Chapter III

Hello and greetings to all! Yes, as you can see, I have returned with yet another chapter of Embodiment of Flame. I would like to believe that all of you, or at least most of you, enjoyed the previous chapter. Regardless, I hope that the majority of you enjoy this chapter as well. As usual, I would like to thank my coauthor Bakuto Masaki for all of his help in creating this story. Right, so how about we move on to the reviewer responses?

jwadd2: You need not worry, they will appear soon enough.

Jalis: Aaww, what's not to like about NaLu? But glad you like the others. Yeah, her powers being what they were was never really explained, so her being a Water Dragon Slayer made the most sense to me.

TheWhiteTitan: No. They are Milla Maxwell and Muzet from Tales of Xillia. So do not worry, they are not from Rave Master. It might be. Or it could be something entirely different.

FanFictionHunter: ... Well this is embarrassing. Yes, it seems I screwed up big on that one. That is actually the first time I can recall that happening in any of my stories.

Looks like that is it. So, without further adieu, let us begin.

Erza drove a magic four-wheeler with Natsu, Lucy, Juvia, Flare, Minerva, Happy, and Gray inside when she stopped it at the crest of a hill overlooking the small Kunugi Station.

Erza stepped out and stumbled slightly, but Natsu stopped her from falling. She pushed herself up and asserted, "I am fine." She turned to several people in military uniforms nearby and asked, "What is going on here? Why are the Rune Knights here?"

One them explained, "Eisenwald has hijacked the train and taken it to Oshibana Town. The Rune Knights were sent to deal with them."

Erza hissed in frustration and immediately jumped back onto the four-wheeler.

"Whoa, where are we going now!?" Lucy asked.

Erza grit her teeth as she drove. "Fools, sending in the Rune Knights after a Dark Guild like Eisenwald… they do not stand a chance."

"Are these guys really…that powerful?"

"Yes. They're one of the highest guilds in the Barram Alliance."

"The who-do-whatnow?"

"Not important."

On the train, with Eisenwald, Erigor stood over Kageyama, holding Lullaby.

After taking a moment to enjoy having the flute he turned a very irritated scowl to Kageyama. "I understand you fought a Fairy Tail Fly on your way here."

Kageyama began to sweat and tried to keep his cool. "Ah… y – yes… but it's no problem. They only saw Lullaby for a split-second."

Erigor's eyes widened as his fists clenched. "You let a Fairy Tail Fly see Lullaby and escape alive!? What the hell's wrong with you?!" Erigor raised his scythe up angrily.

Kageyama fell backward in fear. "Wait, Erigor, please!"

Erigor then swept the scythe across the aisle and in front of Kageyama.

Kageyama sat, trembling silently before reaching up and clutching his ear, Erigor having sliced a piece off in anger.

"That's your punishment for screwing up," Erigor threatened darkly, "screw up again and next time, it'll be your head."

Kageyama nodded his head weakly. "R-right…sir."

"Tch, what a pain in the ass. Now we have to wipe out all these Fairy Tail Flies before they can tell anyone else what we're planning. I think you all can agree that it's important we teach these flies a lesson."

The rest of the guild nodded in agreement, Kageyama still clutching his bleeding ear.

Erza drove at high speeds through the streets of Oshibana Town towards the station where Eisenwald was waiting.

Inside the four-wheeler, Happy sat with a thoughtful and strained look on his face. "Hmm… what was it…?"

Flare turned to him and asked, "What's wrong, Happy?"

Happy looked at Lucy weakly. "Ahhh… I was supposed to tell Lucy something. It was important… but now I can't remember what it was."

Lucy slumped her shoulders weakly. "Why am I not surprised…?"

Natsu and Juvia merely leaned out the window about to hurl.

Erza stopped the four-wheeler suddenly.

"H – huh…?" Natsu mumbled.

"There is something happening at the station, let's investigate," Erza ordered before getting out of the four-wheeler, only to stumble slightly again. 'Dammit… I have used too much magic power already… no matter… I must keep going…'

Minerva turned to her curiously. "Erza?"

"Let's go."

Natsu frowned slightly but nodded as they ran towards the station.

Erza cursed under her breath. "Why has the army allowed such a large crowd to gather?"

Erza forced her way through the crowd, Lucy and the others behind her, apologizing for Erza's forcefulness.

Eventually they made their way through the crowd and to the guards around the station.

Erza wasted not a moment before she grabbed one of them by the lapels and demanded, "What is going on here?!"

Fearfully, the man responded, "I – I don't know! The Rune Knights went in about twenty minutes ago and haven't come back out!"

Erza threw the man down roughly and forced her way past the others.

One of the other guards attempted to stop her. "Ah, miss, you can't-!"

"Try and stop me!"

The man nearly wet himself.

Lucy walked by the man and offered an apologetic smile. "We're with Fairy Tail."

The man just nodded dumbly as the group walked past them.

After making it inside the station, Natsu snarled at what he saw. Multiple Rune Knights strewn across the aisle like ragdolls.

"Fools," Erza chided. "That is what they get for taking on an entire magical guild with just a few dozen men."

Lucy gaped as she saw the defeated men. "This is horrible…"

"Magical guilds, as I hope you've seen, are not to be trifled with. Especially Dark Guilds since they don't follow laws and regulations set down by the Council. So only sending a few dozen soldiers against an entire guild's population is suicide. Now, let's get going."

It did not take long before they reached the top of the long staircase and found themselves face to face with Eisenwald, Erigor at the forefront.

"There you are," Erza remarked as she and the others entered the lobby.

"Looks like a douche," Flare snarled.

Erigor turned around as he heard Erza's voice. "Ahh…if it isn't the Fairy Tail Flies. How good of you to arrive. Now you can have the front row seat to Eisenwald's glorious victory over the fools who live in the light."

"What are your plans here, Erigor?" Erza demanded.

Erigor chuckled lightly before laughing loudly. "You really wanna know?! Fine! Tell me, what is one thing this station has that no other buildings in the area do!"

"Trains?" Natsu replied plainly.

"No you halfwit! Urgh… are all Fairy Tail Flies this stupid?"

Erza pointed her sword, which appeared in a flash of light, at Erigor. "I see… the PA system."

Erigor laughed again, triumphantly. "Yes… you're not too bad. That's right. We will use this station's communications system, which broadcasts all across the town, and play Lullaby to everyone here. Then they will suffer for their ignorance of living in the privileges and safety of the light, while knowing all too well that there are others who do not have such rights."

Erza narrowed her eyes and then shot back, "The people who are in such a situation put themselves there."

Lucy then asserted, "Yeah! Besides, doing this isn't a way to get back your rights! All you'll do is engender sadness and pain!"

Erigor looked at Lucy confused and then guffawed in response. "Oh that's rich! Come on, do you really think I'm doing all this, going through all this trouble, so I can get my rights back? What foolishness. No… I don't want rights and privileges, I want power. The reason…I s because those with power make the rules and get to rewrite history any way they see fit!"

"Victor's Justice you mean," Erza retorted.

"Not too shabby. Yeah, that's a good way to put it."

Kageyama then shouted, "You really shouldn't care anyway, because you won't see the age of the Dark Guilds. All you'll see…is the afterlife!" One of his shadows then shot forward at Lucy.

The shadows were immediately swallowed into a vortex and vanished.

"The hell?!"

"Sorry, I can't let you do that," Minerva retorted with a smirk. "I will let you have that attack back though."

"Hu –?" Kageyama grunted before another vortex appeared next to him, causing his own attack to remerge and strike him. He landed and hissed before sinking into the ground in a shadow.

After a moment, Erigor chuckled and then started to float on air. 'Wonderful…the Fairy Tail Flies have fallen right into my trap.'

Erza huffed as he flew away. "Natsu, Gray, go after him!"

Both nodded in agreement and chased after Erigor, Flare following shortly behind.

"Hey!" one of the Eisenwald members shouted. "Don't forget about us!"

Lucy then turned to the large group of mages in front of them and gulped. "Okay… so that leaves me… Erza… Juvia… and Minerva to fight the rest of these guys… oh boy…"

"How boring," Minerva muttered in irritation.

"Huh!?"

Juvia pouted before lamenting, "Why couldn't Juvia go? You two are overkill enough for these wimps."

One of the mages sneered in annoyance. "You gotta be kiddin', we're just fightin' a bunch of chicks!"

Another of the mages shrugged and added with a smirk, "Hey, look at the bright side, at least we can have some fun after we're done with this dump."

This remark, however, earned them all vehement glares from Juvia, Erza, and Minerva.

Minerva raised her hands, causing many portals to open amongst the group, releasing massive explosions at the same time.

"Water Dragon Roar!" Juvia shouted before sending out a cascade of water that beat down even more of the group.

Erza huffed in displeasure. "Hmph, there are still several left. Requip: The Knight!" Erza frowned and raised her hands as her body was bathed in light.

The Eisenwald members looked at her confused before a few of them began to come to a horrifying realization.

Soon her normal attire was gone and was replaced with armor that seemed to have almost every piece made of a silvery metal with only a small breastplate that was composed of feather-shaped plates that pointed upwards, which barely covered her bust, with a large metal flower on the front that extended to her hips along her sides, her biceps being covered with metal straps, along with very large plated gauntlets which had feather-shaped plates at the edges, her waist was encircled by large, decorative plates reminiscent of feathers that formed a long skirt, as well as a pair of plated boots which were partially hidden by her skirt, each having small, ornamental wings, a neck guard made of feather-like plates, a tiara with prominent wings, causing some of her hair to cover her left eye, her armor lastly having large metal wings.

Several of the Eisenwald members lurched back. "Oh no…it's her."

"Titania Erza!"

"Heaven's Wheel!" Erza announced. Erza approached the group and a circle of swords appeared around her. "Dance, my blades!" The circle of blades begin spinning, forming a disc before she sent the spinning disc of blades flying at the enemies. "Circle Sword!"

The attack reached the center of the group and burst outward, taking out the remaining enemies.

As the group fought, a single Eisenwald member cowered and ran off, hiding inside of a specialized magic circle.

"Wh – whoa…" Lucy mumbled in shock.

Erza returned to her normal attire and added, "We still have one of them running around. Lucy, Juvia, Minerva, you three go after him."

All three nodded and left with Happy in tow.

After they left, Erza stumbled and dropped to her knees. 'Damn… I… used too much mana… I should have let Minerva drive…'

Gray and Natsu ran down a corridor looking for Erigor when they came upon a split in the path.

Natsu folded his arms in thought. "So…which way do we go?"

Gray looked at him annoyed. "We split up, you moron."

"Hey! Erza told us to look for Erigor, not to split up!"

"She's not here right now, so I think we can do this safely."

"You want to defy Erza?!"

"No you idiot! If we split up we can catch him faster! If we stay together it'll take twice as long to find him! Would you rather piss her off because we failed to catch him or because we didn't do it exactly how she wanted?!"

"Alright, so which way will you go?"

"Why are you asking which way I'll go?"

"So I can take the opposite route."

Gray gaped. "That's not an insult you halfwit, that's how it's supposed to work!"

"Ggaahh, just pick one!"

"Fine! I'll take the broadcast room. If Erigor's gonna play that song to everyone, then he'll do it from there."

Natsu nodded in return and went the opposite direction. A few seconds later though, Natsu turned and shouted, "Hey Gray, don't die!"

Gray just gave a thumbs up. "Not plannin' on it fire breath!"

Gray made his way towards the broadcast room and knocked open the door and looked around. "What the…? Nobody's here."

"Yeah, except us," a voice droned.

Gray turned around and saw a tanned skin man with narrow black eyes who wore a distinctive jacket that was mostly yellow with the top part being yellow and dark blue, a tight hood over his head, a white shirt, green pants, black shoes, and black bands around all of his fingers.

Gray tensed up and threw off his shirt as the man prepared for battle as well. "So, this was a trap then."

The man chuckled. "Oh… this was all a trap. And now I, Rayule of Eisenwald, will be your death!" He slung his hands forward and the black bands extended into long black threads that lunged towards Gray.

"Crap!" Gray ducked to the side as the attacks landed and slid to the side. He balled up his right fist and placed it into his left palm, the air around the space chilling, and shouted, "Ice-Make Shield!" He thrust his left hand forward and a half-snowflake shaped shield burst from the ground.

Rayule swung his threads forward and slammed straight through the shield.

"What?!"

"Nice try!"

Gray jumped to the side and formed his Ice-Make pose again, and then shouted, "Ice-Make: Lance!" A magic circle formed in the air with long arrows shooting out of it and towards Rayule.

The band-using mage jumped out of the way and swung his hands around and attempted to wrap his bands around Gray's feet.

Gray jumped over the attack and then formed the Ice-Make pose and shouted, "Ice-Make: Lance!" Again he launched the attack, which Rayule easily blocked. However, Gray smirked in response.

Rayule turned around just in time to see one more lance coming at him from behind. He ducked and then threw up his bands to smash it.

Gray growled in frustration. "Hey buddy, you mind tellin' me why you're crazy boss isn't in here?"

Rayule snickered before throwing his bands forward again.

"Grr…" Gray then threw out, "Ice-Make: Block!" A large block of ice appeared and blocked the bands, but wasn't smashed through.

Rayule retracted his bands and chuckled. "You really wanna know that badly, huh?"

Erza sighed and then looked outside. "I have to warn the civilians, with all of this dark magic being thrown around they're in danger."

She ran out of the main station and out towards the crowd around the building.

"Everyone! Listen! You need to get out of here, there is a Dark Guild inside this building and the dark magic they're using is extremely dangerous!"

Everyone looked at her confused and then began to scatter as the wind picked up.

Erza raised an eyebrow and then looked behind her in shock as a large tornado had enveloped the building. "Wh – what is that…?!"

"Like it do you, Fairy Tail Fly?"

Erza turned around and came face to face with Erigor.

"You! What are you doing outside the building?!"

Erigor merely chuckled in response. "Heh, you fools didn't really think my plan was that simple and stupid, did you?"

"What?! What do you mean?!"

"You'll never escape this Wind Wall, until it's too late!" With that, Erigor sent a blast of wind at Erza and knocked her through the prison and in to the other side.

Erza stood up and ran over to the swirling wall of wind and slammed her fist against it in aggravation. "No! Erigor!" However, the wall burst back with a blast of wind and sent her hurtling backwards. She scowled in anger before making her way back into the station to warn the others.

Outside the Wind Wall, Erigor chuckled to himself. "Now…to get going to the real target."

Rayule and Gray continued their standoff, though Gray's expression had morphed into a far angrier glare. "You bastards!"

Rayule merely laughed at him. "You're surprised!? Did you really think we'd waste something as powerful as Lullaby on a bunch of weak-ass civilians?! No way, we're headed straight for the top, the Guild Masters! The whole deal with this pathetic little station was just get you flies out of the way!"

"Why you…Ice-Make: Floor!" The floor itself suddenly turned to ice and Rayule lost his balance as a result.

"Crap!" Rayule flung his bands up and caught himself on a piece of the ceiling.

Gray then smirked as Rayule landed on an unfrozen part of the floor. "You see buddy, there's something you should realize."

"Huh?" Rayule mumbled before looking down at his feet and gasping.

"Freeze!"

The ice then extended forward and covered Rayule's entire body, freezing him solid.

"There are some guilds that are more fearsome than the Dark Ones." With a sigh, Gray muttered, "Better go tell the others."

Natsu continued running around the station aimlessly, trying to find where Erigor could be, not realizing he was no longer in the building.

What he also did not realize, was the shadow that followed him along the ceiling.

Erza was in the main room, holding a battered Eisenwald member by the collar. "Answer me…how do I break this wind spell?"

The dark-haired man merely laughed insultingly at her. "You can't. It won't come down until Erigor takes it down. And by the time that's done…our mission will be done."

Erza snarled at the man and tossed him down, moving to the next grunt.

"Erza!"

Erza turned as Gray appeared from one of the hallways.

She looked at Gray and noticed his battered state. "What happened, did you meet Erigor?"

Gray shook his head. "No, I didn't find him, but I've got bad news, this whole thing was ruse."

Erza looked at him confused and narrowed her eyes. "What do you mean?"

"Erigor's plan was never to attack the people outside, his aim the whole time was something called the Guild Master's Conference."

Erza's eyes then widened greatly. "Damn, I should have realized this was a trap. But our first problem is getting past that damned Wind Wall."

"What?"

"Erigor has surrounded this building with a wall of wind, preventing us from escaping."

"Dammit.

Erza clenched her fist and then walked over to one of the downed men. "I demand you to answer me, how can we break through that barrier."

The man just smirked sadistically. "You will never break through it…"

"Answers! Now! We need to bring down that barrier and I will use your body to do it if I have to!"

The man paled slightly and then answered, "K - Kage! Kage can do it!"

Erza knocked the man out and turned to Gray. "Gray, find this 'Kage' immediately! And where's Natsu?"

"We split off to try and find Erigor separately," Gray explained simply.

"So you disobeyed," Erza asserted dangerously.

"E – eh…?"

"You ignored my order to stick together."

"Oh you've gotta be kidding! It would've taken twice as long to search for that asshole if we –!"

Erza interrupted him. "Why do you think Fairy Tail emphasizes the creation of teams so much?"

"I… huh?"

Erza sighed and repeated, "Why do you think Fairy Tail emphasizes the creation of teams so much?"

"I… guess I don't know."

"Because when you are out on a job, it is always best to have someone at your back in case someone tries to stab it. And you just let Natsu run off!"

"He can handle himself. Besides, that redhead is with him."

Flare then wandered out the hallway, bewildered. "Hey, you guys, I can't find Natsu."

Gray started to sweat uncomfortably.

Erza growled angrily.

"C – come on…" Gray rebutted weakly, "he's Natsu, he'll be fine."

"You are right. He is Natsu. And what does Natsu do? Daily?" Erza retorted.

"Uh… sleep?"

Erza twitched an eyebrow in annoyance.

"I hope Natsu doesn't get into any trouble," Flare muttered in concern. "Oohh… if only I was there with him…"

Erza sighed. "Come on, let's go."

"R – right…" Gray responded weakly.

After they left one of the men on the ground, a tall man with a square face, dark eyes, black hair arranged in a flat tuft pointing up, and three whisker-like hairs on each side of his face, wearing a zipped brown jacket with a collar over a black shirt, blue pants, and brown shoes looked towards a section of the wall and called out quietly, "Karacka…"

A yellow magic circle appeared on the wall as a short, hunched, fat man with no visible nose, very thick lips, green hair in tall, rounded spikes, who wore a red jacket with lighter-colored edges, with a high collar that was fastened leaving the rest open over a white shirt that exposed some of his large stomach along with loose, military-style pants, and blue boots came out of the magic circle. "Wh – what is it, Byard?"

Byard groaned and then looked at the fat man. "I've got a very… special mission for you… Karacka."

Natsu continued running through the hallways of the station before stopping and sighing.

Above him, Kageyama's Shadow Form stopped as well. 'Uh-oh… did he notice me?'

Natsu threw his hands in the air and shouted, "Where are you crazy scythe guy!?"

Kageyama just looked at Natsu in disbelief.

Natsu turned to one of the walls and encased his fist in flames. "If you won't come out, then I'll just bring down the whole station.

'Th – this guy's… supposed to be in a Light Guild?'

Natsu proceeded with his threat and began busting through walls.

Lucy, Minerva, Juvia, and Happy were searching through the halls of the station as well trying to find Karacka. After a few moments, Lucy stopped and moaned. "Geez… we're never gonna find this guy." She then turned to the others. "Come on, why don't we head back and tell Erza we couldn't find him?"

Happy looked at her shocked at the declaration. "Wwooww, Lucy. You're so brave, defying Erza's orders like that."

"Eh?" Lucy squeaked out.

"But I have to say I feel sorry for you, because the things Erza will do to you if you don't follow her orders."

"Th – things…?" Lucy asked with trepidation.

"Yeah… things with ropes and chains…"

Lucy paled before eagerly asserting, "O – okay you guys, let's go!"

"Aye, sir!"

Natsu burst through a wall with his fists ablaze and looked around angrily. "Come on! Where are you!?"

"Good grief, you Fairy Tail Flies sure are noisy."

"Huh?!"

Natsu turned around as Kageyama appeared from his shadows.

"Hey! It's Calibratorcab!"

"That doesn't even sound remotely the same you retard!" Kageyama growled at Natsu's apparent stupidity and then thrust his hand forward. "Knuckle Shadow!" A fist made of shadows appeared from the floor and raced towards Natsu.

The Dragon Slayer ducked to the side and spat fireballs at Kageyama.

Kageyama crossed his hands in response. "Guard Shadow!" A dome of shadows appeared around him and blocked the flames.

Natsu raced towards Kageyama and threw a series of punches and kicks, all of which Kageyama blocked or dodged. In frustration, Natsu jumped back, encased his hands in flame and charged forward shouting, "Fire Dragon Iron Fist!"

Kageyama barely dodged the attack but the burst of flames from the attack also ended up throwing Kageyama against the wall. He stood up angrily and smirked at Natsu. "Oh, you're so dead pal. Here, try my most powerful attack!" He clasped his hands together and then thrust one forward. "Shadow Orochi!" The shadows around his feet split off and burst forward, forming a multitude of snakes that charged at Natsu. "And don't bother running, my snakes will chase to the ends of the earth!"

Natsu merely grumbled in response. "Yeah, big talk!" Natsu splayed his hands out, collected fire around them and curled them into fists, and then slammed his hands together, causing a magic circle and fire to burst out before bringing his hands up in front of his mouth, right hand in front of his left and inhaled a large breath. "Fire Dragon Roar!" A magic circle appeared in front of him and a torrent of flames burst from it and engulfed Kageyama's Shadow Orochi, destroying the snakes and barreling towards him.

Kageyama stood frozen in place at the sight. "Aahh crap." He slammed through the wall from the force of the attack and collapsed unconscious on the other side.

Natsu sighed as Erza, Flare, and Gray came into the room.

"Natsu!" Erza shouted. "Are you hurt?"

Natsu gave a thumbs up with a grin. "Nope, I'm fine. Can't say that for the other guy though." He then paled slightly and put up his hands. "I'm sorry! I told Gray it was a –!"

Erza silenced him by putting a finger on his lips. "I know already. And it was Gray's idea, so you need not worry."

"Other guy?"

Natsu pointed at him. "Doggymama."

"I – it's… Kageyama…" the battered shadow-user corrected weakly.

Erza immediately walked over to Kageyama and picked him up by the collar. "Now, you will dispel the Wind Wall outside, understand?"

Kageyama, who had been fully roused to consciousness by Erza's sudden action, nodded weakly. "Alright… I'll do it."

However, right at that moment, a magic circle appeared on the wall and a hand burst out, plunging a dagger through Kageyama's back and out through his chest.

Erza's eyes widened as the hand receded Karacka appeared nearby.

Karacka looked at the weakened form of Kageyama sadly. "S – sorry, Kageyama, it was… Byard's orders."

"You bastard!" Natsu howled. "He was your comrade, wasn't he?!"

Karacka shrunk back. "B - but… they were… my orders."

"So?!" Natsu retorted as he kicked Karacka through the wall.

Karacka laid on the floor twitching unconsciously.

Erza put a hand on Natsu's shoulder. "That is enough, save your energy for Erigor."

Natsu merely hissed.

"Let's head back to the front of the station. We're surrounded by a wall of wind, we have to figure out a way past it." She then grabbed the bleeding Kageyama. "Flare, cauterize these wounds, we can still use him."

Flare ignited her hair and burned the wounds shut, causing Kageyama to growl in pain before Erza threw him to Gray.

"Huh?! Why me?!" Gray retorted.

"Consider it your punishment for disobeying me," Erza charged.

"You can't seriously still be mad about that!"

Erza merely shot him an angry glare.

"If you're expecting some form of gratitude from me forget it," Kageyama remarked weakly as Gray threw him over his shoulder.

Erza walked up to him and replied, "Not necessarily gratitude, but we are expecting you to take down that barrier."

"… Fine…"

Elsewhere, Erigor flew over a large chasm within which a set of train tracks went through, Clover Canyon, the path leading towards the meeting hall of the Guild Masters. Erigor chuckled darkly as he overlooked the area. "Heh, heh, won't be long now, but the God of Death will purge the Light Guild Masters." He then flew off in another direction.

Back at the station, Natsu, Erza, Flare, Lucy, Minerva, Juvia, Happy, and Gray stood at the edge of the Wind Wall.

Erza adorned her Heaven's Wheel Armor and sent another attack at the wall. "Circle Sword!" The disc-like assembly of swords struck the wall and immediately collapsed and shattered. Erza returned to her normal armor and hissed in frustration.

Natsu shouted in agitation and rushed at the wall, using his flame-encased fists to beat on it repeatedly, to no avail.

Minerva sighed and added, "I'd teleport us out if I could see through this wall, but I can't."

Erza turned and tried to awaken Kageyama, whom had passed out on the way there. "This is not working, if we do not do something swiftly it will be too late."

Natsu folded his arms in frustrated thought before realizing a possible plan. "Hey, Lucy!"

"What if we summon a Celestial Spirit? They can take us through the portal like I did!"

Lucy slapped him on the back of the head. "You idiot, humans can't go through the Celestial Gate, it's not allowed."

"But I did. When that midget summoned the gorilla, I went to this weird place with all these stars."

"HUH!?"

"I even met these two pretty ladies there."

"Who?" Juvia asked disconcerted.

"Maxwell and Muzet."

"You met the Lord of Spirits!? Are you kidding me!?" Lucy asked in disbelief.

"Ah-hah!" Happy suddenly shouted.

"What was that for, cat!?"

"I remember what I was supposed to tell you back in the car!" Happy rooted around in his backpack and handed Lucy a fancy, golden key. "After the last job at Everlue's mansion, Virgo gave me her key and asked me to give it to you."

Lucy turned blue and looked at the key. "You mean… that big gorilla thing? While I'm happy to get a new key, especially a Zodiac Key, that won't do much for us right now."

Happy snickered proudly. "But you're forgetting, Virgo digs holes. We can have her dig a hole and get out under the Wind Wall."

"Oh yeah!"

However, before Lucy could take the key from Happy, Natsu swiped it. "Gimme!"

"Hey!"

"What? I want it."

"Do you even know how to summon her?"

"It's Gate of the Maiden, right? Yukino told me about all the different Zodiac Spirits once."

"H – huh?"

"Right! Open, Gate of the Maiden: Virgo!" He raised the key as he called out.

The gate appeared and in a burst of smoke a young woman with a thin frame, though an admittedly large bosom, short pink hair, blue eyes, who wore shackles on her wrists with chains hanging down, a black undercoat under a white, frill-trimmed apron, thigh-high, white stockings, and simple black shoes appeared.

"Hold on, that's not right, you look different from before," Lucy remarked.

"My appearance changes based on the preferences of my Master," Virgo explained.

The others looked at Natsu with suspicious glances.

"W – well… it's accurate… I guess…" Lucy muttered uncomfortably.

"It is good to see that the feline did as asked," Virgo said.

Happy tilted his head in bewilderment. "What? I thought you said to give your key to Lucy."

"I said to give it to the pink one."

Happy pointed at Lucy's hand. "Her guild mark is pink."

Virgo then turned to Natsu. "What do you need, Master?"

"Can ya dig us a hole outta here?" Natsu asked.

Lucy smiled in mild exasperation. "Don't you think it's weird that she calls you Master?"

Natsu shrugged. "It ain't my name but she can call me what she wants."

"Have I made a mistake, Master?" Virgo asked before turning and sticking her backside out slightly. "Do I require punishment?"

"Su –" Natsu began to answer but was interrupted by Lucy.

"Nnoo!" Lucy shouted.

Natsu turned to her, puzzled.

"Let's get out of here first! You can enact your kinky fetishes later!"

Natsu tilted his head in thought. "Fetish? Is that like roleplay?"

Erza put a hand on her chin in thought. "Hhmm… so that is how it is? I will need to speak to Laki."

Natsu then turned back to Virgo. "Come on, Virgo, let's get outta here."

"As you wish, Master," Virgo answered before she began spinning and dug a hole into the ground.

Erza turned to Kageyama in thought. "We need to bring him with us."

"I will carry everyone through," Virgo explained.

"Gray can get through on his own," Natsu interjected.

"Hey!" Gray argued.

The group finally made their way out of the Wind Wall through the hole Virgo dug, finding that despite calm winds inside, the winds outside the Wall were vicious.

"Man, this wind is insane on this side!" Flare shouted.

"Y – yeah…!" Lucy added as she tried to keep her skirt down.

Once away from the torrential winds, Erza turned to the group. "We have to pursue Erigor, if we're lucky there's still time before he reaches the conference, but we'll need to catch up fast. Natsu, go and find Erigor and stop him! The rest of us will try to get to the conference, you worry about stopping Erigor."

"Right!" Natsu replied as Happy jumped on his back, flared out his wings, and flew off into the sky.

Erigor flew through the air on his way to the guild masters' conference when something slammed into him, causing both it and him to hit the ground hard.

Erigor groaned as he stood up and saw Natsu behind him. "You damn fly! How'd you escape?!"

"We dug a hole," Natsu retorted.

"Tch, well I'll be sure to dig a bigger one and bury you in it!"

"Just try it!" Natsu retorted as he lit his fists and feet in flame.

Erza drove the magic four-wheeler erratically as her vision began to blur.

"Hey, Erza," Lucy began, "are you sure you shouldn't let someone else drive?"

"N – no…" Erza responded, strained, "I am… fine…"

Minerva sighed and snatched the cuff from Erza's arm and put it on her own arm. "If you won't let one of us drive then we can at least give your mana reserves a break."

Erza sighed before cracking a small smile. "… Thank you…"

Minerva smiled in return. "That's what a guild's for, right?"

As Erza drove, one of the jostles stirred Kageyama from his unconsciousness. He looked around and realized where he was. He immediately tensed up and then groaned in pain, seeing the bandages all over his body, puzzled. He looked at the other Fairy Tail members and asked suspiciously, "Why did you let me live?" Narrowing his eyes he continued, "You're planning to use me as a bargaining chip, aren't you…?" He then sighed and shook his head. "That wouldn't work, Erigor doesn't care about anyone."

"You know," Gray interrupted, "if all you're lookin' for is death, just say the word."

Kageyama sneered at him, Lucy looking at him with slight disbelief as well.

Gray then turned to Kageyama and added, "But don't fool yourself into thinking everything comes down to a matter of life or death."

Kageyama looked at him surprised and confused, biting his lip in frustration.

Natsu threw several blasts of flame at Erigor, which the scythe-wielder blocked by deftly spinning his scythe quickly.

Erigor then retaliated by swiping his scythe repeatedly, sending large blades of wind at Natsu.

Natsu rushed forward, punching and kicking at the blades as he ran, destroying them, before rearing his fist back. "Fire Dragon Iron Fist!" he howled as he swung his fist at Erigor.

Erigor leapt into the air at the last minute, causing Natsu to stumble forward and for his flames to burst forward harmlessly. Erigor smirked and dove back down, slamming his foot into Natsu's back.

Natsu surged flames from his back, which Erigor narrowly dodged, before jumping up and punching at Erigor again.

Erigor dodged the attack once more and sent a blade of wind at Natsu that sent him flying.

Natsu pushed off from the nearby rock wall and soared up at Erigor, his fists becoming engulfed in flames before long trails emitted from them. "Fire Dragon Wing Attack!" Natsu shouted as he swung his arms up, causing the trails of flame to smack Erigor from below, before swinging his arms down swiftly, causing the trails to slam into Erigor from above and explode, sending him crashing to the tracks below. "Hah! Take that!"

Erigor stood up, annoyed, and spat blood. "Damn fly."

Natsu charged down with a flame-encased fist at the ready.

Erigor hissed and raised his scythe to block but widened his eyes as Natsu's fist slammed straight through the scythe, shattering it in two, before Natsu's fist slammed into Erigor himself and exploded flames outward violently.

Erigor was sent flying, bouncing on the tracks several times before sliding to a stop.

Natsu grinned before snarling as Erigor stood up once more.

"I think this has gone on long enough," Erigor hissed before looking at the remnants of his scythe and throwing it aside. He then crossed his arms in front of him, causing a magic circle to appear in the air before wind burst from it and swirled around his body, coating him in an armor of wind. "Storm Mail!"

"Like that'll stop me!" Natsu challenged as he charged at Erigor. "Fire Dragon Iron Fist!" he shouted as he punched Erigor. However, the wind surrounding Erigor extinguished Natsu's flames and shot back at Natsu, sending him crashing to the ground below.

Erigor laughed loudly. "Stupid fly! I'm invincible in my Storm Mail! Flame can't beat wind!"

Natsu hissed angrily. "Fire Dragon Roar!" he howled before sending a stream of fire at Erigor, which curled around him and extinguished harmlessly.

"Not good!" Happy shouted in concern.

"Don't worry, I'll clobber this guy!"

"Yeah right!" Erigor argued before extending a hand forward, causing a magic circle to appear which fired a massive barrage of compact wind blades at high speeds. "Storm Shred!"

Natsu widened his eyes and leapt to the side, narrowly avoiding the shots, hissing as one nicked his arm. "Damn, those things are sharp."

"I'll shred you to pieces, fly! Storm Bringer!" A magic circle appeared in front of Erigor that shot a tornado out that slammed into the airborne Natsu, engulfing him, tumbling and spinning him erratically while the wind inside sliced at him, leaving him dazed as the tornado dissipated, allowing Erigor to charge in and slam into Natsu, causing a burst of wind that shot Natsu back down to the ground.

Natsu groaned as he sat up slowly. "Dammit… not good… looks like… I can't keep messin' around…"

"You can't beat me fly! It's time to die! Emera Baram!" Erigor howled as many magic circles appeared in front of him.

"Not good!" Happy shouted. "I've heard of this spell! Natsu, if you get hit, it'll chop us to bits!"

Before Natsu could react, the magic circles shot out multiple tornadoes made of wind blades that slammed into the train tracks below, shredding them to pieces, before surging forward and slamming into, then engulfing, Natsu. He howled in pain as the thousands of wind blades inside cut at his body combined with the debris and shrapnel kicked up by the wind.

As the spell died down, Erigor snickered confidently but then huffed in annoyance when he saw Natsu, beaten but alive, lying on the ground. "You're a persistent fly."

Natsu stood up weakly, coughing blood onto the ground before sighing. "Damn… guess I gotta stop holding back now."

Erigor raised an eyebrow in confusion as Natsu's body was engulfed in a swirling vortex of bright orange flames. "What's this supposed to be?" Erigor's attention perked when the orange flames began to fleck with black flames before the flames were replaced entirely, midnight black flames surging outwards violently. "Oh? Am I supposed to be scared?"

Natsu took in a breath before sighing. "Man… I haven't used these in a while."

Erigor raised an eyebrow in thought. "What the…? Tch, no matter, flames are flames, and my Wind Magic will put them all out! Magic Wind Palm!" He clapped his hands, causing a small twister to launch out and surge towards Natsu.

Natsu raised a hand and fired streams of black flames at the incoming twister.

Erigor's eyes widened when Natsu's flames began to consume his wind and raced towards him. "What the hell!? No! That's not possible! My wind should extinguish your flames!"

Erigor dashed to the side as the flames soared past him.

Natsu smirked as the flames on his feet and hands surged. "Maybe the flames of a dragon are consumed by that wind. But these aren't the flames of a dragon, no, these are the flames of a god. This is Flame God Slayer Magic!"

"What!?"

Natsu surged up, his flames exploding from his feet to send him up faster as he reared back a fist and slammed it into Erigor's Storm Mail, the flames exploding outward violently. "Flame God Hammer!"

Erigor grunted as his Storm Mail was engulfed and destroyed. "Wh… what…? That's… not possible…"

"How's that you bastard?!"

Erigor snarled as he surged wind from his feet to steady himself. "I'm not done yet! One more time, Emera Baram!" he bellowed as more magic circles appeared and launched another torrent of wind at Natsu.

Natsu outstretched his fists, which surged with black flames, before slamming them together, causing a magic circle to appear as the flames roared, then putting his fists in front of his mouth as the magic circle moving in front of them as he took in a big breath. "Flame God Bellow!" he howled as an immense eruption of black flames shot from the magic circle, completely engulfing and devouring Erigor's flames before racing towards the stunned dark wizard himself.

His eyes wide, Erigor trembled in fear. "N – no… this… can't be happening…" he muttered before the mass of racing flames slammed into him, detonating outwards intensely, filling the air with smoke and flame.

As the flames and smoke dissipated, Natsu the incapacitated and unconscious Erigor lying on the ground.

Moments later, the others appeared from around the bend on the magic four-wheeler.

"Yo!" Natsu cheered as his black flames disappeared.

"Natsu-Sama!" Juvia cheered as she tackled him.

"Whoa, did you actually beat him?" Lucy asked in disbelief.

"Yeah," Natsu answered with a nod as ran a hand through Juvia's hair. "Why are you surprised?"

"U – uh… no reason."

"Good work," Erza congratulated with a smile.

Natsu grinned happily.

After the group spoke for a few moments, Kageyama looked at the side of one of the seats and saw the Lullaby sitting there, before looking back up at Erigor.

As they continued to speak, Natsu suddenly freaked out and jumped to the side, the others following suit as Kageyama sped by, having stolen their magic four-wheeler.

"Hey, get back here!" Natsu ordered.

As Kageyama drove off, he thought, 'Erigor might've failed to wipe out the Guildmasters, but I won't.'

Natsu and the others could only stand in awe at Kageyama's brash action before Erza grit her teeth and ordered, "Alright, we have to chase after him! Move!"

"Right!" the others all responded in unison.

Kageyama eventually abandoned the magic four-wheeler when the terrain became too crowded with trees and made his way through the forest towards the Guildmaster Conference. Upon seeing it, he smirked proudly and removed the flute from his pocket to prepare playing it.

However, right when he was about to he heard rustling behind him and stowed the flute behind him, turning to take out whoever was interrupting him.

To his confusion it was Makarov, whom he recognized as nothing more than a little old man, wandering around reading an issue of Sorcerer Magazine.

Makarov, who was busily reading the magazine with a perverse grin, didn't notice Kageyama standing there, and then when he did, hurriedly shoved the magazine behind him and began stammering all over himself with excuses, Kageyama just looking at him puzzled.

However, after listening to Makarov's stammering for a few moments he concluded the old man was just stupid and decided to try and trick him. "Actually, I was hoping you could help me with something."

Makarov stopped for a moment and then looked at Kageyama curiously. "Alright, what is it?"

"I was planning on playing this song for the Guildmasters, but, I seem to be getting cold feet. Do you think you could allow me to play it for you, then you can tell me what you think?"

Makarov folded his arms in thought and then nodded with a smile. "Sure sonny, go ahead."

Kageyama brought the Lullaby up to his mouth to play, however, right when he was about to, he remembered his one-time allies who had encouraged the Lullaby Plan, now all of them captured by the Council. He then remembered the words Lucy and Gray said to him in rebuke of his wish for death.

Nearby, Natsu and the others finally arrived to see Kageyama over by Makarov.

Natsu and Gray prepared to rush forward to take down Kageyama, but were stopped when Bob stepped in their path.

"Oohh mmyy, well what do we have here?!" Bob exclaimed ecstatically.

Natsu paled as Bob smiled at him.

"Wh – what is that…?" Lucy asked in bewilderment.

"Blob…" Natsu answered with disgust.

Bob reached out to hug Natsu. "Aaww, that's so mean, Nat –!"

Natsu immediately hid behind Erza and kicked Gray at Bob. "Take the stripper!"

"Oooohh!"

Gray screamed in fear.

Lucy could only watch in slight despair. 'Th-this guy…is the Guildmaster for Blue Pegasus…?'

Goldmine then walked over and tapped Lucy on the shoulder, also gaining the attention of the others. "Just watch. I'm sure Makarov can handle this situation."

The others nodded in puzzled agreement and watched Makarov.

Kageyama clenched his fists as he debated his actions. 'All I need to do is play one, single song, and everything will change. Everything will be different…'

Makarov then remarked, "This won't change anything."

Kageyama's eyes widened as he registered Makarov's words.

"Using that flute to kill people won't accomplish anything. It can't change the fact that humans are weak. However, that we are weak is a good thing, I think. It's the reason why things like guilds even exist. When you're surrounded by friends and family who all care for each other, you can even out, or even overcome, your own weakness."

Kageyama's eyes widened as he took in what Makarov said, before dropping the flute and falling to his knees. "I… surrender…"

"He did it!" Lucy cheered happily.

"Way to go Gramps!" Natsu offered as he and the others ran over to him. However, as they rejoiced, Natsu suddenly felt a very powerful, dark energy fill the air.

"You pathetic humans! If you can't do anything, then I'll just do it myself!" a loud, demonic voice suddenly howled in frustration.

It was then that everyone watched as the three eyes of the Lullaby lit up bright violet before tendrils and limbs of wood stretched out in every direction.

"Move!" Erza ordered before everyone scattered.

Then, a gargantuan, demon-like creature made of wood stood above the crowd of gathered wizards.

"Whoa! What is that?!" Natsu shouted.

Erza growled in frustration as she looked upon the beast. "It is Lullaby's true form."

As Lullaby looked around, it roared with a loud bellow. "You pathetic weaklings! I swear I'll devour the soul of every human here! You will all perish to my song!" Lullaby then turned to a mountain nearby and opened its maw, energy collecting and forming into a magic circle, a massive beam of energy shooting from the circle and annihilating a large portion of the mountain.

The Rune Knights, who had arrived to help, turned and fled away from the towering behemoth, leaving the mages to deal with it themselves.

Natsu glowered at the monster and pounded his fists together. "This thing's gonna pay for that!"

Erza nodded in agreement as her body was illuminated in bright, golden light before her normal attire was replaced by a new armor with her hair tied up in a long ponytail, the armor itself being composed of a neck guard that decorated with silver as well as multiple gems, along with two black shoulders guards with silver edges, overlapping each other on each shoulder, with silver crosses on them and flanking the collar of the armor, reminiscent of a dress, the breastplate having silver edges and revealing much of Erza's cleavage and abdomen, a series of plates flanking her sides and hips which reached down to the armor's very large skirt armor, which itself was composed of long, silver-edged plates shaped like feathers and adorned with silver, cross-like markings, the waist armor also leaving much of the of the front of lower body exposed, a black bikini-like cloth covering her, as well as slim gauntlets with silver patterns, and leg armor that was silver-edged at her hips and jet black on her greaves. "Requip: Black Wing Armor!"

Gray, as usual, threw off his shirt in preparation to fight the monstrosity.

"Fire Dragon Roar!" Natsu howled.

"Water Dragon Roar!" Juvia shouted.

"Ice-Make: Lance!" Gray added.

All three of the attacks impacted on Lullaby but left no marks. The beast laughed loudly. "Stupid humans! You can't kill me!"

"… I think we need bigger weapons…" Lucy muttered in disbelief.

Natsu grinned widely. "I've got just the thing."

"Huh?"

Natsu then pulled out a gold key with a purple form wrapped around it. He raised the key into the air and shouted, "Open, Gate of the Snake Charmer: Ophiuchus!"

A magic circle then appeared in the air from which smoke burst out. As the smoke cleared everyone gaped as they saw an immense, violet, mechanical snake emerge.

"Whoa!" Lucy exclaimed.

"I don't care what you summon!" Lullaby howled. "I'll destroy it all!"

Ophiuchus growled before coiling around in the air and whacking at Lullaby with its tail, causing the wooden demon to slam into the conference building. The mechanical snake then opened its maw wide, firing a blast of energy at Ophiuchus that exploded violently, destroying more of the conference hall.

Lullaby stood up, its face slightly damaged. "Like that'll stop me!"

Ophiuchus responded instantly by chomping onto Lullaby's head.

Lullaby stood in stunned shock for a moment before howling in pain. "… OOOWWW! Get off!"

Ophiuchus clamped down harder before Lullaby finally grabbed the snake and threw it off, only to see Natsu in the air overhead. "… Eh…?"

Natsu soared in the air towards Lullaby, his fists becoming engulfed in black flames before long trails emitted from them. "Flame God Supper!" Natsu shouted as he swung his arms up, causing the trails of black flame to smack Lullaby from below, before swinging his arms down swiftly, causing the trails to slam into Lullaby from above, chopping off one of the beast's arms.

Erza smirked and leapt into the air as well. "Moon Flash!" she announced as she dashed forward at immense speed, cutting through Lullaby's other arm and severing it.

Flare untied her hair and spread it outward as it ignited. "Hair Shower: Firefly Flame!" chunks of her hair flew off at Lullaby, exploding on impact.

"Water Dragon Great Flood!" Juvia shouted as a huge torrent of water shot forward and engulfed Lullaby, destroying even more of the conference building.

"Territory!" Minerva exclaimed before hundreds of glowing portals surrounded Lullaby before exploding in a violent barrage, leaving the monster a damaged, crippled husk.

Natsu hovered above as black flames began condensing between his hands. "Now for the finish! Flame God Inferno!" The flames then surged outward in a gargantuan explosion, engulfing the entirety of Lullaby and the remains of the conference building in the burst, destroying and vaporizing all of it.

Makarov gaped in shock as the flames died down, revealing a mere crater.

"W – wow…" Goldmine muttered in shock.

Lucy turned around and saw the collection of other guild masters glaring at their group. "We should… probably start running, right?"

"Yes," Makarov answered plainly. "Fast."

The group immediately ban fleeing from the ensuing mob of angry guild masters, running for the horizon and beyond.

And there you have it, folks! That wraps up this chapter of Embodiment of Flame. I would like to trust that the majority of you enjoyed the chapter, and be sure to post a review if you did. If you were confused or have questions on anything, be sure to post a review and I will do what I can to address your query. And if you did not enjoy the review, feel free to post a review, just try to keep it constructive or, if you cannot do that, go and do something that you actually enjoy. Well, until next time, buh-bye!