Chapter 149: Sacrifice
"Damn this thing won't go down no matter what we throw at it" stated Dante between deep breaths as he and the rest of the guild watched as Atlas Flame easily withstood every one of their attacks. Dante and the others had been fighting relentlessly, using all of their strength but so far Atlas Flame showed no signs of injury or slowing.
"DANTE, ERZA, AND LAXUS! FOLLOW ME" yelled Markov as he channeled his immense magical power. Dante smiled as Markov grew into his giant form as he started to speak.
"Right behind you master" responded Dante with a confidant smile now that Atlas Flame was going to have to face the combined assault of the guilds strongest wizards.
"Just don't get in my way old man" responded Laxus as he channeled his lighting magic for a devastating attack.
"Let's show this dragon what it means to be S-class" yelled Erza as she transformed into her flame empress armor equipped with her sea empress sword.
Markov then led the charge, crashing his giant fist into Atlas Flame. Markov's attack pushed back the dragon as Erza leaped into the air. She channeled her magic through her sword, slashing it through Atlas Flame who roared. Dante hoped that the roar was one of pain instead of just annoyance. Joining Erza, Dante slashed into Atlas Flame, using his magic to increase the piecing power of the Sword of David. Hovering high into the air, Dante then shouted as he fired another attack.
"Hammer of Heaven" yelled Dante as he fired a towering beam from the Sword of David into the air. The beam of holy energy tore into the clouds above. A moment later a thundering crash of holy energy crashed into Atlas Flame. The ground was torn apart as the devastating attack connected with its target. This was one of Dante's strongest attacks, he could only do this now since the city had been evacuated and Markov and the other S-class wizards could take the resulting shockwave.
"LAXUS DO IT" yelled Dante not believing that his attack would have been enough to finish Atlas Flame. Laxus smiled confidently as he shouted his attack.
"LIGHTING DRAGON ROAR" yelled Laxus before he fired his attack towards Atlas Flame. The dragon roared as Laxus's attack crashed into him, this time Dante knew that the roar was one of pain. Suddenly Atlas Flame responded with his own attack, using his massive tail to send Markov crashing backwards.
"MASTER" yelled Dante in worry for the old man. Dante's worry for Markov was soon replaced with worry for himself when Atlas Flame swiped him out of the air. Crashing into the ground, Dante grunted in pain at the impact. Struggling the stand up, Dante watched as Laxus and Erza received the same treatment.
"Dammit, the only magic that is working is Laxus's" stated Dante in a tired tone as his entire body was screaming at him in pain. If the dragon slayers were the only wizards that could hurt the dragons, then they were all in trouble since Dante didn't think just six dragon slayers could slay seven dragons.
"Heaven's Fist" yelled Dante as he crashed his fist charged with holy energy into another miniature dragon, sending it flying away.
Breathing heavily, Dante looked around as he and his sisters were surrounded by countless miniature dragons. The fighting had gone from bad to worse very quickly. Not only did they still have to deal with the rampaging dragons, but now countless miniature dragons have also infested the capital city. The horde of miniature dragons separated the Fairy Tail guild, now Dante was left alone with only Mira and Lisanna with him for support.
"Are you two still okay" asked Dante in a worried tone as he continued to breathe heavily. His magical energy was running low, he was sure at this point he was just running on pure adrenaline alone. Turning his head to check on his little sisters, Dante saw Mira and Lisanna. Mira was in her Satan Soul form while Lisanna was in her cat form, both of them look exhausted.
"We're fine big brother, how about you" asked Lisanna in a worried tone since Dante looked the most exhausted since he had to fight right after the grand magic games. Dante smiled weakly back at his little sister, trying to put up a strong front as he started to speak.
"Don't worry about me, I can handle way more than this" responded Dante with a smile before another miniature dragon tried to attack him. Dante was able to dodge the attack before he brought his sword across the creature, slicing it in half. Despite ending another one of the miniature dragons, Dante still found himself surrounded by the creatures. Suddenly serval miniature dragons surrounding Dante and his sisters charged their magical power. Swearing to himself, Dante continued to speak.
"Damn, Mira, get ready for a counterattack" yelled Dante as he channeled his magical power. Seeing what Dante was intending to do, Mira and Lisanna got close to him before he activated his spell.
"Shield of Heaven" yelled Dante before a magical barrier surrounded Dante and his little sisters. Serval beams of magical energy crashed into the barrier and Dante grunted as he felt the drop in his magical power. Breathing heavily to compensate for his drop in magical power, Dante dropped to one knee. Mira then stepped forward as she charged her magical energy.
"Evil Shower" yelled Mira before her magical attack burst forth, crashing into serval of the miniature dragons. Smiling as serval miniature dragons were slain, Dante stood up as he charged his own magical power.
'Storm of Heaven" yelled Dante as serval beams of holy energy burst forth from his body and crashed into serval miniature dragons. Despite the fact that Dante and Mira just took out serval miniature dragons, they were still surrounded by countless more.
"Damn there is no end to them" stated Dante in a frustrated tone as he stood back to back with his little sisters.
"We just have to keep fighting, stay strong" responded Mira between deep breaths. This wasn't good, Dante thought. They were separated from the rest of the guild, just the three of them against countless enemies. He was exhausted, and from the looks of it his little sisters were nearly out of magical energy as well.
"Manly charge" yelled Elfman some distance away from the rest of the Strauss siblings. Dante along with his little sisters turned their heads towards the direction of Elfman's scream and spotted him alone surrounded by serval miniature dragons. Elfman was in his beast soul form currently beating away a miniature dragon, but he failed to notice one creeping up behind him. Jumping into action Dante pointed a hand towards the miniature dragon and shouted his attack.
"Stay away from him! Heaven's Ray" yelled Dante before his attack shot towards the miniature dragon that was about to sneak up on Elfman. Elfman didn't have time to react before he noticed a beam of holy energy crash into a miniature dragon that was behind him that he failed to notice until now. As the miniature dragon fell to the ground with a gaping hole in its chest, Elfman smiled as he spotted his siblings. Crashing through several other miniature dragons, Elfman was soon standing beside his siblings.
"Finally, I've been trying to find you three forever! I'm glad you are all okay" stated Elfman in a tired tone. It was clear that Elfman was just as exhausted as the rest of his siblings. Looking at his younger brother, Dante noticed serval injures covering his body. It seemed that Elfman's more reckless form of fighting was starting to take its toll.
"Glad to see you are good also big guy" responded Dante with a smile. Smiling back at his big brother, Elfman started to speak.
"How about we show these things what it means to be a real man" asked Elfman in a confidant tone despite his exhaustion and many injuries.
"I say let's show them the combined power of the Strauss Siblings" responded Dante with a smile.
Together all four Strauss Siblings leapt into battle. Dante, using his wings took into the air along with Mira. The two S-class wizards flew quickly around the area, slashing and punching away serval miniature dragons. Elfman let lose a mighty roar before he charged forward, grabbing onto a miniature dragon before pile driving it into the ground. Lisanna, using her enhanced dexterity in her cat form dodged serval attack before her claws dug into a miniature dragon. For serval minutes the Strauss siblings worked to reduce the endless number of miniature dragons.
"I don't know how much longer I can keep this up you guys" stated Lisanna between deep breaths as the Strauss siblings stood back to back while they all tried to catch their breath. Dante, Mira and Elfman looked at Lisanna with worry. Despite their exhaustion and injuries, the three older Strauss siblings remembered the time Lisanna supposedly died, and they vowed they would not let that happen again.
"Lisanna I'll clear a path for you to get away from all of this so you can" Dante started to say as he took a combat stance before Lisanna started to shout and interrupt him.
"NO! I WON'T LEAVE YOU GUYS EVER AGAIN" yelled Lisanna in a determined tone. This statement made the other three Strauss siblings pause and look at Lisanna's determined face. After a moment Dante smiled as he started to speak.
"Sorry Lisanna I forget Mira; Elfman and I aren't the only ones that feel guilty about that day" responded Dante with a smile as all Strauss siblings remembered that ill-fated day. While Dante, Mira and Elfman felt guilty about not protecting Lisanna, Dante could not forget that Lisanna also felt guilt. Lisanna felt guilt for leaving her siblings, for forcing them to deal with the pain of her loss for so many years. It then made sense that Lisanna would vow to never leave her siblings again, she didn't want to feel the same guilt again.
"Please just be careful Lisanna" responded Mira in a worried tone as memories of Lisanna dying her in arms flashed through her mind. Smiling back at her big sister, Lisanna started to speak.
"Don't worry about me, I am your sister after all. I can take care of myself" responded Lisanna in a confident tone despite her extreme exhaustion.
Again, the Strauss siblings charged towards the endless horde of enemies. Dante and Elfman took down serval enemies with their super charged fist. Mira fired serval beams of dark energy, crashing into serval miniature dragons who fell to the ground with gaping holes in their bodies. Lisanna clawed serval miniature dragons, crippling them so Dante could finish them with beams of holy energy. For serval minutes the Strauss siblings continued their assault, refusing to give up despite their magical energy running dangerously low.
"Damn I can't hold into my beast form anymore" stated Elfman after he completed another assault on the miniature dragons beside Dante. Dante turned his head towards his little brother and watched as Elfman reverted back into his original form. Swearing to himself, Dante thought things were getting really bad if Elfman was that low on magical power.
"Dammit me too" responded Lisanna as she reverted back to her original form. Mira was shortly behind Lisanna, so Dante was the only Strauss sibling left that was able to hold onto his takeover magic. Panic raced through Dante's mind as his siblings breathed heavily, vulnerable in their original forms.
Dante breathed heavily as he tried to think about what he was going to do in this situation. His siblings were exhausted, unable to hold onto their takeover magic which meant they were now vulnerable. Despite their best efforts, they were still surrounded by countless miniature dragons. Seeing that serval miniature dragons were charging up for a devastating multiple beam assault, Dante swore as he saw serval of said beams being aimed towards his defenseless siblings. The powerful beams of energy flew towards his siblings, it looked like the creatures knew that they were weak and wanted to take them out.
"DAMN" yelled Dante as he watched the powerful magical attacks fly towards his siblings who were too tired and exhausted to even attempt to dodge them. From the trajectory of the blast each of his siblings was about to be pierced through the heart.
Dante didn't have any time to think of anything else, his body moved on its own as he charged up the remainder of his magical power. Seeing that she could not dodge the incoming attack and knowing it was a fatal shot, Mira made a silent apology to her siblings as Elfman and Lisanna did the same. As Mira closed her eyes and waited for the pain to follow, she heard something the chilled her to her core with fear and horror. Having gathered the remainder of his magical power, Dante shouted his final spell.
"Guardian Angel" yelled Dante as a white light enveloped all three of his siblings just before the attacks tore through their hearts.
Mira, along with Elfman and Lisanna watched in horror as the magical attack tore through their chests but they felt no physical pain. The three Strauss siblings watched with eyes wide with terror as Dante's chest burst open. A gaping hole where his heart once was as he reverted back to his original form and fell onto his back. Falling onto the ground, Dante had a smile on his face as he felt his life drain out of his body. As he lay on the ground, Dante knew that this was it. He was happy that he was able to protect his siblings like an elder sibling should, Dante just hoped that his siblings wouldn't soon follow him into the next life.
Dante felt blood filling his lungs and the heat leave his body. He stared up into the sky, unable to move as his body became heavier and heavier with each passing second. It was strange, Dante thought, he was a wizard and knew in the back of his mind that he might die in battle, but this was nothing like he imagined it would be. When Dante imagined his own death, he always thought it would be more painful, but Dante hardly felt any pain as he felt himself slipping into the abyss.
"Sorry you three, this is it for me. I love you guys" stated Dante in a weak tone as the light died from his eyes. Mira along with Elfman and Lisanna couldn't stop the waterfall of tears falling from their eyes as they watched the eldest Strauss sibling die in front of them.
"NOOOOO DANTE" yelled Mira in horror as she heard the last breath of her big brother and the love of her life escape through his lips before Dante passed away.
End of Chapter 149