I would like to thank everyone who reviewed, favorited or followed this story since I updated it, and for finally getting this story up to 20,000 views! A huge milestone, and it wouldn't be possible without all of you!
Altajir95: As usual, doing all of your reviews at once. Thanks, I'm glad to see that you like what I'm doing with the Oracion Seis arc. I tried to take a few liberties with the story, but not to take too many risks. Things like me having Luke be poisoned, Luke fighting Cobra, the Star Wars references, they're fun but they don't take away from the overall arc too much.
Ragnas Bredvolts: Thanks, I'm glad to see you liked the chapter. I did spend some time trying to think of a decent way to conclude Luke's fight with Cobra, but in the end I decided to use it as a way to showcase one of his new Lightning Dragon Slayer spells. As for his use of Thunder Drive, considering how much of Cobra's poison he was dealing with, I doubt he would've had enough left in him to be able to use it. In regards to the Star Wars references with Nirvana, I've been making jokes about that this entire arc. Also, yeah my family has been worrying over the corona virus too, and it's part of why I've been taking so long to get this chapter out, along with other stuff going on in my life. As for that crossover you mentioned, it sounds pretty interesting, so I think I'll check it out sometime. I hope I continue to please you, and you have a nice day as well my friend.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
"You'll see about that soon enough." Erza promptly pointed her bisento at Midnight "I swear on the sacred blade that I wield, I will end this chaos, and if I must, then I will end you along with it without hesitation."
"Is that so?" Midnight shot her a smirk "Erza Scarlet, or should I call you Titania? I want to see your strength with my own two eyes, but I'm not going to feel it, because if you think you can land a single blow on me, then you would have to be dreaming. You don't stand a chance against my Reflector magic. You've seen what it's capable of. I can turn your own attack against you in an instant."
"You'll have to rely on more than that if you wish to defeat me." Erza promptly charged forward, her bisento and ended up slicing through several of the surrounding buildings, but she failed to land a blow on Midnight.
"Your speed is pretty impressive, but you could be the fast person who ever lived and you would still never be able to break through my reflector." he promptly phased through another series of strikes from Erza "It's useless."
"We'll see about that!" Erza blitzed forward and dealt Midnight a palm strike to the chest, which actually connected, sending him crashing into a wall and leaving him speechless.
"No, no no no! How could you have hit me?!"
"Remember this, there are two crucial weaknesses in your defense magic."
"What? It doesn't make sense, how could she have figured it out in such a short amount of time like that?'
"I know it's true that you possess the power to bend weapons, armor and even attacks that include magic power, the ability to manipulate the human body is beyond the capabilities of your power. If you could, then you would've attacked my body rather than simply twisted my armor on me. Isn't that right?"
"Maybe it is." Midnight pulled himself to his feet "But why would it matter?" he promptly used his magic to twist Erza's Robe of Yuen and trap her in it "I can use all of those lovely clothes you wear to squeeze you until you pop, and I can do it as fast or slow as I want."
Despite this, Erza remained surprisingly calm "So that's one weakness I've covered, but you do have one more." she summoned a barrage of swords above Midnight and directed them down towards him.
Midnight leapt over the attempted attack "It doesn't matter how many swords you throw, you'll never be able to hit me!" but then he was hit by the second wave of swords and sent crashing to the ground.
"You chose to dodge my swords, but why didn't you choose to bend its trajectory instead? The reason for that is because you only have the ability to control one space at a time, either the space surrounding your enemy or the space surrounding yourself, but not both at once. So while your bending spell is activated, you practically leave yourself defenseless, completely unable to deploy your reflector magic to repel an attack that's coming right at you."
'She was able to figure all of that out? But how?'
"What's more is that this is my Robe of Yuen armor, by far the most elastic in my collection, and it's immune to your spell!" she promptly freed herself of the trappings and summoned her bisento in her hand "At the risk of sounding vain, I suppose you could consider this armor to be a third weakness in your magic."
"Dammit, dammit, no!" Midnight started slamming his fists into the ground "Dammit, it's too late now!"
"Yes you're right about that, this battle has reached its end." she was met with only laughter in response.
"No, that's not what I meant, I mean it's too late for you. It would've been smart for you to leave before midnight, before you saw the true face of terror. You missed the only chance you had to rest in peace." this was followed by the sound of a bell chiming throughout Nirvana.
'What in the- It sounds like a bell.'
"Tolling the hour of midnight." with a magic circle hovering above him, Midnight pulled himself back to his feet, his body radiating with crimson energy "When the clock strikes midnight, the powers inside me reach their terrifying peak!" and on that note, he supposedly mutated into a monstrous hulking form "At last!"
'What the hell is he?'
"You could've prevented this from happening, but now it's too late for you!" and so the hulking form of Midnight hurled a massive blast of magic energy at Erza and Jellal, blowing them away with the explosion that followed.
Jellal was left immobile on the ground by the explosion 'What kind of magic is this? It's not any type of Take-Over, it's something else, something I've never seen before.'
"Jellal, you will die first." Midnight reached out to Jellal and grabbed him in one of his new giant hands "Your reign was based entirely on a lie. There was no freedom in the Tower of Heaven." and then he supposedly swallowed him "Even after the uprising, I was still too afraid to sleep at night."
"What?" Erza pulled herself out of the rubble when she heard this "You mean that you were at the Tower of Heaven? All of you were in the tower like we were? Of course, that must have been what Cobra meant before."
"Come now Titania, you shouldn't be acting so smug! As far as I'm concerned, you're just as guilty as he is!" Midnight pounced at her and let a fist fly forward, leaving her to try and push it back "While everyone in the tower suffered, you turned your back on us for all those years! And now you've reunited with Jellal, the one who caused your friends so much pain and suffering! You're just like him! In fact, you're even more at fault because you could've stopped him and you didn't! Just ask them!"
Erza looked back, and her expression shifted to one of horror as she saw the images of her deceased loved ones appear behind her "Grandpa Rob… Simon…"
"When you look at things through the eyes of people like them, who do you think is the real monster here?"
"SHUT UP!" Erza charged at Midnight and slashed at him with her bisento, only to end up cutting through the images of Rob and Simon because of Midnight's illusions.
"Oh no, you've done it again. Your dearest friends have died because of you."
"I SAID SHUT UP!" Erza whipped around and tried to slash him again, only to find herself cutting down Jellal, much to her horror "No…"
"Yes that's right, he deserves to suffer for all that he's done. At last you have the chance to redeem yourself."
"Oh believe me, I WILL!" Erza tried to attack Midnight's monstrous form, only to be met with a fist to the back, causing her to scream in pain.
"This is only the beginning! The hour of Midnight is still young!"
That was when Erza's eyes suddenly snapped open "The midnight hour may be beginning, but this battle is over!" she promptly charged forward, and in one swift move with her bisento, she had successfully cut through Midnight's spell, revealing that it had all been an illusion, and she had defeated him at the same time.
Midnight could only look on in disbelief as he fell to his knees, blood pouring from a fresh wound in his shoulder "How…"
"You wish to know how I saw through your technique when only a moment ago I saw you as a towering monster?"
"My illusion failed me… You saw right through it… How…?"
"To put it in simple terms, one other weakness of your spells would be not knowing that I'm immune to visual magic, thanks to my artificial right eye."
"No… I've lost… but I'm the strongest…"
"No, you're not the strongest there is and you're far from being the best at what you do. To put it simply, you're no Hulk and you're no Wolverine."
Midnight looked up at the skies above with tears streaming down his face "But… I'm supposed to be the ultimate member of the Oracion Seis… even stronger than my father… no one can touch me… I'm supposed to be the greatest wizard that ever lived…"
"Someone who can mock the suffering of others so callously, and do so with a smile on his face no less, has a very long way to go to achieve true greatness."
'But all I ever wanted… my one prayer… my prayer was to one day find a quiet place and finally be able to sleep in peace… Father…' and with that, Midnight finally fell backwards and lost consciousness.
"It's over."
Jellal could only look on in awe of Erza's strength 'So this is who Erza truly is…'
"If you truly desire greatness, then you must first come to understand what it is that makes you weak. And even more important than that, you must live with an open heart."
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Unfortunately, with Midnight's defeat, a new evil was awakened, one that none of our heroes would've been able to anticipate.
As the last marking disappeared from his face, Brain's eyes suddenly snapped open, his skin turned pale and his eyes turning crimson, his tone incredibly bloodthirsty "Fine… I'll do it myself."
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Meanwhile, beneath King's Summit…
Luke looked on at the scene before him and just let out a sigh 'See, it's stuff like this that makes me question the decisons I've made in life. One minute I go head to head with a Dragon Slayer that's part of a dark guild and actually does want to kill me, and the next minute I'm just watching Natsu and Gray get their asses handed to them by a talking staff.'
"I've got you now you son of a bitch!" Natsu suddenly grabbed Klodoa from behind, taking him by surprise.
"Hell to the yeah, now that we've got this clown where we want him, I say it's time for us to see if we can-" Gray was cut off by Klodoa headbutting him square in the face "OW! What the fuck dude, keep that thing away from me!"
"Then get out of the way dumbass!"
"Try and hold it still you freak!"
"Try and dodge it you stripper!" and so they started beating the crap out of each other like they usually did, only with Klodoa in the mix.
"Yep, this is going on the list of why I should reevaluate how I make life decisions in life." that was when Luke suddenly started having a creepy staring contest with Klodoa "Hey man you can try and stare me to death as much as you like, it's not gonna be enough to take me out."
"And here comes the ego train." Bolt noted dryly "So rare that it only comes in once every few months, but it's enough to make you wanna knock his teeth in."
"This coming from the cat that hides pot brownies under my bed."
"Silence you insignificant fool! I was staring at the blonde next to you."
"Oh dammit." Lucy started posing "I guess the burden that is my cuteness has finally caught up to me."
"I thought there was a real woman here, but it turns out it was just a little girl."
"Say what?!"
"You heard me brat."
"And now you're going down pokey!" Natsu and Gray promptly charged at Klodoa, only to get smacked across their faces and sent skidding backwards.
"You guys are just a bunch of annoying kids." and then Klodoa blasted the both of them with lightning "Hate to break it to you runts, but you're gonna have a long way to go if you want to beat me. Who cares if you're young, if you want to go flaunting around your toned upper bodies like that then fine, but this is what happens."
Luke let out a low whistle as he stepped forward "Okay I'm just gonna say it, this one has some serious age issues around here."
"What?! Listen you you little son of a-" Klodoa promptly tried to bombard Luke with a blast of lightning, which was simply swallowed by Luke in one gulp.
"Thanks for the food, so are we doing this?"
"You arrogant little-" Klodoa cut himself short, his skull turning pale, which one would think was impossible "Oh no… No, this is bad… this cannot be… all of them have fallen… I can't believe this… all of the Six Demons have been defeated…" he dropped the lacrima in his mouth from sheer shock "Oh no no no, the horror is just imminent! I can feel it, the great one is coming!"
"Stop freaking out and start talking." Luke pulled out his sword Raiden and promptly pointed it at Klodoa "Who's this great one you're talking about?"
"No… it's Brain…"
"What are you talking about? We saw Jura take him down already, unless…" Luke's gaze hardened "You mean that he was just faking to try and take us out with a surprise attack of some kind?"
"No, nothing of the sort. We all know for a fact that Brain was defeated, but what none of you know is that there's another personality lurking inside of him."
"You mean like a split personality?"
"Exactly! You've seen the outer one, Brain, the calm persona at the surface known for seeking knowledge. However, there is a hidden face that has a craving for only endless destruction. They call him Zero."
"And judging by how you're acting, I'm guessing Zero is the more dangerous and terrifying of the two?"
"He is. Zero possesses incredible power that is coupled with an unquenchable thirst for destruction, but Brain was able to seal him away using six magical keys."
"One key for each member of the Oracion Seis, Brain himself included."
"Correct, all of them were bound together using Body Link magic, and once those six demons fall Zero will once again be free to roam the land, annihilating everything within the misfortune of standing in his path."
"Sounds like this guy is no joke." Luke's body started flaring with electricity "And judging by the scent I'm detecting, he's not far away." this was followed by the sound of a wall being shattered in front of them.
Klodoa instantly whipped around at the sight of Brain, or Zero as he's now going to be referred to, and instantly started sucking up "Welcome back Master Zero, as your faithful servant I humbly welcome your return!"
"Master Zero… I always did like how that sounded." Zero gave a malicious grin "It would seem that things have taken quite the interesting turn, wouldn't you say Klodoa? Even Midnight has fallen in battle."
"Yes, yes he did. Please my master, I beg for you to grant me your forgiveness!"
"You misunderstand me Klodoa, I'm not displeased with the results. On the contrary, as far as I'm concerned it's been too long. This feeling I'm experiencing, this flesh, this power, I've longed for it for so long." Zero clenched his fists "The time has come for me to begin the task for which I had been summoned. Stand aside Klodoa."
"Yes sir!" Klodoa quickly got out of the way.
"Now then, time to show them why I'm the best there is at what I do…" Zero's body began surging with green colored magic power as he requipped into a new outfit as he levelled his bloodthrist gaze on Luke and the others "You worthless scum, I suppose I should commend you for doing such an admirable job of destroying my guild. Howevever, seeing as I am the master of this guild, I am bound by my obligation to take my revenge upon you."
"So that's it…" Luke slowly dropped into a stance with his sword ready 'I guess it makes sense why this guy is the true leader of the Oracion Seis, the amount of power he's putting out right now is incredible. You guys better tell me you're fired up and ready to go, we've got one hell of a fight on our hands this time around."
"Yeah you bet I am." Natsu dropped into a stance, with Gray doing the same "I bet you can tell the crazy magic power this guy has going on, I can't wait to take him down."
"Appreciate the fire in your belly, figuratively speaking, but hang back for now. I'm gonna take him and try and gauge his level of power."
"Yes, that's it…" Zero on the other hand, he set his sights on the wounded form of Jura lying on the ground "I think I'll start with the bald one who harmed this body while Brain was still taking charge of it. Dark Rondo!" he unleashed a green version of the Dark Rondo from his bare hands.
"Lightning Dragon Roar!" Luke quickly countered the spell with a powerful blast of lightning from his mouth, both of them cancelling each other out "You've got a lot of nerve, what the hell do you think you're doing attacking someone who can't defend himself? Fighting dirty is one thing, but that's the mark of a coward."
"Pathetic, spare me your foolish ideas you wretch. I take great pleasure in destroying many things and people that do not move, so why should a pathetic peace of trash like that be an exception?"
"You're not the first bloodthirsty sociopath I've had to fight, you probably won't be the last either, but you'll go down just like the rest of them. I'm going to make sure of it."
"Not if I burn him to a crisp first! Fire Dragon Iron Fist!" Natsu suddenly charged forward and launched a fire enhanced fist.
"Dammit Natsu, I told you to let me fight him for now!" Luke turned back to Zero and his gaze hardened 'His magic power is incredible, that much is for certain. He's not anywhere near as powerful as Jose was, but his magic power definitely has a much darker feel to it. I'll have to tread carefully.'
"Begone pathetic wretches." Zero held out a hand towards Luke, then suddenly directed it towards Lucy and Gray and sent them flying with a simple blast of magic energy.
Luke blitzed in front of them and tried to shield them from the follow up blast that came next, but he was sent skidding backwards a considerable distance with his shirt torn, and he promptly fell to one knee.
"Such destruction brings a smile to my face every time."
Klodoa didn't waste any time in kisssing Zero's ass as much as he could "Excellent, well done as always Master Zero! One wave of your hand and such pathetic wretches were instantly sent six feet under."
"Not quite the decisive blow that was needed, and one of them is still standing" Zero turned his gaze on Luke, and the sadistic grin on his face widened "Not only are the other vermin still breathing down there, which means that it wasn't enough, but this one is considerably different from the others. I won't be satisfied until they're ripped to shreds. But I won't finish them, not yet. I'll let them suffer in agony a bit more, and the one who's still standing will be the last to die, and when he does it won't be quick." and with that, Zero turned hot on his heels and left, with Klodoa right behind him.
Luke stared at Zero's retreating form for a moment, then let out a sigh and promptly turned towards Bolt "He can wait for at least a few minutes, for now the others need tending to."
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
At the same time, Wendy and Carla were up above looking for Jellal, hoping that he would know of the way to stop Nirvana.
Unfortunately, that was when Carla ran out of magic power and was forced back into her terrestrial mode.
Given everything that was happening, Wendy promptly broke down, until she was quickly convined by Carla to find a way to stop Nirvana herself.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Meanwhile, atop Nirvana…
Klodoa and Zero looked down on the form of the Cait Shelter guild in the distance "Yes at last, there it is! Look at it Master, at last our number one target is in sight as if it were a giant sitting duck! They don't even know what's in store for them, those fools in Cait Shelter are in for one hell of a big surprise! They are the ones who first discoverd the awesome power of Nirvana, and they just sealed it away from everyone else, but we'll show them! All we have to do is wipe Cait Shelter off the map, and we'll be able to make sure no one ever makes that mistake again! Nirvana will be ours forever, this is going to be amazing without a doubt!"
"What utter nonsense." Zero muttered just loud enough for Klodoa to hear.
"What?"
"You heard me Klodoa, it's absolute nonsense." Zero promptly reached out to Klodoa and crushed his staff using his bare hands.
"But… But I don't understand, what do you mean by that oh wise Master Zero?" and then his ass kissing came back to bite him in the form of him being crushed under Zero's foot.
"It's nothing more than simple destruction, I'm only after one thing and that's some good old fashioned destruction! All that is standing will fall my by hands! I don't need any other reason to destroy, for it is what I yearn for with every fiber of my being! Everything in this world must either be stained with blood or be incinerated in flames! And now Nirvana, FIRE!" he promptly had Nirvana start charging up a massive blast of magic energy, intent on destroying Cait Shelter on the spot.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
By this point, Wendy and Carla finally tracked down Erza and Jellal, not long after they had finished their battle against Midnight, the two of them having only recently finished their battle against Midnight, the final general of the Oracion Seis, only for Wendy to quickly discover the truth of how Jellal had lost his memories, which saddened her at first, only for her to be cheered up by Erza after a moment.
Knowing the details of Jellal's situation, Wendy promptly asked him if he knew of a way for them to stop Nirvana, only for Jellal to inform her that a Square of Self Destruction would no longer work, and that he didn't know of any other ways to stop it.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Meanwhile, atop Nirvana…
Zero let out a maniacal laughter full of malice "Yes that's right, destroy justice and decency, all that stands shall fall and burn, the reason for my very existence is to destroy, and I will see it through without hesitation or failure!" his maniacal laughter grew as Nirvana fired a massive beam of pure magic power at the Cait Shelter guild, only for something to blast Nirvana on one of its legs and redirect the blast just enough for it to miss Cait Shelter "What?! How could this be, there's no way it could've missed!" but then he noticed the other blasts of magic energy bombarding Nirvana "Of course, there had to be some other fools that want to try and play the heroes. They'll die slowly. So here's the question, who was it that was so desperate to try and save the day that they'd gladly forfeit their own lives?"
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Meanwhile, down below…
Recovering from the shockwave, Erza and the others looked up in awe at the sight of Christina, the Magic Bomber of Blue Pegasus, floating above them, considerably damaged but still able to get the job done "No way…"
"Oh wow…" Wendy's expression was filled with just as much awe.
"It looks like Christina, the Magic Bomber herself, came through to save the day."
"Attention, do you read me? If anyone can hear me, then please respond. I need for you to give me confirmation that you're okay." a familiar voice rang through their minds.
"I know that voice, that's Hibiki of the Trimens!"
"Erza of Fairy Tail and Wendy of Cait Shelter, good to know that both of you are still alive and well. Also I've received confirmation from Master Ichiya, and in his words he's alive but he's not quite well."
"I can't believe it, I never actually expected to see the Magic Bomber fly again, especially after she was shot down by the Oracion Seis. I have to ask though, how did you get her flying again so soon?"
"In simple terms, hard work and lots of it. I have to admit, for a group of wizards who can barely remember each other's names, it turns out we're pretty good at working together to get the job done. Christina lost one of her wings when she got shot down so Lyon volunteered to use his Ice Make magic to repair it, so he did what he could but he was still hurt pretty bad, and we had to treat that serious wound of his so he didn't bleed out. Take a look on the bow of Chrstina, and you'll see Xian combining his Chi magic with Ren's air magic to keep the hull intact despite the damage it received. As for the attack we were able to launch on Nirvana, that was pretty much thanks to Eve and his snow magic. He used it in order to fuse a couple of Christina's magic bombs together, but they didn't do much damage to Nirvana despite the amount of power they were packing. It took the last of his magic energy and he's not holding up very well, and the same could be said for Ren and Xian. I don't know how long they'll be able to keep it up for.'
"I see, from the looks of it we really owe you one."
"Yes, I do…" Wendy wiped away a few tears "It's because of all of you that my guild is safe now. I can't thank all of you enough."
"I'm sure you can tell that everyone here is running low on magic energy right now, and I'm no exception to that unfortunately, so I'm afraid we can't attack from the ship anymore. The power levels are too low, and just flying this far was hard enough as it is. We're all gonna be find though, even Lyon despite what he's dealing with right now, so don't worry about us. But in the meantime, there's one last thing I have to tell all of you, a little bit of good news. I was finally able to find what I was looking for in the archive, and I know how to stop Nirvana."
"What?!" Erza's head promptly snapped up, along with everyone else "You mean you know how to stop it? Please, you have to tell us."
"Alright, so you know those six appendages we thought were legs? Well they're not legs, they're actually pipes. Apparently they're supoosed to suck magic out of the Earth itself, and that's used in order to power Nirvana. At the base of each leg is a lacrima that controls the supply of magic energy. From what I understand, if all six of the lacrima are destroyed simultaneously, then it will wreak havoc on Nirvana's control system and force it to shut down as a result. All of them have to be destroyed at once, or the other five will simply repair the damaged one."
"Destroy six lacrima all at once, but how can we manage that?"
"If I could then I would maintain telepathy to time out the strike, so how about I try this. I'll give all of you a synched timer." on that note, a timer was synched to them by Hibiki using his Archive magic "I'm uploading it to all of you now, but listen to me when I say that this has to be precise."
"I see, so then we have 20 minutes?"
"Yes, that how long we have until Nirvana will be fully charged and ready to fire at the Cait Shelter guild again."
"So we have to destroy all six of them at once."
"If there's anyone that can do it, then I have faith that it's you guys. I have faith in all of you to get the job done."
"Care to make a wager on that?" another familiar voice cut into their conversation, much to the shock of everyone present.
"What the hell, who is that? Is that Brain? I don't get it, how the hell is he able to hijack my telepathy magic so easily?"
"How is of little importance at the moment. You may call me Zero, the Master of the Oracion Seis guild. Brain is no more."
"Seriously? I thought Brain was the master of your guild."
"Nothing of the sort. First of all, allow me to commend all of you. You fooled me. I had never actually suspected there might be other wizards capable of using Archive magic like Brain is able to do."
"You mean he used Archive? That must be how he was able to find out about Nirvana in the first place."
"That and an outside source from another guild, but that is of little importance. Now heed my words Wizards of Light. I am going to obliterate everything you hold dear! I've already begun by claiming the lives of four of your friends in the forms of two Dragon Slayers, an ice wizard and a celestial wizard. Oh yes, and a cat with wings."
"You mean Luke and the others don't you?" Erza's gaze hardened "You expect me to believe that they would go down so easily?"
"Believe what you will, it matters very little. Did I hear you say something about destroying the lacrima of Nirvana simultaneously? Well you're more than welcome to try, but I happen to be standing in front of one of them, and I have no intention of leaving. As long as I'm standing here, it will be impossible for you to destroy all six of them at once! In other words, in order to destroy all six larcima and stop Nirvana, you will have to defeat, and such a thing is far from likely to happen!" and then his voice ceased.
"So that's his plan. Hibiki, are you still there?" Erza received no reply "Dammit, Zero must have cut off our telepathic connection."
"Though it may seem impossible right now, we can destroy all six of the lacrima of Nirvana at once." Jellal told her "We'll have to split up and attack each lacrima individually, and hope that all of us strike at the same time. Each wizard has a one in six chance that they'll end up running into Zero, but unfortunately Erza is probably the only one who stands any real chance against him right now."
"Excuse me, but I think you're forgetting something." Carla told him flatly "As in basic math skills. In case you hadn't noticed, we don't have six wizards with enough magic energy to go through with that plan."
"But that means…" Wendy let out a horrified gasp "Oh no… I can't fight… I'm sorry but I can't help you."
"This is bad." Erza shared a look with Jellal "We can't do it on our own. Is there anyone out there strong enough to help us?"
"Yes my honey, indeed there is." a familiar voice sent chills down her spine "I'm able bodied at the moment and at your service, although I am tied up right now."
"Ichiya. Oh joy. So that makes three for us then. Who else? Hibiki, are you still there?"
"Y-Yeah. Sorry you guys but I'm almost out of magic power myself, so if we're gonna do this we've gotta hurry."
"We need three more people, so there has to be someone else! Anyone there, can you help us do this?"
"And I hate to break it to you but Christina is losing altitude, Lyon's ice wing ran finally gave out and he's still being treated, and Xian and Ren are gonna give out any second now."
"It's getting worse, Christina is losing altitude."
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Meanwhile, with the others that were supposedly taken down…
Luke and Gray finished pulling Natsu and the others out of the rubble "Natsu listen to me, I need you to get up. Think about Igneel, don't let him down. You want to see him again someday don't you? You can't let something like this get the best of you, you've gotta get back up and keep fighting like you always do." he looked over to Lucy "And Lucy, you might not be a fighter in the same traditional sense as the rest of us, but you've got just as much heart as everyone else in the guild, if not more. You've got as much pride in being a member of Fairy Tail wizard as the rest of us." he received no reply "Okay I'm done being tactful, I know you can hear me, so both of you quit snoring and get the hell up."
"Will you… shut it…?" Natsu struggled to get to his feet, with Lucy and Bolt soon following his lead.
"I'll shut it once I know you can do what needs to be done."
"Can any of you hear our voices? If you can, then please respond."
"Don't worry Hibiki, we're all still alive and kicking and we read you loud and clear. Destroy all six of the lacrima at the same time within 18 minutes. The only question is who's gonna end up fighting Zero, because I think I speak for everyone here when I say we want to have a chance to take him down, and we owe it to Wendy and Carla to save their guild."
"Glad to hear it. But listen guys, my telepathy is about to cut out. Awhile ago I uploaded a map into each of your minds using my Archive magic and I numbered the lacrima so you'd be able to find them, so everyone chose a number and then split up-" and then the communication between them cut out.
"Looks like the communication cut out, he must have run out of magic power." Luke turned to face the rest of them "Who wants which one?"
"I've got one." Natsu told him.
"Gray?"
"Two."
"Lucy?"
"I guess I'll take three." Lucy then promptly shuddered "Please don't let Zero be there."
"I wouldn't worry about that, from what I can tell the main thing he wants aside from destruction is a worthy challenge that can take him head on. No offense Lucy, but you're pretty drained as it is. Anyway I'll take four."
"Better you than Ichiya. Anyway I'll take the fifth one."
"I take it you're the one who took down Midnight."
"It wasn't easy, but I did it with some help."
"And that will leave me with-"
"You're left with number six."
"What the fuck?" Natsu's head snapped up "Whose voice did I hear just now, is there somebody else with you?"
"Oh yes, Natsu hasn't been made aware of your situation. He still thinks you're the enemy, so try to keep quiet."
"You know we can all hear you." Luke pointed out, only to receive no reply "And just like that we lost the connection, but we've got the six wizards we need, and Ichiya, so we'd better get moving before it's too late."
"You heard the man." Bolt floated up and landed on Luke's shoulder "Six lacrima, six of us and if you run into Zero make him suffer in the best way we can, by subjecting him to the worst torture a man can experience?"
"Subjecting him to Teen Titans Go?"
"More like the Ren and Stimply Adult Party Cartoon?"
"Eeesh, now that's torture."
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
At the same time, Ichiya struggled to make his way towards the location of the fourth lacrima, but due to him being tied up, he quickly found that this wasn't going to be easy, but his spirit was unwavering.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Meanwhile, with the not so main character…
Natsu stumbled his way through the halls of Nirvana, groaning in pain 'Okay, maybe I should've gotten a little pickmeup before I came here… and that figures.' his expression dulled at the sight of the figure standing before him 'The one time I hope I don't meet the main hancho.'
Sure enough, Zero was standing before him, a malicious smirk plastered across his face "Well well, fancy meeting you here brat. If you came looking for a fight, you found one."
"Yeah I did, and I wonder which one of us is gonna make it out of here alive, is it gonna be me or you?"
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Erza looked between Wendy and Jellal "If I had to guess then I would say that Zero is located at the first lacrima, and that's where Natsu is headed. He has the nose of a Dragon Slayer, so he must have known where Zero was going to be."
"But what about Luke?" asked Wendy "He's a Dragon Slayer too, so wouldn't he have noticed that Zero would be there?"
"Luke has never been one for the spotlight, so if I had to guess, I'd say he deliberately chose a lacrima where he knew Zero wouldn't be so that Natsu could have a chance to push past his limits and defeat him."
"Then we have to get over there and help him, if we work together then maybe-"
"You shouldn't underestimate Natsu. Try not to worry, if Luke thinks he can handle Zero on his own, then I think we should respect his wishes. Come on then, let's split up for now and get to our posts. Remember, I have the fifth and Jellal has the sixth okay?"
"Luke… Natsu…" these names seemed to strike a chord within Jellal's mind 'Those names… why do they…?'
"Is there something wrong?"
"...No it's nothing, I'm perfectly fine." Jellal started walking away, gripping his head as certain thoughts surfaced in his mind 'Luke Drako… Natsu Dragneel…'
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Meanwhile, with Natsu vs Zero…
"Fire Dragon Iron Fist! Fire Dragon Talon! Fire Dragon ROAR!" Natsu wasted no time in attacking Zero and launching one Fire Dragon Slayer spell after another.
"Far from being enough brat." Zero easily dodged every attack being thrown at him "Rather impressive though, you're much more agile than the last time we met. Perhaps you've received what people refer to as a second wind? No matter, it makes very little difference to me. Dark Capriccio!" he unleashed a Dark Capriccio from his fingertip that Natsu was narrowly able to dodge "As you can see plain as day, Brain's power was nothing compared to mine." with a swift wave of his fingertips he summoned the Dark Capriccio up from underground, blowing a large hole into Natsu's shoulder and causing him to cough up blood, following with another hole through the shoulder, laughing maniacally all the while "You were saying before that you were wondering who would make it out alive, but I think it's quite obvious that the answer to your question is going to be me."
"Fire… Dragon… IRON FIST!" gritting his teeth to bare the pain, Natsu launched a fire enhanced fist to counter the Dark Capriccio, straining and being pushed back a great distance, but eventually he managed to cancel it out, but just barely "No… No way in hell… I'm going down… Not yet…"
"I have to admit, I'm surprised you were able to stop a piercing spell like that one. That must come with the potency of Dragon Slayer magic."
"Give me a minute… you'll see what… a Dragon Slayer… can really do…" Natsu stumbled his way forward and was about to launch another attack, only to suddenly be bombared with a blast of fire that sent him flying backwards.
"It seems we have a third party joining us."
Natsu looked up and let out an outright snarl "You… Jellal!"
Zero glanced back to see Jellal standing in the entryway to the lacrima chamber "Well hello, judging from your actions I take it that your memory has returned?"
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Meanwhile…
Gray quickly rushed into the chamber of the second lacrima and let out a sigh "Dammit, I was starting to worry I wasn't gonna make it. I guess is the second lacrima then. Looks like it's gonna be easy enough to destroy. There's no sign of Master Zero, so I guess that means he's waiting at one of the other lacrima. It's about time I get a chance to catch my breath, but then again that means one of the others is gonna be going head to head with that psychotic son of a bitch right now, either Luke or Natsu if I had to guess."
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Meanwhile, back at the first lacrima…
Zero looked down at the flame covered form of Natsu, then back at Jellal, and he shot the latter a smirk full of malice "Well hello, judging from your actions I take it that your memory has returned?"
Jellal gave a dark looking grin "In a manner of speaking, yes."
"You… you shouldn't have… come here… JELLAL!" once he finally managed to stagger back to his feet, Natsu charged towards Jellal as fast as he could.
"Stop." Jellal promptly bombarded Natsu with a quick blast of fire.
"Did you forget that flames don't work on me?"
"For a brief period yes, but it seems I remembered just in time. After all, you may be the only one who can stop Zero."
"What?!" Zero promptly rounded on Jellal in disbelief.
"Correct me if I'm wrong, but as a Fire Dragon Slayer, doesn't the power of flames make your magic that much more powerful?"
"Well… yeah that's true." Natsu felt the flames increase his power "But why?"
"Well…"
"Liar!" Zero promptly spat out at him "Judging by your actions, it's clear to me your memory has not been restored."
"I never lied to you, the fact is that only a fraction of my memories have returned, mainly my memories of Natsu Dragneel and Luke Drako. Right now I'm determined to stop Nirvana, my goal will not be affected by whether or not I recover the rest of my memories."
"I don't get it." Natsu shot a glare up at him "What the hell happened to you, what are you talking about?"
"When I regained consciousness, it was as if my memory had been completely erased, without a single one remaining, and although I have no recollection of behaving like the vile cretin I've been told that I was, it seems that was the case. As a result, I've brought harm upon not only you and Erza, but all of Fairy Tail, and the time has come for me to make amends. I want to help you protect Wendy's guild. I want to stop Nirvana, and I know that we can do it as long as we work together." he was promptly met with a fist to the gut that caused him to cough up blood.
"I don't believe a fucking word you're saying! You really think I'm gonna believe that you forgot everything you did to us?! The things you did, the people you killed, the pain that you caused Erza?! Keep pretending that you're on my side just to stab me in the back and you're gonna suffer!"
"Natsu please, just accept the flames that I gave you and move on." Jellal was promptly picked up by the collar.
"Just because you've forgotten what happened in the past doesn't mean that the rest of us have forgotten, I sure as hell still remember everything that happened. None of us will ever forget that you made Erza cry."
"How pathetic." Zero let out a scoff "If you're really going to argue in such a fashion, then must you do it in front of me? Stop wasting my time! Dark Capriccio!" he promptly fired a Dark Capriccio.
'Shit!'
"Natsu get down!" Jellal suddenly blitzed in front of Natsu and took the full force of the Dark Capriccio, resulting in him getting a hole blasted through his gut.
Seeing this, Natsu instantly had flashbacks to when Simon sacrificed himself back in the Tower of Heaven 'No way… he's serious about this… Why the hell did you do that?!"
"Natsu, please…" Jellal coughed up some blood and fell flat on his back "Just go ahead and kill me… if that's what you need to do… I'm already battered and torn to shreds… But first, let me give you the power you need to defeat him…" he summoned a golden flame in his hand, which left Natsu in awe.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Meanwhile, with two of our other heroes…
Bolt looked over to see Lucy struggling to make her way towards the lacrima "Take a breather for a minute, you can't keep going like this."
"I can't…" Lucy continued to stagger her way forward "We won't make it in time… I have to keep going."
"Be realistic Hannah Montana, you can barely stand as it is."
"Don't worry about me… I'll be fine… I don't care how slow I'll be… I promise I'm gonna get there… Plus here's the thing… If I stop, then I don't know if can keep going… Let's not talk about that now… we have to stay focused…"
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Meanwhile, in the hallway to lacrima number four…
Luke bolted through the hallways as fast as he could, his mind racing 'How pathetic of me, to think that everything I went through was to protect my guild, and then I get sidelined by something as simple as poison, to the point where I couldn't even move without the need of healing magic? I guess even after all of that training wasn't enough, I still have to keep it up nonstop. When this is over, my training begins anew, and I'll live and breath my more powerful magic until it comes as natural to me as breathing itself. I'll make sure that something like this doesn't happen again.'
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Meanwhile, at lacrima number five…
Erza stared up at the lacrima in front of her 'So Zero isn't here, which means that he must be at the first lacrima after all. Natsu, we're all counting on you.'
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
At the same time, Wendy and Carla made their way down the hallway to the sixth and final lacrima, having been tasked with destroying it by Jellal while he went to assist Natsu in his battle against Zero.
Praying to her adoptive mother Grandeeny for some of her power, Wendy readied herself to complete the task given to her.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Meanwhile, in the hall of the first lacrima…
Natsu looked in awe at the sight of the flame in Jellal's hand 'Holy shit, I've never seen such a golden flame.'
"This is the Flame of Rebuke…" Jellal spat out some blood.
"What the hell is a Flame of Rebuke?"
"I'm not asking for you… to give me your forgiveness… all I want… is to give you strength… because I believe in you… Erza trusts you and Luke… more than anyone… and so I choose to do so as well…" he held out his hand to Natsu "So please… let me…"
"...Alright fine." Natsu slowly accepted his hand, resulting in his body being bathed in what looked like golden flames, which he promptly consumed.
"We're counting on you…" and then Jellal promptly lost consciousness.
"Thanks for the chow. But don't think this means you're off the hook Jellal, not yet, not by a fucking long shot."
"You've made a grave mistake brat." Zero shot him a smirk filled with bloodlust "By eating the Flame of Rebuke, you now share the sins of your mortal enemy."
"A couple of sins isn't enough to scare me, everyone in Fairy Tail has their share. But the real sin in my eyes is turning your back on someone when they just want to help, especially when those people give you the power to beat the crap out of people who deserve it!" with his body radiating golden flames and dragon scales appearing across his face, Natsu charged forward with surprising levels of speed and dealt Zero a brutal headbutt to the gut, followed by throwing him into a wall.
"Dark Capriccio!" Zero rebounded within seconds and fired a Dark Capriccio.
"Fire Dragon Iron Fist!" Natsu used a fire enhanced fist to bat the Dark Capriccio away with ease, then charged forward and dealt Zero a brutal barrage of punches and kicks, receiving a kick to the head and a smack across at the same time, but he countered with a kick to Zero's face "I'm not done yet! Fire Dragon ROAR!" he promptly dealt Zero a golden colored Fire Dragon Roar at point blank range, sending him flying into the ceiling of the lacrima chamber.
'So much power… no, it couldn't be…' as he fell back to the ground, Zero took a good long look at Natsu, the realization slowly dawning on him 'This boy has harnessed the power of Dragon Force!'
Seeing Zero lying on the ground, Natsu took a moment to get a grip on the newfound power he was experiencing 'Holy crap this feels incredible, it's like what I felt from Luke when he took on the master of Phantom Lord. This totally awesome, all of a sudden it feels like I can do anything with this kind of power!'
"I never expected you to have such a thing." Zero pulled himself back to his feet and spat out a small amount of blood "Dragon Force is the final form that can be applied to any form of Dragon Slayer magic. From what I understand, it gives the Dragon Slayer in question destructive power that is comparable to even that of the most formidable of dragons." he gave a sadistic looking grin "I must say that I'm very intrigued. So come Dragon Slayer, come and show me the power of Dragon Force."
"Are you sure you want me to do that?"
"Yes I am, let me see the power of a dragon."
"Fine by me, but don't say I didn't warn you!" and so Natsu charged at Zero, his golden flames clashing against Zero's magic energy field in a blinding display.
Now the true battle was about to begin, and when it was over, only one of them would be left standing.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
By this point, Lucy had reached the chamber where the third lacrima was located, only to end up realizing something rather significant: she didn't have any magic power left. Fortunately for her, she ended up receiving some backup in the form of Angel's formal Celestial Spirits Gemini, the two of them having been inspired by her will to never give up.
Using their abilities, Gemini was quick to mimick Lucy's form and abilities and promptly summoned her Celestial Spirit Taurus in order to destroy the lacrima.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
The battle against Zero began its second round.
Natsu broke away from his clash with Zero and gritted his teeth as he got into a stance 'Looks like he's getting serious now, but with the power of Dragon Force I should be able to take him down.'
"You're no match for this! Dark Gravity!" Zero slammed his hands into the ground, causing the ground beneath Natsu to shatter, leaving him to fall who knows how many stories, though the screams quickly went silent "Oh come now, don't tell me a spell like that was enough to defeat the mighty Dragon Slayer. Well?!" he dove in after him.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
As it turns out, Natsu had just narrowly managed to stop himself from falling off Nirvana and into the Worth Woodsea below "Dammit, that was way too close."
"Dark Rondo!" that was when Zero dove in after Natsu and promptly unleashed a Dark Rondo blast from his bare hands.
Natsu quickly leapt away to avoid the oncoming barrage.
"Zero Slash!" Zero summoned another Dark Capriccio, but instead he used this one as a sort of makeshift whip.
"Fire Dragon ROAR!" Natsu leapt over the whip attacks and hit Zero with a roar at nearly point blank range, engulfing him in the flames that ensued as a result.
"Dark Delete!" Zero burst out from within the flames and attacked Natsu by firing a barrage of dark magic spheres, a few of them managing to hit Natsu, and then Zero followed up with a quick Dark Capriccio that left a sizeable wound in Natsu's gut.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Meanwhile, in the fourth lacrima chamber…
Luke bolted into the chamber containing the fourth lacrima, his body surging with potent levels of electricity 'I've made it this far, now it's time for my to do my part in protecting them. I made a vow to protect them, and I have no intention of going back on my word. I'm not wasting any more time on this. Thunder Drive!" he promptly activated his Thunder Drive.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Natsu vs Zero…
"Dark Delete!" Zero sent Natsu flying into a wall and then unleashed a second barrage of dark energy spheres.
"Fire Dragon IRON FIST!" Natsu burst forth from within the wall and let a fire enhanced fist fly forward, resulting in a collission that unleashed a shockwave powerful enough to start tearing the room apart.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Meanwhile…
Luke glanced up at the lacrima, his mind racing with his power 'There's only three minutes left before it's ready to fire. Natsu, it's all up to you now.'
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
The battle with Zero had apparently taken a turn for the worst.
By this point, Zero was kicking Natsu's downed form on the ground into submission "Come now brat, you can't seriously be telling me that's the best your Dragon Force can do! The majestic dragons once ruled over this world, and the thought that this is the extent of their power is an absolute travesty!" he finished his rant by kicking Natsu into a wall "You don't have a chance in hell of defeating the Master of the Oracion Seis, I have more power than a lowly guild wizard like you could ever even dream of being."
"You… You wanna bet…?" Natsu tried to stand, but only spat out some blood.
"It's quite a shame that your friends aren't here to help you, seeing how you haven't a ghost of a chance of defeating me on your own."
"No… you're wrong… I'm not… on my own…" Natsu spat out some blood "I can feel it… all of them are reaching out to me… I can hear them loud and clear… I can hear the voices of everyone in the coalition… and they're all telling me the same thing… that no matter what happens… I can't give up the fight…" he eventually staggerd his way back to his feet, his body covered in golden flames once more "Besides… I made a vow… I would make sure… that she was always smiling… the people counting on me… and her smile… they're what are keeping me going… Knowing they're out there… It's the only thing keeping me going right now… I wouldn't even have the strength to stand… if it wasn't for them… I can feel it even now…" his body started surging with golden flames "I can feel their strength and determination, I can feel it pulsing through me!"
"If only there were some way, if I were able to harness the power of your Dragon Force for my own, but unfortunately such a possibility does not exist. It's clear to me that I have no use for you, so I shall unleash my ultimate spell and return you to the abyss of nothingness from whence you came!"
"We'll see about that! Dragon Slayer Secret Art: Flame Lotus: EXPLODING FLAME BLADE!" Natsu promptly unleashed a full power Exploding Flame Blade.
"Now to the depths of nothingness with you! GENESIS ZERO!" Zero prepared to unleash his own ultimate spell, their attacks colliding with each other in a blinding explosion…
A/N:
With this, we see the penultimate chapter of the Oracion Seis, are in which we see all of those still standing work to stop Nirvana, while Natsu works to bring down Zero once and for all, with some unexpected help from Jellal. Before anything else, let me apologize for taking as long as I did to get this chapter out. It would've been a lot sooner, but with everything that's happening with the corona virus, not to mention my own school work to go with it, I've had a lot on my plate lately. Also, this story has finally reached a huge milestone in the form of 20,000 views! And as an extra bonus, this story has also reached 300,000 words!
I knew going into this arc that I was going to have Natsu be the one to take Zero down in the end, mainly for two reasons. First of all, I wanted to give him a little bit of spotlight, since he won't be the main focus on the Edolas arc. Second of all, him awakening Dragon Force in that fight was too big of a milestone to pass over, so that was kind of an obvious choice. And for the record, yes he's talking about Lisanna when he makes that speech to Zero.