The fight between Jose and the four Fairy Tail mages had been going on for a little while now. If you could call it a fight, that is. So far, it looked more like a warm-up for Jose. Evidence of which was the complete absence of any injuries on the oldest man, while all of his adversaries looked really worse for wear. Even so, they were still standing and undeterred. As for the room they had been fighting in, it wasn't so much a room anymore as it had become a death trap. Every pillar had either been broken or cracked, the walls were falling apart, they had to watch every step they took, lest they fell to the floor below, and it was nothing short of a miracle the ceiling hadn't collapsed on their heads yet. This situation was exacerbated when a mysterious tremor rocked through the entire structure.
Nevertheless, for the first time since Juvia and Sol had reported their failure, Phantom Lord's master felt truly joyful, ecstatic even. Getting to beat up those worms had rejuvenated him and reminded him of what his guild was really about. What it had always been about. Wipe Fairy Tail and all its members off the face of the earth. All the money and all the plans had been nothing but distractions. The truth is, he should have walked into Magnolia himself and killed everyone on sight years ago, back when most of their members were toddlers. Not only would it have been easier, it would have been much more fun. Especially watching Makarov's face every time one of his precious "children" breathed their last. When he thinks he used to be concerned what the Magic Council would say or do...He now realize how ridiculous that was. Not only were they a bunch of weak, prideful fools, they hated the fairies as much as he did. Perhaps when all was said and done, they might even thank him for doing them and the whole country a favor. For now though, he needed to get things moving. The four brats in front of him were on their last leg. He'd let them exhaust themselves one last time, and then he'd finish them all off in one fell swoop. "It would seem this is the end for you. I will admit you lasted longer than I had anticipated. But it does not matter. Your struggle was always in vain to begin with. My shades will keep your friends down there busy until I make my way to them and crush the few of them that might have survived. After which, I will deliver all of your lifeless bodies to Makarov and let him contemplate the full extent of his failure. And when I feel his pitiful little soul finally drown in despair, then, and only then, will I rip his heart out of his chest."
His speech was successful in its goal to infuriate the four wizards. But it did not drive them to recklessness. Indeed, instead of attacking him separately, they managed to coordinate their next move.
First, Titania, still clad in her Black Wing Armor, jumped to Jose's right with her sword held in both hands and back.
Following suit, Elfman, who had transformed into his Beast Soul: Full-Body Take Over like he had against Sol, started running at full speed to reach the Wizard Saint's left at the same time as Erza.
As for Wendy and Gray, they both stood right where they were and prepared long-ranged attacks. Gray by bringing his hands together and pointing his open palms at Jose. And Wendy by taking a deep breath in.
"Ice-Make: Lance!" the ice mage yelled and fired dozens of his trademark ice projectiles at his target.
"Sky Dragon's Roar!" the blue-haired Dragon Slayer called out right after, sending a powerful tornado from her mouth.
As she had purposefully aligned her spell with Gray's, so that when the two came into contact, they combined, the tornado further increasing the speed of the lances.
Just as the combination of attacks was about to hit him, Jose shrouded his whole body in black and dark purple energy.
Erza's sword, Elfman's fists and Wendy and Gray's joint attack all collided with the guild master simultaneously. A remarkable feat. But it made no difference. Because when they did, the only thing that happened was a massive explosion of Shade Magic that blasted the red and white-haired mages away violently and landed them on their stomachs. The other two, being further away, fared better, but they were also exhausted, out of magic power and out of ideas.
By that point, Elfman's magic container was so depleted that he couldn't maintain his Take Over and was automatically reverted to his natural state.
Erza, on the other hand, didn't need magic to keep her armor, though it had been badly damaged with all of its plates either cracked or fragmented.
All of them were panting heavily; the ones who had fallen down, couldn't get up; and those who were still standing, were on the verge of collapsing all on their own.
Upon witnessing this sight, Jose started laughing maniacally, making no attempt to hide his sadistic glee. "Never in my wildest dreams would I have imagined that you could be this pathetic. I knew you'd never be able to scratch me. But to think I don't even need to attack you to beat you. This is just too good." he mocked them and held his hand to the side, which was coated in his typical dark energy. "But as entertaining as this is, I suppose it is time for me to put you out of your misery. By my count, the only one left in my guild hall after that is that pesky Salamander. Then it will be a free-for-all buffet at the beach. How fun!"
But just as he was about to send his attack, he was interrupted by the sound of chuckling, which quickly turned into full-blown laughter. A quick inspection revealed it was coming from the youngest fairy of the bunch. Her head was down and her bangs were hiding her eyes but the mirthful smile on her lips was clear as day. The bluenette's companions looked just as baffled at this development as he was. It is only after several seconds of this that the Sky Dragon Slayer spoke up. "If this is the attitude you're going to confront him with, he's going to rip you to shreds. I just wish he'd let me stay to see it."
"You hold him in such high esteem. Yet, I'm still waiting for him to come and save you." the Wizard Saint retorted, full of annoyance and contempt.
"Well, the waiting is over." a voice replied from the doorway.
All five people in the room turned towards it, and saw the aforementioned pink-haired mage with his hands in his pockets. And although he had an amused smile on his lips, there also was a distinct anger shining in his eyes.
When they saw him standing there, all four of his guildmates felt hope bloom back into their hearts, knowing that now, they stood a chance. A real chance.
As for Jose, the sudden apparition was enough to destabilize him, and thus make the magic he had gathered around his hand vanish. "I take it that Gajeel is down."
"Oh, he's down alright." Natsu confirmed while making his way around Jose, so as to position himself between him and his friends. While Phantom Lord's master was solely focused on the newcomer, he didn't notice Erza and Elfman getting back up and rejoining their two comrades.
"Just as useless as the rest." the Wizard Saint muttered in annoyance.
"If all of your guild members are so worthless, what does that say about you?" the pinkette reacted without missing a beat.
His jibe made the guild master grit his teeth. "I see insolence is a common trait in Fairy Tail."
"Just like arrogance and stupidity in Phantom Lord." Natsu further provoked, hoping to both antagonize his opponent and buy time for his teammates to recover.
He seemed to be successful in his first goal at least, judging by how Jose's magical output spiked. "You listen here, you little sh-!"
The guild master didn't get to finish his rebuttal, for before he could, he was hit in the face by a purple-coated fist that sent him crashing into a wall that promptly collapsed on top of him.
When he turned around, the person responsible for this saw his four companions gawking at him in awe, hardly believing he'd had more success with this one attack than all of theirs combined. Nevertheless, as flattering as this was, they didn't have time for that. "What are you guys waiting for? Get out of there."
His instructions did rouse them out of their daze; but that was only for Gray to start arguing with him with indignation. "What do you mean?! We can still fight! We can help you finish this guy!"
Just as Natsu was about to reprimand him, Erza took care of that for him. "No, Natsu's right. We're in no condition for what's to come. Even if the fight itself doesn't kill us, the tons of falling rocks will." she declared with finality, but when she saw the two males wanted to argue, she gave them one of her trademark glares and added "Let's go. Now."
As usual, the terror that filled their souls was more than enough to persuade them to obey her. As a matter of fact, they bailed out of there so fast, it's like they were neither wounded nor tired.
Upon seeing this, Titania gave a nod of satisfaction before turning to her fellow S-class mage. "We leave the rest onto you, Natsu. Good luck." she encouraged and ran towards the exit, followed by Wendy, who still took the time to give her foster brother a quick hug and a smile.
Just as they crossed the threshold, another explosion sent the debris that Jose was under flying, thus freeing him. "You'll pay for that." he threatened with malice.
Although most people may have found that situation intimidating, the pink-haired wizard merely smirked in excitement and gave him a beckoning sign. "Well, come on then. Come at me, bitch."
That was all the invitation the Wizard Saint needed. Pointing his forefinger at his enemy in a gun-like disposition, and fired dozens of thin light purple projectiles. Although they traveled very fast, they had very little power behind them; as evidenced by the fact that they barely scratched the surface of the ground when they hit it. No doubt, this was done on purpose in order to prevent the room from crumbling.
Natsu, on the other hand, had no such concern and, instead of trying to dodge or block the incoming shots, struck the ground underneath him with his fist surrounded by fire. This instantly created more than enough of a hole for him to fall through and thus avoid all of the projectiles. This also seemed to be the final straw for the already wrecked corridor as it started collapsing all around, over and under Jose, forcing him to follow the Fairy Tail wizard down to the next level.
As he used his Shade Magic to float down harmlessly to the ground, he saw his pink-haired foe standing there, waiting for him with his arms crossed and a provocative smile plastered on his face. The room they were in now was quite different than the previous one. First of all, it had to be the largest of the building by far, with it being big enough to hold at least a hundred people and high enough to hold many people stacked on top of each other. But its shape and organization were also quite well suited to a battle. Indeed, it had all the makings of an arena with its circular shape, a dozen large marble pillars reaching all the way to the ceiling and its thick, windowless walls all around. At its center laid an absurdly large purple rug bearing Phantom Lord's guild mark in black. What's more, it was in pristine condition, with the exception of the debris from the upper hallway of various sizes that had fallen down and now littered the floor.
Seeing this change of scenery brought a grin to the face of Phantom Lord's master, knowing he could really let loose now. Nevertheless, he couldn't help but feel a tinge of wariness. The mere fact that he'd managed to land a hit on him proved that the man in front of him was a formidable wizard. And one that wielded powerful forms of magics he knew very little about. Now, he still had complete faith in his Shade Magic, of course. But even though very few mages wielded it, it was still fairly well known, mainly thanks to him. So he decided to test his adversary before making any serious attack. As a result, he extended his hand like the last time, except instead of his index finger, he pointed all five of his fingers at his target and gathered his magic at their tips, making them glow with the usual dark color combination.
Seeing this made the pinkette's smile faded and he looked disappointed. The same kind of disappointment you'd feel when a dog failed to perform a trick you had taught it. The thought enraged Jose more than words could express. So instead, he chose to express it with an intense barrage of shots. But before any of them could hit Natsu, he jumped behind a large boulder that used to be a part of the ceiling. This didn't deter Jose however, who simply kept on firing at the protection in the hope of destroying it. However, once again, his shots didn't have any effect other than creating a large cloud of dust which served his opponent more than himself.
Because behind the large rock, the Fairy Tail wizard had been preparing his counter-attack. "Gravity Dragon's Propelling Fist!" he called out and punched the debris, hurling it at the Wizard Saint.
But before the projectile could reach its target, it was intercepted by a wave of Shade Magic and blown into smithereens. Apparently though, the pink-haired mage seemed to be counting on the other making just such a move. "Ice Dragon's Spike!" he followed up and expanded his spear-like arm towards Phantom Lord's master at very high speed.
Despite this, Jose still had enough time (though barely) to create a protection with his magic that prevented him from getting impaled. It did nothing however, to lessen the considerable force behind the attack and the mustached man was pushed back several steps before he could stop himself. And as Natsu retracted his arm and turned it back to normal, the battle entered another lull.
The silence didn't last long however, as the Wizard Saint began to laugh hysterically. "This is wonderful!" he exclaimed between bursts of laughter. "I can see why your guildmates placed so much faith in you now. This will only make it that much more impactful when I present them with your dead body."
This over-confident statement made Natsu's eyes narrow. He had seen some twisted people (and creatures) in his time, but this guy looked and sounded downright insane.
"Unless…" Jose suddenly added, his laughter disappearing instantly but a wicked smile still present. "Unless, of course, I can get an even better reaction….Like, for instance, if they saw you turning against them. Their greatest asset, not only letting them down, but betraying them. I imagine the sheer shock would be enough to suppress all their resistance and leave them wide open."
"Are you...trying to recruit me?" the Fairy Tail mage asked in disbelief.
"Well, why not?" the other man simply answered. "I know for a fact you haven't been in Fairy Tail for very long. And I'll have to redo mine from the ground up, evidently. I could bestow a great reward on the person who helped me finally get rid of Fairy Tail. And after all is said and done, you'll find yourself the leading member of the uncontested number-one guild in the country."
The more he talked, the more Salamander's anger mounted. Anger at having his character questioned by someone as petty and self-important as this guy. Nevertheless, he let him ramble on, hoping he'd reveal something interesting in the midst of his nonsense.
"Which is how it should have always been." the Wizard Saint continued, mistaking Natsu's silence for contemplation. "Ever since its foundation, Phantom Lord has always been the dominant guild. Until Fairy Tail got it into their heads to try and take this title from us. Stories of their S-class wizards performing impossible feats were spreading more and more throughout the land. I didn't understand how that was even possible. I mean, surely it wasn't Makarov's ridiculous and pathetic policy of a "family guild" that could have fostered such success. And then, we received a request from the head of the Heartfilia family and it all made sense. It is then that I understood that this personality of a gentle, kindhearted old man was only a facade. In reality, he's been scheming behind the scenes all along. Well, I will not stoop to such low tactics. No, instead, I decided I would wipe Fairy Tail out directly and-"
"You're such a damn moron." Natsu interrupted, having heard quite enough. "Making so many assumptions based on nothing but your own ego and paranoia. Makarov wasn't scheming anything; he didn't even know who Lucy was. And as for me, I would say it's bold of you to try to turn me like that, if it weren't so insulting. And even if I had no loyalty towards Fairy Tail, even if I cared about such things as silly as my guild's ranking, what in the world could ever make you believe I'd be willing to work with, let alone under, someone like you? Not to mention having to smell you stench on a regular basis."
As his pink-haired enemy was talking, Jose's fists clenched at his side and his mania turned to rage. "Fine! Have it your way!" he aggressively relented, untying his cape and throwing it aside. "If you insist on standing in my way, I will simply eliminate you with the rest of the pest!" And with that last statement, he stretched out his hand and created multiple thick tendrils of Shade Magic, the end of which resembled a skull, and launched them at Natsu.
But before they could connect with their target, the pinkette used his Sky Dragon Slayer Magic to lift himself off the ground and dodge into the air. "Sky Dragon's Wing Attack!" he used the opportunity to counter-attack and expelled a whirlwind of air from each of his arms to attack Jose.
Erza and her three companions had returned to their friends on the beach for a little while now. And their arrival had been enough to turn the tables on the shade-soldiers they had been fighting for so long. Now, the Fairy Tail wizards were the ones who overwhelmed their artificial foes to the point where they got destroyed almost as soon they reformed from their previous defeat. That being said, they were still the only ones who could get tired, and they were getting tired. Dangerously so. Which is why they needed their ally inside to vanquish his adversary as quickly as he could. However, they had no idea how the fight was unfolding, on the account of it taking place out of their sight and far away. That is, until they heard and saw magical explosions of various kinds going off inside the deactivated Giant's torso.
"I-Is that Natsu?" Lucy tentatively wondered.
"Aye! And he's really pissed now!" Happy cheerfully confirmed. Most of them didn't know whether to feel enthusiastic or frightened by the fact that their guildmate seemed to be doing so well against a Wizard Saint.
"Natsu will do his duty. We need to trust him and focus on doing our own." Erza instructed, returning everyone's attention to the shadows, only to see them merging to form a large jellyfish-like ghost with many arms.
"Ugh. Now what?" Gray groaned in annoyance.
"Water Dragon's Wave!" Salamander called out and swept his arm from one side to the other, generating a wall of water twice as tall as him and sending it at Phantom Lord's guild master.
But he retaliated by creating a receptacle with his Shade Magic and intercepting the water inside; before throwing it back at its sender.
When he saw this, the pink-haired mage merely flicked his wrist and the liquid was thrown to the side, splashing a corner of the room.
They then spent a few seconds glaring at each other and steadily increasing their magical output. It got to the point where the ground started shaking very violently. They even had to tone it down a little, for fear of bringing the guild hall crashing down on their heads. By the end of it though, it was clear to both of them that they had to step up their game, else this fight would never end.
As a result, Jose closed his eyes in concentration, and when he reopened them, they had radically changed. The pupils were now yellow in color and so small that they were barely perceptible. Additionally, the scleras had switched from their usual white to pure black.
Natsu, for his part, resolved himself to use a technique he literally hadn't used in decades. "Dragon Drive." he calmly said and was instantly surrounded by a dark red aura. Moreover, his eyes had also become the same dark red.
Once again, the Phantom's leader was the first to attack by creating his skull-shaped tendrils and launching them at his enemy. Except this time, there were a lot more of them, and instead of sending them all at the same time, he used them one after the other to track the pinkette if he evaded the initial projectile.
And once again, thanks to his new boost, the Fairy Tail wizard was able to dodge the spell by floating away. However, Jose's new approach forced him to keep moving all over the place in a rather chaotic manner to avoid any of the tentacles hitting him. And even then it was a pointless endeavor, because by the time he was done evading a few tendrils, Jose had retracted the ones he had already sent and was prepared to reuse them again. He had to give it to him, the Wizard Saint had really just become a far more formidable foe. He had an impressive level of control over his magic. Fortunately for him, Natsu had a few tricks up his sleeve as well.
So he started gathering Gravity Dragon Slayer Magic in each of his hands, making them glow purple. He then placed them one opposite the other, and the magic in each hand instantly reacted with that of the other. The result was that the magic in both hands was drawn between them in a dense ball that shone deep violet, before turning darker and darker. Once the process was complete, the final product was a sphere about the size of a regular human head and of the purest black imaginable; as if it was impervious to light. What's more, it seemed to interact with everything that came close to it, even air and light, pulling them at its center and consuming them. The only exception being Natsu himself. "Gravity Dragon's Black Hole!" he yelled out and heaved his creation in Jose's direction.
Only when he saw the enemy's spell coming towards him, and how easily it absorbed the tendrils he used to try to block it with, did the guild master start to worry and moved out of the way by pushing himself away with another wave of his magic.
When Natsu's spell touched the ground however, it didn't just dissipate or explode like most spells would. Instead, it slowed to a halt and stayed there. As soon as it had lost all momentum, an eerie, piercing sound, not unlike that of thunder, filled the room; and it gravitational pull was increased tenfold, sucking the rug inside it, absorbing the closest pillar completely and toppling another, eating a part of the floor and destabilizing the nearest portion of the wall to the point where a part of it collapsed, leaving a huge hole that gave a view of the outside.
All this lasted for several seconds before the sphere vanished. And during this time, the two wizards had very different reactions to the event. While Jose was using his magic to grab onto one of the pillars with all his might, Natsu was just standing there upright, his hair and clothes the only parts of him having a rough time.
When calm returned, the Wizard Saint groggily got back to his feet, all under the mocking gaze of the very person who had put him in that state to begin with. "WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU TRYING TO DO?! KILL ME?!" he raged.
"What do you think?" Salamander nonchalantly responded, circling his opponent like a predator would its prey.
This emotionless rebuttal caused all of Jose's anger to be replaced with shock and a tinge of fear. "W-What? But...Fairy Tail mages don't kill people."
Seeing the change in demeanor brought a satisfied smirk to the pink-haired wizard's face. "Well, like you said, I haven't been in Fairy Tail for very long. So, are you going to fight for your life or just let it happen? Both are fine with me by the way."
The last statement restored Jose's self-confidence, convincing him his adversary was bluffing to make him give up. It even made him cocky again. "And if you kill me, what good will it do you now?" he inquired and walked to the hole Natsu's attack had left in the wall. "Look." he pointed outside, where they could see his multi-armed magic creature repeatedly punching the remains of the Fairy Tail guild hall while being uselessly attacked by its members. "You have already lost! Your guild hall is gone! Your guild is done!" he boastfully declared while laughing hysterically.
That stopped when he heard the sound of his enemy sarcastically clapping. "Congratulations. You successfully destroyed a building." "Then again, I don't know if you're aware, but Fairy Tail sort of has a reputation for being particularly good at that. Do you want to surpass us so badly that you even want to acquire that title for yourself too?"
"Dead Wave!" was the answer he received. Jose had hurriedly cast one of his most powerful spell, firing a large indigo beam from his hand. His haste wasn't due to anger like all the other times, this time it was because of panic. He could now see that cunning and deception wouldn't help him in this fight. His only option was to end it quickly.
"Fire Sky Dragon's Roar!" Natsu reacted swiftly, genuinely caught off guard by the sudden attack. Nevertheless, he managed to defend himself by generating a spiral of condensed air and fire, the former fueling the latter.
As he hadn't had time to prepare his counter-attack, it struggled a little against Jose's energy beam before finally over-powering it. However, when it did, it was so weakened that it couldn't even sustain itself and dissipated on its own, thus revealing that Jose's over-sized magical pet was floating behind him.
To make matters worse, the Fairy Tail mage got another concern as he sensed someone approaching their position. 'Mavis?' he called.
'I'm on it.' she responded at once.
Less than a second later, he was forced to jump to the side to avoid the numerous fists trying to pummel him into the ground. Both Jose and the jellyfish-like nonsense were throwing attack after attack at him and he was grateful that the room was big enough to allow him to move around as he pleased. 'Well, this is fun.' he sarcastically remarked.
He then ducked behind one of the pillars for protection. It didn't take long for the Wizard Saint and his puppet to make it fall over by repeatedly punching its base; but when it did, they were greeted by a surprise. "Fire Dragon's Brilliant Flame!" Salamander called out and threw a large fire ball from both hands at Jose. It reached him without being intercepted by any of the many arms and tendrils in its way and engulfed him. After a brief scream of pain, Jose was revealed with only a few minor burns and tears in his clothing.
Somewhere else inside Phantom's Giant, the master of Fairy Tail, Makarov Dreyar was trying to make his way to the origin point of all the noise and commotion that was shaking the building. He had returned to his guild a few minutes ago, just in time to witness Jose's jellyfish rushing back to its creator. He could understand why when he saw the incessant and continually stronger explosions going off from within the enemy structure. It didn't take a genius to figure out that one or more of his guild members were fighting Jose and, apparently, giving him a run for his money. This thought reassured him enough to take the time to make sure his children that had been defending their guild hall were safe and sound. And it is safe to say that he was conflicted about what he saw to say the least. On the one hand, he had been relieved to see that none of them had been too seriously injured. On the other hand, when he saw some of them literally collapsed from exhaustion, others too magically drained to maintain their transformation or perform any spell, and still others crying over the loss of their guild hall, he was seized with a rage the likes of which he had very rarely felt in his long life. And after a quick conversation with Erza, he learned that Natsu was the one facing Jose and set off to go help him. It had taken him very little time to reach the Giant, but it was now taking him forever to work his way through the damn thing. It was already maze-like to begin with, but after all the destruction it had undergone, he couldn't tell what was what. He was also trying to save up as much of his magic power as possible in preparation for the fight to come. Fortunately for him, the two fighters weren't exactly hiding their location.
"It's good to see you're doing better." a gentle voice said from behind him.
Despite the kind words and the sweet tone of the message, and because he had already been sneaked up on once today, he sharply snapped around towards the voice with his hand gleaming in preparation for an attack. That disappeared though when he saw who was sitting on a pile of rubble, smiling at him. "M-Master Mavis?" he stuttered in disbelief.
"Hello, Maki." she greeted with a wave.
"W-What are you doing here?" the short man asked.
"Well, my guild is at war. Of course, I would keep a close eye on what's going on." the blonde casually answered, seemingly unbothered by the whole thing.
That response, however, reminded Makarov of his original goal. "Yes. And now, with all due respect, I need to go and make sure it ends as it should." he explained and turned around to resume his way to the battle.
"And that's the other reason why I'm here." the thought projection spoke up as she stood up and walked towards her godson, her smile melting into a serious expression. This change was enough to make the Third Master stop and look back at her. "I'm going to have to ask you to hold off on that."
This request shocked the old man more than anything that had transpired recently. "W-What?! But First Master, Jose-"
"-is being handled by Natsu as we speak." she interrupted, baffling him even further.
"Master Mavis, Natsu is very strong, yes, but Jose is one of the Ten Wizard Saints. That is a whole other level." the mustached man tried to reason with her.
"Then why is he the only one taking any damage?" the girl countered in clear amusement. Upon still seeing some reluctance in her interlocutor's expression, she decided to elaborate. "Look, Makarov, you don't know Natsu like I do. But please trust me when I tell you that he is more than capable of taking this fight."
The current master of Fairy Tail spent a few seconds observing her in contemplation, before finally nodding in acceptance. He then started heading back the way he had come from, but stopped after a few steps and turned back towards the blonde-haired girl. "First Master, if I may...What is your relation to Natsu exactly?"
This question made Mavis smile mischievously. "Whatever do you mean?"
"Well, it's just...no one had seen you in decades. And then, I take Natsu to Tenrou Island, and the next thing I know, you're asking me to make an exception to the guild's most important rule for him. And now here you are, speaking on his behalf." Makarov summarized.
Although she still had her smile attached to her face, there was also a hint of melancholy in her eyes. "Natsu and I...we share a lot of things...including implicit trust. We're friends...and even though I can't fight with him, I can still have his back in other ways."
The Third Master of Fairy Tail waited a few seconds to see if his predecessor was going to add anything, and when he was satisfied that she wouldn't, left the room. Mavis, meanwhile, stood there a little longer with a contemplative expression before she disappeared.
Things weren't going well for Jose. No matter what he tried, his opponent always seemed to have a counter. And the longer the battle went on, the wider the gap between them became. By now, the Wizard Saint sported a multitude of wounds, while his adversary had yet to receive a single scratch. Additionally, he was panting and sweating heavily, when the other mage looked as fresh as ever. It was so bad, he had even considered fleeing at one point. But his pride quickly made him dismiss that idea. The master of the strongest guild in the country had to be the strongest guild wizard in the country. So like hell he would retreat in the face of some S-class fairy!
With that in mind, he sent his tendrils at Salamander's feet, while subtly using his creature to take a hold of the pillar behind him and pull it down on him. His plan seemed to be successful, as the pinkette jumped back to avoid his attack as planned and the cylinder was falling right on his position.
"Gravity Dragon's Stasis Field." Natsu calmly recited and was surrounded by a purple bubble. And so, when the pillar came into contact with it, instead of his body, it was Jose's hope that was squashed, as the heavy stone lost all momentum and hung in the air, floating harmlessly just over the Fairy Tail wizard's head. Taking a few steps to the side with a wry smirk, Natsu then deactivated his spell, letting the ornament fall to the ground with a heavy thud.
Out of desperation, Phantom's master decided to risk everything right then and there. He extended his arm to the side with his palm wide open. The next moment, the magic making up his puppet began to be suctioned into the aforementioned palm.
Seeing this, Natsu clasped his hands together and placed them at his hip; at the same time, his forearms were engulfed in swirling wind and violet energy.
"NECRO ABYSS!" Jose howled and swept his charged hand around, thus creating several large beams of black energy with a purple glow around them.
"Dragon Slayer's Secret Art: Ripping Vortex!" Natsu countered and unclasped his hands, swiped his arms in a circular fashion, creating an immense torrent of violet energy that was affecting the air around it by making it swirl uncontrollably.
When the two attacks collided, it was no competition, with Natsu's annihilating Jose's like it didn't even exist.
The Wizard Saint barely had time to register his failure before the enemy attack was upon him. In less than a second, it wrapped around him and circled him at tremendous speed. The room was then filled with the horrendous sound of his screams of agony as he was being torn apart. When the spell dissipated, just a few seconds later, Jose was revealed, lying on his back, and with a red puddle forming and expanding rapidly around him. He had deep gashes all over his body, one of his arms looking on the verge of coming off altogether. Moreover, his limps had been flattened and chest cavity had been caved in. Miraculously, his face had been relatively spared.
Acknowledging that the battle was over, Natsu deactivated his aura and slowly made his way over to the defeated guild master who was gasping and gagging, struggling to breath from the damage to his lungs, throat and the blood pooling into his mouth he had to regularly spew out. Most people who have found this sight repulsive, yet the pink-haired mage couldn't help but feel a degree of satisfaction at seeing his opponent so helpless. When he was standing just above him, Natsu pointed his hand, with his palm facing forward, at the collapsed, mangled mess of man.
"So tell me. Was it worth it?" While Jose's eyes on him indicated he was still aware of his surroundings, the depraved state of his body rendered him incapable of formulating any kind of response. The Fairy Tail wizard then emitted a jet of dark red and purple fire from his hand, setting what was left of his enemy aflame, who tried to scream again, but this time could not.
Jose's remains were reduced to ashes in a matter of seconds, his Wizard Saint's medallion being the only item still in one piece at the end. Looking at it, Natsu felt a wave of disgust wash over him and pushed it with his foot, sending over the edge and falling into the surrounding lake. But as he did so, he noticed how late in the day it was and was mesmerized by the sight of the sun setting over said lake. Deciding he'd earned the right to enjoy it, he sat down on the ledge, his legs dangling in the air.
He stayed like this, idly gazing at the horizon, for a few moments, before he felt a sweet smell enter his nose. She had always had the sweetest scent, like a field of flowers blooming in spring. He still didn't move his gaze when he felt her place a gentle hand on his shoulder.
"Are you okay?" Mavis asked in a caring tone.
"Yeah, I just...this is really beautiful, isn't it?" her host slowly answered, still solely focused on the vision before him.
While she had been looking at his face, his statement made her shift her eyes in the same direction as his. "Yes, it is." the blonde agreed. She then removed her hand from his shoulder and sat down next to him. They both watched the scene in complete silence for a few seconds, before Mavis leaned against her partner and rested her head on his shoulder. They just remained like that, bathing in the sunlight and each other's company, until the First Master spoke up again. "Thank you for protecting my guild today."
"It's my guild too now, you know." the S-class mage commented, making her chuckle. The lighthearted nature of the conversation faded when he uttered his next words. "Any grievances over the way I ended it though?"
The fairy-themed girl took a few moments to consider her response before she gave it. "No. Although most of Fairy Tail may feel more strongly about such things, and I, myself, have no taste for it; I have been also involved in a war. I know how it goes and I am more...pragmatic about it...The Council might disagree though."
She was surprised when she heard the man next to her snort in derision. "Whatever. If those people are dumb enough to decorate that kind of man, I couldn't care less about their opinion on anything."
Although she understood where he was coming from, Mavis felt compelled to correct him. "Be that as it may, they can still cause a lot of trouble for any guild in the country. And technically speaking, the killing of a Wizard Saint, even in the context of a conflict he or she has initiated, gives them grounds to disband the responsible party."
"But in order for that to happen, they'd have to prove not only that their enforcer was deliberately killed, but also by whom. And they can't make a case for murder without a body. I'd say I was pretty thorough." Natsu insisted, to which the blonde-haired girl said absolutely nothing, wanting the topic to change to literally anything else in the world. "So, how did it go with Makarov?"
This made the spirit frown, she really couldn't decide if this was an improvement. "Well enough, I suppose, all things considered. Although, he is growing more and more dubious of you, mainly because of how close you and I are."
"What did you tell him?" the pinkette inquired, surprisingly calm about the whole affair.
"What could I tell him? I told him that we understood each other and that he should trust that, no matter how secretive you might be, your heart's in the right place." the thought projection supplied, sounding a bit upset. "It doesn't feel right though, hiding the truth from him."
"I know, but what's the alternative? We both know what's going to happen the moment he finds out. First, he's going to get black out drunk. Then, he's going to freak out so much, it just might kill him. And even if, by some miracle, he's still unscathed by the end of it, he'll have one more secret to constantly be mindful to keep. Now, do you really want him to have to go through that? There are only two kinds of lies: those we tell for ourselves and the ones we tell for others. You may hate it, but you shouldn't feel guilty." her pink-haired interlocutor comforted her as he wrapped his arm around her shoulders, his voice full of warmth. In response, she snuggled closer to him without saying anything. They non-verbally agreed to end the conversation there and just spent the next few minutes admiring the scenery, until the orange glow darkened to a dull red. "Not that this isn't nice, Mavis, but there's still one last thing I have to do." he excused himself, prompting said blonde to remove her head from his shoulder without protest.
As he got up and was preparing to leave though, she shared her thoughts with him, looking at him over her shoulder. "It's not you fault, you know. What he's become, the choices he's made, you're not responsible for any of it. You tell me I shouldn't feel guilty, neither should you."
Her heartfelt advice made him smile at her in a mix of amusement and fondness. "I don't feel guilty. I'm going to give him one pep talk out of respect for his father. If it works, great, if it doesn't, whatever. Besides, whether either of us likes it or not, we're going to have to fight side by side one day. And on that day, I'd rather we both know for sure where the other stands."
And with that, Natsu took his leave and Mavis watched his retreating figure until he was out of sight, by which point she disappeared herself.
A handful of minutes later, Natsu could be seen walking back into the room where he had fought Gajeel, or what was left of it. As he wandered inside, he spotted the leftover spears of the Iron Dragon Slayer's last attack and picked one of them up. After examining it, he bit into it, his fang-like canines sinking deep into the metal and siphoning the magic contained within. When he had extracted it all, he dropped the item and stumbled a bit, the pain and discomforted invading him once more. With a grunt, he walked to the place where he had delivered the finishing blow to Phantom's ace and looked down, seeing him right where he had left him. Although he had regained consciousness and didn't appear to be bleeding, most of his body was now covered in cuts and bruises. The pinkette slowly made his way towards the platform where the man he had already defeated was.
"I would apologize for putting you in that state, but I wouldn't mean it." he jibed as soon as he was sure to be within earshot of the dark-haired man.
"What do you want, Salamander? To gloat?" the wounded mage surmised, not bothering to move from his position, lying on his back.
"No." the Fairy Tail wizard denied. "I'm here because I'd like to understand how someone can be as much of a prick as you are."
"Hey, screw you!" Gajeel reacted without missing a beat, finally sitting up, just for the sake of glaring at him. "You don't know jack about me! You think you're so cool because you have more than one Dragon Slayer Magic?! Who the hell are you to judge me?!"
"In case you've forgotten, I do know things about you. Like I know you were raised by the iron dragon Metalicana. And, I know he disappeared one day, and you were left all alone. What I'm wondering is what happened afterwards." the pink-haired mage corrected.
"And it's none of your damn business." the black-haired dragon slayer insisted, but with less aggression and more hesitation.
It is at this point that Natsu merely sighed in resignation. If the guy wanted to be stubborn that badly, he certainly wasn't going to spend an eternity trying to persuade him to work with him. Like he'd said, Gajeel wasn't his responsibility. Which meant he wasn't his problem either. "Have it your way. In any case, fair warning, with what your guild has done, there's no way the Magic Council isn't going to take action. And considering how we wiped the floor with all of you, I think it's fair to say that Phantom Lord is living its last hours. Now, you have a choice to make: after your guild gets disbanded, are you going to go and find a similar one? Or are you going to try something new? Up to you, but you've already tried to pursue power, and what do you have to show for it?"
And without waiting for a response, Natsu walked away, leaving Gajeel to his thoughts.
Some time later, all of the Fairy Tail members, including the partially-recovered team Shadow Gear, were gathered next to the ruins of their guild hall. They had been attending to their wounded, but they all suddenly stopped when they saw Natsu coming back. They were all eager to hear the story of his fight against Jose, including Makarov. And so, knowing he wasn't going to be able to get out of this one, he started talking. By the time he'd finished, Lucy was crying her eyes out.
"I-It's a-all my f-fault." she sobbed.
"No, it isn't." Makarov corrected. "It's Jose's fault. When someone has so large an ego and so selfish priorities, they always harm others to feel better about themselves."
"B-But if my fathers hadn't hired them-" the Celestial mage tried to argue again, but was cut off.
"Then he would have just found some other pretext to attack us. And then again, he didn't even really need a pretext if we're honest." the pinkette insisted.
"Natsu's right. And even if he were wrong, what happened would be on your father, but certainly not on you." Erza added bracingly.
All the support and care finally managed to break through Lucy's guilt, and she started crying again. Only this time it was tears of joy.
But while everybody else was comforting her, the guild master was looking pensively at the remains of his guild hall. 'The Council is going to come down on us now. They've always hated Fairy Tail and wanted to disband us. Now is their chance, and if I know them at all, they are gonna be jumping at it."
Sure enough, just a couple of days later, Magnolia was swarming with Rune Knights, who were investigating, interrogating guild members and citizens alike. Of particular concern to them was the mysterious disappearance of their Wizard Saint. But after over a week of what some might consider harassment, they still weren't getting anywhere. With the population completely ignorant and the members of Fairy Tail extremely uncooperative. But the Magic Council wasn't deterred and soon decided to switch tactics.