Fairy Tail: War Beyond Worlds

by The 3rd dragneel

The Multiverse is vast, with unlimited possibilities. However, what if one of these worlds broke the code and is slowly beginning to grow out of control? The Overseers of the Multiverse have decided to activate the Champion Initiative. The question is: will these Champions be able to save the Multiverse? Crossworld pairings, altered Fairy Tail Canon.

18. Chapter 18: Frozen Fate

This is it.

No more freaking stalling.

We are FINISHING the Galuna Island arc once and for all!

Sorry for sounding dramatic, but I wanna get through this arc as soon as possible since the stuff that will happen afterwards is MUCH more interesting.

Onto the reviews!

MBS41: Thanks for liking the chapter. Yeah, I'm not 100% sure on those options(Ben is not a bad idea though).

TheEmeraldMage: I mean Yusei stood up to Akiza, who could bring her own monsters to life. Plus the fact he dueled the Dark Signers and Mekklord Emperors. Nothing's really gonna scare him except the devil himself. Yeah, Oliver will not show mercy to those who have info, which we will see in the next arc. Ryuko will prove to do something more satisfying in this chapter, believe me. The end I have will make you guys go "This should've happened in canon!"

CRUDEN: I agree. Galuna was kind of a wasted arc.

Guest2: Trust me. Ryuko will not like how bossy Erza is later.

Last time: After Gray had awoken from his defeat against Lyon, he found himself in a temporary camp for Galuna Village. He was then shocked to find that Erza, Yusei and Oliver had all come to the island to bring everyone back, with the latter going off to find Natsu. Erza's stubbornness for the rules clashed with Yusei's sense of justice before the former eventually agreed to help stop Lyon and his people from resurrecting Deliora. Elsewhere, Natsu and Ryuko did as much damage as they could to the moon temple, only for a strange wizard named Zalty to reverse it with his magic. The two clashed with Lyon and his group before Roha arrived to battle Ryuko. Soon, Gray arrived and prepared to use Iced Shell on Lyon as a last ditch effort to stop him. During this time, Oliver and Maki teamed up to fight Zalty while Erza took Ryuko's place in fighting Roha.

Will our heroes be able to stop Lyon's insane quest to revive Deliora? Or will the monster of Gray's nightmares come back once again? Let's find out…

It was rare for Gray Fullbuster to have ever felt genuinely at peace.

The only real time he felt this way was during his childhood, when he would play with his dad or eat his mother's cooking.

But ever since Deliora destroyed his village, Gray could never truly feel safe and sound, even as a young adult.

So when Gray decided to use Iced Shell, he felt like all the anger and aggression he felt all these years were finally starting to get lifted off his shoulders.

"GRAY, DON'T DO IT!" He could hear Natsu yelling at him not to use the spell since it would most definitely end his life. Yet Gray continued to put more magic into the spell, feeling his very skin crack under the pressure.

'Huh. It hurts, but I'm not scared. Guess that's how you felt, huh Ur?' Gray thought as he stared at Lyon with determination. 'Natsu, Erza, all my friends in Fairy Tail. The rest is up to you.' Despite knowing he would die, Gray had full faith in his friends to ensure the Moon Drip ritual would be stopped.

"ICED SHELL!" Gray let out a battle cry as he was about to unleash the full power of the spell…

*SMACK*

"SHUT UP!" Natsu, without any regard for his own safety, rushed in and sucker punched Gray, canceling the Iced Shell. Lyon actually looked in surprise as Gray fell on one knee, trying to process what had happened.

"Natsu, what the hell?!" Gray shouted as he glared at his rival. He was just about to end it all, yet as usual, Natsu got in the freaking way!

"You can't just come in and steal the freaking show with some fancy talk!" Natsu scolded him with gritted teeth. "I got here first, so get in the back of the line!"

"What did I say when I got here?! I said leave him to me, you idiot!" Gray countered angrily.

"And I said "No way in hell!" You snooze, you lose!" Natsu replied back. Gray growled in anger, making Natsu smirk smugly at him. "What? You wanna fight too?"

"I don't give a shit about that!" Gray grabbed Natsu's scarf and pulled him close. "I've got a score to settle and no one's stopping me! I'm ready to die for that!"

However, Natsu grabbed Gray's wrist, gripping it so hard, his veins were popping.

"You're gonna die to win? Is that it? You really think that's okay?!" Natsu shouted with a tone of pure anger, much to Gray's surprise. "To me, it sounds like you're just running away from everything!" He then headbutted Gray, his eyes staring daggers into the ice wizard's eyes. "You don't get to freaking die like that! We're Fairy Tail, which means we look out for each other! I don't like you, but that doesn't mean I'm letting you die like this! So wake up and live, damnit!"

Gray… couldn't believe what he was hearing.

Natsu, his rival, his reluctant friend, was actually fighting to make sure Gray didn't do anything suicidal. He never thought Natsu was this adamant in letting Gray live, even after all the times they fought.

But it was also what Natsu SAID that struck a cord to him. Was he really just going to run away from everything just to stop the pain? Was that fair to his friends? To Ur?

'... No.' Gray thought as he let go of Natsu's scarf, a look of regret on his face. 'Damnit. What the hell was I thinking?'

"If you're done with your little existential crisis…" Lyon called out, making Natsu and Gray glare at him. "I have plans tonight and they don't involve you!" He then launched a barrage of Ice Eagles towards the rivals…

*SMASH*

"NOT ON MY WATCH, ASSHOLE!" Another wall of ice suddenly shattered as a red and black figure flew past Lyon, slashing his attack to snow shards. Landing in front of Natsu and Gray was none other than Ryuko Matoi, who was glaring harshly at Lyon.

"Ryuko! You're okay." Natsu said with a smile on his face, happy to see she was safe.

"No thanks to that creep." Ryuko answered before she looked over her shoulder, noticing Gray. "Oh. You're awake."

"Who the hell are you?" Gray couldn't help but ask, especially since Ryuko wore a rather scantily-clad outfit.

"Is that what you say to someone who saved your ass? Well, at least you aren't like Gamagori." Ryuko commented offhandedly with a Scissor Blade on her right shoulder.

"Now is not the time to chat." Senketsu reminded Ryuko, his eye focused on Lyon.

"You again? Can't you take a hint and leave?" Lyon rudely asked Ryuko, who sneered in annoyance.

"Says the asshole who got his shit kicked in twice." Ryuko gloated, smirking as she saw Lyon's glare deepen. She then looked over to Natsu. "Anyways, Red told me to help you guys while she fights that Roha asshole. Honestly, I wanted to kick his ass, but she said helping you was better."

"Erza thinks we can't win?!" Natsu grumbled under his breath, annoyed that Erza actually thought he needed help.

"Look, I don't really give a crap what she says." Ryuko shrugged before aiming her other Scissor Blade at Lyon. "This guy still needs his ass kicked, so I'm fighting him."

"No freaking way! You left, so the person who saw him next should fight him, which is me!" Natsu childishly reasoned.

"I can end this in five seconds." Ryuko countered.

"He froze me!"

"Whose fault is that?!"

"Not mine!"

"Then stop complaining!" For some reason, now Natsu and Ryuko were arguing who was going to take down Lyon, their heads pressed against one another. It would be very comedic if it wasn't for how serious it was.

"KNOCK IT OFF!" Gray shouted, fed up with their arguing. The Dragon Slayer and Kamui-wearing teen both turned to Gray, who let out a sigh. "Look, someone needs to make sure Deliora doesn't get out. I need you two to make sure it doesn't happen." He then gave them a look of pure determination. "I need to finish this."

"You aren't gonna kill yourself, are you?" Natsu couldn't help but ask with a serious expression. Gray just looked back at him, as if silently assuring him that he wouldn't use Iced Shell. Natsu scratched the back of his head before groaning. "Fine. But you owe me for this one."

"Seriously? I just freaking got here!" Ryuko complained. At this point, it felt like the Fairy Tail members were just messing with her.

"You see the look in his eyes, Ryuko. He needs to finish this fight. If I recall, you had the same look in your eyes when you fought Satsuki." Senketsu reminded his partner, who couldn't really argue with him. Even if this was the first time she ever talked to Gray, she couldn't help but respect his determination.

"Freaking hell. Alright!" Ryuko relented before she gave Gray a look. "Just make sure you don't get your ass kicked again. Cause I ain't carrying your ass back to the village."

"Carry me?" Gray took a moment to think before his eyes widened. "Hang on. Were you the one who-"

"Ice Make: Wolves!" Having enough of the interruptions, Lyon launches a pack of ice wolves at the trio. Gray quickly acted, creating an ice shield to block the attack.

"GO! I got this!" Gray shouted at Natsu and Ryuko. The two nodded at each other before they began to run towards the path leading to Deliora's tomb. However, Natsu stopped in his tracks.

"It'll look bad if you lose again. And I don't mean just for you." Natsu told Gray sternly.

"Yeah. I know." Gray replied with a smile. The two rivals looked at one another before Natsu ran off. Gray then looked at Lyon, adopting a serious look.

"Let's finish this, Lyon."

'With Maki and Oliver'

"Sputter Barrage!"

"Scattershot Arrow!"

A barrage of fireballs and arrows flew in the air, heading straight towards Zalty. However, the old mage smirked as he waved his hand, causing the attacks to stop in midair.

"What?!" Maki exclaimed with a shocked expression. Before she could process what was happening, her and Oliver's attacks were suddenly sent flying back to their owners. Maki quickly used her pyrokinesis to deactivate her flames while Oliver slid behind a nearby rock to shield himself.

'Great. This is like fighting Darhk all over again.' Oliver thought with a frown.

"Impressive magic. But nothing I can't counter." Zalty mocked with a chuckle. He then took out his crystal ball, which began to float out of his hand. "But I suppose I should launch a counterattack." With a flick of his wrist, Zalty launched his crystal ball, which flew towards Maki at high speed.

"Woah!" Maki moved to the left, the crystal ball narrowly missing her face. She then looked at Zalty with an annoyed glare. "You missed!"

"Did I?" Zalty questioned rhetorically with a grin before he moved his fingers. Before Maki could question what he meant, something crashed into her back, making her gasp in pain.

'I got hit? By what?!' Maki thought as she turned her head, only to see Zalty's crystal ball hovering before it flew towards Oliver. Seeing the crystal ball, Oliver quickly notched an arrow, its tip glowing orange, before he fired it.

The moment the arrowhead touched the crystal ball, it exploded, shattering the ball into pieces.

"Oh my. You broke my crystal ball. Whatever shall I do?" Zalty dramatically asked before chuckling. The pieces of the crystal ball began to move around, slowly reforming Zalty's tool in perfect condition.

"He fixed it?" Oliver muttered to himself with a surprised look. He quickly rolled away as the crystal ball slammed into the rock he was hiding behind, shattering a chunk of it.

"No matter what you do to my crystal ball, I can always rewind its time." Zalty bragged with an arrogant tone. "Meaning I can take the crystal ball back to a point where it isn't broken."

"I guess that's a special type of magic." Maki theorized out loud before she narrowed her eyes. Zalty sent the crystal ball towards her once again, though Maki was prepared as she opened her hands. The crystal ball slammed into her hands and she was pushed back, but Maki held her ground. "Try getting it back now!"

"Ohhh… challenge accepted!" Zalty laughed as he moved his hand. Much to Maki's shock, the crystal ball began to shake in her hands.

*SMACK*

Maki grunted as the crystal ball slammed into her face, causing her nose to bleed. 'Oh no he didn't!' Gritting her teeth, Maki tightened her grip around the ball in hopes of keeping it in place. But much to her annoyance, the crystal ball tried to slam into her face once again. "ENOUGH!" Lifting the ball, Maki slammed it hard on the ground, shattering it completely. However, much like with Oliver's arrow, the crystal ball was quickly reformed.

"You saw how the crystal ball can go back in time. But what about forward?!" Zalty then extended his hand, causing the crystal ball to glow before it rushed towards Maki. She jumped out of the way, only for the crystal ball to appear and slam into the back of her head. It didn't stop there as the ball started striking the Fire Soldier multiple times, causing her to scream in pain. "If you must know, I practice one of the Lost Arts, Arc of Time, which lets me control time. Neither of you has the strength to stop me!"

"Smoke Arrow!" Deciding to make a distraction, Oliver fired a black tipped arrow into the ground, causing a large smokescreen to cover the cavern. "Maki, get over here!" Due to his vision being clouded, Zalty was unable to control where his crystal ball was going, which gave Maki the perfect opportunity to dodge and run towards where Oliver was.

"Come now. Are you really going to try and hide from me?" Zalty asked in a fake hurt tone as he swiped his hand, causing the smokescreen to disappear. He sighed as he saw Oliver and Maki had disappeared before he glanced over to Deliora. "It won't matter in the end. Deliora will be reborn and you will all die."

As if on cue, Moon Drip once again activated from the top of the cave, illuminating the frozen demon as the ice around him slowly melted.

"Someone's using Moon Drip!" Maki exclaimed in a low tone as she saw more and more ice melt from Deliora. "We need to stop that light."

"But we can't destroy the cave. He'll just fix it." Oliver remembered before a thought came up. "Maki, you saw what he did to my arrows and the crystal ball, right?"

"Yeah. He fixed the ball and sent your arrows back. Why?" Maki asked in confusion.

"He didn't just fix it. Remember, he said he brought it back to a point where it WASN'T destroyed. And given what he said about his 'Lost Art', it's extremely powerful. But there's something not right about it." Oliver explained as Maki listened closely. "Back in my world, there was a man who used magic to block arrows and bullets in midair and he was able to drain the life of those he touched. He was almost impossible to defeat and he used his magic as much as he could. Now, if someone had the ability to manipulate time, wouldn't they have used it on their opponents? Unless there's a condition that prevents them from affecting us."

"Condition… condition…" Maki started to think of what kind of condition Zalty had to make in order to use his strange magic. Given how he was able to stop their attacks and send them back, it had to rely on size and weight, right? Then again, that wouldn't make sense considering how the crystal ball was fixed. Not to mention Oliver talked about Zalty not using it on them… them… THEM! "Living people." She realized with a gasp as Oliver nodded.

"Exactly. If this magic is as powerful as he says, then he should've been able to use it on us the minute he came here." Oliver then took out an arrow and continued. "I have a theory to prove that, but I need a few seconds. Stall him."

"You got i-LOOK OUT!" Feeling a shadow form over her and Oliver, Maki quickly shoved him out of the way as a large chunk of the ceiling fell, crashing onto the ground.

"Are you done talking? Because I really do have places to be." Zalty asked as his crystal ball floated next to him.

"Sputter Barrage!" Opening her hands towards Zalty, Maki fired another barrage of fireballs towards her enemy. Chuckling in amusement, Zalty waved his hand as the fireballs all disappeared, much to Maki's annoyance.

"Are you sure you want to keep using your fire magic while Deliora is around? I'm sure it, along with Moon Drip, will melt the ice faster." Zalty taunted before his eyes caught a certain green-uniformed man roll out of the dust, an arrow aimed at him. "Oh? Another arrow? Go on ahead and shoot."

'Let's hope this works.' Oliver thought before he pulled back his arrow and fired. Zalty grinned as he waved his hand, expecting the arrow to be sent flying towards its owner.

But somehow… the arrow still kept flying towards him.

'Wait, what?!' Zalty actually widened his eyes under his mask before he moved his body, though the arrow was able to cut his left shoulder.

"So I was right." Oliver spoke up as Zalty held his shoulder, his grin gone. "Your magic can affect items and weapons, but it can't affect the living. Otherwise, me and Maki wouldn't be standing, am I right?"

"Hmmm… you are clever, aren't you?" Zalty asked before he slightly tilted his head. "But how were you able to hit me?"

Oliver's answer came when he removed his right glove and showed his hand, which had some blood leaking out of it.

"You cut your own hand?" Maki asked out loud with a surprised tone.

"I thought if I put a part of me in the arrow, like my blood for example, I could get through your magic and hit you. Looks like I was right." Oliver explained before he took out three arrows, making sure each one was touched by his bloody hand. "Now we have the perfect counter against you. Surrender."

Rather than feel intimidated by Oliver's cunning plan, Zalty regained his grin while he laughed in amusement. "My, my. For someone who uses an old weapon like an arrow, you're surprisingly clever… Oliver Queen and Maki Oze." Zalty said, making Oliver and Maki narrow their eyes. "Yes, I know about you two, as well as Yusei Fudo. Such an interesting trio you three are. Especially that girl in black and red."

'He knows something.' Oliver's instincts were blaring, warming him not to trust the masked man in front of him.

"I can't wait to see how much stronger you will become." Zalty then perked up a bit before chuckling. "Oh. I suppose I did spoil a bit, didn't I? Sorry, but that's all you're getting from me." He then had the crystal ball float in front of him. "Now… shall we begin round two?"

'Galuna forest'

*Clang*Slash*Cling*

The sound of metal clashing echoed through the air, several trees getting cut down while the animals in Galuna forest ran for their lives.

The cause?

Erza Scarlet and the masked assassin Roha.

The Titania turned her heel before slashing her sword horizontally, only for Roha to block it with his magic construct sword, sparks coming out between them. Pushing her back, Roha then created another blade and thrusted it towards Erza, forcing her to dodge while a strand or two were cut off.

"Yes… YES!" Roha gleefully shouted as he kept swinging towards Erza as fast as he could, though much to his delight, she countered each one. Unlike with Ryuko, Roha was able to put his sword skills to the test against someone as strong and beautiful as Erza. "GIVE ME MORE, TITANIA! I WANT ALL OF YOU!"

"Requip!" Jumping back from another slash, Erza's body began to glow before her attire changed into her Flame Empress armor. "Take this!" Gripping her sword with both hands and setting it ablaze, Erza launched a flaming slash towards Roha. However, instead of just blocking it with his weapon, Roha made one disappear and actually extended his hand towards the flames.

"Give me!" With a sadistically happy tone, Roga opened his hand as the flame flash struck it. Erza widened her eyes as she saw her flames slowly disappear until there was nothing but air in Roha's hand. He let out a satisfied sigh as he looked at his hand, which had some smoke come out of it. "Oooohhh… just absorbing your magic sends a chill down my spine. So magnificent."

'Absorb? He's capable of absorbing magic with a touch? I assumed his magic was maker magic. But unlike Natsu, he isn't eating the flames.' Erza thought as she glared at Roha, trying to deduce what kind of mage he was. Deciding to go for a more close up attack, Erza quickly flew towards Roha and slammed her sword against his, causing a small shockwave to explode between them.

"Ohhh…. Just being close to your beautiful face is such a delight. Why don't we stop with the foreplay and get CLOSER?!" Much to Erza's shock, Roha slowly began to push her back, causing her to slowly buckle her legs. "Mmmm… strawberry. You have such a sweet scent…"

"Bastard!" Now furious with his shameless flirting, Erza turned her heel to try and kick him in the side. However, Roha was faster and he deactivated one of his blades, catching Erza's kick.

"So soft, yet firm…" Roha slowly ran his fingers along Erza's exposed leg, sending her goosebumps everywhere from how cold his touch was. "I would love nothing more than to feel your skin forever… to nibble your ear… TO DEVOUR YOU!"

'W-what's going on? Why can't I pull my leg away?' Erza thought urgently as she tried to get away from him, but Roha had a surprisingly strong grip. Not to mention for some reason, she was feeling a bit off.

"Playing hard to get, are we? FINE!" Roha then tossed Erza to the side, causing her to fall on the ground, her sword falling next to her. He looked at his hand before chuckling. "Yes. As I expected, your magic power is great."

"It… doesn't matter… what you think of me…" Erza stood up, despite her sudden fatigue as she picked up her sword, glaring hateful at Roha. "No matter what, I will stop you and I will prevent Deliora's revival!"

"Deliora?" Roha questioned before a pillar of purple light rose from the temple, gaining their attention. "Oh no. It seems you're too late in stopping the ritual."

"No…" Erza's eyes widened in shock, not expecting the Moon Drip spell to be activated. She was sure Yusei and Lucy would have stopped the remaining cultists by now.

"Truth be told, I really did want to see Deliora come back to life in front of me. But I suppose that can't happen now." Roha said with a disappointed sigh before he looked at Erza. "Oh well. I'll enjoy seeing it destroy the village. Just imagine all those lives, snuffed out like they were nothing. Oh, the carnage. The blood sh-"

*CLANG*

Roha was quick enough to lift his sword once Erza tried to rush him, aiming right for his chest. However, he was mildly surprised when the force of Erza's attack actually pushed him back a bit, despite him sapping some of her strength.

"On my honor as a Fairy Tail wizard…" Erza gritted her teeth as she began to push Roha inch by inch, his feet dragging through the dirt. "I WILL DEFEAT YOU!"

All Roha could do was grin under his mask as he buckled his legs. "Then let's keep dancing, Erza!"

In regards to Yusei and Lucy…

"Max Warrior, attack!"

A flurry of strikes were launched by Max Warrior, taking down multiple cultists as they fell on the ground.

"Open, Gate of the Giant Crab! Cancer!" Taking out one of her golden keys, Lucy imbedded it with magic before summoning her spirit, who struck a pose while holding a pair of scissors.

"You need some help, baby?" Cancer asked in a smooth tone.

"Take those guys down! But no killing." Lucy ordered while pointing at the remaining cultists.

"You got it, baby." Cancer snipped his scissors before he rushed towards the remaining cultists, cutting through their hoods and giving them stylish haircuts.

"W-What is this?!"

"My hair!"

"It's so bad!" The cultists all fell in despair, hating the haircut Cancer had given them.

"Ummm… good job, Lucy." Yusei congratulated her as Max Warrior disappeared. He had heard from Maki that Lucy used Cancer in their fight against Eisenwald, but seeing his abilities in action was a surprise.

"Yes. The Celestial Spirits are rather… unique." Oracle admitted, though she was still a bit put off by Cancer's abilities.

"Your hair…" Cancer looked towards Yusei with a serious frown.

"Cancer? Are you okay?" Lucy asked, wondering what her spirit was thinking.

"It's… AMAZING!" Cancer blurted out dramatically, much to their confusion. "The slick black hair, the golden highlights and the spiky edges that show you don't listen to rules." Cancer crossed his arms while snipping his scissors. "Your hair is 10 out of 10, sir."

"Thank you?" Yusei was mildly caught off guard by how Cancer was rating his hair, but he wasn't one to judge.

"Wow, what a weird crab." Happy commented with a sweatdrop. Lucy felt rather embarrassed by Cancer's behavior as she returned him back to the Spirit World.

"Yusei, the ruins!" Stardust called out urgently as Yusei looked up, only for his eyes to widen.

"Oh no! Someone activated Moon Drip?!" Lucy questioned with a hand over her mouth. "But there shouldn't be anyone else left."

"Clearly, we missed one." Oracle grimly told them.

"We can worry about that later." Yusei told her in a serious tone. "Right now, we have to get up there and stop-"

"YOU CAN'T!" An elderly voice called out from behind, forcing Lucy, Happy and Yusei to turn as they prepared for another attack.

"Wait, what?" However, the trio were caught off guard when they saw two more cultists, an elderly woman and a young man, looking at them.

"We won't let you interfere with the Cold Emperor." The old woman declared with a serious tone.

"Hang on. You're working for Lyon? But why?" Lucy asked with a concerned tone. Neither she nor Yusei wanted to harm the two cultists, even though they were the enemy.

"Our home, Brago, was destroyed because of that demon." The young man told them as his grandmother gritted her teeth. "While we suffer, that monster still lives within that ice. We cannot allow that."

"So you decided to work with Lyon so you could kill Deliora?" Yusei concluded with narrowed eyes. "Don't you realize how much trouble it can cause if it's freed?"

"What choice do we have?!" The old woman shouted in anger. "My daughter! My son! My entire village is gone!"

"This is all we have to live for." The young man added before he took out a knife. "So we cannot allow any of you to stop the Moon Drip ritual."

Yusei and Lucy both looked reluctant, not wanting to battle people who were clearly unable to continue. True, they wanted to revive Deliora, but given what the demon had done, they couldn't necessarily blame them.

Still… they had to stop the demon's resurrection, whatever the cost.

"Yusei, what should we do?" Happy asked the Signer with a sad tone.

"Max Warrior… take them down." Yusei told his monster solemnly. "But don't hurt them too much."

*RRRRRROOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAARRRRRRR*

Before the Duel Monster could move, a sudden ear-piercing roar echoed through the air, causing the ground itself to shake.

"MY EARS! THEY WEREN'T READY FOR THIS!" Happy screamed as he covered his ears, though he could still hear the roar clear as day.

"WHAT IS THAT?!" Lucy added with her eyes closed, the roar hurting the inside of her head. Yusei, who also covered his ears, looked at the temple and frowned deeply.

"Stardust, do you think?"

"Yes." Stardust immediately responded with a grim tone. "I believe this Deliora is coming."

'A few minutes earlier'

Zalty quickly dodged another arrow flying towards him, the sharp edge narrowly missing his mask.

"Oh dear. From the way you're shooting, mister Queen, one might think you're actually trying to kill me." Zalty mocked as he moved his hand once again, causing a stalactite to break off and fall towards Oliver.

"GO, TEKKYO!" Maki launched her iron weapons forward, blood handprints placed on each of them to prevent Zalty's magic from manipulating it. Both Iron Hammers slammed into the falling debris, shattering it into pieces.

"Scattershot Arrow!" Taking out an arrow with a light green tip and smearing it with blood, Oliver aimed it at Zalty before firing it. Noticing this, Zalty launched his crystal ball towards his arrow, only for the arrow itself to glow as it split into ten copies. Though the crystal ball was able to shatter three of them, the other seven arrows flew towards Zalty, who quickly jumped out of the way to dodge.

'This is getting interesting.' Zalty thought with a grin before he looked over to Deliora, seeing more of the ice melt. 'Though it seems like my fun is almost up.'

"Oliver, there's too much ice melting." Maki reminded Oliver while standing next to him, her eyes not leaving Zalty.

"I know." Oliver replied with a frustrated tone. He and Maki needed to end Zalty now and find a way to deactivate Moon Drip. If only they had a distraction…

"Fire Dragon Roar!" A stream of flames was suddenly shot out of the exit of the cavern, heading straight towards Zalty. Seeing this, Zalty quickly got out of the way in hopes of preventing his body from burning.

However, he failed to account for a second attacker.

"Decapitation Mode…" A red and black blur flew towards Zalty, stopping just in front of him. Under his mask, Zalty widened his eyes as Ryuko glared at him, gripping both her Scissor Blades before slamming them into his stomach. "GO TO HELL!" Zakty was launched into the wall, breaking off a sizable chunk of rock while a large dust cloud erupted from it. Flying down, Ryuko landed on her feet as she reverted back to her Kamui Senketsu mode, glaring at the spot where Zalty crashed in. "I don't know who that guy was, but just looking at him pissed me off."

"Nice shot, Ryuko!" Natsu called out as he finally entered the cavern, a big grin on his face as he ran next to Ryuko. "But I still wanted to get a punch in."

"Eh. If he gets up, then you have your chance." Ryuko told him before the two fist bumped.

"It's you again!" Maki blurted out in surprise. Ryuko and Natsu then noticed her and Oliver were also in the cavern, as well as the melting form of Deliora.

"... Shit. I think we just found Gamagori's mom, Senketsu." Ryuko told her partner while staring at Deliora. Despite having faced a lot of crazy shit in her world, even she had to admit Deliora looked kinda freaky.

"Yes. It's a rather disturbing sight." Senketsu told her while narrowing an eye.

"... Who just said that?" Oliver asked in confusion. Considering Zalty might be knocked out and the voice was new, he wanted to find the speaker.

"Yeah, that's what I wanna know too." Maki added as she looked at Ryuko. "Was it… your clothes?" Oliver looked at her in bewilderment while Natsu looked at Ryuko.

"Wait… you can hear me?" Senketsu asked out loud with a surprised tone. He wasn't expecting anyone else to understand him since he just met the other two Champions.

"Her clothes… can talk?" Oliver asked, trying to get the facts straight.

"I guess they really can hear you." Ryuko told Senketsu before she tugged on him slightly. "Guess that's a part of being a Champion or whatever."

"Greetings. I am Senketsu, a Kamui made to fight alongside Ryuko!" Senketsu introduced himself rather eagerly.

"... At this point, I've given up trying to understand." Oliver sighed while rubbing his forehead, doing his best not to get any blood in his eyes.

"Aww man. You guys can hear Senketsu? No fair!" Natsu pouted like a child, jealous that he couldn't hear clothes like Ryuko and the others.

*Drip*

The sound of water dripping caught Natsu's attention as he looked over to Deliora…

… And saw multiple cracks form over Deliora's frozen face.

*RRRRROOOOOOOAAAAAARRRRR*

A large roar shot out of the frozen demon, causing Natsu and the three Champions to cover their ears in pain.

"WHAT THE SHIT?!" Ryuko shouted as she looked at Deliora, which had more and more ice crack.

"WE WERE TOO LATE!" Maki yelled urgently.

"MOVE!" Sensing the danger that was coming, Oliver shouted at the group to run back, which they began to do as the ice around Deliora completely broke, falling on the water.

"Yes… YES!" Coming out of the hole in the wall, Zalty, who was holding his chest while several cracks were formed on his mask, began to laugh like a manic as he stared at the newly freed demon. "IT'S ALIVE!"

Deliora once again let out a roar, despite the fact its lower half was still frozen. The shockwave from its roar was so strong, it actually echoed throughout Galuna Island and beyond.

Inside the main room of the temple, Gray and Lyon, the latter of whom was lying on the ground, widened their eyes in utter shock from the roar.

"That roar…" Gray muttered, a look of pure terror in his eyes as he recalled where the roar came from.

A younger Gray lay on the snowy ground, his legs trapped under a broken house as he looked up in terror.

*RRRRROOOOOOAAAAAARRRRR*

Deliora let out a massive roar as it walked through the burning ruins of the village. It then turned towards Gray, making him freeze.

"Deliora… it's been revived!" Lyon exclaimed in shock. He knew that eventually, Deliora would be freed. But even he felt unsettled by the loud roar the demon was letting out.

"DAMNIT!" Gritting his teeth, Gray began to run towards the cavern in a desperate act to try and stop the demon.

Back with the four in the cavern, they lowered their hands from their ears as they stared at Deliora, who was working hard to freeze itself.

"Oliver… what do we do?" Maki asked with a gulp, unsure of what to do now.

"Deliora hasn't been freed yet." Oliver pointed out as they all saw the ice still encasing the demon's lower half. "One of us needs to go up above and stop Moon Drip so Deliora can't escape."

"ON IT!" Quickling transforming into her Shippu mode, Ryuko began to fly towards the opening in the cavern.

"I DON'T THINK SO!" Zalty's crystal ball began to fly towards Ryuko at high speed, smacking her in the face.

"OWWW!" Ryuko stopped mid flight as she held her cheek, glaring at the chuckling Zalty. "You asshole! That hurt!"

"Now's not the time, Ryuko! We must stop the spell!" Senketsu urgently told her.

"HAAAA!" Natsu lunged towards Zalty and threw a hard punch, smacking the masked man in the ribs as he jumped back. "Ryuko, go! I got this!"

"Don't go dying on me, Natsu!" Smirking at her comrade's action, Ryuko then flew back up the cavern, rocketing through the hole in the ceiling.

"Salamander, too? Now this is a party." Zalty chuckled, despite the pain he was in.

"There's something I want to ask." Oliver spoke up as he and Maki glared at Zalty. "What's your endgame? Do you really want Lyon to revive Deliora so badly?"

"And how do you know about us?" Maki added with a suspicious tone. Zalty simply grinned, much to their irritation.

"Truth be told, I only joined recently alongside Roha." Zalty explained before letting out a laugh. "But in my honest opinion… the Cold Emperor is nothing but a self entitled brat! He really thinks he can destroy Deliora all by himself. Oh, I can't wait to see his face when he realizes how outclassed he really is!"

"So all you wanna do is let Deliora out?! And you don't care about anything else?!" Natsu shouted before he gritted his teeth, engulfing his hands in flames. "I won't let you get away with it! My friends in Fairy Tail have my back, so I can't lose!"

"Cocky little brat, aren't you? Well, like the ceiling above, you'll all crumble!" Extending his hand upwards while creating a magic circle, Zalty used his Arc of Time to shatter a large chunk of the ceiling.

"Natsu, go! We got your back!" Maki shouted as she sent Tekkyo flying towards the debris.

"You three are truly foolish!" To add more power, Zalty used his magic and created multiple copies of his crystal balls, each flying towards Natsu.

"Scattershot Explosion Arrows!" Channeling more magic into his arrow, Oliver fired it into the air, causing it to split into multiple copies. Natsu jumped towards Zalty, the arrows flying around him as they clashed with the crystal balls.

An eruption of explosions appeared inside the cavern, sending dust and shatters of the crystal balls flying everywhere.

"What?" Zalty used his cape to cover himself from the dust, though this also gave Natsu and his allies a chance to attack.

"I might not know what kind of time magic you use, but I don't need to see the future!" Natsu busted through the dust, flying straight towards Zalty with a flaming fist. "Cause what I see is us kicking your butt!"

With that, he punched Zalty hard in the cheek, sending him crashing into the water.

Natsu landed on the ground, looking very satisfied with his work.

"Great job, you guys!" Maki congratulated as she gave Oliver a smile. Oliver noticed this and returned the smile, albeit a small one.

"Hey, look!" Natsu called out as he pointed towards Deliora. The Moon Drip magic circle suddenly disappeared, causing the purple light to disappear and keep Deliora in place.

'Above the temple'

"Arrrrrrrrr…" Toby let out a cry as he landed on the ground hard, multiple bruises on his face, as well as a few missing teeth.

"I think you might have gone a bit too far, Ryuko." Senketsu told her with a sweatdrop.

"Ahh who cares? This jackass was using that Moon Drip thing." Ryuko shrugged casually, not feeling any sympathy for the dog-like man. Hearing someone run behind her, Ryuko turned around and aimed her Scissor Blade forward…

"WOAH! WAIT!" Only to find the people running up to her were Lucy, Yusei, Happy and Oracle, with the former being greeted to the tip of the Scissor Blade.

"Oh. It's you guys again." Ryuko greeted before she lowered her weapon, making Lucy sigh in relief. She then raised a brow as she looked at Yusei. "And you are?"

"Yusei." Yusei introduced himself before he felt his mark of the Crimson Dragon glow, as well as Ryuko red bang. "You're a Champion?"

"Guess so. Not gonna lie, I like your style." Ryuko confessed, admiring Yusei's biker clothes. "Anyways, you're kinda too late. I already stopped this dog guy from using Moon Drip."

"Yet, I could still feel Deliora's presence on the island." Oracle told her with narrowed eyes. "Tell me the condition of that monster."

"What the crap?! Is that a talking owl?!" Ryuko exclaimed in shock.

"And I'm a talking cat! Name's Happy!" Happy gleefully introduced himself with a paw raised.

"Hmmm. This world is getting stranger and stranger." Senketsu confessed with a sigh, something that Yusei heard as his eyes widened a bit.

'Did… Did her clothes just talk?' Yusei mentally asked Stardust, who chuckled a bit.

"Says the man who can talk to his Duel Spirits." Stardust cheekily remarked.

*Boom*

Their moment of peace was cut short when a blue light suddenly shot out from the spot Moon Drip was activated in.

"H-Hey! What the hell?! I stopped him!" Ryuko shouted as she and the others stepped back.

"You were too late! He finished the ritual!" Oracle informed everyone as the temple began to shake again. "DELIORA'S BEEN FREED!"

'Inside the cavern'

*RRRRROOOOOOOAAAAAAARRRRRRR*

Deliora once again roared in anger, shattering the rest of the ice that was keeping him imprisoned.

"This is bad… this is really bad." Maki rhetorically muttered, taking an unconscious step back from the towering demon. Natsu was also in the same boat as her, though his hand was shaking in fear.

Even Oliver wasn't immune to fear as he tightened his grip on his bow.

"What the hell happened?!" The trio turned away from Deliora as they saw Gray enter the cavern, his eyes focused solely on the demon.

"Gray…" Oliver muttered as he saw Gray walk over to the water, scooping up some of it with a sad expression.

"Thank you." Gray whispered as the water in his hand slipped. Had it not been for Ur's sacrifice long ago, he wouldn't have come to Fairy Tail and made a new family.

"What are you doing here? I thought you were still fighting Lyon." Natsu asked as he hopped over to the ice mage. "Well, whatever. Right now, we gotta work together and take this thing down!"

"N-No…" Crawling into the cavern with torn clothes was Lyon, who despite the pain he was in, was smiling as he looked at Deliora. "None of you… are strong enough… to destroy that monster… Only I… have the power…"

"Does he really think that way? Even while crawling?" Maki asked with a look of pity in her eyes.

"It's over. You're in no condition to fight." Oliver scolded Lyon as he gave the former pupil of Ur a serious gaze.

"Quiet! This is… my destiny!" Lyon countered as he tried desperately to stand, only to fall back down. The damage Gray had inflicted upon him during their fight had taken a toll on him and it was showing. Despite this, Lyon tried his hardest to get up. "I'll surpass her… I'll surpass Gray… and Ur… and everyone here…"

"That's enough, Lyon." Gray sadly told Lyon.

"No… I must…" Lyon lifted his head and smiled at Deliora. "After… I destroy Deliora… I will become… the strongest ice wizard… in all of Fiore!"

Just as Lyon was about to stand back up… a dart hit him in the head. His eyes widened as he felt his own strength slowly drain away.

"W… What… is… happening…" Lyon muttered before he fell over, his body going completely numb.

Everyone turned towards Oliver, who stared at Lyon with a hand extended outwards. "It won't kill him. But it'll keep him down for a while." Oliver informed them, getting a nod of appreciation from Gray.

"Thank you, Oliver. Now, all of you. Get Lyon and run." Gray told them in a serious tone as he began to walk towards Deliora, who roared once more.

"What do you mean run? Gray, what are you doing?" Maki asked as she reached out to Gray, only for him to push her hand away. He stood just a few feet away from Deliora before getting into a familiar stance.

"I'm sealing Deliora away, once and for all!" Gray declared as a magic circle appeared under him. "Iced Shell!" A moment later, a surge of magic shot out of Gray.

"Gray, don't!" Lyon shouted, despite not being able to lift his head. "Do you have any idea how much time I've wasted preparing for today?!" Gray ignored Lyon as he kept charging his spell. "This won't stop me! I'll melt that ice again! I won't stop until Deliora is destroyed!" Lyon shouted in a desperate tone.

"I don't care about that!" Gray shouted back as he kept charging his magic. "Right now, I'm stopping Deliora from killing us all! Even if it means I have to die!"

However, before Gray could continue… three figures stepped in front of him.

Natsu Dragneel.

Maki Oze.

And Oliver Queen.

"Natsu?! Maki?! Oliver?! What are you doing?!" Gray yelled in shock. He wanted them to get away from the temple so he could freeze Deliora, yet they willingly chose to stay!

"Let us handle this." Natsu told him with a determined tone.

"Gray, I don't know how much suffering you went through." Maki added as she turned back to him with a smile. "But you don't need to do it alone."

"I thought I could handle the darkness by myself, too. But I learned that you need to lean on others." Oliver chimed in as he summoned another arrow, aiming it at Deliora. "So lean on us, Gray. Don't get yourself killed."

"You guys…" Gray almost felt like crying upon seeing the determination his friends were displaying. They were face to face with the monster that slaughtered Ur and his parents, yet they stood their ground. Remembering what Ur said caused Gray to slowly falter, the Iced Shell slowly diminishing.

*RRRRROOOOAAAAARRRRR*

However, Deliora didn't seem to care as it pulled its fist back, launching it towards the trio.

"LOOK OUT!" Gray shouted as he was about to reactivate Iced Shell.

Natsu pulled his own flaming fist back before he thrusted it forward.

Maki launched Tekkyo forward.

Oliver fired his arrow at Deliora's eye.

*BOOM*

Natsu's fist clashed with Deliora's fist as a shockwave emanated between them. Maki's Tekkyo fists smashed into Deliora's jaw while Oliver's arrow struck its eye, exploding upon contact.

*Crack*

Once all three attacks struck… several cracks began to form along Deliora's arm and head. The cracks continued to grow, spreading throughout Deliora's body. Everyone watched in shock as Deliora began to crumble away.

"What the hell's going on?!" Natsu questioned before he looked at his fist. "I'm a lot stronger than I look."

"I don't think that's it." Maki told him, though her attention was still fully on Deliora.

All Deliora could do was roar before it fully shattered, its broken pieces falling into the water below.

"No… No way…" Lyon muttered, having witnessed Deliora's destruction with wide eyes.

"I think because it was frozen in the ice for so long, Deliora slowly died. What we saw was its dying breath." Oliver concluded as he lowered his bow, watching all the remaining pieces of Deliora melted into the water, disappearing from their sights.

"Ur gradually drained its life force…" Lyon muttered as frustrated tears ran down his face. "My dream… is dead."

"Hehehe. Would you look at that?" Natsu admitted as he smiled at Gray. "Your teacher was pretty awesome, huh?"

Gray said nothing as he continued to stare at the water, trying to process everything.

Ur had used her magic to kill Deliora, and all this time… he didn't realize.

Even in death, she was still protecting them to the very end.

Just the thought of it caused tears to run down Gray's face as he held his forehead.

"You… You saved my life again…" Gray muttered as more tears ran down his eyes. "Thank you, Ur… Master…"

He soon felt a hand on his shoulder. Lowering his own hand, Gray saw Maki giving him a sad smile, as well as a look of understanding.

"Don't be sad she's gone. Be happy she was there for you." Maki told him, causing more tears to fall down Gray's face. She then pulled Gray into her shoulder, giving him a comforting hug so he could let out his tears.

Natsu watched his rival before giving a grin.

As for Oliver, he went up to the water before kneeling down, scooping up some of it.

"To think there was a strong spell like this." Oliver muttered to himself before giving the water a grateful look. "Thank you for protecting us, Ur."

"Please…" Oliver's eyes widened as he heard a soft female voice call out to him, one unfamiliar to the superhero. "Protect Gray for me… let him live a happy life…"

Though he was utterly confused by what he had heard, Oliver let it go as he gave the water a nod before standing up.

He didn't know if it was a side effect of becoming a Champion or if it was Ur's remaining life force, but Oliver knew that he had to keep that promise.

Today, the burden on Gray Fullbuster and Lyon Vastilla had been lifted.

'Back with Erza'

The Titania of Fairy Tail wasn't having the best of times at the moment.

No matter how much magic she launched at Roha, he would always find a way to simply absorb it into his body and increase the power of his magic constructs.

To add salt to the wound, every time he came into contact with her, she would feel some of her strength being drained.

'He's like a human leech… if he's even human at all.' Erza thought as she dodged another swing from Roha's magic scythe.

"Is something wrong, Erza? You seem to be moving much slower than you did in the beginning." Roha asked her with a taunting tone. "Perhaps if you asked nicely, I could spare you. Of course… I would need compensation for doing such a thing…"

"Funny. I was about to offer you the same thing." Erza remarked while wiping away the sweat on her brow. She looked over Roha's shoulder and noticed the light from Moon Drip had disappeared, though Deliora's roars went silent. "It seems Deliora's gone silent."

"Perhaps. Then again, given how long it's been in the ice, I believe there was nothing left of it." Roha admitted while shrugging. "Oh well. I can't say I expected much from a weaker demon."

"Weaker demon?" Erza didn't know if Roha was being arrogant or if this was an actual fact. Given how she and her team had barely survived against Lullaby thanks to Yusei, the demons of Zeref shouldn't be taken so lightly.

"Even if Deliora was destroyed, I found a better prize~" Roha said in a rather unsettling tone.

'There has to be a weakness to his magic. If he can absorb my magic, how much can he keep at a time?' It was then Erza had come up with a rather reckless idea. One that even Natsu would use if their roles were reversed. "REQUIP!"

"Oh good. Another outfit change!" Roha quickly rushed towards Erza with an extended hand, only to come into contact with a metal pole.

Erza's Flame Empress Armor was gone and replacing it was a new set of golden and bluish armor. The breastplate is decorated by golden trimmings, and has thin plates going up to surround Erza's neck; the similarly adorned pauldrons are composed of two plates one over the other, with the top ones each sporting a prominent protrusion. Similar protrusions, although less prominent, can also be seen on the armored gauntlets which cover the entirety of Erza's arms; the greaves, on the other hand, possess matching protrusion on them, with a particularly large pair adorning the knee guards, but are instead composed of plates attached to simple, thigh-high boots with high heels. The armor lacks a waistguard, instead sporting a decorated cloth hanging down from the breastplate to cover Erza's groin, sporting a single piece on the top front and three on the back, which are decorated by large spheres with fur-like ornaments hanging from them. When using this armor, Erza's head gets adorned by a band with two ribbons on it, and her hair gets styled in a long braid. Also, the armor's weapon was a long spear, with a very large blade and a decorated circle resembling a shield attaching it to the shaft, which is adorned by a large ribbon.

"Lightning Empress Armor!" Erza declared, her spear holding back Roha's advances.

"Hmmm… not bad. Though it restricts your beauty, it does highlight your warrior side." Roha complimented as he held the spear tighter. "Now, what can you do to me?"

"THIS!" Letting out a battle cry, Erza began to muster all the magic energy in her body as lightning began to engulf her entire body, coursing through the lightning spear.

"AAAAAAHHHHHHH!" Due to holding the spear, Roha was hit with all of Erza's lightning magic. However, his scream of pain was replaced with laughter as he began to absorb the lightning. "OOOHHHHH! THAT'S IT, ERZA! GIVE ME MORE! I LOVE IT!"

'I'm… running out of ethernano… but I have to keep pushing! Otherwise, he may go after the others!' Erza gritted her teeth as she continued to pour more and more lightning into her spear. The lightning that escaped the spear began striking the surrounding area.

"More… More…. MORE!" Completely high on ecstasy, Roha moaned in pleasure as he continued to take in more and more of Erza's magic. At this rate, Erza would run out of magic and Roha could take her wherever he wanted.

But as he continued to absorb the lightning… he felt something was off.

'Wait… I can feel something… why do I feel full?' Roha thought as he opened his eyes, looking at his scythe. The masked man widened his eyes as he saw the scythe begin to fizzle out of control, growing and shrinking at random.

"No… wait… stop… It's too much!" Realizing what she was doing, Roha was about to let go of the spear… only for Erza to grab his hand and force his grip to stay. "YOU FOOL! STOP THIS! STOP!"

Erza screamed as hard as she could as she continued to pour the last of her magic into the spear, overloading Roha's magic reserve.

Roha also screamed as he felt the scythe grow even larger to the point he started to lose control. Raising the scythe up, Roha prepared to cut down Erza before things got out of hand.

Unfortunately… he was too late.

*BOOM*

Before he could attack Erza, Roha's scythe suddenly exploded in a red dust cloud. The explosion could be heard for miles, scaring off all the wildlife nearby.

Erza was sent flying by the sudden explosion, crashing into a nearby tree. She let out a groan as she tried to push herself up, her Lightning Empress Armor cracked. Although she knew what she was doing, the power of the explosion was something she didn't expect. Still, now Roha might not be able to absorb anymore of her magic.

"... You… You…" A familiar voice called out from the pity where the explosion occurred. "You… bitch… how… how could you… how could you…"

Pushing herself back on her feet, using her spear as a crutch, Erza began to make her way towards the explosion point, seeing a familiar body on the ground.

"Damn… damn… you…" Roha spoke up, lying on the ground with a weak tone. "Who… would do… such… a thing? I… I thought… you were… smarter… than that…"

"I needed… to test your limit…" Erza explained with a small pant. It was thanks to that risky play that she felt exhausted, though given how incapacitated Roha seemed, it was a success.

Roha growled in anger as he tried to push his right hand on the ground.

Only… he couldn't.

Slowly turning to his right, Roha's eyes widened as he saw that his whole right arm had completely blown off, with nothing left attached. Even his shoulder seemed to have been destroyed in the blast.

"... My arm… My arm… MY ARM!" Roha let out a wild scream as blood gushed from his wound. To make matters worse, he felt a searing pain on the right side of his face. Using his left hand, Roha realized part of his mask was destroyed, with a large part of his face burnt. "MY FACE! MY PERFECT FACE!" Fully realizing the pain he was in, Roha began to roll on the ground, while letting out a desperate cry. "I CAN'T FEEL IT! MASTER! HELP ME!"

'Incredible. He had so much pride, yet deep down, he was a coward.' Erza thought with a disgusted expression as she saw Roha try and cover his face with any mask fragments he could find, though given how much destruction the explosion caused, it was for not. "You have much to pay for." Erza then aimed her spear towards Roha, almost falling down in the process. "Surrender and I'll guarantee you'll live."

"MASTER! I CAN'T DO THIS! SAVE ME!" Roha didn't seem to register what Erza was saying as he continued to cry out for his master, the pain he was feeling was unbearable. However, Roha soon remembered a certain tool his master had given him.

Digging into his armor, Roha pulled out a necklace with an emerald stone on it.

"BRING ME TO THE MASTER!" Lifting the stone with his only hand, Roha slammed it into the ground, shattering it.

A moment later, a green magic circle appeared under him, much to Erza's shock.

"STOP!" Erza tried to reach out and pull Roha away, only for the magic circle to start sucking him inside. Eventually, the magic circle completely absorbed Roha before disappearing, leaving no trace of the masked man. A dissatisfied look crossed Erza's face as she failed to capture Roha, though because of his missing arm, he wouldn't be much of a threat for now.

"ERZA!" The bushes began to rustle before Lucy and Yusei emerged out of it, with the former widened her eyes in shock. "Oh my gosh! What happened?!"

"Are you alright?" Yusei asked before they quickly ran over to the knight, putting an arm over their shoulders.

"I'll live…" Erza confessed before her armor disappeared, leaving her in a white blouse and blue tie. "Everyone else?"

"They're okay. Everyone's okay." Lucy reassured her with a smile. "Deliora wasn't alive and we stopped the rest of Lyon's group."

"That's good to hear." A small smile graced Erza's face, satisfied that Zeref's demon wouldn't cause them anymore trouble. "I apologize, but I might need help walking back to the village."

Not seeing any problem with it, Yusei and Lucy began to help carry Erza back towards the village.

'With the rest of the Fairy Tail group'

"ALRIGHT! WE DID IT!"

"WE FINISHED AN S-CLASS QUEST!"

Natsu and Happy's cheers were heard throughout the forest of Galuna, though they didn't seem to care due to the joy they were feeling.

Deciding not to linger in Deliora's former tomb any longer, the Fairy Tail group moved on and began to make their way towards the village, though they stopped at the beach for a much needed break.

"Sounds like someone's happy to win." Ryuko commented with a smirk as she sat on a somewhat comfortable rock, donning her regular Kamui sailor uniform. She wasn't tired per say, but since they didn't need to fight, there was no need for it.

"Yeah, even though they broke a rule. I doubt they realize it." Oliver commented with a sigh as he leaned against a tree, though he couldn't say he wasn't satisfied with the result of their battle.

"At least we didn't need to fight another demon. One was enough." Maki confessed, shuddering at the memory of Lullaby taking down Natsu and the others. She then looked over to Gray, who was looking at the ocean with an unreadable expression. "How are you, Gray?"

"Just… thinking." Gray confessed solemnly. "Ur… she's still alive out there. Even with Iced Shell melted, I think she's still alive." A small chuckle escaped his lips as he looked over to his friends. "Crazy, right?"

"... I still see my best friend every now and then." Oliver confessed, catching Gray and Maki's interest. "He died four years ago, and it was my fault." He then remembered seeing Tommy Meryln, lying against a large chunk of rubble with a rebar pierced through his chest. "We had our own differences, especially about me being the Green Arrow… but we still cared about each other." Oliver looked down for a brief moment, clenching his fist. "Sometimes, I still see him and remember that day." Letting out a sigh, Oliver looked up at Gray with a look of understanding. "But I'm still alive, trying to do good for him. Just like what you should do for Ur. So no matter what, never try pulling what you did back there. Okay?"

Gray could see the pain in Oliver's eyes. Something he had in his own eyes not too long ago when he recalled Ur's sacrifice. He knew that deep down, Oliver and Natsu were right: he shouldn't just throw away the life Ur gave him.

He needs to keep living FOR her. And even though he still felt guilty over her death, living his own life in Fairy Tail was the best way to honor Ur.

"Thank you, Oliver. I know." Gray said with a smile. Oliver returned it before patting the ice wizard on the shoulder.

"So… I get why we needed to leave." Ryuko spoke up before jabbing her thumb towards a nearby rock, which had a rather Lyon leaning on it. "But why the hell did we bring that douchebag with us?"

"Well, we can't just leave him in that cave. He still can't walk." Maki reasoned, though she also had some doubts about helping Lyon.

"I couldn't agree more, Maki." The group turned their heads and saw Erza, Yusei and Lucy emerge from the forest.

"E-E-Erza…" Having lost all the joy he was feeling, Natsu turned pale at the sight of the scariest woman in all of Fairy Tail.

"Are you okay?" Gray asked, noticing how Erza was being carried.

"Did you end up beating that asshole, Red?" Ryuko questioned with a raised brow.

"Yes. Though he was able to use a magic tool to escape. I doubt he's on the island." Erza explained, though she still sounded mildly bitter.

"Tch. I knew I should've kicked his ass." Ryuko scoffed before giving Erza a small smirk. "Next time, just let me handle it. Kay, Red?"

"If it does happen again, I'll remember." Erza retorted with her own smirk before she got serious. "However, we still have one more issue."

Almost immediately, Natsu, Gray, Happy, Lucy and Maki froze up in fear. Yusei and Oliver simply stayed silent, waiting for Erza's scolding.

The only ones who were confused by this were Ryuko and Senketsu.

"If I remember, Natsu said they came here for a request. Perhaps that is what she's referring to?" Senketsu theorized out loud, despite only a select few hearing this.

"She means the curse." Oracle spoke up from atop a tree. "After all, your five…" She looked over to Natsu's group. "Haven't finished your request. If you don't believe me, look up."

Confused by what she was saying, everyone looked up to the sky, only to find the moon was still purple.

"No way!" Happy gasped in complete shock.

"But shouldn't the moon go back to normal now that Deliora's dead?" Lucy questioned.

"Deliora had nothing to do with the moon." Erza explained with a frown. "The village was affected by magic energy from the Moon Drip spell. Deliora's death didn't change anything."

"No…" A downcast expression appeared on Maki's face, feeling immense guilt. It seemed their whole fight against Lyon didn't change anything.

"Well… we'll just need to change them back." Natsu told everyone like it was the simplest thing in the world.

"But we don't know how." Gray chimed in before his eyes widened. "Wait… Lyon."

"You think he knows something?" Ryuko asked before she glanced over to the other ice mage, making her grin. "Okay. I'll get him to talk." The Kamui-wearing teen then marched over to Lyon, who lifted his eyes to look at her. "Spill it. How do we fix the curse on the villagers?"

"To be honest, I don't have a clue." Lyon simply answered, though it wasn't a good one as Ryuko grabbed him by the collar, lifting him up.

"You and your cronies tried letting out that monster! And because of the Moon Drip crap, they're stuck like that!" Ryuko shouted with a glare. "You gotta know something to fix them!"

"The villagers told us the curse started when you got here. So Moon Drip must've affected them." Lucy spoke up, recalling what the villagers told them.

"We came to Galuna three years ago and we were aware of the village's existence." Lyon began explaining. "However, we found no need to interact with them, so we left them alone. At the same time, they never came to the temple to speak with us."

"Three years, but they never met?" Yusei began to feel something off about this story. "But with how bright Moon Drip was, anyone could see it on the island. Why wouldn't they try and look into it?"

"The villagers weren't transformed by the Moon Drip." Lyon replied before lifting his hand, despite still feeling rather numb. "It doesn't affect the human body at all. Otherwise, we would've transformed years ago."

"And considering how long we've been on the island, you would think the Moon Drip would affect us as well." Senketsu told Ryuko, who sneered a bit before tossing Lyon back down.

"I wouldn't trust those villagers. They seem to have their own secrets." Lyon warned the group, getting a scoff from Ryuko.

"Right. Like I'm gonna listen to a guy with a superiority complex who wanted to kill a dead demon. Sure, pal. I'll listen to EVERYTHING you say." Ryuko taunted Lyon, much to his own annoyance. "But listen up!" She pointed right at Lyon's face. "The next time you or your lackeys try killing people or talking shit about the dead, I'm coming for your ass! Got it?"

"My. She certainly has an interesting vocabulary." Oracle bluntly remarked.

"Come along. We need to lift the curse." Erza informed everyone as Yusei and Lucy began to carry her back towards the village. The others soon began to follow, though Gray opted to stay behind.

"What? Shouldn't a Guild wizard be focused on the task at hand?" Lyon questioned with a glare, though Gray wasn't affected.

"I know you don't wanna hear this, but I think it's time you joined a Guild." Gray advised Lyon, earning a scoff. "I'm serious. You can make new friends, new rivals, and explore the world. Hell, maybe you can find a new dream to follow."

Lyon was genuinely surprised by the softness of Gray's words. After all he did, even stabbing Gray in the stomach, he was still willing to give him some advice.

He let out a tongue click while looking away. "Whatever. Just get out of here. You're annoying me." Lyon coldly told Gray.

With a small sigh, Gray began to walk after his friends, though he quickly stopped.

"Don't get yourself killed, Lyon." Gray simply told his rival without looking back. "Otherwise, we'd both be insulting Ur's legacy."

And with that, Gray walked away, leaving Lyon to ponder his words.

'Galuna village, a few minutes later'

"What's going on here?!" Happy exclaimed in shock as he and the others arrived in the newly reformed Galuna village.

"How the hell did this happen? There was nothing left yesterday!" Ryuko added in genuine shock. In fact, not only was the village repaired, but it looked exactly the same as it did prior to Lyon's attack!

"I… have no words." Maki confessed while scratching her head. She turned her head and smiled as she saw Bobo's grave had also been repaired.

"How did this happen?!" Natsu yelled as he began knocking on a nearby house to test how sturdy it was. "It's like someone went back in time and fixed this whole thing!"

"Time…" Oliver and Maki looked at each other with surprised expressions. So far, the only person they knew that was capable of such a feat was Zalty. To consider a change of heart would be wrong considering how arrogant Zalty was about releasing Deliora.

What could he have been planning?

"Ahhh. You all made it." Moka, the village chief, called out as he walked towards the group. "Did you all use magic to repair everything?"

"I… can't really say, sir." Yusei told the chief, still confused by how the village was fixed.

"Regardless, I'm eternally grateful for this, as well as defending us from those intruders." Moka thanked them before he frowned deeply. "However, I must know when you'll destroy the moon!"

Most of the wizards sweatdropped at the chief's outrageous request, though they didn't voice these concerns as Erza limbed past him.

"Destroying the moon is a simple task, sir." Erza informed the chief.

"Did she really say that?" Senketsu asked with a curious look. Technically speaking, he and Ryuko both had the power to cut the moon, though they would need the power of all the Life Fibers on Earth. And considering how Alzack pretty much sealed most of that power away, he had doubts they could pull it off.

"I guess Red over there finally lost it." Ryuko commented with a hand on her hip.

"But before we can do that, I have a question to ask everyone. Please gather them here." Erza asked the chief, who was a bit surprised by the request, but nonetheless, called the rest of his people to the center of the village. "I'd like to make sure all the facts are correct. The first time everyone here transformed was when the moon turned purple, correct?"

"Yes. During the day, we're normal. But when night falls, we transform." Moka explained honestly.

"And the moon turned purple three years ago, about the same time Lyon and his people came, right?" Oliver added to the interrogation, getting nods from the villagers.

"We've learned recently that the Moon Drip ceremony has been performed on this island every night for the past three years." Erza began to pace as she told the villagers the information she had gathered. "And each night, a beam of light would shoot to the sky, where everyone on the island could see. Now, I feel as though that detail is-"

*WHOOSH*

"KYAHHH!" Unfortunately for Erza, because she was so focused on the interrogation, she failed to realize Lucy's obvious pitfall, causing her to tumble right inside.

"Woah! Lucy's dumb pitfall trap came back! And it worked on Erza!" Happy exclaimed in shock.

"Wait, Lucy made a trap?" Yusei questioned in confusion. No offense to Lucy, but the trap seemed way too obvious to anyone that it might as well have a sign that said 'HERE'S MY TRAP!'

"T-That noise Erza made…" Gray muttered.

"S-She sounded like a real g-girl…" Natsu added in bewilderment.

"And it was really cute…" Maki chimed in, shocked to hear something from such a strong woman like Erza.

"Wow. And here I thought Red was smart." Ryuko commented with an amused chuckle. She could only imagine how Satsuki would reach to fall for such an easy trap.

"Lucy, I don't wanna say. But that trap wasn't the best." Oliver told Lucy with a mild sweatdrop, with the busty blonde freaking out.

"I'M SO DEAD!" Lucy screamed before hiding behind Oliver in an attempt to shield herself from any punishment. Erza then began to climb out of the pitfall, dusting off her skirt before continuing.

"Seriously. Didn't any of you wonder where that light came from?" Erza questioned the villagers as if nothing had happened. "Why didn't anyone go to investigate the light when it came?"

The villagers all seemed rather confused by the question, though none could come up with a reasonable answer. Why DIDN'T they go out and check the light every night? Like Erza said, anyone on the island could see it.

"We would have gone to see, but our village lore prohibits us from going near the temple." Moka explained, though even he seemed unsure.

"But if people are dying because of this curse, shouldn't you ignore the lore?" Maki asked with a frown.

"After all, you did send a request to the Magic Guilds." Lucy reminded them.

"Yes… we did…" However, due to his tone and expression, it was clear the village chief didn't seem too convinced.

"Why don't you tell us the truth?" Yusei asked the villagers as he stepped forward. "It doesn't matter what it is. We came here to help and that's what we're going to do. But we can't unless we know the full story."

"To tell you the truth, we don't know ourselves." Moka finally confessed with a defeated sigh. "Many times, we've tried to investigate the light. But every time we do, we end up back in the village."

"This is getting weird." Gray admitted with a hand under his chin. "It doesn't make any sense." He then turned towards Ryuko. "Hey, you've been here for a while. Is what they said true?"

"I never saw them go out to the temple… well… There was one time." Ryuko revealed while scratching her head. "See, me and Senketsu were looking for fruit when we saw the villagers walk through the woods. I thought they were trying to look for me or something, but then they'd just turn back. It was almost like they were zombies or some crap."

"So they were under some kind of hypnosis." Oliver theorized. Obviously, there was some spell at work that kept the villagers away. Perhaps Lyon was trying something to keep them from interrupting the ceremony. Yet he said that they never spoke with the villagers or did anything to them until recently.

"Very well." Erza spoke up with a serious tone before she turned her attention to Yusei. "Yusei, I need your help."

"Okay. With what?" Yusei asked with a raised brow before Erza pointed to the moon.

"Summon Stardust Dragon… and destroy the moon." Erza told the Signer with utmost confidence.

"... SAY WHHHHHHHAAAAAAAATTTTTTTTTT?!" Natsu, Gray, Lucy, Happy and Maki all exclaimed in utter disbelief. Yusei, Oliver and Ryuko were the only ones who didn't yell, though their eyes were widened in surprise.

"The only way to free the villagers from the curse is to destroy the moon." Erza told them with no hint of humor.

"B-But Erza! We can't just destroy the moon!" Lucy tried to explain to the knight.

"Besides, there's no way we can get up there! It's impossible!" Maki added, hoping Erza would understand.

"This is the only way." Erza told them before she looked back at Yusei. "If you would."

'She can't be serious about this. I mean, even with Stardust, we wouldn't be able to destroy it.' Yusei thought before he noticed the look in Erza's eyes. It was as if she was giving him a hidden message, one the others wouldn't get. 'Hang on… does she know something about this?'

"Hold on." Ryuko suddenly spoke up, rolling her arm as she looked at the moon. "I don't know what Yusei here can do, but I know I can get up there faster."

"Can you?" Erza questioned with a raised brow. She had witnessed Ryuko flying before her fight against Roha, but the distance to go up might be much. However, judging by the look in Ryuko's eyes, Erza could tell she was confident in her abilities.

Plus, since most of her magic energy had been drained, she wouldn't be able to requip into something that would be of any help.

"Very well. I'll put my faith in you, Ryuko." Erza finally relented as she stepped aside, allowing Ryuko to take center stage.

"What's your plan, Erza?" Oliver whispered to the Titania in a low tone.

"I have a theory and I believe Ryuko can prove it." Was all Erza told him as they looked at Ryuko.

"Hope you still got some gas, Senketsu! Life Fiber, synchronize!" Pulling the pin off her glove, Ryuko's body began to glow before she donned her Kamui Senketsu form. "Senketsu, Shippu!" Her outfit then transformed into her iconic flight mode before she looked at the moon. "Be right back!" With that, Ryuko launched herself into the sky at high speed, leaving a large amount of dust in her wake.

"... I miss the days where all I had to worry about were drug dealers." Oliver said to himself as he looked at the sky along with everyone else.

"You don't think she'll actually destroy the moon… right?" Lucy asked out loud.

"This is so exciting." Happy commented with a smile, despite the absurdity of the situation.

"Ryuko, aim your Scissors Blades forward like a lance." Senketsu instructed his partner.

"RIGHT!" Taking out both her Scissor Blades, Ryuko merged them into one large Scissor before extending it forward. Due to the speed at which they were going, a small vapor cone began surrounding Ryuko and Senketsu, though they didn't stop.

Oracle, who was watching from below, tilted her head with a smile.

'It seems Scarlet figured it out.' Oracle thought as she continued to watch everything.

Just as Ryuko was over a thousand feet above Galuna Island…

*SMASH*

Her Scissor Blades crashed into the 'moon', causing cracks to appear in the sky.

"SHE ACTUALLY HIT THE MOON?!" Lucy and Happy both shouted with bugged out eyes.

'No… that's not it…' Oliver thought with narrowed eyes as he and everyone else saw more cracks appear in the sky.

And then… it all shattered, causing shards of magic to fall harmlessly down.

"What the hell?" Ryuko questioned as she pulled back, noticing a strange dome above the island, though due to her impact, it was beginning to crumble away.

"The moon…" Senketsu muttered as Ryuko looked up, only to widen her eyes.

The moon was still in the sky, but unlike before, it was back to its regular white color.

"It wasn't the moon that shattered… It was the sky?" Maki asked as she opened her hand, allowing the shards of the sky to fall into her palm before disappearing.

"Okay, what is going on?" Natsu questioned, unable to process whatever was happening.

"Because of the Moon Drip, a noxious membrane was covering the island." Erza explained, a small smile gracing her beautiful features. "It released negative energy in the form of a gas. The gas crystalized and formed an invisible shell in the sky that covered the top of the island."

"Which explains why the moon was purple when we came here and why it looked normal when we were at sea." Oliver finally realized what Erza's plan was. "You know something was wrong with the sky, so that's why you wanted Ryuko to attack the moon."

"Precisely." Erza nodded at Oliver's understanding. She and the others then saw a light begin to surround the villagers. "And now that the shell itself has been broken, everything will go back to how it was three years ago."

The villagers all watched as the light continued to glow before it eventually died… leaving them in their monstrous forms.

"Huh? What happened?"

"We still look like demons!"

"I thought breaking the moon would do something!" One by one, the villagers began to complain about the lack of results that had come from Ryuko's attack.

"Hang on. Why aren't they going back to normal?" Gray questioned with a deep frown.

"It's quite simple, actually." Oracle spoke up as she flew towards the group, landing on Gray's shoulder. "What you see before you are the villagers' TRUE forms."

"Wait… TRUE FORM?!" Lucy shouted in complete shock.

"It's as Lyon had said. Moon Drip could not affect one's appearance, so it's illogical to assume the villagers would transform into humans, unless they were never humans to begin with. I sensed it the moment we came to the island. Miss Scarlet seemed to figure this out on her own." Oracle explained simply.

"Don't tell me YOU figured it out already?" Maki spoke up while looking at Oracle. "If you knew from the beginning, why didn't you tell us?"

"Because you can't expect me to tell you everything. How else could any of you grow as individuals?" Oracle asked with a sigh. "Besides, I would be lying if I said it wasn't amusing."

"While their appearance didn't change, I believe the Moon Drip affected their memories so they thought they were humans." Erza continued where Oracle had left off. "However, it's the other way around."

"Hold on a damn minute!" Ryuko flew down and transformed back into her sailor uniform, marching up to Erza. "Are you saying this whole time, these guys were really demons? And we were helping them?!"

"That's right." Erza replied with a smile.

"You know… now that I think about it, looking like this does feel kinda natural." One of the demonic villagers confessed. "But we looked human when we first met."

"Because you have the ability to take on human forms." Erza told them. "Your false memories made you believe your fake forms were your real ones. In reality, you were demons that were affected by the Moon Drip's side effects."

"And from what we've seen, humans and human hybrids like you didn't have their memories altered from the Moon Drip. It seems to only affect demons." Senketsu chimed in, impressed by Erza's intellect.

"Quite the detective, aren't you?" A voice called out from behind. "I knew I could trust you wizards with lifting the curse."

Everyone turned their heads, only for a majority of them to widen their eyes in shock.

The speaker was none other than Bobo, chief Moka's deceased son.

"AAAAAAAHHHHHHH! GHOST!" Maki and Lucy yelled as they hugged each other out of fear, though Maki's grip seemed to be too strong as she began to crush her friend.

"You're the guy from the boat!" Gray blurted out while pointing to Bobo.

"B… Bobo…" Moka muttered, his staff shaking from the emotional shock he was feeling. "You… you were…"

"Getting stabbed in the chest hurt like crazy. But it isn't that easy to kill a demon." Bobo explained with a smile while patting his chest.

"But on the boat… you disappeared!" Happy pointed out. Bobo smiled before he disappeared, causing Lucy and Maki to scream.

"Sorry for scaring you kids!" Above them, Bobo was flying in the air, two large bat-like wings protruding from his back. "I hope you can forgive me for keeping the truth from ya! I'm the only one who did lose his memories! Since everyone else transformed into humans, they thought I was a monster, so I had to leave!"

"Bobo…" Tears running down his cheeks, Moka suddenly sprouted wings of his own before he flew towards his son, embracing him tightly. "BOBO!"

"I'm glad you came back to your senses, pops!" Bobo laughed as he returned his father's hug.

Soon, the rest of the villagers began sprouting their own wings as they flew towards Bobo, expressing their joy in his return.

The Fairy Tail group, Ryuko and even Oracle couldn't help but smile at the display of unity the demonic villagers were showing.

They may be demons, but they weren't bad people in the end.

'Sometime later'

The villagers of Galuna island, in celebration of the Moon Drip being lifted and Bobo's return, hosted a large banquet in honor of the wizards who fought for them.

Natsu grabbed two torches before eating the flames, a content smile on his face. "Ahhh. Now those are some tasty flames!" Natsu exclaimed happily.

"I still can't get over you eating fire, man. But that's pretty cool." Ryuko confessed as she bit down on a chicken leg. "Mmm. Say what you want about these guys, but they know how to cook."

"Yes. Though you should still watch what you eat. Otherwise, your blood will taste disgusting." Senketsu reminded Ryuko, who simply ignored him while eating.

"It's good to finally relax after all this." Lucy admitted with a smile as she and Oliver sat at a table together. She then turned her head and chuckled as she saw a few female demons try and get Gray to dance with them. "And it looks like someone's got his own fan club."

"That makes two." Oliver pointed out as he saw three demon girls offer Yusei another plate of fruit, to which the Signer politely declined. For some reason, Lucy tightened her grip on her cup as she saw the village girls flirting with Yusei, though she kept it to herself.

However, another thought crossed Lucy's mind as she frowned a bit. Oliver, the keen observer he was, noticed this.

"Lucy?" Oliver spoke up, making the blonde jump in surprise. "You okay?"

"O-Oh yeah. I'm perfectly fine." Lucy replied with a big smile, though Oliver didn't seem convinced. Noticing his look, Lucy dropped it and sighed. "Well… this whole time, I wasn't able to do anything. Most of the time, everyone else fought while I just stayed in the back, watching it. Not being able to help. And even when I was fighting that girl Sherry, she was able to turn my Spirits against me with her magic." She looked at her own reflection in her drink. "I just… I don't wanna be a burden on them."

Oliver couldn't blame her for wanting to do more. After all, it reminded him a lot of Laurel when she wanted to take Sara's role as Black Canary after her death. Even in a world of magic, Lucy felt like she was just not doing as much as she could have.

"So… that's why I wanna ask you something." Lucy spoke up once again, not looking at Oliver. "You fought against a lot of people back in your world. And that was without magic."

"Right." Oliver nodded.

"And… from what I saw, you're a really good fighter…"

"Uh huh…"

"S-So…" Taking a gulp, Lucy steeled her resolve and turned towards Oliver with a serious expression. "Would you teach me how to fight?"

Oliver had to admit it was a surprise to hear Lucy ask such a question. He didn't have any doubts about Lucy, but considering the Spirits she could summon, he was a bit surprised by her question. Looking at her reminded him of Felicity and Laurel, both of whom asked for his help in hand to hand combat training. He refused both of them in fear that they would get themselves killed on the field, though it didn't matter in the end as Laurel trained under Ted Grant and was eventually killed by Damien Darhk. He still felt the guilt of her death whenever he looked at Sara and Quentin, which is why he decided to train his three new recruits so they wouldn't lose their lives.

And given how dangerous Earthland was… maybe teaching someone how to defend themselves would go a long way.

Noticing his silence, Lucy knew he had his answer and put on a fake smile. "You know what? N-Nevermind. It was a stupid question." Lucy told him while waving her hands. "I could just learn from one of my Spirits or something. Just forget I-"

"6 AM." Oliver suddenly cut her off, making her blink in surprise.

"What?" Lucy asked as Oliver ate some fruit, chewing it a bit before swallowing.

"That's what time I train every day." Oliver simply told her before looking at her eyes. "If you want me to train you, then you have to join me every morning. While I won't train you with a bow, I can at least show you how to fight against someone. Do we have a deal?"

Lucy couldn't believe what she was hearing. She was sure Oliver would just decline her and she would need to ask someone like Maki or Erza to train her. Not that she didn't trust then, but… they were kind of terrifying, so she tried asking someone with more experience, like Oliver.

But for him to actually accept the role as her teacher was a surprise, though not one she hated.

A big smile appeared on Lucy's face as she nodded happily. "Okay! I promise I won't slow you down!" With that, she returned to her meal, with Oliver giving her a small smile.

Hopefully, Lucy wouldn't end up like Laurel.

"So we're heading back tomorrow, right?" Maki asked Erza, who was eating her meal in peace.

"Correct. Because the job was finished, we will need to return to the Guild and give the Master our report. Though… don't expect a simple slap on the wrist." Erza told Maki before giving a smile, a dark aura surrounding her. "After all, you and the others still broke our Guild's rules. And if you do that, then you're punished."

Maki let out a small squeal of fear as she saw the look in Erza's eyes. She was still having a tough time choosing who was scarier: Erza or Lieutenant Hinawa.

"Hey, look!" One of the villagers called out while pointing to the gate. Everyone watched with surprised expressions as Yuki and Sherry all entered the village with unreadable expressions.

"Oh shit." Ryuko tossed her food away as she, Natsu and Maki all got in fighting stances, ready to defend the village. Gray stepped away from his fangirls, a serious expression on his face.

"Can we help you?" Erza spoke up as she, Yusei and Oliver took the lead in defending the village.

"You Fairy Tail wizards are strong." Yuki was the first to speak with a grin. "The Cold Emperor's so numb, he couldn't even stand. We had to leave Toby to watch him, but even he was pretty banged up."

"That's why we came here on their behalf." Sherry added with a frown.

"Lyon told you what happened, right?" Oliver questioned as he silently gestured to everyone behind him to stay put. "Then we have no reason to fight."

"He did. But that doesn't matter since we're here because we want to be." Yuki countered.

"We still have a score to settle and we won't leave until it's done." Sherry said rather darkly. Natsu ignited his fist as Ryuko prepared to pull the pin on her glove.

"Hang on." Yusei suddenly spoke up, holding a hand out to his allies as he walked towards Yuki and Sherry.

"Yusei…" Lucy muttered while holding a hand over her heart, concerned for her friend's safety.

"So, you want to be the one to fight us?" Yuki asked before he got into a stance, with Sherry doing the same. "Then come at us!"

"... No." The Head Signer told them with the most serious tone, causing everyone to go silent.

"What?" Sherry questioned in disbelief before she shook her head, glaring at Yusei. "What do you mean no?! Can't you see we're here to fight?!"

"If you don't wanna fight, let me!" Ryuko shouted as she pointed a Scissor Blade at Sherry. "I've been meaning to pay that bitch back for what she tried pulling on the villagers."

"They aren't really here to fight." Yusei told everyone loudly as he took another step forward. "Isn't that right?"

Yuki and Sherry continued to glare at Yusei, with everyone else waiting for them to launch an attack.

But much to their surprise, the duo relaxed while donning sad frowns.

"He's right…" Yuki finally confessed with a sigh. "This… might not be enough, but we wanted to apologize in person."

"You guys came here to settle things in a good way?" Happy asked with a hopeful tone.

"It's because of what happened with Deliora." Yusei explained, much to the others' surprise. "Back when Ryuko stopped Toby, he started telling us about how Deliora killed their families and that Lyon promised to give them closure. They never meant to hurt anyone."

"Bullshit!" Ryuko shouted in anger. "She tried dunking acid on everyone!"

"Yes… that was no act of love." Sherry muttered as she began to shake, tears slowly running down her face. "But… I still remember that horrible day. Deliora coming and ravaging my home. My family, my friends, gone. I wasn't thinking straight. All I wanted was to make that monster pay, but that's no excuse."

"We just wanted revenge, but in the end, we began hurting innocent people." Yuki chimed in sadly.

None of the Champions could necessarily blame the two for the way they were acting. Revenge was a very addictive drug that could affect the best of people. While that still didn't make their actions justified, they could understand where they were coming from.

"You know, you can't necessarily be angry with them. After all, you were very much like them not too long ago." Senketsu reminded Ryuko of her quest for vengeance.

"Yeah, yeah." Ryuko muttered to her clothes while lowering her weapon. She might have still been pissed at Sherry for disrespecting Bobo's grave, but he was alive. So for now, maybe she could let it slide.

As long as that bitch didn't try the same thing later on.

"ALRIGHT THEN!" Natsu suddenly appeared behind Yuki and Sherry, wrapping his arms around their shoulders. "You guys should come and eat with us!"

"B-But we were enemies not too long ago!" Yuki tried reasoning with a blush.

"A-And I need to watch my figure!" Sherry added with an embarrassing tone.

"NOPE! You're coming with us!" Natsu then dragged the two to a table nearby, all while everyone donned surprised expressions. "Now let's keep eating!" One by one, the others dropped their surprise and simply enjoyed their meals.

"Sheesh. Natsu's pretty freaking weird." Ryuko admitted before she smirked. "But not in a bad way, I guess."

"What will you do now?" Erza questioned her.

"I'm not sticking around here. Not really my style." Ryuko answered with a shrug as she and Erza saw the villagers give Yuki and Sherry more food, much to their embarrassment. "But… Natsu said I should join Fairy Tail. And since Yusei and the others are a part of it…"

"We would be honored if you joined us." Erza cut her off with a small smile. "And if you wouldn't mind, I would love to spar with you one day."

"You sure? I'm pretty strong." Ryuko jokingly told Erza, who nodded. "Okay. Don't say I didn't warn ya."

And with that, the two went to rejoin the feast, not knowing that they were being watched.

"Do you see it, master?" Zalty asked his crystal ball, which vaguely had the image of someone inside.

"I do. Though, I must ask." The person on the other side of the call asked. "Why restore the village?"

"Because I'm nice." Zalty answered with a thumbs up, though he knew his master wouldn't believe him. "Okay. The truth is I was impressed by a few of the wizards, so I decided to give them a little prize for winning."

"You'd better leave before your kindness becomes your downfall." The master told Zalty before they chuckled. "I admit those Fairy Tail wizards may pose a problem in the future. Though, they have been a good source of entertainment recently. Especially those newcomers."

Zalty grinned before he removed his mask, his whole body glowing white.

When the light died down, Ultear Milkovich stood in Zalty's place, looking at the village with a cool smile. "That is true." She confessed before her eyes wandered towards a certain archer, making her lick her lips rather seductively. "I think I found a new plaything~"

With that, Ultear left Galuna island without a trace.

Man… almost 50 freaking pages.

Either I want to spoil you guys with content or I just hate my editor that much(Just kidding. Love ya, EDA!)

So, I do have a confession. I WAS originally gonna have Deliora be revived with more power, but considering the fact it was just a walking frozen corpse… yeah, that was dumb. So I apologize for hyping you guys up with that.

Still, I hope you liked some of the new fights I added to the story since we have more characters. Trust me when I say the Phantom Lord arc will have a few more changes to the canon that may hopefully be entertaining.

Not only is Ryuko and Senketsu gonna join Fairy Tail, but it seems like our emerald archer has caught the attention of Ultear. How that will play, I won't say~

I know 2023 started out rather rough, but hopefully it can get better than 2022. Please stay safe, everyone!

But before we end the chapter…

'Era, late at night'

Kane had a lot of things he disliked about being in the Magic Council.

The annoying meetings he had to attend.

The even more annoying council members who acted like they were justice incarnate.

But worst of all… was the paperwork.

He had just finished signing his sixth stack of forms that needed to be looked over, yet he still had three more to do before tomorrow evening.

'If it were up to me, I would simply destroy those fools.' Kane thought as he finished yet another signature, letting out a tired sigh.

But just when he thought his evening was going to be nothing out of the ordinary… a magic circle appeared in his office.

*THUD*

"GUAH!" Roha appeared from the magic circle, his blood staining the rug in the center of the room. Mustering up his strength, Roha lifted his head and found Kane, looking at him with a raised brow. "M-Master…"

"Ahhh. Roha. So you used the teleportation Lacrima." Kane pointed out bluntly as he noticed the lack of Roha's right arm. "It seems you were in quite the battle."

"Please… Please… help me…" Roha began to beg, his only visible eye staring at his master as tears ran down his burnt cheek. "The pain… it hurts so much… I can't bare it."

"You can't bare pain?" Kane stood up from his desk, calmly walking towards his fallen warrior with his hands behind his back. "Tell me: what has become of Deliora? And where is Ultear?"

"Gone… Deliora… is gone… I don't know where Milkovich is…" Roha swallowed hard as he held his stump to prevent more blood from spilling. "Please make this pain go away. IT HURTS!"

"Quiet." Kane suddenly stomped his foot onto Roha's head, pushing him down against the floor. "If I chose to, I would kill you for failing me. Your mission was to release Deliora and inject it with the blood. Yet you come here, bleeding on my floor, begging me to help you."

"No… PLEASE DON'T!" Roha begged loudly with a whimper. "I can't be useful! Just give me a chance and I'll make sure Erza Scarlet suffers for this!"

"Scarlet?" Recalling recent events, Kane came to realize that it was Erza who had wounded his warrior, breaking his usual cocky nature. If Roha were to attack Erza again and avoid losing the same way… perhaps even recruiting her to their cause, it might be more beneficial than simply getting rid of him. Plus, his magic was far too useful to waste at the moment.

"... Very well." Letting out a sigh, Kane removed his foot from Roha's head. He then took out a knife from his back pocket, pressing it against his left arm. "I will allow you one more chance to prove yourself. And I will even give you a boost in strength for when you battle the Titania once again. But know this: I will NOT give you another chance after this. If you fail me again, then I WILL kill you. Understood?"

"Yes! Oh, master Kane! Your mercy knows no bounds!" Roha cried out in joy. He was close to having a panic attack when he saw Kane take out the knife, but his worries were unneeded.

Speaking of Kane, he simply cut his left arm, allowing his own blood to leak onto the floor.

"Drink." Was all Kane told Roha while kneeling down, his bleeding arm extended. Roha watched the blood with a look of hunger before he latched onto it, sucking as much blood as his master could offer.

"Oh my. Looks like someone's hungry." A female voice called out from the shadows of the room with an amused tone. "Shouldn't we kill him for failing."

"He is much more useful alive than dead." Kane answered simply as he turned towards the newcomer.

She was a young teenage girl of medium height. She has long blond hair styled in drill-like pigtails, with smaller locks framing her face. Her eyes are sapphire blue, with highlights that resemble a smiling face. She wore a richly adorned pink lolita-style dress with matching boots and fingerless gloves. She accentuates her ensemble with a parasol, a large pink hair bow and a purple eyepatch over her left eye. Her attire had a prominent heart motif, such as on her collar, the center of her bow, her earrings, and even the highlights on her pigtails.

"Would you please take him to get his wounds repaired?" Kane asked the girl as Roha finished drinking his blood, the veins of the wounded warrior glowing purple for a brief moment.

"Okay!" The girl hummed happily as she went over and grabbed the back of Roha's clothes, causally lifting him up over her shoulder. She then looked over to Kane with a smile. "But you won't be made if I end up taking off more of his body parts, right?"

"As long as they make him useful, do what you see fit." Kane told her calmly as he went back to his desk. "And please send someone to clean this mess."

"You got it. Good luck with your paperwork~" With that, the girl took Roha out of the room, leaving Kane to his work.

'One by one, Fairy Tail, the Champions and all the fools in Fiore will bow to father.' A rare smile appeared on Kane's face as he continued signing papers.

The waiting game will continue as planned.

Next time: Who's who?!