Chapter 227: The Tenth Demon Gate
Walking towards their destination, Dante could not help but shake a feeling of dread. Dante, Sorano, and Yukino were currently walking towards the scheduled home of a former magical council member in hopes of saving them before Tartous got to them. Turning his attention towards Sorano and Yukino as they continued to walk forward, Dante could see a worried expression from Sorano. This wasn't surprising considering that Sorano was a former member of the Balam Alliance and thus knew just how dangerous Tartous could be. Any guild that could pull of killing the entire magic council in one strike was something to be feared. As they all continued to walk towards their destination, Dante started to speak to Sorano.
"Try and calm down Sorano. I promise everything will be okay. Nothing is going to happen to you or Yukino while I am here" stated Dante with a kind tone. Sorano gave her master a halfhearted smile as she started to speak.
"I'm most worried about you master. Whenever the guild is in danger you throw yourself in front of everyone to protect us. I don't want to see you get hurt" responded Sorano in a sad tone. Dante sighed in exhaustion at these words as they continued to walk forward. He knew where Sorano was coming from, and he hated how he couldn't promise her that he wouldn't get hurt. Still Dante wanted to make sure that Sorano knew he was going to live no matter how much damage he took.
"I know Sorano and I'm sorry for making you and everyone else always worry about me. Protecting my loved ones is something that I will always do. At this point it's a natural reaction for me. When my loved ones are in danger my body moves without thinking. Regardless I promise I won't leave you" responded Dante with conviction in his voice. Seeing that Sorano still wasn't convinced, Dante reached for her and stopped walking for a moment. Looking into Sorano's eyes, Dante continued to speak.
"I love you Sorano, there is no way I would ever leave you" stated Dante in a loving tone before he placed a loving kiss on Sorano's lips. Sorano melted into her master's embrace, loving the feeling of his lips on hers while his strong arms wrapped around her. After a short while Sorano leaned back from Dante's lips and started to speak.
"I love you too master, you're everything to me. You are the answer to my prayer" responded Sorano as she cuddled into Dante's strong chest. Smiling back at Sorano, Dante placed a kiss on her forehead before he stepped away from her. Turning his attention towards Yukino, Dante started to speak.
"The same goes for you Yukino. I love you and no matter what happens I won't leave you. I may get banged up, but I refuse to die" stated Dante with a warm smile before he closed the distance between the two of them and placed a loving kiss on Yukino's lips. Yukino felt her heart swell with happiness as she returned her master's kiss. After a short while Yukino leaned back from Dante's lips and smiled at him while she started to speak.
"I'm going to hold you to that master. I would never forgive you if you let some dark wizards kill you" responded Yukino with a smile. Smiling back at Yukino, Dante started to speak.
"Don't worry, there is no way I'm going to let those Tartous bastards get the better of me" responded Dante with a smile before he placed a short and loving kiss on Yukino's lips before he stepped away and continued to speak.
"Come on you two, we are close to our destination. Stay sharp and we will be back at the guild in no time" stated Dante with a kind smile as he started to walk towards their destination. Sorano and Yukino felt somewhat better about the situation thanks to Dante's kind words and with a smile they followed Dante. After a short walk Dante, Sorano and Yukino arrived at the scheduled home of the former council member. Taking a quick look around Dante didn't see anything out of the ordinary, so he walked up to the front door and knocked while he started to speak.
"Hello, is anyone there" asked Dante as he knocked on the door and waited for a response. After waiting for a moment and receiving no answer, Dante knocked on the door again.
"I'm sorry to disturb you but this is important. I am Dante Strauss, one of the Wizard Saints. I just need to talk to you" stated Dante as he knocked on the front door. Again, Dante waited for a response and received none. Getting a bad feeling, Dante turned around to Sorano and Yukino and started to speak.
"Be on guard you two. I'm getting a bad feeling about this" stated Dante in a serious tone. Sorano and Yukino nodded their heads in understanding as Dante turned his attention back towards the front door. Reaching out Dante was surprised to find the front door unlocked. Slowly opening the door, Dante once again shouted out into the house.
"Is anyone home? Pardon the intrusion but we really have to speak with you" shouted Dante as he stepped into the house along with Sorano and Yukino.
Stepping into the home Dante didn't see anything out of place. There was no signs of a struggle as Dante looked around the front of the home. Motioning towards Sorano and Yukino, Dante silently told them to follow him as he walked throughout the home. Nothing was out of the ordinary until Dante stepped into the small kitchen and swore under his breath. Sitting at the kitchen table was the former council member, an elderly man who appeared to have been in the middle of eating lunch. Blood was everywhere, the former council member's chest was torn open as he lay motionless in his chair.
"How awful" stated Yukino in a sad tone as she took in the dead body of the former council member. Dante swore to himself, they were too late. Taking a closer look at the former council member, Dante found something alarming as he started to speak.
"Watch out you two. The blood is still wet, that must mean the council member was killed a short time ago. The killer could still be around" stated Dante as he tensed up and looked around for any sign of a potential enemy. Hearing these words, Sorano and Yukino tensed up as they searched the kitchen for any enemies. As Dante, Sorano and Yukino were searching for the kitchen, Dante felt a surge of magical energy and rushed over to Sorano and Yukino.
"GET DOWN" yelled Dante in a panicked tone as he pushed Sorano and Yukino to the ground before he shielded their bodies with his own. Just after they took cover, the kitchen was blown apart from a powerful magical blast. Gritting his teeth as Dante felt the blowback of the magical energy, he checked to make sure that Sorano and Yukino were safe.
"Are you two alright" asked Dante in a concerned tone as the smoke cleared. The kitchen Dante and the others were standing in just moments ago was now a pile of rubble.
"We are fine master, what about you" asked Yukino in a concerned tone. Smiling at Yukino, Dante stood up as he started to speak.
"I'm fine. Luckily I was able to narrowly avoid that blast of energy" responded Dante as he removed his torn shirt and dusted himself off. Sorano and Yukino breathed a sigh of relief at these words as they stood up as well. Dante took a moment to look for whoever just fired the magical attack. He didn't have to look for long since a cloaked figure appeared in front of Dante and started to clap.
"My you are impressive. I thought that attack would be enough to finish you off" stated the cloaked figure in a sinister tone. Stepping forward in order to put himself between this cloaked figure and Sorano and Yukino, Dante started to speak.
"It's going to take a lot more than a weak attack like that to take me down" responded Dante with a confidant smile as he gathered his magical energy. Dante could feel an absurd amount of magical energy from the cloaked figure and knew that he couldn't mess around in this fight. He would have to go straight into his Arch Angel form. Enveloping his body in holy energy, Dante transformed into his Arch Angel Michael form and equipped the Sword of David.
"I would hope so since you are the angel of Fairy Tail. I thought if I waited here long enough I would get to kill some fairies, but you were the person I wanted to meet the most Dante Struss" responded the cloaked figure not all afraid as Dante stood against him while he radiated vast amounts of holy energy. Hearing these words Dante swore to himself internally. Somehow Tartous knew that Fairy Tail was trying to stop them, he hoped this didn't mean trouble for the other teams. Focusing back on the cloaked figure in front of him, Dante started to speak.
"I'm flattered that you wanted to meet me the most, but you are going to regret facing me. I hear that all members of Tartous are demons created by Zeref. Sorry to disappoint you but this holy sword cuts away all evil, so you are finished" responded Dante in a confidant tone as he assumed a battle stance while he channeled holy energy into the Sword of David.
"Ahhh yes the Sword of David. A powerful holy artifact that can only be wielded by an angelic being of high ranking, any others that touch it will be burned by holy fire. I wonder if such a weapon will be enough to defeat the tenth demon gate of Tartous" responded the cloaked figure not making any move to defend himself. Dante took a moment to glance towards Sorano and Yukino before he started to speak.
"Stay back you two. I can tell this guy is strong, you would just get in my way" stated Dante in a serious tone as he readied himself for battle. Sorano and Yukino could feel the same magical energy and knew that they were outclassed in this fight. Reluctantly they nodded their heads, hoping that Dante would be alright.
"With this sword I will kill you tenth demon gate of Tartous" shouted Dante as he channeled his holy energy into the Sword of David.
The holy energy was amplified by the sword as Dante molded the energy into a fine point which increased the cutting power of the sword serval times over. Spreading his wings wide, Dante took of at top speed towards the cloaked figure. Dante's previous training had paid off as he achieved a new top speed as he charged towards the cloaked figure. He became a blur as Dante flew at blinding speeds, far too fast for the average fighter to even comprehend. Seeing the cloaked figure hadn't moved an inch, Dante smiled thinking that he was way too fast for the tenth demon gate. Raising the Sword of David over his head, Dante prepared to bring it down onto the cloaked figure and cut him in half.
"THIS IS FOR LAXUS" yelled Dante in an angry tone as he slashed downwards towards the cloaked figure. Just as the Sword of David was about to connect with the cloaked figure, he brought a single hand out and stopped the blade with ease. Dante let out a shocked gasp as he watched this happen.
"What the hell, how could you touch the Sword of David" asked Dante in a shocked tone as he looked at the hand gripping the hilt of the blade. It didn't look like the blade had cut the cloaked figure at all; it wasn't even burning him. The cloaked figure let out a chuckle before he started to speak.
"It's like a said before, this sword is a suburb weapon. It cuts away all dark energy, burning all who are not high ranking angelic beings. While this is an impressive weapon, it will have no effect on high ranking angelic beings" responded the cloaked figure in a mocking tone. Dante grit his teeth in anger, he understood all of this but didn't know why the cloaked figure could stop his blade let alone touch it. The cloaked figure was one of the ten demon gates of Tartous, a demon from the book of Zeref. The Sword of David should have burned away such an evil Dante thought as he struggled to shake the sword out of cloaked figure's grasp.
"I don't understand how you can stop my attack like this" stated Dante through grit teeth. While Dante struggled to find an answer, he was trying to channel more holy energy through the sword to amplify it's cutting power. Each time Dante channeled his holy energy into the sword, the energy soon vanished from the cloaked figures touch.
"It's really quite simple if you think about it" responded the cloaked figure before he moved faster than Dante could perceive. A strong punch landed in Dante's gut, sending him flying backwards. The cloaked figure held onto the Sword of David, tearing it from Dante's grasp as he was sent crashing into the ground. Grunting with pain, Dante was sure some of his ribs were broken from the strong punch as he stood up while the cloaked figure continued to speak.
"The reason why this blade has no effect on me is because I happen to be a high ranking angelic being" stated the cloaked figure in a sinister tone as he tossed the Sword of David aside and removed his cloak. Dante gasped with shock as the cloaked figure reveled his true form. Standing in front of Dante was clearly an angelic being, his midnight black wings spread wide as he smiled at Dante while he continued to speak.
"I used to be the highest ranking angel in heaven until I was cast out" stated the dark angel in front of Dante. Realization hit Dante as he started to speak.
"Don't tell me your" Dante started to say before the dark angel laughed at Dante and started to speak.
"Hahaha that's right. I am Lucifer, the prince of darkness" responded Lucifer as he radiated dark but holy energy. Dante swore to himself, this was bad. His most powerful weapon was useless against this sort of enemy and if the legends about Lucifer was true then Dante was in a lot of trouble. Seeing the worried look on Dante's face, Lucifer laughed as he continued to speak.
"What's wrong? Where did all that confidence go" asked Lucifer in a mocking tone as he radiated immense magical energy. While Dante watched Lucifer closely, he started to speak.
"Sorano, Yukino you two need to get out of here" stated Dante in a serious tone. Sorano and Yukino didn't move from their spot, not wanting to leave the man they loved alone to fight such a strong opponent.
"M-master we can't leave you" stated Sorano in a worried tone. Dante felt panic rise within him at these words. This fight was going to be near impossible for him and he couldn't worry about protecting Sorano and Yukino. If Dante was being honest with himself, he wasn't sure he could win but he was going to make sure that Sorano and Yukino got away.
"LISTEN TO WHAT I SAY! GO NOW" yelled Dante as he gathered magical energy and shot a powerful barrage of magical energy towards Lucifer. The earth was torn apart as Dante's attacked crashed into the ground. Seeing that Sorano and Yukino were still standing still, Dante turned his attention to them and continued to speak.
"GO NOW! YOU NEED TO GET OUT OF HERE" yelled Dante in a panicked tone. Sorano and Yukino looked at Dante with horror as they took a step back, they had never seen Dante this worried. Just as Dante was about to shout at them again to get away, purple flames shot out of the smoke made from Dante's attack. The purple flames crashed into Dante, who screamed in pain. The instant that the attack hit Dante he felt the majority of his magical power leave his body, as if the attack burned away the holy energy within him.
"M-master" yelled Sorano in a horror filled tone as she watched Dante stumble and revert back to his original form. It was clear from Dante's stance that he was barely able to keep consciousness.
"How do you like that? I am the great usurper of heaven. My hell flames can burn away all holy energy" stated Lucifer in a mocking tone as he watched Dante struggle to remain standing. Dante was breathing heavily; each breath was killing him with the broken ribs he had from the punch he took earlier. His magical energy was almost entirely gone, Lucifer was telling the truth about his hell flames. Despite the fact that Dante was quickly losing consciousness, he stepped forward while he started to speak.
"Please you two. You need to run and tell the others" stated Dante in a weak tone as he took another step towards Lucifer. Lucifer laughed at these words as he watched Dante struggle to walk towards him. Extending his open palm towards Dante, Lucifer started to speak.
"I have no need to concern myself with such insects. Obtaining the mighty angel of Fairy Tail is good enough for me" stated Lucifer in a mocking tone before he fired a beam of dark and holy energy towards Dante. The attack hit Dante directly, crashing into his chest. Grunting in pain, Dante fell onto his back as he focused on Sorano and Yukino.
"Run" pleaded Dante, the last thing he saw before everything faded to black was the horror stricken faces of Sorano and Yukino.
End of Chapter 227