Curiously, Minerva did not find August in his office, but instead on his way toward whatever sort of mess was going on further down in the tower that put the guards in a tizzy. The bag in her arms only grew lighter as she approached August. The man was striding, with a brazen confidence not seen in some time, alongside his little pet, Levy, who appeared to have dried tears on her cheeks.

"This is not the time, Minerva," August said.

Minerva upended the bag. Levy stepped back and screamed in horror as Orga's dismembered head rolled to August's feet. It remained there only a moment before disintegrating, thanks to August.

"I am Captain of the Hunter's Division now," Minerva said. "And I am going to bring Yukino back here and make sure that til the end of her days, she knows the pain I have felt waiting and waiting for this day. In doing so? Fairy Tail will be nothing more than a memory for those among us now. Including you, little Levy."

"Your haste, Minerva, will be your doom," August said. "I gave you no permission to attack a peer."

It was treason to kill an Imperial officer. It had only been done once before when Zeref killed God Serena for being an embarrassment to Dragon Slayers. Minerva's act was of a far lesser scale.

Still, she felt her high still coursing through her. The more irrational parts of her mind considered attacking August should he attempt to dethrone her or thwart this move. Or, if not August, then Levy. She'd pinch that girl like a pimple and leave another of August's projects unfulfilled.

But she was the most experienced, and powerful left in the Hunter's Division. Unless August was going to muster forces to retrieve Jacob Lessio, she was all he had left. She was what he should've gone to in the first place. Had it not been for Mystogan's intervention, Titania and the others would be rotting and Yukino would be, eternally, on death's door.

"Orga spying on Lucy was all a ruse anyway," Minerva said. "Something to keep her eyes from Levy. Someone to eventually pin the blame on if she died. It doesn't matter anymore." She looked at Levy, the sad sheep. "Ah. Wait. All that hubbub below is her, isn't it?"

"Yes," August said. "I was on my way to attend to it. I'd rather you not join us."

"Good. I have my own operation to plan. I'm going to finish what I started, and as Captain of the Hunter's Division, I don't care what you think. It isn't your will to stop me, it is the queen's. I'll take things from here."

August nodded. Though he was the defacto regent of the Emperor during Zeref's period of silence, Minerva and August were of equal rank. The actions of the Hunter's Division were entirely her own to make. He could help dub new Captains, but if there were indeed no other choices…

"Then farewell, Minerva Orland."

Minerva laughed as he continued along his way. As if they'd never meet again.

She continued on. She had allies to recruit. While indeed she'd nearly crushed Fairy Tail beneath the weight of their last attack, they could be expected an ambush of equal measure upon their return journey. Reinforcements were necessary, and there were those yet in Crocus who'd been scorned.

Calling upon Tartaros would be difficult, if impossible. August moved at his own pace but for the good of the Empire, as he saw it. Mard Geer moved at his own pace for the good of his demons. What purpose did they have in the fight against Fairy Tail? Minerva would need an executive order from the queen herself to get Tartaros moved, and the queen had been asleep for a long time. It'd be useless to reach out to her.

However, there were other Divisions in the Empire that were idle. Hers, indeed, as well as the Crystal Division, who'd been embarrassed by their lack of participation in the rout of the capital by the same Fairies Minerva hunted. Plus, she was sure there were some Quartum Army reserves left behind.

Yes.

One of the great forces of the Empire would be mobilized soon, with Minerva at their head. All as she'd ever wished, all as she'd ever dreamed.

At last, Minerva Orland had climbed her mountain, seen to the destiny her father brutally laid before her, and would at last let the world know her as the Ethereal Witch, Slayer of Fairies, and breaker of dreams.

Everything came to Laxus at once yet it felt as if his body was already in motion, as if something had willed him on. Quickly, he laid eyes on Dimaria, and even faster than that, he launched across the field and sucker-punched her right across the face, sending her flying through the ruins of Kardia Cathedral.

Ivan snapped to attention as lightning arced around Laxus's form. He inspected a curious mark on his arm. A rune. Freed?

The man was frozen in a throwing motion in the direction Laxus had been standing. Some sort of spell, then. The guy was a genius, after all. It wasn't often he did it, but Laxus took a mental note to give Freed props once he'd kicked this bitch's ass up and down Magnolia.

"Laxus!" Ivan exclaimed as if he was the one stuck in time.

"Stay out of this, old man, if you know what's good for you."

"You can't defeat her alone," Ivan said. "She's a member of the Twilight Division, the Spriggan Twelve! You won't get a strike like that on her again."

"Doubt it," Laxus said and spat.

Dimaria emerged from the rubble. She wasn't even fazed by Laxus's attack. Dimaria cracked her knuckles and kept the smile on her face.

"Leave the rest of them out of this," Laxus said. "Keep it between you and me."

"That's sweet of you," Dimaria said. "But I'm not walking away from here with a dry blade. Your friend had the chance to let you die peacefully. You wouldn't even know it was gonna happen. Instead, he selfishly took that on himself. Now you get to agonize as your friends are killed right in front of you."

Ivan stepped back among the frozen Fairies, almost fitting in perfectly among them.

Dimaria rested her hand on her backsword, but, she thought differently, and folded her arms. She wasn't the most built person in the world, but by her ability to just brush off his attack, Laxus knew better than to underestimate her. There was no slow build-up, no feeling her out. She had to be wiped out as quickly as possible.

Lightning exploded around him. Dimaria nodded at it, still not seeming all that impressed.

This was her first tussle with Fairy Tail and would be her last. Her being impressed didn't mean shit.

"Alright," she said. "Let's get to it, then."

Fast, almost as fast as Laxus, she swooped down, grabbed a dagger from her boot, and flung it with perfect accuracy at Freed. However, she was only almost as fast as Laxus. Turning into a bolt of lightning, Laxus lurched and slammed the blade down, then whipped around and their fists collided.

"Lightning Dragon's Breakdown Fist!"

Dimaria cocked an eyebrow at the spell that was supposed to launch from him, but as they were still making contact, instead only exploded between them. Laxus made sure to spread his arms and grab Freed and Evergreen, tackling them out of Dimaria's sight. Good. Two down.

He had to get Makarov and Bickslow to cover. It was all down to forming an arena. Grimly, he considered how useful a spell like Thunder Palace would've been in this fight, but he didn't have any time to set that sort of thing up.

Dimaria slid back, still not bothered by the spell, and then charged. She leaped at Laxus, who blocked both attacks. Damn. She was strong. She threw coordinated fists at each of his weak spots, at an area he didn't think she could reach but did so easily as she whittled down his defenses.

Laxus scored a mean hit across her side, using his elbow to gain some distance between the two. He huffed.

"Lightning Dragon Roar!"

The beam shot out of Laxus at full power right at Dimaria, prepared to make a direct, easy strike. With a grunt she swung her arm down on it, blasting it to the side. She flicked her wrist.

"Oof, big man, you do pack a bit of a punch," Dimaria said.

Laxus snarled. "You want a punch? How about a thousand?"

Dimaria cackled but wasn't laughing for long as Laxus launched at her, landing before she could dare put up a defense and barreled a dozen, a score, almost a hundred punches at her as he moved at the speed of lightning. This attack would've felled Natsu, Gajeel, Erza, even Makarov, and maybe the rest of the Wizard Saints. Maybe Laxus was the strongest wizard in Ishgar. He brutally punched, kicked, kneed, and elbowed Dimaria, and he was super infused with Lightning Dragon Slayer magic.

None of it, really, mattered. Bleeding, and bruised, but raring with eyes hungry for more battle, Dimaria finally caught one of his fists, then began her own assault. First, she started with his "pretty-boy" face, then moved to his torso before finally sweeping his legs and swinging her arm up such that her winged greaves sliced him across the cheeks and nose, and then she kicked him away.

"This is going to be fun!"Dimaria exclaimed.

Laxus landed and rolled, at last feeling the adrenaline begin to cool down. He flared his magic again, the lightning sparking his body to life.

"Not that it's much of a challenge, but—"

His fist smashed into her face, knocking her back. Laxus bounced back.

"Lightning Dragon Roar!"

She once more moved to knock it down, but Laxus cut the beam short to prepare his next attack.

"Lightning Dragon's Iron Hammer!"

While he couldn't punch the ground as he normally could, he was able to surge enough force down that his spell made it to the ground by the time Dimaria had swatted away one lightning spell, leaving her open for another. A storm of Laxus's magic quickly enveloped her, temporarily stunning her, and leaving her open for him to launch in at her.

"Lightning Dragon Jaw!"

He swung his arms down, and with her guard down, with her senses, keen though they were, all messed up, there was no escaping his strike. Dimaria, at last, didn't let out a laugh, nor even a shout, but a genuine scream.

Laxus touched down on the ground and was greeted with the warm reception of a sword flying at his face that he narrowly dodged.

Dimaria emerged from the cloud of dust and dirt that'd billowed from his attack as nothing less than an entity of pure rage. Laxus dodged her attack, then her next, then the following ten calculated strikes. She was a wild animal, unable to focus her combat at any particular point. She was driving to hit him, which caused him to make separation.

She was stronger than him, she was smarter than him, and she had the upper hand in this realm. But there was no discounting the difference in sheer speed between them.

Dimaria came to a sudden halt before following through with another attack. Laxus took advantage of the momentary lapse in movement on her part.

"Laxus, no!"

His father.

Laxus reared back, and Dimaria had fully recovered. She summoned her sword back and aimed it at Laxus. A bolt of magic fired at him, clipping him across the shoulder and it sent him spiraling. Dimaria then raced…toward Master Makarov.

Laxus moved fast, morphing into a bolt of lightning that stopped just short of Makarov as Diamria swung her arm around and caught him by the throat. She slammed him to the ground, and before his grandfather, was about to skewer Laxus. He braced, and she stabbed into the ground just to his right.

"Gotcha, boy!" she exclaimed. "Oh, how sweet your blood feels. How about we rip that little head of yours off and show it off quickly to Gramps?"

With nowhere else to turn, Laxus looked behind him to Ivan, who held his hands up. He was casting an illusion: that Dimaria had killed Laxus.

Laxus acted fast. His old man…what was he thinking?

"Lightning Dragon Roar!"

The hit struck Dimaria before reality did, sending her flying back. Laxus snagged up her sword, and with a squeeze, infused it with his own magic. His own Lightning Dragon Slayer weapon. He flipped it around and with another swing let an arc of lightning shoot from it, forcing Dimaria, who'd come running at him, to avoid it.

She had a scimitar at her side, which she'd left largely unused. Dimaria unseated the weapon and the two collided. Laxus couldn't win in a sword fight but could at least use it as a distraction.

"I killed you," Dimaria said. "What's going on here?"

Laxus smiled."Lightning Dragon Sword Horn!"

He surged magic but no spell happened, he simply forced Dimaria back enough for him to actually make an attack: a super fast lightning kick to the head that knocked her to the ground. Along with Freed, it seemed he'd also have to give Natsu some props.

Dimaria snarled and picked herself up. Laxus slid to a halt.

He kept the sword at the ready, and Dimaria came in again, this time with calculated attacks, but all fell way short of him. Her eyes narrowed. Was it more illusions? Was Ivan keeping Laxus's illusions just one step behind reality, so Dimaria thought she was getting closer hits?

It was only temporary, maybe a minute at most, but it was just the break Laxus needed. He stepped through an illusion of himself in Dimaria's eyes.

"Lightning Dragon Iron Fist!"

The attack broke across Dimaria's torso, shattering the little piece of gold armor she had there and singing her skin as she flew across the battlefield. Laxus darted across the way and safely moved his grandfather and Bickslow behind rubble along with Freed and Ever.

Thus, at last, he cleared his battlefield, pissed off Dimaria to the point of irrationality, and got his wind back. Oh, and a new sword.

Dimaria punched the ground as she got to one knee.

"Ivan," she said with a low, almost echoing voice, "I see now what it is I have failed to do all along. You paid your one good deed to the Empire, and I was a fool to believe you'd have another one in you. Your punishment is simple: to witness the end of your family, and to beg me, me, for a death you will never receive."

Power swelled around her. Even more power, if it was somehow possible. Ivan gasped.

"Laxus! Run! Get the rest and run!"

"Takeover."

Laxus braced, summoning lightning to his hands.

"God Soul."

A beam of magnificent light struck from the heavens, wiping out the ground between the two. Laxus was blown back by its sheer force but managed to stay on his feet. The power exploded around Dimaria's general vicinity, reaching heights Laxus never thought possible. Was this as great as Acnologia's, even?

Gusts and gusts of wind sent flurries of debris all around him. Laxus had to shield his eyes, and as it all faded, a being of magnificent power stood before him. A heavy aura wavered around it.

No longer did the figure of Dimaria stand, but something new, something horrible. Clad in a black outfit rippling with golden light, eyes as pure of a white as any, and pale skin beneath jet black hair, stood…

"Chronos," Ivan muttered.

The entity lowered its gaze to Laxus. "I am Chronos, God of Time, given personage over the form you knew once as Dimaria Yesta, and I have been summoned for your total annihilation."

Laxus kept his fists tight and arcing with lightning.

"Big show," Laxus said through grit teeth. "Let's see what it'll do for—"

She was before him. She was before him before he even realized she'd moved, and her fist was breaking his face before he even sensed her magic, before he saw her arm move.

He careened into the rubble, his body already broken by a single hit. By a single move.

Chronos raised their hand, a ball of magic more powerful than all Fairy Tail combined in it.

"You do not deserve your death at the hand of god and shall be forgotten in the shores of my memory," Chronos said. "Be gone, little Dragon Slayer."

She threw the ball, but it quickly redirected to an entirely different spot of the arena. Laxus leaped behind some rubble, vanishing as if it'd been he who'd been destroyed. He sat, eyes wide, holding his hand to his thundering chest.

Father. Again he'd fooled her.

"It is done," Chronos said. "I can no longer sense his magic."

Oh, lord. Had Laxus dropped out of his power so fast in his attempt to simply get behind the rubble? To hide from a god?

He dared to look back, to where Chronos was approaching Ivan, and with each step, letting their power dwindle back down until it was Dimaria, in her tattered armor, who stood before a trembling Ivan.

"Let's go," Dimaria said. Her power in comparison to Chronos was obviously lesser, but even then, she was much weaker than before.

All she had to do was drop the Âge Seal spell. Then, if Laxus attacked, and she was still weak, maybe he could stun her long enough for the others to jump her. Gramps could cast Fairy Law and it'd be over. They'd all go home having just skirted by, but would still be alive.

But that wasn't what happened. She retained the hold on the dimension. Why?

Laxus balled his fist.

He was being a coward, no two ways about it. He put himself in the cage with her, and he was going to wait for her guard to drop. What the hell was he doing?

At once, he stood and brandished the sword at his side. Lightning sparked down to its tip. Dimaria turned, and rather than scowl, she smiled.

"I knew it," she muttered.

"You aren't done yet," Laxus said. "And neither am I."

"Good," Dimaria said. She balled her hands into fists. "Yes. Yes! Finally some excitement! If you can survive a little blast from Chronos like that, then…how about I show you what we can really do!"

Laxus Dreyar was a wizard of Fairy Tail. He was S-Class. He was as powerful, if not more so, than even Erza, Mirajane.

If Fairy Tail was to save the world from the Empire, then their strongest would have to be the Empire's strongest. Laxus would have to face and beat Dimaria anyway.

Scales rippled up Laxus's arm as Dimaria summoned Chronos back, the power once again surging and forcing Laxus's father to his knees. Laxus held his ground this time.

The world would break beneath Chronos's watch if Laxus didn't find a way to stop them. He had to stand firm. He had to win.

"Dragon Slayer Secret Art," he said, power filling his body.

This was it.

This was everything.

Chronos held both hands before them, and slowly, agonizingly slow, power filled their hands. Ivan watched in horror.

Laxus stole one final look at Makarov. To the Thunder—to his friends. To even his father. He would've apologized if he knew that this wasn't going to work. But he had to believe. He was a member of Fairy Tail. So long as they were even there, anything was possible. Anything could work.

Damn, Laxus thought with a smile.

That idiot Natsu really was rubbing off on him.

"Roaring Thunder!"

Moving fast, faster than any lightning a storm could produce, faster perhaps than even Chronos the God of Time could conceive, Laxus shot at his enemy, ripping across the once-beautiful cathedral with the light that once threatened to tear down his guild, now poised to save the world. He plunged ahead, knowing it was the end, knowing that his final spell would be his greatest. Laxus launched himself toward his destiny.

The God of Time acknowledged him and uttered a silent spell, but the spell never fully propelled away from them as Laxus struck their fists and pushed with all his might, with the might of the Dreyar blood running through his veins. Chronos stood firm. Laxus did as well, and the two were deadlocked.

"You. Can't. Win!" Laxus shouted.

Chronos held their position. They raised their head to Laxus, horrid white eyes behind a pale face glowering into his own.

"You have been…a worthy opponent," Chronos said. "And in time, I shall remember you. But you are no God Slayer. You were born to slay mere dragons!"

The explosion enveloped them both. A blinding white light brimmed by lightning collapsed in on itself, on the two combatants. One of whom stood, nigh unharmed. The other took a knee, taking the toll of what'd just happened.

Chronos rested a hand upon Laxus's head while the full weight of his attack, of their combined strike, rested upon his shoulders. Sweat poured down his face. His hands were shot, completely busted. His arms were broken.

"It is your time, Laxus," Chronos said. Their dagger appeared in hand. "Goodbye."

They swung, and once more, they missed. Chronos stepped back, at last forming an expression on their face as they reared toward Ivan, whose arms were out.

"Run, Laxus!" Ivan exclaimed. "Get out of here, son!"

"Fool," Dimaria said, and leveled a hand at Ivan.

With what strength remained, whatever he had left in him, Laxus blasted up, slamming his head beneath Chronos's chin.

It was enough.

Their eyes flickered, and unconsciousness took hold. The Âge Seal dropped. The world returned to time restored.

Laxus moved entirely of adrenaline. He'd suffer for it later. He blasted for his friends, who were quick to recover.

Makarov assessed the situation as he saw Chronos get back to their feet, the power of a god catching up to the Wizard Saint.

"Ivan!" Makarov roared, but it was too late. Laxus had the little man in his grasp, along with his friends in his broken hands, and bolted away fast as lightning, only able to turn and watch as Chronos, at last, obliterated Ivan Dreyar where he stood.

Within seconds, and with Makarov's help, they were well beyond Chronos's range for the Âge Seal to be effective, and Freed had a rune up protecting them from any magical detection. Makarov quickly began treatment while holding Laxus's hand.

The Thunder Tribe stood all about him at attention, tears in their eyes for their comrade, while Laxus, to his own surprise, found his own tears.

"Damn you," Laxus muttered, shutting his eyes. He saw it again. The death of his father. His own failure.

His strength gave out.

"Rest, Laxus," Makarov said. He stroked Laxus's bloody head. "It's over for now. You survived." Makarov rested a hand on Laxus's bare chest. "He was proud of you."

"And you?" Laxus asked as breathing become harder and harder to do.

He couldn't see the little man, only a moment from long ago, when the three had been together in the guild hall. When, for a brief moment, they'd all been smiling.

"I am proud of him, too," Makarov said. "Here at the end."

Laxus fell unconscious.