Earth Land, Ishgar, Bosco, Unnamed Mountain Range.
August 17, x791.
After the Cube's core was destroyed and the rest of the island was blown up in a steam explosion, the entire Cube fell from the sky. And to the onlookers, it looked as if it was falling in slow motion. Though, in reality, it did not take very long for the floating island's remains to hit the ground.
*Boom~~~~~~~~~~!*
And when they did, the loud collision echoed throughout the area, alerting all the nearby cities, towns, and villages. In fact, the shockwave from the collision caused minor damage to the closer settlements.
Yet, to four of the five survivors of the sneak attack, Mard Geer, Kyôka, Jackal, and Ezel, it seemed as if everything happened in an instant. One moment, they were plotting their revenge against Fairy Tail. Then, in the next instant, all sounds were replaced by the sounds of explosions, their footing practically vanished when the castle was destroyed, and they found themselves buried in rubble as they fell from high up in the sky.
Even so, the four previously mentioned Etherious managed to survive it all. On top of that, there was one other demon, though not a demon at birth, that survived, as well.
*Crumble!*
Several minutes after the Cube fell to the ground, a hand with an odd pigment, a stone-like grey, blunged upwards from a pile of rubble. Shortly afterwards, that hand pulled out the rest of a body with the same pigment and covered in tattoos that concentrated heavily on the left side of its torso. On top of that, this figure sported a long white beard, white hair, and blackened eyes.
"What just happened?" The figure, Jiemma Orland, former master of the Sabertooth guild, asked while trying to shake off the ringing in his ears, which were now long and pointed like those of elves.
After shaking off the lingering ringing in his ears, Jiemma looked down and checked the status of his body. He then sighed in resignation when he saw his body that had been changed by demonic transformation after joining Tartaros. Luckily, he was not too injured in the explosion with only a few flesh wounds.
A moment later, Jiemma looked around to take in the devastation. And when he saw the remnants of the castle among the rubble, he took a sharp breath while his eyes opened wide in disbelief.
"Just what could have done this?" Jiemma asked dumbfoundedly. "Did the Magic Council somehow find Tartaros' base and fire the Etherion? No, after what happened with the Tower of Heaven, there's no way they would have done that without sending out a notice to all of Ishgar. But if they didn't do it, then what could have caused this?"
Shaking his head once again, Jiemma's eyes were filled with a sense of liberation.
"No, that doesn't matter." Jiemma muttered to himself. "With Tartaros destroyed, I'm finally free. Now, I can disappear and begin plotting my revenge on that woman from Fairy Tail. Also, I'll make my disappointment of a daughter realize the mistake she made by disobeying me."
*Boom~~~~~!*
"Damn it! Just wait until I find who did this!" Jackal shouted after blowing away the rubble that landed on him. "When I find out, I'm gonna find everything and everyone they hold dear. Then, I'm gonna make them watch as I blow it all up one by one!"
*Shing!* *Shing!* *Shing!* *Shing!* *Shing!*
"Not if I find them first." Ezel replied, sounding utterly infuriated. "I'll slice them and everyone they hold dear into bite-sized pieces."
Yet, as if to mock Jiemma's newfound sense of freedom, Jackal exploded the rubble that buried him. Shortly after that, Ezel sliced his way out of his own pile of rubble.
"*Sigh* I guess I'm not free, after all." Jiemma muttered to himself as he started walking towards Jackal and Ezel. "Even so, getting revenge will be much easier with those two, at least."
After getting within speaking range, Jiemma raised his voice as he addressed Jackal and Ezel.
"Lord Jackal, Lord Ezel, I'm glad to see that you're both unharmed." Jiemma said in a deferential tone.
Hearing the voice, both Jackal and Ezel turned in its direction. However, when they saw that it was Jiemma, just a worthless, former human, their gazes turned dismissive.
"Go look around and see if anyone else survived." Jackal said while shooing Jiemma away. "Make yourself useful."
"Yes, Lord Jackal." Jiemma replied while bowing his head as he gritted his teeth at the disregard.
Then, before either Jackal or Ezel could find any hints of his anger, Jiemma quickly turned around and started walking towards the many piles of rubble strewn around the area.
*Boom!*
Yet, before Jiemma could get too far, the left side of his torso was incinerated. However, he did not even realize something was wrong until he saw and heard a pile of rubble explode while an orange streak of superheated air was visible coming from his left side.
"Huh?" Jiemma intoned in confusion as he tracked the trail of superheated air back towards its source. "What happened to my body? It wasn't like... this... before..."
*Thud!*
Then, with his voice getting weaker and weaker with each spoken word, Jiemma collapsed, dead before he even hit the ground.
The newly deceased Jiemma was not the only one surprised by the explosion and streak of superheated air. Jackal and Ezel were just as surprised when they saw and heard it. Though, they seemed to be completely unconcerned by Jiemma's death. And when they finally found the source of the superheated air, they both widened their eyes in surprise.
And the reason for that was simple. At the end of the streak of superheated air, a man they were both familiar with shimmered into view. But what really surprised them was the black airship that shimmered into view shortly afterwards. Adding to that, they also saw several of the most powerful members of the guild they wanted revenge on stepping down from the airship, as well.
"It's you!" Jackal shouted upon seeing the man who defeated him almost two weeks ago. "I'll kill you!"
*Boom!*
In the next instant, Jackal threw himself forward, an explosion sending him forward at high speed.
"[Fire Dragon's Roar]."
"Iron Dragon's Roar]."
"Lightning Dragon's Roar]."
Yet, before Jackal could cover even half the distance, Natsu, Gajeel, and Laxus all cast their breath attacks. And Jackal's path just so happened to lead him directly into the spot where the three spells collided.
*Boom~~~~!*
"Ahh~~~~~! Damn it!" Jackal roared as the three [Roar] spells sent him flying.
"Well, I guess the three of you can handle him." Alfonzo said nonchalantly.
"Hell yeah!" Natsu shouted as he dashed forward.
"I really don't like working with Salamander." Gajeel said dismissively.
"Stop complaining." Laxus replied. "Otherwise, you won't even get a chance to act."
*Zap!*
In the next instant, Laxus took on his [Lightning Form] and vanished from where he stood.
"Hey!" Gajeel shouted. "I didn't say I wouldn't go! Wait for me!"
Then, Gajeel took off running after Natsu and Laxus.
Meanwhile, Ezel, after seeing that Retsu was not with the wizards of Fairy Tail, breathed a sigh of relief. Then he smiled maliciously at the remaining Fairy Tail wizards.
"You all made a huge mistake." Ezel said, brandishing his arms like swords. "I'll enjoy cutting you to shreds."
"I think not." Fried replied while writing magical characters on his chest with his left index finger while holding his [Soul Armament], Thoth, in his right hand. "[Overwrite, Thoth]. [Dark Ecriture: Wings]. [Dark Ecriture: Darkness]."
With his three chants, Fried was engulfed by a column of [Darkness Magic]. When he was once again revealed, his form, as well as Thoth's, had both changed. Now, instead of a handsome, green haired man carrying a normal longsword, Fried was taller, had grey skin, and looked quite demonic. Meanwhile, their was not much change to Thoth's appearance. The only visible change was the eye that appeared on the base of its blade.
This new eye, which had a purple iris and a black sclera, closely resembled Fried's right eye, the magic eye that allowed him to write runes in the air, amplified the power of his magic eye to the point that he could inscribe runes without moving his hand or sword.
"[Requip: Ataraxia Armor]." Erza chanted.
In the next instant, a flash of light blurred past Frie towards Ezel. When the light faded, Erza was no longer wearing her [Heart Kruez Armor]. Instead, she donned a beautiful, yet revealing white gown with a flared hem, a red and gold collar tied together with a red ribbon, a red and gold belt resembling an obi, a pair of red and gold, knee-high, high heeled boots, and a number of swords fitted into a frame attached to the back that resembled wings.
"I guess I'll go, too." Gray added as he stepped forward.
Unsurprisingly, when Gray stepped forward, the shirt he had been wearing was nowhere to be seen. However, without any clothing covering his upper body, the mark of a Devil Slayer that he inherited from his father, Silver, was visible on his right arm. On top of that, it was spreading to cover most of his torso and part of his face.
"Ice Devil's Rage]." Gray chanted before taking a deep breath.
Making sure that Erza was not in the line of fire, Gray exhaled a large blast of cold air, ice, and snow towards Ezel, forcing him to split his focus from just dealing with Erza, who was approaching at high speed.
"Well, with the three of them working together, there should be no problem dealing with that guy." Alfonzo said as he glanced at Fried, Gray, and Erza starting their battle with Ezel. He then turned towards another pile of rubble in the distance. "So, how long are you two planning to nap over there?"
"I was not napping, actually." A male voice, sounding both arrogant and completely infuriated, said from beneath the pile of rubble Alfonzo was looking at. "I was just curious to know how you planned to deal with those two."
"I see." Alfonzo replied nonchalantly. "And here I thought you were trying to hide because you were scared of getting your ass kicked. Not that I could blame you if you were.'
"You're overthinking it." The voice replied casually.
*Boom!*
In the next instant, magic power surged from beneath the rubble, sending all the stone and debris flying in all directions.
Now, with the rubble cleared, two figures could be seen in the newly cleared space, one of which, Alfonzo had seen almost ten days ago. The other, though he had never seen him in person, Alfonzo could easily recognize from his meta knowledge.
"Oh, what did you say your name was last time?" Alfonzo asked while glancing at Kyôka. "Oh, right, I think one of those three you came with to kill me in Hargeon said your name was Kyôka. Well, it's nice to see you again. How have you been? I hope death wasn't too hard on you. But judging from how you look, I guess it wasn't that bad."
Alfonzo's blatant mockery made Kyôka grit her teeth in anger. However, instead of charging forward like Jackal and Ezel, she turned to look at the other Etherious, Mard Geer.
"Lord Mard Geer, please allow me to kill that insolent human and present his head to you." Kyôka said while bowing politely.
"No." Mard Geer replied without even looking at Kyôka. "That human is mine. I'll leave is remaining comrades to you."
With that said, Mard Geer took a step forward. However, before he moved to engage Alfonzo, he spoke to Kyôka once again.
"Oh, and should you disgrace yourself once again..." Mard Geer said, his tone dropping ominously low. "Then, you'd better pray those humans manage to kill you. Because if you survive after failing me once again... Believe me when I say, you will NOT like the consequences."
Kyôka could not help shivering at the threat she just heard from Mard Geer. Even so, she showed no signs of fear in her expression as she fell to one knee and bowed behind him.
"He really must not like you very much, huh?" Mirajane asked as she stepped towards Kyôka. "Well, don't worry, you won't have to deal with the consequences of your failure. Because the only way you'll leave here without dying is if you become a part of my [Take Over Magic]. [Take Over Magic: Mirajane Seilah]."
*Flash!*
A moment later, after Mirajane was engulfed in the light of her magic power, she reappeared, her appearance having changed completely. Now, thanks to using the [Take Over] she gained from consuming Seilah, Mirajane looked almost exactly like the late Etherious, with the addition of her distinctive upward-pointing ponytail.
"Don't hog all the fun for yourself, Mira." Alzack, wearing a black outfit with a red trench coat, a pair of pistols holstered at his waist, and a greatsword on his back, said as he moved to stand next to Mirajane. "I didn't come all the way out here for nothing, you know?"
Alzack then reached up and gripped the hilt of the greatsword, which was somehow hanging from his back without a sheath of some kind. This greatsword looked relatively simple. However, there were a few things that made it stand out. For one, there were two notches on either side of the double-edged blade near the tip. Also, there were seven spikes protruding from the pommel.
"Now, [Make it Stylish, Dante]." Alzack said, chanting his [Soul Armament's] release command.
In the next instant, the greatsword, Dante, was covered in a blackish-red light. And once the light faded, it's form had changed completely.
Now, the blade was no longer silvery and metallic. Instead, it looked as if it were made of solidified lava. There also appeared to be claws running along its length while the handguard looked like talons of some kind while a red jewel adorned its pommel.
"Well, now that we're all ready, why don't we take this fight elsewhere?" Mirajane asked calmly. "I'm sure neither of us wants to get caught up in their fight, right?"
Without responding to Mirajane's questions, Kyôka took off in a direction away from Mard Geer and the two other fights that were going on. Naturally, after exchanging glances, Alzack and Mirajane followed her.
"And that just leaves you and me." Alfonzo said with a smile. "This should be fun. I just hope you don't disappoint me."
"Um... What about us?" Wendy asked from the ramp leading to the Blackbird's cabin with Happy, Carla, and Panther Lily standing nearby.
"You can just enjoy the show from there." Alfonzo replied with a wave. "I've already activated the barrier. So, you'll be safe. Well, unless he can output something stronger than my strongest attack while in [Bankai], anyway."
"Are you inferring that you are more powerful than I am?" Mard Geer asked, his tone deceptively calm.
"Oh, you're pissed, aren't you?" Alfonzo asked, seeing right through Mard Geer's tone. "Well, considering how superior you see yourself to us humans, that makes sense. But the only thing I'll say is that there's only one way to find out. So, let's get this shit started."