"L-Lucy…?" Happy called out to Lucy, who had a blackish-red aura surrounding her person. It was different than anything he'd ever seen coming from her, and considering that she was almost killed, needless to say he was worried about her.
"W-What the hell is up with her…" Laura said while leaning back slightly, a little caught off guard by Lucy's aura. "I didn't get any report about this…"
"It's probably just an oversight…" Lex reassured. Meanwhile, Natsu kept silent. To him, that wasn't Lucy.
"Finish her then!" Laura demanded.
"Hmph…" Lex grunted before throwing his weapon into the air, raising one fist while letting out a battle cry; the red headed male slammed his fist into the ground, his sheer power causing a stalagmite to suddenly pop up from Lucy's location.
"…" Lucy remained silent, only taking a graceful leap to the side to avoid Lex's attack. Within the next second, she closed the distance between them with her hand balled into a tight fist. In one fluid motion, she sent her fist towards Lex's temple, her strength overpowering his aura and sent him tumbling across the rocky ground roughly.
"Lex?!" Laura's eyes widened from Lucy's sudden boost in strength.
"You're next." Lucy muttered before closing the distance between herself and Laura, a high kick aimed for the back of her head sending her rolling forward until she hit the ground.
"Agh!" Laura landed on her side, panting heavily. Just one kick was enough to cause her actual damage compared to when Natsu and Lucy together couldn't do that much. "This bitch…I'll show you!" Thrusting her hand forward, the blonde released a thin, but potent beam of lightning that was aimed towards Lucy's chest, looking to pierce right through her heart. Lucy threw her hand forward, gathering what appeared to be dark magic around her palm before releasing it into a beam to clash with Laura's causing an explosion. "I don't believe this…she's making a fool out of me…" Laura growled before creating more lightning daggers, hurling a plethora of them towards Lucy to overwhelm her with the numbers.
"Hmph…" Lucy drew her whip once again and in one fluid motion, smacked all of the lightning daggers out of the air; she then wrapped it around Laura's neck, who desperately attempted to pry it off as Lucy began to constrict her throat.
"L-Lucy wait!" Natsu called out, but it appeared that she didn't hear him at all.
"RAAAH!" Lex exclaimed while shoulder tackling Lucy, who forgot all about him. The force of his tackle was enough for Lucy to fly back and bounce off the wall with a noticeable imprint left on the stone wall. "I won't be made a fool of by some weakling…!"
Lucy shook her head, standing up as a dark gold aura began to surround her body. She said nothing, but area began to darken, stars appearing in the area along with some planets. This was not Urano Meteria, however. The stars were shone with darkness and malevolence. "Fall and rejoin the stars…Purification!" Suddenly, all of the stars and planets exploded at once in radiant darkness, consuming both Lex and Laura, though Natsu and Happy remained unharmed. When the darkness faded, Lex and Laura were seen on a knee while Lucy completely collapsed over, the aura around her body fading.
"Whoa…" Happy's eyes widened, but he was worried because Lex and Laura didn't look like they were down even after all of that.
"….Ha…well…" Laura stood up, dusting her hands off. "That was something else…maybe those reports weren't wrong at all. Come on Lex, we're done here." With that, the two vanished from sight.
"Lucy, are you okay…?!" Natsu rushed over to Lucy, who just groaned.
"W-Whoa…what happened…?" Lucy blinked slowly, looking up at Natsu with her brown eyes.
"You don't remember?!" Happy flailed. "You drove off those two robed people with a really cool attack and…!"
Natsu shushed Happy, assisting Lucy to her feet. "We drove them off. We wasted too much time here, we have to go help the others, I can tell they've started fighting without us!"
"O-Oh…right…" Lucy nodded slowly, pointing over to a certain tunnel while rubbing her head. "I…I don't know why…but I feel like we should be going that way."
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"Finish them off, dearies…" Venoma waved her hand to her soldiers surrounding Gray and the injured Juvia while sauntering away.
"Tch…" Gray was in a tough spot. He couldn't fight and keep Juvia safe at the same time, especially since she was determined to stop Venoma more than anyone else was. "Juvia, stay by me."
"B-But…Gray-sama…" Juvia objected, turning only to see a soldier lunging at her. "Ah…!"
"Great Cross Slash!" That voice came from none other than Aira Aeolus, who slashed through the soldier attempting to cut through Juvia. She brought it down but didn't take it out, causing her expression to harden a little bit. "It's still moving…"
"Damn…!" Luke slid to a halt just outside the circle of soldiers, gritting his teeth as he could barely see Venoma walking off. "Was that Venoma?!"
"Yeah, why? Wait, what the hell are you doing fighting against these guys, I thought you were on their side!?" Gray questioned while using his Ice Make: Saucer, to keep some soldiers at bay.
"Long story short…" Luke began while keeping his guard up. "Gaius didn't trick any of us…he's also got Nasir and we can't let him die…he seems to believe we're truly against Dhegensea, especially after feeding us that false information…half of us are pretending to fight, and knowing them they're really into it." As he spoke a soldier attempted to slash him in half, but he jumped back and aimed a lightning coated roundhouse to their cheek, sending them spiraling into others and knocking them away. "Whew…we need to get that poison sample from that woman so we can get a cure for the others on the other side…!"
"White Eclipse is…buying time…" Juvia finally got it, that's why they were fighting against them. Well, some of them anyway. "But…Juvia needs to get to Venoma, I promised…"
"Don't worry about it…" Aira said with a soft smile. "We've got two of our best after her right now…" Her eyes trailed towards the shadows, nodding slowly. "For now, we have to clean up this mess! I'll explain the rest after!"
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Wendy and Cynthia were panting softly, along with Kuro and Waiston. Their two on two was reaching a high point quickly. Wendy stepped forward, leaping into the air while raising her arms above her head, looking to finish them both off in one fell swoop. "Sky Dragon's…Wing Attack!" Throwing her arms down, a strong current of wind raced towards the Eclipse duo.
"…" Waiston stepped forward, an oddly determined expression on his face. The wind landed directly on his person, but soon after there was a strong inhalation sound that filled the area.
"W-Wait a second!?" Cynthia was all too familiar with that noise.
"Is he…?!" Wendy's eyes widened in shock.
"Waiston! Finally!" Kuro grinned.
The wind died down, all entering Waiston's mouth. His hair turned a bright blue shade and cold winds began whirling around his body, all with a wicked grin on his lips. "Frozen Sky…"
"He ate her magic…" Carla's jaw dropped.
"Great…" Cynthia groaned, knowing things were just going to get tougher from here on out. …And they did, just not in the way she expected. After Waiston gained Frozen Sky, several soldiers dropped from the sky, surrounding the four almost immediately. "H-Hey…!?"
"What the?!" Waiston turned, growling at the soldiers. "What's the big idea!? We're on your side!"
"These soldiers…" Carla recognized their attire. They were the same ones they encountered in the sky when they were on the airship…that meant…
"Now we have to go through them, too…!? What's going on…" Wendy questioned.
"Well, guess they found us out early…" Waiston didn't seem to notice, but he was sure ready to try out Frozen Sky with Kuro by his side. With an inhale, the air around him turned cold and was sucked into a small twister. "Roar…of the Frozen Sky Dragon!" Throwing his head forward, a massive whirlwind blizzard escaped his mouth, covering a large radius as it raced towards the soldiers. Some of them evaded while the others were swept away with ease.
"Whoa…" Cynthia's jaw dropped in shock before she snapped out of it, grabbing Wendy by her wrist. "Come on, let's get out of here and go meet up with the others…"
"Right…" Wendy nodded, following along Cynthia into the castle.
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"What is the meaning of this…?" Erza questioned Reve on the castle walls while pointing her blade towards him.
Of course, Reve wasn't threatened. Especially after he just defeated her not too long ago, why should he feel threatened? Instead, the gunslinger let out a laugh at Erza's question, giving a shrug after. "You wouldn't understand, nor believe me if I told you. In fact, I asked so politely for you to come in quietly, but you Fairies are quick to…jump the gun."
"Now isn't the time for your jokes, Reve," Erza glared towards the gunslinger. "Tell me what's going on."
Reve had a grin on his lips; the kind that meant you were hiding a secret not many other people knew and you wanted to brag about it. He shrugged again, shaking his head. "Maybe if you said please, and admitted I'm the better mage…I'll spill the beans…"
"You…" Erza's grip tightened on the hilt of her sword. She glared at Reve in utter disdain, wanting to cut him down right then and there. She heard something approaching behind her and in that instant she turned and cut down a few soldiers attempting to attack her from behind. "…You!" Erza turned to Reve, prepared to lunge at him for thinking such a distraction would work on her…only to see that Reve was shooting down a few soldiers himself, wearing a look of disappointment.
"Tch…I guess time's a little shorter than I thought…" Reve muttered before turning to Erza. "Guess your humble statement will have to wait a little while."
"I wasn't planning on telling you anything." Erza then hopped down the wall and into the castle, making a quick beeline for the throne room and left Reve all by himself. If she were going to find out anything, going to the source of all the trouble would dispel any remaining confusion. Makarov had already gone on ahead during the battles so it was no surprise if he was there already, now it was just time to back him up…
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Venoma casually walked down a hallway towards the throne room with a hand on her hip, giggling slightly at how well things were going. "It's only a matter of time until it takes effect…and then we'll really be ready."
Takeru emerged from the shadows, shadow katana in hand. He lunged forward from the wall, attempting a clean slice for Venoma's head. How dare he underestimate a dragon even slightly; the woman leaned her head to the side, causing a whiff. Takeru landed with a slight growl. "You're fast for someone who doesn't notice their surroundings."
"Oh?" Venoma tilted her head. "Now why would a White Eclipse member be after my head? I thought we worked things out nicely with our sharing of information and Nasir being held captive? Your fight is over there."
"That's not going to purify the water, is it?" Takeru questioned as a dark aura surrounded his being, raven hair standing up to spike: Shadow Drive.
"Oooooh, you humans aren't as stupid as you let on to be…" Venoma giggled. "After we win this war, I had full intentions of removing my poison from the water." Even though she was a little snarky, there was no hint of a lie laced in her tone.
"Well…" Takeru began. "I think it'll just be easier to drag your half dead body back and make you do it instead…"
"You and what army, little boy?" Venoma spoke while leaning forward condescendingly.
From the shadows above in the ceiling, Selene dropped down with her arm morphed into a diamond sword. In one swift motion, she brought it down on Venoma's back, cutting deep into the female. "Diamond Dragon's…" Not finished yet, she took a small leap back while inhaling, small diamond shards forming in a vortex around her mouth. "ROAR!" Throwing her head forward, a large vortex of small, but sharp diamonds shot out, aiming to consume the poisonous female.
"Agh…" Venoma cringed from the blow to her back, growling at the fact she'd been hit; turning around to put up a wall of poison that blocked Selene's roar easily.
"Heh…" Takeru prepared to lunge forward and finish off the female while she was distracted, but another figure appeared and attempted to…BITE him. "SHIT!" Takeru immediately leapt back, his exclamation catching Venoma's attention. "You can't just bite people like that!"
The one that bit Takeru was Drake; the one Dhegensea warned both teams about. He was a tall male with long dirty blond hair that reached his shoulders and had yellow eyes; he wore a soldier's uniform similar to the one that Nasir's troops wore. "Darn…I was so close to having a taste of shadow dragon…" Drake said with a hungry grin, licking his lips while staring at Takeru.
"This isn't good…" Selene took a step back, allowing diamond scales to form along her body to protect herself from Drake's infectious bite. "We can't let him bite us, Tak!"
"I remember!" Takeru said while taking a step back himself. He could probably slip past Drake with his Shadow Drive, and finish off the wounded Venoma, but taking his eyes off Drake for a second could spell Dragonization… "Damn, this is a tight spot…"
"If you wanna run, that's okay…" Drake spoke with a cocky grin, taking a step forward while licking his lips once more. "I love it when my pray runs…I enjoy the thrill of the chase!" He then lunged towards Takeru with terrifying speed, tackling the male down to the ground and began snapping at him, attempting to bite down on the dragon slayer.
"Gah!" Takeru grunted while using his physical might to keep Drake at bay. "Hey! Get off me you freak! I ain't into that!"
"Tak!" Selene cried out in worry, but the wounded Venoma stepped in front of her. "Ah…"
"Where do you think you're going, little girl?"
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While Mirajane and Sidney continued their brawl, Mii used this time to slip past Elfman and Lisanna. Though she couldn't help but glance back at the battle occurring. Mirajane was in her Halpas Takeover, using her speed and power to challenge Sidney to close quarters combat. Several swings and several misses, causing Mirajane to become slightly annoyed. She then flew back to gather some space, cupping her hands together as a dark mass formed within her palms. "Evil Explosion." She uttered the name of the attack while throwing her hands forward, unleashing a potent beam of Dark Magic that raced towards Sidney. Sidney actually found it prudent to cross his arms, preparing to take the full power of the Evil Explosion. The beam crashed against Sidney's arms, resulting in a massive explosion that blew everyone away except Mirajane. Sidney's arms had some bruises but otherwise he was fine. Mirajane then used the smoke as cover to appear on Sidney's left, swinging a hard kick aimed for his temple that landed, causing Sidney to slide back a few feet.
"Is she trying to kill us!?" Mii muttered while recovering from the blowback of the Evil Explosion.
"She got him! That's MAN!" Elfman exclaimed.
"Go, Mira-nee…!" Lisanna cheered.
Sidney shook his head slightly, brushing off Mirajane's attack since he's had worse. He then extended a palm forward, unleashing a plethora of tombstones at a rapid rate. Mirajane had little time to dodge and was quickly pinned down by the massive amount of tombstones slamming against her frontage. "…"
"Tch…Agh…" Mira grunted while keeping her arms crossed, trying to find a way to break through, but it didn't look like Sidney was giving her that chance…
"Finally…" Mii rolled her eyes and quickly opened the doors to the throne room, stepping inside quickly.
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"Ah ha!" Mii exclaimed once stepping into the throne room, pointing at Nasir and Gaius. Her attention then shifted to Makarov, who was down on a knee, desperately gasping for air. "Makarov…? The hell is going on in here?!"
"The old man thought he could have a nice little chat with us…so I told him to catch his breath after coming all the way here." Which really meant he nearly suffocated Makarov with his advanced use of wind magic. Nasir chuckled while snapping his fingers, causing a harsh wind current to blow throughout the room, primarily used to keep Mii in place. "But I'm glad you're here, Mii. We've been waiting for you."
"Mii…get out of here…" Makarov spoke in a tone that meant he learned something bad.
"O-Oi…? Why would I do that…?" Mii questioned while using her hands to shield her eyes from the harsh wind. "I can't even if I wanted to; this bastard isn't letting me move…!"
"We can't let you go now," Gaius said while rising from his throne, holding one half of the Scared Gem in his grasp, while Nasir held the other half. "Nasir went through the trouble of coming all the way here to deliver this to me…it's about time we put it to use."
"The Gem…!?" Mii's eyes widened.
"Only a special power can help activate the power of this gem…" Gaius and Nasir together fixed the Gem, combining the two halves into one radiant green sphere. Gaius then held the Gem in Mii's direction, causing a radiant green light to shoot out and strike her, lighting up her body in a similar glow. "The Chosen! Your power will mark the beginning of the end!"
"Wh-wha…?!" Mii stared at her body, unable to move. Nasir and Gaius looked at her strangely, the process was allegedly incredibly painful but Mii withstood it just fine? It didn't matter, for everything was going accordingly. The entire island began to shake violently, causing everyone to fall on their feet or lose their balance in some way. "H-Hey…!? What's going on…!?"
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"T-This shaking…?! Could it be?!" Kurthnaga questioned while hanging onto something to prevent from falling over.
"No…" Ena gasped.
"…" Dhegensea's head dropped. He knew exactly what was happening.
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The Isle of the Dragons shook violently. It lasted for a few moments before it steadily began to drop, falling towards the ocean below. Once it came in contact with the water, a massive tremor shook everything for miles.
"We've landed." Gaius spoke with a large grin while Mii collapsed to her knees, feeling the strain such a process put on her body regardless. "The Isle of the Dragons has landed! The Dragons will soon reign…"
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Next Time: The Sky Dragon's Rage!