Fiore definitely had it the worst of Ishgar thus far. There were many damages across the country due to Cynthia and Leon's brawl. Not only that; Luke and Roxanne were also out of their minds thanks to the beginning of Des' game. Sidney and Cygnus were the ones tasked with bringing them down and back to their senses. Jellal and Crime Soricere gave their helping hand out as well to quell those who were fighting. The Royal Guard was having an immense amount of trouble trying to quell the remaining mages. Lucy and Sophie were still fighting for reasons that were unknown to the both of them. The other countries were aware of where the situation originated from and it was easy to imagine how unhappy they were that once again, Fiore was the root cause of another problem that endangered everyone on the continent. Everything rested on the ability to strike a deal with Des…otherwise Ishgar would surely become engulfed in the flames of ruin that she caused…
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Lucy slid back from Sophie, one red eye clenched shut as she panted heavily. The two of them exchanged blows, but Lucy found herself on the losing end. "Ngh...I...I don't understand..." Lucy's voice was still slightly distorted. She was barely aware of what was happening, as Lambda was controlling her body. But her mind did not succumb. "Why does she do so much damage to me...?"
"Why can't...I control her fully...?" Lambda questioned. He and Lucy were bonded so strongly, and yet there was still a part of her that resisted him, even after she was fatally wounded! "Proto Heis...always in my way..!"
"This is it for you, Lambda." Sophie locked eyes with Lucy. This was something she needed to do. She did not understand why, but she felt it in her core. Defeating Lucy was key to her safety. "I have to do this." Sophie lunged forward once more, a pink glow appearing on her palm. Despite Lucy's injuries slowly healing, she could not dodge this in time and Sophie's palm struck her stomach. "Raging Blast!"
"GAAH!" Lucy cried out as a pink explosion threw her backwards. The black and red aura around her grew stronger and more distorted. She looked up at Sophie, one eye clenched shut, and the other glaring at her. The growing hate of Lambda, and Lucy's own annoyance at Sophie were mixing together. "No...I can't...I won't..." Lucy and Lambda's voice merged as one. They couldn't lose here! Why? They just couldn't...! It was that woman's fault for everything...! Lucy clenched a hand into a fist.
"Goodbye..." Sophie was panting heavily, but she slowly brought her arm up and prepared to bring it down. And then...the black and aura exploded from Lucy...
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"I don't like the idea of striking a deal with the one who caused this…" Erza muttered. But at the moment they really didn't have the momentum in this situation. Ophelia was already problematic enough…and she was only Des' daughter, so it was only natural to assume that Des had the ability to transform as well…and with that natural aura she was giving off, Erza didn't want to admit it…but even all together they likely didn't stand a chance.
"Hmmm…" Des kept her attention on Erza…more specifically, her hair. "You know, Erza my dear…you remind me of someone I used to know. She had red hair just like you, although it was a brighter shade. Such a sweet and pragmatic young girl…cast into the jaws of despair caused by humanity's contradictory heart. And I despite her very existence…"
"Enough! I'm not standing around anymore to listen to you talk about nothing!" Natsu focused his gaze on Ophelia before lunging forward with fire and lightning surging around his fist. "Iron Fist of the Lightning Flame Dragon!" Natsu swung his fist forward…only for his entire arm to faze right through Ophelia's body. "Huh…?" Natsu ended up stumbling forward due to the momentum he put into the swung. Before he had the chance to recover Ophelia slammed her heel into his back, sending the Salamander tumbling across the ground a few yards.
Gajeel took to the air as darkness began to gather around his body and his eyes turned a dark violet shade. Gajeel entered his Iron Shadow mode, drawing his arm back as he formed his Iron Shadow Dragon's Sword. "Take this!" Gajeel exclaimed while swinging the large blade down at Ophelia. To his surprise the blade didn't even touch Ophelia; it just sliced through her form and struck the ground. "You gotta be shittin' me…" Ophelia then placed her hand on Gajeel's chest, releasing a gigantic beam of raw curse power that consumed the iron dragon, sending him flying away.
"Gajeel!" Erza exclaimed in worry. "Do physical attacks not work on her in this state? Very well…" Erza sped forward as the golden light bathed her body once more. She was donned in her Morning Star armor with the twin swords equipped and crackling with energy. "Photon Slicer!" Erza pointed both blades forward, the energy gathered releasing into the form of a bright sphere of light that consumed and exploded all in its path. The force of the explosion did send Ophelia into the air; however she just started to fly to regain her bearings.
"I don't think so…" Kagura focused her Gravity Change on Ophelia, using the intense force of gravity to weigh the monster back down to the ground. If physical attacks weren't going to be effective in this battle, the very least she could do was provide some support to make the fight easier for everyone else.
Laxus…Laxus really just wanted to beat the shit out of Orsino some more for what he did to Freed. However…as much as he wanted to do that, he realized that Ophelia was the true threat at the moment. She didn't look like something that could be put aside because she made it very clear moments ago that she was not going to be ignored. So, Laxus did put in effort in this fray. Lightning surged around Laxus' body and began to focus in the form of a large electrical orb above him. This orb then flew towards the grounded Ophelia and exploded in a violent flash of lightning.
"Let's goooo!" Mii said while magically pulling out a pair of pompoms. "Kick her ass!" Oddly enough, her cheering began to invigorate the others.
"What the heck are you doing…?" Gray questioned.
"I told you before I have Cheer Magic, duh. If you think I'm getting involved in this physically you've got another thing coming." Mii winked. "I've already had my fun beating up that other guy outside. This one alllll you guys! So kick some ass! Otherwise my cheering will totally a waste…"
"I do feel stronger, admittedly…" Sting said while kicking things into overdrive. His white aura exploded as white scales formed along his face and arms; the activation of his Dragon Force. "Let me put this boost to good use! White Dragon's Holy Breath!" Sting began inhaling and Rogue was right alongside him, entering Dragon Force of his own accord.
"Shadow Dragon's…Darkness Breath!" Rogue exclaimed along with Sting. The two destructive oral attacks merged together, as expected of the Twin Dragons, into a large violet beam of energy that soared towards Ophelia.
"You…d-don't understand…" Ophelia said while spreading her arms apart. Just as the unison raid struck her being she closed her hands, condensing the Unison Raid into nothing within her being. "I will consume everything…"
"Gah, her too!?" Rogue grunted, having that very vivid sense of déjà vu with Ophelia's words and actions.
Things were not going to play out like they did with Marde, however. Instead of making a mockery of the humans before her, Ophelia released the Unison Raid she consumed at more than twice the power! Due to Mii's Cheer boost…the damage of that was not going to be pretty. Luckily Minerva acted fast and created a shield of territory in front of everyone, but that only lasted so long before the barrier shattered and knocked everyone off their feet. "Oof…this is why I hate children." Minerva grumbled while standing on her feet.
"Yikes…that one looked like it hurt." Mii tilted her head. She felt Des gaze on her back so she turned curiously. "…Can I help you with something? I mean…if you want me to show you a good time, this isn't really the best opportunity…unless you wanna call this whole thing off?"
"Hm. Does your father know what you're doing?" Des inquired.
"Father? Psssh…wait, you know him? Huh…small world." Mii shrugged.
"I'm getting really tired of this girl…" Gray said while standing back up. He ran forward while crafting the signature Devil Slaying Sword within his hand. "Ice Devil Zeroth's Blade!" Gray swung the mighty Devil Slaying blade at Ophelia, but she caught it with one hand before it could truly strike her. Mii's attack boost was nothing to sneeze at, but she was making everyone look like a joke even with the increase in strength. "You've gotta be kidding…"
Ophelia leaned over and took a bite out of the blade, chewing the ice within her mouth before swallowing it. Who ever heard of a demon eating Devil Slaying? With a disgust expression she let out a cry that caused monstrous roses to rise from the ground. These tall roses opened up their bulbs and began unleashing rapid fire beams of curse power upon everyone; the sheer power of each bulb causing massive damage to everyone. "DIE DIE DIE!"
"Natsu!" Happy flew through the bombardment of the roses to grab Natsu and lift him into the air. Once in the air Natsu was able to act accordingly.
Natsu pushed off from Happy while raising his hands above his head. One hand gathered lightning while the other gathered flame. Merge them together and what do you get? A large sphere of fire and lightning that doubled Natsu's size! "Dazzling Blaze of the Lightning Flame Dragon!" Natsu swung this dual elemental sphere down, resulting in a fierce pyre that incinerated the roses to bail everyone out. Natsu was unable to land since Ophelia shot him down herself with a beam of curse power. The Salamander landed on his side, groaning from Ophelia's strength.
"Yikes…" Mii tilted her head. "This isn't looking very good…maybe I should just cheer harder!" As lovely as that would've been, a root sprouted from the ground and pierced through Mii's chest and pushed her into a wall. Her eyes were wide only because she was caught off guard and ended up coughing up some blood. "Ah…well…this is quite the pickle…I can't move…"
"Are you okay!?" Erza expressed her concern.
"I'm fine…!" Mii waved her hand around. "Not the first time I've been stabbed you know! …And it missed my heart so I'm still alive, I think. It doesn't hurt!"
"You idiot…" Erza grumbled. "More importantly…what are we going to do about this?"
"She's not budging at all…" Kagura said. "Maybe if we find some way to cut off her head she's stop moving for good this time. To be honest, I'm very over this child already…"
Ophelia seemed to gain some sense of self control back. She wasn't letting out garbled screams at this point. "You think y-you're the ones over this?" She walked forward slowly, putting everyone on guard. "I…I…I've had enough of all of you…" Ophelia dropped to the ground and placed her open palm flat against the surface of the earth. The entire atmosphere began to shift to something completely filled with dread and darkness. "I'm going to erase it all…"
"…Ophelia." Des tilted her head.
"OOOOH! SHE GONNA DO IT!" Kize was limping, holding himself steady by leaning against a piece of rubble. He had no idea what Ophelia was about to do…but she was about to do it.
"I can feel it in my blood, you know…? This technique was meant to erase that Black Wizard from this world…but I don't care about that. I don't care about Zeref…I don't care about anything. I just want to erase it all…to show Mother what I can truly do…that I can be just like her." A black, paralytic mist began seeping from Ophelia's body to seal the movements of everyone and envelop them. Dark spirits began to emerge, taking the form of an obsidian beam that shot towards the sky.
"S-She can do this too!?" Gray knew where this was going. He'd already had to tank this particular spell once before…but he wasn't sure if he'd be able to do it this time. Last time it was just him and Natsu, but there were many more people to worry about, and the intensity of this attack was much greater than what Marde was capable of producing back then.
"I can't even move…!" Minerva was unable to even conjure the smallest orb of Territory to produce some kind of effect. Her body was completely frozen stiff by the power of Memento Mori.
"The ultimate curse…meant to erase everything from this world. You all will become nothing trapped within the annals of history! Eternal Memento Mori!" Ophelia raised her hand to destroy everything, but then, a several portals appeared around her, all of them releasing different wizards. Rugal, Aira, Yukino (in her Libra Star Dress), and Juvia all launched out from the portals, slamming various attacks into Ophelia at once. This caught everyone by surprise as Ophelia crashed into the ground. The moment her focus was broken, Minerva was able to move, and used her Territory to banish the Memento Mori out of this space. "AGH!?"
"You will not cause anymore harm!" Aira declared as a cyclone followed her kick, further consuming Ophelia to deal extra damage.
"...!" Even Desdemona seemed a little surprised by this outcome. She was expecting the worst, and yet. "...This is new..."
"THAT'S PAYBACK!" Juvia screamed at the top of her lungs.
"Juvia...!" Gray saw Juvia and he gave a relieved smile. "Are you okay!?"
"Gray-sama..." Juvia's eyes softened when she finally saw Gray. She knew he'd come for her! "Juvia...is not okay. But she will be...eventually." She went through hell because of Ophelia. Getting that hit on her felt so, so nice...
"Yukino! Ae you okay?!" Rogue asked.
"I'm alive..." Yukino said with a sad smile.
"I made sure to heal them as much as I could!" Aira said with a determined nod.
"All we have to do is take that one out! Then we can move onto her!" Natsu turned to Desdemona, who tilted her head with an amused smile. All of this was Desdemona's fault, and he was going to make sure she paid for it!
"Damn...you stupid humans!" Ophelia snarled while standing back up. "I just want to show my mother that I'm not a mistake! WHY ARE YOU GETTING IN MY WAY!?" The power emanating from Ophelia was massive. It made the very earth tremble.
"This is bad. She is still out of our leagues." Rugal gulped. Not many people knew why he was here, but clearly, he was here to help.
"It shouldn't be a problem if we work together!" Erza said confidently.
"Hahaha...you're right. We should work together!" Kize had a heinous smirk as he prepared to lunge at the wizards fighting Ophelia. However, a heart shaped rift opened up above him, and Tia came down, smashing her staff into his skull to knock him into the ground and render him unconscious. He didn't even have a chance to relish in the pain before getting KO'ed.
"Queen Tia, reporting for duty!" Tia exclaimed.
"Tia!?" Erza gasped in surprise.
"I got a helpful tip. Things are crazy right now, so I'm your backup!" Tia declared and looked at Ophelia. "Sheesh!"
"So many of you!?" Ophelia lifted her hands into the air, summoning forth massive vines and thorns to impale everyone. "Get out of my way! I'll send you all into the depths of despair!" It wasn't going to be pretty. Everyone split off into separate directions to avoid the thorns and vines.
"Fire Dragon's ROAR!" Natsu lurched forward, releasing a powerful torrent of flame that incinerated the thorns and vines coming his way. The torrent of flame made a beeline towards the Wraith, who brought her arm up to block it. It burned her skin and pushed her back, but it was hard to say if any damage was dealt.
Ophelia prepared to retaliate, but she found herself under attack by numerous swords from Erza's Heaven's Wheel. She swiped her hand, creating a large vine that appeared to block the swords and swat Erza out of the sky. She sensed a presence behind her and she turned, only to see Rugal behind her. He slashed her sword across her chest, drawing blood from the wound. Ophelia held a menacing smile while palming Rugal's chest. "You were one of my father's subordinates, and now you fight on their side!? You sicken me!"
Despite the pain, Rugal held his ground. "I decided to walk my own path in life, free from the chains of demonic depravity!"
"You sicken me!" Ophelia spun around and tossed Rugal into a wall. She then planted her hands on the ground, numerous rose buds appearing instantly. These rose buds began opening fire on everyone, raw curse beams pushing everyone back. "I'll kill all of you! Then you'll see, Mother! Father! I'm more than what you think I am!"
"This kid has serious parental issues!" Minerva hissed.
"We can't even get close like this!" Tia grunted.
The ground proceeded to rumble violently. Everyone thought it was just from Ophelia's rampage, but in fact...the ground split open underneath Ophelia's feet, and from it. "FIRE DEMON'S IMPACT!" It was Rose, in Dragon Force, erupting from the ground to slam her head straight into Ophelia's stomach. This caught everyone by surprise as Ophelia coughed and flew backwards.
Wendy emerged from the hole right behind Rose, arms raised up high as she was also in Dragon Force. "Sky Dragon's Wing Attack!" Multiple currents of wind converged on Ophelia, further blowing her away. She landed next to Rose and nodded firmly. "Got her!"
"That one felt good." Rose said with a faint smirk. "I don't care if you're Marde-sama's whatever! You messed with the wrong girl!"
"They're working together..?!" Gajeel was shocked.
"Ngh!" Ophelia felt her control of the situation slipping. She stood up and pointed a hand forward, only to be slammed by a water dragon that Tia created, which forced her against the wall. Kagura and Yukino used their combined gravity to further push Ophelia down and keep her from moving. Eventually, she was able to free herself and lunge forward, aiming to go straight for Yukino first. "DAMN IT!" Her frustration was reaching new heights with each new annoyance. Too many to focus on at once! Every time she tried to use thorns and vines, they were cut down by the sheer numbers. Kagura, Erza, Natsu, and Gray made sure she couldn't use her thorns, even with great difficulty. Rugal, Aira, Juvia, Yukino Laxus, Gajeel, Wendy, Rose, Sting, Rogue, and Minerva kept the pressure. They were all weaker than her but together, they were pushing against her! "I don't...understand...! How...how am I not winning!? I control everything! I can control time...!" Or rather, she could control time. In this state, her time stop just wasn't working. Her emotions were too rampant.
"You may be a creature who's far beyond humanity, but you should never underestimate humans." Erza said while pointing her sword forward. "Even if we have to crawl, we will fight moving forward! That is the one thing beings like you can never understand!"
"And that's why we'll win today and tomorrow!" Natsu glared at Ophelia while rushing forward, flames igniting around his fist. These flames were stronger than usual, he felt Igneel's lingering embers within him again, fueling his attack. He was prepared to finish this!
"I'LL DESTROY EVERYTHING!" Ophelia screamed while sending a large amount of thorns, vines, and roses towards Natsu with the intent of killing him on the spot. Humanity's conviction!? She didn't care about that! Nothing was stronger than her desire to be seen as useful to her mother! She'd destroy the whole world if it meant she could get even the slightest bit of praise! Even this amount of thorns was overwhelming for Natsu.
"Natsu-san, watch out!" Wendy shouted.
Minerva, however, just held a smirk. In an instant, Natsu vanished. With her territory magic, she allowed Natsu to easily slip through Ophelia's attack, and appear right behind her. Ophelia sensed his and her nails turned into sharp claws, prepared to stab Natsu right through the chest. But right as she swung, Natsu vanished again! Rugal's portal appeared in front of him, swallowing him inside and the Wraith completely missed. Natsu then appeared in front of her. Ophelia's pink eyes widened considerably as Natsu was already mid swing. "FLAME DRAGON KING'S DEMOLIITON FIST!" With a roar that rivaled a mighty dragon, Natsu's fist slammed down on Ophelia's head, an explosion of fire shaking the earth. Everyone had to cover their eyes as the dust settled. Everyone was panting heavily as the tension lingered the air. What they saw was...
Ophelia on the ground, eyes pure white.
"We did it...?" Tia could hardly believe it.
"She's unconscious!" Aira cheered.
"Wow..." Mii was surprised.
"That's one." Natsu immediately turned to Desdemona, who applauded their efforts.
"Well, well...you actually bested my daughter." Desdemona said. "I expected more from her, but you surprised me this time. I did not think you would actually be capable of doing such a thing."
"You realize you're next, right?" Laxus cracked his knuckles. "You're the one who caused all this. So you better be ready to accept the responsibility."
"I'm next?" Desdemona snickered at Laxus's words. "You may have narrowly defeated my darling, but you humans should take a step back."
Natsu, however, wasn't going to do that. Lunged at Desdemona with the same intensity he did Ophelia, swinging at the woman with all his might. An explosion happened on the spot, but Natsu's fist was actually stopped by Desdemona's finger. "This is all your fault! You think you can just walk away from it all!?"
"I suppose human doesn't really apply to you, now does it?" Desdemona stated casually. She felt the glares from all of the wizards on her, but she matched them with a smile. "Allow me to elucidate you, my new friends. I offered you that deal, because I've seen how it ended. I've experienced these events already, once before in fact."
"What are you talking about?" Kagura kept her hand on the hilt of her blade.
"Everything you have experienced so far, I've seen it with my own eyes." Desdemona explained. "And I will tell you, things have gone vastly different. Some events have played out the same, but some have shifted. At this point in your previous story, you all failed to defeat Ophelia, and she destroyed everything as she intended, including myself. It forced my hand. Honestly, it was the first time I was proud of her in my entire life. History does not seem to repeat, though. You actually defeated her this time. And she worked so hard to be acknowledged by me..."
"Mother of the year." Tia scoffed, taking a grip of her staff. "You look like you hardly care!"
To that, Desdemona shook her head. "On the contrary. That is my baby. My flesh and blood. I care about her deeply, it is a shame she is half of a mistake even I cannot correct. But you should never underestimate the love a daughter has for her mother. Or that a mother has for her daughter." Her ominous words lingered in the air. "So you should be thankful. I am a woman of my word...I will fix this issue."
"What do you mean fix it!? All of this damage is far too great for-!" Before Erza could finish, Desdemona held up her free hand.
"I have blessed several people with my power. I hold power over time itself. I usually do not interfere with human activities, but my curiosity got the better of me this time. I wanted to see if history would repeat twice. If the world would be destroyed a second time. But it seems that is not the case. This incident will be removed from time itself. You'll wake up from a horrid dream. In the end, this encounter never happened."
"And you can just wash your hands of us, is that it?" Laxus didn't even think such a power existed. But the fact Desdemona spoke so casually about herself...
"Is that not what one does when they touch filth?" Desdemona asked honestly. Her words were harsh and she was clearly looking down on them. "You should be thankful. I got what I wanted out of this little experiment. Clearly, the world refuses to die just yet, and you are its way of defying death."
"We should just punch her and get it over with." Rose stated. For once, she made a very agreeable statement.
"Haha. How cute." She looked past Natsu, who she was still fending off, and at everyone else. There was an ominous glow appearing around her body, and she finally pushed the dragon slayer away from her. "This has been a very fruitful experience for me. You have my thanks. And now...we shall never meet again."
"DAMN YOU! GET BACK HERE!" Natsu wasn't done with her. Nobody was! In fact, they wanted to defy her expectations they all attacked Desdemona all at once! The result was unclear, as a brilliant flash of light blinded everything in that moment...