I honestly don't think this arc has many more chapters left. We may make it to 340 at best, honestly. I think anyway.
What's wild is that the arcs only get cooler from here. Some of them, anyway!
Also as a heads up we're backtracking a bit today. Not a lot, but a bit.
Enjoy!
Ever since Abigail had shown up, the fight had decisively gone in their favour. Dionysus had been forced into a heavy retreat, barely able to keep up his defences as Abigail's knights attacked him. Couple that with Ultear's attacks, and it was clear he was losing his patience.
"This iz dumb," Dionysus said as he regained his balance, Vissi, Aeran and Sentine cornering him. "I needa drink."
"Lips away from the jug, foul demon!" Vissi shouted, brandishing her spears at him. "Or we will attack!"
"I'm thirsty..." He murmured irritably.
"No drinks!" Sentine agreed. "Lady Abigail, shall we engage?"
"Do as you wish," Abigail replied. "But don't give him room to drink. He drinks, this gets harder."
"Yes ma'am!" All three knights shouted at once, engaging again. The three were more than enough to keep Dionysus distracted, which gave Ultear time to think. She didn't know how the others were doing, but she had a bad feeling in her stomach. She'd already seen Simon cast Sema, but she'd been no where near him at the time. She hoped he was okay.
"Eye's on the battlefield," Abigail said, bringing her back to reality. "He's a powerful foe."
"I know," Ultear replied as she readied her arms. "Which is why we need to hurry this up. Ice Make: Harpoon!" The ice in her hands morphed into a cannon, a huge harpoon sticking out of it. Firing the weapon, she watched it soar for the jug Dionysus had with him. He didn't have the time to evade thanks to the Knights, so her attack pierced right through the jug. Smirking at his distraught look, Ultear flicked the switch on the side of the cannon. This ripped the jug out of the drunk's hands, pulling it back towards Ultear.
"My drink!" Dionysus cried.
"Sorry buddy, you've had enough." Ultear said, freezing the remaining liquid as it seeped out of the jug. "And as I've already said, we really don't have time to play around today."
"Ugh, I can't believe you did that..." Dionysus moaned. "Thas so rude..."
"He seems to be in a bad spot," Abigail said. "We should finish him. Aeran, Sentine! Finish this fatty off, we have other enemies to take on!"
"Yes ma'am!" Aeran said as he brandished his sword. "Come here, drunkard! I shall let you taste this blade before you're end!"
"Whazzat?" Dionysus asked, looking confused. Ultear made a face, but she didn't realise what he was looking at until it was too late. Water had begun to sweep through the entire area, and soon enough the current picked up. All three knights were swept up in it, sending them flying away from Dionysus in one fell swoop.
"Dionysus you foul man," A new voice said. Ultear turned in shock as a new wave appeared. On it was a man carrying a trident, with short black hair and a beard. His eyes were blue like the ocean, but they radiated trouble. "What exactly are you doing?"
"I was fighting them chicks," Dionysus replied. "But they stole my booze!" The new man sighed.
"Why must you insist on getting drunk prior to a fight?" He demanded.
"Iz my magic..."
"Yes, yes. The God of Wine. So unsightly." Dionysus seemed very irritated by this.
"My bad, Pissedon, God of Tap Water," he replied. It was clear he'd butchered the mans name given the reaction the the man had.
"Regardless, I do believe we should finish up here, don't you?" He asked. "Zeus grows impatient and unsure. We have to finish this fight quickly."
"How am I supposda do that with no booze?" Dionysus asked. "I need it to fight em." The other man just rolled his eyes. "Don't gimme attitude, Poseidon! I need booze!"
"I'm impressed you said my name correctly," Poseidon replied. "Besides, I came here to help you. You have no need of the liquor anymore."
"But I gotta fight em!"
"Yes, you do. And so do I." With this, Poseidon turned his gaze to Ultear and Abigail. "It seems we're up against the Fullbuster and...Hm, who are you again?"
"That's not important," Abigail replied. "If you don't know who am I then all the better." Poseidon let out a laugh at this.
"I do recall you vaguely," he said. "The Demon Hunter that Fairy Tail fought some time ago. How is it that you've made your way to this city in their hour of need?"
"I'd like the answer to that question as well," Abigail said as she crossed her arms. "Unfortunately, we don't have it. Vissi!"
Before more words could be spoken, a spear of light flew past Poseidon, who dodged it just in time. The three knights appeared once again, encircling the two Olympians.
"I can't do nothin..." Dionysus said angrily. "I don't have anymore booze!"
"Fight without it then, you drunkard!" Poseidon replied. "It's time you stopped playing around anyway!" Dionysus just huffed at this.
"Fine," He said. "I guess it's time to step it up anyway."
"Be on your guard!" Abigail said, both to Ultear and the knights. "There's no telling what he's about to do!" Poseidon smiled at this.
"I don't think you have any idea," he said bluntly. At this, Dionysus shakily raised a hand over his head.
"I call upon the power of Debauchery!" He shouted. Hear my cry and grant me the strength ta defeat mah foes! My name with become Bacchus! Imbue me with the strength ta finish my mission!"
A bright light shone out of the mans raised hand, forcing Ultear to cover her eyes for fearing of it blinding her. Once the light faded, she was able to look up again. Dionysus still stood where he was, but he had changed considerably. Although still wearing a toga, he now bore armour underneath the cloth and on his legs. His greasy hair had been slicked back, and a new jug had appeared in his hands.
"How do you feel, Bacchus?" Poseidon asked with a small smirk on his face. The man sighed.
"I feel...Good." Bacchus replied. "Thank goodness I have a new jug, or else we'd really be in trouble."
"Uh huh, whatever you say. Now, shall we?" Poseidon asked. Bacchus chuckled as he took a swig of his drink.
"I think we shall." Ultear prepared herself, but she wasn't ready for what came next. In one moment everyone was still, in the next Bacchus had slammed a fist into Aeran's front, throwing the conjured knight backwards into a tree as his head and arm fell off.
"What the-?!" Abigail asked, no time to finish as Bacchus sent both Vissi and Sentine flying this time. Both other knights cascaded through the air violently, body parts flailing everywhere.
"When did he find the time to do that?!" Ultear asked as she raised her hands. A chill went down her spine, and she ducked just in time to dodge a spin kick Bacchus had tried to hit her with from behind. The man blurred out of her vision again, and Ultear quickly raised an icy barrier between her, Abigail and the Olympians.
"What the hell did he just do?!" Ultear demanded as she reinforced the ice to protect them.
"I don't know," Abigail hissed, staring at the knights as they struggled to their feet. "He amplified his magic power somehow, he's grown so much more powerful!" Ultear gritted her teeth at this, knowing that was bad news. The last thing they needed was this fight getting even harder.
"I'd rather you two didn't hide," Poseidon said. Before either woman could respond, the icy barrier had melted and the water flew up into the sky, creating a sphere above them.
"Shit," Abigail hissed. "He's the God of the Sea, isn't he?" Ultear nodded, knowing this was true. Back when they had been planning, Ken had been sure to tell them how the bigger contenders were, most likely, the three 'brothers'. Zeus, the God of the Sky. Poseidon, the God of the Sea, and Hades, the God of the Underworld. All three of them had monikers large enough to indicate their threat level, along with being referred to as the brothers of creation. But now being confronted with one of them, she finally realised how big of a problem this was going to be.
"Ice Make: Laceration!" Ice formed in the air in an instant, creating bared wire-esque wires in the air. The ice began to fly through the air at a violent rate, tearing up trees and grass, slicing through rocks and the ground itself. No matter what got in it's way, it sliced through it.
And yet Poseidon and Bacchus seemed totally unaffected. All the ice that got close to Poseidon liquefied and flew up to the sphere in the air, while Bacchus tipped and twirled like a madman, all ice avoiding him.
"How is that fat ass doing that?" Abigail demanded. "I can barely even see the ice in the air, but he's dodging it! Sentine!"
"Yes ma'am!" Sentine flew out of left field, sledgehammer raised above her head. She swung the hammer down towards Bacchus, but the man moved at an inhuman rate to dodge both the ice and the hammer, making Sentine skid as she hit the ground.
"Dionysus was also described as the God of ritual madness," Bacchus said as he came back down on two feet, taking a swig from his jug. "It is quite maddening how I move isn't it? As if there is no method to the madness? As if I'm in a frenzy?"
"Don't try and make sense of his rambling," Ultear warned. "He's just a loud drunk." Bacchus laughed.
"A good observation!" He shouted. His words were still somewhat slurred, but since his transformation he was much more coherent. "Trying to make sense of the madness only makes it worse! She's a smart one Poseidon!"
"Don't compliment her, Bacchus." Poseidon replied as he raised his hand. "They're our enemy right now." He squeezed his open hand into a fist, and Ultear was forced to dodge as tendrils of water flew from the sphere above. The water carved right into the ground as soon as it made contact, creating massive cuts in the ground. Raising her hands, Ultear reached out to the sphere and froze it from the inside out, causing it's attacks to pause. Poseidon hummed at this.
"I remember now, you use ice and water magic." he said. "And even Arc of Time, yes? Quite a problematic opponent you are."
"Same goes for you," Ultear replied, keeping her hold on the sphere of water. She could feel Poseidon trying to take it back, but she wouldn't let him have it. "Seems we might have a problem here."
"That's debatable," he replied. Before either could say another word. Bacchus appeared briefly in between them as he fought and dodged the three knights. He jumped away from the spears Vissi threw at him, ducked under Sentine's hammer and barely avoided Aeran's sword.
"He is quite infuriating!" Aeran shouted as he whirled to face the man again. "Always with the dodging! Not to mention he's still drinking!"
"Quite unsightly," Sentine agreed as the three advanced.
"You okay?" Ultear asked, turning to look at Abigail. The woman nodded, eyes focused solely on Bacchus.
"I can deal with this one, you deal with him over there." She said. Nodding, Ultear turned just in time to watch Poseidon raise his hands. His magic left the sphere, but Ultear watched as a gigantic wave of water appeared behind him.
"Tsunami!" Poseidon shouted, aiming at her. The wave roared through the forest, but Ultear wasn't phased. She too raised her hands, encompassing the wave with her magic.
"Nice try!" She shouted. The wave froze instantly, and with a wave of her hands it shattered. Ultear worked quickly, forming daggers out of the frozen ice and fired them at Poseidon, who dodged them easily. He raised his hand, and water shot out of the ground like a geyser and warped to fire at her. Ultear froze it as well and shattered it, but the shattered ice turned back to water and shot right back at her. This power struggle continued for a moment before Ultear was forced to dodge watery blades, which nearly cut through her as she hadn't been paying close enough attention.
She needed to get the upper hand in this power struggle.
Watching him intently, Poseidon created a typhoon of water, whipping around the clearing, it roared towards Ultear. Smirking, Ultear raised her own hands as they glowed white. Within an instant the spiral of water disappeared, and Poseidon looked vaguely impressed.
"Arc of Time, I presume?" He asked. "When exactly did you send my spell?"
"Who knows?" She asked. "But I'll tell you this for free; this battle isn't going either of our ways quickly." Poseidon shrugged.
"Perhaps you're right," he said. "I need to even the sides a bit, huh?" Making a face, Ultear didn't have time to react as Abigail gasped. Turning, Ultear watched as water worked it's way up Abigail's body, constricting her like a prison.
"What are you doing?!" She demanded.
"Do you know how long it takes a person to drown?" Poseidon asked as the water consumed Abigail's face, forcing her to fall to the ground as it suffocated her. "The average person can't hold their breathe for longer than two minutes without some regular training. I wonder if your friend has done any such training?"
"Let her go!" Ultear shouted, reaching out with her magic in an attempt to free Abigail. She didn't get a chance, as Bacchus flew right for her and nearly delivered a wicked kick to her head before she blocked it with ice.
"I won't let ya do that," He warned her. "You're gonna have to beat us for that to happen!" Ultear frowned as a knot formed in her stomach. This was bad. Bacchus wasn't going to give her the time of day to free Abigail from Poseidon. What was she going to do?!
"Hands off the lady, foul man!" Ultear watched as Aeran slashed at Bacchus, who barely evaded in time.
"Lady Ultear!" Sentine said as she too appeared along with Vissi. "We don't have much time! We must free Lady Abigail before she drowns!"
"We have less than two minutes!" Ultear replied. "I don't know if we can-!"
"We must!" Aeran shouted as he readied his blade. "Or else the fair Lady will drown! Join us, and together we will defeat these foul people!"
"Think you can handle that, Bacchus?" Poseidon asked. "I can back you up a bit, but I mostly need to make sure she can't free her friend."
"I got it brother, don't you worry! Bacchus said as he surged forth. Aeran swung his blade at the man, who blocked it with an open palm with ease. Bacchus reached under neath the blade and grabbed Aeran by his breastplate, flipping the man over his head and throwing him down. Before he could continue his onslaught Vissi came after him with Sentine, both giving Aeran enough time to flee.
"Aeran you must have caution!" Sentine shouted. "With Lady Abigail incapacitated, we cannot risk receiving fatal damage, lest we leave this all to Lady Ultear!"
"I know, but we're running out of time!" Aeran replied. "We're already lost so much time!"
"Then we must make hast!" Sentine replied, raising her hammer. The three knights rushed at Bacchus again, but this time Ultear planned to help them. She watched as Vissi missed her stab with her spear, Bacchus preparing to punch her head off. Ultear formed ice in between the knight and the man, which forced him to back up. Sentine appeared with her hammer, ready to bring it down on top of the mans head. He turned to block it, but Ultear sliced at his leg with water, which sent him off balance. Sentine got in a good hit right on the top of his head, which sent him off balance enough for Aeran to charge him with his shield and force him up against a tree. He tried to bring his blade up to slice the mans throat, but Bacchus kicked him backwards and delivered a vicious punch right to the mans chest. Aeran flew backwards violently and through a tree.
He did not come back.
"One down!" Bacchus shouted happily. "I totally got this!"
"Enough play!" Sentine shouted as she and Vissi both rushed him. Ultear wasn't willing to wait though.
"Ice Make: Artillery!" The massive ice cannon formed in front of her once again, and she quickly took aim.
But not at Bacchus.
Thinking quickly, Ultear altered her line of fire and fired the blast at Abigail. It wasn't nearly as powerful as it could have been, but Ultear needed to free her friend. Before the shell could reach her, it stopped in mid air. The middle of the shell had transformed into water, which glowed bright white. The shell quickly turned and soared for Ultear instead, but she wasn't going to take Poseidon's shit. She reached out, trying to take control of the shell.
She couldn't.
Eyes widening as the water inside the shell resisted her control, Ultear was forced to turn her body into water to avoid the attack.
"Fatal mistake, Fullbuster."
Ultear screamed in pain, her entire watery form ceasing it's movement. She had lost all control of herself, Poseidon taking control of her.
"W-What are you doing?!" She demanded angrily. Poseidon laughed.
"Did you really think that someone could use water magic in the presence of the God of the Sea?" He demanded. "You can't freeze my divine water. you cannot control water when I am present. I control you, nothing more."
"D-Don't give me that crap!" Ultear shouted. "I'm not under your control! I can break free if I-!"
She couldn't.
Ultear's entire form was forced into a human like form, still completely made of water. She was brought before Poseidon, who watched her with an uninterested look on her face.
"I think enough time has passed, don't you?" He asked. Ultear gritted her teeth at this, knowing full well what he meant. The man snapped his fingers, and he forced her to look as the water around Abigail disappeared. the woman didn't move, simply sprawling out on the ground after being released.
She didn't move.
"Convenient how those apparitions disappeared as well, hm?" Poseidon asked. He was right. Vissi and Sentine had followed Aeran's lead, disappearing as Abigail lost consciousness.
She hoped that was all it was.
"If you killed her, I swear to God I'll-!"
"I didn't," Poseidon interrupted. "Had I wanted to drown her, I could have instantly. After all, all I'd need to do is drive water down her throat. She's alive, but I doubt she'll wake up for a bit. Suffocation is a pretty cruel mistress."
Ultear didn't know what to do. In the span of a few minutes, she'd gone from in control of the fight to fearing for her life. She had no more help, she was being controlled, and both her enemies were perfectly fine.
"Now," Poseidon said. "What do we do with you?"
There was some part of Drake that wanted to believe we was seeing things. That this was some sort of fucked up illusion. That his mind was playing tricks on him.
But he knew it wasn't.
"W-What the hell happened here?!" He demanded. Hermes looked over his shoulder and regarded Drake coldly.
"Ah, you two are back." He said. "How was your date?"
"Terra!" Winter shouted from Drake's side. "Are you okay?!"
Terra Neekis stood along against Hermes. Everyone else was in various states of harm, unmoving or struggling. Terra herself looked like absolute hell, but still she stood against her opponent.
"Ah, y-you two are back..." She said weakly, blood dripping from her face. "I...I need some help."
Imma be honest, I got to the end of the Ultear and Abby vs. Bacchus and Poseidon fight and realised I was over 3k words. Now I'm sure all of ya'll will just say keep going, but I like to keep my chapters at a digestible length, you feel me? I've always felt 3k was a good length.
Now that I mention it actually, what do you guys think? Do you think the chapters need to be longer, or no? And don't give me this bs about how "I want them longer for more content" cause I ain't fly like that. You cause know I love to torture you with cliffhangers, so let me know some ACTUAL reasons. Like pacing, or overall quality, you feel me? Longer or no? Let me know!
I hope you enjoyed, leave a review! Let's try and get five!
Chapter 333: In a Bad Position