"Taro, how're things going?" Mami asked the pilot of the Christina. The tan man smiled at her.
"Looks like we did a decent amount to the hunters down there." He replied. "Also, everyone deployed the second we got over the battlefield." Mami nodded, smiling.
"Good, then looks like we'll need to do our part too." She turned around to look at Akio. "How many bombs to we have left?"
"More than enough." He replied. "Want to unload some more."
"Sure, why not. There's a bunch of those fucks down there." Akio nodded and went to go check the bombs, and Mami turned to Ken.
"You have a view on everyone?" He asked. Ken nodded.
"For the most part," He said, nodding. "Seems some of us have engaged the tougher hunters, while others are just dealing with the lesser." Mami nodded at this and looked up at the archive screens. She watched as her friends fought with the hunters. She kinda wished she could be down there as well, but it was for the best if she stayed up here and had a command post set up.
"Well, let's hope this goes well." She muttered, watching the battle unfold.
Steph stared at Bella in shock. What the hell was she doing here?
"Bella?" She asked weakly. "What are you doing? Why're you here?"
"...He did it, didn't he?" She asked weakly, making Steph make a confused sound. "He hurt Damien, didn't he?" Wait, was Bella here because of that?
"Well, yeah." Bella didn't move for a moment, but after this the ground began to shake again. Steph gulped. "Bella! What are you doing?!"
"So you did this..." Bella hissed, tears falling from her face. "You did that too him..."
"Bella, get out of here! This guys no joke, he could kill you!"
"You did it...I'll...I'll..."
"Bella! Leave, please! You'll end up just like Damien if you don't! Go!"
"Ah, so she's one too?" Steph turned back to Gin to find him a little surprised. "A third one. Good God, this is good. What're you gonna do, girl? I almost killed your friend, and I'll do the same to you too!" Steph didn't know what to do. She was trapped in between a Demon Hunter and a Demon Lord. Turning back to Bella, the girl had an angry look on her face.
And then, she slowly started to raise her right hand. Steph's eyes widened.
"Bella, no!"
"Takeover..."
"BELLA!"
"...Demon Meridia."
Gin made a face as a familiar feeling came over him. He knew this all too well. It was the feeling of a Demon Lord close by. It wasn't one that he had felt before though. He looked over the battlefield towards the center of the power that he felt.
"What is that?" he asked. "Another Demon Lord?"
"It's Meridia." Gin turned to Mortavius at this. "The Succubus."
"That's their friend Bella, right?" Gin asked. "I guess she came in that airship over the camp site."
"I guess so." Mortavius replied Gin turned back to the camp site and stared at it, unsure as to what he was supposed to do.
Doesn't she know how dangerous that is?...Does she care?
Natsu blocked Neptu's flames and gritted his teeth as it burned at him. He'd been right to assume that the flames were't good for him. Every time they even licked him it hurt and it wasn't good. Natsu was fully prepared to stand back up and deliver another attack, but he paused as he saw Neptu just standing there, staring off into the distance with a wide eyed expression.
"What?" Natsu asked.
"That feeling..." He heard Neptu say probably to himself. "It's one of them..." Natsu made a face and looked over in the same direction to see it dark and foreboding. Natsu likened it back to the feeling he got from Damien some times, only heightened extremely.
"What is that?" Natsu asked. Neptu still stared at the darkness, but soon he shook his head and looked back towards Natsu.
"It's nothing." He replied. "It's not the one I'm looking for. I'll deal with it after I'm done here."
Steph watched in fright as a dark black magic circle appeared on Bella's hand, and the area around them darkened as it began to glow. Steph backed up slightly as Bella was engulfed in darkness. After the girl had completely disappeared in the torrent of darkness, she could hear Quinn laughing.
"Come on, then!" He shouted. "Show me if you're stronger than the other kid!" At this, the darkness around Bella faded. Her blonde hair was flying wildly behind her head, but the tips were dyed red now. She had curled blue horns on her head, and jet black wings spread out from back. He clothes had morphed into what looked to be her armor, which was basically just standard dark blue underwear. She also had forearm armor as well, and her legs were covered thigh down with similar armor.
It was the first time Steph had seen Bella's takeover, and it was surprisingly terrifying given the look it had.
"Well, then..." Quinn said from behind her. "That's certainly a revealing outfit you've adorned." Bella simply tilted her head to the side, glaring at Quinn. After a moment, Steph could hear him grunting. Turning, she found him making a pained face as he slowly walked forward. She watched as Quinn approached Bella, the pained expression he had slowly turning into one calmer and more...happy.
"What the hell?" She asked weakly. "What's happening?" Quinn reached Bella, and she reached forward and caressed his face.
"You piece of shit." She hissed. "I'm going to make you pay." Quinn's eyes look hazy, but Bella looked ready to kill. "What should I do first, I wonder. Maybe break your limbs? Or just snap your little neck?"
"...I..." Quinn managed weakly, Steph just watching in confusion. "I..." Steph watched as Quinn slowly raised a hand and reached for Bella, who just watched. As he got close, Steph's eyes widened.
"Bella, look out!" She shouted. Bella's eyes widened, and she raised her hands to defend herself. She did so just in time, as a blast of holy light came from Quinn's hand and shot right at her. She slid backwards and used her wings to slow herself down. Quinn shook his head, and began to laugh.
"You foolish bitch." He hissed, starting to laugh even louder. "Did you really think your poisonous seduction would work on a man blessed by holy light?! You're so dumb!" Bella looked surprised, and Steph felt a similar feeling going through herself.
"I don't understand..." Bella said aloud. "It worked on Michael, why not you?"
"Who's Michael?" Quinn asked. "Ah who cares. All I know is that you aren't going to be seducing me. Got anything else up your sleeve, or was that all?" Bella didn't reply to this, she simply stared down at the ground. Quinn shrugged and raised another hand to shoot at her. "Oh well. I was fighting the demons sister. Wait your turn." With this, he fired off a blast at Bella.
And Bella raised her own hand, firing off a beam of black magic to counter it. The blasts met and exploded, so Steph covered her face to prevent getting hit with any debris.
"It's foolish of you to think that seduction is all I'm capable of." She spat. "I just generally like to avoid using my basic darkness magic."
"That right." Quinn said. "How about you show me, then?"
"Gladly." Steph watched as Bella shot at Quinn, tackling him away. Turning, she watched as an explosion of black and white happened in the distance. The two separated, but it didn't last as the two shot at each other again. They both swung at each relentlessly, but from what Steph could tell Quinn was definitely more on the defensive. Jumping away from her, the man laughed.
"You seem just as riled up as the sister!" He shouted as his blades countered Bella's shadowy slashes. "What did I do to piss you off, huh?!"
"I'm going to kill you!" Bella shouted angrily. "It's the least I can do!"
"Yeah keep running your mouth!" Quinn parried her slashes again, and Steph watched as the blades morphed and slashed at Bella. The blades cut into her upper body, causing her to cry out in pain. She backed up, but this only allowed Quinn to go on the offensive and get a few more decent cuts in.
"Bella, just stop!" Steph cried out, running towards the fight. "I'll handle him! You're too weak to his attacks!"
"Shut up!" Steph froze as Bella shouted this. The demon whirled and glared at Steph, and Steph felt her head spin.
Despite the pure rage that radiated from the woman, Steph could very clearly see she was in more than just physical pain.
"I've got it covered!" Bella said. "Just let me handle it!" Steph watched the demon turn and go after Quinn again, and she landed a few decent hits that the hunter hadn't been expecting. Quinn backed up, but Bella didn't give him any breathing room and came right after him again. Quinn had nowhere to go, and Steph heard him grunt in irritation.
"Back off!" He shouted. A small explosion of light forced Bella away, and in that moment Quinn covered himself in a sphere of light, one that seemed to protect him. "This protected me from that others kids swings!" he shouted from inside. "There's no way you'll-!"
Quinn was cut off as Bella roared angrily and stabbed her hands into the shield and began to pull at it. Steph watched in awe as Bella pulled the sphere apart, revealing the confused Quinn inside. He had no time to ponder how she'd done it, though, as Bella used her opening to reach inside and grab his head, ripping him back out into the open. Quinn flew across the battlefield and landed face down in the dirt, Bella right after him. She grabbed his head and slammed it down on the ground, and again, and then again. Steph watched Bella beat Quinn into the dirt, feeling almost bad for the man. Another small explosion threw Bella off, and Quinn climbed to his feet, albeit very slowly.
"Ow." He muttered, rubbing the bleeding wound on his head. "Stupid bitch..." He turned to Bella and blasted off some light to keep her distracted, but Bella's methodical movement allowed her to run right through his attacks. She went to punch him, but Quinn stopped her with an open hand. Bella tried her other hand, but Quinn grabbed that one as well. Now the two were stuck in a close quarters grapple, one that neither seemed to have the upper hand in. Quinn grimaced.
"I gotta say, you're something else." he said. "But I'll tell you the same thing I told Gin."
"What?" Bella hissed. Quinn grinned, and Steph's eyes widened.
So did Bella's as a blade of holy light pierced through the left side of abdomen.
"The blade's bend as I want them to." Quinn said. The blade retracted from her, and Bella stumbled backwards gripping the bleeding wound. Quinn didn't give her time to recover and blasted her with holy light, causing her to fly away from him and hit the ground, unmoving.
"Bella!" Steph shouted, running to the girls side. Kneeling down and having the girl in her lap, Steph noted that she, like Damien had been before, very translucent skin and she was struggling to get out of Steph's grasp.
"Steph, let me go..." Bella hissed, pushing at her. "I'm fine!...I'll take this asshole down..."
"Bella, that's enough!" Steph shouted. "You're going to end up like Damien if you don't stop! Just take it easy!"
"No, god damn it!" Bella shouted. "I'll take him out! I have too...I have too..."
"Bella..." Steph said weakly, staring down at the weakened girl in her grasp. Bella closed her eyes and growled, pushing Steph away and managed to get to her feet.
"I'm fine." She said, hole in her abdomen still bleeding a dark red color of blood. "I can handle it."
"Can you know?" Quinn asked. "Do I really need to stab you some more to get my point across? You can't beat me."
"I don't care." Bella hissed. "I have to try." Quinn made a face.
"Fine." He said. "Be that way." Charging forward, Quinn punched Bella in the gut, casing her to cough up blood as she staggered back. She tried to throw her own punches, but she couldn't. She was too weak. Quinn pushed her back, and a large holy blade appeared in his hand.
"Bella, watch out!" Steph yelled.
"I'll stab you right in the heart." Quinn said. "Let's see if you're stronger than your friend!"Quinn surged forward, blade aimed right for Bella's chest. Bella was just staring at him, wide eyed. Steph couldn't bring herself to look away.
She didn't have too either, as a gust began to pick up. At first it was simply that, but soon it felt as though a storm had picked up around them. Bella seemed unaffected, but Quinn's attempted charge had been reduced to him fighting the wind pushing against him.
"What the hell is this?!" He demanded. "Why is it so wi-!"
Quinn was cut off as a pillar of earth struck him square in the chest, sending him flying backwards away from Bella. Steph looked towards said demon, but she looked just as confused.
"You're just a dumbass, Bella." Steph looked towards this voice, and she felt relief wash over her.
"Terra..." Bella coughed out. The Lamia Scale wizard looked over at Bella.
"Thank God I found you before he ran you through." She said. "Why're you out here? We left you at the guild hall." Bella just looked at her feet at this comment. Terra glared at her for a bit, but soon she sighed. "God you're dumb. Stand back, I'll handle this jackass."
"No, I'm fine!" Bella shot back. "I'll take him out!"
"Like that?" Terra asked. "I very much doubt that. Take a seat before I make you, Bella."
"But..."
"Don't worry Bella." Another new voice said. Winter walked beside Terra with a smile. "I'll get you going again. I'm no Wendy, but I think I can keep you on your feet." Bella looked ready to object, but she didn't get a chance before Terra made the earth below her levitate over to them so Winter could help her. The two glared at each other for a moment or two before Bella sighed and collapsed to sit down.
"Fine." She said, crossing her arms. "I appreciate the healing, Winter."
"It's no problem." Winter replied, kneeling down to do exactly that. Terra then looked to Steph.
"You ready to go Steph?" She asked.
"Eh?" Steph asked, realizing she'd been addressed. "Do you want my help?"
"Yeah." Terra replied, turning to watch Quinn as he stood back up. "I'm assuming this is the prick that put Damien in that hospital bed?"
"Yeah, he is." At this, Terra's expression became pained.
"Thought so." She said. "Only reason Bella would come out here." Bella didn't reply to this, she simply stared down at her feet as Winter healed up her holes.
"So more ladies are trying to take me down?" Quinn asked.
"Trying implies we'll have trouble." Terra said. "And trust me, there'll be none of that." Quinn smirked.
"I'll say it again to you, new girl. You can't win."
Chapter 252: The Men of the Fourth Generation