Erza could be seen running back to Kagari's position after she evacuated all of the civilians in the area. But when she returned, Kagari was no where to be found. There was only the remains of the first Nightmare Demon they both discovered.
Erza: Hmm, he must've gone ahead of me.
Erza's Thoughts: He couldn't have gotten that far, I'll take to the skies and look for him from above.
???: Yes, he did.
Erza: Who is there? Show yourself?
Suddenly, a figure came out of the Shadows. It was another on of Kagari's Shadows, a very tall humanoid shadow wearing a black jacket and pants along with a set of blue eyes and claws.
Erza's Thoughts: A Nightmare Demon?!
Just as Erza summoned her sword to attack it, the creature raised its arm to her, beaconing her to stop before he spoke again.
Genji: I am not here to harm you, Lady Erza. I am Genji, a Shadow of my master, Kagari Sanashi. He has sent me here to find you.
Erza: If that's the case, then do you know where I can find him?
Genji: Yes, the master is not far from here. He's currently fighting against the Demons within one of the abandoned districts.
Erza: Very well, then that's where I shall go.
Genji: Understood, then I will accompany you, Lady Erza.
Erza then requipped into her Black Wing Armor and took off into the skies as Genji followed behind her. As she flew, she then realized something.
Erza's Thoughts: Wait, why did he call me, Lady Erza?
(Timeskip)
Ravainia, Abandoned Shop District
Meanwhile, Kagari was facing off against the Nightmare Demons, by himself. In a flash, he cut two of the bipedal demons into pieces with his daggers.
Kagari's Thoughts: If I remember correctly, Mayor Roland said that the Demon Nest was located within the mountains.
A small Visage of Igris appeared out of his shadow.
Igris: My liege, I have received a call from Genji. He has located Lady Erza and they are on their way to you now.
Kagari: Understood, Igris. Has Bahamut found the exact location of the Demon Nest yet?
Igris: He is still tracking it now. We should hear from him very soon. I'll see to it.
Kagari: Very well, then. Once it's located, be ready. We're tasked to exterminate them. All of them.
Igris: Yes, my liege.
Suddenly, 2 of the quadrupedal Demons leaped out of the rubble and screeched at Kagari, attacking him.
Kagari ducked and slashed one of the demons in two halfs. But then, the other one tried to attack him as Kagari heard a familiar female voice.
???: Re-Quip!
Kagari: Hehe, right on time.
In a golden light, Erza requipped into her Flame Empress Armor and slashed the demon to pieces with her flame sword.
Erza: Pathetic.
Kagari: I was wondering when you were gonna show up. Nice entrance, by the way.
Erza: Thank you. All of the civilians have been evacuated. The mayor has blocked off all routes to this area of the city.
Kagari: Good. No bystanders will make this a bit more easier for us.
Just them, more of the Nightmare Demons arose from the ground below. Some of them were biped and the others were quadrupeds.
Erza: I see the two types of demons the mayor briefed us about. But where is the third demon type?
Kagari: Not sure. I didn't see any of them when I was going on my own. They should appear at some point. Be ready for them.
Erza: Right, let's go!
Kagari and Erza both charged at the demons who also ran towards them.
One of the demons tried to strike Erza with it's massive claw, but she dodged it and slashed the head off the giant monster before engulfing three more of them in a giant burst of flames from her sword.
Then, the one of the much faster Quad Demons ran towards her and jumped with it's mouth open so Erza impaled it in the mouth with her blade.
As for Kagari, he delivered a devastating roundhouse kick to one of the Demon's heads, knocking it off before be slashed another on in half. A demon tried to attack him from behind, but he jumped into the air an impaled it in the top of its head killing it instantly.
Using his telekinesis, he used multiple weapons to impale and kill most of the remaining demons in their path.
Kagari's Thoughts: Only a few more left.
Kagari jumped up and held his arm back as he charged up a small dark energy blast.
Kagari: Erza! Unleash your flames!
Seeing what he was trying to do, Erza unleashed the fire from her blade in a large fireball and Kagari launched his blast. The two attacks merged into a large Dark Comet Fireball that incinerated all of the remaining demons to ash in a big explosion.
Erza: That takes care of them. Nice idea for a combination attack, Kagari.
Kagari: Seemed like a good idea in the moment.
Erza: However, I think we should save that for when we enter the nest, don't you?
Kagari: Yeah, you're right.
Igris: *Telepathy* My liege, the Demon Nest has been found.
Kagari: *Telepathy* Excellent.
Erza: Now then, let's make our way to the mountains, shall we?
(Timeskip)
Now that the Nightmare Demons in the city were all taken care of, Kagari and Erza made their way out of the city to search for the Demon Nest in the Mountains of Ravainia. It seemed like Erza was going to be the one to lead, but unknown to her, Kagari ended up taking the lead as he knew where to find the location of the Nest.
Ravainia Mountains, Cave Entrance
Kagari: And here we are. The Demon Nest should be right in this cave.
Erza: Hmm?
Kagari: What's the matter, Erza?
Erza: How were you able to find out this cave was the location of the nest?
Kagari: Oh, you see. Before we went to bed last night, I may have sent some of my Shadows to go and look for where the Demons were all coming from and this was the place.
Erza smirked.
Erza: Well, you're just full of surprises, aren't you?
Kagari: Eh, it's one of my best perks.
Kagari: *Telepathy* Thank you for your assistance, Bahamut.
Bahamut: *Telepathy* Happy to help, Boss Man.
Erza: Let's not waste any more of our time and get our job done.
Kagari walked into the cave first and Erza followed him as they began to study their surroundings. As they walked deeper, the two of them began to sense magical energy within, which led them to a large cavern.
The cavern was full of blue crystals that radiated magical energy all around it. As they looked around, they saw a few of the Nightmare Demons were in the cavern as well, so they decided to follow them.
The more Kagari and Erza progressed within the cavern, the magical energy seem to grow even stronger. After following the Demons, they noticed another opening and went inside where the discovered a disturbing sight.
Inside of the mountain, there were hundreds of Nightmare Demons standing infront of a large gray and white colored demon with a muscular frame and spikes all over it's back.
Erza: What is that creature? I've never seen it before.
Kagari: Look, they all seem to be worshipping the thing. It appears to be their leader.
Kagari and Erza then looked down past the demons to the ground below, where he saw a large pile of bones, both animal and human.
Kagari: So, all of the citizens and livestock that were abducted were... eaten...
Erza clenched her fists in anger by looking at the skeletal remains of the deceased townspeople.
Erza: Those... heartless monsters...
Kagari: Erza, look.
They both watched as The Mother Demon picked up one of the many Quadrupedal Demons and proceeded to eat it alive, to their disgust.
Erza: Disgusting.
In a golden light, Erza had requipped into her Heaven's Wheel Armor with two swords in her hands.
Erza: Kagari, these monsters are going to pay for what they have done....
Erza: It's time for us to exterminate them.
Kagari: You don't have to tell me twice.
Ready to fight, Kagari and Erza jumped down from their spots, getting the attention of The Mother Demon and The Nightmare Demons as the demons charged after them.
Erza: How dare you terrorize the innocent people of this town. You will pay for this.
As Kagari clashed with the demons on the ground, Erza was in the air using her telekinesis on her swords, cutting down the demons from above.
Erza: Heaven's Wheel: Circle Sword!!!
Her disc of swords was aimed straight for The Mother Demon, impaling the creature with her blades. But suddenly, all of her swords were absorbed by the demon, who roared ferociously.
Erza's Thoughts: What?!
As an attack, the Mother Demon launched the multiple spikes from its back, aimed for Erza, who had to dodge it while she was in the air. But as she was evading, the Mother Demon threw a punch, making her have to block with her swords, knocking her into a wall.
Just as it was about to grab Erza, in a flash, Kagari slashed the Mother Demon in the arm, making it roar in pain while he grabbed Erza and jumped away.
Kagari: Erza, are you okay?
Erza: Yes, I'm fine! Just keep fighting!
Erza charged at the Demons, cutting them down with her many blades and having to avoid the Mother Demon who was still trying to grab her. As he fought, Kagari noticed that the wound he inflicted on the demon had already healed.
Kagari's Thoughts: Wait, let me check something.
Assisting Erza, Kagari fired a blast at The Mother Demon, making a massive wound. Then, he fired another blast again, but suddenly, the demon opened its mouth and ate the blast and once it did, the wound healed in an instant.
Kagari's Thoughts: I knew it.
Kagari landed back on the ground and continued to fight down below as Erza requipped back into her Flame Empress Armor and she slashed the Mother Demon in the face, stunning it.
While it was stunned, she requipped into her Giant Armor and stabbed the Demon Leader in the eye with her Spear of Ha-Ja, making it roar in agony
As a final blow she delivered a powerful punch to the Demon's face, knocking the horn off the top of its head before it landed on the ground.
After that, she requipped back into her Heart Kreuz Armor and took a knee...
But as she was fighting the leader, what she didn't see was that there was a demon of the third type that crawled on the walls above Erza, staring at her.
Kagari: Erza, look out!!
When she wasn't looking, the demon leaped down at Erza at immense speed and knocking her down to the ground. With its sharp tail, the Demon stabbed through her armor and hit Erza in the back, making her scream in pain as it was injecting poison in her body.
Erza: AAAAHHHHHHHH!!!!!!
Kagari: ERZA!!!!
Hearing her screams, Kagari slashed the heads of all of the demons before he dashed at max speed and tore the demon on top of Erza in half, killing it in an instant. When he looked back, Kagari saw that the Mother Demon had her in its hands, draining her of her magic.
But that didn't last long as Kagari drew a sword and slashed the arms off of the Mother Demon before he grabbed Erza before she hit the ground and carried her away.
Kagari: Erza? Erza! Can you hear me?
Erza: K-Ka- Ahhhhhhh!!!!
Erza couldn't respond to him as the effects of the poison kicked in almost immediately and her body was now in unbelievable pain. If the poison wasn't taken care of in time, she would eventually die.
Kagari's Thoughts: No, not this time...
Kagari: Erza, please hold on. BERU!!! GET OUT HERE!!! NOW!!!
In mircoseconds, Beru emerged out of Kagari's shadow and appeared, kneeling before him.
Beru: I'm here, my li-
Kagari: HEAL ERZA!! RIGHT!! NOW!!
Beru: Y-Yes, my liege!!!
Beru began to heal Erza's wounds as well as removing the demon poison out of her system. Kagari stood back up, unleashing a portion of a deathly blue aura.
Kagari: Alright....
Kagari: NOW, I'M PISSED!!!!
Just then, Igris, Genji, Greed, and Bahamut emerged out of his shadow to assist him in killing all of the demons.
Kagari: The leader can absorb magic power, if it does, then its wounds will heal, remember that. There are only a few of the Nightmare Demons left. Finish them.
Igris/Greed/Genji/Bahamut: Yes, my liege.
Kagari: Attack!
Greed and Bahamut charged after the remaining Nightmare Demons, ripping them to shreds with their bare hands while Kagari, Genji, and Igris charged after the Mother Demon with the intent to the kill. Igris ran after its short legs and slashed one of them off as it fell to the ground. Using its chains, Genji tore apart the insides and internal organsof the Demon, making it bleed immensely.
But before Kagari could deliver the final blow, The Mother Demon left out a mighty roar as the cave began to shake.
Just then, Kagari watched as the Demon's flesh began to contort and regenerate while taking a new form. As this was happening, Erza opened her eyes to see what was going on.
Erza: W-What?
Kagari: Beru, Erza, The cave is coming apart, we need to go, right now!
Erza requipped into her Black Wing Armor and began to fly out of the cave as Kagari and Beru followed behind her.
Ravainia Mountains
Once they were out of the cave, they watched as it collapsed in on itself from the inside, burying the demons in the earth.
Kagari: Erza, are you okay? Is the poison all gone?
Erza: Yes, I'll live. Thank you for taking over the fight for me...
Kagari: Of course, happy to help..
Kagari's Thoughts: But when she got hit, I was so angry... I've been irritated before... but that was actual genuine... anger...
Just as Kagari was about to speak again, they both felt a powerful presence coming from the buried cave.
Erza: Something's coming, be ready...
Suddenly, the buried entrance of the cave broke open as something flew out of it. It was The Mother Demon, but now in a completely different form.
It was now a much more smaller, but stronger version of it's previous form with darker skin, large spikes for hands and glowing yellow eyes.
Erza: It- It changed forms?!
Kagari: Appears so.
The demon let out a hellish roar, causing the ground at their feet to shake. It then made it's way towards Kagari and Erza.
Kagari: This is the last one. The rest of the demons have already been defeated. Erza, can you still fight?
Erza gripped her sword.
Erza: Yes. Yes I can, Fairy Tail wizards are not beaten that easily. I won't let this demon go any further!
Kagari: Glad to hear it.
Kagari: Now, let's end this...
~*~*~
And STOP! That will be the end of Chapter 24. Sorry if the chapter seems a bit shorter than usual. Chapter 25 will be the end of The Ravainia Demons Arc.
But right now, I need to discuss something very important for the book.
Chapter 4: The Shadow Monarch's Past is going to be taken down for the time being. For future events in the story, there are many, many things that I wish to alter. It will be back up tomorrow or the day after.
After Chapter 25 and 26, we'll finally be there...
"The Tower of Heaven Arc"