Chapter 18: Strength of the Weak
"FREEZE!"
Waves of ice burst from the ground, causing the temperature to drop into the negatives. Eiji's massive frame blitzed around the rocky terrain, avoiding Gray's attack with deceptive speed. The werewolf snarled and extended his claws; lunging forward and plowing through the ice, kicking up shards as he charged towards Gray like a wild animal. Which wasn't inaccurate at all.
"Damn!" Gray clicked his tongue, slamming his palm against the ground and forming a pillar of ice under his feet to propel him into the air to avoid Eiji's razor sharp claws. He adjusted himself mid-air and aimed with precision. "Ice Make: Cannon!"
He fired a thick ball of ice at Eiji's back. It shattered upon impact with his muscular back, which only seemed to aggravated the lycan. Gray's eyes widened as Eiji whirled around, his crimson eyes flashing brightly as he unleashed a deafening roar. The Ice Wizard screamed in pain as his body was assaulted with violent sound waves, rupturing his ears and crashing into the ground.
'Fuck...!' Gray panted, raising a hand towards one of his ears and grimacing when blood seeped out and stained his palm. Everything rang. He wouldn't be able to heal for a good while. This greatly hindered his fighting chances.
A shadow loomed over him, and he craned his head to see Eiji bring his fists down in a hammerstrike. Gray's heart leapt in his throat. He couldn't dodge in time. Maybe if he could hear, he could have gotten the opportunity to do so. But now...?
'I'm screwed-!'
Gray grunted when he was tackled out of the way, briefly catching a familiar mop of spikey pink hair. He and Natsu tumbled across the ground as Boota conjured another golem to clash against Eiji. Natsu turned to him and said something, but Gray scowled and pointed to his aching ears.
"I can't hear anything!"
Natsu blinked in confusion before frowning and turning away, inhaling sharply and unleashing a Fire Dragon's Roar. Gray sighed deeply and fired off a barrage of Ice Make: Lances. Fire and ice exploded against Eiji and the golem, destroying the animated rock creature and engulfing the lycan in smoke.
Gray blinked once. Then Eiji appeared in front of him and Natsu. He cursed under his breath, his pupils dilated as his head was grasped by a giant furry hand and slammed into concrete. His head rang and his vision blurred as he let out a strangled noise between a cough and a gargle on his own saliva and blood.
He strained to keep his eyes opened as Eiji cocked his fists back. Gray's fingers twitched and he palmed the ground, creating a dome of ice around himself and Natsu just as the Take Over Wizard began to unleash a barrage of punches. Fractures spread along the surface of the shield. He grabbed Natsu by the scarf and opened a hole in the back of the dome, throwing him out just as the integrity of it shattered.
Gray instinctively rolled his body to the side as a large fist cratered the spot where he was lying. He threw his hand out and froze the limb to the floor. Eiji snarled and used his other fist, but Gray dodged it and froze that one too. He rolled back in time to see a pair of fists the size of his body made of rock slam erupt from the ground and slam into the underside of the werewolf's chin.
Eiji grit his teeth, blood spurting in-between his teeth as he ripped his arms free from their icy prison. His anger spiked when the hands grabbed onto his wrists and two more sprouted from the ground and latched onto his ankles. The werewolf growled, glaring at Boota.
"These ain't gonna hold me." Eiji's muscles began to bulge. "As long as I'm under the full moon, I'm unbeatable."
He roared, a torrent of magic energy erupting from his body and shattering his restraints. Boota's eyes widened in horror as he conjured a wall of rock to block the intense whipping winds. 'He was hiding this much power in reserve?!'
Natsu stumbled to his feet. "Maaan...! This guy is seriously tough!"
"No kidding." Gray grumbled, rubbing his aching ears. At the very least, he could hear a bit now. "I don't get it?! What's your goal in all this?! You don't seem like the type of guy to want world domination or whatever!"
"... You're right. I don't. For all I care, I'd rather be sleepin'." Eiji grumbled, rolling his neck and popping the taut muscles within. "But I owe the Matriarch my life. That's all."
BOOM!*
Eiji closed in on the three with a burst of speed. They leaped out of the way as his fist crashed into the earth, sending rippling shockwaves through the air. Natsu landed swiftly and pushed off the ground, fire enveloping his body as he crashed into Eiji's torso head-first. The impact sent him skidding back as Natsu roared.
"FIRE DRAGON'S SWORD HORN!!"
Eiji snarled and gripped Natsu's sides, restraining the boy and slowly crushing him in his powerful grip. Natsu cried out in pain as he felt his bones creak, from this angle, he was upside, and so...!
"Fire Dragon's... CLAW!!" his feet ignited with fire and he lashed out with an axe-kick directly onto Eiji's snout. The attack managed to stun the werewolf long enough for Natsu to expel fire from his body to release Eiji's grip on him.
"Ice-Make... Battle Axe!" Gray snapped, swing his arms in a horizontal arc as an axe with an elongated shaft shot forward and raked across Eiji's chest, leaving behind shards of ice. As the werewolf stumbled back, Natsu and Gray ran side by side to bomb rush Eiji with another onslaught of attacks.
"Fire Dragon's...!"
"Ice-Make...!"
Eiji roared and slammed his fists into the ground before they could finish their spells, rupturing the earth and sending them flying along with several debris. As they cried out, Boota burst through the debris with a roar, clasping his hands together.
"Earth-Make: Warhammer!" a massive hammer of roar materialized into his hands and he swung it down on Eiji. His eyes widened when a clawed hand caught the hammer in a firm grip. He tried to pull away, but soon realized he couldn't. "Shit...!"
"Weak."
Boota's eyes sharply widened as he felt Eiji's claws dig into his stomach. He spat out blood as Eiji wrenched his hand away, only to uppercut the Earth Wizard and send him flying into a nearby staglamite. As Boota collapsed to the floor, Natsu and Gray got back up to their feet and rushed him once more with enraged battle cries.
"RAAAAAAAAAAARGHHH!!!"
"Slow."
A dark aura rolled off Eiji's body in waves as he blurred out of view. Natsu and Gray looked around wildly, only for the pinkette to gag and get sent flying by a seemingly invisible blow. Gray cursed and moved to block an attack; catching a glimpse of Eiji rocketing towards him, only for him to receive a blow to the back, sending him crashing face first into the dirt.
"I already told you. During the night, especially under a full moon, I'm at my strongest." Eiji sneered, walking towards the three with a feral grin. "You ain't gonna beat me!"
Boota tasted the metallic tang of blood on his tongue. He grit his teeth and lightly banged his forehead against the ground. "God... DAMN IT!! It's no use! We can't beat him!"
Tears stung at the corners of his eyes as he dug his fingers into the earth. "This was hopeless from the start... we're gonna die here...-!"
"Shut the hell UP!"
Boota flinched, his eyes flicking over to Natsu who shakily pushed himself to his feet and wiped his bloody nose. The boy huffed harshly and clenched his fists. "Why the hell are you giving up so fast, huh?! Don't you've got a spine or somethin'?! These guys hurt your friends and family and you're gonna start cryin' 'cos things get tough?!"
Natsu scowled. "We came all the way out here to help YOU guys, because OUR friend was worried about ya'! The least you could do is stand up n' fight!"
"... Flame-Brain's right," Gray groaned, pushing himself onto one knee and glaring daggers at Eiji. "You gotta fight for your home, damn it! You've got a chance to protect everyone, you've got your friends fighting just as hard if not more, you have no right to crumble under the weight!"
He vividly remembered the fire and the looming fire of that terrible demon and it's horrifying roar. The smile of his Master as she sacrificed her life to seal it way. Gray grit his teeth and clenched his teeth.
"You've gotta stand up!" Gray roared.
"Grit your teeth!" Natsu bared his fangs.
"AND NEVER GIVE UP!!"
X-X-X-X-X-X
X-X-X-X-X-X
Boota was... weak.
No. That wasn't right. The accurate thing to say was that he was afraid. Or maybe it was because he was afraid that he was weak. Either way, he grew up in the local orphanage, being one of the older kids, it was his job to look after the younger ones. And he liked to do it. He'd entertain his brothers and sisters by molding clay sculptures of whatever they wanted. It was a peaceful life.
But it wasn't without strife, of course. Delinquents would always come around. Kids around their age. Some a few years older than them. They were always looking for trouble, usually harassing the Matriarch of their orphanage, Lilith. He remembered the times they'd swing by vividly and graffiti all over the walls, pick on the kids that tried to stand up to them. And they'd insult Lilith.
In an act of bravery, Boota stood up to the goons. But there was one error in his actions...
Boota was afraid of conflict.
BLAM!!*
"Ugh!"
"Boota!"
"Dumbass kid. You think you can stand up to the Purple Dragons? Get real! Why don't you stay down already?"
Boota groaned, raising a hand towards the swelling bruise on his cheek. A young woman in her 20s with ash blonde hair and green eyes, Lilith, crouched near the boy and inspected the injury. She frowned, standing protectively in front of the children she'd raised.
"How low will you bastards go?! Attacking a little boy?!" she scowled.
The leader of the gang, a young man with a neon green mohawk scoffed, resting a crowbar on his shoulder. "Hey, he attacked us first. Not our fault he was too weak to do anything."
Boota bit his lip in frustration as tears formed at the corner of his eyes.
Weak. He was weak.
"If you just went back to our boss, there wouldn't be any problems..."
"I want no business with the Purple Dragons or Yamaji anymore." Lilith said with a frown, clenching her fists. "If he has a problem with it, he can tell me face to face like a man instead of sending a bunch of crooks to damage my orphanage like some petty highschool jock!"
The goons' faces scrunched up in frustration at the dig towards their boss. Mohawk Head huffed with a smirk and smacked his crowbar against his palm. "Heh. You've got some fire in ya'. I change my mind. We're just take you for myself! That'll teach you a lesson. Whaddya say, boys?"
The rest of the men let out a few lecherous chuckles, making Boota bristle and the other orphans whimper.
Lilith's face scrunched up in disgust. "You pigs...!"
"HEY! JACKASS!"
The Purple Dragons turned around to see three children glaring at them. Taruko stood at the forefront, gripping a shinai in his hands. Lance stood to his right with a similar scowl, while Maiya opted for a disappointed frown as she huddled behind the two boys.
Taruko pointed his bamboo sword at them, shouting, "Why don't you leave the lady alone?! She obviously wants nothing to do with ya'! Buzz off!"
"Who the hell is this brat?"
"Dunno. He talks a big game, though."
"Alright, alright." Mohawk Head chuckled and waved him off. "Run along, kiddos. This is just some adults talking, y'know? Nothing to concern yourself with."
"We saw you beat up that boy on the way over here," Maiya said, pointing to Boota. "That doesn't seem like talking."
"Huh? He attacked us first. It was self-defense!"
"You jackasses were vandalizing the orphanage! Of course he was gonna do that! Are you stupid?!" Lance growled at the man. "And then you went and started harassing this lady! Get over yourself! Leave before we kick your asses!"
. . .
They burst into laughter.
"PFHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"
"YOU? KICK OUR ASS?"
"THIS KID'S GOT JOKES!"
"NO WAY SOME WEAK LITTLE MIDGETS LIKE YOU COULD BEAT THE PURPLE DRAGONS!"
"HURRY UP AND RUN ALONG TO YOUR MOMMY, KID!"
Maiya sighed, palming her face. "Oh, boy."
Veins sprouted along Taruko and Lance's temples. Gritting their teeth in anger, they lunged towards the gang like a pair of rabid animals. "WHO THE HELL ARE YOU CALLING WEAK, JERK?!"
There was a burst of motion. Boota blinked once and suddenly, it was all over. He only heard screams of pain and the sound of bamboo smacking painfully against flesh before Taruko and Lance stood atop the unconscious bodies of the Purple Dragons. The only one that was left awake was the bastard with the Mohawk.
Taruko shouldered his shinai with a scowl, jabbing an angry finger at the man's face. "Listen up! You're gonna run along and relay a message to your punk boss! Either you leave these guys alone or we're gonna personally come over and kick your butts!"
"I would personally suggest we go kick their asses right now anyways." Lance scoffed, sneering at the trembling man in front of them. He was talking a big game a few seconds ago, but now that they wiped out his little group, he was shaking like a leaf. Pathetic.
"Y-YES SIR! RIGHT AWAY!" Mohawk Bastard squealed, scrambling to his feet and running away in a hurry, kicking up a cloud of dust.
"That's just unnecessary violence, Lance." Maiya chided with an exasperated frown, watching the goon scurry away. "Your grandpa wouldn't like you picking fights with gangs."
"But they're so weak! I barely even worked up a sweat. Plus, aren't we doing the village a favor by taking out the trace? This is like, free public service!"
"Public service is typically free, yes. That's why it's called public service." Taruko rolled his eyes.
"Shuddup!"
"Guys..." Maiya shot the two a warning look, making the boys click their tongues in annoyance.
Lilith stepped forward with a kind smile. "Thank you two for helping us. We owe you a lot."
Taruko and Lance blushed, stuttering. "N-No problem, miss!"
Maiya groaned and rolled her eyes.
Boota watched as the other children began to swarm the three, his hand resting against his bruised cheek. He got it patched up eventually, but his thoughts were elsewhere. He kept recalling the encounter with the Purple Dragons. And how he failed to protect his own home. Someone else had to do it. Because he was weak. Because he was scared.
He hated fighting. The possibility of blood being spilled frightened him. The vibrations as fists made contact with flesh. The likelihood of magic being used... it terrified him.
He ignored the worried looks sent his way whenever he passed them by. Lilith tried to talk to him, but he walked off aimlessly around the village for what felt like hours. The sun began to set, as Boota wandered through the plains, he heard the sound of fighting and flinched. His heart hammered in his chest and he stepped back...
"I've got you now!"
"Oh, yeah?! How about THIS!"
He blinked at the familiar voices and found himself walking towards the sound of fighting. Taruko and Lance clashed blades, their shinai colliding with violent thwacks that rattled Boota to his core. They sported bruises and scrapes. He wondered why they were fighting in the first place... were they mad at each other? They seemed like they were arguing a lot... but wait... they were...
'They're smiling?'
As the two boys separated from their clash to catch their breaths, Maiya, who was sitting off to the side and spectating their spar, noticed Boota from the corner of her eye and blinked.
"Oh, you're that boy from before... back at the orphanage." she raised a brow. "What are you doing here?"
"O-Oh, er... I..." Boota stuttered, unable to find the words to respond.
Taruko diverted his attention from Lance and looked over, his eyes lighting up. "Oh! You're the kid that stood up to those purple whatzits jerks!"
"Purple Dragons, doofus." Lance snorted, rolling his eyes and leaning against one of his shinai.
"Whatever, stupid name anyway." Taruko stuck his tongue out at Lance and then grinned at Boota. "That was pretty awesome of you!"
Boota grimaced and averted his gaze, rubbing his arm. "N-No... it wasn't. I couldn't even land a hit on them. I'm..."
Weak.
Taruko blinked. "... so?"
"Huh?"
"So what if you couldn't land a hit on them?"
"B-But I couldn't protect Ms. Lilith and the others! I'm... I'm weak, just like they said!" Boota didn't know why he was getting so emotional. Maybe he was frustrated. Frustrated because someone like him was saying that to him. A boy no older than himself that was able to take down full grown men effortlessly. While he went down in one blow... "I can't fight... I-I hate fighting! I always get hurt, and... and..."
"Well, duh, you're gonna get hurt when you fight. That's par for the course!" Taruko smiled, tapping his shoulder with his shinai and glancing off to the side. "And maybe you are weak, maybe you don't like to fight, but... y'know what? That's okay! You knew going into that that you weren't gonna win! You knew your limits and still fought anyway... because you wanted to defend your family. You didn't give up."
Shrugging his shoulders, Taruko turned around and began approaching Lance. "Everytime you get knocked down... stand back up, grit your teeth, and never give up. You'll find yourself getting stronger eventually. And maybe you still don't like to fight, but at least you'll have the strength to protect the people you care about!"
Boota's slanted eyes widened in surprise and gawked at the boy in front of him. The crisp afternoon breeze brushed against his skin and buffeted his hair, and the young boy swallowed the lump that formed in his throat. He clenched his sweaty palms and stammered.
"W-What's your name?"
"Hm?" Taruko blinked, glancing over at him. He grinned. "My name's Taruko Hikari. These are my friends Lance and Maiya."
"Hi," Maiya smiled and waved.
"Hn." Lance grunted and bobbed his head in greeting.
"... I'm Boota." Boota smiled.
X-X-X-X-X-X
X-X-X-X-X-X
'Never give up...'
Boota's fingers dug into the ground and he took in a shuddering breath, rising to his feet on shaky legs. Gray and Natsu gave him blank stares as the boy regained his composure, balling his hands up into tight fists.
"... you're right, I'm sorry."
He hated fighting.
"I won't fold like that ever again!"
But even so... he couldn't give up when his friends were out there fighting just as hard as he was.
Natsu grinned. "That's more like it! Now I'm getting fired up!"
"Do you two have a plan on how to beat him?" Boota asked as he created a pair of rock golems.
"... I might have something." Gray stood to his feet and clenched his fists. "But it's gonna use up all my magic. And I'll only have one shot... so I need to get close to the guy."
Natsu frowned, shooting him a blank stare. "Huh?! What if I wanna deal the finishing blow!"
"Now is NOT the time, idiot!"
"Ugh, fine! Whatever!"
"So we just have to immobilize him long enough for you to get close and use whatever spell you have to take him out?" Boota inquired as rocks coalesced around his fists to form a pair of large gauntlets. "Okay. Let's do it."
Gray nodded, sending Boota a smirk. "Glad you got your head on straight." he cracked his knuckles. "Let's do this!"
"YEAH!"
Eiji's muscles bulged and grew denser, his claws and fangs growing more pronounced as his eyes became bloodshot. As his magic began to spike in intensity and power, he snarled at the three boys and bent his body low towards the ground in preparation to lunge at them. "I don't know why you're all fighting so hard..!"
He moved. Cracking the ground beneath his hind legs, Eiji exploded forward and closed the distance in seconds. As he brought one of his fists down with lightning-fast speed. They leaped out the way as his punch caved in the earth, and Eiji grinned. "I'M STRONGER THAN THE THREE OF YOU COMBINED!!"
"Yeah, you told us that already!" Natsu said, mounting one of Boota's golems and igniting his fists. "But we don't give a damn, you stupid mutt! We're gonna kick your ass!"
"I'D LIKE TO SEE YOU TRY!!"
With a roar, Eiji plowed his fist through the chest of the golem Natsu rode on. As it exploded into rubble, Natsu leaped into the air and landed on the werewolf's outstretched fist. Eiji swiped at the young Dragon Slayer with his other arm, only for Natsu to hop out of the way and spew flames from his mouth directly into Eiji's face.
While the flames hardly did any damage, they temporarily blinded Eiji as he howled in anger, giving Boota's other golem enough time to tackle him. As Eiji blindly wrestled with the golem and turned it to shreds, Boota dug his gauntlet-clad fists into the earth and channeled his magic, generating a seismic quake to offset his balance and footing, giving Natsu ample time to charge in head-first and collided with Eiji's torso.
"FIRE DRAGON'S SWORD HORN!!!"
Flames roared and mixed with burning fur. Eiji grit his teeth and dug his feet into the ground to root himself in place, before slamming his knee into Natsu's stomach. A rib cracked, and Natsu hacked up blood before he was smacked away by Eiji's fist. Just as he was about to lunge towards the boy to finish him off, he felt something off.
"What the-?!"
Several hands made of stone wrapped around his ankles, holding him in place. He whirled around to lock eyes with the perpetrator. Boota's slant eyes were narrowed in focus, his hands glowing with an earthy green texture. Eiji snarled in anger as his eyes glowed, feeling a familiar heat well up in his core.
"RAAAAAAAAAAAAAARGH!!!"
He howled, unleashing a pressurized ray of superheated ethernano. Boota jumped out of the way but the beam continued it's course, searing through the earth and leaving a smoldering trench in its path. Once the beam subsided, it all accumulated in a massive explosion that detonated across the area, engulfing it in a fiery veil of flames and shrapnel.
Eiji grinned to himself and tore himself out of his restraints, chuckling. "Hehe, I had to have gotten one of you with that..."
'Now that I think about it, where the hell did that ice brat go?' he narrowed his eyes. 'I haven't seen him since I attacked them...'
Boota stumbled to his feet and chuckled. "I wouldn't be so sure..."
Eiji squinted incredulously. "Hah?"
"Thanks for the grub!"
His ears perked up at the sound of slurping. He stared at a familiar spikey-headed silhouette standing amidst the sea of flames. His confusion grew when it looked as though the flames were vanishing. Was he extinguishing them, somehow? It'd make sense, he used fire magic, but... wait. No. Something wasn't right...
Was he...?!
"HE'S EATING THE FIRE?!" Eiji screamed, his eyes bulging out of his skull.
Natsu swallowed the remaining embers with a feral grin, wiping his lips and letting out a sigh of satisfaction. "Nngh...! Now I've got a fire in my belly!"
His magic power exploded in the form of a dense pillar of fire. Eiji gawked in shock and shook his head in disbelief.
'His magic power increased after he ingested the fire?! How is that even possible? What the hell is this kid?!'
Eiji narrowed his eyes and stood up straighter. 'No, it doesn't matter. Even though his magic power output increased, it's nowhere near close to mine.'
"Fire Dragon's... INFERNAL BURST!"
Fire exploded from Natsu's heels, sending him flying forward like a rocket. Eiji's eyes widened in shock at the sharp increase in speed. As Natsu swooped in with a flying axe kick. To his shock, Eiji found himself unable to dodge and was forced to block the strike, marveling at the force out behind the attack as he was pushed back.
'How did his speed increase so much?!' Eiji blinked in realization. 'Did he focus the accumulated energy into his heels and release it all in one concentrated burst to maximize his overall speed?'
Natsu grinned in triumph. "How d'ya like that?! Learned that from a friend!"
"Not bad... when I first looked at you, I didn't think you were that bright..."
"HEY!"
"But your battle IQ is pretty SHARP!" Eiji snapped his arms outwards, pushing Natsu back and swiping at him with his claws, forcing Natsu to beat with the pain as the lycan's claws easily dug into his arms and side; leaving behind deep, bloody gashes.
"Ghk-!" Natsu grit his teeth in pain, refusing to let out a peep. He landed on the ground and bounced back into a backflip as Eiji stomped at the spot where he previously stood. When he threw a sharp right cross his way, Natsu ducked low and pushed forward. "Dragon Slayer Secret Art..."
He roared, propelling flames from his elbows to maximize the speed and force behind his punches, unleashing a barrage of explosive strikes that battered Eiji's chest, setting off miniature bursts of searing flame with every collision. Each strike was akin to a bomb going off, forcing Eiji to endure the powerful blows with snarling teeth.
"CRIMSON LOTUS: FIRE DRAGON'S FIST!!!"
BOOOOM!!!*
Eiji slid back as Natsu's last punch exploded against his chest. He couldn't help but marvel in shock at the feeling at a few of his ribs cracking under the force of the attack. His lungs burned as he sucked in heavy breaths. In the past few years of working under the Matriarch, nobody had ever managed to hurt him like that. The lethargic lycan narrowed his eyes and clenched his fists as he looked into Natsu's eyes.
Smoldering black irises stared back at him. Yet he felt as though he were staring at something else. Something larger was peering at him past the boy's eyes. A beast of unyielding power and might.
He felt a growl echo in his ears that rattled his bones down to his very core.
'This kid...'
He dug his feet into the ground, his heart rate began to spike and the adrenaline fueled his every action. He pushed forward and ran, dropping down onto all fours.
'Cant be allowed to live!!'
Natsu felt a bead of sweat trickle down his brow as he watched Eiji speed towards him. 'This guy is crazy tough! I was gonna use that secret move to one up Taruko during our rematch, but he took it like it was nothing!'
Expelling flames from his feet, Natsu used another Infernal Burst to nimbly dodge Eiji's reckless charge. His eyes widened in surprise as Eiji easily changed course without losing momentum, bouncing off the walls like a ping pong ball and nailing Natsu in the gut with a drop kick.
Natsu crashed into the ground painfully, groaning. He glanced up to see Eiji dive-bombing towards him...
... and he smirked.
As Eiji collided with the earth, the ground tore itself apart and splintered, causing large chunks of rock to fly into the air as his weight formed a six feet deep crater in the ground. The lycan stood stationary as the dust cleared. He squinted and slowly rose to his feet, huffing.
"The brat's scent is gone. I didn't hit him. But there was no way he could have got out of the way in time." he grunted in frustration, looking around. "And there's still that ice brat--"
"NOW!"
The lycan grunted as he felt a pair of small muscled arms wrap around his neck. Natsu's scent filtered his senses, the smell of burning wood and charcoal. He growled as the boy strengthened his grip in an attempt to stave off the air flow in his windpipe.
"That... ain't gonna wor--!"
Before he could reach up and rip Natsu's arms off, thick, rocky hands clasped around his limbs and pulled taut. He blinked in surprise to see Boota's golems restraining, coupled with several stone hands anchoring his feet in place.
'What the hell are they doing?!'
"DO IT, GRAY!!!"
Natsu's scream ringed loudly in Eiji's ears. The ground beneath his feet gave way as Gray burst through it, causing Eiji's eyes to widen in shock.
'The kid with earth magic... he made a burrow for him?!'
Gray latched onto Eiji's chest, digging his fingers into his fur and using his eyes to anchor himself. He reared one arm back as frost began to circle his outstretched palm. "GOT YOU NOW!"
"Like... HELL, I'M GONNA LET YOU DO WHATEVER YOU'RE GOING TO DO!!!"
Eiji roared and began thrashing wildly. He ripped his arms free from the golems with the use of his enhanced strength, only to find himself grappled by another pair. He growled in frustration and wrenched his legs free, only for more to replace the ones he destroyed and drag his feet into the earth. He found his eyes snapping towards Boota with a venomous glare.
The boy stared back without a trace of fear.
Natsu grit his teeth in a vicious snarl and tightened his grip around Eiji's throat, causing him to gasp. He was beginning to panic.
'I'll just blast it all away!' he concluded and opened his maw to charge up the biggest blast he could muster.
But that was the opening Gray needed.
'There!'
All at once, the magical energy Gray had been steadily accumulating ever since the start of their plan burst forth. The temperature in the air dropped into the negatives, an aura of swirling blue magic spiraling around the ice wizard as he thrusted his fist into Eiji's opened mouth, ignoring the searing heat from the forming ball of hot ethernano, and staving off the pain by countering it with the cold.
"ICE-MAKE: FLASH FREEZE!!!"
氷の造形: フラッシュフリーズ
Natsu let go of Eiji and leaped away. In an instant, the lycan had been frozen, jagged spikes of ice erupted from his mouth and around Gray's fist. However, it did not stop there. While his ice spread around Eiji's body, it also spread within him at a rapid pace, swiftly freezing him from the inside out. Gray had pushed the temperature of his ice to the absolute limit it one controlled burst to shut down Eiji's body, sending a shock to the nervous system and contracting his muscles without outright killing him.
Even if Eiji was far stronger than them, there was no way he could brute force his way out of his body couldn't respond to the signals he tried to give them. He'd pass out from the shock swiftly after anyway. It took precise control on Gray's part to not fatally damage anything internally, especially when coming up with such a spell off the top of his head.
He wasn't too keen on using this on anyone else until he got a solid grasp on it. But this was an all or nothing gamble that thankfully paid off.
Gray wrenched his hand away from the now frozen lycan and hopped off of him, stumbling on his feet and collapsing onto his back. The boy let out several breaths, which quickly turned to frost from the freezing temperatures. His magical energy completely spent, and the injuries sustained from the battle finally catching up to him.
"D-Did we win...?"
He tired craned his head in Boota's direction, who was staring in shock at Eiji's frozen body. Gray chuckled and shakily raised his hand up in a thumbs up. "Yeah... we kicked his ass...!"
Boota let out a startled laugh, his legs giving out as he fell on his butt. "W-We won... we actually beat him! HAHA! YES!"
Natsu stumbled around Eiji and groaned, giving his gashes a pained look before shooting Eiji a blithe look. The pinkette blinked and grinned, knocked his knuckles against him. "Holy crap! You turned this guy into a friggin' sculpture!"
"DON'T TOUCH HIM, IDIOT! YOU MIGHT SHATTER HIM!" Gray barked at Natsu in annoyance.
Natsu yelped in shock and jumped a couple feet away from Eiji. "THAT CAN HAPPEN?!"
"OF COURSE IT CAN, DUMBASS!"
Gray sighed and let his head fall against the ground with a small thud. "Ugh... I'm too damn tired to argue with you right now..."
Natsu huffed and slowly sat down, crossing his legs and grumpily staring at the moon. As much as he hated to admit it, he was tuckered out. "Now what to do we do?"
"We should rest up and regain our energy, then regroup with the others..." Boota murmured, glancing over at Gray. "How long will he stay like that?"
"A couple of hours, maybe? He'll be unconscious for longer." Gray said, furrowing his brows.
"... then we'll rest for an hour and then find the others."
"Awesome, 'cos I'm friggin' TIRED!" Natsu groaned and collapsed onto his back.
Boota instantly mimicked the boy. Mainly because he felt all his energy suddenly leave him instantly. "... same."
Gray let out a quiet sigh and closed his eyes. He knew Taruko and the others would make it out okay. So he wouldn't worry. He had to trust in his friends...
'That's what you'd want me to do... right, Ur?'
A/N.
Hey, all. It's me! So~ I wanna apologize. I originally planned on this chapter being released on the fifth of November, but, well, things happened. My living situation became questionable and I got hit with writer's block. Combine that with me grappling with my depression, and, well... yeah. I couldn't bring myself to write.
This chapter was going to be much bigger, too. I was going to wrap the fights between Cana and Nala vs. Momiji and Taruko and Lance (plus Pip) vs. Kaiser in this chapter too, but I decided to split them up to give each fight their own focus and breathing room.
It was also to ease the pressure on myself as I slowly got back into the swing of things. Everything's okay now, though, and I'm ready to get back into writing Sword Saint! WHO'S FIRED UP?!
Question of the day... how would you guys feel if I drew variant covers for different arcs? Yes, I drew the cover you currently see everytime you open uo the site/app. I won't do it for EVERY single arc, but maybe some of the major ones? Lemme know.
OH! By the way, I've been going back and reworking older chapters. Mainly to polish up on any grammar mistakes, fix continuity errors, and make it so the rest of the story aligns smoothly. So there's some rewritten scenes and added content for you to check out if you haven't already! So far chapters 1-3 have been rewritten. I'll polish up the others in my downtime.
Sword Saint's also been published on Archive of our Own! May include lemon scenes there exclusively, haven
Onto reviews!
Royalrain20xx: Glad you enjoyed the previous fight! Hope you like this one, and look forward to the rest~
NumeralFuture11: No prob! And that an interesting idea...
Necros The Saiyan Knight: Nah, brah. Claudia's an orphan. lol.
Daedalus1988: Good eye. That's one of the inspirations. Hell, the way Gray finishes the fight is based off Todoroki's finisher from that movie.
JustaPickyReader: Yeah, lol. Mashima characters, especially ones in Fairy Tail, are absurdly durable. Attacks that should have killed them typically don't. I just follow that example here. Main reason that Eiji isn't dead either. Not looking to make Sword Saint an overly realistic and gritty take on the Fairy Tail universe... but there will be character death. I just won't say who dies.
Zyr0TruthCanExist: Thanks! And sorry. But~ I implore you to keep reading. What you find out may end up surprising you.
The Storm Master 567: I have no issues with saying that Taruko will become a Slayer, since that isn't a major spoiler. I just won't say what. And he will get a reward for his efforts by the end of ths arc. I will also not elaborate on what that reward is.
Lgknight105: Nice guess! You're off the mark, though. Also 4th Gen Slayers are artificial beings given Slayer Magic, not people that were self-taught magic... haven't watched Dragon Cry in a while but I distinctly remember that. Although it technically wouldn't be impossible to learn Slayer Magic on your own...