The final battle of the Silent Orochi Arc is here! I tried to get like half of this chapter done before I went to bed because someone who recently reviewed a chapter in my Pokemon fanfic Genesis Triad said they wanted this chapter up in time for their birthday. So whoever this reader may be, Happy Birthday. Anyway, I hope you guys enjoy it!

It was now nighttime and a few minutes had passed since Spiral started his song and at the altar Vance's snake continued to coil itself around the lacrima and collect the magic power emanating from it.

"It's almost time…" Vance muttered.

"Are you the Guild Master of Silent Orochi?"

Vance turned around to see Spiral standing right behind him. However, Spiral seemed to have a violet aura surrounding him that emanated immense magical power.

"And what if I am?" Vance asked.

Spiral shot a sonic blast from his right fist at Vance and he simply held up his arms to block it. The force sent him skidding backwards a bit, but it didn't seem to affect him much.

"Never mind then." Vance said as he unfurled his guard. "Snake Geyser!"

Vance slammed his palm onto the ground and a magic circle appeared underneath it and another showed up under Spiral's feet. Spiral jumped to the side and managed to dodge the snakes that shot out of the magical seal.

"I guess I should stop holding back." Spiral said.

"You mean you were holding back with that last attack?!" Vance exclaimed.

"Rhythm…" Spiral readied his right fist as he charged at Vance. "Waltz!"

Spiral delivered a powerful punch to Vance in the chest, enhanced by the power of Spiral's Rhythm Magic. Before Vance could be sent flying backwards, Spiral used his left fist to punch him in the jaw and then followed up with a right hook to the top of his head which crashed him into the ground.

"Constrictor!" Vance grabbed Spiral's leg and two large snakes came out of his sleeve.

The snakes started to wrap themselves around Spiral and began to squeeze the air out of him.

"There's no way you'll be able to escape from those snakes!" Vance said. "They'll squeeze you until you pop!"

"Rhythm Energico!"

A magic circle appeared underneath Spiral and he started to actually push the snakes off of him.

"What?!" Vance shouted.

Spiral managed to gain a large enough increase in his strength from Rhythm Energico that he sent the snakes flying off of him.

"Rhythm Accelerando!"

Another magic circle appeared underneath Spiral and the moment he moved his foot he seemingly vanished and reappeared behind Vance.

"Rhythm Reprise – Rhythm Waltz!"

Spiral performed the same actions as Rhythm Waltz, though it seemed like this attack was a bit more powerful than the previous one.

"I never thought someone so young could be capable of this much power…" Vance muttered to himself.

Spiral stood over Vance with his sword raised. "I'm going to end this… right now. Rhythm…"

He began to bring the sword down on Vance.

"Requi-"

Before the sword could strike Vance, the violet aura Spiral emanated vanished and he froze up.

*Damn!* Spiral cursed in his head. *Not now!*

"Heh, looks like the timer on your booster just ran out." Vance chuckled as he shot up and grabbed Spiral by the throat. "Snake Storm!"

A torrent of snakes blasted out of Vance's arm and shot Spiral all the way to the edge of the altar's stairway.

"Gyah!" Spiral exclaimed in pain as he was attacked by the snakes.

While Spiral was lying on the ground, Vance called off the snakes and walked up to the younger mage. Spiral struggled to get up and looked up at Vance as he approached him and a few snakes slithered out of his sleeve.

"Time to die, kiddo." Vance smirked.

Just then the green light surrounding the lacrima began to shine brighter to the point where neither Spiral nor Vance could make out what was going on within it.

"It's time!" Vance said. "Orochi will finally awaken!"

"What are you talking about?" Spiral asked.

"That snake you saw dancing around the lacrima… He's actually a snake deity who has long lost his powers. In exchange for magic power I possess, I promised to restore Orochi to his original form. After centuries as a powerless snake, Orochi shall return to bring destruction down upon the world!"

The ground began to shake violently as an immense power burst from the center of the light.

Back in the forest, Jellal and Ultear had regrouped with Meredy and Foster. As they could feel the ground beneath them shake, Jellal looked back to see the bright green light in the distance.

"… We're too late." Jellal muttered to himself before running off in the direction of the light.

"Jellal, wait!" Ultear shouted as she and the others chased after him.

From the bright light emerged eight giant snake heads all attached to a large, coiled body. If the altar wasn't as large and wide as it was Spiral and Vance would have been knocked off by the sheer amount of space Orochi was taking up.

"At last our promise has been fulfilled, Orochi!" Vance turned around and bowed to the giant snake. "Now you can rain destruction down upon this world!"

Orochi's heads looked at Vance for a few seconds before lowering one of them and it lunged at Vance with an open mouth.

"No, don't!" Vance shouted in fear.

The snake head caught Vance with its mouth and just as the head lifted back up to the others, it swallowed him and Spiral could hear Vance's muffled screams as he slid down its esophagus. As soon as he reached his stomach, Orochi let out a guttural roar that could be heard across the mountain range.

Back where Jason and Flora were watching over an unconscious Sakura, the Dragon Slayer shot up awake at the sound of Orochi's roar.

"Huh?!" Sakura exclaimed upon finally waking up after eating Cobra's Poison Dragon Slayer Magic. "Whatwasthat?!"

"Finally awake, I see." Flora said.

Jason stood up and looked in the direction of the mountains. He could see the Orochi from through the space between two mountains and simply stared at it in fear.

"… What… is that?" He simply spoke.

"It seems to be some kind of giant snake." Flora said as she flew up next to Jason's head to get a better view.

"Sakura, do you think you're ready for a fight?" Jason asked, turning to her.

However, Sakura had fallen back asleep which left Jason dumbstruck.

"She's out again?!" Jason questioned.

Spiral stood before Orochi as its body towered above him. Orochi then started to slither past Spiral and toward the crevices of the mountainside.

"If that thing gets out, who knows how many innocent people are going to die." Spiral said.

Before Orochi could completely slither away, Spiral jumped onto its tail and began to run along it spine. It was a bit difficult for him to maintain his balance while Orochi was moving in a serpentine motion, so he walked along cautiously until he reached the base where all eight heads forked and readied his sword.

"I have to put my all into this one single attack." Spiral said. "Hyaaaaaaaahh!"

Spiral began to channel massive amounts of magic energy into sword as it started to glow a violet color as he continued to charge up.

"I need more power…" Spiral muttered as he started to channel even more magic power into his sword. "More… More…"

Spiral poured every last drop of magic energy in his body into his sword and once he did so, he was ready to swing it.

"I've only got one shot at this…" Spiral began panting heavily from exhausting so much magic power into this next attack. "I better-No, I HAVE to make this count. Sonic…" He then swung his sword across all eight heads of Orochi. "REQUIEM!"

The blade released a massive wave of Sound Magic that sliced through all eight of Orochi's heads like they were made of butter. The decapitated Orochi stopped in its tracks as all of his heads fell to the ground and its body was reducing itself to dust that was blown away with the wind. Spiral jumped off to the ground and when Orochi's giant body completely faded, he saw its smaller snake form that accompanied Vance earlier start to slither away.

"Oh no, you don't!" Spiral shouted.

Spiral jumped up into the air and thrust his sword into the small snake's head. He kept it imbedded there until the small snake stopped moving and it turned to dust that also blew with the wind.

"Phew, it's over…" Spiral sighed with relief.

Spiral sensed a few people running towards him and looked up to see Jellal and the rest of Crime Sorcière approaching him.

"We saw Orochi awaken in the distance, but it seems you took care of it." Jellal said. "You're a lot stronger than you look. Thanks again for all that you've done here."

"You're…" Spiral said as his eyes began to droop and his muscles were relaxing. "Welcome…"

Spiral slowly let his body slide to the ground and he slipped into unconsciousness.

"He seems to have exhausted quite a bit of magic energy during that last attack." Ultear stated.

Jellal simply looked at the sleeping Spiral and smiled. "… He really does remind me of Natsu."

Just then some rustling in the bushes caught Foster's attention.

"Jellal, we're not alone." Foster said as he turned to where he heard the rustling.

They all looked over and approaching from the forest was a still beaten up Morticia.

"You're from Silent Orochi." Foster said as he readied himself for a battle. "Here for revenge."

"… You're Crime Sorcière, right?" Morticia asked.

"What of it?" Foster asked.

Morticia scanned all four of them for a brief second. "You've all chosen to fight Dark Guilds in an attempt to atone for the sins you have committed, right?"

"Yes, that is true." Jellal answered.

"In that case…" Morticia said before getting on her knees and bowing to the four mages. "Please! Let me join your guild! When that boy lying there defeated me, it gave me some time to think about what I've done with my life. I've done terrible things while in Silent Orochi and now that it's been disbanded I feel like this is my chance for a fresh start. I want to do good from now on. If you won't accept me, that's fine. I completely understand, but I just wanted you to hear me out."

Jellal pondered her request for a minute. "… Do you truly wish to atone for your sins?"

"Yes, with all of my being." Morticia said.

"Then I welcome you into Crime Sorcière." Jellal said.

Ultear and Foster looked at Jellal in surprise while Morticia smiled upon hearing his answer.

"Jellal, are you sure that's wise?" Ultear asked.

"The sincerity in her eyes is proof enough of her honesty." Jellal said.

The next time Spiral opened his eyes, he was riding on Jason's back as he walked alongside Flora who was flying carrying Sakura, Heart, Tristan, Shroud and Eden.

"It seemed like Kagura was a little sad to see you go so soon." Tristan said.

"I'm a little more curious as to how Eden felt with Jenny." Jason smirked.

"Shut up!" Eden snapped.

"Oh?" Heart looked back and saw Spiral waking up. "You're awake!"

"Huh?" Spiral groaned while he was still half asleep. "Where's… Never mind."

"Did you take out that giant snake thing all by yourself?" Jason asked. "Very impressive! Though we're all just glad you're safe. Just rest until we get back to Roseshade."

Blaise was anxiously waiting in her office, still waiting for the group to return. When she heard the doors to the guild hall open she quickly ran out of her office and saw Jason, Spiral, Sakura, Flora, Heart, Eden, Tristan and Shroud standing at the entrance.

"I think you should have a talk with her." Jason said as he let Spiral down. "We should be heading back to our homes, Master."

Blaise nodded. "Go get some rest. You all deserve it."

As the others left Spiral and Blaise alone, there was an uneasy silence between the two for almost an entire minute.

"Master Blaise…" Spiral spoke up. "I'm sorry I ran off and put the others in danger. Please, don't punish them because of my actions. I take all responsibility for everything I've done-"

Just as Spiral finished speaking, Blaise quickly ran up to Spiral and hugged him in a motherly embrace. Spiral was surprised by this and the fact that she was also crying.

"I'm just… so glad that you're okay." Blaise sobbed. "But don't think you're off the hook. Your punishment is going to be quite… severe."

"Um…" Spiral said with a blank expression on his face. "How severe?"

A/N: It is done! I hope you enjoyed the chapter! A word of warning: The next chapter isn't going to be written by me. It's going to be written by a friend of mine who is also a fellow FanFiction writer. Anyway, stay tuned for next time!