Chapter 20

'Thinking' – thoughts

"Speaking" – speech

'Thinking' – Dragon/God/Beast thinking

"Speaking" - Dragon/God/Beast speaking

Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail or any of its characters they are property of Hiro Masima.

mauricio11: I hope you find the events of this chapter to be entertaining even though you will have to wait and see where the story will go with Fairy Heart.

chrislgerlach: Sorry to say but there is a small wait to see Natsu's reaction to Mavis, as for the fights, yeah I skipped those that were the same and spent quite some time to make the changed fights entertaining.

Amanny: Yeah, ever was just running away until Erza caught up to her.

NinjaFang1331: Thank you very much.

Vincent blames: Sorry for the wait, I was thinking about doing something Christmas themed, but couldn't decide where it might fit in, and I couldn't really think of a one-shot idea that involved Chrismas so I went with uploading a new story as some sort of Christmas gift thing.

Aadam Karim-Lodhi: For the Natsu and Mavis relationship I think your suggestion of them sharing a brother-sister thing will work out nicely so thank you for that,. Concerning his curse power and his memories ass E.N.D. I have a few ideas as to how I will incorporate that but it is still some time till that point in the story. I am guessing you are referring to One Piece when you mention 'Conquerors Haki' (google search told me ;p), i haven't looked into it that much but I will keep it in mind for when I come to the Edolass arc.

-Fairy Tail Guildhall-

Makarov, Haru and Gajeel had their attention focused on the runes above the entrance while Ultear leaned her head on Natsu's shoulder and Ur looked at the two with a smile.

A sudden cracking sound came from the stage and when their eyes fell on the freed girls Makarov gained a grin. A new line appeared on the runes, "Erza vs Evergreen: Winner Erza" and the number of contestants went up from four to ten.

"Good job Erza," Haru cheered with a grin as Gajeel let out his signature laugh.

"Master, what happened, one moment I saw Evergreen in front of me and now I am here?" Mira asked, being the first to voice her confusion, quickly followed by the other girls agreeing and voicing their confusion as well. Makarov quickly gave the revived girls a rundown of the situation which gained shocked gasps from the gathered girls.

"What do you want us to do Master?" Cana asked.

"I suggest you follow Juvia's example," Makarov replied with a grin. The girls were a bit confused at first before they looked to where the water woman once stood.

"Yeah, as soon as Gramps said that everyone went out to fight she ran out screaming something about her beloved Gray," Haru said in an amused tone.

"Freed and Bickslow are still out there, Cana and Bisca team up and find them, Mira see if you can find any injured members and direct them back here, Levy and Lucy can the two of you decipher the runes and possibly rewrite them to allow Haru and Gajeel to get out?" Makarov gave his orders before questioning the guild's bookworms. A low growl came from Natsu but it went unnoticed by the Fairy Tail mages.

"I should be able to decipher it, and with Lulu's help we shouldn't take too long," Levy said as she smiled at Lucy who returned the smile. The two girls quickly ran to the library to fetch all the books they might need.

"Be careful out there, prioritise defeating Freed, Bickslow can be a tricky opponent and Laxus should be avoided at all costs. Once Haru and Gajeel are out they can aid Mystogan and Erza with dealing with him," Makarov warned the girls before they ran out to find the Thunder Legion. The next growl that came from Natsu at the mention of Bickslow was heard by Mira and Makarov.

"Oh, hello there, would you like something from the bar?" Mira asked with a sweet smile as she turned towards Natsu, Ultear and Ur, falling into her normal role of barmaid of Fairy Tail.

"I'm fine, thank you, I might want to go for a walk soon," Natsu replied letting out a soft growl that only Ultear and Ur heard.

"I think I will be joining him on his walk, so nothing for me thank you," Ultear politely declined which only left Ur.

"A nice cool drink with a bit of a kick would be just what I need," Ur smiled at Mira as she caught on to what Natsu and Ultear might be doing on their walk. Mira smiled once more and quickly went to the bar to get Ur a drink.

With the combined work of Levy and Lucy, it didn't take long before they found out how to rewrite the runes to allow Gajeel and Haru to join the fray.

"Be careful you two, watch out for any residual runes from Freed and make your way to Laxus as soon as possible. I have a feeling that Erza and Mystogan are closing in on his location," Makarov told his children.

"Right," Haru and Gajeel replied before charging out of the hall. Makarov watched as the two Dragon Slayers made their way into the city. He turned his attention to 'Death Walker' as the man stood up followed by Ultear.

"We will be taking in the sighs Makarov," Natsu said as he made his way to the entrance with Ultear close behind him. Makarov's eyes followed the two and once they disappeared from view he turned his attention to the other dark-haired woman who accompanied 'Death Walker'. 'Maybe I can get some information on him if I ask her,' Makarov thought, still troubled by what he heard and saw in the basement deep below the Fairy Tail guildhall.

-With Cana, Juvia and Bisca-

Cana and Bisca were lucky in the fact that the first person they encountered was a searching Juvia.

"Juvia, have you seen Freed, Bickslow or Laxus yet?" Cana asked the water woman as they approached her.

"Juvia hasn't been able to find her darling Gray or anyone else," Juvia replied in a saddened tone at not finding the man of her dreams among the fallen she had seen so far.

"Don't worry Juvia, how about you stick with Cana while I get a good vantage point, then if I see anyone I'll let you guys know," Bisca suggested while slinging her rifle over her shoulder.

"Juvia will leave the scouting in your hands, please let Juvia know as soon as you see Juvia's darling Gray," Juvia said in an almost pleading tone.

"Sure thing Juvia," Bisca replied before turning around and heading to one of the taller buildings with a giggle at how devoted Juvia was. A small smile wiggled its way onto the green-haired woman's face as she thought about a certain gunslinger.

"With Bisca going closer to the centre of the town I think we should head to the outskirts," Cana suggested to the blue-haired woman next to her.

"Juvia agrees but Juvia wonders if it won't be better we split up?" Juvia asked.

"We would cover more ground that way, but as they say there is safety in numbers, and I don't want to take any chances against the likes of Freed and Bickslow," Cana replied.

"Okay, Juvia will follow you so lead the way," Juvia agreed with the card mage. The two mages quickly made it to one of the many bridges that connect the two banks of the river that flows through Magnolia. When they made it halfway across the river Cana abruptly stopped causing Juvia to run into her back causing the two to stumble and Juvia landing on her behind.

"Juvia apologises for running into you but Juvia would like to know why you stopped so suddenly?" Juvia asked as she stood back up.

"Freed is close by, I can feel his magic," Cana said she tried to locate the green-haired mage. Cana quickly scanned the area to no avail while Juvia was looking at the bikini-clad woman with a confused look.

"Damnit, where is he," Cana shouted in anger since she couldn't see where the man was. In her anger, she dashed forward only to be stopped by a wall of purple runic writhing that sprung from the ground. The runic wall quickly formed a box around Cana before purple runes began converging to a location in front of the card mage. The runes started glowing as Freed materialised.

"Freed, release these runes right now or I won't be responsible for your injuries," Cana threatened as she readied three cards in between her fingers. Freed just stood there waiting with a stoic expression as he waited for Cana to attack.

"Cards Magic: Summoned Lightning" Cana called out as she placed three cards on top of one another. The Heaven card on top, the Mountain card in the middle and the Reverse Death card coming at the bottom. She fanned out the three cards before diagonally swiping them in front of her.

"What the hell?" Cana shouted in confusion and anger as her spell didn't activate. The only thing that happened was a steel sword appearing before her that had a lightning-bolt style guard and a sleek and elegant blade.

Runic script appeared next to Freed. 'When two enter this field a duel of the blade will decide the victor'. Cana had a confused look until realisation dawned on her once freed drew his rapier. Clenching her teeth she grabbed hold of the blade and readied herself for a clash where she held the disadvantage.

"You really are a cowardly bastard Freed," Cana said with an angered expression and venom dripping from her voice.

"The rules have been set, the victor is the winner of the duel," Freed said in a monotone voice as he readied her rapier and placed his left hand behind his back. With an angered shout Cana charged Freed, sword at the ready.

"Just keep him busy while Juvia breaks the barrier, then we can defeat him together," Juvia called out from the other side of the runic barrier. "Water Slicer" Juvia called out as she sent out a blade of water but to her disappointment the barrier held strong.

The clang of steel was followed by the sound of two blades scraping against one another. Freed parried the first strike from Cana with ease. Enraged at the current predicament the guild was facing combined with the anger she felt seeing the impartial expression on the green-haired mage's face caused Cana to recklessly swing the blade. This made it so much easier for Freed to dodge or parry the blows coming from Cana.

"I wanted to clash swords with someone, but sadly it seems that you won't last long in this duel, maybe the blue-haired Phantom might be able to pose some sort of a challenge," Freed said in an unamused tone before making his first attack. He went for a jab with his sword. Cana was capable of blocking the blade from plunging into her abdomen, but due to her inexperience with a blade, the block sent the blade into her arm.

"Cana," Juvia called out in concern as the card mage let out a pained scream. "Water Nebula" Juvia called out, summoning two columns of water that started circling around one another before slamming into the barrier. She was once again disappointed by the barrier standing strong, however, a small crack appeared that restored the water woman's confidence. She prepared for her next strike by gathering as much magical power that she was capable of storing in her body in preparation for an attack that should crack the barrier more at the very least.

Cana clenched her teeth to ignore the pain before raising her sword again. She took a calming breath to reduce her rage, realising that it was the main reason Freed was having such an easy time. A small smile formed on Freed's face as he saw the determined look replacing the rage on Cana's face.

"Seems like I might get some fight out of this," Freed said as he once again jabbed at Cana with his rapier. This time Cana blocked the blade in the same way as before but twisted her body to prevent the blade from piercing her arm. Talking Freed's extended stance as an opening to attack Cana sliced her blade from where it ended below Freed after blocking his precious jab.

A surprised look overtook Freed's face at the unorthodox move but quickly reacted by retracting his blade in order to block the strike while jumping backwards to lessen the power behind the blow even further. A 'Tsk' escaped Cana's mouth seeing that Freed didn't take any damage from the strike while Cana could feel her wound bothering her. 'I have to deal with him quickly before this wound slows me down too much,' Cana thought, narrowing her eyes.

"Why are you doing this Freed?" Cana questioned as she slashed he sword at the man once again, this time going horizontally. 'If I can understand why they are doing this, maybe we can talk it out,' Cana thought, she was all for a good brawl but this was closer to a civil war and she didn't want that in her guild.

"The guild is getting weak, and new leadership is needed. Master Makarov is too stubborn to relinquish the title to Laxus who will bring Fairy Tail to the glory it deserves," Freed replied as he ducked under the slash and thrust his rapier forward, piercing Cana's calf. This caused Cana to drop to one knee in pain. Far off in the distance, an explosion could be heard but none of the three mages present paid it any mind.

Another pained scream came from Cana as Juvia maxed out the amount of magic she could store. An angered expression took hold of her face as she called out "Water Nebula" with an enraged voice. The swirling mass of water slammed into the barrier with a massive amount of force. The cracks spread out but only by a small amount.

"There is a better way to solve this problem Freed," Cana tried to reason with the man but unfortunately for her, the green-haired man's devotion to Laxus meant that he wouldn't be swayed. A dark look came over his face.

"The purge of the weak will be the path to glory," Freed said as he finally pierced his blade down into prone card mage's abdomen. He could hear the panicked scream coming from Juvia but ignored it as Cana toppled over, defeated. He turned to the water mage, ready to fight. He was surprised when Juvia called out "Flood Wave" which caused a colossal wave of water to wash him away from the card mage.

Once he managed to gain his footing he readied his blade for his next clash with the water woman but saw that she was now kneeling next to the card mage. "Water Seal" Juvia called out, forming a blob of water to cover Cana's wound, preventing any more blood from spilling.

"Why would a mage of Phantom Lord be so willing to help a Fairy Tail wizard? You were enemies of my guild only a few weeks ago," Freed said in an angered tone. 'To think Master Makarov would allow an enemy to join our ranks so shortly after they had lifted their blade against us,' Freed though in disgust.

"Juvia is a Fairy Tail wizard. Even though Juvia attacked the guild Juvia was accepted as a member by everyone. The guild was kind to Juvia and accepted Juvia for who she was. For the first time in forever Juvia was smiling. Fairy Tail is Juvia's guild and where her loyalty lies," Juvia said as dark storm clouds started forming above them.

"Now Juvia will give you a choice. Option one is where you heal Juvia's guildmate Cana with your enchantments, and don't try and fool Juvia, as an ex-member of the Element Four, Juvia knows what your magic is capable of. Option two is where Juvia brings down the wrath of the ocean on you," Juvia said as an ominous deep blue aura started forming around her and the raindrops stopped falling, floating in the air, vibrating with anticipation.

"I cannot simply accept your demands. If you want me to heal her you will have to trade something in return, say surrender and end our involvement in this game," Freed said with a neutral expression.

"Don't do it Juvia," Cana said in a weak voice.

"Juvia was expecting you to ask her to leave the guild, to be honest. Juvia accepts your terms," Juvia said while giving Cana a soft smile.

"You leaving the guild now isn't my decision and once Laxus takes over he will make the final call on that," Freed said as he sheathed his rapier and made his way over to Cana to place healing enchantments.

"You are out of the game and any further interference will cause you to have to go through severe punishment," Freed said as he finished writing the enchantment. He stood up and started making his way to the next foe. Cana was surprised at how quickly Freed's healing enchantment worked and as soon as she got to her feet she looked at the man with narrowed eyes.

"Juvia might have agreed to surrender but I'm still ready to fight and since that stupid enchantment is no longer around I think I will pay you back with a spell of my own. "Card Magic: Wind Edge" Cana called out, holding two cards in her hand, one being the Heaven card the other being the Wind card. A massive wave of wind sped towards Freed who stood still and waited for the attack to near him.

Moments before the wave of wind made contact he drew his rapier with lightning-fast speed and slashed at the wind, cutting the spell in two causing it to rush past him harmlessly.

"You were already defeated, such a shame that punishment has to be delivered," Freed said in an angered tone as he lifted the hair covering his right eye, revealing a black eyeball with a purple iris.

-With Bisca just before Freed's last attack on Cana-

Bisca had found a good vantage point on top of a tall building from where she could scout the entire area. Currently, she was keeping a trained eye on Freed and Cana as they were clashing with their blades. At first, Bisca was confused to see Cana using a sword against Freed seeing that she never use a sword before but she understood the reason for this once she spotted the purple runes surrounding the two thanks to a blast of water from Juvia.

'Seems like they walked into one of Freed's traps, and this one is biased towards Freed, the only one I can think of who would benefit from that trap would be Erza,' Bisca thought. She would have taken a shot that would have paralyzed Freed if it wasn't for the runic barrier. For now, she would just have to wait.

"Baryon Formation" a voice called out from behind her and before she could react, a massive beam of energy caused a massive explosion around her. Her pain-filled echoed from within the blast.

"You may be a member of the guild known for brawling, but your role as a sniper makes you less resilient compared to the average member," the same voice said being followed by what sounded like four or five childlike voices chanting 'weak body'.

"Bickslow, why are you guys turning on your won guild?" Bisca asked in a strained voice. As the dust cleared Bisca could be seen kneeling on the ground, one arm clutching the other, scrapes and bruises covering her bloodied body. 'Once this thing blows over I really need to focus a bit more on close-quarter combat,' Bisca thought to herself.

"Because it's fun," Bickslow replied with a crazed grin while his dolls chanted 'Fun'.

"Re-quip: Magic Scoped Pistol" Bisca called out, summoning the strength to continue fighting as well as a long pistol with a scope attachment to her hands. "Freezing Shot" Bisca called out once again as a cold blue colour emanated from the pistol. The shot sped towards Bickslow only for one of his dolls to come in the way. While the doll froze solid a distressed look came to Bickslow's face, giving Bisca a confidence boost but it didn't last long.

"You froze one of my babies, and so soon after Gray froze them as well. Don't worry I'll avenge you," Bickslow said with a saddened tone before having it turn crazed at the end as his remaining dolls chanted 'revenge'. "Line Formation" Bickslow called out as the remaining four dolls formed up in a vertical line before unleashing a powerful wave of energy at the sniper mage.

The resulting explosion cleared away to reveal a beaten Bisca on the ground and unconscious.

"Too bad I caught you by surprise, otherwise this would have been a closer battle. Oh well let's see if there are any other fairies around so that my babies can have some more fun," Bickslow said with a shrug of his shoulder. He was confused when he only heard the start of a chant from his dolls but then he felt the same ominous and frightening magic he felt not too long ago. A feeling of true fear overtook his mind.

-Inside the Fairy Tail guildhall-

Makarov was busy having a drink with Ur, exchanging tales of their past when their attention was brought to the runes at the entrance once again. Lucy and Mira had left to go and search for injured members so that they can guide them back here while Levy stayed in the guildhall to help whoever is here.

"Battle Report: Freed vs Cana, Freed wins. Bickslow vs Bisca, Bickslow wins," Levy read the runes seeing as she was closest.

"How strong is this Thunder Legion, if they can wipe the floor with the guild?" Ur asked, interested in the group that seemed to go against what Fairy Tail stood for, at least according to what her daughter said.

"Even though they are a powerful group they don't possess the power to defeat the entire guild. If Freed hadn't been given the opportunity to riddle the entire city with traps then this entire ordeal would have been over by now," Makarov replied with a frown.

"Seems like they prepared everything under your noses," Ur commented. She kept a cool expression on her face but deep down she was seething, hearing that her student was defeated only told her he was slacking off. 'If only I already had my magic back I would have beaten some sense into that boy,' Ur thought.

"I'd say that due to the entire guild helping with preparation for the festival they were too preoccupied to notice freed putting up all of his enchantments while the citizens didn't see it as such since he is part of Fairy Tail," Makarov theorised as to why the Thunder Legion's preparation didn't cause any suspicion.

"Juvia vs Freed, winner Freed. New fight starting: Laxus vs Mystogan," Levy read out the latest addition to the runes above the door as they appeared.

"So the endgame to this Battle Royal is starting," Makarov said in a grim tone. The final fight between the standing members of Fairy Tail and Laxus, Freed and Bickslow will certainly be harder now that the three girls were out of commission, making this a three on four battle.

'I wonder if Natsu and Ultear found whoever it was they wanted to fight,' Ur wondered with a smile on her face thinking about how her daughter and her man would work together to defeat any foe.

-With Natsu and Ultear-

Natsu and Ultear had arrived on the roof where Bickslow was just in time to see him defeat the green-haired woman known as Bisca. Seeing the man who held spirits in those tiki totems caused Natsu's power to leak out of him in a deathly aura of black and purple. The two could see Bickslow stiffen in fear as Natsu let his magic roll off of him.

"You will release the souls you have trapped in those totems willingly or I will have to result to using force," Natsu said in a deadly tone that sent shivers running down Bickslow's spine.

"I have been getting kind of bored just sitting around, how about we play around with him for a while since there isn't anything else to do right now and I want to see how we will fight together?" Ultear asked in a sweet pleading tone as she snaked her arms around Natsu's neck and looked up at him with a smirk, her brown eyes meeting his onyx orbs.

"Since he poses no threat this might be a good test trial," Natsu agreed. The two of them turned to Bickslow seeing that he was still facing away from them and frozen in fear. Ultear, not wanting a stationary target dummy, decided to send her crystal ball towards Bickslow's back. A loud thud was heard as Bickslow stumbled forward due to the impact of the orb.

"What the hell was that for?" Bickslow shouted, revived from his momentary fear-induced state.

"You were just standing still and I want a moving target dummy," Ultear said with a smirk as she saw the anger in the man's body language as she and Natsu turned their attention to the man in front of them.

"You're really getting on my nerves, how about I wipe that smirk off your pretty face," Bickslow said before calling out his attack, "Baryon Formation". The tiki totems formed up in a pentagonal pattern before starting to spin in a circular motion. A green beam of energy shot out of the spinning formation and barrelled down on the two mages.

Ultear's smirk stayed on her face, only becoming even smugger when she heard Natsu call out "Death God's Death Scythe". A scythe as black as the night formed in his hand, with purple sparks of power dancing around the weapon. Natsu swiped the scythe in front of him as the beam approached.

Bickslow's eyes widened in surprise while Ultear's eyes filled with love and lust at what happened. The pitch-black scythe in Natsu's hand literally hooked the beam of magical energy as if it was a solid object. Natsu ripped the beam in two and caused it to disintegrate all the while his piercing black orbs never shifted from Bickslow's form. The emotionless look on Natsu's face scared Bickslow more than any emotion would be able to.

"Oh I just love seeing your power at work, but I want to play as well," Ultear said with a smile as she looked at the weapon in Natsu's hand before returning her attention to Bickslow. "Flash Forward" Ultear called out as she extended her hand. Her crystal ball multiplied and began speeding towards Bickslow. "X Formation" Bickslow called out as his dolls formed up with one in the middle and the rest completing an X-shape. A thin green film formed in between the dolls as the shield completed just before Ultear's attack struck.

"Impressive, I think this is the perfect opportunity for me to test this out," Ultear said as she saw her attack getting blocked by Bickslow. 'It sure is nice to be able to focus only on offence since I have a big bad Dragon God protecting me,' Ultear thought as her eyes fell on Natsu's slow advancing form. A chill went down her spine as she saw the power brimming where the blade of the scythe met the ground.

"Victory Formation" Bickslow called out. His dolls morphed from their X-shape into a V-shape as they sent a pulse of energy forward. Natsu tapped the end of his scythe on the ground with considerable force, causing cracks to spread out from the point of impact. Purple energy that looked like lightning erupted from the point of impact and countered the pulse coming from Bickslow's babies.

Ultear placed one hand in the palm of the other, a stance Bickslow had seen many times. A bit of confusion made its way onto his face but that was quickly replaced by a grin.

"Let's see if you pack more of a punch compared to that stripping Gray," Bickslow said momentarily forgetting about the menacing figure that is slowly making its way towards him.

"Ice-Make: Bloom" Ultear shouted as several flowery spheres were sent to Bickslow.

"Take them out babies," Bickslow called out in an excited tone as each of his dolls sent out a separate beam of green energy. Once the two attacks connected a rain of small ice specs fell from the sky.

'Seems like I might have to spend some time refining this brand, maybe I can help Mother while training my own magic as well,' Ultear thought as she saw the attack not being up to the power level she expected.

"I've seen better," Bickslow said with a grin somehow still forgetting of his impending doom approaching. "Ice-Make: Rosen Crone" Ultear called out the strongest attack in her Ice-Make arsenal. Giant ice roses with thorny stems sped towards Bickslow, brimming with power.

A soft 'crap' could be heard coming from the man before he called out "X Formation".

Bickslow clenched his teeth as he had to push more magic into his defence to keep up with the relentless assault. With his attention focused on the relentless assault of light purple ice, he didn't see the slow approach of the scythe-wielding user of death. A relieved sigh escaped from Bickslow's mouth as Ultear's attack let up but his momentary relief was quickly replaced by dread.

A cold sweat ran down his back as he saw the slow approaching reaper of death incarnate. Natsu was slowly walking forward, dragging the scythe on the ground and sending purple sparks flying.

"Now tell me where you those souls," Natsu asked in a voice as cold as death as a purple and black aura swirled around him and his eyes gained a purple hue.

"Crescent Formation" Bickslow called out in a panic. His dolls formed in a semi-circle with them completing the bottom half of a circle, leaving the top half missing, before each sent individual burst of green energy at the approaching reaper. With one swift motion, Natsu brought the scythe from the ground on his right and swiped diagonally up having the scythe end up extended above his left shoulder. A purple shockwave met the bursts of green and easily nullified them.

Natsu turned the weapon so that the scythe's profile could be seen. Add the sun setting directly behind Natsu and you get the terrifying image Bickslow saw. A dark demon of death illuminated by the setting sun and two purple specks looking down at him with malice.

"Last chance," Natsu whispered as his purple eyes bore right into Bickslow's soul. A barely noticeable grin made its way to Bickslow's face. Lifting his hands in defeat he slowly moved one of his hands to the visor covering his eyes. He lifted the visor and hood revealing his blue and black hair that was styled with a long blue Mohawk-like crest and longer hair that pointed backwards on the side of his head while the space between the blue hairs is occupied by strips of short black hair. On the upper part of his nose, between his eyes was a tattoo in the shape of a stickman and his shining green eyes stared up at Natsu.

"Figure eyes" Bickslow whispered as he prepared to take control of the soul of the man in front of him. Unfortunately like all attempts to gain the upper hand in this encounter, this failed miserably. Bickslow felt a pulse of magic flowing over him and he felt his eye magic deactivating even though he tried to keep it active. Fear once again crept into his being as he saw the purple, malice filled eyes staring back at him with hatred. Bickslow's eyes widened in unadulterated horror as he saw the scythe with the colour of the night speeding down towards him leaving sparks of purple energy behind.

A massive dust cloud formed on the roof of the building they were on and the foundations shook due to the force behind the blow.

-With Freed-

The green-haired man was staring at the brown-haired card mage with one normal eye and one black and purple eye.

"For breaking the rules you will be punished," Freed said as he swiped his rapier downwards while calling out "Dark Écriture: Pain". Runes appeared on Cana's body moments before she yelled out in immense pain.

"No," Juvia called out but before she could do anything a large fist connected with Freed's head.

"Elfman," Juvia said with a smile as she recognised the giant white-haired man.

"It's not manly to attack a defeated guildmate," Elfman said with a grin as Mira came running over the bridge. She had been helping her brother back to the guild when they heard Cana's scream.

"Cana, Juvia can you two walk?" Mira asked in concern as she knelt beside Cana who was crouched over in pain.

"Juvia is fine to walk, but Juvia is worried for Cana," Juvia said as she made her way over to the two women.

"I'm fine, the pain is going away," Cana wheezed out in a weak voice.

"Elfman can you carry Cana, Juvia and I will help if you need it," Mira requested of her brother who quickly gave her a nod and knelt beside Cana to pick her up.

"So you interfere with the rule of punishing those who have been eliminated, should hey return to the fight. On top of that, you have been eliminated yourself. I have had enough of this," Freed said as he recovered from Elfman's sucker punch.

"Dark Écriture: Constrict" Freed called out as runic ropes bound Cana Juvia and Mira, ensuring they don't move. "Dark Écriture: Pain" Freed called out as he swiped his blade in Elfman's direction. Runes appeared on Elfman's body, the same runes that had appeared on Cana's. Elfman shouted out in pain. "Dark Écriture: Terror" Freed called out once again followed up by "Dark Écriture: Suffering".

"You have broken so many rules of this game now take your punishment like a man," Freed said with an angered look.

"Please Freed, I'm begging you, stop," Mira begged as tears started forming in her eyes. Freed, however, didn't pay her please any mind as he continued to assault Elfman with his "Dark Écriture: Pain" causing the big man to shout out in agony. Mira could only watch in despair as her brother suffered.

"Now for the final Écriture of death," Freed whispered as he readied his blade to deliver the final spell. A multitude of things followed in the next few seconds.

Freed raised his arm and began chanting his spell, "Dark Écriture: Dea…" but before he completed the chant his mind was filled with the horrific image he saw in Shirotsume Town. Snapping out of his momentary rage-induced state he dropped his weapon as horror filled his eyes. He was about to take the life of his guildmate. He was about to paint a picture in the same light as that horrific image that still haunts his mind. His grip on his sword lessened as he cancelled out his magic.

While Freed came to his realisation Mira's mind went blank as she heard Freed mention death. She saw images of a beautiful short-haired girl, images of a giant beast swinging its arm, a grave. Tears rolled down her cheek as she remembered the pain-filled, weak voice of the girl. Magic power began leaking from her and her magical presence began skyrocketing.

Freed turned around when he felt the spike of magic and a look of surprise and worry overtook his face. Mira's scream of despair filled the air as the rocks around her started lifting off the ground due to the immense magical pressure she was putting out.

With a final shout, a crack formed ripped through her eye as her appearance changed. Scales started covering her forearms and hands, she grows a large black-scaled tail, and a tight bodysuit replaces her pink dress, revealing her arms and legs as well as opening in the front and back, exposing her belly, wide cleavage and upper back. Her hair stands up, defying gravity as an enraged look came to her face. The demon of Fairy Tail rises once more.

"Freed," Mira released an enraged roar as she sprouted two black bat-like wings before launching herself at the man who dared threaten the life of her little brother.

"Dark Écriture: Wings" Freed called out as runic wings formed on his back just in time for him to dodge the clawed hand of Mira. Flying up into the sky in an attempt to evade the 'She-Devil' he was surprised by Mira's speed as she appeared above him and sent him barrelling down to the bridge. Freed had the air knocked out of him by the impact and with frightened eyes, he looked up as the enraged 'She-Devil of Fairy Tail' dive-bombed towards him. He attempted to put up a barrier of sorts but Mira was too fast. Moments, before she could plunge her fist into his gut a massive shockwave, sent her off course, causing the bridge to explode next to Freed thanks to the darkness infused fist of Mira.

Freed glanced in the direction from where the shockwave came from only to see a piece of a building sliding out of a massive dust cloud.

-With Laxus-

Laxus was staring in confusion at the runes above his head. 'Bickslow is apparently fighting someone but the runes can't identify them. Luckily Freed defeated those weaklings, unlike Evergreen. To think she fell to Erza after I put my trust in her,' Laxus thought with an angered expression. A cool mist enveloped the cathedral where he waited for challengers and a grin grew on his face.

"I guess you have the same question as I do. Who is the strongest wizard in Fairy Tail? Eh Mystogan?" Laxus asked with a grin as the masked man materialised inside the mist.

There you have it, my wonderful readers. Sorry for the long wait, with a busy Christmas, the new story I posted and the difficulty I had to make some of the fights in here cool it took me quite a while to write everything. I really hope you guys like the fights I made and the changes I made. So yeah, for those of you who like the NaLi pairing I uploaded a story on that though the uploading schedule of that one will be unpredictable and dependant on either me wanting to work on that story or a good amount of interest. Anyway, I have a fun idea for the next chapter, those of you who were wondering about Mavis and Fairy Heart, you will have to wait a bit longer for clarity there *laughs evilly*. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed and leave a review with your thoughts. See you in the next chapter.