Chapter 31: The Battle of Fairy Tail Begins!
Dante was currently running through the streets of Magnolia, in search of Laxus and the rest of the Thunder Legion. He had to hurry, Laxus had only given the guild three hours before he destroyed the stone statues of all the girls, he took hostage. It was frustrating that Dante didn't know where Laxus or the Thunder Legion were hiding. Since he didn't know where they were, Dante was forced to run through the streets instead of taking to the skies. Magnolia was a dense town, so dense that Dante would not be able to spot an induvial from the sky. As Dante turned a corner, he was face to face with Gray.
"Dante there you are. Have you found any of the Thunder Legion yet" asked Gray in a serious tone. Dante was glad he ran into Gray, the more firepower he brought with him to his fight with Laxus the better his chances of victory were.
"No, I haven't but we will find them don't worry" Dante responded. Gray nodded and the two of them agreed to move in a group in search of the Thunder Legion. As Dante and Gray ran through the streets, they were stopped as Freed's enhancements boxed them in.
"What is this? One of Freed's enchantments" asked Dante as he and Gray looked at the writing in the sky. Dante cursed; he concluded that Freed must have scattered all sort of enhancements across Magnolia. The words in the sky shocked and confused Dante and Gray. The writing had various pairs of people fighting each other, and all of them didn't include a single member of the Thunder Legion.
"Why in the hell are those guys fighting each other? Laxus and the Thunder Legion are the enemies" asked a confused Gray. Dante was also confused until more writing in the sky answered their question. The new writing stated that only the one who proved themselves the strongest would walk free.
"Damn it, so this is Laxus's plan. He's going to have all of Fairy Tail fight each other" stated Dante with anger in his voice. Gray also swore at this piece of information before he turned to Dante and fell into a combat stance.
"I don't like it Dante, but it looks like only one of us is getting out of here" stated Gray with a determined look on his face. Dante regretted having to do this, but he activated his magic, transforming into his Angel Soul Gabriel form.
"Your right Gray, only one of us can leave this trap. Sorry Gray but I'm not going to go easy on you, the strongest of us should go on" responded Dante as Gray nodded in agreement. Gray knew that his chances of beating Dante were slim, but he had to try. While cursing Laxus for forcing such a horrid game, Dante reluctantly charged forward to strike his friend and guildmate.
"Hahaha didn't you just get done saying those two were your best chance old man? Looks like Dante is going to blast Gray into the ground" Laxus stated while laughing arrogantly at Markov. Markov stood in horror as he watched many names of his children fighting one another.
"Heavens fist" yelled Dante as he landed a direct punch straight into Gray's stomach. To his surprise, Gray broke apart as it became apparent it was just an ice decoy. Dante looked around in alarm as Gray burst out from behind a nearby corner as he used his ice make magic.
"Ice-Make Lance" yelled Gray as he extended his arms forward while serval long and curved lances made of ice flew towards Dante. Dante was taken by surprise and only managed to dodge some of the attack. Two lances of ice struck him and he was pushed backwards.
"Smart move Gray, but not nearly good enough! Heaven's ray" yelled Dante as he pointed his palm towards Gray and a ray of holy energy flew towards him. Gray was surprised Dante was able to recover from his attack so quickly, so he didn't have time to doge the attack.
"Ice-make Shield" yelled Gray as a large shield of ice appeared in front of him in order to block Dante's incoming attack. Dante wasted no time as he flew towards Gray standing behind his ice shield.
"Damn he's coming at me so fast" stated Gray unable to move out of the way as Dante flew towards him at top speed. He just had to trust in his shield for the moment. Dante regretted what he had to do next, he was sure Gray would expect him to fly over the shied to hit him. It was likely if Dante flew over the shield, Gray would be waiting for that and attack. Instead, Dante flew straight towards the shield while charging holy energy in both his fist.
"Sorry Gray but this fight is over, heaven's fist barrage" yelled Dante as he sent a barrage of punches charged with holy energy at Gray's ice shield, breaking through it easily. Gray was surprised and unable to react in time as Dante landed multiple punches all over his body. With a final holy punch, Dante sent Gray flying into a nearby building. Dante looked into the ruble of the buildings wall to make sure that Gray wasn't too badly hurt. Seeing that Gray was still breathing, just knocked out Dante turned around.
"Sorry Gray, I need to save Mira and the others no matter what. I hope you can forgive me" stated Dante as he released his magic, going back to his normal form in order to save his magical energy. Looking at the writing in the sky, Dante saw that he was declared the victory and the barrier was opened.
Dante then started to race through the streets again, he had to end this quickly. With the knowledge of Freed's enchantments, Dante knew now that he couldn't group up with others since he would likely be forced to fight them. Cursing to himself, Dante released that the same thing was happening to others, how many of them were left at this rate? Seeing more writing in the sky, Dante stopped to read it and was filled with anger. The words in the sky read, 'Elfman vs Evergreen, winner Evergreen'.
"Elfman! Damn it, that leaves basically just me" stated Dante to himself in anger. He was worried for Elfman, he hoped Evergreen didn't seriously hurt him. If she did anything to seriously hurt his little brother, Dante would end her. Looking at the number in the sky, Dante was first shocked that the number was so low. Only four were left.
"Damn only four left?! Including myself I bet two of the others are Natsu and Gajeel but they can't leave the guild for some reason" Dante stated as he wondered who the fourth remaining fighter was. As he was wondering this, the number went down to three.
"Damn it, whoever it was they just got defeated. It's just me left" stated Dante wondering how he could beat the entire Thunder Legion and then Laxus. Dante was strong but he was forced to use some of his magic against Gray and still took some damage. Laxus was about his equal and if he was forced to fight Laxus at less than his full strength, Dante wasn't sure if he could pull it off. Dante was brought out of these thoughts as he heard a laugh from behind him.
"Haha looks like you are the only one left" laughed Bickslow as his dolls floated beside him. Dante quickly transformed into his Angel Soul Gabriel form and fell into a combat stance.
"Bickslow why are you doing this?! You have to stop" stated Dante hoping to reason with him. Despite what was happening, Bickslow was still from Fairy Tail and that still meant something. The laugh from Bickslow told Dante that his plea for reason feel on death ears.
"Haha no can do Dante. Laxus and the Thunder Legion are cleaning up all the weaklings from Fairy Tail" responded Bickslow just before he attacked Dante. Dante took to the sky to dodge the attack, he hated that he had to fight his friends in such a way.
As Dante dodged Bickslow's attack, he saw that Bickslow simply directed even more attacks in his direction. Dante grit his teeth as he moved to dodge each attack, it was clear that Dante had to make a decision regarding this fight. He knew that when push came to shove, Dante could likely beat Bickslow easy as long as no trickery was involved. The problem was that Dante had to save himself for his fight against Laxus. He had to choose to end this fight quickly but wasting more magical power or trying to conserve magical power but risking taking more hits. In the end Dante decided that it was better to use more magical power, so he didn't take any significant hits, besides time was running out.
"Sorry Bickslow but I really don't have any time for this" stated Dante in a frustrated tone as he summoned his magical power.
"Just try it, I won't go down so easy" Bickslow with confidence in his voice.
"Heavenly reequip, Gabriel's Trumpet" yelled Dante as he used his magic to equip a trumpet radiating with holy energy. He brought the trumpet to his lips and summoned a large amount of his magical power as he blew.
"CALL OF JERICO" yelled Dante as a large soundwave filled with holy energy was blasted towards Bickslow. The ground beneath them was torn apart from the force of the soundwave, hitting Bickslow with a direct hit.
"AHHH, HOW IS THIS POSSIABLE" yelled Bickslow surprised that Dante was able to blast him away in one swift attack. Dante wasn't surprised that Bickslow thought he had a chance in winning. Dante never had a reason to go all out while Bickslow was there to see how powerful he was. From Bickslow's point of view, all the talk about Dante's power was just that, talk. Bickslow fell to the ground in a defeated heap, unable to get up.
"All that power… it wasn't just talk" stated a stunned Bickslow before he fell unconscious. Dante breathed heavily as he felt the drain in his magical power from using one of his most powerful attacks. He hoped he made the right decision, he may have finished the fight quickly, but he might not have enough magical power to face Laxus and win.
As Dante was still trying to catch his breath, he once again transformed back into his normal form to save his magical energy. Just after he did this, Dante noticed something strange. The number in the sky that told him how many fighters were left had gone up by one. While Dante was wondering what this could mean, the answer was soon revealed as more writing appeared in the sky. The new writing in the sky read, 'Erza vs Evergreen'. Reading this Dante felt a surge of hope, somehow Erza was free and able to join the fight. Thinking it must be because of her artificial eye that she was able to break free from Evergreen's spell.
"Alright! With Erza helping me out I don't have to do this all alone" stated Dante in a happy tone. Thinking that he should find Laxus now before he was forced to use more of his magical power, Dante walked towards Bickslow. With a quick slap across the face to wake him up, Dante held Bickslow by his shirt and began to question him.
"Okay Bickslow start talking! Where can I find Laxus" asked Dante as he glared at Bickslow. The response he received was a weak laugh from Bickslow before he spoke.
"Haha, you really think you can beat Laxus" asked Bickslow weakly, clearly, he was too weak to fight back.
"I don't really have a choice thanks to you guys! Now tell me where he is" responded Dante as he tightened his grip on Bickslow's shirt. Bickslow seeing no harm in telling Dante since he was not at full strength, told him where Laxus was. Dante dropped Bickslow back to the ground as he walked away and towards his new destination.
"So, he's at the cathedral then" stated Dante to himself as he made his way towards the cathedral in the center of town. Dante elected to walk the distance so he could recover some of his magical power. It was a short walk from where he was anyways, so he wasn't going to waste too much time. As Dante was walking towards the cathedral, new writing in the sky told him it was no longer needed. The new writing told him that Evergreen had been defeated.
"Hey alright! With Evergreen defeated then that means all the girls should return to normal! Now Laxus doesn't have any hostages and his messed-up game is over" stated Dante with a smile on his face. Now with his mess over, Markov can set Laxus straight. Dante's celebration was cut short as soon he noticed the Thunder Palace activate and surround the entire town.
"Damn it Laxus! What the hell are you thinking" stated Dante in anger as it became clear to him that the entire town was Laxus's hostage. Thinking how far Laxus had fallen, Dante remembered a time when he could call Laxus his best friend in the guild. What had happened to the person he could count on as his number one rival? They used to be on such good terms, each pushing each other to get stronger. Ever since Master Markov had to kick out Laxus's father, Laxus became more and more bitter towards everyone.
"I have to beat him no matter what, I can't fail" stated Dante as he decided to hell with it and once again transformed into his Angel Soul Gabriel form and took to the sky. Flying high into the air, Dante then descended while flying at top speed at towards the Cathedral. He was going to end this mess right her and now.
End of Chapter 31