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[X784, Oak Town]
— Dannis Martell —
"Please spare me! I told you everything I know! I swear!" An unkempt looking man with shaggy red hair whined pitifully. A purple bruise marred the right side of his face as blood caked his entire form. His right eye was swollen shut, proving evidence to the beating that he had obviously taken.
Dannis held him by the neck against the wall, a lit cigarette on his lips as he gazed emotionlessly at the member of Eisenwald.
News had reached Fairy Tail about the creation of the Balam Alliance a few years ago. Ever since then, dark mages have become much more organized and dangerous. Previous dark guilds that had a history of violence began working together.
Their attacks had become more coordinated, the targets more strategic and focused rather than the random bits of chaos from before. However, despite the rampant destruction, the council couldn't do much to mitigate the damages since they were stretched too thin. Especially considering the whole Alvarez fiasco that had nearly seen Fiore go to war.
Every action by the Rune Knights needs to go through so much red tape that it makes them nearly useless. While there are certainly good rune knights out there who do good despite the reluctance and slow movements of the council, the majority that make up their number are those that listen to orders more than the genuine want to protect and do good.
Dannis has his own suspicions as to why that is. Any mage who had access to see things behind the scenes would recognize how the slowness was deliberate. There were some wacky things going on with the council, one that Dannis suspected to be deeper than anyone thought.
Therefore, Master Makarov and a few other Light Guilds took it into their own hands to curb the rising number of dark mages. With Gildarts busy in Alvarez, it fell to Dannis and the other S-Class mages to go on the more dangerous quest of hunting down dark guilds.
Erza and Laxus were the ones that Makarov sent to handle the bigger dark guilds that had larger numbers, while Dannis and Mira were the ones responsible for handling cases with demon or devil affiliations.
Mystogan was exempt from all of this due to his personal and urgent mission of closing the anima gates. Makarov also recognized the severity of that mission and opted to let him focus on that instead.
This is what led to his current activity. He was currently tracking down the guild Eisenwald. There were whispers in the wind of them obtaining a magical artifact called Lullaby. Master Mavis had apparently recognized the name and revealed to him that Lullaby was an artifact of Zeref that had the power to kill anyone who listened to its melody. A Death Curse, Dannis remembered her saying. It was the darkest of magics, ones that held the power over life and death.
An artifact as powerful as that in the hands of a group of dark mages with sketchy ideals makes for quite the undesirable situation. Not to mention that Eisenwald was a guild rumored to be working under Tartaros in the Balam Alliance hierarchy.
Dannis still had some questions he needed answering, and it seems that Tartaros was the key to everything. Which was why he was determined to pull everything that was related to that guild root and stem until he found them.
Dannis had undergone a lot of changes ever since he joined Fairy Tail 14 years ago. He not only matured magically and emotionally, but also physically. At 22 years old, he stood at an impressive height of 5'10. His physique had improved tremendously from the scrawny kid he used to be, giving him a lean and toned body that was earned from over a decade of swinging the sword.
The only thing that didn't change was his wardrobe, as he still kept the black coat that Laxus had given him all those years ago, now with many visible cuts that were stitched by Mira whenever he returned from a mission. His sword, Obsidian, remained in the sheath as his other arm took out the cigarette in his mouth as he blew out a puff of smoke.
Seeing as the man continued his pitiful whining, Dannis opted to believe his statement. Being a pretty high-ranking member of Eisenwald, he had given out some decent information that Dannis could follow up on.
With nothing else to learn, Dannis knocked him out with a swift slam to the temple using the butt of his sword before dropping him off at the nearest outpost of the Rune Knights. He purposely only used physical attacks since he didn't wanna draw any attention from the local wizard guild. While Phantom Lord was a capable guild with plenty of well known mages, their Guild Master Jose Poral was weirdly obsessed with one-upping Fairy Tail whenever he had the chance to do so.
Apparently, this mindset was spread across their members and it wasn't rare for a member of Phantom Lord to make trouble whenever they ran into a Fairy Tail wizard. It wasn't that Dannis was scared of them, but time constraints required him to avoid unnecessary trouble.
According to the now unconscious man, the current leader of the Eisenwald was their ace, Erigor the Grim Reaper. Apparently, there was some sort of inner dispute where Erigor murdered their guildmaster and took charge of the entire guild.
It was unknown if he did it under orders from Tartaros or if it was of his own volition.
Erigor's current plans were largely unknown by the more rank and file of the dark mages. But what the man did know was that Erigor had successfully located Lullaby and it was in the process of being moved.
Other than that, Eisenwald's goals with the artifact remained relatively unknown, which put a frown on Dannis' face. Just having such a powerful magical item in the hands of a dark guild was bad enough, what was worse was the potential of Eisenwald giving it to Tartaros, which were premier experts of anything Zeref related.
Luckily, the last bit of information that his captured victim revealed was that all members of Eisenwald received information to head to Onibus Town. Which means that was his next destination. It was a good thing too since Onibus and Oak Town were just a train ride away.
However, it was apparent that Eisenwald's plans were already underway when Dannis was told by the conductor that the station in Onibus was closed for reasons unknown. Something about an accident that happened.
Dannis had to move fast, so he activated his dark armor, only now, after spending years improving it, dark black wings encompassed the back of the samurai garb. They were as black as shadow, shaped like the wings of a bat. Purplish veins ran from the base to the edges.
Dannis unfurled them, extending the full 10-foot wingspan as he took off into the air.
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The winds whipped around him as he moved faster than he ever had. While Dannis knew his travel speed in this form was much faster than just running or using the train, the distance between Onibus and Oak Town would mean that it would at least be half an hour before he reaches the town.
He was quite fast with these wings, especially in the air. But he knew that his speed was still far from reaching the levels that Laxus was capable of.
They were nothing more than darkness made into physical form. So while they were strong, they weren't exactly a material fit for aerial travel. He achieved it after years of working alongside Mira. Having shared more than a few missions with her, he saw how applicable the ability of flight was after seeing the She-Devil take to the air multiple times with her own wings.
After spending a few months learning how to mold his darkness that way, he learned to create the wings, but he was only capable of doing it when he piled it on top of the Dark Armor. Having only the wings when he is in his regular form was something he could achieve with further training.
Nevertheless, it got the job done, proven now as Onibus started to appear on the horizon. It wasn't that large of a town, barely a quarter the size of Magnolia. But it was quite a popular destination for tourists due to the abundance of natural hot springs in the area.
He hadn't tried them yet since he's never once made a trip here but perhaps a vacation is in order. 'I should ask Mira to go here sometime. I'm sure she would enjoy a day of relaxation once in a while.'
It was then that he felt a large surge of magical energy. He paused in the air as his head swiveled, trying to determine the source. It didn't take long for him to find it, a torrential whirlwind surrounded a building that he recognized as the train station, the tornado reaching a good height into the sky. 'That Eisenwald guy said Erigor was a proficient wind mage. Is this his doing?'
Another flare of familiar magic energy had him raise an eyebrow. 'Erza is here? So are Natsu and Gray by the looks of it. I can sense Happy too. Looks like we had some similar leads to Eisenwald's activities.'
At first he was worried that they were in danger of the tornado, only for another glance to see that the whirlwind merely surrounded the building and didn't threaten to swallow it whole. He was about to dispel the entire thing when a man burst through the torrential winds with a scythe in hand, and flew away at high speeds.
Dannis only caught a glimpse of him, but it was enough for him to recognize who it was. A tall and lean man with spiky silver hair that cascaded down the side of his face. Blue tattoos ran down his body in horizontal and vertical lines, along with a long scythe that looked sharper than regular steel.
'That was him, the Grim Reaper. Erza and the rest are still fighting his goons, which means that Erigor has some plan in mind that requires the other dark mages to buy him some time.'
A quick glance towards the station told him that his guildmates had the fight well in hand. Choosing to have faith in their abilities, he brandished Obsidian in one hand and flew towards Erigor.
With a significant lead and a faster means of aerial travel, Dannis had no real means to catch up to the dark mage. But he wasn't out of options left. Erigor hadn't yet left his field of vision and Dannis still had clear sight of the Grim Reaper's back, which was all he needed to put him down.
Pulling his blade back, Dannis took a stance in the air as his eyes became focused. Channeling his magic through his sword, a single point of darkness that flickered into white light appeared at the tip as he thrust forward.
"Darkness Magic: Death Thrust!"
A focused blast of darkness was launched from the sword that travelled to Erigor's position in the blink of an eye. However, his condensing of magic seems to have caught the Dark Mage's attention as he deflected it at the last second, a sphere of wind appearing right where Dannis had been aiming.
While Dannis' goal was to incapacitate Erigor with that attack, it still got the job done as Erigor dropped to the ground, forced to end his wind-enhanced flight, finding a clearing in the middle of the forest that surrounded Onibus.
"Didn't expect you to block that attack, guess you're the Ace of a Dark Guild for a reason." Dannis quipped as he landed just a few meters away from the dark mage, his dark armor dissipating into black smoke.
The Grim Reaper sneered as soon as he saw Dannis. "The Dark Swordsman. I've heard of you, you damn fairy fly! I swear you people just keep appearing like roaches!"
He then brandished his scythe, spinning it in his arms as he glowed with green magical energy, "Taking off your armor was the stupidest thing you could do! I'll show the world that you light mages are nothing more than ants in front of me!"
Dannis merely rolled his eyes, already stepping past Erigor while sheathing his sword. The dark mage suddenly halted in his tirade as he felt the hairs on his back stand on end.
"W–Wha–"
"Don't flatter yourself, Grim Reaper. You're nowhere near as high up the food chain as you think you are." Dannis gibed. The moment his sword clicked into the sheath, a large gash appeared on Erigor's body that stretched from his right shoulder to the left side of his hip.
"Urk–agh!" Erigor grunted in pain as he fell to his knees with labored breath. "Y-You-!" He could say nothing more as Dannis smacked his temple with the hilt of his blade, with Erigor immediately losing consciousness.
Dannis took out a cigarette before lighting it and letting out a few puffs of smoke. 'From what I can tell, this guy is just a little weaker than Erza is. I really have gotten stronger, huh?'
Letting out a sigh, Dannis walked over to Erigor's body before slowly sifting through the pockets. He eventually found what he was looking for when he pulled out a wooden flute that had a skull with three eyes on one end.
As soon as he touched it, the feeling of death immediately encompassed Dannis as dark purple tendrils began wafting from his body towards the flute. Dannis tried to let go of it, only to find his fingers remained clutched to the stem of the flute with him unable to remove it.
More and more of the dark purple energy seemed to get absorbed by the flute in massive amounts. 'This thing is absorbing my magic. What the hell?!' Dannis grunted as he was forced to his knees from the pressure.
Narrowing his eyes, black markings resembling tattoos appeared on his right arm all the way to his cheek as Dannis channeled the Devil Slayer aspect of his magic. He could immediately feel the difference as Lullaby suddenly lurched as an unholy screech permeated through the air.
He could feel a repulsing force try to push his hand away, which he reacted to by clamping even harder. 'Two can play that game, bastard.'
Dannis started absorbing the flute's magic, only for him to immediately notice the subtle difference in energy. 'Curse power, eh? So Lullaby really was one of Zeref's Demons.'
The screech turned even more inhumane as a humongous amount of power began emanating from the magical artifact. Recognizing what's about to happen, Dannis let go of the flute before jumping back a considerable distance as it glowed an eerie purple light.
Massive winds began turning as the light turned so bright that Dannis had to look away. When the winds and light dissipated, they revealed a beast far larger than Dannis had anticipated. It stood half the size of a mountain, with its body bearing a bark-like skin. Three red orbs sat still on its face as two large horns protruded from its head. He would've cut an intimidating figure, if not for the black burn marks that were visible across its body.
The moment it appeared, it unleashed the same guttural screech before whipping its head towards Dannis.
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AN: Sorry for the late chapter. I just graduated a week ago and had been riding on the coattails of the excitement. I went out on vacation with friends and family and finally came back. Anyways, I'm glad to finally finish my studies, now I can dedicate full time to my stories till I find a job. Thanks for sticking by me this whole time.
Like I've mentioned numerous times before, I'm going to be taking a lot of liberties in terms of character strength. Erigor is a small fry in the grand scheme of things, but I'm genuinely baffled at the fact that the Ace of a relatively infamous dark guild got demolished by the beginning of series Natsu. So here, I made him just a little bit weaker than Erza, even if he got one shotted anyway by Dannis.
Power scaling had always been one of Fairy Tail's major weaknesses. I hope to remedy that at least a little bit.
Next up, Dannis vs Lullaby.
Hope you enjoyed the chapter
Cheers lads.