"Tak, Selene…!" Aira rushed over to the pair of dragon slayers. "I was so worried about you two! Are you okay?!"
"Aira…" Selene let out a sigh of relief upon seeing the wind mage unharmed. "You're okay…but…"
"Do I look okay…?" Takeru groaned, still feeling incredibly dizzy from the loss of a limb and the blood loss. It was a miracle he was still conscious.
"Oh my…hold on, I can heal you but I just need concentration," Aira nodded before rushing over to Takeru. A blue light began to emit from her hands. Slowly, Takeru's arm began to regenerate; leaving both dragon slayer's wide eyed.
"When did you…" Selene began. Unfortunately, the time looked like it was about to get cut short due to some demons prowling around the corner. "Aira…"
"This takes time…" Aira replied calmly, though she was working as fast she could.
"Man, we just can't catch a break…" Luke ran around the opposite corner with Nami, ending up surrounding them with demons. "…Oh, hi guys…"
"Luke…" Selene face palmed. "Where's Taya, I thought she was with you?"
"About that…" Luke started, but found himself leaning away from a beam of raw curse power that nearly took his head off. "We can talk about that later. What's Aira doing?"
"Growing back my arm…" Takeru replied with a deadpanned look.
"Can you hold them off for just a little while longer?" Aira pleaded.
"I guess we can try…" Luke rolled his shoulders before slamming his hands on the ground, creating a dark blue magic seal under some of the demons. "Freeze within darkness! Black Tundra!" Black ice surrounded some of the demon, encasing them within the frozen cocoon, which exploded violently after. Not many of them died, but the ones who didn't were heavily damaged. "Tch! Still standing, huh?"
"…" Nami was a little slow to respond, but she snapped out of it and nodded. "O-Oh…right…!" She held her palm out, unleashing multiple rays of light magic to pierce through the demons that Luke failed to kill, thinning out the numbers quickly. "There we go…"
"And done…!" Aira exclaimed with a grin.
"Huh…" Takeru moved his arm around freely; it was as if it never was cut off in the first place. "Not bad, Aira…"
"Now we can just…" Luke began, but quickly stopped due to a beam grazing his shoulder. It was enough to knock him on the ground. "Gah…" And just his luck, another beam was aimed at him in his dazed state. "…!" He closed his eyes and awaited impact, but nothing came; just a small explosion in front of him. He opened his eyes, widening once he saw whom it was that protected him. A familiar sepia-haired female held up a poison barrier before the copy mage; it was none other than the poison dragon slayer of White Eclipse herself, one who perished a while ago. "H-Heather…!?"
"No way…!" Selene's jaw dropped at the sight of the poisonous female. Was this real?
"How are you...!?" Aira gasped. There was just a tense silence as they all stared at Heather.
"…" Heather spoke not a word. She didn't give a smile to her comrades or anything; she just focused on the threat ahead. "…..If you don't wish to die, then stand up and fight." Was all she had to tell Luke. "Or I'll kill you myself for being such a coward."
"Yowch…" Luke rubbed the back of his head, letting out a nervous chuckle while standing up. "Good to see you too…"
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"…!" Natsu flinched, unwillingly waiting the Death Wave to strike him. He waited, though there was no impact. He blinked, looking up to see what stopped the inevitable impact. "Wha…?"
Diamond stood in front of Natsu, her skin pitch black from the Death Magic. With a deep breath, she was able to expel it from her body and it returned to its usual pale color. "Whew….you okay, Natsu?"
"What the…?" Natsu was surprised to see Diamond of all people. "The hell are you doing here?!"
"That's not how you thank someone who just saved your life!" Diamond huffed.
"Dealer…?" Jellal was confused, yet at the same time relieved that Natsu didn't mean an untimely end.
"I told you I'd lead you to him!" Shadowlore said with an incredibly cocky smirk. "He smells terrible…when's the last time you took a bath, Salamander?!"
"Who needs 'em?" Natsu replied.
"Disgusting…" Diamond shivered at the thought.
"You still haven't answered my question!" Natsu comically shouted.
"It's simple…" Heartless said while keeping her distance away from Zeref. "Diamond is already dead…so regular Death Magic doesn't work on her, minus that one technique."
"In other words, she's like a Death Magic sponge!" Strong exclaimed, a little too excitedly.
"Oh…?" This got Natsu's brain working. He glanced at Zeref, who seemed to have little interest in the conversation roaming around him. He then glanced at Diamond, a sly grin appearing on his face. "I got an idea! Diamond, work with me for a second! I have something I've always wanted to try, but Lucy's been against it!"
"I wonder why…" Diamond narrowed her eyes at Natsu, but objecting to whatever he had in mind was out of the question. Zeref was a problem and they needed to defeat him by whatever means necessary.
"If you're all just going to stand around…" Zeref said while placing his hands together, creating a large sphere of Death Magic in his palms. This one looked large enough to wipe out all of them in one fell swoop.
"That doesn't look good…" Jellal grit his teeth. He could dodge this with Meteor, but he was concerned about the others...
"Okay!" Natsu grabbed Diamond without warning, beginning to spin her around while flames covered his arms. "Don't worry, these flames shouldn't hurt ya!" The flames then wrapped around the spinning Diamond, who was letting out a shriek of surprise. "Fire Dragon's…Cannon!"
"Perish…" Zeref mumbled while unleashing the gigantic sphere of death magic towards the group just as Natsu hurled the flaming Diamond at Zeref. The sphere of death magic struck and turned her black once again. "…" Zeref merely leaned to the side, allowing the fiery spirit to miss him and crash into a building.
"WHY…." Diamond whined after impact.
"Ha!" Natsu rushed in, landing a Fire Dragon's Fist on Zeref's face, causing the death magic to stagger back. Jellal used Meteor to speed in, landing a roundhouse kick on Zeref's side; the two mages then pulled their magic coated fists back and slammed it to Zeref's chest, pushing him away a great distance. "You took your eyes off us again! Not very observant, are you?" Natsu questioned with a smirk, as if he wasn't in a near death situation just moments ago.
"I'm a distraction!?" Diamond flailed about. "That's not what I'm supposed to be!"
"Hmph…" Zeref pulled himself up, rolling his neck. "Is that it…? I expected something a little more…impressive?"
"I'll show you impressive!" Natsu pounded his fists together, a red magic seal appearing before him. Flames trailed behind his arms, and he rushed towards Zeref, aiming to run past him and strike him with his 'wings' of flame. "Fire Dragon's Wing Slash!" Natsu wasn't finished yet; he pushed off the ground and allowed flames to cover his leg; performing a backflip, he aimed the heel of his foot towards Zeref's head for a fiery axe kick. "And Talons!" Zeref crossed his arms, taking the brunt of the wing slash. For the Talons, he simply stepped to the side, allowing Natsu to crash into the ground, retaliating with a haymaker to knock Natsu away. But the dragon slayer was adamant and refused to let Zeref gain the upper hand once again, and the two ended up exchanging close combat blows. Zeref was better at this than Natsu expected, because there were plenty of times Zeref slammed Natsu into the ground, or knocked him away in places that he wasn't expecting it.
Meanwhile, Jellal walked over to the dazed Diamond and held his hand out. "Diamond, are you alright?" He questioned.
"Ugh…yeah, I'm fine…" Diamond grabbed Jellal's hand to pull herself up. "At least someone around her treats me with a little respect…"
"Good…I'm afraid I'm going to have to use your abilities for a second, please forgive me." With that, Jellal sped off with Meteor, dragging Diamond along with him. Once close to Zeref he flung Diamond towards the Death Mage, but missed.
"HOW COULD YOU MISS HE WAS LIKE TWO FEET AWAY FROM YOU!?" Diamond exclaimed before crashing comically into a building nearby…which just happened to collapse and fall right on top of Zeref, Natsu clearly moving out of the way before it fell.
"Poor Diamond…" Spade said with a nervous laugh.
"She technically signed up for it…" Heartless said with a shrug.
"Watch where you throw that sponge!" Natsu shouted at Jellal. "That almost hit me!"
"Don't objectify her," Jellal merely replied while narrowing his eyes at Natsu. "She's a fine spirit with an ability that's saving our lives."
"Flattery won't stop me from kicking both your asses…" Diamond groaned while shaking her head. She was unharmed, funnily enough.
Zeref slowly pushed himself from the rubble, dusting himself off. His body was severely bruised and scratched up from those impacts, but as before, his injuries simply healed because of his immortality. "Again…I thought you'd have something more impressive up your sleeves…"
"Man, this guy just won't go down…" Natsu growled, starting to get annoyed while seeing that Zeref was truly a forced to be reckoned with. They've thrown all these attacks at him and he only had a few marks on him, but it was impossible to tell if he was actually taking damage.
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"Acid Dragon's Roar!" Leon exclaimed while throwing his head forward, unleashing a torrent of acid towards Daityas, melting over the ground it traveled over. Daityas crossed his arms and a green explosion occurred on contact, slightly pushing the King of Hell backwards from the acidic blow. Leon wasn't finished there; he leapt forward after his roar, acid covering his fists. "Acid Dragon's Steel Fist!" Leon thrusted his arm forward, but Daityas caught it before it connected, not minding the acid burns.
"Play with fire…get burned." Daityas spoke with a wide grin, slamming his flaming fist right into Leon's face, sending Leon flying backwards. Daityas then puffed his cheeks out, unleashing a Hell Fire Demon's screech towards the flying Leon.
"Ha!" Gray exclaimed while swiping his arm forward, sending out his ice to freeze the flames over, stopping them just before they struck Leon. He then crossed his arms, creating multiple spires of ice around Daityas. "Ice Devil's Spires!" These spires attempted to impale Daityas, but they merely broke against his demonic skin, doing only a little damage in the long run. "Tch, you gotta be kidding me…"
"Just because you wield the magic to slay a demon…doesn't mean you can," Daityas replied with the smirk still on his face. "Just ask your dragon slayer friends how they managed to slay the dragons that attacked…oh right…"
"Acid Dragon's Wave!" Leon lurched forward once again, unleashing destruction in the form of acid towards Daityas.
"Hell Fire Demon's…" Daityas began while forming a sphere of hell flames in his palm. The sphere was small, but deadly. "Burst." He flicked his wrist in a nonchalant manner, sending the small sphere towards the wave of acid. Leon was thrown back as a result of this. The result was a green/red explosion of fire and acid that covered the entire battlefield, shielding the King of Hell from view.
"You're not escaping that easily…!" Gray said while slamming his fist into his palm, deciding to merge is Devil Slaying Magic with his Ice Make magic: Ice Magic: Devil Slayer's Cannon!" He hoisted a large ice cannon on his shoulders, similar to the one he normally used. He then clicked the trigger, unleashing anti-demon ice in the direction of the smoke cloud, resulting in an icy explosion that covered a wide radius. Daityas walked out of the smoke with ice covering his arm, which melted due to the intense heat his body was giving off. "Tch…"
"If that's the best you can manage...!" Daityas raised his arm and thrust it forward, sending a wave of hellish flame towards Gray and Leon. He intended to incinerate them on the spot, but to his surprise, a orb appeared in front of them, soaking the entirety of the Hell Fire wave. Daityas turned, only to see Ultear. "You insect...!"
"This is your chance!" Ultear exclaimed, with Lyon right beside her. Multiple orbs then appeared around Daityas. "Flash Forward!"
"Ice Make: Snow Dragon!" Lyon quickly made a dragon of ice, and it lunged towards Daityas along with Ultears orbs. They all crashed into him, serving as nothing more than a paltry distraction. Their attacks did nothing but turn Daityas' attention to them.
"If you're so eager to die..!" Daityas's hand ignited within Hell Flames, but then...
"YOU'RE NOT KILLING ANYONE ELSE!" Gray yelled from above Daityas, purple ice covering his fist. Daityas looked up at the last second... "ICE DEVIL'S IMPACT!" Gray's fist slammed downward upon the crown of Daityas's head, an icy explosion occurring as he was blown back. Daityas crashed into the ground, lying on his back...with his eyes closed.
"Did he do it...!?" Lyon gasped.
Gray landed on the ground, wincing from the damages taken. If not for Leon, he might not have lasted, and without Lyon and Ultear, he wouldn't have had that opening. Did it all work out!? Did they defeat the Demon King...!?
A tense few seconds passed...
And his eyes shot wide open.
Daityas stood up slowly, blood trickling down from his forehead. His expression was an enraged one. These humans...thinking they got the best of him!? He'd make them pay for that with their lives. "You two are really starting to get on my nerves. You're still way out of your league against me. Don't get cocky just because you've managed to get some damage in on me!" Daityas finally spoke. "I think it's about time to finish this…" Just after he spoke, a tremor shook the city. "Oh…? Is it that time already…?" He questioned. He spoke the tone of voice that meant he knew something the others did not.
"The hell was that…?" Gray asked while looking around.
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"Hey…?" Cygnus blinked, raising a brow as the demons he was dealing with slowly began to walk off, going to a set direction.
"They're…fleeing…?" Bacchus raised a brow.
"I'm not sure I like where this is going…" Alexander commented silently to himself.
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"Where are they going…?" Cynthia asked.
"I…I don't know…" Wendy replied.
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All of the remaining demons in the city began to merge in one spot. It looked like a gigantic mass before turning into a blob of darkness that eventually turned into one giant demon, towering 50 feet over everyone else. The demon let out a large screech, shaking the very earth itself.
"W-What the hell is THAT!?" Angel asked with widened eyes.
"It's ugly…" Midnight replied, narrowing his eyes in contrast. "Incredibly ugly…but at the same time it has the strength of all those demons that weren't killed. What a hassle…"
"Just imagine if Erik was here to see this!" Hoteye exclaimed.
"I can see it…" Cobra replied while walking into the scene with his hands in his pockets. "I heard everything going on miles away and came over as fast as I could. What a disgusting voice this thing has…" A sly smirk crossed the lips of the poison slayer.
"What do we do about it…?" Racer asked. "It's a big target, so it's not hard to miss…"
"I don't think attacking it head on will do us any good in the long run…" Cobra merely replied.
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"N-NANI!?" Natsu's eyes widened at the giant demon towering above everything in the center of the city. "What the hell!?"
"All those demons meshed into one…" Heartless was rather amazed at such a feat.
"So, your time seems to be nearing…" Zeref spoke calmly, yet there was something different about his tone of voice. It was almost as if he wasn't talking about what was going on now. "Do you think you can defeat me…?"
"We'll beat you in no time flat!" Natsu replied while igniting his fist in flames once again.
"Hey, Heartless…" Spade nudged the demon.
"Yes…?" Heartless raised a brow, keeping her eyes on the large demon overhead.
"Don't you still have access to the Meteor G server…? The thing King used to blow up this town? I think you should be able to use that to take that thing down." Spade explained.
"Oh, yes…before it gets any worse…" Heartless pulled up an archive, but it quickly turned red and shut off. "What the…!? I'm locked out…? That's impossible…I MADE that server just in case King went too far…!"
"Locked out…!?" Strong questioned. "Then how the hell do we take that thing out!?"
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"What is that!?" Gray questioned with his jaw dropping.
"That's a big demon…" Leon spoke in utter amazement.
"Keh…it's the end of the line for you all," Daityas said while reverting back to his normal form. He turned his back to the pair of slayers and shrugged. "You won't be making it out of this incident starting now. Try as you might, but it's game over." After this, he began to walk off, vanishing in a spiral of blue flames.
"Hey, get back here…!" Gray exclaimed, demanding for Daityas to return, but it was all in vain. "Dammit…"
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"Ice Dragon's Roar!"
"Ardent Ray!"
"Fire Make: Spears!"
The three attacks together struck the chest of the large demon, yet didn't do a single bit of damage. "No way…!" Draco grit his teeth together in annoyance. "First they get harder to kill, and now they're harder to damage. This is starting to tick me off!"
"Meanwhile those dragons over there are still fightin'" Satoshi commented while adjusting his hat. He would've liked to continue watching the dragons Adamantine and Mithril battle, but this was a more pressing issue.
"Nothing's working…even I'm starting to get annoyed…" Said Gildarts as he unleashed a beam of Crash Magic upon the demon. It was a direct hit, but not even the mighty Fairy Tail ace was capable of doing notable damage.
"I don't believe this…" Doranbolt grit his teeth in disbelief. "These demons are much stronger than I anticipated…"
"We must hit it with everything we have!" Lahar exclaimed while throwing a hand forward.
"There's a weakness in everything…" Odin said while stroking his small beard.
"How do we damage it…?" Jura questioned.
"Simple…" Trinity walked up, black poison surrounding his hands. "This is a powerful demon that cannot be brought down by human magic…demon slaying magic is the only thing that will remove this creature from this earth…" Just as he said this, the demon stomped on the ground, creating a large shockwave that knocked nearly everyone over and dealt a massive amount of damage. "Ngh…"
"How are we supposed to even get close to it when it's doing shit like that…?!" Taranis groaned in annoyance.
"Just leave that to us!" Erza exclaimed from above in her Black Wing Armor. She held Prometheus' scythe in her hands and flew right towards the arm of the demon. With a mighty swing, she cleaved the large demon's arm off, the limb vanishing.
"Erza…!"
Mirajane was next in her Satan Soul takeover, hands cupped together as dark magic formed in the space between her palms. "Evil Explosion!" She threw her arms forward towards the demon, striking it square in the face, causing it to take a step back. "Now's your chance!"
"Excellent job, ladies…" Trinity tipped his hat to the two Fairy Tail females before inhaling, gathering vortex of black poison around his mouth. "Poison Demon's…Screech!" He threw his head forward, unleashing the torrent of black poison towards the large demon, aiming for the ankles. The demon let out a hiss of pain, struggling to keep itself on balance yet stood tall.
"Lightning Demon's…" Taranis began while lightning began to form on his arms. He lunged up, slashing the demon with his 'claws' of lightning. "Claw Strike!"
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"Ugh…" Ultear walked with a slight limp, keeping her eyes on the battle with the large demon from afar. "It looks incredibly strong…I hope those Demon slayers know what they're doing…"
"They do…" A voice called out. Ultear immediately turned, eyes widening upon seeing two familiar figures: Jikan Calium and Aloysis. Jikan merely approached the time ark mage with a shrug. "But they won't be able to defeat the demon in time."
"You again…" Ultear said while taking a step back.
"We're not here to cause any trouble…Lord Zeref is all you need to suffer to right now," Jikan replied. "I just came by to give you a warning."
"A warning…?" Ultear raised a brow. "About what…?"
"About your little friends…" Aloysis replied with a slightly twisted grin. "Before they can deliver the final blow…it'll miss. Then the demon will counter and kill all of them. Lord Zeref's plan will go through without a hitch. Unless…you think you can stop it with your little trick…?"
"Lost Ages…?" Ultear muttered under her breath.
"That's it…" Jikan replied. "I'll just reverse your time again, and in exchange you'll be in my care again. How does that sound…?"
"Don't do it, Ul!" Meredy limped forward along with Juvia. "He's clearly lying! You can't leave me again…!"
"Gray-sama wouldn't be happy if Ultear vanished again…" Juvia added.
"Aloysis, get rid of them," Jikan ordered.
"As you wish…" Aloysis nodded and raised a hand, creating multiple green magic seals around Meredy and Juvia. He snapped his fingers, though nothing happened. His Rapture Magic had no effect. "Oh…?"
"We're out of magic…so Rapture won't work on us…" Meredy explained.
"Hah…as if that will change anything…" Aloysis replied while extending his hand, a dark misty aura appearing around his palm. "Ghost Fireworks…" From Aloysis' hand, multiple ghost flares shooting out towards the female duo.
Just before they struck spheres of light magic collided, created a small explosion. "I wouldn't touch them if I were you…" Makarov spoke in a low, threatening tone. Alongside him was White Eclipse's guild master, Calium. Neither of them looked very happy.
"Jikan…" Calium mumbled under his breath.
"Old man…" Jikan replied with a hint of disgust in his tone. "You're still alive? What a surprise. I thought by now you'd have kicked the bucket."
"Master…" Juvia let out a sigh of relief upon seeing Makarov.
"You look just like your father…" Calium commented towards Jikan.
"Don't you dare compare me to him ever again…" Jikan spoke with a scowl, holding his palm forward. "I'll make sure your already soon to come death arrives even sooner."
"Don't listen to the words of this man, Ultear…" Calium said with a firm nod, masking a few coughs with his arm. "His words only exist to manipulate you. Do you believe in those who are currently fighting against that demon?"
"I do…" Ultear nodded slowly. "I don't believe they'll fail…it's impossible."
"Foolhardy choice of words…" Jikan replied while crossing his arms. "The final blow will miss…Gray will be the one to cause everyone to die."
"It won't miss!" Ultear exclaimed, her voice sounding firm. "I promised I wouldn't leave them again…and I know he'll do everything in his power to protect those he cares about! That's the kind of person he is…!"
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"Just a little bit more!" Erza exclaimed while moving in with Prometheus' scythe once again. She was aiming for the other arm of the demon, but was quickly smacked down before she could do anything. Erza hit the ground, a small crater forming around her person as her armor was now in pieces beside her body. "Ngh…"
"Erza…!" Mirajane was ready to assist Erza along with a few others, but the large tail of the demon slammed into her and those few others, creating an earth shattering shockwave that split the ground in two. Mirajane's takeover wore off and her critically injured state was revealed.
"This isn't good…" Draco said while clenching his fist. "We're losing momentum fast…!"
"I'm sick and tired of demons…" Gray said while standing on the roof of a building that was still standing, pulling an arm back to create a bow of ice. He was right in the demon's blindside, but he still needed to be quick. One final blow was enough to take it down, and Gray seemed to be the only one capable of delivering it. Gray pulled the string back, an ice arrow at the ready. "Here we go…go back to hell! Ice Devil Zeroth's Destruction Bow!" Gray let go of the string, unleashing the ice arrow that rocketed towards the demon. The demon turned just as the arrow was coming in; there was no time to dodge and the arrow pierced through its chest, freezing it over after a large explosion. The demon let out a screech before slowly dissipating into nothing but ice shards. "Gah…bastards…" Gray let out a groan before falling to a knee, panting heavily.
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"Hey, they did it!" Cynthia cheered while high fiving Wendy.
"That must've been the last one…minus the one Lucy-san and the others went to fight…" Wendy said while taking a seat on the ground, letting out a heavy sigh.
"I hope they're doing okay…" Carla said while looking towards the palace.
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"See that…?" Ultear spoke with a slight smirk. "He wouldn't let us down." She then turned to Aloysis and Jikan, only to find that they were long gone.
"Huh…?" Meredy was just as confused as everyone else.
"Thought Projection, most likely…" Calium said while coughing just a few times, quite violently at that.
"Are you alright…!?" Juvia wasn't one to show concern for White Eclipse, but their master was a different story. There was a different vibe about the old man that made him tolerable compared to someone like Reve.
"I'm…fine…" Calium replied. "Don't concern yourself with me…I'm just old."
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"They took care of it…" Racer spoke in slight disappointment. He wanted a piece at the demon, but things worked out well the way they did.
"Now we should start looking for Jellal…" Angel said while clenching her fist.
"I'm unsatisfied with how he left us like that…" Midnight spoke with a scoff. He then looked over towards Cobra, noticing something was off. "...Erik?"
"….Ngh…" Cobra winced, his one eye closing while he fell to a knee. "Agh…"
"What's wrong-desu ne…!?" Hoteye asked with obvious concerned.
"I…I can hear it…it's coming…" Cobra barely managed to speak.
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"It looks like they took care of it…" Hisui said while staring out the palace window. "Thank goodness…I'm not sure how I'd feel if things went the other direction…"
"Now that just leaves us with one thing left…" Lucy said while staring at the doors to the throne room. She pushed them open, spotting Erebus sitting on the throne with his legs crossed, a wide grin on his face.
"A demon sitting on a King's throne…isn't that every human's worst nightmare…?" Erebrus chuckled at his little pun before hopping up. "Allow me to formally introduce myself. My name is Erebus, the demon of nightmares. My curse puts people to sleep into everlasting dreams…sweet dreams that come from the very depths of their mind. While they sleep, I feed off their life energy and grow ever stronger. The only way to escape is to destroy the catalyst causing the sweet dream, or defeat me. Though, neither of those are possible. I've put a few of your friends to sleep…Blue Pegasus…some Lamia Scale mages…"
"Who do you think you are? We're not going to let you get away with this!" Levy spoke with a small glare in her eyes. "Wake them up right now!"
"I think I just told you why I couldn't do that…" Erebus responded with a laugh.
"Defeat you, then?" Tristan said while pulling out a rather large broadsword from almost thin air. It wasn't requip or anything close.
"My, that's a big sword…" Erebus said with a small chuckle.
"My work shop is just near here…it doesn't take much effort to pull out my weapons, but that's beside the point," Tristan said while pointing the blade towards Erebus. "You will release them."
"Oh, by all means, please try!" Erebus beckoned Tristan to come at him, which he did. The Steel Make mage rushed the demon with a few swings, though they were all swiftly evaded and Erebus leapt back, dusting himself off. "That it…?"
"Ha…!" Lucy and Levy both moved in while rearing their legs back, delivering a swift heel kick to Erebus' chin, but he evaded that strike as well, rather nimbly. "He moved…!" Lucy grit her teeth in annoyance.
"He's fast…!" Happy shouted.
"I told you, my strength comes from your peacefully napping friends…" Erebus said while forming a sphere of darkness in his hands. "Here…why don't you go join them, and rest for a while…" He then hurled the sphere towards Lucy and Levy.
"Watch out…!" Tia shouted. She attempted to divert the sphere with a stream of water, but it phased right through the object. "Wha…!"
"We can't hit it…!" Hikaru stated.
"Levy-chan, look out…!" Acting purely on protective impulse, Lucy shoved Levy out of the way, allowing the dream sphere to completely engulf her, appearing as a dark mass that stayed in the center of the room.
"LUCY!"
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Erebus: Dreams are nothing but dreams. Nightmares are often pushed away because people lack the strength to face them head on. Even the sweetest of dreams can prove to be a a nightmare, because in the end reality will always shine the light of truth upon those dreamers. No one has the will to crush their own dreams, which is what leaves humans so vulnerable. They want to hang onto their memories and sweet dreams no matter what...but they'll be forced to let go eventually. The perks of being a walking nightmare...they'll always realize it too late.
Next time: Sweet Nightmares.