lola shouted. "Fairy Tail's Craig has come across ranked 5th in the Wizard Saints, Lamia Scale's rock-hard Jura!"

The audience went wild as they were shocked to hear of Craig finally against Jura.

Jura's face showed eagerness, but Craig's showed calm. Even if Jura was in his way, he wasn't going to keel just like that. He had to make it hurt, and hurting was one of his strongpoints.

"You have a lot of strength, Craig Crius." Jura commented. "I cannot lie when I say that I am very much impressed by your skills in battle, but also…I cannot lie when it also startles me."

"Oh really?"

"Yes. Having such a diverse style of fighting is most peculiar. You use swords, and at times you switch up positions to attack with bare teeth, not to mention your inspiring physical strength. Enlighten me, just where exactly did you learn those techniques?"

Craig cocked a brow. "Hmph, sorry, I'm not in the mood for stupid questions."

"And why not, if I may ask?" Jura inquired.

"Because I don't feel like answering shit right now. When you ask those kinds of questions, it's usually an implication that you're defensive of your own set. Am I wrong?"

Jura shared his own smug look. "Haha. My, you sure hold up a degree of snark. Well you certainly know of priorities."

"Are you just going to stand there and let me set up a little tea party, or do you have something to do?" Craig challenged.

Jura's position did not waver. He snickered again. "So be it." He readied himself. "I should warn you, I have no intentions on holding back."

"They all say that." Craig huffed.

The two were in a long stare down, with each giving off their own glares to signify their resolves. While Craig was in it for the fight itself and to keep climbing for the greater good, Jura was more on defense. He found Craig terrifying, all the more reason to fight him.

Instantly, the theme intensified between the two, and Jura instantly closed the gap, time slowing down as he had a palm back and ready to thrust. "HAH!" He thrust the wrist forward, aiming for Craig's face. Not playing dumb Craig ducked at the last second, grabbing the arm over his head. With the surprise grabble, he pivoted and turned away, flipping Jura over his head and onto his back with a thud.

Despite the drawback, Jura smirked. He raised a foot and kicked Craig while still down, knocking him right in the chin. The impact made Craig stumble back, with him and Jura now on opposite sides. The Wizard Saint flipped up and went for the closing again, this time, his palm colliding with Craig's chest. The impact sent Craig flying backwards, screeching like a raptor through a window that was still intact.

Jura retracted his palm, smirking as he heard the glass fall the floor. "Really now, is that the best you can do, after all day?"

He got no verbal reply again. Instead, he was met with a rather uncomfortable silence. Dust and bellowing glass churned inside the house. No other sounds. As Jura kept his suspicions on high, seconds prolonged, and the open dark door lead to what was suspense.

A sword suddenly blitzed pass Jura, being of a dark red cover. Jura was only quick enough to leaned to the left to dodge the attack, but his side was grazed by the blade, and his gray overcoat was stabbed. It flew with the dark sword, spearheading into the ground at the base of the ruins of the street. The Wizard Saint clutched his side as a sizeable slit of red was on it. With his guard down, he was wide open as Craig lunged out of the window again, screeching like a raptor as he soared onto Jura, sinking his fangs deep into his shoulder. The bite was excruciating, and Jura twisted and turned in pain, trying to get Craig off, but his momentum was only to get him around. He grunted and tried to grabble at Craig as he roared within his crunching of skin and cloth.

Finally having lost momentum, the Wizard Saint fell onto his back, leaving Craig to jump off him and land on both heels. He remained vigilant as he circled around, running pass his sword and prying it out of the ground. As Jura attempted to get up, he reached the sit-up point before a sword pierced the ground between his two legs. Craig anchored himself on the ground and spin-kicked Jura by rotating around the guard, scoring a blow in the face. The Earth Mage doubled over, falling onto his stomach with a thud. Craig followed through with his spin and got his sword out of the ground, hunching over and giving a deeper, dino-like roar that echoed through Jura's ears.

Jura slouched back up to his feet, groaning some as he looked at Craig slowly advancing. "Those were some shots you gave me." He admitted. He raised two fingers and pointed them at Craig. "Now have this! Talus!"

Craig looked down, his feet shaking up some. The ground beneath shot him up in a propulsion of a pillar. The pillar stopped at a point, allowing Craig into freefall. However, Craig allowed his body to loosen, giving him acrobatic flips to land perfectly on his feet and raise his hands, signaling his refined landing.

"Heh, amusing, is it?" Jura sneered.

"Not my fault you gave me springboard. Now…" Craig trailed off as he reached back, pulling out his blood red and his mouth swords. He inserted them in the right sections, crossing the blades and giving Jura a hardening leer. "Let's screw some more!" He went diving pass the Talus pillar that was before him, his mouth blade swiping as his head turned to cut straight through it. As he darted along, the entire structure slumped down like a tree, slowly falling over and breaking into pieces of rubble on the ground.

Jura went wide-eyed as he saw Craig's sudden dynamic change of the sword style. He knew he had to keep his distance, otherwise he'd be toast. With his glare hardening once more, he pointed his fingers at Craig.

"Iron Rock Wall!"

Slabs of flat stone started to surround Jura. He remained still as a four-corner barrier if compressed, solidified rock shot up and kept Craig out.

Craig continued on, as if the walls of solid rock were there. He turned his head and slashed his blades in opposite directions, cutting clean through the stone upon instant contact. As the rocks fell apart, he continued lunging and striding, and Jura was wide-eyed as he closed in at an alarming rate.

In a quick ditch, the Wizard Saint made another sign, creating a pillar of rock slanted beneath him and jetting him out of the trap. He went flying back, and Craig followed in a dare, slashing his many blades and cutting through the rock pillar and the back of the wall. Jura flipped and landed on a single handstand before making another small rock pillar to jet himself far backwards through the air. The shockwave went through the ground, summoning a straight row of pillars to interject. Craig's legs were moving fast, moving alongside the pillars, the right side of his mouth blade and blood red sword butting down the rocks and making them all crumble. He kept his path while closing in on Jura. He got closer towards some of the more intact buildings and prodded his swords into the walls, pinwheeling up an angle and soaring into the air to get above Jura.

Jura looked up, watching as Craig spun vertically with an axe kick down towards him.

"Sky Sunder!"

His hell crashed right into Jura's forearms that he used to block, making the bone son the Wizard Saint's arms feel a powerful shock run through them. 'What incredible physical strength!' he thought.

As he kept his position above Jura, Craig's glare showed bitter excitement. He looked like he was savoring quite the battle, but the fact was he had thrills with bigger adrenaline rushes that helped him prolong his will. This was a cakewalk compared to enemies in faraway countries. He twisted his body in midair, the blades slightly grazing Jura's skin and across the face, making him recoil once more. Craig landed on his two feet, while Jura winced with a cut across his nose.

"HRAH! SMASH!" Craig muffled as he held his blade like a knife, his knuckles fixed to strike.

Jura gritted his teeth and punched forward with a hardened fist. Both their fists struck the other's knuckles, sending yet another shock through their arms and making a small rumble through the airspace around them. The two were in a deadlock, their fists simultaneously trying to overpower the other in the struggle.

"You certainly have your work cut out for you…Craig Crius…" Jura strained.

"Thanks…the same here…" Craig strained, but his expression showed a pained smirk through his mouth blade.

With the two in a deadlock, Jura attempted another palm strike, but Craig turned his head, swiping the mouth blade once more. Jura instantly backed off before he could get close. With him recoiling again, Craig closed the gap with a wicked grin on his face.

"But too bad praising others isn't one of my sentiments!" Craig started to spiral. "Spiral Dragon Slice!" He bolted pass Jura with swords slashed. Jura's clothes tore, along with slits of his beard to boot. The cuts on him grew incredulously and curved, bits of his blood spraying and gasping loudly.

The audience was having mixed shock to all the fighting, but most if not all were flabbergasting at Jura being hammered by Craig's superior sword skills and tacky battle style.

"Woah! Unreal!" a spectator exclaimed.

"He's on par with Jura?! But that guy's a Wizard Saint!"

"Yeah, and wasn't he parrying shots with Laxus that one battle?"

"Just how freakishly strong is this guy even?!"

Obaba had circles for yes as she and Lamia Scale were completely shocked at what they were seeing. Their most powerful, if not the strongest, wizard they have ever known was getting cut in places unimaginable. "The hell?!" Obaba panicked.

"I am not believing what I am seeing here, ladies and gents!" Lola shouted. "It seems that Jura, the 5th ranked in all the Wizard Saints, is at the brink of mercy by the heavy fire power by Craig himself!"

Jura stepped forward to catch himself from falling forward. As he hunched forward, there was a shadow over him, lined in bits of his own blood. "You've surprised me. I didn't think my rock could be cut like paper." He complimented in his tired state.

Craig turned around to face him.

"But I want to know, just what is your magic. Are you that powerful that you have the ability to mask it? Because someone like that would definitely be able to make it into the Wizard Saint rankings."

Craig rolled his eyes in annoyance. "Tch, you guys all think too hard. If I were able to make a single spell, the magic energy would've drawn everyone towards me."

"What do you mean by that, Craig Crius?"

"I keep hearing these rumors that people guess that my magic is based off of swords and perception. Good guesses, but all wrong. You see, I don't need magic when I can just beat you down with a blade and my bare teeth."

Jura found his points valid. He smirked beneath his face cascaded away from the man. "I see…that may be the case." He made a hand sign again. "Then I suppose you wouldn't need magic to get out of this then."

Small stones shot up around Craig's feet, encasing them in rock and gravel. Craig looked down in deep shock, his eyes widened as he found himself trapped. With his breath gasping, he didn't realize the ground behind starting to turn. A rock arch bended towards his back, curving straight into the ground. He gagged at the shock and weight he was pressed with the stone wedging his back and straining his ankles.

"GAH!"

Fairy Tail gasped at the sudden strike made. "Not good." Makarov grunted.

Craig tried to wiggle his way out. He was skinny enough to do it, but Jura intensified the pressure to make it so that Craig wasn't able to move. He groaned and strained, but it didn't make anything better. He had no option but to submit and ease up.

Jura turned around and smirked. "That may be true that you have shown capabilities of using your physical strength to get out of tight spots. But how about now? Don't suppose you can't use magic just to get out of this jam either."

Craig's eyes narrowed. "Now you're just pushing my buttons!" he sniped.

The rock summoned around his wrists. He was anchored into the ground with rock cuffs holding the wrists in place. Now he was completely vulnerable.

Jura began to advance towards him. "You have just commendable strength. You've been in a lot of battles against foes as skilled as myself, that much I can tell. Although, the way you've dealt with the competition thus far, are you perhaps withholding your full power for a last resort? I'm not one to give out unwanted advice, but if you have magic, now would be a good time to demonstrate your capabilities. If you cannot…then this battle is as good as Lamia Scale's."

"THAT A BOY, JURA! PIN HIM DOWN!" Obaba happily screeched, twirling around in place. All her doubt was for nothing.

Sherry sighed in hefty relief. "Jura had me worried there for a moment. I could've sworn I thought he was about to lose, but that's just crazy."

"OF COURSE IT'S CRAZY! I'M SPINNING YOU, NITWIT!" Obaba turned towards Sherry and twirled her finger, spinning the Doll Mage profusely.

"This doesn't look too good for us." Lisanna said.

"Yeah, I'll say. Craig can't even move right now. How is he supposed to beat Jura if he can't move?" Levy questioned.

"Seems quite a pickle to me." Mirajane interjected.

Makarov glared at the screen with vigilance. "Jura is trying to tempt Craig into using magic to fight back. He wants a fair fight between two capable mages."

"But the problem here is that Craig can't use magic, right? He's just a normal guy." Laki reminded.

"Well not a lot of people know about that." Gray said. "Looks like things are going to get ugly for Craig if he doesn't think soon. He isn't even on his feet to even think to begin with."

Craig glared up at Jura with a defiant look. His sharp teeth were still bared, with his mouth blade still in the mouth. While it was beneficial, it wasn't helpful in this case, not while he could hardly move his neck or head around. He just glared at Jura. As if burning holes through his head.

The glare was leaving the Wizard Saint unnerved. "Is there a problem?" he inquired. "Is your powers limited to physical strength? I thought someone as capable and strong as you would be able to break out of something like this."

"Hey, give me a break, would ya? It's not exactly easy when you're down four limbs." Craig angrily muffled.

Jura smirked. "Be as it may, you are still an opponent who cannot move otherwise. Are you willing to surrender?"

Slowly, the look on Craig's face began to twist. He began to look more wicked than before, but otherwise he was starting to get boiling blood. His throat began to churn, his breathing hitching to where he began to growl low a gigantic predator would. It was making Jura feel uncomfortable. Craig sharply turned his head get at the right cuff. Thankfully he was still able to move some part of his neck to jab a piece of the rock. The right cuff was jabbed into, and Craig used the other end of the mouth blade to stab the rock cuffs on the opposite wrist. The two cuffs stabbed, he twisted his wrist and yanked them, causing the rock to break apart. The Jura's quiet amazement, he watched Craig twirl the blood and dark red swords in hand, twisting and slicing them from behind and cutting the heavy rock behind him back. The sliced segment leaned in a little on Craig, making him stop breathing for a moment and bear with the weight until the arch fell onto the side with a loud thud. Now able to turn, he swiped his dark red sword and cut through the rest of the arch, which crumbled to pieces. He then cut at his hells, getting the rocks off to break free. Finally able to move in full, Craig hunched over and exerted yet another bloodthirsty roar, one that bellowed with the intent to destroy.

"You know, you big shots around here talk too much."

Jura didn't waste a second in a counter. He had to hurry, and that's what he did. Again using his magic, he pointed two fingers at Craig, sending a barrage of rocks at him, like when he did with Laxus during their fight.

Craig bolted ahead and slashed repeatedly. He twisted and turned constantly as he bisected and sliced into every rock there was. He blitzed right through the field of rocks from all sides, reducing them all to diced bits and leaving a straight shot at Jura. He closed the gap in swift strides with his raptor strides, lowering his head to crouch, spring, and skyrocket into a headbutt into Jura's chin. The impact sent Jura off his feet again, but as he sailed, he caught himself again and landed.

The Iron Rock moved his fingers again, this time making another rock formation appear before him. "Let's see you try and cut this! Rock Mountain!" Behind him, the ground burst in a loud dust wave. Rising up from it was a golem of rugged rock. It hovered over Jura and held arms over his body to defend him from further attacks.

"So it's defense now, is it?" Craig deciphered with an inquired brow. "Alright then…" He crossed both his handheld blades and closed his eyes. Silence fell over him as his chi began to take in copious amounts of the chi in the air. And he did so by rocking his body and shaking his arms a little.

Inside the crevices of the giant, Jura could see Craig and his bizarre movements. 'There it is again. This strange pressure he's giving off. It's unlike anything I've felt, but I can't sense any magic still. Is there some other source behind this strange pressure?'

Craig slashed both swords without having to move his feet. A second passed before anything happened, and then the entire giant glinted in an X-shaped lines all over the body. It suddenly sliced into diced segments, and inside, Jura recoiled onto the ground again, thudding as bits of his bare chest was covered in blood.

Craig began to withdraw one sword. "Grander was tougher than guys like you…" He sheathed the other as he muffled along. "You know as well as I do that you can talk the hell all you want…" He removed the mouth blade, showing a frown. "But these Wizard Saints; I don't know much of, but I've been hit a lot worse. It takes more than a few rocks to keep a man from climbing a mountain."

Jura uncovered himself and looked at him with a shocked look. The look of amusement he once held for Craig was gone, and instead was replaced by one of sheer shock. His mind was racing as swiftly as his heartbeat, which was at lightning speed. His thrill for an appropriate battle had lost all appetite, after seeing his own blood on his hands of course. He thought this would be a friendly competition, but in all aspects, it was grueling as hell to bare. He looked up at Craig, but his teeth gritted and sweat dripped down his face. For the first time in a very long while, Jura Neekis was feeling overwhelmed by this figure who looked much like a devil. His tattered red cape and scraped up white jacket was like some looming ghost from the flames of hell. And as terrifying as it seemed, he could've sworn he saw some bizarre dinosaur-like creature and some massive bladed dragon looming around him, along with several other animals and creatures that were poured into Craig. Jura thought he was facing one man, but no. He was dead wrong. He was facing a one-man army of disastrous proportions.

He started to step back, the bizarre pressure he felt resonating from him far greater than what he had expected. "What…are you?" he staggered.

Craig raised a brow. "Your worst nightmare, what the hell do you think?" he retorted.

A nervous smile appeared on Jura's face. He seemed to show some level of confidence. "Very well then. Perhaps it's time that I shorthand this fight." He began to join his hands together. "I hope that you are ready for my most powerful form of spells. I should warn you, this may sting a bit."

Craig's serious face started to waver. "What the…?"

Jura inhaled through his nose as he began to conjure up whatever Magic Power he could. The very hand beneath him and Craig was beginning to shake wildly like a volcano about to erupt. Craig started to lose balance and spread his legs out. He looked down at the ground, feeling goosebumps rise with the magic levels. He remained decisive as several cracks were beginning to form around him.

"Crap. Not good…!" The land around all of Crocus was beginning to shake. The abandoned streets of the huge city were shuddered with what magnitude was enough to make stands and the tables and stools inside domains shudder and nearly fall over.

"This you have claimed to have faced so many powerful opponents before, allow me to give it my all in my respects to you."

Craig shot a look at Jura. "Do every one of you shitheads here take everything I do personally?! Seriously!"

The ground's magnitude increased, the land vibrating at a frequency that made it hard to even hear. It felt like the entire world was shaking haphazardly. And then suddenly, it stopped.

"Rumbling Mt. Fuji!"

Craig and the entire area around him were enveloped in a powerful and violent explosion of what was pure Magic Power expelling from straight beneath. It was like an erupting volcano that expelled all its energy straight up. It went on endlessly in the area in front of Jura, skyrocketing into the skies with a light beacon to exemplify its monstrous pressure. The atmosphere itself shuddered in deafening notes, much to everyone's sheer horror. Lola and the commentators were gawking with nothing to spell other than pure unadulterated shock at the release of magical energy. Everything within Crocus roared. Nothing felt freefall, as instead it was like gravity was suppressing everything that wasn't struck down. The residence that was harbored inside the colosseum was completely at a loss for what to do with the magical energy released. It was like all hell broke loose and the pillar just wouldn't stop bellowing.

"Woah. Man, that's gotta hurt!" Gildarts said.

"'Hurt'? Is he even alive in there?!" Macao questioned.

"I don't think anyone would be able to survive that!" Wakaba exclaimed.

Cana was trying to enact her Fortune Telling powers, but she wasn't concentrating well. She stopped for a moment to stare up at the screen with a shocked expression. The atmosphere roared, and she could see Jura standing in front of a shaking bright light. The thought of Craig being destroyed inside that mass of raw magic rendered her completely perplexed without words to mutter out.

---

Within the mass of Magic Power, Craig's entire being was feeling heavy. He was blown sky-high within the magic's area of coverage, and he wasn't able to tell if he was on the ground or in midair. All he saw was white, and his body felt so heavy that it was like he could barely tell if he was underwater or being crushed by rock again. All he could do was stay wide-eyed and think.

'This is so much magic. They're really hating me here, aren't they?' he snickered in his thoughts. 'Man I'm a troublemaker. But I guess this is what I get for just being me I suppose. But you know what, I'm not done yet, not by a long shot at least. I still ain't out of this yet! If I'm going down, I'm at least making sure I put all this magic to use!' He started to move his arms slowly, his eyes closing and as he started to exhale and inhale through his nose. His lungs were filling with energy resonating from his very chi. The chi that he was getting from his clamed disposition was far greater than what he was dealing with, and it was taking a toll as he drew and tried to manipulate more, only for it to be overwhelmed.

'It's no good. This is a lot of chi here. If I'm going to use all of this, I'll need…!' Within his mind, he grew what was to be a grand epiphany. He recalled that one technique his master had shown him before.

"This is perhaps a very important tool, the one step closer to the full chi concentration you once had. With this technique, you will be able to absorb chi naturally into your body much quicker than your previous moves."

He began to quell any doubts and allowed the pressure around him to take its toll. His arms began to draw into circular motions, drawing in chi in the same form as he did with Bide Exploder,

His arms moved in opposite circular motions that went like miniature windmills. The entire energy blast was drawn into the arms, drawn in by the very chi itself. The energy swerved and slithered into the mass forming in front of Sama, and said energy was what began to spread around him. Craig remained close at hand and stared on as his teacher was showing him the ways of his fine breathing and chi control. When filtered to a degree, and once the energy blast let up, Sama was seen with his entire arms covered from fingers to shoulders in Batto-Ba's energy blast, molded into gauntlets almost.

Craig's arms moved in the similar motions, his arms moving in opposite wheel shapes and molding all the chi erupting from below. The chi and magic vacuumed into the spot around Craig. He took in more and more chi, eyes remaining shut as he envisioned as much o the energy coming at him from below being transformed into energy converted as chi. The pain he was feeling was dialing down within the calm that he felt, and for the briefest moment, all that chi he was feeling that he was molding was like a cool but exhilarating force. It felt…exotic. In yet another instance, he saw some streaks of red energy come at him within the chi force.

'Slayos.' He thought as he molded his arms through the energy he was molding. The red streaks followed him and integrated into the molding process. 'I may not know who or what you are yet, but please, bear with me just a little while longer. I'll remember soon. For now…' His eyes opened again, showing some faint signs of the blue in his pupils becoming red, with black markings lining around the eyes almost, just for that instance. 'I'll show you what my power can do for you!'

---

Inside the molten void of the chi waves, Slayos' red eyes were wide open. He was looking unemotional as he felt Craig's immense chi force overwhelming. It was making his pupils dilate, his forward jagged teeth chattering with a low growl. He was barely holding in his excitement.

"Craig…that's the moron I know…give it more!" he snapped.

---

As the Magic Power shuddered and ignited the skies, Jura was glaring up at the pillar with an expectant stare. He was feeling calm about the way it was all turning out to be, but as his confidence and humility was restored, his heart suddenly stopped beating. A heavy force was felt in that one instant everything stopping. The pulse wave had no magical elements to it, but its pressure almost dropped the Wizard Saints to his knees. He was looking up as his materialized pillar was starting to distort inside.

"Hold up, folks! Looks like something's stirring in this crockpot." Lola said.

All eyes were towards the center of the enormous pillar. Its energy in its center was starting to distort inwards yet vacuum upwards. It was like everything was flowing in and filtering, and they all could feel the pressure change.

A hand swiped through the energy, molded into a chi blade. The vertical chop bisected the entire pillar, splitting it downwards towards its middle. The energy concentration even slashed into the ground, sending dust waves that shot Jura off the ground. He screamed as he shot backwards, unable to hold himself together entirely. Meanwhile, a body fell and landed on a knee. A head rolled up, revealing Craig, but his entire body was outlined with magical energy, and all the concentrated light was within the arms, making them shine by the time they reached the fists. His glare was set ahead, his blood pumping as the energy in the atmosphere around him was shifting.

Once regaining himself, Jura looked ahead, reaching out in utter shock. "No, it can't be…"

Craig looked down at his fists, feeling the chi course deeply. 'What was that exhilaration? Did that mean I'm closer to Primal Force?' he looked up towards Jura's frightened expression at his attack molded against him. 'Thank you, Sama, for making me remember this!' He stepped forward, ready to take action and strike. "This ends now."

Jura's heart pulsed as he felt a very high, almost ground-shaking wave pulse off of Craig. The energy expelling yet compressed in him was leaving the Iron Rock speechless. When he heard gravel churn, he realized he was still battling. He pointed his fingers forward, and behind Craig, the same arch from before tried to get him and anchor the back. However, Craig meekly turned and poked it with an elbow, making it crumble into dust. Jura gasped in deep shock at how fruitless that was. All his magic was compressed like armor that Craig was using, and he was turning against him. Jura didn't give up. He pointed his fingers forward again with a serious – if not angrier – expression. Rocks from all over the ground began to defy gravity and shoot at Craig. As he closed in with heavy strides, he folded his right arm's fingers, the energy forming into chi blades. He slashed once across, reducing every single incoming matter to spliced bits. He slowly put his arm down and some of the chi dissipated, while most went back into the arm. He kept walking towards Jura with an intimidating vibe.

Jura again jutted his fingers back, ultimately making a fist. "Iron Rock Fist!" The ground in front f him unleashed a long arm of pure rock, molded into a solidified gauntlet. It raced towards Craig at a fast rate, but using his left hand, Craig used the tips of his fingers and brushed towards the side. The whole golem-like gauntlet deflected pass him, smashing into the ground beside him. Ignoring the dust wave that followed behind, Craig jutted three fingers along its "arm", and that whole segmented cracked open clean through, as if cutting the arm in place. He continued on without looking, some of the chi having been used up.

Craig grunted as he was feeling haziness kick in. 'Crap, my body's getting tired. Looks like I have to finish this now…'

He ran ahead, his pace faster than before towards the 5th ranked amongst all Wizard Saints. His arm was reeled back as he let out a battle cry. Most of the chi in his right arm surged into the knuckles, enabling a shrilled and compressed strike to be ready.

Jura's eyes dilated in shock, unable to comprehend his attacks being deflected and broken through.

"SCREW ALL YOU COWARDS OUT THERE!" Craig roared. "Energy Arts – Supreme Force Drive!"

With all the chi that he converged, one hand embedded in chi socked Jura in the place, while the left fist balled and gathered up the chi in the other end of the body. He leaned in and shifted his heel forward to dig it into Jura's stomach. At point-blank range, all the chi absorbed and used as armor and bending exploded in a roaring light. A pulse wave went all throughout Crocus' roofs. The energy mass made almost every roof crack apart, while the entire boulevard Craig and Jura fought on exploded in a massive white dome. The residual energy erupted in linear shockwaves on an obtuse angle forward, many lines drilling into the deep streets and barreling clean into the mountains just on the borders of the city. The entire city shuddered in a disastrous roar as collateral damage and streets destroyed was beyond ballistic. All eyes were completely enriched in deep shock. Never had they seen a Wizard Saint so destroyed in such an attack that was technically their own. The several bursts of energy did not stop rampaging until several minutes had passed.

Slowly, the energy and dust that was seen all over was vanishing. It was a lot of deep trenches that went throughout Crocus. The outskirts and base of the mountains so far away had also suffered destroyed fragments that made them virtually unrecognizable. Some stuff was completely obliterated, and the primary demolition was around Craig.

There was literally nothing around him and Jura; nothing but destroyed trails stretching out from an angled crater created by the blast wave. All the debris in the field was completely destroyed into atoms, and Craig's fists retracted slowly. He took in a deep breath and sighed loudly, allowing his body to ease up. He breathed a little heavily as the upper half of Jura's clothing was destroyed, bare and leaving deep bruise marks in the chest and stomach, as well as on his back.

Slowly, Jura fell over with a gaping mouth, thudding as hard as a rock. Craig raised his head and opened his mouth, releasing a victorious primal roar that echoed through the bare lands.

"WHAT AN UPSET! JURA IS DOWN! I REPEAT LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, JURA IS OUT! LAMIA SCALE'S ACE, AS WELL AS THE 5TH RANKED AMONGST ALL WIZARD SAINTS, IS OUT!" Lola was paling and completely at a loss for what else to say. All that came out and he and the commentators were just gaping at the screen, fixated with everybody else.

"W-woah…" a spectator said.

"That seriously just happen?" another asked.

"Jura…was taken down!"

Managing to recover from shock, Mato realized what happened. "W-well…who would've guessed that? Looks like Fairy Tail has earned itself 5 points, bringing them to 63 points! Fairy Tail is actually catching at a massively alarming rate! Will they actually be able to catch up to Fallen Prometheus?"

"But where are they even?" Yajima asked.

As Jura raised in defeat, Craig looked down at him, thinking of the much tougher jams and the battles he had to take on other than Jura. Sure he's fought people his level before, but with the experience gained from all the adventures and people met, this was just another blend in the background. At least he was able to unlock that new chi arts. He looked down at his hand, seeing that his tendons were actually feeling stiff. 'Guess molding chi into armor like that is something to get used to until it doesn't harm my body. I'm almost at Primal Force, I can feel it. And so did that dragon.'

Choosing to change directions, he kept silent and breathed in and out. He was feeling a few more chi signatures here and there. Two were stopped momentarily, and he could "see" the cluster of whom was left in his mind's radar. He knew where the last two fighters were, and that's all he needed to know.

He looked west, where he sensed where all the signatures were coming from. He headed in the general direction slowly, taking his time to allow his sore and aching muscles to relax some before the final hours came.

---

The audience was excited for reasons labeled obvious. They didn't expect something like that to jump up and shock them, not in a million years. Truly, Craig surprised them in a big way that they couldn't keep track of.

Obaba was staring at the monitor, watching as Craig walked away from Jura. "Jura…J-Jura…LOST?!" Her mouth hung wide enough to possibly catch flies.

"I don't believe it…" Sherry muttered.

"I…I…I…I~'M GONNA SPIN!" Unable to accept the fact her guild lost the competition, Obaba began to spin in place violently. It was taking a lot of worry and convincing to get the other members to stop her from spinning into unconsciousness.

Makarov and the rest of the guild was looking up at their scoreboard rising, their surprises unable to be kept suppressed. "That's Craig?" the old master questioned in disbelief.

"Woah, now that wasn't normal." Jet paled.

"Yeah, he just blew that attack right back at Jura's face. Just like with that Chelia girl and Rogue." Droy stammered.

"Just how is he doing that? I'm really curious right about now." Freed admitted.

"Well there's gotta be some trick to it at least." Evergreen pointed out.

"Yeah, sounds like it." Bickslow stated. "But whatever that thing is that he's doing, it sure is doing its thing and tearing up the competition for us."

Wendy was still caught in the fact Jura was taken out. It was written all over her face. "Oh wow…"

"Yeah, no kidding. That's freakishly insane!" Lucy exclaimed. "How the heck did he do that again?"

"Beating a Wizard Saint is something even the brightest amongst all the gifted mages in Ishgar have trouble with." Pantherlily explained. "They're comprised of the 10 most powerful mages on the continent, and yet Craig beat the 5th spot like that. Makes you wonder what kinds of powerful foes he's had to deal with before."

"Well we've been down there before, and I certainly would rather not go through all that again." Carla huffed.

While everyone was talking up their wonders and opinions about that fight, Cana was having none of it. She was hard at work trying to surmise a way to predict what'll come next, or rather where to find Fallen Prometheus, but the task was more cumbersome than she could manage. She has been trying for several minutes on end, but she couldn't get a read on their magic. It was like they were truly gone from existence.

She flung another card over her head after getting a false one. "Great." She sighed. "Not even magic's finding these guys…" She looked down at all the tarot cards she had flipped over, indicating her Fortune Telling. She was able to tell of parts of a possible outcome, like the exemplification of Craig owning Jura, as said by a trophy and an X lined next to one another. She also got a good read on where Craig was going, but the details beyond that were cards turned over that made no sense. It was garbage. Taking in one more deep breath, the Card Mage shut her eyes and tried to concentrate once more. She mustn't give up, if it meant helping out Craig in making it out alive.

She was still wondering why her stomach was bubbling up inside, but it wasn't making er comfortable in the slightest. At first she thought it was bad booze, but whenever she saw Craig in a tight spot, it intensified, whereas after winning fights, it eases. She didn't know what this feeling was per se, but she sure didn't hope it was anything like the disease Juvia carries.

Her feelings aside, she reached out and unleashed her magic once more, folding all the cards over. They all began to shuffle about in front of her, following the traces of magic concentration and what her mind sought to know. She had arms out and waited for a few seconds before flashing them open, and the cards stopped.

Finally, the middle row of the cards flipped open, revealing an accurate prediction. A straight row or two cards joined together meant accurate readings, but what this 5-card row spelled out made her heart stop. Her pupils began to dilate, and beads of sweat started to drip down her face. "What…?"

What they spelled was something she didn't see much at all, but regarding what the future said, this was as accurate as could get. The one word anyone and everyone feared above all else: DEATH.

---

Craig made it beyond an unpaved path between two buildings. It was wide enough for people to get through, but it was still slim for crowds to huddle. Solid concrete was on the ground with benches on the sides. As he reached the other end of the passage, he saw the sun setting, with its very few rays still in the very distance. It was almost gone, but still there.

When he had finally reached the spot where the chi energy was, he looked at a nearby bench and didn't think twice. He walked on over and stood before it, and then collapsed his being on top of it. He grunted loudly as he eased his legs and muscles. He was battling all day against pushover adversaries, and really, they were more trouble than they were worth. Granted while he did beat them all, he was getting tired. Scratch that, he was indeed tired; of everything, everyone, and how they all just cower before his might. It wasn't a fight, it was a one-sided massacre, to them that is. That last battle had also taken its toll on him. He knew absorbing and using chi like that would feel bizarre, but he was still readjusting to the former powers he had before his memory loss. At least he had a feel of what he could do. He never felt so empowered his whole life by his own natural source. But his little mental celebration was on hold as he had to keep his strength at a thorough level. He needed to make sure he didn't move that much.

There were grim battles to come, and he thought of five figures who he recollected full well.

A hand reached down from a rooftop, the palm enveloping in a green, spacious energy.

Craig's senses felt it, and he jumped off the bench and onto his feet moments before a neon green and dark-colored burst of energy enveloped it, reducing the bench and its lamented wood to broken bits. He didn't have time to question what was happening when another explosion erupted on his side. He was pushed to the other in recoil, where he was caught in another burst of spatial energy.

All around him, explosions were beginning to go off, bursting from the ground and around the air. As the territory itself shuddered from the excessive wake of the attack, the person responsible for the constant eruptions smirked, her lustrous dark lipstick forming a smile. "Do you like it?" she asked through the shaking earth below. "How do you like entering someone else' territory? You know, it's never too bright to enter a queen's territory, especially when she has reign and command over every aspect of it."

Through the explosions dissipating, they revealed Craig covering up from the dust. His jacket had been fully tattered, and bits of the clothing were as good as shrapnel. The red cape he adorned was been reduced to tattered strips and thin thread. He grunted as his sides and body felt like it had just went through a hurricane, because everywhere in Craig ached. It wasn't pretty, but he was still able to stand, now that the attacker had let up.

She dropped from the roof in an acrobatic display. She vertically flipped into a crouch and arose with a wrist adjacent to the hip and smirking arrogantly at Craig. She had a very disastrous look in her eyes, one that spelled bittersweet eagerness. "I believe you and I know each other very well, good sir." She sniped in a charming voice.

Recovered from the aftershock, having been lucky not to have been directly caught in any explosions, Craig flashed the mage a frown. "Sorry, but I think you missed me." He said.

She wasn't fazed by his choice of banter. "Is that so? Well consider that your only lucky break."

Craig shot her an intrigued look, but otherwise kept his position fixed. "You're with Sabertooth." He said aloud. 'I knew I sensed a gross chi coming from here.'

Minerva snickered. "Guilty as charged. So you've finally decided to take notice of me, even after what you did during the little Rift Raft competition, right? Ignoring a queen's dignity is never justified?"

"Neither is bitching about nobility either." Craig retorted.

Minerva's glare narrowed on him. "What was that?"

"Well why don't we all sound so noble while we're at it, but really you're just another pawn played by your own game. You play by the rules, but you and your guild, as well as Raven Tail, you've never exactly had a thing for playing nice now, have you? This is the pot calling the kettle black, but my style isn't like my guild; I go big for reasons."

Minerva showed a sizeable level of anger as her thin brows furrowed. However, she began to snicker instead. "My word, it's true what they say, your tongue is as sharp as those blades that you carry."

"And your boobs are as big as your enflamed ego."

Minerva's smirk widened, and her glare sharpened. Craig was just throwing back taunts and she wasn't having any of it. "Have you no manners before a woman, fool? Are you insisting that I end you that much quicker?"

"Depends, shouldn't you be trying to blow me up rather than go on about your 'superiority'?"

That was the last straw. Minerva showed true annoyance as she reached out towards Craig, her right hand enveloped in a green sphere of energy. As Craig reached back, green explosions went off all around him. They exploded with dust and smoke igniting the atmosphere, but no visible Craig was seen as they went off profusely. The look Minerva gave was a sheer indicator that she was having no patience.

"You've been a great thorn to us, Craig Crius. You and your guild!" she yelled angrily through the bellowing smoke clouds, bursting every second with a different position. "I'll punish you myself with the trouble you were willing to cause for the reputation of Sabertooth on this day!"

The explosions didn't let up, and the spatial energy erupted in so many ways. They kept bursting like fireworks, and no one didn't think Minerva was going to let up until she saw Craig in a million pieces. A few inner eruptions caught some larger explosions, but the explosions weren't heard like screams. That's what bugged Minerva. As the explosions went on, there was no grunts. No shouts of anguish to please her desires. It was all silent, and that's what she hated.

Her brow furrowed. "What…?"

Finally letting up her explosions and Spatial Magic, the dust waves dissipated slowly, and there was the sound of wind being whipped at. She could see a silhouette inside, and she recognized it as Craig, but his arms were elongated into bizarre, greenish blades that she never saw before. She gasped when she realized Craig cut through every explosion using her own power. Craig was in a crouched position, giving her a stern glare with his head angled low and both arms reached out with the green chi blades dissipating, with him not moving and all.

"But how…?"

"Not that I care about your 'superiority complex' issues, it's just that women like you just take your power for granted. That's something I'd be disgusted with."

Minerva's face showed angst again. "How dare you…?"

"I don't go abusing my powers like some vivid tyrant out for ruling with an iron fist and picking and choosing spouses based on looks and skills. I got my own set of skills that make me different, but why would I envy others and their power when I have my own ingenuity to work with."

Minerva's eyes showed rising anger. "You dare lecture your queen's power?"

"Whatever floats your boat, lady." Craig finished. He wasn't in the mood for words, but instead, he had to make use of her explosions and the fact she can control space. But he won't go abusing his chi powers just to put her in her place. He valued them greatly, and if he was really desperate, then maybe they wouldn't work because his head would be hazy. He valued his swords as well, as well s every fiber of his own being. If he can use just those, why need such magical powers? He repositioned his feet and glared at Minerva, ready to do battle. 'This bigass moron uses magic related to space, so moving to advance is pointless since she can transport me anywhere else. So moving much won't work. I'll just have to see what she does now.'

"As amused as I am with your little act of defiance, it's best that I put you in your place, little man." Minerva swirled her arms around, molding a green orb on the right arm. An energy line connected to her and one of Craig's legs. As Craig remained calm, Minerva raised her arm, making an invisible line whip up and carry Craig into the air like a ragdoll. While in the air, Craig looked unamused as he glared down. He reached back when high up, but Minerva was having none of his tricks. He stretched her fingers out, making a spatial explosion behind Craig. The propulsion would've hurt his skin if it weren't for the armbands he constantly wore. He began to fall back down to the ground freely, if not fast by the explosion in the sky. In fact, he used that to his advantage and opened his mouth wide, bearing sharp teeth. As he closed in on Minerva like a missile, the Territory Mage held her ground ad adjusted places, swapping her and Craig in less than the blink of an eye. Now it was Minerva who as falling onto Craig with a heel stretched out. She twirled in the air and went for a plant of her boot in his face, which made contact. Craig grunted as he felt a force against his cheekbones, but he got his leg behind to keep himself from falling over. He rebound as Minerva flipped and landed on the ground several feet away, having yet another smug look plastered.

"You still feel anything yet?" she asked.

Craig pulled out his sword and took a deep breath. Within less than a second's time, he quelled and slashed diagonally. The shockwave of chi embedded into the blade created a large crack across the ground that curved into Minerva. The woman stretched her arm out to switch places again with Craig, this time him on the receiving end of his attack.

Suddenly swiping to the side, the entire shockwave did a complete 90 degree turn to the left. It went on towards a tree in the park they were fighting in, the shockwaves dissipating to show the tree bisecting into clean halves.

As the tree fell apart, slamming fully onto the ground, Craig looked somberly at it. "Sorry, tree." He apologized.

Minerva's smug façade was replaced by shock. "How did you have that much power in such a long-range slash?"

Craig turned towards her, a slight anger showing. "Quite bitching out the questions already. You just made me hurt a tree on accident. Now look at what you've made me done." His eyes deeply narrowed, showing an animalistic angst in the slits of his blue eyes. "Don't you feebs have any respect for nature at all?"

Once again, Minerva's anger spiked. "How are you calling a feeb?!" She created a sphere in her arms that compressed her magic in it. It had a greenish, rainbow-like feel to it as it was aimed at Craig.

"I RAGD!"

A blast of magic went shooting at Craig with heavy fire power. It closed in on him, but all he did was stare ahead with a frown. He raised his blood red sword again, bringing it down onto the incoming beam. He cut straight down its middle, rendering him untouched by any of the backlash. The separated beams traveled on towards oblivion, dissipating into nothing, revealing Craig with his sword stuck out to her.

Minerva was once again at a loss for words. "What?!"

Rather than throw more snark at her, Craig opened his mouth and released another threatening bellow. The chords in Minerva's ears were palpitating to where her whole chest area tightened. She was feeling herself overwhelmed.

Craig sheathed his sword, instead crouching towards his opponent. "Screw this!" He went charging after Minerva, who chose not to engage in physical combat.

The scared Sabertooth woman saw the look on Craig's face, and he looked like a bloodthirsty animal. "Stay back, beast!" She reached her arm out and started generating explosions around Craig as he closed the gap. The explosions went off around his feet, making bright bursts that attempted to slow him down. However, Craig only lengthened his strides, making it look like he was jumping over tripwire or through water. He made it through and reached Minerva, throwing a punch to her face. The impact was blocked by her arms, but his brute force sent her flying into debris of the bench she destroyed.

Craig readjusted his footing and hunched over, giving the startled Sabertooth woman several grunts and shrieks like a raptor. His act of annoyance was making her feel very unsound, but rather than get back to her feet, she disappeared.

She teleported above Craig, but it didn't go unnoticed by him. He looked up as she stretched her palms out for yet another blast of Territory. The attack hot down at an alarming rate, but instead of moving, Craig straightened and closed his eyes. He looked calm as he moved his hands about, the fingers and the palms collecting the chi around and compressing the beam heading down for him. The impact was being suppressed into the hemisphere that he was charging up, and the humungous energy was still pouring in to where it all eventually fit into a sphere the size of what Minerva had before she launched it, only smaller.

Minerva's eyes widened further as her power was molded again. "No, but how…?!"

Craig spread his legs apart, taking in a deep breath before pulling back and releasing it forward. "Energy Arts – Bide Exploder!" He wasted no time in thrusting his palm forward, releasing a malicious beam of Minerva's own attack right back towards her. The large beam had way more power that ripped through the street, even the ground. Minerva was helpless as she hurriedly tried to teleport away, but its mass was too great. She hurriedly summoned explosions, very large ones all around her. They erupted violently, but the Bide Exploder continue on like they didn't exist.

Before she reached the terrified mistress, a white blur appeared before her, his blue eyes glaring daggers as a light suppressed into his fist. It was massively bright as he pulled it back.

"Dragon Slayer Secret Arts – Holy Nova!"

The fist collided with the incoming attack. At the exact moment of impact, a bright explosion of sundering, blinding light enveloped everything within the atmosphere. All the Magic Power released was like a hurricane of the spatial energy released battling the dome of collapsing light. All the buildings and debris within the area ahead of Craig began to crumble away within the corrupting blast wave. Spatial green and light fused and collapsed, making several flashes that expelled into a pillar skywards. Smoke waves forced Craig to harden his core and brace for the brutal impact. Winds went everywhere from block on end, the area unable to hold itself together as the ground around depressed into a lower field.

It took several minutes for all of the carnage and shockwaves to finally be put to a halt, then as the dust cleared, Craig glared ahead to see the results that had been made. Every building and every tree within a mile radius had suffered to either complete oblivion or was leveled on one side. For case of the buildings, everything was gone. Hardly even any debris was left as the dust revealed two silhouettes on the receiving end, one being a person with white scales that flashed in the dust.

As smoke passed over, it revealed a grunting Sting, whose fist and body had covered itself in scrapes and bruises. He panted profusely as he was barely able to block the attack, but even his magical energy was barely enough to match Minerva's in this situation.

"Sting." Minerva snarled.

"Milady, are you alright?" he asked as he glared at Craig, panting a little.

"I am fine. This was my fight you just interrupted with, you realize that?"

"Sorry…"

Straightening back up, Craig leered at Minerva and Sting, his muscles cramping some. "Hey, Minerva, was it? Cut the guy some slack. He just saved your ass."

Minerva glared back at Craig. "This does not concern you, filth."

"And there you go being a trashy tramp just trashing up lame insults. Geez, can you amateurs be anymore lame?"

"Shut your mouth around Milady!" Sting threatened, but Minerva stepped beside him.

"Ignore his skullduggery, Sting. He's just trying to get under our skin. But there isn't a chance he has a shot now that you have arrived." Minerva's anger subsided back into a smirk. "As deplorable as gaining up on a lonely competitor is, I'm afraid that our chances can't be taken lightly. So tell me, Craig…would you care to tell me what you think now?"

She sounded so threatening, but despite how her Magic Power and Sting in his Dragon Force were giving off a great level of strength, Craig didn't waver. He stared ahead with his position upright, glaring unamused daggers at them.

"Honestly, I'm just tired. Annoyed. Pissed. And don't get me started on you guys." He said in a sly tone. "How's that sound?"

Sting shot leers back at Craig, displeased by his truths. "It's as we've heard, Milady. He really has a bad mouth."

"Indeed. Shut him up."

"With pleasure." Sting approached Craig, his knuckles cracking as his white scales flared with incredible flowing strength of Dragon Force. Once in front of Minerva again, he crouched and shot like a rocket across the area, darting head on into again. The closer he got, the louder his screams were, and Craig waited ever so patiently for him to come around. He kept a straight frown as Sting closed the gap, reeling a light-covered fist jabbing forward to strike down Craig.

WHAM!

Time slowed down as Sting's fist was stopped, but not head on. A force from below in the shape of a boot hit his chest, rising swiftly and recoiling the mage in distress. The boot was revealed to have been Craig, and time sped back up as he forced Sting to stand in place.

This time his fist was pulled back. "Smash!" He punched forward, but Sting saw this and leaned left. Dodging his punch and on his side, he raised a heel and roundhouse kicked, but Craig ducked and hunched downwards to get under the heel. He swept his legs around, kicking Sting off his leg and slamming onto his back.

Watching Sting now taking his turn, Lector's face showed excessive worry. He looked up with a frown, his dark eyes the size of misty marbles in worry over fighting the monster. "Sting…"

A figure watching from a lacrima-monitor in another part of the city was glaring daggers. His white eyes were all that was seen within his bulky silhouette as he moved through the shadows. He gave off a small growl as he turned and walked in the direction where the battle was taking place.

Sting opened an eye while still on his back. Rebounding, he swirled into a dance-like tornado kick that swept Craig across his face. He regained his footing in a crouch while Craig tumbled away, landing on his side with a grunt.

"Gnngh, why always the face?" he grunted. As he was recovering, Sting reappeared behind him.

"Behind you!" Alzack shouted at the monitor.

"White Dragon's Claw!"

Sting thrust his claw at Craig, but Craig back-kicked the fist to make it deflect just above his head. He kicked again, stamping Sting in the chest. He swiftly turned around and grabbed Sting by the arm, pulling it down and turning his head up, mouth wide open and sunk his jagged fangs straight through the clothing and into the skin.

"GAH!" Sting shouted as his arm was being crunched by intense pressure. He could feel his muscles being pierced as Craig only bit harder, moving his head to dig deeper into the skin. Blood started to seep through the clothing. "Damn you…!" With his free arm, Sting pivoted and scored an uppercut into Craig's gut, with the same bright force as his claw attack. It was enough to make Craig lurch and move away, allowing Sting to let go and jump back.

Sting clutched his arm tight as he winced at his broken bones. Craig snapped so hard and with so much bite that it ached with painful results. But it was worth it, because he looked at Craig, seeing that he was starting to stiffen and wince.

"The hell…?" Craig looked down to his abdomen, seeing as there was an open hole through his black shirt. His stomach was exposed, but the various slash, bite, scorch, and tattoo markings were covered by a white stigma on the toned abs.

"That stigmata will hold you in place." Sting explained. "Now you're just a big punching back until you drop like glass. Milady, he's all yours."

Minerva smirked. "Don't mind if I do." She raised her hands towards Craig, igniting him in a flurry of massive explosions from left to right. It was all erupting green spatial energy all around him, and it wasn't letting up so easily. The ground around Craig was shaking profusely as he couldn't move, and his jacket, the rest of his cape, as well as parts of his pants and short were starting to wear away. His teeth gritted as he was bombarded with no way to defend; no way to move his arms and enact a chi form of defense. He was a vase that was to be shattered.

Explosions went off around his ankles, but the cast-iron boots shielded him for the most part. His heavy leg weights were also shielding his calves and shins from flaring pain. They still stung some and rung a little, but that was a price paid. His arm were suffering from bursts of energy as well, making it feel like they were gonna rip right off. He grunted loudly as his teeth shifted, pain flaring everywhere.

Minerva maniacally laughed through the carnage ahead, explosions in her background that had a volume rivaling her laugh. "This is what happens when you don't bow before me! Bow before the rightful queen!"

Craig grunted in searing pain and distaste over his body being convulsed. It was a horrendous feeling. Small explosion after another, and he couldn't move his body to fight back. Minerva wsn't letting up as she was asserting dominance, and Sting was there just as a lapdog. It was sick, and even as Craig opened an eye to get a look at the frowning Sting, he saw his hazy blue eyes. In that solemn instance, he felt one thing that was certain. Insecurity.

He knew the feeling before, hundreds of times. Over and over again, against the mightiest and the engineering of foes and problems. While he wasn't the smartest, he could be said to have the wisdom of a thousand years, and he knew Sting was afraid, and he should be. He knew a few individuals who were like that, who probably didn't like him because of his capabilities. A certain pink-haired Dragon Slayer was an example. When it came to dragons and dinosaurs, the answer was clear, but Craig was also a "Dragon Slayer", just not the kind that anyone would expect. As his head was swayed left and right, miniature explosions went on either side of his face. The range was making his ears ring. All the vibrations were palpitating haphazardly, but despite how his body was aching, he knew better than to merely fight back. He had to stay calm, and even in such circumstances recall the reasons why he fought; how he fought; and who the enemy was. And it all started as explosive green energy crackled and exploded constantly like fireworks.

When his eyes got a view of the spatial explosions, it was like rainbow fire outstretched. And it was all over the place, around him and above his head. The pain went away as he got a distorted and abstract view of the explosions, many upon many fireworks going off. It felt like a whole new world in his screwed up mind, and that world was rich full of potential. Fear, Angst. The magic that was hitting him, it wasn't as pure as the user itself. The colors signified it. It was just used energy with no gain to it. But Craig, his energy, his very assets, he treasured, and he will use that.

Closing his eyes as the dazzling bombardment went around him, the atmosphere crackled and the green energy around him was altering. It was igniting in ways that could very well tear off human flesh, or in the very least their clothing.

Minerva and Sting smirked as they watched Craig get swallowed in the attack, unwilling to struggle. It seemed that he was submitting at long last. But they needed to be sure. "Sting."

"Yes, Milady." Sting pounced on ahead towards the field of spatial explosions, pulling a fist back coated in his Dragon Slayer Magic. He roared as he closed in, ready to deal with final push.

'This is it. I'm finally beating this guy.' He thought back to Day 1, when he was disowned by a flying Craig. And the 4th day truly terrified him. 'I don't know what this guy is, but I do know one thing. He's strong. Scary strong. We can't lose this, not while I'm still standing!'

Lector punched forward with a proud smile. "Go, Sting!"

Sting let out a shrilled battle cry as he jumped through the explosions, bypassing them all to get his final blow in.

WHAM!

Sting's eyes dilated as everything went white. Two fingers on ether hand struck him in the ribs, coming from a pair of scraped arms. Sting's figure went completely immobile when he felt a very bizarre but familiar energy enter from the two fingers. It was like his nerves were paralyzed.

As time slowed down, the explosions and dust let up, allowing a pair of eyelids to slide up. A pair of calm blue eyes glared daggers into him, but they weren't the reason he was paralyzed. The smoke soon dissipated to how Craig once more, only this time his white jacket was no more, as was the red cape. He was reaching out to Sting with the middle and index fingers he had on either hand and jabbed his ribs, the sight shocking not only Sting, but Minerva as well.

"What?!"

Sting went tumbling backwards, thudding onto his back beside Minerva. She looked down at him with shock and back at Craig, seeing that he was giving a confident but very aggressive vibe off his entity. It frightened her.

"H-how…?" Sting was trying to sit up slowly but recoiled back to the ground as his ribs stung like fire. "GAH!" he howled in angst.

Craig stood in place and looked down at his abdomen, seeing that the insignia on him was completely gone. But really, it wasn't really gone, more like…converted.

As he thought about it, inside the explosions, he channeled the chi flowing through him and eased up the flow in a controlled manner around his wrists, eventually leading to his arms. With that enough covered, he kept his eyes shut and slowly traced all ten of his fingers around the insignia on his stomach, slowly making the light separate and trace his fingers slowly through his bodies and veins. He molded the flow like lathering soap on his hands, centering the light into the fingers just as he saw Sting's silhouette.

Now it was time for Sting to feel his own attack against him.

He took another fighting stance, back straight and ready to finish them. He said nothing, and instead waited for Minerva to make another strike.

The Sabertooth woman grunted in agony over the plan backfiring. Her patience was at an end, and she had to finish him now. She made greenish orbs appear around her hands again, summoning forth more magical explosions around her prey. Craig stood in place to take the blunt of the attack, yet as the explosions discharged and erupted, they started to distort around Craig's swirling arms. He was molding the attack's spatial energy around his forearms and wrists, making the chi absorption armor once more.

Minerva gasped at the sight of Craig molding her attack. Once again, she was completely shocked. "Impossible?"

Craig kept a calm vibe as he closed in on her.

Feeling desperation crawl up her spine, Minerva reached out, encompassing Craig in a growing bubble of her magic. Craig was picked off the ground momentarily, but his arms swirled and the fingers molded along the front of the sphere, as if "wiping" away the space and lathering it through his arms again. His feet touched the ground as the spatial hemisphere collapsed behind, leaving and explosion as he walked towards Minerva again.

Feeling complete fear, Minerva could see Craig's arms glowing in her power. She wasn't able to affect him at all.

In her fault, Sting rushed ahead, having able to recover from his paralyzing blow. He rushed at Craig with a fist encompassed in white energy, shooting ahead the same as before. "HRAH~!" As he closed in, however, Craig kept a very quelle gaze and felt the chi energy all around him. He swiped his left arm to the side, with Sting's incoming hook following in the same direction. It was like an invisible force threw Sting off, and he didn't know why. This left his body open for a kick in the chest. It sent him sliding back on all fours.

When he finally stopped a long ways, Sting craned his head up and shot pained glares at Craig. Unable to question, he instead opened his mouth.

"White Dragon's Holy Breath!"

A blazing white beam that was far greater in mass than his White Dragon's Roar pulsated across the land. It left a deep trail and a shuddering land beneath. The land rumbled as an immense white laser bolted towards Craig, but he still didn't move. He held his ground as he again moved his arms in opposite circular directions. He bent his knees forward and glared ahead, all the white brightness straight before him being stopped by his arms. Meanwhile the residual energy traveled around him, making him look like he was going through a tunnel of brightness. He continued to mold the energy around him, eventually making all that force tunneling around him, mold and bend inwards, with him taking in all that immense flow of magic.

As the energy of Sting's breath faded, the land shaking receded, but at the end of a deep trail, Craig stood and finished his arms movements, enveloping his entire body in Minerva and Sting's combined magical energy.

"No…" Sting gasped.

"It can't be!" Minerva denied.

Craig chose not to move as he continued to breath calmly. His body lining was allowing the chi to vent the spatial and draconic power through his entity and through every fiber of his being. As he molded, the energy, bizarre black eye lining appeared around him again, his eyes, for the briefest moment, turning into those same slits and color as before.

Upon that small change, Sting and Minerva froze in fear. Beads of sweat went down their faces as they saw the silhouette of a black, spiky dragon in the background with boiling, raging fire. It was gigantic, almost twice the size of a normal dragon, and Craig's bizarre energy encompassed it.

Completely at the mercy of this feeling, Minerva was making last ditch defense. With nowhere to hide, Minerva tried to conjure up whatever magic powerful enough. The ground beneath her was beginning to shake, several stones in the area started to defy gravity. Light rays shot from beneath her, heading towards Craig.

"Niel Wielg Mion Terse Elcantaeus!"

Craig's eyes narrowed, the bizarre look in his eyes dim but still there. 'That incantation…'

"Yagdo Rigora!"

Everything around them was completely enveloped in an ever-expanding, swirling mass of raw power. Within the mass, the look of a humungous, stone deity much like a war god was evident. He howled with all his intricate battle tattoos before fading into the light, compressing it within the area before a monstrous, roaring pillar of sheer light depressed the ground and shot skywards. The immense attack rattled the entire atmosphere, shaking the skies as well as the land itself. Everything within Crocus roared so loud that it could've been seen and heard from miles on end.

Watching from unknown areas, Shinigami was smirking up at the sight. "Well now, seems as though the Yakuma clan and connection to gods isn't for naught then…"

As the pillar of light rampaged, Minerva and Sting stood side by side and looked up at it. They watched as it roared and flared without end. They thought for sure Craig couldn't have survived that, but they then heard a loud shimmering down through the airspace. Both their ears cringed as they saw a brighter slash going horizontally across the pillar. The light literally broke into two, revealing Craig high up with all three blades revealed, and what made it even more terrifying was that they were also enveloped in the same energy.

Minerva's eyes shuddered in deep despair. "No…stop…"

Craig turned his body and spiraled in place, but only with a harsh turn. The turn made a long, deep wave go straight up and down, once again bisecting the entire light. It reached the ground, making the base explode din sharp rays that went in all directions. Minerva and Sting covered up as they felt like knives prodding into their beings. Both Dragon Slayer and mistress of Sabertooth were yelling as the chi in the traveling blade's light was tearing up their clothes and causing their own blood to shed. They both fell over with pained thuds, their sides aching beyond proportions.

In midair still, with the light and the magic spliced clean through, Craig had nothing keeping him from doing nothing. He sheathed all his blades as he fell once more, keeping calm as his body channeled the force into his feet. Rainbow energy surged into his feet, like how blood rushes to one's head when upside down. 'This feeling…it's incredible. I'm actually bending chi without touching it, and, I think that I'm controlling it at will through my body. This is insane!' His brow furrowed as he closed in on the ground. 'Okay, let's use this chi right!'

Using the residual chi left in his feet, he tumbled through the air and finally got close to the ground.

"Energy Arts – Supreme Force Drive!"

Instead of the head-on punch he did like before, all the chi compressed into his heels. He finally made contact with the ground, making a light wave ripple through the area. It struck Sting and Minerva, and traveled in almost half of Crocus, barely reaching the castle dead center as well. The light wave dissipated, and at last, the shockwave caught up. The ground from miles on end depressed several feet, and the buildings that were in an area far greater than what Sting's Holy Nova did were reduced to shambles as beams of energy Craig unleashed from the supernatural chi force blazed through Crocus. The energy Sting's Holy Breath, and Minerva's earlier attempts had all been absorbed and unleashed in an omnidirectional quasar that leveled all of half of Crocus; even the shield keeping Mercurius safe was damaged as cracks appeared in it. Some parts even fractured and shattered, and some pieces of the castle were cracked superficially.

After several minutes of the chi discharged, dust and smoke was everywhere. Around the area where Craig was, the entire part was destroyed, buried by nothing but sheer overturned grass and dirt. It was all practically looking like a bare wasteland. And it looked that way from miles on end. He could only see buildings the size of peas thanks to the sun's residual rays and the purplish dark clouds in the distance illuminating it all.

Craig dropped to a knee, panting profusely as he was completely out of breath. His lungs screamed for relief as his muscles felt like spaghetti noodles. He breathed in and out, dropping to his stomach and lying down in a push-up position as Sting and Minerva were both seen falling out of the sky, having been blown away from the supreme shockwaves of the chi. Even when Minerva tried to bend the space around her, it went straight to her, like it didn't even matter. Both bodies plopped to the ground, clothes practically destroyed and eyes devoid of pupils.

Lola and all of the people watching were at a loss for words. Half of Crocus was annihilated in that one strike, and that one was equally as grim as the one that knocked Jura out. Not a single person was without a gaping mouth.

"…d-did…"

"No way…"

"That guy just freaking ripped Crocus into pieces!"

The audience was scared, but at the same time, they were at a loss for what was to be said. Fairy Tail, even Gildarts, didn't see that coming. Those earlier attacks were bad enough, but what was seen as of the sunset was beyond comprehensible. Not even Lola had words to detail the destruction that was set into motion at this time. "I…I can't even say it right now! But ladies and gentlemen, Craig has just single-handedly destroyed Sabertooth's two remaining competitors! This is just beyond crazy!"

Fairy Tail was still in shock, but their emotions were driven to moderate surprise as they gained 6 points, bringing their total to 69. It was absolutely incredible to where they couldn't even speak. Even Natsu was unable to say words as he was equally as speechless as the time Craig sliced the Tahungadon. Nothing but sheer shock for all the world to bear witness to.

Cana, however, was just staring up, completely baffled. Meanwhile, her cards spelling "DEATH" were perfectly aligned, while her other cards were gone.

As the roaring waves of wind blew away any residual dust on the battlefield, Craig took in a deep breath and sighed. His eyes had long since returned to normal again, revealing blue. He slowly slouched back up and started to fall over, but jolted back up and continued to breathe. He couldn't fall yet. Not yet. And he won't!

With a loud stomp, he beamed up at the sky, looking with shrilled resolution as the fading orange hue began to turn to darkness. He got the easy stuff out of the way now, and learned some tricks along the way, but as a cold, dark wind passed by, it howled with a shrill monstrous vibe to it. In fact, the magical energy could've been felt back in the Domus Flau.

Lola's eyes widened in realization. "Do you feel that?"

Yajima glared cold daggers. "Yes…"

Mato was still shaking, eyes devoid of pupils as half of the entire city was destroyed, but more importantly, this was all done by one man. There was no way someone like him could've possibly done this. Right?

The magical energy in the air around Craig felt like gravity. His already tired will was feeling heavy. It was like it was going to pass out, but he recognized it, and that's what made him stand upright and look dead ahead. As he glared ahead, the gravity began to intensify, weighing the bodies of those not strong enough down, like Sting and Minerva.

The whimpering Lector, still in shock over Sting's defeat, was shaking with his tail slumped down. Tears were in his eyes as he saw and felt nothing short of deep and immense magical pressure.

"What is this?" Gildarts asked, wide-eyed. "Where the hell is all this magic coming from?"

"You guys feel that?" Happy shakily asked.

Lucy's eyes showed astonishment as fear tinkled down her neck. Beside her, Wendy and Levy had the same feeling. All in Fairy Tail had nothing to say as they instead felt, and it was weak but a very pulsing gravity field. And the scariest part was that it was still miles into where Craig was.

"The hell is going on…?" Gajeel asked.

"Looks like things are gonna get rocky." Laxus said. Despite his calm expression, he also showed beads of sweat.

Erza's expression showed fortitude. "Looks like the final battle has begun."

Natsu gasped. "Wait, this energy…!"

Cana narrowed her eyes as she watched the monitor. The stadium lights were on so everyone could see them crystal clearly. In every monitor, they could see the sun's remaining light far in the mountains behind Craig being passed by incoming clouds. The clouds gave the background a dark purple hue to it.

There were no lights, only incoming dusk. This was the hour and the time. Craig's spine shuddered as he felt all the gravity escalate to a climax, until it stopped all together. Everything then…was dead silent.

"…hello."

Craig's eyes didn't shift as he knew who was behind him. All the magic in the area was shifting beneath the cloaks of five figures who stood several meters behind the tattered being. They all had grins beneath their faces to show their congrats, as well as bitter disgust.

At long last, Fallen Prometheus had come.

Craig looked over his shoulder calmly, his defiant daggers staring heated rays back at the five monsters that were behind him. The first thing he saw, were the very dark eyes of Shinigami. They said the same thing, as he did to him: No more running.

"Fallen Prometheus?!" Makarov gasped. "But I thought they disappeared!"

"Were they just hiding out this whole time?" Gray questioned.

"But why?" Juvia asked fearfully. "Why now?"

Cana was looking up at the screen, then back down at the cards before her. Her gaze was fixed on the message, and her brow furrowed with her growing fright. With one look back up, she knew the answer. The time had finally come for Fallen Prometheus to keep its word.

"Craig…"

His back was still turned as the black cloaks were shifting, but the supernatural was that there was no wind. It was flowing around him. It was like a ghostly wind was breezing pass them, and the ghost behind this masquerade was to shriek terror in what was to come.

---

Didn't do much other than warp up the rest of the competition, as well as hinting Craig's early stages of Primal Force. The next three weeks I hope to get the story complete, but the next 2 chapters will be a major eruption of pure hell for Craig and his new chi capabilities. So review and thanks for liking this so far!