"We're dark mages!" - Talking

'We're dark mages!' - Thinking

"We're dark mages!" - Communication via Lacrima / Telepathy

"WE'RE DARK MAGES!" - Screaming

"Fairy Law!" - Spells

[ Here / Now ] - Place / Time

Chapter 12: The shadows of new and old enemies

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

Brain turned towards the cave entrance when he felt Racer's presence getting closer and closer and, a few moments later, he saw the other dark mage appear before him with the coffin being carried over his shoulders, however although he had brought what he had asked for, the leader of Oración Seis immediately noticed how Racer looked more tired than expected, in addition to the visible cut on the collar of his racing suit.

"What happened Racer?"

"I ran into an inconvenience, Brain." said the runner of the guild with a frown "Two mages ambushed me, even if they weren't allied to each other, and one of them belonged to Shadow Soul but was not one of the mages we have information about."

Brain narrowed his eyes "It seems that this forest is teeming with insects. Well it doesn't matter, as soon as we get the Nirvana, we'll wipe them all out in one fell swoop." he then looked at Wendy with a small smirk, removing the chains around the coffin with a quick spell "Now Wendy...this is the man that you will heal."

"I-I will never help you!"

"Yeah!" shouted Happy, standing at Wendy's side "We will never help a dark guild!"

"Oh but you will, you will heal this man…or should I say that you must?" asked Brain without looking at them as the coffin opened, revealing a blue-haired man bound by more chains in the center of the coffin, with several cracks visible on his skin "The name of this name is Jellal, a former member of the Magic Council...which also means that he knows where to find the Nirvana."

Wendy stared at the man with shocked eyes "J-Jellal…"

"Jellal...you mean that Jellal?!"

"You know him, Happy?"

"Of course I know him! He tried to kill Erza!" shouted Happy pointing at Jellal "He even manipulated the Council into firing the Etherion and he would also have killed Simon and all the others!"

Lips quivering and eyes moist, Wendy looked at Jellal again before staring at the floor "I suppose he did…"

"How is it possible that he is still alive? We saw his tower blown away!"

"He's not exactly alive, he's rather a ghost controlled by a ghost, reduced to this state due to high exposure to Etherion. However you can heal him, you owe him right?" said Brain looking at Wendy with a smirk on her face, but when the young girl didn't seem willing to do so, he conjured a dagger in his right hand and thrust it into Jellal's arm, shocking Wendy "Hurry up and revive him!"

"Noooo! Please stop!" shouted Wendy before being hit in the face by Brain with his staff.

"Heal him. It should be easy enough for you."

After helping her sit up, Happy looked at her with worried eyes "Wendy, Jellal is a really bad guy! You can't heal him or they will get the Nirvana as well!"

"I know...but he was the one who saved me…" said Wendy, with tears running down her cheeks "I heard rumors about him doing bad things, but I won't believe to something like that…"

"What are you talking about?! I saw him with my eyes and-!"

"Somebody was controlling him! I'm sure of that! Jellal would never do those things!" replied Wendy before looking at Brain "Please! Give me time to think this over!"

Brain stared at her for a moment before nodding "Very well." he summoned a small hourglass and placed it on the altar "Five minutes. After this time, I will kill him permanently."

As Wendy watched Jellal with tearful eyes, Happy could only think 'Natsu...this is bad! Please hurry up and save us!'

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

Mira soared to avoid an arrow fired with innate precision. Turning towards the direction from which the projectile had come, she hurled two orbs of dark energy but none of the shots were successful, only destroying most of the trees hit. Narrowing her gaze, she observed the branches of the trees that surrounded her in search of her opponent, who had turned out to be much more elusive than expected.

'So far she has only used simple arrows and a few throwing knives.' thought Mira before looking at the arrow in her hand which was slowly crumbling into particles of magic 'However, these are magically crafted arrows, which could mean that her bow is a magical weapon.'

"Shatter Shot."

Eyes widening in surprise, Mira scurried to the right to avoid five arrows that rained down from above, and when she looked up to see her opponent, she barely had time to cross her arms to block Reina's blade before it could cut her. Sparks flew from the collision between the armor of her forearms and Reina's sword, but the girl didn't seem perturbed and said "Null Blade."

Under Mira's shocked gaze, the blade was enveloped in a magical aura and slowly began to cut the protection of the Fairy Tail sorceress, who then tried to kick Reina away, but the huntress avoided it by arching her back, before releasing a thick blanket of smoke from her cloak. Mira flapped her wings forcefully to sweep the smoke away but while she succeeded in her attempt she could only see Reina's mantle and hair before she vanished into the branches of a tree.

'She didn't have that blade with her before. Re-Equip perhaps?'

"Watch out Mira!"

Mira just had time to look down before being overwhelmed by a wave of soft ground, crashing against a nearby tree; however, she managed to free herself by releasing a wave of dark energy that swept away the surrounding ground. Not far from her, Hoteye looked at her with amused eyes before waving a hand to send a large wave of soil towards Bacchus, who however managed to counter it by releasing a large amount of magical power from the palm of his hands.

"Tch! What a drag...getting close is awfully hard with this guy right here." said Bacchus, glaring at Hoteye who merely smirked.

"Money is all that matters in this world, and whoever has the most money is stronger and certainly more farsighted than the others!"

With a circular motion of his arm, he created a violent wave of earth spiraling around him, blocking three knives that would otherwise have pierced his back. Turning to the trees behind him, he sent a violent surge of earth in that direction, but Reina was now too high up for him to reach.

Mira watched the scene with narrowed eyes 'Despite being two of us we can't prevail over any of them. If we had to focus too much on one enemy, the other would not hesitate to get behind us. At this rate we will most likely-!' a sudden, albeit small, peak of magic immediately drew her attention to the west 'This feeling…a magic so pure…none of the Oración Seis had such power, which means…Wendy!'

Acting quickly, she approached Bacchus before pulling him back, putting some distance between them and Hoteye. The martial artist looked at her with a raised eyebrow "What's the problem?"

"I just felt Wendy's magical power."

"Are you sure that it was her?"

Mira nodded "Pretty much. It was a very pure power and none of the Oración Seis had anything remotely like it, the same goes for Natsu and the others. I'm concerned that she used it." she then looked at Hoteye "Do you think you can handle them yourself?"

Bacchus looked back at Hoteye before grinning "You know what? Buy me a drink and I'll keep them busy for as long as you need to."

Mira grinned as well "Then be sure to drop by Fairy Tail one of these days. I'll save a few barrels of booze for you." and with those words, Mira soared into the air again before darting west, easily dodging an arrow shot from the branches above. In a matter of seconds, she vanished among all the trees, leaving Bacchus to deal with the two dark mages.

"Well now…" said Bacchus while cracking his neck "Let's do this!"

"Are you sure you can handle us both? Sure, this is a free-for-all battle, but without your friend's help, you won't be able to do much against the power of money." said Hoteye with a calm face, despite feeling Reina's gaze on his back.

Bacchus let out a small chuckle "It's definitely a tough fight…my soul is shacking with excitement!" he slowly raised his right foot before slamming it down, shaking the surrounding area and opening cracks in the ground. The next instant he was in front of Hoteye with a burst of speed, shocking the wizard of Oración Seis, before striking him with an open palm, hurling him tens of meters away. Then crouching on the ground, he immediately leapt to the branches above him and struck a tree with his palm, destroying a good part of it; Reina leapt from the destroyed branches and landed on another branch, watching the martial artist balance a few feet away from her.

"Unfortunately for you, I'm still an S-Class wizard…and you've yet to do anything to make you look better than Erza." grinned Bacchus before grabbing his gourd, popping the cap off with a finger. Reina's sensitive nose immediately caught the strong smell of alcohol in the air but she didn't try to destroy that gourd anyway, as she knew that Bacchus would easily block any attack from that distance.

Taking two big gulps, Bacchus sighed in satisfaction as a slight pinkness appeared on his cheeks. Putting the gourd away, he assumed a strange fighting stance but when he took a step, he immediately overbalanced to the right, starting to fall from the branch.

Reina immediately aimed her bow at him to hit him at that moment of disadvantage.

The next thing she knew, Bacchus had regained his balance almost unnaturally before zeroing the distance between them, hitting her with five strikes in quick succession and sending her to the ground with a massive slam.

Chuckling in amusement, Bacchus looked down "Y'all deserve to make me drink my booze~ but now show me something good, little huntress~"

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

"Fire Dragon's Iron Fist!"

Moving at high speed, Asteria dodged Natsu's attack before kicking him in the head, sending him tumbling to the ground but the boy stopped short before releasing a cone of flame from his mouth. The mage of Shadow Soul avoided this attack too before lunging at him; Natsu immediately tried to intercept her with his punch but she moved over him before nine summoning swords of lightning and hurling them at him.

Natsu completely engulfed his arms in fire before generating two large explosions that countered Asteria's attack, who looked at him with an amused grin "You will never be able to beat me if you don't get faster! Maybe I should take care of your friend over there first, maybe that will give you the boost you need."

Natsu grit his teeth enveloping her body in flames before sprinting towards her and attempting to strike her again but Asteria flew up before raising an arm "Pleiades!" and immediately after, six beams of light hit the ground, hitting Natsu before he could avoid them, generating a huge explosion.

Momentarily satisfied, Asteria turned to Bonnie to see how she was doing and sadly noticed that her guildmate wasn't doing too well. Just then Bonnie narrowly avoided a powerful sand tornado summoned by a weirdo with a metal tail attached to his body, only to be nearly hit by who Asteria was sure was Gray Fullbuster.

'What the hell is he doing there?'

However, she was surprised when she saw Bonnie attempt to hit Gray with bullet-like bubbles, only for Gray to split into two tiny blue creatures, thus avoiding the attack. The Shadow Soul sorceress didn't have time to avoid another sand tornado that hit her from underneath, but Bonnie still managed to stay on her pillow, however, by the time the guy with the tail vanished into thin air, Angel had already managed to reach Bonnie with a large greatsword clutched in her hands.

"Shit! Watch out Bonnie!"

Bonnie barely managed to get away from Angel, but her opponent brought down her greatsword, opening a large gash in her left side and also cutting the pillow, scattering blood and bits of wool and cloth. A scream of pain escaped Bonnie's lips and she fell off her pillow onto the ground, but Asteria arrived at that moment and grabbed her and her pillow in the air before she moved several feet away from Angel.

"Hey how are you feeling?" asked Asteria, keeping her eyes on Angel while trying in every way to hold back so as not to gouge her eyes out of her skull.

"Pain…need to…sleep…" whispered Bonnie, moving both hands over her bleeding wound "Pleasant Dreams…" a magical circle appeared beneath her body before vanishing, as blue stigmas began to coat her body, focusing on the area around the wound. Asteria noticed right away that Bonnie was asleep and that the wound was thankfully healing, but she doubted that her guildmate could fight in her current condition.

"Ara~ your friend is resourceful, too bad she's not on my level." said Angel with a smug grin on her face, not at all perturbed by the murderous look that Asteria was giving her.

'Oh how I would like to break your neck…but right now I have to retreat, I can't leave Bonnie defenseless even if she can fight in her sleep.' thought Asteria before placing her guildmate over her left shoulder while keeping the damaged pillow under the right arm. Yet as she enveloped herself in her golden aura, a scream caught her attention.

"Like hell I'll let you escape!"

Asteria jumped back just in time to avoid Natsu's flaming punch, which hit the ground causing a huge explosion. Cursing her bad star, Asteria then took flight but realized that, with Bonnie following, she could not go as fast as usual nor could she move freely as before, and unfortunately for her Natsu immediately took advantage of it by starting to chase her, jumping from a tree to another, and throwing balls of fire from time to time.

"Learn to read the mood, will ya?!" shouted back Asteria avoiding another huge sphere of fire "I'm not happy to interrupt our fight either!"

Unfortunately Natsu didn't seem to listen to Asteria and continued to chase her, completely forgetting that he wasn't alone.

An amused laugh escaped from Angel's lips "What an interesting fellow, but he is clearly not a gentleman; to think he would abandon a girl like you…" she said while looking back at Lucy, who was staring at her with a troubled expression "I guess I'll have to take care of you now that we're alone."

'She is a Celestial Spirit mage like me, she can summon two spirits at the same time and has at least two golden keys of the zodiac…' thought the blonde mage while keeping a hand over her whip. Since Natsu had immediately started fighting against Asteria, Lucy had watched the fight between Angel and Bonnie, managing to find out several things about her current opponent, but she certainly didn't feel at ease just because she knew what she was dealing with.

"Looks like you have a Golden Zodiac Key." noted Angel, eyeing Taurus with a cold smirk on her face "Seems like I'll be able to expand my collection after today. Well I'd say it's time to start, don't you think?" she then grabbed one of her golden keys "Open, Gate of the Scorpion! Scorpio!"

"We are!" shouted the spirit stellar upon being summoned, looking at Lucy with a kind smile "We are pleased to meet ya, owner of Aquarius!"

"He knows that Aquarius is one of my Celestial Spirits?" wondered Lucy with shocked eyes.

"Oh~ so she's the owner of your girlfriend?"

"Girl…friend…?" repeated Lucy, feeling a strong discomfort in the pit of the stomach 'He is Aquarius' boyfriend?! I wasn't going to summon her as there is no water here but after this discovery I certainly won't summon her or she would drown me for sure!' shacking her head to chase away those uncomfortable thoughts, Lucy pointed at Scorpio "Go Taurus, take him out!"

"Moooooooh! I'll follow your beautiful body's orders!" shouted the minotaur before rushing toward his fellow celestial spirit, who blasted him with a tornado of sand, however Taurus used his superior physical strength coupled with his ax to cut the tornado in two with a powerful slash. Scorpio moved away to attempt to hit him with more tornadoes, but Taurus still managed to push his way through those sand attacks, however when he got close to his target, Angel forced Scorpio back into the stellar spirit world.

"It seems that the legendary strength of Taurus is not a simple bluff, but I know what his weakness is."

In a flash of light, the two little blue creatures, that Lucy had figured out to be Gemini, appeared in front of their owner before transforming into a perfect copy of Lucy. The Fairy Tail sorceress was ready for anything, except to see her clone start playing with her chest in a sensual way, much to her chagrin, sending Taurus crazy which allowed Gemini to attack him using Caelum, who had just been summoned by Angel, and send him flying with a large wound on his side, forcing him back to their world.

'Damn it! Who can I summon now? Maybe Sagittarius could…' Lucy noticed at that moment that Gemini had exact copies of her keys hanging from their belt 'Don't tell me they can summon my spirits?! In that case I have to stop them from summoning him!'

Quickly grabbing one of her keys, Lucy opened a magic circle to her right "Open, Gate of the Lion! Leo!" and in a flash of gold, Leo appeared, arms folded and a confident smile on his lips.

"Your prince is here, Lucy!" said Leo before looking at their opponents "To think that our first battle together would be against another Celestial Spirit. It's been a while, Gemini."

Before Gemini could answer, Angel forced the gate shut, causing them to vanish while Caelum floated at her side "So you also have three golden keys? This is getting very interesting, but unfortunately for you, you still have to learn to know your Spirits and their relationships well." raising another key, she intoned "Open, Gate of the Ram! Aries!"

Under the shocked eyes of Leo and Lucy, a pink-haired girl with small horns on her head appeared and looked at them with obvious sadness on her face "I'm so sorry Leo…"

"Aries…"

"T-That's not fair…!" said Lucy while trembling at the implication of Angel's action "Now Leo won't be able to fight…"

Angel patted Aries on the head with a calm smile "You know when I killed her previous owner, I was sure she had Leo's key, but you are his owner now…oh well, it means that after today they will be together again! Are not you happy?"

"So you are the one who killed Karen?" growled Leo.

"But of course! That simpleton really hoped she could defeat me when she couldn't even summon a single Spirit!" said Angel, laughing at the memory of her fight with Karen "You should have seen her face! She continually tried to summon Aries but without success!"

While Leo was intent on glaring furiously at her, Lucy looked sadly at the key in her hand "This is not how you should meet again…close-!"

Leo was quick to stop her hand, keeping his eyes on Angel and Aries "Don't look down on me, Lucy. It's true that she's a friend of mine, but she's your enemy's Spirit…which means she's my enemy now."

"But…!"

Leo shook his head before advancing toward Aries, who mimicked him with a serious face "Our purpose is to protect our master, for that is our pride!" and without hesitation the two celestial spirits charged at each other under Lucy's pained eyes, while Angel watched the scene with a calm, if not mildly surprised face.

"Oh~? You are actually going to fight?" she asked as Aries was punched in the face by Leo "Well…this should be entertaining enough."

'No…this isn't right!' thought Lucy while looking at the fight, which was obviously which was turning in Leo's favor given his predisposition to combat, unlike Aries who seemed more suited for a support role 'How can she use her Celestial Spirit like…this?' Lucy's eyes saw movement behind Aries and tilting her head slightly she could see Caelum transform into a cannon-like shape 'No…don't tell me she's-!'

"Mh…I suppose she isn't really a match for Leo. Oh well…" her smiled turned cold "Caelum!"

A beam of green energy was fired from Caelum and Aries was powerless before being pierced from behind, blasting a large hole in her belly. Leo watched in horror the fate of his friend but before he could defend himself or Caelum's beam could hit him, Lucy's voice echoed through the clearing "Leo! Forced Dismissal!"

The spirit of the lion vanished in a flash and the beam of energy pierced several trees behind Lucy as she fell to her knees with tears streaming down her cheeks "I'm sorry…! I'm so sorry!"

"It's okay…" Lucy looked up just to see the sad smile on Aries' face "I'm glad…that Leo found…a great owner…" and in a flash of light, she was gone.

"Oh my~! You pulled a fast one on me, Lucy-chan!" said Angel with a surprised face "I was completely sure of getting a perfect shot!"

Lucy didn't answer her, only raising the key still clutched in her hands "Open, Gate of the Lion…"

Leo reappeared immediately, answering his owner's call, while Lucy suddenly felt weaker, yet she didn't hesitate to bow her head "I'm sorry Leo…I…I…"

"I'm not angry with you Lucy. I could never be." said Leo, as his eyes were full of rage, but all that rage was aimed only at Angel, who was slightly concerned by what had just happened. Clenching his fists hard, now wrapped in a golden glow, Leo began to advance towards Angel "It's my fault Karen died…but now I can at least avenge her."

"Open, Gate of the Scorpion! Scorpio!"

Leo lunged forward as Scorpio appeared, blasting away one of his sand tornadoes with one blow "Out of the way Scorpio!"

"We are sorry for what happened to Aries!" said Scorpio, trying to keep Leo at bay "But we must protect our owner!"

Making his way with the force, Leo managed in a short time to reach his opponent and hit him with a powerful punch to the face, throwing him after Angel, who began to back away, raising her hands to appease the spirit of the lion "W-Wait! You can't do this! What about your precious Aries?!"

Leo didn't dignify her with an answer and was preparing to hit her with all his strength and anger, when he saw an evil grin forming on Angel's lips.

"Are you sure you want to do this…when you're about to lose your owner?"

Eyes widening in shock, Leo turned to Lucy and saw Caelum, to her left, transform into its cannon form. Leo had been so caught up in his desire for revenge that he hadn't seen Caelum move towards Lucy so it could attack her now that she was defenseless and couldn't move!

"Caelum! Kill her!"

"LUCY!"

Caelum fired again a beam of energy aimed at Lucy, who turned towards the enemy spirit without being able to react in any way and closed her eyes, waiting for her imminent death.

"I got her!"

Only to be forced up by something that had grabbed her back, pulling her to safety before Caelum's attack could reach her. Angel and Leo watched in shock as Lucy was in the air with two angelic wings behind her, but turning just a little, a white cat made her presence known by screaming at the lion spirit "Finish her now! You stupid lion!"

Without having to repeat it twice, Leo turned back to Angel, who was now positively terrified of the celestial spirit. He cocked back his right fist, which was glowing with power "This is for Karen and Aries!"

"Wait! Waitwaitwaitwaitwait-!"

"REGULUS IMPACT!"

As his fist impacted against Angel, a giant lion's head formed behind him before causing a powerful explosion that smashed Angel into a tree, then knocking her to the ground, unconscious and with her clothes mostly destroyed. Releasing a long, steadying breath, Leo walked over to Angel as Carla carried Lucy to the ground "T-Thanks for the save…"

"Don't mention it. You still need to find and save Wendy, and you seem to me more reliable than that barbarian who has gone who knows where!" growled Carla, looking in the direction where Natsu had disappeared, chasing Asteria and Bonnie.

"Lucy." she looked at Leo who knelt in front of her, handing her four keys "These were her keys; since she will be arrested, the contracts will be broken so you can form new ones yourself, and if she manages to escape, it is always better that you keep these keys."

"Thank you Leo." said Lucy with a smile, before looking down "And I'm sorry for…what happened to Aries…"

Leo shook his head with a sad smile on his face "Don't be. Now that I avenged Karen, I'm feeling better."

"This is all very nice but we have yet to find Wendy!" said Carla flying in front of them "What do we do now? You don't even look like you can stand!"

"We can only follow Natsu and hope that his nose leads us to Wendy…"

"Entrusting Wendy's rescue to a brute like him…I hate how this is our only chance at the moment…"

Lucy let out an awkward laugh "I can totally understand how you feel…" she then looked at the forest with worried eyes "I just hope everyone else is okay…"

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

Mira quickly arrived on the area above the small crater where there was an old abandoned village. She started looking around for Wendy when she finally spotted a cave and with concentration, she sensed several magical presences inside.

"That must be their hideout." she said before diving toward the cave. Arriving in a few moments, she landed a few meters inside the cave and was surprised by what appeared in front of her: Brain was there, holding a hand to his face for some reason, along with Midnight and Racer, but the biggest surprise was a young blue haired man wearing a strange ruined suit, and at his feet she saw the unconscious form of Wendy with Happy next to her, visibly terrified of the guy in front of him.

The blue cat noticed her and was more than happy to scream "Mira! You are here!"

As everyone else turned to face the cave entrance, Mira kept her gaze on the blue-haired wizard 'He is identical to Mystogan, is it possible that he is the Jellal of our world? The one who kidnapped Erza?'

Remembering the importance of saving Wendy, Mira decided not to dwell too much on Jellal and dashed forward to try to recover the young sorceress, but Jellal aimed a hand at her and, before she could react, she was hit by a blast of energy that also destroyed the floor of the cave, sending her falling down.

"I see your power is impressive as ever Jellal." said Brain with a smirk, ignoring the feeling of despondency he'd felt when he sensed Angel's defeat. He then started walking toward the blue-haired mage, who nevertheless turned to look at him with a serious look before destroying the ground under his feet, causing Brain to fall into the huge hole Jellal just created. Racer was shocked by Jellal's actions but as he moved to neutralize the blue-haired mage, Jellal hit him with a giant wave of magical power, sending him crashing into the wall of the cave, stunning him and rendering him unable to act. After a few seconds of stillness, Jellal looked from Happy, who was petrified with fear, to Midnight, who was still sleeping on the floor. Without saying anything, he then walked towards the exit of the cave and vanished in seconds.

Happy shook his head to recover himself then tried to wake Wendy, when a slight shaking of the ground made him worried, only to see Mira step out of the pit she had fallen into. Looking around her, she noticed what had happened "Where's Jellal?"

"He left after attacking Brain and that guy with the long nose!"

Mira looked for a moment at the exit of the cave and then took Wendy in her arms "We'll think about him later, now we have to take her back to base camp. Gray and Jura need her."

Nodding to her words, Happy materialized his wings while Mira grew hers, after which the two soared and exited the cave to head towards the area where they left Gray and the others. However neither of them noticed the two pairs of eyes that were observing everything from the edge of the crater…

"They managed to retrieve the girl." noted Asher while staring at Mira and Happy as they flew away with Wendy. He the looked back at the cave "I can still sense three presences inside."

Beside him, Ranmaru was surveying the area below, ignoring Mira and the others as they passed over them. It was obvious that once Wendy was found, they would take her back to base camp, so she and Asher positioned themselves exactly between the cave and the alliance meeting point; it was she who had chosen that point and Asher had simply followed her, without asking why they had stopped in that spot.

Honestly speaking, she had been surprised to see Jellal Fernandez come out of the cave. She knew all about her treachery as well as that of Ultear Milkovich, currently wanted by the new Magic Council, and had the opportunity to confirm from multiple sources that Jellal was declared dead even though no body was ever recovered. She had personally double-checked the source of that information given their importance, so seeing that man alive and well could only raise many questions in her mind, to which she immediately found an answer.

"The coffin." Asher looked at her for a moment but she ignored him, her eyes fixed on the edge of the crater where Jellal had disappeared after leaving the cave. She could still feel his magical power getting further and further away, yet Ranmaru was sure she hadn't felt a trace of it until seconds ago, which could only indicate that, until then, Jellal had been locked in that cross-shaped coffin.

Her left arm reached back to grab a notebook inside her backpack and after pulling it out, she began to quickly write a few sentences 'If the opportunity arises, I'll have to check that coffin to find out if it's made of materials that insulate the presence of magical power, but until then it's safe to assume that Wendy's powers are greater than anticipated; possible ability to bring the dead back to life, or possibly a spell capable of healing wounds considered lethal.'

"You should follow Jellal." pausing momentarily her writing, she looked at Asher, who arched an eyebrow, silently asking why he should follow him "In the multitude of unexpected events that I had considered, the sudden appearance of a traitorous Wizard Saint, left for dead by the Magic Council, was undoubtedly one of the least possible; I'll need more time and information to formulate a strategy to subjugate him, since to face him head on would be the height of stupidity. Your magic is perfect for the role of scout and will allow you to get to safety immediately."

Asher eyed her for a moment before nodding.

"Remember our deal, shadow."

"You remember your part of the bargain." replied Asher before looking past her, disappearing soon after without making a sound. Ranmaru said nothing but simply waved her left hand and a dark mist rose from the ground from which came a crow that seemed to be made of shadows and bones. The animal flapped its wings and, having taken off, headed in the direction in which Jellal had gone.

Now certain that she had one eye on the unexpected new comer that had just appeared, Ranmaru returned her focus to the cave where she could sense someone quickly approaching the exit. It appeared that Racer had been the first to recover.

Sure enough, a second later she saw the wizard of Oración Seis come out of the cave, looking around with an agitated air until he spotted Mira flying over the trees, further and further away from that place. Ranmaru felt his magic activate and then saw him running towards her direction, though he most likely hadn't even seen her given his focus on the Fairy Tail sorceress, however there was something strange about Racer: he was not fast.

'Hoping to be able to accomplish something with that speed is foolish, yet he has activated his magic...I can feel it clearly.' she closed her eyes to focusing further; Ranmaru could feel something very large approaching and Racer was at the center of that something. her his eyes, she watched the enemy get closer and closer 'It's not a spell that makes him faster, but one that makes him appear faster to others.'

Having most likely deduced the true effect of Racer's magic, Ranmaru conjured a card which began to glow with a soft green and black glow before placing it on the ground in front of her. Her senses, honed and perfected over years of training, made her realize that she had just entered the area of influence of Racer's magic and the next instant she saw him leap towards Mira in hopes of reaching her, but Ranmaru's magic activated just then.

"Binding Thorn."

Racer was already in mid-air when he saw dozens of vines growing out of the ground and attempting to grab him, but he managed to spin in mid-air and cut them all off with quick strokes, however that action stopped his momentum and he fell back into the large crater. As soon as his feet hit the ground, he ran along the wall at his speed and, once he reached the top, he looked around gritting his teeth.

He recognized that voice, it was the same as when he was stopped while he was carrying the coffin.

"Not once, but twice have I been stopped by this person." growled Racer before hearing something towards the trees. Someone was running to get away from that point but they were way too loud and he could very well understand where they were. Quickly activating his magic, he immediately ran in that direction but after several meters he dropped back dead weight, sliding on the ground. After he stopped, he put a hand to his throat and when he pulled it back he saw that his glove was covered in blood.

Looking in the direction he'd come from, he saw a thin wire stretched between two trees, and it was bloodstained in the center. If he hadn't noticed that trap at the last moment he would have died, beheaded without being able to do anything. Furious at having fallen into that trap and having been stopped three times, he went back to chasing the fugitive person but this time, having by now the fear of the traps imprinted in his mind, he did not advance as fast as before and became much more cautious.

Finally, after a few minutes of chasing, he came to the edge of a clearing and saw Ranmaru sitting on a large root with her backpack resting beside her. The young girl raised her gaze slightly to meet his eyes "Greetings Racer, you managed to reach this location on schedule despite your decision not to go full speed."

Racer glared at her "You are the one who stopped me…"

"Stopping something is the opposite action of moving it. Your magic allows you to move quickly, yet I never imposed any form of block on your movement, but simply hindered it. You are the one who has decided to stop in the face of such obstacles." replied Ranmaru, using a tone of voice that many would expect from a teacher intent on pointing out a student's mistakes. She wasn't mocking or teasing him, she was simply pointing out the accuracy of the facts.

A vein began to throb on the forehead of the Oraacion Seis mage "Be that as it may, I will kill you here and now, as fast as I can, as that is my way of doing things. You couldn't escape in time, and now you will pay the consequences!"

Ranmaru tilted her head imperceptibly to the right "Such a simple mind, sometimes I wonder what it feels like."

"What are you talking about?" asked Racer, readying himself for the fight.

"You've never met me, yet your mind immediately thought that I was running away from you even after I managed to surprise you with magic on two occasions." said Ranmaru standing up with a calm face "Since your desire is to run and be fast, your mind has never allowed you to stop and think. It never made you think about how maybe I was purposely making so much noise while running, or how I was waiting here for you without trying to hide."

"...this was a trap?" asked Racer, feeling slightly humiliated and ridiculed in the back of his mind.

"Yes." plain and simple, no need to deceive him "But now the time has come to settle the matter, as your guild stands between me and the knowledge of Nirvana, although I doubt that despite your magic you will be able to force me to move from here."

The next instant, Racer was in front of her and tried to kick her in the head but she was already gone and the man saw her from across the clearing, yet he hadn't seen her move.

'How…? She didn't move I'm sure! She can't be faster than me!' he glared again at Ranmaru "I forced you to move from your spot."

Ranmaru said nothing, merely staring at him and that made him even angrier.

"Enough! I won't be fooled any further!" roared Racer before sprinting towards her but when he reached the center of the clearing, a large red magic circle appeared under his feet and the dark mage immediately felt an increase in the magical power used by his own magic. It was as if his reserves of magical power were being used up twice as fast.

"What the-?! How can you use magic so quickly against me?!"

"Preparing the battlefield is one of the fundamentals necessary if you want to survive in the open world, especially against opponents with your skills." said his opponent before conjuring a card in her right hand; the card was immediately engulfed in a purplish glow and Ranmaru immediately intoned a summoning line "Come forth, nameless demon of purple death who wanders the realm of the dead! Necromancer Mumei!"

The card dematerialized in a dense purplish mist from which Racer saw a monstrous creature emerge: while the upper part was that of a skeleton with large bat-like wings, skeletal claw-like hands and two yellow glows in the empty eye-sockets, the lower part was that of a snake, and the creature was dressed in onmyoji robes, with purplish mist pouring out of its sleeves.

"Do you really think such a creature will be able to stop me?" Racer asked before sprinting towards her, ignoring the sudden drain on his magical reserves, however as he got close to Ranmaru's summoned monster, his vision blurred and he staggered a few steps, allowing Mumei to hit him with its tail, knocking him backwards. Rolling before coming to a halt, Racer then scrambled to his feet noticing the mist that had now surrounded Mumei and Ranmaru.

'That mist...it's not poisonous but I can't breathe it.' thorough Racer before running again towards his enemy, before jumping up to avoid Mumei's tail but when he tried to strike Ranmaru, ribbons of shadows shot out from her shadow and entwined in front of her to block his blow. Racer was then forced to jump back when those ribbons tried to wrap his legs, narrowly avoiding a claw attack from Mumei.

'How many different magics does she have?! Is it possible that they are all effects of her cards?!' thought Racer, starting to feel the fatigue due to effect of the draining magic used on him. He reached for his jacket but was surprised when he didn't find his dagger and shifting his attention to Ranmaru, he saw her with his dagger in one hand.

"So this is the artifact that allowed you to cast your magic before, thus evading my Dark Jammer. I will analyze it thoroughly as soon as I get the chance."

'Shit...I can't waste any more time! I have to go all out and finish it now!' Racer quickly raised an arm before bringing it down "Dead Grand Prix! Commence!"

Suddenly hearing the roar of several engines, Ranmaru looked to her left and saw several motorcycles advancing towards her, but Mumei raised both arms and fired several lasers of magical energy from its claw tips and mouth, quickly destroying them all. Racer didn't even have time to conceive what had happened before feeling very light-headed, having almost used up his supply of magical power. Gritting his teeth he lunged at Mumei and, after avoiding its claws, struck it with a violent spinning kick to the skull, completely shattering it.

Convinced that he had the clear way to finally get rid of Ranmaru, since the mist had disappeared along with Mumei, Racer was completely taken aback when he received a devastating blow to the head out of nowhere. The impact was such as to break his sunglasses and make him collapse to the ground; he immediately tried to get up but without success due to the damage he had suffered and the immense tiredness he was feeling.

"It seems that this is the end." said Ranmaru walking toward him "Being able to fight for so long under the effect of my Fuurin Kazan is admirable, or else the effect wasn't as strong as I would like. I will need to train further in its use."

"Not yet…" whispered Racer "I'm not done yet…!"

With a huge effort of will, Racer stood up as he unzipped his jacket and showed Ranmaru several Lacrima Bombs attached to his chest, already glowing and ready to explode. Screaming in desperation, he lunged at her and managed to knock her to the ground, gripping her wrists tightly "I can't allow myself to suffer defeat! I'll take you down with me, a life for a life!"

His victorious sneer, however, faded as he saw Ranmaru's calm face crack lightly before shattering like crystal. Blinking in confusion, he looked around until he saw her, sitting on the same root where he'd first seen her, with her back turned to him.

"You…" he breathed as the glow of the bombs grew in intensity "I…never made you move from that spot…"

"Correct. The me you were seeing was just a small illusion. Nothing more, nothing less." explained Ranmaru, turning her head to look at him.

By now the bombs were close to exploding, so Racer looked up at the sky, feeling even more tired than he already was "My prayer…to be…faster than anyone…"

KAAA-BOOOOOOM!

The powerful explosion caused by the bombs shook the ground violently but Ranmaru wasn't worried at all and cocked her head a couple of times to avoid some debris, then stood up and turned completely towards the smoking crater where Racer had blown up. Slowly clasping her hands in prayer, she bowed her head "May your soul find peace and may your prayer reach the heavens."

Retrieving her backpack, she pulled out the ruby dagger she'd stolen from Racer when he first attacked, the moment she'd activated her little illusion; while not the full version of the spell it had served its purpose. Analyzing it for a few seconds, she then placed it in a pocket of her backpack, taking out a small mint chocolate bar, after all she had used some energy against Racer and as far as she could perceive from her 'eye', Jellal and Asher were quite distant. She would have been able to recover most of her energy before the next fight.

Starting to walk towards the heart of the forest, she suddenly stopped when she heard a scream coming from the crater where the Oración Seis hideout was.

"COBRA! CAN YOU HEAR ME?! JELLAL HAS FLED! GO AFTER HIM! WHEREVER HE IS HEADED…THAT IS WHERE NIRVANA LIES!"

She stood still for a second.

The next second she was already sprinting through the trees, heading towards Asher and Jellal.

'Jellal's appearance is causing too many unpredictable situations. I have to alter my plan and, in case his purpose is to destroy Nirvana, devise a way to neutralize him for good.'

She could always hope that the mages of the alliance would get to Jellal before her and neutralize him for her, but then she shook her head, chastising herself for having had that thought.

She was a believer in facts, not one who hoped for miracles.

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

[ A few minutes before ]

Brain was still half covered by pieces of rock and earth at the bottom of the hole where Jellal had plunged him, trying to understand how such a thing could have happened "This...I didn't account for...no, I suppose it's my fault for not preparing any restrains." he then looked up "Still, he never used to possess this level of hostility toward me, I'm sure of it. Was he able to overhear our discussions of Nirvana in his unconscious state?"

When a certain possibility flashed through his mind, his eyes widened in shock, making him grit his teeth "Damn you, Jellal! Do you mean to keep Nirvana for yourself alone?! You shall not! It belong to us! I will never surrender it to anyone!"

Leaping out of the hole, he staggered for an instant as a new feeling of despondency assailed him while one of the lines on his face vanished entirely "No way...Racer lost too?! Kh! I can't think about that now, I have to deal with Jellal first!" he then raised his voice "COBRA! CAN YOU HEAR ME?! JELLAL HAS FLED! GO AFTER HIM! WHEREVER HE IS HEADED…THAT IS WHERE NIRVANA LIES!"

Taking a deep breath, he leaned against the stone altar "Two of the six demons have already been defeated...I seem to have underestimated our enemies." the then looked at the sleeping form of the last member of Oración Seis "To think they would force me to awaken him...Midnight!"

After a few seconds of immobility, Midnight slowly opened his eyes starting to stand up.

"Eliminate every last one of them! The alliance and Shadow Soul! Kill them all!"

Scratching his head, Midnight looked at Brain with a serious look "Very well, father."

[North of Worth Woodsea/ 26thOctober X784]

Cobra had heard Brain's words, loud and clear. However, they had arrived at the least opportune time possible since the poison mage was dealing with an opponent not exactly inclined to let him go.

Siegmund just then attempted to decapitate him but Cobra crouched at the last second before attempting to stab his hand through his enemy's belly, however the Shadow Soul mage let go of his greatsword with one hand and used it to swat away the incoming attack, then attempted to hit Cobra with a front kick. The dragon slayer stepped sideways and shoulder-tackled Siegmund but the difference in size prevented him from knocking his opponent to the ground, so he leapt back to avoid another slash.

The swordsman immediately pursued him with a quick series of slashes, some of which weren't even aimed at Cobra but at Cubellios, to prevent the snake from getting too close. Cobra attempted to strike him with venom coated claws but Siegmund lifted Tyrfing and used its flat side to block both strikes before pushing him back, however Cobra took advantage of that moment and fired a cone of poison from his mouth, forcing Siegmund to leap back, spacing himself away from his opponent.

"Blooood! I want his blooood!" hissed the crimson greatsword with black miasma escaping from the blade while Siegmund merely gripped it with more strength.

"Tch. Your sword is creepy as usual, its voice is like nails on a chalkboard." said Cobra with a glare aimed at said sword "Unfortunately for us, I have to interrupt our fight Siegmund. Brian has ordered me to hunt down a fugitive."

Siegmund's eyes gleamed with power behind the lenses of his helmet and Cobra didn't even have to listen to understand that his opponent was not at all happy about this. Raising his weapon, he aimed it at Cobra "Do you really think I'll let you escape a second time?"

"Last time you couldn't even move." grinned Cobra "But don't worry, as soon as I get this sorted I'll be back to kill you!" he then leaped back, releasing a dense poisonous mist from his mouth "Poison Dragon's Hunting Ground!"

In a few moments the whole area was flooded with that fog but Siegmund had already jumped on one of the branches of the nearby trees, thus avoiding that poisonous trap. Closing his eyes to concentrate he spotted Cobra's magical power and it was clear he was moving away very quickly 'It must be the work of that damned snake, if I remember correctly it could grow wings on its body. Don't think that this will be enough for you to escape from me!'

Un-equipping his weapon and armor, to get back into his usual clothes, Siegmund began leaping rapidly from branch to branch in pursuit of Cobra.

He had already had to give up ending the fights with Erza and Mystogan, he wouldn't give up his fight with Cobra!

[Worth Woodsea/ 26thOctober X784]

"Come back here!"

Asteria cursed before looking over her shoulder just to see Natsu still chasing her. The damned dragon slayer didn't want to let go of her and Asteria was increasingly willing to let Bonnie go to continue fighting against the fire mage. However, she knew that while Bonnie could also act in her sleep, she risked being caught in the crossfire between the two fighters. She was suddenly roused from her thoughts when she felt a very powerful magical presence above her; looking up, she saw a white-haired woman with demonic features gliding towards her and Natsu.

'That's...Mirajane the Demon! Tch! Bad timing! If they were both to attack me I wouldn't be able to defend myself without having to let go of Bonnie.' thought Asteria before being surprised when Mira flew past her and grabbed Natsu, dragging him away. Deciding not to stop and see what was happening, Asteria increased her speed and quickly moved away from there.

On the other hand, Natsu was not at all happy with the interruption "What the hell Mira?! Why did you stop me?!"

"Why were you chasing her alone!?" asked Mira, glaring at him thus forcing him to calm down. He was angry, that was for sure, but he was still able to see that making Mira angry was not a wise move.

"Lucy and I had just finished defeating a dark guild when one of the Oración Seis appeared but then those two came along too! The one that was running away is the one that attacked Evergreen, Juvia and Gajeel!" said Natsu while looking where Asteria had disappeared.

Mira widened her eyes in surprise "You and...where is Lucy now?"

"She was...with the Oración Seis mage…" said Natsu, finally realizing his mistake.

"You left Lucy alone against one of those six mages!? What the hell is wrong with you?! You're lucky I sensed your magical power while I was taking Wendy to base camp!" she adjusted her grip on the unconscious form of Wendy while Happy was flying behind Natsu "Go right back to her and then return to base camp! It is clear that we have to regroup."

Natsu seemed about to protest but then he nodded and after sniffing the air he started running in a certain direction "Let's go Happy! Lucy is this way!"

"Aye sir!"

Mira watched them vanish into the bush before shaking her head and flying back to base camp, hoping to hurry so she could go and support Bacchus in case he needed help. Things in that forest were constantly getting out of hand and by now she wasn't even sure that everyone would make it out alive, yet she thought back to Natsu's words for a moment.

'If that mage is here...maybe that girl I faced earlier is also part of Shadow Soul...I need to hurry, if we have to face them besides Oración Seis we have to devise a new plan…'

After making sure she was no longer followed, Asteria had stopped at the base of a large rock to check on Bonnie and noticed that by now the wound had already healed even though her guildmate was still fast asleep. She then sat on the ground next to her to catch her breath and decide what to do, when she felt a magical power familiar to her and after a few moments Asher appeared in front of her.

"Hey there, how are you doing?" asked Asteria with a small smirk.

"There have been some unexpected changes. Jellal Fernandes is alive and in this forest." explained Asher, shocking Asteria "He was possibly brought back to life by the Oración Seis but apparently they are not allies and he is now heading towards an unspecified point in the forest. I was following him when I sensed your presence."

Asteria shook her head "Why the hell did they resurrect him if they aren't allies? Oh well at least I can face him again."

"I also met an independent sorceress just now; she proposed a deal based on an exchange of information. She managed to lead me to the Oracion Seis base but then we got separated because of Jellal." he continued with his monotone voice "In exchange for her cooperation she requested some information in our possession and the possibility of studying Nirvana if it were possible."

"Now we also rely on unknown mages?" asked Asteria with a raised eyebrow "I hope it's worth it since we have yet to find the Nirvana and Brain must still be alive."

"I can confirm he was still alive until recently; I must now return to my task. If Jellal leaves the forest, I will stop following him." said Asher before disappearing in a blink.

"What an asshole, he didn't even ask if we needed anything." cracking her neck, she put a hand to her right ear "Oi! Does anyone receive me? How is the situation?"

Grady was the first to answer "Can't say I'm bored! I am currently engaged against two wizards of Lamia Scale."

"I'm busy against Hoteye and Bacchus Groh. Mirajane Strauss was here too, but she left several minutes ago." said Reina and Asteria could tell she wasn't doing well.

"Yes I just ran into her and she immediately left taking two of her allies with her." said Asteria with a huff "I also crossed paths with Angel but had to back out after she managed to injure Bonnie. Plus Jellal Fernandez is still alive, or so Asher says."

"Didn't he explode with his tower?" asked Grady "I was sure we got rid of him."

"Well apparently he's back and Asher is following him to see what his intentions are, plus we have an independent sorceress wandering around the forest. Apparently she's on our side, she made a deal with Asher or some shit like that." said Asteria before hearing an explosion on the distance "Anyone need help?"

"I think you should go to Aki and help her if you're not busy. She was fighting with her brother but I'm afraid she won't be able to beat him. That guy is a monster." replied Grady, while fighting against Lyon and Sherry "As soon as I'm done with these two I'll get there too. We are in the east area of the forest."

Asteria nodded, even though they couldn't see her, and turned to Bonnie after making sure no one else was to speak. Kneeling beside her, Asteria shook her lightly "Oi Bonnie! I have to go and help Aki, you try to keep up with me okay?"

"Zzz…zzz…zzz…"

"I'll take that as a yes." chuckled Asteria before wrapping herself in her golden aura and darting towards the area where Aki was.

It was time for her too to have a good fight without any breaks.

[Worth Woodsea – Alliance Main Camp - behind Bob's Palace / 26thOctober X784]

Mira landed a few feet away from the large number of Rune Knights posted to defend the wounded, some of whom were already recovering having received light or superficial wounds. The soldiers quickly let her pass, and when she got close to Jura and Gray, she shook Wendy awake, and when the young mage opened her eyes, she immediately tried to get away from her "I-I'm sorry-! P-Please-!"

Mira quickly embraced her, stroking the head "Hey hey, calm down Wendy. You are safe now."

Wendy looked around, noting that she was surrounded by Rune Knights "W-Where-?"

"We returned to the meeting place. Listen to me, I know you're tired and everything has happened to you, but we need your help." said Mira looking at Gray and Jura "They have both been poisoned and we can't stop the poison, so we need your help. Please, you have to save them!"

Wendy widened her eyes before nodding "B-But of course! I'll do my best!" and after approaching the two wizards she placed her hands on their bodies. After a few seconds they were enveloped in a warm green glow and Mira could see the poison starting to fade from Gray's wound. The process went on for several minutes, during which Natsu, Lucy, Carla and Happy also arrived together with Angel, still unconscious, who was immediately handcuffed by the Rune Knights.

"There! All done!" said Wendy looking at the others while wiping the sweat from her forehead "There is no longer any trace of poison in their bodies and I have also healed their other wounds."

Just then both Gray and Jura opened their eyes, struggling to their feet. The ice wizard looked around with a confused look "What the hell happened? I feel like I just woke up from an endless hibernation."

"You were taking a nap while we were trying to save your ass, Ice Princess!" shouted Natsu.

"As if you could save me, Flame Brain!"

"Enough! Both of you!" growled Mira, scaring the two mages "We managed to save Wendy, she was the one who removed the poison from your bodies and healed your wounds."

Jura immediately bowed his head toward Wendy "Thanks so much for your help, Wendy-dono. Without you I don't know how we would have done." to which she immediately shook her head, saying that she had done nothing and that indeed it was they who had saved her. He then looked at the others "What happened while we were unconscious?"

"We split into groups and searched the forest for Wendy. Apparently we've all encountered dark guilds under the control of the Oración Seis before facing them." said Mira since she had made Lucy and Natsu explain what happened while they were waiting for Wendy to finish her treatment "However, there seems to be a third faction present and it is likely that it is Shadow Soul, a dark guild that we believe is responsible for the attack we suffered during the Harvest Festival. We also know that Brain, the leader of Oración Seis, forced Wendy to use her magic to heal Jellal Fernandez, but apparently he and the others are not allies. We don't know where he is or what his purpose is."

"That's my fault...I'm sorry…" said Wendy, catching their attention "I know he did horrible things...and I might not have helped him but…Jellal has saved me in the past…I couldn't help but heal him!"

Natsu put a hand on her head, smiling "Don't worry Wendy! I'm sure you'll be able to ask him what happened to him as soon as we find him!"

Meanwhile Mira could only wonder if the one who had saved Wendy was really Jellal or the one who came from Edolas, Mystogan. They were, after all, identical, and if Wendy was unaware of Edolas' existence, it was possible she didn't know which of them had saved her.

"But now what do we do? We defeated one of the Oración Seis and also saved Wendy." said Lucy looking at the others "Should we look for Winter and the others?"

"I would say yes since none of them are back yet." nodded Mira before looking at Jura and Gray "Do you think you can fight? The poison may have hurt you more than you expected."

"You do not have to worry, Mira-dono. Thanks to Wendy-dono's magic I'm back to full strength." said the Wizard Saint with Gray nodding at his words "I'd suggest we hurry, if it's as you say, Lyon and Sherry could be in danger."

"Wendy and I will stay here. She used too much magical power and she's not used to it. I don't want anything to happen to her while you're fighting those monsters." said Carla with a tone of finality, ignoring Wendy's words of protest.

After a couple of seconds, Mira nodded "All right, but if anything happens, I'll come back here to ask for her help. Her magic is very precious after all." and with those words, she left with her guildmates and Jura.

They were all eager for a possible rematch against the other members of Oración Seis after all.

Unfortunately, none of them knew that the situation would soon get much worse.

[Worth Woodsea – Unknown Location/ 26thOctober X784]

Jellal, now clad in clothes stolen from a dark mage who had attempted to attack him, was walking aimlessly among the trees of the forest. A few dozen meters back, Cobra was tailing him but it was clear that something was bothering the poison mage 'What's up with this guy…? I can't hear his inner voice. If I could hear it there wouldn't be any need to follow him like this.' looking behind, he grimaced 'I've managed to hide my magical presence, but Siegmund is still nearby. I don't think it will take him long to find me.'

Finally he saw that Jellal had stopped in front of a tree, but he was surprised when he saw that that tree seemed to glow and there were several chains driven into the trunk connecting it to several stone pillars all around 'What is this place? There was a place like this hidden in this forest?' at that moment he felt a strange sensation and the cause was precisely that tree, to which he trembled slightly 'Don't tell me...this is where the Nirvana…?'

His ears picked up just then an unfamiliar voice. Someone else was there with them and, looking quickly around, Cobra saw a red-haired boy stationed at the top of a tree, intent on observing Jellal with cold eyes.

Asher's sharp black eyes found those of Cobra and the two dark mages observed each other in complete silence, pondering what to do, since Jellal did not seem to have noticed them. When Cobra was about to send Cubellios to deal with the newcomer, Jellal moved an arm and the whole tree exploded, shaking the ground.

As Cobra and Asher watched in amazement, a giant stone column began to rise from the ground as a pillar of black light rose into the sky, attracting the attention of everyone in the forest.

"W-What is that?!" shouted Lucy looking at the pillar of light.

"Nothing good...perhaps Oración Seis has beaten us to the punch." said Mira with a serious face "That's where Nirvana most likely is!"

"We have not time lose! Hurry up!" said Jura before running toward the light with the others behind him.

"Father…"

"There's no doubt about it…" said Brain, looking at the light with shocked eyes.

"Congratulations." smiled Midnight, even if his smile was cold as ice "Now I'll proceed to eliminate each one of your enemies before midnight falls. You should head for the Nirvana."

"Yes." Brain started to walk in that direction "Be careful, some of our enemies are strong."

"What the-?" Bacchus could only look at the pillar of light with confused eyes.

"Oooooh what a wonderful sight!" rejoiced Hoteye "That light is almost beautiful as my beloved money!"

'What is that…?' thought Reina, hiding behind a tree 'Don't tell me Nirvana has already been activated!'

"Well look at that. Seems like someone is running the show." noted Grady while keeping his right hand around Sherry throat.

'That light does not bode well, I must hurry to defeat him!' Lyon quickly put his left fist against his right hand "Ice Make-!"

With a grin on his face, Grady tossed Sherry against a tree "Come one, show me what you really got! Since I'm about to kill you, might as well show me something good!"

"-Snow Dragon!"

Ranmaru stopped to stare at the immense pillar of light and couldn't help but be intrigued by the strange phenomenon, having never seen anything like it in her life. Unfortunately for her, she couldn't stop for a long time to observe that show and started running again towards the base of that pillar.

'Information about Nirvana was almost non-existent throughout the kingdom, but everything points to a weapon of some kind…' thought the girl, recalling the few bids of information that she had managed to collect over the months 'That pillar hasn't done any apparent damage yet, meaning that Nirvana isn't active yet. Not entirely.'

Looking up at the sky, Winter narrowed his gaze at the sight of that pillar of black light.

"It seems that the Oración Seis are more efficient than anticipated. I'll have to make sure the others are all right before dealing with those dark mages." said the captain of the Rune Knights, shifting his gaze to the bleeding form of Aki, collapsed to the ground with several wounds all over her body. He too had several cuts on his body, but Aki's wounds were more numerous and of a greater nature.

Gritting her teeth, Aki got to her feet holding a hand on a bad wound on her left side. Taking a deep breath she then focused on her opponent who vanished in a burst of speed trying to stab her with his spear, but Aki raised her sword to block it, pushing it against the cross-shaped head of the other weapon. Thanks to her physical strength she managed to hold up but then Winter applied even more pressure and managed to throw her backwards. Aki rolled several times before standing up with her sword already raised above her head.

"Cursed-Sword Style; Third Form: Tartarus!"

Bringing the blade down, she released a giant blade of dark energy flanked by several smaller blades. Her opponent was not intimidated by the attack and drew his spear back, accumulating magical power around the tip.

"Cursed-Spear Style; Third Form: Elysium!"

Thrusting his spear forward, Winter generated several long blades of energy that intercepted Aki's attack with a violent explosion, but he didn't give her time to recover her breath and darted towards her, starting to fight her in a quick melee fight. Sparks flew with each clash of their weapons but Aki was clearly at a disadvantage due to the length of his spear and received several wounds on her arms and legs from the attacks she couldn't parry in time.

Attacking from below, she managed to deflect his spear upwards but Winter grabbed it firmly with both arms and brought it down to cut Aki in two, however the swordswoman took a step forward and blocked Winter's weapon just below the cross-shaped head. Before he could apply more pressure, she lunged forward holding her sword against the shaft of Winter's spear and within a few steps she was finally in front of him but Winter attempted to punch her in the face. Despite her exhaustion, Aki used her right hand to grab his fist, surprising him, after which she hit him with a strong front kick.

Winter grunted from the impact and skidded back several feet before coming to a stop. Looking at Aki, he spat blood and saliva on the ground before wiping his mouth with the back of his hand "You of the Tamashiro Clan have always been physically strong, but…" closing the distance between them again, he struck Aki's sword from the side, breaking her guard and, dematerializing his spear for an instant, managed to hit Aki with a powerful punch to the stomach that sent her flying several meters away.

"…that doesn't mean I'm not strong too."

Aki coughed up a lot of blood as Winter had hit her near the other wound and tried to get up without success, while he slowly approached her, stopping when he was right in front of his step-sister, raising his spear to pierce her from above.

"This is the end, Kinslayer."

Suddenly, he sensed a hostile presence behind him and quickly turned to attack it but saw only a flash of golden energy before striking plain air. Turning around again, he saw that Aki was now several meters away from him, with a brown-haired girl kneeling beside her.

Opening one eye slightly, Aki looked at her savior "A-Asteria…"

"Don't talk and conserve your strength. Bonnie will be here any moment and she can fix you up." said Asteria before standing up, moving to stand between Aki and her step-brother. She could heal Aki, but she doubted her enemy would give her time to do it "So you're her famous brother huh?"

"She's not my sister." replied Winter with a cold tone of voice "Now stand aside, otherwise I will use lethal force on you as well."

"Lethal force huh? Glad to know we speak the same language." hissed Asteria with golden magical power exploding from her body "Right now I don't care much about your relationship or your past...all i want now…"

With a speed much higher than Winter's, she closed the distance between them and tried to punch him in the face but Winter managed to block her with the shaft of his spear. Now that their faces were inches apart, he could clearly see the power and hatred in her eyes, which was perfectly conveyed in her next words.

"...is to kill you in the most painful way possible!"

TO BE CONTINUED…

And here we are with a new chapter! I hope you liked it! It's been a long time since the last update but between work and new games recently released (no, I'm not talking about Hogwarts Legacy, I won't play it since I'm not a Harry Potter fan) I had little time to write, but I'll try to make it up to you!

We had some developments on the fighting side and we got to the point where Jellal released the Nirvana! From the next chapter we will move on to the next phase and I think that in three chapters (maybe two) we should be able to conclude this story arc, so we can move on to the first original arc of this fic!

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

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

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

See you next time!