Here is the fifteenth chapter of this story released when I wanted it to be in keeping with my self-imposed upload requirements for this series. Hidden ended with an upset but what about the battles? Will there be another upset and what will these strange Black Bulls do when one of them engages another competitor in a one on one battle? Well time to see that and how the Black Bulls perceive the other battles that bring an end to the first day of the Grand Magic Games. That is all the administrative stuff I have for you, any questions raised in reviews are going to be answered in this chapter and no guest reviews need a response, thank you for your support by the way, but there is a clarification I need to make as there is still some confusion regarding it and a question to ask y'all which I will do now. Do keep the reviews coming as I enjoy hearing from those who enjoy my work and now onto the clarification.
To clarify the confusion regarding what would happen if Noelle became a special 6th generation Dragon Slayer because there is some, it is not a power up for her. Her magic levels and power will remain the same as they were before she became one. Rather, her magic would simply adapt in a sense to the nature of Earth Land magic and due to the perfect storm of factors her magic changes to make her a new generation of Dragon Slayer which will be explained in detail should it happen. That potential moment is coming up soon so this clarification was needed. I hope this clarifies what would happen as it is clear that there has been some confusion over this matter.
As for my question to y'all, this was brought up in a review and I liked the idea but don't have an answer for it due to nothing fitting the way it does for Noelle and that is should Mimosa get a similar change in her magic to match Noelle's change should it happen? I am not opposed to the idea so if there are suggestions I would take them under advisement, thank you.
Anyway, that is it for pre-chapter note so it is time to end it so that y'all can sit back and enjoy the fifteenth chapter in Black Bull Banishment.
Disclaimer: I own nothing related to these two great animes.
Chapter 15: A Mixed Bag of Battles
"That was cheating!" Asta roared in anger as the massive spell suddenly failed as if nullified by something else that was certainly not Asta and the spell's caster, Lucy Heartfilia of Fairy Tail Team A, seemed stunned before the beating she'd taken during the brutal battle finally caught up to her and she pitched to the side unconscious though the failed spell was more to blame for that. "It had to be. Right? She looked like she had that in the bag and then nothing, that's not normal."
The rest of the Black Bulls were staring in shocked disbelief at the end of the rather strange battle they'd watched to start off the first day of battles in the Grand Festival. After the break to process Hidden, which Asta had won with ease to the shock of everyone but the Black Bulls, the battles had begun with Lucy facing off against Flare Corona from Raven Tail. The Black Bulls had gathered in their suite they'd been assigned for the games, congratulated Asta with plenty of food from Charmy's Sheep Cooks, and settled in to watch the first battle of the day.
They knew about Lucy thanks to Nero's reports and Grey had actually met her in person while in disguise, Noelle had had her pointed out by Nero at the magic ball but didn't speak to the blonde woman, so they roughly knew what she was like. From the reports she was on the brains side of fighting compared to the more brawny styles of other members of her Guild with a lot of versatility thanks to be Celestial Spirit Mage. They'd only seen a few of her Spirits, Nero seeing two and Asta, Noelle, Mimosa, and Finral one, so this was a good match to see more in as they evaluated her combat prowess.
On the other side they had no idea what to expect from Flare as Raven Tail were a complete mystery to them. That Guild was apparently a Dark Guild that had gone straight, or faked it, at some point in the last 7 years and entered the games for their own reasons but Yami didn't trust them one bit. Their ki was malevolent, Asta confirmed that when he told Yami he read on Nalpudding after Hidden, and they should be wary of them as they watched the female member of Raven Tail's team walk out to do battle.
Flare Corona was an average sized, pale women with long red hair that was tightly braided and wrapped under her arms as it fell to her waist. She wore a blood red dress with a two sown on patches on her hips and a cut to her waist on the right side and bicep length gloves that didn't cover an X shaped scar on her left shoulder. The dress itself had a plunging opening that put even Vanessa's neckline to shame and showed off a bust that beat any woman in the games, highlighted by her Guild Mark on her right breast.
However, the most disturbing thing about her was the vacant look in her eyes and the cock of her head that made her seem deranged in a sense which was made worse whenever she smiled a smile that sadistic didn't even begin to describe. That derangement and sadism was shown in the battle as she faced off against Lucy who she taunted relentlessly and belittled for being a blonde.
This was of course an official battle so despite her clear instability, all anyone could do was watch as the half hour long battle began. Instantly Flare unbound her hair without touching it to show that it could be grown on its own and moved as if it was an extension of herself.
Nero explained as they watched that it was likely some Earth Land variant of what they knew as Hair Magic, an uncommon style of magic that allowed the user full control over their hair as a weapon that was known to exist in their world. Whatever the Earth Land version of it was, Flare seemed to be a master at it by using it to block an attack from one of the two Spirits Lucy summoned at the start, the sand scorpion guy that those at the magic ball had seen, with her hair now on fire as well showing another difference in Earth Land Magic to their own.
The other Spirit that Lucy used was a massive, anthropomorphic bull with a battle axe that combined his power with the scorpion guy to attack Flare. Lucy was showing some crazy power with her summons, power which Nero said was greater than what she'd sensed when she'd spied on Fairy Tail after the lost members returned, so it was clear that Lucy had been training hard for games.
The addition of the bull guy was successful in blasting Flare into the air as Lucy dismissed her Spirits, who she clearly saw as friends and allies rather than tools, and then blocked an impressive attack from Flare where the redhead, while in the air, formed a wolf out of her hair to attack but Lucy summoned a Spirit to block it. Said Spirit was a strange tanned man in sunglasses with crab legs protruding from his back and wielding a pair of scissors that cut the hair to ribbons, it was easily the best Spirit for it but for some reason Lucy dismissed him after he blocked the attack.
The consensus theory was that the power Lucy wielded required a lot of magic energy so she couldn't keep her out for too long, and likely had a limit of two at a time, before she had to dismiss them to preserve her Ethernano. Whatever the case, cutting the hair seemed to send Flare into a rage and she grew it, slammed it into the ground, and then caught Lucy's ankles with it to throw her around the battlefield in a vicious attack.
Still, Lucy showed her toughness and that she wasn't reliant solely on her Spirits to fight by pulling a whip from her belt and using it to grab Flare's wrist causing them to pull each other around the arena and crash to the ground though it looked like Lucy got the worst of it as Flare had ignited her hair to burn Lucy's ankles. That was a clever move as it made it hard for Lucy to stand but she pushed through it and tossed her ruined white boots to the side. It was a sign of grit and determination and she showed it to Flare who then slammed her hair into the ground with a scream of rage but didn't move.
That surprised everyone as the battle seemed to stall for a moment as Flare said something so quietly that only Lucy could hear it causing the blonde girl to try and scream but before she could get a word out Flare's hair grabbed her around the mouth and throat and slammed her into the ground, hard. What happened next was hard for them to watch and in the moment none of them had any idea what was going on.
For some reason Lucy seemed to suddenly stop fighting and Flare showed why she was in a Dark Guild by going all super sadist on her and beating on Lucy with her hair as Lucy just took it. The blonde girl was tough and had some serious skills but her just taking the punishment was confusing and hard to watch.
Only Yami got a sense that something more was at play, not that he could figure out what it was, and he growled at it as he watched but the rules were clear, this was a battle between the combatants and any interference would be punished so all he could do was watch. Likely there was some cheating going on but he couldn't tell what while most of his Squad got angry at what they were watching because it seemed like this shouldn't be allowed. It was though so all Yami could do was try to find evidence of cheating to report but even he couldn't find it which showed how subtle it was.
Whatever she was doing, it was clear that it gave Flare the upper hand and was cackling as she got some sick joy out of beating with her hair as Lucy lay on the ground though the beating wasn't leaving more than bruises on the blonde. Then, Lucy tried to speak, likely to surrender, but she was gagged by the hair and lifted up, air on her wrists and ankles as she was spread eagled in the air as Flare taunted her, threatening to strip her as she created a burning replica of her Guild Mark with her hair and began to bring it to the pink Fairy Tail mark on Lucy's right hand.
The Black Bulls were grimacing and seething at both the actions of Flare and the fact that no one had called the match because of the beating as they watched this clearly deranged woman get joy out of torture when suddenly one of Lucy's teammates, Natsu it seemed, yelled at her from the Fairy Tail's Guild assigned suite he'd appeared that Lucy was in the clear. No one knew what that meant but Lucy got heart from it fought Flare's bindings to pull out a key to summon another Spirit, this time a pair of small blue things that attacked Flare with their heads to free Lucy.
Next, and to the excitement of every straight man in the crowd, and a few women as well, the Spirit showed that its power was some kind of duplication ability by transforming into and identical copy of Lucy. Well, it was almost an identical copy as this clone-Lucy was only wearing a towel though both Noelle and Mimosa rushed to cover Asta's eyes just in case said towel slipped.
It certainly showed how attractive Lucy was and the clone even began to remove the towel to change in the middle of the arena, much to the cheers of the crowd, but Lucy stopped that before she showed that her Spirit, Gemini according to Yajima's commentary, had another useful trait it had when duplicating someone. It didn't just copy the person but their magic power as well.
There had to be a limit on it, that limit being that the magic power couldn't exceed Lucy's own, not that the Black Bulls knew that, which also meant that if Lucy was to use that Spirit to copy them then she'd likely not be able to copy Yami, Noelle, or Mimosa at least, but clearly they had a plan as Lucy and her clone held hands and began incanting an archaic sounding spell. Together they doubled their magic power and unveiled a massive spell that seemed to create stars or small orbs that shot around the battlefield.
Whatever it was it was some serious power and clearly why Lucy had summoned Gemini. The tactic kinda reminded Asta of how he and Zora had used his Demon-Slayer Sword and Zora's trap that rebounded spells to quadruple the combined spell of Rhya and 4 possessed Magic Knights only Lucy was the one casting the spell with her Celestial Spirit as her booster. She'd shown 4 in the battle and they knew she had 6 more in the same category as she'd used gold keys for them showing that the girl was certainly powerful and right now the Black Bulls felt that they were seeing the peak of that power.
It was clear that Flare was seeing it as well as Flare cowered there still on the ground from Gemini's initial attack on her as Lucy's victory seemed all but certain. That was until the spell failed and Lucy lost which brought them back to this moment.
"Of course, it was." Yami said through a drag of his cigarette as it became clear to the competitors that it was cheating, highlighted by Yajima not commentating on the ending but looking furious in the commentators' booth. "They've been playing dirty this entire time. That's how they operate it seems."
"They are a Dark Guild even if they were able to somehow get legal Guild status." Zora said. "From what I've heard over the last few years, cheating and dirty tricks are the name of the game when it comes to Dark Guilds. Nothing is off limits for them though situationally they couldn't do more than cause some kind of disruption."
"But Lucy was better." Asta said. "Surely the organizers can do something about it, right?"
"Unless there was clear evidence of cheating they can't." Noelle said just as angry as the rest of them but keeping a level head. "It's against the rules, that's true, but whatever happened there was so smooth that no one picked up on it and Raven Tail would just deny it. Without proof they get away with it."
"Even though Fairy Tail was better and played by the rules?" Asta asked.
"It would appear so, but you are right, Fairy Tail's wizard was better." Yami said. "She was stronger in both magic and will, both qualities are no doubt why she's on a Fairy Tail team, but against those with no honor it won't work. Also, I'm certain that that crazy redhead did something in that battle to force the blonde girl to stop fighting."
"She did?" Noelle asked. "What did she do?"
"Not sure but if I had to guess based on that shout from her teammate and that Hair Magic I'd say that the redhead had a hostage that the blonde cared about." Yami said looking over to the Fairy Tail suite to see many of them rightfully angry. "I don't know who she would have gone for, though if I had to guess the obvious target is the little girl in Fairy Tail's section."
"Asca." Nero said. "She's the daughter of two members who married some 6 years ago, the same two that Asta, Noelle, and Mimosa met on their first day here actually. She's too young to join, I think 12 is the youngest based off what I heard Wendy's age was when she joined, but Asca is considered a member all the same from what I gathered."
"Right, if that redhead took a hostage she's the most likely one." Yami said with a growl as the thought reminded him of how his scumbag father had picked on his little sister Ichika and that was before he made her do what she did to the clan, but he pushed that from his mind as he continued. "If I had to guess based off what I saw and the actions of her teammate, that psycho likely used her hair to tunnel under the stadium and up into the Fairy Tail area. Even if there are barriers for the crowd's safety they wouldn't extend underground which is likely why she did that so as to circumvent them. Something like that is the only reason that that blonde girl would stop fighting. She was surpassing her limits there so only low move like that would work."
"That would explain why Natsu was there." Mimosa deduced thinking on it. "To burn the hair because he realized it and that's when he told Lucy that she was in the clear. How'd he figure it out when no one else did though?"
"He probably heard something." Gordon chimed in. "From what I've read on the subject, Dragon Slayers have extremely well-honed senses."
"That would track and from my observations his are the sharpest of the Dragon Slayers in Fairy Tail." Nero said. "Plus, as a Fairy Tail member he can intervene without an issue, not that it wouldn't be disallowed given the situation. Had we realized and done something it rather than report it we'd have been in trouble for interfering."
"We may not be able to do anything about that, but we can do something." Yami said. "Nero, Zora, after the day ends go and find out what happened because Raven Tail cheated, it's clear, and any intel you find we'll relay to Fairy Tail and the organizers. There is a reason for those people being here and it has to do with their issues with Fairy Tail."
"Didn't the announcer say something about father-son Guilds?" Asta asked as Natsu helped Lucy up in a touching moment on the field that showed how much he cared for her. "Does that have something to do with what's going on between them?"
"Probably." Nero said. "In my observations I learned that Makarov's son was expelled from Fairy Tail over a decade ago, likely he's the Guild Master of Raven Tail."
"That would explain the similar names and why Makarov is so pissed." Yami said as Natsu helped Lucy off the field while the crowd processed what had happened and began to boo Fairy Tail. "Regardless, the other legal Guilds know that that was cheating but Raven Tail wasn't caught in the act, likely it was something so brief that disrupted that powerful spell that it just made it look like the spell failed. It was bold but risky and I am sure that it's not the last time we see something like that from Raven Tail. They'll overplay their hand soon enough, their issues with Fairy Tail are clear as day which will be their downfall I am sure of it, and when they do they will be caught and we'll do what we can to help ensure that."
The Black Bulls nodded at that. None liked how they couldn't do much about it but in the end that was the rules and unlike Raven Tail they were honorable and abided by them. Raven Tail had cheated but done so in a way that ensured that they didn't get caught and as such got 10 points for the win while Fairy Tail Team A got 0 points for it giving them 0 on the day. It was unfair but to be expected from a Dark Guild. They had to live with it for the moment as the day went on with the next battle.
"Alright folks it's time for the next match of the battle round." Chapati said moving the battles along as the competitors for the second battle took the field while an attendant came to inform the Black Bulls that they were up next and who'd been chosen by the fan vote. "It's Ren Akatski of Blue Pegasus verses Araña Web of Mermaid Heel."
The Black Bulls had to put the unfair battle to the backs of their minds as they watched intently as the dark skinned, black suited Ren faced off against the woman from Mermaid Heed in the yellow bodysuit with a spiderweb design and off blond dreadlocks. Neither were really known to the Black Bulls, nor had they been important enough for Nero to get info on them beyond Ren being one of the Trimens of Blue Pegasus, so they were focused on this battle.
The battle itself wasn't as exciting as they'd expected and none of the Black Bulls bothered to commentate on it. It seemed that this particular Casanova from Blue Pegasus was either in a relationship with, or at least courting in some strange way, a girl in Lamia Scale and that distracted him at the start and allowed Araña to get him in her webs, a magic that anyone could have guessed given her fashion sense. However, he broke free of and evaded more webs showing a surprising amount of gymnastic skill as he avoided the attack and set up his counter.
That counter was all Ren needed as he showed off his powerful Air Magic with a single spell that blocked Araña's latest web and then pushed through it to slam into Araña and blast her back and into the air. Her limp body tumbled for a moment before slamming into the ground and laying still showing that she'd been knocked out.
"And in a quick battle the second winner today is Ren Akatski of Blue Pegasus." Chapati said as Ren was declared the winner by whichever official was in place to determine that Araña couldn't continue. "Giving Blue Pegasus an impressive 16 points on the first day to take the current lead but with two matches remaining that lead might not last."
"I knew that you could do it Ren." Jenny called out from the commentators booth. "That's how we do it in Blue Pegasus."
"That's got nothing on Yuno's magic." Asta said as they watched the match end fast. "He's much better at Wind Magic."
"And that was actually Air Magic." Gordon said. "There is a subtle difference between the two."
"Whatever it was, it's strong but we can take it." Noelle agreed. "Those webs looked tricky but in a straight up fight that might not be the best magic for it providing you have a way to counter them."
"Well whatever it is I want to face both of them." Luck said excitedly. "Shame I wasn't picked next but it's time so lets hope Magna doesn't embarrass us."
"Alright folks after that quick second match we're moving onto the third one of the day." Chapati announced as they watched Magna step onto the field opposite the buff mountain of a man from Sabertooth. "It's Magna Swing of the Black Bulls, the surprise Guild in the event this morning, against the Sabertooth's Olga Nanagia in a battle between the top two placed Guilds after the first event! This is going to be good."
The crowd roared their agreement at that as they cheered for Olga, but the Black Bulls were making their own noise for Magna who had a hard, set look on his face. It was time for their second win of the day that would give them the maximum of 20 points and they had faith that Magna would bring it to them.
Magna stepped out onto the battlefield a hard look on his face as he walked towards the big man he was facing. He didn't care how big he was or what his reputation may be, Magna was here to win for the Black Bulls and it would take a lot to stop him from doing that. However, he did grin as he set himself in a ready stance for the go order as he knew from the year before that Olga used Lightning Magic that while different from Luck's in that it was black but it was still lightning. Magna had been trying to catch Luck for a long time so any other lightning was nothing to him and he'd show it now.
"So, you're one of them Sabertooth greats." Magna said with a grin as they squared off. "You're manly, I'll give you that, but you don't intimidate me and this praise you're getting from the crowd won't work either."
"You're cocky, fitting for a street punk." Olga said his voice low and tone calm though he couldn't deny he was curious as to what was up with this Guild after what had happened in Hidden. "But I'll give it to your Guild, you surprised us earlier. Been a long time since someone did that to Rufus."
"Yeah, that's our ace Asta for you." Magna said. "He's the best of us besides our Guild Master and just having Asta as a member has made us all better. As his superior I can't let him down now so I'm going to beat you because here the Black Bulls will be the best."
"I look forward to you trying." Olga said as a gong sounded.
"And begin!" Chapati announces and Magna's grimoire quickly floated up next to him and began to turn to the right page as he was grinning at Olga.
That confused Olga as he was expecting an attack off the bat but rather the book seemed to be key as it glowed with a red magic that was almost fire-like. He's seen that Asta kid use a book with the swords stored in it during Hidden so clearly this Magna guy had something like it as well and while Olga could tell that the kid's magic wasn't as strong as his own, he also could tell that it was different somehow. As such he couldn't take any chances and raised his right hand to created a ball of black lightning on Magna and beat him.
"Just as I was expecting." Magna said as he felt the familiar crackle of lightning in the air, years of sparing with Luck made him keenly aware of, and attuned to, this of this kind of magic and while it felt different to Luck's it was still lightning and Magna could handle that with ease as his grimoire finished flipping to the right page. "Flame Magic: Risky Stolen Base."
With that flame shoes appeared over his feet as the lightning formed and as Magna felt his skin crawl indicating the attack coming so before it could he speed to the side as the ball of lightning formed and he was clear of it and looped around to the back of Olga as he did while the man just stared blankly at the attack he'd sent at Magna. It was a powerful one and clearly one the man had used a few times before, but he wasn't expecting Magna to avoid it and arc around the back of him.
Magna was already ready for it as his grimoire flipped to the right page while he ran before he came to a stop and raised his hand. The fire began to form there as he cast his spell and grabbed the ball of fire that it produced.
"Flame Magic: Exploding Fireball!" Magna roared and threw the fast ball of fire as soon as he could right at Olga's back as Olga processed that his initial attack had missed.
Olga didn't have time to process that he was in danger before the speeding ball of fire slammed into his back and exploded staggering him forward as the crowd gasped at the hit. The force was a lot greater than many had expected but Olga remained standing though he hissed in pain from a burn on his back as he whipped around, black lightning shooting from his hands in an arc. Magna saw this and swiftly changed to Risky Stolen Base again and ran away from the lightning.
"I don't believe it; Magna's landed a blow on Olga." Chapati said clearly stunned by what had happened. "Who would have seen that coming?"
"No one because we don't know what these Black Bulls are capable of." Yajima said his voice a little less shocked than Chapati's as he spoke. "Asta showed they were able to compete in Hidden and now it seems that Magna can at least avoid a one hit KO from Olga, impressive. Still not sure what those books are but it seems that Magna has one as well."
It was certainly a mystery to Olga as he ended his lightning having missed Magna again because the Black Bull had stayed a few steps ahead of it but this time Olga kept him in front of his eyes. It seemed that Magna used Fire Magic which that book helped maximize if he had to guess though he'd ask Rufus about it later because right now he had to deal with this guy who he'd underestimated it seemed and the burn on his back was a testament to his arrogance that he could win this battle with the opening hit. Magna had shown himself to be a tricky wizard with a good level of versatility.
"You avoided my lightning, that's not easy." Olga said as Magna came to a stop looking at him. "And you use Fire Magic in an interesting way, you're more than you seem."
"I've spent years in a rivalry with a Lightning Mage who's always one step ahead of me." Magna said with a slight pant. "So, your cheap tricks are nothing to me."
"Then try this one, you've earned one of my better spells." Olga said as he brought his hands close together in front of him as Magna's grimoire flipped to the next spell that he had in store for Olga. "120mm Black Lightning Cannon!"
"Flame Magic: Annihilation Massacre Fireball!" Magna said as he formed the fireball and threw it at Olga just as a beam of black lightning was blasted at him. "Into Flame Magic: Risky Stolen Base."
That confused Olga as a small ball of fire was thrown at the beam of lightning while Magna dove to the side to avoid the attack the moment it was fired off with fire forming over his feet again. That confusion grew when rather than intercept Olga's spell, the fireball vanished right before it would have made contact with Olga's lightning thus allowing his to proceed though by then Magna was already running in another arc.
Olga thought nothing of it as he turned to track Magna with plans of firing lightning off in front of him to intercept the running wizard when suddenly the fireball that Magna had thrown reappeared as it slammed into the side of his left peck staggering him though the pain wasn't as bad as earlier. Still, the fact that the spell did that shocked Olga and disrupted his planned attack on Magna.
"What the hell?" Olga said as he rolled with the blow so as to not let Magna behind him, this was starting to turn against him but he blasted off more lightning the moment he could to at least keep Magna running as that might tire him out. "Just what kind of magic was that? Your Fire Magic ain't like any I've seen before."
"Super technical and precise magic, a way around magic users like yourself with more mana, er, Ethernano than me." Magna said as he ran as fast as he could to avoid the lightning on his trail but this was not as fast as Luck's so he could do it and soon Olga would have to come to a stop with the spell as Magna continued to run in a circle around him. "And that spell in particular was developed after Asta reflected my Exploding Fireball back at me. I've face it myself thanks to some reflective trap spell one of my guildmates knows and it laid me out, so you've got some stamina to you big guy."
"So you fight smart to overcome the fact that you're not as powerful as I am." Olga said as he ended his lightning and Magna stopped a few paces as well as his fire shoes ended and he panted from all the running. "Well then, if I'm to beat you without using too much magic all I've got to do is keep you in one place."
With that Olga held his arms out wide and suddenly the area around Magna was filled with black lightning as Olga created it there and kept it as a crackling field of magic that prevented Magna from running to either side lest he hit the lightning. Magna realized that that was the primary goal of the lightning, as well as that his current tactics weren't enough to win so he'd have to get drastic. As such Magna's grimoire flipped to the next page he needed and a fireball appeared in his hand while he deiced to chat with Zora later about those traps of his as they could be a way to improve his skills.
"Flame Magic: Time Bomb Explosive Scattershot!" Magna roared as he threw the fireball while Olga brought his arms together for another 120mm Black Lightning Canon that he could now fire at a stationary Magna. "Followed by Flame Magic: Explosive Fireball!"
With nowhere to go around him thanks to the lightning in the air, something that reminded Magna of the Mana Zone technique that he'd heard about, he had to take the fight to Olga now and he had his plan for what he had to do. It was crazy as hell but, well, Asta had shown how well crazy worked and Magna would do the same as the first spell vanished just as Olga blasted off his lightning and Magna's second spell was formed in his hand.
Magna only had a moment but as soon as he the fireball was formed Magna tossed it at the lightning coming towards him. A split-second seconds later they met with a boom that blew dust up everywhere.
Olga would had sent a second blast through the smoke to clear it and try and hit Magna, though he wasn't sure where Magna was other than in the dust as there was no body hurled from the smoke so there was a chance that a follow up attack would work. However, right before Olga to blast his spell off the meaning of the word timed came into play and a series of small fireballs appeared around Olga and exploded before he could process it.
He roared in pain as the fireballs hit him and with them all around him he wasn't able to back up but rather her grunted and fell to a knee as the crowd gasped, his arms and chest burned in places, as was his back, but still in the fight. It was damned impressive and Olga was more determined than ever to win this and make sure his Guild knew that they really couldn't take these Black Bulls lightly.
"Damn that was close." Magna's voice came from the smoke as Olga saw the magic around that book glow again indicating that Magna was about to use another spell. "But I have you now. Flame Creation Magic: Grand Slam."
"No, I have you." Olga said as he didn't move but did hold out his hands in front of him as sparks formed there while Magna charged out of the spoke brandishing a bat made of flames in his hands and yelled as he charged, his clothes dirty but otherwise he seemed ok. "I just need to land one to beat you. 120mm Black Lightning Canon!"
Olga let out a roar as he blasted off the attack right at Magna as Magna closed. He knew that he needed to land the hit because he was feeling the burns from the hits he'd taken so he doubted that he could withstand taking that flaming bat to the head but as he fired the blast, he knew it would be true as the distance was too short for Magna to avoid it. Still, the Black Bulls had impressed him, this had been a much better fight than he'd anticipated it would be.
For his part Magna barely managed to move the bat to try and block the attack before the blast of lightning shot under his arms and slammed right into his chest with a boom. Rather than be fried by it, Magna was blasted backwards at full speed and flew across the arena to slam into the wall less than 3 seconds after being hit with enough force to crater it as he stuck there spread eagled, eyes wide as his glasses shattered from the impact. He had enough strength to say one final thing before he pitched forward and hit the ground unconscious leaving a Magna shaped impression in the wall.
"Not bad but you still got nothing on Luck."
"And with that the match goes to Olga Nanagia of Sabertooth." Chapati said as the crowd processed the surprising match and Olga slowly rose to his feet with a grimace of pain, he'd need to get some medical attention for the burns and headed off after his victory. "With that Sabertooth now has 18 points and takes the lead in the Grand Magic Games. As they beat the Black Bulls there they'll end the day in the lead regardless of how the final match plays out but that was certainly more entertaining than we expected."
"The Black Bulls have really been the surprise of the games so far and to think that one of them could be such a challenge to one of Sabertooth's 5 strongest while another actually beat one was impressive." Yajima said. "They will be ones to look out for going forward but now everyone knows that they can compete with Sabertooth, so they'll be ready for them tomorrow."
"Well with Ren's win and Eve's performance in Hidden Blue Pegasus has 16 points so will end today in second place." Jenny said as Olga exchanged words with Sting and Rufus on his way out as the match had been far more entertaining than expected and Rufus now had Magna's magic memorized and as with Asta's before there was something not quite right with the magic he'd seen, though this time it was actually magic, as it was unlike any magic he'd seen before. "And we're going after Sabertooth next."
"These games have been very good already and we still have one more match before the day comes to a close." Chapati said as a stretcher crew appeared to take Magna away to the infirmary as the crowd and other Guilds present discussed the battle they'd just seen. "And what a match it will be as we see Fairy Tail's man of mystery whose face has never been seen face off against Lamia Scale's Wizard Saint. That's right, today ends with an epic battle between Mystogan of Fairy Tail and Jura Neekis of Lamia Scale!"
"Mimosa." Yami said as Magna was stretchered off and taken to the room reserved for the Black Bulls in the infirmary wing and the next and final matchup was announced. "Go and heal Magna. Can you do it so that he can fight tomorrow? We don't know what that event will be but it may be one at which Magna is our best bet so I want him healthy for it."
"I can do that; I've had enough practice healing Asta to be able to quickly heal anyone." Mimosa said as she turned to head out. "Magna will be ready for whatever happens tomorrow."
"Aww, Magna lost to that black lightning guy." Luck complained as Mimosa left and the final two competitors for the day stepped out and they were all watching this closely as a Wizard Saint was in this match so there was going to be a lot of power on display. "He'll never catch me at this rate."
"He looked so cool until the end though." Asta said. "Shame he lost after taking only one shot but that looked powerful."
"Well, we still have 10 points and we won't lose the event tomorrow." Noelle said. "So we're still in a good spot compared to Mermaid Heel and Fairy Tail Team A right now."
"Fairy Tail may still win this one." Finral said. "Their B team at least and that would put them above us in the standings."
"Fairy Tail's mysterious man squares off against Lamia Scale's iron rock in this final battle of the day." Chapati announced interrupting their chatting and a gong was sounded that got their attention. "Let's being, now!"
"Regardless of what happens watch this match closely." Yami ordered them as the match between Jura and whoever was pretending to be Mystogan began. "That Fairy Tail guy, he's not what he seems, and I'd say the Lamia Scale guy is as strong as me at least."
"Fairy Tail's competitor isn't part of their Guild." Nero said as Mystogan unclipped the wands on his back and rushed at Jura who didn't move. "Just pretending to be for some reason, though what reason that may be I don't know. Mystogan left Fairy Tail and remained in Edolas, I saw the report when I looked through their member records at their old Guild Hall in preparation for this games to try and see who might be on their team or teams. Whoever that is, it's almost certainly the Earth Land version of him but I don't know who the Earth Land version is."
"He looks strong." Luck said as Jura just moved his right hand and several earth pillars erupted out of the ground with one being beneath Mystogan's feet that sent him into the air though it was clear that Mystogan rolled with it to mitigate the damage from the attack. "Both do."
"That's some serious Earth Magic." Noelle said her eyes wide as more pillars shot up from the ground and bent as they moved as if they weren't made of solid earth but Mystogan seemed unphased by it as he twisted and rolled in the air avoiding the attacks and then running along one pillar as he sent his 4 staffs at Jura. "The power and control, that's right up there with my brother Nozel, Mereoleona, and Fuegoleon I'd say."
"The power of a Wizard Saint." Asta said his eyes stars as the staffs landed around Jura and the magic circles suddenly appeared. "It's so cool seeing one in action."
"That Mystogan guy's just as strong it seems." Nero said looking to Luck as 5 magic circles appeared above Jura and a blast of magic formed between them. "Luck, Mystogan is using magic, right?"
"Yeah, I can feel it, it's intense and right up there with the bald guy's though his is greater, man I want to fight them both so bad." Luck said with a cheery grin on his face as a cloud of dust appeared in the center of the arena. "I hope that I get the chance to face them."
"That confirms any doubts that I might have had." Nero said as a fist of earth was shot from the cloud of dust showing that Jura was unharmed but Mystogan, who was now standing on the side of one of the pillar things that had been used to attack him, just created more magic circles that reflected it back in an arc at Jura. "The Mystogan in Fairy Tail was actually from the world of Edolas, he had no magic as according to the exceeds that I found a while back while flying around the kingdom, that was scary seeing as they're cats so I had to avoid them while in my anti-bird form, humans from Edolas had no magic. Whoever this is, he's a talented wizard regardless."
"This circles are like what Zora does." Asta said as Jura just deflected the rock fist back at Mystogan again in a strange rally between the men.
"Please, mine are much more technical and trap based than those are." Zora said. "Though those do look cool, maybe I'll try to get some tips from that masked dude, seems like the guy I could learn stuff from and not just magic. If I can get close to him that is."
The rebound by true this time and the fist slammed into Mystogan and threw him back to crash to the ground as Chapati commentated on the first blow that landed. It was an impressive hit and it seemed that whoever the person facing Jura was had come to some epiphany as he crouched down and suddenly shot at Jura using some other kind of magic.
"What magic is that?" Asta asked amazed.
"No clue." Nero said as she watched, or tried to watch, Mystogan charge at Jura with incredible speed. "Gordon? Gauche? Any idea?"
"Looks like something I read about a while ago called Heavenly Body Magic." Gordon said quietly as Jura created a rock wall, but Mystogan went around it, and Jura just avoided him before going into the sky as rocks flew at him. "Don't know the spell but I read about it when I was researching magics that are either nonexistent or at least rare in our world. I've heard that the Spade Kingdom had some kind of heavenly magic, Sun, Moon, and Star Magics that were passed down through their royal family but that's it and as Spade has been pretty closed off for years I don't know more."
"Heavenly Body Magic?" Noelle asked.
"It's a powerful form of magic here that allows the caster to take on properties of heavenly objects and is primarily an offensive style of magic." Gauche suddenly explained as Mystogan was hit by the rocks but seemed to be unphased by it as he fell from the sky. "I was with Gordon when he looked into it, seemed like something I could tell Marie about as it's different to the magic we have in the Clover Kingdom that I'm aware of so special to tell her. It's more complicated than that though and I got bored so stopped reading."
"Um guys." Asta said looking to the sky. "Why are there magic circles in the sky?"
"He drew them while avoiding the rocks, impressive." Zora said as Mystogan landed on the ground in a crouch and suddenly what appeared to be a hail of meteors rained down from the magic circles and right onto where Jura was. "The guy's got intellect and power, he's a dangerous foe indeed. As does Jura though, this is certainly the match of the day."
That was true as Jura set himself in a powerful stance and created a rock golem thing that was significantly more detailed than the stuff that Sol created which took the blasts as the meteors pounded into it and the ground around Jura. The entire stadium was filled with dust as the winds blew from the impacts and everyone in the Black Bull's section, and others in similar suites, held on for dear life as they were buffeted by them. The winds only lasted a few moments and when they cleared, to the amazement of most of them, Jura was still standing there unharmed and smiling at Mystogan.
"Definitely the match of the day." Zora said his eyes wide at what he was seeing. "The power these two have, it's unreal. I don't know if there is anyone in Clover who can match them short of the Wizard King himself."
"They can be matched but only by a few of the Magic Knight Captains and Julius I'd say." Yami said looking closely at the match as Mystogan thrust his arm down and began to glow and the skies darkened above them. "But this is Wizard King level magic for sure and unlike any I've seen before."
The others just stared at that as purple clouds of darkness formed over the Colosseum. The magic was unreal and all of them but Asta could feel it as something massive was coming, even greater than the spell that Lucy used it seemed and everyone was either worried, braced, or in Asta's case starry eyed at the power being shown.
Well, that was until suddenly Mystogan stiffened, and the spell ended and his hands went to his mouth. He seemed to be in a lot of pain as he fell to one knee and then keeled over laughing for some reason as Chapati tried to commentate on it and everyone else just blinked in confusion at what was going on in the arena. Whatever was going on with Mystogan it was getting worse until finally he reached up to the sky and collapsed out cold from whatever happened. Mystogan had literally laughed himself unconscious.
"Um what just happened?" Asta asked as the bell rang to signal the end of the battle and Jura was looking as confused as everyone else was at how the battle had ended. "Why'd he laugh?"
"No clue." Nero said. "Might be some outside force that interfered with him like Raven Tail did with Lucy or some blowback from the spell as that was some serious powerful magic he was using so there had to be a cost to it."
"Whatever it was it cost them, but we saw the strength they had in both of their matches." Yami said as the crowd jeered though the Black Bulls didn't. "They had power but whatever happened wasn't on them, the ki at the end felt strange, something was definitely up but it wasn't sinister like with Raven Tail. Whatever the case, don't take Fairy Tail for granted. They may only have 1 point on the day but as we saw they have power, and a battle victory can drastically change the standings."
"We won't." Asta said. "And tomorrow…"
"And that is it folks, with that victory Jura of Lamia Scale gets the last laugh and claims 10 points for his Guild thus giving us the final scores for the day." Chapati said interrupting them and bringing their attention to the commentators one final time as Mystogan or whoever he was just left the arena with his head down as the scores for the first day appeared on lacrima visions all around the arena. "And here they are. Mr. Yajima, care to do the honors?"
"Yes and as we expected Sabertooth are leading however they only have 18 and not the full 20 points many thought that they'd have after that upset in Hidden." Yajima said as the Black Bulls looked at the scores. "In second place with an impressive 16 is Blue Pegasus followed by Raven Tail's surprising 14 which we won't get into. After them Lamia Scale is in an unexpected 4th already at 13 points and to round out the double digit scores it's the Black Bulls with 10. The last ones were certainly the surprise of the day with a win in Hidden and a strong showing against Sabertooth's Olga in the battles."
"That was a good battle for sure." Chapati said as Mystogan finally left the arena. "And that 10 points keeps them firmly in the running while the last three teams really need to improve."
"It's still the first day so there is time to bounce back." Yakima said. "And on that note in 6th with only 2 points is Mermaid Heel and then bringing up the rear it's Fairy Tail Team B and Team A with 1 and 0 respectively.
"That's a spot they've held for years and it seems that even with two teams comprising almost exclusively of members who went missing 7 years ago, Mystogan being the exception as he was never reported as missing, they are still at the bottom of the standings." Chapati said. "The big question is can they get out of the hole?"
"If I know Maki, and I do, they will." Yakima said with a nod. "Tomorrow is a new day so expect great things from Fairy Tail then."
"Alright well Jenny anything to say before we wrap it up?" Chapati asked the guest commentator. "Tomorrow we'll have a new guest so you get the last word today before we head home and eagerly await whatever event will start the day off tomorrow."
"Just that Blue Pegasus is going to win this." Jenny said with a cheer for her Guild. "Second on the first day and we'll only build on that, I know it."
"And with those words of support for her Guild we are done." Chapati said as the crowd began to leave as many discussed what they'd seen that day. "See you first thing tomorrow morning folks."
"Let's got make sure Magna is alive and healing and then head back to the tavern to celebrate." Yami said rising. "We did well today even with that battle loss, and I expect you all to continue pushing past your limits tomorrow."
The others nodded as they turned and followed their Captain out of their suite and to the infirmary to make sure Magna was ok and either tease him in Luck's case or make sure he was still as fiery as ever in everyone else's, which they all expected him to be. Magna may have lost but he showed what they could do and Asta had really shown that with his win in Hidden. Hopefully tomorrow's event played to their strengths as well because the Black Bulls were here to win as the first day of the Grand Magic Games came to a close.
-break-
"What is going on?" Princess Hisui asked as the man from the future, she still didn't know his name as he refused to share it with her, formed from the shadows in her room. "You told me that Quatro Cerberus would be in as the 7th place team after the preliminaries, not the Black Bull Guild who also came third which disrupted a the entire standings other than the top 2."
"Yes, I did but it would appear that an anomaly has taken place." The future man said a calm confident smirk on his face. "It would appear that I am not the only person who has come to this kingdom when he shouldn't have."
The man had his own plans and had spent a long time fooling the Princess into unwittingly aiding his agenda so as to avoid the future that he had experienced, the future that had made him what he was today, but instead to change things so that he could rule that future. He'd come back for that purpose and to stop certain things from happening that would disrupt his plans.
In order to achieve his goals, he'd used his magic to get close to the Princess and win her foolish trust by telling her all that would happen in great detail because he knew it would happen. It was all so unbelievable that he used the implausibility of his predictions to his advantage by saying that if this come to pass then he was truthful and as such could be trusted and that the future he said was coming for Fiore would be believed.
Once she did believe him he then told her how they could stop it using the same thing he did to come to the past. Of course, she didn't know that that part was a lie as the foolish girl just went with his plan once she'd given him her trust so as to save the kingdom that he knew was already doomed.
The man knew that his actual plan would work as everything had been going smoothly, his prediction of the return of the missing Fairy Tail members really helped that, and the magic had been gathered for the gate thanks to the Grand Magic Games that were used as a cover for said magic gathering. Everything had been going according to the man's plan but now, one the eve of his success, everything was on the brink of unraveling because of something he'd never seen coming.
That something was the Black Bull Guild, a Guild that didn't exist in his timeline, had suddenly appeared in the games, and knocked out Quatro Cerberus during the preliminary round and tossed his careful plans out of the window thus causing the Princess to doubt him. As such he knew that this meeting was coming the moment he saw that the Black Bulls were in the games so he'd spent the day figuring out what to say to her when she summoned him at this evening hour so as to keep his plans on track.
"You also explained how Rufus would win Hidden and what the results in it would be." Hisui continued her trust in him clearly waning as she spoke. "But the Black Bulls won that event, and the points weren't as you said they'd be in the end as well."
"I know but in my timeline they never existed, I never once mentioned them to you because until they showed up in the games I didn't know that they existed." The man said his voice as smooth and confident as ever as he began his amended plan to regain the Princess's trust. "Haven't you looked into them? Is there any history on that Guild existing anywhere in this world?"
"Well, no, I had some staff find out for me today because I wanted to know more about them after they qualified for the games." Hisui admitted and the man knew that he had a hook into her that he could exploit "From what my staff could gather the Black Bulls just appeared in Ishgar a little over two years ago with their first notable contact being their Guild Master arriving at the Magic Council in Era with the intention of forming a Guild here. He claimed that they came from a different continent and had come here as some kind of exile from their homeland I think. However, we don't know where that homeland is despite trying to find it because their Guild Master never named it."
"Exactly, they aren't from here and you can't find any place that they could be from." The man said. "I am sure you've heard of Edolas, right?"
"It's another world if I recall." Hisui said as she recalled what she'd heard about Edolas. "One that is a counterpart to our in in some ways. The exceeds are from there originally."
"Precisely, Edolas is one of but many worlds out there in addition to Earth Land." The man said. "Elentear is another one that I've heard of and if you go to Guiltina you may find others who know of more worlds than just Edolas and Elentear. We actually don't know how many worlds there are besides our own but with the proof of Edolas at least existing it's safe to say that there are others out there as well."
"And you believe that these people, these Black Bulls are from another world?" Hisui asked her tone no longer distrusting.
"It is the only explanation for why they suddenly arrived when there is no record of them, where they come from, or why they are the only people who seem to use those magic books that they showed today." The man said as he began to reel in the distrust that the Black Bulls had caused the Princess to have in him. "And if they did come from another world then they would have had to have done so in a way that distorted the timeline in ways I could never have seen coming or predicted because they didn't do it in my timeline. It doesn't change what is coming for Fiore at the end of the games, just that there are now new players around that have messed up the timeline just like my returning has."
"I still find it hard to believe." Hisui said and the man knew that he didn't fully have her back under his thumb yet. "I don't want to use that power; I want to believe that you're wrong about what is coming and if the Black Bulls being here proves that then that is a good thing."
"Allow me to get proof that they aren't from this world." The man said smoothly as he resorted to what he knew was his sure fire way to convince her if she didn't buy what he was saying at first. "If I manage that then it will confirm what I'm saying and how their presence here is an unpredictable outcome."
"I, well…" Hisui began, and the man saw her internal conflict flash across her eyes, so he pressed into them.
"When else have I been wrong?" The man asked. "When in all these years have I made an inaccurate prediction up to this moment? The Black Bulls arriving were never in my predictions because in my timeline they didn't exist. Something happened in their world that sent them here and as such they are just an additional factor to the situation without proving that what I am saying won't happen. If I can come from the future to change it then why can't they come from another world to mess with my predictions?"
"Well, when you put it like that…" Hisui began, she didn't want to believe this, but the man was from the future and trying to stop what had happened in his timeline so why couldn't people from another world be here, the exceeds were after all so why not this group as well. "I just don't want Fiore to fall like you say it will if your predictions come true and we don't use the gate as you instructed to change the future. Surely with these outsiders we can change things."
"They are outsiders from another world, who knows why they are here and how they will act when the timeline of our world converges on the point we are trying to change." The man said. "And Fiore won't fall if we keep track, trust me Princess, trust what I've said is true because I've never led you astray in the past and didn't now as this was never a possibility before. These Black Bulls surprised me as well so allow me to get to the bottom of it."
"Fine, find out who they are and then I'll decide if we are to continue with the plan as you instructed." Hisui said. "If they are from another world then perhaps that could change the timeline."
"I will do just that, thank you Princess." The man said with a short bow to her as he melded with the shadows and left Hisui to contemplate what was going on and wonder why things weren't as the man had predicted.
The man, the future self of Sabertooth's Rogue Cheney who'd fallen to his darkness following his partner's demise, traveled through the shadows to the Grey Deer tavern that he knew the Black Bulls were staying at and reached it just as, for some unknown reason, Fairy Tail's Master Makarov Dreyer also reached it and used his magic to slip inside by hiding in Makarov's shadow. It was time to learn the truth of who these Black Bulls were and use that to further his own agenda because he would become the Dragon King and nothing, especially not some other worlders, was going to stop him.
I couldn't resist a good little ending like this with Future Rogue doing his own thing and setting up what is to come in the next chapter because at long last that meeting is about to take place as Makarov and the Black Bulls will finally have their long awaited talk. As for this chapter, it was the standard battles, which for the most part will be done like this with respect to canon given when the Black Bulls aren't part of it though some of the canon battles that got their own large sections of animation will be seen in more detail but for obvious reasons will be seen from the Black Bulls' perspective. As for the Flare battle, I know many wanted it to be different but a hallmark of my work is my respect for canon in crossovers where there is no way to interfere with it and as there is a lot that comes from that battle, including how changing it would affect the several hours I put into figuring out how the points in Grand Magic Games would work so as to create a balance between the franchises without favoring one that was also believable and set up the great climax I have planned, Flare v. Lucy had to remain as it was. When the Black Bulls are directly involved though there will be big changes to battles as will be seen in time and Magna at least did well in his own battle against Olga but he just wasn't strong enough so he'll need to use this as motivation to get better. Anyway, that is all I have for this chapter so I will leave it off here. If you liked this please favorite, follow, leave a review, or let me know in a PM and I will try to answer any questions posed in reviews and PMs as best I can. Until next time.
Stringdog