Chapter 50
alerx09- Not really. All my favorite factions in Warhammer already have a fic that contains them in a significant way.
Magic Council
Yajima, a short old man that was a part of the Magic Council, sighed as the resumed vote concerning the firing of Etherion ended. This time having a vast majority vote, an eight to one he might add, and for the opposite result no less.
"Eight are in favor, one against." Announced Org as he saw who voted for what. "With this final call, the Etherion shall be fired upon the Tower of Heaven. I advise you all to take a respite as we activate the weapon." With this, the councilors exited the chamber. Yajima, the only one that still voted against the usage of Etherion, left with a disappointed sigh as he walked through the halls. As he did so, Siegrain called him out.
"Yajima, I know this isn't easy to go through, but we can't let Zeref return to the world. He must be stopped at any means necessary." Said Siegrain, trying to get his fellow Councilor to see his point of view. Upon hearing the reasoning, Yajima stopped and looked at Siegrain.
"There's no chance to protest now." Said Yajima as he looked at Siegrain with a tired look on his face "I'll be present when we fire the weapon, but I pray that you are ready to live with the consequences."
"I'll take full responsibility for what happens…" Started Siegrain, but he stopped when Yajima aimed an intense glare at him.
"I'm talking about people's lives here, Siegrain! Thousands of innocent people, and your own brother! Their blood will be on your hands!" Yelled Yajima. "Are you prepared to have all that blood on your conscious!?" Before Siegrain could speak, an announcement was made using magic that everyone in the building could hear.
"Attention. Etherion will be launched in one hour precisely. Begin preparations." Said the announcement, causing Siegrain to speak.
"I know what is at stake here, Yajima, and I'm willing to do what I must. Everything will make sense soon enough…" Said Siegrain before taking off, leaving a suspicious Yajima alone.
"You say that, but I'm not sure I believe you Siegrain." Said Yajima with a dark glare.
Lilea
"There Sullava. Land there." Said Lilea as her Wyvern flew towards the R-system tower. Obeying her rider, the Wyvern flew towards her destinated location. It was far too small of an area for the Wyvern to land, unfortunately, but Lilea had a feeling that Sullava would have no part in this battle. No, this would be a battle that only she can participate. She will not allow any of her crew to participate in this fight. Mostly because they would be dead weight against the mages present in the tower. Even the weakest ones were more than capable of dealing with her crew, much to her disdain. Plus, she needed them to man her ship and secure more slaves for Bosco. As she made her way here, she saw the island's inhabitants going to their ships and departing the island, fearful of Etherion being fired upon them. Such cowards did not deserve to live a life beyond that of a slave and her crew would provide such a fate to them. Provided they survive against the initial assault that is.
Jumping off Sullava, Lilea thanked her Wyvern before ordering her back to the ship to help her crew capture those that were fleeing the island. May as well have some sort of consolation prize for this venture. After watching her Wyvern depart, Lilea went deeper into the R-system Tower. As she walked, she examined her weapons and equipment. As she knew that she was facing mages of power, much to her chagrin, she needed equipment suitable for facing such prey. As a result, her sword was laced with a special poison that was made to deal with mages. The same could be said for her handheld crossbow, custom-made for her own usage. In addition, her armor was enchanted to better protect her from magical attacks as well as physical ones while also not impeding her eleven agility and speed, which was a necessity when facing magic users. Finally, there was that medallion she acquired some time ago that should be the final coup de grace in dealing with mages. All except Erza, of course.
Speaking of the red-headed human, Lilea was certain that she will be the most difficult to capture along with Jellal. Not only was Erza an S-class mage, but she was also one of the few that could fight on without magic, making most of her anti-wizard equipment null against her, which was fine with Lilea. She was confident that she could beat the human in a fair fight of arms. Unlike Makarov, she had no access to powerful magic that can beat her. And unlike that time, she was prepared this time.
As she was thinking up ways to defeat this Erza Scarlet and this Jellal, she suddenly heard some fighting. It was faint, but as she walked, it grew louder. Curious, Lilea walked towards the source of the fighting. A few minutes later, she found the source and was surprised by what she was seeing.
In a large open area, filled with water and a bridge of stone that connected two entranceways, lay three people. One of them was Erza Scarlet. The other two were a human female with pink hair and the other was a human male with blond hair and dark skin. The latter was sitting down against a stone statue, watching as the two human females ducked it out. With her elven eyesight, Lilea can see that Erza Scarlet was losing against the pink-haired human. The armors that she was famous for were constantly being destroyed by the pink-haired woman's sword, who was clearly a skilled fighter as she was using her sword in such a way that even Lilea can barely keep track of her usage of the sword before sheathing it back into its instrument-like sheath.
Lilea, through her obsessions with Fairy Tail on account of what Makarov did to her and what Erza and her friends did to her failed scheme at the Guild Master Wizard conference, knew that Erza relied on her armors for most of her strength. So, if that wizard was destroying her armors, then Erza's fighting potential was greatly hindered. And if that happened, then capturing her will be all the easier than she anticipated.
Her mind in the works, Lilea eventually decided to let them both fight each other. The reason was because it enabled her to acquire two powerful mages, three if she counted the dark-skinned boy around the two human females, for herself without much effort if they exhausted one another enough. Both females were quite beautiful and that would make her some good coin in Bosco if she played her cards right. In addition, it also prevented her from wasting her resources against them when they should be focused on Jellal and forcing him to stop the Etherion. Or, at the very least, capture him so she can extract whatever he had regarding the R-System so that her family can create their own. Finally, it also enabled her to gain vengeance on Makarov by taking away one of his S-class mages from him. Even though her primary goal for that guild was Makarov's head on her wall, hurting him would suffice for now. Some would call her dishonorable for pulling such a tactic, but Lilea cared little about honor. In fact, very few Dark Elves cared for such a thing. Honor, to the elven culture as a whole, was meaningless to them. Only victory and spoils mattered to them. Along with killing High Elves and obtaining power for themselves. As such, Lilea patiently waited as the two human females continued to fight, neither backing down.
As they continued to fight, Lilea saw Erza transform into a set of red with a flame pattern and white wrappings over her torso. While her opponent was looking at her incredulously at this, Erza began to make a speech about her armor being a weakness and that she must shed it in order to protect her friends or something akin to that. Lilea cared little for such nonsense and instead focused on the fight that soon commenced. She watched as the two clashed swords one final time. Watching with interest as the pink-haired woman's sword broke, Lilea watched as the pink-haired woman soon fall to the floor soon after while Erza merely received a broken sword from the exchange.
Noting that the battle was over, Lilea decided that it was now time for her to intervene and deal with Erza Scarlet before she could pose a problem to her plans.
Grabbing her crossbow and loading it with a poison-tipped bolt, Lilea aimed at the boy that Erza was now talking to. The same one that had been sitting against a stone statue during the fight between Erza and that other swordswoman, having gotten up after the fight was over. Injured with how he grasped his arm, but still very much alive and capable of fighting. Not for long though.
Firing her bolt, Lilea watched as the bolt hit the boy's shoulder, eliciting a scream of pain from the boy and a gasp from Erza. As the boy clutched his new wound in pain, Erza looked towards where the bolt came from and immediately spotted Lilea making her way towards them.
"Who are you!?" Demanded Erza as she got into a fighting stance and pointed her remaining sword at Lilea as she approached. Watching as the boy went to the ground in pain while clutching the bolt embedded on his shoulder, Lilea said nothing as she approached the red-haired human. Gritting her teeth at the lack of answer from the armored woman that approached her, Erza got ready for a fight as she approached, knowing that she was an enemy. She then heard Shô groan in pain as he slumped to the ground. Hearing this, she knelt down to her friend, concerned for him. Wondering what was wrong, she then looked at the bolt embedded into his flesh and saw that it was embedded with black blood and what little flesh she saw was darkening rather quickly.
"A poisoned bolt." Thought Erza as she saw what was happening toShô. "And the poison is potent enough that it's starting necrosis already." Realizing this, she glared at Lilea as she continued to walk, only stopping when she was only a few feet from Erza. It was then that she spoke to the Fairy Tail mage.
"So, this is the famed Erza Scarlet? I thought you would be more impressive than this." Said Lilea as she glared down at the human female as she placed a hand on her friend. "But then again, humans have always been an inferior race to my people."
"What are you talking about?" Demanded Erza as she glared at the woman, not liking her attitude at her. It was then that she noticed her ears, framed by the golden mask that she wore, but still noticeable enough that Erza recognized their shape. They were knife-shaped like Arahan and Naestras'. Widening her eyes at this, Erza spoke out. "You're an elf." Lilea just scoffed at what Erza just said.
"Obviously, human." Said Lilea. "And I was told that you were one of the smarter ones of your pathetic guild. Fortunately, intelligence is not as important to the slavers of Bosco as your beauty is." Upon hearing all that, Erza looked at the elf in disbelief, unbelieving at what she just heard.
"You're a slaver?" Asked Erza as she got up and pointed her sword at the elven woman, narrowing her eyes in the process.
"Of course I am." Said Lilea with a scoff. "Did your elves neglect to inform you of us, despite it being very clear to them that their own people were in this world along with them? Or were they too ashamed of us to inform you about their… "darker" kin." Erza, upon hearing all this, then remembered what Naestra and Arahan said about them and Diederick being from another world. A world full of danger and corruption in it. Not just from one source, but multiple sources.
"Could this be one of those sources of darkness? Their own kin?" Thought Erza as she looked at Lilea, who began to chuckle at her.
"They didn't, did they?" Said Lilea with some amusement. "I suppose they didn't want reminders of their old world to haunt them here as they live a…normal life. *Chuckles darkly" No matter. What they told you about my people is irrelevant. What is relevant is that this tower now belongs to the Dreadwaters and I won't let anyone destroy it or take it for themselves. So, I'll give you one chance to walk away peacefully. Leave now and I promise I'll let you live with your friend. I may even give you an antidote for the poison that is flowing through his veins right now." Upon hearing all that, Erza just glared at Lilea.
"This place is a place of evil!" Yelled Erza as she glared at Lilea while pointing her sword at her. "People and children were forced to build this monstrosity in order to revive the vilest Dark Wizard of all time! And you want to keep it intact!?"
"Of course I do, my people helped fund its construction after all." Said Lilea, stunning Erza with her statement. Even Shô, who was in pain from the poison, was in shock at what he just heard. This woman claimed that her people helped build the Tower of Heaven. Their childhood torment. Upon seeing the shocked expressions on the humans, Lilea saw her opportunity and quickly shot her crossbow at Erza, having loaded another bolt while Erza was distracted with Shô.
Seeing the bolt just seconds before impact, she dodged out of the way before blocking a sword strike from Lilea, who had swapped out her crossbow for her sword.
"Impressive reflexives for a human wizard." Said Lilea with a hint of respect. "But I should expect nothing less from one of Makarov's S-class wizards." Lilea then heard Shô struggling beneath her and Erza. Hearing this, she looked down with one eye to see the boy pulling out a playing card. Knowing the wide variety of magic this world possesses, Lilea saw the boy as a threat and thus dealt with him accordingly.
With all her strength, Lilea pushed Erza back a bit, allowing her to finish off the boy before he could be a threat to her. Raising an armored boot to the downed boy, Lilea stomped on his neck before he could throw his playing card at her. The weight of the armored boot came crashing down on Shô's neck.
"Shô!" Yelled Erza as she saw this and rushed to save her friend, but Lilea just blocked her sword strike as her boot came down on Shô's neck, breaking it and killing the boy. Widening her eyes in horror as the neck of her friend was viciously stomped on, breaking it, her strength momentarily waned enough that Lilea was able to get a slash in on Erza's abdomen. Crying out in pain as she stepped back from the sudden sword strike, clutching her wound. Looking at her friend, Erza watched in horror as Lilea slammed her sword into his throat while looking at her, the elf's eyes gleaming with sadistic glee. If Shô wasn't dead yet, he was certainly dead now.
Sorrow filled the red-haired woman as Lilea pulled her sword out of Shô's throat. Shô. One of her childhood friends was now dead. As tears began to form in her eyes while memories of Shô came to her mind, she heard the elf laughing.
"You're crying over the loss of this fool?" Asked Lilea sarcastically as she stomped on Shô's neck more, enraging Erza. "If it eases your pain, the boy was already dead when my bolt embedded into his flesh. It was laced with a highly potent toxin that kills him from the inside out. He was already dead the moment our blades clashed because only I had the antidote and I highly doubt that I would be beaten by someone like you by the time you need to administer the antidote before it's too late. If that does not ease you, then I fail to see how you became an S-class mage in the first place without Makarov's approval or vouching. *Chuckles* He always was a fool." Rage filling Erza, overtaking her previous sorrow, Erza was about to engage the elf again in combat when she suddenly felt pain across her entire body. Groaning in pain, Erza slumped to the ground as she clutched her abdomen.
"What…what is this?" Said Erza, barely getting the words out as unimaginable pain flowed through her entire body. "What did you do?"
"*Chuckles* Do you honestly believe that I would only have one type of poison in my arsenal?" Asked Lilea mockingly as she walked towards Erza as she sprawled onto the floor in pain, marveling at how easy this had been. To think that she thought this wizard would prove a challenge for her in the past. Then again, her friend proved to be a wonderful distraction that enabled her to poison the teenager in the first place. And this is why friends will only get you killed. "Don't be more of a fool than you already are. Don't worry though, I'm not going to kill you. That poison is used by my people as a way to capture powerful wizards like yourself when we desire to have them as slaves at Bosco. Although my primary goal here is to ensure the safety of the R-system tower for my family, getting Titania back to them will bring me a little praise from my siblings. The other woman will fetch some coin at best, but a little more coin in my pocket won't hurt. Especially when I can use it to hurt Makarov for what he did to me years ago." Despite the pain that she was feeling, Erza still managed to speak.
"W…what? What did my Guild Master do to you?" Asked Erza as she looked at Lilea, trying to move, but couldn't. Whatever poison that Lilea gave her not only gave her immense pain but also paralyzed her, preventing her arms and legs at all.
"Tch. Of course, he wouldn't speak of me. Doesn't want to remember how I nearly killed him and how he nearly ruined my life." Said Lilea in irritation before pointing at her face, specifically the left side of it where her brand was. "This brand was a result of Makarov foiling my plans and humiliating me. He stopped one of my family's schemes over fifty years ago and they punished me for failing by giving me this. A brand in the shape of your Guild's symbol. One that gives me constant pain to remind me of my failure. Since then I vowed to get revenge on Makarov for the pain that he caused me. For the humiliation that he caused me. And for him lowering my standing with my family. Not to mention letting my younger sibling humiliate me by hurting him more than I ever did by killing his firstborn." Upon hearing all that, Erza widened her eyes in shock at what she just heard or as much as she could with how much pain she was in.
"What?" Asked Erza as she looked at Lilea in shock. To her knowledge, Makarov had only one child and that was the one that he banished some time ago. Laxus' father. "Makarov only has only one child. Ivan Dreyar." Upon hearing that, Lilea just laughed darkly.
"How many secrets does that fool keep from his own Guild?" Asked Lilea in amazement at what Makarov kept from his Guild. "And here I was thinking that Fairy Tail was a family full of trust with one another. *Chuckles* I'm only telling you this because I want to savor the reaction that you'll do when I tell you this, so don't disappoint me. Makarov had two children with two different women." Widening her eyes at this, Erza was too much in shock at what Lilea just said before being shocked even more when she clarified more. "One was the result of a drunken stupor and the other was with his own teammate. I don't think I need to say anymore to let you know who that is." Looking at Erza's shocked expression, Lilea was satisfied with it.
"I must say, human, the look on your face was well worth this distraction. Now, I must do my job." Said Lilea before sheathing her sword and going over to Erza's face. She was about to knock her out when she suddenly heard something coming over to her and thus moved out of the way as an orb of dark energy came straight for her. She then dodged another one before being hit in the head by another orb from above her, knocking her out.
"My apologies, miss, but I need Erza for my own agenda." Said Jellal as he walked towards the unconscious Lilea and the incapacitated Erza. Looking down at his weakened friend, Jellal smirked. "Though you do have my thanks for weakening her enough that I can safely carry her without issue. As thanks, you can have Ikaruga. She's no longer of any use to me anyway." With that, Jellal grabbed Erza and hoisted her over his shoulders. Erza, too much in pain from Lilea's poison, couldn't do anything as Jellal carried her to the very top of the tower, eager to conduct the final phase of his plan now that his sacrifice was here.
"There had been a few adjustments here and there, but everything is now in place." Thought Jellal as he walked. "Nothing can stop Zeref's resurrection. Not even the Magic Council. Nothing."