Gajeel and Juvia were facing an uphill battle against Horoki. The Warrior Takeover mage's strength was far higher than they could've predicted. The two of them were pretty bruised and injured, while Horoki only had moderate injuries on his body. "C'mon, I'm just warming up!" Horoki grinned, taunting the two of the as he swung his greatsword around easily.

"Tough bastard..." Gajeel said while spitting out some blood, panting heavily.

"We can't give in, Gajeel-kun. Cynthia is right above us!" Juvia exclaimed. She believed that Wendy would be able to save Cynthia, so they had to do their part and make sure nobody could interfere.

"Yeah, you're right. This spot right here is gonna be really important, I can feel it..." Gajeel said with a soft grunt.

"Yeah, this spot is important." Horoki said while charging at the two of them. "This spot is gonna be your resting place! Gladiator's Swing!"

Gajeel pushed off, his arm transforming into an iron blade. "Iron Dragon's Sword!" He lunged and met Horoki halfway, a powerful shockwave booming out as a result. The two were in a stalemate, Gajeel gritting his teeth as he attempted to overpower Horoki.

"Not a chance in hell, Kurogane!" Horoki was just about to push Gajeel back, but that's when he felt Juvia attack.

"Water Slicer!" Juvia slipped behind Horoki and swung her arm forward, sending numerous crescent scythes of water at his back. Each one struck and Horoki grit his teeth, feeling Juvia's attacks cut into him. His Gladiator Takeover had no defensive ability; it was just raw power and he was feeling the drawbacks now.

"What's the matter?!" Gajeel grinned as he stepped forward, pushing Horoki back a little bit. Gajeel was fully intending to overtake Horoki, but it was a stalemate. But this was fine, because Horoki was getting the worst of it. "Feeling the pressure!?"

"You little shits...!" Horoki snarled while planting his foot firmly on the ground. His greatsword gave off a menacing glow and he planted his feet firmly on the ground. "Warrior's MIGHT!" He twisted his body around clockwise, his sword slashing through Gajeel's own sword, which broke his arm in the process. He also was able to reach Juvia with this attack as well, his blade piercing through her Water body to inflict damage on her. Gajeel and Juvia were sent flying on opposite ends of the corridor, slamming into the wall. Horoki panted as the both of them were attempting to recover.

"Shit..." Gajeel coughed.

"Ngh..." Juvia held her side in pain.

"Now then..." Horoki didn't plan on playing with his food any longer. "Let's start with you, Rain Woman!" Horoki pushed off towards Juvia to try and finish her off, but he didn't notice the way his shadow shifted. It was at the last second that he felt a presence and turned around, only to see his shadow looking back at him. "...What the...?"

"Shadow Dragon's...ROAR!" Rogue Cheney emerged from Horoki's shadow, firing off a roar darkness at him from near point blank range.

"What!?" Horoki's eyes widened. He brought up his greatsword, just barely able to defend against this. He was sliding back a great distance as well. "Cheney!? Where the hell did you!?"

"White Dragon's Drill Kick!" Sting appeared from Horoki's leg, slamming his magic infused leg into the warrior's temple, knocking him into the wall.

"Sting!? Rogue!? What the hell!?" Gajeel was standing up now, in shock at their arrival.

"Why are you two here?!" Juvia gasped.

"We came to help!" Sting said while pounding his fists together. "Yukino came with us too!"

"We couldn't stand idly by..." Rogue said.

"That's right!" Frosch added.

"Sabertooth was told something like this would happen, but we didn't believe it! Until...it started happening!" Lector said.

"What the..." Gajeel had no idea what this meant. But considering the situation, he'd take the help for now. "Just so you know, we were gonna win."

"...Better safe than sorry, right?" Sting said with a cheeky grin.

Horoki pulled himself from the wall and snarled. "Lucky me...I get to kill three dragons today..." He then grinned, a red aura flaring around his body. "Did you know...my Gladiator Takeover only gets stronger the longer I fight. And the more people that fight me..."

.

.

"On guard, Titania!" Byron jumped into the air, bringing his hammer down towards Erza.

"You'll pay for destroying Fairy Tail!" Erza jumped to the side just as Byron brought his hammer down; however she wasn't expecting the large explosion that followed after, sending her stumbling over to the side. "An explosive hammer…?"

"That's right!" Byron grinned, swinging his hammer towards Erza's side.

"Tch!" Erza jumped into the air, utilizing her Black Wing Armor's flight to avoid Byron's strikes. "Requip mage, I should've guessed…" Erza thought to herself before flying towards Byron, pulling her powerful sword back. "Take this!" Erza swung her sword down at Byron.

"Heh, Kanso!" Bryon switched his hammer out for a green sword and the same shield he used against Mirajane and Elfman. Byron placed his shield up front just as Erza swung her sword, sending the force back at Erza, causing her to fly back.

"W-What the…!?" Erza stared at Byron's shield. "Just like Dan Straight's Richochet…you can reflect any attack back…"

"Ah, the holder of Ricochet and Habaraki, yes," Byron replied. "Well, I'll let you in on a little secret. My reflector shield is a million times better than his shield!"

"Is that so?" Erza replied, a heavenly light bathing her body as she turned into her Flame Empress armor.

"Of course!" Byron grinned, letting his shield vanish as he held up his green sword. "This here is my Wind Edge! I'll just say this, Titania. This is one requip mage you won't be able to beat!"

"I'm going to defeat you!" Erza shouted, lunging forward with her flaming sword held back.

"Bring it, Scarlet!" Byron grinned, swiping his Wind Edge at the air, sending multiple sharp winds towards Erza.

"What!?" Erza quickly stopped, bringing her sword up in a defensive position as the sharp winds slammed into her, causing her to slide back a few times. "What the…?" Erza shook of the impact, and then dashed forward, swinging her flaming sword horizontally at Byron's chest.

"Too slow!" Byron jumped back; narrowly avoiding Erza's slash, and then gripped his sword with both hands. "Wind Blade!" Byron swiped the Wind Edge sending a sharp blade of wind towards Erza, but she somersaulted to avoid it, now in the air.

"Kanso!" A heavenly glow surrounded Erza's body as she appeared in her Thunder Empress Armor, immediately swiping the electrically charged spear at Bryon.

"Shit…!" Bryon brought his Wind Edge up as a tiny defense as the electricity flowed through his body, shocking him for a few seconds before regaining his senses. "Whew! Not bad, Titania, but not good enough!" Byron's sword vanished, and in its place power gloves and boots appeared on his hands and feet. "Let's dance!" Byron swung a fist towards Erza, smirking.

Erza brought her staff up for defense, grunting at Byron's fist made contact with it…but the spear shattered only after a few seconds, causing Erza's eyes to widen. "W-what?!" Before Erza could react, Byron slammed a powerful right hook into Erza's jaw, sending her spiraling into the nearby wall, causing a smoke cloud to appear.

"Something wrong, Titania!?" Byron asked with a cocky smirk.

When the smoke cloud cleared, Erza was standing in her giant's armor, deciding it would be best to match physical strength; because she couldn't take the chance of Byron breaking another one of her weapons like he just did. "Just fine!" Erza replied, lunging forward towards Byron with a fist pulled back, immediately throwing it forward as she neared Byron.

"Oh, this'll be great!" Byron threw his fist forward, meeting Erza's in the middle; the power of the two causing a loud shockwave that gave a thunderous boom, shaking the entire room. Byron then aimed his leg towards Erza's side, but she caught it with her free hand, smirking slightly as she hurled Byron into the sky, changing into her Black Wing Armor once more, and flying into the air with her sword held back. "Not so fast!" A heavenly glow surrounded Byron's arm, putting up his reflector shield just as Erza slashed. Erza waited for the impact, but nothing happened; While Erza was temporarily distracted, Byron swung his power infused fist into Erza's face, sending her crashing into the ground. "HEH!" Bryon landed on the ground, holding his shield out in front of him. "Surprised, are we?"

"Kanso!" Erza jumped from the smoke in her Flight Armor, two swords in her arms as she used her enhanced speed to try and catch the skilled requip mage off guard by running around him in circles, her speed so great she left after images.

"Speed trick, huh?" Byron pointed his shield in a particular direction, closing his eyes as he listened for Erza's footsteps. "…FOUND YA!" Byron released the energy the shield had pent up, slamming right into Erza, and causing her to stumble back a few feet.

"T-Tch…!" Erza tried her trick once again, only this time she moved in a zig zag pattern, swiping at Byron with her swords when she got close enough. Byron was nimble, so he was able to avoid the slashes with ease, only a few of them cutting his clothing, but nothing more.

"Too slow!" Byron slammed his powered fist into the ground, causing a shockwave that blew Erza away, causing her to hit the wall with her back, letting out a grunt.

"H-He's no joke…" Erza thought to herself, standing up slowly as she winced.

"But you are!" Byron grinned, giving Erza the gesture to come at him.

.

.

Cynthia's stomach rumbled loudly, causing the young girl to whimper lowly. "I need food…I'm hungry…"

"Too bad," Aiden replied, working on the Omega Fire Cannon's repair.

"I need food…" Cynthia replied, sniffling because it had been hours since she last ate. "Why did you do this today…"

"What's that supposed to mean?" Aiden asked, raising a brow.

"Today's Wendy's birthday…" Cynthia replied with a low, weak voice, tears forming around the corner of her eyes.

"And I'm supposed to care?" Aiden shrugged off, looking up at the lacrima screen once again, seeing the final matchup he could. "Titania vs. Byron…where the hell is Veronica and Aloysius…Wait…" Aiden looked at another screen, spotting Wendy and Natsu making their way to the top of the stairwell. "They're close…"

"W-Wendy…!" Cynthia perked up as she felt Wendy's scent enter her nose.

.

.

Cobra jumped off the wall, puffing his cheeks out as a magic circle appeared. "Poison Dragon's Roar!" Cobra opened his mouth, unleashing a wave of poison towards Veronica.

"Wall!" Veronica spread her arms out, creating an invisible wall that blocked Cobra's attack. "Nice try, snakey!" Veronica replied with a smirk. "I've fought too many dragon slayers to not know how they work!"

"This is annoying…" Cobra groaned, standing on a floating platform.

"Is that your friend?" Veronica asked, pointing over to Kinana. Cobra read Veronica's thoughts, his eyes instantly widening at what he heard her planning. "I'll take that as a yes…" Veronica smirked slightly, using her telekinesis to lift both Kinana and Cobra into the air.

"W-What are you doing!?" Kinana asked, attempting to break free from Veronica's grip.

"Just bringing you two…" Veronica crossed her arms, slamming Cobra and Kinana into each other, causing both of them to grunt. "Closer together." Veronica's actions had Cobra seething; how dare she have the audacity to do such a thing!? He thought.

Though Cobra was in Veronica's grip, he could still open his mouth, and he did just that, "Poison Dragon's Roar…" Cobra unleashed a vortex of poison towards the preoccupied Veronica.

"C-Crap!" Veronica cut off her telekinesis to cover up from the poisonous roar, but it was too late, the roar slammed into her, but she didn't take any external damage. "Well…that was weak…"

"The poison will eat you from the inside out…" Cobra smirked slyly. "You'll feel it soon…" Cobra then stuck his hand out. "Sound palm." An invisible force pushed Veronica into the wall, causing the annoying blonde to let out a small yelp.

"O-Ow! What was that!?" Veronica shook her head from the impact and jumped onto a floating platform.

"Poison Dragon's Scales…" A set of poisonous scales hit Veronica from behind, causing her to fall onto a platform below.

"W-What the hell!?" Veronica looked around, feeling the burning sensation of poison inside her body.

Heather walked into the room, looking down at Veronica with a smirk. "Oh my…did I hit you?"

"Hm…" Cobra looked over at Heather with an interested look. "Poison Dragon Slayer…first generation…"

"Huh?" Heather looked up at Cobra with a confused looked. "How did you…"

"I can hear everything," Cobra replied.

"That doesn't sound as good as it should…" Heather replied.

"Hey, don't ignore me!" Veronica shouted at the two poison dragon slayers, waving her hands around as she sent the floating platforms hurtling towards the two.

"Whoa!" Heather crossed her arms, bringing up a Poison Dragon's guard to protect herself from the platforms, but the velocity was too great so she was sent flying back a few feet due to her guard shattering. Cobra heard where Veronica planned to send all the platforms, so he just jumped on the platforms that Veronica wasn't using.

"She can't focus on more than one thing at a time," Cobra said to Heather, closing his eye.

"Is that so…?" Heather smirked slightly at Veronica, who stared to get nervous from the poison flooding her system.

"Ironic, isn't it?" Cobra said with a sly smirk. "You control poison, yet you haven't built up immunity to it…"

"Ugh…" Veronica took a step forward, only to collapse from the numbness in her body. "D-Dammit…I can't move…!"

"Hm…well, that was disappointing…" Heather crossed her arms.

"E-Erik, are you okay?!" Kinana asked, shaking off the earlier hit.

"Yes," Cobra replied, looking over to Kinana. "Are you?"

"I'm fine…" Kinana nodded.

"There are two mages left…" Cobra said, taking a calm stance as his arms turned to normal as he exited his Dragon Force. "Both from Silent Sanctum…"

"Silent Sanctum…?" Kinana asked, looking over at Cobra with a strange look.

"That's right…A requip mage who is currently fighting Erza…and the ace of that guild…"

"E-Erza? Is she okay!?" Heather asked.

"She is not."

.

.

"What's wrong Titania!?" Byron was wielding yet another hammer that required the use of both of his hands, along with a purple and white robe. This was Byron's special combo of his Gravity suit and hammer. Byron swung his hammer to change Erza's gravity, then swinging the hammer like a golf club, propelling Erza into the air. Using his gravity suit, he changed the gravity around himself, propelling himself into the air and slammed Erza into the nearby wall. Erza let out a scream of pain as she had no time to react to Byron's assault. Byron swung his hammer again, pulling Erza from the wall, and slammed her into the ground, creating a large crater. "I guess you're not ready!" Byron replaced his gravity hammer with his Explosion Hammer, smirking at the downed Erza as he jumped into the air. "FOR THE BIG BANG!" As Byron brought his hammer down, a steel wall appeared in front of him, catching him off guard as his explosion sent him back. "W-What the hell!?"

"Heh, nice one, Zalen!" Reve smirked. "My, my, Titania," Reve said as he walked over to Erza. "You just haven't been having good luck lately, have you?"

"Reve…?" Erza stood up slowly, looking at Reve and Zalen. "So, you're here too…"

"You seemed to be having a bit of trouble," Zalen said with a smirk, fixing his glasses. "So, we came over to help."

"Oh great, more mages! This is great, more blood for my collection…!" Byron grinned as he stood up straight from his explosion.

"This guy is weird…" Zalen whispered over to Reve.

"Well!" Reve smirked as two assault rifles manifested themselves into his hands, and he pointed them at Byron. "I'll show you how a REAL requip mage does things!" Reve them clicked the trigger on his guns, unleashing a seemingly endless stream of bullets towards Byron.

"We'll see about that, gunslinger!" Byron smirked as his shield appeared on his arm, reflecting the shots right back at Reve, Zalen, and Erza.

"Shit!" Reve and Zalen rolled hard to the left while Erza rolled to the right.

"Yeah, that shield's a problem," Erza said, shaking her head as she entered her Heaven's Wheel armor.

"Tch, we'll see about that!" Reve started to fire once again, but not an endless stream like the last time. "Zalen!"

"Right!" Zalen put up a steel wall right as Reve finished shooting, using it as cover as Byron easily bounced the bullets back.

"Oh?" Byron smirked slightly, a death scythe manifesting in his hands as Zalen's wall protected Reve and Zalen. "Let's see how you handle this!" Byron lunged forward, swinging his scythe at the steel wall, easily cleaving the wall in two, causing the wall to vanish. But Reve was prepared for this; Reve had a shotgun equipped, and pointed it at Byron just as he cut down the wall.

"Burst Shot!" Reve shouted as he fired the highly concentrated bullet at Byron, forcing the Deadly Blade to slide back a few feet.

"Hey, not bad, cowboy!" Byron's eyes went to the left, and he brought his scythe up, blocking a downward slash from Erza. Erza back flipped; her eyes wide that Byron was able to react so quickly. "Heh, watch this…" Byron's scythe literally changed into a gunbow, and he fired powerful shots of pure magical energy in a stream towards Zalen and Reve.

"Watch out!" A magic circle appeared in front of Zalen as a metal jar appeared, allowing the shots to fly in the mouth of the jaw and bounce around. However, Zalen wasn't expecting the shots to shatter the jar and slam into him, knocking him into the wall, causing him to lose consciousness.

"Shit, Zalen!" Reve looked over at the downed, Zalen; a mistake as Byron came in with his scythe, slashing Reve across the chest, creating a deep gash. "S-Shit…!" Reve took a few steps back, holding his chest and falling to a knee as blood dripped from his chest.

"Don't keep yer guard down now!" Byron then turned to Erza, who used her Heaven's Wheel armor to her advantage and threw a multitude of swords towards Byron. "Heh, is that all ya got!" Byron turned the scythe into a gun bow once again, shooting down most of the swords that came in his direction, jumping off to the side as the rest of the swords came in.

"Pentagram Sword!" Erza charged at Byron, slashing her swords in the shape of a pentagram. Byron was unable to dodge this particular attack, so he took the full force of it, sliding back across the ground a few yards, wiping his mouth.

"Heh, not bad, Titania," Byron said with a smirk.

Reve used this time to pull out his six chambered magnum, pointing it directly at Byron while he was distracted with Erza. "Eat this…" Reve said with a smirk.

Byron put his shield up, allowing Reve's bullet to bounce off easily and back to Reve, creating an explosion that blew the gunslinger back. "Boring…"

"S-Shit…what's up with this guy!?" Reve asked, groaning as he brought a hand to his side. "No one has reflexes THAT good, not even me!" As Reve spoke, Erza slammed into the ground next her him, her Heaven's wheel armor shattering into pieces.

"D-Dammit…" Erza groaned, picking herself up slowly, hunching over as she placed her hands on her knees.

"Titania…" Reve said through heavy breaths.

"Reve…" Erza replied, closing one eye.

"This is the only time in my life I'm asking you for something important…" Reve said, looking over at Erza with a serious look. "Get rid of that damn shield…"

"Gladly…" Erza replied, changing into her outfit with nothing but the cloth around her breasts, pants, and her scarlet hair tied back into a ponytail. Erza held a single sword in her hands. With her Clear Heart armor, she was going to focus all of her power in one strike. The strike that would lead to victory. "I need to focus…"

"So I'm the scapegoat, eh?" Reve shook his head slowly, pointing his magnum at Byron again. "How long?"

"A few seconds…starting now," Erza replied, closing her eyes.

"I can do that…" Reve ran to the left, firing off two magnum shots at Byron.

"You just don't learn, do ya!?" Byron held his shield out, absorbing the two shots, and immediately spat them back out into a larger bullet that raced towards Reve.

"Tch!" Reve's body gave off a heavenly glow as he requipped into his defensive SWAT armor, taking the giant bullet head on, slamming into the wall, heavily damage despite the defensive increase.

"I've been focusing on hitting that shield too much…" Erza thought to herself as she blocked out all her surroundings, focusing all her power into her sword. "I need to cut THROUGH it…" Erza opened her eyes, putting everything she had in one shot. "Over here!" Erza shouted as she lunged forward at Byron, pulling her sword back.

"All or nothin' eh!? Well I guess you got NOTHING!" Byron smirked as he placed his shield in front of him, just as Erza swung her sword slashing…THROUGH the shield, shattering it into pieces, causing Byron's eyes to widened. "W-WHAT!? MY SHIELD!?"

"Heh…" Reve picked himself up slowly, leaning against the wall as he aimed his fourth shot at Byron. "Bang…" Reve clicked the trigger, sending the large bullet over at Byron.

"You think just because my shield is gone I'm gonna lose?!" Byron prepared to jump to the left, but two steel walls appeared on his sides and behind him, restricting his movement from dodging the incoming bullet. "W-What!?"

"Heh…" Zalen stood up, blood trailing down the side of his head. "Don't underestimate White Eclipse…" Byron couldn't find the time to respond as the bullet slammed into his, causing a massive explosion and a large dust cloud; when the smoke cleared, Byron laying on the ground in KO.

"And stay down…" Reve said with a smirk, falling on his back, completely exhausted from the magic depletion.

"Not bad…Reve…" Erza said as she fell on her knees, panting heavily just as Mirajane and Elfman walked it.

"Erza…?" Mirajane limped over to Erza, smirking slightly at Byron's condition. "Aw…I wanted revenge…" She said with a giggle.

"I didn't do it alone…" Erza said, nudging her head over to Zalen and Reve.

"Heh…as a real man, I have to say thank you for helping Erza," Elfman said over to the White Eclipse mages with a smile.

.

.

Sting and Rogue entered their White and Shadow Drives respectively to match Horoki's growing power. Even with the four of them, however, Horoki's might was overwhelming. A single swing of his greatsword created pressurized shockwaves that knocked the Twin Dragons back. Gajeel and Juvia were already weakened from fighting the man earlier, so if this pace continued, they'd all lose for sure. "What's the matter!" Horoki asked while moving towards Sting, attempting to slice through him. Sting was narrowly able to dodge, but the damage his body took showed the story. He wouldn't be able to take much more and Horoki knew it. "I'm just getting started over here!?"

"What is this guy!?" Sting grunted while sliding back, cupping his hands together. A bright white light formed between his palms. "White Dragon's Holy Ray!" He thrust his arms forward, sending numerous rays of light towards Horoki to attack from multiple angles.

"No dice!" Horoki stopped on a dime, swinging his greatsword at the incoming rays He deflected them off to the side where multiple explosions occured in the background. "You're not gonna stop me now! I've got the power of 100 gladiators behind me!"

"You think that's enough?" Rogue said while rushing Horoki down. "Shadow Dragon's Claw!" Rogue swung his arm at Horoki, but the mage managed to avoid it by shifting his body to the side. He then slammed his knee into Rogue's chest, before smacking him down with the broad side of his sword. "Gah...!"

"Iron Dragon's Lance: Demon Logs!" Gajeel had a green magic circle appear from his good arm. From it, multiple iron spears shot out at Horoki's body. Horoki was able to swat away most of these with his large sword, but a few of them did graze his wounded body. Despite Horoki being pure offense, his power was so strong it may as well have been defense too! "We one good hit!" Gajeel grunted.

"Like I'm gonna let you have one!" Horoki slammed his sword onto the ground, sending a powerful shockwave that uprooted the floor towards Gajeel. All Gajeel could do was cross his arms and hold his ground, feeling the shockwave cut into him and his iron scales.

"Juvia can do it!" Juvia said while approaching Horoki from the right. She was running on fumes but if she had to provide an opening, she could do that. She slid to a halt a few feet away from Horoki and held her hands out, gathering the remains of her magic power. "Wings of Love!" She yelled, releasing a gigantic torrent of water in Horoki's direction. Juvia was devoting everything into this attack. She had to do her part! Cynthia had to be saved, and taking this guy out was important to that!

"I already told you!" Horoki planted his feet firmly into the ground once again swinging his sword at Juvia's attack. It was a fierce stalemate that lasted a little longer than he would've liked, but he was able to cut right through Juvia's Wings of Love. "It's not en...!" Before he could finish, he saw Sting and Rogue closing in immediately. Juvia's attack was a distraction!

"WHITE SHADOW DRAGON'S ROUGH SILK!" Sting and Rogue slid past Horoki while beams of black and white shot from their fingertips. These piercing beams struck Horoki in numerous places. Their combination attack was very effective and dealt damage to the man, but he grit his teeth and pushed through it, much to their surprise.

"YOU'RE NOT BEATING ME!" Horoki roared, choosing to take Rogue out first. He swung his greatsword at Rogue's body. The Shadow Dragon was just barely able to defend, but the strong blow crushed him into a wall.

"Rogue...!" Frosch cried.

Sting grit his teeth, using this opening to slam his fist into Horoki's stomach, but the man refused to flinch. "...!"

"It's over." Horoki said while swatting Sting away with his sword. "You all put up a good fight, but...!" And suddenly, his body froze. "W-What...!?"

"You're right..." Sting said with a bloodied grin. "It is over..." Sting's punch wasn't useless. It left a white stigmata on Horoki's chest that prevented him from moving.

"What is this!?" Horoki grunted. Not even his strength let him move through this!

"The end of the road for you." Rogue coughed. He placed his hand on the ground, sending a wave of shadows towards Gajeel. "GAJEEL!"

"I'M ON IT!" Gajeel said with a grin, opening his mouth wide to accept Rogue's shadows and eat them. This gave him the boost needed to enter his Iron Shadow Mode, which he began to inhale as well. "You've done more than enough...so IT'S TIME FOR YOU TO GET LOST! IRON SHADOW DRAGON'S ROAR!" Gajeel threw his head, forward, releasing a powerful torrent of iron and shadow magic towards the immobile Horoki. There was nothing Horoki could do but stare with widened eyes as this roar completely overtook him. Gajeel's attack blasted out the other side of the tower and went on for a few kilometers, only to die down after a few seconds. Horoki completely fell over, eyes white. He was defeated.

"We...did it..." Juvia gave a weak thumbs up. If not for Sting and Rogue, she had no idea how that battle would've gone...not in their favor, likely.

"Nice work guys..." Sting was just as exhuasted. They only just entered the fray, but Horoki was that strong!

"I'm okay, really." Rogue said while hugging a worried Frosch to his chest.

"That was close..." Lector wiped the sweat from his brow. "But I knew with Sting-kun here, victory was the only possibility!"

"There's just one more thing to take care of..." Gajeel panted while staring up at the ceiling...

.

.

"We're getting close!" Wendy said in an excited tone, pointing to the large doors in front of them. "She's beyond that set of doors! HANG ON CYNTHIA! WE'RE ALMOST THERE!" Wendy screamed, making sure Cynthia would be able to hear her.

"Wait!" Natsu grabbed Wendy by the back of her shirt then looked around, a serious expression crossing his face.

"N-Natsu-san?! Why!?" Wendy stopped, looking up at Natsu with an anxious expression. "She's right past these doors!" Wendy sniffed the air a few more times until a slightly familiar scent crossed her nose. "Wait…"

"Come out of hiding…" Natsu said, looking around the room.

Aloysius walked out of the shadows, clapping slowly at the two Dragon Slayers. "Impressive…you've made it to the very top of the tower…"

"It's you!" Natsu snarled as his body instantly caught on fire, glaring at Aloysius.

"I'm afraid this is as far as you're going to go," Aloysius said, a sadistic grin appearing over his lips.