Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail or its characters.
-The Enchanter of Fairy Tail-
Chapter 76: The Lion VS The Coin
Year: X760. 24 years till Canon begins.
No POV, Vicini:
"Come in! Come in you fool!" Vicini yelled into the lacrima that he was holding.
Confused as to why the criminals he had hired hadn't been regaining contact with him about the people that had found them earlier, Vicini tried to contact them to see if they had successfully fended them off or not. Things weren't looking good.
Vicini, Lynne and Maximilian had made it to the mountains that neighboured Magnolia. All the carriages had been moved up the mountains through an old mountain path. The guests had all been moved into a large cave, with rope tying them bound to some rocks, so they couldn't run away. It took about an hour to get up here, but they were well hidden and protected from any meddlers that might try to stop them.
But Vicini was currently frustrated at the fact that he had not gotten a response for the last five minutes since he had been trying to reach them through the lacrima. 'Gah! Everyone here is useless!'
He gritted his teeth as he threw the lacrima to the ground, it shattering upon contact. "I can't believe this! I knew I should have hired One Step Ahead Jones!" Vicini muttered to himself. "Now we have potential wizards of high power heading our way!"
"You know, they do say that stress is the epitome of beauty." Came the voice of Lynne from behind Vicini. "Try to relax a little, would you?"
Vicini clearly ignored this and kept mumbling to himself. "But the fact that they lost when this plan of mine was going so well… it's simply… simply…"
Maximilian approached Lynne and whispered to her, sniggering. "Here we go. He's gonna say it."
Vicini let out a yell. "Gah! It's simply inconceivable! Why are things going so badly all of a sudden!?"
Maximilian gave a sigh as he approached Vicini. "So those thugs that you hired failed. No big deal, you aren't out of chips yet, you still have me and Lynne here." He smirked. "I'll head down and take care of them for you. It'll be easier than the time I won the one in a thousand slots."
Vicini chuckled to himself. "Ah, good, good! Yes, I'm sure that you can handle them Maximilian."
"I hope that you realise that I do want a slightly bigger reward from this if I succeed." He informed Vicini as he moved past him.
Vicini scowled. "Fine, fine! I'll give you a 15% increase."
Maximilian thought about this offer for a moment. "Deal. I suppose we are getting millions from this job if it works out well…" He muttered at low enough tone that Vicini couldn't hear him.
"Head down and guard the bottom of the mountain path that we came up." Vicini ordered. "That's the only way up to this area we're at!"
"Yes, yes, you don't need to yell that to me." Maximilian cringed as he waved his hand at Vicini.
"Well, I'll be back in an hour or so. I'll contact you when I take them down." Maximilian took one last look over the verge that he was standing on, allowing him to see the many fields that the Heartfilia's owned.
Maximilian then simply jumped off the verge and fell down to the bottom of the mountain.
Lynne sighed as he did that. "Always a show off." She muttered.
She then turned to Vicini. "Well, if Maximilian DOES fail, you better be ready to send me down after him to clean up his mess. He relies far too heavily on his magic. Thinking that it's nearly unstoppable."
Vicini smirked as he held out his hands. "Ah, but he always pulls out the win in the end. It's night, and the moon is visible. If he uses his little dome he should be fine." He reminded Lynne. She gave a retort as she turned to the cave that the guests were all captive in.
"And the guests? Who are you starting with?" She questioned.
"Why Lyra Heartfilia of course! Who else would I pick Lynne?" He said in a rather condescending tone.
Lynne rolled her eyes, and Vicini moved away from her and towards the cave. "I may as well question Lyra about that book I got from her mansion. There must be something good in it if it was locked away." Vicini muttered, as he thought about how important that book really was. "Soon, I'll be richer than anyone else in Fiore!"
Cade POV:
"I can see the mountains a lot more clearly now! We're almost there!" I called to Layla and Leo as they rode beside me. We had chosen to borrow two of the horses that were pulling the carriages that the guests were trapped in. I was riding one of them, while Leo and Layla rode the other.
I had made sure that we kept tracking where the carriages were going. While the ones that we had been following originally had been stopped, I found found more tracks that kept leading forwards towards the large mountains. I was assuming that was where the other criminals, including this Vicini individual.
With the horses, we were moving much quicker and much easier now. I had been able to rest back from when I fought those criminals earlier, so I was feeling a bit better. Still, I wasn't fully recovered yet. Leo seemed to be in better condition than me. He'd probably jump into any fights we got ourselves into. It was still rather dark though, which made traveling tricky.
Thankfully the nearly full moon was able to light the way forwards for us whenever it was visible, helping us see in the darkness. As we rode forwards, I spoke up to Leo.
"Hey, Leo? You said that you came here with your own magic power right? How does that work? I thought that Celestial Spirits had to be contracted and summoned by their user?" I questioned to the ginger haired man.
Leo turned to me. "Well, very few Celestial Spirits can actually summon themselves without their contracted owner. Sometimes we can even sense when things are going badly on the human world. I was able to sense the danger that Layla was in, so I came swooping in to save her!" Leo explained with a smirk.
"Well it's good that you aren't leaving yet. I have no idea how many more people we'll have to fight here to rescue everyone else." I stated as I turned forwards again.
I thought that I heard a murmur of confusion from Leo. I turned back around and saw that he was looking at me with curiosity. "You know… I swore that I've seen you before…"
I was surprised to hear that. "Well I don't think I've met you before. I've met a few of the Spirits before, but not you."
Leo seemed to think back on his memories. Then he seemed to remember something. "Ah, that's who you are! You're the boyfriend of that girl that I fli – er, I mean met with!" Leo said with certainty.
"Hold on…"
'Boyfriend of the girl that he met…?'
"Did you… meet with Lilly?" I wondered, looking curiously at Leo.
"Yeah I think I did! Brown hair that was smooth and came over her shoulders, but was also rather short. Blue eyes, a nice smile…" Leo tried to list more details about her, but I figured that he was talking about my girlfriend.
"Yep that's her." I nodded. "How did you meet her?"
'I wonder how that happened? How could they have met each other? At the party perhaps?'
Leo suddenly looked a bit nervous. "Oh well… that's the interesting part! Well, I erm…" He struggled to get his words out his mouth. "You see…"
"You flirted with her didn't you!" Layla spoke up with a cheeky tone, catching me and Leo off guard.
"Wait what?" I blinked with surprise.
Leo was looking very uncomfortable right now. He then gave a weak and almost fake smile. "F-Flirt? No! Layla you're just overthinking things that's all. You might have read too many romance novels."
"Yeah right! I saw you flirting with lots of girls at the party earlier! I even saw you flirting with someone that looked exactly like how you described Cade's girlfriend!" Layla huffed with anger. "Come on, admit it! You're always a playboy at these kind of things."
Leo looked like the world had came crashing down on him. I on the other hand was taking in what Layla had said there. "You… flirted with my girlfriend?" I questioned with a warning tone. Slight anger was building up inside of me.
Leo quickly responded. "Alright yes, yes! I flirted with her! But as soon as I realised that she had a boyfriend I backed off!" He pleaded with a nervous smile, holding up his hands. "I don't flirt with girls that already have their special someone!"
I raised an eyebrow and turned to Layla, still not convinced. "Is that true?"
"Well… Leo normally does only hit on girls that aren't with anyone else during big parties. I think he's telling the truth." Layla commented.
Leo looked thankful to hear that. I lowered my eyebrow and eyed Leo carefully. "Hmm… alright, I'll believe you Leo. But if I learn from Lilly after we rescue her that you were lying to me there, you'll be scrambling to close your gate." I informed him with a dangerous tone.
Leo chuckled nervously. "Well I have nothing to fear then…"
Layla then quickly spoke up. "Look! We're arriving at the mountains!" She cried as she pointed forwards. Me and Leo looked forwards and saw that we had just came to the foot of the huge range of mountains.
They were huge, colossal mountains of stone; I believe that as this time of year, you could probably find snow close to the top of the mountains. They stretched onwards for several miles to the left and right. If you walked to the east long enough, I believe you would eventually enter the East Forest. Looking ahead where the carriage tracks led, I saw that they led into a wide mountain path that stretched and curved upwards.
"That path… That's where the carriages must have traveled up." I commented as I looked upwards towards the mountains.
"It'd be best if we left the horses here." Leo suggested as he dismounted his, and lifted Layla off after he touched down on the ground. "They may attract too much attention to us when we're travelling up. Not to mention that they may struggle to climb up."
"Right." I nodded as I too dismounted my horse. "Chances are they couldn't take the carriages up that high. I bet that we don't have to travel up too high to get to Vicini."
"How much are you willing to bet on that?" Came a new voice that started the three of us. The horses ran off after hearing that voice. We all stood alert and ready to try and find whoever said that and be prepared for what they might do next. We all looked around, and Leo was the one to notice the person who said that.
"Up there!" Leo pointed to a large rock close to the bottom of the mountain. Me and Layla turend to see who it was that was there.
Standing on top of it was a man of average height. He had light red hair and wore a short purple shirt with a red jacket over that. He also wore some grey trousers and some brown boots. His arms were folded and he had a curious look on his face, as if he was judging us. He moved a hand at me. "Go on. How much are you willing to bet on that statement?"
"Why do you care?" I scoffed as I looked up at the man.
The man outstretched his hands. "Why betting is everything to us as humans! It gives us risk, danger, challenge and most importantly reward." He stated with a smirk. "I always go big, but I know better than anyone when to pull out."
"Tch, what do you want?" I questioned as I rose an eyebrow, unconvinced that he was here to help us.
The man then looked up at the sky. "Ah, how fortunate. The moon is at its fullest tonight." He remarked as he and the three of us looked up at the full moon that was shining down on us. "Do you see it?"
'Wait, full moon?' I thought with confusion. 'Wasn't the moon supposed to be-'
"The names Maximilian." The man interrupted as me gaze drifted back towards him. "I often run with Vicini on these types of jobs. They never normally work out for us, but this one in particular is going quite well. I'd hate for us to lose out on millions here."
'So he is with Vicini. If we beat him, we can learn more about him.' I thought, as I saw the man was looking to continue.
"Assuming that you've came after us, I'm guessing that you called the Rune Knights here to stop us. Well as wizards, we all know that they're never on time when they need to be. Once I take care of you three, we'll finish up taking all the money that we could ever want!" The man announced with pride. "Then I can enjoy the thrill of betting and gambling as much as I want!"
I hardened my gaze as I turned to Leo and then Layla. "Ready? I'm tired of hearing this guy go on and on."
Leo smiled as he got ready to fight. "I'm ready alright. Once we beat this guy, it's smooth sailing to Vicini."
Layla gave a quick nod. "R-Right! Me and my Spirits are ready!"
I saw that Maximilian looked a bit surprised as he heard that from Layla. "Spirits?" He then looked at Layla's hand and saw that she had her Keys in them. "Oh. I see."
He smirked as he reached into his pocket and pulled out a small, blank bronze coin. "Well let's begin, shall we?"
Maximilian immediately put the bronze coin on his thumb and flicked it up into the air. "I'm willing to bet… That the little Lady's Celestial Spirits can't exit the Spirit World to help her for this fight!" He declared as the coin got a bit bigger as it flew up into the air.
The coin grew to about the size of a human's hand as it eventually slowed down in the air. Soon it stopped and revealed that the once blank coin now had markings of what looked like the sun shining down on a man being presented with various wealth.
As soon as that appeared on the coin a large thumping sound could be heard, echoing across the fields. The coin then flew back into Maximilian's hand where he quickly pocketed it. 'What? What was that supposed to be?'
I quickly turned and saw that Layla and Leo were completely fine. Nothing had happened to them, and they were also looking quite confused. 'So that move was… pointless?' I was irked by the purpose of what Maximilian was intending there.
Layla gave a look of anger as she pulled out one of her Keys and raised it up into the air. "Your comments there won't stop me and my Spirits! Open Gate of The Maiden, Virgo!" She cried with enthusiasm.
…But nothing happened.
Layla was startled as she held up another Key. "Open Gate of The Giant Crab, Cancer!"
…Nothing happened again. Layla was looking surprised, and Leo was looking appalled at what was going on right now. He turned and snarled to Maximilian. "You! What the hell did you do there!?"
Maximilian nodded and smiled as he held a hand to his ear and leaned forwards. "Mmm, that's always music to my ears. Hearing the confusion of the opponent. As they find out that their luck has all dried up."
Leo cried as he leapt forwards towards Maximilian. He coaxed his fists in the golden energy he carried with his magic and casted out a spell. "Regulus Fury!" Leo shouted with anger as he made moves to punch Maximilian, with the powerful Regulus Magic.
Maximilian grunted as he pulled out a set of five coins from his pocket. "I don't think so! Coin Barrage!" Maximilian let out a cry as he threw his coins up into the air, as they grew in size. He quickly powered up his magic as he was able to spin them in various shapes and forms to block and even parry Leo's Regulus Fury's punches. I saw that he was even able to have the coins float and fly through the air. Leo was pushed back a little, holding up his fists upwards as the coins clashed against him.
As this was happening, I prepared to involve myself to help out Leo, not wanting him to do all the work. Before I could cast off a spell though, I heard Layla murmur from below me. I looked down and saw that she had wide, teary eyes and was looking scared.
"Why… Why aren't my Spirits coming out?" She said with a choke in her throat. I grunted with anger as I saw this from Layla. She had really been counting on her Spirits to help her here. What had Maximilian done?!
"Leo! Move!" I shouted as I powered up a range spell to attack Maximilian. Leo heard me and was able to land what looked like a Regulus Kick to Maximilian's stomach. As Maximilian was sent backwards across the ground, Leo leapt away and gave me the freedom to fire my spell without hitting him. "Take this Maximilian! Scared Slashing!" I shouted as I fired off my powerful fast slashes of magic to deal some good damage to him.
As Maximilian saw the powerful slashes of magic coming towards him, he gave a smirk as he pulled out the copper coin again. "Well now, I'm willing to bet that many of this young man's ranged attacks have a much higher chance of missing me!" He declared as he threw up the blank coin again.
Just like before, the coin grew to a larger size before it stopped spinning and showed the previous markings of good fortune. Then it let out a thumping sound across the air. Finally it flew back into Maximilian's hand. "Ha! As expected!"
'What's he so smug about? There's no way that he can dodge all my attacks like that!' I saw that Maximilian was doing absolutely nothing to move out of the way. 'He's a fool! Does he really think that because he called some coin toss right that he can just dodge out of the way with his instinct or something?'
Maximilian smirked as my attacks were coming closer and closer to him. To my utter horror, my attacks simply flew right by him, not even scratching his jacket or hair. "T-That must have been a fluke! I won't miss this time! Rays of Fury!" I cried, hoping to land my attacks this time. "You won't dodge these attacks!"
As the large rays of magic were sent downwards towards Maximilian, he remained standing still; not moving an inch. Like before, my attacks simply zoomed by him, and hit the ground next to him. He only chuckled as Leo and myself were left stunned.
'T-That's impossible!' I thought with fear at what I had just witnessed. 'He didn't move an inch when avoiding my attacks! Did… luck actually make it to where he wouldn't get hurt? No! The odds of that are too insane!'
I looked to Leo and saw that he was also considering this possibility with much concentration on his face. Layla was quite scared by what she had just seen there. From her perspective I must have looked powerless earlier.
"Leo… do you have any ideas what this guy's magic is about?" I asked with some hesitation in my voice.
Leo's face darkened a little as he spoke up to answer me. "Yeah… I think I have an idea. I've never seen a magic like this before… But I have seen many strange different types of magic in my life, so I've gained a basic idea of what's going on."
Maximilian raised an eyebrow with interest as he looked to humour Leo. "Go on. I'm curious. Not many figure out exactly what my magic lets me do."
"Your magic involves the use of coins. You can use them to attack and defend yourself normally. But you also have a blank copper coin that can be used to manipulate luck to your advantage." Leo began, as Maximilian rose an eyebrow. "You've used that coin to make it to where Layla can't summon Celestial Spirits, and that Cade's ranged attacks will completely miss you. As insane as the odds are, there is a very small chance that normally, Celestial Spirits will be unable to come and help their contracted owner when called upon. Also, it is possible for ranged attacks to miss even when the precision is near accurate."
I gasped out loud. "What? That's insane! There can't be a magic that manipulates luck! That's too powerful a factor to be altered!"
Maximilian was surprised to hear Leo say that – or rather figure it out, by what he replied with. "Hmm… Not bad. Most people don't get to figure out my magic that quickly." He nodded, before leaning his head back a bit. "You see luck is something that you can't normally manipulate and change. Yet my Coin Magic allows it!"
He then gave the three of us a wild smile. "Don't you get it? As long as luck is on my side you can't win here! None of your attacks will hit me!"
Leo then smirked to my shock. "Well, I wouldn't say that."
"…Say what?" Maximilian questioned with doubt.
"You see as crazy as it sounds, all we need to do to win against you is enter a situation where luck doesn't play a huge factor. Answer me this Maximilian: Why didn't you use your copper coin when I was fighting you earlier?"
Maximilian paused. He gave a sour look as he tightened his face. "Well… I… Ngh!"
Leo chuckled a little before continuing. "Not answering? Well, I think it's because you can't use that coin of yours to dodge certain attacks. Ranged attacks can have bad aim, so you can dodge them and get lucky. But you can't use luck to dodge a punch that is heading towards your face. You need proper skill for that."
Maximilian gave a small scowl as he faced down Leo. "What are you trying to say here?"
Leo turned to me and Layla. "I'm trying to say that I should be the one to handle this. I'm good at close up combat." He insisted to us both.
"There's no need Leo. I can help as well!" I offered as I clenched my fist. "We don't need to do this alone!"
"How many of your attack are close range focused Cade?" Leo questioned with skepticism.
…
"…Ah." I was a hit hard by that realisation. "W-Well I have a few!"
"Good. Then get back and be ready to protect Layla if I fail." Leo ordered as he turned to me with a serious look. "If I do fail, I'll just be sent back to the Spirit World. That's better than you dying out here."
I was about to interject, but Leo shook his head. And when I thought about it in more detail… Leo did have a point. 'No matter how I look at it… I'm at a serious disadvantage here. Damn… nearly all my attacks are ranged focused in some way. Yeah, I have a few that aren't based on range, but I couldn't keep using the same spell over and over again!' I thought with frustration at my inability to help. 'Dammit! I feel so useless here!'
I clenched my fist as I turned to Leo. "You better win this." I firmly said as I reached down to take Layla's hand. "Come on Layla. We need to give him some space here."
Me and Layla then moved far back to let Leo handle Maximilian. Layla gave him a cheer as we moved back. "You can do it Leo!" She cheered him with a big smile. "You can beat this guy and then we can rescue my mother and everyone else!"
Leo gave her a thumbs up to assure Layla that he'd ok for this coming fight. When we were far enough back, Leo turned back to face Maximilian.
Maximilian have a smile as he faced Leo. "You think just because you're an expert at melee combat that I'll be defeated by you? As you saw earlier, I'm quite capable of handling myself when the game turns against me."
"We'll see about that." Leo remarked as he then ran forward to begin his battle with Maximilian.
No POV:
Leo coaxed his hands in golden Regulus energy as he fired a punch at Maximilian. "Go, Regulus!" He yelled as he moved to punch Maximilian.
'I'll win this for Lyra and Layla!' Leo thought as he charged towards Maximilian. Maximilian smirked as he brought forth more silver coins from his pockets, as he used them to block Leo's punch. He then summoned more coins that he used to form into a sphere that he fired towards Leo.
"Go, Coin Devastation!" Maximilian yelled as he fired the sphere at Leo. Leo blocked the sphere with his hands, holding them close to his chest. The power of Regulus was able to soften the attack somewhat, but Leo was still hit with enough force to send him skidding backwards across the ground a little. Leo was thankfully still able to remain upright as he sharpened his gaze towards Maximilian.
'Damn! That still hurt a little. I can't get cocky with this guy.' Leo grimaced. 'If I fall out of this fight, Cade and Layla will be at a huge disadvantage!'
Maximilian leapt forwards towards Leo as he used more coins to form a sharp and shiny whip that he swung upwards, bringing it downwards to Leo's head. "See how you like this! Coin Whipping!" Leo quickly used his still powered-up fists to block the whip as it came down on him, grabbing hold of it. Then he quickly pulled it forwards! This caught Maximilian by surprise as he was pulled forwards a little, sending him off balance a little.
'Now! While he's caught off balance!' Leo thought as he acted.
Leo quickly destroyed the whip with his fists, launching his feet off the ground, aiming right towards Maximilian. He pulled back a punch that he thrusted forwards to hit Maximilian square in the jaw. "Regulus Force!" Leo cried with determination.
Maximilian grunted as leapt upwards and rose a foot, quickly bringing it down on Leo's fist. This action caused Leo to be thrown down to the ground on his knees and have his attack be cancelled. Right as Leo looked up, Maximilian brought his fist that was covered with coins and punched Leo in the right cheek. "Coin Barrage!"
Leo gave a cry of pain as he felt the force of that punch. 'Dammit! I didn't think that he would pin my hand like that!'
Right as Maximilian was about to do this again, Leo did an impressive kick with his leg upwards, using his spare hand to balance himself on the ground. Leo's leg was also covered in Regulus energy. "Regulus Kick!" Leo yelled as he kicked Maximilian under his jaw, which caused him to be sent flying upwards and off Leo's hand.
Leo immediately stood back up and found that his hand was thankfully not that badly damaged. 'Of course, it still hurts like hell, but that won't stop me.' Leo thought, clenching his injured fist as he quickly looked back to Maximilian.
As Maximilian was coming back down to the ground, he summoned more coins that he used to create various small blasts that he sent to Leo. "Coin Barrage!" Leo grunted as he leapt upwards towards where Maximilian was falling. He used his Regulus power to punch right through the blasts of coins as they came towards him.
Maximilian was shocked as he saw this. "No!" Leo only grinned, as Maximilian sent more and more blasts of coins towards Leo. "Ngh! Coin Barrage!" This didn't stop or slow down Leo's assault forwards. In fact, as he kept flying forwards, the golden glow of his fists got brighter! As he came to Maximilian, he began to unload a series of punches that were meant to knock him further back.
'Now! Let's see if you can handle this Maximilian!' Leo thought as he unleashed his assault.
"Regulus' Fury!" Leo shouted as he attempted to pummel Maximilian with a barrage of punches. Upon quickly seeing how much the distance closed between the two of them, Maximilian summoned coins that he used to fire small spheres at Leo in quick succession.
Leo's punches were able to break through the blasts of coins and cause Maximilian to be blasted backwards where he hit the wall of the mountain. "GAHHHH!" Maximilian let out a loud grunt of pain as he leapt back up on his feet. He used more coins that he had on him to fire various blasts of coins that seemed to glow brightly as he fired them off. Take this! Coin Blowback!" Maximilian shouted as he fired the coins towards Leo.
Leo gave a quick breath as he ran forwards to face Maximilian again. As the blasts of coins came towards Leo, they began to glow even brighter before they then exploded! Leo was just able to dodge and avoid the full blast from the first attack, but it was still able to scorch Leo's left leg a little.
Leo hissed, as he gritted his teeth to try and stomach the pain. 'That blast there hurt pretty badly. But I can't let this slow me down! I have to keep pushing forwards!'
Leo cried as he kept running and began to dodge the rest of the coins. Maximilian scowled as he saw Leo's determination and resolve to keep going. "Damn, for a Spirit you're really tenacious!" The minion of Vicini let out a cry as he powered his magic, sending more and more blasts of coins towards Leo.
Leo ran faster, dodging all the blasts, as he was even able to punch one of the blasts of coins out of the air as it came towards him. When he was about to reach Maximilian, he leapt upwards and charged up a punch that he hoped would hit Maximilian's left jaw. "Regulus Force!"
Maximilian smirked as he immediately whipped out the blank copper coin and tossed it up into the air. As he did this, Leo's fist was about to hit Maximilian, so he blocked with his fists and leapt to the side. It was then that Maximilian called out his bet as he leapt away. "I'm willing to bet that due to the terrible weather recently, a huge avalanche will suddenly happen, and I'll be completely fine during it!" Maximilian laughed.
To Leo's horror, the coin suddenly gained the previous markings of the man showered by wealth. 'No! Was he correct with his betting again?' Leo thought as he suddenly felt a huge rumbling from beneath him. 'Ngh, he even made it so that the mountain is turning against us!'
Leo's eyes went wide with horror as he saw dozens of large rocks and even some boulders crash and roll down the mountain that was above them. Leo quickly saw that Maximilian was grinning as he leapt upwards to a verge on the mountain. "Have fun Spirit!"
Leo wasn't able to focus on Maximilian, as all the rocks and boulders that crashed down the mountain side were tumbling down towards where Leo was. "Cade! Layla! Get further back!" Leo shouted with fear as he turned to face them. "I'll head upwards and finish this fight!"
"We can't leave you!" Cade protested as he moved Layla so they both dodged a rock that would have hit them.
"Just get back! I have to finish this! Make sure that Layla stays safe during this!" Leo yelled as he turned back to face the mountain that had huge rocks pouring over the cliffs. Leo didint look back to Cade and Layla, but he heard the sounds of Cade using his magic to destroy most of the boulders and rocks that fell their way.
Leo heard a grunt from Cade, seemingly agreeing with Leo. But then Leo then felt an incredible sensation flow through him. It was like he had a huge power up all of a sudden! Leo was confused as to what this was – he wasn't complaining but he was still confused. Leo then heard Cade's voice.
"Then go! I've just given you some enchantments to help you out! A speed and slow falling enchantment! No time to explain!" Cade shouted.
Leo smirked as he faced upwards where Maximilian leapt up towards. "Don't mind if I do!" He then began to run forwards and leap up towards the part of the mountain that Maximilian had ran up to. "Wow! This is some upgrade!"
Leo had never felt this good before! He felt like he could leap up into the sky as high as he ever wanted. He already had a good agility with his Regulus Magic, but this seemed to make it even better! 'I'll make it up to that mountain verge in no time now!'
Leo was almost effortlessly punching through the larger boulders as they were coming closer to him. Leo was easily able to scale up the huge mountain and come to the small flat verge that Maximilian had been standing. Cade and Layla were quite far below him, but Leo had a good feeling that Cade would be able to look after Layla.
Maximilian looked surprised to see Leo, but that surprise quickly changed into one of anger. "You move far too quickly for a regular Spirit. I'm willing to bet that you don't have Speed Magic, so I'm assuming that you're one of Layla's Celestial Zodiac Spirits." Maximilian guessed as he jabbed a finger forwards to Leo.
Leo only gave a hard gaze as he got ready to continue the fight. "And that means you should really be regretting the choices that let you here."
Maximilian gave a laugh as he powered up his magic. "Ha! So I was right! You're Leo the Lion! I knew something was off about you! I may not be able to use my Coin Magic to weaken your luck that much with my copper coin, but I can still keep attacking you with all that I have! Celestial Spirits can't die in the human world, right? I'll just have to keep pummelling you then!"
Leo shouted with determination as he ran forwards to attack Maximilian. He on the other hand, laughed again. "For a Celestial Spirit you are certainly showing more determination than most if you are going this far to protect your contracted owner." Maximilian remarked as he summoned coins that he used to create two whips that he held. "Coin Whips!"
Leo scowled as Maximilian created his whips. "Is that really what you think?" He said as he powered up his fists with Regulus Magic, preparing to counter the sharp whips. "You think I'm just doing this to protect Layla, my contractor? You think I don't have a choice?!"
Maximilian raised an eyebrow as he prepared to use his coin whips to slash at Leo. Leo in question was ready to attack himself as he leapt towards Maximilian. "I'm not doing this because Layla is forcing me to, or just because she's just my contracted owner! I'm doing this because she's my friend!" Leo yelled as he closed the distance some more. "And she needs me!"
Maximilian took a step back as he waved his closed hands to use the whips to try and entangle Leo and throw him off the mountain. He was horrified to see that Leo grabbed both whips and blew them up with his Regulus Magic. "That's why I won't lose this! All the luck in the world won't stop me from protecting my friends!" Leo cried as he finished reaching Maximilian. "Regulus Gatling Impact!" Leo cried as he threw several punches towards Maximilian, who was barely able to block them with his fists.
Many brilliant beams of light were emitted as this barrage of punches by Leo was carried out. Despite his best attempts to block the punches, Maximilian was still struck a few times across his body. "Ngnaaaaa! Curse you Spirit!" He gave a yell of pain and as he was sent skidding backwards across the ground on his back. Within an instant however, Maximilian used his magic to propel himself back on his feet and face Leo. "All the satisfaction in the world awaits me, I will not lose this!"
'Oh come on! How tough is this guy?' Leo thought as he powered more of his Regulus Magic into his right fist and released it into the air. 'Gotta try and blind him here!'
"Lion's Brilliance!" Leo shouted as a bright and powerful golden light enveloped the verge that Leo and Maximilian were on. While Leo was fine during the outburst of light, Maximilian had quickly summoned some some shades that he wore to cover his eyes from the light.
"Ha! We used these shades when throwing the flashbangs that we used to kidnap the guests. It'll work all the same against that light of yours!" Maximilian yelled as he fired more coins towards Leo. "Coin Devastation!" Maximilian yelled as he once again summoned spheres of coins that he sent speeding towards Leo. Countering this, Leo moved to dodge the spheres with his increased mobility. He was able to do so, as one of the spheres crashed against a boulder in the distance.
'Dammit! I didn't expect my Lion Brilliance spell to fail like that!' Leo tisked with annoyance as he dodged another sphere. 'I'm doing fine with what magic power I have left here, but I don't want to keep this fight going on for any longer than it should!'
Upon quickly making it close to Maximilian, Leo used another Regulus attack against him. "Regulus Kick!" Leo shouted as he jumped to kick Maximilian in the gut with a powerful kick of golden energy.
Maximilian scrambled to use many of his coins to cover his right hand and block the attack by using his covered hand to take the impact of the kick. Maximilian then closed his right hand and grabbed Leo's leg, before throwing Leo down to the ground. "Ha! Now take this King of the Zodiacs!" Maximilian then moved to attack Leo with a powerful punch that was aimed at his face! "Coin Devastation!"
Leo moved quickly, and used his leg to sweep Maximilian's legs, causing him to go off balance. "Nghha!" As he was stumbling backwards, Maximilian used his coin magic to cast a slashing sort of spell that was, meant to slice at Leo's stomach. "Gah! Coin Slice!"
Leo frowned at the move, as he parried the slash with his Regulus coaxed fist, leaving Maximilian aghast. Leo then moved forward at a fast speed and gave Maximilian a hard right hook of Regulus Magic that was aimed at his right cheek. "REGULUS PUNCH!" Leo's fist made contact with Maximilian's face, as he sent Maximilian flying backwards with a final powerful Regulus Kick to the side of his chest. The crook still showed some anger on his face, as he dug his feet into the ground.
'I've nearly got him now! I can sense it!' Leo thought with certainty as Maximilian began to slow down as he gained some distance between him and Leo. Not wanting to drag this out, Leo ran forwards to land some more damage against Maximilian. 'I can end this! It won't be long now!'
As Maximilian stood back up to his full height again, he gave a cold sneer to Leo as he whipped out the blank copper coin and threw it up into the air again. "I won't lose this! I'm willing to bet that when I land a hit on this Celestial Spirit that I'm fighting, it'll be a critical one!" Maximilian bellowed as he looked up at the couch as it spun through the air.
"I don't think so!" Leo yelled as he leapt up towards the quickly expanding coin. He pulled back a fist, with golden energy enveloping it. "I'll destroy that coin before it finishes spinning! Regulus Punch!" Leo yelled as he punched the coin. But Maximilian only snorted as he saw this move occur.
"Oh really?" Maximilian grinned as he saw that move from Leo.
As Leo punched the coin, he was suddenly propelled back, with sharp amounts of pain running through him. "AAAHHHH!" Leo screamed as he fell down to the ground, barely landing on his feet. "Wh-What the-!?"
Maximilian gave a cold laugh as he saw that action there. "Hahaha! You really thought that you could destroy or change the toss of the coin? It's useless! As long as the light shines down upon me I'll always be right!"
'Wait… what did he say?'
Leo grimaced as he stood back up. Both men looked to the coin in the air and saw that it had changed into the markings of the man happy in wealth. "You see!? The full moon shall be the gift that gives me the luck I need!"
Leo looked at the markings on the coin in more detail before they vanished. It showed a man on his knees with a wealth of coins around him. His hands were up in the air with joy, as a bright light shined down upon him. An orb was above him, presumably the sun.
'Wait. Isn't that-' Leo felt like he had remembered something there, but he quickly was cut off from his thoughts as he saw Maximilian leap towards him. 'Ah! No time to think then!'
Leo charged up a fist as he pulled it back and sent it towards Maximilian. "Regulus Fury!" Leo cried with anger.
Maximilian grinned as he was easily able to parry the punch and use one of his coin moves to punch Leo in the side of his chest. "Coin Outcry!" Maximilian shouted as his fist made contact. Leo yelled in pain as he felt that punch hit him in a rather sensitive area of his chest. With a grunt, he immediately moved to use another punch and kick combo against Maximilian.
"Regulus Punch! And Regulus Kick!" Leo swiftly launched a punch while also preparing his leg with Regulus energy, in case his punch failed.
Seeing this incoming double move, Maximilian leapt backwards and used many of his coins to create a giant coin that was around two metres wide to try and squash Leo. "Now, Maximum Coin!" As Maximilian sent the coin flying downwards to hit Leo, he was just able to dart out of the way; the large coin flying off to the side, before spinning up into the air.
As Leo made it to where Maximilian was, he had the chance to charge up his Regulus Magic into his fists and feet as he moved to give Maximilian a strong and powerful punch and kick. "Regulus Punch! And Regulus Kick!"
Leo swung his fists to land a good blow on Maximilian, yet the criminal was able to block it with his own fists, both of them matching the other. Leo then kicked his leg with Regulus energy as he sent Maximilian backwards, Maximilian holding his head a little as he did this.
"Damn you…! Maximum Coin!" Maximilian shouted with anger as he threw his hands to the side and caused the giant coin that Leo thought had been destroyed, to come flying and hit Leo right in the side of his face.
This sent Leo flying to the side, him just about able to block the coin with his Regulus powered fists. Still, it was not enough to spare Leo from the rockets of pain that soared all throughout his body. "ARGHHHHH!" Leo screamed as he hit and skidded the ground, rolling a little as he tumbled. When he finally came to a stop, he was just able to get back up on his feet.
'I refuse to lose this! Layla and Lyra are in danger! If I lose here, not only am I failing my duty as their Celestial Spirit, but I'm also failing them as a friend!' He thought as he stood up and saw Maximilian walking towards him, stopping as he reached Leo.
"Admittedly impressive… if not infuriating for me right now." Maximilian commented. "Any good player knows when to stop pushing themselves when it comes time."
"Ironic that you say that." Leo argued as he grinned, which interested Maximilian. "You've made four bets on that coin of yours, and all of them have been correct."
"What can I say? I'm just as good as a gambler as I am a fighter." Maximilian shrugged with a smirk.
"No. No you're not." Leo rebutted, causing Maximilian to raise an eyebrow.
"That phrase you said earlier. 'As long as the light shines down upon me I'll always be right.' Well, what do you know, I've heard that phrase before in the Spirit World."
Maximilian gave a small scoff. "Impossible. It's a phrase that-"
"-Is said to bless those covered by the light of the full moon with all the luck they could ever want. Of course, it doesn't seem to work for everyone, yet you seem to be doing just fine with all your betting." Leo said with a grin, as he continued. "I asked a friend of mine Crux a long time ago, and he said that that phrase is meant to be used with a certain type of magic. Never learned what it was, but now I have a pretty good idea. Want me to spell it out for you?" He asked sarcastically.
Maximilian gave a cold look to Leo, before he then chuckled. "So you figured it out. Big deal. My copper coin has a much greater chance of getting me the bet that I need while the full moon shines down on me. But so what? You're barely standing."
"Yeah, but I noticed something with the moon when you said that to me. As we were riding here, the moon wasn't full at all. It was half full." Leo stated, as he smiled with confidence. "So, why's it suddenly full now?"
Maximilian froze. He suddenly scolded as he was about to throw a punch down at Leo's face to send him back to the Spirit World.
But right before he could do that, the two men saw a quick blast of energy shoot up into the sky, coming from the ground below them. Maximilian's eyes widened as this happened and Leo smirked.
"Glad you figured it out Cade." Leo said as he looked up into the sky. "I had a feeling that he saw the fake moon as well. After all, he was the one using the moonlight to find you guys!"
That blast of magic energy was sent upwards to the moon; it looking like it would just keep going. But then the blast of magic hit something.
No. It cracked something.
Suddenly the sky itself began to crack, as it then broke apart to show that there had been a magical dome placed over a good portion of the mountain! It had been covering the moon, creating an illusion that would make someone think that the moon was full, where in reality it was half full. Leo knew of these magical domes, but he had never seen them being used in this way.
Maximilian yelled as this happened. "No! My illusion dome! That costed me the last of my money!" He screamed with fear as the rest of the dome began to shatter into small pieces of glass. "That'll have set me back so much!"
"You used that dome to cast a fake full moon over you, that way you would get the luck that you wanted." Leo remarked as he fixed his suit a little. Maximilian however, snarled with anger as he leapt towards Leo.
"Damn you!" Maximilian yelled as he pulled back a punch covered with coins. Leo moved faster as he acted to intercept the punch and block it, before punching Maximilian himself.
"Regulus Impact!" Leo yelled as he punched Maximilian as hard as he could with a very bright golden light. Maximilian was sent flying backwards, further to the cliff of the mountain.
Knowing that he was near his end now, Leo ran forward and got ready to end this fight. Maximilian looked back and saw that Leo was near some stray boulders that were above where he was running.
"Ha! I'm not out of luck yet! Just watch and see!" He yelled as he threw the copper coin up into the air. "I'm willing to bet that the earlier disturbance on the mountain here will have caused the boulders up there to come crashing down on you!"
As the coin grew as it flew up into the air, the blank face was changed to reveal a man on his knees in sorrow, as he was swindled out of his money by grinning people walking away. "N-No!" Maximilian yelled as his face paled.
Leo grinned as he saw that. "Well would you look at that? Seems like luck really has left you." He commented as he reached Maximilian, who had been caught massively off guard by the bad luck.
"Regulus, Fury!" Leo yelled as he punched Maximilian several times in the chest. Maximilian was pummelled as he was sent flying back into the mountain wall causing a small crater in the wall to be formed.
He tried to cast a coin spell to attack Leo, but he was already too late to do so, as Leo had made it to him and had charged up his leg with magic. "Regulus Kick!" Leo shouted as he kicked Maximilian in his left side, sending him spiralling to the side.
As Maximilian was sent flying across the ground, Leo had used his increased agility to reach Maximilian and punch him into the ground. "Regulus Punch!" Leo cried as he punched Maximilian across the jaw. As Maximilian hit the ground with a small crater forming, he let out a yell of pain as he quickly casted a spell to hit Leo while he was still above him.
"Coin Breaker!" He yelled as he formed a huge burst of coins that hit Leo in the stomach, sending him flying off Maximilian, skidding backwards. "Hahahahaha! I-I don't need luck! J-Just watch!" Leo quickly readjusted himself on the ground as he regained his footing and ran to land another Regulus attack against Maximilian.
"Coin Confusion!" Maximilian shouted with a panicked tone as he pulled back his fist and covered it with coins, before thrusting his fist forwards and sending all the coins straight towards Leo.
Leo used his Regulus powers to blast away all the coins as they came flying towards him. He then clenched his right hand as he cried out his penultimate spell. "I'm getting real tired of you and your coins! Lion Brilliance!"
As Maximilian reached to quickly equip his shades to shield his eyes from the light, he was baffled to find that the shades weren't in his pocket. "Agh! No! I must have dropped the shades earlier!" He yelled as the bright light overtook him. "Ngh! Agh my sight!
Maximilian yelled as he was blinded by the golden light that Leo had summoned from his hand. As he was blinded, Leo had made his way to Maximilian and prepared to use his final attack against him.
"You're finished Maximilian! Take this! Regulus! Gatling! Impact!" Leo shouted with fury as he landed powerful punch after powerful punch all across Maximilian. Leo punched Maximilian's face, body, arms and legs as the gambler was struck all across his figure.
"GAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH! MY LUUUUUUUUUUUCK!"
Maximilian shouted out loud with pain and anger, as he was wailed all over his body by the brilliant punches of light, and was sent flying over the verge and crashed down where the fight had begun earlier. Leo hurried over to see if he was actually unconscious or not.
Leo saw that Cade and Layla moved over to inspect the man, and found that he was unconscious. Leo then jumped down off the verge and landed in front of them, giving Layla a wink.
"Hope I did well up there." Leo grinned as fell down to his knees, feeling the burn from that fight wash over him.
'That fight did exhaust me a little towards the end. But I should still be ok for the rest of this!' He clenched his fist as he felt himself being lifted back up by Cade.
Leo nodded at Cade. 'Well, with a guy like him to help us out, I'm sure we can handle what's coming next!' He thought with resolve.
One more chapter done and written! Feel free to leave a review if you enjoyed it, or if you want to share your thoughts.
Ugh, this took way too long to get out. Life isn't treating me badly right now, but I did seem to hit a bit of writers block as the New Year kept going on. Fantastic…
I gave Leo the full fight against Maximilian in this chapter. Like I said before, Leo is one of my favourite characters, so I guess I couldn't resist. For anyone confused, Maximilian's magic lets him use coins as methods of attacking, but he can also bet on a blank copper coin for certain luck-based things to happen. It is a 50/50 chance, but if he has a full moon the odds are more in favour of things working in his favour.
With the fight against Maximilian concluded, Cade, Layla and Leo are heading up the mountain to track down Vicini. But will they face any more troubles before then?
Well, next week you shall see. I do hope you all enjoyed this chapter, and I hope to see in the next one!
—
Guest - Thank you for the review! I've always wanted to try and expand on what Mashima introduced in Fairy Tail, taking what could have just been a underutilised concept or even something as vague as a name. It's another reason why this story started so far back before canon. I feel like I need a lot of time to build most of these things up and properly explore them. I hope you keep enjoying the story!
FairyQuill - To answer ALL of your reviews (not that I'm complaining)
Ch 1 - Yes! I have a lot planned between years, though it'll speed up at one point
Ch 4 - Eh. I felt like giving Cobalt more time to shine would be nice. I'm glad you enjoyed the fights as well.
Ch 25 - Ah, you may think that was an odd decision by me. But I may or may not use that game as a funny scene in the future.
Ch 42 - I didn't think to go so hard, honestly. And yes. Han is VERY strong. Stronger than Makarov at this current point in the timeline
Ch 44 - You are right to be nervous. But I have faith that I will finish this story… I hope that ages well. And I shall not say if we will or will not see the characters again. I'd be spoiling if I did!
Ch 48 - The ideas kinda just meshed together in my head as I was writing it.
Ch 54 - Thank you! I promise that we will see more of the schemers scheming! Glad I'm not boring you!
Ch 59 - I found there to be advantages to choosing either of them. But I picked the more arrogant of the two.
Ch 61 - Yup. Ivan had this coming to him! He's been rather fun to write about, as Mashima didn't do much with him.
Ch 63 - More resolutions always bring some joy to me!
Ch 64 - Jack was someone who I was always thinking about, and was ultimately glad I was able to get him back into the story.
Ch 65 - What are you talking about? Of course it's going to go off the rails!
Ch 68 - You shall see next chapter… or rather you have already seen it by now.
Ch 70 - I wanted to mix things up with Christopher's magic.
Ch 71 - I've been planning this other enchantment mage user for some time now! I'm hoping you enjoy them as they appear!
Ch 72 - Yes, I plan on doing some more with the Wizard Saints. I feel like we could have seen more of them in the anime, post timeskip.
Ch 75 - I'm glad to have you excited!