Lucy ran alongside a flying Happy. The two of them were looking for Natsu but they soon realized that they wouldn't be able to find him under these circumstances. Who knew how far he had gotten by this point? And really, Lucy should've been worrying about herself than the others…who knows who she had the chance of running into with the country thrown into such an inner turmoil. "I wonder how everyone else is doing…"
'I'm sure they're fine!" Happy reassured with a wide grin. "Laxus and Erza are probably putting in a lot of work right now, so there's no need to worry!"
"Yeah…I guess you're right." Lucy gave a nod of agreement to Happy. "I just hope I don't run into anybody-" As she spoke, an arrow of wind zipped right past her, causing her to yelp in surprise as she leapt to the side. "….Strong…"
"Tch…" Raven grunted as he sneered at Lucy. "Man…you're pretty evasive for someone who doesn't pay attention to her surroundings."
"You're a little snarky you know that?" Lucy placed her hands on her hips while pouting at Raven. "I'm guessing you haven't seen Chelia, Wendy, or Cynthia, huh?"
"Not since I left Lamia. They were there before I stepped out.." Raven shook his head before taking aim at Lucy once again, pulling back on the bowstring. "I'm sure they're fine, but this isn't about them. This is about you and me right now…and I'm not too keen on losing my magic. I can't support her if I don't have any myself." Several arrows of wind appeared on the bowstring and Raven released, sending these arrows soaring towards Lucy at incredible speeds.
Without missing a beat, Lucy pulled out one of her Golden Keys out and swiped it along the air. "Gate of the Archer, I open thee! Sagittarius!" On that cue, the cosplaying horse appeared with his own bow at the ready.
"I am here to assist, Moshi-moshi! You won't beat me in an archery contest!" Sagittarius already had several arrows ready and unleashed them towards the ones Raven unleashed; the arrows clashed before exploding in the middle.
"Star Dress: Sagittarius!" Lucy exclaimed as a golden light wrapped around her body to enter her Star Dress, now having her own bow at the ready. Together she and Sagittarius were going to drown Raven in an onslaught of arrows.
"Tch…" Raven rolled to the side before pointing his bow into the air. "Arrow Squall!" He released an arrow of a different element this time: water. The arrow of water soared into the air before falling back down in the hundreds, raining down on both Lucy and Sagittarius.
"Look out!" Without a second thought, both Lucy and her spirit unleashed a flurry of their own arrows to counter the ones raining in the sky. They were unable to deal with every single arrow but a large majority of the 'rain' was canceled out. Lucy and her spirit took moderate damage from the remaining arrows but otherwise they were okay. "Geez…that stung…"
"I wouldn't underestimate me." Raven said while taking a sort of cocky stance. "I've always wanted to go arrow-to-arrow with Sagittarius, so go ahead, make my day!"
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White Shadow. Cynthia gulped as Rogue stood within this form. When she clashed against Future Rogue in this form, he was too much for her. This was the same person. This time, however, Cynthia had a lot at stake herself. Rogue did as well, so this wasn't going to be easy. "If you're going to up the ante, then so am I!" Cynthia swiped her hand to the side, earth-like scales appearing along her wrist, ankles, and on her shoulder blades. She was in her Earth Flame dual mode!
"If we aren't going all out, then a fight like this is hardly worth it." Rogue could admire Cynthia's determination. Still, he intended to win. Rogue dipped into the shadows, quickly slithering forward. He appeared behind Cynthia in a heartbeat, swinging a white and shadow infused fist in her direction. "White Shadow Dragon's Claw!"
Cynthia closed her eyes. Her training with this dual mode and with Alex allowed her to sense shifts in the earth, only slightly. It wasn't as strong as Gaia and Alex's ability to do this, but she could use this ability, along with her heightened senses, to pick up on Rogue's sneak attack. As he appeared behind her, she quickly ducked while turning around, earth and flames forming along her fist. "Stone Dragon's Ascent!" She threw her fist upward, catching Rogue in the chest as sharp rocks and flames erupted upwards from the impact.
"Gah!" Rogue grunted from that impact. He slid across the ground after tanking that fiery punch from Cynthia. Now that he was a few feet away from the young woman, he had ample space to unleash a long distance counter attack. "White Shadow Dragon's Rough Silk!" The shadow dragon pointed his hand forward, unleashing several thin beams of light and shadows from his fingertips that aimed to pierce through Cynthia to inflict massive damage if they all connected.
"…!" Cynthia eyes widened at the amount of beams coming in her direction. Without thinking too much about it she just swayed her body to the side; it wasn't the most effective evasive maneuver as several beams ended up grazing her leg or piercing her shoulder. She bit her lip to hold back the cry of pain before returning fire, slamming the ground with her fist to create a red magic seal under Rogue's feet. "Omega Earth Flame Dragon's Eruption!"
Rogue's eyes wandered down to the seal right under him. He realized what it was a second too late and the seal unleashed an eruption of flames and earth that sent him spiraling backwards, covered in harsh burns. "Gyah…!" Rogue hit the ground on his back, grimacing in pain as he tried to fight through it. The damage he sustained from Taranis was catching up to him and slowing him down. Still, he quickly stood back up and began to inhale once again before throwing his head forward and opening his mouth. "White Shadow Dragon's Roar!" With that shout, another funnel of light and shadows released from his mouth and raced directly towards Cynthia.
Blue eyes narrowed and Cynthia actually began running forward her knees bent. She then took a massive leap over Rogue's White Shadow Dragon's Roar while red flames blazed wildly around her feet. "Twin Talons!" In one swift motion, Cynthia aimed a dual axe kick at the top of Rogue's skull; direct impact was made and the Shadow Dragon fell backwards in KO, his White Shadow fading away.
"Whew…" Cynthia let out a heavy sigh before wincing from the pain of her injuries. Her Earth Flame dual mode slowly receded as she returned to normal. Rogue was no pushover. She managed to win this one...!
"And it appears that Cynthia has taken victory over Rogue! How interesting! Dragon slaying magic? Now THIS is something I can make use of!" The Client spoke before a beam of light dropped down on Rogue, taking away his magic before disappearing, and the Rune Barrier in the area faded.
Rogue groaned slowly before waking up, already having realized he lost. "I failed Sabertooth, I see…but you are a formidable opponent, Cynthia. I suppose I owe you lunch like we talked about before…"
"Don't worry, Rogue…" Cynthia shook her head at the shadow dragon and gave a smile. "We got this! I'll do my best to fight for you guys and for my own, I promise. I'm not selfish like that man is."
"Well…if anyone can get this job done, it could be Fairy Tail. But don't think Sabertooth is out of the running yet."" Rogue said while rubbing his head. "But Sabertooth has a score to settle with this man as well…so don't think for a second you can count the others out. This man will pay…"
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Various places in Fiore were practically in shambles with everyone fighting against one another. Yukino had taken a few victories over some unnamed mages, coming out with only moderate damage overall in the end, but it was still quite exhausting. "Whew…" The spirit mage took a seat under a tree to catch her breath, using the time to look over her injuries. There was nothing serious to worry about but she sure was feeling worn down. "This is rougher than I thought it would…I wonder how the others are faring…" It was worrisome to not have an update on everything going on. Before she could continue collecting her thoughts the tree she was sitting under collapsed, the large trunk fell forward, just leaving her enough room to pull her knees in quickly and yelp. "E-Eeep….?!"
Ren leapt away from Lyon's Ice Make: Snow Tiger, a minor sweat drop on his forehead as he stared at the way it was easily able of cutting down that tree. "What a fearsome beast…I imagine that would've left quite a mark." Shaking his head, he pointed his hands forward. "Air Burst!" From his hands, a quick, but powerful burst of air shot out and collided against both Lyon and his Snowtiger.
Lyon was thrown back slightly and dug his heels into the ground to avoid being thrown off his feet; however his Snow Tiger shattered in ice shards. "Ice Make…" Lyon didn't miss a beat, now slamming his fist in his palm for yet another creation. "Dragonfly!" Elegantly tossing his hand forward, the ice make ace unleashed several dragonflies that flew towards Ren.
"Those two are fighting..." Yukino mumbled to herself, peering around the broken tree stump. They didn't notice her just yet, so now was the most opportune time for a surprise attack…even though she felt a little bad about it. "Gomen, Lyon-sama, Ren-sama…" A golden key was pulled out and held out to her side. "Gate of the Scales, I open thee. Libra!" A bell chime echoed out and the zodiac spirit appeared before Yukino. "Libra! Increase the field of gravity around them…!"
"As you wish." Libra nodded and tipped both of the scales she carried down. As soon as she did, both Lyon and Ren came to a halt, their knees bending and quivering as they fought against the sudden change in gravity.
"W-What the…?" Lyon looked around, struggling to keep on his two feet.
"Gravity…?" Ren grunted.
"I'm sorry to do this to the both of you…" Yukino said while emerging from her hiding spot, holding another key out during her approach to the two males; the key began to shine a radiant golden light. "But Sabertooth and Minerva-sama are relying on me, and I will do what I must to ensure victory."
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Erza pointed her blade at Sidney, eyes narrowing as she removed her smug attitude for a moment to take Sidney seriously. She knew how strong he was and she was just going to have one hell of an uphill battle. "Well…?"
"You don't want me to make the first move." Sidney stated.
Despite her attempts to have Sidney move first, it wasn't working. So Erza just nodded instead. "Very well." With her Flight Armor equipped, she sped off, appearing as a blur to the naked eye. She had her Flame Sword in hand; once close to Sidney she aimed a blindly fast strike with her lit sword, aiming to slash Sidney right across the chest in one swift motion.
Sidney didn't budge when Erza came at him. He could see her movements easily and when she came in for the slash he merely shifted his torso to the side, completely evading the hit with as little effort as possible. Just before Erza could completely pass him, Sidney swung his let at the back of her head, his physical strength more than enough to send Erza crashing into the ground.
Erza let out a cry of pain before digging her swords into the ground, stopping her momentum forcefully. Without a second to spare she lunged forward once again, this time requipping the blade that paired with her Flight Armor along with her Flame Sword in the other. "Sonic Claw!" Speeding past Sidney once more, only this time a series of incredibly fast slashes were aimed at the White Eclipse ace along with a trail of flames coming from each swing. This technique was often used to overwhelm foes with her speed; Erza turned on her heel to see how effective it was on Sidney…and the result surprised her. "….!"
Sidney was untouched from Erza's attack. Only the flames from her sword managed to graze the ghost mage, resulting in small burn marks on his clothing and maybe on his skin. With a slight shake of his head, Sidney merely stepped on the ground. This action caused four tombstones to rise from the ground, towering above Erza while leaving only one way out: up. Sidney then leapt onto the top of a tombstone and pointed his hand down, releasing a rain of smaller, but damaging tombstones down on Erza.
"Agh…!" Erza had no way out. The rain of tombstones violently slammed down on her, causing her to grunt in pain with each collision. Bruises were already beginning to form on her fair skin from contact; a bright light wrapped around her body as she entered her Adamantine Armor, using this to shield herself from the rain of tombstones, but she couldn't stay in this position for long. Knees bent and Titania leapt high, keeping her shields above her head until she was out of the little trap Sidney set and now high in the air, where another light wrapped around her body. Erza entered her Heaven's Wheel Armor, summoning roughly 100 blades in front of her. "Taste my blades!"
Erza's swords began to rain down towards Sidney, aiming to skewer and impale him with no mercy. Sidney didn't move an inch; instead a magic seal just appeared underneath his foot. "Resurrection: Frankenstein." From the seal, a large cliché Frankenstein monster towering 20 feet into the air rose slowly. The monster was impaled by a large majority of the swords before toppling over and fading away. The remaining swords were dealt with by Sidney merely leaning to the side accordingly; the blades didn't even graze his clothing.
While Sidney was seemingly distracted dodging the blades, Erza flew forward with her blades crossed in an X formation. "Pentagram Sword!" Flying past Sidney, Erza unleashed a series of slashes that formed the shape of a pentagon. These were the first several hits of Erza's to finally land against the Ghost Mage, but it wasn't even a direct hit; Sidney blocked the blow by bringing up and flexing his arm. There was a noticeable gash on Sidney's arm and several others along his chest, leg, and side, but it didn't seem to bother the SS class all that much if at all…still Erza had a sly grin on her face.
"…" Sidney turned, his body turning transparent for a split second before returning to normal. He wasn't impressed with the trick Erza attempted to pull. "A blade that doesn't have to hit to do damage…but if there's nothing to hit, there is no damage dealt."
"Wha…" The red head's jaw dropped. Sidney managed to avoid her carefully hidden blade…it didn't have to make contact to do damage, but Sidney just outright avoided it all together.
"You're wasting my time." Sidney stated bluntly. "Either come at me with everything you've got, or just fall here."
Brown eyes glared towards Sidney before another light wrapped around Erza; The Giant's Armor. She planned to make Sidney submit to her in a contest of physical strength. With her bulky armor equipped Erza lunged forward towards the Eclipse Ace while rearing her fist back. "Haaaaaaa….!" She threw it forward, aiming for contact against Sidney's chest…but he caught her fist.
Sidney did slide back a few feet from Erza's strength, but he palmed her armored hand before employing a vice grip so tight she could feel it through her armor. "I know how you fight, and I can tell you that it won't work against me." Sidney's grip tightened on Erza's hand and her armor began to crack.
"I won't be losing here!" Erza shouted while desperately swinging her free hand at Sidney, but he just caught that one as well. The grip was now so tight Erza found herself falling to a knee while glaring up at the ghost mage, gritting her teeth in pain. "My…comrades need me…"
Shaking his head, Sindey's grip continued to tighten. "I told you this before we began, but you didn't listen. You're no match for me." Right after he said that, Sidney's might crushed the arms of the Giant's Armor, and his hands were now beginning to bend Erza's backwards. He was seriously going to break her arms.
Erza was desperate and needed to escape this situation. Several blades formed around Sidney and just fired off with the intent of him releasing Erza and backing away; he did just that, leaping away from Erza and the incoming blades that were distractions, however a few of them were surprisingly on point and cut his right leg and side…but again, the damage didn't bother Sidney too much. "Now!" Erza thought to herself, lunging forward while swinging her armored leg at Sidney's face. Sidney blocked this strike with his forearm and aimed his fist at Erza's stomach with so much force the armor around her shattered and her eyes widened in pain. Titania was thrown back, violently tumbling along the forest ground before hitting a tree, gasping for from Sidney's infamous gut punch.
Sidney's foot hit the ground again, yet another magic seal forming. "Resurrection: Phantoms." From the seal, three cliché phantoms rose and immediately flew towards the downed Erza. These phantoms were more dangerous than they appeared, for if they touched their opponent, it would drain the target of their magic.
Erza was still struggling to catch her breath after the wind was knocked out of her. She couldn't be pinned down like this so early…forcing herself to stand, Titania allowed yet another glow to wrap around her body, now entering her Morning Star armor with the two blades in hand. It was a little trick, but she actually began running forward as fast as she could, cutting through all three phantoms before coming to a halt to catch the rest of her breath. "I wonder how you'll handle this one…" Leaping high into the air, Erza placed her blades together, magic gathering on the tips of both blades before pointing them forward at Sidney. "PHOTON SLICER!" From the blades, a massive sphere of energy shot out. The target was Sidney and it was rapidly approaching.
"…" Sidney didn't bat an eye but he acknowledged the threat Photon Slicer made. So much that a magic seal formed under both him and Erza…and in an instant they swapped places.
One second Erza was watching her attack fly at Sidney, and the next she saw it flying towards HER! "Damn…!" Erza grunted in annoyance before crossing her arms, entering her Adamantine Armor once again. She felt a hand on her back, and her eyes widened. Sidney was already behind her, and by using his transparency he pushed Erza OUT of her Adamantine, allowing the armor to crumble while a completely defenseless Erza was thrown into her own Photon Slicer; the meeting of the two ended in a large explosion and a scream of pain from Titania. The dust settled, and Erza bruised and bloodied and in nothing but tattered undergarments, laid on the ground, slowly trying to push herself up. She glanced around her, only for her eyes to widen in shock once more.
"This is the end." Sidney summoned several scarecrows with jack-o-lanterns for heads. The scarecrows surrounded Erza in a circle and all grabbed their heads and pulled them off before hurling them at the downed Fairy. Once they all met in the middle…another massive explosion occurred on the spot. Dust and smoke settled after a few moments and Erza was face down in the dirt. "Like I said…you didn't stand a chance." The ghost mage shook his head and prepared to walk off…but the sound of a faint cough halted him.
"I…" Erza coughed. Her hand clenched into a fist and she ended up picking up some dirt from the ground. Slowly but surely, Erza began to pick herself up from off the ground, standing up hunched over, breathing heavily as blood trickled down her forehead. "I will not…lose…my comrades…are counting on me…! Second origin: release!" An explosion of magic occurred; the injured Erza still had fight left in her and she didn't plan on stopping until Sidney went down. Erza was now donning the Armor of Nagakami, giving Sidney a glare of determination that could pierce the soul of any mortal.
Sidney paused for a moment before meeting Erza's determination with another shake of his head. He didn't even budge at the legendary armor. "Of course…your last stand show of bravado and determination, as expected when you've reached your peak of desperation. I'm not Reve...I've nothing to prove against you, nor can you defeat me with even that armor. So I will only say this one more time. Erza Scarlet…
You're only wasting my time."
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Next Time: Shrouded Starlight.