OP powers are bullshit.
OP powers are especially bullshit when the enemy knows what they're doing with them.
For example, it's five (technically four because Natsu is still motion sick) versus one. Common sense would tell anyone else that the team of (five) would win.
Yeah, anime and common sense don't mix.
No matter how fast I or anyone else can move, Queen Shagotte is in control of the farce.
Not fight, farce.
I mean it. Let me describe her opening move. If it can even be called that.
Ivan fired first, yet all Shagotte did was tilt her head. His beam blast hit a giant rock behind her that exploded into pieces. Mystogan rushed in after, prepping two fingers for what looked to be a spell of some kind.
Shagotte stood still as if not registering the incoming attacker. However, our S-Class mage backed off when a chunk of the rock Ivan blasted off threatened to crash into him. I had a bad feeling in my stomach when she still didn't lift her paw fighting us, but I sent a sword beam right for her.
To my annoyance, she didn't even move as a giant beam came from below and intercepted my attack. This clash forced it to explode sooner on our side, throwing us further away. It took me a second to realize that attack must have come from that Anim Dorma, even reaching here.
At this point, I wouldn't be surprised if she can actually manipulate which future she wants. Wait a blasted second: I'm in an anime world. The chances of that happening are alarmingly past 50 percent. And I have yet to see any ass-pulls on our end that actually make us win against impossible odds!
"Okay," I said as I took a sword stance. Fat chance it would do anything right now, but hey, anything to help. "I know Ivan said we have to kill her, but it's painfully obvious we can't even touch her!"
"We are not going to kill her!" Pantherlily's voice came from my right.
"I don't want to either, but the kid was right. We can't do anything if we can't hit her!" Ivan readied his blaster before his armor alarms went off.
More laser fire from Edolas forced the Shagotte team to dodge and weave. The goddess sat still and watched her assassins make fools out of themselves.
Go us.
"For the love of!" I looked down at where I knew Dorma Anim was. "Can't you Dragon Slayers do ANYTHING useful when we need you!? Break that thing already!"
"I'm beating that brat up when I get the chance," Gajeel grunted before he jumped out of a missile's path.
"Yeah, I hear that punk too," Laxus supposed there were downsides to having dragon senses. He avoided a swipe that tore through solid earth as if it was cardboard. "He is right about one thing: every attack we avoid risks innocents. ... But if it fires upward, let it slide. Maybe we'll be lucky, and it'll hit Kain."
"W-What!?" Wendy was the only one who did not like the idea of letting anyone hurt. Though, to be fair, it's been a whirlwind of events ever since she woke up.
Yet, all three moved to avoid Dorma Anim attempting to crush them.
None noticed the inside of the bot, where a man's hands twitched and writhed as if his own body was fighting against itself.
Is it me, or are there more attacks being aimed up here? Ugh, whatever! I have my own problems to worry about, like protecting a still-comatose Natsu from incoming Exceed knights! It doesn't take me long to dispatch them, mostly because I've been holding back less and less to make sure they stay down. They're not humans who can't handle wyvern strength, so it's taking a bit to mentally tell myself to let it rip. You know, it's really unfair that I still can't enjoy being an overpowered anime character because the situation is STILL stronger than me!?
"My Queen!" Patherlily shouted after punching one of his fellow Exceed away. "Please, stop this madness! You never hated the humans!"
The queen turned to the general. Her eyes—although blinding—were unbelievably empty. All she did was lift a paw to smack a twig closer to the Exceed. Pantherlily was confused at the action and looked down, unable to see a soldier Exceed attack from above and slam a club into his head.
I rushed in to help him, but as my fist made contact with the opposing warrior, I heard my mistake: I left Natsu alone again. I turned to see one of the warriors kicking Natsu off one of the holes in the ground. I went after—until my instincts boiled my blood to stop me from getting hit by another laser erupting in the ground in front of me. "Natsu!" I cried out after the attack died down before several Exceed Knights tackled me.
I worried for Natsu until I saw something fly up from the hole. I thought it was another Exceed until I realized the silhouette wasn't correct.
"Fire Dragon's...!" And that was my cue to free myself from the dog(or cat)pile before using the Omni Tool to create a dome around me. "Roar!" I heard as the fires hit some of the Exceed warriors nearby before I let the Omni Tool turn into a shield.
I looked up and saw Natsu with...wings? Wait a second!?
"Hey, Kain! Look who I found!?" "Aye!"
I knew that salute and voice anywhere. "Happy!" I yelled before I saw some Exceed Warriors start to fly toward Natsu and the blue cat. Natsu and Happy shared a look with me before smiling. I could feel myself smiling as well before my cape turned into wings. And with that, I was off. Time slowed as I landed blows that created shockwaves on the Exceed Warriors. By the time I reached Natsu, he and Happy had already taken down three other armed soldiers.
"Kain!" I turned briefly to see Carla flying up to me. "You need to be the one to attack the queen!"
"I tried! Beams from below and her soldiers prevent me from even getting close!"
"I don't know how! But I've seen it! You're the key to defeating her!" Carla yelled at me.
"Well, you heard her, Kain!" Natsu fired up his clenched fist. "I'm back in action! So you go and take 'em by storm!"
My mind raced back to when I met Natsu and Happy early on. "Plan T, huh?"
"Hey, you keep complaining about making all the plans. How about you take one of mine instead?" Natsu looked to Happy as the pair dove in and rammed through a group of Exceed as if they were bowling pins.
But, the more I thought about it... Natsu was right. Everything was predicted by Queen Shagotte, but I remember Code Geass had one fun loophole to future sight.
Move faster than her reactions to the visions!
I drop to the ground and crouch to an Olympic starting stance. I feel the energy of this armor moving towards my feet, coalescing and condensing energy about to burst. Some Exceed fly my way, but Mystogan and Natsu intercept them. I even see Queen Shagotte raise all her wings and fly away higher into the sky for the first time.
Carla was right: somehow, I'm the key to stopping her. Even the Queen's speed starts to slow as I feel my legs on the verge of tipping over.
And then... I let go.
Princess Hisui didn't know what to do. She always wanted to be a great leader. Right? Or maybe she just wanted her father to love her after her brother 'died'.
Regardless, she did care for her kingdom. So why was it the one time she decided to act...
Fiore burned in a way only religious books could describe.
"Princess!" Knightwalker parried an attack coming from two Exceed Swordsmen. "We need to leave!"
She was about to agree. Yet, as she opened her mouth, a scream filled the air. It didn't belong to her, but a poor attendant ran for his life before an Exceed Warrior caught up and swiped their weapon down.
Luckily for him, Mirajane Rhea was paying attention. Using her chain as a weapon, she hit the torso of the cat warrior, sending it through a wall with the force of her attack. While that would have downed a human, the Exceed Warrior stood back up and leered at his attacker.
"Hurry up and go!" The white-haired woman screamed, scaring away the castle attendant. "This isn't working! We'll be overwhelmed at this rate!"
"We can't lose the Capitol!" Hisui screamed.
"I'd love to hear another option!" Rhea yelled back. "Unless you guys have secret reinforcements!?"
Lisanna gasped as she heard that. "Wait, we do have reinforcements!" Without waiting, she looked behind her. "Where's the Lacrima Crystal!?"
Laxus struck the dragon mecha with enough electricity to tear down a building. Unfortunately for him, the weapon was designed to take blows that would destroy a building a million times over and shrug it off like raindrops. And even if it could break, its nanotech would heal whatever damage it took.
Annoyed, the Guild Master backed away when the machine swiped at him as a counterattack. "Hey," Laxus whispered as he avoided the beam. "I know you two can hear me. We'll need a new strategy 'cause this isn't working."
"Yeah, this thing is destroying everything, even his own ships."
"This is horrible! So many are fighting everywhere! Where is everyone else? Are they alright?" Wendy also wanted to ask why there was candy in her mouth when she woke up but thought that wasn't as important.
"Focus. They're tough enough to handle themselves." Laxus told Wendy. "Speaking off, I'm taking a page from the brat's book. He keeps firing that laser, right?" The outer shell looked hard to break, but its insides? He didn't see the same coating whenever it opened its maw.
"Yeah?" Gajeel asked.
"Give me some cover fire." That was all Laxus said as he started to increase his speed and went away from the fight. Knowing Laxus wasn't the type to run, Gajeel and Wendy separated and used their own dragon roars on both sides of the mecha dragon.
The mecha stopped his attack, and energy gathered around its arms before an energy dome appeared to protect the king. Laxus used his powers to speed toward the edge of the city. As he slid to a stop, the guild master inhaled and went low, taking the position of an olympian sprinter. He pressed his fingers downward, narrowed his senses towards where his opponent was, and gathered electricity into his feet.
Anim Dorma lowered its shields the minute both attacks ended—the mecha extended both arms out—before rocketing its claws at the two dragon slayers. However, for Laxus, he spotted the maw starting to close.
His moment for a counterattack was going to disappear. Luckily, a moment is more than enough time for lightning.
In a flash of light, he rushed into the maw of Dorma Anim. Faster than the machine could realize it was breached, Laxus tore into the cockpit and grabbed the king before bulleting out of the head of the robot.
Laxus landed, holding the downed man by his shirt. The 4th Guildmaster gasped for air. It seemed like he ran out of time for his first dose of medicine. Still, he smiled as Dorma Anim fell forward, lifeless like a puppet. "That was annoying."
"Laxus!" The guild master turned to see Lisanna waving to them from one of the holes in the wall. "We need a Dragon Slayer!"
Gajeel and Wendy caught up with him. The three dragon slayers looked up and saw a new wave of Exceeds incoming.
"Chain this idiot up," Laxus told Gajeel. "And bring him over. I'll handle these guys."
Gajeel nodded before he grabbed and ensnared the King of Edolas. "Wendy, let's go!"
"Alright, brat," Laxus ate another X-Ball. "You complained about us. Now it's your turn; stop these cats from anti-hell from attacking us."
As he looked up, he swore he saw what looked to be a streak of red... coming this way?
Faster than I realized, I closed the distance between Queen Shagotte and me. I went in to slam my fist into her face, yet my fist—and body went through, revealing it was some afterimage?
Man, I keep forgetting even low-level super speed and strength are forces to be reckoned with! But I zero in on the queen, who's flying away from me. The longer this takes, the more at risk we all are. The high the chance of everyone else in Earthland dying!
I—
Won't—
Give—
UP!—
ForTheLoveOfGODStopAlready!
It took a second for my mind to catch up with what happened in those few seconds: I chased after the queen as she unfurled enough wings to make her look like a biblically accurate angel. After avoiding me twice, she flew to the sky. If she thought that would stop me, she was sorely mistaken. More of those Exceed Warriors flew in, screaming obscenities at me that I heard too much but didn't care for. They didn't last long as I plowed through them with blows strong enough to feel their bones break under my plated fist. Seeing my target flee, I ascended to a higher altitude before dive-bombing to increase my enhanced speed. It's a real trip to see something so small in my vision suddenly become a giant within less than a quarter of a second.
But it works. I land the first hit on the cat goddess.
And I intend to make it count!
As soon as Laxus said his words, he noticed the red blur before the sonic boom heading into his general location. The Guildmaster did not move as the streak passed by him, slamming through several walls and knocking the incoming wave of Exceed warriors.
"Took your sweet time, brat." Laxus gave the briefest smirks before returning to his neutral tone.
A being in red stumbled out of the smoke, barely keeping himself standing. "Oh god. Why do I hear your voice—Master Laxus? Crapbaskets. I'm back in Edolas, but like... I was so high up there?" He looked up to the sky.
Laxus had to admit, yes. That distance Kain covered was supposed to be only reached by some advanced super-plane. He knew the Morpher made people stronger, but it alarmed the Guild Master to see a regular person achieve the level of an S-Class mage in less than a year.
But that would only scare him if he didn't know who Kain was. "If you were a proper mage, I'd call you a fool for not knowing your strength. Since you're a civilian with way too much power? You're just an idiot."
"That sounds like a lose-lose situation, Laxus."
"Master Laxus." The 4th guild master corrected.
"What was that? I can't hear you over the war going on. I'm just gonna ignore it and ask what's the situation now."
Laxus narrowed his eyes. "I took down the king, and it looks like you took down the queen."
Both of them turned to the crater Kain created, seeing the fallen form of Queen Shaggote and the distant figure of the fallen Dorma Anim.
"Okay, king and queen are down." Kain exhaled. "In chess, that's usually Checkmate. Did we win?"
Laxus hoped that was the case. "Gajeel and Wendy have the king and should be making their way to the Lacrima Crystal."
"Wait." Kain raised his hand. "Why do I have this horrible feeling I forgot something?"
As soon as he said this, the ground started to shake violently. Faster than even the Rider and lightning dragon could realize, tree roots geysered out of the earth, snaring all fallen Exceeds, including Queen Shagotte, before ripping them into the darkness beneath.
"Gawdammit." Kain cursed before he and Laxus moved back to back as they watched giant tree roots erupt and ensnare the flying ships in the sky.
"Brat, what the hell is this!?"
"Look, it's been a long ass week, Laxus! I can't remember everything for every...holy shit." Kain blinked inside his armor. "Did I forget about the monster in the tree?"
"What blasted monster!?" Laxus yelled before tree roots shot out and attempted to drag them into the deep. Laxus and Kain raced off, avoiding the snares. Laxus shot lightning at the roots, but his eyes widened when the attack instantly dissipated when making contact.
"The hel—" Laxus couldn't curse as roots whipped towards his blindside. Luckily for him, Kain already held two blades to cut the roots before they could strike him.
"Of course they're anti-magical!" Kain shouted before firing sword beams to clear the way toward the castle. "We gotta get to the others!"
Laxus agreed with Kain, but only in the regrouping. Something about these roots made him feel ill. Not only that, it didn't act the way disruption magic should've. But Laxus had to push it down as he and Kain sped into the castle, one by lightning and one by a streak of red.
Up above, Redray ran to the edge of the isle. He removed his helm and stared in horror at the giant roots shooting off the ground. The fear on his face only grew before a solemn look took over him.
"No. Please. Not now." His pupils trembled before he inhaled. "My Prince, we need to open a portal."
Laxus and Kain sped ahead before hearing the sounds of screams. Kain spotted Gajeel and Wendy failing to free themselves before he sped off and cut the roots attempting to drag them into the earth.
"Gajeel, where's the king!?" Laxus yelled as he saw no sign of the asshole that started all this madness.
"Taken by those roots!" The Gajeel turned to one of the holes before the earth started to shake violently. Because the four had heightened senses, they heard the sound of something in the center of the castle being dragged down into the earth.
Kain, to his utter annoyance, remembered important facts. "... Hey, where did the others say the Lacrima that had all of Magnolia was supposed to be?"
Laxus knew the lawyer's train of thought and also didn't like where this was going. "Carry Wendy. I got metalhead here." Laxus said before he used his speed to snatch Gajeel while Kain picked up and sped after Laxus with his own armor.
The four eventually raced to where they felt the worst of the shaking. To their surprise, they found Edolas Fairy Tail and a giant hole in the center of an auditorium.
Kain quickly checked on Lisanna and the others.
"What happened!?" The lawyer spotted Hisui before helping her up.
"W-We don't know! We just found the lacrima before the Great Tree's roots came up and dragged it into the earth!"
"Wait, roots?" Kain repeated aloud before everyone heard him slapping his helmet with the palm of his hand. "I forgot about that completely!"
"Forgot what? Forgot WHAT, brat!?" Laxus screamed as he turned to the lawyer.
"The monster in the tree." Everyone saw a Portal open up that Redray and the rest of the anti-queen group walked through.
"Carla!" Wendy gasped as she ran to hug her lost cat. The white kitten did the same.
"Jellal!" Hisui ran up to hug her brother.
"I told you I'd be back this time." The older brother returned the hug.
"Holy crap! We really had the dead prince as an agent this whole time!?" Edolas Droy scratched his head. "What other secrets did you keep, boss!?" He and Jet looked over to Ivan Redray.
Although he meant that as a joke, Redray stilled in a way that said there was more to what was happening.
"Wait a second," Kain lifted a hand. "Do you actually know what's going on here?"
At that moment, the earth started to shake once more. However, instead of a giant root bursting through the ground, something was thrown up in the air. Kain saw a body and flew up to catch the person. But as he did, his eyes widened at who he had.
"King Faust!?" "Father!?" Knightwalker and Erza cried out before they heard the sound of liquid spilling.
Kain held King Faust while there was a large hole where his heart should have been. It looked as if something ripped out his heart with pure brute force instead of magic, yet the man coughed blood with his eyes wide open.
"He's still alive?" Mystogan glared in disdain at the man who started all of this suffering.
However, someone rushed toward the near-dead man. And it was someone no one expected at all.
"My king!" Everyone stared in shock as Ivan Redray ran forward, removing his helmet and tossing it to the ground before holding the dying man's hand.
"W-Who?" The man gasped weakly as he tried to turn to Ivan. "Where's... Jellal? Where is... he...?"
Mystogan raised his brow in confusion. When has that man ever cared about him?
"He's safe, sir. He grew up to be a fine young man." Ivan held gently but tightly to the man's hand. "Y-You would have been proud of him."
"Ahh," The light in his eyes faded slowly, but Faust turned to the one holding his hand. "Ivan? I'm...sorry... for leaving all the hard work to you and King Zabia...you always were... my most trusted and loyal friend and agent... please... this is my last order... save Edolas...
But whatever magic or willpower the dying king had left ran out. The man slumped, dying in Kain's arms. All the while, Ivan Redray, the greatest criminal branded as a heretic by King Faust...cried for him as if losing a close loved one.
Everyone was still stunned. No one expected the revolutionist to cry for the 'tyrant' he opposed for years. Kain was the first to find his voice. "What the hell is going on!?"
"Commander, I'm with him! What was that!?" "Redray, why did the King call you his most trusted agent!?"
A slew of questions from all sides bombarded the man.
Yet, the man of the hour only sighed. He asked Kain to set the man down before he looked at the group of former enemies and allies.
"I suppose there's time to tell the truth. All of this... was in preparation for the being in the tree."
The reference made many raise their brows. However, one of the Exceeds widened her eyes.
"Queen Shagotte warned us about the savior of the tree before she was turned," Carla spoke up. "How is this related?"
"Savior?" Edolas Jet raised his brow. "The legends always said it was a monster."
"It's both and neither." Ivan Redray interrupted. "The point is that both legends are wrong. It was supposed to divide the Exceeds away from Humans further away from each other. King Zabia is the only one who saw the truth."
Happy's eyes widened. "Queen Shagotte did say her husband saw something but never told her!"
"We were supposed to keep everything a secret. It was going well..." Ivan Redray turned to Mystogan. "Until something happened that went out of our calculations."
Redray looked back at King Faust. "I think it's best if I start from the beginning."
Imagine a hundred stories, epic tales, and wondrous myths passed down for generations.
Imagine finding out each and every one of them was a lie.
King Zabia was the first to find this after receiving his magic: the ability to see the past. On paper, the magic seemed simple: recall what you last saw. However, King Zabia's magic unveiled centuries of machinations as he saw the past without filters.
King Faust and all others in his line... were victims of these lies.
And me? I was a scientist who wanted to be friends with a young prince in college to impress chicks.
We all came together in a way best friends would: without ever realizing one day, we'd be unable to imagine a life without the other. But that time has passed. Using King Zabia's power, we found the truth of Edolas. With our enemy surrounding us at all corners, we plotted a way to free Edolas from their grip and save everyone.
What we didn't count on... was you, Prince Jellal.
I'll try to be brief. The Royal Line is cursed: a curse... that binds your will to a monster. Your father had it, and all those before him as well. We couldn't do it for your father, but King Zabia found a way to sever your ties before either of you was born. However, it was done in a way so that the monster in question wouldn't sense it. When your highness trespassed into Exceed Territory, an area that was always meant to be separate by its design, the monster tried to use its curse on you but realized it could not. Our plan was revealed, and the monster raged against us the only way it knew how: wrest control of King Faust's body.
Two kings died that day: Zabia and Faust. With our enemy now realizing we were plotting its demise, it did everything in its power to accelerate its goals while attempting to stop us.
Ivan Redray sighed as he finished revealing something no one expected: he and the two kings were part of a secret order formed to stop an unseeable monster that controlled Edolas.
"That can't be true!" Everyone turned to Mystogan/Prince Jellal as he stepped forward. "It has to be a lie! You say he was controlled by a monster his whole life? He was one! He never cared for any one of us!" He swiped his hand out as he let years of anger and bitterness into an angry rant.
Ivan sighed. "I won't ask you to forgive him. Lord knows how much he hurt people even though I didn't want him to. For what it's worth: he did that on purpose. He believed if you hated him, it would be easier to never shed tears for him in case... when he succumbed to the curse." Ivan looked away in shame, but not one word felt like a lie. "He loved you so much, both of you. He only wished he could tell you both."
Mystogan tried to rebuke that notion. However, try as he might, words failed to come out of his mouth. Maybe, just maybe... a small part of him believed and was relieved that his father did care. But why did it have to come so late?
Speaking off, "Wait, you never said what type of monster is inside the tree." Kain spoke up.
"That knowledge is lost and hidden even with Zabia's power. The only thing we know is that it used to be the natural enemy of Dragons. That's why Dragonslayers were so important to our cause. We found out that dragon magic was the key to both freeing the monster of his prison and the key to kill him." Ivan sighed. "It's why I had Lissanna here try and find all of you before they could. But it appears that only made us bring them to it faster."
Kain narrowed his eyes. The nagging feeling he's had ever since he arrived in Edolas exploded tenfold, but the lawyer still didn't know why. It was like all the clues were staring and screaming at him to solve a puzzle he wasn't seeing.
Wait. Kain's screams didn't sound like they came from in every direction, nor did they have enough force to shake the room violently.
Uh-oh.
Before anyone could react, a swarm of vines erupted out of the hole. However, unlike the giant roots that tore through the skies, these were pure green, with beautiful flowers and leaves winding together before a giant flower appeared before everyone.
"I've never seen a flower like that before." Edolas Droy gasped as he stared at the flora.
It wasn't just a standard one; it looked almost like a glass mosaic, with each petal having different shadings of one color. As it unfurled, someone stepped out.
And people couldn't help but stare.
The being in front of them was an Adonis. There wasn't another opinion: his long golden hair, skin so fair but not even remotely pale, green eyes that made gemstones look like painted rocks, and a physique that would make even old artists cry with but a glance. What Kain noticed that snapped his mind out of the almost hypnotic gaze was the regal loincloth the stranger wore and the pointy ears on the man's...
Oh.
Oh no.
"It was a mistake." His voice was equal parts charismatic and fearsome. "I thought you lesser beings would be able to perform simple tasks. I should have harvested you all when I had the chance."
Kain's mind realized what he saw in front of him: one of the main races of fantasy he never saw in Earthland... until now.
It was an elf.
"Listen here, you Gray-Wannabe!" Earthland Natsu enflamed his fists before launching himself at the being. "Give us back our friends!"
"Wait, no!" Ivan screamed before Natsu let loose a war cry, unleashing a powerful wave of fire that burned the area.
Kain felt a chill down his spine despite the powerful flames. His mind went back to Atlas Flame, a being of pure fire who could decimate mountains with ease. Dragons were revered as the most powerful species in Earthland simply because they killed all the Elves.
So why?
Why were elves considered the only rivals to dragons?
Kain got his answer as burnt flesh shot out of the flames and grabbed Natsu's neck in a vice grip. Out of the fire was the elf with burned skin...? Wait, all the burns were being undone at an alarming speed until his form returned to his unblemished state.
"Dragon Magic... how..." The being stared down Natsu, who struggled to free himself. "Nostalgic." With more effort, Natsu gagged for air as the flame mage started to look blue.
"Natsu!" Lissanna yelled before Mirajane Rhea grabbed her back.
Laxus moved in a blink, unleashing the raw power of thunder on the being's face to free Natsu. The being flew before the plants around moved to catch and soften the elf's landing.
"Lightning. Hmm. I never hunted Thunder Dragons." As the flower opened up once more, everyone saw that the Elf's head was twisted 180 degrees from Laxus' punch. Yet, the being strode forward as if nothing was amiss; in fact, he grabbed his head and, with an audible snap, placed his head back in position.
Kain was starting to understand why they rivaled dragons.
The being rolled his shoulders. "However, I admit you have gathered enough Ethernano to bring my body back to full strength, even if I'm not quite used to it again. As thanks, I will give you all swift deaths."
"I'd like to see you try!" Edolas Droy said as he pointed his bat/wand down at the plants below the monster of Edolas. However, even as the plants animated themselves and attempted to strike the being, they exploded as soon as they made contact with the elf.
"Everyone, stop!" They looked to see the sheer horror on Ivan's face. "This is the monster of the tree! He can only be killed by dragon magic!"
The elf narrowed his eyes at Ivan after he said this. "I killed the last of the dragons, plunging my spear into his heart as the light in his eyes faded, and his flames turned to cold ash." Natsu had this horrible feeling in his gut when the elf said that. "You may have the magic of dragons, but you lack their stamina. Yet you did remind me that only four of the beings here wield magic I cannot impose my will on."
While everyone was still confused, the elf raised his hand toward Droy. No one had the time to process the action before Droy's magical item flew out of his hand and into the open palm of the elf.
The elf held the club/bat until it started to take the shape of a wooden blade... one all too familiar with Kain and Natsu as they saw that same weapon under Earthland Jellal's hands. As it pulsated with green light inside the cracks of wood, the elf swung it as naturally as a master swordsman would.
"Now then, where was I?" The elf turned his gaze. "Perhaps, I should start with the last fool who attempted to plot against me." His eyes narrowed towards Ivan.
"Tch!" The man raised his arm cannon towards the being, but the elf closed the distance faster than the commander realized. The elf brought his blade down on Ivan's skull...
CLANG!
But met the red metal of Kain's blade.
For the first time, the elf showed a genuine surprise at Kain. "You... what are you?"
"Someone who uses cheap shots!" Kain shouted as he flew up to headbutt the elf in the nose, then followed the move with a slash across the being's chest.
Several things happened at once. Unlike everyone else's attacks, Kain's actually hurt the elf, which everyone could tell by his shrill scream of pain as a reaction. However, as the elf lurched backward, the entire area violently shook. Tree roots and vines geysered all around the others, causing everyone in the area to either fall deeper into the tree or get swept upward or outward. It was as if the tree and the elf were one.
Kain was unlucky as a swarm of giant vines and roots came at him with the weight of over a dozen monster trucks and enough speed to send him crashing through the outer castle walls within two seconds.
"Brat!?" Laxus yelled after avoiding most of the pitfalls and vines. He looked back to see the elf staring at the gash on his chest. The body of the elf couldn't heal Kain's slash fully, leaving a scar across his perfect chest.
"W-What was that?" The elf traced a hand over the scar. "That... what was that!?" He lifted his face, and Laxus felt his body starting to shake... in... fear?
The scorn on the being's face was unlike any he had seen before. But the moment passed as he inhaled deeply. "Consider me impressed. You had something that even I did not know."
He turned away from Laxus and started walking to the flower as it opened up once more.
"I take my leave. It's time to revive the Elven race." Laxus' ears perked up as he heard that before the being got absorbed into the flower.
"N-No! Stop him!" Laxus looked to his right to see Ivan trying to free himself from the vines growing around him. The man yelled as some of the vines started to pierce into his cheek, burrowing into his skin.
"Crap!" Laxus sped up to Ivan and attempted to rip the vines off. However, when his fingers got close, a sudden spike of pain warded him back.
"You have to stop that monster!" The Commander of Fairy Tail said. "The reason why Edolas has always been so empty of magic is because this giant tree has been absorbing the entire planet's Ethernano for millenniums! It's like a tapeworm that's been sucking nutrients from our world! Seeing as we how we might be able to kill him, he's going to activate the tree's full power and try to absorb everyone here!"
As soon as Ivan said this, fire burned some of the vines, revealing Natsu, Happy, Mystogan, Wendy, and Carla. And on another side, the vines got cut into pieces as Gajeel, Knightwalker, Hisui, and Pantherlily walked out.
"Ivan!" Mystogan ran up and took out one of his staves. He blasted magic at the armored man's prison, but the magic only got absorbed into the vines.
"Back off, I'll burn it!" Natsu said before Hisui pushed a hand out.
"You'll also burn him!" The princess said.
"Let me try cutting it!" Gajeel turned one of his hands into a blade before slashing one of the tendrils. However, when he did so, Ivan screamed in pain as if he was the one who was cut.
"It-It's connected to my nerves! Cutting it is like cutting me!" Redray shook his head as he looked at everyone else. "Even if you get me out of here, you'd have to do the rest for everyone in the city!" Ivan grunted as the vine pushed deeper into his skin. The dragon slayers heard more tree roots busting out of the ground in the capital. They heard vines coiling around people before being muffled and silenced before the thrum of energy spread in those roots and vines.
"What do we do!?" Wendy cried out. "We can't leave you here!"
"And if this is happening to Lisanna, we gotta save her!" Natsu started sniffing the air with intensity.
Ivan twitched in pain but kept focus on the task at hand. "When the kings fell, I had to work on all our failsafes. You and the Dragonslayers are one of them. I have another, and it's in my hammerspace cube near my belt. The problem is that I couldn't charge it in time. It lacks the power to work, and now that the monster is stealing power from every person and remaining Lacrima container..."
Mystogan went and unhooked a cube from Ivan's waist. Everyone saw what looked to be a percentage of power, but the bar only showed 35 percent completion.
Before Ivan could say more, Carla saw something: another vision. But it was odd. It felt more like someone else was giving her this vision than her activating it. Yet, the exceed shook her head. "Dorma Anim's core! We can use that to power up the remainder of the weapon!"
Ivan would nod if he was able to. "Good idea. My Prince, you're the only one here who's familiar enough with my technology. I need you to plug the hammer space into one of the core sockets."
"I'll move quickly." Mystogan pointed to an empty zone and opened a portal.
"I'm coming with you!" Hisui walked up to her brother.
"And I'll come along, protect you both." Erza Knightwalker readied her sword before the three went through the portal.
"The rest of you," Ivan grunted in pain before continuing. "You must stop the monster from absorbing everyone. You may have dragon magic, but that fight a while ago proved a suspicion of mine. We know next to nothing aside from the fact these beings were the rivals of dragons. That healing factor of theirs seems to heal even through dragon magic."
Gajeel pounded his fists together with a metal clank. "All that means is we gotta beat him up faster than he can heal!"
"Be warned, he might have more powers than we realize." Redray managed to laugh before he winced. "Alright, get up there and stop the monster. I don't think anyone here wants to become magic fertilizer."
"Alright! I want pay back on this guy for hurting Lissanna and Kain! Come on, Happy!" "Aye!" Happy and Natsu raced to the highest point of the tree, with Wendy and Carla following them.
Gajeel turned to Patherlily. "So, care to give me a lift?"
"Today has been a long day, full of twists and lies I did not expect." Patherlily turned to Ivan Redray. His glare was fierce, but it no longer held the blinding bloodlust it did a few minutes ago. "But, I just want confirmation: the true mastermind for my best friend's death and the ruination of my people's kingdom, was it him?"
"Yes." Ivan nodded.
Patherlily looked to Gajeel. "I'll help you up there if you promise to help me land the killing blow."
"Deal!" The Iron Dragonslayer excitedly said before the Edolas Exceed carried them after the other two.
Laxus looked over to Redray and tried one more time to pry him off the vines. This time, he powered through the pain and used his electricity to grab onto the vines. Laxus understood electricity enough that he could feel the flow of the elven magic. It boiled his blood, but he stole some of the energy going into Redray and transferred it to himself. Yet, even with that, the vines refused to leave. Eventually, feedback forced Laxus away.
"... Thank you for trying," Redray told Laxus. "That's very kind of you. But you should go help the others. They'll need you."
The guildmaster stilled. The voice was right, the words were just as tender as Laxus hoped, and he was wide awake and not in a dream. Yet, a small part of him still didn't believe in hearing loving words from that man.
"I'll beat that bastard and free the rest of you," Laxus turned around.
"Hey," Redray suddenly said in a way that even he didn't realize he spoke up.
Yet, the armored man struggled to find more words before saying, "...Good luck."
Laxus blasted off.
He knew that the situation was dire. He knew that if he failed here, Edolas and perhaps even Fiore would be doomed by the hand of this pointy-eared freak of nature.
But a small part of his mind knew what that simple pair of words from Redray meant. It seemed like the Edolas Commander suspected who he really was.
Laxus thought he'd feel anxiety or doubt at the realization. Instead, as he raced after the other six to fight a being rivaling dragons...
He smiled...
After everything, he was just a son wanting to impress his father.
And he'd do it by saving two worlds!
{Author Notes}
Wow! Hey, guys, I'm back from my Anime Time Skip! Watch the fruits of my epic training after all the time I spent away from this fic!
*Clinical Depression.*
Yep. That figures.
Anyway, so. The story is back!(?) Tell a friend. I really got to hand it to Warmachine375 and some other people for re-igniting this silly back to life.
And what a way to return than with the reveal of my version of Edolas! All this time, an Elf was in control of the kingdom! I was waiting to pull this off for quite some time, and the chapter comes out pretty decent!
So, uh. Well. Thanks for reading this. Especially if you're an old fan. I don't really know what else to say? I'd apologize, but I just genuinely lost passion in the fandom for a while. But for whatever it's worth, I always did like this story. (Even now as I see so many blasted flaws.)
I feel like I owe Kain something after putting him through all this crap. And if that guy can keep getting up when he's down, maybe I can to.
Anyway, folks. Thanks for reading. Hope you have a good day.