I would like to thank everyone who reviewed, favorited or followed this story since I updated it.
Altajir95: Thanks, I'm glad to see you liked it.
Ragnas Bredvolts: Thanks, I'm glad to see you liked it so much. Yes, the little scene between Natsu and Lisanna was something I really enjoyed doing. And yes, Lisanna did get a new form known as Chimera, but you're going to see more of it in the next chaper, when she fights against Erza. As for Bolt, he is indeed going to be keeping Shatterstorm for himself, and he is going to make a name for himself, especially since he's going to be around durin the 7-year time skip. He's not going to have the same buff form as Panther Lily, but I still have something in mind for him that you'll see when the time comes. I do agree with your opinion in regards to the relationship with Gajeel and Levy, though I agree to disagree about Jerza. As for the buildup for Luke and Cana, their relationship building still has some ways to go, but it will happen soon enough, so don't worry. On another note, it has been quite the year for this story, and for all of us too. I also want to thank you for sticking with this story for as long as you have. You're the only one who's stuck around since the first chapter, and I want to thank you for all the support you've given me over the past year. Anyway that's all I have to say for now, and you have a wonderful day as well my friend.
Guest: Thanks, I'm glad to see you liked it, and the fight between Lisanna and Erza was something I really enjoyed doing.
Bungster: Thanks, I'm glad to see you're keeping up with the story.
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The series of explosions caused by Azuma could be hears for miles around.
Natsu (with his vest turned inside out to match his newly blackened scarf) was one of the many who heard it "Hey Happy, is it just me or did it sound like some trouble went down over in that direction?"
"Yeah, do you think the enemy is already here?" asked Happy.
"I think there's only one way to find out. Let's get moving."
"Aye." and so they took off.
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Meanwhile, with Luke…
'So it's starting.' Luke was blitzing across the forest of Tenrou Island as fast as he could, his mind racing as he did so 'Sounds like those explosions came from off the coast of the island, and there must have been a lot of them. I'd better go and help out any survivors. Sorry guys, but you'll have to hold out without me for the time being.' and so he bolted down towards the coastline at full speed.
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The battle against Azuma was about to begin, but even before then, the explosions going off on the council ships had already set the mood.
Wendy and Carla were horrified at the sight of his actions "How could you do that? There were innocent people on that ship!"
Mest on the other hand, he was more horrified by the power than anything else "How could one man have that kind of power?"
"You're going to pay for that!" Panther Lily blitzed forward and pounced at Azuma at full speed and let a fist fly.
"Bleve." Azuma held out a hand and hit Panther Lily with a blast of magic energy at point blank range.
Fortunately, Panther Lily was able to power through the Bleve and dealt Azuma a swift uppercut punch to the jaw, only to suddenly be engulfed in the explosion that followed, with Wendy and the others being blown back in the process. When the smoke cleared, Lily was the only one that was still on his feet 'Dammit, his power is incredible. If only I had a sword with me.'
"You don't have to worry, you're not in this alone!" Wendy pulled herself back to her feet and started casting a spell "Oh great winds that sweep through the heavens! Vernier!" she summoned a magic circle undernerath Lily, his body glowing blue as a result.
'What's going on? My body suddenly feels that much lighter.'
"I call upon thee, the strength of arm to clean the heavens! Arms!"
'Amazing, so this is the power support magic of old! My body is so much lighter and my attack power has been enhanced. In this state…' he blitzed towards Azuma and started dodging his explosions with ease.
'Good, he's focused on Lily for now. Listen up Mest, I think I know how to take this guy down, but I'm going to need your help to do it."
"No, weren't you listening to what I said before?" Mest protested "I'm not your ally, I'm with the Magic Council."
"Do you think who you work for matters to me? All I care about right now is protecting Fairy Tail, so I need you to help me do that."
"I only came to this island so that I could destroy Fairy Tail and further my career!"
"And you're going to fail, there's no one in existence who can take down Fairy Tail!" that seemed to strike a chord in him.
Azuma watched as Panther Lily took to the skies, though he wasn't impressed "It doesn't matter where you try to run, my explosions always hit their mark." he held out a hand, fully prepared to blast Panther Lily clear out of the skies.
'Now!'
'Direct Line!' Mest and Wendy quickly and silently blitzed behind Azuma using his teleportation magic 'Eliminating this guy will have to take priority for the time being.'
'I'm only going to have one shot at this, I'll have to hit him with a Sky Dragon Roar!'
"An interesting strategy, but it's not enough. Tower Burst!" Azuma held out his hands and ignited an enormous tower of explosive flames, instantly engulfing everyone around him in the process.
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Meanwhile, with Natsu and Happy…
It didn't take long for Natsu and Happy to notice the Tower Burst being set off by Azuma "What the hell was that?"
"A tower of fire." Happy was quick to state the obvious "There's no one in Fairy Tail that uses magic like that, not even you."
"Which means that we just found out where one of the enemy is. Let's move!" and so they quickly picked up the pace.
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The battle had ended quickly as a result of Azuma's Tower Burst.
Mest and the others were sprawled out on the ground, and he was the only one of them that was still conscious 'I never imagined that the Seven Kin of Purgatory would be in possession of so much power.'
"One can only wonder." Azuma looked down at them from his place perched atop the cliffside above them "Are cats and children the only defense this guild has? If that is the case, then how has it survived up until now?"
'And to think, there are six more of these guys. We're all doomed, Fairy Tail doesn't stand a chance against them.'
"I know that you have more capable warriors than this, one of my comrades has spent time among your guild before, and he's met the most powerful of you. Tell me, where can I find the most powerful of you?"
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Meanwhile, with Cana's party…
By this point, two of the teams from the trial had grouped together in an effort to reach the rendezvous point faster. Unfortunately, Lucy was more vocal with her complaints "Oh for crying out loud, where the heck is this rendezvous point?"
"It's back at the base camp." Gray told her "Didn't anyone tell you about that? We'll get there a lot faster if we pass through these ruins, just keep running until then."
"How the hell did searching for a grave turn into something crazy like this?"
"I don't get it though." Cana muttered "Can any of you think of any reason as to why they would attack now of all times?"
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Meanwhile, with Gajeel…
'I can smell it, there's a lot of them coming.' Gajeel continued making his way through the forest, only to stop and cringe at the pain in his shoulder 'Even after Levy gave me some of her iron, I had to use one of my Dragon Slayer Secret Arts, so I'm only at about 70%. We're at a pretty big disadvantage here, if they attack while we're split up they'll probably try and pick us off one by one.'
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Meanwhile, aboard the Grimoire Heart airship…
Zancrow glanced over to see Ultear clad in new black and white battle armor "Nice outfit, stuff like that really gets me fired up and ready to cut loose."
"Word of advice Zancrow, if you're gonna masturbate to her then do us all a favor and do it on your own time." Noah told him dryly.
"Blow it out your ass Noah, you can't tell me you're not excited over this."
"I'd be a lot more excited if I didn't have to put up with fucking psychopaths like you, and freaks like Kain and Rustyrose back there."
"Regardless of your opinion, they are formidable in their own right." Meldy pointed out in her usual flat tone.
"Being able to take a punch doesn't make up for being a pain in my ass Meldy, I spent a week with a few wizards from Fairy Tail, so I know that first hand."
"Perhaps, but-" she let out a gasp, only to be met with a hand over her mouth.
"You were gonna do it again, and while you try not to piss her off, we both know that doing so happens to be one of my specialties." he removed the hand and glanced over at Ultear, his smirk widening "Hey Daughter of the Year, check it out."
Ultear promptly levelled her cold gaze in Noah's direction "I told you never to call me by that name."
"And I told you that I don't care. Anyway, as I was saying, it's in view now, we can see the island from here, and- Holy crap." they all quickly too notice of the form of Makarov growing to a massive size before them, glowing with golden energy.
"What is that? It's massive."
"If I had to guess, then I'd say that's the master of Fairy Tail, Makarov himself, and he looks as pissed as I was when I discovered Teen Titans Go was a thing."
"BEGONE!" the booming voice echoed "Turn back and leave this place, or you will suffer the wrath of Fairy Tail!" and when no action was taken, he promptly started dealing a series of massive punches to the ship, damaging it heavily in the process.
'That's about what I did back then too, but at least he's got a good reason to start losing his shit like that. Hey old man, feel free to activate evasive maneuvers anytime now!" and so the ship started swirving around Makarov's attacks.
It was only after this that Hades finally made another call "Prepare the focused magic cannon, Jupiter!" this activated the cannon in question, which promptly started charging, and then subsequently fired, a massive blast of magic energy straight into Makarov, but it only ended up burning his arm, which was immediately followed by him kicking the ship and ripping off a chunk of it.
"Okay yeah, now this is happening apparently."
"Now Ultear!"
"Sir! Arc of Time: Restore!" using her Arc of Time magic, Ultear was able to fix all of the damage to the ship in a matter of seconds.
"Now for your part Caprico, get all of our forces onto the island."
"What about you sir?" asked Caprico.
"I'm going to remain behind and deal with Makarov myself."
"As you wish." Caprico clapped his hands together, and the soldiers and other members of the Seven Kin of Purgatory all promptly disappeared in flashes of light, and Caprico himself then sprouted a jetpack and soard off towards the island.
"Noah."
"Forget it, I prefer to get around the old fashioned way: through Teleportation Magic." and on that note, Noah promptly disappeared in a flash, his mind racing as he did so 'We're coming, so you'd better be ready Thunderclap, shit is about to get real.'
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Meanwhile, on the island itself…
"Dammit, what the hell happened here?" Natsu and Happy had quickly found Wendy and the others lying unconscious and wounded after the thrashing Azuma gave them "Wendy come on, say something dammit! Come on Wendy, get the hell up already!"
"Looks like they took the worst of that blast." this was when Luke blitzed onto the scene, soaking wet and looking furious "But they're not the only ones, whoever was responsible for this also went and blew half a dozen nearby ships to hell. There was only one ship that survived, they're retreating to tend to any damage or injuries."
"Dammit! Someone is going to pay for this, you can be sure of that."
"For once we actually agree, and I know exactly who. Grimoire Heart is launching an attack on the island, and Gajeel and Levy already had an encounter with a few of them earlier. For now we need to get answers."
"Way ahead of you." so Natsu promptly grabbed ahold of Mest and started shaking him in a violent yet comical fashion "What the fuck happened here?! Answer me dammit!"
Mest slowly opened his eyes and scowled at the sight of him being in Natsu's grip 'Dammit, it looks like my memory manipulation spell has worn off.'
"I said answer me dammit!"
"Natsu… don't…" Wendy pulled herself up until she was on her knees "Mest is a member of the Magic Council." now that got a reaction out of him.
"Oh you've gotta be fucking kidding me, those guys again?! Wait a second… so the Magic Council is our enemy now!"
"For the record, they've always been our enemy." Luke pointed out dryly "But like I told you already, Grimoire Heart is the one attacking us."
"You mean one of the Big Three?"
"From the Balam Alliance like the Oracion Seis, yeah. The only difference is they've got seven elites in their guild, along with dozens of others, maybe hundreds."
"So we have to fight off their entire guild on our own? What the hell are we going to do about this?!"
"We do the only thing we can, we stand and fight. There may be times when you have to stand down, but this isn't one of those times, not yet! And you guys had best get ready, we've got company!" he pointed upwards to where Caprico was dropping various orange spheres around the island, which then disappeared to reveal the numerous soldiers of Grimoire Heart as they hit the ground, clearly ready for a fight "Like I said, they've got dozens of soldiers going for them, maybe even hundreds. For now we have to assume that every orb that guy drops down is an enemy soldier."
"But there are so many of them!" Wendy looked about as horrified as everyone else "What are we going to do?"
"We're gonna do the only thing we can do, we fight."
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All over the island, Caprico dropped down the orange spheres that not only contained their numerous soldiers, but the other members of the Seven Kin of Purgatory as well, and all of them were out for blood.
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Meanwhile, with the two masters…
Receiving no response that indicated Grimoire Heart was about to leave, Makarov prepared to cast the ultimate spell of Fairy Tail, Fairy Law, only for Hades to counter this threat by preparing his own spell, Grimoire Law, warning Makarov that he didn't intend to cast it recklessly, but unless Makarov stopped his own spell, then both of them would meet unfortunate ends.
It was at this moment that Makarov finally realized, to his shock, exactly who Hades was. He was none other than Precht Gaeblog, the successor of Mavis Vermillion, and the one who originally gave Makarov his title as Master of Fairy Tail. While Makarov was stunned by this sudden revelation, Hades quickly struck him down with his Chain Magic. Despite this, Makarov asked him to leave the island since he didn't want to fight him, but Hades refused, and the battle promptly began.
Makarov fought well in the battle, using his Light magic to counter Hades and his powerful Darkness magic, but eventually Makarov was caught by Hades' Amaterasu 100 formula, engulfing him in the explosion that followed.
The battle with Grimoire Heart has truly begun.
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The blast from the Amaterasu 100 could be heard all throughout the island.
Luke and the others were among those who heard it "That sounded bad, and the magic power I sensed from that is unlike anything I've ever felt before."
"I don't like this." Natsu muttered "I just hope it was one of ours who cast that thing."
"If it was then it had to be the master, he's the only person on the island that I know is capable of unleashing a spell like that."
"I don't know about you, but I'm getting sick of these assholes playing in our backyard for shits and giggles. There's so many of them too, what the hell do they want here? Every last one of these assclowns is about to feel the burn!"
"Actions speak louder than words Natsu, take this for example. Dragon Sword Style: Thunderous Purge!" Luke spread two fingers across the blade of his sword, and in an instant, at least ten nameless soldiers surrounding them were evaporated in a blast of lightning "See what I mean?"
Wendy watched them fight off the soldiers from her place on the ground, her mind racing 'I know that Mest mentioned something about the legendary Black Wizard before. Could it be that the reason Grimoire Heart is here is to find and capture Zeref?'
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Other members of the guild were fighting against the nameless grunts of Grimoire Heart without any mercy.
"Dammit, all of you are getting in my way! Wind Blade!" Cana threw a card at the nameless grunts, which resulted in them being hacked to pieces by a barrage of wind blades.
Loke and the others were taken aback by what they were seeing from her "Holy crap she's really pissed at them, she killed them without a second thought."
"Yeah well they had it coming, they shouldn't be trespassing on sacred ground, so this is what they get! Ice Make: Sword!" Gray quickly cut through a number of nameless thugs.
"Cana get down! Celestial Blade Dance!" Lucy summoned an energy sword from her Fleuve d'étoiles and cut down a number of thugs, saving Cana from an attack from behind "Come on already Cana, I need you to stay focused."
"Yeah sorry about that, thanks for the save." Cana let out a sigh "There's no end to them, are they crawling out of the ground too?"
"They might be a lot of them, but none of them are really that tough, though that doesn't really help us if the attacks never stop coming."
"Yeah you've got a point, we can't keep this up forever. Even if we keep this up they're eventually going to wear us out with sheer numbers, and once we're out of magic power they'll have no problem with picking us off."
"If I summon Taurus or Sagittarius then we might even these odds."
"That's too much of a gamble, if they have more reinforcements then you'll just be wasting your magic power."
"Now I'm pissed off as all hell, and if they think they can take us with a bunch of nameless thugs wearing masks then they're dead wrong!"
"So what then, we keep fighting?"
"We don't have any other choice, we're sure as hell not running away."
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All across the island, members of Fairy Tail were fighting off the nameless masked lackeys of Grimoire Heart, but because of their sheer numbers, their stamina and magic power began to dwindle as the battle raged on.
All the while, Zeref was resting alone under a tree, wondering why the wars just wouldn't come to an end.
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Despite taking the full force of the Amaterasu 100 spell and being severely weakened by it as a result, Makarov pulled himself back to his feet. He went on to tell Hades that he was a fine Master who taught peace, and asked what happened to him.
Hades drove Makarov further into the ground and explained the origin of Magic. He looked for its roots and ended up coming upon Zeref, learning the essence of magic. Hades then turned away, but Makarov stood once more, struggling to get back up. However, Hades had anticipated this and pierced Makarov square through the chest using his chain magic.
The battle between guild masters was over, and Hades had won.
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"It's not over… not yet… My successor… I hope you're ready to bear this burden…"
"What the hell?" hearing these words through his mind, a cloaked figure with blonde hair and a lightning bolt scar on one side of his face stopped walking through the desert and looked up at the skies above him 'It's strange, but I feel like someone just walked right over my grave. Laxus Dreyar, your life has turned fucking insane over the past year and a half. Whatever's going on, I doubt it's gonna be good.'
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Meanwhile, back on Tenrou Island…
"How do you like this one mother fuckers?! Fire Dragon Brilliant Flame!" Natsu launched a two-handed blast of fire that incinerated a considerable number of soldiers that were trying to attack him.
"Dragon Sword Style: Iron Hammer!" Luke thrusted his sword into the ground and unleashed a wave of electricity that electrocuted a large number of the surrounding soldiers.
"I'm not out of this yet!" Lily flashed into his battle form and blew away a few soldiers, but he transformed back almost immediately afterwards.
"Don't overdo it in your current state Lily, just try and conserve your stamina."
"Dammit, if I had more magic power then I could help you and Natsu fight them off."
"Hate to break it to you, but you're gonna have to sit this one out. Wendy's Sky magic can heal you, but she can't restore your magic power. Let me and Natsu handle this for the time being, okay?"
"We're in the middle of a crisis, and I'm stuck on the sidelines? That's utterly disgraceful."
"But it's a reality you're going to have to deal with."
"Did you see where Mest went off to?" asked Wendy.
"We can deal with him later, for the time being you should focus on healing your own wounds, and then healing the others."
"That's not how it works, I can't heal my own injuries."
"I was afraid you'd say that, in that case you should hurry and hide somewhere. It's like I told you, Natsu and I can handle these thugs."
"As much as I hate to admit it, you're right." Lily let out a sigh "The fact is that as we are right now, we're not much more than a liability, and we'd only be a burden on the battlefield."
"Take the time to heal and recover your magic power, leave this to us. I've spent two years training to protect my guild, and now you're about to see that training in action. And for those of you getting annoyed by Happy posing in the background like a Power Ranger, you can smack his shit when we get home."
"Fire Dragon WING ATTACK!" it was at this moment that Natsu ripped through a number of soldiers with a two handed fire attack "Oh come on guys, don't tell me that you're finished already! It's bad enough that you invaded the sacred ground of our guild, but my own precious scarf turning black has me burning up inside with all kinds of rage! Let me kick your teeth in a little bit more!"
"Take my advice and listen to him guys, if you don't want to end up like the rest of them then leave this island now."
"Or don't, I can go either way."
"Oh I can do more than that, I'll turn the entire damn thing to ash! Fire Bullet!" one ballsy yet stupid nameless thug blitzed behind Natsu and unleashed a blast of fire in his direction.
"Oh fuck yeah, come to papa." and so Natsu was engulfed in the blast of flames.
Luke just suppressed a smirk at the sound of the thugs cheering 'Should I tell them? No, it will probably be more fun to see the looks on their faces. Wait a second, they're wearing masks. Okay just come out Natsu!"
Sure enough, the smoke cleared to reveal Natsu consuming the flames "Way to ruin the fun for me Luke, I wanted to see the looks on their faces!"
"They're wearing masks you idiot. Anyway here's the deal guys, Dragon Slayers eat their respective element. He can eat any kind of fire, whereas I can eat any type of lightning. I've been told that you have a Dragon Slayer in your guild, so you should've been aware of that."
"Either way I should probably thank them for the snack, now I've got a fire in my belly."
"He's the Fire Dragon Slayer of Fairy Tail, Natsu the Salamander."
"Fire Dragon Wing Attack!" Natsu blitzed through at least ten mooks with a two-handed fire attack.
Needless to say, this was when the mooks finally decided to get smart "He's too much for us, we have to get the hell out of here! No matter what we throw at this monster, there's no way we can even touch him!" that put them on the receiving end of a glare from Natsu.
"And who the fuck do you think you're calling a monster?"
"Uh…"
"Enough of this bullshit already!" this was when Zancrow suddenly revealed himself perched atop a nearby plateau "I can't watch anymore of this bullshit."
"Oh thank the devil, it's Zancrow!"
"Just leave these ones to me, I was hoping to get some exercise on this trip. I'll pound these little bastards into the dirt while the rest of you go and look for Zeref, judging by what I've seen so far it shouldn't take more than a few minutes."
Wendy was horrified by what she was hearing 'So I was right, they really did come to the island to find the Black Wizard, and Fairy Tail probably just got caught in the middle of it. Why do these things always have to be so complicated.'
"Just go back to the ship and record Rising of the Shield Hero for me, and find info on when the next season is coming out or I'll burn you to a crisp!"
"Thanks a ton Zancrow, we owe you one." and so the soldiers started walking away, but they just couldn't stop talking "I didn't think they had anyone that strong, those two definitely live up to their reps."
"Hold it one fucking second!" Zancrow immediately rounded on him "These Fairy Tail wimps, you think they're strong, they actually scare you?"
"Well the thing is… we're so sorry sir, it was just a slip of the tongue!"
"There isn't a guild in this entire fucking world that can come even close to matching the strength of Grimoire Heart! Do you understand me?!" his body started radiating black flames with his rage "If you're actually so fucking stupid as to believe that these rejects are stronger than us, then you don't belong here!"
"I don't like the looks of this, this guy is packing some serious power. Everyone get close and stay behind me." Luke motioned for them to get behind him.
"And as of now, you're all out of the guild! Considered yourselves fired, literally!" and so he promptly incinerated all of them in a blast of black flames, laughing maniacally as he did so.
'He just wasted his own men like they were nothing. I shouldn't be surprised, things like loyalty and camaraderie don't mean anything to people like him.'
"Now do you see it assholes?! This is the strength of Grimoire Heart!"
"You son of a bitch!" Natsu promptly rounded on him "How in the fuck could you go and do that to your own comrades?"
"They weren't my comrades, and it's not like it's any of your business anyway. After all, if I were as weak as you then I would be careful who I talk shit in front of! Fire God EXPLOSIVE FLAME!" he let out a roar, and with it came a large blast of black flames.
"What a joke, don't you know your fire isn't going to hurt me?!"
"Natsu get down you idiot!" Luke blitzed forward and pulled Natsu out of the way right before he could be hit by the black flames.
"What the hell are you doing?! I was gonna eat his flames!"
"And end up either burning or poisoning yourself in the process, those are the only kind of flames you can't eat. I recognize those flames."
"That's what you get for being so cocky you little shit, and now you're about to get a taste of the main course!" Zancrow unleashed another blast of black flames.
"Dragon Sword Style: Thunderclap Strike!" Luke held out his sword and unleashed a blast of lightning from the blade.
Zancrow was forced to evade the blast of lightning, but his arrogance didn't waver "That's what a little shit like you gets when you try to eat above your stature you lowly Dragon Hunter!"
"The term is Dragon Slayer you dolt."
"Whatever, so how did your buddy there like my divine flames?"
"It's like I thought, those black flames are a dead giveaway. You're a God Slayer aren't you?"
"So even a weak and worthless guild like yours has people who know a few things, like how my magic is way out of your league. You're up against the Flame God Slayer, so you'd better go ahead and make peace with yourself."
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All over the island, the Fairy Tail wizards continued fighting off the nameless thugs, but it was only after most of them were defeated that the Seven Kin of Purgaory decided to reveal themselves to them. Caprico appeared before Cana's group, Meldy appeared before Erza and Juvia, Azuma appeared before Mira and Lisanna, and Rustyrose appeared before Elfman and Evergreen. Only Kain was left on his own, while Ultear continued searching for Zeref in the forests of the island.
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Meanwhile, with Noah…
'Typical, the old man beats down the Big Honcho of the enemy and then heads back to the ship to stuff his face, and meanwhile I'm left to do the dirty work.' Noah found himself alone on the beach, brooding beside a flag with the Grimoire Heart guild mark pinned into the sand 'So from the looks of it, it's gonna be Thunderclap and the rest of his guild against the Seven Kin of Purgatory, with the exception of Ultear. Hades has spent years crafting each of them, and myself, into sorcerers of what he believes to be unrivaled power. Each one of them is a master of an art that was born from the source of all wizardry, forbidden Lost Magic. Hades believes that even the finest of Fairy Tail will crumble like dead leaves against their overwhelming power, if you can really call it that. Hades is woefully underestimating them, and as far as I'm concerned, the Kin will fall one by one. I just hope that Meldy isn't going to be the first to go, because if I want one of them to survive, let it be her. I've gotta admit though, I didn't expect Hades to drop the bombshell of him being the second master of Fairy Tail. Sure he claims that he didn't want to have to take him out, but he seemed pretty ready as far as I could tell. Leave it to them to be the only thing standing in the way of what Hades really wants: the Black Wizard himself, Zeref. All things considered, I think Makarov did a pretty good job as the guild master up to this point, if you were able to push someone like Thunderclap to get as strong as he is now. Although as much as I hate the thought, Hades plans on bringing his reign as guild master to an end. As much as I hate to admit it, even at full power I'm nowhere near the level of Hades, and I learned that lesson the hard way. Thunderclap, our upcoming showdown isn't just for the sake of wanting a good fight, it's to see if what I believe about you is true: If you're the only one strong enough to finally bring Hades down once and for all.'
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Meanwhile, with Natsu and the others…
"You're going down you son of a bitch! Fire Dragon Iron Fist!" Natsu pounced at Zancrow and unleashed one fiery attack after another.
"Am I supposed to be impressed?" Zancrow dodged all of Natsu's attacks with ease and dealt him a black flame-enhanded fist that sent him flying "You left yourself wide open dumbass! I was expecting more power from a Dragon Hunter like you!"
"He's not the only one! Lightning Dragon Talon!" Luke blitzed in front of Zancrow and dealt him a lightning enhanced kick to the jaw, the force sending him flying back a short distance "By the way, the term is Dragon Slayer. Hey Natsu, you still good to fight this guy?"
"You know it." Natsu pulled himself back to his feet "Now that my body is warmed up, I'm more than ready to fight! This guy is gonna regret ever setting foot on this island."
'He's got the right attitude for a guy like this, but it's gonna take more than just an attitude to take out a guy who isn't affected by any of his attacks. The black flames are a dead giveaway that this guy must be a God Slayer.'
"You cocky little bastards have guts, I'll give you that much." Zancrow shot them both a smirk filled to the brim with insanity "But that's all you've got. Let me introduce myself, I'm Zancrow of Grimoire Heart, one of the Seven Kin of Purgatory, and the guy whose black flames are gonna rip you a new one. I'm the Flame God Slayer!"
"Well I'm Luke Drako, the Lightning Dragon Slayer, and he's Natsu, the Fire Dragon Slayer. We both happen to be wizards of Fairy Tail, and we're damn proud of it."
"Oh trust me you weak little fuckers, I know damn well who both of you are. One of you is famous in the Balam Alliance because all of the destruction you leave in your wake, and the other one has a rep for taking on a Wizard Saint and coming out on top, and then Jellal too, one of our pawns."
'So it looks like I was right, I didn't think Jellal was acting on his own if Aftershock was part of his plan, supposedly under orders. I guess it was Grimoire Heart pulling the strings behind all of this up until now.'
"You guys were able to annihilate the Lullaby demon, you stopped us from resurrecting Deliora, you've given one of our own a metaphorical fight boner for you, and then you and the rest of your friends fucked up our plans on a whole new level when you went and wiped out the R-system and Nirvana! You took down Jellal, and then you took down Master Zero, but if you think that's enough to make you hot stuff then let me tell you know, none of those guys are anything compared to me!"
"I wouldn't be too sure about that, it seems more like arrogance is talking than any real power working for you."
"Oh please, like I want to hear that from some pathetic lowly Dragon Hunter."
"You know what's cocky asshole? Calling yourself a God Slayer!" Natsu pounced at him with his fists coated with flames "What the fuck does that even mean, you expect me to believe that you got trained by a God? Should I expect Ryuk or Beerus to show up and claim that your their student or something?!"
"Oh cut the bullshit anime references!" Zancro blocked Natsu's kick with one of his own "But I guess if you can call Master Hades a god, then yeah, because he's the one that trained me to use this awesome Lost Magic!"
"If anyone ought cut then bullshit, then it should be you! Your master isn't a god, he's just a regular old dude like the rest of us! Unlike your fake ass, everything I learned about Dragon Slayer Magic came from the actual real deal!"
"Am I suppose go give a shit about it? Dragons are just flying lizards, wanna find one and ask the little guy if he's got any magic?"
"You heard the idiot." Luke pointed his sword forward "Dragons are a lot more than just lizards, and I have no idea why the hell I'm encouraging him."
"I'd shut your tray and stay out of this if I were you, I'm a little bit busy with Pinky here, but as soon as I turn him to a pile of ash I'm gonna deal with you next." he let out another maniacal laughter.
"That's assuming you're able to even get that far."
"What the fuck does that mean?"
"Hey assclown, you don't wanna get distracted when I'm around! Fire Dragon Talon!" taking advantage of Zancrow being distracted and tried to deal him a fire-enhanced kick to the head, only to be blown away by a blast of black flames.
Natsu quickly rebounded back to his feet as his body started radiating flames "Luke you'd better hurry, get the others the hell out of here!"
"So what then, you're gonna bring out the big guns?"
"You're damn right I am. The flames of my right hand, combined with the flames of my left hand. Put them together, and this is what you get!"
"I ask that you scorch all from the far West to the far East, oh breath of god!"
"Fire Dragon… BRILLIANT FLAME!"
"Flame God… KAGUTSUCHI!" the two powerful blasts of fire slammed into each other in a powerful collision.
"Dragon Sword Style: Thunder Dome!" Luke was quick to erect a Thunder Dome with his sword, in order to protect Wendy and the Exceeds 'The sheer power and the incredible heat those two are putting out. I guess this is what happens when the power of a dragon collides with the power of a god.'
"Dammit you little shit, you're really pissing me off!" Zancrow poured more power into his own blast, which proved to be enough to overpower Natsu's attack and send him flying.
'Dammit that's not good, I was afraid of that.'
"I've had enough of you little shits too, now get the fuck out of my sight!" Zancrow promptly attacked the others with another blast of flames, engulfing them in an instant, laughing maniacally as he did so "It wasn't just a bunch of cats in there, two of those puny fuckers were Dragon Hunters too right? Well too fucking bad, that will teach them not to take cheap shots at yours truly!"
"You sure about that?" the smoke cleared to reveal Luke and the others all alive and well, having been protected by his Thunder Dome spell 'To think this guy is capable of going toe to toe with the likes of Natsu, but I guess I shouldn't be surprised if he came from Grimoire Heart. Dark guild or not, Lost Magic is not something that people want to underestimate.'
"So you withstood that, give me a few minutes and then I'll really turn you to ash!"
"You won't get the chance to! Fire Dragon ROAR!" Natsu let out a roar, and with it the most powerful streams of flames he could muster.
"Forget it dipshit, don't you know that it was the divine who granted the knowledge of fire to humans? It wasn't created by mankind or dragons, it was the gods!" and he was engulfed in the blast of flames.
"Oh hell yeah, now I've got- Oh you've gotta be fucking kidding me!"
As it turns out, Zancrow was consuming every last spark of flames from Natsu's roar "Nice try jackass, next time give it your A-game!" and again, the joys of TFS references.
'There's no way, he just ate all of my flames like it was a fucking buffet! That's my thing!'
"That's some pretty tasty fire you've got there, there's nothing like more than the flavor of violent and never ending flames! It doesn't matter if you do have enough power in you to slay a dragon, you'll never have it in you to slay a god. Prepare to witness the power of the magic that comes from Grimoire Heart! Flame God BELLOW!" he let out a roar of his own, and with it came a large stream of black flames, the force of it clashing against Luke's Thunder Dome, not touching those inside of it, but the force still blowing them over the side of the cliff.
Natsu on the other hand, he wasn't so lucky, as he was blowing way over the side of the cliff away from the rest of them, supposedly unconscious.
"Well it looks like those Dragon Hunters and ther losers have hit rock bottom." Zancrow glanced over the side of the cliff, and then he started laughing maniacally.
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At the same time, Cana, Lucy, Gray and Loke were having a hard time battling against Caprico of the Seven Kin of Purgatory, as it seemed that none of their attacks were able to hit or damage him, despite the fact he wasn't using magic to dodge their attacks, nor was he able to predict their movements. However, Loke seemed to recognize who Caprico was, and he started worrying greatly about Lucy.
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Meanwhile, with Luke…
Following being pushed back by Zancrow's blast and hurtling down a cliff, Luke pulled himself off the ground and took a moment to compose himself 'Okay, I think I can worry about the possible concussion later. Well the good news is that I wasn't hurt by that, but the bad news is that I got separated from Wendy and the others, and Natsu got blown to kingdom come. I've gotta find the others and regroup." he was about to do just that, when he noticed several orange balls descending from above "Yeah that figures."
As it turns out, those orange balls were containing several dozen of the nameless Grimoire Heart soldiers, all raring and ready for a fight "Forget it Fairy Tail scum, if you wanna get out of here then you're gonna have to go through all of us!"
"...Yeah okay, so this is happening now." Luke promptly picked up his sword as the blade started surging with electricity "I don't have time for this, I have to find my friends and if I have to rip through all of you to do it, then I will." and so as the soldiers pounced at him, he thrusted his sword into the ground "Dragon Sword Style: Iron Hammer!" from the blade he unleashed a surge of electricity that evaporated most of the soldiers surrounding him in an instant, and then he dealt the others a series of punches and kicks that ripped through them each in an instant, only to see more of the soldiers descending from the skies above 'Dammit, this is going to take longer than I thought. I don't have time for this, I have to find the others before Natsu does something stupid and gets all of them killed!'
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Meanwhile, with Natsu…
"Oh for fuck's sake…" by this point, Natsu had regained consciousness and was slowly limping through the forests of the island "I've gotta admit that guy was hardcore, it's been a long time since I've actually come across any sort of fire that actually felt hot. Wait a second, where the hell am I?!" but then he stopped and quickly took a whiff 'I know that sent… and it smells like blood…' it didn't take him long to figure out what it was, as he soon found Makarov lying in the crater where Hades had left him, in a pool of his own blood "Holy fuck… Gramps… Come on, snap out of it already!" he promptly fell flat on his face in the crater.
Makarov slowly opened his eyes and glanced over at him "Natsu… it's you…"
"What in the name of fuck happened to you? Oh crap, you got hurt pretty bad didn't you? I'm kind of scared of what might happen to you if I move you, but we have to get you to Wendy real fast, of course that's a lot easier said than done because I have no idea where the actual fuck we are right!"
"Natsu…"
"How did you get your shit wrecked like this, can you tell me who did this to you?"
"Natsu… please… listen to me… The chances of us… defeating Grimoire Heart… are next to nothing…"
"You've gotta be out of your fucking mind right now, the Gramps that I know would never say anything like that!"
"You're injured… my boy… Who did that… to you…?"
"This isn't a single damn thing compared to what I'm gonna do to him! The next time I see that bastard, I'm gonna tear him a brand new flame hole!"
"Natsu… I beg you… Find the others… get them on the ship… and leave while you can…"
"Gramps will you quit talking like that? We're not done with the S-class trial, and as Master of the guild you're supposed to support us. We never ran from anyone, not Phantom Lord, not the Oracion Seis, or anyone else!"
"While that's true… there are times when… the best thing to do… is retreat…"
"Master…"
This was when a surge of black flames descended before them, and the smoke cleared to reveal none other than Zancrow standing before the two of them, laughing maniacally in his typical fashion "Well fucking well, it looks like Master Hades went and did one hell of a number on you didn't he Makarov?"
"Your master, so he's the one who did this to Gramps?"
"Please my boy… let it go… remember what I just told you…" Makarov looked up at Natsu, only to notice something 'What the…'
"Forget it Gramps, there's no way I'm backing down."
'Natsu… he's sweating and trembling in fear.'
'Dammit come on man, get ahold of yourself!'
"Oh what's the matter?" Zancrow wasted no time in mocking him "You having a hard time right now Dragon Hunter? Looks to me like you're freaking the fuck out, you're pouring out sweat like the old man is pouring out blood."
'Come on Natsu, get a grip on yourself already! This feeling, I know it's fear, but-" he was cut off by the maniacal laughter from Zancrow.
"Yep you've got it, though I can't say I blame you since it's gonna be terrifying for a brat like you to face my ultimate power! I'd be standing there shitting myself too if I were you!"
"Don't get the wrong idea you Super Saiyan 3 reject. I know what I'm feeling is fear, but it's a lot more than that, and it's not the same kind of fear that Luke was talking about." crimson flames started radiating from Natsu's body "You're not the reason why I'm trembling, the only thing I'm afraid of is you and the rest of your asshole buddies doing in Gramps, Lisanna, Happy and the rest of the people from Fairy Tail here on the island. There's no way in hell that's going to happen, I'm gonna rip all of you a new one! I'm gonna make sure that all of you pay, I'll take all of you down with my bare hands, if you got a problem with that then you can suck on the flat end of my Fire Dragon!"
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Meanwhile, with Luke…
With the numbers of soldiers slowly dwindling, Luke lured the Grimoire Heart soldiers into an abandoned cave 'Perfect, this will give me the chance to take out a bunch of them with one single spell, so that way I don't have to waste the magic power on multiple spells.' he started ripping through a few soldiers with a series of punches, kicks and slashes from his sword, but then he glanced over to see at least two dozen of them charging through the cave entrance 'And now would probably be the best time to put that to the test. Lightning Dragon ROAR!" he let out a roar, and with it came a powerful blast of lightning that incinerated many of them the instant it made contact."
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Around the same time, Azuma began his battle against the Strauss sisters, mostly wanting to have a good fight. Lisanna went to fight him first, being able to cast a fast chain of Take Over spells, though Azuma was able to counterattack, and his attacks resulted in Mira getting deadly serious, and she promised him that he would regret underestimating Fairy Tail.
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Meanwhile, with Natsu vs Zancrow…
Zancrow was less than impressed by Natsu's speech and just gave a psychotic smirk as he started radiating black flames "You really think you're gonna be able to take down Master Hades you little shit?! There isn't a hope in hell of that ever happening, especially not if you can't even take me down."
"Watch me." on that note, Natsu dealt Zancrow a few hard punches with his fists coated in his flames, sending him skidding backwards in the process.
"It's like I told you before, your flames don't have any effect on me!" Zancrow stopped himself and used his black flames to stop Natsu's next attack "Try and get this through your thick skull already, your fire magic doesn't have anything on my flames since they're on a totally different level! My flames do a lot more than just burn stuff, I can turn them into a weapon of fire that can tear through any enemy and burn them to a crisp! Flame God Scythe!" he summoned some black flames and morphed them into a black scythe, which he promptly used to rip through a nearby tree, laughing maniacally as he did so.
"Fire Dragon IRON FIST!" Natsu rebounded off of some of the chunks of the severed tree, and used his enhanced strength to send part of the tree crashing down on top of Zancrow.
"GOTCHA!" less than a second later, Zancrow burst through the tree and launched a black fiery fist into Natsu's gut, causing him to cough up blood and sending him flying backwards. Too bad for him, but Zancrow wasn't done yet as he summoned more black flames "My flames love to consume a bunch of pathetic weaklings like you! You're going down once and for all you little bastard! Flame God SUPPER!" he morphed his black flames into a mouth-shaped attack on both hands, and he promptly engulfed Natsu in it, causing him to scream in pain "You might as well just stop fighting now, because once my blaze gets you there isn't a chance in hell of you getting out! Not until you've been turned into a pile of smoking ash!"
"Oh yeah, well that's what you think! I can still eat my way out of here anytime I well and fucking please!"
"Feel free to go ahead and try it, but there's no way with the power of a dragon could ever hope to eat a divine flame!"
"We'll see about that!" Natsu tried to consume the black flames, only to end up screaming from the pain.
"Don't say that I didn't warn ya!" but then Zancrow suddenly got grabbed from behind, courtesy of a giant hand "A giant huh?"
"What the- Gramps?!"
As it turns out, Makarov had extended his hand and increased its size to grab Zancrow from behind, using what little strength he had left "How dare you… What kind of heartless monster would harm one of my own children right before my very eyes? Let him go right now, or else I'll crush you like an insect, and when I'm done there won't even be a single trace of you left!"
"Oh really, you wanna bet old man?" Zancrow shot him a wicked smirk as he started radiating black flames "Oh come on now, you'd better let go of me soon, otherwise the only thing that's going to vanish without a trace is your arm!" he was met with only the sound of Makarov gritting his teeth "You've gotta be out of your fucking mind, let go or you're seriously gonna lose that arm for real!"
"If that's what it takes, then so be it!"
"Dammit gramps you can't be serious, just let go of him!" Natsu pleaded with him "I'm begging you, let the fuck go of him!"
"I have to say young man, I do pity you, but I won't let go! I'll never forgive anyone who harms my children, so you can burn my body to a crisp if you like, but I won't rest until my children are safe!"
Hearing Makarov's resolve, Natsu let out a primal roar as his body started radiating flames of his own.
"So this is it then…" Zancrow gave a wicked grin "Which one of us is it going to be, I can't help but wonder. Is it going to be the Dragon Hunter, Makarov or yours truly? Which one us is going to kick the bucket first?"
Natsu's roar turned into a harpy-like shriek as his flames continued to surge, but then that roaring fire died out altogether, much to the horror of Makarov.
"Looks like we have our answer, he just used up every last ounce of his magic power!" and on that note, Zancrow barked out another maniacal laugh "Looks to me like the Dragon Hunter is the first to go!"
"Don't be so sure about that!" this was when Natsu proceeded to defy logic, and promptly consumed the black flames engulfing him.
"No fucking way that's possible, there's no way a Dragon Hunter should be able to eat my divine flames!"
"It's because I'm fucking awesome is how I did it!"
Makarov however, he had a good idea of how it actually happened 'That's incredible… By using every last drop of his own magic power, he turned himself into a vessel that's capable of consuming flames that should be inedible.'
"I think I get it now, I had no idea there was a special trick I had to use when it came to eating certain types of fire."
'No way in hell, I wouldn't call that level of magic a special trick. He emptied his entire body of magic power while that of the enemy began to build up inside. How in the name of hell could be so reckless Natsu, did you want to die?!"
"I have no intention of dying Gramps, not before I see Igneel again! And besides, I don't plan to let anyone else die either! No one in our guild is dying, at least not on my watch anyway! All of us are going to make it back home to Fairy Tail!" Natsu blitzed towards Zancrow and dealt him a brutal uppercut, and with a primal roar he then pounced at him as he began summoning flames in both hands, orange in his right and black in his left "Dragon and divine flames, put them together to become one, and this is what you get! DRAGON GOD BRILLIANT FLAME!" he put the flames together and launched the blast forward, engulfing Zancrow in the explosion that followed, despite the maniacal laughing that echoed throughout the battlefield "And for the record, the term is Dragon Slayer."
Makarov was left jaw-dropped by the sight of Natsu's victory 'I can't believe that he was able to win against him… He's grown so much… He's became an amazing wizard…'
However, despite taking the full force of Natsu's blast, Zancrow was still conscious, albeit in a sizeable crater a short distance away "No way… no fucking way… He's nothing but a weak little Dragon Hunter… how could he beat me?"
'He emptied out all of his own magic power in order to act as a vessel to absorb the flames of his opponent… Such a strategy seems impossible… but then again, he doesn't know the meaning of that word… Though I still need to scold him for being so reckless…'
"Hey Gramps." this was when Natsu got his attention "I say we keep fighting… I learned something pretty important from Luke earlier… There are times when you have to know your limits, and know when to fall back… but this isn't one of those times… These people decided to make a hell of a lot of enemies out of Fairy Tail… we've gotta show them why nobody can or should do that… You can never defeat a guild that has as much heart as we do, not if you don't have any heart of your own! Not without a fight! You know I'm right, don't you Gramps…" and then he fell forward and lost consciousness.
"Natsu!"
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Meanwhile, with Gajeel…
'So these assholes don't wanna give up do they?' by this point, Gajeel had encountered a considerable number of Grimoire Heart soldiers in his travels throughout the island, and was fighting all of them off at once, though he quickly lost patience with this "So you assholes wanna play rough?! Well fine! Iron Dragon Lance: DEMON LOGS!" he hardened his skin using his Iron Dragon Scales and fired forward a large number of iron spears, piercing through at least a dozen soldiers in the process.
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It didn't take long for Wendy and the three Exceeds to track down Natsu and Makarov and quickly get to work with healing them, but they quickly grew frustrated when they couldn't succeed in this matter. Fortunately, Makarov regained consciousness for awhile and asked Wendy to remove the malevolence on Natsu's black scarf so that he may recover. Panther Lily was quick to theorize that the black haired youth that had turned Natsu's scarf black may have been Zeref himself, the man sought after by Grimoire Heart.
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Meanwhile, with Azuma vs the Strauss sisters…
"Bleve." Azuma simply held out his hand, and a series of explosions sent Mira and Lisanna flying yet again "If you are indeed one big family as you claim, then I suppose it's only fitting that you all fall together. Still though, all things considered, this is proving to be a rather disappointing battle."
"Dammit… this isn't good…" Mira spat out some blood "This isn't good, Lisanna you can't keep this up. The only chance I have is to use Satan Soul, but I have no idea how that's going to turn out."
"Sounds rather intriguing, I have to admit."
"The problem is, I have no idea if my body will be able to hold out."
"I know who you are, the two of you are sisters from the legendary Strauss family of the Fairy Tail guild, and if that truly is the case, then that must mean you're the one known as the so-called She Devil. However, I've been told that through unusual circumstances, you've been without your magic power for two years."
"Who could've told you about-" then Lisanna promptly froze "Don't tell me…"
"Hate to break it to you Animal Girl, but he's right." a new voice cut in, attracting the attention of both Lisanna and Mira.
"I never thought you'd be with Grimoire Heart of all guilds… Noah."
Sure enough, Noah dropped down onto the scene and cracked his neck "Sup Animal Girl, She Devil, it's been a few weeks."
"Yeah, but I never thought you would show up with Grimoire Heart! How could you keep that from us?"
"I did mention I was part of a dark guild."
"But you conveniently forgot to mention it was Grimoire Heart!"
"If I told you that then chances are you would've tried to kill me way before we ever got back to Earth Land, and judging by that look on your face you're about to try and do just that." he cranked his neck to dodge a sweep of her cat claws "As I was saying. Azuma take five, I'll take over with these two."
"I'd rather not abandon a battle once it's started." Azuma pointed out "Besides, you know that what I want is a worthy challenge."
"And these two can't give it to you, I already told you that I have a pretty good idea of exactly who can. Besides, the old man gave you orders before."
"...Yes, I suppose. I'll just have to hope that you're correct about your assumption in regards to this opponent." and so Azuma promptly disappeared in a flash.
"Alright then, where were we? Oh yeah, as much as I'm not fond of doing this, I've found that more dire circumstances can make people fight that much harder. Observe. Mountain Dragon Molten Coffin!" Noah slammed his hand into the ground, and Mira was suddenly encased in molten rock.
"Mira no!" Lisanna could only look on in horror "What are you doing?"
"Five minutes, that's how long you've got before the molten rock I'm using to bind her will explode. Don't bother trying to pull it apart either, that's a waste on your time and energy, and you're going to need as much of it as you can get."
"But why trap her like that?"
"Like I said, in order to get you to fight that much harder. Like Azuma was saying, your sister is out of practice with her magic by about two years, so going up against her wouldn't be that much of a fight. But you're a different story, judging by your assault against Azuma before."
"You were watching me fight him?"
"I wanted to see how much you've improved since our first fight on Galuna Island, now why don't you come at me."
"If I have to defeat you to save my sister, then I will!" on that note, Lisanna was promptly engulfed in a white light, and when it dissipated, she was back in her Chimera form, though her mind was racing as she did so 'I don't have much magic power left after fighting Erza, but if the only way for me to save my sister is to fight, then I will!' and so she charged forward.
"You combined the power of multiple transformations into a single form, not too shabby." and the smirk never left Noah's face, even when her foot was buried in his gut "Maybe I should've left you to Azuma after all, but oh well. Mountain Dragon ROAR!" he let out a roar, and with it came a powerful tornado that sent her flying backwards.
'Darn it, this isn't good! I'm running out of time, I have to save Mira!'
"If you have time to worry about her then use it to focus on the fight! Mountain Dragon Molten Bindings!" Noah slammed his hands together, and he promptly bound Lisanna's arms and legs with bindings made of rock, which promptly exploded and sent her flying into the air as a result of the blast.
Lisanna rebounded in mid air and charged through the smoke, and she launched herself directly towards Noah with a furious barrage of attacks "LET MY SISTER GO!"
Despite the ferocity, Noah dodged and blocked all of her attacks with ease 'Her speed, strength and ferocity are on an entirely different level. I usually only get the feeling of being this alive when I spar with someone on the level of Thunderclap. You're definitely putting up a better fight than you did last time, but don't think that will be enough to beat me. Mountain Dragon Tectonic Uprising!" he slammed his hand into the ground, causing an earth pillar to rise up from the ground beneath her and slam into her gut, sending her hurtling into the air "And now for the follow up! Mountain Dragon Boulder Barrage!" he summoned a number of boulds and sent them hurtling towards her and slamming into her 'Will she be able to rebound from that?'
"Chimera CANNON!" despite taking the force of Noah's attack, Lisanna rebounded and tried to blow him to hell with a two-handed blast of golden energy, instantly engulfing him in the explosion that followed. Once that was done, Lisanna slowly returned to the ground and began panting heavily 'Please let that be enough, I don't know how much magic power I have left in me right now.'
Unfortunately for her, when the smoke cleared, Noah was revealed to be unharmed, having protected himself with a dome made of earth and rock "Let me take a wild guess, you forgot about the Mountain Dragon Terra Dome didn't you? Pretty impressive all things considered, I'm actually enjoying this fight a lot more than I thought I would, so do you wanna keep going with this or what?"
'This isn't good, he's way stronger than I thought he would be, and after fighting Erza before and using this form twice in the same day, I don't have enough magic power to keep this up for much longer. Mira's bindings could explode at any second, and the way things are going I've only got one choice.' she blitzed the other way towards where Mira was imprisoned.
Mira was horrified by the sight of this "Lisanna what the hell are you doing?!"
"I'm doing the only thing I can, saving you!" she threw her arms around Mira and shut her eyes as she waited for the inevitable.
"Hate to break it to you, but that won't do much good." Noah pointed out "The only chance you have of stopping it is to save me, so are you going to come over her and fight me or not?"
"I'm sorry, really I am." she slowly transformed back "I didn't want it to end this way, not after everything that's happened, but the fact is that I just don't have enough magic power left to defeat you, or even fight you any longer. The way I am right now, I'm just not strong enough to do it."
"So what then, you're giving up on me?"
"I'm not giving up hope, I know for a fact that at least one person in our guild has the strength needed to take you down. I know they will. But for me, there are times when you have to know when you've been beaten. Right now, the only thing I can do is make sure that I don't let my big sister die again." she tightened her hold on Mira and braced for the inevitable blast… but it never came, and after a moment she opened her eyes in confusion "I… I don't understand. Did the explosion not work for some reason?"
"There's a good reason for that actually." Noah snapped his fingers, and the rock bindings encasing Mira crumbled away "It's a little something called bluffing, look it up."
"Wait… what?"
"I was never gonna blow her to hell, that's more of Azuma's thing than mine. Like I said, dire circumstances can make people fight that much harder, and your performance just now was proof of that. But with that being said, you should already know that I'm not a sadist." he promptly blitzed forward and dealt Lisanna a solid chop to the neck, knocking her out cold, and then he turned to Mira "Like I said, you're two years out of practice so there's really no need for me to try and fight you."
"Yeah, you mentioned that." Mira let out a sigh "The things you say sound pretty similar to the version of you back in Edolas."
"I live by my own rules, plain and simple. All things considered though, your sister put up a good fight, and just keep in mind that this isn't personal. Mountain Dragon Terra Fist!" he hardened one of his arms like rock and slammed his fist into Mira's gut, causing her to cough up blood and pass out right next to Lisanna. With that done, Noah promptly walked away from the scene 'Well that's two down, I wonder how the others are holding up.'
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Now for a quick glimpse of how one of the others is holding up.
Elfman and Evergreen had quickly encountered and started battling against Rustyrose, though he seemed to have the upper hand on them, and after striking both of them down, he went on to explain the motives Grimoire Heart had for capturing Zeref in the first place.
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While wandering through the forests of Tenrou Island, Ultear finally ended up coming across her goal, Zeref himself. She quickly paid him her respects and told him that it was his whole existence that they desired. However, Zeref was actually angered by this and informed Ultear that he didn't desire any sort of strife in this age, and he promptly ordered her to leave the island at once, to which Ultear began shaking in a mix of shock and fear at the sight of Zeref's anger being directed at her.
Zeref promptly attacked Ultear in an attempt to chase her away. However, Ultear's determination didn't waver despite this, and she struck back in order to capture him, but Zeref accidentally unleashed his Death Predation once again during the battle. With his guard down, Ultear was able to take down Zeref, though she suffered a few injuries in the process, but it didn't matter to her now.
Zeref was now in her grasp.
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At the same time, Elfman and Evergreen encountered the edge of a cliff as they were forced to run away from Rustyrose's Belcusas the Thunderclap. Being left with no other choice but to fight it, the two of them worked together in order to defeat it. Shortly after this, Rustyrose appeared before them and expanded on the Grand Magic World, claiming that all of those who cannot use magic, and the trash in the guild were useless.
This left both Elfman and Evergreen quite angered, and the two of them promptly engaged him in a two on one battle. However, despite their teamwork, Rustyrose was able to outsmart the two of them, and then he went on to explain the nature of his magic, Arc of Embodiment, before moving to finish off the two of them with the Tower of Dignir.
Before their defeat, Evergreen apologized to Elfman, claiming that she had been nothing but a nuisance to him. However, Elfman contradicted this and promptly thanked her, right before the tower exploded.
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Meanwhile, with Natsu…
Once the malevolence was removed from his scarf, Natsu's eyes promptly snapped open and he bolted upright "What the- What the hell happened?"
"Natsu!" almost immediately, Happy and Wendy threw their arms around him "You're alive, we're so glad you're okay!"
"Nevermind that now, where the hell is Gramps?"
"He's right over here." Pather Lily and Carla motioned to where Makarov was lying unconscious a short distance away "I'm afraid he isn't out of the woods quite yet."
"Dammit…" then he noticed his scarf was back to normal "My scarf is fixed."
"You can thank Wendy for that." Happy told him "She used her Sky magic in order to get the bad gunk out, and she flipped your clothes back while you were catnapping."
"Oh. I owe you one Wendy, thanks for that."
"It's no problem, really." then Wendy got creeped out by the look he was giving her "Uh… is there something wrong Natsu?"
"Hold that thought." Natsu took a whiff, then scowled and promptly bolted upright "You've gotta be fucking kidding, I know that smell!"
"What are you talking about?"
"Just take a whiff, you gotta be able to recognize it too."
"Uh… not really, sorry. It's just that there are so many new scents around here, I'm having trouble figuring out who's who."
"This one you should know who it is, just take a look over there and then take a whiff."
"Okay, if you say so." Wendy took a whiff, and then her eyes widened "Wait a second… isn't that supposed to be Noah's scent?"
"Yeah it's him, no doubt about it. He's here on the island too." Natsu looked around, and then his eyes widened "He's close, that way!" and so he promptly took off, or at least tried to.
"Natsu wait, you can't just take off like that!" believe it or not, Wendy calling out to him like that was enough to call him off.
"I may be an idiot but I'm not stupid." see if you get that reference.
"I don't understand though, why would he be here?"
"There could only be one explanation… he totally came to save us from Grimoire Heart!" he was met with everyone comically falling over "What?"
"Or more likely, the exact opposite of that." Carla told him flatly "Perhaps the fact is that he came here with Grimoire Heart."
"What?" Wendy's face fell considerably upon hearing this "But that doesn't make any sense. I mean, he helped us in Edolas and helped us save our guild, so why would he be fighting against us now?"
"I don't know and frankly I don't care, if he's with Grimoire Heart then I'm gonna go and tear him a new one!" and so Natsu promptly bolted off into the woods.
"Natsu hold on, don't run off like that!" but this time, Wendy's cries went unheard "But if it's true that Noah is with Grimoire Heart… you don't think Natsu will try and fight him do you?"
"Without a second thought." Carla told her dryly "But I must admit, I'm more concerned about all of this business regarding Lost Magic."
"I must admit that I'm somewhat envious of Natsu's powerful snout." Lily noted "He seems quite akin to an animal."
"Well it is Natsu, and he's about akin to an animal in terms of heightened senses, and in terms of intelligence."
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On the Magic Council warship, one that Azuma didn't blow to hell last chapter, Mest, who shall now be known as Doranbolt, appears before Lahar, who was ordering people to tend to the wounded and repair the damaged ship, about the events that were currently taking place on Tenrou Island, about the battle taking place between Fairy Tail, Grimoire Heart and Zeref on the isalnd. Lahar was quick to warn him that Gran Doma, the chairman of the new Magic Council, was very strict and would likely eliminate those he believed to be wrongdoers without even bothering with a trial, and he might resort to using the Etherion once more. Doranbolt was left shocked by this, and he begins having second thoughts about contacting headquarters.
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In the battle against Caprico, Loke quickly told the others to leave and search for the other members of the Seven Kin of Purgatory scattered throughout the island. He went on to explain to them that Caprico's magic, Human Subordination Magic, weakens their magic as humans, and as such they could not defeat him. He also went on to reveal to them that Caprico was a Celestial Spirit, just like him, Capricorn the Ram. At first, Lucy was against the idea of leaving Loke to fight by himself, but when she finally relented, she made Loke promise that he was going to come back to her, something that causes Caprico to recognize her, if only slightly.
Upon realizing this, Loke began his one on one battle against Caprico, Spirit vs Spirit. It didn't take him long to discover that Caprico's magic enabled him to capture and summon humans at will, and that Caprico had no master. The two of them began talking, and Caprico came to realize that Lucy was the daughter of none other than Layla Heartfilia, which caused him to be filled with rage and claim that Lucy could not be allowed to live.
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Meanwhile, with Natsu…
By this point, Natsu was bolting through the jungle and following his nose, his mind racing as he did so, with Happy following close behind him 'He's close, I can smell him like he's right next to me. I just don't get it though, sure Noah seemed like he was calling us out on bullshit most of the time we were together in Edolas, but he never struck me like the kind of guy that would work with people like Grimoire Heart, even back when you showed up on Galuna Island. Whatever the reason is, I know what I have to do. There's no way in hell I'm letting you lay a hand on any of my friends, and if I have to take you down to keep them safe, then I sure as hell will!'
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The battle between Spirits didn't take too long to intensify.
Caprico summoned the Hunter of Belparaso Samagui in order to hunt down Lucy, and though the huntsman was skilled, Loke was able to intercept his attacks aimed at Lucy, and he successfully defeated him. After this, Loke went on to confront Capricorn about his absence from the Spirit World, which had lasted for 17 years. Capricorn was originally contracted to Layla, Lucy's mother, and with her death, Lucy should've become his new master, though it seems that Lucy knew nothing of this arrangement. Capricorn went on to answer that it was because he had tried to break the rule of his magic, and then he started laughing.
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Meanwhile, with Luke…
'Dammit, these guys just keep coming after you don't they?' growing frustrated with constantly having to deal with Grimoire Heart foot soldiers, Luke led the soldiers still chasing into a nearby crevice, and with limited ground he started ripping through them one after another, each one only needing to take a single blow before they went down "I've had enough of dealing with you guys, the rest of my guild needs me! Dragon Sword Style: Thunderclap Strike!" mustering as much magic power as he could, he pointed his sword forward, and from the blade burst forth a massive blast of lightning, incinerating all of the remaining soldiers in its path. With his enemies finally taken care of, Luke fell to one knee in exhaustion 'Taking care of so many enemies by myself was lot more draining and time consuming than I was expecting, not only did it take me hours to deal with all of them, but the Dragon Slayer lacrima Kaminari implanted in my back can only restore my magic power so fast. I'll need some time to recuperate before I join the others, or else I won't be able to do anything to help. Please, just hold out for as long as you can.'
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Meanwhile, with Natsu…
By this point, Natsu was still following Noah's scent through the forests of Tenrou Island, his mind racing "I'm telling you I can smell him."
"Come on Natsu, you have to slow down." Happy told him "Don't forget that Master told us that the terrain is super rugged!"
"What the hell does that have to do with-" and then he fell down a cliffside and started sliding down the slope "Dammit this totally sucks, make it stop!" and then he started getting motion sickness again 'Dammit, of all the times for me to have to upchuck, why the fuck did it have to be now?!' he kept sliding until he went over another cliff, and he hit the ground with a thud. After a moment passed, he was able to pull himself back to his feet "Okay, that totally didn't hurt me one bit. Nope, not feeling any pain." he took another whiff "He's close, I can smell him like he's right on top of me. But what's this other scent?"
"Natsu get down, it's below you!" Happy soared towards him and pulled him out of the way, just as a massive tree sprouted from underneath his feet.
"Thanks for the save little buddy, but where the fuck did that tree come from?"
"That was courtesy of a little trap left by one of the Seven Kin of Purgatory." a voice got their attention, belonging to Noah from his place on one of the tree branches "She left a sprouting seed hidden deep within the soil beneath where you landed, she used her Arc of Time magic to accelerate it so that it would grow within a matter of minutes."
"So I was right, it really was you after all."
"At least that black hole you call a brain is good for something Salmander, I'm kind of surprised you actually remember who I am."
"I wouldn't forget the face of people I thought were gonna be one of our friends but end up stabbing us in the back."
"You say that like I led you on by lying through my teeth, and the fact that you think that's what happened is a new level of stupid, even for you. I told you and the kid that the next time we met, we would most likely be enemies. As for the objectives, it never crossed my mind for even a second that you guys came for Zeref like Grimoire Heart did."
"What the hell do you- WAIT A SECOND!" that came out way louder than necessary "You mean that crybaby was Zeref? You mean the same guy who created Lullaby, Deliora and the other bad shit?"
"That's the guy, and for the record the Daughter of the Year, aka the leader of the Seven Kin of Purgatory already has her hands on him, and she's basically claimed him as her own."
"Fuck that, I don't even want the guy! I just wanna get my hands on your guild, you and the rest of them are gonna pay for hurting my friends!"
"Oh that's definitely going to happen, I know that much for a fact. Just remember this, like I said about us being enemies, I also said that I had no intention of holding back against you if we had to fight." he leapt down to the ground to meet Natsu at eye level "Now let's get this shit underway already."
"Oh trust me, I'm gonna get this shit under way by pounding you into the ground!"
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At the same time, Erza and Juvia were squaring off against Meldy, who promptly attacked them by summoning a series of magic blades. Juvia was initially confident that her water body would render any physical attacks ineffective, but Meldy's blades were able to cut clean through her, something that left her shocked. It didn't take long for them to figure out that Meldy was one of the Seven Kin of Purgatory, but she ignored them and considered eliminating them as part of her mission.
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Back with the battle of Celestial Spirits, Capricorn began to cast Huma Raise, the spell that would allow users of Human Subordination Magic to capture a human. It was considered to be a taboo to use it against someone that wasn't actually a human, such as Loke, considering he was a Celestial Spirit, and it would cause the user to fuse with the target. It didn't take Loke long to figure out that Caprico was actually Capricorn, but he had a human fused into him. He was able to transfer Regulus to Capricorn before he ended up being possessed by the human in question, known as Zoldeo. Using the Regulus Loke had transferred, Capricorn managed to recover and then cast Zoldeo out of Loke's body, which not only defeated Zoldeo, but caused him to fade away from existence, due to committing a taboo. After this, the two of them returned to the Celestial Spirit World, with Capricorn confirming his loyalty to Lucy.
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Meanwhile, with Lucy's team…
Lucy was still running alongside Gray and Cana, but then she suddenly came to a stop when she noticed the pouch at her side, the one holding her Zodiac keys, glowing brightly "What the…?"
"Hey is there something wrong?" Cana and Gray were quick to notice her stop "Oh come on, don't tell me that Loke is in trouble or something."
"Nope, nothing of the sort. That was just his way of telling me that he won."
"About time, I knew he could do it."
"He says he doesn't want to go into all of the details right now, but apparently Capricorn has switched over to our side. Also, he says that the fight really took it out of him, so he's gonna try and recover his strength by heading back to the Celestial World for the time being."
"Fair enough."
"Hold on, what now?!" Gray's head snapped at the last part.
"Well it only makes sense, keep in mind that he's been using a lot of his magic power to stay in the human world all this time."
"But that's so fucking unfair, that backstabbing son of a bitch promised me he was gonna be my partner in the trial!"
"Yeah, well…" Lucy gave a nervous grin "He wanted me to tell you was gonna make it up to you later."
"I don't have later dammit! You know what screw it, when you see that four eyed womanizing dipshit that I don't even need his help with making it to S-class!"
That last statement from Gray pretty much struck a chord in Cana, and her face fell at the thought of what he said 'S-class… that's right, I totally forgot about the trial.'
"Like I said, just fuck it. It's about time the three of us got moving again."
"Wait hold on a second, I've got an idea. The way I see it, if we want to find the rest of these creeps from Grimoire Heart, it might be easier if the three of us split up."
"You think so?"
"It makes sense to me."
"You've gotta be crazy!" Lucy protested "I don't want to risk running into one of them when I'm all by myself!"
"Oh come on Lucy, you don't have to worry about that. I'm gonna be there to protect you from anything and everything they throw at you."
"So that's it then." Gray's expression dulled considerably "When you said that you wanted to split up, you were basically talking about ditching me."
"How do I know you're not jealous? For all we know, you just want to watch us compare our cup sizes don't you?"
"Where the fuck did you get that from, there's no way in hell that's true and you know it! My point is that I don't think us splitting up is a good idea, keep in mind that we're a lot stronger as a group than we are on our own."
"Think for a second Gray, the only reason I suggested we split up to search for the enemy is because I want to get back to the S-class trials, and if we're going to do that then we have to wipe them out. I bet I know exactly why you're against it though, you're scared aren't you?" she was met with a jaw dropped look from Lucy.
"...Fuck it, if you're so eager to have your way then fine. Let's go ahead and split up here and go on our own."
"Just make sure you don't get yourself killed out there."
"Right back at ya." and then the three of them split up, with Lucy looking at Cana with an expression filled with worry.
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Meanwhile, with two Dragon Slayers…
Natsu dropped into a stance as he prepared to pounce at Noah, and he let out a snarl "Alright you know what, I've had just about enough of you and your guild! If you and your friends hadn't shown up when you did, my friends wouldn't be fighting for their lives, Gramps wouldn't be bleeding out, and I'd be a fucking S-class wizard by now!"
"Nice to know you've got your priorities in order." Noah's tone was laced with sarcasm "How could this situation get on my nerves anymore than it already has?"
"Can you hear me Noah?"
"Ask a stupid question." Noah let out a sigh and looked up 'Alright I hear you, what do you want old man? And before you say it, get it through your thick beard that there isn't a hope in hell of me calling you master.'
"I've come to accept as such. The time for you having to hold back the full extent of your power is nearing its end. My scouts tell me that you're currently engaging one of Fairy Tail's Dragon Slayers at the moment. I want you to crush him completely and totally."
'I'm getting a fight out of this to the extent I want, no more and no less. If you want a lap dog that will follow your orders however you want, go and find Rustyrose or Kain."
"...I expected such a response to come from you. So be it then, so long as you defeat all of those you come across, I shall leave the rest to you."
'Good, now get out of my head.' with the telepathic connection to Hades severed, Noah turned back to face Natsu "I did say before that the next time we met, I wasn't going to hold back. Get ready for it Salamander, you're about to see that for yourself." he dropped into a stance.
Natsu's stance faltered slightly, his mind racing 'This dude is fucking insane, I can smell his magic power before he's even putting it out. The air itself around me is shaking, like it's an earthquake without the quake. But I can't back down now, not when Fairy Tail is counting on me to win this fight! Show me what you've got."
"I intend to." Noah's orange-colored magic power spiked around him, shaking the entire battlefield with the sheer force of his power.
'What the fuck?!' Natsu found himself nearly blown off his feet by the sheer force 'This is fucking insane, how the fuck is able to put out this much power?!'
"You've gotta give it to Hades, even if he is a fucking lunatic with plans to basically destroy the world and about 90% of the people who live in it, he knows how to train a magic to the fullest extent one can think of. I'm not normally one for arrogance but you might as well face the reality of your situation Salamander, you can't beat me."
"Don't fucking count on that! Fire Dragon ROAR!" Natsu's flames surged wildly around his body, and he let out a roar that accompanied a powerful stream of flames.
"Mountain Dragon Scales." Noah just calmly stood in place, the Roar hitting him full on, but when the smoke cleared, his body was entirely covered in rock and earth, and he didn't have a single scratch on him "I know my magic energy alone probably would've been enough to power through that roar, but I rarely get the chance to show this off, and if you've got a skill and you don't have a good reason not to use it, then use it."
'That's just like that armor spell Gajeel used back when we fought during the battle against Phantom Lord.'
'He wasn't using anywhere near his full power in that Roar, which means that either he's trying to gauge my power, or he's just that hotheaded, reckless and overconfident.'
"Fire Dragon WING ATTACK! TALON! IRON FIST! SWORD HORN!" Natsu launched himself at Noah with a rapid barrage of fire-enhanced physical attacks, but none of them even managed to break through Noah's scales, or even make him flinch at all "FIRE DRAGON TALON!"
However, the last fire-enhanced kick forced Noah to crank his neck ever so slightly, but that was it, and he kept taking Natsu's rapid barrage of attacks with ease 'He's got more power, speed and ferocity than I was expecting from him, but not by much. He's coming at me with everything he's got, burning himself out like a damn fool. Every wise warrior knows that before you try and fight someone all out, you have to find the scope of your opponent's power, understand the way he reacts, and establish your own strengths in comparison to his, and then you'll be able to use your own power and energy in the most efficient way you can. This is a lot more than just some pointless brawl, at least it is for me. I'm using this as an opportunity to test whichever warriors I can and see what they're like at their maximum power. At least that way I can enjoy myself to an extent, and see if I can push myself to the point where I actually have some fun for a chance. You can't seriously be telling me that's all you've got Salamander."
"Not by a fucking longshot!" Natsu's flames flared into life as he surged forward and let a rapid barrage of attacks fly.
Noah simply held out a hand to block Natsu's attack "Well at the very least you got me to lift a hand against you, so you could probably call that progress." he continued block every attack being thrown at him, resulting in a crater forming around the two of them from the continuous shockwaves.
"For fuck's sake, what the fuck is it gonna take to get you to fight back?!"
"More than what you've been showing me up until now, try actually using that thing on your shoulders for once."
"SHUT THE FUCK UP!" now losing what little temper he had, Natsu let out a primal roar as flames exploded around him.
'He's getting angrier the longer this goes on, which means that he's putting out more flames and more power into his strikes. But at the same time, the angrier he gets, the less focused he is, which means that it's that much easier for me to see through his attacks. Knowing what Hades is like, he's probably going to want me to make him as strong as possible for when I beat him, in order to try and break the morale of everyone else in Fairy Tail. He thinks that if they see one of the strongest in Grimoire Heart get pummeled, the rest of Salamander's guild will realize that they don't have a chance in hell of defeating us, and as a result they would lose their will to fight against us. Goddamn psychological tactics.' he raised his guard just in time.
"Fire Dragon IRON FIST!" with his flames burning brightly akin to his rage, Natsu launched forward a fiery fist and sent Noah crashing through a number of trees behind him, and then he followed up with a barrage of other attacks.
"Mountain Dragon Terra Fist!" hardening his arm like rock, Noah slugged Natsu straight across the face, sending him flying away, followed by him blitzing across the battlefield and dealing Natsu a fierce number of attacks, but then grabbing him by the foot and slamming him through a number of trees and boulders.
"Fire Dragon TALON!" Natsu broke free of Noah's hold by dealing him a fire-enhanced kick to the side of the head that broke his grip, and then he leapt out of the way of the next attack as his hands were coated in flames "Dragon Slayer Secret Art: Flame Lotus! EXPLODING FLAME BLADE!" he pounced forward and launched a spiralling torrent of flames from both of his hands.
"Mountain Dragon Terra Dome!" thinking quick Noah slammed both of his hands into the ground to protect himself from Natsu's torrent of flames, and once the attack had subsided, he grabbed Natsu by the ankle and threw him to the ground, and then continued launching his own barrage of attacks, sending Natsu crashing through one tree after another, and once he stopped with that, he picked up Natsy by the hair "For the record, what I'm doing isn't personal, but a lot of it is catharsis. You really got on my nerves during the whole thing in Edolas, and pretty much every other word that comes out of your mouth makes me want to either rip out your tongue or rip off my ears. Like I said, complete and total catharsis. But in the meantime, this battle is over now. Mountain Dragon Molten Fist!" encasing his fist in molten rock, he promptly slammed it into Natsu's gut, which then promptly exploded (due to the molten properties), the force of the blast sending Natsu tumbling across the landscape "Well that was disappointing, at least the Animal Girl put more of a fight than you."
"Shut… up…" this was when Natsu pulled himself out of the rubble and then pulled himself back to his feet, despite the heavy wounds he was covered in, and the blood that was pouring from said wounds.
"You're still coming back for more? I shouldn't be surprised by that."
"I hope you're ready… for what I'm about to do to you… I'm gonna rip your fucking head off… no matter what it may takes…"
'He's barely hanging on as it is. Using as much power as he did to defeat Zancrow earlier, and then taking those onslaughts from me until now, he's barely hanging on as it is. I doubt he's going to last for too much longer.'
"You said before… the Animal Girl… you were talking about… Lisanna… weren't you?"
"I thought that was obvious, it was either me or another guy from my guild, and he would've been a lot less merciful in his approach. She put up a good fight, even if she didn't win. The same can't be said for you though. I think it's safe to say that you've seen more than enough of the power I'm packing back here, the fact is that you can't win against me. You've been taking one beating after another at less than your full stamina, you really think you can keep going as you are?"
"You're damn right I do… and I'm gonna make sure… that you go down…"
"You really can't."
"Your cockiness… it's really pissing me off…"
"Which is exactly how I feel about you."
"Shut… UP!" Natsu let out a roar as he tried to summon some flames, but whatever sparks he had were quickly snuffed out.
"See, this is exactly what I was talking about before."
"I don't need my flames… I'm more than a match for you… as I am right now!" Natsu leapt forward and tried to deal Noah a barrage of punches and kicks.
'He doesn't have any real power behind his attacks anymore, those flames of his are nothing more than a simple spark now. This isn't going to get you anywhere, just give up while you still have the chance."
"Shut your TRAP!" Natsu let another fist fly, only for it to be caught by Noah with ease.
"If you really wanna go down the hard way then so be it, I thought I could have some fun while I was here for work, maybe get a few good fights out of it, but then you show up." he dealt Natsu a swift yet brutal uppercut that sent him flying.
'Dammit!'
"Natsu no!" Happy could only look on in horror from his place on the sidelines, not getting any closer to the battle "Natsu just hang on! He's in real big trouble, it looks like that last punch drained whatever power he has left!'
Natsu landed in a nearby crater with a loud thud, but he gritted his teeth 'Dammit… I can't be done… not yet… I've gotta… keep fighting…' despite the struggling, he eventually managed to pull himself back to his feet and shot a glare in Noah's direction using what little strength he was able to muster "I swear on the pride of Fairy Tail… we're gonna take your guild down… it doesn't matter what it may take… I've still got fight in me… you of all people should know… that you should never sell a Dragon Slayer short… that pathetic little uppercut of yours… it didn't hurt me one fucking bit…" he spat out some saliva mixed with his blood, and then he surged forward and left a fist fly.
"Nope." Noah promptly countered Natsu's attack with a fist to the face that sent him crashing to the ground.
"D-Dammit…" Natsu staggered back to his feet "I'm not finished with you… not yet… not by a fucking long shot…" he launched himself forward, only to be met with a kick to the chest that sent him skidding backwards, but he immediately rebounded, only to be met with a brutal barrage of earth-enhanced punches from Noah 'Dammit, every hit that he lands is like a fucking bulldozer! It's like he's ripping my body apart with every blow he lands!' he was finally brought to his knees by a chop to the neck.
"Your chances of beating me are about the same as your stamina, absolutely 0."
"Maybe… but even if… I'm not the one… who takes you down… even if… I'm not the one to deliver… the final blow… as long as my guild… survives and wins… then I'll be able to live with that…" he grabbed Noah by the arm and tried to flip him over his shoulder.
Noah simply let out a spike of his magic power, which sent Natsu tumbling to the ground in a heap as a result "I think we both know the person you have in mind."
"Yeah… we do… but not yet…" Natsu forced himself back to his feet "I can't lose… to you… not yet…"
"And yet see what happens next. Mountain Dragon Terra Fist." Noah hardened his arm like rock and slugged Natsu straight across the face, sending him tumbling backwards until he was hanging off the edge of a cliff by his leg.
'Dammit… I can barely move… or see… or anything…' Natsu spat out some blood 'I don't think… I can keep going…' but then certain images flashed through his mind, particularly of a certain young woman with white hair and he regained a fragment of his resolve 'No… I can't give up… I know what's at stake… I know what's gonna happen… if we lose… I'll lose her… and she'll lose her smile… the smile that keeps me going… I promised her…' he slowly struggled back to his feet 'I promised her… I would never let her lose that smile… never again… I'm not done… not yet…"
"You've said that at least half a dozen times now." Noah's tone was increasingly dry "You know as well as I do that in your current condition, you don't have a chance in hell of beating me, yet you keep going on despite the fact that you're barely able to stand."
"You sound so… so confused by that… it doesn't matter what it is… because even if I did tell you… I doubt you would understand… you're just a cold-blooded bastard… from one of the dark guilds… you don't know what it means… to fight to protect something… with all the strength you've got!" he pounced forward again and let a fist fly, only to be met with an elbow to the face, but he firmly stood his ground "She's counting on me… to protect her… to make sure she never loses her smile… and I can't… no… I WON'T LOSE! Fire… Dragon… ROAR!" so with all of the magic power he was able to muster, Natsu let out a roar as loud and as long as he could, and with it came an absolutely massive stream of flames, engulfing Noah in the explosion that followed it.
When the smoke cleared, Noah stood a few feet further back than he was before, and his Mountain Dragon Scales had all crumbled away, but aside from that and a few light burns across his front, he hadn't been damaged by the blast "So that's your final attack?"
"Oh god dammit, you've gotta be fucking kidding me!" Natsu tried to let another fist fly, only for it to be caught by Noah with ease "You're wrong about me. I understand what it means to fight to protect something, I understand it a lot better than you think I do. The only difference between us, something that Thunderclap and I both understand, is that we take those feelings we have and pour them into training, along with our very hearts and souls. Learn that and get stronger, and once you do, come and find me, and then I'll gladly take you on again." and with that, Noah dealt Natsu one final fist to the face, sending him flying one last time.
'I couldn't keep my promise… I hate myself for that… In the end, I guess I just didn't have what it takes… I'm such a damn fool… Lisanna… Happy… Igneel… everyone… I'm sorry…' he let a few tears flow 'Luke… Wendy… hell, even you Gajeel… the rest is up to you… you guys can't fail too…' it was at this moment that whatever strength Natsu had left finally gave out, and he lost consciousness.
"Natsu hold on!" Happy quickly caught Natsu before he went over the cliff, then he took one last look down at Noah, and then he promptly flew away.
'And that's another one down.' Noah let out a sigh as he promptly started eating the earth surrounding him, and he sniffed around 'Looks like I can smell Black Steel not to far form here, let's hope he puts up a better fight.'
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At the Fairy Tail base camp, about 20 minutes later…
Following the battles that took place, the camp had been reduced to pretty much a wreck inside of a crater.
Mira was in the middle of tending to the wounds of Levy and Lisanna while they lay unconscious in a tent 'Well they're both breathing, and all things considered it could've been a lot worse than this. But still though, part of me is shocked at how strong Lisanna has gotten, and yet despite that she was defeated by Noah so easily, and I was so helpless. Dammit, it's all my fault."
"Don't be like that big sis, it's not anyone's fault."
Mira looked back, and her eyes widened at what she was seeing "Elfman…"
Sure enough, Elfman had made his way back to camp on foot, and in his arms he was holding the unconscious form of Evergreen "Hey big sis, we're back."
"Yeah but covered in what I hope is dried blood, what the fuck happened to you?"
"As much as I hate to admit it, we got our assess kicked. I spent so long training with Luke so that I could prevent this kind of hell from becoming a reality, and for what?! They're just too damn strong, we don't stand a chance!" tears started streaming down his face "I'm nothing but a pathetic excuse for a man! I couldn't protect my partner or my ownlittle sister against the likes of those monsters!" he was cut off by a sharp pain across his face, sending him stumbling backwards a few feet.
As it turns out, Mira had slapped him straight across the face, her eyes burning with a mix of tears and determination "Stop Elfman, that's not how a real man talks, and that's sure as hell not how a wizard of Fairy Tail talks either. I didn't spend two years in another world just to watch everything fall apart before my own eyes. It's about damn time we came together again! All of you wanted to become S-class wizards so damn badly that you let the trial drive you apart! Even if it was only for a little bit, maybe a week at the most, but all everyone was thinking about in that time was themselves instead of what's best for the guild. Well none of us can afford for you to do that, not anymore."
"She's right." this was when Happy dropped down onto the scene, still carrying the unconscious and badly wounded form of Natsu.
"Thank you cat." Mira promptly tucked Natsu under some blankets and stuck him right next to where Lisanna lay, and she turned back to the others "It doesn't matter how overwhelming the enemy might be, we're Fairy Tail goddammit! All we have to do is come together and combine our strength, conviction and feelings, then we'll have what it takes to beat them! We have to come together, because it's the only way we're going to survive this."
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Unfortunately, what no one realized was that the exact opposite was about to happen.
Lucy was still walking through the forests of Tenrou Island with Cana, though they were talking about something rather unexpected "Mavis' grave?"
"Yeah, I mean you said before that you figured out where it is." Cana pointed out "I was gonna ask you about it earlier, but then all of this crazy shit started happening."
"Well yeah, sure I'll tell you about it, but do you really think now is the best time to start thinking about that? I mean keep in mind, we are caught in the middle of a literal war between our guild and a dark guild."
"Yeah I know that, I'm just curious is all."
"Well I might as well, but I have to warn you that I could be totally wrong. There was a lot of guess work involved in this. First of all, I decided to think of a list of words that could somehow be connected with the word grave. There's death, sleep, earth, stone, star, maybe end. Sadly, none of those single words was six letters long."
"Wait I don't get it, where did you get the idea that there needed to be six letters in the word?"
"It came from the time limit, keep in mind that Master did give us six hours to track down the grave. I figured that number had to be important. Now I know it's a little bit of a stretch, but I thought of a word that not only has six letters, but also relates to the words grave and time. In this case, I'm talking about demise. To put it simply, it essentially means to end. It's associated with death, and therefore it meets the letter requirements and there's an element of time to it." all of this left Cana slightly taken aback "Okay, now this is where things start to get a little bit iffy in my theory. This is just a hunch, but if you look at the word demise, there's one letter in there that's different from the others. You want to take a guess which one it is?"
"I would, but I doubt I'd be right."
"There's one letter that's used twice, and in this case it's e. Doesn't that look sort of suspicious in your eyes?"
"Where are you going with this?"
"Keep in mind that all of the paths that were chosen at the beginning of the trial got marked with letters?"
"You mean back in the first round."
"Yep, you got it. Route E, I think that's where…" but then she suddenly fell over and promptly passed out.
As it turns out, Cana had used one of her Magic Cards to cast a sleep spell on Lucy "You've really been a big help in all of this, so thank you for that." she then proceeded to drag Lucy into the bushes, away from from visible path 'She should be safe here.' she started to take her leave, but not before looking back at Lucy with an expression filled with guilt 'I'm sorry Lucy, I'm so sorry. I swear I'll make this up to you.' and despite her guilt and sorrow, she took her leave, leaving Lucy alone and unconscious.
Unfortunately, what she couldn't have predicted was that mere moments after she had left Lucy behind, she had been found by Kain Hikaru of the Seven Kin of Purgatory.
A/N:
And with this chapter, we see the true battle with Grimoire Heart begin, with all of their forces arriving on Tenrou Island, including the Seven Kin of Purgatory, and the master of the dark guild, Hades, not only defeating Makarov with ease, but also revealing his true identity in the process. He is Precht Gaeblog, the former Second Master of Fairy Tail, Makarov's predecessor. And he's also a major powerhouse, even more than the likes of Jose, so you guys probably know where I'm going with this. Anyway, by the end of the chapter, we see that two of the Seven Kin of Purgatory have fallen at the hands of Fairy Tail, courtesy of Natsu and Loke, and now only five of them remain, six if you count Noah. However, all is not well at the moment, as Lucy has been abandoned by Cana, who leaves her to search for the grave of Mavis, unaware that in her absence, Lucy is found by another member of the Seven Kin of Purgatory.
So yes, during the course of this chapter, Luke has to deal with fighting off the foot soldiers of Grimoire Heart, rather than fighting one of the Seven Kin of Purgatory. Keep in mind that he's a lot more powerful than most of the other members of Fairy Tail, so the fight would probably be over too soon. Besides, I've got an opponent in mind for him already, but their fight is going to be closer to the climax of the overall arc, which actually should come in the next chapter or two.
A twist with the fight involving the Strauss siblings is that, in this case, Lisanna is the one fighting instead of Mira, and it's going to be against Noah rather than Azuma. I thought it would be a nice role reversal, and a good callback to their first fight on Galuna Island. As for another Noah fight, I decided that I would have him take on Natsu in place of Ultear. That fight has three purposes, those being to show how much more powerful Noah is than Natsu, show off Natsu's character and resolve a little bit more, and to keep him out of commission for the time being, which means that he won't be able to save Lucy from Kain Hikaru. I've decided to give that spot to another character, but I won't reveal who now. That's going to be revealed next chapter.