Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail.
WARNING: THERE WILL BE SPOILERS! Read at your own risk. There's still original stuff in here, but if you haven't gotten to this point in the anime/manga, then some things may be ruined for you. I advise catching up to the anime/manga if you haven't already (for more reasons than just reading my story)! Thank you and enjoy!
Fairy Tail—The Master and the Dragon
Chapter 38
Cana and Lucy walked through the woods of Tenrou, searching for any signs that someone needed help.
"Hey Cana," Lucy began, "do you think Gray will be alright all by himself? I mean, we had a lot of trouble fighting one of the Seven Kin with four of us."
"He'll be fine," Cana assured as she continued to power down the trail. "He can take care of himself."
Lucy looked at her with concern. "Alright, Cana. What's really going on? It's not like you to want to just ditch a fellow guild mate. Also, the more I think about it, the less I think that splitting up was really the best idea."
"Oh, you worry too much," Cana said without looking at her.
"Cana, talk to me. Something is clearly on your mind and I don't think it has anything to do with the threat to the guild," Lucy said while positioning herself to block Cana's path.
Cana sighed. "Fine. The truth is I want to get back to the S-Class Trials."
"You what?" Lucy exclaimed while taking a step back. "Cana, how could the S-Class Trials be even remotely on your mind right now? Our friends could be in danger!"
"Because I have to pass this year, that's why," Cana said. "I need to pass it this year. Please Lucy, help me out. Just help me find the grave of the first guild master and then we'll go and help everyone if they need it."
Lucy stared at Cana. She did know how important passing the S-Class Trials was to Cana, but still, she was concerned for the safety of her friends. She wanted to be there for them, especially after seeing what Capricorn was capable of.
"Lucy!" Cana shouted, snapping Lucy from her thoughts.
Lucy sighed. "Fine, I'll help you, but we need to make it fast."
Cana squealed and hugged her. "Oh, thank you, Lucy. So, any ideas as to where the first guild master's grave is? I'm at a total loss. I can't believe how difficult the Master made this round. He gave us no information whatsoever."
Lucy pulled herself from the hug. "Well, I have been thinking about it a lot, up until Grimoire Heart showed up. And honestly, I feel like the Master wouldn't have left us with nothing to go on. I feel like he told us everything we need to know. The key is deciphering it."
"Deciphering what?" Cana asked. "There were no riddles or questions. All he said was that we had to search for the first guild master's grave."
"And I'm thinking that since that's all he said that that was the clue," Lucy explained.
"How is that a clue?" Cana deadpanned.
Lucy scratched her chin. "I'm not sure, but it's gotta be."
Cana groaned while pulling at her hair. "How the hell am I supposed to be S-Class this way?"
Lucy was still thinking about what Makarov said. "He said 'in order to pass this round, you must search the island for the grave of Fairy Tail's first guild master and founder, Mavis Vermillion', right?"
"Right," Cana sighed.
Lucy snapped her fingers. "What if the hint was the word 'grave'?"
"Again, how is that a hint?" Cana asked in frustration.
"This could be a wild guess, but what if we think of words that could be connected to the word grave?" Lucy offered.
"How the hell did you reach that kind of conclusion?" Cana asked.
"It's just something that I thought of and want to check to see if it's right," Lucy said. "Anyway, here are some words that are connected to grave; death, sleep, earth, stone, star, and end."
"Okay, so how do any of those words help?" Cana asked.
Lucy sighed. "Now that I think of it, none of those words work because none of them are six letters long."
"Wait, why does it have to be sex letters long?"
"Do you remember the time restriction we were given?" Lucy asked.
"Yeah. The Master said that we have six hours."
"I figure that he gave us that amount of time for a reason, so maybe it's connected to my grave synonym theory."
"Okay, I follow you."
Lucy bent down and started to write in the dirt. "After gathering the information we know so far, I tried to think of a six letter word that was connected to 'grave' and 'time' and I think I may have it."
"Oh yeah?" Cana asked as she leaned over Lucy.
Lucy stopped writing and smiled up at Cana while pointing to her writing. "Demise! It's six letters long and is related to both 'grave' and 'time'."
"Wow," Cana marveled.
"Alright, now bear with me because this is where things get a little crazy," Lucy said.
"That wasn't the crazy part yet?" Cana said in shock.
Lucy giggled. "Now this is just a hunch, but I think that the one letter in this word that's different is the key to the whole puzzle."
"What letter is different than the others?" Cana asked.
"The letter 'e' because it appears twice," Lucy explained.
"Okay, so what does that mean?" Cana asked.
"I feel like this 'e' is related to the path 'E' from the first round of the Trials."
"Lucy, that's gotta be it!" Cana exclaimed. "You're incredible!"
Lucy smiled. "It was nothing. Anyway, I think that…the grave…is…at…path 'E'." Suddenly, Lucy collapsed on the ground as sleep consumed her.
Cana looked at Lucy sadly, her Sleep Card activated behind her back. "Sorry Lucy, but I need to pass the Trials this year. It's so important to me. However, even though you want to help me get there, you want to be there for our friends more than anything, so this is where we part ways." She knelt down and placed a magic card in Lucy's pocket. "If you're in danger, this card will flash and I'll see it and come running." She stood and turned, but before she ran off, she looked at Lucy over her shoulder. "Thank you, Lucy. For everything." And then she took off running for path 'E', leaving a sleeping Lucy alone on the path.
"Look alive men!" Lahar barked from the tattered hull of one of the Magic Council's Custody Enforcement Battleships. He was doing everything in his power to organize the chaos after the ferocious explosion that took place not long ago. "Tend to the wounded on the double! I want all able bodied men armed and ready for battle. We're going to launch a full scale assault on the island. They need to know that they cannot get away with such behavior!" Suddenly, a man appeared out of nowhere, kneeling to the right of Lahar. He turned his head and was surprised by what he saw. "Doranbolt! What in the hell happened to you? You look like shit."
Doranbolt shakily got to his feet, a hand gripping an open wound on his stomach. "Don't worry about it. I'll live. More importantly, how's the crew?"
Lahar looked around. "We have quite a few who have serious injuries. We didn't suffer too many casualties, but even the small amount we lost was too many."
"And the communication lacrima? Is it in tact?"
"Yes it's fine. Now tell me, Doranbolt, what the hell happened?" Lahar demanded.
Doranbolt let out a shaky breath. "I was making progress towards discovering the information we sought. Things were running smoothly. However, it didn't last. The next thing I knew, a three-way war between Fairy Tail, Grimoire Heart, and Zeref broke out. The attack on the ship was the dirty work of Grimoire Heart. Now where's the communication lacrima? The Council needs to hear about everything I've learned as well as the situation we're in."
Lahar was shaking as he stared at the ground. "Am I supposed to believe that this is a coincidence? The greatest thorns in the side of the Magic Council have all convened in one spot." He looked up at Doranbolt. "Doranbolt, think about it. You know the Chairman. He's ruthless in these matters. He won't hesitate to wipe them all out in one shot."
"You don't mean…an Etherion blast?" Doranbolt asked in fear.
"We would have to obey if those are the orders we're given. You know this, Doranbolt."
"I won't allow it!" Doranbolt shouted. "I know that Fairy Tail has been on the Council's list for years, but how can you possibly believe that they deserve such a fate?"
"I don't believe that they deserve it. That being said, if I'm ordered to execute them I will. You realize who's on that island, don't you? Three entities that the Council would love to eradicate are all on this island. Erasing Zeref, Grimoire Heart, and the Half-Dragon would be positives that would outweigh the loss of Fairy Tail. They won't care about collateral damage as long as those three threats are erased from this world."
Doranbolt looked at the ground, thoughts of Wendy swarming his mind. He couldn't imagine such a fate for the innocent young girl.
"Now Doranbolt," Lahar said while adjusting his glasses, "would you like to inform the Magic Council or should I?"
"Natsu! Master Makarov!" Wendy cried. She had been running non-stop, searching desperately for Natsu after they had all fallen off of the cliff during the fight with Zancrow. She was praying that he was alright, but felt her heart sink seeing not only Natsu lying on the ground, unconscious, but Master Makarov as well. She ran to Natsu's side. "Natsu! Natsu, can you hear me? Please wake up!"
Happy, Carla, and Panther Lily all landed on the ground near Natsu. "Natsu!" Happy cried in despair. "Are you alright?"
Wendy used all the strength she had in her small body to roll over the unconscious Dragon Slayer so that he was on his back. She felt tears sting her eyes as she examined all of the wounds on Natsu's body. "He's hurt really bad. I have to heal him quickly!" She held her hands over his torso as pale blue light radiated from her hands.
Several minutes passed by and Natsu was showing no signs of recovering. Soft grunts and whines escaped Wendy's throat from frustration and fatigue as she pushed herself as hard as she could.
"Why isn't he getting any better?" Happy asked worriedly.
"I'm not sure," Carla said as she looked towards Master Makarov. "But the Master doesn't look much better. He'll need to be healed as well."
Lily scratched his chin. "As serious as his injuries are, though, I don't feel like the Master's life is in any sort of danger. Just do your best, Wendy. Don't think about the Master yet."
"I'm trying," Wendy said, "but he won't heal."
"The scarf," came a raspy, weak voice. The Exceeds whipped around and Wendy looked up to see Makarov with an eye open and looking at them.
"Master, you're awake!" Wendy cried with joy.
"What do you mean by the scarf, Master?" Lily asked.
"Natsu's scarf has been tainted by malicious magic," Makarov said, though it was clear that speaking was difficult. "If you remove that magic from his scarf, then he should be able to recover."
"I have to heal the scarf?" Wendy asked.
"I do feel powerful and evil magic radiating from it," Carla said. "It won't be easy."
"Then I have to give it everything I've got!" Wendy exclaimed as she held her hands over Natsu's scarf. "HEAVEN'S AURA!" Light blue streams of magic poured from Wendy's hands and wove into Natsu's scarf.
"Wendy, using that with the energy you have is reckless!" Carla cried.
"But Natsu needs to be healed as quickly as possible," Wendy argued while fighting against the fatigue. She could see that the black magic that stained Natsu's scarf was beginning to fade and return to its normal white color.
"So who was it that even did this to Natsu's scarf?" Carla asked.
"It was this weird crying man. He unleashed this really powerful and deadly magic that Natsu got caught in. I think his scarf saved him by absorbing the magic, but now it's stuck there," Happy explained.
"I wonder if this crying man you speak of is Zeref, the one that Grimoire Heart is here to obtain," Lily theorized.
"Most likely," Carla said.
Wendy's focus was now completely on Natsu as she felt herself beginning to lose energy. 'I can't stop now. I need to keep going. It's almost healed. Then Natsu can get better.'
After about a minute, the last bit of dark magic left Natsu's scarf, returning it to the pure white that it was before. Wendy stopped her magic and sighed while swaying slightly on her knees.
"You did it, Wendy!" Happy exclaimed.
"Yeah," Wendy said while wiping her brow. "It was tough, but I should be able to heal Natsu with no problems now."
"You should rest," Carla objected.
Wendy shook her head. "No, I won't stop until I heal them." She put her hands over Natsu once again and used her magic to begin healing him.
"Honestly, child. It's as if you want to collapse from running out of magic power," Carla said while turning around.
"I'll be fine," Wendy assured.
The Exceeds watched and waited as Wendy's magic slowly began to heal Natsu's wounds, praying that Natsu would be okay.
Makarov gave a small smile. "Thank you, child," he said before once again passing out.
Several more minutes passed and Natsu's wounds had finally all closed. Wendy stopped her magic and was panting from exhaustion. "I think that should do it."
With a groan, Natsu slowly opened his eyes.
"Natsu!" Happy said while jumping for joy.
Natsu slowly sat up. "What the hell happened?"
"You were really hurt, Natsu," Wendy said.
Natsu turned. "Wendy? What are you doing here?"
"We were looking for you once we all fell from the cliff. We found you here with the Master."
Natsu's eyes widened. "The Master!" He whipped around. "He's still really hurt. We have to help him."
"I will," Wendy assured.
"After she rests," Carla added.
"Right," Natsu said while looking at Wendy. He gave her his signature grin. "Thanks for helping me out, Wendy. You're the best."
Wendy smiled back. "I'm happy to help."
Suddenly, Natsu's nose picked up a strange scent. He sniffed the air a few times.
"Natsu? What is it?" Wendy asked.
Natsu jumped to his feet. "That smell…I know it."
Carla looked at Wendy. "Do you smell it?"
Wendy shook her head. "No, I have no idea what he smells. Besides, there are way too many new smells on this island for me to know."
Natsu sniffed the air once more before snapping his fingers in realization. "It's that Zalty freak!" he exclaimed.
"Zalty?" Lily asked.
"Aye!" Happy said. "He was this weird guy that we ran into way back at Galuna Island."
"What the hell is he doing here?" Natsu asked. He then took off running.
"Natsu, come back!" Wendy shouted after him.
He looked over his shoulder while he ran. "Take care of the Master!"
"But Natsu!" Wendy shouted, but Natsu was long gone.
"I'll go with him," Happy said as he summoned his magic wings and flew off after Natsu.
"Honestly, that Dragon Slayer is quite the oddball," Carla said. "Wendy, rest up before you attempt to heal the Master."
Wendy was still looking towards where Natsu and Happy went. "Okay."
Happy flew with all his might and finally caught up with Natsu. "Hey Natsu. What do you plan on doing once you find that Zalty guy?"
"What else?" Natsu said without looking at his friend. "I'm gonna ask him what the hell he's doing on our turf. For all we know, he's teamed up with Grimoire Heart this time around. No matter what, that guy is bad news."
"Alright, but just be careful," Happy said.
"Whatdya talking about?" Natsu asked. "I can take that guy." Suddenly, Natsu slipped on a giant leaf and began sliding down a hill.
Happy sighed. "If you let me finish, I would have said that you needed to be careful while going down the hill." He then flew after Natsu.
Natsu was gripping the leaf for dear life, his motion sickness kicking in. 'Aw man, I feel like shit. Someone please stop this thing!' Suddenly, Natsu went over the hill ledge and plummeted to the earth below.
"Natsu!" Happy cried as he watched his friend crash to the ground for the second time today.
Natsu sat up and rubbed his head. "Damn it. I'm getting tired of falling down." He then noticed someone sitting beside him against a tree. His eyes widened. "No way. It's that guy from before!"
"Natsu!" Happy exclaimed. "Look out below you!"
Natsu looked down to see the earth below him breaking apart. He leapt out of the way just as a massive tree shot into the air. "Whoa, where'd that come from?"
"There was a tiny seed in the soil beneath your feet," came the voice of a young woman. "The Arc of Time guided it into the future to the tree you see beside you. So tell me, how do you think that it will guide you, Natsu Dragneel?"
Natsu looked up to see a woman sitting in the tree that had just sprouted. She had straight black hair that went down her back and a headband atop her head. She wore a tight white outfit that accentuated her body. He growled at her. "So you're the creep from before, huh? Why the sex change?"
"What on earth are you talking about?" the woman asked.
"On Galuna Island, you were a creepy small guy with a mask. Now you're a woman," Natsu said.
"I did not have a sex change," the woman said.
"Cross-dresser?" Happy asked.
"No you morons. This is my true form," the woman barked. She composed herself quickly and began again. "I am a member of the Grimoire Heart guild and leader of the Seven Kin of Purgatory. The name is Ultear Milkovich."
"It's funny that you think I care," Natsu smirked.
"Don't tell me that Fairy Tail is after Zeref as well," Ultear said.
"Zeref?" Natsu asked. "Wait, so this cry baby here is the Zeref?"
"Yes, that is the great Black Wizard Zeref and he is mine. I will not let you take him from me," Ultear said.
"I don't want him!" Natsu shouted. "All I care about is that you're with Grimoire Heart! I'm gonna kick your asses to next year for what you've all done!"
"If it's a fight you want, I'm more than happy to give it to you," Ultear said while summoning one of her orbs. "While I don't see you as a threat to me, I do owe you for Galuna Island."
"You don't see me as a threat?" Natsu chuckled. "That'll be your downfall. I'm a Dragon Slayer, after all. Raised by the Fire Dragon Igneel and trained by Nikolias!"
Ultear raised an eyebrow. "Nikolias? I'm afraid I don't know that one."
"He's a Half-Dragon and he's really strong! He taught me stuff that I could easily beat you with!"
'I wonder if that man is this Nikolias,' Ultear wondered. "I don't care who raised or trained you. You cannot hope to defeat me!"
Fire surrounded Natsu's fists. "Bring it on then! I'll make you pay for coming to Fairy Tail's sacred land and acting like you own the place!"
Azuma stared at the ground that was now shaking beneath his feet. 'Incredible. He's giving off such power.'
Nikolias shot forward at breakneck speed. He cocked back his fist and enveloped it in thick shadows. "SHADOW DRAGON FIST!" he roared as he threw a punch at Azuma.
Azuma made to block it with his hand like he did with Mira's attack. However, the punch had far too much force behind it. Nikolias' fist connected fully with Azuma's hand, forcing him to slide backwards across the ground.
Nikolias didn't plan on giving him any time to recover. He shot forward yet again, another Shadow Dragon Fist charged up and ready to fire.
Azuma knew he couldn't simply block this kind of power. He threw up his hand quickly. "BLEVE!" The entire area in front of Azuma was engulfed in a powerful explosion. Azuma smirked, but soon realized that his attack never hit his intended target. And this realization came when a sharp kick connected with his back.
"SHADOW DRAGON FIERCE KICK!" Nikolias cried as he sent a bone-shattering kick into Azuma's lower back. He watched Azuma fly through the air, crash to the ground, and begin to tumble. Once again, he charged before Azuma could even get his bearings.
Azuma gritted his teeth as he stopped his momentum and turned himself upright. 'His speed is remarkable. I never saw him move behind me. I must figure out a way to defeat his speed.' Azuma held out his hands towards the charging Nikolias. Using his magic, he summoned four thick roots from the ground that shot out and wrapped themselves around Nikolias' arms and legs.
"What the hell?" Nikolias said as he pulled on his restraints. "Where did these things come from?"
"CHAIN BURST!" Azuma shouted. Explosions made their way up the roots towards Nikolias.
Nikolias glared at Azuma while black flames gathered in his mouth. "SHADOW DRAGON INFERNO!" A jet of black flames shot from Nikolias' mouth towards one of the roots that held him captive. The power and heat of the flames easily snapped the root and he guided the flames towards all of his other restraints. After all four were destroyed, he leapt backwards before the explosions could reach him.
"Most impressive," Azuma complimented. "No one has ever escaped my roots so easily."
"Don't get too caught up in idolizing me," Nikolias sneered. "I'll still kill you here and now."
Azuma threw up his hands. Little lights flickered in front of Nikolias, but he easily jumped out of the way before they exploded. 'I need to find a way to keep him still. How do I do that if my roots aren't strong enough to hold him, though?'
Nikolias landed on the ground for a second before dashing forward yet again, shadows dancing around his body. "SHADOW DRAGON FIST!" He threw a punch at Azuma who managed to duck underneath it. However, he was able to quickly readjust his body so that his momentum kept him in a good fighting position. Shadows danced around his foot. "SHADOW DRAGN FIERCE KICK!" He threw another powerful kick towards Azuma.
Azuma predicted this, however, and was able to bend his body out of the way and back flip out of harm's way.
"Distance won't save you from me!" Nikolias shouted. He then thrust his fists into the earth. "SHADOW DRAGON FISSURE!" Nikolias then ripped his fists from the ground as shadows barreled towards Azuma along the earth as linear power, almost like torpedoes.
Azuma saw the shadows just in time to leap high into the air. The shadows collided with a tree, slicing through its base before exploding. Azuma watched in shock as a mighty tree was demolished so easily form one attack.
Nikolias smirked at seeing Azuma in such a vulnerable position. He began to charge shadows quickly between his two hands. Once he had a large orb of shadows, he grabbed it with his right hand and cocked back his arm. "NEVERMORE!" Nikolias thrust the orb forward, unleashing a massive beam of shadows directly at Azuma.
Azuma had no way to dodge while he was airborne. He moved his arms in an 'X' position, summoning multiple roots that crisscrossed to act as a shield. The attack collided with the shield, slowly but surely breaking through it. However, it no longer mattered, for Azuma had managed to block the attack long enough to get out of harm's way. He landed on the ground just as the attack broke through the shield.
Nikolias ceased his attack as he analyzed Azuma. 'This guy is using trees as weapons. I never even knew that kind of magic existed.'
Azuma chuckled. "I see I wasn't wrong about you. You truly are a worthy opponent. I haven't felt so much adrenaline in a long time."
"Enjoy it," Nikolias said, "because it's gonna be the last time you feel it!" Nikolias gathered shadows in his mouth and bent over. "SHADOW…" He threw his head back and inhaled deeply. "…DRAGON ROAR!" An intense vortex of shadows shot from Nikolias' mouth towards Azuma. Azuma jumped high into the air, just barely managing to avoid the Roar. However, Nikolias was expecting this, for he already had a condensed orb of shadows sitting in his hand. He stopped his Roar to face Azuma. "SHADOW DRAGON PULSE!" he cried while shooting the orb towards Azuma.
Azuma summoned roots once again to block the incoming attack. However, this attack was different. Once the orb connected with his root guard, it unleashed a concussive blast that pushed Azuma backwards. His back connected with a tree trunk as he coughed up blood.
"You're way too predictable," Nikolias called out. "I can read you like a book."
Azuma smiled. "I can see that I'll have to step it up a bit to defeat you. Most exciting." With those words, he merged with the tree that he had crashed into.
"Okay that was unexpected," Nikolias grumbled as he looked around for Azuma. He tried to be as silent as possible, trying desperately to hear or smell anything that could hint as to where he was hiding. Suddenly, incredibly thick roots shot from the ground surrounding Nikolias and wrapped themselves tightly around him until the only thing not covered was his head. "Damn it," he cursed. "I can't move anything. I don't even have the range of motion of my neck to use Shadow Dragon Inferno."
Azuma appeared from a completely different tree with a smile. "While I don't doubt that you could eventually break out of that, it will serve to delay you long enough."
"What the hell are you talking about?" Nikolias asked while he tried desperately to free himself. He was pushing with all of his strength, but the roots were breaking very slowly.
Azuma chuckled as he pulled himself from the tree and landed on the ground. He began to walk slightly closer to Nikolias. "I can't thank you enough for this fight. No one has been more of a challenge for me in all my life."
Nikolias gritted his teeth as he continued to push against the roots. 'Damn it, I need to get out. He's planning something.'
Azuma held his hands out to the side. "This is your end, my friend. TOWER BURST!" With that, a massive inferno erupted all around him in a wide area and shot into the air.
Nikolias cringed as he felt the fires burning his skin. "Shit."
The inferno raged on, destroying everything inside of it.
Lisanna stopped where she was and turned around. Her eyes widened upon seeing a massive pillar of flames erupt from where Nikolias was fighting Azuma. "There's no way that's one of Nikolias' attacks," she whispered. She looked down at the unconscious face of her big sister as tears once again threatened to fall. "Please Nikolias. Please be alright. We can't lose you." She then turned back around and hastened her way to where she may find another Fairy Tail member, praying that she could still save her beloved sister.
Azuma stared at the damage he caused. "A truly exhilarating fight, but it's over now." However, the sound of groaning forced him to look even harder. "Impossible."
"Damn, that hurt," Nikolias complained as he pushed himself off of the ground and onto his hands and knees.
"How can you still be alive?" Azuma questioned. He had never seen anyone survive his Tower Burst before, let alone move around. However, as he stared at his adversary, he noticed that the wounds and burns inflicted on Nikolias' body were beginning to heal themselves. "Unbelievable. You mean to tell me that you have regenerative properties?"
"You could say that," Nikolias said as he got to his feet. He swayed a bit, but was able to stand.
"What are you?" Azuma asked.
Nikolias smiled, revealing his sharp dragon fangs. "I'm a Half-Dragon, so you won't be able to kill me so easily."
"Half-Dragon?" Azuma repeated. "I've never heard of such a creature."
"I didn't expect you to have heard of us," Nikolias said, "considering I'm the last one."
Azuma laughed. "Amazing! So I get to fight an incredibly powerful opponent that's the last of his kind? I couldn't ask for a better gift!"
"Don't be too excited," Nikolias said. "It won't be fun once your spine is ripped from your body."
Azuma took an offensive stance. "I beg you to come try it."
Nikolias' grin widened as his eyes turned dragon-like. "Be careful what you wish for."
Azuma threw his hands in front of him. "BLEVE!" he cried as he tried to snare Nikolias in the explosion.
"SHADOW WALL!" Nikolias roared while swinging his arm upwards. A thick wall of shadows appeared before him just in time to completely block the attack. He then called out his black blades as he ran around his wall and towards Azuma. Shadows enveloped his blades while he charged. "SHADOW DRAGON SWORD SWIPE!" He swung his blades at Azuma with incredible speed.
Azuma knew he couldn't let the blades touch him, so with every slash, he put all of his attention into dodging.
Nikolias kept up his relentless assault with his blades, each strike carefully measured to try and catch Azuma off balance. Unfortunately, the Grimoire Heart mage was quite skilled at close combat and showed no signs of being deterred by his attacks. Nikolias gave one more mighty swing with his left arm before quickly pointing his right hand fingers forward and shrouding it in intense shadows. "SHADOW DRAGON JAVELIN STRIKE!" With incredible speed and power, Nikolias drove his arm forward.
Azuma barely reacted in time, managing to avoid the brunt of the attack. However, he couldn't completely evade damage as Nikolias' hand drove into the flesh in his left shoulder. He winced and leapt away, forcing Nikolias' hand from his body. Out of instinct, Azuma put his hand to his shoulder. "You're fast, Half-Dragon."
Nikolias was already charging after Azuma. "You think that's fast? You ain't seen nothing yet." Nikolias made one final push towards Azuma with his right leg before seemingly disappearing.
Azuma didn't even have time to wonder where he went. In fact, he barely had time to register that Nikolias had disappeared before he felt a series of invisible blows all over his body.
"SHADOW DRAGON ASSAULT!" came Nikolias' voice as he continued to strike Azuma over and over again at a blinding speed.
Azuma put up the best defensive stance he could, but he was barely able to protect himself. He couldn't even see Nikolias, so there was no way to know where he was going to strike next. The attacks were relentless, fast, powerful, and unpredictable. He gritted his teeth while summoning mini explosions all around his body. "Get away!" he roared as the lights detonated. Nikolias slid back, a few scrapes the only damage he received from Azuma's counter. Azuma then held up his hands. "MINE CAGE!"
Bright, flickering lights completely surrounded Nikolias on all sides and above with no holes for escape. "What's this now?"
"You are completely trapped now, my friend," Azuma said. "If you try to escape from there, you will detonate the mines. I don't care how fast you are; you can't avoid the explosions."
Nikolias growled at Azuma. "What a cowardly tactic."
"I disagree," Azuma smiled while holding up his hand. "I call it strategy against a worthy opponent." He snapped his fingers. "CORE BURST!" The ground below Nikolias' feet glowed before detonating in a massive explosion. The resulting explosion also detonated the Mine Cage explosions, causing a chain reaction that erupted in the area. Fire and smoke spread throughout the area.
From the smoke, Nikolias shot high into the air with his black wings and stared down at Azuma, fangs bared in anger.
Azuma smirked. "You truly are a dragon, aren't you? Not only have you survived two of my attacks head on, but you have wings."
Nikolias growled deep in his throat. He spread his wings further as shadows began to shroud them. "DARK WIND!" he roared while flapping his wings over and over. A thick black haze spread with each flap of his wings, completely engulfing the base camp in shadows.
Azuma coughed and tried to move to counter him, but found himself unable to move a muscle. "What is this? I'm paralyzed?"
"In this wind, all who are exposed are immobilized. It shuts down their body and prevents it from functioning again for a while," Nikolias explained. "And that means that you're completely open now." He stopped his Dark Wind and headed straight for Azuma, picking up speed drastically as he descended to the earth. He threw back his right hand as shadows erupted from his right arm, wildly whipping around. "SHADOW DRAGON CRUSHING BLOW!"
Azuma couldn't do anything. His body wasn't responding to his commands. All he could do was watch as Nikolias approached.
With a roar, Nikolias threw his fist at Azuma. The attack connected, resulting in a massive explosion of shadows that shook the ground and tore apart the earth. He flew from the cloud of dust and hovered in the air, waiting to see if that move finished his opponent off. "Did that do it?" he asked aloud.
Suddenly, a sharp pain shot through his body. He looked down to see a root sticking through his chest. Blood ran from his mouth and the wound. "Where did this come from?"
"You never noticed, did you?" Azuma said as he appeared from the trunk of a tree. "You hovered right near a tree, giving me the perfect opportunity to strike back."
Nikolias tore himself from the root. "It's gonna take a lot more than that to take me down. Or have you not learned that yet?"
"Oh believe me. I've learned a lot from our fight," Azuma smiled.
Nikolias gritted his teeth while his wound closed. 'I have to finish this quickly and make sure that Mira is alright. But whatever I throw at this guy, he's taking it like a champ. At this rate, we'll be at a stalemate for hours while everyone else is in danger.' Nikolias sighed. "Guess I have no choice. I need to end this now." Nikolias put his right hand to his face and applied slight pressure to his eyes with his index finger and thumb. He blinked, but when his eyes opened again, his irises were a glowing red.
Azuma stared at Nikolias as a shiver went down his spine. 'I don't believe it. The pressure surrounding him skyrocketed. Did he actually get stronger?'
Nikolias bared his fangs as shadows whipped around him even more intensely. The corners of his mouth then curled back in a smile. "Thanks for spilling some of my blood for me." He then put his hands together as his body glowed black. "ESSENCE OF SHADOW!" A thick, shadow aura spread out from Nikolias' body in all directions. However, these shadows were no normal shadows. They were black mixed with a deep crimson.
Azuma put up a guard, not knowing what to expect with this new attack. However, had he known what was to come, he would have merged with the tree once more. As soon as the bloody shadows reached him, he began feeling incredible pain; pain unlike what he had ever felt before. He immediately felt like his body was being torn apart. He fell to his knees, fighting against the pain as best he could.
"Do you like it?" Nikolias growled at him. "This move is a non-lethal replication of the pain I felt when the Red Eye was injected into me. All I have to do is mix my own blood into my shadows and anyone can know how excruciating it was to be fused with this virus."
Azuma felt like he couldn't breathe. 'He experienced this kind of pain before?'
Nikolias dashed forward with rage in his red eyes. "Now you die!" He threw countless Shadow Dragon Fists at Azuma, each one connecting heavily with his face. However, with the Red Eye active, each strike had even more power behind it than before. With each strike, blood flew from Azuma's face and mouth, the pain from the Essence of Shadow preventing him from putting up any kind of guard. Each strike had more and more rage behind it, the sound of the impacts echoing in the area. "This is for Mira, you bastard!" he roared as he landed a swift punch to Azuma's stomach, forcing him to double over in pain. Nikolias used the new position to slam his next Shadow Dragon Fist into the back of his skull, forcing Azuma to crash into the ground. Nikolias panted, trying to keep his rage in check, but he wasn't finished with Azuma just yet.
He bent down and picked up Azuma by his head, blood dripping from his battered face and into the earth. He then flew forward before slamming Azuma's head into a tree trunk with enough force to splinter the wood. He held Azuma's head against the tree at face level as he cocked back his right arm, pointing all of his fingers towards Azuma's heart. Shadows enveloped his hand as he prepared to strike. "Know that your actions brought about your end," he hissed. "SHADOW DRAGON JAVELIN STRI—"
Suddenly, horrible pain shot through Nikolias' body, causing him to roar in pain and drop Azuma. "Wh…what the hell?" He examined himself and saw small roots beginning to push their way through his skin—from inside his body. "What the hell is this?"
Azuma stood, his body no longer affected by the Essence of Shadow. "This would be the effect of my Seed Bomb Root."
More thick roots ripped through Nikolias' skin from his arms and legs. Blood shot from his mouth as he stumbled backwards. "S…Seed Bomb R…Root?"
"Yes. Do you recall the root I managed to impale you with before? By impaling you, it was able to leave a small seed behind in your body that was designed to grow after one minute. Essentially it's a time bomb, but without the explosion."
A thick root tore through Nikolias' abdomen, staining the earth with large amounts of blood. "D…Damn you."
Azuma smiled. "Your regeneration can't work with these roots holding your wounds open. You'll soon be dead."
Another thick root shot up Nikolias' throat and out his mouth, shooting blood everywhere. He gagged on it before losing all strength in his legs and falling backwards. He wheezed as more and more roots tore through his flesh, pooling his blood on the ground. 'No. It can't end like this.'
Azuma squatted by Nikolias' body. "I do want to thank you for this fight. Never before have I been so injured and never before have I come so close to losing. Your strength was commendable. You truly were a challenging opponent. It's unfortunate that you have to die, for I would enjoy fighting you again. Farewell. May your death be quick." With that, he stood and walked away.
Nikolias watched him walk away, his eyes fading to their natural golden brown, but he couldn't move. Numerous roots had torn through his leg muscles and even his wings had been torn from the internal attack. He was immobilized. He coughed as best he could as blood was overflowing from his mouth, but the thick root made it difficult. Tears stung his eyes. 'Mira. I'm sorry. I failed. I couldn't avenge you after all. I should have been with you to fight alongside you instead of leaving.' He blinked away the tears and narrowed his eyes. 'But it won't end like this. I will see you again. I will hold you again. I will be with you forever. I can't die here!'
Nikolias lifted his arms, his muscles screaming as they rubbed against the roots that protruded from his skin. 'Where's that seed? If I can find it and get rid of it, I can get rid of these roots.' He closed his eyes and slowed his breathing. 'I have to ignore the pain and focus on nothing but the seed. It must be giving off some sort of energy or magic if it's growing like this.' He waited and listened, doing everything he could to ignore the pain and keep himself conscious. He waited and waited, his breathing getting shallower by the second. He didn't have much time.
And then his eyes shot open. 'There!' With every ounce of remaining strength he had, he turned his right arm into his dragon arm and drove the talons into his chest. He winced as his claws dug through his flesh, searching for the seed. Soon, he felt something hard and plant-like beneath his scales. He wrapped his talons around it and, with the best cry he could give, tore it from his body.
The seed exited his body, roots snapping off of it like withered rope. As soon as the seed had been detached, all of the roots began to wither and die before completely disintegrating. Nikolias breathed heavily as blood continued to pour from his various injuries. However, he had no intention of waiting for them to close. His friends could be in danger and he'd be damned if he was just going to sit back and rest. His wounds would just have to heal at a slower pace.
Nikolias rolled over, crying out at the intense pain, and pushed himself off of the ground. He retracted his injured wings, turned his arm back to his human arm, and retracted his blades in an effort to put all energy into healing. He slowly got to his feet, trying not to slip in the small lake of his own blood. He looked towards the path that Mira and Lisanna had gone before slowly making his way down the path. His injuries screamed at him to stop, but he just gritted his teeth and walked as fast as he could, the thought of losing anyone driving him forward.
A thick trail of blood followed Nikolias as he walked, but he was determined that his would be the only fairy blood spilled on this day. "I'm coming, everyone, so just hold on. I will be there for all of you. I promise you that."
