Hi everyone. Welcome back, and thanks again for waiting! I hope you all enjoyed your holidays! We are nearing the end of the Grand Magic Games tournament and getting closer towards the Eclipse Gate. Things are only going to get crazier from this point forward and I so can't wait for you to see what I have in store here!
Now, in regard to the recently released Devil May Cry: Peak of Combat, I haven't yet had the chance to check it out, but will do so later this month. As for whether or not it will have an impact on my story… we shall see. I already have a basic idea of what to do with my overall series, so it won't change much, maybe a few additional bosses, but we'll see.
With all that being said, let's get started.
The Demon Within
The combined group that consisted of Crime Sorciere, and Dante's rescue team from Fairy Tail, ran as fast as they could through an underground chamber within the castle as Lucy appeared to be in the lead.
"It's this way! This is the most direct route outside!" Lucy stated. "If future me was right, once we get outside, it'll be easier to get the Eclipse Gate that'll be brought up to surface by this point!"
"How exactly do you know which way to go?" Natsu asked.
"Remember when I had Gemini copy that one guy's memories from the Wolf Knights?" Lucy reminded. "It wasn't just to find a way out from underground. I also had them know the entire layout of the castle, just in case."
"Way to think ahead, Lucy." Lisanna smiled.
"Speaking of, how is she holding up?" Dante asked, glancing back towards Loke who still continued to carry Future Lucy on his back.
"She's hanging in there, but we really shouldn't dilly-dally." Loke said.
"I'm sorry if I'm being a burden…" Future Lucy muttered.
"Don't you dare say that! You're not a burden!" Mira told her firmly. "You're still Lucy, one of us! And we're going to find a way to save you and the world!"
"Aye, she's right!" Happy flew by her side. "And once this is over, we're all going home together."
"That's what family does, after all." Trish said with a smile.
"You guys…" Future Lucy was brought to tears.
"Let's save the tears until after we prevent the end of the world!" Lady advised.
"She's right! We're not after the woods yet!" Cana agreed.
"Maybe once we're outside, we can call the others!" Kyrie suggested.
"I agree. We'll need all the help we can get if we're to resolve this crisis." Panther-Lily said as well.
Yukino gasped slightly as she saw a literal light at the end of the tunnel. "We're almost there!"
It was true, the group had made it out of the tunnel and into a hallway, one that had various windows that showed the orange sky of the approaching dusk outside.
"We finally have a way out of here!" Carla stated.
"And the sun hasn't set yet! We still have time!" Wendy exclaimed happily.
"Not if they have anything to say about it." Modeus looked with a serious expression down the hallway, causing everyone to turn in that direction to see several dozen royal soldiers charging toward them.
"There they are!"
"Capture the fugitives!"
"Let's get em, men!"
"The royal army!?" Lucy questioned in shock. "How'd they find us?!"
"Considering this idiot pretty much blew serval holes in the wall to get here, should you really be that surprised?" Lady replied, gesturing towards Natsu.
"We don't have time for this!" Dante growled in annoyance, but he was rather surprised to see Ultear step up front.
"Agreed. Ice-Make: Rose Bush!" Placing her hands to the ground, a large cluster of purple ice rose vines covered over most of the area, creating a wall that separated the heroes from the opposing soldiers. "Fairy Tail will go on ahead, we'll hold them off!"
"What?! But shouldn't we stay together?!" Kyrie questioned.
"No, she's right. Our objective is to destroy the Eclipse Gate, but only Lucy and Yukino are capable of that! The rest of us will run the risk of having our magic drained if we're anywhere near it!" Jellal then shot a blast of magic power to the wall, blasting a hole that led to the outside. "Get to the Gate now while we still have time!"
"B-but…" Yukino wasn't quite sure, looking toward her older sister, who gazed back towards her.
"We'll be fine. Once we're done here, we'll catch up, but time is literally not on our side right now." Sorano said.
"Besides, we got seven years' worth of experience fighting demons and dark guilds. We can handle a few soldiers." Sheeree said with a confident grin towards Wendy and Carla.
"There's no time to argue! You need to go! Now!" Meredy stated firmly.
"They're right." Dante was the first to understand. "Let's go." He leapt out of the hole first, followed by everyone else in Fairy Tail, Yukino included, though she did glance back towards her older sister one more time.
'Please be careful, Sorano.' She thought before jumping outside.
"Hey!" Natsu was the last one left as he got Jellal's attention. "You better make it out of this, ya hear?! You owe Erza that much!" That was all he said before joining his friends and leaping out through the hole.
Jellal couldn't help but smile at that. 'Don't worry. As I've told her, I have no intention of throwing my life away.'
Ultear's ice-wall broke apart as Crime Sorciere stood ready to face not just the royal army outside, but even five certain wizards who had appeared to join them.
"I have told you before! You cannot escape your sins or the punishment you deserve for them!" Kama declared, pointing one of his scythes towards Jellal as he stood alongside the rest of the Wolf Knights. Despite all five of them being battered and bruised from their previous battles, they looked more than willing to continue the fight.
"Ugh, not these guys again!" Meredy complained.
"Didn't we already knock you losers out? You wanna get your butts handed to you again?" Sheeree questioned them.
"Oh, this will be very different." Cosmos glared at Sheeree specifically. "I myself will take great pleasure in decomposing your corpse and using it as fertilizer for my beautiful plants!"
"You humiliated us in battle and even spared us!" Kamika gritted her teeth. "That won't go unanswered!"
"I'm gonna melt you all away!" Neppa pounded his fist into his palm.
"I'll fillet all ya ad use ya as bait on my next fishing trip!" Uosuke declared, still having a spaced-out look on his face.
Despite the dangerous threats, the five members of Crime Sorciere didn't look the least bit intimidated as they all stood firm.
"Listen, I'm sure this doesn't need to be said but…" Jellal began to address his team. "These are neither demons nor dark wizards. They are soldiers simply following orders. Avoid using lethal attacks if you can. Of course, if you have no other choice, you are to put your own safety first! Is that clear?"
"Got it!" Sorano, Ultear, Meredy, and Sheeree all said at the same time.
"Attack!" Kama ordered as he and the Wolf Knights, along with the royal soldiers, all charged forward, just as Crime Sorciere readied their respective magics and went on the attack as well.
Dante's group was now outside, but they were in the middle of a large courtyard, one that appeared to be in the dead-center of the Mercurius structure. "Alright Lucy, which way?" Dante asked his cousin.
"We're in the middle! If we get high enough, we should be able to fly straight…" She was interrupted however, as a certain behemoth-like monster had leapt down toward her, prompting Trish to pull her out of the way just as Natsu leapt at it with a flaming fist to strike the monster's own fist, creating a shockwave that blew that very beast back.
However, that wasn't the only monster there. Several other monsters of various shapes and sizes began to fill in the massive courtyard, climbing down from the structures around them. These ranged from the silver-skinned quadrupedal creatures to the dark-red ones that had flames from their mouths, and the blue bi-pedal beasts that accompanied them.
"We got monsters!" Happy exclaimed as everyone grouped up together and formed a circle.
"Looks like we're surrounded!" Cana stated as she readied her cards.
"Hold on a second… these are the Pandemonium Monsters!" Lisanna realized.
Dante's eyes lowered in annoyance, realizing what this meant. "Ah shit."
The single S-Class monster had climbed down from the main structure of the palace in front of them, and riding on its shoulder was none other than the demon that commanded these beasts.
"I told you, Son of Sparda… that I would be the one to claim your head." Moloch said as he smirked evilly towards the heroes, despite having both of his horns broken off.
"Moloch!" Modeus exclaimed.
"Dante, I thought you said you took that guy down!" Lady told him.
"I did! I pummeled him! He shouldn't even be able to stand right now!" Dante insisted.
"You should have made certain I was dead. But like your father, your mercy, or rather your attempt to mock me, has only come back to haunt you." Moloch stated.
"Listen up, pal!" Natsu pointed towards Moloch directly. "We ain't got time to mess with you!" He said as his whole body was lit aflame. "Get the hell out of our way or I'll burn you and all your little pets to a crisp!"
Carla flew closer the red-clad Devil Hunter. "Dante… you're right. After the damage you inflicted upon him, he should not have recovered so quickly, even if he is a powerful demon. But I'm thinking that between the timing of his arrival, as well as that of the royal army that Crime Sorciere is currently holding back…"
"He had help." Dante saw her train of logic and instantly realized what was going on. "This guy knows what's going on! He's trying to keep us from the Eclipse Gate!"
That left everyone in Fairy Tail more than a little surprised. "What…? That shouldn't be possible! The Eclipse Gate is supposed to be top secret! How could Moloch of all creatures know about it?!" Yukino questioned.
"Unless the other time-traveler told him and sent him our way to keep us busy!" Mira realized.
"Seems our enemy is indeed one step ahead of us." Lily said as he transformed once more to his battle-mode and drew Baskerville.
"Guys, something's wrong!" Wendy told everyone. "We can't reach Warren!"
"Our telepathic link has been cut off!" Modeus stated.
"An invisible barrier was placed along the perimeter of the castle by that idiotic princess." Moloch revealed. "She doesn't want any outside parties interfering in her project to 'save the world' as she says. But we all what's really going to happen." He caught Dante's glare, this pretty much confirmed that Moloch was indeed there to stall them. "I won't let you get to the Eclipse Gate. That device will serve its purpose. The door to the past will be open. Countless dragons will come and burn this city to ash! Fairy Tail dies tonight! And I, Moloch, will take great pleasure in knowing that I had a hand in wiping that guild off the face of Earthland!"
"Over my dead body!" Natsu shot himself straight up, using flames from his feet to blast him straight towards Moloch and the S-Class monster.
"Lucy, Yukino, Kyrie, you guys hang back with Loke and protect the Lucy from the future!" Dante ordered. "Happy, Carla, if worst comes to worst, you fly them all away and straight to the Eclipse Gate! The rest of us, we're putting Moloch and his pets in the ground! Now!"
"Right!" Everyone followed Dante's orders as they all went to engage the approaching Pandemonium monsters while Dante himself had used Trickster to launch himself upwards. While Natsu clashed his fiery-fist against the S-Class's crossed arms, Moloch had leapt down, drawing Crystalbane as he fell towards Dante, who had drawn Rebellion, both swords meeting each other in mid-air.
The orange sky seemed relatively peaceful with the sun slowly starting to set, a vast contradiction to the chaos that was unfolding from a certain battle within the city as the Devil Trigger Nero was sent flying and crashing through several buildings before rolling across the ground, though he skidded to a halt on his feet.
He blinked and saw the Devil Trigger Lucia was already on him, swinging both of her blades from her side, but Nero swung up Masayoshi to block and lock his katana against both her swords while also throwing out his fist, the demonic spirit around him lashing out with a spectral punch of its own. Though it did hit Lucia in the side as both her hands were holding her swords and unable to block it, she recovered easily enough in mid-air thanks to her wings and swung her swords to send waves of light his way.
Nero swung Masayoshi to send a wave of his own to slice through Lucia's attack, but she had used that to close the distance and slice past Nero with her blades, much to his shock and pain as blood sprayed out from where he was slashed. Lucia pressed the advantage by throwing her arm up to cause spears of light energy to shoot up from the ground and blast Nero straight upwards, where Lucia proceeded to strike him before he could recover in mid-air. Though he acted quickly and used Masayoshi to block her swords, he couldn't block the kick to his stomach that sent him crashing through the ground and into the sewers below.
"Oooh! I hate to say it, but it looks like Nero is at a loss here, folks!" Chapati commentated. "Despite both combatants utilizing Devil Triggers, it seems like Lucia has the advantage!"
"This isn't quite like what happened with Dante and Vergil back on Day Four." Mato recalled. "Those two seemed evenly matched back then."
"I'm guessing it's because Nero probably has less experience with his Devil Trigger than Lucia does." Yajima commented. "But it's still too early to say that she's won so soon."
"Go Lucia! You can do it!" Amarilla cheered.
"Kagura may be out of the fight, but our top gal is still going strong!" Risley pumped her fist.
"And that Nero-guy's only landed one or two hits!" Beth added.
"Let's not count him out just yet though. We've never seen a Devil Trigger quite like his before." Arana pointed out.
"Come on Nero! Is that how a real man fights?!" Elfman called out to him.
"What's the deal? I thought a Devil Trigger is supposed to be unstoppable?" Jet questioned.
"So why does it seem like Nero's getting his ass handed to him?" Droy also questioned.
"Not every method in power up is equal." Makarov said. "And even if that's the case, experience is still just as important."
"Yeah, Nero's only had his Devil Trigger for a few months." Gildarts added. "From where I'm standing, it looks like Lucia's been using hers a lot longer."
"In addition, she's also much faster than Nero." Mavis pointed out. "Combine that with her own experience and strength, he's at a severe disadvantage."
Sparda watched with a serious expression, his arms crossed and shaking somewhat as he saw on the monitor the battle that was unfolding now underground between his youngest son and his opponent.
Pulling himself out of the water that he now stood ankle-deep in, Nero took a second to catch his breath. 'She's fast. I can't land a hit on her.' He looked around at his environment. 'But down here… she won't have as much room to move. She can only attack straight forward or backwards. That'll narrow down her options.' He saw Lucia gracefully descend from the hole that was made as she faced Nero, who stood ready for the fight as he readied the Masayoshi again. 'Let her get in close and I'll slice her!'
However, Lucia didn't go for the attack just yet. Rather she raised her hand as a halo of white light energy appeared in the palm of her hand before she threw it at Nero. He tried to slice at the attack with his katana, only for the halo to suddenly grow to enormous size and encircle around Nero, where it quickly condensed and bound his arms to his side, even his spectral Devil Trigger was restraint by this.
"What the…?!"
"She has a binding technique?!" Makarov questioned.
"That's just cheap!" Jet called out.
"Look out Nero!" Droy also called.
Lucia quickly flew in to the restraint Nero and delivered a powerful kick, one that had enough force to send him flying through the water that exploded around him and sent him skidding across the tunnel. Despite still being bound however, Nero dug his feet in as he stood tall, glaring at his opponent with red eyes.
"There is no doubt that you're a strong one, Nero." Lucia told him. "And while I haven't seen a demonic power quite like yours, you lack the experience in using it. Sorry, but I do not see you winning this." She readied her blades as they glowed a bright blue. "I'll end this quickly."
She rushed Nero in the blink of an eye once more, but even as she approached him, everything seemed to unfold in slow motion around the younger Devil Hunter as his Devil Bringer arm glowed even brighter, the halo that was being used to bind him began to glow the same kind of dark blue color that came from his transparent Devil Trigger, right before it exploded just as Lucia closed in.
The resulting explosion broke off Lucia's attack and left her open as Nero pulled back his fist, his transparent Devil Trigger form doing the same as the fragments of the energy halo quickly reformed around the transparent fist, creating something akin to glowing armor, which he threw out and struck Lucia with explosive effects to send her crashing through multiple walls in the underground tunnels.
Everyone in the audience, especially those in Fairy Tail and Mermaid Heel, looked in clear shock as they all saw that, even the observing Vergil raised a slight eyebrow. "Holy cow! What in the world just happened?!" Chapati questioned.
"If I had to guess, I'd say that Nero somehow absorbed the energy that was being used to restrain him and added it to his own attack power." Yajima assumed.
"It certainly packs a punch, that's for sure!" Mato commented.
Lucia still retained her Devil Trigger as she pried herself from the wall that she was embedded into, after crashing through five walls in total through the underground sewer system. She looked at the hole in front of her to see the Devil Trigger Nero standing in it as he glared at her.
"Don't count me out yet!" He held the Masayoshi in his hand as it shined even brighter, the red glow in his own eyes becoming brighter as well.
'His power is increasing…. Despite the punishment he's enduring.' Lucia thought as she stood tall. 'But, can his body keep up? Let's find out.' She spun her swords around before taking a combative stance.
"I'm ready."
After a tense few seconds of the two Devil Hunters staring each other down, they sped at each other and clashed swords once again, creating a shockwave that blew away all the water in the area.
"And our underground rumble isn't the only intense match-up happening right now, folks!" Chapati commentated as multiple streaks of ice shot up from the street on the surface. "We have ourselves an epic two-on-two unfolding over here!"
"Ice-Make: Lance!"
"Ice-Make: Eagle!"
Gray and Lyon launched similar ice-magic attacks at one another, but the latter's ice-eagles easily blasted through Gray's ice-lances as they struck him all across the area. Despite being bombarded, covered in bruises all over his body, Gray refused to fall.
"Whoa! Even after all that punishment, Gray Fullbuster is not letting up!" Mato commentated.
"Don't forget, he only recently finished his fight against Rufus." Yajima added. "Say what you will about him, but there is no denying his fortitude and endurance."
"You've always been persistent and stubborn." Lyon complemented his childhood rival as he readied another attack. "But don't forget that I've gotten plenty stronger these past seven years!"
Gray mimicked him by reading an attack of his own. "So, you keep reminding me. But don't count us out yet."
"Ice-Make: Snow Tiger!" Lyon sent a frozen tiger Gray's way, who still kept prepping for an attack right as he jumped backwards to avoid the ice-tiger's claw strikes.
"Juvia!"
"Ready!" His teammate came by his side and launched an attack of her own. "Water Nebula!" She sent a double-spiral attack of water to tear apart the ice-tiger, which Gray added to by combing his magic with Juvia's to freeze the water.
"Ice-Make: Shotgun!" The water not only froze but shattered, launching a multitude of frozen clusters straight towards Lyon.
"Sky God Dance!" Sherria had suddenly appeared between Lyon and the oncoming attack, spreading her arms to create a wall of black wind that blocked the combined assault.
"Good work, Sherria!" Lyon told her.
Gray tisked in annoyance. "That little brat is tough. We'll never get in close to Lyon as long as she's with him."
"I agree, my love." Juvia said. "We need to take her down first, and I think I have an idea on how to do it."
"I'm listening." Gray allowed for Juvia to whisper her plan towards him.
"Hey, Lyon! Why aren't we attacking?!" Sherria questioned. "We should hit them now before they come up with a plan!"
"Where's the fun in that?" Lyon asked with a smirk. "I'm honestly having a great time here. It wouldn't be very sporting of me if I at least didn't give Gray and my beloved Juvia a fighting chance, wouldn't it?"
"Hey, in case you didn't notice, our guild is second-to-last right now!" Sherria reminded. "If we don't step up, we're gonna…"
Sherria was interrupted however as a trail of ice-spikes was shot towards her and Lyon, the trail exploding in-between them and forcing them in opposite directions. As Lyon found himself backing towards an empty canal, Juvia appeared to rush towards him, using the whirlpool that was once her lower body to propel herself and close the distance between them.
"Water Slicer!" She sent multiple razor-sharp waves of water towards Lyon, which he blocked by quickly forming an ice-wall, allowing him to step back and get some distance as the water sliced through his shield.
"Not a bad move darling, but you'll need more than that to defeat me! Ice-Make: Snow Dragon!" Lyon was quick to conjure up a large serpentine dragon made of ice that loomed over the water wizard.
"Nice to know you're at least taking me seriously." Juvia muttered as she propelled herself straight up with a stream of water to avoid the ice dragon's fangs.
As Sherria appeared by alone, she found herself facing Gray as he had a move already prepared for her. "Ice-Make: Dome!" He was quick to construct a dome made of ice, one that was large enough to entrap them both, but still small enough to not give Sherria much breathing room.
"It looks like Gray has Sherria trapped, folks! But it seems like he's trapped inside with her!" Chapati commentated. "What could he be planning?"
"Maybe he thinks he can take her in close combat like what Wendy did before." Mato assumed.
"I guess we'll just have to find out." Yajima said.
Despite being trapped, Sherria looked ready to keep up the fight as Gray took a familiar stance. "Sorry, kid. I don't normally fight like this, but that self-healing power of yours is a real pain. Freeze!"
A wave of cyan-magic energy began to spread around Gray, completely enveloping the small area within the dome. Sherria winced slightly from the cold energy, but she still refused to budge.
"What, are you trying to freeze me solid?! Well, it won't work! I'll just…" She was somehow interrupted before she could say her next word. "I'll just…" She couldn't speak for some reason. "Just…." She suddenly felt her throat, unable to so much as speak. In fact, it was getting harder for her to even breathe.
"Huh, what is happening?" Chapati questioned as everyone on the monitor saw what was occurring inside the dome.
"What's wrong with Sherria?" Sho asked as he and Sherry looked concern, but the latter soon gasped as she realized what was happening.
"She can't breathe!" Sherry exclaimed.
As Gray kept up his freeze spell, more ice formed along the walls of the ice-dome, as well as the floor, and even across his body and Sherria's as she found it harder to breathe. As he kept it up, he remembered what Juvia had told him.
"Her element is air, but it's also made from oxygen and hydrogen, which also make up water. If it gets cold enough, even the air can freeze."
'Looks like she was onto something.' Gray thought as he held his own breath while still keeping up the attack. 'I got experience with the cold, but it's not the same for this kid. As long as I hold my breath, I'm golden.'
'He's… he's freezing the air…!' Sherria thought as she tried to apply her self-healing magic to herself, but it was hard for her to focus. The more this went on, the more she was unable to breathe herself. 'In a dome this small… there isn't… that much…. I… I can't…' Sherria soon fell to her knees, covering herself as much as she could, frost forming around most of her body. Her vision became blurry before she fell to the ground.
Feeling that this was enough, Gray had ceased not only his Freeze spell, but even dissipated the ice-dome. Gray briefly fell to his knees as he stopped holding his breath. Taking a moment to let the air flow inside him again, he looked in front of him to see that Sherria was no longer able to fight. She had even lost consciousness from the lack of air. It wasn't exactly the kind of move that Gray would normally do, but against someone as powerful as this Sky God Slayer child, it may have been the only thing he could do.
"Sorry." He said as he stood up.
"And Sherria Blendy is down for the count folks! That's one point for Fairy Tail!" Chapati announced as the audience cheered.
"That brings their total up to fifty-nine points. Which also puts them in first place, one point ahead of Mermaid Heel." Yajima added.
"But it's still anyone's game." Mato said. "Oh, I'm getting chills!"
"Alright, one more point for us! Way to go, Gray!" Elfman cheered.
"I kinda feel bad for Sherria though. That seemed a little dirty." Patty said.
"Well, she was still really powerful. Wendy barely won against her before." Romeo put in.
"But Gray's really been put through the ringer." Macao said.
"Yeah, he looks pretty tired, doesn't he?" Wakaba added. "He may be tough, but he ain't invincible."
"Sherria…" Sherry looked toward her cousin in sympathy, but Sho put a comforting hand on her shoulder.
"Hey, she put up a great fight. And she's only gonna bounce back from this and get even stronger, right?" He said with a smile, something that caused Sherria to smile back in appreciation as she nodded.
"Right." She looked back towards the screen where she saw her unconscious cousin. "Good work, Sherria. I'm proud of you."
Back on the field, Juvia had stepped back slightly as the Ice-Dragon Lyon had conjured up lunged directly at her, and opened its mouth, ready to chomp down, but Juvia was ready. Right as it as it encircled its jaw around her, she attacked.
"Water Jigsaw!" She transformed her whole body into rapidly spinning water blades, and they carried enough force to shatter and completely destroy the Ice-Dragon's head, much to Lyon's surprise as he saw what was left of his construct fall into the canal on the side. As it dissipated, he couldn't help but smile toward her.
"How clever of you. I expect nothing less from such a wonderful woman." Lyon said, causing Juvia to cringe slightly.
"Oh, she's plenty strong alright." Gray soon walked up to join her side. "And she's not alone either."
"I see… so Sherria's been defeated." Lyon commented with slight disappointment. "Oh well, that just means I'll have to defeat both of you together! Ice-Make: Wolf Pack!" Lyon conjured up a pack of ten ice wolves, but he wasn't finished yet. "Snow Ape Times Three! Snow Tiger Times Four!" Altogether, Lyon had a legion of seventeen ice animals by his side.
"Gray, are you sure you're up for this?" Juvia asked with concern as she noticed the shape that he was in.
"Yeah… If I let this idiot here take me down, he's gonna lord it over me forever." Gray replied. "And don't even get me started on what Natsu and Dante will say to that."
"Alright." Juvia accepted, as concerned as she was for him, she always did admire how stubborn and unwavering he was. One of the many reasons she fell in love with him. "Then let's win this, together!"
"And like that, our two-on-two has turned into a two-on-one!" Chapati commentated.
"But there is still another fight going on at this moment." Yajima said.
"Agreed! We got ourselves yet another Dragon Slayer vs. Dragon Slayer showdown!" Mato commentated as Gajeel used an iron-pillar in his right hand to block the katana strike from Rogue, the latter currently in his Dragon Force. Gajeel pulled his left hand back and shot another iron pillar at Rogue's face to knock him back, but he was already back on his feet and on the attack again.
"Shadow Dragon: Sword Style: Pillar of Darkness!" Rushing Gajeel, Rogue held his katana straight up, which was coated in shadows as the blade grew and extended before he gave a powerful vertical swing. Gajeel crossed his pillar arms above his head to take block the strike before he retaliated.
"Iron Dragon Roar!" The breath attack would have landed a solid hit on Rogue, had he not turned into a shadow and slipped into the ground underneath, letting the stream of iron bypass him completely.
Rogue then appeared from the shadows along Gajeel's side and was about to attack again. "Shadow Dragon: Sword Style: Shadow Storm!" He spun his body around, pointing his katana forward, generating a rapid-spinning slash attack, which Gajeel braced himself against by coating his body in iron scales, and when Rogue was close enough, Gajeel threw out his arms to break off Rogue's attack and grab him by the collar before he flailed his body into a pillar and pinned him there to pound him repeatedly across his body.
"Shadow Dragon Roar!" Rogue let loose his breath-attack point blank at Gajeel to give himself some breathing room as he staggered across the ground, trying to limp away.
"Where do you think you're going?" Gajeel grabbed him by the shoulder, causing Rogue to turn around in surprise to see Gajeel, still clad in his iron scales, didn't have much of a scratch on him despite the breath attack being unleashed. "I didn't say you could leave!" Rogue was about to draw his katana again, but Gajeel used his iron-pillar to knock the sword from his hand before attacking.
"Iron Dragon Spear: Demon Wall!" Gajeel's arm had converted into an iron spear, which he used to rapidly thrust at Rogue multiple times, so fast that he was unable to counter before finally falling to his knees, his Dragon Force mode vanishing.
"Uh oh! Looks like Rogue might be down for the count folks!" Chapati commentated. "He may have put up a good fight, but Gajeel may just be too tough for him!"
"Natsu was able to take down both Rogue and Sting back on Day Four, and both also used their Dragon Force back then too, right?" Mato recalled.
"That's right." Yajima confirmed. "And it seems that Gajeel may be just as strong himself."
While everyone in Fairy Tail smirked, smiled, and cheered at what seemed like Gajeel's apparent victory, with Levy looking the most proud, Frosch had a sad look on his own face.
"Poor Rogue…" The green Exceed said while Vergil looked unsurprised by the result.
"Now, what did you say to me? My ears must have been playing tricks on me." Gajeel told the downed Rogue as he tried to catch his breath. "Coulda sworn that you said I wasn't as strong as Natsu."
After taking a few seconds to catch is breath, Rogue spoke. "I only said that… because I wanted you to take this fight seriously. Sting and I both lost against Natsu together, but I wanted to fight you one-on-one with my full strength and you with yours." A small smile formed on his face. "Now I see… I really am weak, aren't I?"
"Why do you seem so happy about that?" Gajeel questioned, noticing his smile.
"Because I think I know the reason you've gotten so much stronger yourself." Rogue answered. "It's taken me a while, but I think I finally figured it out."
"Oh? Alright, let's hear it." Gajeel allowed, more curious than anything else.
"Growing up… I used to look up to you. Idolized you, even." Rogue began. "As a kid, I wanted to be a part of the Phantom Lord guild, simply because you were in it." That got Gajeel's attention. "But I never got the chance. Your guild waged a war against Fairy Tail and lost, and was forced to disband by the Magic Council because of that. But that wasn't even the worst of it. No, the worst was… you joined Fairy Tail. Why? Why would you join the very same guild that destroyed your own? My respect for you at that one moment completely shattered. I felt you were a sellout, with no real sense of loyalty to anyone but yourself."
"Phantom Lord did that to themselves." Gajeel told him. "Get your facts straight, we picked a fight cause the guy who hired us wanted us to kidnap his daughter and bring her back. And our master was an even worse scumbag. He wanted to use that girl as a hostage to get his hands on the old man's fortune. He got what we deserved, and I wasn't exactly Mr. Nice Guy back then either."
"I understand that…" Rogue continued. "I get the reason for Phantom Lord's disbandment, and I don't disagree with the punishment they got for it. But I still couldn't figure out why you joined Fairy Tail. Even after the seven years since you, Dante, Natsu, and all the other elite members of your guild vanished I still couldn't figure it out… mostly because I thought you died at the hands of Acnologia. I was absolutely heartbroken over that. It wasn't until recently… seeing your guild in action… how they treat each other… I think I understand." A small smile formed on his face. "You wanted friends, didn't you?"
Gajeel said nothing, though there was a twitch with his lips.
"In those seven years since you were gone, I devoted myself to becoming the strongest, the most powerful Dragon Slayer that could put even you to shame." Rogue went on. "That's the reason I joined Sabertooth, which quickly rose through the ranks to reach the top spot, and it's how I met Vergil too. The eldest Son of Sparda, his power was unlike anything I ever saw, and I wanted to become just like him… the absolute strongest. But in doing so, I took for granted someone truly important to me. It wasn't until Yukino's expulsion, and what happened after ours and Vergil's defeat before… that I realized I made a mistake in joining Sabertooth. All they yearn for is strength, nothing more, even if it means throwing away people that you may end up forming connections with. To our master, connections like those are a weakness. But your guild is different. You care for each other, you learn from each other, and you grow stronger together. A Celestial Wizard in your guild is even aspiring to be a Devil Hunter. That's the reason I feel you and Fairy Tail are so strong… your open-mindedness to learn new things, and to improve even upon defeat." He looked down in shame. "But now I fear it's too late for me."
"Dumbass." Gajeel said, causing Rogue to look with a surprised expression. "That's the biggest load I ever heard. Too late for you? That's bullshit. If you got a problem with Sabertooth, than quit. Ain't nothing wrong with getting out of a bad crowd."
"I… I intended to." Rogue looked away. "My initial plan was to leave after the Games ended. But… Minerva abducted someone I care about and threatened to end his life if I left and didn't give my all in this match."
Gajeel scowled at that. "That's a low blow. So, let's go get em."
Rogue looked up him in wide eyes. "What…?"
"What, I gotta repeat myself? That bitch has got your friend, so let's go rescue em." Gajeel said with a simple smile.
Rogue stood on his feet, still not over his shock. "You would… do that… even after all our guild did…?"
"Your guild is full of assholes, but you ain't one." The Iron Dragon Slayer told him. "After all, you got that cute little frog friend of yours always following ya around, right?"
"Frog…?" Rogue muttered in confusion.
"Hey, I think he's talking about me!" Frosch said, raising his hand.
"Frosch is a cat, you idiot!" Rogue stated.
"Well, if you wanna get technical, he's an Exceed." Gajeel said, still maintaining his smile. "Ain't he?"
Rogue thought for a moment. It was true, even after joining Sabertooth, Frosch followed him everywhere. And when he told Frosch about his plan to leave Sabertooth, as well as invite Sting and Lector, Frosch actually seemed somewhat happy about that. That little Exceed that he raised from a hatchling. He would forever be in his heart for as long as he lived. A smile had once again formed on his face.
"You're right… Frosch is my friend."
"Your best friend…" Frosch said himself with tears in his eyes.
"Thanks for reminding me of that." Rogue said sincerely.
"Hmmp, so you been stalking me since you were a kid?" Gajeel joked. "You really need to get yourself a girlfriend too, man. Course if you're into guys, that's fine. Ain't got no problem with that. But for the record, I'm as straight as a submarine."
At the mention of a girl however, Rogue looked away with a slight blush, something Gajeel noticed.
"Oh shit, so there is a girlfriend, ha?" He teased.
"I'm not in a relationship!" Rogue quickly said. "But… there is one woman that… I do admire. She's a kind person, who cares deeply for those closest to her…" He thought about Yukino. "I just don't think I'd be good enough for her."
Gajeel then bonked him on the head. "Did you listen to a word I said, you moron?" He questioned as Rogue held his head. "You got friends, and you care about em. You ain't an asshole like the rest of your guild. If you like this girl then just say you like her. But first, let's go rescue that other friend that Minerva bitch has got. Deal?"
Rogue smiled once again. "Deal."
"Rogue…!"
A distorted voice echoed through his mind, causing the young man to gasp as he turned around, hoping to find the source of that voice, but saw nobody there.
"Face forward…. That human… Child of the dragons… he is our enemy…!"
"Where is that voice coming from?!" Rogue looked around, while Gajeel just looked confused as he didn't seem to hear what Rogue was hearing.
"Uh… you feeling alright?"
"Rogue… you must slay Gajeel Redfox… son of Metalicana… We demand it…!"
"Who are you?!" Rogue demanded. "And why can't I see you?!"
"He must die… the heirs of the dragons… the children of Sparda… they all must die…!"
"Show yourself!" He demanded once more.
"You fool. We are always with you. Look within." This caused Rogue to glance towards his own shadow, but he gasped as he saw a glowing red eye where the head is. "We are a darkness of your own creation. We exist to consume and destroy." Multiple glowing red eyes appeared all over the shadow, something that only Rogue apparently saw.
Suddenly, he felt an intense pain inside his skull, causing him to grab onto his head as he moaned, much to Gajeel's concern.
"Hey, what's wrong?"
"If you will not slay the Iron Dragon, then we shall in your stead. Lend us your body, so that we may spill his blood!"
Suddenly, Rogue's body was consumed by shadows from all across the ground, causing him to scream in agony. Gajeel immediately tried to grab him.
"Okay, we're getting you some help! Hold still…"
*SLICE!*
Something sharp and powerful had struck Gajeel with enough force to send him up into the roof before crashing to the ground.
"Gajeel!" Levy exclaimed while Frosch gasped in shock, even Vergil found his eyes narrowing at what he saw. The audience of course was more than a little shocked themselves.
"Whoa! What brought that out all of a sudden?!"
"Did he say something to offend him?!"
Gajeel pushed himself up but felt his forehead with his arm, only to find that there was a gash of blood, much to his brief surprise. He then looked serious to whom he thought was Rogue.
"You don't wanna mess with me." He warned.
However, this wasn't Rogue standing before him, despite looking like him. He appeared to transform, in a state that was similar yet different to his Dragon Force. His arms were coated in black flowing marks that resembled demonic faces and serpentine-like bodies that spread up and across his body, the hand that was used to slash at Gajeel was coated in shadows and took the shape of a demonic-claw. His hair stood straight up as a dark aura emanated around him and his eyes glowed a dark red.
"Ah… finally. How we've longed for a physical form once again. We'll make good use of it now that it's ours."
That distorted and echoey voice told Gajeel that the person in front of him was no longer Rogue.
"Who the hell are you?"
The entity inside Rogue gave a slight chuckle. "Who are we? We have no name. Each of us may have had a name in the past at one point, but no longer." The entity saw Gajeel's eyes narrow again. "It seems that's only caused you more confusion, so we might as well explain it as best we can. As a Dragon Slayer, you obviously understand that you can consume your own element to replenish your strength, correct? As a Shadow Dragon Slayer, Rogue is granted the ability to consume darkness. All forms of darkness. That includes demonic energy."
"Say what…?!" Gajeel questioned.
"Over these past seven years, Rogue has fought many demons, hoping to gain more futile strength. But in each of those battles, he consumed the power of every demon he's fought either to add to his already pitiful strength, or to get him out of the corner he found himself backed into. All that demonic power combined with his own Dragon Slayer magic accumulated together and gave birth to us. You could say, we are the spirits of all the demons he's slain, now given sentience by this unique circumstance. A legion of demons now one… hmmm." The entity thought for a brief moment. "Legion… yes, that will suffice nicely. Our name… is Legion! For we are… many…!"
"I don't give a damn what you call yourself, you better get out of that kid's body or else!" Gajeel was already on the attack. "Iron Dragon Sword!" His right arm converted into a sword as he rushed the possessed Rogue, only for his opponent to catch the sword, his arm completely coated in shadows, much to Gajeel's shock. This allowed the entity known as Legion to form a mass of shadows in his other hand, which took the shape of a demonic face, which he lashed out to bite Gajeel in the head before the mass extended forward like a snake to slam him up into the roof and back to the ground.
"What's going on?! Why are they fighting?! I thought they just made peace!" Romeo stated.
"Gajeel made peace with Rogue, yes. But that is not Rogue." Sparda narrowed his eyes.
"What are you talking about?" Gildarts asked.
"He's been possessed." Sparda explained. "For whatever reason, Rogue consumed the power of a multitude of demons." That got all their attention. "But somehow, all that combined power has become sentient and formed a separate entity. That thing… is what's in control of his body now."
"He's been possessed?!" Makarov questioned.
"Well Gajeel kicked his butt before, he can do it again, right?" Patty asked.
"I'm not so sure. Whatever it is that's inside Rogue now is much stronger than Rogue himself." Sparda answered.
"Go on Gajeel! Wipe the floor with that jerk!" Levy called to him.
'Skiadrum consumed demonic power in the past as well.' Kurenai thought as she looked with a serious expression, standing alongside her fellow Wizard Saints. 'But this has never happened to him. Is this because Rogue's human body is physically weaker? How long has he been doing that? Since he was young?'
Gandelina hands shook somewhat as she clenched them into fists, all while continuing to watch as well.
"Iron Dragon Bladed Spiral!" Both his arms had converted into swords as he spun around like a top and moved towards Legion, only for his body to melt into the shadows and form up from directly under him. A giant skull-like mass shot up from the shadows in the ground and bit down around Gajeel, breaking his attack and causing him to get stuck.
As Gajeel struggled, Legion arose from the shadows behind Gajeel where several snake-like shadow-constructs emerged from his back, all of which lashed out to bite down on Gajeel's arms, legs, and sides, even at his neck. Legion then proceeded to lift him up via his snake-like extensions and slam him on the ground, where he repeated the process slamming him to the ground, wall, ceiling, multiple times before bringing him closer so that Gajeel got a good look at the smirking face.
"As you can see, we are far stronger than Rogue ever was." Legion said as a single snake-like construct formed up from his neck and gave a sinister cackle. "We are the combined power of over a hundred demons, far superior to that weakling of a Dragon Slayer. In addition, we also have complete access to all of Rogue's powers as well. Observe."
"Shadow Dragon Roar!"
Legion unleashed a breath attack, one that was far superior to even Rogue's own power that completely consumed Gajeel. Even as he formed his iron scales to protect himself, Gajeel felt many of his scales being chipped off by the breath attack before he was finally sent flying and crashing across the ground, leaving a dragging impression before he stopped.
"Why Rogue… What's with you…?" Frosch looked confused and saddened by what was happening. His best friend would never act this cruelly before.
Gajeel pushed himself up, but saw that his enemy was nowhere to be seen. "Where the hell did he go…?" He didn't seem to notice that his own shadow was growing and extending behind him, where multiple spikes were quickly forming.
"BEHIND YOU!" Levy tried to warn him.
"Shadow Dragon Slash!" Multiple spiked tendrils shot from the shadow to slice at Gajeel from behind, chipping away more of his iron scales and drawing out more of his blood before he was brought to his knees, just as Legion rose above him with a condescending smirk.
Gajeel tried to shoot up with a punch, but Legion's body turned into shadows and quickly moved behind Gajeel, his hands forming into claws to slash at Gajeel from behind. When Gajeel tried to strike him again, Legion repeated this as his body turned into fluent shadows to avoid being grabbed and sliced at Gajeel with insane speed that he was unable to counter.
"What?! But Gajeel grabbed him in shadow-form a second ago!" Romeo recalled.
"Is his magic somehow changing…?" Levy asked with worry.
"That is not just Rogue's Shadow Dragon Slayer Magic anymore." Mavis said gravely. "It's the accumulated power of all the demons that he's slain and are now possessing him. Rogue has essentially become a one-demon army."
"Have you ever seen anything like this before?" Patty asked Sparda.
"I have seen possession techniques in the past, but nothing quite like this." The Dark Knight narrowed his eyes.
Gajeel shook as he tried to push himself up, most of his clothes all torn and covered in blood as Legion continued to stand in front of him.
"Rogue was correct. You aren't nearly as strong as Natsu Dragneel. You can't even hold a candle to one of Sparda's offspring. What a disgrace to the dragons' legacy."
"You're really asking for it, asshole…" Gajeel glared.
"We are merely speaking the truth. But we have toyed with you long enough. It's now time for you to die, Gajeel Redfox, son of Metalicana."
Multiple shadow-tendrils shot up from Gajeel's own shadow to ensnare him at his ankles, legs, wrists, arms, waist, and neck. These shadows even grew spikes to pierce into his body to cause him even greater pain.
"He's gonna end up killing him if he doesn't stop! Gajeel!" Levy cried.
Vergil narrowed his eyes even further but was minorly surprised to see Frosch flying up and toward the sky. "I gotta help him!" Frosch cried. "I gotta get Rogue back before it's too late!"
The tendrils pulled Rogue down into his own shadow, the shade itself wrapping around most of Gajeel's body like a cocoon as he felt himself sinking into it like water.
"Now that we have a body, there is nothing to stop us from taking our revenge upon the other Dragon Slayers and children of Sparda." Legion proclaimed. "You will drown and suffocate in the shadows. A death most fitting for someone as pathetic as you."
However, Gajeel refused to give up. In an act of pure defiance, he opened his mouth and bit down on the shadow tendril that was around his neck, much to Legion's confusion.
"If Salamander and Acnologia could pull it off… then I sure as hell can too…!" Gajeel bit off the shadow tendril and swallowed it. Once that was done, he opened his mouth and inhaled all the shadows, the dark mass entering his mouth as if it were breath.
"What…?" Legion was beyond surprised to see all the shadows that were used to restrain and consume Gajeel were in fact consumed by Gajeel himself, the Iron Dragon Slayer chuckling as he slowly pushed himself up, a dark and shadowy aura forming around his body as well. "What have you done…!?"
Levy covered her mouth in shock. "No way… he ate the shadows…!"
"Of course…" Sparda's eyes widened in realization "Despite being possessed, Rogue's power is still that of a Dragon Slayer, making it possible for Gajeel to consume it…"
"Just like when Natsu ate Laxus' lightning back on Tenrou?!" Gildarts questioned in pure shock.
"If it were any other form of shadow magic, Gajeel would be unable to consume it." Mavis explained. "But this is a dragon's power."
"That's one of the most impressive yet reckless feats I've seen…" Makarov said. "But given the situation he was in… desperate times call for desperate measures."
"Alright 'Legion', last warning. Get the hell out of his body or else…!" Gajeel demanded, but despite being on his hands and feet on the ground, the shadowy aura around him made him feel all the more intimidating.
"Leave Rogue? Why? He is the perfect vessel for us!" Legion stated.
"Since you were with him for so long, I would have thought you'd know him better." Gajeel stated. "His name ain't Rogue, it's Ryos and he's my sworn brother!" Legion gasped as he saw Gajeel push himself up. "Sorry it took so long to remember, but we were both just a couple of brats back then, weren't we? Well don't worry, I'll yank that freak outta ya, even if I have to beat your ass to do it. You know the old saying… fight fire with fire, right?"
Gajeel's skin became metallic, but this wasn't like how he was coated with his Iron Dragon Scales. A smooth and shiny metallic skin formed around his body, but it was also dark, almost pitch black as the shadows formed around his body. Gajeel's eyes glowed a dark indigo, his pupils vanishing as a borderline sinister smirk formed on his face.
"Impossible… this happened before… with the Dragon Butcher… consumption of multiple elemental powers…" Legion muttered as the transformed Gajeel stood before him. "An Iron Shadow Dragon?!"
"I… I have no idea what I'm looking at here, folks!" Chapati commentated as the audience all cheered and watched in awe. "First Natsu can use fire and lightning, now Gajeel can use shadow magic with his iron?! Mr. Yajima, what are your thoughts?!"
"I have no idea." Yajima himself answered. "Dragon Slayers do genuinely defy all logic and common sense in my opinion."
"That's true, but Dragon Slayers aren't the only power houses in this tournament." Mato said. "Let's see how our Devil Hunter-Devil Trigger showdown is going?"
Back in the sewers, Nero and Lucia, both were still in their respective Devil Triggers as they locked blades against one another, Nero swinging Masayoshi at a rapidly fast rate, which Lucia parried with her dual swords of Cutlasser. They moved with such speed and force that each clash caused the water around them to explode and part, creating essentially a void of water from the rapid shockwaves of each of their blows.
The two swung and clashed their blades one last time, Nero delivering a harder strike than Lucia, which blew the water away even further. Though Lucia rooted herself before expanding her wings and rushing Nero, flying and smashing him through the stone wall and into another part of the sewer. He rolled across the ground and tried to recover, but Lucia was already on him with an X-slash from her dual swords, something that even Nero's transparent Devil Trigger mode couldn't block and creating an explosive flash of blood from his chest. While he was open, Lucia pressed the attack by moving at such grace and speed all around him with Nero being seemingly incapable of countering. After the twentieth slash, Lucia flew up towards the ceiling and back down, raising her right foot and smashing it into Nero with enough force that it smashed him deeper into the ground, creating a large shockwave that rocked the entire area within the sewers.
"Ouch! Nero can't seem to catch a break!" Chapati commentated. "It doesn't look like he's landed so much as a single decisive blow on Lucia!"
"But you gotta give him credit for lasting this long." Mato said. "That kid is built like a tank!"
"All the good that will do though if you can't even strike your target." Yajima put in.
"Ha! See, I told ya." Risley said. "Ain't nobody can match our top mermaid."
"I guess we were worried over nothing." Beth commented with a relived smile.
"Lucia! Lucia! She's our girl! If she can't do it, no one can!" Amarilla cheered.
"Still…" Arana said. "The fact that this Nero is even lasting this long against her is impressive."
"Don't tell me that's all you got, Nero!" Elfman called to him. "Gajeel's pulling his weight out there, so should you!"
"Shouting isn't gonna help here." Morrison said. "I've done my research, and that Lucia-lady is the strongest person in Mermaid Heel. Nero's putting up a good fight, but unless he's got an ace up his sleeve, I don't see him winning this."
"Don't be sure of his defeat." Mavis said with a mysterious smile. "Though inexperienced compared to his brothers, he is still a Son of Sparda." She looked towards her adoptive father with a loving smile. "And like their father, they're known for pulling off the impossible." This caused Sparda to smile back towards his adoptive daughter.
Vergil also found himself drawn to this match as well, not taking his eyes off it for a second, even while simultaneously watching Rogue's battle against Gajeel. Kurenai also kept her eyes on the screen, though she was holding out hope for her strongest guild member, she also had a feeling that Nero had one last trick that he had yet to show anyone.
While still keeping his Devil Trigger up, Nero slowly pulled himself up from the crater that Lucia had smashed him into, the water coming back in as he was ankle-deep in it. But despite seemingly out of breath, Nero didn't look ready to give up.
"After all that, Nero is back on his feet! Just what is that guy made out of?!" Chapati commentated.
"I have to admit Nero, you may be one of the toughest opponents I've ever faced. Nobody's ever lasted this long against my Devil Trigger before." Lucia said as she hovered over him. "But I think this fight is over."
"Not yet!" Nero shouted before glancing up at her with a smirk. "Not when I've already figured you out."
"You figured me out, you say?" Lucia asked, seeing the grin on Nero's face. "I'd say you're bluffing, but you don't strike me as the type to bluff. So let's see if you're onto something." She readied her blades again.
Nero took a stance himself, one where Masayoshi was held back with one hand while the other was just barley grasping the handle. the transparent demonic form around Nero was gone, but his Devil Trigger was still active as the blue aura around him became more condensed and glowed a darker aura, the red glow in his eyes still kept up as well.
"Bring it."
Upon hearing his challenge, Lucia rushed at him in her usual speed. In the blink of an eye, it seemed like she was already on him, her dual swords raised high and about to be brought down…
*PIERCE!*
What happened caused everyone in the audience to gasp in shock, with the commentators all standing up from their seats with similar expressions. Everyone in Fairy Tail and Mermaid Heel looked with widened eyes and open mouths with even Kurenai caught in surprise. Vergil looked rather serious himself.
But none were more shocked than Lucia, whose own glowing eyes were now circular, as she saw that her double-sword strike was blocked by Nero's human arm, which now had a glowing transparent demonic appearance to it, like the Devil Trigger state he was in, only condensed around his arm, while his Devil Bringer arm held Masayoshi by the handle…
As the katana had pierced through Lucia's chest, the blade coming out through her back.
Nero's grin only grew to where all his teeth were visible. "Gotcha!" His transparent devil form returned, knocking away Lucia's strike as the demonic grasp of the translucent devil grabbed Lucia by her face and Nero channeled more of his power directly into Masayoshi, while it was still impaled into her. He aimed said energy upwards, sending a spatial slash, not too dissimilar from the Yamato, through Lucia and causing her a great deal of pain before the transparent devil lifted Lucia back and up to slam her into the ground before pulling her up as Nero slashed at her multiple times with Masayoshi. She was then pulled forward as Nero dashed past her, slicing Masayoshi before sheathing the blade, pausing a brief second before finally closing it, causing multiple slashes to erupt across Lucia's body before she was blown across the water and smashing into a wall at the end of the tunnel.
"What the…?! What was that?!" Chapati questioned as Yajima and Mato felt their jaws dropped.
"He got her! Nero got her!" Patty exclaimed with a wide smile.
"Hell yeah! Now that was one manly attack!" Elfman pumped his fist.
"But how?! I don't get it! How'd he managed to hit Lucia?!" Risley questioned as everyone in Mermaid Heel was beyond shocked. "She was wiping the floor with him a minute ago!"
The Devil Trigger Lucia struggled to pull herself out from the hole in the wall, as Nero marched closer towards her.
"I'm not as fast as you." He began. "But I don't need to be. You leave yourself open as you strike, even if it's just for a second. And a second is all I need to grab you. All I had to do was get the timing down, and once I got a hold of you, I go all out on the attack."
"I see…" Lucia realized. "All this time… you were gauging my speed and attack-time… looking for an opening while weathering my attacks. You're the first to not only last this long against my Devil Trigger, but even land an impactful blow on me in this state. I'm truly impressed."
"Yeah, I ain't as old or experienced as Dante, but I did grow up in a militarized religious cult, and the guy who taught me was pretty intense about making sure I catch on to small details like that." Nero smiled reminiscently about Credo's teachings, hoping that the man would be proud if he saw him now. And possibly make Sammy annoyed for being analytical for once.
"A new phase of the fight begins." Lucia said as she leapt out from the hole and faced Nero directly "Still though, enduring my attacks must have taken quite a toll on you. That and maintain your own Devil Trigger for so long can't be easy. So, I guess it's all going to come down what happens first. I wear you down, or you strike at enough openings to defeat me."
"Well, I guess we're about to find out, aren't we?! Come on! Let's go!" Nero challenged with a wild grin, taking a similar stance to the one before Lucia rushed him again, both moving at intense speeds as they drew their weapons and clashed once more.
Sparda and Mavis both shared smiles with one another while everyone in Fairy Tail had their hopes raised.
"Attaboy, Nero. That's how someone from Fairy Tail does things." Gildarts grinned.
"So, Nero lets himself get hit and Gajeel ate shadow-power? Those two are a new level of crazy!" Droy said.
"I got no idea how either of these fights are gonna go down!" Jet commented.
"They'll pull through. I know they will." Levy said as she turned to the monitor that showed Gajeel's fight against the possessed Rogue.
Legion tisked. "Mildly impressive, but you've merely adopted the darkness. We were born from it. And you will suffocate in eternal…!"
The entity was interrupted as Gajeel moved to strike him in the face, shadows coating his iron-clad fist before his fist extended into a pillar to send Legion crashing through three pillars before he regained his footing and glared at his attacker.
"You talk too much, ya know that?" The Iron Shadow Dragon Slayer said before rushing Legion again, who grew multiple razor-sharp tendrils from his hand and lashed them out like bladed-chains, only for Gajeel to melt into the shadows in the ground and bypass Legion's attack.
"You dare to use our power against us?!"
"It ain't your power!" Gajeel emerged from the shadows on the ceiling and struck with an iron-shadow pillar attack to the back of Legion's head to knock him off balance. The entity used this to melt into the shadows on the ground, with the transformed Gajeel doing the same thing and going into the ground to chase after him.
"Whoa! That's incredible!"Chapati commentated.
"So now we gotta watch two shadows fight each other?" Patty questioned. "How can you even make sense of that?"
"I got no idea…!" Gildarts said as Levy looked incredibly worried and concerned while Sparda, Mavis, and Makarov had serious expressions as they continued to watch.
The two opposing shadows moved and clashed against each other along the ground before slithering up the pillars and towards the top of the roof with one trying to retreat while the other gave pursuit.
"Oh wow!" That was really all Mato could say.
"I have no clue of what's going on right now." Yajima said.
"How am I able to do a play-by-play of something I can't even see?!" Chapati questioned. "Sorry folks, all I can say is that something crazy is going on!"
The pursuing shadow caught up to the retreating one before Gajeel's arm extended out from it to grab the enemy shadow and yank out Legion before throwing him to the ground.
"He removed us from the shadows?!" Legion questioned as his opponent formed his Iron Dragon Sword, which had shadows morph around it to generate extra spikes which he used to try and slash at him. Legion grew a pair of massive bat-like wings, made entirely out of shadows themselves, from his back and extended them around himself like a make-shift shield, only for Gajeel's sword to cut through them before he slashed Legion repeatedly across his chest and pounded him to the ground.
Once more, Legion melted away into the shadows to try and gain some more distance, but Gajeel simply smirked. "Iron Shadow Dragon Lance: Devil Logs!" His arm converted into an iron lance, coated in shadows, which he lunged forward multiple dark energy bolts that struck Legion, despite being in his shadow form and forcing him to the surface again, where Gajeel rushed him and threw a fist forward, which Legion caught as a demonic shadow hand morphed around his human one to catch Gajeel's fist. The latter tried to punch him again, which the former caught. But despite that, the entity found himself on the back foot.
"This is impossible! We are a legion of demons born from darkness! How can your shadows be superior to ours?!"
"Cause it's not just shadow, you damn ghost." Gajeel kept up his borderline sinister smirk. "I got high quality iron in here too. All that new dark stuff just made it sharper and harder. Bad news for you!" Once again, Gajeel's hands converted into dual Iron Shadow Dragon Swords, which he used to perform a cross X-slash against Legion, landing a critical hit that drew blood from Rogue's body, with some shadows even leaking out of it.
Not giving his enemy a chance to run away or fight back, Gajeel grabbed him by the face and spun around. "Say goodnight!" He threw Legion straight up into the air. "No shadows to hide in up there! Iron Shadow Dragon Roar!"
Gajeel unleashed all his power in one shoot, blasting a powerful breath attack straight up that mixed a raging iron vortex with razor sharp shadows. This attack scored a direct hit on Legion, who hollered in agony before an enormous explosion erupted in the sky above that area of Crocus.
With all his energy spent, Gajeel's dual-element mode vanished as his skin and eyes turned back to normal, the shadows around him disappearing as he saw Rogue's form fall back and land hard on the ground. All that exhaustion hit Gajeel at once, who took a moment to catch his breath, before he felt something come up from his stomach and he threw up a great deal on the ground in front of him.
He almost felt like falling on his knees but forced himself to keep standing. 'Damn… my insides feel like a mess… is this how Salamander felt after eating lighting for the first time…?'
"Uh… well… I guess that's it. The fight is over!" Chapati announced, resulting in the audience cheering, including Fairy Tail. "The winner is Gajeel!"
Levy covered her mouth as tears of joy and relief filled her eyes. Elfman put a supporting hand on her shoulder as he gave a smirk. However, while most of the guild cheered and smiled, Sparda, Makarov, Gildarts, and Mavis all maintained serious expressions.
Even among her fellow Wizard Saints, Gandelina smiled in relief.
"That was one scary fight!" Mato commented.
"Yes, and with that victory, Fairy Tail has gained yet another point. Bringing them up to a solid sixty!" Chapati announced.
"They're doing well, but it's too early to let their guard down." Yajima advised with caution.
As Gajeel tried to catch his breath, he heard a chuckle coming from Rogue's form, as Legion still appeared to be in control.
"It would seem we underestimated your power, Son of Metalicana. Just as we've overestimated the Son of Skiadrum. His body can't handle this kind of power. We concede defeat for now, but our time will come. And when it does, all that you know and love will vanish." Legion gave a sinister cackle before vanishing, the marks on Rogue's body disappearing as he had turned back to normal, completely unconscious.
Gajeel glared for a moment. That was certainly something he didn't see coming.
"Please stop!"
He looked down to see Frosch, having just arrived, standing in-between him and Rogue's fallen form. His arms extended outward like he was blocking Gajeel's path, his body shaking with fear and grief as water flowed out of the little Exceed's eyes.
"It's you…" Gajeel recognized the tiny creature.
"He's hurt really bad…! Please don't kill him!" Frosch pleaded.
"Don't worry." The victorious Dragon Slayer assured as he finally kneeled down. "Fight's over, and that ain't my style." That seemed to relax Frosch a little bit, but he soon heard his name being weakly called from behind.
"Frosch…"
Turning around, and seeing his best friend awake, Frosch wasted no time in running towards his face where he gave a small smile.
"Rogue! You're okay!"
"Of course I am…" Rogue assured as he reached out to pat Frosch on the head.
"I was so scared…!" The cute little thing cried his tears out in relief as his beloved Dragon Slayer comforted him.
"Hey, pal." Gajeel acknowledged.
Rogue would have greeted him back, but he soon felt the intense pain he was currently in. "Wait… what happened…? Why am I…?" He winced before realizing what may have just happened. "I lost… didn't I…?"
Gajeel was actually surprised at that. 'He doesn't remember what happened? Legion, huh? Guess I'll need to keep an eye on this kid.' He thought seriously.
"Oh, that's a relief." Patty sighed. "But… Gajeel was kinda… scary back there."
"Well, he used to be a bad guy, so he's kinda had it in him." Droy pointed out.
"Yeah, I'm sure as hell glad he's on our side now. Especially since he's got two attributes like Natsu." Jet added.
"Don't worry." Levy smiled. "He's still one of us."
"Gajeel isn't the one you need to be concerned about." Makarov advised as he and his fellow former and current guildmasters, along with Sparda, still looked serious.
"Yeah… that thing that possessed Rogue… like some kind of demon ghost…" Gildarts said with narrowed eyes.
"An entity formed from the consumption of multiple demonic powers, all becoming whole through Rogue's Shadow Dragon Slayer magic." Mavis commented. "I've never seen anything quite like that before."
"And I doubt that we've seen the last of it." Sparda added. "But that is a crisis to be resolved at a later date. For now, let's turn our attention back toward the games. We have two concurrent matches going on right now…"
"Nero, Gray, and Juvia." Gildarts said as they all turned back to the screens, with one set of monitors showing Gray and Juvia's battle against Lyon, as well as Nero's duel with Lucia. "Let's hope they can pull through, because this is getting close."
"Water Cyclone!" Juvia raised her hand forward to blast a water cyclone at an ice-ape to completely obliterate it. She was about to be pounced on by an ice-tiger, only for her body to turn into water as the ice-tiger bypassed her completely and she transformed her arm into a razor-sharp water-whip to slice it in half. However, she soon became surrounded by the remaining two ice-apes and three ice-tigers.
"Ice-Make: Cerberus!" Gray had formed an ice-construct replica of Dante's three-pronged nunchuck, which he swung and spun to smash in the faces of two approaching ice wolves, but he soon got pounced on by a third that pinned him to the ground. Though he used his ice-nunchuck to keep it at bay, it was an uphill struggle as the frozen beast tried to bite down on him.
"Time to take your shots, mut!" Gray put one hand on the ice wolf's neck and unleashed a blast of ice spikes to blow it's head off. He didn't get much chance to recover as three more ice wolves attempted to charge at him, but he took a very familiar stance, one identical to that of Nero as well as Vergil as an ice replica of a certain katana formed at his hands.
"Cold Yamato!" With a mighty slash, Gray had cut down all three ice wolves in one single slash. He soon fell to one knee in exhausting, taking a second to catch his breath, but he didn't get much chance to recover as Lyon came in with a knee to his jaw.
"What's the matter, Gray? You look rather tired." Lyon said with a smirk while also being flanked by his remaining four ice-wolves. The tired Gray was almost completely out of breath, so much so that he was unable to retort a comeback. "Maybe it's time for you to rest." He sicked his ice-wolves on Gray, who tried to use the ice katana to beat them back, having cut down at least one, but the other three were on the verge of overwhelming him.
"Ice-Make: Dragon Fly!" Lyon unleashed a swarm of dragonflies made out of ice that homed in on Gray, slashing and striking him repeatedly, all while the other three ice wolves also bit and slashed at him with their claws and fangs repeatedly.
"Oh boy! Gray's in trouble folks!" Chapati commentated.
"After all the exhausting battles, including his bout against Rufus, it's no surprise that he's tired." Mato said.
"As tough as his endurance his, every man has his breaking point." Yajima said.
'I see what he's doing…!' Juvia noticed the trouble Gray was in as she kept up a water bubble around herself to keep the ice animals surrounding her back, though they did try to smash and bite away at her defenses. 'Lyon is focusing his attention on Gray because he's more exhausted, while having his constructs keep me busy. Once he's done there, Lyon will direct it all on me.' A determined look formed on her face. 'But I won't let that happen!'
Juvia dropped her water bubble allowing all the surrounding ice-tigers and ice-apes lunge at her, but she already had a counter planned.
"Wings of Love!" Water formed out from around Juvia, almost akin to wings, which struck and pulled in all the ice animals before she pushed her arms forward to send all the water with a geyser-like force right through a building, smashing and obliterating all the ice animals, all while leaving a hole in the building in the perfect shape of a heart.
The last three ice-wolves had Gray pinned as Lyon loomed over him, readying a spell to finish him. "A shame. I had hoped to face you at full strength. Perhaps we can spar a bit after the Games." Lyon suggested. "But I aim to win this tournament for Lamia Scale!"
Suddenly a stream of water had blasted away all the ice wolves before the water expanded outward to force Lyon back, where he looked to see Juvia standing protectively in front of Gray.
"Then you and your guild will leave here sorely disappointed." She told him.
"Juvia…" Gray muttered in surprise and exhaustion.
"My beloved…" Lyon smiled, causing the woman to comically wince before he got serious. "As much as I admire and respect you, I'm afraid I can't go easy on you either! If you insist on standing in my way, then I will have no choice but to defeat you!"
"And I, you!" Juvia accepted his challenge, but soon felt a hand on her shoulder, much to her surprise.
"Not yet…" Gray tried to push himself up.
"Gray…" She looked towards him with concern.
"I'm not finished yet…" He struggled.
"You appear to be on your last legs, old friend. You can't keep this up." Lyon told him. "Just surrender and spare yourself a trip to the hospital."
"…You're right about one thing Lyon…" Gray began, still trying to catch his breath. "Seven years is a long time… long enough for someone to get stronger… but also long enough to forget some things…"
"Oh? And what is it that I've forgotten?" Lyon asked.
"That Fairy Tail never gives up…!" Gray stated, finding the willpower to keep going. "We've been beaten down, but no matter how hard we fall, we always get back up! Never once have I given up and I'm not about to start now! The only way I'm stopping is if you knock me out!"
Juvia couldn't help but look to him in admiration in awe. Another one of the many reasons she fell in love with him, was his unwavering will and determination to keep going, no matter how hard it gets. A smile formed on her face.
Even Lyon smiled somewhat. "I admit… that did indeed slip my mind. You are stubborn to a fault, but that's not a bad thing. I think Ur would be proud of you." He gave his rival a genuine smile, something Gray appreciated as he smiled back. "Out of respect then, I'll finish you off right here and now with one of my strongest attacks!" He took a stance as he prepared a powerful ice-make spell, a blizzard forming behind him.
"Gray… as much as I love and admire your strength of will, he is right about one thing." Juvia told him. "You can barley even stand, so I'm not sure if you can beat him on your own." That caused Gray to look away with a scowl. "That being said…" He turned towards her as she smiled and offered her hand to him. "…Let's do this together! As you said, Fairy Tail doesn't give up, including on our friends, right?" She even winked to him.
He smiled back. "Yeah. Let's finish this. Together."
Gray and Juvia joined hands as they began to combine their magics together, a vortex of water and ice forming behind their conjoined hands as they tried to match the raw power that was being prepared for Lyon's attack.
"Call me crazy, but is that another Unison Raid?!" Chapati questioned. "Like what Sting and Rogue did before?!"
"Indeed." Yajima confirmed. "It only makes that water and ice would be compatible after all."
"Oh man, I'm getting chills! No pun intended." Mato said.
"Very well, give me your best shot, you two!" Lyon challenged as his attack was just about prepared.
"How about a freezer burn?" Juvia suggested to Gray. "I'll make my water as hot as I can."
"Sounds like a plan." He accepted.
"Let's go! Ice-Make: Hydra!" Lyon threw his arms out as a massive ice construct appeared, one that took the shape of a nine-headed dragon like creature, with all nine heads moving in towards the two.
But they already had their Unison Raid prepped and ready.
"Frozen Devil's Tsunami!"
Lunging their combined hands together, an enormous tidal wave of water was shot forward. The water was scolding hot, thanks to Juvia's efforts. With Gray's magic added in, the water quickly froze, despite being it so hot, and it took multiple solid shapes. Similar to Gray's Devil's Dance spell, the shapes the ice took all consisted of various Devil Arms and weapons that he has seen including Rebellion, Yamato, Cerberus, Beowolf, Agni and Rudra, Nevan, Hunter's Moon, Force Edge, and even the Devil Sword Sparda, the combined number of weapons ranging in the hundreds.
The opposing attacks met head on as the weapons made from a scolding hot ice shot through and blasted apart the heads of the ice-hydra that Lyon had unleashed. The body was soon blown away by the sheer force from Juvia's water before it all came down on the shocked Lyon, who was unable to avoid it as the combined assault blasted him through a whole building and into another.
When it was all said and done, Lyon laid back against the wall, the room he was in was partially flooded with chunks of ice floating around. And despite being unconscious, a small smile was practically glued to his face.
"Lyon is down!" Chapati announced. "That is yet another point for Fairy Tail! Bringing them to sixty-one! They're on a role today!"
"That was one heck of an attack!" Mato commented. "Absolutely incredible!"
"Those two kids make a great team." Yajima said.
Despite their victory and the jubilation they both felt, Gray felt all his stamina drop as he fell into Juvia's arms, much to her shock and worry.
"Gray, my love!" She lowered herself slightly while still holding onto him. "You gave everything you had in that attack… I think now may be the time to rest."
"Yeah… you may be right…" He was in no mood to protest as she allowed him to use her lap as a pillow to rest his head, all while she looked onto him with a loving smile.
"You were amazing." She said just before she kissed him on the forehead, much to his comic surprise as his eyes turned white and his face turned red.
There were a lot of cheers and whistles in the audience as soon as they saw all that on the monitor, including those in Fairy Tail.
"Ha, ha! Gray, you are one lucky guy!" Gildarts laughed.
"But he's about as dense and stupid as Natsu if he can't reciprocate her feelings!" Patty told him.
"Geeze, how old are you, kid?" Gildarts questioned.
Sparda nodded with approval towards Gray and Juvia's performance, right before becoming serious as he looked towards the other screen where Nero and Lucia's duel was about to reach its own climax.
The entire sewer network may as well have been remodeled at this point as whole sections were blown out, both competitors throwing everything they have at each other, including their opponents' bodies that were being used to smash through various walls.
Nero, still clad in his transparent Devil Trigger was blasted through one such wall before skidding to a halt in the water below. Lucia flew out at her blitzing speed straight toward him, but just as she lashed out with her blades, Nero blocked them both with Masayoshi before grabbing her with his free arm, as well as the transparent devil above him doing the same for her just as he flipped over and smashed her head into the ground and did another flip to repeat the same process three times before grabbing her by the face with one hand, just as he lunged Masayoshi forward, right as Lucia countered with a pull of her hand to send multiple spears of light out from behind to impale Nero's back just as the thrust from Nero's sword impaled and sent her flying to the other side of the chamber.
But despite that, both Lucia and Nero recovered from their various injuries as they roared at one another and charged towards each other. Lucia swung both her Cutlaser swords as Nero also swung Masayoshi and threw out his fist, the transparent demon above him following his actions as Lucia's blades met Nero's katana and transparent fist. They both moved at a rapid rate, swinging and attacking, blocking and parrying, several attacks landed their mark, while others were blocked, and every contact that was made created a shockwave that blew away more and more of the area around them. But both Devil Hunters were lashing out with everything they had, all while screaming their lungs out, showing no signs of stopping whatsoever.
Everyone in the audience watched with such intensity as the commentators all shook in their seats.
"I-I…I… h-have absolutely no idea what's happening…!" Chapati shook. "W-what am I even looking at…!?"
"Two full-fledged devils in a no-holds-bar duel." Yajima answered. "This may be just as intense as when Dante and Vergil both went at it."
"Other than that, I've never seen a fight like this, ever!" Mato added. "I'm feeling a mixture of thrill and terror, right here! I may just well wet myself!"
"Come on, Nero! Show her whose boss!" Gildarts called out.
"Don't let her beat you!" Patty shouted.
"Give it your all!" Levy exclaimed.
"You can do this, Nero! We have faith in you!" Elfman shouted.
"Lucia!" Beth exclaimed.
"We're rooting for you!" Amarilla cheered.
"You've got this!" Arana called out.
"Eat that punk alive!" Risley exclaimed.
Both Sparda and Mavis, as well as Kurenai, all three of them watched the monitors with a burning intensity. Their fists clenching hard as they mentally rooted for their respective children (or sibling in Mavis' case) with all their might. Even Vergil was unable to take his eyes off this battle, though he wasn't particularly rooting for either combatant, this is one battle that he won't be forgetting.
Nero and Lucia's rapid clash of powers came to a halt as the former pulled back his Devil Bringer fist, holding the Masayoshi in that very hand and channeled his demonic power for one big attack, while Lucia pulled both Cutlasser back as well, the bright blue energy from her blades turned white as they threw their powers out, both attacks colliding and created an immensely powerful shockwave that almost obliterated the entire area, with both Devil Hunters skidding back on their feet.
Neither would fall, but it seemed like that one or both would have to fall sooner or later, evident by how cut up and tired they all were. Each of them was covered in cuts and bruises all over, blood leaking out, and both opponents seemed very out of breath, evident by all the shallow breaths each of them were doing.
'He really has my timing down…' Lucia thought. 'He hasn't countered all my blows… but he's found a way to match his attack speed to my own… In addition… that transparent devil around him acts like an extra set of limbs… it can block my attacks and he himself doesn't take as much damage… and when he attacks with his fists… it feels like I'm being struck by four fists instead of two so they carry their own force behind it… and his sword… it's almost exactly like the Yamato… making it easy to bypass my defenses… He's no Dante.,. but Nero is a force to be reckoned with…'
'Holy shit… I haven't been this cut up in like… ever…' Nero thought. 'I wonder what Sammy, Coco, and the others would say if they saw me like this… though Dan would probably end up flirting with this chick, only to get cut to pieces.' He inwardly chuckled at the thought of that. 'But seriously… she's so damn fast… and she hits like a freight train…. Those freaking blades of hers, it feels like I'm inside a giant blender… and she wasn't wrong about my Devil Trigger… I feel like I'm gonna keel over if this keeps up…'
'Time to end this!' Both declared mentally.
"Nero." Lucia got his attention. "I apologize for underestimating you. You are very strong. One of the strongest opponents I've ever faced. Despite the intensity of this duel… I'm honestly enjoying myself."
"Yeah… same here." Nero smiled. "Thanks for the thrill. But the audience wants a winner, and I aim to deliver."
"So, do I. Then let's do this. One last strike." Lucia took a stance, one foot forward and the other back, her wings folded backwards as she held her blades in the same direction. Both Cutlasser blades began to glow a bright white, even brighter than before. It was so bright and intense, that everyone watching on the lacrimatrons had to cover their eyes.
"All or nothing… yeah. Fine by me." Nero took a similar stance to the ones he's done before, where one foot was extended outward and forward, Masayoshi sheathed and held backwards with his Devil Bringer arm just barley over the handle. The transparent devil around him vanished as all his demonic power was now being channeled directly into the katana, which glowed an even more ominous blue with a vibrant aura surging around it.
Mato looked in awe, unable to say anything at all.
"I think we're finally getting to the end of this blood bath!" Chapati said.
"Yep. Those two kids are pouring all they have into one final attack." Yajima added.
"NERO!" Everyone in Fairy Tail called out.
"LUCIA!" All in Mermaid Heel shouted.
'This will decide it.' Vergil thought.
It all happened faster than anyone could blink. Lucia zoomed as fast as she could and was directly on Nero, just as he pulled and swung the Masayoshi, with Lucia swinging Cutlasser.
*BOOM!*
What resulted was an immensely powerful explosion that rocked about half of the city, something that nearly all the remaining combatants around them all felt, including Erza, who still watched over the unconscious Kagura, Gajeel, who continued to sit in the same spot where Rogue was laying down with Frosch, and Sting, who remained in his secluded spot.
What was left of that area of the sewer system had been completely blown away, including the ceiling that was above it. Apparently the shockwave from the unleashed attacks had tore up a massive hole in the streets, a near perfect line that stretched for half a mile, exposing the orange light of dusk into the underground sewers that was all but obliterated at this point.
When all the dust settled, Nero and Lucia were on opposing ends of each other, facing in opposite directions, their respective Devil Triggers were gone as they held their swords outward in finishing positions.
It became deathly silent everywhere, even in the arena, as not so much as a breath was uttered by either Devil Hunters. Like the slightest breeze could blow them down, and that wasn't too extreme of an assumption given the intense fatigue each of them was in, blood dripping, practically pouring, out of their wounds.
Finally, there was a sound, a slight laugh from Lucia as she remained in her position. "Our battle… is over…" She fell forward, face down to the ground. "Most… impressive…"
"Uh… It… it looks like… that's the end of the battle…!" Chapati announced. "Let's hear it for our victory! For Nero, Fairy Tail's dark horse, has defeated Mermaid Heel's top combatant Lucia!"
Nero looked ready to fall over himself, but he dug Masayoshi into the ground and used it to support himself. He won. He really did just win, against a professional Devil Hunter no less, one that clearly had more experience over him. But it was a hard-fought victory for sure, as he honestly felt he could keel over. But he refused to let himself do that. Not until this final round was over.
But he could still celebrate his victory. Evident as he raised his Devil Bringer, his own demonic limb for all to see and gave one loud roar that echoed all over the place.
As he roared, the audience cheered as loudly as they could, several audience members were even standing and clapping as well.
"Holy moly, I was absolutely blown away!" Chapati commentated.
"Neither did I! I'm pretty sure the fans are going to be talking about that battle for a long time!" Mato added.
"I even felt my heart skip a beat." Yajima added.
"And as it turns out, Lucia was the leader for Team Mermaid Heel, which gives Fairy Tail another five points, bringing them straight up to sixty-six!" Chapati announced. "They are absolutely on a roll right now!"
Everyone in Fairy Tail cheered and cried at the announcement and the victory of their newest member.
"That was amazing…!" Levy was crying all over again.
"Yeah! That was so freaking manly!" Elfman pumped his fist.
"Nero is something else entirely!" Jet commented.
"I thought I was going to have a heart attack for sure!" Droy said.
"If that's not a sign you need to take a diet, than I don't know what is." Romeo commented.
"Oh… my… Gosh…!" Patty muttered, unable to find a comment to what she just saw.
Makarov laughed loudly alongside Gildarts as the current and former guildmaster both shared a high-five while Morrison tipped his hat toward Nero in acknowledgement.
Sparda felt a powerful sense of relief and pride at this, so much so that he put a hand on Mavis shoulder, causing her to look up to him with an emotional smile of her own.
"That's my boy…" The Dark Knight said.
"I don't believe it… Lucia lost…?" Beth covered her mouth as the rest of her guild felt their spirits plummet.
"How can our top fighter lose like that?" Risley questioned.
"That Nero person… Is he just as powerful as Dante?" Arana wondered.
Kurenai herself did feel disappointed in Lucia's defeat. However, she also felt a great sense of pride in the effort she gave. That battle could have gone either way, but Lucia had given it her all and had shown the world just how strong she was, even if it was in defeat. Despite the loss, Kurenai couldn't be prouder. She even gave a small smile as she looked to Lucia's fallen form on the screen.
"Well done, my child."
Vergil's expression remained more-or-less the same, but that didn't mean he wasn't impressed. It was clear to see that Lucia had greater experience over Nero, but the latter shown that he was capable of adapting quite well, making use of his unique Devil Trigger in ways that would indeed reminisce of what he knew about the members of Fairy Tail, including his twin brother. While Vergil would still win in a one-on-one duel against him, it wouldn't be an easy fight. Nero was a worthy warrior.
So much so that even Vergil gave a nod in respect.
"W-wait, it's not over yet!" Amarilla tried to remain positive for her guildmates. "Kagura and Lucia might be down, but Sapphire is still in the game! She'll find a way to win! I know she will!"
"Uh oh, no time to relax folks, cause we got another intense round about to start!" Chapati announced as all eyes turned to the monitor to see none other than Sapphire herself facing off against another certain member of Team Fairy Tail. "Laxus of Fairy Tail versus Sapphire of Mermaid Heel! That should be very interesting!"
"Didn't those two work together to take down Ivan and his team from Raven Tail?" Mato recalled.
"They did." Yajima confirmed. "In addition, they're both Second Generation Dragon Slayers. So this should be quite a fight."
Laxus and Sapphire both stood in a town square, facing off against each other before the latter spoke.
"Looks like I'm the last of my guild." The Azure Dragon Slayer commented. "Kagura and Lucia are both down. Never thought I'd see the day."
"Sorry about that." Laxus said. "But from the sound of it, at least those two went out swinging."
"Ah well, even if we don't win the games, it's fine by me." Sapphire accepted before smirking wildly. "Still won't stop me from at least trying! I'll blast away anyone and everyone, starting with you! And don't expect me to go easy on ya just because we both kicked that asshole Ivan into next week!"
"I wouldn't dream of it. Don't expect the same from me either." Laxus replied.
"Real quick question though, where's Natsu?" Sapphire asked. "I was really hopping to finally throw down with him in this whole thing! But he didn't show up? What's with that?"
"Sorry. Classified." Laxus replied.
"At least answer me this. He looks up to you, right?" She asked again.
"Something like that." He responded.
"Good." Both her hands were set ablaze with blue flames. "So when I kick your ass, it'll make him all the more eager to fight me! Come at me with everything you got Laxus, cause I'm fired up now!"
An aura of lightning surged around Laxus. "Alright. But just remembered, you asked for it."
However, before both could throw down, a pair of footsteps approached the duo as a third person entered the area.
"My, my." The two fighters turned to see who it was that joined them with an eager smile. "I was hoping to come across some capable warriors."
"Is that… the Wizard Saint… Jura…?" Sapphire looked more than a little intimidated.
Even Laxus had a nervous smile on his face himself. "The monster's shown himself."
"To be honest, I was hoping to cross paths with Nero again for that rematch." Jura confessed. "But it seems he's already come out from an intense battle some distance from here. So, I may just have to settle with you two."
However, unbeknownst to any of them, there was a fourth individual nearby. Standing in a nearby alleyway, was none other than Orga, who had a dark and serious look on his face.
Done.
Now that was some intense battles, wouldn't you say? Fairy Tail has clinched three victories in a row as Rogue, Sherria, Lyon, and Lucia are all defeated. Though it wasn't an easy fight as Gray and Nero are both looking worse-for-wear, the former having almost reached the limit of his endurance, while the latter went up against a top-tier Devil Hunter and only made it out thanks to some quick-thinking and adapting with whatever buster-counter he could think of.
And of course, we had Gajeel gaining his Iron Shadow Dragon mode to defeat the possessed Rogue. Now let's tally up the scores right now…
*First Place - Fairy Tail – 66 points
*Second Place – Mermaid Heel – 58 points
*Third Place – Sabertooth – 53 points
*Fourth Place – Blue Pegasus – 30 points (eliminated)
*Fifth Place – Lamia Scale – 27 points
*Sixth Place – Quatro Cerberus – 13 points (eliminated)
It's looking rather good for Fairy Tail right now, but Laxus is now up against Sapphire and Jura (but it also looks like Orga is sneaking around for some reason). And don't forget that Sting is still out there and hasn't made a move just yet.
Now, I'm sure you all noticed how I changed things up regarding what possessed Rogue. In the canon, it was only an entity that referred to itself as a shadow, but there was no explanation regarding its origin, and we don't even see it again after the Grand Magic Games, which is very disappointing (one of many flaws in the canon series), so I changed it up a little bit.
As a Shadow Dragon Slayer, Rogue is capable of consuming darkness, and demonic power is also a form of darkness. In the seven years that he's been growing, Rogue hunted down demons in an attempt to get stronger and consumed their power. He's done it with so many demons and so many times that all that power merged together with his own to create a whole new entity now dubbed 'Legion'. It would also explain why Lady and Mira sensed demonic power coming from Rogue during his fight before in the Games. And it's not only capable of utilizing Rogue's own Dragon Slayer magic with greater power than even Rogue himself (as a result of all the accumulated demonic power), it can even generated demonic extensions (like claws, tendrils, and wings).
But despite his defeat at the hands of Gajeel, Legion is not done quite yet. We will be seeing him again after this arc. I have big plans for him.
Oh, and yes, Rogue has feelings for Yukino. To be honest, I kinda felt any ship teases between Sting and Yukino in canon were forced, mostly because of Sting's forced development as a character (first he's an arrogant asshole, then he's a super nice guy?). I just see a more interesting dynamic between Rogue and Yukino instead since out of all the Twin Dragons, Rogue is at least more respectful and showed genuine concern for Yukino after she was kicked out, something Sting just dismissed like it was nothing.
And while the final match of the tournament is under way, Dante and Jellal's team has found their path to the Eclipse Gate barred. Crime Sorciere now has to battle the recovered Wolf Knights and the Royal Army, while Fairy Tail needs to contend with Moloch and his Pandemonium monsters. And it seems that Moloch had help from the other time traveler that Dante and the others are worried about (the one that they theorize is responsible for the dragon apocalypse that Future Lucy escaped from and is hoping to prevent). More importantly, Moloch knows about the Eclipse Gate now and what the time traveler intends to do with it, so he's going to keep Fairy Tail busy so they can't interfere, and he will watch gleefully as all of Crocus and Fairy Tail are destroyed as retribution for what he endured at their hands.
We're entering the nail-bitter stage right now as we are getting closer to the end of the Grand Magic Games tournament and the Eclipse Project all comes to ahead! Can the guild that we all know and love win the tournament and stop the coming apocalypse?
Find out next time on Fairy May Cry!