Chapter 139: Support

"Wh-Whoah!" A bunch of random soldiers started yelling for their lives as they were taken off their feet, floating around before being thrown into a spin cycle in the air. Gravity was the culprit, and as Cygnus stood in the midst of it all, he spun the group around and around until finally; he slammed his hands together, causing everyone to violently slam into each other as well. Now a cluster of men forcefully gelled together like a giant ball, Cygnus launched his new creation towards another group of Pergrande men. Some managed to escape its path while the rest were squashed by each other.

Another group tried attacking Cygnus from behind, but the berserker of White Eclipse showed his skill set without turning around, holding out a palm that pulsated gravity magic. With all of them caught in the gravity wave, Cygnus bounced them off the ground repeatedly until flinging them high into the air with no remorse of how they got down. That was enough to cause the others to back away in fear as bodies all around began falling to the ground harshly.

"Oh? Retreating already?" Cygnus asked. "That's good. Tell the rest of them to do the same and I won't harm another one of you. But if you hesitate to leave, you won't be leaving at all, so move it!"

The entire squadron parted, but not because of Cygnus's words. No, they separated because one of the Guard was walking through. Cygnus raised a brow as he made a way right to him, holding his ground as the silent one, Ragen, now stood only a few feet away from him. His audacious lack of personal space caused find Demigod to smirk, pointing a thumb to himself as he sized the man up. "You must be their leader. Surely you jest! You don't even look formidable and you want to size up against me? I just know I'll be finished with this whole squadron in a matter of seconds—!!"

Suddenly, Cygnus disappeared. Without a trace, the White Eclipse representative was no longer before Ragen but instead was falling through the earth. For anyone else, that would be the end of it all against Ragen, but the Gravity God had other plans as he immediately coated himself with gravity to halt his free fall through the earth and send himself shooting back upwards.

Back on the surface, Ragen was seen walking away, back towards a cheering crowd of soldiers. That moment of celebration from them was also cut short as Cygnus reappeared like a ghost, scaring the living hell out of the lackies as Ragen turned to face him with a stoic visage. "Oi!" Cygnus shouted. "I don't know what you did to my body, but it aint enough to actually beat me, you know that, right!?"

Ragen nodded once, and suddenly, Cygnus could feel his body return to his normal state. It felt as if he regained a bunch of weight he suddenly lost prior, and as he examined himself, he believed he was gaining a sense of what he was up against. "Weight distribution? Nah, that wouldn't explain why I fell through the ground."

"Density Control." Ragen corrected. Cygnus blinked, but then when back to his cocky demeanor. "How brave of you to spill such information, even though it didn't matter anyways. Let's get this party started so I can put both you and your boys in the snow for good. Then I'll go after the real boss behind all of this and end this war immediately!"

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"A lot to talk about, you say?" The gunslinger asked as he pulled out his seat. He sat down as instructed, one leg folded over the other as he leaned back in his chair. His arms folded over his chest, and his left index finger began tapping against his right bicep. Already, he felt as if he was being interrogated by his lost love, waiting for the most mundane and trivial questions about what he's been up to or who he's been seeing since her passing. "Well? You have the floor, Tayakata."

She feigned an annoyed look, leaning back in her seat with a slender right hand placed to her heart. "What's with the full name? I just wanted to talk. I'm not here to patronize you or anything, Cowboy."

Still skeptical, he remained silent. That lack of action caused the demoness to lean forward, placing a single arm on the table as she rested her chin on the back of her hand — fingers dangling like vines uncurling from their home. "I just want to let you know… that I'm coming home, Reve."

That sucked the air out of the metaphorical room. Reve was speechless, though he didn't show any change in expression at the news. Instead, he continued to stare directly at her while his mind raced, unsure about how true the news was until..

"Well, I have a chance of coming home, but there's a… piece of me missing."

"A piece of you?" He questioned in return. It didn't take long to remember what she was talking about, looking down to see the "gift" she gave him still attached to his body even in his own mind. "Trust me. You can have it back. But, is that why you left me with this vector? Because in order to kill a demon.."

"You have to completely wipe them out, yes. That is true." She replied. "However."

He braced himself for the catch.

"I was indeed completely wiped out. You were there. I vanished right before your eyes, did I not?"

"You did…" He admitted.

"So now you're wondering… how am I here then?"

"Exactly."

She smirked. "Well, we have time, so before I answer that, we're going to talk about something else."

"Taya, this is important." He objected. "I want you to come back. Not just for me, but for everyone else."

Taya smiled a little more, but then continued to deflect into a new conversation. "Grand Magic Games Champions, huh? And without me? I'm so proud of all of you. Even those kids. You all have gotten a lot stronger."

Reve was quiet for a bit, but then huffed to unclog his silence. "What do you mean without you? You were there. You even helped me against Erza."

"And you're okay with that victory?" She asked.

"Excuse me?"

"Don't get me wrong. You won, fair and square. That was all in the rules of the Games. But I can't tell if your victory was growth, or desperation — wanting to defeat her so badly."

"The former." Reve glared, flaring his nostrils at the audacious statements. "And that's the problem with everyone. My back and forth with Erza isn't some end game rivalry. Yeah, as a kid I looked up to her, and when she disappeared I did feel some kind of way about it, but she's not the end for me! You know who is, in that stupid guild?!"

"Lower your voice." She demanded without losing her coy expression. "Of course I do. I'm a part of you, after all. You want to be undisputed. You want to be their fear. But you keep running from Laxus with tricks and you want to topple their ace, Gildarts?"

Reve was steeping annoyed quickly. The only person who could get him to crack so easily was sitting right across from him, and he had no choice but to swallow the pride he carried so far when around her. "So you're here to humble me? Is that it?"

Taya laughed. "Of course not, Cowboy. I just want to hear it from you. You've said you've moved on from Erza. Your justified hate for Fairy Tail drives you to become stronger than anyone in their guild, but I need to hear it from you, just like that last moment before I died. Tell me that you'll beat complacency and do what you dream of doing."

"Of course I will!" He exclaimed immediately.

"And how will you do that?!" She yelled back. "Training isn't enough! They do that too! New techniques aren't enough! The Reve I know would become better by simply—"

"By simply being better, of course!" Reve finished her words, because they were his own. He was murmuring them, still laying on the infirmary bed, unconscious before Nami as she watched him with a confused look of uncertainty. "Only Reve.." Nami said to herself, shaking her head as she continued to exude her light magic in an attempt to save him.

Back in his mind, the gunslinger and demoness both shared a grin towards one another after such exchange, but Reve's quickly faded as he asked. "Alright now back to saving you. How's that possible if you completely died?"

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"LUUUUUUUUCHAAAAA!" El Rayo shouted at the top of his lungs, shaking the ground he stood upon as his aura heighten. Across from him, an unwavering Ken Sanada waited for the luchador to attack, and Rayo granted that wish as Ken took to his boxer's stance. Boxer vs Wrestler was about to commence and the rookies had front row seats as the platoon Ken came with all gathered round like audience members. Reiss and the others looked around cautiously on occasion, making sure no one tried to sneak up on them, but it seemed like an unwritten rule between Ken and his group was placed because no one was showing any sign of physical aggression. It was just cheering and jeering from the crowd as the fight began.

El Rayo came in strong, leading with both feet for what was known as a drop kick. His Impact Magic was on full display as Ken defended with his arms held up before his face. Once connection was made, the Guard went sliding backwards in the snow, grinning with bared teeth as he lowered his guard for the incoming luchador. Rayo lunged for him again, but this time Ken was light on his feet, sliding a bit closer and swinging a quick right hook that El Rayo still managed to avoid by ducking underneath. He kept running, never once losing momentum as he then conjured three ring ropes before himself. He then used those ropes to coil his momentum and then spring forth towards the boxer. The speed was convincing, causing Ken to raise a brow as he tried to get a steady sight on Rayo's next move. He admittedly couldn't, and first attack was going to the wrestler as Rayo latched onto his neck with a headlock, using all of that momentum to swing him around before driving his hand into the ground.

"TORNADO DDT!" Lance shouted past the vicious quaking behind the crater and impact. "Go El Rayo!"

Rayo leapt out of the cloudy area, but the second he landed, his eyes widened as Ken was before him, unshaken by the attack he just received. "A good boxer knows he won't be able to block or dodge everything! Sometimes…." He shouted while slamming a strong uppercut to El Rayo's abdomen. "You have to take damage to get the look you want!"

As the makeshift audience cheered, the rookies looked on in disbelief as Rayo was folded over so quickly. Ken pushed him up with that same hand, his left rearing back as smoke exuded from his arm. "Knuckle Duster: Machine Gun!"

Left, right, left, right, left, right — over and over again Ken was landing wide open punches to Rayo's skull at a rapid pace. "Oi…!" Reiss shouted. "Hey! Rayo! Fight back!" Tyson added as the rookies all chimed in. Finally, as Ken swung another left hook, the White Eclipse luchador was able to counter by ducking behind him, locking his hands together around Ken's waist before lifting him high into the air and back down into the ground for another powerful slam. "German Suplex!" Lance the commentator enlightened everyone again. This time he stayed on the move as the ring ropes appeared again. Rayo jumped on them, springing high into the air instantly as a magic seal appeared on his stomach. On his way down, El Rayo flipped forward twice — gaining momentum on the way down before splashing directly on top of Ken Sanada. "450 Splash!"

"Sheesh!" Ilaria shouted. "That's powerful! And it's all physical! El Rayo is frightening!"

"Glad he's on our side…" Tyson admitted. As the luchador hopped up, he remained ready for any blitz this time. Though he didn't do so, Ken Sanada stood up nearly effortlessly just as before. "Ah… this is different. This is more fun than a boxing match, to be honest. Come on, let's keep going!"

"We're in a war, lucha." El Rayo reminded him. Ken spat once. "We've won this war the minute we stepped onto Fiore. I'm not concerned about a premeditated outcome. I want to fight you some more!"

A large step forward covered the space between himself and the luchador, and as El Rayo leaned back instinctively, he left himself open for a punch right to his kidney — left fist to right side. Rayo folded over, but from that folded position he fought back, swinging an arm Ken's way and landing a powerful chop to the Guard's chest. Ken would grit his teeth from the pain, but remained excited as he followed up with another punch aimed for El Rayo's skull. The wrestler then extended his opposing arm, blocking the punch with his bare defenses just to retaliate with yet another chop at the exact same spot as the chop prior.

Like a knife it ripped through Ken's shirt, and gradually he was feeling the effects of this unorthodox fighting style. He clenched his chest for a second, but was right back into the thick of it as he slid towards El Rayo, right fist reared back before hitting the luchador with three quick jabs from the left. "Knuckle Duster:…" He shouted as the three jabs landed crisp against El Rayo's facial region. It stunned him; and even the rookies could see but couldn't move or prepare themselves in time for what came next. Ken's feet dug so hard into the ground that the surface broke apart, and he swung that clutched right fist with all of his might in a downward motion. "…Steel Hammer!"

"El Rayo!" Reiss shouted, but Lluvi decided to move into action instead. The fist closed in on the wrestler, but was stopped short by the shattering of an invisible wall. And as she tried her best to ignore the feat of her barrier being destroyed, Lluvi rushed in, transforming into her Dragoon armor halfway and taking flight with her shield in her left hand. She swung a fist, merely just to cause some space between Ken and El Rayo. Ken swayed to the right, and Lluvi slammed on the brakes, turning to swing a left kick for his head. Ken swayed again, and this time Lluvi held out her open hand, creating a barely visible cube around the Guard to trap him inside.

He was unamused, and Ken then put a single against the barrier wall, only to punch straight through it — shattering it into pieces with a single one-inch punch. It left Lluvi and the others shocked, scared for their lives as he did this flawlessly. That's when the newest member, Elizabeth Belmont turned to Reiss.

"Reiss! You have to fight him! I'll back you up!" She shouted, pushing her navy blue hair out the way of her visage. "H-huh?" Reiss questioned, still stunned at the monster before them. He turned to look at El Rayo, who was teetering on consciousness at the moment and barely able to stand, let alone fight. He then turned to Elizabeth again, who held out two hands. A magic circle appeared above those hands, and two large guns appeared, connected to each other by a cable of some sort. "You're the strongest one here, right?"

"Debatable!" Ramman and Tyson both shouted.

"Not the time!" She shouted back. "This psycho wants a one on one fight with the strongest here! Reiss, you can take him… long enough for me to heal El Rayo! I'm your support mage after all, right? You said I could be, so trust me and this shot I'll give you!"

Reiss blinked. He then turned back to Ken who was walking towards them with Lluvi's throat now in his grasp, slowly crushing it. "Shit…! Alright! What's the plan!?" He shouted.

Elizabeth held up both of her oversized guns, swinging a dial on it until they both held pictures of a flexing bicep. "Fight!" She screamed while pulling the trigger. Two bullets then slammed into Reiss's back, and it caused him to hitch, but as he was hit, his body began to glow a clear aura. Suddenly, it would rise to great heights to the point even Ken stopped in his tracks. "Oh!?" He pondered with an excited grin. "Have you been hiding this from me!?"

Ken tossed Lluvi like a rag doll, Lance and Micaiah running over to help her as Ken now stood before Reiss who was still in wonder at his own rising strength.

"What did you do!?" Tyson asked. Elizabeth turned to him. "He's got five minutes. After that, he'll pass out. With my basic healing magic, it'll take me about seven minutes to heal El Rayo. Once Reiss starts to fade, it'll be your turn to step in! Please think of a strategy until I can heal our ringer!"

Tyson looked on in surprise. Elizabeth was shocking everyone with her quick thinking, and as she ran off towards El Rayo's corner, Tyson turned back to Reiss who was now eye to eye with Ken Sanada. "A strategy to stay alive and distract him for two minutes? But I've never been up against a monster like this guy. Evanee is the only comparison, and we failed there miserably..! No…" He looked around. First, back towards Ramman; who waited anxiously, then over to Micaiah, Lance and the injured Lluvi, and finally, back to Reiss. "…no. I have to think of something. This isn't a game this time. We're in a life or death situation. If we can take a big piece like this guy out.. then that'll help a lot, right?! Then screw it! Come on, Reiss! Don't let that power go to waste!"

"So its borrowed strength? From that girl?" Ken asked before grinning again. "Sure. I'll entertain it, but once you're outta gas, I'm killing everyone here."

Reiss remained quiet, looking over his fists until finally… he slammed a right hook against Ken's jaw. The Guard's head snapped to the side, and it was a wake up call for him as he almost lost his footing. Everyone else looked on in disbelief, and Reiss audaciously looked down upon Ken, which caused him to bare his teeth in response.

"Stand up." Reiss demanded. "Round two starts now. We got five minutes."