Erza POV
Damn... It took a lot of effort, but I had successfully defeated Jonas after a very exhausting and long battle. After this, I didn't lose even a second and interrogated him in order to learn everything about what we were truly facing here. Nevertheless, I just couldn't believe all of what he told me in the end.
Turns out Jonas wasn't even the master of the Poison Fang dark guild anymore. The new master was none other than, according to Jonas's own words, a girl of disheveled hair who had appeared out of nowhere one day, and that had the exact same face as one of my dear comrades.
Yeah...
There was no doubt about it anymore. Angelane's doppelgänger had become the new master, meaning that things would probably get a lot harder from now on. "What about the seed?" I asked as I rubbed Jonas's neck with my sharp sword. "What is project Yaotzin? Tell me everything... Now!"
"Hmph! Someone like you doesn't need that info. In fact, you wouldn't even understand it" the man replied in defiance. "Poison Fang was created as a dark guild in all the meaning of the word. But unlike most of the dark guilds that are currently in existence, we don't believe the dark magic of Zeref to be the salvation this world needs"
I widened my eyes in surprise. "You aren't doing this on Zeref's behalf? Then why? Who are you doing this for?!"
"Heh! We prefer to search for such salvation on an even more ancient power. The one of the ancient demons and gods that reigned this world before Zeref even appeared"
"A-are you saying that...?"
"That's right... hehehe..." Jonas smiled maniacally while staring at me in the eyes. "Lord Yaotzin and his army will be brought back to this world one way or the other. And only once all of Earthland turns back into the original darkness it was, will humanity finally found the peace it needs. Yeah..."
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"That's the kind of peace that Poison Fang looks for!"
Such stupidity...
I really had no intention of listening to this nonsense anymore. I had lost so much time in this fight that I had to continue my way before it was too late. Much was my surprise however, when, just as I was forcing Jonas to stand up in order to guide me, many of my friends showed themselves from far away. Seems like they had all managed to find me even in this horrible and annoying maze.
"Erza-san!" Wendy yelled as she approached.
Not only was I happy for seeing the little bluenette dragon slayer again, but also due to some other very dear faces like Mira, Lisanna, Cana, Levy and even Gajeel too.
"Guys!" I replied with a smile. "It's so good to see you are okay"
"Yeah... but you aren't that okay, are you Erza?" Mira replied in concern, to which I simply took a long sigh and smiled in an attempt to relax her.
"I'll be fine. I just need to rest for a while. Where are the others?"
"Unfortunately, they are all still lost somewhere in the maze" Wendy said. "These are all I could find with my dragon slayer nose"
"Don't forget about us!" an unknown happy voice suddenly claimed from one side, after which my friends and I switched our gaze and noticed both Angelane and Happy standing at the top of a nearby rock. The blue-haired daughter of Lucy and the cat jumped down and gathered with us much to our relief. And then, I finally dispose myself to explain the entire situation to my comrades.
"I see... In the end, all depends on how fast we can find the laboratory before it's late" Cana said while rubbing her chin.
"Yeah... but to think that our enemy is an ancient demon from hundreds of years ago" Lisanna added while slightly scared. "I... I have a bad feeling about this"
"Lucy mentioned something about it" Levy added. "But listening it from the ex-master of Poison Fang himself confirms it"
"Hold on a sec!" Angelane intervened as she and Happy exalted in concern. "Speaking of my mom... Wh-where is she?! Have any of you seen her?!"
"Yeah, that's right!" Happy said. "Where are Natsu and Lucy?! We need to find them!"
"We will... Don't worry" I replied while clenching my fists. "But you gotta remember we have other friends who are still lost as well. Our best option for now would be to go in search of the hidden lab. After all, there's a high chance we'll end up finding more of our friends on the way... like Elfman and Laxus... And also..."
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"...Gray and Juvia"
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Gray POV
Jeez... I was starting to get tired of this ridiculous maze. Not only was it underground and totally dark in here, but some of the hallways were too wide while others were extremely narrow. What is more, I also had no idea of where the rest of my friends even were. And I say 'rest' cause there is one I did know her location... given that she was in fact embracing me tightly in her arms.
"Ah~ Gray-sama~ Please... stay by Juvia's side~" Juvia said as I felt the pressure of her breasts against my arm. "It's so dark here~ Let's get even closer to each other~"
"E-enough! Juvia!" I yelled back while blushing and struggling to breath. "This is not the time for your antics! We need to focus on the mission!" At that exact second however. both Juvia and I startled after listening to something or... SOMEONE... moving silently and stealthily all around us. Almost like the faint noise of a rat or an insect moving its little paws all around the floor. "D-did you hear that?"
"Y-yes... Gray-sama" Juvia replied in slight fear, after which she finally broke her embrace on my arm and stood back-to-back against me in an instant.
We both had heard the barely noticeable noise of a person walking somewhere in the dark, so there was no doubt that there really was someone stalking us. Someone who must've probably been following us for a very long while now. "Juvia... Be ready"
"Y-yes!
And so, after a very long time waiting in one sole spot, someone finally came out of its hiding spot and attacked us out of nowhere. Though not in the way that I thought it would be. The person who attacked us didn't come from the front line like I assumed he would do. Instead, he literally popped out of the ground beneath me... and landed a strong uppercut that sent me flying backwards quite a long distance.
"Gray-sama!" Juvia shouted as she quickly threw a barrage of water directly at our enemy. Then, she hurried to come look after me as I lied on the floor while rubbing my chin in pain. It seemed as if the attack ended up being a lot stronger than I thought it would be. "A-are you okay, Gray-sama?"
"Y-yeah... But who...?" At that moment, I startled after seeing who attacked me... as it ended being the same ninja-looking man who Natsu, Erza and I had faced back at the other lair of Poison Fang. "You... Tsk! I should've known I would find you here as well" I then quickly stood back up and got ready to fight. By her side, Juvia just did the same, though not before asking if I knew the enemy in front of us already. "Be careful, Juvia. This guy's magic is very troublesome"
"Yes... I understand"
"Hmph! That determined look on your face..." the mas said in a serious voice. "I like it... It's the look of someone ready to attain victory at any cost" Following that , he startled both Juvia and I by putting his hand behind his back while standing all relaxed and kinda uninterested. "But unfortunately, I don't intend to lose time fighting you..."
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"...So I'm just going to finish you off right now"
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Juvia POV
Gray-sama and Juvia did not get even a second to prepare when, suddenly, the ninja-like man in front of us sunk right into the floor while vanishing from our sight.
No... He didn't just sunk into the ground.
It'd be better to say that he slip right through it as if his body was made of thin air. Then, in the blink of an eye, he popped out again from the earth behind us and aimed to kick Gray-sama directly in the face.
Gray-sama used his arms to block the hit, but still ended up backing up a few meters due to the force of the attack. "Juvia! Get out of there!" Gray-sama yelled as the ninja was now aiming to punch Juvia instead.
"Oh no, I don't think so! WATER NEBULA!" Juvia said while swing her arms and unleashing a barrage of concentrated water over her enemy. Much was Juvia's surprise however, when she saw the ninja man slipping right through her water without even getting unfazed by it. "Ah! N-no way!"
The man then landed his punch on Juvia as she fell and hit the ground hard. But our opponent didn't stop there. In fact, he rushed to attack Juvia again as it had to be Gray-sama the one to intervene before it was too late. "Stay away from her, you freak!"
At that moment, Gray-sama unleashed a bunch of spiky ice aimed directly at our enemy. Nevertheless, this last one simply slipped right through the floor again and reappeared behind Gray-sama in a mere instant, taking him by surprise and landing another punch which Gray-sama barely blocked.
Gray-sama was pushed back because of the hit. But taking advantage of this as well, he rushed to look after Juvia as fast as he could, and helped her stand up once more. "Are you okay, Juvia?"
"Y-yeah... Thanks, Gray-sama" I replied as we both stared in defiance at the ninja-like man in front of us who still seemed more than relaxed about this whole situation.
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Wait...
Are you telling me that he didn't even consider us a threat to begin with?
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Virami POV
I stood calmly and with my hands behind my back once more. To be honest, I could sense the level my enemies were in by merely looking at them from the distance. And the fact that they were both acting all lovey-dovey just a little while ago left it even more clear to me that they weren't even close to my level of skill.
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Well... To be fair, it seemed like the girl was the only one acting all lovely and enchanted. But that didn't matter at all anymore. I was gonna dispose of both annoying intruders fast and efficiently. "I've got enough of you... Fairy Tail!!" I yelled as I rushed to the fight again. "You won't stop our plan now! Not after coming so far!"
I kept on running towards the pair of intruders. But then suddenly, the man of raven hair put one hand over the other while unleashing one of his many icy spells.
"Ice Make: HAMMER!" shouted the man as a giant hammer made of ice appeared right above me in an instant. Then, such icy weapon uselessly tried to stomp over me with great force as a simply jumped and slipped right through it thanks to my magic...
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Intangibility Magic...
It was a type of magic which allowed me to slip my body through all sorts of objects and living things. A very useful magic if you ask me, though one that also took a lot of concentration and mastery in order to use properly.
In any case, I landed right in between of the mages and spun my body on mid-air, landing a powerful kick on each of them which also split them by force. Then, I decided to focus my attention solely on the boy. As such, I rushed to attack him directly as the azure-haired girl on the other side did not like that one bit. "Stay away from Gray-sama!" she yelled in fury as she tossed a very strong whip of crystalline water in direction to me.
With relative ease, I managed to dodge the attack by simply becoming intangible, after which the whip actually continued its way through me an almost hit the raven-haired boy instead. This last one dodged the whip by moving aside at the last second. And then, he placed both of his hands on the floor as he let out another barrage of ice aimed towards me.
"It's useless!" I yelled as I slipped through the ice once more, after which I quickly continued my way and aimed to punch the boy again on the face.
Much was my surprise, however, when the raven-haired mage used another of his many spells barely seconds before I could reached him. "Ice Make: BARRIER!" he shouted as a layer of ice protection appeared right in front of him. Though in the end, that was totally useless against the type of magic I was using.
"Not good enough!"
I slipped through the ice wall while still aiming to punch the boy directly. However, I then startled in surprise after noticing I had hit nothing but just an empty long white coat lying on mid-air.
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Wait... No! It was a distraction!
At that moment, I turned around as quick as I could and widened my look at the raven-haired boy once again, who was about to punch me directly with his torso totally uncovered.
Luckily, I managed to block the attack using both of arms. Though the bad side in all of this was that my opponents had finally discovered a clue on how to actually beat my magic. Kgh... Damn it... Perhaps I really was wrong for not taking them seriously from the beginning.
"Heh! Well, you look at that" the man said with a grin. "I guess you aren't invincible in the end. If I take you by surprise, you won't have time to use your magic, am I right?"
"Tsk! So what if that's true?" I replied in defiance. "That won't change the outcome of this battle in the slightest. I'm still gonna win no matter what!"
"Oh really? Well, in that case..."
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"...GO AHEAD AND TAKE YOUR SHOT!"
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Gray POV
Juvia and I stood firmly next to each other, readying ourselves to continue the fight. What is more, I could confidently say by now that I did have an idea on how to beat this guy once and for all.
For as annoying and tricky as his magic may really be, his body was actually not that strong. Or at least not unnaturally strong like the ones of other past opponents we had faced in previous occasions. In other words, landing one powerful enough hit on him should be enough to leave him out of combat. Now the only problem was finding the appropriate opening to strike, since the ninja would certainly be more aware of his defense from now on.
"Juvia... Listen" I muttered as Juvia paid attention. "I have an idea on how to deal with this dude, but I'm gonna need your help for that. In fact, our magics will need the help of one another in order to win. THEY'LL NEED TO BE IN SYNC"
Juvia's eyes turned into hearts for some reason. "Y-you mean... like becoming one with each other?!" she asked as I blushed at that ridiculous question.
"O-of course not! That's not what I meant at all!!!" After that, I took a long sigh and went back to my serious mood. "Just listen to me, okay? I'm gonna get us a chance to strike"
"Hmph! I don't know what you are planning, but I won't let you do it!" the ninja yelled as he swiftly took out a bunch of metal ninja stars from inside his pockets. "I still haven't showed you the full extent of my magic! So you better be ready!"
Without a single warning, the ninja man threw the bunch of stars in direction to us. So in the blink of an eye, I created another ice barrier to protect ourselves before it was too late. I startled in surprise, however, when the metal stars actually slipped through my ice in the same way the man had slipped through it before.
This was crazy! Not only just his body, but he could also turn other objects intangible if he wanted to!
In any case, many stars did manage to scratch both Juvia and I in a matter of seconds, leaving us with many cuts around our arms and legs. What is more, one of the stars was also about to hit Juvia directly in the face. But luckily, I actually managed to react just in time and pushed her down on the floor, dodging the hit.
"Are you okay?" I asked in concern.
"Y-yes! Gray-sama!" Juvia replied as we both stood up fast and got ready to put our plan in action.
Without hesitating, I created a barrage of ice aimed directly at our opponent. But the difference in this particular attack was that the spikes of ice were way bigger than they were in previous occasions. That's right... I wanted the man to not have a clear sight of what Juvia and I were doing unlike he did before. However, the man simply slipped past the ice again, and kept on moving towards us.
To his surprise however, there was actually another barrage of cold ice heading towards him. The ninja managed to react just in time, even though he didn't expect another attack so suddenly. And so, after slipping right through it again, he finally landed a punch on my face... A punch which ended up being a lot stronger than I thought, but not nearly enough to defeat me.
"I got you now!" I claimed as I took a firm hold of the man's wrist, after which he finally widened his eyes at the fact that Juvia was nowhere to be seen.
"What the...?! Where is the girl?!" the ninja asked in surprise, only to find his answer some moments later. Specifically, when Juvia appeared right from behind him, ready to attack.
"WATER SLICER!" yelled Juvia as she hit the man directly with a massive slash of concentrated water.
Such was the strength of Juvia's attack that the poor man even found himself smacked against the floor much to his shock. And then, before he could even think of getting up again, I unleashed an attack of my own. The same attack he had managed to evade just before.
"Ice Make: HAMMEEEERRR!!!"
An even bigger and way stronger hammer made of ice took form above our opponent. And then, as if he was nothing but an old nail stuck on the ground, he was smashed by the weapon with so much strength that a huge crater appeared where the hammer had landed. The wind and rubble scattered all around due to the shockwave. And then, when the dust settled for good, Juvia and I gathered in front of the ninja...
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...who was finally defeated.
"Kgh... Ggh... H-how...?" muttered the man while laying sorely over the floor. "How did you... do it? How did that girl sneaked behind me?"
"It's very simple" I replied with a grin. "Juvia can turn her body into water whenever she wants"
"That's right" Juvia said in the same manner. "And as you already know, water can turn into ice when frozen"
The man groaned in realization at that very moment. "No way... Are you saying that... she camouflaged as part of your ice?" he asked while clenching his fists in frustration. "B-but I... I thought you Fairy Tail scum cared for your teammates... and yet you froze your own friend"
"You are wrong" Juvia firmly claimed as she placed her hand on her chest, after which she startled both me and the ninja with the next thing she said. "It's precisely because it was Gray-sama the one Juvia was fighting along with, that she knew everything would be okay. Even if he used his magic on Juvia in order to win, Juvia trusts him with her own life. After all..."
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"...THAT'S JUST WHAT IT MEANS TO BE PART OF FAIRY TAIL"