While most of the villagers were fleeing from the castle, Zancrow was getting closer to finding Laxus. Entering the West Wing, he found the doors leading to Laxus's bedroom and kicked them open. He fueled himself with Flame God Slayer Magic, expecting to see the Lightning Beast ready to pounce at him. Instead, he saw Laxus sitting sadly by a mantle near the rose, which was down to its last two petals. Taking advantage of this distracted state, Zancrow breathed with all of his might.
"Flame God's Bellow!" Zancrow breathed his massive black fireball attack straight to Laxus's back. The powerful blast connects, making Laxus roar in agony and blasting him through the window, breaking it and tossing him over to the balcony.
Zancrow laughed amusingly, "As fast as lightning! See what I did there?" He jumped over to where Laxus was, his hands pulsing with black flames. "I'm going to enjoy this."
The Flame God Slayer charged in at Laxus, and decimated him with rapid magical punches and kicks. Zancrow pounded with all of his might, each blow weakening Laxus further. "Flame God's Divine Fist!" He finished by smashing Laxus with a mighty fist of black flame, making him fall backwards over the edge and stumble down the rooftop.
Laxus stopped rolling, and Zancrow slid down after him. Zancrow proceeded to pound Laxus again with the same strategy. The last blow forced Laxus to fall hard onto the flat narrow edge below. Zancrow stood menacingly over the moderately weakened and bruised Lightning Beast.
"Is that it? Is that all you got?!" Zancrow shouted angrily, before he kicked Laxus hard, causing him to roll over and further towards the edge. "C'mon, I want a real challenge! Get up!" When Laxus didn't reply, Zancrow furiously kicked him in the chest again.
"I said, get up!" Zancrow repeated. Laxus tried feebly to stand, but the pain he took from the Flame God Slayer caused him to flop back down, much to Zancrow's amusement. He said mockingly, "What's the matter, Lightning Beast? Too 'kind and gentle' to fight back?"
Laxus just stared down sadly, and he still didn't reply. If Zancrow wanted him dead, who was he to argue? Perhaps this was the fate held out in store for a beast like him. The Flame God Slayer looked down at the Lightning Beast and scoffed, thinking he'd be more of a challenge. Instead, it seems he needs someone to put him out of his misery. Wanting to take that pleasure, Zancrow's body pulsated with a dark aura, with every intention of finishing Laxus off. Until…
"No!" a voice cried in the wind.
Hearing the familiar voice, Laxus lifted his head to see Parakeet riding the carriage over the castle bridge, with a familiar person holding the reins. And that's…
"Mira?" Laxus uttered.
"No!" Mirajane shouted, horrified to see Zancrow ready to strike. "Zancrow, don't!"
Zancrow, however, refused to listen and clenched his immensely black flaming fist before throwing it. However, the fist was suddenly blocked by an open palm. Zancrow was shocked to see Laxus standing up on both feet. With eyes of anger and determination, the Lightning Beast was ready to fight now that Mirajane had come back.
Seeing what was happening, Mirajane snapped the reins. "Let's go, Parakeet!" she said, and the horse whined valiantly and dragged the carriage straight ahead, bursting through the doors and entering the castle gardens.
When Parakeet stopped, Mirajane, Elfman, Lisanna, Chelia, Sherry, Meredy, and Yukino hastily disembarked from the carriage. Elfman shouted, "Alright, guys! Let's get this over… Huh?" The group was surprised to see the villagers that had followed Zancrow to the castle earlier were sitting and standing around the gardens, exhausted from their battle with the servants and needing time to recuperate. "What's happened to them?" Elfman wondered. "And here, I thought they're a manly angry mob."
Lisanna assumed, "Maybe Natsu and the others fought back without Laxus's help." Just then, she and the others heard shouts of victory and celebration from the main hall's entrance. "I stand corrected."
"Let's go!" Mirajane urged Lisanna, Elfman, and the gang to follow her to the front doors. Unknowingly, in one corner of the gardens, Ren Akatsuki was able to notice Sherry with a surprised look.
"Sherry?" Ren said puzzled. "My honey blossom? What are you…"
Mirajane and the group opened the front doors to see Natsu, Gray, and the rest of the castle servants celebrating their triumph over the villagers.
Natsu, Gray, Lucy, and Erza turned their heads and exclaimed loudly in unison, "Mirajane?!"
Natsu asked, "What are you doing back here?"
"I need your help!" Mirajane said desperately. "Laxus is in trouble!"
"Trouble?!" Erza gasped.
"But we chased off the angry mob," Lucy replied. She turned to Lisanna and Elfman, and her eyes widened, "And hey, isn't that…"
"Lasagna and Shelby?" Natsu asked, trying to recall the name of Mirajane's siblings.
"Lisanna and Elfman," Gray corrected Natsu with a frown.
"Not everyone's chased out," Lisanna interjected. "We saw Zancrow fighting Laxus on the roof. We have to help him!"
"Then we've got no time to lose!" Natsu shouted. "Follow us!"
Lisanna insisted, "We'll come, too."
Elfman grinned, cracking his knuckles, "Time to show that Zancrow jerk what happens when you mess with a girl, you mess with a real man."
"No," Mirajane shook her head. "You and Lisanna stay here with Chelia, Wendy, and the others." She turned to the staircase determinedly, "Laxus needs me." Together, she, Natsu, Gray, Erza, and Lucy charged up the staircase towards the West Wing.
"Good luck, Big Sis!" Elfman called out.
"Be careful, Mira!" Lisanna added.
"Kick his butt for us!" Chelia and Sherry shouted in unison.
"We're counting on you, Mira!" Yukino rooted.
"This place… Could it be…? Meredy wondered, her thoughts focused on the castle instead of Mirajane.
As soon as Mirajane, Natsu, Gray, Erza, and Lucy left, the coat rack servant Sorano emerged from one of main hall's doors. "That was a close call. A heck of a battle with those awful mobsters," she smiled. Just then, Sorano stopped in her tracks and gasped in complete disbelief when she saw Yukino's face among the group. "Yukino?!"
"Look!" Lyon Vastia pointed upward. "Up there!"
The villagers anxiously looked up to see two powerful lights at the top of the castle, one glowing yellow and the other glowing black, and both grew immensely powerful with each second. This indicated that the Lightning Beast and the Flame God Slayer were powering up with their own brand of magic: Laxus with the thunder and Zancrow with the black flames. They stared each other in the face, the thunderstorm in the sky setting up the mood for their inevitable showdown.
"Now that's more like it," Zancrow smirked, cracking his knuckles. "In my day, I've fought and slain countless beasts and walked away unharmed. But I knew you'd be much more of a challenge for me." He motioned his hand at Laxus, "C'mon, Lightning Beast! May the best man win!"
The two clashed, the collision of their magic destroying a portion of the castle around them. Laxus and Zancrow lashed out, one strike after another, with kicks, punches, tackles, blocks, counters, and special magical attacks. Their epic battle took them around the upper parts of the castle, from the tower roofs to the balconies, a trail of destruction left behind in their wake. During the brawl, the walls exploded and the towers collapsed. Talk about going overboard for an epic duel!
The war between the Lightning Beast and the Flame God Slayer continued for at least ten minutes, until they transformed themselves into balls of fire and lightning and flew into the sky. They clashed for dominance as if in a sword duel, until Laxus managed to land a blow down on Zancrow's head, crashing him down onto a tower. A lightning bolt blasted down on Zancrow and forced him down onto the roof. From the rubble, Laxus lifted Zancrow and kicked him. With his fingers, Zancrow grabbed the surface to slow down his speed, and he fell frontward.
Despite a few serious injuries, the two opponents were still standing. Laxus was rubbing his bleeding nose, while Zancrow spat out a loose bleeding tooth from his mouth. The two once again prepared to attack.
"Flame God's Kagutsuchi!" Zancrow clasped his fists and fired a large flame blast at Laxus.
"Lightning Beast's Demolition Fist!" Laxus fired a spell materializing into a large fist at Zancrow.
The two blasts collided into smoke and ashes. Once the smoke cleared, the two rivals began charging themselves for another attack.
"Flame God's Bellow!"
"Lightning Beast's Roar!"
By collision of the two beams, Laxus jumped up and transformed himself into a lightning bolt that hit Zancrow directly in the chest, making him gag. Zancrow countered by kicking Laxus to the jaw in a backflip, and the two slightly recuperated.
Zancrow stated, "I was bred to be a warrior, Lightning Beast. Trained my whole life to master my true potential. Behold! This is the true power of my Flame God Slayer Magic! The power of a god!"
With a mighty shout to the heavens, Zancrow exploded in an extremely powerful aura of black flames, burning away the ripped and tattered clothes around his upper muscular body. Boosted by his magical power, Zancrow floated into the air sneering at the Lightning Beast's shocked face; he had never expected the Flame God Slayer to boost his magic up to eleven. But Laxus was ever vigilant; he was not going to give up that easily. He will protect his castle and his servants to the bitter end, no matter what.
Transforming into a bolt of lightning, Laxus dashed towards Zancrow and pushed him upward to the clouds, before Zancrow countered with a kick to the face. The two clashed once again, this time in an aerial duel. With each blow dealt, each sound caused the thunderstorm to grow and intensify, which symbolized the fierce rivalry between the two. Mirajane's family and friends, the castle servants, and the villagers could only look up to the sky and watch as flashes of black and yellow illuminated the gray clouds.
"Lightning Beast's Jaw!" Clasping both hands, Laxus threw a lightning-powered double hammer fist that knocked Zancrow back down to the roof, ending the aerial brawl. "Lightning Beast's Iron Fist!" He dealt the second blow by hitting Zancrow directly in the chest with a lightning fist.
"Flame God's Supper!" Zancrow quickly recovered and clasped his hands together to launch a mouth-shaped attack of black flames. Unfortunately, what he destroyed turned out to be the statue of a gargoyle, indicating that Laxus used his Lightning Magic to slip away from harm.
Zancrow got back up and saw that he was surrounded by countless statues of different creatures. "Where are you?!" he demanded amongst the motionless figures. Hearing nothing but the thunder, he began searching the statues for Laxus. "Where are you?! Come on out and fight!" Zancrow shouted in frustration. "Were you in love with her, Lightning Beast? Did you honestly think she'd want you when she had someone like me?!"
Suddenly, Zancrow heard movement and turned around to see Laxus throwing a lightning punch at him. The Flame God Slayer dodged and began parrying Laxus's blows. When Laxus was wide open at the last parry, Zancrow smirked and charged all of his Flame God Slayer Magic for a special surprise.
"Flame God's…"
Laxus roared and dashed towards Zancrow.
"…Divine Fist! Supper! Scythe! Explosive Flame! Kagutsuchi! Flame Elbow!" Zancrow utilized dozens of God Slayer techniques, which ultimately devastated Laxus, even shattering the protective scales around his body.
And then, Zancrow charged for his final attack. "God Slayer Secret Art: Black Lotus: Arrows of Agni!" With the flicker of his hands, Zancrow summoned thousands of black arrows from his fingers that homed in on Laxus and smashed him on impact. His body severely weakened by Zancrow's ultimate attack, Laxus collapsed to the floor, exhausted.
"It's over, Lightning Beast!" Zancrow declared, preparing to finish him off. "MIRAJANE IS MINE!"
Laxus's eyes narrowed in response. Suddenly, the thunder and lightning from the sky fell down on Laxus, forcing Zancrow to reel back. Once the lightning struck his body, he replenished all of his Magic Energy, despite the grievous injuries that remained during the battle.
"What?!" Zancrow exclaimed. "You used lightning from the sky to get your strength back?! What kind of a monster are you?!"
Laxus stood up and replied with pure anger in his voice, "I'm your worst nightmare." As the lightning around his body reached optimum levels, Laxus advanced to a fearful Zancrow with fury in his eyes. "This castle is my home, and the people living in it are my family! And anyone who hurts them… gets no mercy from me!"
Charging all of his powers, Laxus unleashed a series of special techniques of his own against Zancrow. "Lightning Beast's Iron Fist! Talon! Wing Attack! Sword Horn! Lightning Elbow! Demolition Fist! Heavenward Halberd!" And the finishing blow, "Roaring Thunder!"
The full force of Laxus's attacks completely devastated Zancrow, causing him to fall from the sky and collapse to the ground in defeat. His body severely wounded, he was exhausted and no longer able to stand. As the weakened Flame God Slayer struggled with his last bit of strength to move away, Laxus grabbed him by the throat and lifted him over the edge of the roof.
"Let me go. Let me go!" Zancrow begged fearfully, his voice cracking. "Please don't hurt me! I'll do anything! ANYTHING!"
Laxus was prepared to throw Zancrow off the roof. Then he paused. He remembered all the pain he had caused as a Lightning Beast, which was the same way he acted towards Mirajane the first time they met, and he realized he was about to do worse to this helpless man. Looking at the whimpering Zancrow, he realized he wasn't that monster anymore. And never again did he want to be. Pulling Zancrow back to the roof, Laxus looked at him with an emotionless frown.
"Get out," he said coldly, and he threw the Flame God Slayer to the ground in disgust. Zancrow said nothing, overcome with shock and relief.
"Laxus!"
Hearing the familiar voice, Laxus looked up to see Mirajane leaning over the edge of the balcony. "Mira?"
Mirajane smiled as she saw Laxus down there. He had never felt this happy to see her again. He then climbed up the roof until he was close to the balcony. "Mira..." Laxus repeated her name and held his hand out to Mirajane, who took it. Overcome with joy, he gently brushed her hair and smiled widely, "You came back."
From the ground behind them, Zancrow was coming back to his senses. As he spotted Mirajane and Laxus together, his raging jealousy re-emerged and he mustered his remaining strength to stand back up. His Magic Energy may have been depleted and he may not have the strength to fight anymore, but he did have one more trick up his sleeve. Reaching into his pocket, Zancrow took out a small knife and climbed towards the couple.
Meanwhile, Laxus's hand was held close to Mirajane's cheek. Just then, she looked over Laxus's shoulder as Zancrow appeared behind them. "Laxus, watch out!"
Laxus quickly scooted out of the way, but Mirajane didn't react fast enough and her screaming mouth was gagged by a hand as Zancrow grabbed her body with his left arm around it, his right arm brandishing the knife around her neck.
"MIRA!" Laxus screamed.
"Stay back!" Zancrow bellowed with a murderous tone, raising his knife close to Mirajane's neck. "Unless you want to see your 'girlfriend' die before your eyes! I've had enough trouble for a lifetime!"
Natsu, Gray, Erza, and Lucy, who had followed Mirajane to Laxus's room, were also shocked to see Mirajane's life threatened by Zancrow. Mirajane was struggling to scream for help, but all of her efforts failed with Zancrow's hand around her mouth.
"No!" Laxus pleaded. "Don't do this!"
"MIRAJANE IS MINE!" Zancrow roared at the top of his lungs, his body trembling. "NO CAN HAVE HER! NO ONE!"
Natsu and the others joined Laxus and interjected angrily, "Stop it! You don't have to do this! Just leave her alone and go find another girl or something!"
Lucy added, "Yeah! Find someone who actually loves you for once!"
"You think I care about opinions from pieces of junk like you?!" Zancrow retorted fiercely, causing Natsu, Gray, Erza, and Lucy to back away. "This isn't about love. It's about getting what I want! What I deserve! And I'm not letting anything or anyone stop me!"
"But killing someone is your way of showing love for her?!" Erza argued angrily. "This is going too far!"
Zancrow yelled, "All I ever wanted was to make Mirajane my wife! To make her mine! But she refused to listen. She chose not to marry me, and instead, she wanted to be friends with a monster like him." He referred to Laxus, "That's why I had to kill him as an example. I will not be denied over some silly affection for a hideous beast!"
Laxus protested, "She has nothing to do with you!"
"SHE HAS EVERYTHING TO DO WITH ME!" Zancrow screamed, inching the knife closer to Mirajane's neck.
"LET HER GO!" Laxus demanded with a roar.
"NEVER! MIRAJANE WAS EVERYTHING TO ME! SHE WAS MY ONLY HAPPINESS!" Zancrow roared back. "All I ever wanted was to win her heart! To make her love me! And what did she give me in return? NOTHING!" His murderous glare turned to Mirajane's fearful eyes, "There is where I draw the line. If I can't have her, NO ONE can!" He kept his grip on the knife and turned to Laxus, "Lightning Beast, I'll just tell the villagers you killed her, but I avenged the death of my true love by killing you. You'll all be dead, anyway! One way or another, Mirajane belongs to me! Even if it means by extreme measures!"
Laxus, Natsu, Gray, Erza, and Lucy exclaimed in unison, "You wouldn't!"
"I would!" Zancrow replied sadistically. He turned to Mirajane with a sneer, his knife at the ready, "Do you have any last words, my little wife?"
Grimacing in anger, Erza squirted hot tea from her nose which splashed Zancrow in the face, causing him to scream at the scorching pain. He held his face, trying to dry it with his hands, which caused Mirajane to crumple onto the ground near the balcony's edge.
After a few seconds of recovering, Zancrow turned to Mirajane, glaring with murderous intent. With an incomprehensible yell, he pounced with his knife directed to her stomach…
…but the blow never landed on her. It landed on someone else.
"LAXUS!"
Mirajane screamed at the top of her voice, shocked to have seen Zancrow stabbing the knife at Laxus's chest through the soft spot of his shattered scales. In light of this heinous act, Zancrow's expression of rage soon turned into a triumphant one. He originally intended to use Mirajane as bait to kill the Lightning Beast, but killing him directly was what mattered the most. Once he's finished with him, Zancrow would at last have Mirajane.
But before Zancrow would strike again, Laxus, in a last-ditch effort, used all of his draining strength to throw him off the edge of the balcony. Suddenly, a bolt of lightning appeared and struck dangerously close behind Zancrow. There was a loud cracking noise, and the edge Zancrow was standing on began breaking beneath, causing him to lose balance. Mirajane quickly reached forward and pulled Laxus back, while Zancrow already slipped as the edge gave out from under him. Letting out a piercing scream, the Flame God Slayer plunged hundreds of feet to his death into the deep chasm below.