"GEHEHE!" Franmalth merely mocked Laxus after the threat the S class wizard made. "You really believe you can beat me so easily!? A Demon Gate of Tartarus will not be shamed so…"
Laxus wasn't having any of it. With his Lightning Body he was before Franmalth within the blink of an eye, rearing his arm backwards. "Iron Fist of the Lightning Dragon!" BAM! Laxus punched Franmalth square in the eyeball, throwing the demon gate backwards along with the rest of the people he had trapped.
"You struck me in the middle of my speech…" Franmalth bounced back from Laxus' blow quite easily. "You could've endangered your friend and all these people!?"
Unfortunately for Laxus, though Franmalth was annoying, he did raise a point. If not careful, injury could come to Freed and the other captured civilians; but at the same time, time was quickly running low and Franmalth needed to be dealt with as soon as possible. "Tch…"
"But more importantly…!" Franmalth grinned as lightning started to spark around his being; not just any lightning, but it was literally Laxus' own electricity. "That last hit tickled! It'll take more than that to put me down, gehehe!" Opening his big mouth, the Demon Gate released a large bolt of lightning exactly like Laxus' own roar towards the trio.
"What the…!?" Laxus, Bickslow, and Evergeeen leapt to the side to avoid the Lightning Dragon's Roar before staring at Franmalth with widened eyes. "The hell was that!?"
"Did that fiend copy your magic somehow?" Evergreen questioned. "It might be the same as when he used Freed's magic…but Freed is attached to him right now."
"If you simple minded heathens MUST know…I absorb the souls of everything! Even magic itself has a soul." Franmalth explained himself quite clearly before pointing his hand forward. "Dark Ecriture: Pain! Pain! Pain!" Franmalth was now utilizing both Laxus and Freed's magic to unleash purple tinted lightning bolts; even with Laxus's resistance to lightning these were going to leave a mark due to the Pain inscribed within them.
Evergreen crossed her arms, letting out a small shriek of pain as she was hit directly with an incoming Pain Bolt. "Gyah…! How dare you…use Freed and Laxus's magic like that?!" Wings expanded once again and the fairy mage flew high into the air. "Fairy Magic: Gremlin Bomb!" Throwing her arm to the side, glitter began to rain down onto a confused Franmalth. It wasn't long before the glitter began to explode violently, throwing Franmalth into the air! It was expected that Franmalth would drop those he had in captivity, however it was holding onto them for dear live! "Still not letting them go?!"
"Gehayaya!" Laughing, the stout demon gate twisted his body midair as a light surrounded his body. "It's time…for a REVOLUTION!" Poof! All within the blink of an eye, giant pink wool completely overtook that particular area of the city. "Who would've thought that magic from that little pink lamb way back when would be useful!?" Even as he said that…it felt odd. For some reason Franmalth could feel his power waning slowly…
"T-This is oddly relaxing…" Bickslow grumbled before lifting one hand up. "Babies, get rid of this blanket! I'm not trying to go to sleep yet!" 'No sleep, no sleep!' Following the orders of the one who controlled them, Bickslow's dolls unleashed several rapid fire beams of seith magic that exploded the wool before its tranquil effects became too severe on the trio. Landing back on the ground, Bickslow looked towards Laxus and Evergreen while preparing to take off his mask. "Laxus. Ever. I have an idea, I need one minute. I'll signal when I'm ready to go."
"Easy." Laxus nodded while cracking his knuckles. "This bastard has one minute left to laugh."
"Just leave it to us." Evergreen placed a hand on her hip.
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Tempesta had a whirlwind surrounding his arms as he glared at Erza and Lucy. Obviously displeased, the Demon Gate could see that he was not going to be able to complete his objective with those two women standing in his way. "You are preventing me from completing my mission. If you continue to stand in my way, I will destroy you. This is your only warning."
"It has fallen on deaf ears." Erza replied instantly while creating about 20 more swords in front of her and Lucy. "But we have many questions for you. Where is Cynthia?"
"We're not letting you cause any more damage." Lucy stated while holding her ground. "We're not letting you go anywhere until you answer that question either!"
"Insolent humans…" Thrusting his arms forward, Tempesta released an incredibly vicious tornado forward just as Erza threw out her swords. The swords were drawn into the whirlwind and consumed the two females and lifted them off the ground.
"Star Dress: Cancer!" A bright light emitted from the tornado and Lucy in her Cancer Stardress slashed it apart with the two sharp blades in hand, only receiving minor damages from acting so quickly. "Erza!"
"Requip!" Speeding forward just as Lucy dispersed the tornado, Erza entered her Purgatory Armor, bringing up her spiked blade for a horizontal slash strong enough to knock Tempesta right into a fortunately empty building.
Emerging from the building, Tempesta appeared only slightly damaged from Erza's strike. "Burn…" With a simple exhale, the entire section of the city was lit in searing flames that began to burn away the buildings to nothing.
They had no idea what they were up against, but Lucy was quick to think and act. She knew just how to deal with fire with having Natsu as a partner for so long. Lucy took to the air, shifting into another Stardress: Aquarius. Tempesta watched Lucy in the air, curious as to her movements. "Tidal Wave!" Twisting her body, Lucy whipped her hands forward to release a surge of water like a wave that extinguished the flames while sweeping Tempesta away.
From the wave, Erza emerged in her Lightning Empress Armor, the tip of the spear already fully charged with electricity. "Lightning Cyclotron!" Pointing the spear forward, a magic seal appeared and unleashed three bolts of blue lightning towards the drenched Tempesta; all three bolts were a direct hit and due to the water, the damage was amplified and the demon did let out a cry of pain from it all. Tempesta was seen several yards away after the impact.
"Yeah, take him down"! Happy cheered, though he was still holding onto Yajima since there was currently no safe location to set him down on.
"Be careful how you carry me…my old bones aren't toys…!" Yajima scolded Happy.
"Blow." Tempesta, though wounded, did not slow down for even a second. Another cyclone shot forth, this one much more intense than the previous and swept Erza off her feet, sending her flying backwards.
"Erza…!" Lucy was still in the midst of her descent when Erza was attacked.
Tempesta used his curse to appear behind Lucy, a sphere of lightning forming within his palms. "Lightning." The sphere of lightning consumed Lucy while towards the ground where an explosion of lightning occurred; Lucy's scream of pain filled the air as several buildings were caught within the aftermath.
"Lucy! Erza!" Happy's eyes widened in worry.
Tempesta landed back on the ground before the injured Erza and Lucy. There was no cockiness in his stance, no overbearing confidence. He just stood there and watched them struggle to get up. "…" The damage they dealt to him was healing...
"His injuries..." Erza narrowed her eyes. They hit Tempesta pretty hard together, but it didn't look as if it did any damage to him.
"My healing factor is stronger than anything you can produce." Tempesta stated calmly. "Now, move out of my way..."
"W-What is this guy…?" Lucy groaned while crouching on a knee, keeping one eye shut. The open eye flashed red in response to this threat, and for a moment, something pulsed inside of her. She felt it strongly in her chest and winced. As if something was about to claw its way out of her. "Wait...don't come out..."
"This threat. This demon...we can kill it..." That voice again. Lucy recognized it, but she had no idea who it was! "Let me out..."
"Lucy, are you okay!?" Erza asked while standing back up. Tempesta was strong, but Erza always found the strength to stand when her friends were hurt.
"I-I'm..." Lucy wasn't sure how to respond. Tempesta wasn't going to wait around for her to be prepared either. She and Erza were in the way, and as such, needed to be dealt with immediately.
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"Where's Cynthia!?" Natsu lunged forward at Jackal while rearing his arm back, flames blazing around his fist. The Salamander threw his arm forward, but Jackal easily evaded the strike by jumping to the roof of a different building. "Bastard!" Alex was watching in the background, unsure if she needed to step in. Natsu and Gray were quite the combination!
"You're just gonna run, huh!?" Gray said while slamming his fist into his palm, a bone chilling aura emanating from around his body. "Ice Make…"
"HA!" Laughing loudly, Jackal held his hand out. The ground where Natsu and Gray stood shone brightly before exploding violently, taking out the entire section of the city…or so Jackal thought as Natsu once again interfered with his plans by eating the explosion. "Guh!? Stop that!"
"I didn't ask for the meal…but thanks anyway." Natsu wasted no time in lurching forward, unleashing a gigantic breath of flame towards the demon.
Crossing his arms, Jackal faced the flames head on, growling from the damage dealt. Just when he thought it was over, Gray was planning on attack from above, wasting no time in using his Devil Slaying. "Ice's Devil's…"
"Oooooh no you don't! Spiral Explosion!" Jackal quickly swiped his arm horizontally, a large spiraling explosion occurring on the spot. It caught both Natsu and Gray and set them in different directions. "Ooooh, that felt good." It was then several spears of ice composed of Devil Slaying shot out of the smoke. Having to act on instinct, Jackal dodged and weaved around what he could, though several spears did manage to hit their mark and the demon found himself growing from the pain. "Tch…Silver's brat…"
"We're not finished with you yet!" Natsu was above! "Iron Fist of the Fire Dragon!" Natsu brought his fist down and struck Jackal directly across the face, sending the demon staggering backwards. "Now where is she!?" Not letting up, Natsu just continued to let Jackal have it, delivering punch after punch and kick after kick.
"Now, wait a second! Listen to me!" Jackal was honestly trying to explain, but Natsu's hotheaded nature prevented him from getting a word in edgewise. The final punch by Natsu drove Jackal into the ground, where his eyes turned white. "…."
"Natsu..." Alex pinched the bridge of her nose.
"Tch…" Gray scoffed and crossed his arms. "You didn't even let him say anything, dumbass! It looked like he was about to talk…"
"He might've told us where Cynthia was! He was the one who saw her last!" Alex said. What a poor move by Nats.
Realizing this, Natsu blinked before getting off of Jackal and shrugging. "It doesn't matter. We can question him later, right?"
"Ha…" The dry sound of Jackal's voice made Natsu and Gray alert once again; both mages turning to see the demon standing back up with a grin on his face despite the blood dripping from his lip. "You should listen to your friend more often. How am I supposed to explain anything when you keep punching me? By the way…my curse activates whenever you touch me…and boy; you really let me have it, didn't you?" Lips widened, Jackal's fangs were exposed as he pointed at Natsu.
"…!" One look at Natsu made it all clear; all of those seals on his body from striking Jackal were ticking time bombs! "What the-!?"
"You're about to go boom." Jackal clarified.
"Gray, Alex, get out of here…!" Natsu barked as the seals started to shine brighter.
"Gah…! You idiot…!" Gray shouted back. The only sound that was heard after that was the loud explosion that ensued from Natsu. The Salamander fell back onto the ground with large, pure white eyes, jaw hung open as he lay unconscious. Gray could not escape the blast radius and was thrown back himself, covered by some rubble with heavy damage himself. If not for Alex activating some defensive measures at the last second to cover her and Gray, the damage would've been much worse. "Ugh…"
"HA! Look at your faces! Absolutely priceless!" Jackal was having the time of his life, grimacing ever so slightly from the hits he took. It sure did sting. A sudden bolt of lightning dropping down not too far away caught his attention. "Hm? Wonder what we have going on over there…"
"Hey...!" Alex emerged from the rubble, glaring towards Jackal. "We're not done here yet! You're going to tell me where my sister is!"
"Do I have to?" Jackal turned to Alex, unamused. "You may have taken some hits from Tempesta and myself, but don't think you're all that, little girl."
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"GEHEH! Just a few more minutes until the souls of your friend and these people are all MINE!" Franmalth let out yet another annoying laughter. The rune magic combined with all of what he was stealing was making him an extremely irritating opponent!
"We can't do anything as long as he keeps abusing Freed's Magic…" Evergreen touched down on the ground, trying to figure out a way to bypass the runes. She could overwrite simple runes due to just being around Freed for so long, but the way Franmalth was using them made it exceedingly difficult.
"I'll just break them." Laxus said while clenching his hand into a fist, gathering a large sphere of lightning above him. With no verbal command, the sphere flew towards Franmalth who was prepared to take the same course of action yet again.
"Forgive me, Freed…but I'm going to have to do this…" Evergreen was stepping up, since Bickslow was still in the midst of preparing his attack. Tracing her finger in the air, a set of runes formed; a spell taught to her by Freed himself in the event something like this happened. "Rune Magic. Dark Ecriture: Shut Down!" The runes Evergreen wrote exploded, shutting down any and all rune magic within the area for an extended period of time; the runes Franmalth grew so used to using just…stopped working.
"Wha…!?" A look of surprised painted on Franmalth's face as his reflective runes vanished; but he was not going to be put down so easily. Franmalth's body shifted to his hidden S class soul; Hades. Hands quickly moved about to create an Amaterasu Formula that exploded violently when meeting with Laxus' attack. "W-What!? How dare you interrupt me like that?! It doesn't matter, for I don't need those stupid runes! I have my own power that…that feels weaker!?"
"Tch!" Laxus found himself sliding backwards from the aftermath explosion. But from that reaction he could tell that Franmalth was on his last legs. "You talk about price this…and price that…but you're about to pay the ultimate price for daring to suck the soul out of my comrade with a smile on your face." Raising his hands up, Laxus began to prepare one of the strongest spells in his arsenal; a spell that Makarov himself possessed as well: Fairy Law.
"Fairy Machine Gun: Leprechaun!" Waving her arms, Evergreen released a torrent of high speed needles concentrated from dust. The amount was more than double what she normally conjured, all of it for the sake of pinning Franmalth down.
Skidding backwards from the Hades counterfeit attack, Bickslow's eyes began to shine bright neon green from beneath his mask. "You're an idiot, you know that?" Bickslow grinned while finally taking off his mask, tossing it off towards the ground; that wild expression he was known for finally showed itself after so long and he began to laugh hysterically at the Tartarus demon. "Not only are you not the only soul thief, but you aren't even the best one here, shithead! I'VE BEEN STEALING SOULS RIGHT FROM UNDER YOUR NOSE THIS WHOLE TIME! BABIES! IT'S TIME FOR THE FINALE! OMEGA FORMATION!" 20 possessed dolls floated in the air, all of them circling around Franmalth while pointing at him. Think of it as Bickslow's version of Thunder Palace. Each dolls unleashed a massive beam of seith magic that rained down on Franmalth, converging in the center on the demon where an explosion of massive proportions ensured. "YAHAHA! COME ON LAXUS, IT'S TIME TO FINISH THIS!"
"I couldn't agree more." Laxus nodded slowly. With the opening Bickslow presented, Laxus formed an immensely bright light within his palms. "You're about to pay the highest price for playing with Fairy Tail. Fairy Law, activate!" With that command, a bright light engulfed the entire city of Magnolia.
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"W-What is THIS LIGHT?!" Jackal had to cover his eyes from the powerful Fairy Law covering the entire town.
"W-Whoa!?" Alex covered her eyes as well. Fairy Law was so bright and powerful...
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"Is that Laxus?!"
Several questions floated around the Fairy Tail guildhall at the light produced from Fairy Tail. Meanwhile, Makarov just sat on the bar with the tiniest of grins etched onto his lips. "That's my grandson all right…"
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When the light faded, Franmalth was just…gone. But he left Freed and the several other people he captured in his wake. "Ugh…" Freed stood up slowly, staggering a bit however he was caught by Ever.
"Easy now…don't overdo it." Evergreen said softly.
"I'm okay…thanks everyone." Freed offered a weak smile to the Raijinshu. "We should do something about these people too…they were caught up in this…" Just before anything else could be said, Tempesta bashed through several buildings with Yajima's neck in his grasp. "W-What the?!"
Tempesta was paying the Raijinshu no heed despite the fact Franmalth had gone down. He was just preparing to end the former councilman's life when Laxus fired off a bolt of lightning that forcibly ended Tempesta's grip. "…Another one…?"
"So there were more…" Laxus cracked his knuckles. "Here I thought your disgusting friend was the only one here. But I'll gladly take another one of you out."
"I am the storm…the Calamity of Death. You are standing in the way of my objective…" Tempesta stated before his lower half turned into a cyclone. Taking off with blinding speed, his goal was to end Yajima's life before anyone notice…but Laxus was already right in front of him with Lightning Body. "…!?"
"Ha!" Laxus swung his leg down, and in one lightning coated kick he sent Tempesta right back into the ground. Tempesta recovered and tried once again, this time just trying to outmaneuver Laxus, but that was far easier said than done. Laxus was behind Tempesta this time, lifting and interlocking his hands over his head. "Lightning Dragon's Jaw!" In one swift motion, Laxus brought his hands down on Tempesta's skull and drove him into the ground with an electric shockwave booming out after. Tempesta lay on the ground, defeated after those two hits.
"That's my Laxus." Freed said with a cocky grin.
"YOUR LAXUS?!" Bickslow and Ever could already tell Freed was feeling better after that statement.
"Where did this one come from…?" Laxus scoffed while dusting his hands off.
"I believe…Lucy and Erza were combating it…but things went south and before I knew it he grabbed a hold of me." Yajima confirmed while rubbing his neck. "We should check on those girls."
"I'll keep an eye on this one." Laxus put his foot down on Tempesta. "What is it anyway…?"
"I recall nothing…" Tempesta mumbled, causing those around to go on alert once again. "They call me the Calamity…but that is all I know. I had a mission to follow…but you humans continued to stay in my way. There is naught I can do now that will keep me alive…however…I wonder if I can say the same for you humans." Slowly, a grin stretched onto Tempesta's lips and his body…exploded into a black mist that very slowly began to spread out into Magnolia. "Anti-Magic Barrier Particles…these will kill any human in range of them within seconds. Come, humans! Join me in an eternal trip to hell, and I shall be your guide!" Tempesta started to laugh hysterically, but his voice faded out slowly. This situation was dire…for if these particles continued to spread out with no one to stop them…Magnolia, and those who lived in the town were finished.
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Next Time: For My Family.