"We're dark mages!" - Talking
'We're dark mages!' - Thinking
"We're dark mages!" - Communication via Lacrima / Telepathy
"WE'RE DARK MAGES!" - Screaming
"Fairy Law!" - Spells
[ Here / Now ] - Place / Time
Chapter 14: Zero and the shadow of despair
[Worth Woodsea – Above the Nirvava / 26th October X784 ]
Wendy watched with shocked eyes as the huge stone construct moved through the forest, destroying and uprooting trees as if they were twigs. When she was still at the Rune Knights base camp it seemed big to her, but now that she was flying above the Nirvana, it was just enormous.
"Child, I don't know how much longer I can stay airborne." Carla said, trying to resist as long as possible despite the evident fatigue on her face.
"I'm sorry Carla! It's best to land so you can-" Wendy saw something below her and pointed to some buildings "There! I can see Lucy-can and Jura-san!"
The white cat nodded before gliding towards the point indicated by Wendy, landing a few seconds later in front of Lucy and Jura, who were surprised to see her "Wendy-dono, what are you doing here? Did something happen at base camp?"
Wendy shook her head "No, but after I saw Nirvana I couldn't stand by when you were here fighting." however, the confident smile on her face faded as soon as she laid eyes on Jura "Even though...Sherry-san…"
Jura immediately became more attentive "What? What happened to Sherry-dono?"
"She...she lost her legs…" Wendy said, shocking them, trying not to cry as she remembered how she'd seen her arrive at base camp "Gray-san and Lyon-san brought her back after fighting with a dangerous enemy, I closed the wounds but…her legs…I...I couldn't…!"
"Wendy-dono." Jura knelt in front of her, placing a hand on her shoulder to reassure her "You did all you could, and I'm sure that without you, she would have had less chance of surviving. For that, I thank you." Wendy nodded to his words and quickly wiped away the tears that threatened to run down her cheeks.
"What we should do now? Natsu was fighting the guy with the snake and a girl in the sky, but I don't see them anymore." asked Lucy, looking around for her friend.
"We didn't see the brute as we flew over the Nirvana. He is somewhere between the buildings or perhaps at the top." said Carla while pointing at the highest point of the construct, before shifting the gaze to the horizon, widening her eyes "Huh…? But this…!" and without saying anything to the others, she made her wings reappear before hovering on top of a tall building nearby.
"Carla? Carla what's wrong?!" shouted Wendy but her friend didn't answer her. Jura turned his gaze towards the horizon in turn, after which he placed a hand on the ground and a column of rock rose under him, carrying him together with Wendy and Lucy near the roof where Carla was. The young Dragon Slayer ran to her friend, looking at her with concern "Carla? What's happening?"
"Can you see…those mountains?" asked Carla, pointing at two mountains far ahead "This direction is...it is the direction of our guild!"
As Lucy and Jura were shocked by her words, a cold grip tightened around Wendy's heart.
"What…?"
[Worth Woodsea – Nirvava / 26th October X784 ]
Asher looked around for anything of value or worth reporting to Reveeina, but not for the first time he found nothing of value. After separating from Siegmund, who had immediately gone to hunt down Cobra, Asher had been looking for useful information for the mission but so far he had only found empty houses; no secret passages, runes, artifacts, nothing. It was clear that he should have headed for the highest area of Nirvana but he didn't want to leave anything to chance. Deciding to move to another area anyway, Asher stopped when he sensed a presence behind him for just an instant before a hand landed on his shoulder.
"What have I always told you about focusing too much on the mission?"
Slightly relaxing his posture, Asher turned and saw Reina standing behind him. She had managed to remain virtually invisible in his own shadow thanks to her Shadow's Hood, but he immediately noticed the state of her clothing and the various injuries she had sustained "Forgive my lack of awareness."
Reina patted him on the back before walking up beside him "Don't worry. Have you discovered anything?"
Ashe shook his head "Nothing major at the moment, just empty houses. Brain however must be in the highest area of Nirvana, and Siegmund headed there in search of Cobra."
Looking towards the tower in the center of the construct, Reina tried to detect someone's magical presence, and was easily able to sense a small group of people there "Might as well go right there and try to-! GET DOWN!"
Acting on instinct, Asher dropped to the ground with Reina before a giant blade of air sliced through all the buildings around them, collapsing a good chunk of them. Getting up immediately, the two Shadow Soul wizards looked around but it was Reina who turned towards a particular direction, hearing footsteps coming from a cloud of dust.
"Impressive. I was sure I could eliminate you in one fell swoop; maybe this hunt won't be boring."
As the dust cloud cleared, the two mages saw Midnight a few dozen yards away from them, a look between calm and amused on his face. However before he could speak again, Asher immediately teleported behind him to attempt to decapitate him, but his blade deflected completely from the target, surprising him. Midnight turned to kick him in the chest, but Asher blinked away, reappearing beside Reina, who had watched the quick exchange with keen eyes.
"Did you feel something strange?"
"Like there was something around him that pushed my blade away."
'So it's a passive spell? I doubt he's quick enough to react to Asher's spell.' thought Reina before summoning her bow, quickly nocking an arrow before firing it at her opponent but, as with Asher's blade, her arrow too was deflected by something and lodged in a nearby wall 'My arrows are created with magic, so that defensive spell works on both normal and magical items.'
"You can try all you want, but you can never defeat me with tactics like that; after all, I am stronger even than my father." said Midnight with an amused smile on his face.
Reina narrowed her gaze 'Definitely the worst kind of opponent for me. I don't think I can defeat him, but maybe with Asher we can be able to kill him quickly.' however, before she could say anything to him, a shiver ran momentarily down the backs of all three, and simultaneously they turned their gaze towards the highest area of Nirvana.
"Reina, this is…"
"Yeah, I know…" said Reina before releasing a low groan "Who is the idiot who had the brilliant idea to piss off Siegmund?"
The air was almost unbreathable; imbued with blood-lust and magical power, it was a miracle that Natsu and Asteria hadn't passed out also due to the poison circulating in their bodies, yet both managed to keep their eyes fixed on Siegmund, while the black knight continued to silently observe his new prey.
Brain, on the other hand, after the initial shock, managed to recover and released a large amount of magical power from his body, counteracting Siegmund's "Prey you say? Cobra was just a weakling who had come to the end of his purpose." he then pointed his staff at the knight "It seems Reveeina hasn't taught you manners yet, Siegmund. Looks like I'll have to take charge of this lesson: Dark Capriccio!"
A spiraling attack was fired from his staff but when it was close to hitting its target, Siegmund struck the tip of the spell sideways with the flat side of his greatsword, redirecting it into a nearby building, and destroying said building. Not giving up, Brain swung his staff before pointing it down and then quickly aiming it at Siegmund as if he were throwing something at him "Dark Eruption!"
A chain of dark energy blasts shot out of the ground in front of him heading towards Siegmund and with each blast, the power seemed to increase. Siegmund waited for the explosion closer to him before lunging forward with his greatsword ready to decapitate Brain, but his opponent leaped back before hurling several orbs of dark energy. Swinging his weapon one-handed, Siegmund parried all incoming blows, causing a series of explosions, and then tried to hit Brain again.
"You are still too wild, Siegmund!" grinned Brain, managing to keep the distance between them "All I have to do is make you angry and you immediately become a beast who doesn't know how to do anything except use brute force!"
Creating another Dark Capriccio from his staff, Brain attempted to use it as a whip to strike Siegmund, forcing him to slash with his right arm to deflect the attack but at the last second Brain canceled the spell and retracted his arm, letting Siegmund's blade passed in front of him without touching him. Now Siegmund stood before him, with the weapon on his right side and completely exposed in front; with a grin on his face, Brain aimed his staff at his opponent's chest "Dark Capriccio!"
Siegmund did not try to avoid the attack, nor did he try to use his weapon to protect himself. Leaping forward, he extended his left arm and blocked the enemy's spell with his open hand, shocking Brain.
'I-Impossible!' thought Brain watching blood and pieces of armor fly away as his spell was eating away at Siegmund's hand 'He's stopping my spell with his hand?!'
Pushing himself further forward, Siegmund closed his left hand tightly, destroying Brain's spell and causing a small shock wave that sent a cloud of dust around the two mages. Cursing his opponent, Brain jumped back quickly but amid the cloud of dust he saw two red flashes close to him and before he could react, Siegmund's greatsword opened a long gash diagonally across his chest, spilling blood onto the ground.
'Damn it! The wound is not serious but I have to move away before-!' a flash of light caught Brain's attention just in time for him to see Siegmund leap out of the dust cloud, now clad in an armor made of pelts and a massive warhammer clutched in his hands, ready to strike.
"A wild beast…" said Siegmund, an eerie gleam in his eyes "…is more than enough for a weakling like you." with all his strength, he hit Brain in the chest with his warhammer, breaking all his ribs and causing blood to erupt from his nose and mouth as well as his ears and eyes. The next instant, the leader of Oración Seis was hurled like a cannonball toward the edge of Nirvana, destroying dozens of buildings.
Observing his handiwork, and ignoring the bloody mess that was his left hand, Siegmund placed the warhammer on his right shoulder and set off along the path of destruction he had just created, in search of Brain's body, vanishing after a few seconds among the countless columns of dust that rose from the remains of the destroyed buildings.
"Yeah Sigmund, thanks for asking…I don't need help, don't worry…" said Asteria with so much sarcasm in her voice that she could even stop one of his strikes. Coughing from the poison in her body, she struggled to her feet and began to walk away.
"Where are you going…?" asked Natsu, glaring at her despite being on the ground.
Asteria rolled her eyes "What do you think? I'm leaving before any of your friends arrive, right now I wouldn't be able to fight well and it annoys me to no end." she then smirked at him "I look forward to facing you without interruption, Dragon Slayer." and without another word, she walked away until she vanished behind a building, to the point that not even Natsu's enchanted hearing could hear her footsteps anymore.
'Damn it…I can't move…damn poison and damn vehicles!' thought Natsu, resisting the urge to vomit where he was. Looking up with difficulty, he saw that Happy was still unconscious and therefore couldn't help him, so he tried to get up but without success. After several, endless minutes, he finally heard someone approaching and could only smile, despite the poison and nausea, when he heard Lucy's voice.
"Natsu! What happened to you?!" kneeling next to her friend along with Wendy, Lucy looked around and was shocked by the destruction surrounding them "What happened here…?"
"Ugh…I fought…"
"Wait a minute Natsu-san, I'll try to heal you!" said Wendy, using her magic to remove the poison from his body and that of Happy, who finally managed to regain consciousness, after which she closed all his wounds but was confused to see that Natsu was still unable to get up "Why? I removed the toxins from his body but…"
"Natsu suffers a lot on vehicles." said Lucy with a nervous chuckle "He can never move if he is in a moving vehicle and unfortunately Nirvana is a big vehicle for him."
"Motion sickness huh…" Wendy looked at her fellow Dragon Slayer "Then a magic to cure a sense of proportion may work on him. Troia!"
After a green glow filled him, Natsu easily stood up with a surprised expression on his face, and after taking a few steps and jumping on the spot, he began to cheer "Ooh! I'm perfectly fine! Thanks a lot, Wendy!" he then started shaking Lucy with a stupid smile on his face "I don't feel like I'm on a vehicle! Lucy call a ship or a train Celestial Spirit for me!"
"There's no suck Celestial Spirit! More importantly, we don't have time for this! Can you tell us what happened here?!"
Natsu seemed to calm down and immediately became more serious before explaining what had happened, from his fight with Cobra and Asteria to the arrival of Lucy and the others. At the end of his account, Lucy and Wendy were shocked and fearful at the idea of someone being able to defeat Brain so easily, while Jura seemed to be thinking about the consequences and what to do now.
"Natsu-dono, you said that when you attacked Brain and Cobra they were at the top of the tower, right?"
The Dragon Slayer nodded "Yeah, Brain was controlling Nirvana, or so I understand."
"Then there's something we're missing." said Carla with a serious face "From the way you described it, it's clear that Brain is dead or dying, yet this monstrosity is still advancing on our guild. It is clear that the method to stop Nirvana is another."
"Hmm...should we destroy it?"
Lucy looked at Natsu with a nervous smile "How could you destroy something so big?"
"I daresay asking Brain would be the quickest solution." said Jura looking at the others, but Carla shook her head.
"I hardly think he will tell us so easily…as long as he's still alive."
'Maybe Jellal…' thought Wendy, remembering everything Happy had told her about the blue-haired mage. Shaking her head, she brushed those thoughts away before walking away "I…I might have an idea, so I'll just go and check it out!"
"Wendy! Where do you think you are going?!" shouted Carla before following her friend.
"What's got into her…?" wondered Lucy, while Jura watched them go.
Natsu was about to suggest following her when a voice rang through the air "Dear me. Brain, that fool…he mustered all the power he had left and still failed to kill even a single enemy…well Siegmund has always been a monster, so I can't blame him too much if he was defeated, despite having shamed the six."
"Ah! There!" said Happy, pointing one paw up. The other three wizards looked in that direction and were surprised to see Brain's staff levitating towards them.
"Ah well…as long as Midnight remains, we will not be defeated. I suppose I shall deal with the rest of you-!" a hand suddenly grabbed it and the skull on the tip of the staff found itself in front of Jura and Natsu's face.
"State your intentions. Why are you targeting Wendy-dono's guild?
"Stop this huge building now!"
"So they just accepted that that staff can talk and started questioning it...?" asked Lucy with a sweat-drop "Even if we don't know who or what it is…?"
"Aye…"
"I'm Klodoa, the seventh of the Oración Seis. I have awakened from my slumber to-"
"Didn't you hear me? I said tell us the reason for your attack on Wendy-dono's guild."
By now Natsu had taken Klodoa from Jura's hands and was slamming the skull into the ground like a sledgehammer "I! Said! Stop! It!"
"The seventh in a group of six…?" repeated Lucy with confused eyes.
Klodoa finally managed to free himself from Natsu's grip, moving a few meters away "Such a violent brat…" he then looked to the horizon "That guild should appear soon. We must hurry to destroy it before they can stop us."
"You mean Cait Shelter?!" asked Lucy "Why are you targeting them?!"
Klodoa turned back to face his enemies "Nirvana was created many ages ago, by a race who wished to put an end to all wars: the Nirvits. However, turned out to be far more dangerous than they had imagined. As such, they sealed away the magic they had created with their own hands and continued to guard the seal for hundreds of years, eventually forming a guild still made up of descendants of the Nirvits. That's Cait Shelter." Natsu and the others were shocked by the revelation and Klodoa took the opportunity to add "They possess the power to seal the Nirvana once more, which is why they must be destroyed!"
Winter was moving rapidly along Nirvana in search of his allies as well as the Oración Seis. By sheer luck, he found himself near one of Nirvana's legs when it emerged completely from the ground and managed to climb up despite his injuries. Once on the Nirvana, he had partly witnessed the battle between Natsu, Cobra, and that sorceress he had fought before, but then all three had fallen towards the highest part of Nirvana. Shortly after he felt a strong magical presence along with an overwhelming blood-lust and subsequently the entire construct trembled, but he was on the opposite side, so he couldn't know what was happening.
Pausing for a few seconds to catch his breath, he glanced at his wounds and noted with pleasure that the special vials given to some of the Rune Knights were taking effect. Little more than simple painkillers, those special medicines could also close the most minor wounds and make those who ingested them recover some vitality, but they were quite complex to prepare, so they were distributed only to the highest rankings.
"Going by exclusion, I should head towards the tower at the center of the Nirvana to look for a way to stop it." said Winter before starting to move again but after a few minutes he had to stop when he found himself in front of Mirajane Strauss and, incredibly, Jellal Fernandez.
The pair of mages also stopped when they saw him emerge from behind a building and it was Mira who spoke to him, looking relieved "Winter! I'm glad to see you! We couldn't find you after we split up."
Winter didn't answer her right away, causing her spear to appear in a blue flash "Mirajane, I need you to let me know what's going on, but first of all, tell me why a wanted man is behind you right now."
Mira immediately became more serious, shooting a glance at Jellal before focusing back on Winter "He's with us. I know he's currently wanted for what happened with the Etherion and his betrayal, but he's trying to help us."
Winter's gaze didn't move away from Jellal "I'm afraid you will have to give me more information, for that man is currently the number one on the most wanted list, not only of the Kingdom of Fiore, but of all of Ishgar."
Jellal looked at the ground, clearly ashamed of his actions and Winter noticed this small detail, but it was Mira who stepped forward "He tried to destroy Nirvana before it was activated, by sacrificing his own life."
That made Winter look away, and he stared Mira straight in the eyes for any lies or misdirection but saw only pure sincerity "Is that true?"
"Yes, I arrived when Brain was about to kill him and he was helpless on the ground after activating a self-destruction seal to his own body, but unfortunately Brain had already canceled the one applied to Nirvana." explained Mira while standing in front of Jellal "His memories are mostly gone and he remembers almost nothing of the past. He knows he has committed evil deeds, but for this very reason he wants to help us!"
Winter was silent for several seconds before returning her attention to the Magic Council traitor "Was what she said the truth, Jellal Fernandez? Do you really want to help us stop Nirvana?"
"The self-destruct seal is useless now, I don't know any other way to stop this…" said Jellal, looking down again for a moment "…but I still want to help."
Moments of silence followed his words, until Winter made his spear disappear "Very well. I will trust your words and your desire to help us. Now, please tell me everything you know about the current situation."
With a smile again on her face, Mira prepared to explain everything to him together with Jellal, with the sole purpose of finding a way to definitively stop Nirvana and defeat the Oración Seis, for it was now clear that they had to be quick to avoid an even more desperate situation.
"Shatter Shot!"
Five magical arrows shot toward Midnight, but the Oración Seis mage didn't even blink before all five projectiles changed direction and embedded themselves into the ground around him. Looking up, he saw Reina stationed on a rooftop, ready to fire another arrow before Asher teleported behind him to try to hit him with his blade, only to be deflected by something. Midnight turned to look at him with a calm if cold smile, and Asher vanished again, reappearing several feet away.
"You can try as many times as you want. Your attacks will never work against me. I am stronger than my father after all." said the Oración Seis mage before sending several blades of air towards his opponents who were forced to avoid them for several seconds, moving further away.
Looking carefully at their opponent, Reina couldn't help but notice again how Midnight was a terrible opponent for her 'All types of arrows and my throwing knives are easily deflected or redirected towards me, most likely the result would be the same even if I used Devotion or Hope and Despair. The only solution is to get as close as possible and use Judgment.'
Quickly equipping her Shroud of Smokes, Reina jumped down from the building she was standing in and dashed towards Midnight, who turned towards her but, before he could use his magic to attack her, Reina vanished in a large cloud of smoke before continuing to run around her opponent, effectively blocking his vision.
"Mark of the Hunt."
Despite hearing her voice, Midnight couldn't spot Reina amidst all that smoke and remained frozen in place, waiting for their next move; after all, they couldn't hurt him as long as he was protected by his magic. Suddenly, he heard someone running towards him, and, turning in that direction, he saw Asher emerge from the smoke with his blade ready to strike but, like all the other times, he failed to wound his target.
"Aren't you bored of failing yet?"
Asher didn't answer him before vanishing from his sight in a blink, but this time Midnight decided to go on the offensive 'I might as well start taking them out one by one.' when it was Reina who attempted to attack him from behind, she was surprised to see that her target had completely disappeared.
'Wha-? Where did he go?!'
"Looking for someone?"
Immediately looking up, Reina saw her target several meters above the ground 'He can also fly?' she then prepared to jump so she could hit him in the air but stopped when her senses, enchanted by her spell, made her notice something strange 'I can't sense his presence even though he's right in front of me, so...an illusion! So where is the real one?'
Outside of the smoke cloud created by Reina, Asher was also watching Midnight but he too was reluctant to attack their enemy. Why had he moved in mid-air? Asher had already discovered that Midnight's magic was passive and therefore he didn't need to see the attack coming, therefore he had an ulterior motive for moving; furthermore it was obvious that Reina had seen him too, yet she hadn't attacked him yet.
'Reina activated her Mark of the Hunt after generating all that smoke, so her enchanted senses must have told her something was wrong.' thought Asher before picking up a small stone from the ground and throwing it with extreme precision at Midnight, but his opponent vanished into thin air before reappearing a meter to the right 'Teleportation? Why did he teleport if he could just deflect the stone?'
A sudden look of understanding formed on his face 'He's not real! That's a-!'
"Got you."
He didn't even have time to scream before dozens of deep gashes opened up across his body. The ground around him was stained with blood as his blade was shattered by those blades of wind before he collapsed like a marionette whose strings had been cut. Behind him, Midnight observed his work with a cold smile before moving an arm towards the cloud of smoke "Spiral Pain."
A giant spiral of wind shot out of the smoke cloud, blowing it away. The spell lasted several seconds before Midnight interrupted it, observing the state Reina was in, however, he was surprised to see her still standing. Sure, she had multiple bloody wounds all over her body but Midnight noticed two sickles clutched in her hands and the remains of a long chain scattered around her.
"I see, you sensed the attack coming and used that chain to protect yourself." said the dark mage while walking towards her "However, I see that that chain could do nothing against my magic." the next moment, new cuts opened on Reina's body, causing her to fall to her knees. Chuckling at his opponent's expense, Midnight stood in front of her, looking at her "Did you think you could defeat me? I already told you, I am stronger than my father and as long as I am standing, the Nirvana will never be stopped!"
Reina said nothing, keeping her head down but when Midnight took another step forward, she jumped up. The two sickles vanished in a flash, being replaced by her sword Judgment with which she immediately tried to strike her enemy "Null Blade!"
Midnight stood still, a mocking smile on his face that quickly became a mask of shock as he felt his magic being nullified by that strange blade before the tip of Reina's sword sank into his flesh. Only his reflexes allowed him to move backward before the blade descended too deep into his chest before quickly moving his right arm and creating another tornado of wind that opened more wounds on Reina's body, spreading blood all around.
When the spell ended, Reina could barely stand, her clothes torn to shreds and her skin covered in wounds and blood; however, she was still clutching the sword in her right hand while keeping her head bowed, with her dark indigo hair casting a shadow over her face.
Midnight brought a hand to his chest, where Reina had nearly stabbed him to death, and was shocked to see his blood. Shifting his gaze to his opponent, he could only show her an uncertain smile "I have to say you surprised me. I didn't think you could obliterate my Reflector with your sword; I almost died there. Unfortunately for you, now you won't be able to use it anymore! It's time for you to die!"
Reina looked up suddenly, freezing her opponent in place with a look similar to that of a predator ready to kill its prey. Her arm moved faster than Midnight and as the spell slipped from her lips and her blade pulsed with energy, she had already thrown her weapon at the dark mage's head. Midnight saw the blade getting closer and closer but, now aware of the power of that sword, he was more in control and only needed to tilt his head to the right to avoid the attack entirely.
"It's useless if you can't hit m-!"
"Blink."
A single word was enough to tighten Midnight's heart in an icy grip.
He had no time to defend himself. He didn't have a chance to scream. He couldn't even say his prayer.
All he could do was watch the world spin rapidly before his head hit the ground, several meters away from his body which, only a few seconds later, fell to the ground with a thud.
Standing over Midnight's corpse, Asher took a deep breath to ignore the pain from her wounds and approached Reina, handing her the blade "Target eliminated."
"I can see that." chuckled Reina before sitting on the ground, starting to feel the effects of all the blows she had suffered "I didn't remember him being so strong. The last time we faced them I fought Racer; Acier had taken care of Midnight."
Acier nodded, remembering the events that had happened five years ago "How do we proceed now?"
"I know you won't like to hear this, but now we can just wait and rest for a few minutes, and then we'll see what to do." said Reina, immediately noticing the frown on Asher's face, but he didn't comment on it and simply teleported to the roof of a nearby building to observe the surroundings. Shaking her head, Reina pulled some gauze and ointment from her pocket dimension before getting to work and starting to patch herself up to the best of her ability.
'I just hope that the others are better off than us, this mission is getting more complicated than expected.'
Little did Reina know that the mission would soon become even more complicated.
He wasn't a fighter, but getting rid of a few youngsters shouldn't have been too difficult, right? Wrong!
Ever since Klodoa had explained the reason why Nirvana was heading towards the Cait Shelter guild, she had done nothing but avoid the attacks of Natsu, Lucy and Jura, barely managing to counterattack a couple of times against the first two, until Jura had captured him with a giant stone hand and now he was completely immobilized, with only part of his skull protruding from a pile of compacted stones to hold him in place.
"How can we stop the Nirvana?" asked Jura, for the seventh time since he had captured Klodoa.
"You can not! As long as Midnight stands, no one will be able to st-UH?" Natsu and the others noticed his change in attitude as the sphere he held tightly in his mouth fell to the ground and shattered "I-Impossible! The Six have fallen?! This isn't good! This isn't good at all! Now he will arrive!"
"What's the deal, huh? Who are you talking about?" asked Natsu, definitely unimpressed by Klodoa's panic attack.
"You see, Brain has another personality…" said Klodoa, surprising them "There is the face that he shows the world, which loves knowledge and goes by the code-name of 'Brain'...and another, hidden face, which loves destruction and goes by the code-name of 'Zero'."
"Zero?" repeated Lucy, feeling a shiver down her spine.
"Due to the immensity and danger that his power entails, Brain himself sealed this personality away, through the use of six keys!"
"Six?" a sudden realization dawned on Jura "Don't tell me those keys are the Oración Seis?"
"That's exactly right…Brain and the others are the six keys and, now that they have been defeated, the living link magic used to seal Zero will be undone and he will return to this world!" his face was a simple skeletal visage, yet everyone could almost see the fear in his empty eye sockets "Everything will be destroyed!"
With a steady, heavy step, Siegmund advanced through the destruction of his own making. His eyes were fixed forward and with each step, his prey grew closer and closer. Sure, his left hand was a mess and Brain might have been already dead, given that his magical presence had vanished a few seconds ago, but Siegmund didn't care. He wanted to be sure that the leader of the Oración Seis was dead.
'He couldn't even keep me busy for five minutes. I wonder if the mistress just wanted to make fun of me five years ago.' thought Siegmund with a frown on his face, remembering when Shadow Soul and Oración Seis had crossed paths. Both dark guilds were intent on attacking and destroying a Rune Knights base where they were creating special artifacts for their soldiers.
Reveeina had joined the mission when she learned of the presence of Brain and the others, facing the leader of the other guild, while Siegmund had to deal with Cobra, receiving a bad wound at the end of their duel, which remained pending for five long years.
'And now this damn weakling has robbed me of the chance to kill Cobra.'
He had now arrived at the point where Brain had crashed and could already glimpse his body slumped against a badly damaged building, but instead of advancing further, the swordsman stopped. Something was wrong. His instincts were screaming at him that something had changed and he had proof when a dark purple and green aura enveloped Brain's body, making the ground tremble.
After a few moments, a blast of magical power blew away what was left of the building and Siegmund could see his opponent standing up as if nothing had happened, however now his skin was much paler and his eyes were completely red. Spitting blood onto the ground, the man put a hand to his chest and took a deep breath "Ah, to be able to breathe fresh air again. It seems that even the mighty Midnight has finally lost." his eyes finally settled on Siegmund and an evil grin crept across his face "We finally meet Reveeina's dog."
Siegmund's eyes narrowed imperceptibly "You are not Brain." after a few seconds, however, he showed his opponent a bloodthirsty grin "You must be the infamous Zero, Brain's other personality. I thought Reveeina was just fucking with me, but apparently, she told us the truth the last time we had to deal with you."
"Ah yes, five years ago. Brain's memories are mine too, and I remember perfectly how you hindered us, not to mention how you did a lot of damage to my guild today." Zero said before throwing his coat to the ground and re-equipping a green jacket with some black streaks "As the master of Oración Seis, I will have to take the proper retaliatory action."
Siegmund swung his warhammer a few times, cracking his neck "Good luck with that, since I broke a large number of your ribs just now."
Zero released a large amount of magical power without losing his grin "I may love destruction, but I also know a couple of Brain's tricks, and healing my wounds was a breeze, but since it was you who damaged my body…" he pointed a hand at Siegmund "…you deserve to be the first to die!"
Piling dark energy in the palm of his hand, Zero hurled dozens of spheres of darkness at Siegmund, who darted sideways to avoid the first wave but Zero continued to shoot energy projectiles. Siegmund pointed his hammer towards the ground and then swung his weapon upwards, hurling a powerful gust of wind mixed with chunks of dirt and debris at the incoming attacks. Several explosions lit up the area and Siegmund didn't wait a moment before lunging forward to try to hit Zero from above, but the guild master of Oración Seis took a side step at the last moment and placed his right hand against Siegmund's chest, blasting him away with a powerful explosion.
The man then waited, distractedly observing the destruction caused by Siegmund's missed shot: a large crater that had caused other buildings to collapse, it was a miracle if there was anything still standing around them. While many would have been surprised or shocked by such devastation, Zero was simply amused by it and was not surprised to hear Siegmund's voice.
"Yes, you will be a more satisfying opponent than Brain." the Berserker of Shadow Soul easily rose to his feet "And it's clear that pure power won't be enough to make me win, so it's time to change strategy. Requip: Demon Armament Nidhogg!" in a flash of light, his armor made of pelts was replaced by a completely black armor, while his trusty Tyrfing appeared in his right hand, immediately releasing a large amount of black fog from its blade.
"Kill hiiiiiiim~! Kill the thief! He stole our prey! Let me taste his bloooood~!"
"You're an interesting mage, it's not often you meet other people who love destruction so much."
Siegmund tilted his head to the side "Ah? What the hell are you talking about?"
His opponent gestured with one hand at the destruction behind him "Your power, your strength...so destructive, plus I can sense in your magical power a strong desire for destruction and that makes me even more eager to destroy you, as long as you have a physical form! I will wipe out you and everything in front of me!"
Siegmund was silent for several seconds before shaking his head "What kind of bullshit is that?" when Zero raised an eyebrow, clearly intrigued by his response, Siegmund pointed Tyrfing at him "Destroy everything in front of me? Do I seem like someone who has time to waste? What's the point of destroying something that isn't even worthy of being noticed? The only reason I fight is to find people worthy of killing, and you fall into this small circle!"
Without another word, Siegmund charged again and Zero fired a swirling beam of darkness at him. The swordsman deflected it as he had done with Brain's attack before, but Zero managed to control his attack with one hand, aiming for Siegmund's back. He spun around and lunged at the incoming attack, causing a small explosion, before leaping towards Zero and attempting to decapitate him, however, his opponent kicked out with his right leg, creating a large scythe of dark energy that impacted Siegmund's blade.
The result was a powerful shock-wave that knocked the two opponents backwards, but Zero immediately took advantage of it to create a large wave of ghostly attacks that aimed at Siegmund, who began to slash faster and faster, holding his greatsword with both hands, but noticed that his left hand was in too bad shape and therefore was unable to block all the incoming attacks; his armor was damaged in several places but Siegmund didn't seem to care and after destroying the last attack, he charged back with a slash from above.
Zero spun around and hit the greatsword with a side kick, deflecting it to the side, but Siegmund managed to hit him anyway using his left hand to punch him in the face. Normally that attack would have knocked his opponent backwards, but Zero grabbed Siegmund's left wrist with his right hand and swung forward, striking the swordsman with his left fist wrapped in a large amount of dark energy. Part of his helmet was destroyed on impact, but Siegmund rotated his head to halve the damage and let Zero's arm slide past him, thus managing to get close and headbutt him. The master of Oración Seis, however, did not retreat even a millimeter despite the blood pouring from his nose and, simultaneously with his opponent, released a large wave of magical power, opening several cracks in the ground.
Letting go of Siegmund's wrist, Zero then created a large sphere of dark energy and fired it at the swordsman almost point blank, but the Shadow Soul mage managed to use his greatsword to protect himself, being knocked back several meters.
"Yes, you are definitely worthy of being destroyed! Dark Capriccio!" shouted Zero, launching two attacks from both hands and then starting to control them like whips, forcing Siegmund to continually avoid them in an attempt to get closer. Gritting his teeth, Siegmund equipped a large shuriken with six curved blades in his left hand and, albeit with great difficulty, threw it at Zero, who moved his arms to use both of his spells as a shield but was surprised when he saw his magic being absorbed into the blades which were then engulfed in dark energy.
"Ah! Using my magic against me? Interesting choice!" Zero crouched down and then placed a hand on the shuriken's center ring before gaining control of it. Looking towards Siegmund, he saw that the swordsman was already in front of him, ready to strike, so he moved his arm to throw Siegmund's weapon at him but at the last second, the weapon vanished in a flash.
"Your magic, but the weapon is mine alone!"
As Siegmund's blade came down, Zero barely managed to take a step back, still receiving a vertical cut to the right side of his chest, only to leap aside again when his opponent attempted a lunge. Zero once again created a large number of ghostly attacks, but Siegmund was ready and equipped Surtr in his left hand, whose blade was already engulfed in powerful flames, and with it, he delivered a powerful slash. A giant wave of flame shot out from the curved sword, causing an explosion as it destroyed Zero's attack; Siegmund immediately lunged forward, and this time Zero did the same, managing to block his opponent's greatsword with both hands before hitting him with a kick to the chin from below.
'That greatsword produces a fog that is slowly taking away my stamina, I have to finish it now.' thought Zero while firing a modified Dark Capriccio with his right hand, wrapping it around Siegmund's left ankle and then using him as a wrecking ball, destroying several buildings with his body. With a violent jerk, he finally threw him against a large building not far away, but the impact wasn't enough to make it collapse and Siegmund fell to the ground, immediately trying to get up, but Zero slammed both hands on the ground "Dark Gravity!"
The ground beneath Siegmund's feet immediately gave way and he fell to the lower level, but despite the impact, he still managed to remain conscious. Growling at the low blow, Siegmund then felt a strong tremor from above and, looking up, saw the large building he had been thrown against earlier begin to collapse forward, directly into the enormous hole Zero had created.
"Oh son of a-!"
"Dark Gravity!"
The sudden increase in gravity slowed him down just enough for the building to collapse completely, shaking the entire area and burying the swordsman under several tons of stone; the weight combined with the impact caused the floor to collapse further and the entire pile of rubble ended up three levels below. Zero remained still on the edge of the chasm and looked down with a grin on his face; when he saw no movement for several seconds, he turned and walked away a few meters before being enveloped by a thick dark green aura.
With a mighty leap, he took off, heading towards where he could feel the presence of a large source of magical power. In a matter of seconds, he landed with a violent crash, raising a large cloud of dust, and when he looked around, he saw Klodoa stuck in a stone grip and, in front of him, three wizards and a blue cat.
"W-W-Welcome back, master Zero!" said Klodoa in a terrified voice, feeling the urge to prostrate himself on the ground so as not to attract the fury of his master, before noticing something that shocked him beyond measure "M-Master Zero, you're bleeding!"
"Ah Klodoa, I see you're in a complicated situation." noted Zero without losing his grin before wiping the blood still dripping from his nose; afterward, a light green aura condensed around his chest wound, healing it within seconds "It seems that the situation is more interesting than expected. First a dog of Reveeina and now some brats who want to stop us."
"Y-Yes! My deepest apologies, sir!"
"So this is Zero…?" said Lucy, feeling intimidated by the overwhelming presence of the man in front of her; behind her, Happy was using her legs for protection, feeling the same suffocating aura.
Jura carefully observed their new opponent "Lucy-dono, Natsu-dono. Be careful, this man is dangerous."
"Yeah, I can tell." nodded Natsu, feeling a shiver down his spine "I've never felt any magic power this disgusting before…"
"State your reasons." said Jura, taking a step forward "Why are you targeting Wendy-dono's guild?"
"Reasons?" repeated Zero before bursting into evil laughter, releasing even more magical power "I just want to destroy, all right?! Destroy every last damn thing! I need no reason! It has a physical form, so I will eliminate it!"
Not wanting to waste any more time, Zero waved an arm towards them "Dark Rondo." dozens of horror-stricken faces were fired at the three wizards, but Jura immediately raised several rock pillars to protect them, however, he was shocked when his defenses were easily destroyed, being then hit by a large number of attacks that caused a powerful explosion. Zero then looked down when he saw Natsu appear beneath him, dodging a flaming punch with ease before hitting him with a backhand that knocked him several meters away. When he then turned to Lucy, he saw her frozen in place as she trembled and, without batting an eyelid, he attacked her from underground, generating countless attacks that hit her and Happy, after which he returned his focus to Jura, who had already gotten up.
"Rock Avalanche!" pointing two fingers at Zero, Jura threw a large amount of rocks at him but the master of Oración Seis destroyed them with a rapid series of spheres of darkness before creating a giant one above himself.
"W-Wait master Zero! I'm still here!" shouted Klodoa, still trapped in the stone grip but. Much to his horror, Zero didn't even bother to look at him and hurled the enormous magic projectile at Jura. The Wizard Saint immediately raised a large wall of rock but Zero's attack destroyed it with a gigantic explosion and, while Jura still managed to remain standing despite his wounds, Klodoa was completely blown away.
"Fire Dragon's Roar!"
Zero jumped out of the way to avoid the blast of searing flames and then fired a Dark Capriccio at Natsu, wounding him in the right side, before reversing his attack and hitting him from behind, causing him to stagger forward. The dark mage then punched him in the chest and slammed him into a wall, then turning to create two more piercing attacks with which he hit Lucy and Jura, despite the latter being able to deflect the attack by bending a rock pillar used for defense.
Deciding to focus on the Wizard Saint, Zero channeled even more magical power and fired a dozen piercing beams in rapid succession, with which he finally managed to seriously wound Jura in the arms and stomach, causing him to fall to his knees. Although Jura was now exhausted, Zero continued to use spell after spell on him and Natsu, Lucy and Happy for several minutes, enjoying the destruction and pain caused by his attacks.
When the master of Oración Seis stopped, the three mages of the alliance were helpless on the ground, covered in horrendous wounds in a puddle of their own blood. The man grinned even more then turned around and walked away, heading towards the tallest tower.
The time had finally come to use the power of the Nirvana.
"Jellal!"
Said man, Mira and Winter turned and saw Wendy arriving in flight thanks to Carla, who landed her in front of the trio.
"Wendy! So you decided to come here? I'm glad you're all right!" said Mira, smiling at the younger girl while Jellal looked at the newcomer with a raised eyebrow.
"Who are you?"
Wendy was surprised by that question, then lowered her gaze to the ground 'He really doesn't remember…'
Mira noticed her sad look so she hurriedly explained the situation "Jellal's memories have been damaged somewhat…so if you two have already met in the past he may not remember you."
"Did I…know you?" asked Jellal, before bowing his head to apologize "Forgive me, but right now I remember practically nothing about my past…"
"I hope you haven't forgotten how to stop Nirvana, along with everything else!" shouted Carla, evidently agitated by the current situation, but Jellal could only shake his head.
"He has already tried to destroy the Nirvana but without success." added Winter, crossing his arms "At the moment our best solution is to reach the command post and stop him manually."
"N-Natsu-san told us that a mage defeated Brain just now, but the Nirvana didn't stop."
The Rune Knight raised an eyebrow "A mage?"
Wendy nodded "Yes, he said he was a Requip-using wizard who fought with a greatsword and then a warhammer."
That brief description set off some alarm bells in Mira's mind, having already heard a similar description from Erza when she faced a powerful wizard during the Harvest Festival. Could it be the same person? If so, then it was certain that Shadow Soul was at work but why were they intent on facing both Oración Seis and the alliance?
Her thoughts, however, were interrupted by the tremor that shook the entire construct. Looking around, they saw that a part of Nirvana seemed to be changing shape; the stones that made up his body were repositioning themselves to form a gigantic cannon and, under their shocked gazes, they saw a large amount of magical power being channeled inside it.
"The Nirvana can also fire massive amounts of energy?!" asked Winter, sensing the enormous magical distortion produced within the construct. Whatever it was about to fire was no simple attack.
"No...our guild…our guild is right there, in front of us!" shouted Carla, having taken flight to see what it was aiming for.
"Stop...please stop…" falling to her knees, Wendy couldn't hold back her tears of despair "STOOOP!"
Standing atop the enormous stone construct, Zero surveyed the small village where Cait Shelter was located, a triumphant grin on his face. As the Nirvana charged up the energy needed for his attack, the man spread his arms wide, letting his evil laugh echo everywhere "This will be the first strike! As long as something has form, I will desire to destroy it!"
The Nirvana trembled even more as the last particles of magical power were channeled into it.
"The whole world will burn! Everything will be destroyed!"
In a single instant, a surreal silence fell as a strong light began to glimpse inside the superweapon.
"NIRVANA! FIIIIREEEE!"
With a deafening roar, a gigantic beam of magical energy was fired from the heart of the Nirvana.
Its target? Cait Shelter.
TO BE CONTINUED…
And! Here! We! Are! New chapter! Was it good? Was it bad? Let me know in the reviews! I sincerely hope you enjoyed it despite this being a shorter chapter than usual! But maybe some of you prefer it that way!
This chapter focused more on wrapping up all the unfinished battles and the return of Zero, with a certain amount of screen time for Siegmund, our favorite psychopathic warrior! Those who were not seen in this chapter will return in the next one, which will be the conclusion of the Oración Seis narrative arc, after which we will move on to the first original arc of this fic! Furthermore, in the next few days I will also try to review the previous chapters and correct various spelling errors etc... so if you notice any around, don't fail to point them out to me!
One thing I haven't said yet, thank you very much to everyone who follows this story chapter after chapter! More than 100 reviews and 13k views, maybe not many but they are more than I could ever expect, and for this: THANK YOU!
Now, as usual, I remind you that if you have any love interests for your OC, contact me to let me know and I'll see what I can do!
On the other hand, all of you have marked spells for your OC, but all of them will age throughout the story, so if any of you had any changes in mind for your OC (in terms of clothing, physical appearance, magic, etc...) or any new spells you would like your OC to learn, let me know!
See you next time!