Chapter 19: Grim Reaper and Demons Part 2
Natsu and his group finally landed and were face-to-face with one of the strongest of the Spriggan Twelve. The tension between the group and August was undeniable. "Tell me, what is the meaning of this?"
"I've come here to negotiate with you," Brandish replied.
Since they were her, August assumed they must've done away with Jacob. "I assume the enemy killed Jacob."
"He was defeated, but, he was taken prisoner," Brandish gestured to Natsu, Lucy, Akame, and Usagi. "Speaking of, where God Serena?"
August placed his hand over his heart. "He's confided to our memories."
Even though Brandish and August were both members of the Spriggan Twelve, Lucy and the others could sense a monumental difference between their magic power. "I thought Brandish's magic power was crazy, but, August is on a whole other level."
Natsu gritted his teeth in agreement. "It's like night and day."
Mest couldn't believe how less serious his guildmates were. "I think they're putting that extremely lightly, his magic is not of this world!"
Usagi felt a sense of dread within himself and the enemy's power level was equal to his magic power too. "His magic is more powerful than we thought, he's probably stronger than the New Fishman Pirates." An additional thought came to his mind. "I wonder if Lord Oden and Rayleigh would be a match for me."
Robin didn't know how to sense magic power, however, she felt uneasy, it was almost equal to when she crossed paths with Aokiji.
Brook narrowed his eyes. "That old man...he seems very dangerous..." He felt a chill go down his spine and it was similar when he along with his crew faced Kuma, Sentomaru, and Kizaru.
Akame couldn't help but stare at August. Just being in his presence was enough to put her on edge. Ajeel, not even Brandish came remotely close to how powerful she sensed. His magic power was only the tip of the iceberg to her. "It's not just his magic that's unbelievably strong. His aura is on a completely different scale. I could sense it well before we even saw him. Before we all sense his magic power. It's even larger than the capital itself and beyond that. I don't doubt he would be able to overcome the Empire and Revolutionary army including the one back in the world of pirates. He might be able to take on the New Fishman Pirates all by himself too."
August questioned what Brandish's intent was with him. "So then, what do you mean by 'negotiate'?"
"I would like you to walk away," Brandish answered.
August carefully examined Brandish for her to suggest such a thing to him. "It appears to me that you haven't been tortured, so, what has brought upon this betrayal?"
"I haven't betrayed anyone," Brandish replied. "I'm still devoted to Alvarez, however, I feel like there's no meaning to this war."
August's face darkened when heard Brandish's words. "So you dare act direct against our majesty's wishes! We've pledged our lives in service to the emperor! If you can't comprehend why your majesty wages this war, then you are among the enemy!"
Things were starting to get intense after August said those words.
B
At Hargeon town, part of it.
Jula had taken over Kagura's guard partol. "Jackal, I need to know, why is that you're here?"
Jackal scoffed as he turned his head away. "Like I would tell any creatures like you about our plans." He hissed in anger. "Such creatures like yourself siding with humans is disgraceful, humans always have an ugly side. Humanity is dark. The reason that they fear the unknown is because they would rather keep things for themselves and make sure that nobody takes what they have, they kill to make sure that they're superior!"
Dimaria was overhearing this. "Zeref...you created such creatures that hate our race." She could almost chuckle at the demon's spiteful retribution.
"You're wrong..." Upon hearing that got Jackal's attention as he glanced at the Squid Fish woman who had a serious look on her face. "I admit humans have always discriminated and persecuted against Fishmen and Merfolk for so many years. We always suffered because of human pirates and every time they saw an opportunity, they would capture whatever merfolk or Fishman they could get their hands on." She clenched each of her eight hands tightly. "I didn't trust humans as much as Aquapad did, but, meeting Luffy's brother Ace gave me a glimmer of hope and yet that hope still was burning inside. Enough to give me a little faith."
Jackal gave a "hmph" before he spoke. "What exactly are you trying to say?"
Jula sighed deeply. "I'm saying that humans aren't as bad as we knew, after hearing about what the humans did for Aquapad and his bond with Fairy Tail, I realized that Otohime was right even what she said."
"It's true our expose to humans has been negative but that doesn't mean we can judge all humans the same." Otohime's words echoed in her mind.
"Even the islanders began to realize that even more to this day." A smile formed on Jula's face. "Right now, my friends and I are members of Fairy Tail, we'll protect our new home even if costs us our lives."
Jackal did recall hearing the history between Fishman and humans, which wasn't a pretty one. "Even if you idiots win this war, the citizens might fear you and your little friends, knowing them they'll give the stinkeye to you all."
Jula was aware of that. "Maybe...but..." Her serious look came back and looked directly at Jackal. "As long as Fairy Tail has our back, the citizens will have no reason to fear us, even if some are still afraid of us, we will earn their trust not demand it." She prepared to leave but had one more thing to say. "Jackal, perhaps if your kind was nice to humans then we wouldn't be having this conversation and as long as you guys see humanity as a bad thing, nothing will change between your kind."
Jackal growled annoyingly and turned his head. "Whatever...our kind doesn't want to change, no matter what, we'll fight Fairy Tail and attack their allies too. This will surely bring the fireball' true power!"
"Fireball...true power...what does that mean?" Jula questioned as the demon realized what slipped his tongue.
"Crap..." Jackal cursed under his breath.
Jula didn't bother questioning more, she did get some details without even pressuring or threatening the guy. She eventually left to meet up with Thorn and Angela.
Back at the Northern Fiore, the fight against the Alvarez raged on with the members of Fairy Tail, Sabertooth, and Blue Pegasus fighting the army off. Two demons of Tartaros were fighting against Zoro and Jimbei.
In one part of the battlefield, Gajeel's fight against Bloodman continued with Levy joining the fight. Gajeel on the other hand was still uncertain of Levy fighting alongside him. Especially if they're up against an opponent who can wield Bane Particles. "Hey, that mask you made for yourself, you positive it's going to work?"
Levy glanced over at the iron dragon slayer with a certain look. "It's Solid Script Magic, so, of course, it'll work."
Since another opponent appeared before him, Bloodman decided to unleash his true power. He raised his hand with his index finger held up. "When the first seal is broken, Bane Particles drain your magic power. He held his middle finger up next. "The second opens the gate of corpses. "Bloodman held up three fingers next. "And upon breaking the third seal..." His body began to change and became enveloped in Bane Particles. "The God of renders judgment upon you." His entire body became darkened with a ghastly bright purple glow from his eyes and mouth and didn't appear human any longer. "And when that happens, you are condemned down the land of the dead."
Despite his drastic transformation, Gajeel smiled as he wasn't at least a bit intimated by his enemy. "I get that you're trying to be scary, but your magic power is a joke." You got nothing on the rest of the Twelve, do you?"
Bloodman widened his eyes and stared menacingly at Gajeel and Levy. "That's because I wield the power of curses!"
Gajeel gasped in shock at what Bloodman announced and Levy shared his reaction. "Does that mean what I think means?"
Bloodman held his right arm in front with his palm open. "I control what rises the depths of Tartaros...CURSE POWER!" He unleashed a massive dark purple swirling explosion onto Gajeel and Levy. Both were blown away. "EXPLOSION SPIRAL!" Bloodman drew his back left arm next. "TENGA GOKEN!" Bloodman threw his arm in front and a powerful cross slash appeared that struck Gajeel and cut down the tree surrounding him. "ONIMARU!" Gajeel defended against the attack by turning his arm into iron.
Bloodman put his left hand and out came several dark seeds. "Black Nature: Dark Seed!" Levy wrote with her finger. "Solid Script: Fire!" A blue flame burned the dark-like seeds."
Bloodman pulled back his left arm. "Dark Static: Thunder Fist!" He threw a punch unleashing a jolt of electricity at Levy. "That's the same move that the demon Saki used!"
Gajeel turned his arm into an iron pole absorbing the attack like he did with Laxus' attack but took serious damage.
"Gajeel!" Levy panicked.
Bloodman pulled back his left arm again and threw a punch that was covered in a dark spiral. "Drain Fist!" His punch landed a hit on Gajeel's chest. Gajeel felt that hit and was feeling his magic power wavering. "That's the move that the panther demon Leon used to weaken us."
Bloodman roared as he threw both his arms up and black water suddenly surged from underneath the ground. "UNLEASH..." The massive wave flooded the entire area and swept up Gajeel and Levy. "DARK DELUGE!"
It was as Gajeel suspected and couldn't believe it if he hadn't seen it for himself. "Are you kidding me!"
Levy was submerged into the water and it brought back some bad memories for both her and Gajeel. "Not this again!"
Gajeel couldn't believe the kind of power his enemy possessed. "aw man, can he use all the Tartaros curses?!"
Thankfully, they had experience in dealing with Torafuzer's curse before. "Maybe..." Levy wasted no time in swimming down. "But, I'm not falling for the same trick twice!" Once she was close enough to the ground, she pointed two of her fingers at it. "Solid Script: Hole!" The word "hole" appeared in the ground and the water was being immediately drained through the o of the word.
They immediately escaped Bloodmans' attack and Gajeel was impressed by what she did. "Nice one, Levy!" He took a deep breath as did Bloodman. They both unleashed their breath attacks at once against each other. "Iron Dragon's Roar!"
"ICE DEMON'S RAGE!" Both breath attacks fiercely collided with each other and canceled each other out. Then Gajeel noticed a couple of ghostly white tendrils wrapping around his legs and Levy's legs too. "Behold a curse beyond the Nine Demon Gates. To the underworld...to the underworld, the dead begin to scurry!" Countless skulls started to rise out from the fields with those same strange tendrils sticking out from underneath them screeching and moaning. Gajeel didn't like where this was going and, unfortunately, knew where this was headed. "THE THIRD SEAL BREAKS AS JUDGMENT HAS RENDERED!" A bright light erupted from his forehead. "OVERSKELTOR!" Bloodman sent a torrent of skulls and Bane Particles that swept up Gajeel and Levy entirely. They both found themselves stuck in a giant vortex of skulls and Gajeel screamed in pain.
Gajeel heard Levy scream and stuck his arm out trying to reach her. "LEVY!" The iron dragon slayer struggled to endure the attack until he was close to Levy. He found a chance when she was close enough to him and managed to grab Levy's arm.
Against all odds, they miraculously managed to get out of Bloodman's attack which he didn't think was even possible. "My death vortex! How did they ever escape it!?"
They both landed on the ground barely making it, Levy began to cough, not wearing her mask, and coughed out blood. Gajeel noticed and became worried about her. "Oh no, you need to get your mask back on!"
"I'm sorry, but, I was bluffing." Levy pushed herself off the ground but had a defeated look on her face. "The truth is...it never worked." Gajeel gasped in shock as his eyes widened. "Bane Particles don't just get inhaled; they're absorbed through the skin that is damaged, I guess I never had a chance since my skin was scratched."
If what Levy said was true, then she was always exposed to the Bane Particles even with the mask on. "Then why in the hell did you even come here!"
Blood trickled from both corners of Levy's mouth, yet she smiled weakly at Gajeel. "I...was hoping...I could...save...you." Her eyes darkened before collapsing on the ground.
"LEVY!" Gajeel stood up while looking at his guildmate in horror at her condition.
Zoro and Goliath continued their fight, both were barely breaking a sweat.
Zoro on the other hand was a bit annoyed. 'Is this all you Tartaros demons can do?" He looked unimpressed too. "This is boring."
Goliath couldn't help but chuckle. "Cocky young man are you, well, it's time to unleash my true power." He began to double in size and his body was covered in rock solid-like skin. "Etherious Form: Giant Solid Stone Mode!"
Zoro was a little baffled at what he was seeing. "What the hell...?" Goliath's transformation was complete and his eyes glowed brightly yellow. "This is my true Etherious Form. You see, some of us were given the power to show our true forms by our creator Zeref."
"Zeref, does he mean the emperor bastard?" Zoro thought in question. "Come to think of it, I recall hearing that before we arrived on Fishman Island."
Goliath smirked. "You know if we weren't enemies I'd probably want us be friends or more."
Zoro twitched at that comment. "Cut the crap!" He barked comically. "Anyway, let's just finish this fight, you're being a creepy bastard!"
Goliath laughed. "Very well, I'll enjoy crushing your body!"
Jimbei and Aquaius' fight was continuing, neither was given an inch, though, Jimbei had some scratches while Aquaius was seemingly covered in bruises and scratches.
"Taron, Saizou, and Jester mentioned your power, I suppose I shouldn't expect anything less from you," Aquaius commented.
"I admit, your curse powers are far more than Fairy Tail mentioned," Jimbei replied. "However, I refuse to give in, but, before we continue, I must know, why are you and your friend here, what do you two hope to accomplish from this bloodshed?"
Aquaius giggled. "Considering that you'll lose, I suppose I can lay out some details, first, have you heard of a demon called E.N.D?"
Jimbei looked at her with confusion. "Who is that?"
"The most powerful demon of all, even more, powerful than the Underworld King, and as well as our master," Aquaius explained as a sinister smile formed on her face. "His power is enough to burn anything that blocks his path and anyone that opposes him dies."
Jimbei still wasn't understanding what the demon was getting to. "I don't get it, are you hoping to use this war to draw out your master?"
Aquaius giggled amusingly as she closed her eyes. "You still don't get it, but, I'll tell you two more things." She put up her index finger. "First, we intended to use the weapon called Face to erase magic, the book that Mard Geer had once was taken by Zeref which was the book that contained our master E.N.D."
Jimbei was a bit surprised that Earthland had such a weapon that can erase magic. "Is that right, but, how does erasing magic help your master?"
"It would've destroyed the magic seal that's been placed on E.N.D's book and released him, but since Face is gone completely, that plan won't work anymore," Aquaius's body began to release strong dark energy. "Enough talk, Jimbei former Warlord of the sea, I'll show you the true form of a demon of Tartaros!"
She began to transform, her legs became more fish-like with green fish-like scales. Her hands and feet became webbed. Her hair was blowing upwards and her mouth grew much larger enough to look like she had a fish-like mouth. Her teeth became jagged and shark-like. Behind her ears were fish-like fins. She let out an evil hiss. "Etherious Form: Demon Siren!"
Jimbei was taken by this sudden transformation. "Seeing Hordy Jones' mutated form was crazy, but, demons' true forms are quite beyond of I would imagine." Regardless no matter how uneasy he was feeling, he would get take her down. "Nevertheless, I will defeat you no matter the costs, I won't allow you to hurt any more of my friends including the innocents of Magnolia!"
"Let's see you try!" Aquaius screeched in rage as her eyes glowed red. "By the way, since we're fish creatures, why don't we settle this in the water!"
The area began to flood as Jimbei's feet was beginning to sink in the water.
"I must warn you that this water isn't normal, the water contains Bane Particles, I know it's harmful to humans especially those with magic powers, however, I don't know what it can do to Fishman or Merfolk." The water continued to rise more and more. "So, not sure how strong your organs or stamina is, but, you better hope that you don't get sick otherwise this fight will be over, at least, for you, Jimbei!"
Jimbei glared at the demon. "If you think I'll let a little contaminated water scare me, then you don't know me at all!" He roared with sheer determination in his voice. "I will defeat you and protect my friends from your wrath!" Soon the entire area was flooded and they swam towards each other preparing to fight.
Gajeel turned to Bloodman with anger and he knew he had to defeat him, if he did then the Bane Particles surrounding them would disappear and Levy would be out of harm's way. "Okay..." He began to mad dash towards his enemy. "Hang in there, Levy! I'LL TAKE THIS UGLY BASTARD DOWN!" He pulled back his left arm back and threw it forward.
It transformed into an iron rod and all it did was go through Bloodman's head ineffectively. "All your struggling is for naught!" He brought up his hand and wiggled his index finger. Several blackened thorns appeared and pierced through Gajeel's body as they pushed him back.
Levy managed to open her eyes to see Gajeel struggling to fight back against Bloodman. "Be...careful..."
Gajeel managed to fight through the thorns and reached Bloodman yet again. He threw a punch at his enemy, but it proved to be ineffective as it just went through him. "THERE IS NOTHING YOU CAN DO TO HARM ME!" He threw both arms up and sent a powerful wave of curse power at Gajeel and slammed him against a large rock.
He grunted out of anger and began to feel a familiar sense of uselessness. "Finding the right cat to be my partner, getting motion sickness like any other dragon slayer, and I haven't achieved Dragon Force..." Gajeel fell to his knees and punched the ground out of frustration. "I'm always lagging behind everyone else." He managed to stand up, but his head was still lowered in shame. "It used to make me feel like such a loser. Pathetic, so many times I wanted to walk away." Gajeel raised his head to face Bloodman once again and kicked a skull away from him. "But I've changed, none of that matters to me anymore."
He glanced over at Levy and was determined to defeat the enemy in front of him. For her sake. "The only thing I give a damn about is protecting the girl I fell for!"
Jimbei and Aquaius were in underwater combat throwing a punch one after the other and landing a hit on each other.
They soon floated away panting.
Aquaius was barely breaking a sweat but she was damaged from head to toe (rather tail).
Jimbei felt the Bane Particles affecting his body, but he was enduring the pain. "I suppose I'm lucky to be breathing." He knew that sooner or later his body would be on the brink of dying if he stayed in the dark flood any longer.
Aquaius noticed the Fishman was feeling a bit green around the gills. "What's the matter, former warlord, is the Bane Particles finally catching up to you?" She mocked cruelly. "Not surprising since you barely escaped Marineford."
Jimbei was surprised that the demon was aware of that incident, however, he didn't have time to ask questions. He was starting to feel the sensation of pain that Bane Particles but it wasn't too bad at least for now. He began to recall all the fights and pain he struggled through to get where he is today.
Memories of Fishertiger flowed into his mind. "I promise that your blood is mine, I swear to protect you! I'll protect the lives of every Fishman." He smiled softly. "Fishertiger, I thank you for everything that you did for our kind, because of the other side of human nature you saw, our people never lost faith." He remembered the pain of Queen Otohime's death. "We almost lost that faith..." Hordy Jones showing the corpse of a human pirate and convincing that the pirate was responsible for killing the queen that worked hard to create a bridge between Fishman and humans made his stomach turn.
"When we lost you and we thought that a human killed Otohime, we lost the faith that was given to us. I couldn't help but be angry." The memory of Hordy Jones revealing that he was the actual killer made his blood boil and how it shocked him along with every Fishman islander. Images of Fairy Tail including Mavis and their kindness were enough to make Jimbei feel warmful and comfortable. Not only that, after seeing the bond between the three Exceeds and their human friends, he realized that there was still hope for different races to get along with humans.
Jimbei glared ferociously at the demon mermaid. "Let me tell you something, Aquaius!" This caught the demon's attention as her eyes looked at the Fishman. "I barely trusted humans back in my youth and yet there times some of our kind made friends with humans." He remembered the fear from human townfolks that he and his kind would get. "When I saw humans working together with different races like the Exceeds and Minks, I realize there was still hope for my kind to live in peace with humans!" He had a determined look on his face. "Then again, there is hope for different races to live in peace with humans, I have no doubt that my friends will make that happen!"
He put his hands together as he continued his speech. "Finally, I will repay Fairy Tail and the hope they showed me and I'll use my strength to make sure that you nor Alvarez will pose a threat to their homeland!"
Aquaius snarled with rage. "Whatever, I'm done talking, I will make sure your blood is spilled, this ends now!"
"I couldn't agree more!" Jimbei roared.
Aquaius put her hands out seemingly grabbing the water like it was sheets. "Aqua Curse: Ultra Torrent Marine!" She threw a stream of dark contaminated water at Jimbei.
Jimbei placed his hands together collecting the water around him into a glowing blue-white orb."Fishman Jujutsu: Water Heart!" He gave the water around him a mighty yank creating a spiral water current which he threw himself through the Ultra Torrent Marine attack.
"What?" Aquaius exclaimed in shock.
Jimbei was swimming at high-speed slamming himself and Aquaius up to the surface and in the air, they went. "I ain't done !" He grabbed a large tree that was big enough to help him stand on. He hurled a pack of water in his hands. "Fishman Karate: Vagabond Drill!" He shot out a powerful water shock wave that pierced through the demon's body. "And this will finish you off!" He pulled back his right arm. "Fishman Karate: 5,000 Brick Fist!" He launched a powerful punch that released a strong powerful shock wave.
Aquaius felt her life slipping away as her powers were starting to fade and the flood around began to vaporize quickly and then the flood was gone. Jimbei landed safely on the ground. He looked at the barely alive demon. "Looks like I win."
Aquaius couldn't help but giggle which got the attention of Jimbei. "You think you've won after beating me...as long as Hell's Core is still around, we can keep coming back, so, enjoy your last moments."
Jimbei felt a little concerned about that detail but he gave the demon mermaid a fierce look. "I see...well, we'll just have to take the fight to you and your friends as soon as we can."
Aquaius coughed as her voice was growing weak. "Cough...cough...you can try but in the end, you all will fail in the end and E.N.D will be reborn bringing chaos and death to humanity!" She disappeared and was gone from sight.
Jimbei sighed a bit and sensed Zoro's presence. "Zoro is only thirty minutes away, I'll check on him and meet up with the others."
Zoro was dashing around the giant gargoyle.
"Stone Curse: Rock Storm!" Goliath summoned countless stones and sent them falling. The impact of the stones was strong. Zoro was able to evade them all and cut some into several pieces. "You're incredibly fast, I'll give you that human, but, you can't keep this up forever." He had a hidden plan for the green-haired pirate.
Zoro saw a faint smile on the giant gargoyle's face. "Why is he..." He suddenly felt a strange sensation in his body. "Crap...my...chest..." He felt pain in his chest like someone was crushing his lungs.
"What you're feeling is Bane Particles infecting your body, those that inhale them get sick and their organs start to liquefy, once your organs stop functioning properly, you die!"
Zoro kept his composure and breathed carefully to give him some time to catch his breath. "This guy is becoming more a pain, but, not as much as Oars." He recalled how much he fought someone big like Oars, even as a zombie, the giant beast proved to be formidable. "I've become so weak after the torture I endured from Kuma's power." He remembered the memory of the pain of getting his ass kicked by strong opponents. He barely survived Kuma's power and nearly died at the hands of Admiral Kizaru.
He remembered one more final memory of Hawkeye informing of his captain's brother's death. "Barely surviving Kuma and Kizaru's wrath was enough for me to handle and hearing about what happened to Luffy hit me hard." He remembered the frustration he felt back then. "I let my guard down countless times and paid for that, I was so frustrated that I secretly almost lost hope."
He remembered his captain's words. "I'll become King of the Pirates and you're going to be my first mate,"
"Hey!" Goliath caught this and looked down at the pirate swordsman. "Listen up, you maybe got some special powers and a virus to kill human beings." He coughed a little. "But, you know, I don't care about that, I see you're afraid to take me on like a man, so you use some purple-black mist to weaken me and hope to kill me when I'm down." His smirk grew wider. "If you ask me, you're nothing but a coward!"
Goliath roared at the insult. "ARRRGHHHH!" He began to give up a sinister power. "I'll make you eat those words by crushing every bone in your body!" He put his hand out and a giant sword of stone appeared in his hand. "Stone Curse: Giant Solid Stone Sword!"
Zoro was a little impressed. "I admit that sword is impressive, but, it can't compare to my Three-Swords Style." He prepared to attack.
"I REFUSE TO LOSE TO A FILTHY YET HANDSOME HUMAN LIKE YOU!" Goliath roared yet he had red hues on his face quickly vanished as they appeared. He then swung his giant sword-like stone.
Zoro has had enough of the demon's creepy behavior. "ENOUGH OF THAT CRAP! I'LL CUT YOU DOWN TO SIZE AND HAVE YOUR HEAD! THREE SWORD STYLE! He put his hand swords over his mouth blade and swung them forth forward descending a slash with them. The aura generated by Zoro was the one of a tiger's head. "Ultra Tiger Trap!" The sword attack stopped Goliath's giant stone sword and pushed him back causing the giant demon gargoyle to lose balance. "Now's my chance!" Zoro jumped into the air. "One Sword Style: Death Lion's Song!" He decapitated the gargoyle's head as he sheathed his sword.
"No...it...can't be..." Goliath's eyes began to grow dim as he looked at Zoro, a faint smile shown on his face and his head was falling down towards the ground. "Humans without magic power are far more powerful than I thought...shame you put me in the heartbreak hotel..." He slowly began to vanish along with his body as his faint smile was replaced by an creepy insane smile. "No matter, I'll be back soon!" He was gone after saying those last words.
Zoro twitched at that comment. "I don't give a crap if you return or not, I'll cut you again and again you creepy bastard!" He recollected his composure and he suddenly heard footsteps coming behind him but he quickly recognized the sound.
Jimbei arrived. "Looks like you defeated the demon." He smiled. "Good work."
"Thanks, anyway, let's check on Gajeel," Zoro replied.
"Right, be follow me, I don't want you to get lost." Jimbei joked though the getting lost part was true in Zoro's case.
"Shut up!" Zoro snapped.
Meanwhile, Levy was feeling utterly useless due to her situation and hated the feeling. Then she started to see the Bane Particles passing her by and headed toward Gajeel. Her eyes widened in fear as she saw Gajeel inhaling the Bane Particles that surrounded them. Even Bloodman was taken aback by what his enemy was doing but thought it was futile. "That fool is consuming the Bane Particles! You can't mix them with your Etherano, you only speed to your demise!"
"You can't do this Gajeel stop!" Levy pleaded knowing what would happen to her guildmate.
Gajeel was soon done inhaling them and a massive surge of magic power burst forth from his body and destroyed his coat and shirt during the process. His entire body had become iron once again, but something about it was different and that's what surprised Bloodman.
"What!? His body...he's turning himself to black iron! It's steel!"
Tears began to form as Levy saw what was happening in front of her. "NO, IT'S GOING TO KILL YOU!"
Bloodman quickly figured out how Gajeel was able to not only transform but able to still stand despite taking in his Bane Particles. "His element is iron. I think it's the trace elements in Bane Particles so he can ingest them!" Gajeel rushed toward Bloodman and threw a strong punch at him. Only this time, the attack actually, physically struck the Grim Reaper. Gajeel wasn't done as he delivered a powerful kick at Bloodman and sent him away.
Not only Gajeel was able to successfully eat his Bane Particles, but, Bloodman also couldn't believe his enemy could make contact with him physically. "He shouldn't be able to touch me! He risked his life and took in my poison, just so he could hit me!?" Gajeel wasted no time in catching up to Bloodman and started to land a barrage of punches on the Grim Reaper. "No, I can't accept it!" Gajeel's next attack managed to push Bloodman back further. "What kind of human is this!"
Gajeel pulled back his right arm while yelling powerfully and it glowed a bright green. "I'm doing it." He delivered one last powerful punch at Bloodman and tore through his entire body. "I'M TAKEN LEVY BACK TO THE GUILD SAFE AND SOUND!" Bloodman screamed as the last remaining parts of him vanished in the light of Gajeel's last attack.
Gajeel's form returned to normal and Levy smiled knowing that he was safe. Gajeel turned around to face the girl and smiled back. "You okay?" Suddenly their peaceful moment was ruined when a bright purple tendril appeared and grabbed the iron dragon slayer's body. Both Levy and Gajeel were surprised by this. "What the?"
He was being pulled by a large sphere of purple light where Bloodman was making his final stand. "I won't die alone!" Gajeel was pulled into the sphere and was held in place by Bloodman's power. "I'm taking you with me!"
Levy became immediately worried about what was happening to Gajeel. "Gajeel!"
Gajeel struggled to break free but couldn't somehow. "What is this, I can't get out, it's pulling me!"
"This is a portal, to an eternity of torment! From which there is no return!" The last of Bloodman faded from within the portal. Gajeel screamed as more of his body was absorbed.
Levy immediately tried to stand up while coughing up more blood. Gajeel!" Despite not recovering from absorbing the Bane Particles, Levy ran desperately in hopes to save Gajeel while discarding her jacket in the process.
"GET AWAY!" Gajeel's warning made Levy stop momentarily. "Don't...come any closer...I'm practically a big lump of poison anyway, if you touch me...you'll die too."
Despite his warning, Levy refused to leave Gajeel. "I don't care what happens to me, I'm not scared, I'm going to save you, so please hold on!"
Gajeel couldn't believe Levy chose the worst time to be stubborn. He extended his only free hand and attached an iron bind to her wrist. Gajeel summoned another and had Levy pinned to the large rock with both binds holding her against it. Levy glared at Gajeel at what he did to her. "What do you think you're doing!?"
"Saving you!" Gajeel replied.
In a moment of ingenuity, Levy moved her leg through the air, and the word "Sword" appeared. "That's not going to work this time and not anymore, I'm not the same person anymore!" She used her Solid Script Magic to cut the rock behind her and freed herself. "I've grown!" Levy resumed running toward Gajeel without caring about the consequences. All that mattered to her was saving Gajeel.
She reached her hand out but was now held back by Lily holding her from behind. Gajeel was relieved that Lily made it in time and only his upper body remained outside the portal. Levy began to panic at this point as her chance to save Gajeel dwindled with each second. "Let me go!"
Lily hugged Levy tighter so she wouldn't escape. "I won't let you get caught too."
Levy desperately reached her hand out to Gajeel and wanted to pull him out of the portal, but Lily still prevented her from doing so. "Please, I got to help him, if we just stand here, he's going to die!" Though it was clear Lily didn't want to lose his partner, but there was no other way.
Gajeel smiled sadly and closed his eyes. "Listen, there was a time that I was...a bad guy. A total scumbag that hardly listened to anyone's advice." He began to remember the former council member that advised him on a life of true meaning though, the one true person that showed him of life; "But, you taught me to see the good in others, how to be a better man..." He opened his eyes and continued to smile at Levy. "I learned...even I could love another person..." Levy began to cry at Gajeel's last words to her and Lily knew that as well. "Because of you, I started to think about life differently. Things that didn't cross my mind before. A future...a family...real happiness."
Zoro and Jimbei getting close to their location as Gajeel continued to speak and felt the irony in his words as he couldn't help but grin while tears rolled down his cheeks. "It's kinda funny. Old black steel Gajeel, dreaming about life like a regular...I wanted us to be together forever and losing that future was more scarier than I could ever have imagined."
Tears finally rolled down from Levy's eyes and could feel her heart breaking in two. "Gajeel..."
"So, I'm going to give my future...to you."
Levy didn't want to believe Gajeel would be gone forever. She wanted to talk to him more, bicker with him more, and spend more time with him, but none of those moments would come that's what frightened Levy the most. "No, Gajeel! Don't go!"
"Live enough for both of us!"
Levy reached out her hand to Gajeel in one last attempt to reach him, but she knew it was too late for him. "Please, don't leave me! You have to fight!"
The portal shrank and only nearly Gajeel's head remained. "Lily, I need you to take Levy back to the guild, promise me."
Lily began to cry as he looked directly at the man, he was proud to call his partner. "I promise!"
Gajeel continued to smile at them before the portal fully closed and Gajeel along with him. And just like that, the iron dragon slayer, Gajeel "Blacksteel" Redfox was gone in front of Levy's sight. Both she and Lily cried at the loss of the person they considered near and dear to their hearts.
Zoro and Jimbei arrived though they only saw the portal disappear, both were stunned and confused. "What the hell happened here?"
"Hey, Levy, Lily, where did Gajeel go?!"
The two didn't answer as they continued to cry in despair. Levy recalled the days she spent with Gajeel the good and the bad, mostly annoying. Levy lift her head at the night sky as she lost the person who was the most important in her life. "GAJEEL, NOOOOO!"
B
In far-off deserted ruins, Acnologia momentarily stopped as he sensed something that recently happened. "The dragons are all but extinct, six remain."
"I see, that's your ultimate goal," He looked in the air and saw Irene floating above him. "Get out of my sight."
Irene ignored his warning and landed in front of him. "You're truly a menacing figure."
Immediately, Acnologia knew this wasn't an ordinary human confronting him. "You know who I am and still you stand in my way?"
Irene chuckled at the question. "I do, O Black Dragon of the Apocalypse!"
Acnologia narrowed his eyes at the woman standing in front of him. "Perhaps you can provide me with some entertainment."
Irene had full confidence that she'll do more than entertain him. "When it comes to men, I aim to please."
B
Aquapad was joined by some random wizard allies. "Aquapad, I think the enemy's forces are almost gone!"
"Good, then-" He suddenly heard his transponder snail and took it out of his pants.
The other wizards were baffled by what they were seeing. "Is that snail?"
"What'd you going to use that for?"
"This is Aquapad, over." The Marlin Fishman answered.
"Aquapad, I'm glad that you're okay," It was Jimbei's voice.
Aquapad was relieved to hear the former warlord's voice. "Jimbei, you're okay, how is everyone else?"
"Zoro and I defeated the two demons, however, I fear they'll be back," Jimbei replied. "As for Gajeel..." He let out a soft sniffle which Aquapad seemingly heard. "Jimbei, what's wrong, what happened?"
"I'll explain later, for right now, tell the others that we defeated one of the Spriggan Twelve and the two demons, and meet us later!" Jimbei answered as he hung up.
Aquapad didn't understand but secretly, he could tell something terrible happened.
"Aquapad, what's going on, was that Jimbei?"
The Marlin Fishman was silent for a minute until he glanced at the other remaining wizards. "Everyone, the Grim Reaper and the two demons have been defeated!"
The wizards roared with joy and victory. "Has anyone seen Lisanna or Chelsea?" A wizard asked.
The other wizards randomly searched the area but no sign of the two girls. "Oh no, they must've gotten lost in the battle!"
"Yeah, and who knows if there are still enemies in the area!"
Aquapad caught that detail and didn't sense the two girls. "Crap, they must've gotten separated, in that case, you guys listen up!" He caught the attention of the wizards. "I'm going to look for Lisanna and Chelsea, in the meantime, you guys report to Sting and Blue Pegasus and tell them to meet here with Gajeel's team, Zoro, and Jimbei!"
"Right!"
Aquapad ran off in another direction. "Lisanna...Chelsea...I'm coming for you two!"
Lisanna was done finishing off the soldiers she was dealing with. "Looks like that's the end of this battle for now." She looked to see her siblings, but, they were nowhere in sight. "Darn, we must've gotten separate during the fight."
She transformed into her bird form. "Perhaps I find anyone by searching from the air." She searched around for a minute until she felt a familiar magic power. She looked over to the right and saw Aquapad coming her way. "Thank goodness..." She landed on the ground and turned back to her human form. "Aquapad!"
"Lisanna!" He approached the short-haired girl. "Are you okay?"
"I'm fine, how is the battle going with the others?" Lisanna asked.
Aquapad was quiet for a moment, though, after having a chat with Jimbei over the transponder and how troubled he sounded, he couldn't give any info until he talked with the former warlord personally. "I heard from Jimbei one of the Spriggan Twelve was defeated and he along with Zoro's two demons was defeated as well."
Lisanna was happy to hear some good news. "However...I fear something else has happened, I don't know exactly, but, either way, he ordered me to get to find you and Chelsea. Speaking of, you've seen her around?"
That was a question even Lisanna herself didn't know. "I wish knew myself, but, I'm sure if we search together we can find her easily."
"Right!" Aquapad and Lisanna went further away from the battlefield to search for the Gaea Foundation user.
Chelsea still in disguise was overcoming the soldiers with her needles and striking them down sneakily. "Show yourself, you coward!"
"We're dead, we're all dead!"
"Keep it together, we got more men here to find the ambusher, once we find them, we'll kill them!"
They looked carefully to see where their ambusher was but couldn't spot them anywhere. "You guys are such morons!" Chelsea gasped as an explosion happened where she was and unfortunately took out several soldiers. Chelsea managed to jump away to avoid the explosion, but now her cover was blown. "As she landed on the ground, Chelsea saw two girls appearing in front of the group. "Irene Squad Heine and Juliet have entered the battle!"
Juliet giggled at Chelsea's soldier disguise. "We wondered why there were so many bodies scattered around and look what we found!" The other soldiers looked at where Juliet was looking at. "How about you lose the disguise otherwise we'll beat it out of you."
Chelsea growled as she undid Gaea Foundation's transformation and revealed herself to the enemy. Juliet was both impressed and not impressed at the same time. "Ooh, what a cute girl, but your magic power is a joke and stupidly weak. Darn, I was hoping to face a strong opponent."
Heine turned to the remaining soldiers. "You idiots had a hard time dealing with someone like her?" The soldiers all looked at each other and couldn't think of an excuse to say. "Doesn't matter now, she'll be dead soon." She turned her attention to Chelsea. "Let's kill her and be done here so we can move on."
Chelsesa quickly scoffed at the situation she found herself in, it was nearly as bad when Kurome got up from the needle injection she gave her and got up thus summoning her undead puppets. She could use a smoke ball to escape but the two girls would surely chase her down but that wasn't what freaked her out the most. "What is it with these two girls, their magic power is incredibly strong, but their aura is...it's..." She recalled the Machina that she encountered in Magnolia though she could tell that the two girls weren't Machina.
"Let's get this over with," Heine stated.
Juilet giggled in agreement. "Yeah, let's-" Suddenly a large figure passed Chelseas and slammed its arm against Juliet's neck sending her rolling across the field.
Heine was shocked at what just happened and saw who her partner's attack was. "What...who...who...or rather, what are you?"
Aquapad stood tall before the girl. "I'm Aquapad, a Marlin Fishman!"
Chelsea was surprised to see him. "Aquapad, how did you find me?"
"We'll explain that later," She heard Lisanna's voice in her Soul Cat form and struck Heine away
Juliet stood back up looking quite annoyed. "Man, who was the meanie that struck?" She saw Aquapad and freaked out. "Eek! A fish monster!"
"He's not a monster, he's our friend!" Lisanna retorted.
Heine growled at the two uninvited guests. "I don't care who you two are, you both interrupted our fun, now, you two will die!"
Aquapad cracked his knuckles with a cocky smile on his face. "Is that a fact, we're members of Fairy Tail and we'll kick some butt."
Heine took that as a challenge. "So, you and your friends want to fight, right?"
Chelsea could already tell the two girls were strong, though, she can't sense their aura for some reason, but, right now, she knows their chances of victory are slim. "I must think of an idea and quickly."
B
At Tartaros Guild
Aquaius and Goliath were the giant containers being revived. They were asleep.
Lamy was sobbing. "Fufufufu...so sad that you both lost your fights and Jackal still hasn't returned yet." She then smiled. "But, no matter, Rachena and Slither are on their way to rescue him and in no time, you guys will be revived soon enough."
Mard Geer was in his throne room. "Fairy Tail's allies are more formidable than I thought." A dark expression formed on his face. "It seems that the time to unleash our wrath is finally coming."
Aquapad, Lisanna, and Chelsea are going to fight against Heine and Juliet. Who will emerge victorious? Find out next time.
End of chapter.
