Shadow Soul

by SoImAWriterSoWhat

[Dark Guild - SYOC CLOSED] - Dark Guilds. Over the years they have become less and less dangerous, except for the Balam Alliance, and with the emergence of new legal guilds and the strength of existing ones, the dark guilds have become an empty shell. It's time for the kingdom of Fiore to remember what it's like to be afraid of a dark guild and its power! The shadows are moving...

4. Shadows, Towers and Dreams

"We're dark mages!" - Talking

'We're dark mages!' - Thinking

"We're dark mages!" - Communication via Lacrima / Telepathy

"WE'RE DARK MAGES!" - Screaming

"Fairy Law!" - Spells

[ Here / Now ] - Place / Time

Chapter 3: Shadows, Towers and Dreams.

---

[Akane Beach / 8th October X784]

A cry of despair and anger rose in the air, startling all who heard it. For several minutes the resort had been reached and confined by the Rune Knights, who had begun to treat the wounded, free the prisoners in the cards and write the testimonies of eyewitnesses. In what had become a small field infirmary, Natsu Dragneel was doing everything he could not to succumb to his impetuosity and run in search of Erza's kidnappers.

"I can't believe they kidnapped Happy too!"

"Keep your voice down Natsu! Gray and Juvia are still resting…" said Lucy while sitting next to the bed where their guildmate was lying. Apparently Gray, in addition to three fractured ribs, had suffered a concussion, while Juvia had a wide wound on her chest, however the ice in which she was found prevented her body from losing blood, thus allowing the doctors to treat her in time.

"They really caught us off guard…" groaned Gray, ignoring the severe headache that was making him suffer "Have you already contacted the guild?"

Lucy nodded "Master Makarov was very furious...he said that he will send someone to help us and that he will contact the Magic Council, but I don't know how long it will take…"

"Meanwhile, that damn square man will be far away with Erza and Happy by now!" Natsu gritted his teeth "We have to go find them!"

Gray glared at him "You said your nose was leading you towards the harbor, didn't you? How do you hope to follow them at sea when you just need to get on a boat to have a stomach ache? Try to think for once, Flame Brain!"

"So I'm supposed to stay here and do nothing, Ice Princess?!"

"Enough! Both of you!" shouted Lucy "This is not the time to argue among us!"

The two boys instantly closed their mouths, just in time to hear the sound of the blankets moving and, in the bed next to Gray's, Juvia looked at the other wizards with tired eyes "Juvia has a question...why did those wizards want to kidnap Erza-san?"

The three Fairy Tail wizards looked at each other with uncertain eyes until Lucy sighed in defeat.

"I don't know...but I'm sure that if even someone like Erza was shocked to see those mages, it's not something good."

---

[Shadow Soul's Headquarters / 8th October X784]

It was just past midnight and for the past three hours Reveeina had been locked in her office, reading various documents, many of them years old. Ever since she had heard from her wizards about what happened at the Akane Beach resort hotel, the guild master had been looking for information to help them, and she didn't like what she found.

Taking a deep breath, she put a hand to her forehead to rub her temples "The R-System, those idiots of the Council don't really know how to work."

"What do you mean, master?" asked Red as she handed her mistress a cup of tea.

"Eight years ago, a cult that worshiped black magic began building towers in order to activate a powerful magic that can bring the dead back to life. Obviously, to be able to activate such spell, it is necessary to sacrifice someone, and for this the Council stopped the cult before it could go on with its plans...too bad that those idiots have only dismantled seven of the eight towers, since the last one was only at the beginning of the construction phase!" Reveeina took a sip of tea to calm her nerves before looking back at the documents "If what is written here is true, no one has ever set foot on the small island where they started building the eighth tower, but I am sure that someone has pushed the project forward and completed it."

"Should I send an urgent call back to all wizards on a mission?"

Reveeina seemed to think what to do but finally shook her head "While we know this tower may be off Caelum, we don't have mages in that area and calling them back here and sending them as reinforcements would take too long. Warn Niidia to eat and stay strong. I will wait for news from Asteria and the others and then I will see how to act; if the situation calls for it, I'll go myself."

Red bowed her head "As you wish, mistress."

As the waitress left her office, Reveeina picked up a sheet of paper and looked intently at the name written on it "Jellal Fernandes...I hope you know what you are doing, because this could be the biggest mistake of your life."

---

[Caelum Kingdom's coast / 8th October X784]

"Those are a lot of guards." murmured Grady while looking at the staircase leading to the base of the tower, completely covered with guards armed with spears or swords wearing an unknown uniform.

Beside him, Naco grinned "Better for us, right? Fun right from the start!"

The other wizards of Shadow Soul said nothing, continuing to observe the situation. After stealing a boat and chasing the ship on which those mysterious kidnappers had sailed, the four had reached a small island where there was a gigantic tower. Not knowing what to do, they had used Sylva's magic to get close, before hiding the boat and walking to where they were now, just in time to see Erza Scarlet being escorted by her captors to the tower.

"Glad to know your only eye still works." said Sylva with a calm voice "We can try to force our way or go unnoticed, but even with my illusions it would take time as we can't move too fast. We could also try to look for another entrance but by the time we find it, if it exists, it may be too late."

Naco looked at her "Too late for what?"

Sylva shrugged "I don't know, but if our mistress told us to investigate and stop whoever is behind this tower, it must be something unpleasant."

"We don't know what awaits us inside that tower. Those wizards who kidnapped Erza don't look like much but they are still more than us and there could be some nasty surprises." said Grady scratching his chin "The ideal would be to keep our strength intact but we cannot hope to go unnoticed without tiring Faye too much. Someone has to face all those soldiers while the others are waiting."

Asteria stared at him with a raised eyebrow "Rather risky plan on your part."

"Got anything better?" she shook her head "Then we must act, who wants to go?"

"I go."

"My turn to shine!"

Naco and Asteria looked at each other with sparks flying from their eyes. Grady merely sighed while Sylva had an amused smile on her face, until the two of them stood up.

"On the three..."

Asteria nodded "...three!"

Both of them raised their fists...

""Rock! Paper! Scissors!""

Rock for Asteria, Paper for Naco.

"Hell yeah! Time to have some fun!" Naco shouted before running toward the tower while Grady, Sylva and a sulking Asteria followed him behind some rocks. While his job was to take out the bulk of the enemies, they had to be close enough to help him and be able to surprise any reinforcements.

"Hey! Who the hell are you?!" shouted a guard pointing his spear at Naco, who simply grinned before using his magic and pointing two fingers at the man "Lightning Bolt!"

The enemy did not have time to react before being electrocuted, but the lightning was immediately transmitted to the two closest soldiers, electrocuting a total of ten who fell to the ground lifeless or seriously injured. Archers appeared from some rocks higher up and tried to overwhelm Naco, but the boy nimbly avoided all the arrows before reaching them with a leap.

"Lightning Dagger!" with a series of quick slashes, he severed the throats of all archers close to him using two blades made of electricity which then dissipated shortly thereafter. Now, in an advantageous position, the black-haired boy looked at the soldiers below who were awed by the evil grin on his face. Cracking his neck, he took a step forward "You can still entertain me, can't you?!"

BANG!

Naco staggered forward before stopping and straightening his back, where a bleeding hole was visible at the height of his right shoulder blade.

"If you want to mess around here, you should do it the dandy way." said a male voice behind him as Wally walked out of the tower "I thought it was Erza, but apparently there is a rat on our island. I see you know how to use lightning magic...is it possible that you are the famous Laxus Dreyar?"

Naco was silent for a few seconds and the soldiers who could see his face took several steps back, finally the wizard of Shadow Soul turned just to look with glowing eyes at the one who had attacked him from behind "A~h? The dandy way, you say?"

Wally arched an eyebrow "Mh. You have to be pretty tough, that bullet wasn't lethal but it should have put you to sleep."

"Obviously you didn't shoot me in a dandy way!" grinned Naco before coating himself in electricity and appearing behind Wally, but the gunslinger exploded into a pile of blocks that began to circle around his opponent.

"I can always try this, Polygon Attack!"

Suddenly all the pieces started moving faster before moving towards Naco to hit him from multiple directions, however the boy, still wrapped in his electricity, raised a fist before slamming it down causing his own magic to be transmitted into the ground "Lightning Field!"

Dozens of electrical discharges burst from the ground, electrocuting all the pieces of Wally who screamed in pain before returning to his human form, his clothes ruined and burned. He tried to turn his arm into a rifle but Naco was immediately in front of him and grabbed his face with one hand, building up more electricity around his body, before showing an eerie grin to his opponent.

"Have a lot of dandy dreams, weakling! Touch of Thunder!"

His magical power ran through Wally's body making him scream more than he had in his entire life. Blood began to come out of the square man's eyes, ears, nose and mouth but after a few seconds, Naco dropped him to the ground, then taking a deep breath. After a few seconds, he turned to look at the few remaining soldiers and pointed two fingers at them, grinning amused "Lightning Bolt!"

Cries of pain were heard in the air as they collapsed to the ground one after another and, finally, Naco had taken out all the enemies positioned outside the tower. Nodding to himself, the Shadow Soul mage admired his work before raising his right hand, as if to stop someone "I was hoping I could continue to enjoy myself and I see that someone has listened to my request." turning to the gate of the tower, he saw the huge one-eyed man come out into the open air with a dark magical aura around him.

Simon was silent before moving his gaze to Wally's charred body "Are you the one who reduced him to that state?"

Naco tilted his head slightly before bringing the right arm behind his back and extending his left arm outwards, then performing a wide bow "But of course, it would be pretty irritating if someone took credit for my work."

An explosion of dark energy burst from Simon's body and he took a few steps forward until he was exactly in front of Naco, staring at him from above with his one eye, full of anger and power.

"Dark Moment."

A darkness worthy of the darkest nights swallowed the two wizards but, before the spell could be accomplished, Naco noticed a slight movement near the gate of the tower, making him grin. He had played his part, now he could have even more fun. In the darkness that surrounded him, he saw Simon's ghostly face appear "Darkness will be your grave."

"Oh, don't you know?" asked Naco, his golden eyes shining with power "In the dark of the night, there is nothing brighter than a lightning!"

Under the full moon, with mighty roars, darkness and lightning collided.

---

"Are you sure about your decision?" asked Sylva, running through the corridors of the tower with his two guildmates "Leaving Naco alone against that wizard."

"He'll be fine." replied Grady with a calm voice "He defeated one of the kidnappers alone in no time, plus he was the one who told us to move on." and thought back to when Naco had bowed to Simon, pointing to the door with his hand hidden behind the back "He'll certainly be able to get away with his fight and we only have to worry about three other wizards besides the boss, barring complications."

"I still think I should have stayed and fought that man." complained Asteria, still gloomy from the rock-paper-scissors defeat against Naco "What will I do if neither the other three nor the boss are decent in a fight?"

Sylva looked at her with a plain face "I think anyone who can impose the command on dark wizards and engineer the kidnapping of a sorceress like Erza Scarlet is either extremely rich or downright powerful. If you are lucky, it is someone who belongs to the second category." but after a few seconds, she added "Although your luck sucks."

"Ugh...don't remind me..." Asteria stopped suddenly when they found themselves at a crossroads. The tower seemed to consist of a long corridor that ran along the outermost side of the structure, while the inside was made up of several rooms and corridors. The three dark wizards had continued down the spiral road because it was the only plausible way, but apparently they had a choice to make.

"I'm going up, you go right." Grady and Sylva looked at her with raised eyebrows, but Asteria raised a hand to stop them from speaking "We can have all the plans you want, but as we said before, we don't know how much time we have, nor do we know what's going to happen in this tower, so we might as well cover multiple places at the same time, right?"

"...you just want to fight the boss alone."

"Hell yeah!" she shouted before running away without waiting for them.

Grady rubbed his only eye "Why do I have to be the responsible adult here?"

"Because that's the only thing you know how to do, besides bragging constantly." replied Sylva with a shrug while walking on the right path with him right behind her.

"Please, I am the best at what I do, and being responsible always helps when dealing with people like Asteria or Naco." sensing a series of explosions behind them, Grady shook his head "Let's just hope everything goes well."

---

Aki looked out of her bedroom window, observing the moon with calm and attentive eyes. The book in her hands was open but at the moment her desire to read was minimal, especially after she had felt the walls shaking and the sound of various thunder outside. The sky was mostly clear, so the chances of a thunderstorm were almost nonexistent, leaving only one possible option.

"Someone has come for her."

Rising to her feet, she placed the book on the chair before leaving her quarters, consisting exclusively of a bedroom with two small pieces of furniture and a room where she could train alone. Having joined Jellal's 'cause' for only two days, she hadn't had a chance to explore the tower, nor had she wanted to, but she still knew where she had to go to find the way out. As she started walking down the descending corridor, she suddenly heard the noise of battle in some room further into the tower.

"Have they made it this far yet?" walking in that direction, she reached a large hall where several corridors converged just in time to see Erza Scarlet easily defeat a dozen guards. Noticing that there was no one else there, she took a step to go and confront the red-haired swordswoman, but a shrill voice caught her attention and seconds later, the blue cat they had kidnapped along with Erza flew into her arms.

"Happy!? What are you doing here?"

"I woke up in a room full of cats and a girl was chasing me the whole time!" explained the blue cat while flying in front of her "Where are we?"

"That is not important! We are located south of the Caelum Kingdom, you have to fly out of here before they catch you again!" said Erza with a worried face before looking past Happy, where a brown-haired girl had just arrived "Millianna..."

"Er-chan...?" Millianna looked at her with confused and surprised eyes "You were able to escape from the dungeons? Just like years ago..."

"Years ago?" Happy looked at Erza "What is she talking about?"

"It's a long story..." whispered Erza before walking toward the other girl "Millianna, move away. I want to go to Jellal and put an end to this."

"No! You want to take away from us the possibility of freedom!? Just like last time?!" shouted the girl while gritting her teeth with tears in her eyes "I loved you, Er-chan! Why did you have to bomb the ship we were supposed to flee with! If it weren't for Jellal we would all be dead!"

"Erza bombed a ship...risking to kill you?" repeated Happy while Erza looked down, unable to stare at her childhood friend "But that's impossible! Erza would never do such a thing!" both Erza and Millianna looked at him with surprised eyes "She is a Fairy Tail mage! She is strong and brave and certainly noble! She would never do something like bomb a ship and risk killing someone! Doing something like that would ruin Fairy Tail's reputation and she loves Fairy Tail more than I love fish! Therefore it is absolutely impossible that Erza did something like this!"

"Happy..."

Millianna looked at Erza with mixed emotions "Er-chan..."

"Don't trust her!" all of them turned to look at Shô, who was walking toward them with a scowl on his face "Remember it was Jellal who saved us! He told us that Erza went crazy after she unlocked her magical powers! He was the one who taught us magic and made us strong!"

"But...Shô..."

He didn't listen to her and pointed a finger at Erza "You betrayed us, nee-san!"

A tense silence followed his words, but then the sound of footsteps reached their ears together with a female voice "If I may..." everyone turned toward the source of the voice and saw Aki walking toward them with a calm, yet serious face "Do you really believe what you've heard?"

"Aki-chan...?" Millianna tilted her head "What do you mean?"

"I have not been a part of your group for a long time, and frankly I think that at the end of all this I will not be a part of it anymore, but I understand that all of you were slaves in this tower about eight years ago." she said shocking Happy "Yet only Erza Scarlet managed to escape and join a guild, all after bombing your ship. Now, my question is...did you see her destroy the aforementioned ship?"

Shô glared at her "No, but Jellal told us about the bombs!"

"And you believed him instantly." Aki arched an eyebrow "No evidence that it was actually her, yet you have heard and believed the words of someone who still made you keep building this tower."

"Shut up! You are a stranger, you cannot understand what we have been through!"

"I only understand one thing...that on one hand there is a sorceress from a legal guild, famous throughout the kingdom of Fiore, who has saved countless lives, and on the other hand, a man who wants to bring Zeref back to life at all costs. I'm not very adept at using magic but I also know who this Zeref is. Now tell me..." Aki looked at Shô straight in the eyes "Who's the one that's gone mad because of the magic?"

Said boy could not reply immediately, opening and closing his mouth several times but without saying a word, until he looked at Erza with a trembling look "Nee-san...tell me the truth...where...where you the one to bomb our ship?"

The red-haired sorceress did not answer him, she did not have the courage, yet the silence combined with her gaze was a more than eloquent answer for the young dark wizard who fell to his knees with terrified eyes "N-No...that's not true...he...he didn't...!"

Erza walked over to Shô before kneeling down and hugging him "I'm sorry...I left without trying to help you...Jellal forced me and I wasn't strong enough to fight back. In the end you all paid the price in my place...I hope you can forgive your nee-san, Shô..."

"Er-chan..." Millianna was already crying when she joined the others in the hug, but then Aki started to walk away.

"Now that you've talked and cleared up the misunderstanding, I'd say it's time to go stop Jellal."

Erza looked up at her "Why? Aren't you with him?"

Aki stopped for a moment "To be honest, I joined him because he promised me that I could fight against powerful mages from Fairy Tail, but at the casino we took you by surprise and now you are not in perfect condition for a fight." she then shrugged "He seems like someone who could give me a decent challenge, and like I said I know who Zeref is, so it's best to avoid him being resurrected."

"I see..." Erza stood up to follow her, but then her attention switched to Shô and Millianna "You two should leave this place. Go find Simon and Wally, then take a boat...I'll be the one to stop Jellal."

"I can't do this, nee-san." Shô clenched his fists "If Jellal has really been deceiving us all these years, I can't let him get away with it! I'll fight with you!"

"Me too!" nodded Millianna with a smile "We can take him on!"

"Guys..." despite the desire to make them give up, Erza couldn't stop a small smile from forming on her lips. After a few seconds of silence, she simply turned and walked down a corridor with the others in tow, but after only a few minutes of walking, several red-lipped mouths appeared along the walls, scaring the hell out of Happy who went to take refuge behind Erza.

"Gross! What are those things!?"

"Jellal set this up so that he can be heard in every corner of the tower..." hissed Shô, looking at those mouths with eyes full of hate.

"Welcome everybody! Welcome to the Tower of Paradise!" said an amused male voice "I am Jellal, the one who controls this tower. All the pieces on both sides have been placed, so it is about time to begin...the Paradise Game!" they all looked at their mouths, wondering what he had in mind "The rules are simple: I will use Erza as my sacrifice in a ceremony that will resurrect Zeref. That is to say, if I open the gates to paradise, I win. On the other side, if you are able to prevent this, then you are the winners!"

"Something is wrong, he wants to face us all alone?" wondered Aki, imagining that both Simon and Wally would stand up for Erza once the truth was discovered.

"To make the game more interesting, I have three players on my side! You must get past them to reach me." Jellal paused for a long moment "Between sacrifices, traitors and unexpected guests, we are ten against three, but I see that someone is already out of the game, so nine against three!"

'Nine...?' thought Erza while looking at the others 'We are four here, since I doubt he even counted Happy, and should be six with Simon and Wally...who are the others? Could it be Natsu and the others?'

"Lastly, the special rule for this game! The Magic Council might attack this place using the Square Satellite: Etherion, a destructive magic capable of annihilating everything. It is unknown how much times remains, but when Etherion hits, everyone here will die and there will be no winner. Game Over!"

"Does he want to destroy everything? Is he crazy?!" yelled Happy with a worried face which instantly changed into a mask of shock when Shô captured Erza inside one of her cards "What are you doing!?"

Millianna looked at his friend "Shô!?"

"I won't let anyone lay a finger on nee-san! I'll kill Jellal myself!" and after taking Erza's card, he ran away to the upper floors of the tower ignorant of Happy and Millianna's screams.

"That boy needs to calm down before his obsession with his 'nee-san' leads to his death." sighed Aki before sprinting in the same direction, with Happy flying behind her while carrying Millianna. Thanks to her superior speed, she was able to reach him in a few minutes, just in time to see him enter what looked like a corridor straight out of a nobleman's castle, consisting of a red wooden bridge with cherry trees all around.

Shô stopped suddenly when he saw a pink-haired woman walking towards them with calm and regular steps, showing them a small smile "I'm called Ikaruga, greetings."

The young mage glared at her "Out of my way! I've no time to waste with you!"

Ikaruga brought a hand to her mouth "Oh my...such a boorish young man."

Shô's eyes twitched in rage and in the next instant, he threw a dozen cards at Ikaruga but the woman grabbed the hilt of her long sword and, in a split second, swung her blade several times, managing to cut all the cards in half. Shô, Millianna and Happy were speechless to see her sword skills but had no way of reacting before a large X-shaped wound appeared on Shô's chest, causing him to lose a lot of blood. As he fell to the ground vomiting blood, Erza's card slipped out of his hand but Millianna caught it before kneeling beside her friend to help him, while Happy stayed behind her, terrified of that swordswoman.

"Shô you have to let me out of here right away! She's not an opponent you can beat!"

"Oh my...hiding inside a card? I expected something better from you, Erza-san." said Ikaruga with an amused smile before preparing for another attack "Well it doesn't matter, I'll just cut you in that hiding place with your friends, because there exists nothing under the sun that I cannot slice."

Feeling a cold shiver down her spine, Millianna closed her eyes clutching Erza's card to her chest as Shô tried in vain to protect her with his body but Ikaruga drew her sword with superhuman speed, ready to kill them all in one blow.

CLANG!

Or so she thought.

"Unfortunately for you we are not under the sun but under the full moon, and you cannot shatter my Kaimon."

Ikaruga's startled eyes met Aki's calm ones as her sword was blocked by a red energy katana. That moment of hesitation was all it took for Aki to push her back, making the assassin move several meters away, completely standing between her and the others.

"Well this is a surprise." said Ikaruga looking at Aki and her sword "Jellal hasn't told me anything about a swordswoman like you in his ranks."

"Let's just say I'm a fresh recruit." replied Aki before shouting "Millianna! Take Shô, Erza and the cat and go away, I'll take care of her."

"B-But...Aki-chan, we are-!"

"Weak." a single word, spoken in a cold and definite way, was enough to silence any form of protest from Millianna and Shô "You have not been able to follow her slash, it means that you can not do anything against her. Go find Jellal, and Shô...try to stop being a sis con and leave Erza out of that card; next time I won't be there to save your life."

The boy wanted to tell her that she didn't have to worry about him, but the still open wound on his chest was an all too clear signal for him. Gritting his teeth, he snapped his fingers and Erza was released from her prison. The knight looked at the two swordswomen, pondering what to do, but it was Aki who spoke first "You have an unfinished business with Jellal, right? Better hurry up without unnecessary setbacks."

"...Thank you." lifting Shô with ease, Erza walked away with him, Millianna and Happy, leaving Aki alone against Ikaruga.

"Such a noble act, I must say that you are impressing me more and more." said the pink-haired woman with a smile "I'll introduce myself again: I'm Ikaruga, leader of Trinity Raven, from Death's Head Caucus. May I know your name?"

Her opponent took a deep breath before assuming a high guard stance "Aki Tamashiro of the Tamashiro Family."

Ikaruga was again surprised "The infamous Kinslayer? Such an honor. You're very far from home."

Aki didn't answer her and, without saying anything, dashed forward before slashing at Ikaruga, who parried her blade with ease before counterattacking. Within seconds, countless blows were deflected by the two swordswomen, until Aki leapt back. A single, small cut on her right cheek.

"Fufufu...I let Erza go because I thought you could be a decent challenge. Don't disappoint my expectations, please."

"That's my line." Ikaruga's eyes widened in shock as a long slash opened on her right cheek, dripping blood onto her immaculate white kimono "I decided to leave Jellal to Erza because I was hoping that a skilled swordswoman like you could be a decent opponent. Please make this duel enjoyable."

A feral smile formed on Ikaruga's lips "Oh I promise you I will make you enjoy this duel, as it will be your last!"

With no more words needed, their blades collided again under the cherry petals.

---

"This place is getting more and more interesting! A pity that this Jellal has to be stopped, he really knows how to organize interesting games!" a mad grin was visible on Asteria's lips as she continued her climb of the tower. Since she had heard of this 'game' she had become even more galvanized and more than ever she wanted to reach the top to be able to fight Jellal, even if that tower seemed to never end.

"Ah to hell with this, I'll take the shortcut!" she said before approaching a window. Climbing to the edge, she looked up and found that she actually had a long way to go "Well no more, Meteor!"

Jumping out, she began to move quickly upward, clearing several levels in seconds, but then out of the corner of her eye she saw something approaching at great speed and barely had time to cross her arms before being kicked into the tower, crashing into the corridor wall. Shaking her head to clear her eyes, Asteria looked up and saw a muscular, owl-headed man with a jet-pack attached to his back enter the newly created hole.

"I can't let you break the rules!" said the man pointing a finger at her "Fukuro, the warrior of justice is here! Whoo whoo!"

"Who the fuck are you? One of Jellal's three players?" wondered Asteria, grinning at the prospect of a battle, but then her eyes caught a mark on the strange assailant's left leg: a grinning skull engulfed in flames looking to the left. Rising to her feet, she looked her opponent straight in the eyes "I know that mark, it's the symbol of the Death's Head Caucus guild, and you must be part of Trinity Raven, their strongest team."

"Whoo whoo, that's correct!" Fukuro tilted his head, like am owl "But how do you know that?"

The grin on Asteria's face grew larger and sharper as a strange light lit up in her eyes "Oh don't tell me you already forgot about four and half years ago, during the Cabria War." Fukuro's body stiffened completely when he saw a black mark appear on Asteria's right arm, depicting the head of a snake with its jaws open "About when we fought that night and you killed my mentor."

"Shadow Soul..." Fukuro's eyes were completely filled with hatred "You evildoers! Because of you, we failed to kill all the officers of the western army!"

"What can I say, we were supposed to kill your employers and you were in the way." chuckled Asteria before suddenly becoming serious "But the fact remains that you killed my mentor, the man who made me part of Shadow Soul. I have hoped every day to be able to avenge him!"

Fukuro assumed a fighting pose "Whoo whoo, do not hope to be able to defeat me. Last time I killed that evildoer and I would have killed you too if it weren't for that masked wizard."

"True true, if Shirros hadn't saved me I would have died but it's been years since then and now I'll make you regret getting in my way." with the mad grin on her face again, Asteria wrapped herself again in a golden glow.

"All evil doers must perish!"

"Then go ahead and die! Meteor!"

---

"Did you hear something?"

"Do you mean the explosions below us or the ones above us? You have to be more precise with all these explosions." replied Sylva with an amused face as they ran through the corridors of that tower.

"Both I guess." admitted Grady with a shrug "I guess Asteria has also found someone to fight against, while we're just wasting time here. We should just go up."

"I guess you're right, but you certainly can't use your magic to create an opening. This tower is huge but it seems that each part has a different architectural style, so it is best to avoid damaging its structure too much."

Grady nodded, having thought about using his own magic but deciding not to for fear of collapsing the upstairs over their heads. Deciding to start climbing, they reached a nearby flight of stairs that led them to an upstairs corridor but, when they got close to a corner, they both sensed a nearby source of magical power.

"There is a wizard nearby, quite strong judging by the amount of magical power I can feel." said Sylva with a calm voice "Do we want to take care of it?"

"Might as well, could be one of the Jellal players." Grady turned the corner and immediately spotted a rather peculiar person walking towards him, his head flailing in all directions, with his dark hair flapping like a whip. Most notable, however, was the deafening music coming from his guitar "Who the hell are you...?"

The man paused for a second before indulging in one last solo with his guitar "Welcome to my concert of hell! My name you ask?! Assassin's guild Death's Head Caucus." he grinned at Grady "Member of Trinity Raven, they call me Vidaldus Taka! ROCK YOU!"

Suddenly his hair parted in six long locks before attacking Grady but, much to Vidaldus's surprise, his hair was smashed to the ground even before it hit their target. The man tried to get them back but quickly realized that something was holding them firmly against the floor and judging by the cracks under his hair, it was something extremely powerful.

"Gravity?!"

"Correct." said Grady with a grin of his own "Judging by your clothes you have to be a rock music freak, so in the end you meant 'Fuck you' but you said 'Rock you' didn't you?"

"Such a smart boy, aren't ya!" Vidaldus hurried to play his guitar and a wave of sound burst from his musical instrument, directed at Grady, who was surprised when the attack actually hit him, knocking him back several meters.

'Okay, apparently pure sound is able to by-pass my magic. Good to know.' thought the dark mage before cracking his neck "Before starting over, I'd like to ask you a question. You said you were part of the Death's Head Caucus guild, right? Did you by any chance participate in the Cabria War?"

Vidaldus arched an eyebrow, watching him carefully with the mad grin on his face "Hell yeah! A very interesting mission, if it weren't for some snakes that ruined our work!"

"Snakes you say?" Grady smiled before tilting his head while raising the left hand, showing his guild mark "Did those snakes have this mark?"

"YOU!?" Vidaldus gritted his teeth with hatred and anger evident in his eyes "Are you a member of that damn guild?!"

"Well of course I am." Grady shrugged without losing the calm smile "Unfortunately, that war happened before I joined the guild, but several veterans told me about that mission, how they fought against another guild and how, in the end, they defeated them."

"You bastard!" a powerful guitar solo generated another attack but this time Grady avoided it by throwing himself sideways "That mission still haunts us now! We are the best assassins! The best of the best, but you had to interfere!" Vidaldus' hair began to flail like snakes "I don't care if you weren't a member of the guild! I will kill you and send your head to your mas-GEH!"

His words were lost forever as five holes were opened in his throat, shocking him. A large amount of blood began to gush from the five wounds as the dark wizard watched paralyzed as someone began to appear beside him, as if they were coming out of the mist. First he saw ash-blond hair paired with cold red eyes, intent on staring at him with hatred, then a slender arm culminating in a hand equipped with war claws, currently stuck in his throat.

"He wasn't a member of the guild, but I was." hissed Sylva pushing her fingers deeper, touching the vertebrae of her enemy's neck "And I remember perfectly well how you killed three of our members that night."

With blood flowing freely from his wounds, mouth and nose, Vidaldus looked at her with bloodshot eyes before attempting a last ditch attack with his hair, which was quickly crushed to the ground by Grady's magic. With no other way of reacting, Vidaldus could only watch helplessly as Sylva's face came a little closer to him before whispering in his ear.

"Don't worry, that owl and pink-haired woman will soon join you in hell."

Without further ado, Sylva tore off her enemy's throat, dropping him to the ground, while ignoring his death rattles.

"You okay?" asked Grady walking at her side.

"Yes, I'm fine." she sighed when Vidaldus took his last breath "Now I'm sure Rosen, Meviron and Zetzal will have some peace. They were three guildmates who were killed years ago during that war. Better not waste time digging up the past, we have to find Asteria, and fast too."

Grady wasted no time running after her "Why her?"

"Because Rosen was her mentor and the one who made her part of Shadow Soul, the last thing we need is for her to destroy this place while enjoying the fight and her revenge."

A series of explosions were heard some levels above them.

"Yes, better hurry. Definitely."

---

With his right leg wrapped in electricity, Naco tried to hit his opponent from above, but Simon raised an arm to protect himself, ignoring the shocking effect that pervaded his body, before pushing his enemy away with only physical force. When the Shadow Soul mage landed, both fighters fell to their knees, trying to catch their breath.

"You are not bad at all! Much more resistant than the other one!" huffed Naco with a grin on his face while shooting a glance at the motionless form of Wally "If you are like this, your boss must be a good fighter!"

"It is useless for you to talk, you won't reach him anyway." growled Simon while thinking about his comrades 'What the hell is going on...what's wrong with you Jellal?! This is not a game!'

"Let's see about that! Lightning Ball!" by quickly moving his right arm, Naco threw a ball of electricity at Simon, who was hit without having the change to move away, causing him to scream in pain. That was just a diversion though, as Naco wrapped himself in his power and quickly got behind Simon.

However, the huge opponent did not let himself be caught unprepared and, before Naco could hit him again, he accumulated a lot of magical power before creating a magic circle under him "Dark Nova!"

Suddenly, a sphere of dark energy burst from his body, growing more and more and Naco could not avoid it in any way, merely crossing the arms in front of his body to protect himself. The impact threw him against the tower wall, cracking it heavily, but the lightning wizard managed to fall to his feet. Naco drew electricity around his right arm but before he could react with another attack, a voice drew his attention upward.

"Simon!"

Out of nowhere, a blue cat with white wings descended towards them while holding a girl with feline ears, but that brief moment of distraction was enough for Simon to attack him again. Creating another magic circle in front of him, his one eye glowed purple for an instant "Dark Burst!"

The explosion caused by his attack was enough to destroy the tower wall and throw Naco inside, causing him to destroy other walls inside. Getting to his feet with difficulty, he turned to Millianna just in time to see her pull out a card, which turned into Shô, even though their friend was seriously injured "Millianna, what happened? Where are Jellal and Erza?!"

The girl looked at the ground with a sad look "She asked us to get off the island before the Etherion is activated...she plans to face Jellal alone."

"What!?" Are you serious?" Simon gritted his teeth "She can't beat him..."

"Ah! Wally!" both Millianna and Shô moved toward their friend "What happened to him?"

"The wizard I was facing now defeated him, but I still feel some magical power within him. He is still alive." explained Simon before looking at the sky "We can't stay here, it is clear that Jellal was going to betray us sooner or later, we have to leave."

"B-But what about Er-chan?"

Simon looked first at them and then at the top of the tower "Grab Wally and escape in a boat before it's too late, I'll go get Erza." he then looked at Happy "I know it's not fair to ask for help after we kidnap you, but could you take me to the top of the tower? If I had to walk I would never make it in time."

Happy didn't seem to be in favor of helping that wizard, but knowing that by doing so he could help Erza, the small cat decided to assist him and without hesitation, he clung to Simon's back and flew to the top of the tower. Meanwhile, Shô turned Wally into one of his cards and headed to the island's small dock to steal a boat and get out of that cursed place as quickly as possible.

While all this was happening, Naco had finally freed himself from the last rubble that had fallen on top of him. Shaking his head, he looked around and saw that he was in some abandoned dormitory and judging by the various holes in the walls, he must have been several meters from the outside.

"That bastard, to stop a fight so abruptly..." closing his eyes for a few seconds, he felt Simon's power move quickly upward, while three other magical sources, weaker than himself, were moving towards the sea "Following and ending those three bugs is tempting as an idea, but I can't let that man escape and if I'm lucky, he's going right to his boss."

Quickly exiting that room, he saw that he was near the heart of the tower, which was completely empty, allowing him to see up to the higher levels. Leaping over a railing, he wrapped himself in his electricity before darting upward with a feral grin on his lips.

The battle was far from over.

---

Cherry petals and sparks danced arm in arm on the red-wood bridge as the battle between Aki and Ikaruga raged relentlessly. The two swordswomen were engaged in an exchange of slashes so fast that they were almost invisible to the eye of someone not accustomed to such skill levels, and all around them, the wood was a veteran of their clashes, with several gashes in the floor, as well as in the surrounding trees.

At that precise moment, Aki gave a side swipe aiming at the opponent's midsection, but Ikaruga jumped up to avoid the red energy blade, which she understood to be some sort of demonic blade, before attempting to stab Aki from above. The Kinslayer, however, took a short leap backward before lunging as Ikaruga stepped back to the ground, but the pink-haired woman spun around avoiding the attack before responding with the scabbard of the her katana, with a lunge.

Aki was quick to raise her sword and the tip of the enemy weapon's scabbard hit precisely the flat side of her blade, however the force in the impact was enough to make her slide back several meters, until Aki planted Kaimon in the ground to stop altogether. With a faint sigh, Ikaruga sheathed her sword so that she could observe her opponent, ignoring her ruined and bloodstained kimono.

"I have to admit, you are turning out to be an opponent more worthy than expected, even though you still have a lot to learn."

The young swordswoman, on the other hand, had cuts down her arms and both of her loose sleeves had been ruined to such an extent that she had preferred to rip them off, yet she seemed to be quite calm without even running out of breath. They had been fighting for several minutes, but Aki could easily guess several things, including the fact that she was physically stronger than Ikaruga, slightly slower and definitely less agile than her. She certainly could avoid the enemy blade without having to deflect or parry it, but Ikaruga had managed to avoid several attacks with decidedly agile and graceful movements; quite remarkable given the sandals she had on her feet.

'The biggest problem is the fact that he hasn't used any kind of magic yet. I can distinctly feel some magical power in her, but I can't understand what kind of magic she can use or how strong it is.' thought Aki while keeping the eyes on her opponent. Not exactly accustomed to the world of magic, Aki knew she was at a disadvantage on many fronts when it came to knowledge and application of magic, but she was very confident in her skill with the sword.

Ikaruga showed her a cold smile "Now how about raising the bar a little bit?"

"Mugetsu Style; Garuda Flame!" Grabbing the hilt of her long katana again, Ikaruga spun around and in a split second unsheathed and sheathed her blade, creating a circle of flames around herself, from which a torrent of fire flowed towards Aki.

Without being caught unprepared by the enemy attack, Aki raised her sword above her head gripping it with both hands and the red energy blade was instantly engulfed in powerful flames.

"Cursed-Sword Style; First Form: Gehanna!"

With a powerful slash, Aki hurled a large blade of flames at Ikaruga's attack, effectively splitting the enemy flames that passed on either side of her, destroying part of the bridge. The smoke and flames dissipated quickly and this allowed Aki to see her opponent as she flew above her, sword ready to be drawn.

"Mugetsu Style; Yasha's Empty Flash!"

Aki's eyes widened in surprise when she saw reflections of light in midair, like dozens and dozens of blades about to tear her body apart. Grabbing the right wrist with the left hand, Aki switched to a reverse-grip and spun around quickly, cracking the wood beneath her at her feet.

"Cursed-Sword Style; Second Form: Naraka!"

A whirlwind of blades of wind lifted up to Aki's defense and dozens of sparks ignited in the air, where their attacks collided relentlessly, yet her defense was centered around her body, causing the bridge to be heavily damaged to the point of to collapse. Deciding not to take the risk, Aki jumped off and landed in the few inches of water beneath the bridge as Ikaruga landed on the handrail of the still intact section of the bridge.

The assassin's eyes moved swiftly through the blanket of dust raised by the collapse of the bridge but then she finally saw her opponent, with her right arm bent and her sword pointed at Ikaruga, while her left arm was stretched forward with the open hand and...was it water that was condensing around the blade?

"Cursed-Sword Style; Fourth Form: Yomi!"

Thrusting the sword forward with all her might, Aki sent out a stream of condensed water that exceeded Ikaruga's reaction speed, piercing her right thigh and knocking her over. The pink-haired woman, however, managed to spin in midair, landing on her feet albeit with a grimace of pain on her face.

"That wasn't really nice, I think I will have to close this quickly before the situation gets worse." she hissed before drawing her sword, driving the scabbard into the ground and assuming a new pose, with the sword behind her pointed skyward and both hands clasped around the hilt. Feeling a shiver down her spine, Aki made a brief leap backwards, instinctively sensing the danger of the attack that was about to reach her.

"Mugetsu Style; Bane of Heavens!"

Moving her arms with all her strength and speed, Ikaruga plunged her sword into the ground before unleashing a giant slash that headed towards Aki cutting the ground in half as if it were made of paper. The attack was so large that even the ceiling was crossed by a deep groove, causing pieces of rock, marble and wood to fall into the room below.

'Too fast too dodge!' thought Aki before raising her sword horizontally and placing the left hand behind the tip of her katana. The impact of the enemy attack with her weapon was enough to break her breath and almost wiped her out, but Aki managed to plant her feet in the ground while being pushed backwards with incredible ease and power, to the point that her sandals were destroyed by friction, letting her bare feet sink into the stones and earth under the water until they bleed.

Sensing that she was about to succumb to the attack, Aki screamed at the top of her lungs before tilting her sword slightly, allowing her to throw herself to the side and let the attack proceed along the room, until the wall was destroyed. Catching her breath, she Aki turned to look at the damage caused by Ikaruga's attack and was somewhat surprised to see that it had opened a huge hole in the wall, allowing her to see the ocean illuminated by the full moon, but perhaps the most worrying thing was that that slash had also caused damage to two rooms above and two rooms below the one where they were fighting.

"My my, not many have managed to survive this attack." said Ikaruga while taking off her sandals, as it was becoming difficult to walk with the leg injury "That sword must be very special if it wasn't destroyed by my blow."

"I doubt you could break it even after ten of those attacks." replied Aki, starting to feel fatigue. Her magical power was not unlimited, on the contrary it was much reduced by the standards of mages, but even with Kaimon's help she could not go on indefinitely. Taking a deep breath, she instantly calmed down, attracting Ikaruga's attention, before lifting her sword with both hands, bending her arms until the tip of the katana was pointed towards the ground, while the entire weapon was enveloped in a dense dark aura.

"I can sense your intentions...you want to make this the last attack, don't you?" asked Ikaruga with a smile, before assuming the same stance as before "Fine by me!"

A surreal silence fell between the two swordswomen as their eyes remained fixed on their target, ignoring the sound of the ocean outside or the explosions audible in other areas of the tower.

"Cursed-Sword Style..."

"Mugetsu Style..."

For a single moment, time seemed to stand still as their concentration peaked and a single cherry petal fell to the surface of the water.

"Third Form: Tartarus!"

"Bane of Heavens!"

Bringing down her arms with all the strength she was capable of, Aki unleashed a giant wave of dark energy to intercept Ikaruga's attack. The two attacks collided in the center of the room, generating a shock-wave and sparks in the air but just when Ikaruga was sure she could overcome her opponent's attack, her eyes widened in surprise to see four more blades of dark energy pass alongside her attack. The pink-haired woman raised her sword to defend herself, but the four blades destroyed the weapon, sinking into her flesh and shedding blood all around, just as her attack was nullified by Aki's.

In the silence that followed, Aki was standing out of breath, while Ikaruga was motionless on the ground, her kimono now completely red and horrible wounds all over her body. The assassin vomited blood before smiling "That was...impressive...I have...never once...been defeated." she turned her head to see her shattered sword on the ground "Not once...since the guild was founded...you're really a swordswoman worthy of your...title..."

Having finally caught her breath, Aki made her sword disappear before approaching her dying opponent "You were strong too...much stronger than some opponents I have faced."

Ikaruga looked at her with no trace of pain or fear in her eyes "You should get out of here...in fifteen minutes the light of justice will smite this place and bring death to everyone." her eyes began to close as she gazed at the full moon through the gash created by her previous attack.

"Ah...such a masterful poem..."

Aki didn't blink when Ikaruga took her last breath, just joining her hands and bowing out of respect, but then she felt the floor shake again. Looking up, she wondered who was causing all that mess when Ikaruga's words came back to her.

"Fifteen minutes? Was she talking about that Etherion?" Aki started walking out of the room, looking at the ocean for a moment "Something is wrong...that man did not seem so crazy to want to lock himself on an island and then die like a rat in a cage after all the mess to build this tower."

It was possible that Jellal had a plan to protect the tower from the Council, but Aki couldn't say what kind of plan. Regardless of the answer, if that Etherion was powerful enough to wipe out such a large tower and the entire island, Aki doubted that she would be able to get away enough in just fifteen minutes, so she might as well go up and confront the architect of that plan directly.

Running despite his injured feet, Aki quickly reached the stairs and began to climb, without however stopping the wave of excitement in her body. If Ikaruga was strong, but Jellal could give her orders, how strong was he really?

Only one way to find out.

---

A loud explosion destroyed part of a wall that overlooked a kind of inner courtyard in the tower, and from the smoke generated by the explosion Astoria emerged wrapped in a golden aura before landing in the courtyard below. Looking up quickly, she saw her opponent fly straight at her with both arms ready to hit or grab her.

With a flick of her right arm, Asteria materialized nine swords made of electricity before pointing her hand at Fukuro "Jiu Leixing!"

The nine magical blades darted towards Fukuro but, thanks to his jet-pack, the assassin was able to move quickly, letting Asteria's attacks hit the surrounding walls without injuring him. Making a sudden reversal, Fukuro aimed at Asteria again, but she easily avoided him by flying through the air wrapped in her golden aura. The owl-man quickly chased her through the huge space at their disposal, until Asteria was able to move faster to try to hit him on the side, being surprised when she saw that it was only the jet-pack that was chasing her.

"Justice Ho Ho Hou!" Asteria barely had time to look up before she was hit by a beam of energy that sent her plummeting to the ground, creating a large crater in the floor. Fukuro, however, had not finished yet because, although he was falling down, he directed his jet-pack towards his opponent with both hands "Missile Ho Ho Hou!"

The impact caused an explosion of dust and debris and the jet-pack quickly reached Fukuro before attaching itself to his back and allowing him to land without any difficulty. The killer then watched the blanket of smoke clear, allowing him to spot his opponent intent on getting up despite the bruises and grazes on her body.

"You are really fast, but you also have the brain of a bird." grinned Asteria with the same golden aura round her body, before pointing both hands towards him, with the right over the left and only the index and middle fingers extended.

Fukuro stared at her in confusion before looking up and being surprised to see seven magical circles being connected to each other by a line of light "When-?"

"Grand Chariot!"

Seven pillars of light sprang from those magical circles and the moment they hit the ground, they caused a violent explosion that destroyed much of the courtyard and surrounding rooms, causing several walls to collapse. Fukuro was enveloped by the huge explosion while Asteria was simply thrown backwards, observing it all with a grin on her face that grew further as she saw the damage caused by her attack "You are not dead, are you?! Don't tell me that was enough to kill you!"

As expected, her opponent popped out of the black smoke screen and immediately tried to punch her, but Asteria dodged all the blows before retorting with a kick to the stomach that made him back off. Fukuro then detached his jet-pack and tried again to deal with her hand-to-hand, managing to hit her with a series of well-aimed punches taking advantage of the fact that Asteria now had to divide her attention between Fukuro and the jet-pack. The turning point came when, after avoiding a kick from Astoria, Fukuro puffed out his cheeks but before the girl could defend himself, he screamed "Banshee Ho Ho Hou!"

An earsplitting scream echoed through the arena, distorting the air and causing Asteria to stagger back, yet there was no trace of pain in her eyes from the damage she had just suffered, but surprise and pure anger. The next instant, Fukuro's jet-pack came up behind her and two mechanical arms grabbed the young girl before dragging her against the wall, then making a U-turn and crashing her into the ground, causing another explosion of debris and dust.

Fukuro nodded satisfied, certain that he had defeated his opponent once and for all, but then a scream capable of shaking the walls made him jump in fright.

"JIU LEIXING!"

Same as before, nine swords of energy shot through the air, but much faster and more powerful than the previous ones. All of them pierced Fukuro's Fukuro's jet-pack before it could return to him, destroying it, and soon after, the blanket of dust was blown away by an explosion of magical power generated by Asteria, on her feet again and her eyes filled with anger.

"You bastard! That was Rosen's magic!" growled Asteria while bending her knees "I'll fucking kill you! Meteor!"

Fukuro did not even see her move, but only felt his own ribs groan under the impact of Asteria's kick that threw him across the courtyard, however the girl did not just let him go and in the blink of an eye she was on him, pushing him with both arms and using his body as a battering ram to destroy a long series of walls and floors. After yet another destroyed ceiling, Asteria threw him to the ground before starting to attack him with a series of punches that were enough to break his beak, but in her anger she did not see him move his arms and two beams of energy hit her in the chest, knocking her away.

Fukuro staggered to his feet, watching her with hatred "Whoo whoo, you recognized the magic of that evildoer. Did you know he stayed alive for ten minutes inside my belly before being digested?"

Releasing another burst of energy, Asteria lunged at him but when she was inches from his face, Fukuro opened his mouth again "Banshee Ho Ho Hou!"

Asteria's ears were again torn apart by that verse, even bleeding, but the young girl still managed to grab his face with her right hand and, even during the execution of his own attack, Fukuro noticed the mad grin on her face, before the thumb of her hand landed over his left eye.

With no hesitation, Asteria sank her finger into his skull.

Fukuro's attack instantly turned into a bone chilling scream as the huge killer staggered backwards holding both hands to his face with blood dripping copiously between his fingers. Asteria didn't think twice about punching him in the pit of his stomach, making him vomit bile, saliva and blood, then continuing with a knee to the chin that made him fall backwards.

"You're dead now!"

Throwing herself at him again, Asteria charged with her right fist but suddenly Fukuro stood up screaming like a wild beast and his mouth widened exponentially, managing to swallow most of Asteria before she could react. Only the legs remained out of his mouth, but the man was quick to grab and push them inside, swallowing her completely.

"Asteria!" turning quickly to the source of the voice, Fukuro saw Grady and Sylva standing a few meters from him, eyes widened in shock; evidently they had arrived just in time to see him swallow their guildmate.

"Whoo...whoo...more evildoers!" he said, panting due to the fatigue and pain "I'll make sure you die for the greater justic-UH!?" looking down, Fukuro saw with horror a yellow glow light up inside his body, at the height of the sternum and he felt a magical power all too familiar to him "Impossible!"

Inside him, covered in saliva and blood, Asteria did not lose her insane grin as the tips of seven fingers shone with light and, slowly, placed both hands against the inside of Fukuro's body, only this time the left hand was on top of the right "You didn't really think I'd kill you quickly and painlessly did you?!" she could feel Fukuro punching his own body to try to stop her, but it was too late now "Die in agony as you are judged by the seven stars! Petite Chariot!"

With a final cry of desperation, Fukuro tried to advance towards Grady and Sylva, but his head and much of his chest exploded in a mixture of blood, saliva, bones and internal organs, scattering it all over the corridor. The killer's huge body remained standing for a few seconds before falling backwards, and Asteria rose from his corpse, removing pieces of flesh from her hair.

"I'm much better now. I hope you can rot in hell for eternity, fucking bird." said Asteria with her usual grin before looking at her two guildmates, who were covered in blood and saliva "Yo! When did you get here?"

"Just now..." said Grady, staring at her with his only eye "Maybe we should have delayed a few seconds."

"I see you managed to get your revenge." Sylva looked at the corpse of Fukuro "How are you feeling?"

"Better." this time Asteria showed a small smile "He can rest in peace now."

Sylva smiled as well "I'm sure he'd be proud of you."

"Man, look at you!" all of them looked to the side and saw Naco enter the corridor through a window "And I thought you were in trouble, but you were here giving yourself a beauty treatment!"

Asteria grinned at him "Said the one who looks like shit!"

"You look like horse shit."

"Nice one. Very mature and original."

"You both look like shit, now shut up and move on!" said Grady after a long sigh "We don't have much time now!"

"Actually..." he looked at Sylva, who was staring at the outside with a worried expression "I think it's already too late..."

Everyone followed her line of sight and noticed that even though it was night, the outside was becoming clearer and clearer.

"You gotta be shitting me!" Naco ran to the nearest window and looked up at the sky, noting with horror a series of magical circles appearing above the tower "We were too late..."

"After all of this...we are just going to die? Just like that?" asked Asteria looking at her guildmates with a strange face. She wasn't scared, but to say she wasn't upset would be a big lie.

"We can't even try to move away with your magic, we would never make it in time." added Sylva while looking at the floor. There was still so much she hadn't been able to do.

"Okay ladies..." Asteria and Sylva looked at Grady who opened his arms "If you have a last minute declaration of love to me, now is the time!"

Asteria and Sylva exchanged a quick glance before turning to him and showing him the finger.

"No fun till the very end..."

"Fuck this shit..." Naco groaned walking toward them while the light outside became blinding "I just hope the mistress won't be disheartened by our deaths."

Asteria let out a chuckle "She sure will be...and I bet ten thousand jewels that she'll put entire cities on fire to avenge us."

"Hey, maybe we can survive."

"Wanna bet?"

"One hundred thousand jewels that at least one of us will survive." nodded Naco with a smirk.

"Deal!"

Grady stared at them "Are you really betting on our survival?"

"Yes."

"Of course."

"How did I end up working with people like you?"

The others did not answer him, just chuckling in amusement before the light enveloped everything.

.

.

.

.

.

.

"Uh...I thought hell was hotter...this place doesn't look that bad to me." said Asteria looking around, noting that all four of them were in a corridor made entirely of blue crystals. Without waiting for an answer, she shrugged "Oh well, where's that bird bastard? Might as well kill him again."

"Guys...we're not dead." said Sylva staring out a window as a thick cloud of smoke cleared, showing them the ocean "We're alive...the Etherion failed?"

"Really...? We are alive...?" Naco then looked at Asteria with a huge grin on his lips "I expect the money from the bet by tomorrow!"

.

.

.

"How the fuck did I lose a bet like that?!"

---

"Oh exalted Zeref! I am here before you! Offering this woman's body as your sacrifice!" shouted Jellal while Erza was slowly being consumed by a large Lacrima, ignoring her screams, however the insane man sensed someone behind him and, turning his head slightly, saw Simon pull Erza out of the Lacrima.

"I won't let Erza die for your crazy plan, Jellal." said Simon as Happy landed next to Erza, crying desperately.

"Ah Simon, I thought you ran away with everyone else. The last time I checked you were fighting a rat at the entrance to the tower." replied Jellal with an amused smile on his face "Have you really thrown away the chance to escape, just to try and save Erza?"

Simon narrowed his gaze "You are no longer the man I met years ago. I'm taking Erza with me and I'm going to take her as far away from you as possible."

Erza looked at her old friend with tears in her eyes, but Jellal laughed warmly before pointing to her "Have you already forgotten that I was the one who saved you? Erza was planning to blow up the ship on which we were going to escape. If it wasn't for me, you would be dead."

"I never believed a single word of what you told us." said Simon with a calm voice, surprising Erza while Jellal raised an eyebrow "True, there are wizards in the world who have gone mad because of the magic, but Erza was too strong to succumb to her own power. If there is anyone here who has lost his mind, it is you Jellal. I initially stayed because of my injuries, but then you decided to teach me magic and I realized that by staying with you I could become stronger and eventually protect Erza from your crazy plan."

"Oh so even insects know how to think after all." said Jellal with the smile still on his face "You know what? I like you a lot Simon, you have always been the best of all those who have helped me over the years. To reward your hard work, I propose one last game." without any haste, he took off the black robe he was wearing, revealing a strange suit covering his body "If you win, you and Erza can walk away and I swear I'll never try to use her for my plan again. After all, there are a lot of wizards out there with her level of power. However, if you lose you will die and I will use Erza as a sacrifice, as she can't even move right now."

Simon looked at Erza for a moment before staring back at Jellal "Do I have your word?" when he saw him nod, he added "What do you propose?"

Jellal raised a finger "One attack. You have to survive one of my attacks without using your magic to defend yourself, just your body."

Erza's eyes widened in shock "Don't do it Simon! It's a trap! Get out of here now!"

"I accept."

"Excellent!" Jellal applauded his former comrade "Now, if you were kind enough to move. I don't want to damage the sacrifice."

Simon looked at him angrily before moving as requested, placing himself several meters from Erza, who was trying in every way to get up "Don't do it Simon! Go away! I'll be fine by myself!"

"Don't worry Erza." said the man smiling at her "This time I'll be the one to protect you."

"Your dedication to Erza is almost touching, but it won't do you any good against this!" raising both arms, Jellal crossed them at the wrists, generating a strong current of air as what looked like a black hole began to form above him.

"This spell..." Erza widened her eyes in shock "Not good! Simon you have to avoid it! You can't hope to survive!"

"Given your magic, I find it appropriate that you die this way! Fall into the endless darkness, Simon!" shouted Jellal before throwing the huge black hole towards its target, destroying the floor "Heavenly Bod Magic: Altairis!"

Simon spread his arms outward, gritting his teeth and preparing to receive that attack that, most likely, would kill him. Such was his concentration that he was taken aback when he felt someone jump onto his right shoulder.

"Cursed-Sword Style!" Simon, Happy and Erza were shocked to see Aki spin forward with her sword wrapped in a dark aura, before landing and making a violent slash with her katana "Third Form: Tartarus!"

A huge scythe of dark energy, flanked by other gashes of darkness, crashed into Jellal's spell, managing to slow it down for a few seconds before being pushed back. Within moments, Aki's attack was completely crushed and the swordswoman jumped aside to avoid the spell, noticing that Simon hadn't moved from the same spot.

Before she or Erza could yell at him to move, Simon was hit by Jellal's spell, causing a loud explosion that knocked both sorceresses away. Aki stood up immediately, turning her gaze to Jellal, who stood still with his arms crossed and a mocking smile on his face, while Erza watched with bated breath the cloud of smoke clearing, showing Simon still standing, albeit several meters behind from where he had been hit, with his body covered with wounds and most of his clothes ruined.

"Simon!"

The giant shivered for a moment before falling to his knees, coughing up blood. The red-haired swordswoman finally managed to get up with the help of Happy, before reaching him "Simon! Simon talk to me!"

"Erza...you're fine...good..." the man smiled at her "Now...we can leave...this place..."

"Actually you can't." said Jellal with a smirk while looking at Aki "I asked you to resist my attack, but our little wanderer has decided to interfere."

"You-!"

"You're wrong." replied Aki with a calm voice, keeping her katana always ready to attack. When Jellal raised an eyebrow, she continued "You said he had to resist your attack without using his magic, just his body. You have not specified anything regarding external spells or interventions. Simon won the bet."

The smile slowly faded from Jellal's face and he looked at her with an annoyed look "You don't even have a reason to be here. Why are you meddling? If you hadn't weakened my spell, I'd already be moving on with the rite of bringing Zeref back to life."

"Several reasons, but the main one is hanging around your neck." said Aki while pointing with her katana to the iron medallion "When you recruited me, you promised me that I would have a chance to face some of Fairy Tail's strongest wizards, but all I see is a Titania who has neither the will nor the strength to carry on. On the other hand, one of the Ten Wizard Saints could be a worthy opponent."

"Aki." she looked back at Erza "You gotta do me a favor. Get Simon and Happy out of here. I'll stop Jellal."

"Don't wanna."

"Huh!?"

"You heard me. I do not want to. Simon weighs too much for my taste and as I just said, there is a Wizard Saint in front of me. I'd be foolish to miss such an opportunity." said Aki looking at her soon-to-be enemy "You are in no condition to continue this battle, Titania. Go away."

"I can't! I must stop Jellal or he will-AH! Simon!" the one-eyed wizard had just stood up and placed Erza on one shoulder like a sack. Not exactly the most elegant or refined way to carry a person, but he couldn't afford to let Erza go "Put me down Simon! Don't tell me you want to leave! We can't leave him alive!"

"Aki." Simon ignored Erza punches against his back, since they weren't so powerful "If we go away, you..."

"Just go." Aki took a fighting stance with her katana "I'll be fine."

Simon looked for a moment at Jellal, who strangely enough didn't say anything or seemed intent on stopping them, then turned and quickly walked away from the impending fight, with Happy right behind him and Erza, who was trying in every way to free herself from his grip. When his footsteps were no longer audible, Jellal began to chuckle "I don't know if you are incredibly noble for making them leave, or incredibly sadistic for giving them hope that I will let them go."

"You can think what you want, but maybe you should focus on me first." said Aki before moving her blade quickly "Cursed-Sword Style; First Form: Gehanna!"

Jellal watched unperturbed at Aki's wave of flames, before enveloping himself in a golden glow "Did you say that facing someone like me was a perfect opportunity? Let me show you how the world is a bigger place than you think. Meteor!"

Only thanks to her reflexes and training Aki was able to see a golden glow on her right. Turning in that direction, she raised her sword to protect herself but Jellal vanished from her sight before hitting her in the back with a knee. Instead of resisting the blow, Aki somersaulted forward to cushion the impact and quickly stood up to try to hit Jellal, but he began to move faster than before, preventing her from landing any attacks.

'He can move freely in the air, it's not just a question of speed. In that case...' Aki tried to attack Jellal again to make him move away and, when she saw him approaching for a counterattack, she spun on herself "Cursed-Sword Style; Second Form: Naraka!"

Jellal stopped instantly as soon as he saw the whirlwind of wind blades envelop Aki, protecting her from any blow, yet he didn't seem upset by the move "That trick may have served you against Ikaruga, but you must know that I am much stronger than her." and with a swing of his right arm he caused an explosion of golden energy that swept Aki away, crashing her into a large crystal.

Without even giving her time to get up, Jellal leapt into the air before creating nine swords of energy above his head "Sorry to have to finish our game so quickly, but I don't have a lot of time! Zeref is waiting for me! Jiu Leix-!"

"Crushing!"

Like a stone thrown into a lake, Jellal sank in a second, crashing to the ground before he could use his spell, and much to his surprise, his body felt heavy, extremely heavy. He had no way to focus on that detail, because two shadows appeared above him without giving him time to react.

"Lightning Bolt! / Pleiades!"

A beam of electricity, followed by six flashes of light, struck Jellal creating a strong explosion while the two shadows that had attacked him landed in front of Aki.

"Are you okay?" Aki turned to the left, seeing a girl with ash-blond hair emerge from a strange mist, similar to an illusion or a mirage.

"Who are you?"

"It's a long story, but we're on your side." Sylva helped her up before looking over to where Jellal had crashed "We're here to stop him."

Aki looked at her and then at the two figures in front of her, joined by a young man with a patch over his left eye "Are you perhaps a legal guild?"

"Quite the opposite, we are a dark guild." said Sylva with a little shrug "But as I said, it's a long story."

"And so the rats decided to show up. I was wondering what you were doing here, but in the end you are just dark mages." Jellal said in an amused voice as he walked out of the cloud of smoke, with only a few, small parts of his suit scorched "I'm curious to know how you managed to find out something about me and my project. Are you by any chance part of one of the three great guilds?"

Asteria rolled her eyes "Figures. A dark mage does something amazing? Must be a member of the Balam Alliance. Breaking news, madman, not all dark guilds fall under those three."

Jellal arched an eyebrow at her "Oh? An independent guild? A rarity nowadays. However, your intervention will change little or nothing, and as I just said, I don't have much time to waste on insects like you. Meteor!"

"Meteor! / Lightning Body!"

To be honest, Asteria was a little surprised to see that Jellal used the same magic as her, but his shocked look as he found himself in front of the two wizards was something incredibly funny. With two well-aimed blows, Naco and Asteria sent Jellal several meters away before vanishing with him again, tracing three bright lines across the huge room as they fought at high speed, crossing over and over again. However, it soon became clear that Jellal was far more experienced than they were when he managed to hit them without taking further damage, until he grabbed Asteria by the face and threw her at Naco, causing them both to crash to the ground.

"Jiu Leixing!"

Nine electric swords danced in the air, directed towards the two wizards on the ground, but Aki appeared in front of them and with several fast swings, she deflected all the blades. At the same time, Grady lunged at Jellal, using his gravity magic to reach him despite being quite high, however Jellal saw him coming and kicked him in the chest, being surprised when he saw him burst into a cloud of steam.

"Got you! Gravitational Blow!" with a fist wrapped in gray energy, the real Grady managed to hit Jellal from behind, knocking him across the room, causing him to shatter several crystals, causing some blue essence to be dispersed into the air.

"You punks...my tower! Eight years of work and you want to ruin everything?!" roared Jellal immediately rising to his feet with golden and dark energy swirling around his body "I'll kill you all now and then bring the great Zeref back to life!"

Looking to his right he saw Sylva attempting to go around him but he quickly caught up with her thanks to his speed, however when he hit her, she too vanished in a cloud of steam. Gritting his teeth in frustration, Jellal closed his eyes and focused on his surroundings, ignoring Grady and the others as they prepared to attack him again.

"Found you!" opening his eyes again, Jellal moved quickly around a large crystal and there he saw four Sylva, however he aimed with a kick between two of them and out of nowhere the real sorceress appeared and was swept away by the force of his blow, bouncing several times on the floor until Grady pinned her with his body.

"You okay?"

"Yes, but he hits really hard." groaned Sylva rubbing her right forearm, where a large bruise was already appearing "You have to hold him down so that others can attack him."

"You're not telling me anything new..."

"Watch out!" shouted Naco and both mages looked up just in time to see Jellal hurl a few bolts of energy at them, but Grady grabbed Sylva with one arm and lunged to the side, canceling gravity on them so they could get further away, landing close to others.

However, the five wizards did not have time to act as Jellal was already high up and with seven magical circles behind him, connected by a golden line "Be judged under the seven stars! Grand Chariot!"

Grady quickly raised his right hand "Naco!"

"On it!"

"Lightning Field! / Gravitational Dome!"

As seven rays of light fell upon them, a dome of electricity formed around the five wizards, which in turn was surrounded by a dome of distorted gravity, but when Jellal's attack hit their defenses, it spawned a violent explosion that shook the entire tower and all of them were blown away, while their opponent landed nearby, observing the room.

"It looks like I went a little too far. Further damage to the R-System would be troublesome." moving his gaze to the left, he saw Asteria already standing with a strange grin on her lips "Still alive?"

"You and I use the same magic, it will take something more powerful to defeat me." Asteria then raised her arms, crossing them over her head "You just said this place shouldn't be damaged any further, right?"

Jellal's eyes widened in shock before looking at her with hatred "You little punk! I'll show you the difference between you and me right away!" crossing his arms in the same way as Asteria did, Jellal again created a mini black hole above him while his opponent did the same, and when the two attacks were large enough, they hurled them at each other.

""Altairis!""

The two masses of dark energy collided in the center of the room causing a strong shock-wave but neither attack seemed to win, however after a few seconds of stalling, Jellal's Altairis began to push Asteria's one back.

At the same time, Aki was slowly getting up when she felt a strange sensation and, looking to her right, she saw that Naco had fallen beside her. The boy was sitting up, shaking his head and his left hand was on top of her katana, which was slowly absorbing his magical power.

"Ugh...my head...what the-hey!" Naco removed the hand from the blade "What the hell is that?!"

Aki didn't answer him, looking at his sword around which electric sparks now danced. Within seconds, a strange idea formed in her mind and the girl handed her weapon to Naco "Touch it again."

"Uh?"

"Touch it again. Kaimon is a cursed sword, it can absorb magical power to enhance my attacks. You have to pour as much magical power into it as you can!" explained Aki while Asteria's attack was on the verge of collapsing "Hurry up!"

For a moment Naco hesitated, as his magical power was now at its limit, but eventually he did as required and his electricity was soon absorbed by Aki's blade, which then ran towards the fight.

At that moment, Jellal's spell was able to prevail over Asteria's before exploding, knocking her several meters back. Panting for a few seconds, Jellal looked at the smokescreen generated by the fight "I hope you have finally understood the difference between us." however, his victory was short-lived as Aki popped out of the smoke with her electricity-pervaded blade pointed downward, which she quickly swung up while gripping the weapon in her left hand.

"Cursed-Sword Style; Sixth Form: Tonitruum!"

Time seemed to slow down as Jellal saw the blade getting closer and closer, and only thanks to his reflexes was he able to tilt his body back, receiving only a slight cut on his chest. However, Aki's attack was not yet over, because when her blade came to aim at the sky, the swordswoman let it go before rotating her torso and grabbing it with her right hand, initiating a downward slash. Now Jellal was out of her reach, but Aki still lowered the sword until it touched the floor and, the next second, his opponent's body glowed with electricity.

"What the-!" Jellal had no way of understanding what was happening, that a powerful bolt of lightning burst from the ground, electrocuting him and making him scream in pain.

'Luckily it worked.' thought Aki with a sigh, just before she was hit with a kick that sent her several meters away. Coughing from the impact, Aki staggered to her feet and saw Jellal with a furious look on his face.

"I've had enough of you insects! You delayed my plan too long! Now it's time to end it!"

With quick movements of his arms, he caused a series of explosions of energy that hit Aki, Naco and Sylva, causing them to collapse to the ground covered in wounds and burns. Asteria was still getting up after the previous attack, but Jellal appeared above her and crushed her head into the floor, creating a small crater, after which he turned to Grady and lunged at him.

"Stand still, will you!? Gravitatio-GAH!"

A violent elbow in the stomach made him vomit bile mixed with blood but Jellal continued to pound him until he saw him collapse to the ground. Looking around him, the blue-haired wizard gritted his teeth "Damn it! The magical power is already leaking from the Lacrima and the tower badly damaged. I must hurry to capture Erza and use her as a sacrifice. But first..." he jumped up and for the third time, crossed his arms over his head "I'll make sure you five die here and now! While destructive, this attack will not collapse the tower!"

A new strong current of air filled the room as the five wizards tried to get up and the black hole was created above Jellal, who watched them triumphantly "This is the end! Now die, you insec-UGH!"

A sudden stab of pain hit him in the left side, where Erza had hit him at the start of their fight 'It can't be...at that moment!?' his spell dispersed over him as his energies waned, but that was the least of his problems as two figures appeared before him and, much to his surprise, he saw Naco wrapped in his electricity with an arm around the waist of Aki, whose sword was filled with dark energy.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Naco and Aki on the ground, vanish in two clouds of steam, leaving only Sylva on the ground with a satisfied smile.

"You-!"

"Cursed-Sword Style; Third Form: Tartarus!"

A huge scythe of dark energy struck Jellal along with other blades, smashing him to the ground with a loud roar. Naco didn't even give him time to recover as he pointed his right arm towards where Jellal had fallen "Lightning Bolt!"

Still on the ground from the attack just suffered, Jellal was struck by a powerful lightning bolt that made him scream in pain as electricity went through his body, but his pain was not over yet because a few moments later he slammed his face against the floor, crushed by an unbearable gravity. With only his right eye visible, Jellal saw Grady nearby with both arms outstretched towards him and a victorious smile on his face "I told you to stay still."

Jellal wanted to scream at him, but his attention was captured by seven magical circles that formed above him, making him immediately guess what was about to happen.

"You won't stop me! I'll bring back Zeref and we'll create a nation of true freedom!"

"I'm sorry, but such a place seems awfully boring to me!" shouted Asteria before pointing her fingers at her target "Be judged under the seven stars! Grand Chariot!"

Seven beams of light struck Jellal, causing a violent explosion that destroyed much of the room. Moments of silence followed the explosion as the five wizards silently watched the cloud of smoke clear, until they saw their enemy, motionless on the ground, covered with horrible wounds. For some reason, Asteria took a small piece of crystal in her hand and threw it hitting Jellal in the head but he did not react in the least and only then did the girl fall to her knees.

"It's over..." said Sylva with a sigh "I can't believe we managed to stop him."

"Now we can go home!" replied Asteria with a grin "It had been a while since I had so much fun!"

Naco nodded at her while sitting on the ground "You're right about that."

"You are two maniacs." sighed Grady while removing the medallion from Jellal's neck "Now we also have a souvenir for the mistress, how about leaving?" but before anyone could answer him, the entire tower began to shake as pillars of light rose from the floor "What now?!"

"This tower is made entirely of Lacrima. All the power accumulated here is trying to get out due to the damage taken by the tower...this place is about to explode!" shouted Sylva looking around for a possible escape route.

"How can we stop it?" asked Naco with Aki and Asteria at his side "Should we destroy this place?"

"It's an idea, but we don't have the necessary power and I doubt we have much time left." Sylva then looked at Aki "Do you happen to know anything that could help us?"

Aki shook her head "I'm relatively new here, I just know that Jellal wanted to use this power along with Erza's body to resurrect Zeref. Maybe he wanted all this magic to flow into her body?"

Grady looked at the body of Jellal "We might as well try, maybe it won't be the right body but it could save us a few minutes. You run close to that hole in the wall, I have a plan!" and after lifting Jellal, he brought him close to a large crystal and placed him against it, noting how the Lacrima slowly began to absorb him. The tremors weren't slowing down and pieces of the tower were collapsing around them, so Grady ran to his guildmates "Jump!"

"What!?" Asteria looked at him with shocked eyes "This is your plan!?"

"Well dying crashing to the ground will be less painful than dying in an explosion." noted Naco while looking down.

"Sky!" a gray magic circle appeared below them as Grady activated his magic and they were all thrown skyward, away from the tower. Grady grabbed Asteria by the wrist while Sylva put her arms around his neck; Naco instead grabbed his leg holding Aki by the hand and all five saw the R-System change shape before starting to explode, only to become a tornado of magical energy that caused a violent shock-wave, knocking them even further away.

The huge Lacrima construction had completely vanished but they had no way of noticing it due to the speed at which they were traveling through the air. Luckily for them within minutes they saw the coast and Grady controlled his magic to make them land by the sea, before collapsing on the ground from the effort.

"That was...something."

"True...I don't want to repeat it ever again." said Sylva, letting herself fall on the sand to catch her breath.

Beside them, Naco's face was slightly green "I feel like throwing up..."

For a few minutes, no one spoke and all five wizards took the opportunity to recover their energy, until Aki got up and started walking away. Asteria noticed it first and turned the head towards her "Hey, where are you going?"

Aki stopped to look at her "Don't know. First I'll go find some decent clothes and then I'll start traveling again, although I don't know where I could go this time."

"Why not join us? We would like someone like you! You are very strong!"

The swordswoman raised an eyebrow "Aren't you a dark guild?"

"So what?"

Aki shrugged "Fair point, but I don't want to be tied to one place. I have to look for strong people to defeat and I have a certain dream to fulfill."

A feral grin appeared on Asteria's face "Did I mention that our guild is close to becoming Fiore's number one enemy? We may have to face the army, all the legal guilds and even the other dark guilds."

.

.

.

.

"I'm listening."

---

[Tulip Town / 8th October X784]

Lacrima Inc was one of the largest companies for the excavation, disposal, purification and sale of Lacrima. Its headquarters was located in the city of Crocus, but it had branches throughout the kingdom of Fiore and Bosco, and it was in one of these branches that the CEO of Lacrima Inc was located, intent on signing documents in his office.

He was a young man with short blond hair, green eyes and a calm smile on his lips, dressed in a smart white suit and matching shoes. Signing the latest documents, he placed the pen next to the papers and sighed, then glanced at the clock hanging on the wall; it was just after three in the morning, and yet he was still working.

"He should be here any minute now." and as soon as he had said those words, the door to his office opened, allowing entry to a man wrapped in a black cloak with a mask on his face. The CEO looked at him for a few seconds before standing up, a smile still on his face "Shirros, it's been a while. How are you doing?"

The masked wizard shook hands with the blonde before going to sit in front of his desk "Do we want to go to business immediately?"

"Sure sure, let me change first." said the man before touching the Lacrima set in a gold bracelet around his wrist. Under Shirros' calm gaze, the figure of the CEO changed radically, becoming that of a young man with slightly tanned skin, about five feet tall and with an athletic body. His hair was no longer blonde and neat, but messy black, with crimson red highlights on the front of the head and some bangs falling over his storm blue eyes, whose color stood out thanks to the obvious dark circles under them; lastly, on both ears were visible black stud earrings.

His elegant suit was gone, having left room for a plain gray zip-up hoodie sweatshirt, with the hood partially sitting on his head, which was open at the front, allowing Shirros to see a loose white v neck shirt. Going down, he wore a white belt holding his dark blue skinny jeans which were tucked in a pair of black combat boots.

"Now I feel better."

"I see that the Lacrima created using Sylva's power serves you well, Lorenzo." said Shirros with a small nod.

"Definitely yes, I doubt people would accept one with my looks as the company's CEO, even if I'm still better than all of them put together." said Lorenzo Villanueva, a.k.a. Willer Rovinor, CEO of Lacrima Inc. There was a rumor among the various mages of the guild that he was one of the most unlucky and lucky members at the same time; unlucky because he still had to maintain a facade of a famous businessman without being able to often participate in missions with the others, and lucky because he was currently really rich thanks to the earnings of the company founded by him, Shirros, Reveeina and other people years ago, even if a percentage of the money ended up in Shadow Soul's pockets anyway.

"After all, it is thanks to me that we found new veins in the mountains to the west, as well as near the shores of Bosco. Furthermore, the new project for a linked Lacrima system is giving good results, as expected from a project conceived by me."

"That's news Willer Rovinor can give the mistress. But what does Lorenzo Villanueva have to do with me?" asked Shirros with a calm voice "In the message we received, you mentioned a problem."

"That's right, and if it were something small I would have already dealt with it alone without telling you anything, but unfortunately the situation is delicate as far as I'm concerned." Lorenzo opened a drawer of his desk and pulled out a small map showing the port area of the city "Big load of explosive Lacrima, stored in one of our warehouses. They were supposed to leave yesterday morning for the kingdom of Seven on a big ship...and they did."

Shirros said nothing, giving him time to explain.

"The problem is that a group of mercenaries should have stormed the warehouse the night before and stole them all. I was able to deal with them for a good price, better than what I got by selling the Lacrima to the kingdom of Seven, not to mention that I would have earned a little more thanks to the insurance." Lorenzo leaned back against the back of his armchair "They were all found asleep near the warehouse yesterday morning, and subsequently arrested."

"Asleep."

"Asleep."

"..."

"No, I'm not a rookie. I did some research on them before and it had to be a job that was within their capabilities." Lorenzo crossed his arms over the chest, letting go of a long theatrical sigh "What prompted me to contact the guild is the fact that during the day they found some guards asleep near a tavern. Eyewitnesses outside the tavern said they saw them awake and lively, then began to dangle, yawn and then fall asleep on the ground."

"And the witnesses inside the tavern?"

"Fall asleep of course. Some of them, mostly delinquents, say they've also had hellish nightmares and no, it wasn't me." Lorenzo pointed to a spot near the docks "Latest find, a small group of cutthroats found asleep near the home of a wealthy businessman. Among their possessions, the request for murder of the aforementioned businessman, who has already left for Crocus with his family."

"A vigilante?"

Lorenzo shrugged "Hard to say. The only thing I know is that their magic causes people to fall asleep, which is the main reason why I contacted you."

"Right, your somniphobia."

(A.N: somniphobia causes extreme anxiety and fear at the thought of going to bed.)

Rising to his feet, Lorenzo went to the door "Shall we go? I'd rather settle this before returning to the guild or Crocus."

Shirros nodded before following him "Led the way."

Leaving the office, Lorenzo greeted his secretary telling her that she could safely go home to sleep (since his secretary was also a member of Shadow Soul, she asked no questions and left after greeting them both), after which he escorted Shirros out through an exit at the back. The two wizards began to walk until they reached the docks which fortunately were not very far away, finding themselves in the area dedicated to large warehouses.

"The mercenaries I was in contact with were found here. Any idea?"

Shirros looked around before creating a magic circle in front of him, from which two wolf skeletons emerged, enveloped in a purple aura with two eerie glows in the center of their orbits. The two skeletal animals sniffed the air for a few minutes before finding a trail and growling, then starting to move in that direction, with Shirros and Lorenzo behind them.

The trail of smell soon took them out of the harbor, into the slums of the city where mercenaries, drunks and all that kind of scum used to gather. Despite all the smells in the air, the two creatures of Shirros did not stop for a second, still attracting the attention of a few passersby, until they entered a series of narrow alleys. There the two wolves slowed to a stop, growling again and Shirros looked at his companion "Seems like our vigilante is near."

Having his summons dissolve, Shirros began to advance until they saw something incredibly unusual in the form of a giant orange pillow levitating off the ground, slowly moving towards them across the alley. The most peculiar thing, however, was the girl lying on her stomach on the pillow, and they could only see her medium-length, bright turquoise colored hair kept tied into two twin tails.

The pillow stopped about a dozen meters from them and the girl began to move before raising her head, showing her dark, blood red right eye, as the left one was covered with a lock of hair. Just like Lorenzo, she too had heavy dark circles which, however, stood out much more on her pale skin and it was evident that she had just woken up, given the confused and sleepy look. After a few seconds, she began to stretch in a cat-like way before kneeling on the pillow, showing them a white t-shirt with red shorts and two, differently styled white sandals.

"Who are you?" she asked while looking at Shirros "I could sense your magical power in my dreams."

'She could sense it? She has remarkable sensory powers if she was really asleep.' thought Shirros before gesturing to himself "I'm Shirros, and he's Lorenzo. Who are you instead?"

"Bonnie." was her quick reply, before yawning "Are you my enemy? Are you here to attack me?"

Shirros looked at Lorenzo for a second "I don't see why I should be your enemy or attack you."

"Good..." was all she said before she fell on her face into the pillow, instantly falling asleep.

"Did...did she really go back to sleep?" asked Lorenzo with a pale face. That girl was like an embodiment of his fear; not only could she, most likely, put others to sleep, but she could sleep anywhere without any discomfort. In his mind, that Bonnie was a terrifying girl.

"I guess so. Stay here." Shirros walked over to the sleeping girl and tapped her head with a finger "Are you the one who put several people to sleep in this area yesterday?"

"Zzz...zzz...zzz..."

He tapped her again "Can you hear me in your dreams?"

"Ngh...five more minutes dad..."

Okay the situation was getting awkward and weird, too weird "Are you hungry?"

Bonnie's stomach gave a slight growl and she rolled over on her back, raising her arms to grab something "Steak...fries...zzz...zzz..."

"I'll take that as a yes."

"Strange, I could have sworn she was in the mood for piZZZa..."

Shirros looked at Lorenzo, ignoring his horrible pun "Do you know any taverns we can go to now?"

"Do you really want to take her with us?" asked Lorenzo, looking at Bonnie with worried eyes "What if she decides to put us to sleep?"

"I am confident that we will be able to react in time. Led the way, please."

Bringing a hand to his face, Lorenzo arched his back and let out a long sigh "Such an abuse of power...how can I survive in such a world?"

Shirros said nothing. Experience had taught him that sometimes it was better to keep quiet.

Twenty minutes later, the three were inside a tavern frequented mostly by sailors, the occasional pirates, thieves and so on. Not the best place in the world, but as far as open premises were concerned, at four in the morning you could only find them in the slums. Lorenzo was sitting across the table from Bonnie, who was still lying on her pillow, and Shirros was between the two, with his arms crossed. After a few minutes the bartender, who was also the tavern manager, arrived with a large cup of coffee which he placed in front of Lorenzo, and a plate of french fries which he placed next to Bonnie, who was still asleep.

"Is she okay?"

"Of course not, she's sleeping." said Lorenzo while sipping his coffee "How can she feel good while she sleeps?"

The bartender leaned slightly towards Shirros before whispering "Is he okay?"

The masked mage didn't even look at him before handing him some jewels "No more questions. If anyone were to ask, you didn't see us."

"Very well sir." the bartender nodded before walking back behind the counter.

"Now, can you hear me?" asked Shirros while looking at Bonnie, whose arm was dangling from the pillow in an attempt to reach for the fries. With a sigh, Shirros mover the plate toward her, thus allowing her to grab some and finally her red eyes returned to look at him; the right one at least.

"Yes...but I'm tired..."

Lorenzo stared at her with incredulous eyes "How...?"

"My magic...Sleep Magic, makes me sleep more." she explained, eating the french fries with unspeakable slowness "But I can fight and do several things while sleeping."

"Why are you here?" asked Shirros "You don't look like a killer to me, yet you put several people to sleep yesterday. If it was you, of course."

She nodded "Some people wanted to bother me, I put them to sleep and left."

'Scary...' thought Lorenzo while keeping his eyes on her.

"I've been wandering for a few weeks, after leaving my crew."

"Your crew? Were you a pirate?"

Bonnie nodded before closing her eyes but Shirros snapped his fingers in front of her face "Yes! Yes...pirate, on the Bonnie. My father was the captain but he died, so I decided to start traveling, but I let my dreams and my pillow guide me."

"So you ended up here by accident and you have nowhere to go." Shirros concluded as alarm bells started ringing in Lorenzo's head.

Bonnie nodded at him.

"Since you were a pirate, have you killed someone yet?"

"Yes, I killed some people during our raids. Put to sleep and deprived of their vitality with my magic."

The cup in Lorenzo's hand began to shake as other alarm bells began to ring.

"If you want to find a place to sleep in peace you can join us in our guild if you want. We're a dark guild, but there shouldn't be any problems given your past." offered Shirros with a calm voice, ignoring Lorenzo's shocked eyes "Many missions take us around the whole kingdom."

Bonnie closed her eyes for a few seconds before opening them again "Will I be able to sleep when and where I want?"

"I don't see why not."

"A moment please!" Lorenzo slammed his cup on the table "Bonnie, please go to sleep!"

"Zzz...zzz...zzz..."

"That was fast...anyway, Shirros are you really sure about this? She doesn't seem suitable!"

Shirros shrugged "Why not? We have stranger elements in the guild, and the mistress has told us to keep our eyes and ears open for any recruits. I know that you are fearful because of her magic, it is not said that you will have to follow her at the beginning. There's me, Reina and Atonnis for that."

Lorenzo had no way of answering him due to screams coming from outside the tavern "I know you're in there, little girl! Come out now and your death will be quick and painless!" the two wizards turned to the door and saw in the street a big bald man surrounded by a dozen henchmen "Five of my boys couldn't get the job done because a brat on a pillow put them to sleep! You have to pay for this affront!"

Lorenzo looked at them with a raised eyebrow "I think they are the companions of the cutthroats who were supposed to kill that businessman."

"No answer huh?! Then this place will be your grave!" two magic circles appeared in front of his hands which turned into strange five-barreled rifles, while his minions took up their firearms and took aim "The brat is in there! Nobody has to go out! Fire!"

A hail of bullets hit the tavern, destroying the windows and instantly killing the closest customers, while Shirros and Lorenzo threw themselves behind the bar counter, which luckily was lined with metal. However, looking up they saw that Bonnie's pillow was moving slowly towards them, being missed by sheer miracle by the bullets. Raising their arms, they grabbed it before dragging the pillow down, noticing that Bonnie was still sleeping.

"I thought she was heavier...must be a light sleeper." said Lorenzo, almost not hearing the bullets bouncing off the bar counter.

"Not now." growled Shirros, preparing to use his magic to kill those assassins, but Bonnie started waking up at that moment, staring at the ceiling with an annoyed look.

"Too much noise..." turning her head slightly, she saw some bottles placed on some high shelves that survived the assault of bullets, and in their reflection she could see the leader of those gunslingers. Both Lorenzo and Shirros felt the magical power within her and, after a few seconds, the hail of bullets stopped due to the leader of the group starting to stagger, shaking his head.

"W-What is going on? I feel so tired..."

He tried to resist the sleepiness, but Bonnie used a greater amount of magical power to finally make him collapse to the ground asleep, then placed a hand on the ground and, at the same instant, a magic circle appeared below him "Nightmare."

A pillar of dark energy burst out of the magic circle, without however causing any damage to the boss of the gang, who however began to fidget on the ground, screaming in fear with a red stigma on his chest.

"No! NO! NO! Get away from me! GET AWAY FROM ME!"

Deciding to take advantage of the distraction caused by Bonnie's spell, as the other killers had also stopped firing, Lorenzo leapt over the bar with his right fist wrapped in a red aura. However, instead of trying to attack someone, he hit himself in the face, causing the red glow to fade "Fear Adrenaline!"

The next instant, he shot out and before his opponents could reload, he was on top of them.

"Fear Claw!"

Raising his right hand, he enveloped her in a maroon aura that transformed his hand into a scaled claws, with which he slashed the chest of the nearest enemy. Instead of making sure that he died, Lorenzo immediately launched himself at the others, moving with a speed they could not follow, taking his attacks without having a way to defend themselves, and those who were wounded by his claws saw wild beasts appear in front of them ready to tear them to pieces.

None of them cared for their injuries and, from an external point of view, they seemed to be in severe hallucinations, until one after another, they died screaming in pools of their own blood, with their boss who was last killed when Lorenzo pierced his heart with his claws.

With a flick of the wrist, he dissolved his claws, but then Lorenzo heard several beats of wings and in no time he was surrounded by a flock of bats. The boy started waving his arms to chase them away, trying to protect himself until someone grabbed his right wrist.

Shirros released a burst of magical energy that wiped out any bats, even though he didn't know they were actually there. Behind him came Bonnie, who looked at Lorenzo with a confused look "What was that?"

From her point of view, she had seen Lorenzo kill the last enemy and then start waving his arms, as if something was attacking him, yet neither she nor Shirros had seen anything.

"A downside of my magic..." said Lorenzo, feeling incredibly tired "Fear Claw forces me to relive one of my fears every time I use it."

"Do you need help? A good night's sleep might help you."

"NO! No I'm fine!" Lorenzo raised both hands "Really, I'm fine!"

"Are you sure?" asked Shirros "From what I remember, Fear Adrenaline drains your energy quickly."

"That's true but I can still walk, no problem." replied Lorenzo, with a forced smile "When I'm tired I always give my best."

Shirros remained silent without pressing him further. He had known him for four years and knew how he reacted to his fears, which also accounted for his panicked behavior due to Bonnie's presence. Speaking of the girl, he turned to her "So are you going to come with us?"

The alarm bells rang once again in Lorenzo's head.

"Okay...it might be fun...but now I'm tired." she slowly closed her eyes "Zzz...zzz...zzz..."

Shirros looked at his guildmate "I guess we just have to take her to the guild. Are you coming too Lorenzo?"

Said boy sighed before nodding "Yes, I need to cook to relax a bit. I'll tell my secretary to use a clone of mine for tomorrow's appointments."

The masked wizard nodded before turning to walk away, but then he felt like something was slowing him down. Looking left, he saw Lorenzo look first at him then at something behind him, the corners of his lips slowly rising. Facing ahead again, Shirros let out a long sigh "She grabbed my cloak."

Lorenzo quickly covered his mouth with one hand to suppress a laugh, nodding to his question. Turning completely, Shirros looked at Bonnie lying on her side with the corner of his cloak in her arms. It almost looked like her pillow was a balloon attached to him.

The strange moment was abruptly interrupted when a male voice shouted "Hey you!"

Turning to the source of the voice, Shirros and Lorenzo saw a dark tanned young boy with ice-blue eyes and black hair slicked back, with white tips. The newcomer was looking at them with a confident smile on his face "I have seen what you have done. Good shit I want to be part of it too! Name's Lycorian Nightingale but you can call me Cory!"

.

.

.

.

"Can we trade him for Bonnie?"

"No."

"It was worth a try."

TO BE CONTINUED...

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Hello everyone, SoImAWriterSoWhat here for you. Did you like this chapter? I really hope so. We got to know two (three) more OCs, some more than others, and we will get to know the others in future chapters!

First of all, I want to apologize for the long wait of two months, but between work and vacation (and writer's block) I have not been able to proceed very quickly, however I hope that 40 pages of chapter are enough to forgive me! As said, I hope you enjoyed it!

The story arc of the Tower of Heaven underwent several changes but ultimately Jellal lost anyway! Hope the changes have been to your liking! Fresh stuff regarding the final part of the chapter, but don't worry, in the next chapter we will start from Shirros and the others!

Since we are now reaching the end of the OCs to be presented (except last minute registrations) I remind you all that if you see an OC suitable for yours (as regards the love story) let me know! I will tell you if any ship can sail or not!

As always let me know if your OC is rendered well, so that I can modify something or continue to use it that way!

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Users who have yet to submit their character:

- News Boss

- MakeMeOrBreakMe

- vanillard

- gfxfgh48

- Flaming Fate Zero

- NitroTheKidd88 (two OCs)

- Kage kitsune of light

- LuciferXIII Trollkaiger Green

- Luigi the Dusk

The list above is not to rush people, but just to show how many people are participating, or want to participate in the fic; if all these OCs are accepted I will be very close to closing the applications with a total of 18 OCs.

That's all for this chapter. I hope this story interests you and leads you to show your dark side with this guild! I await your reviews and your OCs. See you soon!