"Oooogh…" Lucy shook her head slowly while looking up. Vision was blurry and all she could make out were the bodies of her comrades. "W-What the heck happened…? It all happened so quickly…"
"Forget that…!" Natsu stared up at the broken roof, watching the dragon fly by overhead. "We gotta take care of this dragon. Happy!"
"Aye!" Happy nodded and sprouted his wings, grabbing Natsu and taking off into the air to deal with the dragon.
"Carla!" Wendy called her exceed who took her into the air, only to stop and stare down at Cynthia.
"Are you going to be okay down here?" Carla asked.
"Wait…! I can do this…uhm…" Cynthia paused for a moment before clenching her hands into tight fist, straining somewhat as draconic wings began to sprout from her back; the positive result of almost being turned into a dragon left Cynthia with the ability to literally fly on her own. Her red wings flapped and she started to float in the air. "Being bitten wasn't all that bad…I should be able to keep up with you guys."
"That's a little freaky, actually…" Gray had a slight sweat drop as he stared at Cynthia.
"O-Oh my…" Polka let out a nervous giggle.
"Mira, can you go with them?" Erza asked.
"Of course." Mira didn't hesitate in answering and shifted to her Satan Soul form. With that, those who could fly took to the sky to deal with the rampaging dragon.
"Of all the times for me to leave Lily with shrimp…" Gajeel grunted. He wasn't going to be able to participate in the sky battle.
"Is everyone unharmed…?" Polka asked. "That was quite a drop…" Without waiting for confirmation, she raised her hand and created several magic seals under Erza, Gray, Gajeel, and Juvia, healing whatever injuries had around them. "Earth Heal!"
"Juvia feels much better now…" Juvia said while glancing at the bruises fading away on her body.
"So the only question now is what the hell happened!?" Gajeel stared around the unfamiliar hallway. "This entire castle went to shit in about two seconds. The royals probably need our help."
"I don't think they'll be any need for that." Tuba said while emerging from the shadows, wearing a large grin on his lips. "You're under suspicion for leading that dragon here to attack us, Fiore."
"I'm sorry?" Erza quirked her brow at Tuba's accusation. "We what?"
"What are you talking about…?" Juvia shook her head. "We did no such thing!"
"Don't play dumb. We know it was you." Tuba said before tapping the hilt of his mace down on the floor. "So now you're going to pay the price for pulling such a stunt. Eugene, Rondo, Allegretto come." This command was issued and three people suddenly appeared; Rondo, a white haired (hair tied to pigtails) with light gray armor; Fugue, a fancily dressed male with gray hair and a monocle over his left eye.
"Allegretto…" Polka seemed familiar with him, noticing the reluctant look in his eyes, but she stood back, she didn't want to be a part of this battle.
"I was going to complete my other tasks, but I was having no luck…" Fugue began while pulling out his katana, his gaze narrowing at the Fairy Tail mages. "Fortunately, this will be a great way to relieve my stress. You'll play with me a little bit, won't you?"
"So it looks like we're really fighting, huh…?" Gray said while sliding into his ice make stance. "Just remember that you picked this fight!"
Rondo stepped forward, a sadistic grin plastered on her lips as she eyed the Fairy Tail mages. "Fresh meat is the best." The woman's tongue slowly ran along her lips as two blades appeared in her grasp. Without another word, they began.
.
Meanwhile in the sky, those who were flying met with the dragon that was circling around the city. "What's up with this dragon?!" Cynthia questioned while looking at the others. "Where did it come from…!?"
"That's what we want to know as well…" Daryan, with Hiruka acting as his wings, appeared in the sky alongside Gaia with her wings out. "Gaia said you guys were here. I'm sure glad about that now."
"Something is very off about this dragon…" Gaia stated while staring at it. She couldn't put her finger on it, but there was a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach. "But I don't think we've the time to figure it out. We're going to have to fight it, but carefully. There are still people in the city, we can't risk bringing harm to them." She went to look at Natsu to make sure he understood but he was gone as soon as she said they had to fight. "N-NATSU! WAIT A SECOND!"
"Fire Dragon's…." Natsu and Happy flew up to above the dragon; the Salamander linked his hands together while raising them above his head, a trail of fire flaring behind his conjoined hands. "Jaw!" The fire dragon swung his hands down at the dragon's skull, resulting in a direct hit…but his flames fizzled out seconds later. "Wha…!?" And before he could do much else, the dragon violently reared its head to send Natsu and Happy flying.
"Natsu-san…!" Wendy cried out worriedly.
"That thing isn't playing any games…" Hiruka bit his lips. "What do we do, Daryan?"
"We fight it, of course." Daryan replied with a nod. "But that might be easier said than done…"
"Cynthia!" Wendy looked at her partner and the two nodded. On that cue they both inhaled before unleashing their respective roar; a funnel of omega flames and wind traveled across the sky and struck the Dragon in the side, causing a slight roar of pain before it merely dismissed their attack with a wave of its wing.
"No way…!" Cynthia's eyes widened. "It completely blew it off…!"
"At least on the Isle it had some effect…." Carla said with a minor sweat drop.
"Watch out!" Mira yelled as the dragon began inhaling. In the next second a beam of raw magic cut through the sky in attempt to take out the mages in the air, but luckily they all avoided it before returning to their positions. "This is going to be more problematic than I thought…"
.
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Rondo sprinted toward towards Gray and Lucy with both blades at the ready. She was incredibly fast and she closed the distance between herself and the two mages before they could blink. "Bombardment!" A series of slashes were delivered to the two Fairies, both of which had a hard time even narrowly dodging. At the end of the slashes Rondo formed a wall of molten rock to trap Gray and Lucy, slashing through it with a cross slash right after to inflict heavy damage.
"Gyah!" Gray and Lucy both cried out while tumbling along the floor before coming to a halt.
"That's how it's going to be, huh?!" Gray asked while hopping right up, slamming his fist into his palm. "Ice Make: Freeze Lancer!" The ice maker then threw his hands forward, unleashing a multitude of enlarged ice lances that attempted to collide on Rondo from all angles.
"Oh please…!" Rondo scoffed at Gray's attack before taking both blades, using them to easily slash at the incoming lances of ice, shattering them to harmless shards with only a few movements. "You'll have to do much better than that!"
"Oh yeah!?" Lucy exclaimed while a heavenly light wrapped around her body; she entered her Star Dress: Leo form, allowing a bright glow to shroud her foot. "Regulas…Lucy Kick…!" Lucy swung her foot at Rondo's face, but it was blocked by the female's forearm, causing Lucy to sweat slightly. "Eh…"
"For someone with impressive thighs, that was unfortunately a little weak." Rondo taunted Lucy before shoving her away, slamming her heel into the blonde's side to knock her away.
"Ice Make: Impact!" With this exclamation, Gray formed an ice mallet above Rondo that dropped to the floor in an instant.
"Wha…!?" Rondo crossed her blades over her head, stopping the incoming mallet from crushing her, but she had to bend her knees and fought to keep from being crushed. "Tch…!"
It was then Lucy wrapped her whip around Rondo's ankle, wearing a sly grin of her own. "So sorry to disappoint you, but we'll be seeing you next winter, so have a nice fall!" Perhaps she'd been around Luke too much and his bad puns were rubbing off on her. Regardless Lucy tugged with all her might at Rondo's ankle to make her lose balance, where she was then crushed by the Impact. "Ha!"
"Nice!" Gray and Lucy high fived, but it was far too early to celebrate for Rondo got right back up, more annoyed than she was hurt.
.
Juvia was facing off against Eugene. The Water mage took a step back before swiping her hand to the side, unleashing several sharp scythes of water that flew towards Eugene at a rapid pace. "Water Slicer!"
"I'd rather not get my clothes way so late in the evening…" Fugue sighed before bringing up his katana. His slashes were few, though they were quick and concise. He managed to break through Juvia's Water Slice with ease, and in the next instant he leapt forward with his katana ready, slashing down Juvia's midsection, however the blade passed right through Juvia due to her Water body.
"Attacks like that have no effect against Juvia." Juvia stated while rearing her now water covered fist back, aiming for impact against Eugene's face, hoping to knock the annoying monocle off his face. No such luck as the soldier of Joya blocked with his shoulder, only sliding back a few feet. Regardless Juvia extended her watery arm forward, whipping at Eugene violently with scalding hot water. "Water Cane!"
"How obnoxious…" Fugue scoffed while doing his best to sway away from Juvia's rapid strikes, though some of the grazed him. "In order to see your reflection in the water…the water first must be clear! Shadow Slash!" The katana at his side was enshrouded by an obsidian aura; Fugue closed the distance between them once again, aiming at slash at Juvia's chest.
"…!" Juvia could sense the malicious aura leaking from Fugue's blade. For that reason she dodged to the side to avoid the incoming slash, but it caught her shoulder, and her Water Body was pierced through. A yelp of pain escaped the aquatic mage and her arm now hung limp. "W-What was that…?"
Eugene adjusted the monocle in his eye before speaking. "I can hear the accolades."
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Gajeel swung his iron coated fist forward at Tuba's large gut. A direct hit was made and the male staggered back a step before regaining his composure quicker than Gajeel would've liked him too. "Tch, guess your fatass can withstand some punishment, huh?"
"Can the same be said for your iron?" Tuba asked while tapping his spike mace on the ground, grinning sadistically.
"Is that a challenge?" Gajeel gave a fangy grin before a green magic seal formed under his body, coating him in his signature iron scales. "Take your best shot, Tubby!" Be careful what you wish for is the advice Gajeel should have been given at this point. Despite his weight and size, Tuba was more than fast enough to catch Gajeel off guard and slam his mace into the iron dragon's side, sending him crashing into the wall before he could even react. "Gah!" Gajeel grunted in pain as the wall nearly collapsed on him. "Shit…faster than you look, huh…?" The iron scales on Gajeel held on strong despite this.
"You haven't seen anything yet!" Tuba began gloating. "I'm gonna enjoy beating you down for interrogation."
"Sorry to break it to you, but I'm not the last meal on the dessert table at an all you can eat…" Gajeel grinned while standing up, doing his best to brush off the heavy hit. "You need to stay away from the sweets anyway and get some exercise. Here, let me whip you into shape!" Pointing his arm forward, a green magic seal formed before the iron dragon. "Iron Dragon's Lance: Demons Logs!" From the seal, several lances of iron shot out of the seal and rapidly struck Tuba who seemingly had no defense for the attack.
"Gah…Tch…!" Tuba grunted as the lances struck and clipped his body. It only took seconds before he decided he had enough and pointed an open palm forward. "Demonic Embrace!" From the male's palm, a stream of searing flames shot out, melting the incoming lances that came his way and reduced them to nothing; the flames even reached Gajeel and he felt the burn all right.
Gajeel immediately crossed his arms, grunting in slight pain while backing away to escape the radius of the attack. "What the hell!?"
.
Erza and Allegretto were locked in close combat sword play. Every time one slashed, the other countered; sparks were literally flying from the collision of solid steel. "Hey, you're pretty good at this!"
"Aren't you supposed to be an enemy?" Erza questioned in the midst of their essential stalemate.
"Doesn't mean I can't acknowledge a good swordswoman when I see one!" Retto replied. "It's a shame we had to meet like this, I don't really want to fight, but I don't have a choice. So…" Suddenly, the speed of the male's slashes improved dramatically. A mixture of slashes and kicks were aimed at Erza before a final downward slash hit the ground, resulting in a small, fiery explosion. "Sun Slash!"
Erza blocked a majority of Retto's hits, but the final explosion consumed her. When it faded she was in her Flame Empress Armor to reduce the damage. Her flaming sword was how held within her grasp and she swung it forward several times, aiming searing slashes at the male. Some were blocked while others grazed her opponent before he was eventually pushed back by a powerful slash, but Erza was going to allow no reprieve and swung her blade forward, unleashing a moderately sized wave of flames towards him.
"No chance to breathe, huh?" Retto chuckled before landing firmly on the ground, wasting no time in forging a counter attack. "Be haunted by the cold envy of the dead…Phantom Wave!" With a quick slash of his sword against the ground, unleashing a large wave of icy breath towards Erza's incoming wave; the two waves clashed in the middle for a stalemate before ending in a powerful explosion.
Erza brought her forearm up to shield her eyes from the wind kicked up from the explosion. "He's strong…" She admitted mentally while keeping note of Retto's skills, how easily he was keeping up with her…and how difficult it was for her to keep up with him. The smoke made things difficult to see, but she planned to flank Retto…but he beat her to it, appearing to her left with his blade at the ready.
"Be still, and enter the abyss of the night. VOID EDGE!" Two consecutive slashes were delivered, the second one being a rising spiral cut that brought forth a black spiral with more than enough knock back to send Erza flying with a pained grunt.
Erza flipped, stabbing her sword into the floor to halt her momentum while gritting her teeth. "Agh…" If there was one thing she was learning about the other mages in Ishgar…is that they were far stronger than she originally thought they would be.
.
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Back in the meeting hall, the rubble that collapsed form the ceiling rolled off a magical barrier created by Ceros It was around then the mages from the other guilds began rushing into the hall to see if everyone was all right. "Just in time…" Ioder let out a sigh before dispelling the barrier.
"Looks like you were useful for something, Ceros." Waltz dusted off his outfit.
"I appreciate that…" Ceros could sense the mixture of thankfulness and sarcasm from Waltz's voice. But there were more important things to worry about right now.
"Is everyone all right!?" Ace questioned while looking around, everyone was accounted for.
"It looks like it…" Jack Corvus said while counting all those present. Luckily the numbers from before matched the numbers now, so there was no need to worry.
A tall male with short dark hair rushed over towards Raha. There was a scar on his left cheek and he had brown eyes, and an earring on his right ear. Following him was a beautiful woman with long dark hair and yellow eyes. "Your Majesty, are you alright!?"
"Who was responsible for this?" The dark haired woman turned around, shifting her glare towards the other rulers.
"It's okay Rob, Renae..." Raha said while looking at the man and woman respectively. "We're alright."
"For now." Ice replied before pointing at the sky…more so the sky battle with the Dragon and several mages. Things didn't look like they were going too well despite all the explosions in the air. "How are we going to quell that beast? It seems those above are having an extremely difficult time fighting it."
"Can we find a way to support them?" Queen Vena asked. "Surely there must be something that we can do to help those mages defeat that raging dragon." If she had a pair of wings, she would be more than happy to assist. But nobody here could actually fly.
"Our men aren't of much use here, I'm afraid." Waltz commented while adjusting his crown. "I suspect someone led that dragon here to take us all out, or at least injure us gravely." After he spoke, his gaze shifted to Hisui and Toma as if to imply they were the reason the dragon arrived to Joya; Hisui caught the King's accusing gaze but decided against speaking out for the time being at least. "But such speculation will not do at the moment. Does anyone have any ideas to get that eyesore out of my kingdom?"
Nobody noticed it at first, but a small grin slowly began to creep onto the face of Ashnard. The King of Pergrande merely shook his head while stifling a small chuckle. "Worry not, my fellow royals. I have a plan to quell this beast. We will do so with the help of Heracles."
Toma was unsure if he liked the sound of that or not. "Heracles…?"
"Ashnard, just what is it you're planning now…?" Hisui grumbled.
"Nercon. Takeba. Rubicante." Ashnard called the names of his three Generals and almost on cue they appeared, giving a slight bow in respect to the king. "It's time. Bring out Heracles."
"As you wish, My King." Nercon nodded.
"It shall be done immediately." Rubicante also nodded before leaving with Nercon. Just what was it that Ashnard have up his sleeve…and the bigger question is…why was he so confident about it…?
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Next time: Heracles.