[X779, Mt. Hakobe]
— Mavis Vermillion —
Her eyes shined brightly as she walked beside Dannis across the snowy landscape, her steps not even crushing the soft snow beneath her.
She just saw a type of magic that she hasn't seen before and it excited her. To think that magical phenomena like the Anima actually existed, the power to absorb magic and use it like a power source.
It was man-made sure, but it didn't take away the wonder of seeing something new for the first time.
While this Anima sounded a little like Lumen Histoire, she didn't really let that ruin her mood.
She missed this kind of life. Adventuring, visiting new lands, seeing new things. She didn't realize how lonely and hollow it was living on Tenrou Island this entire time.
But now, thanks to Dannis, she managed to experience this once again.
She's really thankful. The way he invited that boy Jellal also spoke wonders of his morals. Dannis was right. It really does take a special kind of character to go against one family for the greater good.
She's glad Dannis extended the invitation. No one deserved to walk the lands alone. Especially considering his old family had basically disowned him. A new family that would accept him unconditionally would do him some good.
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— Dannis Martell —
I gaze at the heap and ruins that used to be a village. Everywhere, all I could see were broken buildings and rubble. There were slash marks on the ground and walls, with more trails of destruction leading all the way to the village center.
There were no more bodies, since the rune knights had been here and probably cleaned out all the remains, but the aftermath of the massacre was still obvious.
Just from this I could determine a few things. Grilthos has immense physical strength, enough to at least crack large boulders with a punch. He had some form of cutting or slashing abilities, most likely claws that could easily sever steel. Lastly, a sense of brutal and bloodthirsty personality.
There was really no benefit at all from destroying this village that was located in the middle of nowhere, this demon was just ferocious and inhuman in nature, most likely having some sort of sick satisfaction from doing this.
I shake my head at that, it's guys like this that gives demons a really bad name. Not that I know any good demons to begin with.
The snapping of a twig made me glance to the side to see someone approaching. He was a rough looking man, with wild and unkempt brown hair that flowed down to the base of his neck and connected to his sideburns. A fur cloak covered his form to protect him from the cold winds of the mountain.
What caught my attention was the robe he was wearing, a light cloth that bore an ankh-like sigil, the symbol of the council.
This must be the rune knight.
"Are you the Dark Swordsman?" He asked in a gruff manner, to which I nodded in answer.
"Yes. I'm assuming you are the rune knight the local branch sent to assist me?"
The man sighed as he rubbed the back of his neck. "Assist is a strong word, you Fairy Tail mages sure do whatever the hell you want, eh? Asking for an escort of all things…"
He shook his head. "Anyways, the name's Crust. I'm a captain of the 6th Custody Enforcement Unit." He said, lifting up a hand.
[Crust Image]
I shake it. "Dannis Martell, S-Class mage of Fairy Tail."
"Yeah yeah, I'm well briefed of who you are." He snorted. "Gotta say, didn't really expect Fairy Tail to get in on this. Word from the folks say you lot are nothing more than troublemakers."
I roll my eyes at that. "Yeah well, despite everything we're still a light guild affiliated with the council. The Master gets us to do things like this once in a while. Besides, I have my own reasons for hunting down this demon."
"Fair enough, I'm sure they don't call you the Devil Slayer for nothing, heh." Crust nodded, a slight smirk tugging at the corner of his mouth. "Let me fill you in on what we know. This village was hit hard and fast. No warning, no survivors. We've been following Grilthos' movements for a while now, tracks say he's heading southeast. I've had some reports from my scouts saying he's been terrorizing small settlements around here, but he's always gone by the time we get there."
"Any idea why?" I asked, glancing around the ruins again. "What's his endgame?"
"Hard to say. Some think he's looking for something. Others think he's just a sadistic monster who enjoys bloodshed. Either way, wherever he goes, death follows him."
As Crust spoke, I noticed a set of deep, claw-like gouges in the ground leading away from the village. "Looks like he left a pretty clear trail," I said, pointing them out.
Crust nodded. "Yeah, he's not exactly subtle. We made a note of it and planned on pursuing it once we got reinforcements. Strong as I am, ain't no way I could take that thing down myself."
"Well, I'm here now. Wanna see where this leads?" I ask, gaining a smirk and another nod from my new rune knight friend.
We set off, following the deep gouges in the earth. As we traveled, Crust filled me in on more details about Grilthos' past attacks and the rumors circulating about him. There was a cunningness to his actions, always avoiding major settlements and targeting isolated villages where he could do the most damage with the least resistance.
After several hours of tracking, we began to hear the distant sounds of a commotion. Shouts and screams echoed through the air, followed by the unmistakable sound of destruction. The both of us perked up as we quickened our pace, heading towards the source of the noise.
As we crested a hill, we saw another village under attack. The white snow had already turned red from the amount of blood coating it.
That was when I caught my first glimpse of the Wizard Killer.
Standing in the center of the chaos, his massive form towering over the terrified villagers. His claws slashed through buildings and people alike, leaving a trail of blood and ruin.
A humanoid tiger demon, standing over 8 feet tall, bulging muscles hidden beneath the orange striped fur. Two long tails emerged from his back that were waving left and right like a cat, showing sadistic glee in the current situation.
[Grilthos image]
"Go help the villagers," I shouted to Crust. "I'll take care of Grilthos!"
"Try not to die! I'll help out as soon as I can!" Crust sprinted towards the panicked villagers, his body slowly changing. His tall frame became larger as dark brown fur appeared all over his body. A long snout grew over his mouth as his legs became more canine like.
"Monster Soul: Werewolf!"
So Crust was a takeover mage. That was interesting. I made a mental note to introduce him to the Strauss Siblings when all this was over.
[Werewolf form image]
I drew Obsidian, the blade gleaming with a dark aura as I channeled my magic into it. I pull my arm back, before thrusting it forward, going straight for the kill.
"Death Thrust!"
The burst of magic must have caught his attention as the demon reacted quickly, turning around and meeting my attacks and blocking it with his claws. To my surprise, he easily tore apart my magic like it was paper.
The demon turned to face me, a twisted grin spreading across his monstrous face. "Another fool has come to die? How delightful!"
He moved like a blur, the ground breaking beneath him as he shortened the distance between us in an instant. I raise my sword to block his strike, Grilthos' claws clanging against my blade. However, arcanite was much more durable than regular steel, proven by the sword suffering no dents nor splints from the sharp claws.
What truly shocked me was the sudden receding of my magic. The moment his claws touched my sword, the darkness I cloaked it with simply vanished.
Without the aid of the darkness, he easily overwhelmed me through sheer physical might as I was launched backwards and slammed towards the stone well in the village center.
"Wararara! They sent a wizard against me?! How foolish! Do you not know who I am?!"
I spat out a glob of blood, coloring the snow beneath me red, as I pondered this new scenario. To test things out further, I expanded darkness from my feet as it spread towards Grilthos like a wave.
"Dark Dimension!"
"Hah!" With casual ease, Grilthos swiped the area around him with elongated claws, tearing the darkness apart with one swing.
The demon let a satisfied growl while grinning towards me. "Many have tried to kill me before and yet they all fall the same. I wonder if you'll be different."
"You'll find I'm not so easy to kill," My eyes narrowed, I had an inkling as to what was going on, but I needed to test things out a little bit more.
Without hesitation, I charged at him, my blade slicing through the air. Grilthos met my attack with luster, the force of our clash sending shockwaves through the village. He was strong, incredibly so, but I could sense his arrogance, his belief that I was just another mage to be crushed.
I could use that.
My left eye glowed the entire time and I could feel my reserves dwindling by the minute. But the future sight was necessary for me to keep up with him while I figured out his power.
Our fight took us all over the village, as we dashed around houses and fences, breaking apart our surroundings as we clashed over and over. I could spot Crust's tall werewolf figure helping out villagers that were buried beneath rubble, I needed to buy more time.
Unleashing a point blank Avidya Slash, I note how it was quickly rent apart as it met Grilthos' claws. He thrusted a finger that I sidestepped before countering with a slash towards his abdomen, slightly scratching his hide.
He retaliated with a powerful swipe that sent me crashing once more to a nearby building, the force of the impact making the structure collapse.
I gasped in pain as I struggled to my feet, an arm supporting my back. 'I definitely felt something crack there. Not good.'
I looked towards the tiger demon that was laughing and grinning that entire fight. Even now, his stance was that of complete arrogance, both hands resting on his hips as he gazed at me like an ant beneath his boot.
"I see…" I mumble, gaining his attention. "Is this why you're called the Wizard Killer? Those claws of yours, they destroy magic, don't they?"
His grin widened at my words.
"That's your magic. The ability to rend apart ethernano at its core. No wonder no mage could actually beat you all this time."
"Warararara! Indeed! But you have one thing wrong…." Raw power emanated from his form as a dark red energy-like substance appeared at the end of his claws. "I don't use something as trivial as magic, my power is the power of Curses! One used by all of my kind!"
My eyebrows furred as I felt something within me react towards the energy Grilthos is using. It's like I could sense it. Something foul. 'Curses? Is that what this is?'
Grilthos suddenly appeared in front of his face, a clawed finger mere inches away from his face. "You're getting distracted, foolish wizard!"
I ducked down at the very moment, already seeing his attack two seconds ago. My left hand simultaneously drew a sigil in the air as I stabbed Obsidian downwards cloaked in dark energy, going straight through his right foot and pinning him to the ground, earning a pain of grunt from the demon.
"Sealing Magic: Binding Snake."
A sealing formula form in the shape of a snake appeared in the air as it constricted around Grilthos' arms in a spot where his hands would struggle getting to.
It was his ability that I noticed after our back and forth clash. Grilthos' magic destroying abilities only work through his claws. His hide, while thick in its own right, does not share the same immunity to magic.
So my attacks should still work on other parts of his body, proven right here.
"Grk! Bastard!" The demon exclaims as I pull my sword out and slash down towards him, my blade covered in darkness, only to be met by a tail that wrapped around my arm, halting its movements.
A brief moment of struggle happened as I tried pushing against the tail while he struggled with my snake bind. That was when my clairvoyance warned me of the coming threat.
I tried to move away, but his other tail quickly wrapped around my foot, holding me in place as his jaw widened, showing very sharp teeth, and bit down heavily on my shoulder.
"Aghhh!"
What was worse was that I could feel my magic being depleted. The pain from his teeth clamping on my shoulder-bone accompanied with the rapid dwindling of my reserves nearly brought me to the point of exhaustion.
'His teeth can absorb magic?! That's bullshit!'
Grilthos smiled a bloodthirsty grin as he clenched his teeth even further, earning a wide scream from me.
The pain was making me delirious, I couldn't think, dark spots were already on the edges of my vision.
Suddenly, as I blinked, a hazy figure appeared. She was short and childlike, with flowing blonde hair and green eyes. I didn't know if it was due to the pain or the deliriousness caused by my blood loss, but at a glance, the small girl almost looked like a fairy.
Just as I was about to pass out, a large wolf-like figure body slammed Grilthos away, breaking our stalemate as I fell to the snow, blood pouring out of the bite marks on my shoulders.
"Oi! Martell! Fuck! Don't you dare die on me!"
That was the last thing I heard as darkness consumed me.
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AN: Grilthos is a tough sunova bitch. Hope you liked the fight.