[10 minutes prior to the Countdown.]
Cana hurried down the castle corridor, coming to a stop once she arrived at the Eternal Sword alter. "Huh…?" She glanced around the room, spotting an unconscious and gravely injured Yukino underneath some rubble, breathing lightly. "Whoa! Yukino!" Cana hurried over to the unconscious female, checking to see if she was still alive. "Stay with me…what happened to you…?"
"Tsk…" Venoma silently sucked her teeth before walking behind Cana and kicked her in the side, the force of the kick causing Cana to tumble along the floor before coming to a halt on her stomach. "Now, now…we can't have you parading around our little home all willy nilly…"
"Ugh…you…" Cana started to push herself up, but Venoma placed a foot on her back and forced her back down to the ground with a grunt of pain. "Agh..!"
"You humans have been getting dangerously annoying as of late…" Venoma then reached out to grab Cana's hair, pulling it up slightly to lift the card mage's head. "It looks like I'm just going to have to start picking you off one by one. I think you'll make a good first one…"
"Bitch…" Cana spat while clenching one eye shut in pain.
"Mmmph…" Yukino started to awaken, vision blurry. "W-What…" Her sight started to focus and she could see Cana being pinned down by Venoma. "C-Cana-sama…?" She tried to move but her lower half was stuck under some rubble, and just her luck; her keys were JUST out of arms reach.
"Oh, awake are we?" Venoma turned to Yukino failing to push herself out of the rubble. "Don't worry about being stuck; I'll get to you next." Raising her hand, the purple haired female allowed poison to form along it. She was just about to stab her hand into Cana's back but halted when Erza and Mirajane stepped into the alter from the other side. "Eh?"
"E-Erza…!" Cana's hateful scowl shifted into a grin upon seeing the two females. "A-And Mira! You're alive! I knew it!" Venoma then tugged Cana's hair, causing her to piss in pain. "Ow…bitch!"
"What's going on in here…?" Mira narrowed her ryes at Venoma. "Let her go. Now."
"This instant." Erza demanded, taking a step forward but halting when Venoma held her hand out.
"Ah ah ah…" Venoma shook her head in a disapproving manner. "You're in MY home, remember? So you're going to abide by MY rules. If you even breathe irregularly I'll make her death nice and painful…you can watch as my toxins slowly spread throughout her body and eat her insides."
"You're twisted…." Mira curled her hand into a tight fist. "How dare you threaten her like that…"
"Well…" Venoma was going to say something else, but she noticed a card sticking out of Cana's pocket. "Oh, what have we here?" She knelt down to pick out the card, which happened to be the one Kagura was still within, still unconscious. "Oh, what a pretty queen card you have here~"
"Kagura-sama!" Yukino cried out.
"Release her!" Erza shouted but halted once again when Venoma held her hand out once more. "Egh…"
"Now this is an interesting situation…" Venoma stared at Kagura's card with a widening grin. "Okay ladies. Let's take a vote! Which one of these ladies will die first?"
"W-What!?"
"You heard me~" Venoma chimed, allowing poison to engulf her hand. This poison was beginning to deteriorate the card, causing everyone's eyes to widen.
"W-Wait! Stop…!" Cana pleaded.
"Mgh…" Kagura's eyes began to open, and of course she was completely out of the loop since her defeat, so imagine her surprise when she awoke. "W-What…?!"
"This pretty little Mermaid or the drunk? Which one gets to watch the other die?" Venoma chimed. "Better hurry, my poison is known for spreading quickly, you don't have much time left to choose~"
"You vile…" Cana began to speak again but was silenced by another tug of her hair.
"Tick tock!~" Venoma rushed.
"Ngh…" Erza grit her teeth; this was a decision she couldn't make like this with so little time.
"Oh, too late, mermaid girl is the first to go!" Venoma allowed her poison to completely eat away at the card, reducing it to nothingness.
"K-Kagura…!"
"And now…" Venoma grinned while staring down at the growling Cana.
"I wouldn't be getting so ahead of myself if I were you." Minerva spoke while standing atop the rubble that had Yukino trapped. In her fingers, the card that contained Kagura. She was twirling it between two fingers before holding it out, using her Territory Magic to free Kagura from the space, who stood at the ready.
"Milady…!" Yukino let out a huge sigh of relief. And in the next instant, she was freed from the rubble, swiftly teleported to a safe corner in the room.
"There." Minerva looked to Yukino with a bit of a relieved look herself. "You gave us a heart attack."
"Ah…" Venoma's brow twitched in slight annoyance at Minerva's intervention. Being distracted allowed for Erza to knock away Venoma from Cana with a shoulder tackle, sending the venom dragon staggering back a few steps before dusting off her kimono. "Oh…well there goes that. I suppose I'll just have to do this the hard way then."
"Are you in any condition to fight…?" Yukino asked Kagura. "Your wounds from before…"
"I'm fine." Kagura replied with a firm nod before unsheathing Archenemy.
"Good, because I don't plan on carrying you." Minerva remarked with a sly smirk.
A bright light wrapped around Erza's body, entering her Flame Empress Armor, the flaming sword right in her grasp. "So, ladies…are we ready to do this? I need to try and grab that sword…"
"We're with you, Erza," Mirajane nodded, a magic seal appearing over her as she entered her Sitri form, which held every last bit of magic she had remaining. Right now it was all or nothing.
"Four vs. little ol' me? Oh, this will be so much fun…" Venoma grinned, fangs bared towards Fiore's four strongest women. "Come at me now."
"Gladly." Kagura was the first to move, using her gravity to decrease the field of gravity around herself to make herself lighter. She closed in on Venoma within seconds, aiming a series of slashes at the venom dragon. To her surprise they were mostly avoided, though she did manage to graze the clothing and skin of the female before being kicked away to a nearby wall. "Oof…!"
Mirajane was next, using the flames from her Sitri form to speed forward within the blink of an eye. A fiery roundhouse was aimed at Venoma's temple, though it was blocked by her forearm.
"Try harder." Venoma taunted, but she got what she wanted as Erza attempted to land a fiery slash on her from the side, but this was also blocked by her other arm. "Not quite~"
"How's this, then?" Minerva followed up with a territory infused kick to Venoma's exposed stomach, kicking the woman with enough power to send her tumbling along the floor until she came to a stop by digging her nails into the ground.
"Ugh…" Venoma hissed in slight pain but was unable to even muster a counter as Erza was before her, aiming a fiery slash down on her. Venoma leapt back to avoid it but was caught by some of the searing flames, kimono burning as a result. "Watch the clothing!"
"That's the last thing you have to be worried about!" Mira exclaimed from above, dropping down with a dark magic infused foot aimed at Venoma's face; the dragon blocked it but Mira's strength resulted in the floor to crater severely. Mira flipped back, allowing Kagura to follow up with a singular slash across Venoma's chest, resulting in several other slashes to occur on contact.
"Gwah…!" Venoma cried out as her eyes widened from the pain.
"Look at them go..." Yukino watched in utter amazement as the four ladies did work.
"They're way too strong…" Cana chuckled before using what was left of her magic to free Yukino from the rubble that was keeping her pinned to the floor.
"Poison Fist!" Venoma exclaimed as Mira came in for another punch, however this one was avoided by the dragon and she slammed her fist covered in poison right at Mira's gut, sending her skidding across the alter before losing her balance and falling to the floor.
Erza changed into her Morning Star armor, lunging forward with the two blades in hand that crackled in green lightning. Once close, Erza aimed two slashes at Venoma, however both were avoided and Erza was kicked away, digging her blades into the floor before hopping up, now charging them with magic. The scarlet knight glanced at Minerva who merely gave a nod. "Photon…" Erza pointed her swords forward, and in that instant, Minerva used her magic to warp Erza right in front of Venoma's face, the blades pointed right at her. "SLICER!" The gigantic sphere of magic completely consumed Venoma who let out a loud scream.
As the beam consumed Venoma and dispersed, Kagura was running right alongside it, waiting for just the perfect moment to unleash her Gravity Change, heavily increasing the gravity around Venoma to keep her pinned to the ground. Mira was next, striking above while gathering dark magic within her hands. "Satanic Blast." Throwing her hands down, the burst of energy completely exploded upon the venom dragon. Venoma rolled along the alter before finally coming to a stop at Minerva's feet.
"Don't think you're out of the park just yet. Once a Tigress bites, she never lets go." With a wicked smirk, Minerva created a large sphere of Territory magic that she compressed to the size of a baseball, making its potency that much more dangerous. The sphere unleashed an enormous beam of territory that sent Venoma flying into the wall, causing it to collapse as a result.
"Whoa, look at that!" Cana was getting hype just watching them all kick ass.
"They're all so strong! There's no way she stands a chance!" Yukino grinned.
"I think we took care of that quite nicely, ladies." Minerva dusted her hands off before placing them on her hips…she then let out a slight cough…followed by a few more. "…What's this…?"
"I hope you didn't get the impression that I was done in by any means…" Venoma emerged from the rubble, bruised and bloody, but she was fine. "You must've been underestimating me. As for why you're coughing, my toxins have been spreading into this room for a while…odorless, tasteless…truly a silent foe. It won't be much longer before you completely succumb." While she spoke, Erza, Minerva, and Kagura all fell to a knee; Cana and Yukino covered their mouths and nose but couldn't help but cough as they felt weaker and weaker.
"Poison?" Mira questioned with a smirk. "I don't know if you noticed, but your punch didn't have any effect on me. Poison is nothing more than a demon's snack." When Mira finished speaking she began inhaling, starting to remove all of the toxins from the room.
Venoma merely giggled at Mira's statement. "You don't think I didn't take this into account? You're a little more naïve than you look…" She then snapped her fingers, causing the poison on Mira's stomach to explode. The force of the explosion is what truly caught Mira; her eyes widened and her jaw hung open as she collapsed onto the ground, twitching slightly as she reverted back to normal.
"M-Mirajane-sama…!" Yukino cried out.
"I can control my poison however I see fit, it doesn't matter if you're immune to it or not." Venoma stated while waltzing over a few steps in front of the Eternal Sword. "I knew Mii couldn't be trusted…she swore she took care of you. But it doesn't matter, because you'll be dying now…oh boooys~" On that cue, several dragon soldiers appeared and surrounded the females. "Make sure they don't pull any funny business. I want to watch them die slowly, got that?"
"This…isn't looking good…" Kagura felt her body growing numb slowly.
"This is nothing less than what you humans deserve." Venoma said while glaring towards the group.
"Why do you...hate humans so much...?" Yukino asked from afar, trying to cover her mouth. "We've never..."
"You would never understand." Venoma said with a scowl. "Humans are vile creatures...and so are dragons." The fact she said this so openly surprised everyone. "Dragons that exist beyond this Isle are terrible, selfish creatures that only care about themselves! Humans the world over are the exact same! All they do is take, kill, and destroy! Their actions are lost to history, or they're even painted as heroes. But I remember every single vile deed of theirs!"
"So you hate all humans?" Mira asked while sitting up slowly. "What did they ever..."
"I had a sister." Venoma said as her scowl deepened. "400 years ago, we sought to flee together to the Isle. But we got separated. Humans and dragons who were fighting against each other...they didn't care that we were a neutral party. They attacked us all the same! I lost my sister, I watched as she sacrificed herself so I could live on. Her name was Alice, and they took her from me! But Eizen and Edna, they get to be together.. Prince Kurthnaga and Princess Ena, have never feared separation...why do I have to suffer the fate of loneliness!?"
Yukino and Mira couldn't help but feel for Venoma in this moment. "I...I know how you..." Yukino began.
"Don't you DARE try and empathize with me! You could never understand 400 years of heartbreak!" Venoma snarled, her fangs bared. "400 long years...even if our fate on this Isle was to die, I would claw my way out of it to exact my revenge on humankind..."
"Such intensity..." Minerva mumbled. That being said, she had no plans of dying here today. Luckily, she had a chance to reassess her positioning, and noticed something. Minerva was the closest to the Eternal Sword; just a literal hop away. She stared at Erza, who was of course the furthest. In the blink of an eye, she used her magic to trade places with Erza, even faster than what Venoma could keep up with. "Erza!"
"H-Hey, wait!" Venoma shouted.
"HYAH!" Erza reached out for the hilt of the blade, beginning to draw it out as quickly as she could with all her remaining strength. She made some leeway before it stopped abruptly, a bright light shining and sparks began dancing around her body, inflicting pain of the highest degree on her; almost as if she violated a sacred order. "NGH…!?"
"Ah…" Venoma merely smiled, shielding her eyes from the light to get a proper view. "There it is…she's unworthy after all!"
"Who are you? You do not bear the right to wield this blade. Release it now, or suffer pain worth one thousands deaths."
"No…!" Erza replied defiantly to the voice. "I care not if I'm not the true wielder of this blade…I need to use its power so I can save them!"
"Save them? Bold words…anyone can say that, however. What is your proof that you mean what you say? What is your conviction? You may have been blessed, but you have not the will to bear the right."
"No will!?" Erza took completely offense to that statement. I made a promise…" Erza grit her teeth while continuing to fight to pull the blade out. "I made a promise to Ena that I would save everyone I could, including her. My friends are counting on me…I don't know why Mii told me to pull this blade out, but I'm putting my trust her. So let me use this sword, even if for a few moments!"
"You are not part of Yggdrasil's blood…but there is a familiar light about you that brings a smile to mine lips…Very well, Erza Scarlet. Show me your will…to bear the right!"
After those words were spoken, Erza actually began to draw the blade out from its pedestal. The Eternal Sword was a blade nearly as big as Erza, radiating a purple light with its sharp edges. As soon as the blade was removed, Erza performed a single slash and completely cut through and dispersed the poison Venoma sneakily laid in the air. "Thank you."
"E-EHHHHH!?" Venoma's eyes nearly popped out of their sockets at seeing Erza wielding the blade. "T-THAT'S NOT POSSIBLE?!"
"She pulled the sword out…" Mira let out a minor chuckle. "That's Erza for you…"
"Now then. Who wants to be first?" Erza asked while pointing the large blade forward.
"D-Don't just stand there you idiots! Kill her NOW!" Venoma screamed. Venoma's orders were to be followed. The dragons lunged at Erza, but every single one of them was dealt with in a single slash, crashing into the wall with the might of the blade. "N-No…!" Venoma cried out.
"Retribution." Erza held the Eternal Sword in both hands and leapt into the air, coming down on Venoma with a powerful overhead slash.
"Wall!" In a panic, the dragon threw her arms forward to create a thick wall of poison to protect herself. No use. The Eternal Sword cut right through and through Venoma's very being; a piercing roar could be heard as Venoma tumbled backwards before hitting a wall in a sitting position, Erza now slowly approaching. "S-Stay away from me you…you monster!" She then threw her hand forward, unleashing a barrage of poisonous scales in Erza's direction…all of them being cut through like butter as Erza slowly continued to approach.
"This is almost scary…" Yukino whispered.
"I'd hate to be that chick…" Cana replied.
Erza was about halfway there when…the sparks suddenly returned. She let out a cry of pain before falling to a knee, struggling to even stand back up. "W-What…!?"
"What's happening!?" Kagura questioned.
"Let it go!" Mira shouted, but it was no use. Erza's hand was glued to the sword now as it punished her.
"The sword's rejecting her." Venoma smirked, holding onto her injured arm. "Whatever her will was…she's obviously wavering in it now. So the sword has deemed her unworthy and will now punish her with death."
"What's wrong, Erza?!" Cana asked. "Hurry up and take her out!"
"I…" Erza struggled to speak.
"I think I know what this is all about…" Venoma spoke tauntingly. "I remember hearing that the creed of your guild was never taking a life…I'm sure you were all prepared to follow through, but something stopped you. What was that something? Whatever it was, it seems to have you quite conflicted." Venoma slowly began to stand up, limping towards Erza with a poisoned claw extended. She was more than prepared to speed up this process. The venom dripping from her hand literally corroded the floor into nothing within a heartbeat.
Venoma was correct. Erza was conflicted. Mii's words really stuck with her now that she was in the moment. If she KO'ed Venoma, would she wake up with an insatiable bloodlust and put everyone injured at horrible risk? And if she killed Venoma…well…that thought process spoke for itself. Were these dragons evil, or were they simply misguided and hurt from the past? "I…"
"How odd…" Jellal spoke from a window overhead, catching everyone's attention.
"You…" Kagura already began to shake visibly just from the sight of him.
"The Erza I know would come up with her own answer in times like this…she wouldn't even think about it." Jellal stated. "I've hardly seen a moment of hesitation from her when her family is in danger. I know she's one who always a makes the right choice."
Erza's hair created a shade over her eyes as she bit her tongue to prevent from crying out in pain. "Jellal…everyone…run…"
"So she's finally accepted her fate." Venoma chuckled. "That's fine with me. Don't tell them to run, because I'll hunt them down and kill them too."
"I'm not telling them to run because they're in danger…" Erza replied, a smirk now visible on her lips. The sparks instantly vanished from her body and she stood up. "I'm telling them to run because this is going to get messy."
"There we go." Minerva gave a slight nod.
"E-Eh…!?" Venoma's confident dropped and she took several steps back in a panic. "H-Hold on! Stay back!" At this point, Erza ran out of magic. She was just relying on the blade's power at this point to carry her through. Venoma could pick up on this and quickly regained her senses. The shock of the sword being pulled got to her, but she could still emerge victorious. "I said stay back!" Poison dripped from her finger tips, and her wings spread out from her back. She swung her arms forward, sending crescent slashes of poison forward. "Attack her!" She also shouted towards the surrounding dragon soldiers.
"She's out of magic, she won't last if she gets hit!" Mira exclaimed. She knew that look on Erza's face; she was putting everything on the line in a do or die situation.
"Then I will cut open a path for her!" Kagura said while sprinting forward. She used her gravity change to decrease her and Erza's own gravity, to give them a boost in speed. She sprinted behind Erza and swung Archenemy forward, a splitting shockwave slicing through the incoming slashes of poison coming Erza's way. Right as Kagura did this, the surrounding Dragon soldiers attempted to jump the two of them.
At that moment, Jellal sped forward in a blur of golden light. With Meteor, he was able to strike them out of the air before they had the chance to attack. "I won't allow it!" However, these dragons were tougher than he expected. Even though he knocked them down, they planned to attack once again, but...
"Libra!" Yukino swiped a key to the side, summoning Libra to tip the scales of gravity. She pinned the dragon soldiers down in the process.
"Thunderbolt's Fate!" Cana threw herself into the fray, throwing several cards down towards the Dragon soldiers. This zapped them with numerous bolts of lightning, paralyzing them in the process.
"No! No! I'm not going to let this chance for revenge slip through my fingers, damn it...!" Venoma hissed as she swung her arms apart, multiple toxic orbs appearing all around the Eternal Sword chamber. They were all pointed at Erza and the others, beginning to bombard the group with a relentless onslaught. "Toxic Torrent!" At least, this was her plan. However, before the orbs could fly, they vanished as quickly as they appeared. "What!?"
"Did you forget? I control this space." Minerva said with a sinister smile.
"She's open!" Mira exclaimed while holding her side. She did tilt her head up, noticing a dragon soldier attempting to get the drop on Erza, quite literally. Even though she had a miniscule amount of magic left in her body, Mira used it to enter Satan Soul and intercept the soldier, grasping their face. With a loud cry, Mira slammed the solider into the stone floor, cracking it in the process. "ERZA!" With this, Venoma was finally open, with nothing to stop Erza...!
"This is my answer!" Erza darted forward, creating several smaller 'copies' of the Eternal Sword floating above her head. These blades flew forward and impaled Venoma rapidly, keeping her stuck in place with binding properties; Erza then finished the job off with a single thrust that created several powerful shockwaves. "Miracle Blade!" Erza passed right through Venoma who stood tall for a few seconds before completely collapsing, eyes white in KO.
"She got her!" Cana cheered.
"That's the Erza I know…" Jellal gave a nod of approval. The joyous moment was cut short when the island began to violently tremble. "W-What!?"
"What's this earthquake…?" Kagura looked around before spotting Hibiki's countdown in the sky. 00:00. The Etherion Cannon was just about to fire on the island. "Are we really out of time!?"
Erza stared at the Eternal Sword before shaking her head. "No. I'll buy us some more time." Erza moved outside, whipping the blade back as a bright flourscent purple glow appeared around it. In one slash, a beam of energy was sent forward towards the incoming beam the Etherion Cannon fired off. The Eternal Sword's beam cut through the Etherion Cannon and hit the seal, causing it to malfunction.
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"What was that?!" Lahar gasped as the Etherion Cannon was overpowered.
"The Etherion Cannon is malfunctioning?" Odin lifted a brow. "But how? Did a dragon target it?"
"What power…" Siegrain mumbled. For some reason he had a feeling of who was behind this…and he wasn't sure whether to be annoyed, impressed, or both.
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"Wow!" Yukino clasped her hands together. The display of the Eternal Sword's power was truly something else.
"That sword really is powerful..." Kagura said while staring up at the sky. The Etherion Cannon that threatened to destroy the Isle was damaged so severely by it. "Erza is strong, but I can sense an ever greater power within that blade."
"Ugh..." Venoma was regaining consciousness, and everyone quickly turned around. But based on her injuries from the Eternal Sword, she wasn't going to be getting up anytime soon. Instead, there were tears rolling down her cheeks as she broke out into weak sobs. "This...isn't fair...why do I have to suffer alone...? I can't even avenge my sister..."
"Is she still..." Cana wasn't sure what to do. But if Venoma planned to fight more, she'd...
"It's alright, Cana." Mira said while slowly limping her way towards Venoma. She crouched down, meeting the wounded purple gaze of the dragon. "I didn't know your sister, so this may not mean much coming from me...but I doubt she would want you to live on with such rage in your heart."
"H...How can you claim to know anything about that!?" Venoma glared daggers at Mira, but the woman just smiled gently in response. That shocked her, considering she was trying to kill them all only moments ago.
"Because I'm an older sister, too." Mira replied gently. "A long time ago, my youngest sister was taken from us. At the time, that's what I thought, anyway...and there was a wound carved so deeply into my heart, I thought it would never heal. For a very long time, it never did, either. But I had to face each day with a smile, because I know that's what she would have wanted. I had to watch out for my younger brother, too...I know the pain of losing a sibling. Especially when you feel that it is your responsibility to protect them. The weight of that failure weighs heavily on your heart..."
"..." Venoma said nothing. She truly thought none of these humans could relate to her, and yet. "I..."
"...I don't know what 400 years of that pain will do to someone, it's true." Mira already knew what the wounded woman was about to say. "A few years of that pain was hard enough for me and my brother."
"Um..." Yukino tentatively stepped forward. "I'm...a younger sister myself. While I cannot entirely understand the long pain you've endured, my heart goes to you. My sister is very dear to me, even if our circumstances are complicated. But I would do anything for her if I could. The life you have now is not yours alone, it belongs to your sister as well. Alice-sama is watching you with a smile, I believe. Do you think she would want you to lash out and continue the cycle of hatred and revenge...?"
"I..." Venoma closed her eyes, imaging Alice's smiling face for a moment. The times they shared, good and bad...their fateful separation, leading to her own death. Alice wanted her sister to live happily. "That's why..."
"That's why she saved you." Mira replied. "We can't stop you from hating humans...but we can stop you from destroying yourself with this hate."
"...Alice..." Venoma let out another quiet sob. Eventually, her exhaustion took over and she passed out once again...
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"What was that all about…?" Shadowlore said while scratching the back of his head. "I thought we were actually done for a second!"
"Same here…" Daryan let out a heavy sigh while glancing at the dragon soldiers. They were on 'pause' so to speak, but they were still in the way as well. "Doesn't matter, we got some clean up to do…" His last sentence trailed off, his finely tuned ears picking up a particular voice…one that was all too familiar. "The hell…"
"What wrong, Daryan?" Tia asked, though she wasn't sure if she wanted to.
"You didn't hear that? That voice just now?" Daryan inquired, though the others in his group gave him an odd stare. "Really…? Was it just me…?"
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"Whew…that's a load off…" Luke let out the heaviest of relieved sighs.
"...I wouldn't relax just yet…don't you hear that?" Edna looked at the White Eclipse guild, most of them shaking their heads.
"No…I hear something…" Leon's voice lowered. "It sounds really familiar…"
"You too?" Selene blinked.
"I thought I was going crazy here…" Waiston nodded.
"I don't like the sound of that voice…" Heather's tone grew serious.
"No…this can't be possible…" Ena began to tremble from the overwhelming aura beginning to seep out from outside the isle. This was an unfamiliar, but terribly familiar aura at the same time.
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"You…you heard that too…didn't you, Wendy?" Cynthia stared at Wendy, who gave a slight nod after.
"I did…" Wendy gulped, her heart sinking to her stomach.
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"Ichiya-senpai!" Ren shouted while looking at the radar. "The radar is picking something up! Something huge is approaching, rapidly, too!"
"Men?" Ichiya blinked. "What on earthland could it be…? It's moving faster than anything I've seen…?"
"I don't like where this is going…" Gaia commented. "I know that voice too well…"
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"You lied to me. You said you took care of the one who could hold the Eternal Sword…" Dhegensea glared at Mii, who just gave an shit eating grin.
"You sound so surprised that I'd lie to you by this point…" Mii giggled; it hurt to laugh in her condition but the pain was well worth it.
"It doesn't matter...not like that dull blade can do anything to me now..." Dhegensea remarked.
"Well, looks like we don't have to worry about running out of time now…" Natsu's grin widened to an almost evil one. "But your time is about to run out."
"Let's wrap this up and go home." Gray said while standing side by side with Natsu.
"In the name of Fairy Tail, we're going to take you down!" Natsu exclaimed, taking a single step forward only to stop in place, eyes widening as the noise that was afflicting the dragon slayers and dragons alike finally entered his ears. "T-That voice…"
"Impossible…" Dhegensea grit his teeth while staring out into the night sky. "I didn't think he would show up now of all times…!"
"W-What's going on…?" Mii looked to anyone for an answer, but she wasn't getting one.
"I wouldn't mistake that voice anywhere…" Natsu spoke with his body practically trembling.
Over the horizon, the wings of a dragon spread out. A deafening roar echoed for miles on end, shaking the very foundation of Ishgar as a result. He was speeding towards the Isle of the Dragons at a breakneck speed, soon to arrive within minutes. The dragon slayers and conscious dragons picked up on this voice at last and only one name came to mind.
"Acnologia."
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Next Time: Dhegensea vs. Acnologia!