Chapter 231: Dante and Erza vs Kyoka
Dante grit his teeth in anger as he stood against the last obstacle preventing him from deactivating the Faces set to go off. Standing in front of Dante was the demon Kyoka, she was smiling evilly at him as she explained that the Faces activation would not cease unless she was beaten in a fight. Currently it was just Dante and Minerva against Kyoka, not good odds Dante thought. He was still heavily injured, if he fell out of his Angel Soul Gabriel form then Dante didn't know how long he would stay conscious with how damaged his original body was.
To make matters worse, Dante could feel the immense amount of magical energy coming from Kyoka who appeared to have transformed into her Etherious form. Dante knew that his Angel Soul Gabriel form was too weak to face such a strong opponent, but this was the best that he could manage in his current state. Dante was dangerously low on magical power. It was taking all of his willpower to maintain his Angel Soul Gabriel form. There was no way Dante could transform into one of his stronger forms.
"Don't you see now how useless your struggle is. In just five minutes the Face system will activate, and it will spell an end to the era of humanity" stated Kyoka in a mocking tone as she radiated an immense amount of magical power. While Dante was exhausted and heavily damaged, his still managed to crack a smile as he started to speak.
"Damn five whole minutes? I wonder what I'm going to do with the other four minutes" responded Dante in a confident tone that annoyed Kyoka as she started to speak.
"I'll teach you not to be so cocky" responded Kyoka in an annoyed tone that a mere human would dare to underestimate her. Dante tensed up as he felt Kyoka gather her magical energy.
Suddenly Kyoka used her alarming speed to rush at Dante, her claw slashing at Dante. Dante was able to dodge most of the attack, but he still felt a large scratch across his chest. Knowing that he needed to finish this battle quickly or else the Faces would activate, Dante didn't concern himself with conserving the little magical energy he had left. Gathering his magical energy into his fist, Dante aimed a punch towards Kyoka as he started to yell.
"Heaven's Fist" yelled Dante as he threw a punch towards Kyoka that was charged with holy energy. Kyoka smiled as she easily dodged the straightforward attack. Using some of her own magical energy, Kyoka shot a shockwave of energy that collided with Dante. Dante felt his body scream at him in pain as the attack flowed through his body. Stumbling backwards, Dante was breathing heavily while Kyoka was laughing at him.
"Haha how do you like that? My attacks can amplify your pain receptors, causing agony from the air itself" stated Kyoka in a mocking tone as Dante breathed heavily. Dante's body was still throbbing from the last attack, his nerves still tingling from the shockwave of pain. As Dante breathed heavily he smiled at Kyoka as he started to speak.
"If that is all you can do then you are in for a rude surprise" responded Dante with a confident smile despite the pain coursing through his damaged and tired body. Just after Dante said these words he fired a powerful beam of holy energy towards Kyoka who jumped into the air to avoid the attack. Seeing this as his opening, Dante used his wings to speed behind Kyoka while she was still in the air. Kyoka gasped with shock as she registered that Dante was in her bling spot as Dante continued to speak.
"There is no way I'd let something as stupid as a little bit of pain stop me" yelled Dante as he charged his fist with holy energy. Aiming his fist towards Kyoka whose back was turned to him, Dante yelled out his next attack.
"Heaven's Fist" yelled Dante as his fist crashed into Kyoka's back, making her scream out in pain as the holy energy burned her body before she went crashing into the ground. While Dante was still hovering in the air, he pointed his open palm towards Kyoka and fired a powerful beam of holy energy.
"I'LL MAKE YOU PAY FOR THAT" yelled Kyoka in an angry tone as she avoided Dante's incoming attack. Upping her speed, Kyoka easily crashed into Dante. Dante grunted in pain as he was sent crashing into the ground. As Dante struggled to stand up again, Kyoka fired another shockwave of pain that made Dante scream out in pain.
"AGHHHH" yelled Dante, his entire body shaking from the intense shockwave of pain coursing through his body.
As Dante tried to fight through the pain he could hear Kyoka laughing at him. Kyoka laughed as she watched Dante shake in agony as she continued to assault him with her shockwaves of pain. The attack enveloped Dante as Kyoka kept up a steady stream, upping the power of her curse. Just as Dante thought he couldn't break free of the curse binding and assaulting his body, the pain suddenly halted as he heard Kyoka scream out in pain. Opening his eyes Dante was stunned to see Kyoka struggle as she stood back up, having been hit by something. While Dante thought for a moment it was Minerva who came to his rescue he heard a familiar voice start to speak from beside him.
"Sorry it took me so long to get here master" stated Erza as she stood next to Dante while she was wearing her Clear Heart Clothing. Smiling at Erza, Dante started to speak.
"That's okay Erza, I'm just glad to see" responded Dante with a smile. Dante felt much better about his chances of defeating Kyoka now that Erza was here with him. Taking a quick look at the timer behind Kyoka, Dante could see that only three minutes remained before the Faces activated.
"I was freed from the Alegria spell some time ago. It took me a while to follow your magical energy since you are running so low. I take it that Kyoka is the only thing between us from stopping the Faces" asked Erza in a serious tone. Nodding his head, Dante started to speak.
"Yes, sorry but I seem to be having some trouble dealing with her by myself. How about we team up" asked Dante with a smile as he tensed up, getting ready for battle once again. Erza smiled as she started to speak.
"That sounds good to me, let's show this demon the power of our guild" responded Erza with a smile as she raised her sword towards Kyoka.
"I'm sorry to say you may have to do most of the heavily lifting Erza. My magic power is almost near zero at this point" stated Dante between deep breaths. Just before Erza was about to respond to Dante's words, Dante felt a hand be placed on his shoulder. Turning his head, Dante saw Minerva smile at him as he felt a large amount of magical energy surge into him as Minerva started to speak.
"You may have damaged me enough that I can't help you fight Dante, but I still have plenty of magical power left" stated Minerva with a smile as Dante felt a large portion of his magical energy return. Feeling a surge of strength, Dante turned back towards Kyoka as he started to speak.
"Thanks Minerva, this won't go to waste" responded Dante as he gathered his magical energy. Now that he had more magical power, Dante could assume a stronger takeover form. Knowing that time was running out, Dante started to transform as he continued to speak.
"Banished Angel Soul, Lucifer" stated Dante as he was enveloped in a dark light before it vanished, and he spread his black wings. Dante felt the massive surge in strength run through him as he transformed into his strongest Angel Soul form. Taking a step forward, Dante continued to speak.
"Ready Erza" asked Dante with a confidant smile as Erza nodded her head and started to speak.
"Yes, let's do this" responded Erza before the both of them rushed towards Kyoka. Erza rushed towards Kyoka on foot while Dante soared into the air. With an annoyed look, Kyoka avoided Erza's attack before she kicked her away and started to speak.
"Nothing you do will stop the Faces from activating" yelled Kyoka as she jumped out of the way of a powerful beam of holy and dark energy that Dante fired at her. Kyoka then jumped into the air and delivered a strong kick at Dante, making him tumble backwards before he used his wings to stop himself. Hovering in the air next to Erza, Dante started to speak.
"Erza I'm going to create an opening for you. When you see it, strike her as hard as you can" stated Dante as Erza nodded her head in agreement. Charging a large portion of his magical energy, Dante aimed his arm towards Kyoka as he yelled out his next attack.
"Serpent Strike" yelled Dante as his arm morphed into a snake and stretched towards Kyoka. The snake arm extended serval feet towards Kyoka as it bared it fangs, ready to strike. Kyoka jumped out of the way but was annoyed to see that the snake arm was following her. Continuing to move out of the way, Kyoka shouted at Dante.
"You will never win" yelled Kyoka finally having enough of Dante's continuous attack and fired a powerful curse at him. When Dante felt the curse hit his extended arm and travel to the rest of his body, he gasped with pain and shock. The pain was to be expected, what shocked Dante was that he suddenly lost all of his senses that wasn't his sense of pain. Kyoka laughed at Dante as she watched him fumble in complete darkness.
"Hahaha how do you like that? My curse can rob you of all your senses" stated Kyoka in a mocking tone. In her enjoyment of Dante's suffering, Kyoka forgot to worry about Erza who rushed towards her.
"Don't forget about me" yelled Erza as she slashed at a surprised Kyoka. Kyoka grunted in pain as she felt Erza's sword slash her body before she jumped serval feet back. She could feel the drain in her magical power as her body worked to heal the injury that Erza had just inflicted on her. Dante breathed a sigh of relief as he felt the pain end and all of his senses return to him, Kyoka's broke the instant that Erza attack landed. Moving to stand beside Dante, Erza continued to speak.
"Are you okay master" asked Erza in a worried tone as Dante breathed heavily. Dante smiled back at Erza before he glanced at the Face timer. They now only had a single minute before the Faces activated.
"Don't worry about me right now Erza, we have less than a minute left. We have to finish her in this next attack" responded Dante in a determined tone. Erza nodded her head in agreement, time was quickly running out. Together Dante and Erza stood against Kyoka as they prepared for their final strike, hoping that they could stop the Faces activation in time.
"Hahahaha you will never stop Tartous! In just under a minute all magic power will vanish" shouted Kyoka as she used her power to strengthen herself. Dante and Erza grit their teeth as they could feel Kyoka's strength increase, it was now or never they thought.
"Let's do this Erza" yelled Dante as he rushed started running towards Erza. Matching Dante's speed, Erza ran beside him as she started to speak.
"Right" yelled Erza as she charged Kyoka. As Dante and Erza charged towards Kyoka, Dante took a hold of Erza's arm. Using his super powered strength he gained in his Lucifer form, Dante tossed Erza towards Kyoka. Erza flew towards Kyoka at an alarming speed as she raised her sword in preparation to strike.
"YOUR STUGGLES ARE USELESS" yelled Kyoka in an annoyed tone that Dante and Erza had yet to give up. Kyoka then had to dodge Erza as she flew towards her. Smiling as Erza missed her, Kyoka was then shocked when Erza planted her sword in the ground and used it as a foothold. Using her own sword as a foothold, Erza springboarded off of the hilt of her sword. Maintaining the speed and momentum she had when Dante threw her, Erza elbowed Kyoka hard in the back.
"DON'T UNDERESTIMATE FAIRY TAIL" yelled Erza as she could feel Kyoka's back crack from the force of her blow. Kyoka grunted in pain as she was sent flying forwards. As Kyoka was flying forward from the impact of Erza's attack, she heard Erza continue to yell.
"DO IT DANTE" yelled Erza as Kyoka flew towards Dante who was charging up his magical power. Kyoka felt panic swell up within her as she flew towards Dante, unable to stop her trajectory as Dante radiated holy and dark energy. Dante smiled as Kyoka flew straight towards him, while he focused all of his magical energy into his palm. Feeling his entire body shake with holy and dark energy, Dante pointed his palm towards Kyoka as he fired one of Lucifer's strongest attacks.
"Hell's Fury" yelled Dante as an all-consuming blast of holy and dark energy erupted from his palm and rocketed towards Kyoka. Kyoka's entire world was enveloped in the all-consuming energy, her body being torn apart while the room was blasted apart.
"AGHHHHH" yelled Kyoka as she felt her body split apart from the powerful attack. The attack quickly tore Kyoka apart, leaving nothing left of her as the attack finally vanished high into the sky. Dante breathed heavily as he felt himself be drained after firing such a large attack, but relief flooded through him as he reverted back to his normal state. Feeling the effects of his many injuries since he was back in his normal state, Dante collapsed to his knees as Erza and Minerva rushed to his side.
"We did it" stated Dante between deep breathes, relieved that they had stopped the Faces activation. As Dante breathed heavily while his body screamed at him in pain, he heard Erza start to speak.
"Yes we did it master; you can rest now" responded Erza with a smile but also worried as she looked at the man she loved while he was covered in horrible injures. Smiling back at Erza, Dante was about to respond to her before Minerva started to speak.
"N-no, it can't be" stated Minerva in a horror filled tone. Dante and Erza looked at Minerva for a moment to see her face struck with terror before they turned their attention towards the controls for Face. Dante felt his heart sink as he looked at the timer, it had reached zero and the Faces were activating.
"Damn it, we were too late" responded Dante as he watched thousands of Faces come to life on the control board. There were way to many, nothing could be done now he thought. Just as Dante thought that things couldn't get any worse, he heard a familiar roar that has haunted his nightmares since Tenrou Island. Looking into the open sky, Dante and the others gasped with horror as they saw the black dragon soaring high in the air.
"It's Acnologia" stated Erza in a horror filled tone. Gritting his teeth in anger, Dante slammed his mangled fist into the ground as he started to speak.
"You've got to be fucking kidding me! Can we not catch a fucking break" asked Dante in disbelief that their luck was this bad. Just after Dante said these words, another loud roar was heard. Looking once again into the sky, Dante and the others were shocked to see that a red dragon was battling against Acnologia.
"Please tell me that dragon is on our side" stated Minerva in awe as the three of them watched the two dragons battle. As Dante and Erza watched the dragons battle, Dante started to speak.
"W-wait a red dragon, it can't be him" stated Dante in disbelief as he glanced towards Erza who nodded her head. There was no other explanation for this the two of them thought. Turing his attention back to the battling dragons, Dante continued to speak.
"Is that Ingeel" asked Dante in disbelief that Natsu's father would finally show up in their hour of greatest need. As the three of them watched the terrific display of power in the sky above them, Erza started to speak.
"Look at the Face controls" shouted Erza as she pointed towards the control board displaying numerous faces. Dante and Minerva tore their gazes away from the two dragons and were shocked to see the lights indicating the active Faces start to suddenly vanish. Watching as the Faces were destroyed, Dante started to speak.
"I don't understand, what the hell is going on" asked Dante shocked with this turn of events. Another powerful roar was heard from above as Ingeel crashed into Acnologia. Focusing back on the fight, Dante continued to speak.
"Kick his ass Ingeel" stated Dante, hoping with every fiber of his being that Natsu's father could kill the black dragon. Together Dante, Erza and Minerva watched as the two dragons did battle, all of them astounded at the display of strength.
End of Chapter 231