CH29: Wrath of God
Erza was recovering from the divine sphere that had almost killed her. By her side was Wendy keeping up her healing barrier and watching over them were Cana, Lucy, and Carla. The pain she was in was unbearable. She had pieces of her Adamantine armor embedded in her body and sustained several second degree burns on her stomach, sides and legs. Then she took notice that although she was in critical condition, she was not the main focus of her guildmate's attention.
Cana looked stunned, almost as if she had seen a ghost. Lucy was also at a loss for words while Wendy and Carla looked concerned. That's when Erza saw him.
'Zancrow.' He looked different. The God Slayer was completely enveloped in a black aura that radiated like the glow of a lacrima. All throughout his body, pulses of purple lightning were phasing in and out like a small thunderstorm. His arms were covered in tattoos similar to those on Laxus' body. Then she saw his eyes. They had no pupils or any other defining features. They were just orbs of white light, emanating his newfound power.
"What has happened to you?" She thought worried.
Zancrow on the other hand was thrilled to have achieved a new level of power. Back when he first joined Grimoire Heart, master Hades was the one who had first introduced him to the concept of lost magic. He was infatuated with the idea and was thrilled to be mentored by him. Ever since he first joined the guild he had always admired the strength of its most powerful members, Bluenote and Azuma. He often lusted after their forms of magic, but master Hades a different plan in mind for him.
(Flashback)
"The magic I'm about to teach you is not just any lost magic. This particular form is an art that was created even before the age of dragons and is extremely powerful. You will not bend gravity to your will like Bluenote, nor will you become one with nature like Azuma. But you will gain power that will rival their own, and perhaps one day, rival that of a god."
Zancrow stared at Master Hades in astonishment. At the same time, he couldn't wait to start his training.
"You will no longer have to pray to the gods. With what I'm about to teach you, you can make your own prayers become reality. The magic is known as…"
(End Flashback)
'God Slaying Magic.' Zancrow was now fully focused on Ankhseram. All his rigorous training, his struggles, and even his failures have prepared him for this moment. The day in which he will take down a god.
Ankhseram looked unsettled and caught off guard. He was now in a fighting stance and did not know what to expect. Gods are the most powerful beings in existence, but they are not all-knowing. Zancrow with a burst of speed attacked him. He landed a right hook on the possessed Laxus' face and followed it up with a high kick to his chest. Every blow that landed on Ankhseram sounded like thunder ripping the heavens apart.
Everyone was stunned. Wendy had no idea that the power gap between Dragon and God Slayers was so great. But aside from Ankhseram's concern, he didn't seem worried at all. After regaining his footing, his calm composure came back.
"Do you really think that just because you have accessed a portion of my full power, you have control of this battle?"
Ankhseram literally phased behind Zancrow and collided one of his magic spheres into his back. Zancrow was not ready for that and the attack hit him dead on.
(BOOM)
From the dust came Ankhseram who seemed to have been pushed back by one massive hit. Zancrow also emerged from the dust and looked almost unphased.
"This is the power of a god." Cana mumbled in disbelief.
Zancrow developed a black sphere in each hand and merged them together creating one massive dark energy ball. He launched it straight at Ankhseram and it was a direct hit. The detonation consisted of black and purple light radiating for a split moment like a laser light show followed by what sounded like thunder.
(BOOM)
Ankhseram was in a lunge position panting. Laxus' body finally showed signs of physical damage. Where his body took the brunt of the blast were some minor burns and his hair was a mess.
"Now who's bowing to who?" Zancrow stated smugly.
The god caught his breath and pushed himself off the ground regaining his composure.
"It appears I have been too soft on you."
Zancrow looked at Ankhseram in confusion. Then he felt it. The ground started to shake and he saw a white aura surround the god.
(BAM)
Zancrow found himself in the rubble of a pillar which he had just broken through. What tremendous power. Ankhseram managed to tip the balance of the battle yet again. All Zancrow could do was stare in disappointment. Was his newfound power not enough?
"Why do you look so surprised? Surely you didn't think I was a max power when you gave me those little scratches did you? You'll be pleased to hear that what I was using in the beginning of our fight wasn't even a fraction of my full power. But now, I could destroy with a single thought."
Zancrow braced himself to be erased from existence but was surprised instead to feel that Ankhseram's power seemed to have dissipated a bit. He looked unstable. Laxus' body appeared to have been strained when the god used his full power and was now suffering the after affects consisting of a nosebleed, and sluggish motions.
Ankhseram wiped the blood from his face and smirked.
"Oh well, that's what I get for going all out. Looks like simply erasing you from existence cannot happen due to the fragile state of this body." Ankhseram then cracked both sets of his borrowed knuckles and neck.
"Therefore, I'm going to have to beat you to death."
...
With Ankhseram's newfound power, Zancrow struggled to keep up with the god. He managed to evade several blows whilst counterattacking with his own moves but the God Slayer was growing tired. His moves were now the ones that were sluggish and he felt himself short of breath.
"Utilizing the God Force really takes it out of you." He said.
"Surely you didn't think that a mortal body could take the toll of utilizing such divine power did you?
"Actually, I kinda did."
Zancrow knew he was out options. The God Force had its limits so apparently power alone would not be enough to takedown Ankhseram. He had to use his head for once. How do you takedown an enemy who is more powerful than yourself? He smirked and remembered back to the time Ezra sucker punched him during their own battle.
"Kick them in the nuts… or something like that." Ankseram possessed Laxus' body, which meant that currently, he was vulnerable to physical mortal weaknesses.
'I just have to break down his body without getting killed. Easy.' Zancrow thought.
He rushed back into the battle with lightning speed and managed to catch Ankhseram off guard. He grabbed him from behind and judo flipped him backwards into the ground making one hell of a crater. Then Zancrow gained some altitude in the air and summoned his godly magic power. With a simple motion of brining his hands together, he brought the walls of the crater together sealing the god in the rubble.
(BOOM)
From where the crater was flew an outraged god. He phased above Zancrow and flip kicked him down to the ground where made a nice hollow depression. Ankhseram was right on top of the God Slayer as he swung his divine fist towards his head. Zancrow dodged it and brought around his leg to collide it directly with Ankhseram's right arm.
(CRACK)
Ankhseram seemed unphased and blasted Zancrow back. He flew a good distance before he collided with one of the last intact pillars within the destroyed shrine's walls. The God Slayer was now exhausted. Every barrage of attacks he has unleashed on the god had little to no effect on him. His physical damages weren't slowing him down so Zancrow's gamble would have to pay off in the next revealing moments.
"What was that? You tried to take me head on. Did you think it would have a different result this time? You're through. The God Force was your last chance to take me out and you failed. Now I will kill you along with your friends."
Ankhseram increased his power yet again, like he was powering up for an attack. But nothing happened. The god stood in absolute shock when he realized that he couldn't move his right arm. He looked at it and realized it was positioned "funny."
"YOU! YOU BROKE MY ARM!"
Zancrow couldn't help but smile. "Thank the Lord… It worked."
"What worked? What have you done?"
"My gamble. I figured I would never be able to beat you in regards to just power. But, with a damaged host body, I figured it would be hard for you to use your divine powers to their full potential. After all, even when Laxus' body is at %100 percent it was barely able to sustain your full power even for a few moments. Imagine the limitations I just implemented on it by breaking his arm."
"You dare!"
Ankhseram extended his left arm in an attempt to blast Zancrow to oblivious. What happened next shocked everyone.
(CRACK)
Zancrow stood off to the side near the god with a deadly serious face. Ankhseram dropped to the ground in horror. Both of his arms were now broken. He was beginning to understand the situation he was in. With every permanent blow to his host body he would lose more and more of his capacity to utilize any magic power. If he generated more than his host body was capable of handling, it would incinerate and leave the god without an anchor to keep him on this worldly plane of existence.
"You lose." Zancrow said smugly.
Out of options, Ankhseram knew what he had to do. To think that he would be outsmarted by a mere mortal and be forced to end this whole dilemma in a draw. But a tie was more acceptable than a loss. Ankhseram began to charge up, more, and more. His power was going off the chart as the wizards stared in awe.
"No, it is you, and all of your dear friends who have lost."
The Cana, Lucy, Wendy, and Carla were doing their best to shield Erza from the emanating power. Zancrow just stood there wondering what the god was up to. Shortly after the Ankhseram increased his magic power, Laxus body began to bleed. First it was a minor nosebleed, but then his eye sockets started to secrete the red fluid as well and his flesh appeared to be burning up little by little.
"You see Zancrow, by utilizing my full power, not only will Laxus' body not be able to withstand it leaving him dead, but when his body overloads on my magic power, there will be a massive explosion similar to the Etherion blast that will generate a radius of several miles. It will take out every living creature within this area. I can always possess another body, but as for you and your friends, well, you only live once."
Zancrow frantically looked around him. He saw Lucy start to tear up and Cana looked hopeless as well. Then he saw Wendy still attempting to heal a battered Erza with Carla by her side. He couldn't just stand by and watch his friends die. Fairy Tail taught him the meaning of family, and if his family was wiped out, he would be a part of nothing. Being able to utilize the God Force meant that his chances of surviving the holy blast were significantly higher than the others. But what's the point of living if you are all alone? Zancrow had to do something.
In order to save Laxus and his friends, Zancrow would need to extract Ankhseram's essence from his body before the magic power forces him into a meltdown. If he allowed Laxus to die, Mira would surely kick his ass. Master Hades taught him how to utilize Lost Magic, but he had no idea how to perform a purge of foreign magic power. Then it hit him…hard! He remembered when both Makarov and Hades used their ultimate judgement spells, both Fairy and Grimoire Law. He had no idea how to cast Fairy Law, but the other one… he just might be able to pull it off. After all, he did see Hades use it more than once.
He assumed the stance and brought his hands close together generating a black sphere with a purple haze surrounding it.
"Whatever you're trying to do, it won't work."
Zancrow increased his magic power and rays of purple and black began to emanate from the sphere.
"You and your friends are as good as dead. Laxus is beyond saving. And soon you will have lost everything you worked hard to obtain."
'Perhaps one day, your power will rival that of a god.'
"You're time has come to be obliterated!"
Zancrow felt the climax of the god's power pulsating and sending shivers down his spine but he didn't dwell on it. He gave Ankhseram his full attention and cast his judgement upon him.
"GRIMOIRE LAW!"
Suddenly the room was overtaken with an overwhelming dark light. Ankhseram's power seemed to have dissipated and Laxus' body seemed to be more stable. What Zancrow saw in the god's eyes was genuine fear.
"If you think you can cast me out with a mortal spell, you are sadly mistaken!"
'Let's test that theory shall we?' Zancrow thought. He let Grimoire Law play out and do its thing. First, the judgement spell miraculously simmered down Ankhseram's magic power. Then it was followed by a monstrous bellow. The Fairy Tail wizards were shocked to see a holy essence leave Laxus' body almost as if he was being exhorted.
"Impossible! How can I be affected by earthly magic?" Ankhseram knew he had lost. All of his efforts to take over were null void, and he had a group of meddling wizards to thank.
"You haven't seen the last of me! Mark my words Zancrow, although I will no longer be in your plane of existence, I will make you pay for what you have done!"
Grimoire Law came to its conclusion and the entire room was blinded by the spell's light. On the ground Makarov observed the magic power emanating from the top of the shrine, concerned of the origins of the spell. The iron golems fell shortly after Ankhseram's banishment, and Fairy Tail had won the war.