The cold howling winds were easily heard in the country in the sky. It made the tone rather ominous for those still above. They were starting to finally feel the coldness through their bodies.
Jellal feels the fluffy ground with a single palm. He gently pressed it to test how durable it was. Carla and Happy were by him, keeping watch of Wendy and Chelia. Jellal sighs to himself and stands up.
"This should be good enough…" Jellal confirms to himself. He then overhears several footsteps coming his way. He turns his attention to the noise and spots the rest of his allies arriving back to him. Jellal had requested them to search Exahelm to see if it was truly deserted.
"It was like you predicted. The town is completely empty. None of us picked up a single resident." Rogue confirms.
Sting crosses his arms and narrows his eyes downward. "Yeah… the whole place became a ghost town in an instant…"
"Perfect. Then I'll get started." Jellal said.
Juvia could sense the flatter tone in Jellal's voice, she frowned at him. "Are… you sure about this?"
Jellal turns his head away from the group. "Indeed. Destroying Exahelm is the only solution where everyone survives. I've done a lot of thinking about this."
Happy tilts his head. "And how are we going to do that?"
Jellal clenches a fist. "With my Square of Self Destruction. I'll plant a large magic bomb right here and set a time limit. We should have enough time to escape before detonation." He explains.
"And are you sure that will rid of this *whole* place?" Gajeel questions, spreading his arms out to showcase how large the country is.
"When I was a child, I was able to destroy mountains with this spell. Over the seven years you Fairy Tail wizards were asleep, I've been improving my magic power while hunting down dark guilds. I don't particularly like using this spell, but it's the best shot we got. Although the explosion will be extremely large. So the moment I place it, we will need to leave as soon as possible." Jellal explains.
"I'll be getting started now. Once I plant the bomb, we'll use the same Meteor spell for when we arrived here. So make sure you have magic energy to spare." Jellal advises.
"We're all good here!" Sting gives a thumbs up.
The Heavenly Body mage takes a deep breath, channeling his magic energy. He bends down and stares at the clouds. At this moment, Jellal began thinking to himself.
"I've continuously and tirelessly worked several years to make up for my sins of the past. I was rewarded with my freedom back…" Jellal recalls to himself, placing both palms on the ground. "And now, I'm about to destroy an entire country that many innocent lives lived in… Would this act be considered a noble one, or another sin? Would this action cause me to fall into the darkness again?"
Magic energy begins pouring out of Jellal's palms. He continues thinking to himself. "... Sho, Wally, Millianna… Simon… If you saw the man I am now, would you still hate me? Would any of you ever forgive me for the pain I've given to you all…?" Jellal questions.
While questioning himself, Jellal hears a familiar memory echo in his mind.
"You are not alone in this any longer. I'll drag you out of the darkness if need be!" Erza's voice screams in his head.
Jellal smiles to himself, placing a large clock spell on the cloudy ground. It begins counting down.
Carla stares at Jellal, her throat throbbing in stressful pain. Her mind was filled with uneasiness, since the vision of getting engulfed in the explosion kept lingering. She knew she should've told Jellal. That this plan may very well cost them. But the words escape her.
This train of thought was interrupted. A brief blue flash blinds Carla. Shortly after, the body of Wendy she was protecting… started to feel warm.
Carla's eyes were open and wide. She stares at Wendy, her skin slowly becoming warm again. Her chest slowly rose up and down. Her breathing, while weak, could be heard. The young mage's soul had returned to her body.
Tears immediately soak over the white Exceed's face. She hugged Wendy tightly, letting out a shaky breath. Like all the mental pain she felt washed away in an instant.
"...Thank you… thank you so much…" Carla whispers.
Happy looks over at Carla and quickly realizes what's going on. "Is…is she back?" He double checks before abruptly leaping for joy. "Alright! I knew they could do it!"
Hearing the Exceed's reactions, the rest of the group turns their heads at them. They read the situation and give various reactions.
"From the sounds of things, Wendy has returned to us." Rogue confirms.
Sting pumps a fist. "Yes! Then that's a job complete! That's Fairy Tail for ya!"
"Gihi! Good to see the kid back. You made me worried there!" Gajeel smirks.
Juvia places her hands together. "Yes…Juvia was scared too…" She breathes a sigh of relief. "Thank goodness…"
Jellal, beginning to feel fatigue, softly smiles at the scene. He lowers his head down and begins to frown. "Then…that must mean…"
The moment didn't last forever. Carla's ears twitch at a sudden loud noise. The rest of the group turn their attention towards it, all of them gawking at the sight.
The clouds by the rancher's land were fading away. The houses and gardens that the clouds held began to collapse. And the fading clouds were making their way towards them. It has already begun.
"Damn it! That quickly?!" Gajeel growls.
"The others are still down there! They could be in danger!" Juvia exclaims.
"We need to leave. Now." Rogue urges.
Jellal growls and attempts to pull himself up, but immediately collapses on his knees. "Sh-shit! My…magic!"
"Jellal!" Happy calls out.
"Hold on!" Sting runs over and gets Jellal back on his feet. "If you use anymore magic… then you could-"
"We don't have the luxury of worrying about that!" Jellal interrupts, holding his own face tightly.
The words still could not come out of Carla's mouth. Her eyes were wide and full of fear. She looks down at Wendy and Chelia, clenching the former tightly.
"N-no…not now…!" Carla chokes out.
"Carla…" Happy laments.
As Jellal collapses on his knees again, hope is beginning to be lost. However, they then heard a familiar voice calling out to them.
"Y'all are still here? Heh, you land-walkers really have it rough."
Juvia hears the voice from above and raises her head. "Who's…"
Dozens of angels and few Exceeds float above the group. They all were dressed in rags. They were the ranchers who had just recently escaped their collapsing home. Alivia was back in her feline form. Brown fur, black stripes and all. She and Henry lead the crowd of farmers to them.
Alivia smirks in an almost teasing sense. "Looks like you 'terrorists' are having some trouble eh?"
Henry offers a hand to them. "Do y'all need a lift?"
"Aye! B-but are you sure…?" Happy hesitates. "This is our doing…and you could get into trouble."
Alivia spat to the side. "How can we get in trouble in a country that won't exist anymore?" She waves her hand. "Besides, some of y'all are still on my tab."
"That's right. We won't live in the past anymore. We have a whole new future to experience." Henry declares. "Maybe some of you can show us… what it's like down there."
"We… are in your debt…" Jellal thanks before collapsing from Sting's hold and passing out from exhaustion.
"Woah! Hold on man!" Sting exclaims.
Back below on the surface, the wizards who faced Izanagi were currently resting. They were all both physically and mentally exhausted. Some feeling uncertain of what had happened and some feeling dejected. None said a word for several minutes.
Lucy was staring down on the bright grassy fields, holding her hands together. She squeezes her hands.
"The others… they're going to be fine, right?" Lucy asks, not even raising her head.
Erza was standing to the side with her arms crossed. "We'll have faith in them, that's all we can afford to do right now."
Gray was sitting down casually. One hand resting on his knee and the other laying on the grass. As he took the silence in, he heard a faint noise from above. The ice mage raises his head and stares up in the sky.
Gray's heart stops, as he spots a large amount of debris high above them. The shadows the debris cast grew larger as they were about to fall right on top of them.
Natsu, Lucy and Erza notice the shadow and look above. Their eyes widen with utter panic as they quickly scramble to stand back up.
"G-gah! It's starting!" Natsu exclaims.
Erza swings her arm. "We need to move! Now!"
Lucy watches the debris falling where they're at and moves her head towards the direction of Magnolia. She gasps loudly.
"Oh no! At this rate, Magnolia could be crushed!" Lucy exclaims.
"Then we must make haste there! The least we can do is try and protect the town!" Erza urges, gesturing to the others to follow her.
The Fairy Tail wizards quickly dash towards Magnolia, praying for the others' safety.
As the ranchers make their escape from their former home, carrying their intruders with them, many could only watch in horror as their homes were collapsing before their very eyes.
"I… just can't believe it…" A female angel said with distraught.
"My home… the one I lived in for many years. Gone, just like that…" An older male angel laments.
"I grew up there. To think it's now all destroyed." A young boy angel sighs.
Alivia sighs exasperatedly. "Aw, give it a rest! Y'all still got ya most precious possessions and your lives to boot! Be happy about that!" She criticizes.
Henry, who was carrying Juvia, chuckles nervously. "What she means is… our home isn't truly lost. As we still have each other! And once we reach the location pointed out to us, we can make new homes and new memories!"
"Hm? That's sorta of what ah said, right?" Alivia tilts her head.
"...Yeah, sort of…" Rogue comments, who was being carried by a tan Exceed.
Carla, who continues carrying Wendy, was still dead silent. She was flying by Happy who held Chelia, both girls still unconscious. As more debris began to fall, Carla was getting concerned if the magic bomb was set. But she still had her vision, it would detonate. But will they have enough time to escape the explosion?
Carla began to speak. "W-we need to hu-"
"Now, what's going on here?"
Up ahead, Stark's silhouette could be seen with his arms crossed. Before any of the ranchers could question how he is flying, the sun's shadow casts away from him and reveals Sync poking her head from behind his left shoulder.
Happy was trying his best to hold back his laughter.
Sync carries Stark towards the ranchers and smoothly joins the group. Stark's glances towards the humans and squints his eyes in suspicion.
"So, you've all decided to help them?" Stark questions the ranchers.
"Oy! Shut it!" Gajeel chastises, shaking a fist. "Why are you following us anyways?!"
Stark rolls his eyes. "The rest of us are catching up with the remaining civilians. This one wanted to catch up with Hahlos." He explains, eyeing up at Sync.
"I heard big bro was with you guys." Sync points out, poking her head from Stark's right shoulder. "Where is he?"
"Huh? He isn't with you?" Juvia questions.
Even Stark raised an eyebrow at that statement. "He mentioned escorting the ranchers to the designated location he specified. What is that fool doing?"
At that moment, Carla's head started to ache. She twitches her left eye in pain and a precognition appears in her mind. Snapping out of it, she widens her eyes.
"The bomb is going to go off! Hurry!" Carla blurts out loudly.
Right on cue, the magic diffusion bomb finishes its countdown and sets off. A bright white light appears from the bomb circle. The entire country gets dragged in the light like a dark hole. In mere seconds, the entire country of Exahelm collapses and gets wiped out from a colossal explosion.
The fiery ball of destruction was so large it blinds the angels, some nearly bumping into each other. The noise was so loud it could rupture eardrums to those who were close to it. Even the people down below could easily spot the explosion high in the air. The fiery ball covers more of the sky.
Yet, the ranchers who last left were nowhere near the explosion. Not even the burst of air pressure reached them. They were all completely safe from the flames.
"I know y'all must be devastated right now! But don't look back, no matter what!" Alivia shouts on the top of her lungs.
Many ranchers forced themselves to grin and bear it. Their priority was to reach the ground safely. The humans being carried looked back however, to make sure they were far from the explosion.
To their horror, it wasn't enough. While everyone was far from the explosion, it wasn't enough to completely annihilate the country. Several chunks of the castle still remained, and it was falling through the fiery flames.
"No!" Juvia shrieks. "It wasn't strong enough! Magnolia is in danger!"
"What did you say now?!" Henry sputters.
"Natsu…everyone!" Happy panics.
"Oh no! There's people down there, right?!" Sync sputters.
Stark however, looks over and squints his three eyes. The reticles in his pupils spot someone below the falling rubble. He easily discerned the figure.
It was Hahlos.
"Is that…no, that fool isn't going to…"
Hahlos stares down on the necklace that belonged to Carine on the palm on his hand. He closes his palm, clenching it tightly and takes his attention above. The roar of the explosion affected the angel, as his left ear began to bleed. He watches the remains on the castle about to fall above him, the large shadow casting entirely around him.
"As I thought…the bomb wasn't enough to prevent this country's collapse." Hahlos states to himself, clenching both his fists.
Hahlos raises both his arms, summoning a large blue magic circle.
"...Carine. I never understood to this day why you ultimately decide to venture to the world below, despite knowing what would happen." Hahlos starts, lowering his head. "But when I went down there, not a single person besides you was in that village. You really did save them all, did you…? You saw the world, and wanted to protect it."
Hahlos raises his head, the magic circle summoning a huge amount of blue misty substance. "I became a guardian, so I can redeem myself after my cowardly act. I wanted to be as brave and caring as you were, Carine." He sighs. "But…even after all this time, I haven't changed a bit."
The blue misty substance completely spreads out, covering as much area as the shadow casted by the debris.
"I was still afraid of the future. Because of that, I hurt many people…" Hahlos regrets. "My fellow peers, the civilians of Exahelm, even master Izanagi…"
The magic circle shines brightly, the misty substance forming into a single colossal cloud.
"But most of all, I dragged an innocent human into this. Because of the hurt I gave to you, Wendy, I failed to save my country. Therefore, I must reconcile this…"
Hahlos focuses his eyes with determination.
"As the guardian…I WILL NOT LET OUR BURDENS DESTROY WHAT YOU LOVE ANY LONGER!"
A furious tornado blasts out of the blue cloud. It collides with the debris, the weight pushing Hahlos down as his shoulders shake violently.
"BIG BRO!" Sync shrieks in horror.
"H-he's serious!" Sting frets.
Henry, not looking back, clenches his teeth in frustration. "W-we need to keep going! Listen to Alivia and don't look back!"
Stark felt his head sweat, the shine on his lens covering his glasses. "That was his plan…this whole time?!"
Carla could only stare speechless in utter horror and despair. She shuts her eyes tightly, shakes her head and turns back towards the ranchers, flying with them.
Hahlos slowly pushes the castle debris back up with his winds, the toll of the weight and magic usage affecting his body. He manages to push it back in the lingering explosion, planning to have it destroyed in the furious flames and his violent winds. The angel feels his body giving out, cracking noises being heard in his arms and shoulders. The closer he got to the heat, the feathers on his wings began to melt.
"C-Carine…I'm going to apologize to you soon…p-please wait for me…"
Hahlos' eyes then flash blue.