Chapter 16: The Battle Begins

"We're taking out Crimson Thorn today. Count it!"

"AAAAAALRIGHT!!! I'M ALL FIRED UP NOW!" Natsu hollered with a feral grin, leaping off the couch and igniting fists. "LET'S GO KICK THEIR ASSES!"

"When you put it like that, I can't help but get a little pumped up. Let's do it." Gray rubbed the back of his head with a smirk.

"Me too. I'm in!" Cana pumped her fists, smiling.

"Wherever you go, I'll be right there." Erza nodded.

"What they all said," Mira shrugged her shoulders.

Maiya trembled, overwhelmed with emotions. She took a moment to collect herself before smiling and standing to her feet. "Alright! Let's do this!"

"Right. First things first, though..." I sighed, looking around with a tense expression. "Erza, everyone. Can you... give us all a minute?"

Erza blinked, squinting in confusion before realization flashed in her eyes. She nodded and stood up, walking out the house. "Come on, everyone."

Natsu and Gray shared confusion looks but didn't want to test Erza's patience, so they reluctantly followed with Cana and Mira close behind. That left me, Pip, Maiya, and the others alone. All eyes were on me. Maiya appeared confused. "What is it, Taruko? We don't have all day."

"I know, just-" I wet my lips, trying to muster up the words. "Listen... I'm-"

"Whatever you're gonna say, save it." Lance cut me off with a harsh tone. "We don't need some half-assed apology."

I flinched and grimaced. Maiya shot Lance a disapproving look as Pip spoke up. "Hey! Taruko came back to help you guys! You don't have to be so mean?! Aren't you friends?"

"Friends? Friends don't abandon each other and leave their sister behind like nothing." Lance looked me in the eyes, his expression cold. "You picked a convenient time to pull up when we're knee deep in shit and Sachi is gone. You think an apology is gonna make up for that?"

"Lance," Maiya spoke up cautiously. "That's enough."

"I don't think it is, Maiya." Lance growled, pointing at me furiously. "He DITCHED us! His own friends like we were nothing! And for what?! Doesn't give a damn about our feelings in the matter at all, and then shows up like nothing happened?!"

He glared at me. "Wanna know what I woke up to? Your little sister on my doorstep crying, asking where her brother went. My Gramps took her in because our family was close. Everyday she'd ask where you were, and we had to give half-assed answers. I could tell each time her hope continued to die."

"Lance..."

"At some point I started to question... 'where is he'. 'Why did he leave?'. And for the life of me, I can't FATHOM why you'd make some brainless decision like that! Frankly, I don't care anymore. What's done is done. But don't think a simple apology will fix any of this!"

"Lance!!"

"WHAT?!"

Silence engulfed the house. I stood there rigid, clenching my sweating hands nervously as Maiya and Lance gave each other heated looks. I swallowed the lump in my throat and closed my eyes, taking in a breath.

"Yeah. You're right. An apology won't fix any of this."

Their gaze turned to me. I stared Lance in the eyes with a frown. "But Ginger Village getting attacked isn't my fault. So don't word it or paint it like I'm part of the problem. Sachi being gone is my fault, though, and it's eating me up inside every minute knowing she's out here alone. But right now, I need to focus on what's in front of me currently. And that means helping save my home."

Lance stared at me in silence and clicked his tongue, pushing himself off the wall and stepping outside the house. I sighed tiredly, feeling the tension leave my shoulders. My gaze slowly shifted to Maiya, Boota, and Nala.

"You guys got anything to say, or did he speak for you?"

"... you already know my stance, Taruko." Maiya said softly. "I'm not mad at you for leaving. Maybe at some point I did, but not anymore."

"... more important things to worry about. No time to be angry at you." Nala murmured softly, staring at me with blank eyes. She nodded briefly. "Glad you came, though..."

Boota scratched the back of his head and shrugged his shoulders. "Yeah. I'm sure you had your reasons for leaving, even if I might not agree with them - but it hardly matters right now. We've got more pressing matters." he waved at me as I walked out the house. "If you wanna make it up to us, you can start but helping with taking these guys out as promised."

I felt my lips curl up into a small smile, watching as Nala followed him out the door. "Right."

Pip huffed. "Hmph. I don't like that Lance guy."

I smiled sheepishly and Maiya sighed. "Lance... he's been on edge ever since Crimson Thorn arrived. Especially since... they took Mr. Miyamoto hostage."

Our eyes widened. "What?"

Didn't know THAT tidbit...

Maiya nodded somberly, gazing out the window. "After Mr. Miyamoto was defeated, there weren't many people that could defend the village. He was taken hostage soon after... the one who defeated him was Kaiser. Every day for the past year, Lance has challenged that man to a battle to free grandfather... and he lost every time."

"I think that's what's eating him up the most. His past grievances with you are just adding to the pile."

I frowned, running my hand through my hair and groaning. "This just gets more and more complicated..."

Maiya smiled tiredly. "Tell me about it..."

"... in any case, let's get moving. We've wasted enough time as is."

"Right."

"Mmm." Pip pouted. "I don't like him..."

"Lance isn't a bad guy, Pip." I said, following Maiya out the house. "He's definitely different from how I remember, though..."

Mira turned to us as we stepped out, arching a brow. "Finally done? Good. I'm tired of standin' around."

"Yeah." I nodded and walked ahead of the group. "Let's go."

"Aw, yeah~! This is gonna be awesome~!" Natsu cheered, thrusting his fists into the air.

As the others followed, Lance went to do the same. However, he paused, noticing Erza staring at him intently. He furrowed his brows and squinted at the girl. "The hell are you staring at me for?"

"You're wrong about him."

Her words threw him for a loop, as he blinked in surprise. Her tone laced with firm conviction and belief, and her brown irises glittering with a smoldering intensity. Erza spun on her heel and walked ahead, following after the group to catch up.

"And he'll prove you wrong today."

Lance stared at Erza's retreating back. Had she heard their spat? That means the rest of them must've but never said anything. Not that he cared. He supposed he was rather vocal about the entire ordeal...

'Not that it matters...' Lance scoffed, his expression turning blank as he rested a hand on the pommel of one of his katana, walking down the same path as the rest of the group. 'The only thing I care about is cutting out enemies down.'

X-X-X-X-X-X

"... we'll have to make a break through the forest to reach around Silver Mountain. No doubt the Four Pillars and Matriach are holed up there."

Our group were making a break for Silver Mountain. Most of us could have easily made it their faster with Reinforcement, but we didn't want to leave anyone behind in case we got jumped by Crimson Thorn on the way there. The edge of the forest was in sight.

"Do you know their magic? We know of Kaiser's being something related to explosions, but the others..." Erza trailed off.

Nala shook her head regretfully. "... only other one we have an idea about is Orochi. We're pretty sure he's set up the spell around the forest and has some sort of Wood Magic. Or at least... Nature Magic in some way."

"Well, he'll stand no chance when I burn it all to a crisp!" Natsu grinned.

"Not if I freeze 'em first." Gray shot back.

"PFT! As if! Just stay back while I take on Crimson Thorn, stupid perv! You'll only drag us down!"

"HUH?! I should be saying that to you, you damn pyromaniac!"

"Guys, this is NOT the time to be fighting!" Cana chided with an exasperated glower.

Boota chuckled, sparing me a glance. "Quite the rowdy group you've put together."

I smiled. "Yeah, but I wouldn't want anyone else to watch my back."

And that was the truth. There was no guild better than Fairy Tail when it came to working as a team; despite how chaotic and disorganized we may seem.

Lance scoffed. "Seems like a group of tactless idiots to me..."

I stared at him blankly. "Talk about pot calling the kettle black, don'tcha think?"

"The hell did you say?!"

"... I'm smelling a large swell up of magic!" Pip shouted in alarm, grabbing everyone's attention.

We looked ahead in shock to see several individuals in black cloaks with a red thorn like cross emblazoned on the fabric stepped out of the shadows at the edge of the forest. As we neared it, my senses tingled and magic began to surround the groups bodies, illuminating the area with dense ethernano. Everyone was set on edge, readying their weapons and magic.

"Crimson Thorn?! They're here?!" Maiya hissed in surprise.

"Did they somehow know we were gonna show up?" Mira muttered in confusion.

My face became tense. 'That Schneider guy was apart of Crimson Thorn... no doubt he told the rest about us and what we planned to do. It's the only explanation!'

"Whatever the case is, get ready. They're about to charge up a spell!" Erza barked, summoning a sword into her hand.

As we neared the glowing cultists, they thrust their hands outwards, several magic circles spawned beneath our feet. I felt the energy in the air spark and swell with overwhelming power. Fuck...!

"WE NEED TO MOVE-!"

"SPATIAL MAGIC: SCATTERED TRANSPORTATION!"

Their words echoed with a static crescendo. Time slowed to a crawl as I looked at the others, their eyes widened slowly in shock. My heart thumped in my chest loudly and I gripped onto my sword for strength, gritting my teeth in frustration as I felt my feet leave the ground.

'Fuck.'

The world was engulfed in a blinding flash of white light, followed by muffled screams of alarm from my friends.

X-X-X-X-X-X

"WAAAAAAHAHAHAHAHAH!!!!!!!!!!"

*BOOM!!!

A flash of light appeared over the night sky, spitting out three blues. They plummeted towards the ground and crashed, kicking up a plume of dirt and dust. A series of groans rumbled out the throats of the three boys as they pushed themselves up to their feet.

"What the heck was that...?" Natsu groaned, cradling his head.

"Spatial Magic... Teleportation, I think. That's some high level stuff." Gray grumbled, nursing his back. "Crimson Thorn's got some serious wizards under their belt if they know something like that."

Boota paused, looking around in shock. "So we were split up? Then... where are we...?!"

Looking around, the three found themselves standing in an open cave system that was hollowed out, looking more like a crater than anything else. There was no ceiling, revealing the full moon in all of it's radiance shining down on them. Pillars of jagged rock pointed towards it.

"Far from your friends, that's for sure."

A lazy voice put the three on high alert, whirling around to see a young teen only a few years older than themselves lounging on a rock, chewing on a piece of bone.

Natsu narrowed his eyes and growled. "Who the heck are you?!"

Sweat rolled down Gray's brow. 'This magic... I can feel the aura from all the way over here!'

"That's... one of the Four Pillars!" Boota whispered in shock.

Eiji kicked himself off the rock and rolled his shoulders, scratching at his unruly hair. "Such a drag... I could be spending my time sleeping, but the Matriach's orders come first, I guess." he lowered his hand, an intense aura of magical energy surrounding his body. "I'm Eiji, if that means any thing. And you three..."

His eyes glowed.

"Are my prey."

X-X-X-X-X-X

At the edge of Ginger Village near the mines, a blinding flash of light encompassed the area. As the light faded, Cana and Nala stumbled on their feet, gathering their wits. The Card Mage shook her head, her bangs bouncing with the motion as she blinked owlishly and looked around.

"Where... where are we? What happened?"

Nala narrowed her eyes, pulling her bow off her back. "... Spatial Magic. Split us up."

Cana blinked and groaned in frustration. "Ugh... that's just great! But that doesn't explain where we are!"

"... Mines. Collects special Nichirin Ore. Pride of the village." Nala muttered softly.

Cana stared at Nala blankly. "I dunno what that is."

Looking around, she frowned at the eerie feeling the place gave off. Sighing, she turned back to Nala and nodded. "Well, let's hurry and regroup with the others! We can't stay split up like this!"

Nala nodded silently, agreeing with Cana's notion. However; before they could leave-

"You won't be going anywhere, unfortunately~!"

The two spun around, clutching their deck and bow respectively as an eerie girl seemed to appear from thin air, followed by ghostly whispered that seemed to gravitate around her. Momiji's eyes glowed dimly as a creepy smile spread across her lips, and she let out an airy giggle.

"But that's okay! You can play with me instead~!"

X-X-X-X-X-X

As the light faded, my feet touched the ground and my body was immediately assaulted by sweltering heat. I gasped in surprise, looking around to find myself standing in a rocky cavern covered in molten rock, fire, and lava. The next thing I noted was how much ethernano was densely packed into one area. The feeling was suffocating, which only made me sweat even more.

'So much magic... where the hell are we?!'

"Too hot..." Pip whined on my shoulder. I Instinctively generated some wind around our bodies to cool us off some. The rabbit let out a soft sigh. "Much better..."

"Ugh..."

We turned to see Lance lying on his back, slowly regaining consciousness. I frowned in concern. "You okay?"

His eyes snapped open sharply and he was on his feet in an instant, glowering at me for a moment before gasping in surprise and looking around. "What the hell?! Maiya! Boota! Nala! Where are you guys?!"

"Not here." my gaze drifted over the area, eyeing the lava seeping through the cracks of molten rock. "Those guys used Spatial Magic back there, so I can only assume that they knew we were coming and orchestrated a plan to split us up, cutting our numbers and overall power in half, and taking us out one by one."

"You're spot on, kid."

Standing on a nearby pillar, stood a tall man with spikey blonde hair. Lance's reaction was immediate and volatile. I senses his magic spike up in response to his magic as he exploded from his spot and lunged at the man, one of his katana's singing through the air.

*CLANG!!!

His katana crashed against the man's oddly shaped 'sword". Metal grinding against metal and setting off sparks. Lance growled ferally, pushing against him. "KAISER! YOU BASTARD!"

"Hello to you too, kid." Kaiser snarked, shoving Lance back with his raw strength.

I narrowed my eyes and unsheathed my sword. "So you're Kaiser, huh..."

"I can smell his magic even through the ethernano flooding the area." Pip whispered, her body shivering against me slightly. "He's scary strong!"

"We're standing in an Ether Zone. Areas that have become saturated with ethernano over the years. Silver Mountain has several. They're incredibly dangerous to ordinary individuals, you see. Only Wizards can traverse them safely, and even then, most aren't capable of coming out alive."

Schneider's voice echoed through the cavern as he stepped out from behind Kaiser, smirking at us and pushing up his glasses.

I growled. "Kaiser..."

The assassin pulled out his sickles and chuckled, stepping past Kaiser and approaching us. "Hello, brat. You seem to be looking lively! But don't worry, I'll cut you up good this ti-"

"Requip, Sonic Sword: Silfarion." I calmly intoned, bending my knees. Pip hopped off my shoulder. "Sword Saint Style."

Silfarion appeared in my hands and I rocketed forward before he could react. In the span of a second, I'd already performed 20 slashes across his body. Bloody gashes exploded from his body in tiny cuts; with the man letting pained gasp before crumbling to the floor.

"Sky Dance."

Kaiser arched a brow in surprise. 'Hoh?'

Lance blinked in shock. 'I could barely track his movements, there! What the hell is that sword...?!' he grit his teeth. 'He's gotten stronger...!'

Dismissing Silfarion into my Requip space, I flexed my hand and huffed, turning to stare at Kaiser in silence. Schneider wasn't much. He didn't have anything in terms of magic power. He was surprisingly fast and cunning despite that, though. Still, he'd only got close to killing me and Natsu because he'd drugged us beforehand. Beyond that, he isn't much of a threat overall. I wouldn't make the same mistake of underestimating him again.

In hindsight, the red flags were obvious with that guy.

In any case... we've got bigger fish to fry.

"So you're Kaiser, huh?" I muttered softly, wind swirling around my body. "Okay."

Lightning danced through the air as I twirled my sword in my hands. I noticed Lance slowly walking up to stand next to me from peripheral.

I smirked.

"In honor of Mr. Miyamoto, I'm gonna kick your ass."

X-X-X-X-X-X

"Where... where is everyone!?!"

Back at the forest's edge, Erza, Mirajane, and Maiya stood alone against several Crimson Thorn members, their eyes widening in shock and horror as their friends and allies disappeared in a blinding flash of light. They'd hadn't anticipated that they would know Spatial Magic of any kind. Or that they'd intercept them before they could even reach the Four Pillars... this set them back several steps.

Maiya shook her head, dread filling her. "This... this is bad...!"

The cloaked figures began charging various forms of magic and unsheathing weapons of varying quality. Which only made the feeling in her stomach worse.

Erza narrowed her eyes. "So their goal was to separate us, huh?"

Mirajane scoffed, rolling her shoulders. "Tsk, whatever. We'll still kick their asses and those Four Pillar assholes!"

"Don't try to hold me back, you flat-chested harlot."

"I should be telling you that, you tin-can wearing broad!"

Maiya watched in surprise as Erza and Mirajane stepped forward without fear or hesitation, approaching what looked like an endless army of Wizards. She shook her head in disbelief.

'How... how are they not afraid? Our friends could be who knows where?! Or worse! How can they...?!'

"You just going to stand there with your thumbs up your ass?"

Mirajane's harsh words snapped Maiya out of her thoughts. Maiya stuttered as Erza shook her head at Mirajane's crass mouth. "Our friends are strong. Wherever they are, they will be fine. No amount of pain would hurt more than us not placing our faith in them... so!"

Erza and Mirajane flared their magic power, grinning fiercely. "We'll blaze a trail for them to catch up!"

Maiya stared at the two girls in shock, her fear momentarily forgotten. 'They aren't scared... because they trust in their friends strength, and their own.'

Her mind flashed back to when she was smaller, staring at the back of two boys who butt heads a lot but strived for the same thing: mastering the way of the sword. Both of them were confident in their strength. They hardly ever felt fear. They pushed on with smiles on their faces...

She wanted to be confident like them. Like these girls.

Gulping, Maiya pulled her sword and shield off her back and stepped forward to stand alongside Erza and Mirajane. "... Right!"

The three charged forward. Erza was the first to engage, raising her blade and coating it in ethernano. She narrowed her eyes and dashed forward, cutting down to Crimson Thorn cultists before they could even hope to fire off their spells. She twisted around and cleaved a ball of water in half. "Mana Edge allows me to cut through your spells like tissue paper. That won't work!"

Mana Edge was a recent spell Erza had developed. Deriving from Mana Burst, Mana Edge allowed Erza to enhance cutting edge of her blades and even extend their reach by coating them in a layer of highly condensed ethernano. Making it the perfect spell to counter a wide range of offensive spells.

"MOVE OUTTA THE WAY!! DARKNESS MAGIC: DEMON BLAST!" Mirajane jumped into the center of the crowd, charging a sphere of dark energy in between her hands and unleashing it in a burst of raw, magical power. The goth girl let out a manic laugh, grabbing a cultist by the neck and using them as a blunt weapon to knock aside some more goons that tried to sneak up on her. "How do 'ya like that, you freaky cult bastards?!"

"These kids are monsters! What the hell is wrong with them!?"

"Prepare another Scattered Transportation spell!"

'Oh no you don't!' Maiya narrowed her eyes, rushing towards the Spatial Wizards and holding her sword out. "Metal-Make: Giganto Blade!"

As Maiya swung her sword, the blade shined with magical energy and increased in size, transforming into a massive buster sword mid-swing, knocking the Spatial Wizards aside and sending them flying with pained cries. Mirajane, who was close by, had to leap out of the way to avoid getting struck. "Woah!"

The Take-Over Wizard let out a whistle, smirking. "Not bad~! So you use Molding Magic?"

Maiya nodded, her sword returning to normal. "Metal-Make Magic. Although at my current level I need a source of metal to perform any of my spells."

"Interesting. I suspected there were other forms of Molding Magic besides Ice, but to see it in person is another thing entirely." Erza kicked a man in the jaw, sending him sprawling. "The only other Molding Magic I did see was someone who manipulated Earth."

"Interesting-"

Vines the size of trees erupted from the ground, forcing the girls to backpedal as the remaining Crimson Thorn members were all caught in the crossfire. The vines began to twist and coil, moving unnaturally and lashing out at anything that got near it. The screams of the cultists were silenced as they were crushed or encased by the vines. Maiya let out a horrified gasp as a familiar silhouette stepped out of the shadows, the vines parting to give the figure a path to walk.

"You girls are a lot more skilled than I gave you credit it for..."

Orochi hummed, his voice soft and gentle like wind chimes. His gaze swept over the three as he tucked his hands into his silky green robes. "However, I'll be putting an end to this rebellious streak now."

"Orochi the Whisperer." Maiya muttered in horror.

"This is the guy, huh?" Mirajane blinked, placing a hand on her hip and raising a delicate brow. "... this guy looks like a total pansy!"

Orochi sputtered, his eyes widening in shock. "P-Pansy?!"

Erza stared at him blankly. "I feel as though a simple gust of wind would knock him over."

"You rude little brats!"

Maiya sweat-dropped, grimacing sheepishly. "Can we not aggravate one of the people that's tormented my village?"

Mirajane chuckled, clenching her fists as her magic began to swell up. "Right. So you're one of the guys that have been causing so much trouble, then. In that case, we should go all out."

Erza dismissed her sword and nodded, narrowing her eyes. "Nothing short of our best will take him down."

Maiya blinked. "Eh?"

Orochi narrowed his eyes silently.

"Take Over: Satan Soul!"

"Requip, The Knight: Flame Empress Armor!"

Magical energy exploded from their bodies. A maelstrom of malevolent energy swirled around Mirajane as her body transformed. The band keeping her ponytail together snapped, her hair spiking upwards as her forearms and hands became covered in scales, which soon became covered by a pair of gauntlets. A large, stocky tail protruded from her backside and her ears became pointed. Her outfit was covered by a dark one piece suit that revealed her arms and legs. As the storm of darkness dissipated, Mirajane grinned feral, punching her palm with her clawed fist.

A plume of fire briefly encompassed Erza, surrounding her in smoldering heat. A new set of armor covered her body, predominantly dark orange in color with black and red accents, designed with flame patterns that left her shoulders and legs exposed, and her hair done up in twin tails. A large red sword appeared in her hands, radiated a similar heat. The young swordswoman swiped her blade through the air, dismissing the swirling flames.

Maiya's eyes widened in surprise. 'Amazing...! Such magic power!'

Orochi arched a brow, humming. "Rather... drab for a pair of young ladies like yourselves to be wearing. Hmph, still, it won't be enough to defeat me." he smiled, spreading his arms out. "Strike me if you wish! It matters little!"

Mirajane scowled. "This bastard is underestimating us!"

Erza raised her sword, her face scrunching up with a look of determination. "Then let's prove him wrong!"

Maiya inhaled through her nose, stepping forward to stand by them. Her sword and shield changing shape and transforming into a pair of large spiked gauntlets. "Metal-Make: Iron Fists!"

Exchanging a silent look, all three girls nodded at one another before charging towards Orochi with a valiant battle cry. All the while, the man wore a pleasant smile on his face, the vines behind him twisting at lunging at his attackers to intercept them. Erza shot forward like a rocket, flames wreathing her sword as she swung her blade and cut through the vines like ribbons.

"HAAAAAAAAAH!!!" Erza dug her feet into the ground, swinging her Flame Empress Sword at Orochi and unleashing a large goust of fire towards him. "Flame Magic: Purgatory Slash!"

Orochi smiled, a cocoon of wood surrounding himself to shield himself. Erza gasped in shock as her flames splashed against the surface of the wood, yet seemed to do no visible damage to it. "My flames didn't burn it?!"

"Your strategy was sound. In a battle of elemental attributes, your Flame Magic would typically beat someone like myself." the cocoon split open to reveal Orochi's smiling face. "However, with enough training, you can circumvent those weaknesses! I've never seen such a unique brand of Requip Magic... SHOW ME MORE!"

"Green Magic: Mother Nature's Fury!"

"GAH!!!" Erza grit her teeth, placing her sword in front of herself to block a massive fist made entirely out of wood. As she was knocked back a couple dozen feet, Mirajane swooped in from the air and charged at Orochi.

"Getting sloppy, Erza~!" Mirajane jested, roaring as she dove in and drop kicked Orochi. The man used his magic to block with a pair of vines. Mirajane snarled and tore them to shreds with her claws, lunging at him. "Nice try!"

"Hm." Orochi leaned back as she swiped his claws at him, tearing at his robes. His eyes narrowed in dissatisfaction and he flicked his wrist. "Green Magic: Briar Barrage."

A torrent of thorn-covered vines exploded from the ground, suddenly ensaring Mirajane. She gasped in pain as the thorns dug into her skin before growling and unleashing an explosive wave of dark energy to knock the vines back. She formed a sphere of energy in her hands and fired it at Orochi in the form of a condensed beam of darkness.

"Darkness Magic: Evil Cannon!"

Orochi silently conjured another Briar Barrage to intercept the blast. As their spells clashed, Maiya appeared behind Orochi, clenching her armored fists and throwing a wild haymaker with a roar. Orochi took noticed and raised an arm to block the strike, his body rocking backwards. Without wasting a single breath, Maiya lunged at him again. He snapped his fingers.

"Green Magic: Wood Serpent." a familiar swarm of massive wooden snakes appeared from the underbrush, baring their fangs and lunging at the blacksmith.

"Flame Magic: Unknowing Fire!" Erza swooped in with a swift forward slash, decapitating the snakes with a stream of fire. She glared at Orochi and coated her Flame Empress Sword in ethernano, flames roaring as she performed a powerful, horizontal slasn. "Mana Edge x Mana Burst: RENGOKU!"

*FWOOOOSH!!!

A massive geyser of fire engulfed Orochi, incinerating the vines and wood of the surrounding air. Erza, Mirajane, and Maiya leapt away from the roaring inferno, watching in tense silence as the flames crackled. With bated breath, they watched as a large spire of twisting wood rocketing into the air, forming into a massive tree as flowers blossomed on the outstretched branches.

Orochi dusted off his shoulders, smiling. "Ah. Now that is some interesting magic! For such young Wizards, you three show great promise. Must we really fight? I'm sure the Matriach could find some room for you in our perfect world."

"I have no idea what the hell you're talking about, but there's no way in hell we'd join up with you maniacs!" Mirajane barked.

"You and your group have tormented my family and village for the past year. I won't stand for it anymore!" Maiya snarled. "I'd never join you!"

"As a member of the Fairy Tail guild, I can't sit idly by as you torment innocents for your own lofty goals." Erza pointed her sword at Orochi, her eyes as sharp as daggers. "I swear to you, that we'll cut you down, followed by the rest of your meddlesome group!"

Orochi stared at them in silence before letting out a soft sigh and shaking his head. "Oh well, I tried. You kids made your decision."

His eyes sharpened, glowing with menacing light. "You can die by it."

Fissures spread across the ground beneath their feet as gargantuan spires of vines and wood burst from the earth, spreading fauna and flora across the land as Orochi's magic increased in intensity. Erza, Mirajane, and Maiya braved the storm, narrowing their eyes and rushing forward with valiant battle cries.


A/N.

Let the battles commence! Fun fact, Green Magic isn't a fanon magic I made up. A canon character actually uses it. If you know, you know.

I might start replying to some reviews starting next chapter. So if you've got any questions you've been itching to ask, let them fly and I'll do my best to answer! Keep things civil, though.

Question of the day! If Sword Saint were to be adapted into an anime, which studio would you pick to animate it? As a challenge, you can't pick Ufotable or Mappa.

Have a good day! See you next time~!