《Jumper for Bounties》


 Prologue

    Arthur sighed as he felt the hot water running down his face. The truck had come in for the store, and after a day of unloading boxes his body ached. Of course there was something good about being exhausted; he couldn¡¯t dwell on how it was another dead end day gone working a dead end job in a dead end life.


    Instead he¡¯d relax under the heat of the shower, then get on his computer, and find some sitcom to watch. It¡¯d be nice, and relaxing, and he could eat a sandwich and sink into a waking oblivion.


    ¡°Hello.¡± The voice was cheerful, and if Arthur had been less tired his mind might have found some more creative synonyms and descriptors. At the moment, though, he was just aware it wasn¡¯t his mother¡¯s, father¡¯s, or sister¡¯s, and no one else had a reason to be in this bathroom.


    It wasn¡¯t even a voice that he recognized. His head jerked to the side, eyes straining to see through the shower curtain, but only able to discern yellow, like someone had put up an opaque yellow tarp on the other side. His hand moved to the plastic and pulled it back, his other starting to turn the shower nozzle off.


    He was stunned. Should he shout? Call the police? Why the hell was there some stranger saying hello to him when he was taking a shower?


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry to interrupt,¡± the voice continued, in what Arthur misidentified as a slight British accent. It was coming from pretty close by, but he didn¡¯t see a person. All he saw was a great, round yellow shape, two black blobs, and a curved black line underneath them. No. It was a line segment ending in a pair of smaller straight lines perpendicular to it, one on either side of it.


    ¡°I have come to you with a great offer of adventure,¡± The voice seemed to be coming from the giant, floating, paper thin smiley face that was occupying much of his, or his parent¡¯s, bathroom.


    Arthur didn¡¯t scream. It was too profoundly strange for him to scream. He stared at it dumbly for a moment, though. ¡°What are you?¡±


    ¡°I am your guide to a wondrous plethora of worlds and adventure,¡± The smiley face said matter of factly.


    Arthur bit his lower lip. This was weird. This was something out of some chuuni anime fantasy. This was a definite sign that he had¡­


    ¡°You¡¯ve not gone crazy,¡± The smiley face said, ¡°And I¡¯m reading your character more than your mind, though it¡¯s hard to say where one ends and the other begins to be honest.¡±


    Arthur wanted to sit down. Wanted to consider this. Wanted to put some pants on.  But what he wanted most was to know¡­


    ¡°What¡¯s going on is simple,¡± The smiley face said. ¡°You and eleven other randomly selected candidates from your world have been judged by my superiors. We have then proceeded from the most appealing to least appealing candidate to offer you each a chance at adventure. Normally we¡¯d stop once all five slots were filled, which means that as the 10th candidate you¡¯d have little chance to access a slot. However we have decided to extend an additional offer to the least deserving candidates.¡±


    Arthur had the feeling he should be insulted at that bit, but this thing was monologuing an explanation, and while he wasn¡¯t certain he wasn¡¯t crazy, he was smart enough not to interrupt it when it was explaining what this offer was.


    ¡°The mission, should you choose to accept it, is to travel the metaverse, visiting those worlds which you perceive as fiction in an attempt to entertain my superiors and the sponsors of your journey.¡±


    ¡°Entertain?¡± Arthur asked, having the uneasy feeling that he was being given an end users license agreement he really needed to read the fine print of.


    ¡°Yes. Provide them with amusement or enjoyment. Delight. Please. Cheer. I am surprised you don¡¯t know the meaning of entertain,¡± The smiley face¡¯s expression was - at least to Arthur - utterly inscrutable. But it seemed to suddenly realize, ¡°Oh, it was not the word, but my use of it. I apologize. I am still new to this job, and not fully used to conversing with fictional entities such as yourself.¡±


    ¡°Fictional!?¡± Arthur¡¯s hand moved to the support bar coming from the wall to help ensure no one slipped and fell in the shower. This floating yellow circle, this psychotic break, was calling him fictional.


    ¡°Erm well¡­ ontologically inferior? Less real? Yes, I think that might be the best term. I am not accustomed to dealing with less real entities directly, I apologize.¡±


    ¡°What makes you more real than me?¡± Arthur demanded.


    The smiley face looked at him. ¡°I could show you but it would shatter your mind. Suffice it to say that I exist in a higher level of reality, above those beings you would call gods. You are not an ant to me. You are more akin to a fictional character. You lack the levels of psychological and internal existence I take for granted similar to how a picture lacks the spatial dimensions you value so much. Like I said I am not reading your mind, it is still more akin to¡­ well to continue the discussion of fiction, I am observing the tropes that make up your being and predicting the outcome of the cliches that culminate in you.¡±


    Arthur had had enough. ¡°Shut up you pompous ass!¡± He said, letting go of the bar and swinging at his delusion. His fist, though, passed harmlessly through it, as if it completely lacked substance and he found himself falling forward.


    And then everything stopped, and he was floating.


    No to be floating he¡¯d have needed a body. He couldn¡¯t feel his. He existed as¡­


    ¡°Disembodied thought,¡± The Smiley Face said. But it wasn¡¯t speaking. To speak implied sound and to receive words implied something that could hear. Arthur was fairly certain that neither of those existed here and now. And no longer did he seem to be facing a simple smiley face. He was in the presence of something vast enough to squash whales like ants, or break a world in two.


    ¡°I have put your world on pause.¡± And Arthur had an instant comprehension of what it meant. It had frozen time across the entirety of his world. ¡°Now, shall I finish explaining the offer?¡± The entity asked.


    If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it.


    It was too vast, too beyond him, to call it anything but an entity. It was like something out of H.P. Lovecraft. The gibbering mouth of nuclear chaos. And even before it asked it knew the answer, and before Arthur himself could gain comprehension of that answer it had already explained due to the nature of its method of communication in this place. It wasn¡¯t speaking to him. It was communicating meaning.


    Like here it meant it was annoyed that he was wasting its time. And at the same time the concept of the offer entered his mind. A travel across the metaverse, the worlds he would consider fiction but were equally as real, if not a step more real, than his own. The offer was to obtain the chance at his own greater reality. A chance to ascend into a higher level of existence, one which even in this reality of pure thought and meaning he could no more understand than a prisoner trapped in a cave could understand an object from seeing merely a portion of its shadow. But to obtain that chance he would have to entertain the smiley face¡¯s master, and those who were working with it. Whose sponsorship would grant him the ability to ascend.


    ¡°Normally there would be a certain stipend given to you in each world, one which would help you fold the powers and nature of that world into yourself to fuel your ascension and metamorphosis.¡± And that was the offer given to the other candidates, or at least 5 of them.


    Arthur wanted to recoil back, to jerk away from the alien intrusion of information into his mind. But he also knew he was going to accept. He was living a dead end life working a dead end job where every day was a dead end day. His existence was meaningless. He produced nothing. He did nothing. He had no impact.


    ¡°However, to squeeze in a sixth slot, we have had to make certain cutbacks. You will not be given a free stipend. Instead you will have to perform tasks which the sponsors have chosen to offer a reward upon. For each of these bounties that you complete you will be given a certain stipend of energy with which to fuel your own. To wrap yourself in layers of fiction and meta-fiction in an attempt to become real.¡± It wasn¡¯t really fiction or meta-fiction, Arthur knew it¡­ but he also realized he lacked the esoteric lexicon to find a better word. That this was just the shape his mind could find comfort in for what it was actually telling him.


    ¡°You will be sent to worlds at the whims of my master and the sponsors. You will be tasked as we see fit.¡± This was why 3 people were turning down the offer, why one person turned down the offer with the stipend and two without it. If these unfathomable gods wanted to see him suffer he would suffer. To say yes was to put his life in the hands of an unknowable, alien being. It was ultimately an act of faith.


    And he didn¡¯t have faith.


    He did have a tinge of despair. A desire for a different life. A desire for change.


    ¡°If you die, or fail to entertain sufficiently, you will be returned to this world as I unpause it, along with the other candidates who will or have failed. And we will take our entertainment by observing the world they make of it.¡±


    That idea was terrifying. Partially ascended failed gods would be returning to his world. If he said no he¡¯d have no power to stop them. No power to do anything. And if he said yes he¡¯d be used by a bunch of Lovecraftian gods watching him for Reality TV putting him through who knew what pain and humiliation, but he would have a chance - and only a chance - at having a meaningful amount of power to change things.


    He wasn¡¯t sure it was worth the risk.


    ¡°If this happens without you having gained some more than mortal powers, you will resume your tripping fall.¡± He¡¯d swung at it. He¡¯d passed through it. He¡¯d put too much force on wet feet in a wet tub. He had already begun to fall. And he could feel the information and intent of the smiley face as it spoke, the future that awaited him if he said no. He¡¯d fall. He¡¯d hit his head on the toilet, his temple in specific, and he¡¯d black out. No one would find him and he would die. A sad, pathetic death which would only make certain that his life was a waste.


    He would say yes, because he very very much did not want to die. Even as he was terrifyingly certain it had goaded him into punching it at the exact instant he did to put him into a position where he couldn¡¯t say no. If that was how it behaved¡­


    ¡°That was not my intention. To ensure you can influence the world you will end in, you will be given a modicum of power folded into you for free. I will even add a little something extra from myself as a gesture of my own apology for misleading you, and for causing your self-destructive rage in the first place.¡±


    It felt like it was being honest. Like it really didn¡¯t have malice. Like it was honestly apologetic, even if only in the way a human might feel guilty for accidentally damaging a plant, or an animal. He didn¡¯t know if he could trust it or not.


    And that actually made him want to trust it. Either this was a psychotic break and he was imagining all of this. Or maybe he¡¯d had an aneurism in his brain or something and this was a dying dream. Or it was telling the truth, and it was a god-like being who could re-write reality with a thought and overwrite who he was with another one.


    ¡°But that would be boring. Live entertainment,¡± By which it meant with free will, but free will as a creation of an omnipotent deity who had blinded its own omniscience through its making so that it could relieve its boredom by observing the ants in its ant farm without knowing deterministically where they would go. ¡°Is so much more fun for our audience than scripted. As such you will merely be rewarded for completing tasks, instead of required to do so. You only need to remain entertaining and alive.¡±


    There was a pause. Arthur felt ready to explode. So much desire to scream. Freak out. Faint. Stress and anxiety bubbling up in a mind that no longer had a body to do any of those things. This felt as unscripted as reality TV, and every bit as rigged to make him say yes.


    ¡°Do you agree?¡± The entity asked him. The implications of the concept pushing into his thoughts. Be their plaything and see where it took him, or fall and see what those who returned from that voyage did with the Earth. ¡°I know you will,¡± Arthur had already made up his mind and however it was reading him it¡¯d demonstrated the ability to know that much, ¡°but formalities must be followed.¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡± It was the first ¡®word¡¯ that Arthur had managed to will out from himself in this place and the first word of pure thought that he had spoken. It was not easy, taking the force of his being to push it out, and what he felt should have been the loudest roar was an almost inaudible whisper. He would be their plaything and see where it took him. Still it was the chance at fame, fortune, and a better life.


    ¡°In that case.¡±


    He still wasn¡¯t in a body. Arthur knew that. But now he seemed to be in a classroom. A scantron sheet was in front of him. He¡¯d not touched one of those since college. Besides the scantron was a stack of test papers. It was like a dream. The old one where he was showing up to a final, realizing he¡¯d not studied, had no idea what it was on, and he¡¯d arrived in the classroom naked.


    The smiley face appeared where the teacher, or proctor, should have been, at the front of the lecture hall, between the black board and the desk. ¡°Welcome,¡± It said in that cheerful, no, disturbingly chipper was the better description Arthur decided, voice. ¡°Behind me is the bounty board, on it you can see the various bounties the sponsors are offering for your first world. On your desk you will find your character which will show you your stat line as currently using human baseline as 1s. It will update to reflect the means in which you have wrapped yourself in the realities you have visited, or gain and develop new skills and capabilities. Beneath the character sheet you will find a sheet describing your options for this new world. Please read them and the bounties carefully, then fill out the scantron sheet for your initial choices to determine your nature in the world. You will be able to review your world options, character sheet, or bounty board at any time with your third eye on your mental HUD, and you will have the option to spend points to purchase additional world options until you enter the next world. Any questions?¡±


    Arthur looked at them, his dream self¡¯s jaw slack and agape. ¡°Yes.¡± Of course he had questions.

 Stars, Fails, and Dragon Tails

    ¡°Unfortunately I do not have the authorized time to continue this general question and answer,¡± The smiley face said. Arthur had been questioning him for some time. He¡¯d learned a few things, but there was more he still wished to know. He suspected he¡¯d pursued details on the last question a bit too doggedly, and had annoyed the smiley face entity. ¡°Do you have questions about this world you are about to visit or your bounties?¡±


    Arthur looked again at the bounty board. It was hard to read the blackboard from his seat but it didn¡¯t matter. The act of will in trying to read it brought up his new mental HUD. It was odd, a corner of his vision - and with focus expanding it to completely cover his field of vision - getting a less than utterly opaque text scrolling across his eye. Or maybe it was just his mind¡¯s eye, but in this place that was the same thing.


    They seemed to be divided into two categories: Universal Bounties, and World Bounties. ¡°Shouldn¡¯t they be multiversal bounties?¡± Arthur wondered ¡®out loud¡¯ as he looked them over. Chuunibyou pose? Change his name? 50 CP to change his name. He wasn¡¯t sure yet how much CP was really worth. It was the measure of the power he had to wrap fragments of realities around himself, but even the smallest aspects seemed to cost 100 CP, and 50 CP seemed to be the smallest unit that most bounties offered.


    ¡°The very first definition of ¡®universe¡¯ is the whole body of existence that is or has been postulated, and it can also mean a set which contains everything relevant. Multiverse is a silly word for small minded people who confuse a large microcosm for the entire macrocosm.¡± The smiley face¡¯s tone was excessively chipper, and almost disturbingly sweet and happy even as Arthur was fairly sure it was scolding him for being an idiot.


    ¡°They expect me to change my name for 50 CP? Like legally changing my name or¡­¡±


    ¡°No, you are not allowed to simply change your name and change it back. Nor are you allowed to simply change it and continue going by your old one. Don¡¯t be a smartass. If you change it you will be going by it at least for an entire world.¡±


    And an entire world, he had been informed in the Q&A session, was typically but not always an entire decade. Was he really that attached to his name? If he changed his name he could get 50 CP right now¡­ and another 50 CP for completing his first bounty. And be 100 CP closer to a bonus 200 CP at 400 CP obtained. It might be worth it. It should be worth it.


    He looked at the test that showed his first world he¡¯d be visiting. Fairy Tail. Hiro Mashima¡¯s manga that took place in the fantastical world of Earthland. He could buy his overall magical power, overall magical skill, and¡­


    ¡°What exactly happens if I buy one of these backgrounds and what does it mean to ¡®drop-in¡¯?¡± He asked.


    ¡°A background will weave you into the world. In most worlds this will make certain portions of the reality in question easier to wrap around yourself. So certain powers or objects of power of the world will be more affordable. This one is an exception to that. However your background weaves you into the world. An entity is created, a piece of your soul woven into the fabric of the reality in question in the role you selected for it, and you will remember its life, you will feel its emotions. It will influence you with its nature and existence, and while this will be strongest while you¡¯re in the world you will have lived in their shoes.¡±


    Arthur immediately decided it sounded like a trap, a path to ego death, and to being changed into someone else entirely.


    ¡°I did say it¡¯s a piece of your soul. At their core they are still you. Though yes it will change you. But who you are now is not who you were a decade ago. Change is life. There is no avoiding it. Well some powers you may obtain might allow you to,¡± The smiley face entity stated, again demonstrating its power to if not read his mind predict it.


    Arthur nodded. ¡°So with the lowest tiers of perks and items,¡± the former were powers that once he had wrapped around his soul would be intrinsic to him, following him into other worlds, and self-enforcing their metaphysical structure as if it was part of the reality he found himself in, the latter were external manifestations of the same effect, ¡°It says I have so many free, and warns it¡¯s forfeit if I don¡¯t take it now, but for the higher tiers I get so many discounts and can use them at any time. Why?¡±


    ¡°To stop you from trying to game the system by taking freebies whenever convenient for you or when you discover you need something in the moment.¡±


    Arthur nodded. Unfortunately, that had ramifications for his choice in magic style. One was free, and additional bore a surcharge, but certain styles did as well, and without any CP he couldn¡¯t choose them without that additional surcharge. Unless of course he changed his name to get 100 CP, and even then the strongest were 200.


    And there were races. Human, Etherious, Dragon, Celestial Spirit, and Exceed. Of them Etherious and Dragon weren¡¯t options because they cost CP he did not have. Celestial spirit gained him nothing worth trading his humanity away for. But Exceed promised a free style of magic granting winged flight - and, with enough magical power, high speed - but it would also weaken his body and trap him in the form of a small cat-furry for a decade.


    And then there was his character sheet.


    Strength 1 - your body has been improved to a basic level of fitness expected of an amateur athlete.


    Dexterity 1 - your body has been improved to a basic level of fitness expected of an amateur athlete.


    Constitution 1.2 - your body has been improved to a basic level of fitness expected of an amateur athlete. You possess A Hardy Sort.


    There was a sort of hyperlink there, that by mentally clicking took him to the details of A Hardy Sort and how it improved his general hardiness and ability to bounce back from torture. It almost seemed an afterthought that it included sword skills.


    Intelligence 1.


    Wisdom 0.9.


    Charisma 1.1. You possess Crimson Moody Eyes.


    Again the hyperlink. Again the description of how it changed his appearance and allowed making allies with a grim reputation to be easier.


    Magic 0* - Devilish Draughts grants potion making.


    A thought and the asterisk expanded. There it explained that despite lacking innate magical power he was able to make use of magic through ancillary means. Following the Devilish Draught hyperlink he could see that it granted him herbalistic and magical potion making skills.


    That was it for his ability scores. From there it was just moving onto his special abilities, but only one of them was not listed in his ability scores. Kinslayer. Even the name was disquieting. It was a special ability that made him expert at killing those who he had fought alongside as allies. Of his ¡®cheat¡¯ powers, 3 seemed exceedingly minor and rather unsettling in their very nature. The last was potentially useful, depending upon what potions he could make it might provide him with a great deal of power and versatility. The other three just made him think that the entities behind this just wanted him to be cutting a bloody swath across reality.


    The fact that one of the bounties was offering him 200 CP to kill one of the main characters only added to his belief that the sponsors wanted him to wreak bloody havoc across Earthland. Another one offered 200 CP and other powers besides, to the protagonist in specific, though it was either befriend or kill. And if he had to keep them entertained¡­


    Arthur shook his head, or what passed for it in this dream-world, and thought about the last five items on the character sheet. These weren¡¯t abilities inherent to him. These were equipment, and seemed to include his actual ¡®cheats¡¯. A fine steed, which was described as a lizardhawk, and when he thought on it he could see it looking like some fantasy artist¡¯s representation of a pteranodon come to life. He also got some literally shining armor, and a regenerating supply of potion making ingredients which would make better potions than they should. Both were potentially useful, especially the later, but it was the last two which drew his attention. He recognized them after all. Their names weren¡¯t the same, but they were the Sad Giant¡¯s Shield and Stormbringer. Well no, it was specifically not Stormbringer or Mournblade, and somewhat less inclined to kill his friends. The fact that it said less inclined and not not inclined just added to his unease about this whole situation.


    What kind of people were the first choices for this adventure?


    Still he was Elric. But Elric without his awesome, fantastic, Arioch calling, elemental king summoning, god mode wizard powers. Oh he had his potion making, and those devilish draughts were powerful, but other than that he only had the weak, mopey, kinslaying, swordsman side of Elric. The lame side of Elric.


    And they wanted him to kill a main character. Even if he didn¡¯t doubt that Stormbringer was up to the task, he doubted he would be. Still there were other options. Like kill a dragon for its lacrima. Or join a guild, especially a top guild. Or obtain lost magic. None of those exactly screamed easy to his mind.


    He breathed and focused a bit. Returning his attention to the document for what he could wrap around his soul. Etherious wasn¡¯t worth pursuing before things began. Magical Skill might pay for itself if he could get it high enough; that reward for non-slayer lost magic was high and it would maybe make it possible. But he¡¯d need to obtain CP first. There were two other options there that overlapped with it too. Two powers he could wrap himself in for the same purpose, at least from his point of view.


    ¡°Why take Fairy Founder over Magical Skill?¡± He asked.


    ¡°Better application to other forms of sorcery and magic. Discounted it¡¯s also better than the equivalent magical skill for learning speed,¡± The smiley face answered.


    Arthur nodded and looked at the sheet. The other option was specifically for inventing new magic and re-discovering lost ones. It was probably the best of the three? Or maybe Fairy Founder? But Magic Skill was probably better until he was sent to more worlds with magic. Any of them should make the 500 CP for learning a non-slayer lost magic a real possibility. But also they were 200 CP each on their own. Another option had popped out at him, one that would make him lucky. If he was going to get anywhere having a bit of luck on his side was essential, and it was relatively cheap too. If he changed his name he could get it before things began.


    50 CP. To change his name. To sell away a part of his identity. Names were power. Names were magic.


    400 CP to kill Natsu, and he¡¯d get the kid¡¯s powers. Arthur pictured himself doing it. Pictured himself plunging totally-not-stormbringer into the pink haired idiot¡¯s chest and feeling his soul going into him through the sword. How would that even feel? Still the idea was enough to make him feel sick on his stomach. Natsu was a shonen idiot, but he liked him.


    That was at least 200 CP he wouldn¡¯t be getting. He¡¯d be more likely to see if totally-not-stormbringer could overcome the Curse of Ankhseram and he could survive absorbing Zeref¡¯s soul than kill one of them for a bit of power. There was 800 CP on offer for that one, as suicidal as the attempt sounded. Could he even survive that? If he killed some dragons with his black sword the amount he could absorb would expand. Maybe he could level up to killing Zeref.


    He felt an odd little tingle through his being, and he knew it was an alert that his character sheet had updated with new information. His mental focus shifted and he saw a new statistic listed. Soul Capacity 3.


    He felt his stomach turn a bit. The points seemed mostly from killing - 200 for Lucy, 400 for Natsu, 800 for Zeref, and that¡¯s before getting into the dragon gods and Acnologia. Or else being a Celestial Spirit Summoner.


    He was going to have to kill, sooner or later, if he wanted points, and he¡¯d need every bit of power he could get when he got home if someone who was willing to do those sorts of tasks came back with a truckload of free powers. The idea of what horrors they could put him through. What special torments they might have for a potential rival who wasn¡¯t really in their league. He could see in it his potential justification for killing Natsu, though for only 200 points over befriending him it wasn¡¯t that tempting when he could get six times that for killing Acnologia¡­ he just doubted that even Stormbringer could do that at least in his hands and without him dying on the way. Still it would be easy to justify anything as potentially preserving and protecting his world, the real world, just by killing some fictional characters. Certainly his life, the real world, was more important than some fictional hero.


    He looked at the sheet, his mood sinking and dark. Damn it he really was going to become a whiny little angst-ridden brooding morally conflicted edgelord like Elric.


    ¡°How does the ¡®may your life be eventful¡¯ bounty work? Is it permanent or just this world or?¡± He asked. He wasn¡¯t sure if it constituted free points or not. It sounded like it would skew things away from the center of the probability curve. Which would be dangerous at times, but helpful. And if he had good luck as well that should be a net positive? He hoped.


    ¡°Just this world,¡± The smiley face said in its unchangingly joyous tone.


    ¡°And am I changing the world by picking it?¡±


    ¡°Of course. It will shift you from the targeted world line to another world line on the more distant curves of random events," came the answer.


    ¡°Wait, would I be altering the world, or altering which world I go to?¡± Arthur asked.


    ¡°The latter.¡±


    ¡°Why is it worth twice as much as Danger Magnet? Am I missing something?¡± Arthur was wondering. For 100 CP it would make events and luck more swingy. Good and bad. Almost never potentially fatal, and not applied to combat. Good went to GREAT and bad went to BAD. For 200 CP it would be unrestricted and he had the feeling a lot more dangerous. That didn¡¯t seem as bad as being the first pick for targets.


    ¡°The sponsor selected its value. If you really think it¡¯s worth less than the other, well that¡¯s their decision not yours. Be thankful it¡¯s easier on you.¡±


    He nodded. There was one about anime hair. He just needed anime protagonist worthy hair. ¡°With the anime hair one do I have to actually fix my hair like that or?¡±


    ¡°I will apply it to you when you are embodied,¡± The smiley face stated.


    ¡°And can I change it afterwards?¡±


    ¡°It will revert as much as possible as quickly as possible for the full time you are in the world it is selected for.¡±


    Arthur nodded. Still if he was even going to survive to have these moral quandaries he needed something. Compared to deciding to be a murderer, assassin, or dragon slayer - Arthur tried to not think about how dragons in this world were fully people too - something like having anime protagonist hair was easy. He checked it, and focused on a hair style and he felt his hair begin to change.


    If he was going to be an Elric expy he¡¯d go with white hair. Albino white. And with some variation of Akira Toriyama spikes; Chrono or Goku or what have you. It would stand out, but how much would it stand out in a world like this? Or maybe something with an ahoge? Protagonist needs hair that stands out. And where Toriyama spikes stand out enough? Maybe add highlights?


    ¡°Done,¡± The smiley face said.


    ¡°Wait! I wasn¡¯t done deciding!¡± Arthur exclaimed, but he could feel it already was complete. There was a ding in his mind, a little notification informing him that a bounty had been completed followed almost immediately by another. And then just by thinking to collect the reward he could feel something changing in his being. It was like there was some energy filling him up, and somewhere in his mind he could feel a counter beginning to roll up as a zero became a one, became a two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten, eleven¡­ He could feel it accelerating, feel the little pouring in feeling of ecstasy, a rush which might be better than anything he had felt before except for its sheer brevity. It reached 50 and stopped, only to start again as another bounty ticked off, one for completing his first bounty.


    He couldn¡¯t help but cry out as the pleasure surged through his being. It was all encompassing, like a blinding light of pure ecstasy and then it was at 100. And so many grayed out options turned bright.


    ¡°Can I speak their language?¡± He asked as he looked over the options again. The freebies still mattered and too many appealed to him. He had to pick the two which were most essential. One let him pick up languages quickly; if he didn¡¯t know the local language that was essential. If he did it was not nearly as much.


    ¡°You will be able to speak the same language as Natsu,¡± the smiley face entity answered. But lost magic would be in lost tongues, and skill with language could be important.


    ¡°And in future worlds?¡± Arthur asked.


    ¡°The main cast¡¯s main language,¡± The face answered.


    Arthur put the language skill as a maybe. And even as he did he noticed something. There was the sound of a ticking clock, and it was suddenly far too loud and noticeable.


    His head shot up, and the smiley face, its unflinching and unchanging smile still on its face said in its unchanging, overly happy tone. ¡°This wouldn¡¯t be much of a test without a timer. Do please make your choices before the minute hand reaches 12.¡±


    Arthur wanted to scream, but it was time to debate his magic options more quickly than he would have liked. And picking up the #2 pencil once more he began. He had only 100 points with which to acquire powers. No. He checked the bounty classified as a world-modification. He¡¯d live in eventful times. It was, after all, Fairy Tail and Earthland. It was a happy place where the power of friendship won out, how bad could it be?


    And that gave him 200 points, and a whole plethora of new options became available. He knew if he picked up general luck he was forfeiting many other things, but even if he did he could get greater raw magical power, and become an equal to Natsu or Gray at the start of the manga, at least in raw magical power as well as skill. He could take Ice Make magic and really become Gray.


    He had to wonder if that¡¯d be enough to let him make Juvia fall for him.


    But he wasn¡¯t here to try and pick up barely legal, definitely crazy sorceresses. Though that begged the question of why he was here. He knew why he agreed, he didn¡¯t want to die from falling in the tub, but now that he was here why was he here? Did he really want to entertain these entities? Or just gain enough to survive falling in the tub? See how far he could go and how much he could gain? Ignore the bounties and enjoy the worlds he found himself in? Make places better? Well he had a feeling if he just ignored the bounties he¡¯d be going straight home. And ¡®strong enough to survive tub slipping¡¯ wasn¡¯t going to cut it if any of the other 5 returned home. They¡¯d be getting free power, and Arthur had the terrifying suspicion at least one of them would be a sociopath. Or worse someone convinced they knew what was best for everyone. If he was going to survive this journey, and if he was going to be meaningful back home, he needed to complete bounties.


    You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.


    He glanced again at the bounties. There weren¡¯t bounties for seducing young girls, terrifyingly crazy or not. There were bounties for killing things, and joining guilds, befriending spirits, and even getting cats out of trees, although that one didn¡¯t give points but instead gave him a power flat out. And not a bad one. There were other steps, but the task actually put a smile on his face; maybe he could get some of this stuff without completely forfeiting his soul.


    The ticking of the clock reminded him he only had so much time to decide.


    Magical power, magical skill, or a stronger form of magic. Those were the options his mind was circling as he absent-mindedly chewed the eraser of his pencil. He looked at the items. He got one free, and with his 100 he could get a dragon slayer lacrima. There was a bounty about acquiring one of those, worth 200.


    ¡°Would buying a lacrima here fulfill the bounty for getting one?¡± He asked.


    ¡°No.¡±


    That was that. He still considered it. It was magic to slay dragons and there were bounties for slaying dragons to turn them into lacrima himself; kill a dragon and turn it into lacrima and he¡¯d get 300. Spending 1 to get 3 wasn¡¯t bad. But even with it would it be possible for him to slay a dragon with raw power?


    The clock continued its aggravating ticking, each little click of the second hand seeming to echo through the air.


    No. He remembered the events surrounding the eclipse gate and the dragons there. Even many times stronger than he would be, slaying a dragon hadn¡¯t been an easy task. His resource was his faux-Stormbringer, he¡¯d have to figure out how to capitalize on it. There were many magic styles which would be nice, like healing magic or archive, but they wouldn¡¯t give him what he needed to get more points which could become more styles or other, potentially better, things.


    He considered the higher level magic styles. He made his decision, marking it down. And he chose his powers. He turned and he looked at the item options once more, hearing his time running out. Some of these could provide an entirely additional form of magic. But with his low magical skill mastering it would be difficult. He couldn¡¯t imagine that just by picking up a guitar he could play the Rock of Succubus.


    Then again he didn¡¯t have a clue how to play guitar even when it wasn¡¯t magic, and he didn¡¯t see an option to magically know how. Narrowing it down to two was possible, though.


    He finished the sheet, with 7 minutes to spare. And so he went back over the options. And then he changed one. If he failed his journey in this world he didn¡¯t want to die the pathetic death slated for him.


    One of the free options should be able to prevent it. It might not match the potential power he could otherwise get, but damn it, just not stressing over the fact that if he messes up he¡¯s going to die a pathetic death would be worth it. Perfume magic might have had promise, and would have allowed him to end up with 3 different styles of magic to begin with, but it wasn¡¯t worth his peace of mind. Besides this one could help him get more points to buy more, better, options. Maybe. He should ask about that, but the clock was ticking too low.


    And then he saw the option of Binary Stars. There was a bounty for befriending Celestial Spirits. It was a perk he could pick up to help him befriend his summons. If he befriended just one spirit it would be enough.


    But did he give up luck for that? Did he downgrade his magical skill?


    ¡°One minute warning,¡± the smiley face creature said, as Arthur frantically weighed his options. He¡¯d just need to befriend 1 combat worthy summon and he could buy back what he¡¯d given up¡­ but was it worth giving it up?


    ¡°Pencils down.¡± The ever cheerful voice was irritating to Arthur saying that hated phrase. But suddenly everything went black.


    The darkness only seemed to last a moment, and then Arthur found himself looking up into a fantastic sky. It was a night sky, but things in it were strangely illuminated. Small moons seemed to fill the air and they were close by, because on their faintly glowing surfaces he could make out buildings and creatures.


    Of course he couldn¡¯t keep his eyes up in the sky, he had to see where he was. He was in a body again. He could feel that. But it felt different. The old pain in his leg from an injury in high school was gone, and his body felt light like he had lost forty pounds, mostly from his gut. It was like his body had been refreshed, renewed, and reinvigorated to its prime. Even the armor he was wearing didn¡¯t seem to weigh him back down to what his own life had brought him to before.


    A massive shield was attached to one of his arms, and a sword hung at his waist. The Chaos Shield and the Black Sword, he surmised. Four silver keys were attached to his belt by the sword scabbard, and a large, winged reptile was a little distance behind him. He had a sack which seemed fairly heavy, and which he presumed were his alchemical reagents.


    He would have checked, except that there was an immediate problem to be faced. He was being quickly surrounded. A mass of small, cone-nosed little creatures that looked like living cartoons were surrounding him. But they were merely the smallest creatures around him. A grandfather clock, an archer in a horse suit that seemed to be a part of him, a large, blue, robotic bear, and weirder creatures. He knew the setting material well enough to have a guess where he was.


    ¡°I think it¡¯s a human,¡± One of the celestial spirits stated. Arthur couldn¡¯t figure out clearly which one with them crowding around him. It was hard to make out specific voices, too many people talking at once. The horse costumed archer - the zodiac spirit Sagittarius - was making his way through the crowd, shouting hello, as well as requests to be allowed through. When he got close, Arthur found himself face to face with the first major character, and the first supernatural being he¡¯d ever really been addressed by.


    ¡°Hello! Sir, I am pleased to make your acquaintance, but I must inquire, are you in fact a human?¡± His tone was polite, his speech pattern almost knightly.


    ¡°Yes,¡± Arthur hazarded.


    ¡°And would you happen to have been invited here by the king?¡± Sagittarius continued.


    Arthur¡¯s hand flinched. A part of him wanted to reach for his sword. What were they going to do? Arrest him as an unauthorized intruder? He couldn¡¯t fight his way through them. Even if he could, it''d be self-defeating.


    ¡°I didn¡¯t exactly mean to come here, so no,¡± He said, feeling anxiety eat away at him. He wanted to turn, and run, or find someone else who could deal with them for him.


    ¡°In that case, sir, I am afraid that I must place you under arrest,¡± The horse man said. ¡°Please do not resist.¡±


    A part of Arthur¡¯s mind was screaming he had a sword, he could use it. He had powers. It¡¯d still be self-defeating. He had to trust that the king was a reasonable authority figure.


    ¡°I will not,¡± He said softly, extending his hands empty and open. Being seized and arrested was an excellent start to his journey. He was so lucky.


    At least Celestial Spirit jail was probably more interesting than Earth jail. He wasn¡¯t there long either. It was maybe an hour between taking him to the king¡¯s palace, and then putting him in a holding cell until the king could see him. It was a bunch of fantastic sights he¡¯d love to have been able to focus on further.


    Instead anxiety, nerves, and worry had been eating away at him, and he¡¯d spent most of the time in his cell emptying his stomach in response to his feelings of fear of what was coming up. He was glad he didn¡¯t have to stand too close to the king when he was brought forward on trial. The rest of his time spent in the cell was cursing himself for choosing luck over befriending summons. How was he supposed to know he¡¯d end up in the world of summons immediately? What kind of luck was this?


    The king towered over him, a massive mustached giant standing in the air and looking down towards him. Arthur stood, as straight and tall as he could, as the king began to state his crime. It was simple. He was an uninvited intruder. And when it was done: ¡°How do you plead?¡±


    Arthur swallowed hard. His mouth was dry. They¡¯d - naturally - taken his weapons and keys from him. ¡°I was brought here without my intention and by accident,¡± He began.


    ¡°So you confess you have broken the law?¡± The king interrupted.


    ¡°I would love to leave this place immediately if I knew how, but yes.¡± Deny it wouldn¡¯t do him any good. Besides, the king was supposed to be a reasonable figure. This couldn¡¯t be as nasty a crime as killing your contract holder. Of course Loke was his friend and he almost killed him for that.


    ¡°You say that, but is it not as simple as returning where you came?¡± The king¡¯s gaze bore down at him, making him feel small and weak.


    ¡°I do not know how. I materialized where I was arrested.¡±


    ¡°And how did you materialize?¡±


    Arthur hesitated. He could lie. Try to think of something that¡¯d fit this world. Or he could tell the truth. If this was a choose your own adventure book this is where he¡¯d have flipped ahead to the speech option to make sure it wasn¡¯t something nearly suicidal. He breathed heavily, and he began to tell the events that led him here, his meeting with the smiley face entity, and his limited knowledge of events.


    The king watched him throughout, eyes narrowing, his focus only increasing Arthur¡¯s worry and fear, as his speech at places began to almost break down into stammers and fear.


    At last the king would speak, however. ¡°In light of these extenuating circumstances, I will send you onward to Earthland.¡± The king stated and raised his hand.


    ¡°Wait, you believe me?¡± Arthur asked.


    ¡°You bear 4 silver keys that should not exist, contracts with spirits you have never summoned, and yet they swear the contracts exist. It would seem to confirm your story.¡±


    Arthur sagged, starting to gasp and pant.


    ¡°Now to send you to Earthland,¡± The king began raising his hand and Arthur could feel himself starting to fade.


    ¡°Wait! My sword and bird!¡± The fading stopped.


    ¡°Oh yes, taking them was not my intent. Kochab, could you fetch them,¡± The blue robotic bear which had been sitting among those watching the trial moved to obey. It was a few minutes before it returned, leading the pteranodon-like creature, and carrying his sword and shield.


    ¡°Now,¡± the king began as Arthur started to strap his sword and shield back on himself.


    ¡°Wait!¡±


    ¡°What now?¡± The king said.


    ¡°Could you send me to the northern continent near the dragon slayers guild of Diabolos?¡± Arthur asked. Before awkwardly adding, ¡°Please.¡±


    ¡°Is that all?¡±


    It occurred to him that he hadn¡¯t met the spirits he had contracts with. But the king seemed to be growing irritated. So Arthur nodded.


    ¡°That is all, sir,¡± He said, trying his best to sound properly deferential and not overly scared. And with that he was fading once more.


    ¡°You¡¯re standing on my plate.¡± The voice was a bestial growl, the rumbling of an angry tiger about to strike. Arthur still hadn¡¯t actually got his senses about him, as the plate was yanked out from under his foot, and he found himself falling off of a wooden table. He thankfully didn¡¯t hit directly on his head this time, but his oversized shield, then his back, and only then his head. Even with his armor on, the shock was unpleasant.


    ¡°Who sent you,¡± The wolf-in-human-skin asked as he rose. He was a half-naked man, well into his 50s if not older, but his body was a mass of muscle and scars, his white hair forming a wild mane. His teeth looked inhuman, more like fangs than anything. This was the next generation of Acnologia. A man who was part way towards dragonification, and who had consumed so many dragons his power was beginning to bleed outwards.


    There were other people within the room, standing further back, sitting at other tables. They had been eating. He apparently had arrived in the middle of a meal. But Georg the Dragon Eater, master of the Dragonslayer¡¯s Guild Diabolos, demanded too much of Arthur¡¯s attention to even notice them.


    ¡°No one,¡± Arthur stammered, and the man kicked the table clean over him, letting it clatter into the wall.


    ¡°You don¡¯t smell strong enough to get into my guild without me sensing you first,¡± Georg growled out as he stomped down towards Arthur¡¯s face. The lizardhawk squawk and bit at him, only for a casual backhand to send the beast collapsing to the ground like a sack of potatoes.


    ¡°Uh well, I told the Celestial Spirit King I wanted to meet Diabol-erk.¡±


    Georg¡¯s hand had reached for his shield, lifting him and his armor and it all off the ground with one hand and holding him in the air.


    ¡°The Celestial Spirit King?¡± Georg¡¯s eyes narrowed. He noted the keys. He recognized the materialization. It was plausible the magic was related. But the king was not easy to meet. And¡­ ¡°You don¡¯t seem impressive enough to merit his attention.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯d reached his realm by accident and he was just kicking me out again,¡± Arthur was trembling in his armor. He hated talking to strangers to start with. Angry ones who looked like they were a step away from devouring him especially.


    ¡°Is that so? So why do you want to see us, got a dragon you need slain? If you do, I might spare you,¡± Georg said.


    Fuck fuck fuck fuck, he¡¯s going to kill me. Fear was filling Arthur¡¯s body and mind. ¡°I wanted to join your gui-¡± Arthur began but cut off as he was flung - hard - into the wall.


    ¡°I don¡¯t need cowards,¡± Georg stated. ¡°Or weaklings. You¡¯re both.¡±


    Arthur lay there for a moment, his entire body screaming. He didn¡¯t think anything was broken, especially as he rose to his feet. ¡°I want to slay a dragon,¡± He said, looking towards Georg. Fuck he probably should actually run. Leave when he had the chance.


    ¡°You want to slay a dragon? Don¡¯t make me laugh.¡±


    ¡°I want you to teach me how. I want to help you kill a dragon.¡±


    ¡°Why?¡± The man¡¯s spittle sprayed across Arthur¡¯s face.


    ¡°What kind of man doesn¡¯t want to kill a dragon?¡± Arthur answered, trying to fake a bravado he didn¡¯t feel.


    Georg began to laugh out loud, a long, low, rumbling laugh. ¡°You really think you can kill a dragon? Tell you what. Get one good blow on me, and I¡¯ll give you a shot. But if you¡¯re too weak, or cowardly I will kill you here and now. What do you say?¡±


    The man¡¯s eyes looked mad. Still Arthur took the opportunity to tremble a little, to think about his answer. He could walk away and¡­


    This madman was looking at him like a hungry wolf, and obviously pissed at him. If he walked away would he leave him alive? He drew his sword, grabbing two of his celestial spirit keys with the hand that was mostly strapped to his shield.


    He could already taste blood in his mouth.


    ¡°Like you¡¯d let a coward too scared to face you walk out of here after he¡­¡± He started to speak, his head ringing. He hurt all over.


    ¡°¡®After he¡¯ what?¡± A young girl, who couldn¡¯t be older than 14, called out from the sidelines.


    ¡°I think he¡¯s broken,¡± A guy a little older than her, dressed in heavy armor, said.


    Oh, wait, he¡¯d just sort of forgotten where he was going with what he was saying. Georg though was laughing. ¡°Like I¡¯m going to let you walk out of here at all,¡± The guild master said and then Arthur felt the force of impact.


    It was against his shield but he was still knocked back against the wall. It hurt. ¡°Open gate of the bear, Kochab,¡± It was the first time he¡¯d used magic, summoning one of the celestial spirits he knew somewhere inside he had a contract with.


    The blue, robotic bear he¡¯d seen in the spirit realm appeared between him and Georg and blocked the follow up attack.


    He could hear the impacts of the blows, though, the sound of metal tearing. A celestial spirit was immortal, but they could be beaten in combat, and Kochab was losing this fight.


    After three dent inducing blows, Georg had locked hands with the robotic bear and was pushing it back, overpowering the bear-spirit - which dwarfed him - with ease.


    ¡°Open gate of the chisel, Caelum!¡± Even as the robotic sphere - were all his spirits going to end up being robots - appeared it was already firing its laser.


    Georg didn¡¯t bother to dodge, he merely ripped one hand free from Kochab, and blocked the beam with his hand. ¡°One good blow or you¡¯re dead, weakling,¡± Georg howled with a half-laugh. ¡°And you haven¡¯t got nearly the power needed for that.¡±


    Arthur was afraid he might be right, his magical power was quickly running out, and Georg was dominating the two spirits. Even, presumably, trying to avoid damaging the guild hall or his guild members, Georg¡¯s dragon roar produced a terrible beam of light which sent Kochab crashing to the ground.


    For Arthur, it felt like watching the new pokemon he had high hopes for get brutally one-shot by a critical hit from a hyper beam. Caellum was firing again, shooting a series of beams towards Georg, but the dragon slayer wove through them with a horrible speed.


    Arthur released Caellum¡¯s summoning a moment before Georg crashed into where they¡¯d been. He knew he wouldn¡¯t be able to summon them again, but there¡¯d been no reason not to.


    Georg was rushing then. Arthur didn¡¯t have time to raise his shield, but it didn¡¯t matter, Georg was slamming into it and pinning Arthur by it against the wall.


    ¡°Four beast dragon¡¯s roar!¡± Georg¡¯s voice filled the air as he roared and his beam shot forth again. It was horribly concentrated and carefully controlled only to destroy Arthur.


    Fortunately, Arthur wasn¡¯t there any more. A disc of swirling shadow formed, a spatial rift that appeared around both him and Kochab as they swapped positions. Kochab took the blast, enough to shatter his summoning and break the key used to call him from the sheer feedback. Still, despite the disorientation of the swap, it was the opening he needed. With every bit of strength left in him, the sheer fight or flight instinct of facing down a rabid beast that was going to kill him, and the instinct and power of the black sword guiding his hand. Really the blow was more the sword dragging him along than anything of his own doing. Still, his black blade struck with a superhuman speed, the tip pointed towards Georg¡¯s gut.


    The dragon eater¡¯s head seemed to swerve 180 degrees, his body following in the same split second. His hand moved to catch the blade, the point barely millimeters from his belly. ¡°Not good enough,¡± He stated, even as Arthur could feel the blade¡¯s happy song thrumming through his body. It wasn¡¯t enough. It couldn¡¯t eat the enemy¡¯s soul from a flesh wound. But he could feel energy flowing into him from Georg.


    There was a moment. Georg had felt the drain as well. It¡¯d cut his hand. It was the surprise more than anything, he hadn¡¯t expected it to hurt and his hand pulled away, but the moment he did the black blade struck like a hungry viper and plunged into his gut pulling Arthur along behind it.


    And then Arthur felt a fist to his jaw and his grasp on the sword go limp as everything went black.


    When Arthur woke up again, he was surprised not to be falling towards a toilet seat temple first. He wasn¡¯t sure if that would even kill him now, a mage¡¯s - even Lucy¡¯s - body was tougher than normal, the ethernado inside of him might save his life. He¡¯d hoped that by choosing a contract with the clock he¡¯d have it appearing on its own to save his life, like it often did Lucy¡¯s. He was apparently wrong.


    He was also apparently alive. And on a bed. It was dark. There was absolutely no light, and his magical energy was still rather exhausted unfortunately. He lay back in the darkness and drifted back into a tired sleep.


    He woke up again when someone poked him. It made him wince in pain, but his eyes opened. The young girl who¡¯d watched the fight was looking at him. ¡°Oi, awake yet?¡±


    ¡°Owwww!¡± He howled.


    The girl proceeded to poke his rib again.


    Arthur walked into the guild¡¯s dining hall. He¡¯d been bandaged, his fractured ribs set as well as possible. Apparently there¡¯d even been a low end healing mage sent for. Once Kiria, the young lady, had stopped poking him in his broken rib, she¡¯d introduced herself and explained that the guild master wanted to see him when he was awake.


    His black sword lay on the ground, blood dried on it. It looked like they had left it where he¡¯d dropped it. Unlike his shield and armor which had been in the bedroom with him. He¡¯d assumed it was because they didn¡¯t trust him armed with it, but here it was just laying where he could pick it up if he dared.


    He didn¡¯t.


    ¡°Sit,¡± Georg said. The master had a table all his own. There were two others, where what looked like the elite mages of the guild sat. Kiria was moving to one of those tables and sitting at it flanked by two armored men, who Arthur guessed were in their late teens. The other table had a woman and two men as well. A youth maybe 15 or 16, an older man who looked around 30, and a woman in her¡­ mid 20s?


    ¡°Where?¡± Arthur asked.


    ¡°Is that anyway to talk to your guild master?¡± Georg demanded, slamming his fist into the table.


    ¡°No,¡± Arthur snapped. ¡°Sorry sir. Where should I sit, sir?¡± He asked, trying to sound respectful more than scared. The last thing he could remember was this man physically beating him into unconsciousness, and he had been armed, and armored then.


    Georg pointed across from him, and then belatedly said, ¡°Grab a chair from one of the other tables, I want to talk to you.¡±


    ¡°Yes, sir,¡± Arthur said, his heart pounding. He was scared. He didn¡¯t want to be beaten into unconsciousness again. Obtaining a chair, he pulled up at the boss¡¯s table, sitting across from the wild beast of a man. It felt like staring down a hungry tiger.


    ¡°Your sword tried to kill me,¡± Georg said. He was eating a meal of meat with a side of meat. It looked rather bordering on raw. And the man didn¡¯t use a fork or knife, but just lifted it and bit into the slab of meat, ripping it with his teeth, red juices flowing down his face.


    ¡°You told me to land a good hit¡­ Sir,¡± Arthur stated.


    He flinched when Georg growled at him and snarled. ¡°After you were unconscious. I picked it up, and it twisted in my hand and,¡± He pointed at his chest, a fresh scar standing right over his heart.


    ¡°Well it is my sword,¡± Arthur said. He wished he¡¯d said something cooler, something more confident, something less sniveling, but that¡¯s all that came to his mind at the moment.


    Georg growled a little more. ¡°It¡¯s a nasty piece of holder magic you¡¯ve got there. I haven¡¯t seen one like it before. It doesn¡¯t feel strong. Doesn¡¯t even feel magic at all. But when I touched it.¡± The monster-in-human-flesh flinched a little. ¡°Got more tricks like that?¡±


    Arthur hesitated. There wasn¡¯t a notification that he had joined a guild. Even if Georg had called himself Arthur¡¯s guild master he very much wasn¡¯t part of the guild yet. ¡°Maybe,¡± Arthur said. ¡°You don¡¯t show your full hand except to friends. Am I part of the guild?¡±


    ¡°Probationally,¡± Georg said. ¡°We¡¯re a guild of dragon slayers. You¡¯re not one yet. But I¡¯ll let you tag along and assist some of the members, and if you do good work you¡¯ll get your shot at a dragon.¡±


    ¡°Well then, I¡¯ll do my best to do good work,¡± And complete the bounties that require him to make friends. ¡°And they¡¯ll hopefully get to see some of my tricks.¡±


    Georg glared at him, and Arthur froze like a deer in the headlights, his rationality forgotten as he simply prayed inwardly that this monster wouldn¡¯t choose to kill him this time.


    ¡°You¡¯ve got balls,¡± Georg said, before his head turned, ¡°Oi, Midori, get the lad a beer and some meat.¡± He looked back at Arthur, and flashed his fangs. ¡°This meat is nothin¡¯ compared to a dragon¡¯s, but before you get too big for your britches, boy, you gotta know I was playin¡¯ with you. And you were still out for 2 days. You made the minimum cut, kid, and just barely at that. Don¡¯t think you¡¯re a match for anyone in my guild. But I can probably make a real man out of you.¡±


    Arthur found himself feeling a strange sense of pride at this. He felt like he was smiling even.


    ¡°Eat, before I decide to eat ya instead, brat,¡± Georg said with a growl. Arthur saw little choice but to begin to eat. It seemed he wasn''t in the guild yet, but that he was at least in part. And for now that was good enough for him.

 Red lions and black dragons

    The next week and a half passed surprisingly peacefully for being part of a group of ¡®villains¡¯. Arthur was beginning to miss modernity, though. The guildhouse had running water, indoor plumbing, and even toilet paper, thankfully. Still there was no internet with its countless diversions. No tv. No books even. And he¡¯d been spending half of every day cleaning the guildhall because he was squatting here and if he was going to be a deadbeat he could at least help clean up.


    He had to wonder if this was at all entertaining to his sponsors. He had, though, met some of the guild members. They were distressingly child-soldier like. The guild itself seemed almost like an orphanage. Almost none of them had parents, and most of them had been taken in by Georg as kids or teenagers to be raised as dragon slayers to help him in his goal of eradicating all dragons. There were a few who had been adults when the guild was founded, a pair of older men who had known Georg since then, but who didn¡¯t take many jobs anymore due to being well past their prime.


    After a sparring session where Suzaku tested his skill - murder sword not included - he¡¯d been assigned to them for training. Between cleaning the guild hall, and the training he didn¡¯t think he¡¯d worked so hard in his life. Thankfully he had the alchemical ingredients for some stimulants. It¡¯d taken him 5 days to find the time, and mostly the energy, to make them instead of collapsing in an exhausted heap. They were helping. Significantly. He had even managed to make some other alchemical goodies, from medicinal potions to aid his natural recovery - his cracked ribs still ached despite the healer¡¯s work - to some potions to reinforce his vitality and strength in a combat situation.


    And he was learning to use his magic more fluidly, especially in a fight, but it really wasn¡¯t enough. If only little by little. A ¡®gift¡¯ notification had hit the other day in his mental ui. The fact that he had a mental heads up display and user interface was still somewhat disconcerting. Still it seemed someone had approved of his surviving the fight, and rewarded him with 100 CP. It was enough to buy something to push him to be better. He¡¯d procrastinated about spending it though. It was an important decision, and he had options. There was a perk he could obtain that would make it easier for him to befriend Celestial Spirits - and any other form of summons he happened to acquire - and it was cheap, cheap enough that befriending 1 strong spirit or 2 plue level ones; it should pay for itself. But he kept thinking maybe he should have bought magical skill up instead of learning stronger base magic? He still couldn¡¯t use a fraction of what could be done with Territory Magic. Of course even if he could, he didn¡¯t have the raw power to fuel it. The one hundred points sat in the corner of his mind, literally, beckoning him to use them.


    A new bounty had appeared, as well. But he wasn¡¯t sure he trusted it. It was only 50 CP. It wasn¡¯t much. But it was for not performing another bounty for a year. One that was about eating a compass. He wasn¡¯t sure why they wanted him to eat a compass. Or why they didn¡¯t want him to eat one. But he needed to decide whether he was going to eat one, or not eat one for a year soon.


    He clicked the bounty, deciding that it was better to decide anything than just keep procrastinating. Especially given his nature to procrastinate. He¡¯d already put it off over a week. It¡¯d be done quicker than he could decide on his own. Still that 100 CP was just sitting there tempting him to use it. Maybe he should go ahead and get better at befriending celestial spirits.


    ¡°Oi, weakling,¡± Kiria said. The teenager was obnoxious. But she was a strong, full member of the guild, and he was a pathetic hanger on, little better than the servants who brought dinner.


    ¡°Yes?¡± At least he didn¡¯t have to call her sir or ma¡¯am or something.


    ¡°Stop spacing out like a weirdo,¡± She said. ¡°And today¡¯s your lucky day. You get your first chance to tag along on a quest. We¡¯ve got a monster slaying job, and I thought your little lizard thing would be faster than hiking into the mountains. You can watch how someone actually strong does things.¡±


    ¡°Suzaku is coming?¡± Arthur said with a grin. The little bi-tty brat annoyed him, and he was more than happy to see her scowl at the reminder that Suzaku blew her out of the water.


    ¡°Don¡¯t make me cut you down to size,¡± The blonde touched her palm with her other hand¡¯s fingers pulling her hands apart slowly letting a nearly invisible blade of energy form between them. ¡°I bet I could cut straight through that oversized shield of yours.¡±


    She might very well could, and while he doubted she¡¯d kill him, she might do that if he pushed the little psycho¡¯s buttons too much.


    ¡°I¡¯d rather you show me how to cut down¡­ what sort of monsters are we hunting?¡±


    ¡°A pride of werelions attacked a merchant¡¯s caravan. We¡¯re going to slay them.¡±


    Werelions? There were werelions in this world. ¡°Alright, let me get my gear,¡± Arthur said.


    He did his best to ignore Kiria¡¯s disgusted sigh and grumbled words. ¡°Holder mages.¡±


    Arthur had lost one of his silver keys in the fight with Georg. He hadn¡¯t even known it was possible for that to happen. Still he had a silver key of the gate of the chisel to summon a caelum, a silver key of the gate of the clock to summon a horologium, and a silver key of the gate of the eagle with which he could summon an aquila. That gave him a ranged combat option, a defense option, and a fast attacker.


    His territory magic should give him unbridled mobility. He could swap positions, teleport things to him, teleport himself, but he couldn¡¯t manipulate its higher level functions. At least not yet. He couldn¡¯t transport entire angry mobs, or golden key spirits, or trap people in his personal spatial bubbles to drain their magic.


    He had a small supply of potions. Invigorating, revitalizing, and strength bolstering. He wouldn¡¯t be stingy with them. He also had his sword, and his mount. After it was discovered that with both of them on its back, the shield was too large for the lizardhawk to fly with on its back, and he was hopeless at getting it to carry the shield for long distances, Kiria had made him leave it behind. He¡¯d have felt a lot safer with a shield though.


    ¡°You¡¯re spacing out again,¡± Kiria said behind him. She was pressed close, riding on the back of the flying reptile. It was an odd feeling. He¡¯d never really thought how much sensation you¡¯d miss wearing armor. It was just a feeling of pressure dully against his back.


    ¡°I¡¯m just trying to think about what I have to help fight the werelions with.¡±


    ¡°Not to help. To fight the werelions. You¡¯re proving your worth here, you know, probational boy,¡± Kiria said, flashing her oversharp teeth just a little at him.


    ¡°And what will you be doing?¡± He was almost afraid to ask.


    ¡°Watching. I mean if they tear you limb from limb it ought to be a good show.¡±


    Guiding the lizardhawk down to the ground was less easy than Arthur liked. He wasn¡¯t actually good at riding it. Something Kiria had most certainly noticed behind him. He wasn¡¯t going in for a landing. That¡¯d be foolish. The werelions seemed to live a nomadic lifestyle, living in tents in the fields.


    Arthur told himself they were nothing more than the equivalent of video game enemies. These were monsters and he had been hired, legally, to exterminate them. These were monsters like the sort that Elfman would takeover. Possibly literally among them, Arthur couldn¡¯t remember his forms. The good guys in shonen didn¡¯t regularly kill beings with human-equivalent minds to wear their bodies for power.


    Thus these were just monsters. Like orcs or goblins. He could kill them without any worries. He didn¡¯t have to worry about the morality of what he was about to do. Just the means.


    He couldn¡¯t teleport the whole tribe, but flying low he could grab two with his territory magic and transport them to the very top of his personal ¡®space¡¯ in which he could work the magic. And then he let them fall.


    The sound of their impact was sickening. A pair of roars of pain and furry. But when Arthur looked back the worst part was that his victims, wounded but intact, were rising to their feet and calling to their allies.


    ¡°Is that how you intend to fight werelions?¡± Kiria asked. ¡°You¡¯d have to drop them a lot further than that.¡±


    A spear was flying towards him and the lizardhawk, one of his teleportation portals catching it and launching it back at the werelion with the same force. ¡°Look I don¡¯t know how much it takes to kill a lion monster!¡± He shouted at Kiria, as the lions were coming out of their yurt-like dwellings.


    ¡°And you want to be part of Diabolos?¡± Even as the blonde dragon slayer mocked his aspirations he was working his territory magic. It was draining. Each time he teleported one of them he could feel the drain on his magical strength. Each spear he caught he could feel. And worse than the magical strength was the concentration and focus required.


    ¡°You do, don¡¯t you?¡± Kiria continued behind him. And then the lizardhawk began to squawk loudly and spiral downward. It was, in its wounded panic fleeing the werelions, but the lions were chasing, and Arthur was increasingly convinced he wasn¡¯t up to the task of catching their weapons as they did.


    He was mostly succeeding, or he thought he was. Kiria was actually covering for him, cutting a portion of the hurled projectiles from the air, something that would have been rather obvious if he hadn¡¯t been pushed so close to his limit. Still he was only mostly succeeding, and it would only take one spear to kill him. He couldn¡¯t catch it and eat the spear¡¯s head like Kiria.


    The 100 CP burned bright in the back of his mind. At that moment he grabbed whatever purchase offered him the best chance of survival in the there and now. Magical Skill Lv 2. It promised to make him an expert combatant when using his magic, equal to Erza in skill if not power. It was theoretically something he could learn with years - though it also promised an increase in learning speed - but he didn¡¯t have years at this point.


    And suddenly it became a whole lot easier to do things like slow them by teleporting some of them into the air and dropping them, even while catching their weapons and redirecting them. Even if they could survive the fall, they were obviously wounded by it, and having another werelion dropped on you was unlikely to be pleasant.


    ¡°Wow, you really suck at this,¡± Kiria commented, with a calmness that pissed Arthur off.


    She was hopping off of the lizardhawk when it was still a good several meters in the air. ¡°Gonna just sit there? They¡¯ll be here soon,¡± she said with a cocky look on her face, her tongue hanging out of her mouth when she wasn¡¯t speaking.


    The middle school brat was better in a dangerous situation than he was. That was painful.


    He dismounted the lizardhawk, grateful it had at least brought him safely to the ground. And that the miles of land it covered in the process had forced the werelions to form a line based on speed. He wasn¡¯t fighting the whole pride of them.


    As he drew his sword and turned to face them, Kiria was rushing behind him and the lizardhawk.


    ¡°I¡¯d help. But really such weaklings aren¡¯t worth my time.¡± At the moment Arthur hated her. But he didn¡¯t have time to hate her. The lizardhawk was squawking out in pain, spears and axes having peppered its underside. He had fucked up and now he was facing down an angry horde of lionmen, on foot, with his magical energy already severely drained.


    ¡°Open gate of the eagle, I summon you Altair!¡± It was another drain on his magical energy, and he was already starting to run low, but he needed something to run interference and with Kochab gone, it was time to try the eagle. It appeared, a man-sized yellow bird, with red dots on its cheek, black-tipped tail feathers, and brown stripes on its back and wings. An incongruous Zeus beard adorned its face beneath its beak.


    ¡°Kii! Those look dangerous. Kii!¡± The eagle said, proceeding to fly up and kick at the air before starting to move to cringe behind - the now laughing - Kiria.


    ¡°That¡¯s why I summoned you!¡± Arthur¡¯s fear lent anger to his voice. The first werelions were almost upon him already. He should have summoned the laser cannon.


    Instead he had to hastily teleport his shield in front of him, sliding his arm through its loops and brace the best he could with his shield only half on as the first one hit his shield with a force to make his arm scream in pain as he was driven back several feet. Even with his strength being more than doubled, his reflexes sharpened to a razor¡¯s edge, and his alertness re-invigorate by his alchemical arts, he wasn¡¯t certain about his odds against one werelion much less two.


    ¡°Kii! I don¡¯t know why that¡¯d be why you summoned me. Kii!¡± The eagle said as the werelion leapt forward, hammering its ax down onto Arthur¡¯s oversized shield.


    ¡°To help me fight them!¡± He said, focusing more on defending against the werelion than anything, hoping that his black sword would guide his blows.


    ¡°Kii!?¡± The eagle screeched. The werelion merely roared. Two of the others were nearing, rushing towards them.


    Was this really going to be it?


    Altair dashed forward, moving as a bolt of lightning through and into one of the werelions tangling with it. Arthur lost track of the other, as the one that was facing him already managed to knock his shield to the side and off of his arm.


    And like a striking serpent his sword plunged into its shoulder and he felt the pleasant flow of energy from it. It was hard to say which was better. The feeling of completing a bounty, or the feeling right now. The sword was singing, and as it sang he felt pure vitality flowing into him. His magical energy was refilling, and with it his strength. He pulled the blade back from the beast allowing it to slump to the ground.


    Altair was wrestling with one of the werelions, a second charging to strike the bird. He breathed deep and focused, letting his magic extend over the bird and the lion it was fighting and swapping their positions so that the new combatant¡¯s ax struck deep into its friend.


    The werelion he¡¯d lost track of was rising to its feet, but he was ready, moving to it to cleave its head with his sword, and feel that wonderful sensation that came with his magical energy being restored. He reached out, warping his territory to pull a werelion into his blade, his strength beginning to increase, the blows that had taken all the force in his arm, beginning to grow easier with each foe killed, as slaughter rang out and he moved forward.


    Kiria had to admit Arthur was doing better than she had expected. She¡¯d tripped one of the werelions with her blade dragon slayer magic, slashing its calf from afar, when they were first coming. And she¡¯d continued to cover his back thus at first, just little cuts that kept one from approaching while he was handling another, and helped keep them from using their numbers to surround him. But they¡¯d started running soon after that and it had become less of a fight and more of a brutal slaughter. She didn¡¯t know how he kept it up. She could feel his magical strength. He was using almost the entirety each time he caught the fleeing werelions and returned them to his position, and yet each time he was able to repeat the action. It was certainly interesting.


    ¡°Shouldn¡¯t you be helping him?¡± She asked, looking at the yellow eagle which had just flown back to land behind her.


    ¡°Kii! It¡¯s scary out there. Why aren¡¯t you helping? Kii!¡± The bird screeched back. Blood had splattered its feathers, and while Arthur hadn¡¯t mistaken friend for foe yet, the celestial spirit saw no need to stay now that there were only 3, wounded lions trying their utmost to flee from the reaver behind them.


    ¡°They¡¯re too weak for it to be fun,¡± She said, still watching. It felt like the little wannabe was getting faster with each one killed, and his magic flowing more easily. One of the lions disappeared into the sky, and suddenly he had swapped positions with one of the other two. It raised its spear to block his blow, but the black sword clove through the spear and werelion both. It was a brutal blow, far stronger than Kiria would have expected from his magical strength.


    The battle was truly over at this point, the airborne lion having fallen on its limping comrade, and leaving them both open to a blade that would cleave through them both. And Kiria had gotten an idea for his capabilities which she could report back. He couldn¡¯t handle a whole group of werelions on his own. But he¡¯d handled more than some full members of the guild would have been expected to. A werelion¡¯s strength was dangerous. And he was cutting straight through them.


    ¡°Kii! Far too scary out there. Kii!¡± Altair said, raising a wing and sheltering its eyes from the bloody carnage.


    Kiria watched with a growing smile, her small fangs showing. Maybe it¡¯d not be too long before the little wannabe was strong enough to give her a fun fight. She¡¯d been more interested in his sword than him before. Georg had denied her the chance to eat it because its weird magic had drawn too much of his interest. But it might be more fun to fight it, and its chosen wielder, than to eat it anyway.


    Arthur looked around, blood dripping from his sword. He felt invigorated. More alive than he¡¯d ever felt in his life. Even when he used to play soccer he¡¯d never felt alive like this. He was brimming with energy, every muscle in his body singing a happy, pleasant song in keeping with the demonic chorus that rose into his mind from the sword in his hand.


    He stabbed one of the werelions on the ground. Had to make sure it was actually dead. Definitely not just wanting his next jolt of that power flowing through him, and the sheer pleasure that came with it. He just would double check a few more of the werelions.


    They were all, unfortunately, not pretending. He wondered if he¡¯d missed any initially. He¡¯d never really been in a real fight before coming to this world. A real, all out, drag out, trying to hurt you no matter what fight.


    Georg had beat him so hard that it was terrifying. But this¡­ This battle had been almost fun; once he no longer felt like he was going to die.


    ¡°Oi! Stop wasting time stabbing corpses! I think your lizard bird needs some medicine!¡± His head swerved towards Kiria, and she flinched even from this distance. He wasn¡¯t actually going to stab her. It just was a thought that crossed his mind. Nothing more.


    It felt almost painful to make himself sheathe his sword, knowing that when he did its red song would silence. Still it had fed him well with strength, and he strode forward with a confidence he¡¯d never felt before in his life.


    ¡°It¡¯s dead,¡± He said as he looked at the lizardhawk. It wasn¡¯t moving. It wasn¡¯t breathing. It was completely limp.


    ¡°You don¡¯t seem very upset,¡± Kiria said.


    His character sheet informed him it would be replaced in a week, but did he want to tell Kiria that. ¡°I can replace it with a bit of time,¡± He said.


    ¡°We¡¯re 20 miles from the guild,¡± She was looking up at him, tapping her foot as she did so. ¡°And 10 miles in the other direction from our pay. You were supposed to be our ride there and back.¡±


    ¡°I guess we walk,¡± Arthur said with a shrug, he was feeling invincible at the moment.


    ¡°I¡¯m not walking there! If I wanted to walk I¡¯d have brought Madmole and Skullion, not you!¡±


    Arthur turned to look at Altair, and Kiria¡¯s gaze followed after his.


    ¡°Kii!? I can¡¯t carry you! I¡¯m a noble spirit, not a pack mule! Kii!¡± The bird squawked.


    ¡°Can you carry her at least?¡± Arthur pointed towards Kiria.


    ¡°Him? The job was a little distant and I needed a pony,¡± Kiria dug her feet into his sides then. Arthur wasn¡¯t actually a licensed guild mage, or mage at all. He couldn¡¯t legally complete jobs, or pick up payment for them. The workaround was that he was not performing the quest; Kiria was using him as a tool.


    And given he¡¯d just had to give her a ten mile piggy back ride, he was really feeling like a tool right now.


    The overflowing strength and confidence he had felt in the midst of the carnage of battle was all gone. In its place was sore muscles and exhaustion. Altair had carried his shield for him at least. But his body ached and his limbs were sore. And he wasn¡¯t even going to get paid. This was just going to go to cover his rent and fees for the month.


    At least Kiria was finally hopping off of his back to deliver the bag of werelion tails taken as proof of the deed, and get the payment.


    He reached towards Altair, to scratch the eagle¡¯s head. ¡°You did good out there. I don¡¯t think I¡¯d have survived without you keeping them off of my back. Thank you.¡±


    ¡°Kii! Think nothing of it. It¡¯s a spirit¡¯s contract. Kii!¡± The bird replied.


    ¡°Still, you were there for me. Thank you,¡± He repeated obstinately.


    ¡°Kii! You could thank me better with some fresh meat. Kii!¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll try.¡± They passed the time in silence then for a few minutes before Kiria returned.


    ¡°Alright, Horsey, time to carry me back to the guild hall,¡± She said, slapping him on the shoulder. He sort of hated her right then. ¡°But we¡¯ll get your bird some meat first.¡± Even if she wasn¡¯t all bad.


    It was more than a day later when he, dragging his Chaos Shield behind him, and with Kiria still riding on his shoulders and occasionally pretending he was in fact a horse, arrived back to the guildhall. 30 miles. He had carried her thirty miles. He was definitely stronger than he¡¯d been in his previous life. If nothing else magical energy was good for the body.


    Still the guildhall was strangely hushed when he and Kiria entered. It had nothing to do with him and Kiria¡¯s return, though. The fourth Dark Dragon Knight had returned. Byaku, the White Tiger Dragon Slayer. Arthur had been fairly certain there wasn¡¯t one, or else it was an eternal child. He¡¯d have sworn the one in the manga was like 15, and Diabolos didn¡¯t even show up till 9 years from now. Kiria was an adult by the time she was shown in the manga.


    Byaku though was very clearly not a child. He was taller than Georg, and just as heavily built, with arms that were thicker than Arthur¡¯s legs. He dwarfed anyone else in the guild, a long mane of white hair falling down his back, and a body covered in scars and Arthur thought he saw scales.


    Kiria was excited, starting to run towards Byaku, but she stopped when she entered the main room. It was obvious that there was something wrong from how everyone else was acting. And the fact that Georg had just moved forward with a speed that Arthur could barely follow - a speed which would have killed him if he¡¯d used it during their so-called fight - and slammed an open palm strike towards Byaku¡¯s stomach.


    ¡°You were forbidden to use the Dragon Force again,¡± Georg growled out. Arthur couldn¡¯t make out well what exactly was happening, still being in the other room, but Byaku hadn¡¯t budged from the blow an inch. As he entered he could see that Byaku was holding Georg¡¯s wrist, keeping his hand an inch from his gut.


    ¡°It was necessary. People would have died if I hadn¡¯t.¡± Arthur flinched a little as he saw Byaku¡¯s face. His eyes weren¡¯t human, and his fangs were more prominent even than Georg¡¯s, and made Kiria¡¯s monstrous chompers look like the cute little fangs a monster girl might have. They didn¡¯t fit fully into his mouth, but two had developed into full saber-teeth hanging out to the sides of her jaw like a walrus¡¯s tusks. His face was distended, and black and white scales were just barely visible on it.


    ¡°I expressly forbade it,¡± Georg resumed in a harsh tone. ¡°You know what you risk each time you use it.¡±


    ¡°People would have died,¡± Byaku repeated.


    ¡°And if you turn? If you become a berserk beast which we have to put down?¡± Georg was staring into his eyes now. Arthur was starting to remember something about this. One of the Diabolos mages had used the dragon force. It had started a very accelerated bout of dragonification, turning him into an increasingly berserk dragon. In the end Irene¡¯s ghost had had to fix it, by enchanting his magic away from him.


    Byaku didn¡¯t answer, but merely turned his head with a low growling sound.


    ¡°Never, never use the dragon force again. Or there¡¯s no going back for you,¡± Georg commanded. And Arthur found he had the sinking feeling that Byaku would. After all¡­ a new dragon slayer had inherited the White Tiger Dragon¡¯s power by eating it.


    Byaku merely gnashed his teeth a bit and pulled away, turning and walking with an almost sarcastic, ¡°Yes, master. And who will slay you when you finally turn?¡±


    Byaku stamped out of the doorway, and Georg began to bellow like a raging beast that everyone should stop gawking and get out of there. Arthur felt Kiria grab his wrist and pull him back towards the entrance.


    ¡°Let¡¯s get something to eat, my treat,¡± She said as she led the way out into the town. ¡°What kind of meat do you like?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know what¡¯s good around here,¡± Arthur said indecisively. ¡°Kiria, your fangs, are they because¡­¡±


    She hit him - hard - in the ribs. ¡°Don¡¯t ask a girl something like that. And yeah, I used the dragon force once. We¡¯re not supposed to but I was weak. I won¡¯t be weak again. Now, I¡¯m hungry, let¡¯s get some meat.¡±


    Arthur nodded. It was obviously a touchy subject, and Byaku probably had just made it worse. But he had to wonder if that was why Georg, and Kiria were so prone to violent urges? Had dragonification changed their brains? That was a terrifyingly sombering idea. After all he was on the route to becoming a dragon eater himself. Would his shield prevent that corruption if he wore it? Was dragonification an effect like unto those of Chaos? Hopefully he¡¯d not find cause to find out.


    It¡¯d been one month since Arthur had arrived at Diabolos. In that time he¡¯d started to be allowed to help some of the teams with jobs ever since the werelion one. Never the Dark Dragon Knights. They rarely did jobs as a group anyway; they usually worked alone, reliant on their overwhelming power which easily dwarfed that of the guild¡¯s second strongest team.


    If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.


    But he did do a job with Skullion¡¯s team, even if it was primarily as a scout with his - newly reborn - lizardhawk, or as Kiria¡¯s ¡®Horsey¡¯. The other 3 jobs he got dragged on were with lower level teams, ones he¡¯d never even heard of in the manga because they just weren¡¯t powerful enough to even be sent against the Five Dragon Gods or Fairy Tail.


    He wished he was getting paid. He¡¯d found a silver key of the gate of the little horse, but it¡¯d been almost 40,000 jewels which was not as much as it sounded to him used to thinking in dollars, and jewels being closer to pennies, but given he was ¡®lucky to be getting room and board¡¯ it had been far beyond his price range.


    Still he had free access to the common area of the guild pantry, and it had been a month since he had arrived making it a special day. Kochab¡¯s key had replaced itself today. He could summon the spirit again and thank it for saving him. He couldn¡¯t complete the bounty for befriending a spirit with him, he was disqualified as a ¡®purchased¡¯ spirit. But he still had taken a death blow for him.


    He got a jar of honey from the guild pantry, the largest he could find, and went out of the guild to the mountainside which surrounded it. The town was situated below, its lights visible in the night. And he lifted up the newly reforged key and summoned Kochab forth.


    The big, blue, robotic bear appeared, and Arthur lifted the jaw with an awkward smile. ¡°I thought you might like some honey,¡± He said.


    The bear took it and let out a low, pleased rumble before it began to eat. ¡°I just wanted to say thanks. You really saved me back there. Without you, I¡¯d have been, well, toast,¡± He stated. The bear rumbled something else. ¡°I hope it didn¡¯t hurt as bad as it looked.¡± Another rumble, something about being immortal and better for the spirit to take the blow than its contract holder. ¡°Still I shouldn¡¯t have thrown you into that situation,¡± He said, and simply began to talk to the bear. Oh he knew he should be visiting the guild library to research potential lost magic, or working on his alchemy to see if he could find a way to reverse Irene¡¯s dragonification or the curse of Ankhseram, or just out trying to make friends with people who counted for bounties even, or pursuing the one about getting Loke pardoned by the king, but¡­ Kochab had saved his life. And he hadn¡¯t even thanked him for more than a month.


    The big, blue bear deserved some thanks, gratitude, and a chance to eat a jar of honey. Just chill and hang with the gigantic blue bear for a while, looking out at the town below and enjoying the fresh mountain air, so much cleaner than he had been used to on his world.


    ¡°Oi! Horsey! That¡¯s where you got to, I¡¯ve been looking all over for you!¡± Kiria was emerging from the guild hall, golden hair damp from the bath and dressed in a yukata.


    Arthur repressed a groan. He hated that she called him that. It was starting to catch on. ¡°What is it?¡± He asked.


    ¡°Oi! Madmole, Skullion, I found him! He¡¯s outside,¡± She said, coming closer and holding up a bottle of what looked like wine - much looser alcohol laws in this fantasy world. Not that he suspected that Kiria would have been the sort to obey them if they weren¡¯t.


    ¡°You¡¯ve made it a month without breaking down or running away,¡± Kiria said with a smile, slapping him on the back. ¡°You¡¯re not as weak or pathetic as we all thought.¡±


    ¡°Thank you very much,¡± Arthur said in a sarcastic tone.


    ¡°Don¡¯t make me cut you, Horsey,¡± Kiria warned. He was afraid she really probably meant it. ¡°Me and some of the others just thought it was due for a little celebration. I mean all that¡¯s left is for you to learn dragon slayer magic and you¡¯ll be part of the guild.¡±


    Skullion and Madmole had approached from behind by now. Both youths were armor every bit as fancy as the armor that Arthur didn¡¯t bother to wear around the guild.


    ¡°Sir Arthur, we thought it would be a suitable occasion to have hot pot-cha,¡± Madmole said, his buddha ears slightly wobbling in the night breeze.


    ¡°Or to say Georg has said it¡¯s alright to stop trying to make you want to leave,¡± Skullion added.


    ¡°So when Kiria made me carry her like a horse for twenty miles?¡± Arthur glanced at her.


    ¡°Sir Arthur, please do not misunderstand Kiria. She is just like that-cha,¡± Madmole said with an easy, friendly smile as Kiria gave an angry growl.


    ¡°I thought you lost the bear,¡± Skullion said.


    ¡°I got him back today, I was thanking him for saving my life,¡± Arthur didn¡¯t want to specify right here that it was from Georg.


    ¡°A fine bear he is-cha,¡± Madmole said, pouring a glass of fizzy drink from the bottle Kiria had brought out. ¡°A toast to this honorable sir bear, both noble and brave.¡±


    ¡°What he¡¯s saying is, let¡¯s party,¡± Kiria added with a fang-filled grin.


    Arthur¡¯s head was pounding in the morning. He¡¯d never been prone to drinking, but he¡¯d always been able to hold his liquor before without a hangover when he had. Maybe it was because he ran out of magical energy from sustaining Kochab¡¯s gate too long early into the evening.


    ¡°Where¡¯s that little poser!?¡± Georg bellowed out. ¡°Why isn¡¯t he here?¡±


    Arthur wanted to stay laying in bed. But he hastily dressed himself and emerged to where Georg was howling. ¡°There you are,¡± The guild master said with a wild look in his eyes. ¡°Time to become a real dragon eater if you can,¡± He said, his wide grin making Arthur feel like Georg was the dragon about to eat him.


    ¡°I can,¡± Arthur said, trying to present more bravery than he really felt. Georg was terrifying. Georg was worse, though, didn¡¯t approve of weakness or fear, so showing that was not exactly an advised action.


    ¡°Really now?¡± Georg said. ¡°You¡¯re trembling in your boots.¡±


    ¡°I can,¡± Arthur repeated.


    ¡°Fine, we¡¯ve found a darkness dragon. You get to go slay it. Survive and you¡¯re in the guild,¡± Georg released him, letting him settle onto the ground.


    ¡°Who am I working with?¡±


    Georg laughed in his face. ¡°You¡¯re going alone. You are ready to become a dragon eater, aren¡¯t you?¡±


    Arthur looked at him dumbfounded. ¡°I¡­ I¡¯m ready to help slay a dragon. I¡¯m not ready to do it on my own. I assumed I¡¯d be with you, or one of the Dark Dragon Knights, or at least Skullion¡¯s team.¡±


    Georg glared at him, and Arthur flinched back. ¡°Are you talking back to me?¡±


    ¡°No, sir. Just stating my surprise.¡±


    ¡°So are you going to go kill the dragon?¡±


    ¡°No, sir.¡±


    Georg slammed the wall behind him. ¡°What do you mean ¡®no¡¯?¡±


    ¡°The best I could do is go to find the tools and support needed to slay a dragon. There¡¯s no way my magic would succeed all on its own,¡± Arthur was trembling now, and he knew it.


    ¡°Of course not if you¡¯re terrified of me.¡± Scorn dripped from the words, Georg¡¯s eyes looking down on Arthur like he was a bug.


    ¡°Sir, I don¡¯t think that¡¯s relevant. You¡¯re far more terrifying than a dragon, sir.¡±


    ¡°That sounds like backtalk.¡±


    Arthur saw energy crackling around Georg¡¯s hand and focused his magic as much as his hangover allowed, disappearing to appear a few feet away, as Georg slammed his hand against the wall.


    ¡°Not backtalk, just a note that you¡¯ve killed dragon kings alone. You¡¯re stronger than an average dragon.¡± Even as he spoke Arthur was warping his sword directly into his hand. He was sure that he couldn¡¯t take Georg on one on one, but maybe he could get out of here before Georg killed him.


    Georg began to laugh again at that. ¡°Put that demon sword away! You can go. I couldn¡¯t send you out there as a weight around their ankles without knowing you could at least stand up for yourself. A dragon isn¡¯t an easy fight. Even for Skullion¡¯s team it¡¯ll be dangerous. I can¡¯t make them baby sit you, you¡¯ve got to be a full fledged member of the team in the fight.¡±


    ¡°If I¡¯m going to be a full-fledged member, does that mean I get a cut of the job¡¯s reward?¡± He was sheathing the black sword, but hey he wanted to know about his cut.


    ¡°Cheeky. Aren¡¯t you getting the meat and a dragon¡¯s power as your reward?¡± Arthur must have made a face, because Georg bellowed out a belt of laughter. ¡°You forgot about that, didn¡¯t you?¡±


    ¡°Could I get the heart instead?¡± Arthur asked. Fifth Generation Dragon Slaying. Not that it was called that yet, there hadn¡¯t been 3rd or 4th generations in this world yet, was dangerous.


    Georg roared with laughter. ¡°What do you think the client is paying us for? Some ¡®Wizard Saint¡¯ from the south is willing to give us good money for another lacrima. Besides you¡¯ll be lucky to survive eating a dragon, the lacrima would probably kill a weakling like you.¡± Arthur¡¯s shoulders sagged. He was still simply too weak, wasn¡¯t he? Georg slapped his shoulder. ¡°But you come back alive and you¡¯ll be a member of the guild, and we¡¯ll make someone strong enough out of you.¡±


    ¡°Can I become part before we go?¡± Arthur said, raising his head. 50 CP for joining a guild. 100 more if it was a top guild. This was the top wizard guild in the continent, standing above - at this point - any guild in Ishgar. It should qualify. 100 CP could mean the difference between life and death against a dragon. At the very least he could increase his power; Gray at the start of the series might not be able to match a dragon, but he¡¯d not be a liability either. Georg had reminded him that he was going with other people and if he fucked up they could pay the price. Skullion was a bit aloof, but he wasn¡¯t a bad person. Madmole was a good guy, with a troubling tendency to walk little old ladies across the street before Arthur could. Kiria was a pain but she was maybe his friend too. Probably his friend. He didn¡¯t want them to get hurt because of him.


    ¡°You really are cheeky, aren¡¯t you?¡±


    ¡°You already said if I live I¡¯m in. If I¡¯m going to die, I¡¯d rather die as part of Diabolos than not.¡± Or at least that¡¯s what Arthur thought he said. The words caught in his throat. He stammered. He choked. He was talking about his own death after all, and trying to give a reason that wasn¡¯t ¡®I will get mysterious new powers from an otherworldly source if you do¡¯. He wasn¡¯t sure how Georg would react to learning that bit, and he wasn¡¯t certain he wanted to find out.


    Georg looked at him, and then swung a hand at him. Arthur, terrified that would happen, teleported as quickly as he could, avoiding the shoulder slap and leaving the room entirely. ¡°Get back here you little cretin! You almost had my respect and you go and run away?¡±


    Arthur¡¯s return was meek and shame faced. The party would wait till he returned, but the 150 CP was gained, and with it he was able to purchase his next power. Or the higher level of Magic Power. A baseline equal to Gray¡¯s instead of Lucy¡¯s. He wouldn¡¯t be a top combatant with just this. Any member of Skullion¡¯s team had noticeably higher magical power than he did at this point. But the gap had just gotten a whole lot smaller.


    Skullion had come up with the plan. He was the one with experience in the matter. He was the one who was fully briefed. He was the one who was the leader of the squad. And therefore he was the one who had gotten Arthur to go in first and alone into a dragon¡¯s den.


    This was a darkness dragon. It lived in a deep, dark cave. You did not fight a darkness dragon, which could heal by consuming darkness, in a dark cave. But it wouldn¡¯t follow a dragon slayer out at night.


    Arthur, however, wasn¡¯t a dragon slayer.


    So he rode inside of Horologium, a celestial spirit of the constellation of the clock. It was pretty much an animated grandfather clock. It was also one of the toughest celestial spirits, even into the gold class, able to walk through lava unharmed with less magical power than Arthur now had.


    Hopefully it would keep him safe from the Darkness Dragon long enough to get out of there with his Territory Magic. If he didn¡¯t think it would he¡¯d not be riding towards his potential death in it.


    Suddenly darkness shot out towards him from the shadows, just a black beam that seemed to erase the light of his torch until it hit the case of Horologium, leaving a small black spot on the ¡®glass¡¯ of the spirit¡¯s form from which smoke was rising.


    ¡°Are you alright?¡± Arthur shot out in response.


    ¡°He asks if I am alright,¡± Horologium answered, and Arthur was reminded that this was a world heavy on the comedic side.


    Still black scaled creatures were surging forward towards him. Skullion had mentioned that they seemed to come with the darkness dragon. They looked almost like lizardmen, or lizard-apes, maybe even young darkness dragons, but Skullion had said they weren¡¯t truly living creatures but manifestations of the dragon¡¯s magical power. One of them slammed into Horologium, as Arthur began to shout.


    ¡°Turn around! Retreat! Retreat!¡± Even the fake dragons could leave burn marks on the clock. He didn¡¯t want to see what would happen with the big momma who made them all.


    Horologium began to try, while repeating Arthur¡¯s words. A little of Arthur¡¯s magic skipped it ahead to the very edge of the torchlight, the swirling gate opening and transporting it a good dozen feet allowing it to escape from the faux-dragons. They were running back towards the entrance, able to make it out in the distance by the sunlight shining in, when suddenly something tossed him and his celestial ¡®mount¡¯ up off the ground and then there were teeth slamming shut, a tongue teasing along Horologium¡¯s form.


    They were in the dragon¡¯s mouth about to be swallowed whole. Arthur felt the edges of his space the furthest he could warp himself, and hoped it wasn¡¯t in another solid object as he created the swirling portal which would take him and Horologium away. Hopefully denying the dragon its ¡®midnight snack¡¯ would be enough to get it to come out and play.


    Of course he and Horologium were now falling, hitting the ground fairly hard. ¡°Are you alright?¡± Arthur said. He hadn¡¯t felt much, but he¡¯d felt it through Horologium.


    ¡°He asks if I am alright,¡± Horologium parroted and Arthur groaned. At least the clock was probably alright.


    And then he felt something rock the clock he was in, he felt a spike in his magical energy expenditure for a moment before Horologium¡¯s gate closed. At least the key hadn¡¯t broken this time, but something had hit Horologium too hard even for that sturdy spirit.


    He fell down onto the ground, pressing himself up again as quickly as he could. He turned his head to see the dragon. It was a great, black creature emerging from the cavern, wings spreading from its body as it did so. It was long, and serpentine rising into the air like a black cloud of smoke. Two pairs of wings, too thin to carry such a massive body extended from it, and its claws stretched from its limbs. He couldn¡¯t make out Kiria on his lizardhawk from here, but he knew this was a dragon. Even from here he could feel the awesome force of its magical strength. It didn¡¯t make him think of Georg though. It brought to mind Suzaku when Kiria had pressed him to spar to the point that he¡¯d beat her down.


    It was strong.


    But it wasn¡¯t outside of the realm that humans could reach. Even without dragon slayer magic, Arthur felt it could be slain. Not by him. But someone like Gildarts. And with dragon slayer magic, he was confident Kiria and Madmole could handle it. If he could do his job alongside Skullion and deal with the lesser drakes. Which meant he needed to get over to where they were.


    He didn¡¯t immediately warp in. He needed to let Skullion clear the entrances. Until Kiria and Madmole were in position it wasn¡¯t his duty anyway.


    The darkness dragon was turning its head upwards, roaring towards the lizardhawk above it. This was on Madmole, he was the shield meant to block its roar as he and Kiria dropped on it. Ash was sweeping beneath the black dragon as Arthur strapped on his chaos shield. Things were going how Skullion said they would. The man knew dragon fighting tactics it seemed.


    Of course this is where his predictions ended. After this it was a matter of who was faster, who was stronger, and who could control the battlefield. Kiria had a lot more offense than defense. Madmole was the reverse. As long as he could keep the dragon choking on him, Kiria could maybe cut it down. But Arthur¡¯s job was to have faith they could handle that, and to handle the enemies on the ground with Skullion.


    He pulled one away from the main fight in his own arrival to it, already raising a pair of silver keys. ¡°Open gate of the eagle, open gate of the chisel!¡± Altair was a thunderbird, and Caellum shot lasers. While he¡¯d have loved the physical support that could have been given by Kochab, he needed light to cut through the darkness.


    Teleporting the keys to his pouch in a time saving effort, he drew his black blade, and let his magic flow. He was burning through it fast. Too fast even for his increased magical power, but he just needed to kill to replenish it.


    His potions had invigorated his strength, but he found his plan was flawed when he struck one of the dragon-minions in the back and found that its black scales still stopped his sword. Its head turned and its mouth opened, and its shot went wildly wide as he emergency teleported it. Another was rushing at him, slamming into his shield and he found himself being almost overwhelmed in the melee. If hitting its back didn¡¯t work it was time for the head, the belly, or somewhere it was already wounded.


    Skullion didn¡¯t seem to be having issues. His ash washed across one, and he flowed with it to punch another and send it flying back. He was a dragon slayer, like the two who had jumped on the dragon.


    Arthur was a guy with a sword and weaponized teleportation magic. He lunged for one¡¯s belly and he felt the sliver of life essence from it running up the blade before its claw swept across his arm. The pain was muted, his alchemical potions doing their work, and then Caellum blasted it from him.


    ¡°Watch your back,¡± Skullion barked from somewhere behind him. ¡°These things don¡¯t have to get close to you to be deadly.¡±


    Arthur could feel the drain from the two gates still eating at him. He needed to kill to recharge his magic. He¡¯d underestimated the enemies though. Still he struck, blade sweeping down onto the drake where Caellum¡¯s blast had scarred its chest. He felt it bite deep, and the soul and life essence of the creature flowed into him. It was a physical manifestation of dragon magic. Nothing more and nothing less. No soul to consume. But it did have vital essence, and its life flowed into him as a pure rush of ethernado.


    There was a loud thudding noise like a tree limb falling. ¡°I fucked up-cha!¡± Arthur looked to the side towards the voice.


    ¡°Damn it!¡± Skullion shouted, launching himself towards the air. ¡°Kiria get down from there, now!¡±


    ¡°Altair, get to the dragon!¡± Arthur screamed.


    ¡°Kii! That¡¯s too scary! Kii!¡± Altair screeched.


    ¡°We all might die,¡± Arthur said. Causing your contract holder to die was the greatest crime a celestial spirit could commit. He hated to play that card that way, but it was true.


    ¡°Kii!¡± The eagle screeched and took off flying past Skullion¡¯s own ascent in moments.


    ¡°Get on the dragon!¡± Arthur shouted, barely staying comprehensible as one of the drakes bit his shoulder. He felt the arm holding the shield go mostly limp as he half spun to stab the creature. If it wasn¡¯t for his potions the pain would be killing him. But the sword recharged his life energy with the creature¡¯s as it died, and he grew stronger and faster. He swapped its corpse with one about to blast him, even as he felt Madmole standing behind him covering his back.


    The confused drake¡¯s head was struck, leaving it staggering dazed as he thrust full strength into its chest. One of the drakes shot him then, the lance of darkness puncturing his armor and still having enough force to burn the skin of his shoulder and knock him staggering down. They were rushing him, clambering over Madmole, even as they surged towards him. Caellum gave a last sweeping ray of light, cutting into their ranks, before they swarmed over it and Arthur felt the gate forced shut.


    He swept his sword at the first of the creatures, hitting the side of its head. It wasn¡¯t enough to kill it, just a tingle of energy as he made it bleed. It wasn¡¯t even truly blood, but black energy, leaking from the magical construct.


    He pulled up his HUD. 250 CP. When he¡¯d increased his magical power he¡¯d completed another bounty. It had been a simple one. A freebie. ? the CP he had spent when he cashed it in, to a maximum of 200 CP. He spent 200 CP now. He¡¯d hoped to save it. To use it for something more useful than raw magical power. But right here and now he needed the power.


    He managed to stab the drake that was leaping directly onto him and his shield, even as another slashed his back with its claw. His armor took most of the force, but he could feel the metal distending.


    He was useless. He couldn¡¯t teleport Madmole to Kiria; the dragon had ascended too high. It was outside of his Territory. He couldn¡¯t hurt it. He couldn¡¯t fight it. He couldn¡¯t even survive the drakes. In raw physical strength they were each stronger than him. And his armor was ending up full of holes, their blasts burning his flesh through it. Soon they¡¯d kill him. He didn¡¯t have a choice.


    He selected the Magic Power Rank 4. The second highest option, below only monsters like Irene and August. It was power on the level of Gildarts.


    He felt his magic surge in potency. He¡¯d been a small time character before. He¡¯d been Minerva but without her martial arts, without her second magic style, and with less raw power. But now he felt the sheer, raw, magical strength. A bolt of darkness hit him again, penetrating his armor, but the burn when it hit was less now, his own magical strength seeming to hold his flesh together better.


    He no longer was running out of magical strength. He teleported the drakes, a mass of portals appearing, all exiting from one common point, space bunching up behind it to launch them downwards like missiles straight into the back of the dragon. Kiria landed beside him, two swords formed from her own magic in hand, and a look of confusion on her face. In the euphoric rush of pure power flowing through him, Arthur barely noticed.


    Hitting the dragon with living embodiments of its own magic was not wholly ineffective. It was consuming some of the drakes to regain its energy and heal its wounds, but a dragon¡¯s magic could hurt a dragon, and each of those drakes was a living wean made from dragon magic.


    ¡°Oi! Horsey! What?!¡± Kiria shouted. In an instant he¡¯d gone from having a fraction of her magical power to completely dwarfing it; from obviously far weaker, to an overwhelming superiority that she might struggle her entire life to equal. The sudden difference was inexplicable.


    ¡°We¡¯re dragon slayers aren¡¯t we?¡± Arthur said with a cheeky grin, the sheer ethernado coursing through him leaving him with a feeling of omnipotence. High above the dragon¡¯s head reared back, its mouth opening, as magical energy coalesced inside. And it roared, a blast of darkness to tear a deep trench through the ground, carving a crater where Arthur, Madmole, and Kiria had stood.


    Had. Moving them to the dragon was now an easy task. The sheer power he possessed allowed him to extend the range of his territory substantially. Madmole, braced for the blow, almost stumbled as they landed on the dragon. Kiria tripped in the middle of a lunge, ready to match the dragon¡¯s roar with her own only to find it wasn¡¯t necessary. And Arthur found himself standing ankle deep in the torn and cut flesh of a dragon. A dragon whose mighty scales had been cut bare.


    Kiria and Madmole were obviously confused, but quick to react. As the dragon began to turn and twist in the air, fighting to cast them off so that it could take full advantage of its maneuverability, they dropped and caught onto it. Arthur wasn¡¯t as quick, falling from its back, leading them to scream his name.


    But he had magic of his own. He caught himself, and fell onto the dragon¡¯s - equally slashed by Kiria¡¯s magic - body, his black sword plunging taking the full weight of his fall, and plunging into the dragon¡¯s flesh.


    Arthur could feel the dragon¡¯s life essence flowing back into him. But it wasn¡¯t enough. He wasn¡¯t going to kill it this way, and as it continued to twist he lost his grip of his sword and he and it both began to fall once more.


    Kiria was raging, striking against its back and neck, cutting it deep, as the dragon came gliding down to the ground. Arthur had caught himself, teleporting down to avoid obtaining full velocity, but the landing had still hurt.


    He could see Madmole and Kiria fighting it on the ground now, Skullion arriving as well. They were starting to corner the beast, and it was having trouble fighting back against their unity front.


    Arthur grasped his black sword, teleporting it to his hand, before warping himself back to the battle. The dragon could barely rise now, its roars growing weaker as its body was covered in wounds. But Arthur had appeared on its back, where Kiria¡¯s deep cuts had cracked bone. He wrapped his territory magic around his sword and slammed it down onto the exposed skull. He was expanding the space around his sword, forcing bones to the side as the fabric of reality between the cracks expanded. And then his blade sank deep. Even wounded as the dragon was, it was a near thing, his magic, and his demon-sword, barely strong enough to force in deep. He¡¯d never have managed to penetrate the scales alone. But now, his blade sank deep and he felt his sword sing.


    And then the dragon was falling limp, and Arthur was riding it down, hanging on by his sword buried in its skull. He was far too absorbed in the feeling of absorbing its soul to even notice anything else. It was pure ecstasy, enough to push his soul to its limits. He didn¡¯t know if it would tear him apart or not. He was burning through magical energy at his maximum output, the sky behind him erupting with heat as he compressed space above him in a pyrotechnic display, but it was still filling him faster than he could empty his own container for ethernado. Eventually the ecstasy crossed a line, the sensation pushing beyond all measures of pleasure into pure agonizing pain, and Arthur blacked out.


    Once Arthur had awakened. It was time for the ritual. A very specialized variation of enchantment magic. One to enchant the magic of the dragon onto the consumer. Diabolos ate various dragons. They didn¡¯t however get dragon magic from each one they consumed. Arthur was getting to learn how.


    Kiria cut the meat. Skullion and Madmole worked the enchantment. Madmole and Skullion had not actually performed the ritual personally before. But they still knew that there was something wrong here. He didn¡¯t need to eat the meat. The dragon¡¯s magical energy was already in him, all that remained in the flesh was leftover dregs. They had even begun the ritual before he had awoken, not that they told Arthur that; the dragon power had already been tearing him apart. The meat was just to help anchor it at this point.


    Still Arthur ate the rancid, slimy, disgusting meat, and he ate it raw, until he wanted to throw up and still had to keep swallowing it down. And then it was no longer biting and chewing, but like when a dragon slayer consumed their element he just seemed to be breathing it in to restore himself. He consumed more than two thirds of the dragon, and by that time the magic should have taken root in his origin. He¡¯d have to train it. He¡¯d have nowhere the skill that had been granted him with territory magic. But he checked the bounty to learn a Lost Magic and it was ready to cash in, with one of the six Siegfried bounties also lighting up indicating he had become a 5th gen dragon slayer, the bounty for completing his first guild job as well as his first S ranked one, and the bounty for surviving a life or death fight¡­ at its lower completion level.


    He¡¯d become a dragon slayer. And he had gained 500 CP for the effort; he¡¯d rather give up the chance of more CP than be striving to face August or Irene or a monster at their level in direct life or death combat, he¡¯d need every drop of power available to him before that. The mid strength options weren¡¯t the limit any longer. He could really begin to look at the top rank ones at last. And consider things like the bounty to free Irene, kill Zeref, or even kill Acnologia. The whole world had just changed around him.


    ¡°Sir Arthur, you¡¯re really one of us now-cha. How does it feel to be a dragon slayer?¡± Madmole¡¯s question pulled him away from his review of his character sheet.


    ¡°What was with your magical power at the end? Did you hide your real magical energy from us? If we¡¯d known we could have planned around it,¡± Skullion asked, giving him a suspicious glower.


    ¡°I didn¡¯t. It increased during the fight,¡± Arthur said in explanation. It came off rather weak as a response.


    ¡°I¡¯ve heard about growing under pressure, but that¡¯s just absurd,¡± Kiria said as she held up the darkness dragon¡¯s heart. ¡°Hopefully you didn¡¯t ruin the heart like you did the meat.¡±


    Skullion continued to glare at him, making Arthur flinch a bit. How did he say ¡®I wanted to go down another growth path for long term goals but I thought you were in danger so I chose pure power now instead¡¯ without getting into a mess about not explaining his abilities as a ¡°Jumper¡± previously?


    ¡°The plan was collapsing, Kiria was falling, Madmole had fallen, and I got worried we all were going to die, it just sort of erupted from deep inside,¡± He said lamely, his eyes drifting down to the ground.


    ¡°Sir Arthur, you are mistaken. Once Kiria was on the ground, the only one likely to be in danger was you,¡± Madmole said. ¡°The dragon had been wounded. Skullion could have engaged it in the air and brought it to the ground for Kiria to have finished at that point. Everything was going according to plan.¡±


    ¡°I wasn¡¯t falling,¡± Kiria said. ¡°I was diving, because you obviously needed someone to save you from becoming a snack for the sideshow.¡±


    Arthur¡¯s jaw dropped a bit, and he looked between Kiria and Skullion.


    ¡°My blade would have cut them down, and then I¡¯d have cut its roar. We weren¡¯t going to let you die there,¡± Kiria said in an almost sulking tone. ¡°But seriously what did you do to the meat?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know. I killed it with my sword and absorbed its life essence and soul as magical energy.¡±


    They all three stared at him then, and then looked at the sword.


    The trip back was restful. It was an enforced rest, since he did have a nasty wound to his shoulder, mild burns across his body, and a nasty set of gouges down his back. There was an enforced detour to a doctor to treat Arthur¡¯s wounds. And a lecture from Kiria of all people to be more cautious. Wounds inflicted by dragons didn¡¯t heal well. Thankfully these were just automatons made from a dragon¡¯s magic, that quality of a dragon¡¯s magic grew with its magical power, and these were mere fractions of it. A dragon god would leave wounds that even another dragon god couldn¡¯t heal; Arthur knew that better even than Diabolos.


    Kiria rode his lizardhawk, seeming to love the thrill of flight. Skullion and Madmole allowed it. Arthur exhausted his magical energy summoning Kochab to carry him using his shield as a litter, his feet dangling. It was a peaceful couple of days, even if Kochab had to be sent back to the spirit realm to rest periodically.


    And then they reached Diabolos again. His shoulder still hadn¡¯t healed, but it was healing. The guild hall was far from raucous or full, but that was just an ordinary day at the mountaintop hold.


    Georg sat preceding over the guild hall, and smiled at the return. ¡°Brought back some good meat and a good heart?¡±


    There was an awkward shuffling. ¡°We brought back dragon meat, and a dragon¡¯s heart, there¡¯s a bit of a problem with the meat, and we¡¯re not sure of the heart¡¯s quality,¡± Skullion said, as Madmole moved forward to place the massive sack of the small portion of the dragon that Arthur himself hadn¡¯t consumed.


    Georg¡¯s nose started to twitch, but his attention was drawn from the meat towards Arthur instead. ¡°Where¡¯s the little wanna be, and what do you have in his place?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s Arthur,¡± Skullion started, only for Georg to move.


    It was blindingly fast, too fast even now for Arthur to react. He barely raised his good arm before Georg had crossed the room and struck, sending him flying back into the guild¡¯s main doors and out the other side.


    ¡°That thing might smell like Arthur, and might look like Arthur, but there¡¯s no way a person¡¯s magical energy increased that much in such a short time,¡± Georg growled, already charging forward again, landing atop Arthur, a hand crackling with a four color aurora of power. Blue, vermillion, black, and white energy shifted and surged around his finger tips forming a claw of pure dragon slaying force.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know what you are, or why you did it. But if you hurt my guild member you will find a new definition of suffering.¡± Arthur was always scared of Georg. But before even when Georg had gone for he¡¯d never bothered to let his magic really flow.


    Arthur teleported away. But Georg was after him, moving fast. Skullion and his team were pursuing, shouting, even as Arthur was desperately working his own magic. He warped space in a wall of energy that held back Georg¡¯s relentless assault for only a moment, summoned Kochab to - unsuccessfully - wrestle the dragon slayer once more, and continued to teleport and run.


    Arthur wasn¡¯t sure exactly who calmed Georg. He was too focused on not being killed, and screaming that he really was Arthur. Eventually Skullion explained the sudden surge of power in the battle with the dragon, and that Arthur had killed it with the black sword and in that moment the dragon power had transferred from it to him without actually consuming the flesh first.


    Georg slapped his - unwounded - shoulder hard. ¡°Next time, don¡¯t kill it with the sword. You owe the guild some meat. Now, we still need to finish the job. Who wants to go to Ishgar to deliver the heart to their so-called dragon slayer God? The quality isn¡¯t great, but it should still make lacrima, and¡­ some dragons just have poor hearts.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll go, I¡¯d love to see how they make lacrima from it,¡± Arthur volunteered, preemptively explaining his motive to try and deflect the potential suspicion he intended to steal the lacrima he had wanted. He didn¡¯t. He wouldn¡¯t do that to the guild. It¡¯d betray their trust and there would be other dragons. But he did want to go to Ishgar. There was a whole line of Bounties that he could only pursue there, and he didn¡¯t know how much longer he had to fight with Oracion Seis.


    Kiria, however, had another idea delivered through a kick to his head. ¡°Let your damn shoulder heal, Horsey.¡±


    ¡°Besides the meat was your pay this time, you couldn¡¯t afford the expenses,¡± Georg said. ¡°Best stay here, Arthur.¡± It struck him that it was the first time Georg had called him by name.

 Get a Job

    He was still broke. He didn¡¯t have access to entertainment. And he was stuck in the guild hall for the most part while his shoulder healed. So he threw himself into those bounties he could pursue while resting. He introduced chess to a few of his guildmates. He wasn¡¯t good, but he was confident he could beat Kiria and get the Chuuni Thinking Pose once she returned. It didn¡¯t offer CP but it offered him a power for completion. Similarly he just had to make 3 friends to get another one, but the idea of using his guildmates like tools for that left him uneasy; you didn¡¯t manipulate the people who watched your back in a fight and who you lived with, so he¡¯d find less important people to befriend. The guild had a hot spring and a shower, meaning it wasn¡¯t hard to complete about half of the chuuni bathing technique bounty; though he lacked a private bath tub or a large supply of ice for certain portions. He didn¡¯t have access to pets at the moment, and wasn¡¯t sure he knew what sort of animal he¡¯d want as his ¡®magical girl mascot¡¯ so that was tabled for now. Similarly while he was stuck in the guildhall recuperating he couldn¡¯t exactly go out and find old ladies to help cross streets, cats to save from trees, or lost children to help; which was infuriating as his previous attempts at such things had been stymied by Madmole¡¯s tendency to find and help them first. This was a particularly painful bounty not to be able to complete as not only was the reward awesome, it was actually a bounty that completing would feel good; help a few people.


    Those were all things that could be completed in any world. He didn¡¯t need to head out and do them now anyway. They could wait. There was no clock or timer, and he could relax on them. But that left the ones that could be completed only in this world.


    Kill Zeref, kill Spriggans and possibly replace them, Acnologia, the 5(6) Dragon Gods, all (named) dragons that showed up in the series that weren¡¯t already dead. The last one wasn¡¯t liable to happen. The other three. They were way beyond what he was even now. With the black sword killing Zeref might just be possible. If Zeref toyed with him. Still the rewards were the biggest, even after he seemed to have ¡®leveled up¡¯ to the point where additional rewards were smaller than previously.


    Though there were two alternatives to outright murdering Zeref now. Redemption, and getting Natsu to do it. Neither was as rewarding straight out, but both offered additional rewards for additional tasks; such as killing Anksheram himself. Still he wasn¡¯t going close to Zeref if he could help it anytime soon. But Zeref wasn¡¯t the only redemption quest on offer. Irene, any villain with a bonus if they weren¡¯t redeemed in canon, and another bonus for born evil ones. He liked that bounty. A reward for doing good. He¡¯d really rather help people than kill them all things equal. Of course it came with an alternative reward for corrupting someone instead; and breaking a main character as your slave was worth more than redeeming even a being born of evil, though less than redeeming a Dragon God that was outright evil as opposed to the water and moon ones.


    Still there were a fair number for making friends. Which Arthur found oddly reassuring about this whole situation. Befriend Natsu, find an Exceed Partner and befriend them, and even befriend the Celestial Spirits. The last was the one most directly on his mind. He should have chances at it if he waited due to his cheat power to be a celestial spirit summoner.


    There were others too. A whole suite about collecting lacrima and implanting it into himself, up to and including specifically becoming the next God Serena. He¡¯d have loved to meet God Serena to have a better idea how to do that. Actually given how many bounties he could complete by killing him and sticking his lacrima into his body Arthur was more than a little tempted to figure out how to assassinate him any reluctance to straight up murder someone in cold blood aside. He was convinced that given how many different ones pointed him to killing Serena, that he was not popular with the sponsors.


    Becoming a dragon slayer of each possible variety with a bonus for avoiding their motion sickness issues. A bonus for somehow learning 1st Gen Dragon Slayer Magic from one of the Dragon Gods, and a bonus that he¡¯d already failed at for learning his first dragon slayer magic that way; it had apparently come in a few days before his job to kill the Darkness Dragon, but he hadn¡¯t checked bounty updates as regularly as he should. Not that he¡¯d have stopped the guild job for that. He didn¡¯t want to try and match up against a Dragon God without at least some variety of Dragon Slayer Magic in his back pocket.


    There were other bounties revolving around learning non-dragon slayer magic as well. Or becoming clearly the most powerful member of Diabolos, clearly and confidently more powerful than Georg. And it was possible he might could do it just with the CP he had gained. His raw magical power capacity was close to Georg¡¯s own, though Georg¡¯s actual power with magic definitely eclipsed his, but for 600 CP he could get both Irene/August level skill and power with his territory magic. At that point he doubted he couldn¡¯t crush Georg decisively.


    It had a high pay out too. Some serious power. But he wasn¡¯t ready to do that. There was already talk and worry in the guild of what would happen if Byaku and Georg clashed. Georg¡¯s four beasts dragon slayer magic directly included Byaku¡¯s white tiger dragon slayer magic, but Byaku¡¯s magical power had eclipsed Georg¡¯s. Georg was old, and to hear some of the guild members talk about it, the only thing that really kept him alive was his position in the guild. If he didn¡¯t dragonify to protect himself, and become a rampaging monster like those who had taken away his original children, he¡¯d probably die of heartbreak.


    Georg had beat him down hard, and was an abrasive beast of a man who had left him in terror for most of the last month. But he¡¯d also given him a place to stay for mostly free, was making sure he got medical attention, and had been willing to fight an unknown threat with more magical power than his own to avenge Arthur being possibly killed and replaced by it. He hated himself for even considering the sort of crushing it¡¯d take to be recognized as above him like Laxus to Natsu. Still he earmarked it for later. The points were sorely tempting.


    Saving Loke from the Celestial Spirit King¡¯s judgment, and getting Aries¡¯s key had bounties. And there was even one for getting a copy of every key, though he wasn¡¯t sure what Bronze Keys were, he didn¡¯t remember hearing about them. Another bounty addressed the Eclipse versions of the Celestial Spirits and that one scared him.


    On the surface it was fairly benign. Get their allegiance and you got reward, doubly so if you did so in a way that somehow allowed them to coexist with their originals. The payout was excellent, and if he could do it without killing the originals not only was the payout better, but he¡¯d have no moral qualms about it, and with his new power he felt safe in believing that he could. The only thing was while he¡¯d heard of the eclipse versions of the spirits, they were anime filler, and he¡¯d never actually watched the anime. He¡¯d been operating under the belief that he had read the manga so knew what the world would throw at him. That bounty¡¯s mere existence made him realize that the filler, the movies, and who knew what else was still out there waiting for him.


    It was a sobering thought, even as bounties for teaching Erza dragon slayer magic, eradicating dark guilds, and changing the plot rounded out the bounty board.


    He wished he could have gone to Fiore. Defeating the Oraci¨®n Seis would have covered at least 2 bounties, he could have probably gotten paid for it, and he felt confident that Kiria could have convinced Skullion and Madmole to help crush this top level dark guild of that third rate continent, and that even if he couldn¡¯t take them alone, with those 3 beside him they could have done it. He could have gotten the Golden Key of Aries, crushed a dark guild, upset the plot line, and gotten three bounties for the price of one, while also getting to learn about making dragon lacrima and God Serena for those bounties.


    But he was wounded. And broke. He didn¡¯t have the choice to go to Ishgar if he wanted to. At least his team had promised to bring him back a souvenir. But that left him with what to do during his recovery period. Georg had mandated he didn¡¯t do anything strenuous until the wound had time to close so as not to make it worse, and was very strictly given orders to avoid strenuous activities like combat for the next 4 weeks. So what was he going to do for 4 weeks?


    And should he spend his points now? Befriending celestial spirits would be cheap 100 CP, though after the reduction that had happened when he reached the new power level it¡¯d take befriending a few to pay off. Still he thought it¡¯d pay for itself before too long. There were the ones for rediscovery/inventing new magic, to be a magical prodigy, and just general magical skill which would help him learn new magic. Each was tempting, but since he could only get 2 at that price tier for half off, well it also had one about tapping the natural magic of weapons - such as his black sword - and one for summon fusion, or magic item creation which might make making his own lacrima be within his reach, or ones for turning defeat into friendship. He was torn about what to buy there, as it seemed to hold the lion¡¯s share of the best options. Of course he could go for general magical skill, it didn¡¯t have a discount at all, but if it was talking about this world¡¯s magic it was probably better than both, especially at its highest levels. And then there were the top tier ¡®cheat¡¯ powers. Things like the Power of Friendship, the curse of Ankhseram, a body of Magic Barrier Particles, curse magic which pierced anti-magic effects, and just general narrative warping; these were powers that would be a massive help in future worlds. And then there was Enchantment magic and Takeover magic. There was a bounty for making his own new style of magic, and one for becoming a 4th Generation Dragon Slayer through a variation on Takeover magic. He should be able to complete both by creating Takeover Dragon Soul magic, but mastery of takeover magic was likely key there. Enchantment magic was similarly useful. If there was any magic that could separate the Eclipse Spirits from their hosts, or give Irene a human body again it was the very High Enchantment Irene used. Of course if he could help Irene she might very well teach him it, and Enchantment magic was expensive. A second magic cost 50 CP, and a 3rd 100 CP; Enchantment cost an additional 200 CP on top of that.


    While agonizing over it, he¡¯d made the mistake of noting where Georg could hear that it might be possible to research methods for reversing dragonification. That had been a mistake, as now Georg was riding his ass to do just that. It did get Georg to be less upset about the wasted dragon meat, since the very fact of how it was wasted would make it theoretically useful for this task.


    On the one hand it was nice to have Georg not mad at him. On the other hand instead of getting to rest in bed, he was now expected to be studying and researching how to reverse dragonification until he recovered. The good news was Diabolos did actually have the best dragon focused library in the continent, at least it claimed it did. The bad news was that it wasn¡¯t exactly organized. Still it was time to get researching.


    Arthur sighed. He hated research. Was there an option he could buy to make himself more studious? Or make it easier to ignore distractions? There wasn¡¯t much to do at the guild - they didn¡¯t exactly have a tv, or the internet (oh how he missed the internet), and he¡¯d only found one novel in their entire library thus far and it was bad - but there were people to talk to, and even swallowing down his anxiety about dealing with people and being extroverted was more enjoyable than research.


    And it wasn¡¯t like he actually was alone in the library. Wraith, the ghost dragon slayer who was both a ghost only visible to dragon slayers and a practitioner of ghost dragon slaying magic, apparently liked to haunt the library when waiting for leads on how to find his killer. His very existence did a number on Arthur¡¯s feelings of invulnerability in the aftermath of his obtaining dragon slaying magic and increased magical power. He had no weapon or defense against this ghost. Similarly he had no weapon or defense against Kiria¡¯s hypnotism based strength cutting. Even if he could win in a direct match of power on power he was still very vulnerable to so many things. It was sobering, even if Wraith hadn¡¯t shown him any hostility.


    Then there was Misaki. She was the Azure Dragon, one of the four Dark Dragon Slayers, and the strongest woman in the guild. Arthur knew his magical power was enough to edge hers out, but not by a great extent. He¡¯d need to train to stay ahead of her. And her dragon slayer magic was apparently a form of spatial magic, and her desire to spar with him and see what his Territory magic tasted like was a reminder that his magic wasn¡¯t unbeatable in a direct fight.


    And then there was Hinami. She was the closest thing to Diabolos¡¯s resident librarian, though that came in the form of being a mousy introvert who liked to hide in the corners of the shelves, more than any actual job. Arthur was convinced that no one had organized this so-called library since the building was built. Hinami herself wasn¡¯t that bad. She was something of the Sting to his Rogue, in that she had obtained the flesh of the prior dragon Serena had hired someone else to slay for him to acquire lacrima from it, specifically a light dragon, but she was quiet, stayed to herself, and mostly just made him feel like he was being watched.


    Ike and Roy, the two mages who both wanted her to ¡®team¡¯ up with them, in a rather intimate way, were the real distraction. Besides the fact that they both seemed to hang around him as an excuse to be near her - and watch for the other - without obviously stalking her. It was transparent. It was annoying. And Arthur wasn¡¯t actually sure how he could make them stop. And the problem was that they¡¯d get him talking and he enjoyed it. It made his research hard, when he found himself geeking out about the way Territory worked. And only at the end of the spiel realizing that it was all memories he¡¯d purchased with CP when he selected to upgrade his magical skill.


    Then there was Haku. The kid was only 5 or so. But his magical power was already greater than Arthur¡¯s own until he¡¯d increased it while fighting the dragon, and despite being a preschooler had already learned a style of magic from his parents. It wasn¡¯t enough to save them from the monsters that had killed them, though. Byaku had saved the kid and brought him back to the guild. They were taking him in. He had a gift for magic, and no one else to take care of him. Byaku especially seemed intent on making sure the kid had a good life here. He was a rambunctious and curious child, who had a tendency to come and distract Arthur, or come begging for someone to play with. Of course he was also the White Tiger Dragon Slayer in the manga, making his appearance feel like a major death flag for Byaku.


    Still, Arthur was settling quickly into a routine. A training session to get him used to his Darkness Dragon Slayer Magic in the morning, before a meal, then setting up what he could alchemically set up where it wouldn¡¯t need direct oversight, and then he¡¯d make his way to research till lunch, and back again, usually slacking off for a while before having to go check his alchemy. Before supper was a second training session and then he did what alchemy required more direct oversight before bed. It took a while to get it right, especially the timing of checking on alchemical results. And he accidentally created a draconic reptile from the dragon meat once, but by the end of the first week he¡¯d fallen into a routine.


    By the end of the second he was actually rather enjoying the routine. It was a stormy day, one where a heavy rainstorm had caused him to be rather soaked at the end of his morning training, and had seen his whole schedule thrown off just a little by it, when luck would have it that he found the book he didn¡¯t even know he was looking for. A tome written by a dragon slayer from the time of Irene and Acnologia, researching the effects and nature of dragonification in their wake. He¡¯d started deciphering more than reading the dense, difficult book written in an archaic tongue that he was having to reverse engineer, and time seemed to crawl, but he kept his nose to the paper and read until there was the sound of an explosion, and then of Georg roaring out his name.


    It wasn¡¯t too hard to extinguish the fire of his alchemical failure. Fire needed oxygen to burn, and when you could separate space it wasn¡¯t hard to keep it out, letting it smother itself. But it took time. And when he returned to the library what he found filled him with an utter rage at the heavens themselves.


    The stone ceiling had sprung a leak. Not just a leak. A large chunk of rock had fallen, directly onto the book he was reading, and water had spent the last 15 minutes pouring down onto the old tome. It was irreparable, the information once contained in its pages lost. And perhaps it was irreplaceable.


    May his life be eventful indeed.


    He pulled up his mental HUD. He scrolled to Archive magic. He selected to purchase it. It¡¯d cost him 50 CP, and in the end 100 CP if he decided to do the same with Enchantment, but if it could turn magical information into data maybe it could convert these blasted books into information faster than reading them. Besides it did seem to have some communal unconsciousness access from the full description.


    He turned his attention to the Magical Skill option. He¡¯d purchased level 2, but now he upgraded his purchase 2 categories to Lv 4. It was another 200 CP. But he had CP to burn and it would be useful. New ways to use his magic were flooding his mind. Problems he was having with his Darkness Dragon Slayer Magic started to become so bloody simple. The nature of ethernado seemed to bare itself to his mind. It was a - repetition - of that feeling of omnipotence, as the means to work magic blossomed across his consciousness. And in an act of hubris he extended out his magic, feeling through his spatial warps, getting a feeling for the limits of his territory, and then he created thousands of tiny portals and moved the storm cloud a few miles further on.


    That ought to show the weather.


    Still the act hadn¡¯t been easy even with his new found magical efficiency. He felt a little tired.


    ¡°Hey, Arthur, it¡¯s the weirdest thing, that huge storm cloud just disappeared,¡± Ike said walking up to him. ¡°What¡¯s got you looking so tired? You don¡¯t look particularly good. Oh man, what happened in the library?¡±


    When Arthur managed to work up the heart to resume his research 3 days later, he was rather disappointed to learn that while Archive was excellent for storing the information from the books in what amounted to his personal magical computer mainframe, he was not capable of directly extracting the information from the books simply by touching them, though as it became more developed it could fill in more and more information from the communal magical unconscious; the more information he fed into his archive the more it would know. It wasn¡¯t useless there, but he had to scan each page with his magic. It was still faster than reading them, except it drained his magical energy which meant he either had to train less with the Darkness Dragon Slayer Magic which he was still mastering, or he had to copy less book pages into his archive.


    And he had to program the magical search himself. Figure out how to OCR the pages properly. And build the archive¡¯s computer with his magic the hard way. The magic that was supposed to remove the need for him to actually work to do his magical research actually required him to perform additional work.


    It made him want to find an excuse just to quit. But then another bounty appeared on his mental bounty board. Ars Goetia. It wasn¡¯t, like he expected from the name, about making Etherious on his own. It was about converting himself into one. Did they convert Minerva and her dad into Etherious? He had thought they¡¯d just injected them with demon-stuff, but they were ultimately just demonically infused humans. It¡¯d been too long since he read this manga all the way through.


    Another bounty had gone red though. Saving Loke was no longer an option. Either he¡¯d died, which who knows if May Your Life be Eventful could cause that, or else Lucy had saved him like in canon. Still it was a kick in the gut. He had even more to research, and time was flowing. He couldn¡¯t sit and do nothing.


    If nothing else, Georg would be pissed if he didn¡¯t have something to show for it before the month was done. He sighed, and started constructing his mind computer, building a mental archive of magical knowledge, and starting to construct a search function. It was boring, mind numbing, soul crushing work to be honest. It didn¡¯t actually exhaust his ethernado nearly as much as he feared, it barely utilized it at all, but it was mentally exhausting.


    His routine had changed. He was for the time being ceasing his potion making - much to Ike and Roy¡¯s dismay having finally tested some of those he¡¯d sold them (only to use it to pay his guild dues) and eager for more - and focusing purely on his construction of his mental machine, with some fairly regular walks and training sessions to blow off the mental strain with some physical exertion and stretching of his magical muscles.


    Georg stepped in to stop him from sparring with Misaki or Suzaku during this period, threatening to give him the beating he deserved if he wanted to aggravate his shoulder wound. Still he was learning to use his magic at a speed which seemed to trouble Georg, and excite the Dark Dragon Knights. He had a whole queue of people who wanted to fight him. Of course his response was he wasn¡¯t sparring anyone until he¡¯d done a few jobs.


    And then he returned to the library, and began his proper uploading of information. It wasn¡¯t fun. But it was faster than his previous work, and it was doing its best to bring up any relevant information on dragonification, dragon slayer magic, enchantment, and a few other topics.


    ¡°So what kind of magic is that?¡± It was Hinami. It was his second day archiving things into his Archives, and it was the first time in his weeks of research that Hinami had actually said more than a simple greeting without being pressed into the conversation.


    ¡°Archive magic. It¡¯s a means of transforming magical knowledge into data inside of a database constructed from my magic,¡± He explained.


    ¡°How does it work?¡± Hinami¡¯s eyes had a bit of a sparkle in them, a touch of excitement about her person, as she started actually talking to him. It was a nice conversation - if one that took him away from his research for hours - before finally supper broke it up.


    ¡°Would you be willing to teach me some more about it sometime?¡± She gave him a smile, her black hair dark as ebony, her skin white as snow, her cheeks flush with blood. She was physically about the same age as he was. Though he wasn¡¯t as old as he used to be. Still it¡¯d been a while since he¡¯d talked to a woman who didn¡¯t look at him like she wanted to eat him.


    ¡°Sure,¡± He grinned back.


    It was the next day that Skullion¡¯s team returned. He still had about a week of his mandated recovery period, and he¡¯d ultimately learned far less than he¡¯d like about preventing dragonification. It simply wasn¡¯t in the library. At least not anymore if it ever had been.


    Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions.


    He was wanting an excuse to quit when Kiria, and Madmole walked into the library. Hinami was playing assistant, bringing him books, occasionally asking more on what he was looking for, suggesting possible search terms, and the like. Ike and Roy had taken to ¡®assisting¡¯ as well, as if afraid to leave him alone with Hinami now.


    ¡°See, Miss Kiria, we do have a library-cha,¡± Madmole¡¯s distinctively formal tone and his verbal tic announced their presence.


    ¡°Why?¡± Kiria¡¯s voice sounded out. ¡°Oi, Horsey, get your nose out of the book and give me a ride on the lizardhawk.¡±


    Arthur turned towards them. It was actually nice to see them again. He hadn¡¯t really known them long, but despite Kiria¡¯s personality, they were nice to have around.


    ¡°I refuse,¡± He answered before resuming his work of scanning a book on the battle tactics typically shown by dragons.


    ¡°Oi! Maybe we shouldn¡¯t have got him a souvenir after all,¡± Kiria said.


    Arthur sighed. ¡°Let me finish scanning this book and I¡¯ll see about helping you to get the lizardhawk to let you ride it alone.¡±


    ¡°Told you he was weak to bribes,¡± Kiria stated. ¡°Of course he¡¯s weak in general, aren¡¯t you, Horsey?¡±


    ¡°If you want to go first on the sparring list take it up with the Dark Dragon Knights and Georg,¡± Arthur said with a half sigh, as Madmole began chatting with Roy and Ike and Hinami faded as far as she could into the background.


    ¡°Georg is still saying you can¡¯t fight?¡± Kiria said with a sigh in her voice.


    ¡°Yep.¡±


    ¡°That sucks,¡± Kiria sighed. Arthur rolled his eyes at the little battle maniac. ¡°I wanted to see if you¡¯d become strong with your new magic.¡±


    ¡°How was the trip?¡±


    ¡°Boring. There aren¡¯t any really strong mages in Ishgar.¡± She said with a sigh.


    ¡°What about Fairy Tail?¡±


    ¡°Their number one guild? Eh. It wasn¡¯t on the way, and besides given the quality of their other guilds, being number one doesn¡¯t mean much. Besides even their #1 mage doesn¡¯t hold a candle to Georg.¡±


    ¡°Wish I could eat him.¡±


    ¡°Eat? You really are one of us now.¡±


    ¡°Meet!¡±


    ¡°So gonna stay in this back room, or come and welcome us back properly?¡±


    ¡°Can I finish uploading this book first? It¡¯ll be a hassle if I lose my place.¡±


    ¡°Fine, but I get a ride on the lizardhawk when you¡¯re done.¡±


    One lizardhawk ride later, and Arthur found himself surrounded by the Skullion team. ¡°Sir Arthur, I know you wanted to visit the southern continent yourself, but since you couldn¡¯t, hopefully this will help make up for things-cha,¡± Madmole gave Kiria an odd look as he spoke.


    Skullion looked bored if anything. Kiria gave a little scowl. ¡°Madmole was rather insistent that we should.¡±


    Arthur didn¡¯t miss the looks that showed on both Madmole and Skullion¡¯s faces there, nor the obvious embarrassment on Kiria¡¯s own.


    ¡°So it was all Madmole¡¯s idea?¡± Arthur asked.


    ¡°Yep,¡± Kiria¡¯s answer caused a sigh from Skullion.


    ¡°I can¡¯t watch this,¡± He said, starting to turn and walk away.


    ¡°Sir Arthur, it¡¯s a welcoming gift from all of us. You were of aid against the darkness dragon, without you our team would have been likely unable to get it out of its cave and beat it. I know you received your magic, but we all wanted to show our appreciation-cha,¡± Madmole said.


    ¡°You did a good job,¡± Skullion said, stopping to turn and face them again. ¡°Even if you¡¯ve given me another back to chase.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t mind another strong swordsman to fight,¡± Kiria said.


    It was Madmole¡¯s turn to sigh. ¡°We thought this would be an appropriate token of our esteem.¡± He extended a hand holding a small, silver-gray box.


    Arthur took it, opening it, and seeing the silver key within. ¡°You shouldn¡¯t have. I can¡¯t repay you for it. Not yet at least.¡±


    ¡°No repayment, it¡¯s a gift,¡± Madmole said.


    ¡°Besides,¡± Skullion added, looking meaningfully towards Kiria. ¡°It was all actually Kiria.¡±


    ¡°Oi!¡± Kiria shouted, a sword forming from her dragon slayer magic in her hand. ¡°You said you¡¯d not tell him that!¡±


    Skullion smiled, and faded into ash, sliding through the wall and into the guildhall, leaving Kiria to fume on her own.


    ¡°It¡¯s not like you¡¯re thinking,¡± She said. ¡°It was just what should have been your cut for the werelion jump. You were a good horse. You deserved a reward even if we did have to test if you were really serious with a bit of hazing.¡±


    ¡°Thank you,¡± Arthur said. Not wanting to press the issue. She was a kid. Anything she felt for him would pass. He hoped. She was a scary little psycho in the making. Maybe she was even being honest. Hopefully she was being honest.


    ¡°So I¡¯m first in the sparring list, right?¡± She said, suddenly grinning at him like an excited puppy.


    ¡°Is that what it really is?¡±


    ¡°Just a little bribe. Come on, let¡¯s fight.¡±


    ¡°Take it up with Georg.¡± Arthur was quite willing to use that shield for 2 more days.


    It was not long before he was in his room, the silver key being pressed into a not-so-imaginary doorway. ¡°Open a gate to the little horse, Equulus!¡±


    The horse appeared. It was, as the name said, a little horse, though it was almost proportioned more like a wiener dog. Only about the size of a cat. It whinnied and neighed at his ankle, its eyes turning up towards him. It was time to make the contract, agreeing on when he could summon it. ¡°Monday?¡± It shook its head. ¡°Tuesdays?¡± It shook its head. ¡°Wednesdays?¡± Another shake of its head. ¡°Thursdays?¡± A fourth. ¡°Fridays?¡± A fifth. ¡°Saturdays?¡± A sixth. ¡°Ok, then just sundays?¡± A seventh.


    Arthur looked at the horse, trying to hold back the irritation he felt from showing in his voice. ¡°Not at all?¡± An eighth.


    ¡°When then?¡± He exclaimed in exasperation. The horse neighed, stomping its hoof a few times.


    ¡°So only Friday and Saturday evenings?¡± It was weird he understood what that meant.


    There came two stomps of its hoof and the horse nodded its head whinnying more. He wasn¡¯t sure when this small horse would prove useful, especially with that limitation, but it was a celestial spirit, and he would befriend it. ¡°Since it¡¯s not a Friday or Saturday should I go ahead and close the gate, or would you like to stay a bit?¡±


    It stomped its foot twice and disappeared. Arthur moved to his bed and lay there, feeling a sense of disappointment, and failure. He needed to befriend some of these spirits. There was CP in it. And it really ought to be easy. Everybody loved Lucy after all, and even other summoners they seemed to like. But this was a sort of crushing blow.


    Maybe he¡¯d buy the cheat that made them like him more. He had the feeling he might need it now.


    Arthur rode his lizardhawk towards the job site. His month-long rest was over, and Georg had inspected his wound and said it¡¯d likely healed as much as it would. The shoulder still ached with a dull pain, and he didn¡¯t quite have the range of motion he used to with that arm. But with his newfound strength he was still stronger than any human had a right to be, and he could still use the arm even if it wasn¡¯t 100%. He¡¯d archived the library and had managed to start setting up his Archive to actually filter the information and give him something useful. He wasn¡¯t doing it right now. He had a job to do, he didn¡¯t want to burn out his magical strength first.


    The duel with Kiria had got him thinking. The aftermath was better off forgotten. He never wanted to be forced to kneel and grovel like that again, and really he¡¯d definitely never live down being Horsey now. Still until she¡¯d pulled out her hypnosis he¡¯d been winning. Next time he¡¯d find a way to beat it. Besides it had him thinking about how dragon slaying magic could be used almost conceptually. She could cut someone¡¯s mental strength. What might he figure out how to do with darkness?


    Still, he¡¯d chosen a fairly simple job: helping to dig in a mine. Apparently a local mining guild had ended up undermanned, and they were willing to pay a wizard to help clear a tunnel in time. It was nice. It should be easy.


    It should be easy.


    Well it started out easy enough. His darkness dragon roar could shatter the stone, and then territory could teleport it out. He was a one man excavation team. Things were going fine, until the mountain began to shake wildly and the tunnel began to collapse. It hadn¡¯t had time to be shorn up properly yet, and he found himself trying to hold a mountain up with his territory magic as darkness surrounded them.


    There was screaming as he sucked in, inhaling deeply. He was the darkness dragon slayer. He might as well eat the darkness. It left the collapsed tunnel faintly illuminated with no visible source. He was still holding up tons of rubble with his territory magic, though, and his easy recharge method had been denied him. Still it was easy enough to teleport the people out of the tunnel with one hand while supporting it with the other. Except the tunnel kept shaking, as something burst through the wall. It looked like a strange, metal scorpion, dotted with yellow-green transparent crystals. It was huge, large enough to fill the tunnel. One of its scorpion claws rose, a blob of slime seeming to launch out and wrap around one of the miners before pulling him into the claw to disappear into a hollow inside.


    ¡°Meteor scorpion!¡± Someone yelled. And then the people he¡¯d not teleported yet begun to run and panic.


    Another blob of slime shot out, but this time Arthur was able to teleport its victims from it. The weight above was getting more and more annoying, and there were still too many people to teleport one by one while dealing with it. Besides, it had taken people inside.


    So Arthur solved the problem the easy way. He just teleported everything in the whole half-formed tunnel out of the collapse. Having magic to burn was so much easier.


    Of course everything included the scorpion, which was now free to use its tail. It raised it up behind itself, pointing it towards Arthur and a swirling black sphere of gravity fired out towards him. He felt it lifting him up, and he opened his mouth. A pseudo-black hole might have worked to tear through his territory but you didn¡¯t use darkness against a darkness dragon slayer.


    The scorpion seemed to have realized that. The big dipper appeared on its stinger, which proceeded to glow for a few moments, before a series of beams of light began to fire out. Arthur couldn¡¯t eat this, but he didn¡¯t need to.


    The battle ended soon enough. On a whim he picked up a piece of the scorpion¡¯s body. Just to look at it really.


    ¡°Put that down, and get back to clearing the tunnel!¡± The foreman shouted. Not a word of thanks for having saved his captured men, or stopped the tunnel from collapsing onto him. It annoyed Arthur, quite a bit.


    ¡°I was just looking at it. Besides, I need a bit of rest after that fight.¡±


    Arthur sighed. He was cursing the scorpion. And the fact that he had come so close to completing a job without combat. ¡°Just give me a minute, I could have left you in the tunnel with it.¡±


    That earned him a stink eye. But it wasn¡¯t like he saw anyone else working to clear the tunnel. In fact they all seemed to be looking through the scorpion¡¯s remains with a sort of excited expectation. ¡°What¡¯s everyone looking for anyway?¡±


    ¡°Nothing. It¡¯s just a shock that they were attacked,¡± The foreman said, not looking Arthur in the face, as his face twitched away from him.


    ¡°Nothing?¡± Arthur asked.


    ¡°Everyone, get back to work, now! Clear that tunnel, it won''t clear itself, especially with our wizard sitting on his laurels!¡± The foreman said, stomping away.


    Arthur sighed, and moved towards the center of the corpse. On his way he stopped. There was a particularly smooth and beautiful piece of the scorpion¡¯s remains. Something that had blasted apart when he¡¯d torn it open by using his territory magic from the inside of its massive mouth out. It looked less iron-colored and more silver than the rest of the scorpion. It was a bit big to pocket, but he decided to teleport it behind a rock for later. If he wasn¡¯t going to get paid for killing the scorpion he¡¯d at least get a souvenir.


    And then sighing he went back to work on the tunnel.


    ¡°It¡¯s been almost 3 weeks, have you taken a single combat job?¡± Skullion asked him a few weeks later when he was sitting in the guild mess.


    ¡°I¡¯ve been doing jobs,¡± Arthur said defensively. ¡°And they¡¯ve all ended up with combat.¡±


    Skullion rolled his eyes. ¡°Did losing to Kiria scare you that much? You did just fine against Suzaku and Misaki.¡± Both of them were reminders that if he sat on his haunches he¡¯d not stay ahead of them. ¡°Or was it what happened with Byaku last week?¡±


    His character sheet had already warned him about further head trauma before the white tiger dragon slayer had speed blitzed him into unconsciousness. ¡°You¡¯re stronger than at least 2 of the 4 Dark Dragon Knights. You¡¯re probably one of the top 5 mages in the continent. Seriously, what are you doing, doing piddly low ranked jobs?¡± Skullion asked, planting his mug of ale on the table.


    ¡°Would you believe me if I said that I was trying to do one job that didn¡¯t involve fighting to please extra dimensional entities?¡±


    Skullion looked at him. ¡°If you don¡¯t want to be serious.¡±


    ¡°Before arriving at the guild I¡¯d never been in a fight. The werelions almost killed me. The darkness dragon almost killed me. There¡¯s a part of me that is afraid of combat jobs,¡± Arthur confessed. ¡°I have no idea if I could survive taking a subjugation job.¡± Arthur hadn¡¯t realized how much he honestly was scared till he started talking.


    ¡°You wanted to be a Diabolos mage,¡± Skullion said. ¡°I guess the little PR jobs at least help the guild¡¯s image.¡± Still Arthur could feel the scorn and contempt at his cowardice. Or maybe it was just his wasted potential.


    He¡¯d wasted all his potential in his life before too. And now he was doing nothing. Barely had his Archive running searches, and was spending his time doing low ranked jobs for weaklings. Skullion was right to have contempt for him. He sighed and walked towards the job board. It was time to go for something big.


    He was looking them over, reading over the higher ranked and dangerous jobs, when Hinami approached.


    ¡°Erm. I was wondering.¡± She pointed to one. The bounty was small, only a few thousand jewels, so he had skipped over it. ¡°If you might. Well. I thought since you¡¯re a celestial spirit mage. And maybe we could go together and I could¡­¡± She was starting to stammer a bit.


    He looked at the job. It was about a yearly meteor scorpion hunt in the mountains. It was still a few days away, on the 15th of October, but they could make it there in time on foot, much less if they took the train or his lizardhawk. The bounty was small, just 5,000 Jewels¡­ per core of average quality.


    That was still just 50 bucks per giant scorpion you killed. ¡°Are you sure you want to do this? Those things get sort of big.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not scared of some big bugs.¡±


    ¡°Like a-hundred-feet-long big,¡± He continued.


    ¡°You think we¡¯d be lucky enough to find an ancient?¡± She asked, her face lighting up. ¡°Those are really rare, and valuable.¡± She pointed to the fine print at the bottom of the job. There was an asterisk by the reward. A little text detailing how the value may vary core to core, only acceptable cores are valued, and so forth. An ancient¡¯s core was mentioned at 500,000 jewels.


    ¡°How big are they usually?¡±


    ¡°Like the size of a dog. You didn¡¯t know that?¡± She tilted her head looking at him. ¡°You seem to know and not know the weirdest things.¡±


    ¡°I¡­ why would I be interested in this as a celestial spirit mage?¡±


    She looked at him, confusion spreading across her graceful features. ¡°They use their cores to make holder magic related to the stars, like silver keys. The hunt should be a good place to buy some.¡±


    Arthur nodded. ¡°Well, if you¡¯d like to accompany me, I¡¯d love to have someone there with me who actually knows what she¡¯s doing.¡± He said, taking an overly elaborate bow and then extending his arm outward. He was rewarded with a little laugh.


    ¡°You¡¯ll see my Purgatory Dragon Slayer Magic will roast those bugs like it¡¯s nothing,¡± Roy boasted as they rode the train towards the mountain. The lizardhawk was in a stable-car, and rather restrained, while Hinami, Arthur, Ike, and Roy rode sitting together with a small table between them.


    Somehow Arthur had found himself directly across from Ike and adjacent to Roy. He suspected coordinated efforts on their behalf. The two idiots might hate each other, but now that they had a common enemy they were surprisingly adept at teamwork.


    ¡°Well my Rose Dragon Slayer Magic will wrap them up and drain the life right out of them. I bet you¡¯ll just end up toasting their cores anyway,¡± Ike retorted, glaring at Roy.


    Hinami sat looking awkwardly, wishing she had had a window seat so she could lose herself in watching the outside go by. Arthur tried to ignore the two fools, while working on his Archive, coordinating a search of its database. He¡¯s actually managed to upload Hinami¡¯s knowledge of Light Dragon Slayer Magic into it. It wasn¡¯t enough to just teach someone it, and downloading it directly into a mind was problematic - it caused short term memory loss afterwards - but he could review it at his leisure while he was letting the search run in earnest. Of course, the search kept throwing up false positives which distracted him.


    ¡°All your weeds are good for is fuel for my fires,¡± Roy countered, leaning across Arthur to ram his finger into Ike¡¯s face.


    ¡°There¡¯s no beauty in your fire, where my roses are the height of elegance,¡± Ike countered.


    ¡°I¡¯d like to see them dance half as beautifully as my flames!¡± Roy¡¯s elbow rammed into Arthur¡¯s face.


    ¡°And the disgusting reek of the smoke you produce. What about that?¡± Ike said, grabbing Roy by his collar and pulling him half onto Arthur.


    Suddenly they found the space between them pushing against them and pulling them apart, pressing them back into their seats. Teardrop shapes of energy spun slowly in Arthur¡¯s hands. ¡°Enough, I¡¯m trying to think!¡± He said sharply.


    ¡°Got some big ideas on how to hunt, eh brainiac?¡± Roy and Ike said in disturbing unison, and Arthur pushed them harder against their seats.


    ¡°I¡¯m working on stopping us all from becoming the very creatures we hunt and eat,¡± Arthur growled. His Archive search had come up with another few hits. One of them was talking about a dragon vaccination theory, via transferring a dragon¡¯s soul into an individual to allow them to develop antibodies.


    ¡°Pffft like you could work on that here,¡± Ike said.


    ¡°Stop trying to make yourself look good,¡± Roy added.


    Arthur twitched his fingers and started downloading the information he was reading into their brains directly. ¡°Can, and am. Now shut up I think I¡¯m onto something.¡±


    And finally he had a few minutes of quiet.


    ¡°Hinami, if you¡¯re scared of going alone, you should come with me,¡± Roy stated. ¡°I¡¯ll reduce all those monsters to cinders, don¡¯t worry.¡±


    ¡°And you along with them, probably,¡± Ike said, ¡°Join me, and we¡¯ll have a far more elegant time together.¡±


    ¡°Erm¡­ I don¡¯t¡­ really I mean¡­¡±


    ¡°Hinami, would you prefer to join me on the lizardhawk? I could use a second pair of eyes, and from above we ought to have the advantage over other hunters,¡± Arthur said with his own smile.


    ¡°My nose will do better than any wyvern,¡± Roy butted in.


    ¡°Can¡¯t we just stick together?¡± Hinami cried out at last. ¡°I mean¡­ isn¡¯t there more safety in numbers?¡±


    ¡°I can keep you safe alone!¡± Arthur cringed when he realized he had spoken in unison with Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum. He was becoming one of them.


    ¡°My fire would be burning them all away if it hadn¡¯t started raining!¡± Roy complained. The downpour was unusually intense, the clouds heavy enough to leave it darker than a clear night, and the rain obscuring vision further. It¡¯d grounded the lizardhawk completely as well.


    If it wasn¡¯t for Hinami¡¯s light magic creating what amounted to a spot light from her palm they¡¯d be barely able to see 10 ft in front of themselves. Arthur considered trying to teleport the cloud, but not only was it taller than the last one he¡¯d done it to, his toying with Archive and the need to fight the scorpions meant he couldn¡¯t spend that much of his magical power just to clean up the weather a bit. Moving entire storms was not easy.


    ¡°Got another one,¡± Ike said with a bragging tone.


    ¡°Shut up!¡± Roy and Arthur shouted in unison. And then the ground began to slip beneath them.


    ¡°Is it an ancient?¡± Arthur asked in surprise, as the ground shook, and crumbled, rocks starting to bounce down the mountainside towards them, followed by a heavy wall of mud.


    ¡°Mudslide!¡± Roy shouted.


    ¡°Hinami!¡± Ike shouted, tackling to her side and roaring, flowering vines exploding from his mouth, creating a shielding bulwark around them, even as the mud hit Roy and Arthur.


    Arthur¡¯s hand twisted, magic swirling around Roy and teleporting him up and out of the mud, and then he felt himself being carried away by the flow of mud and rocks. When it stopped, he managed to force himself up and out of the mudslide. The raw physical capabilities which came with magical energy was useful.


    It was dark, but he could eat that. It¡¯d not help that the pouring water limited visibility with the light glow that it left behind. Arthur summoned Altair instead, allowing the electric eagle to illuminate things with its electrical energy.


    ¡°Kii! Scary bugs! Kii!¡± Altair screeched as its flashing and surging light showcased that they were in fact in an entire nest of the scorpions.


    Arthur carried the sack of scorpion parts and cores through the waist deep mud, slowly making his way through the flooded region and out towards the relatively dry area where the alchemists who had put up the job were waiting.


    He dumped out the bag, cores - and assorted other bits - from over a dozen of the scorpions falling down onto the ground.


    ¡°Hah, even Roy got almost that many and he¡¯s useless in the rain,¡± Ike said. He¡¯d done well, he¡¯d got a haul of over 3 dozen himself, a good 230,000 jewels, enough to live for over a month on the job alone which wasn¡¯t bad for a day and a half¡¯s work.


    ¡°It¡¯s alright, I¡¯m sure you¡¯ll do better next year,¡± Hinami said with a gentle smile. She¡¯d got a bit less than Roy, but it was still a decent number.


    Arthur breathed out. ¡°Territory magic.¡± Suddenly a massive pile appeared falling from a swirling gate a few feet in the air. Altair perched on the pile proudly. ¡°Should be another hundred there. And an ancient.¡±


    More than 1,000,000 jewels. Not enough to live on for a year. But enough to fund a trip to Ishgar.


    ¡°Why do we have to go to Ishgar anyway?¡± Complained loudly in line to get tickets onto the ship to the southern continent.


    ¡°You invited yourself,¡± Arthur said in a sigh. ¡°All three of you.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, but you said you were going to go fight Ishgar¡¯s dragon slayers,¡± Kiria said.


    ¡°Not ¡®fight¡¯! Get blood from. The goal is very specifically not to fight them!¡± Arthur explained once again.


    ¡°How else are you supposed to get their blood? Huh?¡± Kiria turned towards him.


    ¡°Politely. By asking nicely.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s boring. I want to fight them.¡±


    ¡°And that¡¯s why I told you not to come. What about you two, why did you both come along?¡± He looked at Madmole and Skullion.


    ¡°The rest of my team was coming-cha,¡± Madmole replied.


    ¡°She has no sense of caution, and you have no head for battle,¡± Skullion answered. ¡°Somebody has to be there to make sure you don¡¯t get yourselves killed.¡±


    ¡°Just promise me to help make sure Kiria doesn¡¯t attack the people we¡¯re asking a favor of, please,¡± Arthur sagged a bit.


    ¡°I can¡¯t make any promises not to be distracted by keeping you from getting yourself killed,¡± Skullion said as Arthur pulled out his ticket to get on the ship.


    ¡°Fine, fine, fine,¡± Arthur said with a tired tone, and teleported his three guild mates a few miles away. ¡°They were just accompanying me to the ship,¡± He said to the ticket checker as he made his way on. There was a bounty for completely turning canon on its head, but he wasn¡¯t about to risk what those three idiots meeting Fairy Tail 9 years early might cause. He could mess things up after Acnologia was defeated, or he¡¯d figured out his own way to stop him and Zeref. Besides, if Kiria killed Natsu, he wouldn¡¯t be able to befriend him.


    Besides, he didn¡¯t like his guild mates thinking he was a liability. He¡¯d show Skullion he could survive on his own. Arthur tried not to think about how such an attempt probably just proved he was a liability.

 Living on a Prayer

    Arthur had been in a rush for quite some time. The bounty for fighting Angel hadn¡¯t turned red. He could, in theory, still defeat the Celestial Spirit Mage and the Oraci¨®n Seis for their bounties. Though that would risk changing things. Would that stop Wendy from joining Fairy Tail? She¡¯d still get dragged into the Edolas affair, wouldn¡¯t she? He¡¯d need to be around for the Eclipse Gate, but Lucy didn¡¯t have all the Gold Keys so it¡¯s not like she needed all of them to summon the Celestial Spirit King. Of course if he wanted to take out the Oraci¨®n Seis, he shouldn¡¯t have teleported away his guildmates. He¡¯d need the backup.


    Still the boat ride represented an enforced relaxation. And that meant it was time to try out the Silver Keys he¡¯d bought with the last job reward he¡¯d received. But first he opened his HUD menu. Some new bounties had appeared. They wanted him to build a super weapon. And to beat his guildmates. And to befriend his guildmates. Well¡­ teleporting them away probably didn¡¯t help with that. He felt a little guilty about that. Still Kiria would have started a fight with Natsu and he didn¡¯t want that. It was better for them if they did not come along, even if it made it harder for him to get a few bounties later on. After all, even if it wasn¡¯t to happen in the next 10 years, the fate of any dragon slayer that didn¡¯t die first was to become a dragon. And Georg and Byaku indicated it wasn¡¯t far from some of the guild. Skullion¡¯s team probably had a decade at least, unless May Your Life be Eventful messed that up. But the others¡­ Only 10 members of the guild showed in the manga, and one of them dragonfied.


    But right now it was time to contract with his new keys. He¡¯d spent over a fifth of his earnings from the job on them. But before he hit things off on the wrong foot. He opened his HUD. He still had 300 CP. He hadn¡¯t really gained much since the dragon. That worried him. But he still was working on things like acquiring dragon lacrima. He had an idea of what it might cost him, though, and well it might cost him 200 CP.


    Still that left him 100. While he¡¯d love to grab something more, he looked at the sheet of options and selected Binary Stars. He didn¡¯t want a repeat of the little horse incident. This time he¡¯d get off on a good foot with his summons.


    He started with the gate of canis minor. It ought to get him a nikora, a weak type of celestial spirit. It had cost him the least of the three keys he¡¯d bought. The equivalent of $200. It was a vanity summon, whose purpose was to look cute. The little ¡®dog¡¯ appeared. Bipedal, big, drill-like nose, and in his case blue-furred with white highlighting markings, almost in an inversion of his own hair.


    The contract was easily made. He could summon it whenever, and it wanted to sit on his lap and sleep. He was happy enough to allow that, as he moved onto the more combat relevant Celestial Spirits. He wasn¡¯t certain what they were, but they cost more than the canis minor key at least.


    Next was the gate of pegasus. He wasn¡¯t certain what to expect. But he was somewhat surprised that what emerged looked like a bronze pegasus. The entire entity was made of bronze, its feathers finely worked, its hooves immaculate. It was oddly pegasus like. At least until it reared onto its hind legs and started shadow boxing in the middle of forming a contract, a halo shining around its head. The pegasus spirit, Enif, agreed to rather lenient terms, any time, any why, but only on the condition that Arthur summoned him only at peak output. It meant maintaining him with other spirits or long term would be more difficult.


    The final key was for the gate of Orion. Arthur was glad he¡¯d decided to do this summoning on the deck instead of in his cabin. Orion was big. Large enough that his summoning still caused issues, with him pushing this aside. Orion, the Giant Hunter. And apparently designed by a Final Fantasy character artist given the number of belts he was wearing. He almost looked like a mummy. He was actually amicable enough, only having one condition for his contract; that Arthur didn¡¯t go too long between summonings, and preferably gave him a chance to fight from time to time.


    The process was easier and far more painless than with Equuleus. And with it done. Well he couldn¡¯t summon any of the new spirits again so soon after dismissing them - and Orion was unfortunately too large to keep on the boat - so he summoned Kochab. The big blue bear liked to play catch might as well do so.


    The next day it was time to summon Enif again. There was a real chance of befriending it after all.


    ¡°Whyareweonaboat?¡± The bronze horse demanded.


    ¡°Because I¡¯m sailing south to Ishgar,¡± Arthur answered.


    ¡°Boatsareslow. Slowsucks. Weshouldgofast,¡± Enif said, starting to spread its wings and fly fast in a circle around Arthur.


    ¡°I can¡¯t teleport that far, and the lizardhawk and Altair can¡¯t fly me that far.¡±


    ¡°Areyouslow?¡± Enif stopped midair, just floating there, and glaring.


    ¡°Can you fly me that far?¡± Arthur asked.


    ¡°Onlyfast.¡±


    ¡°You can only fly fast not far or you can only fly me that far while going fast?¡±


    ¡°TheactuallyIdon¡¯tknow,¡± Enif said, landing its head lowering. Then it raised it again. ¡°Believeinmeandwecanflybeyondbeyond!¡±


    ¡°We¡¯d be lost at sea.¡±


    The horse¡¯s bronze lip began to quiver. It wanted to fly. It wanted to fly far and fast. His HUD still showed the bounties for obtaining allegiance from the Silver Key Spirits. Arthur debated if risking getting lost at sea was worth it to give this crazy horse what it wanted. ¡°You¡¯d not risk getting your summoner killed,¡± Arthur said, remembering their greatest taboo. The horse wouldn¡¯t be suggesting this if it didn¡¯t really think it could do it.


    ¡°Ofcoursenot.¡±


    ¡°We need to go south east, and you need to be careful to find land, ok?¡±


    The horse nodded.


    ¡°Let me get my shield.¡±


    ¡°Land!¡± Enif declared. They¡¯d been flying for far too long, and far too fast. And not nearly straight enough. He felt dizzy, drained, and weak.


    Enif came in for a landing among the trees of a forest, speaking his words too fast together in his perpetual rush forward. ¡°Imayhavemissedtheshore. Summoneryoudon¡¯tlooksogood. Areyoualright?¡±


    Arthur twitched a bit. ¡°Too fast. Way too fast. Sorry but gotta close the gate now.¡± He¡¯d learned something, the peak output in their contract wasn¡¯t peak stats, it was peak magical output. Which meant keeping Enif summoned was like the magical equivalent of sprinting full out, and Arthur felt like he¡¯d just sprinted an entire magical marathon as if he¡¯d been being chased by Acnologia.


    So he was exhausted, hungry, and lost in a forest. Assuming he was in Fiore at all, the north had two major forests based on the map he¡¯d scanned on the boat. Waas Forest near Cait Shelter, and another unnamed one which surrounded some mountains. He wasn¡¯t sure though which he was in, and his only idea of north was that he¡¯d been going south.


    He sighed, and began to continue walking in the direction that Enif had been flying and reached for his bag of food. It was not there. It was not where he¡¯d landed. It must have fallen off the horse in mid flight.


    He drew his sword. Time to find some souls - and hopefully more tangible things - to eat.


    ¡°Should we tell this to the Oraci¨®n Seis? If we¡¯d not gotten here early we¡¯d never have seen him,¡± One of the dark mages, positioned in a tree stated.


    ¡°We¡¯re supposed to let the legal guilders into the trap first,¡± Another said.


    ¡°It¡¯s just one guy, and if we beat him we can show how useful we are, and maybe Angel will¡­¡± A third suggested.


    ¡°Yeah,¡± The group said in unison.


    ¡°Oi, anyone up there?¡± The - presumed - legal guild mage below said, looking up at the dark mages. ¡°Yeah. Why are you in a tree, are you stuck? I need to help something stuck in a tree get out, so if you¡¯re stuck I¡¯d be happy to help you down.¡±


    ¡°Shit, he¡¯s spotted us. We¡¯ve got no choice now,¡± one of the dark mages said, before jumping down out of the tree towards him. ¡°We are the dark guild Efreet¡¯s Turban, and this isn¡¯t your lucky day,¡± the landing mage said, drawing forth his scimitar and beginning to swing it around in a rather impressive display.


    ¡°Look, I¡¯m a mage. I don¡¯t want to fight bandits right now. Give me some food, and I¡¯ll forget this affront,¡± the wanderer said.


    ¡°We¡¯re all mages,¡± the sword-spinning bandit said.


    The armored wanderer looked at him. ¡°You¡¯re mages? You sure? You don¡¯t feel like you¡¯re mages. I¡¯ve never met a mage with so little magical energy in Guiltina. So this is why Kiria calls Ishgar weak?¡±


    One of the swordsmen charged towards him, blade clanging off his suit of armor, before his black sword was sweeping, biting deep across the chest, and seeming to come back for the death blow before he fumbled his sword completely dropping it to the ground.


    ¡°Look, I¡¯d really rather not kill people. But I have a standing bounty to crush dark guilds. So why don¡¯t you guys give me some food, and surrender?¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ll show you to look down on dark mages, everyone use your magic!¡± The guildmaster of Efreet¡¯s Turban screamed, everyone¡¯s swords alighting in unison before they began to charge the man en masse.


    Arthur raised one hand, space warping into a wall in a dome around him, before pushing back out, hitting them like a wave of solid lead as it sent them flying into the trunks of trees, against rocks, through bushes, and in general out of the clearing.


    ¡°I¡¯m tired. I¡¯m hungry. I¡¯m in a bad mood. Give me your freaking food and surrender or I will take my sword and eat your souls.¡±


    Arthur felt better now that he had something to eat. Really he should have just tried to eat the darkness while sleeping on the ground last night. He¡¯d uploaded a fair bit of the Guild Master¡¯s knowledge into his Archive too. Just had to stab him in the leg. It was hard to resist the urge to just kill him and feel that sweet recharge of magical energy, though.


    Still, he¡¯d gotten an incomplete map of the area, knowledge of how to use their holder magic which had been simple enough to just upload into his mind, and very valuable information. Specifically, the fact that the Oraci¨®n Seis were in this forest looking for something and waiting for the Magic Council to try and stop them with an alliance of Legal Guilds.


    It was the Oraci¨®n Seis arc. So if he wanted to save Aries before Lucy could he needed to get hunting. Enif had dropped him into a lucky spot. And it was a good place to hunt dark guilds, it appeared. Though he was unsure what ¡®destroy¡¯ meant. Did he have to murder them entirely? He wasn¡¯t murdering a dozen people for 2 CP. Though he was rather drained and if he was going to fight the Oraci¨®n Seis.


    A vine shot down from the trees above wrapping around his throat like a noose and he started really rethinking that no killing rule.


    Brain was not pleased. The Alliance of legal guilds he had been expecting had not arrived, but his Archive magic was sending him signals that the net which had been supposed to let them through only to close like a noose around them was instead being torn apart by some raging monster of a mage. They seemed to be just stumbling from one of their underling-guilds to another with no plan or intent, and Brain knew they needed to be prepared to find and catch the alliance of 4 guilds when they arrived.


    But it was possible this man was a scout from that alliance. And he seemed to be using Archive magic of his own. Given it was one of the magics that Brain developed while working as a researcher for the Magic Council, and to his knowledge only a small handful of individuals, all associated with the Council, knew it, that indicated all the more that this was a scout.


    ¡°My prayers, we¡¯ve got a problem to deal with.¡±


    If he¡¯d not dropped his potion satchel he¡¯d have magical recharge potions ready. But no, he just had to drop it. And he didn¡¯t want to just outright murder these small fries. But each fight he had less magical energy remaining. He¡¯d had to fall back from the last guild because their magic shotgun had left him with a whole set of bleeding wounds; a spell that wouldn¡¯t have even scratched him if he wasn¡¯t running on empty.


    If he killed them he¡¯d not be running on empty. And they were trying to kill him. So why shouldn¡¯t he.


    Arthur turned around, ready to go and find, and bloodily murder, the entire Naked Mummy guild, when he saw them approaching. But they weren¡¯t alone.


    The Naked Mummy ¡®marksmen¡¯ were guiding a group of six individuals towards him. Not only were their appearances rather distinctive, marking them out as more important individuals, but he recognized some of them. There was a man with a face that looked like it was carved from extremely angular stone. A black haired man with a snake twined about his body. Another black haired man who Arthur thought was the leader, though he seemed to be asleep on a magic carpet. A guy with a face full of tattoos and a skull headed staff. Maybe the staff was the real leader, that might have been it; it¡¯d been a long time since he read the arc and he was fuzzy on the details only remembering the leader was a twisted piece of work with a super powered evil side and the staff was alive and involved with him somehow. And then the pair he could remember and recognize from the manga. A man with yellow hair propped up in a way that looked like a rooster¡¯s comb; Racer who used slowing magic to appear super fast. And last a woman in a barely there dress composed of feathers, which was a bit more see through when you were seeing it in person than in a manga; Angel the Celestial Spirit Mage who was his target.


    Arthur created a warp of territory magic and teleported away. He might be able to beat them each one on one. But exhausted, running so far on empty that a guild of weaklings had left him rather significantly wounded, and six on one? It wasn¡¯t happening.


    Brain clicked his tongue a little. The enemy had teleported away, but judging from how close he¡¯d still been to the Naked Mummies, he couldn¡¯t have teleported far. If trash like Naked Mummy could wound him, he wasn¡¯t a threat to any of the Oraci¨®n Seis alone, they could spread out, limit his movements, encircle him, and bring him down fairly easily.


    Something was bothering him about their behavior, though. Several guilds that had been laying in wait had been defeated. Their survivors had talked about a mage in shining armor. This one fit that description; brightly shining armor, strange green-silver shield that was too large for them, and teleportation magic. Were they a lone agent? If so they had to be exhausted from battles, and at this point were no threat compared to the alliance of guilds; his information sources within the council had warned him about. Or were they part of a group, an entire guild which all dressed the same to confuse enemies? Was another dark guild moving into the region?


    There wasn¡¯t time for this distraction. The Guild Alliance would be here soon.


    Arthur sagged against the tree. His wounds hurt like hell, and probably needed to be bandaged. But it wasn¡¯t the blood loss that was bothering him. They really were just flesh wounds.


    He looked at the black sword in his hands. Could he really resolve himself to kill people. To destroy their very souls? He¡¯d done it to werelions, and it had felt good. They lived in tents, they had weapons. They weren¡¯t people, but they were people. And he¡¯d killed them.


    He¡¯d gone out specifically to do so. But they¡¯d been killing travelers. They were murderers and a threat to people around them. But these people had just found a lone traveler and tried to kill him. They were here trying to help a group of murderous psychos take over the country with an ancient superweapon.


    What particular right to live did they have?


    Arthur rose to his feet, holding his sword. And then he felt a hail of bullets cutting his sword arm.


    ¡°I¡¯ve found the little runaway pig!¡± One of the Naked Mummy mages shouted.


    Arthur warped space moving to him, sword raised to strike the mage down. He froze, hesitating, and the mage raised his shotgun again. ¡°Bullet magi-¡± The sword moved, its hungry spirit guiding Arthur¡¯s hand, and he didn¡¯t hold it back. He struck down the dark mage and he felt their life force flow into him, felt them fall, a soulless husk. He felt their entire life force flow into him.


    He had just murdered someone. They were about to shoot him in the face and kill him. But he had just murdered someone. He felt more bullets striking against his back, piercing his armor but not quite breaking through his flesh. ¡°Get him!¡± The mage screamed.


    Maybe it was best not to think of them as people, Arthur decided, as he raised a hand and teleported the gunman in front of him and stabbed them. It was easier than last time. After all it had felt good last time, the euphoria of life force refilling him working to drown out the guilt. Honestly each kill was easier than the last, just letting the voice of the sword and the euphoria of battle carry him through.


    Soon the mages of Naked Mummy were running away. But it was too late. Something had snapped. He teleported them to his side, and he cut them down, one after another, leaving a bloody wake of carnage. And then when he was done he walked away.


    Arthur felt like he was going to throw up again. Even with the euphoria of his blade¡¯s song, that ecstasy inducing sensation of life pouring through him, he felt sick. He¡¯d just cut down more than a dozen people like it was some sort of video game. And they were gone. There was no undoing that fact.


    He reminded himself that they were in fact trying to kill him. That they had almost killed him. He could actually justify a few of their deaths. But by the end it had just been him slaughtering the defenseless.


    Arthur didn¡¯t want to think about that. So he decided to put his mind to other places. Like finding the Oraci¨®n Seis.


    He pulled out Altair¡¯s and Enif¡¯s keys and he opened their gates. Linking up with them through his Archive magic, he could stay here while they found the Oraci¨®n Seis.


    Given the Oraci¨®n Seis were currently crashing a military airship on their own location, finding it wasn¡¯t exactly difficult for Altair, and Enif was eager to take him to the Oraci¨®n Seis, but Arthur was somewhat hesitant. He couldn¡¯t fight all six at once. He could, however, go find the alliance and join them.


    But if he beat the six alone he got double the reward. And the chance to obtain Aries and even more points by defeating Sorano. Though wasn¡¯t her name Angel? Or was Angel a codename?


    Altair had spotted the Oraci¨®n Seis, though. And the worst part was they seemed to have Wendy. He called Enif back to his position, and kept Altair watching them. He wasn¡¯t sure what his plan was, but Enif gave him a speed advantage. Maybe he could get wherever they were going before they did.


    He paused to consider. He was thinking about rushing in to fight one of the 3 most dangerous dark guilds in the country? Continent? It was somewhat hard to tell which to be honest. Six powerful dark mages. Currently running off with a Dragon Slayer, after having defeated 12 powerful mages with ease.


    Why?


    He looked at his bounty board. The Lion, the Witch and the World of Spirit. He¡¯d failed half of it, but he could succeed at the other half and get 75 CP. Destroy a Major Dark Guild 200 CP. It was doubled if he did it alone. But even if he had help. 200 CP.


    He opened up the power market. If he was going to have a prayer in a fight with six demon generals he needed to be better in a fight.


    Arthur worked on his Archive. There was another instance of the magic open in the area. The user was not particularly skilled it would seem as they didn¡¯t seem aware of his own. It was easy to access their data and make it his own; it was the magical equivalent of using unsecured public wifi without passwords. It did provide him with what the Guild Alliance had been told about the Oraci¨®n Seis.


    His new cheat power had made maintaining Altair, and even Enif, a lot easier on him. Keeping Enif summoned at maximum power for an indefinite period was not going to be easy, but if he wanted to keep Altair summoned until the spirit died due to not returning to the Celestial Spirit World for too long he could with ease. Even keeping 3 spirits summoned at once didn¡¯t drain him like 2 had previously.


    Still he was doubting his choice to retract Enif. Caelum was essential, and so too was Altair. And he simply couldn¡¯t afford the expenditure of energy demanded of keeping Enif summoned, especially not before battle.


    His eyes fell on his sword as he considered. It was too easy to kill with it. To kill and just keep killing with it. He felt guilt eating away at him. He could tell himself it was self defense. And at first it might have been. But by the end it had been a slaughter. He was pretty sure that at least a few of the Oraci¨®n Seis mended their ways. Cobra at least was essential to defeating Acnologia. Angel was Yukino¡¯s big sister and did something sort of big against the Spriggans; maybe saved the main cast from Brandish? Hoteye was the brother of one of Erza¡¯s friends from her time as a child slave. Racer was heroic at the end too, wasn¡¯t he? Midnight and Brain, he was pretty sure continued to be pretty bad, and a bad influence on the others. Of course he couldn¡¯t even remember which one was which or their names so he might not remember as much as he¡¯d like.


    Racer had driven a motorbike away from the Oraci¨®n Seis¡¯s cavern, and then Hoteye, Cobra, and Angel had left the cave as well, splitting off into the woods. Arthur was stumped on why they left. They seemed to just be wandering into the woods to look for individual fights; that Brain had sent them to find Nirvana didn¡¯t occur to him. Maybe the Oraci¨®n Seis were idiots who relied purely on personal power and not strategy?


    Going into the cave would be easy. He could save Wendy. He just had to handle the two most dangerous members of the Oraci¨®n Seis simultaneously; but one used Darkness Magic, and they likely couldn¡¯t go all out without hurting Wendy and he was fairly sure she wasn¡¯t just a hostage.


    He looked at his bounty board. If he went to save Wendy he¡¯d lose the chance to defeat Angel before Lucy did.


    Wendy would get saved regardless. But he wouldn¡¯t get the CP if he didn¡¯t go out and complete the bounty.


    Besides, Angel had come out into the open. Taking her out would be child¡¯s play.


    Altair began to descend from the heavens into actual combat range. This brought its dangers. Altair had been flying as high as he could fly and still, with his eagle eyes, track the enemy. A bird that could barely be seen flying above a forest. Descending down to range to attack Angel, meant coming down low enough that it was obvious that Altair was no ordinary bird.


    Still the ambush was effective. It was ultimately a lightning blitz. Altair descended, thunder roared through the forest, as Altair¡¯s lightning struck Angel causing her to fall.


    Gemini - taking on the form of Gray Fullbuster of Fairy Tail - began to work Ice Make Magic, firing a series of ice spikes up towards Altair, only for Caelum to fire from its hilltop firing post.


    By the time Arthur managed to teleport to the battlefield, the fight was over. Altair was hurt, but ultimately alright, Gemini¡¯s gate had been forced close, and Angel was down for the count.


    Arthur took it easy striding towards her, before he felt the familiar drain on his magical energy of Caelum firing a shot. He hesitated, pulling back, as he checked on its status through the Archive link.


    Cobra had found Caelum immediately. It wasn¡¯t exactly a fair fight. He needed to get back there ASAP. Unfortunately he had counted Angel out too soon, as she struck him from behind with a heavy ¡®sword¡¯. He found himself being knocked forward and flying as his armor cracked and bent. She had summoned a Caelum of her own, in its sword mode.


    He rolled, rising to his feet awkwardly - the dangers of wearing an oversized shield - and managed to block the next blow on his oversized shield, only for the ground to rise up around him in a wave. Angel leapt back, but was too slow as the wave of dirt wrapped around her as well.


    But where the aura from Arthur¡¯s chaos shield prevented the taint of chaos from corrupting or twisting the world against him, ending such transformations around it, it didn¡¯t protect Angel. The wave stopped, the earth solidifying again as it neared him, leaving him in a hollow hill. He opened his mouth, breathing in the darkness until there was a faint glow suffusing the area.


    Angel was stuck, her body mostly wrapped in the solidified earth, her sword arm and face the only exposed parts.


    Arthur¡¯s hand moved in front of his body. He held up his middle and index finger, thumb moving to push down on the other two. It was his chuuni thinking pose, a reward for a minor bounty. It was unclear if it did anything other than a placebo, but it might raise his cognitive faculties by 10%. He¡¯d won it by beating Roy in a game of checkers while repeatedly saying ¡°Chuuni thinking stance¡± between each move. It¡¯d gotten Roy to pointedly not talk to him for 2 days; so even if it was a placebo it had been worth doing.


    With Hoteye fighting here, and Cobra fighting at Caelum he needed to stop and think about his next move. Neither Caelum nor Altair could defeat their enemy alone. If he went to help one of them by the time he could go to the other it¡¯d be too late; and the longer he considered the more true that became. Cobra was a combat mind reader; Arthur would either need to saturate him with undodgeable attacks or lose, and especially still drained from battles he wasn¡¯t certain he could do the former. Caelum had been his ace in the hole; able to strike from afar to bring Cobra down. But he needed Altair to act as spotter for that. Caelum was essential to his plan, but ultimately less so than Altair.


    Then there was Angel. He could leave her here and come back for her. But he had no idea how visibly distinct this hole was, and if he blasted a hole out of it to make it very much so she might escape. He didn¡¯t want to leave her here to die, but he also didn¡¯t want to let her escape.


    Lowering his hand he exited his thinking stance. He knew what he¡¯d do. He¡¯d disarm Angel, and then he¡¯d go to help Altair.


    Escaping the cave was easy. He simply raised one hand and let his magic form its wall of compressed ¡®space¡¯ before forcing the top up and out away from him. Then he teleported first himself and then Angel onto the lip.


    Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.


    He made sure to teleport her really onto the lip. The evil celestial spirit mage wore a dress of feathers, with a neckline that went all the way to her navel, and a cape that resembled an angel¡¯s wings. Or it had, before Altair¡¯s lightning bolt had left her outfit burned and charred, half missing in places. He caught her by her cape, letting her teeter on the edge of the pit. It was just a thing to keep her off balance long enough to spy where she kept her keys; he suspected that it was beneath her cape.


    Teleporting the pouch into his shield hand, awkwardly grasping it, he knew he could just push her into the pit. But there was some primitive, animal instinct hardwired into his brain that prevented him from kicking a beautiful girl into a pit while screaming ¡°This is Sparta.¡± It just wasn¡¯t something he could actually go through with. He found himself pulling her away from the pit, as he stepped back himself.


    She still held a celestial spirit in the form of a sword. She was still dangerous. Arthur knew this. But he still couldn¡¯t just kick her into the pit. For his trouble of freeing her from it, she spun, her caelum-sword swinging. He caught it with his own magic - what amounted to combined shapeable forcefields, explosions, and teleportation was a pretty potent field of magic - and leapt back.


    ¡°Open gate o-¡± Angel began the invocation even as she reached for her keys. And then she stopped. Her hand had found nothing there. Angel stepped back then, trembling a little. She knew from the beginning she had been fighting a celestial mage. And there was only one reason celestial mages fought. He was there to kill her and take her keys. It was how she had gotten her own keys. She just hoped that she¡¯d not meet that common end; she¡¯d been determined to be stronger and more cutthroat than the rest.


    Arthur knew he should just explode her face, knock her out and into the pit. That he should attack. It¡¯d been easy ordering Altair to do so from afar. But looking her in the face it was hard. Well looking at her anywhere it was hard. She had a nice figure all around, and lovely features. And when she ran away her legs were absolutely gorgeous.


    Arthur realized that he was lucky she¡¯d responded by running instead of fighting, given he¡¯d trailed off into staring at her for a socially inexcusable period. Still it was time to help Altair. Accessing his Archive he used Altair¡¯s most recent upload to teleport to the location.


    Hoteye was still fighting. Altair was doing his best to stay above the reach of the softened earth, but a geyser of dirt shot up to drag him down. The bird shattered it with a surging blast of electricity, but Arthur could tell the fight was going badly for Altair. The eagle could fight one of the Oraci¨®n Seis alone. But he couldn¡¯t beat one. Of course, he wasn¡¯t alone any longer. And Hoteye wasn¡¯t a hot girl.


    Arthur didn¡¯t hesitate for a moment to create a mass of explosive spheres around Hoteye and detonate them. For someone who was in the middle of battle with another foe, focusing magic on bringing them down, and then blindsided by a teleporting enemy, Hoteye¡¯s reaction was excellent. He liquidized the ground, dropping himself down as it rose up to form a defensive armor around him. Against an average mage it would have worked. Against even a Wizard Saint it might have succeeded.


    Arthur¡¯s power was enough to make him a magical monster in human flesh. Even compared to the Oraci¨®n Seis, or a Wizard Saint, it was on another level usually reserved for the Four Gods of Ishgar.


    The explosions erupted before Hoteye was even halfway underground. The dirt armor had only risen to his shoulders, and it wouldn¡¯t have mattered if it had reached his head. Only the tendency for this world¡¯s magic to be non-lethal, and the massive durability of its mages, left Hoteye alive and breathing as explosions tore through his impromptu terra cotta armor and cratered the ground leaving him only buried up to his calves.


    The Oraci¨®n Seis wizard fell, and Arthur smiled for a moment, before realizing how far he¡¯d gone towards exhausting his magic, maintaining two celestial spirits in actual battle conditions for so long, and then wasting a ton on excessive force against Hoteye.


    Still if he could take out four more he¡¯d get enough CP to buy himself a nice power. And even if he didn¡¯t, he needed to continue. Even if he had help it would only half the reward.


    ¡°Come on Altair, we¡¯re walking.¡± He didn¡¯t have the juice to spend teleporting unnecessarily at this point.


    Brain felt one of his six prayers fall. The leader of the Oraci¨®n Seis, he was a well built, dark skinned man, with gray hair. His face was crisscrossed with a line art tattoo, but when Hoteye fell one portion of it faded away. Brain¡¯s fingers drummed the length of his staff, as he considered the possibilities. Perhaps Hoteye had encountered Jura Neekis. The bald mage might look like a monk-turned-bodybuilder but he was one of the 10 Wizard Saints, recognized as the 10 strongest mages in Fiore. These only included ¡®legal¡¯ mages, but Brain had worked with the ministry of magic long enough to know that the Wizard Saints were people to take very seriously. If any of the members of the Guild Alliance were a threat to his plan, it was Jura Neekis. That was why Angel had been instructed to take him out before the initial attack, and why after her failure Hoteye had been sent to search and destroy him while he remained wounded.


    Of course while Jura was the largest threat he was not the only one. His guildmates Lyon Vastia and Sherry Blendy were worth noting at least. Sherry Blendy¡¯s doll magic could turn various objects - or non-human creatures - into animate servants of her will. While Lyon Vastia possessed Ice Make Magic, allowing him to create weaponized animals out of ice.


    It was similar to the magic possessed by one of the four Fairy Tail mages; specifically Gray Fullbuster. Though Gray apparently specialized in the static instead of dynamic version, creating constructs of inanimate ice. It was a rather basic magic, and while Brain had never studied ice make in particular, he had some experience with wood make magic even if he would not call it combat ready levels. He was at least familiar with the theories behind it, and how to combat it. Not so much Natsu Dragneel. Fairy Tail¡¯s ¡®dragon slayer¡¯. He used fire magic supposedly designed to kill dragons, one of the Lost Magics. His bio characterized him as hot headed, and with little to no foresight. Erza Scarlet, the so-called Fairy Queen, had been the second priority target. But Cobra¡¯s snake had bit her, and the venom should keep her from rejoining the battle if it did not kill her entirely. Which only left Lucy Heartfilia out of the Fairy Tail mages. A Celestial Spirit Mage like Angel, she summoned spirits to fight for her. Given Cobra had reported an encounter with one such spirit, which had fired into the woods, when he went to find a vantage point to observe the area, it was possible she was involved in taking out Hoteye.


    Possible, but unlikely. Brain¡¯s unwitting informant, Hibiki Lates of Blue Pegasus, used Archive magic. A shock to Brain as he had not actually taught anyone else it after developing it in his job as a magical researcher. There had been notes, of course. The council had access to a fair bit of that research, but it was complicated magic highly demanding of a mage¡¯s skill. Someone else possessing it was an unpleasant surprise. Still they were an inept fool in its use. He had managed to access it, and he was following along with Hibiki¡¯s own coordination of the Guild Alliance. Lucy was with him, and if she was directing a spirit from afar he wasn¡¯t aware of it. Unfortunately there were holes; while he had some contact with the other Guilds, it was only his fellow guild mates that were well tracked. Even then it was only a pair of them, the air mage Ren Akatski and the snow mage Eve Tearm. He was still in contact with them and they hadn¡¯t reported such a battle, but that might just be an element of timing. That only left three. Ichiya Vandalay Kotobuki, perfume mage, and leader of the four from Blue Pegasus, was - despite Hibiki¡¯s glowing praise as a mage - a well known idiot and womanizer. Though Brain had to wonder if he was as much an idiot as he seemed, as he had disappeared from Hibiki¡¯s own Archive connection, almost as if he suspected that it might be compromised. There was also Wendy Marvell. Hibiki¡¯s Archive had almost no information about her except that she apparently was a support mage. Brain¡¯s own told him more than enough. She was a member of Cait Shelter, the guild formed of the survivors of Nirvit who held the true secrets of Nirvana, and a master of the lost art of healing magic. She was also bound up in the cave beside him. She had not dealt Hoteye his critical blow, nor was she the one whose Celestial Spirit had fought Cobra.


    That accounted for all 12 members of the Guild Alliance sent to destroy Oraci¨®n Seis. And it didn¡¯t account for what was happening. There was a 2nd Archive network, but this one was well guarded. Brain was attempting to tease his way inside even now, but it would require more direct contact. Someone had summoned a celestial spirit that fought Cobra. And the only one he could think of was that mage who he had sent the monkeys of Naked Mummy after almost an hour ago. The fact that he couldn¡¯t contact them through his own telepathic network was concerning. He hadn¡¯t even found where Nirvana was yet, and he had lost one of his five prayers, 3 dark guilds were completely outside of his carefully managed communication web, and another two were still licking their wounds from earlier conflicts.


    And now Angel was reporting back that the mage who had been fleeing Naked Mummy had appeared before her with ¡®overwhelming magical power¡¯ and stolen her keys. He scowled. The bitch was apparently worse than useless. He¡¯d destroy her himself when she dared show her face again, just to make certain that if things went poorly all six seals would be broken, and that Zero would ensure he didn¡¯t lose alone.


    Still it would seem he made a terrible error in not pursuing the wounded mage in person and in force. If he had defeated 2 of the Oraci¨®n Seis almost simultaneously, and left a 3rd wounded, he might be far more dangerous than the entire Guild Alliance. ¡°Midnight, wake up, I have a job for you.¡±


    ¡°Yes, father?¡± The sixth member of the Oraci¨®n Seis finally opened his eyes. A young man with black hair and pale skin, he was dressed in black. He had fought the previous battle while asleep. Now that was a luxury that Brain could no longer afford him.


    ¡°There¡¯s a troublesome mage who needs to be killed,¡± Brain said.


    ¡°Yes, father,¡± Midnight smiled.


    At 18 years old, Natsu Dragneel was a fit, youth, with pink, spiky hair, and skill in fire dragon slayer magic. As the protagonist of the manga Fairy Tail he was of course much more than that. He, and Gray Fullbuster, were rushing through the woods in hot pursuit of the Oraci¨®n Seis on the desperate mission to rescue Wendy Marvell and bring her back to Erza Scarlet to cure the latter of the venom currently killing her.


    They did not have time to stop and fight Midnight when the dark mage crossed their path. But when you run into an enemy exuding a deadly bloodlust there¡¯s only one natural response.


    Gray formed and launched a barrage of spikes of ice, letting them fly towards the dark mage, in a heavy assault. Natsu¡¯s own fire dragon¡¯s roar sent a blast of fire straight towards the dark mage. Neither even got close to him. His magic twisted the fire and ice both, sending them spinning around him before launching back towards Gray and Natsu respectively.


    The two mages weathered the blows, but they had been heavy attacks. ¡°Natsu, leave him to me,¡± Gray said. He wasn¡¯t certain how he intended to fight this mage, the plan had been to avoid any solo fights, but he couldn¡¯t let one of the Oraci¨®n Seis get to Erza when she was wounded like that, even if Lucy and Hibiki were there with her.


    ¡°But,¡± Natsu began. He didn¡¯t like the idea of leaving his main rival to fight a mage radiating that sort of killing intent, and who had just left them both on their asses at once, alone. It gave Gray a chance to pull ahead, and left his friend in intense danger. He grabbed Wendy¡¯s talking, winged, anthropomorphic ¡®cat¡¯, Carla, and began to run. ¡°Take him out, Gray,¡± Natsu shouted, as he ran.


    Midnight was annoyed. He didn¡¯t want to let one of them pass him, but his task wasn¡¯t to kill these two, and he couldn¡¯t afford the time and effort to stop the fire mage. He raised a hand, trees bending and snapping in Natsu¡¯s path, only for a hammer of ice to form above him forcing him to jump back and out of the way.


    ¡°He¡¯s not your opponent, I am,¡± Gray reminded the dark mage firmly.


    ¡°You¡¯re merely in the way,¡± Midnight replied, turning back towards Gray for the fight.


    ¡°Kii, I see a fight, kii!¡± Altair shouted.


    ¡°Hmm?¡± Arthur was walking, buying time for him to recover before the next fight, not daring to teleport directly into their nest with 2 of the Oraci¨®n Seis still waiting. He could handle their leader. He was fairly confident of that if only because it was practically his best possible match up of magic, given he remembered the man specialized in Darkness Magic, and Darkness Dragon Slayer Magic had given him the ability to draw vitality and magical energy by eating darkness especially magical darkness. But after going over his resume in the Archive he was certain Darkness wasn¡¯t his only magic, and facing him and another mage whose magic they didn¡¯t even have a record of how it worked made Arthur wary. ¡°Who?¡±


    ¡°Kii! Midnight, and a male stripper! Kii!¡± Altair screeched.


    ¡°Male stripper?¡± Arthur asked. But it didn¡¯t matter. He was raising up the virtual console of his Archive magic and readying his map.


    ¡°Kii! He just took off his clothes for no reason! Kii!¡± Altair shouted.


    So Gray. He was fighting Gray. ¡°Kii! Two strippers now! Kii!¡±


    It didn¡¯t matter, Arthur decided. It was time to move. He was tired but he could still teleport two.


    Angel ran into the cave, panting heavily from the exertion. ¡°Brain, that mage we left to Naked Mummy. He¡¯s not normal. His magical power skyrocketed. He took my keys, and-¡±


    ¡°I got your earlier report,¡± Brain said. ¡°I half thought you were smart enough not to come back here. But it seems I continue to overestimate you,¡± He leveled off his staff, a beam of darkness firing from it towards Angel.


    She might have lost her keys, but the gate of the chisel had never been closed. The caelum she had summoned was still in her hand as a sword, transforming into its default flight mode, the form of a large robotic sphere over which an angelic hung.


    It took the blow for her. ¡°Bastard!¡± She shouted as she dove from the cave front. Brain¡¯s darkness magic shot forth, dozens of thick, tendrils of darkness, ending in the faces of damned souls tearing through the celestial spirit forcing its gate closed. She had some other magical skills, but none were up to the task of magical combat, and in a straight up fight with Brain she¡¯d have been hard pressed at the best of times.


    She should have known better than to trust him. They were a guild. They had worked together for years. He had helped her escape slavery under the cult of Zeref. But she should never have trusted him.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, Angel, but if you¡¯d had the good sense to fight until a true defeat I wouldn¡¯t have to do this now,¡± Brain said emerging from the cave. ¡°It¡¯s just insurance, you see. In case I need him.¡±


    Angel stiffened. He was talking about Zero, Brain¡¯s alter ego, the madman obsessed with destruction of everything. His last case emergency measure to get back at anyone who defeated the Oraci¨®n Seis.


    ¡°Now be a good girl, and die. Darkness rondo!¡± The magic was too widespread for her to dodge, and while she might survive the attack, she¡¯d not survive the follow up. She turned away, eyes closing as they averted from her certain doom. She was going to die, and she never even found out if her little sister had survived or not.


    ¡°Thanks for the meal.¡± The annoying voice was familiar to her; hated even. It was the unidentified mage who¡¯d bumbled in here and upset all their plans.


    ¡°I see what she meant, I don¡¯t think even the Wizard Saint had such magical power. Though maybe he just wasn¡¯t serious yet,¡± Brain said. ¡°No matter. Darkness capriccio!¡±


    The beam of darkness, circled by a spiral of deep red energy, shot out towards the new arrival. And they breathed in, the darkness diverting as it flowed into his mouth. Brain could feel the mage¡¯s magical energy growing stronger as he ate.


    ¡°Slayer magic?¡± He whispered half under his breath. One of the legendary lost magics. Could this be some variant of Darkness Slayer magic?


    ¡°Dark dragon roar!¡± Blackness erupted from the mage¡¯s mouth, tearing through the ground where Brain had stood, and digging a deep furrow.


    Brain, though, had - of course - dodged it. Still the beam¡¯s speed, and the crater it had created, were impressive. The beam had nearly collapsed the cave where the prisoner was kept, and it had blown away the shallow water he had stood in, and created a crater deeper than he was tall, and had created a furrow in the ground between the mage and him with just its air pressure.


    ¡°Territory magic, and dragon slayer magic,¡± Brain said. ¡°Quite the prodigy, aren¡¯t you? Still I have to wonder, why are you here? You weren¡¯t part of the Guild Alliance that the council sent for us, so you must have your own reasons, correct?¡± He was buying time. Racer should be back any minute now, and he could contact Midnight telepathically and call him back.


    ¡°I got lost in the woods,¡± Arthur answered, drawing his black sword from its sheath. ¡°And then dark mages kept attacking me.¡± He leveled the sword towards Brain. ¡°And you¡¯re their leader, aren¡¯t you? So how about you surrender quietly and I¡¯ll,¡± Arthur¡¯s confidence began to fade, as guilt rose up inside of him. He didn¡¯t think he could actually use this sword to kill another person again. Not if he didn¡¯t have to. And he didn¡¯t have to kill here. ¡°Let you live,¡± He said in a weak, faltering voice.


    ¡°You¡¯ll let me live?¡± Brain said. ¡°Do you even know I am? I am the most brilliant wizard of our generation, I have personally created over a hundred spells. That Archive magic you use? It was my invention. Even Wizard Saints come to me to teach them more about magic. And you will let me live?¡±


    ¡°Yeah,¡± Arthur stated before he felt a sudden surge of energy, just pure destructive and explosive force forming in front of him and exploding against the mage¡¯s oversized shield. The wizard rolled and tumbled from the blast, but it was nothing that¡¯d do more than hurt through the armor he wore.


    Brain had no intention of letting him rise to his feet, though. He pointed his staff at the mage, and focused. ¡°Blast Magic - Grand Explosion!¡± He might not be able to match the power of that darkness dragon¡¯s roar, but he could make certain he didn¡¯t give them a chance to get their wits about them.


    Brain wasn¡¯t about to relent, firing off another blast immediately. But the eagle Altair charged towards him. The bird was fast, too fast for him to dodge, talons tearing him across the chest before it wheeled around for another sweep. Brain spun his staff, raising it and unleashing a torrent of darkness at the bird.


    And then he felt something push into his back, a blade sinking to the hilt into his flesh. He gasped, as Angel pushed against him from behind, a dagger plunged deep inside of him.


    ¡°Traitor,¡± Brain¡¯s staff, or the skull that capped it, shouted out, twisting enough to turn its head towards Angel


    ¡°He tried to dispose of me like trash,¡± Angel said, pulling the knife out, preparing to plunge it in again.


    The staff lunged at her, striking out ramming into her stomach. Arthur pushed his shield against Horologium, the grandfather clock spirit having summoned itself to protect him. Angel was quickly being overwhelmed by the staff. And then a blur of color flashed in front of Arthur¡¯s vision, and Angel fell. Racer had returned. He had struck her - several times - and taken her weapon.


    But before he could drive it into her, he found his hand empty. Angel¡¯s knife was now in Arthur¡¯s hand, a minor precursor to the solid wave of force that hit Racer, visible only as a discoloration of the air as Arthur¡¯s personal ¡®space¡¯, the territory which gave his Territory magic its name, slammed into Racer¡¯s back and sent him rag dolling into the shallow lake. ¡°Enough killing,¡± Arthur said. He wasn¡¯t sure how he¡¯d have dealt with Racer¡¯s speed if he¡¯d been paying attention to him, instead of Brain.


    The staff wasn¡¯t down, though. It turned towards Arthur and flew for him, striking him in the gut and then the jaw before he could react, and then it swept his legs. A beam of purple-black ¡®light¡¯ fired from it, but Arthur¡¯s mouth opened, the darkness magic curving towards it.


    And then a flash of fire burnt across the staff and it began to zoom away burning.


    ¡°Where¡¯s Wendy?¡± The voice was a stranger¡¯s. Arthur¡¯s magic was already teleporting the staff back to his hand as he turned towards them. It was a pink haired youth in an open waist coat and a scarf. Natsu Dragneel; the individual he¡¯d get 400 CP for killing as well as Fire Dragon Slayer Magic. Or a protagonist¡¯s luck for befriending.


    Natsu had seen the end. Not all of it. Merely Racer knocking out Angel, and then being knocked out. But at the very least, it was enough to tell him that the stranger wasn¡¯t actively murderous at the moment. He didn¡¯t stop him from approaching Racer, and rolling him over, even if it took the idiot hero a moment to realize why.


    ¡°I presume the cave that Brain came out of,¡± Arthur said, squeezing the staff with his territory magic, until it stopped trying to wriggle free.


    Natsu rushed into the cave, and emerged a few moments later with the young girl, Wendy, and the small, talking, anthropomorphic, blue cat Happy. The other small, talking, anthropomorphic cat, Carla, which had arrived with Natsu ran up to Wendy and hugged her.


    Arthur could hear Natsu explaining to Wendy that Erza had been poisoned by a snake, and needed her and Carla to rush back and heal her, when Arthur rose to his feet.


    ¡°If someone¡¯s dying, I might be able to help you get her there quickly,¡± He said. ¡°My Territory Magic ought to be able to make the range.¡±


    Natsu stopped and looked at him, and then at Wendy. ¡°Really?¡±


    Arthur nodded. ¡°I should have enough gas left in me for 2,¡± He said, placing hands on Wendy and Carla. ¡°Ready?¡±


    All eyes were on Wendy, and she nodded. And then she was gone. Arthur had expected questions. He was a stranger. In a place crawling with dark guilds. He could have been lying and deceiving. But Natsu had just trusted him.


    Maybe it was part of being a Shonen Protagonist. Or maybe Natsu could smell lies.


    ¡°Great, now send me to Gray!¡± Natsu said, grasping him by the shoulders.


    ¡°I didn¡¯t hack Hibiki¡¯s maps for where Gray is,¡± Arthur replied.


    ¡°Hack?¡± Natsu asked.


    Wait¡­ He¡¯d had Archive automapping via Altair at the time. Altair had seen the battle. ¡°I¡¯ll get you as close as I can.¡± And then he was alone, with 3 unconscious dark mages.


    Cobra had heard it all. Or enough of it. He had missed portions. But he had heard the final conflict. Brain¡¯s scream of traitor as Angel had stabbed him in the back, and Racer¡¯s ensuing defeat. He wrapped his hands around his throat and squeezed. The only prayer left to the Oraci¨®n Seis was their guildmaster. And only when they all fell would he be free.


    Cobra wasn¡¯t going to volunteer to be captured. But he¡¯d break the last seal his way, squeezing his throat until everything went black.


    Arthur walked over to Brain. The man was bleeding out. Without medical attention he would die. He could teleport him to Erza¡¯s location, and hope that Wendy would be able to heal him. And risk that he becomes Zero and kills someone. Risk that someone makes use of his magical knowledge. Of course he should be the one to do that if anyone. He opened his Archive and set to work.


    Archive was all about turning knowledge into data. It could make maps on its own by having linked individuals explore the region. It could obtain knowledge of Nirvana¡¯s construction from the magic itself. Opening Brain¡¯s brain was within its capabilities. But not before he died.


    There was the sound of movement behind him, but Arthur didn¡¯t have time to look. Something was changing in Brain¡¯s mind. The lines on his face had faded, except for 1, when he¡¯d taken down Racer. And now it was fading. Brain¡¯s flesh was growing pale, going from a deep brown, to a paler white than was the norm for Ishgar.


    Arthur realized what this had to mean. He reached for his black sword, pulling it from the sheath as he felt the twisted, vileness of Zero¡¯s magical energy. The movement behind him stopped - Angel deciding that continuing to play dead was the best idea at the moment - even as Arthur brought his sword swinging down.


    A blast of magic sent Arthur flying back as Zero rose to his feet. Zero¡¯s hand moved to his wound, fingers feeling his fresh blood, and then he looked at Arthur. The dark distortion of light which demonstrated active Territory Magic wavered around him. ¡°A magic from the Eastern Continent, quite a rare sight here,¡± The dark mage said. ¡°Still, as much as I¡¯d like to kill the bitch who stabbed Brain¡¯s body, I think you need to be destroyed first. Blast magic - continuous explosion!¡±


    Arthur reinforced his own magic. He¡¯d made a barrier around himself before - skin tight like moving, living armor - but now he needed to put some real force behind it. He was running out, though. He couldn¡¯t win a sustained fight. Though he wasn¡¯t sure Zero could live long enough to sustain one. The wound in his back was deep.


    Zero took the chance to grab Brain¡¯s staff. It was ultimately a focus for magic. Not something Zero would normally need. But limited to his less effective combat magics he would need the edge. Especially with the wound. Given he¡¯d completely failed to harm his enemy with his blast magic that was only further proven. Blast after blast had erupted against Arthur¡¯s barrier, but it¡¯d not been noticeably weakened in the least. That was bothersome.


    Arthur¡¯s hand stretched out. He needed to end this quickly. He was tired and weakened, and he couldn''t rely on his magic blocking a second such barrage. ¡°Dark Dominion Magic - Dimension Black,¡± Arthur invoked. It was the first spell he¡¯d really made himself. A blend of his Territory Magic, and the Darkness of his Dragon Slayer Magic. Ultimately an attempt to make a dimension to carry his shield in, it had formed something far more dangerous, a realm of darkness and dissolution of being. His shadow surged forward across the ground as a wave.


    Zero felt it, something pulling at him. Not completely dissimilar to his own Genesis Zero. He slammed his staff down into the darkness, a blast shooting from the bottom. He fed it the living staff, to free his own feet and leap back, the darkness surrounding and consuming his staff before disappearing.


    Arthur sagged. He was tired and weak. He¡¯d dropped his sword to cast his spell. But he only saw one option now.


    And Zero seemed to be the same. His hand swept towards Angel. ¡°I know your weakness. Blast¡­¡±


    Arthur¡¯s sword was in his hand and he was teleporting behind Zero. He could feel the hunger in the sword sing, and he yielded to it, allowing the blade to guide his movements in battle.


    Zero was spinning. He¡¯d gauged his opponent. He knew his speed. He was fast enough to finish the spell, before the enemy would react to his own teleportation. Fool. ¡°Magi-¡±


    The black sword clove through Zero¡¯s chest, cutting his head and right shoulder off. Arthur shuddered as he felt the Zero¡¯s soul be destroyed, and converted to magical power flowing into him. Felt the man¡¯s entire being used to restore his own. And the horrible, twisted scream Zero loosed as his entire being was sucked into the sword, his blast magic faltering as the very magical energy that would have fueled it flowed back through his body, was absolutely terrible.


    ¡°Thanks for the meal,¡± Arthur said in a cold, self-loathing voice. He¡¯d killed again. It had been a situation of kill or be killed however. Zero would have killed him if he hadn¡¯t killed Zero. He had enough blood on his hands today, one more wouldn¡¯t matter much in the grand scale of things. And it hadn¡¯t been like the last members of Naked Mummy. He hadn¡¯t been drawing Zero in to murder him. This had at least been self-defense.


    With Brain¡¯s death it¡¯d be that much harder for them to access Nirvana, and Zero¡¯s life force had been strong. It had been stronger than all the werelions, or all of Naked Mummy combined. He was more than topped off with power to burn.


    He turned around to see Angel frozen in place. She had begun to rise to her feet. She had woken up a little bit ago, and was just waiting for a good chance to escape. But he had just outright killed Zero. She¡¯d decided he was one of the good guys, but they weren¡¯t the biggest on lethal force. And now she felt her heart pound with fear.


    He was looking at her, and the magical power he had shown against Brain felt like a fraction of what he had now. This was it.


    ¡°Please don¡¯t kill me,¡± Angel pleaded, tears forming in her eyes. ¡°I¡¯ll do anything you want.¡± Her clothes were burned and tattered from Altair¡¯s lightning, her body was sore and tired, her magical energy was expended, she was completely unarmed; she couldn¡¯t even work up a minor bit of (outlawed) charm magic, she only had enough to maybe requip her dagger once more. If he wanted to kill her it would be like squashing a bug. She had wanted to fade away into the air like an angel. Not be killed like a bug.


    ¡°Anything?¡± He asked.


    Angel began to pose a bit. She wasn¡¯t above using a man¡¯s lusts to control them. It wouldn¡¯t be the first time. And she didn¡¯t want it to be the last either. ¡°Anything. If you keep me safe I¡¯ll do whatever you want,¡± She said, keeping the disgust she felt at herself and him out of her voice.


    ¡°Will you renounce the Oraci¨®n Seis?¡±


    ¡°What Oraci¨®n Seis? Brain is dead. And Racer¡­ well once you kill him, he won¡¯t matter either.¡±


    ¡°Will you renounce the Oraci¨®n Seis?¡± Arthur repeated. He got 150 CP for destroying the Oraci¨®n Seis. It hadn¡¯t ticked off yet. And while he suspected that killing Brain and getting the rest arrested was good enough, well he wanted the CP. Getting Angel to renounce them should help.


    ¡°Yes. I think I did anyway the moment I stabbed Brain.¡± The organic link on his face had vanished then, and the prayer she¡¯d held in her heart as one of them had as well. She¡¯d given up on the guild deep inside at that moment at least. But Angel couldn¡¯t dwell on that. Angel was still looking for a way out.


    She sashayed towards Arthur. She was pressing her lips together, making certain to swing her hips, and to put on a show. Keep him thinking with that piggish part of his brain until she could get him to teleport her out of here, and to lower his guard. Killing him in his sleep wouldn¡¯t be too hard. He was already sheathing his sword. He didn¡¯t have the raw killer instinct to play these games.


    ¡°Will you renounce your contract with Aries?¡± He said.


    Angel paused for a moment. With Aries? Not with her spirits. Or even just with her gold spirits. It was possible for him to recontract with them without her actually breaking them. But he was a celestial spirit mage. He knew enough to know that it would reduce her ability to fight back if she dissolved the contracts. So if he was trying to disarm her why only Aries? And if he wasn¡¯t¡­ was he stupid enough to actually give her her keys back? ¡°Of course. Done,¡± She said, dissolving the contract. ¡°Now why don¡¯t we go somewhere alone, together, before this place is crawling with the council?¡±


    ¡°Will you turn over a new leaf, and live life as a good person?¡±


    ¡°Anything, you say,¡± She said, finally getting close to him. She was wrapping herself around him, pressing her body against his. He was starting to blush from it. And she smiled. It didn¡¯t matter how powerful he was; she could eat a stupid virgin alive. Maybe she¡¯d not kill him yet. He might prove useful once she got him to give up on this idea of ¡®living life as a good person¡¯ or taught him a new definition of good.


    ¡°Will you live in a way that will let you face your little sister?¡± He asked, and he felt her heartbeat speed up through their contacting flesh.


    Angel recoiled from him like she¡¯d touched a live electrical circuit. ¡°I don¡¯t have a little sister,¡± She lied.


    ¡°Yukino isn¡¯t your little sister?¡±


    ¡°She¡¯s dead. It doesn¡¯t matter anyway.¡± At least that¡¯s what she¡¯d let Brain believe. She¡¯d tracked her little sister down in her time as part of the Oraci¨®n Seis. But Brain or the Council would have made Yukino suffer for the connection if she¡¯d made it known. Besides, she had too much red in her ledger to go back to Yukino now.


    ¡°She¡¯s dead?¡± Arthur was fairly certain Yukino was alive. He hadn¡¯t done anything that should change that. ¡°Did you see her die?¡±


    Angel pulled back and turned away. She was quiet for a few moments.


    ¡°If you could see her right now what would you do?¡± Arthur asked, turning his back on Angel and walking towards a large, black T that hadn¡¯t been there when he¡¯d started fighting Brain. Racer had brought it, and dropped it when he¡¯d come to intervene. It looked like a great, black coffin, except that it was for some reason T shaped.


    ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter. She¡¯s not,¡± Angel said. ¡°If she was¡­ how did you find out about her, even Brain didn¡¯t know about her?¡±


    Arthur mentally began to cuss himself out. He wasn¡¯t forbidden from revealing metaknowledge or anything, at least not to his knowledge, but it could really complicate things. ¡°I have my sources. Besides I¡¯m the one you¡¯ll need help from if you want to avoid being taken in and thrown into a dungeon for the next decade. If you could see her again, right now, what would you do?¡±


    Angel was shaken by this. Looking down towards the ground, tears threatened to form in her eyes. The possibility was there. She¡¯d not found her little sister, but even if she did it wasn¡¯t like she could be with her. Not with the massive amount of crimes that checkered her past now.


    Arthur¡¯s eyes were on his bounties; well they were being overlaid across his vision. Redeem a villain. It was a bounty. ¡°I don¡¯t know where she is, but she¡¯s alive. She¡¯s on the path to becoming a celestial spirit mage herself.¡±


    ¡°What good does that do?¡± Angel shouted turning towards him, tears in her eyes. ¡°I¡¯d just drag her down with me if I went to her.¡±


    ¡°Then why don¡¯t you live a life that won¡¯t drag her down? Promise me you¡¯ll live a life where you can meet your sister again and I¡¯ll let you go.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s all it would take?¡± Angel said. And then she laughed a hollow, empty laugh. ¡°It¡¯s probably too late to let me go anyway. The Guild Alliance will be here soon, and even if I could slip by them, the Magic Council would find me.¡±


    Redeem a villain. There was never going to be a better chance than Angel. Never going to be a better chance than now without spending CP on a cheat power¡­ and was that even real redemption for the bounty? ¡°I¡¯ll help you escape this place,¡± Arthur said. ¡°But you have to promise me, you¡¯ll live a life where you can meet your sister again as her guardian angel and not the demon that drags her down. Also, what¡¯s in the box?¡±


    Arthur had failed to notice it earlier, but there was a large, black, T shaped box. It resembled a coffin, if someone had decided to spread out the deceased¡¯s arms and then built the coffin around them.


    ¡°Yukino; is she really alive?¡±


    ¡°There¡¯d be no point in me lying to you about that,¡± Arthur stated.


    ¡°Jellal is in there. He was a dark wizard who infiltrated the council. Brain wanted to revive him to get his knowledge about Nirvana. It¡¯s a life support system keeping him alive in his coma.¡±


    Arthur¡¯s internal swearing intensified. Jellal was important. He was supposed to redeem the Oraci¨®n Seis. He was also necessary in pretty much every post-timeskip arc. Arthur couldn¡¯t leave him comatose. Brain was going to use Wendy to heal him. Arthur would have to set that right; and stop the Council from arresting him before he could.


    ¡°Angel, come here, I¡¯m going to hide you both until I can take you somewhere safe.¡±

 Smells like Guild Spirit

    The magic council¡¯s rune knights interrogated him - and the Guild Alliance - for some time. Apparently they hadn¡¯t been behind the Guild Alliance; Cait Shelter had been. And given that the government didn¡¯t know Cait Shelter it was going to be under investigation soon.


    It took Natsu¡¯s statements for them to accept that Arthur wasn¡¯t with Oraci¨®n Seis, but it seemed that Arthur was the only one here who hadn¡¯t been breaking the law. Well except by hiding Jellal.


    It was Jellal the council¡¯s agents - the council technically being currently disbanded until a replacement could be formed - were after. So, yeah, that was a big no no. He was hiding a serious fugitive. Ok, hiding Angel was probably illegal as well.


    Their questioning took a while, though, and when he was done he felt mentally exhausted. At least Wendy had healed his wounds while healing everyone; and for the first time in months his left shoulder felt fine, even the dragon wound having been fully healed by her magic.


    The Blue Pegasus mages were discussing what to do about Christina. Their leader, Ichiya, was for some reason discussing something with Gray. Wendy was making sure that the injured were in no immediate risk of dying, and waking the captured Oraci¨®n Seis for interrogation sessions of their own. The Lamia Scale and Fairy Tail mages were waiting on their carriages.


    Arthur walked just far enough into the woods to get a little bit of privacy, and took out the golden key he¡¯d obtained, and opened the gate of the Ram, to call forth Aries.  The sheep girl, or erm Arthur tried to think of what sheep was in Japanese to add -mimi to the end to indicate a mostly human woman with a few aesthetic sheep traits, appeared before him. He¡¯d never found her worth a second glance when reading the manga, but in person she was¡­ not beautiful, but simply absolutely adorable. She had pink hair, and little horns, a dress of white wool tightly hugging her form.


    ¡°You¡¯re new,¡± She said softly.


    ¡°I got your key from Angel,¡± He said.


    Aries looked down and away. ¡°I¡¯m sorry. I failed as a spirit.¡±


    ¡°What?¡± Arthur asked in response.


    ¡°I mean, I let my contractor down if you beat her. So I¡¯m yours now?¡± She looked at him with doe eyes, soft, sweet, and innocent.


    ¡°Is that what you want?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m a celestial spirit, I want a summoner. It¡¯d be lonely to always be trapped in our world.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m sensing a but,¡± Arthur said softly.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry,¡± She whined out, flinching away a little.


    Arthur looked at his bounties. There were some new ones, but they weren¡¯t relevant. He looked at those concerning Celestial spirits. Gain allegiance - defined as including strong friendship or loyalty as a subordinate - and collect all of them every single key. It gave a lot of CP. Even now it was a big one. But getting Lucy¡¯s keys would be hard if he wasn¡¯t willing to kill her.


    And he just wasn¡¯t the sort to cut down a girl that was that much his type. If he was going to kill someone in the main cast it would have to be Gray, or Natsu. Maybe Erza but she scared him.


    He didn¡¯t get anything for keeping Aries, just for winning her allegiance. And that meant he could do the right thing here. His celestial spirits had saved his life too many times already; how many times did he owe his life to Horologium, he¡¯d have been killed by Georg alone twice if not for Kochab, Altair had probably saved him two or three times today alone, and even Enif had got him here to make this chance possible.


    Treating Aries like a tool wouldn¡¯t be fair to any of them. And he remembered now that he needed to give Orion a good fight.


    ¡°There¡¯s no need to be sorry. I asked you the question. In making a contract honesty is important.¡±


    ¡°I¡­ I¡­ I want a tan!¡± She said at last, face turning a deep beat red, ¡°I¡¯ve always wanted to try and have a tan, but I¡¯ve never been able to.


    That was not the answer Arthur expected. ¡°Not to be with Leo?¡± He said in a moment of shock.


    ¡°I mean I do want that, but I don¡¯t know how you could help with that,¡± She said.


    ¡°Wouldn¡¯t having the same summoner help?¡± He asked.


    ¡°A little?¡± She didn¡¯t sound certain of that. ¡°Most summoners can¡¯t summon two spirits at once, and we can be together in the Celestial Spirit World without that.¡± She looked at him as if she had said something that had hurt him, looking down and away, and shaking a little. ¡°I¡¯m sorry.¡±


    Arthur was having a minor bout of blue screen. He¡¯d been struggling with himself over the idea of giving Aries to Lucy. Lucy might need the power. To be honest he couldn¡¯t remember her using Aries to any actual success. Gemini was the one he was worried about her not having. Why¡¯d he let Angel keep her keys? But he could list a host of reasons that it would have been a double, even triple win to give Aries to Lucy. Giving a respected and notable gold spirit what she wanted, at the sacrifice of the potential power that it could bring him would have looked good to all the spirits, helping him gain their allegiance. Since it was ¡®strong friendship¡¯ it might even have won him Aries¡¯s allegiance. It wasn¡¯t like he needed the power of a gold spirit, or to get her while in this world; and as far as gold spirits went she was the booby prize from what he could remember. It would have hurt to give up his ¡®prize¡¯ but the PR gain with the Celestial Spirits alone would have been massive. And it¡¯d have gone a long way to getting him an in with Fairy Tail.


    It¡¯d have looked super good. And would have made him look like a selfless individual who put the happiness of others first. It¡¯d been perfect.


    Except she hadn¡¯t asked for that. And he couldn¡¯t suggest it. Or just give her to Lucy. Either one would be extremely insulting.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry. I¡¯m sorry. I know it was a selfish request. I shouldn¡¯t have said anything,¡± Aries¡¯s words shook him from his thoughts.


    ¡°No. No. It¡¯s a perfectly reasonable request, no need to apologize,¡± He stated hastily.


    ¡°But, you looked so unhappy.¡± Her concern and worry were obvious in her voice.


    ¡°It¡¯s just that I don¡¯t know if I can do it. I might have a way with alchemy, but it¡¯d take a few tries, and it¡¯d have to wait till we get back to Guiltina,¡± He gave the white lie easily enough.


    ¡°It¡¯s fine,¡± She said, ¡°You don¡¯t need to worry about it. It¡¯s really nothing.¡±


    He head patted the unfairly cute ewe-girl. ¡°I asked. I¡¯ll do my best to help you with it. It¡¯s just, I can¡¯t promise results yet, and I won¡¯t really be able to even start for a while.¡± His plate was getting way too full as it was.


    ¡°That¡¯s alright,¡± She said, looking up towards him with softly sparkling eyes.


    ¡°So I guess it¡¯s time to ask when I can summon you,¡± He wanted to tell her about Angel. But¡­ his nose twitched a little. He had thought he¡¯d heard someone. And there was a scent that kept making his brain itch with ¡®dragon¡¯. There was a bit of red hair in one of the bushes, and part of someone¡¯s ass. He was being observed.


    ¡°Mondays?¡± He said.


    ¡°That¡¯s ok,¡± She answered.


    ¡°Tuesdays?¡± He was going to go through the entire week. In the end she gave him 4 days out of 7 which was a decent enough start.


    He had a golden spirit now. That was something. It should prove useful.


    But he needed to talk to Fairy Tail. And given he could see Erza and Lucy watching him, now seemed a good chance. ¡°Hey, you in the bushes, want to join me and chat instead of watching?¡±


    Lucy and Erza stood up blushing a bit, and then he discovered why they were actually bent over. They¡¯d been holding Natsu¡¯s head down, and Natsu did not look exactly happy.


    ¡°You¡¯re from a guild that kills dragons aren¡¯t you?¡± Natsu said, his fury evident in every line of his body.


    Natsu must have overheard it during the interrogation. ¡°We¡¯re dragon slayers, just like you,¡± He said, trying to be what he thought was diplomatic.


    ¡°Have you killed a dragon?¡± Natsu asked.


    Arthur could remember how eager Natsu was to kill Mercphobia at the start of the 100 Year Quest before he¡¯d proven to be friendly, so he thought nothing of saying: ¡°Yes.¡± Though he decided quickly it was best to add a justification. ¡°It¡¯d destroyed a small town, and had attacked another village.¡±


    ¡°Was it red?¡± Natsu asked, his voice burning with embers of rage and fury. Though he flinched away a bit at the discussion of the ¡®why¡¯. Even if Arthur knew the real reason why it was slain was that it¡¯d been spotted and Serena had paid big for its heart.


    ¡°No, it was black,¡± Arthur stated, raising his hand and letting darkness form around it.


    ¡°Did your guild kill a red dragon seven years ago?¡± Natsu glared towards him.


    ¡°I only got here like 3 months ago!¡± Arthur shouted back defensively. Then he realized why Natsu was asking.


    ¡°So they might have?¡± Natsu said.


    ¡°I¡­¡± Arthur was scrambling, his brain scratching away for a good way to answer this.


    ¡°Could they have?¡± Natsu asked.


    ¡°Tell me the element and I might know!¡± Arthur said. It was true. The guild did keep records of every dragon it had slain by the element of its slayer magic.


    ¡°Fire,¡± Natsu said.


    ¡°Igneel?¡± Arthur asked.


    Natsu stopped, eyes filled with pain and rage. ¡°So they did?¡± He said, in a voice aching with despair.


    ¡°They didn¡¯t kill the fire dragon king. I found him mentioned in the research on dragon slayer magic I¡¯ve been undertaking. He helped in its creation 300 years ago,¡± Arthur liberally mixed his (mis)remembering of the manga with what he had actually researched. ¡°Disappeared during Acnologia¡¯s initial rampage. My research said that he was attempting to make Dragon Slayers who didn¡¯t bear the curse of dragonification, when he vanished. I came to Ishgar to see if he succeeded, and if there was anything in their blood which could be used to help ensure no other dragon slayer ever turned into a dragon again.¡±


    ¡°300 years ago? He didn¡¯t disappear 300 years ago, he disappeared 7 years ago. What are you trying to pull?¡± Natsu was glaring at him. His foster father¡¯s disappearance was something that¡¯d hurt the youth¡¯s heart to this day.


    ¡°The books I¡¯ve been researching were written centuries ago. I can¡¯t tell you where he¡¯s been, or where he went to 7 years ago,¡± Actually he could. The book that reminded him of the fact that Natsu had dragon antibodies had talked about the technique to store a dragon soul into a human to allow them to develop those. ¡°But he disappeared from history as far as Guiltina is concerned 300 years ago. Guiltina is another continent, though. It¡¯s entirely possible they simply missed a dragon in hiding, but Diabolos hasn¡¯t taken any jobs to slay dragons in Ishgar in the history of the guild.¡±


    ¡°Really?¡± Natsu said, eyes watery.


    ¡°It¡¯s the truth. The only jobs the guild has had which brought them to this continent has been delivering dragon flesh for the creation of lacrima, primarily to an individual named God Serena.¡±


    ¡°Who?¡± Natsu asked.


    ¡°Five-Dragon God Serena,¡± Erza said. ¡°The 3rd ranked Wizard Saint.¡±


    ¡°Six-Dragon now, but yeah, he hired the guild for 4 lacrima gathering jobs thus far,¡± Arthur said. ¡°One was a fire-variation, the Purgatory Dragon; it¡¯d burned down 2 towns and killed over 6000 individuals in Guiltina 5 years ago with no ascertainable provocation. I highly doubt that it was the Fire Dragon King. The dragon wasn¡¯t described particularly well physically in the guild¡¯s receipts though.¡±


    ¡°Igneel wouldn¡¯t do that.¡±


    ¡°Now, if you¡¯re done asking questions, can I ask you something?¡±


    ¡°What?¡± Natsu responded, still obviously unhappy with Arthur.


    ¡°I came to Ishgar for your blood.¡± Arthur realized quickly that was probably the wrong approach, as Natsu was already shifting his weight back towards a more ready and defensible state. ¡°A sample of it. Yours, Wendy Marvell¡¯s, and Gavial¡­ Gavial the Iron Dragon Slayer. You¡¯re each First Generation Dragon Slayers who show no signs of Dragonification. I hope that there¡¯s something inside of you that can be used to halt or even reverse dragonification of those undergoing it.¡±


    ¡°Dragonification?¡± Natsu said.


    ¡°It¡¯s how the Dragon God of Destruction, Agnologia, was born. Dragon slayer magic inevitably turns its wielders into dragons as it grows inside of them. Usually particularly violent and destructive dragons. Igneel was last recorded as working on a means to prevent it. I think you¡¯re his successfu- Sorry. I think you¡¯re the culmination of his dreams and his hope for the future. And I¡¯d like to spread that hope further,¡± Arthur extended a hand towards Natsu. ¡°So could I have a sample of your blood?¡±


    Natsu looked at him. There was a battle playing on Natsu¡¯s face. He couldn¡¯t know if Arthur was on the level.


    ¡°You¡¯re really a dragon slayer?¡± Natsu asked again.


    ¡°Yes,¡± Arthur said.


    ¡°Prove it,¡± Natsu stated.


    Arthur was tempted to challenge Team Natsu to a fight then and there. Except Wendy wasn¡¯t there, and she was exhausted from healing people so it¡¯d probably not count. Besides, she was a little kid who was terribly scared of the idea of fighting. Also he wasn¡¯t sure where Gray was, he thought he could see him over with Blue Pegasus, but he wasn¡¯t certain.


    He turned around and breathed deep. ¡°Darkness Dragon¡¯s Roar!¡± He bellowed, blackness erupting from his mouth and tearing through several trees. Then he turned back to face Natsu.


    ¡°Can I have a sample?¡± He asked.


    Natsu looked away. ¡°I¡¯m not sure. I¡¯ll have to think about it.¡±


    ¡°Please do,¡± Arthur said. He felt a pang of conscience as he said the next part. He knew he was intentionally performing a low blow emotionally, but it was worth it if it helped him save his guildmates. ¡°I don¡¯t want my guildmates, my family,¡± Was Diabolos really a family? Well presenting it as such would help convince Natsu most likely. ¡°To become monsters that have to be put down. I don¡¯t want them to become dragons that I have to slay to stop them from killing people. So, please, for their sake, think about it.¡±


    ¡°I said I¡¯d think about it,¡± Natsu stated, turning away and then thrusting his arm out towards Arthur. ¡°Fine, grab your sword.¡±


    ¡°My sword? Why would I use my sword for this?¡± Arthur asked.


    ¡°To cut me,¡± Natsu said in a voice that spoke of ¡®duh you idiot¡¯.


    ¡°I lost my glassware on the way here. And I intended to pick up a syringe and vials in Magnolia. And a lacrima cooler to keep it fresh. I wasn¡¯t intending to run into you in the woods in the middle of nowhere. Is it alright if I get your blood in Magnolia Town?¡±


    ¡°Ah man, you mean I have to be dreading it for months?¡± Natsu groaned.


    ¡°We can take you back to Magnolia with us,¡± Lucy volunteered.


    ¡°I have some things to attend to first, but I¡¯ll meet you all soon in Magnolia town, if that would be alright? It shouldn¡¯t be months.¡± He didn¡¯t have 2 months. If it took more than 2 months it¡¯d take 7 years.


    ¡°Of course,¡± Natsu said with a smile.


    ¡°Could you ask Wendy and Gavial if it¡¯d be alright to get some of theirs at the same time too?¡± Arthur asked.


    ¡°Who¡¯s Gavial?¡± Natsu said.


    ¡°The iron-dragon slayer.¡±


    ¡°Gajeel? Heh, he¡¯ll hate that I¡¯m famous in Guiltina but they can¡¯t even get his name right,¡± Natsu crowed.


    ¡°How would you get Wendy¡¯s blood in Magnolia? Is she going there for some reason?¡± Erza asked.


    ¡°Wendy isn¡¯t with you? I thought she was part of Fairy Tail,¡± Arthur said.


    All three mages, and Happy, shook their heads almost in unison. ¡°No, she¡¯s from Cait Shelter. You¡¯ll need to ask her yourself,¡± Erza informed.


    Arthur blue screened for a few moments. That wasn¡¯t how it was supposed to be. She was supposed to be joining Fairy Tail. Had he messed things up?


    Arthur climbed off Enif, before helping Wendy down from the Pegasus. He¡¯d offered to give her a ride back to Cait Shelter; Enif could carry two - and a cat - as easily as one, and was fast.


    Wendy wobbled, unable to walk in a straight line, after getting off of the Enif¡¯s ¡®shooting star express¡¯. She stumbled about for a bit in a circle, before falling face first to the ground.


    Arthur was more than a little dizzy as well. Enif was fast. He also drained magical energy like no other spirit in Arthur¡¯s possession. Though the short ride had been nothing compared to the ocean crossing, even maintaining him for the couple of minutes it had taken had left him feeling tired. Still he needed to get Angel and Jellal out of the cave soon.


    Of course he didn¡¯t need to go there to do it. He was still linked to his space there through his territory magic. He just needed to be somewhere rather isolated before he did it. He didn¡¯t want the Magic Council finding out he had hidden two fugitives from them. That was probably a little, itsy, tiny bit illegal in the they would disappear him into a jail cell for life if caught sort of way. He didn¡¯t want that.


    He did however want to talk to the guild master of Cait Shelter about why they were still here after the Nirvana incident was settled, and he figured if Brain had been planning to have Wendy revive Jellal, Wendy could revive Jellal which would save him hauling a coffin around the continent.


    ¡°You wanted to speak to me in private?¡± Roubaul, Cait Shelter¡¯s guild master, and the ghostly protector of Nirvana who had created the rest of the guild except Wendy and Carla via illusions, said, closing the door.


    ¡°This guild, you¡¯re the ghosts of the Nirvit people, aren¡¯t you?¡± Arthur asked, and watched the aged, Native American looking, chieftain stiffen. ¡°Brain was stopped from using Nirvana as a weapon, why are you still here?¡±


    ¡°Brain was stopped, but as long as Nirvana exists there will be more who will seek it out and use it. Even as we speak the Magic Council who rules these lands in this age is seeking it out. Until it is destroyed I must watch over it. At this moment, I should be finding a way to stop the council from making use of it. They may not have the same darkness inside as Brain of the Oraci¨®n Seis did, but they would still use it. Maybe even to try and destroy the Balam Alliance, but it would bring the darkness it stripped from the dark guilds to them and wreak untold havoc on these lands once more. That cannot be allowed to happen. I must not allow it to happen.¡±


    Arthur felt ashamed looking at the expression of steadfast determination on the man¡¯s face. That iron-hearted willingness to dedicate 400 years of existence to safeguarding a relic to make amends for his former sins.


    ¡°So you just need it destroyed. Show me how and I¡¯ll do it,¡± Arthur said. He had power on a level to dwarf most of the continent. He could do this.


    ¡°It is not so easy to destroy. One man would have the utmost difficulty.¡±


    ¡°It can be done, though. Brain was certain you could do it.¡±


    ¡°Seal it anew maybe,¡± the aged ghost said. ¡°And if I show you its workings, how do I know you won¡¯t make use of it yourself?¡±


    Arthur flinched away from that question. ¡°Why would I use it? What use is it to me?¡± He asked. It wasn¡¯t like he could bring it with him to another world. But if it could turn dark guilds to light ones then he could use it. Destroy the Balam Alliance and get so many CP for himself. He could buy the highest skill. Enchantment to match Irene¡¯s. Edomagic to make holder magic. Combining those he could almost certainly find an answer to dragonification. His head sagged. ¡°I could destroy the Balam Alliance myself, I guess. Destroy the Dark Guilds, and go mad with power.¡±


    ¡°And this is why I have never offered it up as a Job to the guilds of Fiore. Who could be trusted with the knowledge to destroy it and not to use it?¡± The man asked.


    ¡°But if it¡¯s not destroyed the Council will get it.¡±


    ¡°Yes. And that is the problem which weighs on my heart.¡±


    ¡°Tell me how to destroy it,¡± Arthur repeated. ¡°I won¡¯t use it.¡±


    ¡°And if it casts your heart into darkness?¡± The old man asked, staring him in the eyes.


    Arthur flinched away. ¡°I¡¯m too much of a freaking coward to use it even then. I could use it to destroy Grimoire Heart or Tartarus, but the Magic Council would come down on me like a ton of bricks and either they¡¯d take it from me, or I¡¯d have to fight a one-man war against all of Ishgar, and I couldn¡¯t win that.¡± Even if he could, it¡¯d mean destroying Fairy Tail and that¡¯d leave him doomed against Zeref or Acnologia.


    ¡°Hoo. You ask me to trust you because you¡¯re too cowardly, while volunteering for a mission filled with potential danger? Hahahaha.¡± The old man laughed a bit. ¡°Kids. Your heart may be in the right place, but that just means you¡¯re in more danger if you activate it.¡±


    ¡°What if I just blew it up?¡± Arthur asked.


    ¡°It¡¯d repair itself. You¡¯d have to do absolutely devastating damage to it in a single attack. You must realize, the sort of power that would be required would be truly immense.¡±


    Arthur titled his head back. He breathed deep. Drawing inwards and focusing his energy. And then he roared. It was a blast of pure darkness, striking into the thought projection of a roof which the ghost had made. It shot through, piercing the night sky, and continuing to rise upwards, a beam of shadow to tear apart the clouds above. It wasn¡¯t Arthur¡¯s full power. But it was more than he¡¯d been able to summon against Brain since he couldn¡¯t concentrate it well enough to avoid massive destruction, including of course Wendy. Still it was an attack that left him winded.


    ¡°D-d-did you have to destroy my guildhall?¡± The aged chief screamed, flailing his staff towards Arthur.


    ¡°Give me time to recover, and I will destroy Nirvana. Just tell me where it is.¡± He wanted the secrets of its creation. That might count as a Lost Magic even. But he didn¡¯t think this man would ever part with those secrets, and Arthur didn¡¯t have the means - or the resolve - to make him. But if Wendy was going to join Fairy Tail, then Cait Shelter needed to be destroyed.


    Besides he just didn¡¯t trust the Magic Council with a weapon like this. That scared him, and he was determined to survive.


    ¡°And when you succeed, what will become of the girl? She¡¯ll be alone without us,¡± The ancient ghost said, his voice ringing with sorrow and concern.


    ¡°She can join Fairy Tail, I¡¯m sure they¡¯d be glad to welcome her to their family,¡± Arthur suggested. He needed to get things back on the canon track. Wendy needed to join Fairy Tail so that she could save Edolas, and he could avoid reality spinning off into a bad future.


    ¡°Fairy Tail instead of your guild? Isn¡¯t that an odd choice?¡± He gave Arthur a look that made the jumper squirm with discomfort.


    This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.


    ¡°I¡­¡± What could he say? That he wanted to set canon back on track? It¡¯d be odd to say the least to tell them that. ¡°Fairy Tail is a family. My guild is full of people slowly turning into monsters, the very same that they specialize in killing. I want to save them from that fate, but I don¡¯t think it¡¯s a good environment for a child. I mean they¡¯re¡­¡± They¡¯d taken him in when he needed somebody¡­ but only after Georg nearly killed him testing him, and only because he¡¯d demonstrated a power that had surprised them. They specialized in battle missions. ¡°A pretty dangerous bunch.¡±


    ¡°Your description of your comrades doesn¡¯t encourage much faith in you. If those are the comrades you choose, what does it say about you?¡±


    Arthur looked down at the ground, foot scraping against it, as his stomach turned. He considered his own guild¡­ what? Monsters? Georg was filled with fury and rage until it twisted him. Byaku was on the very edge of becoming a dragon. Misaki was something of a sadist. Suzaku was a good kid. Kiria was a blood knight but not a monster. Skullion? Madmole? Ike? Hinami? Roy? No. The guild weren¡¯t monsters. ¡°A kid needs a family,¡± Arthur said. Like how Skullion took care of Kiria and Madmole like they were his little siblings. Or how Misaki was¡­ honestly probably the root of Kiria¡¯s battle lust in that she as the big sister Kiria tried to emulate. ¡°Diabolos, it¡¯s a guild born for a mission of battle. It was born in a time when dragons were still a big danger in Guiltina. And it shows. She was raised by a dragon. I don¡¯t think she¡¯d want to be around those who have dedicated their lives to killing them.¡± That was the argument he should have started with.


    The old man nodded. ¡°I will consider it. You said you would need rest after that display. You can rest here.¡± It was a sage and wise sounding speech, but Arthur did hear the grumbling afterwards about ¡°Once I repair the roof you destroyed.¡±


    Arthur bowed slightly. ¡°Thank you,¡± He said, turning and beginning to walk away only to stop. ¡°Actually I unfortunately have something else that I should tell you.¡±


    ¡°Yes?¡± The aged chief asked.


    Arthur raised a hand and suddenly Jellal¡¯s life support coffin, and Angel appeared. The old man¡¯s eyes bulged, as his mouth opened wide, tongue pressing out before being bit as he closed his mouth afterwards.


    ¡°That¡¯s one of the Oraci¨®n Seis!¡± The old man shouted.


    ¡°You couldn¡¯t have given me some warning? And I thought you¡¯d be bringing me somewhere isolated!¡± Angel screamed.


    ¡°I,¡± Arthur remembered his Archive magic and how easy it would have been to give her warning through it, ¡°Look today has been exhausting, I didn¡¯t think about it, and this is a ghost town, there¡¯s just 1, well 3, 4 now, 5 if you count Jellal, people here. And one of them is an ancient ghost.¡±


    ¡°Explain the meaning of this?!¡± The ghost of an old man screamed, stomping his foot.


    ¡°Angel has promised to go on the straight and narrow,¡± Arthur said, shooting Angel a meaningful look. ¡°And I think,¡± She¡¯s hot, ¡°There¡¯s some good in her. I couldn¡¯t deny her the chance to prove it for her sister.¡±


    ¡°My sister better be alive. I¡¯ve been thinking. Why would you know she¡¯s alive and becoming a celestial spirit mage, and not know where she is?¡± Angel was staring daggers at him now.


    ¡°She tried to revive Nirvana! She is the very threat you¡¯re offering to protect it from! A shepherd doesn¡¯t bring a wolf to sleep with the sheep!¡± The old man said.


    ¡°And I need to ask Wendy to heal the man in the coffin. He¡¯s a good man who was possessed by a dark spirit for years. It¡¯s gone now, but the process nearly killed him, and he deserves the chance to make amends for what he did when possessed,¡± Arthur continued, steadfastly ignoring them both.


    The old man was just staring at him with utter disbelief. Angel for her part was walking towards him. ¡°Are you even paying attention to me? Why can¡¯t you tell me where my sister is?¡±


    ¡°Because I don¡¯t know,¡± Arthur said, feeling increasingly stressed and overwhelmed.


    ¡°Why do you trust these dark mages to make amends!?¡± The ghost-guild master asked.


    ¡°Because they did!¡± He stated.


    ¡°Did?¡± Angel and the ghost said in unison.


    Arthur crumpled to the ground. ¡°In the manga, you turned over a new leaf at the end after meeting your sister during Zeref¡¯s invasion of Fiore,¡± Arthur said looking at Angel. ¡°Jellal helped you do it. You and all the Oraci¨®n Seis except Brain and maybe Midnight.¡±


    ¡°In the what?¡± Angel demanded.


    ¡°Is a manga a future telling device?¡± The old man asked.


    Arthur sighed. How did he explain this? ¡°I¡¯ll answer. Just give me a few moments to think of the simplest way to explain.¡±


    ¡°No, no thinking of a lie, tell me now,¡± Angel stated, still glowering at him. ¡°Or I¡¯ll have Gemini copy it out of you.¡±


    ¡°That might be the easiest way. Can we do that?¡± Arthur asked.


    ¡°No! Gemini can only copy people close to being my equal in power, and you,¡± Angel turned away, shoulders slouching a bit, ¡°You¡¯re not even human.¡±


    ¡°Explain,¡± The old man said.


    Arthur began to breathe deeply. ¡°Ok. So. I¡¯m not from Earthland. I¡¯m from another world. Some sort of nigh-omnipotent god-like being plucked me from my reality and put me here. But in my reality there was a manga, a comic, or sequential art, an ongoing series of picture books but for teenagers not small children, named Fairy Tail, that is like an animal tail not a story,¡± Arthur was mumbling a bit, tripping a little here and there over his words.


    ¡°So like the guild,¡± Angel said in an annoyed voice.


    ¡°Yeah, like the guild. It told of their adventures in Earthland. Including the Oraci¨®n Seis and their attempt at taking control of Nirvana. It¡¯s how I knew everyone here was an illusion made by the guild master. And why I wanted to take Wendy to join Fairy Tail. And why I volunteered to destroy Nirvana. Freaking Hell it¡¯s why I want Wendy to heal Jellal. Because in the manga all those things happened, and I don¡¯t know if the happy ending will be reached if they don¡¯t.¡±


    ¡°You expect us to believe this?¡± Angel asked. The Nirvit ghost didn¡¯t say anything, but rubbed his chin with his fingers.


    ¡°No,¡± Arthur said, beginning to laugh, a laugh with no trace of happiness, but more despair. ¡°I haven¡¯t told anyone about this because who¡¯d believe such a nut job thing? But it¡¯s the truth. In it Yukino joined the guild Sabertooth sometime in the next 7 years. She doesn¡¯t show in the manga before that, so I can¡¯t say where she is now. Just that in 7 years she¡¯ll join. And that you¡¯ll not be ready to enter her life, because of your crimes. I hoped that with 7 extra years you could be together with her earlier.¡± He sighed. ¡°No, that¡¯s not it. I thought that there wasn¡¯t a point in locking you away for 7 years when you could start becoming a better person today.¡± He sighed again, planting a hand on his face. ¡°And I shouldn¡¯t lie to you if I want you to trust me. Part of me coming here, was that the entity that brought me here, or well its bosses, would give me tasks. And if I succeeded at them I¡¯d get rewarded with powers. It¡¯s why I¡¯m a magical monster in human skin. That was a reward I got given for joining a top class guild. My magical skill is faked too. I got it as a reward for learning Dragon Slayer Magic. My spirits like me because I got another reward which said they would. I¡¯m pathetic.¡± His voice was growing strained now, emotion burning through it, as he felt his eyes blur.


    Angel and the ghost were staring at him. ¡°But don¡¯t let me being a pitiful imitation of a man stop you from becoming a better person. Be a better person. Be there for your sister in 4 years, instead of 10. Don¡¯t waste this time, even if I let you go because if I could ¡®redeem you¡¯ then I¡¯d get another reward.¡± And then he turned towards the Nirvit ghost. ¡°And don¡¯t let me stop Wendy from finding a family that loves her. Don¡¯t make that be on me. Let me help destroy your sin and mine.¡±


    Angel was speechless. She wasn¡¯t certain she believed him, but she was trying to figure out his motive for such a lie. The guildmaster of Cait Shelter was faster to respond. ¡°Won¡¯t ¡®redeeming¡¯ that one,¡± He pointed at Angel. ¡°Earlier than normal change things?¡±


    ¡°Yeah. But hopefully for the better,¡± Arthur said.


    ¡°Do you really think you have the wisdom to predict what changes will be for the better? If you know my story, you know what my hubris and belief that I knew best caused,¡± The old man said.


    ¡°Then what should I do? Absolutely nothing?¡± Arthur sobbed out, arm lashing out at the air.


    The man shook his head. ¡°No. You should do your best. You should try to make things better. But you should remember, that even if it ever was the world you read about, it¡¯s not any longer. You say they reward you for these tasks. Is taking Wendy to her new family a task they¡¯re rewarding you for?¡±


    ¡°No. The only ones that directly involve Wendy want me to beat her up,¡± Arthur said.


    ¡°You¡¯re more powerful than Wendy, why didn¡¯t you beat her up?¡± The old man asked.


    ¡°I liked her when reading the manga, and she¡¯s a good kid. You don¡¯t have to spend 5 minutes with her to realize she¡¯s a good kid. I¡¯m not going to kill a child for some not particularly shiny power. Especially if they¡¯re involved in saving the world.¡±


    ¡°Kill!?¡± The old man and Angel both said at once.


    ¡°Eh, heh, heh¡­ Well, one is to beat her and the other main cast in a fight. The other is to kill a member of the main cast. I mean not all of them tell me to do that. Another asks me to befriend Natsu. Just that not all of the bounties are exactly, well, erm, morally¡­ what¡¯s the word¡­ not utterly repulsive.¡±


    The old ghost nodded. ¡°I see that now. And you are choosing them based on?¡±


    ¡°Well there¡¯s one that tells me to go find an abusive piece of shit and beat him up and stop him from abusing his daughter. I think I¡¯ll do that, especially since he¡¯s a member of Sabertooth and Yukino might be around there, though Sabertooth was Fiore¡¯s number 1 guild when she joined so that¡¯s no guarantee.¡±


    ¡°You think I¡¯m still going to follow you around or even talk to you after what you¡¯ve revealed?¡± Angel asked, arms crossed in front of her.


    ¡°I hoped,¡± Arthur said. ¡°I really would like to help you find your sister, although I have other responsibilities.¡±


    ¡°And what are these responsibilities?¡± The Cait Shelter guildmaster asked.


    ¡°My guild has a problem with dragonification. I want to fix it.¡±


    ¡°And this is one of your tasks?¡±


    ¡°Yes!¡± Arthur exclaimed, a sudden ecstasy in his voice. ¡°I mean it wasn¡¯t last time I checked, but it was added like 5 minutes ago?¡±


    ¡°Then why was it your responsibility?¡±


    ¡°Because¡­ Byaku had brought himself to the verge of turning in the process of saving children. Kiria is a little psycho, but she¡¯s barely older than Wendy, and shouldn¡¯t be being eaten away at by a power she¡¯s not strong enough to control. Georg scares me shitless, but if he hadn¡¯t helped me become a Dragon Slayer I¡¯d probably be dead already. And the rest are¡­ I¡¯ve only known them for a few months, but they¡¯re friends. Well friends might not be the right word, I mean if I had three friends I¡¯d have completed a task I haven¡¯t. Oh god, that task haunts me. A constant reminder that not even three people are really my friend,¡± His head hung low, Angel stepping a little closer to put a hand on his shoulder. Arthur didn¡¯t seem to notice as he continued. ¡°I guess maybe the word would be comrades? They¡¯re people who are in it together with me at this point. Nakama,¡± He gave a laugh. It was not exactly the happiest laugh, but there was some mirth in it. ¡°I sound like such a weeb saying that, but I think it¡¯s a better word for it than any other I know.¡±


    The aged ghost nodded. ¡°I will ask Wendy to heal the man you have brought. And I will tell you what I can to help you destroy Nirvana, but you absolutely must not activate it.¡±


    ¡°Because my heart is weak, and negative emotions cloud my soul, casting me to waver between light and darkness?¡±


    ¡°Something like that,¡± The old man said, before whispering under his breath, ¡°Casting? Did he mean ¡®causing¡¯?¡± His voice rose again. ¡°And I will hope for your best now and in the future.¡± He turned his head towards Angel. ¡°And that you may once again find the path of light which you have lost. Now, I should tell you what I can about destroying Nirvana. It may take some time, things can be fairly technical.¡±


    ¡°I think I have a better idea,¡± Arthur said, as he began to explain the basics of Archive magic.


    Once Arthur and Angel had left the room, Angel looked at him. ¡°Was that really the truth?¡±


    Arthur turned to look at her, before placing his hands on her cheeks, and focusing. Angel screamed out and flinched away, and then she blinked a few times. ¡°That¡¯s why Aries was so important to you? Wait, were you only there to beat me up and take Aries from me?¡±


    ¡°No. I was here because I got lost when my Celestial Spirit wanted to fly far and fast and carried me from my comfortable boat, to a forest full of dark mages who were trying to kill me,¡± He said. ¡°I only vaguely knew Lucy hadn¡¯t beaten you yet.¡±


    ¡°The little blonde?¡± Angel had seen her in the initial attack. How could that little bimbo beat her?


    ¡°Yeah. I forget the details. It had something to do with Celestial Spirits liking her more because she treats them like friends instead of tools,¡± Arthur said with a shrug. ¡°It¡¯s been over a decade since I read the manga, you realize. Memories are hazy.¡±


    ¡°Why didn¡¯t you take my other keys?¡± They continued to walk towards the rooms that the guild master had said would be prepared for them. The rooms might be illusions, but they¡¯d keep the rain out.


    ¡°Because how would you get a chance to redeem yourself if I took them?¡± It was only at this point that Arthur remembered that the fact that he got CP for winning their allegiance meant he could have gotten CP for it. During the hustle and bustle of the day, he¡¯d been so focused on the Aries bounty he¡¯d forgotten all about that. His internal swearing was cut off, when he realized he¡¯d much prefer his stated reason to be true, than to get the CP. It¡¯d help him sleep at night.


    ¡°Thank you,¡± Angel said, grabbing his hand and squeezing it. ¡°Wait¡­ you¡¯re not trying to ¡®redeem¡¯ me just so I¡¯ll be your girlfriend, and you can get some ¡®action¡¯ and get ¡®kissy¡¯ are you?¡±


    ¡°What? Where did that come from?¡±


    ¡°The mass of information you poured into my brain without asking!¡± Angel answered.


    Arthur sighed. ¡°You¡¯re a very attractive woman. I¡¯d be lying if I didn¡¯t admit that, and that I wasn¡¯t tempted when you obviously tried to seduce me by offering me ¡®anything¡¯. But no, that bounty is new, and I didn¡¯t even know it existed. And I¡¯d hate myself for being scum if I tried to use something like this to make you date me.¡±


    ¡°Good,¡± Angel said. ¡°And only tempted?¡±


    ¡°You were begging me not to kill you. I don¡¯t want a hot girl to beg me not to kill her. It¡¯s a mood killer.¡±


    Angel laughed a little, and entered her room. ¡°Good night.¡±


    Arthur had difficulty sleeping. He was ultimately a lazy, feckless person. He could be much further along in his research. He could be a much more powerful mage. He could have fought the Oraci¨®n Seis and won with ease if he¡¯d used his powers properly. He felt all his guilt and shame at the worthless way he had always lived his life bubbling up and spilling over in an attempt to distract himself from the fact that he had killed. He¡¯d killed around two dozen people. His hands were red with their blood in a way that would never wash off.


    A part of his mind said he had to make the world 2 dozen people better. Make amends with his actions by doing all the good they would have done. But then he remembered that they were murderous thugs who lived by robbing and threatening the lives of others. And one particularly brilliant and dangerous psycho mage.


    And he didn¡¯t know what to feel. Except that the faces he saw when he shut his eyes made him want to puke. He took his black sword from its sheath and stared at it. He almost tossed it from the building, just chucked it out the window. But it was a demonic weapon, and he couldn¡¯t leave it where someone else could find it. Besides he might need it against something truly vile again, or to stop Zeref if he somehow meddled away the happy resolution to his story through his presence.


    Still he looked at it and swore to himself, he¡¯d become strong enough he¡¯d not need it against ordinary people again. It was one thing to use it against Zero, or a rampaging dragon, but he should never have needed to use it against Naked Mummy.


    Angel had difficulty sleeping. Brain was dead. The Oraci¨®n Seis were gone. Destroyed. And she had to decide if she was going to follow around someone who was attempting to ¡®redeem¡¯ her because someone had offered him power to do so, or go back to her life of crime.


    But he had saved her life from Brain, then Racer, and again from Zero. The first time could be dismissed as his arrival being serendipitous, maybe, or just wanting to eat the darkness magic, and the last as being involved in a battle and taking the chance to win it, but Racer he had directly acted to protect her life. He had helped her escape the rune knights. He was powerful. He could be useful. And if Yukino was alive¡­ That was where her brain kept stopping.


    If Yukino was alive, she couldn¡¯t fade away into the sky like an angel. Her little sister was so little. She¡¯d be about Wendy¡¯s age. She was going to have to grill Arthur on Yukino¡¯s status. What kind of life she seemed to be living. But from what he had said, she had been walking in the light. No criminal or checkered past for her.


    And if so Angel couldn¡¯t be part of her life until Angel had put her own criminal past behind her and could walk in the light as Sorano once more. And if he was willing to help her do that then she¡¯d use him. It hurt though to know it wasn¡¯t because someone had seen something special in her, and wanted to help her escape the pit she was in, but it was just that he¡¯d get rewarded for it.


    And then there was the horror that some of his tasks implied.


    Kill Zeref. Join the Spriggan 12 and aid Zeref. It had been Zeref¡¯s followers who put her on this path. Who had killed her parents. All as part of a twisted attempt to revive him. And either Arthur was stark raving mad, which was a possibility, or Zeref really was coming back.


    In the morning Angel stewed. Her clothes were ruined. Her spats showed under her burnt dress. There were holes in it. It just was¡­ horrible. Still, she wanted to talk to that man before anything else started with the day.


    And she¡¯d get the chance, going to his room and shaking him awake. A nikora spirit, the celestial spirit of Canis Minor, was asleep on him. Was this his attempt to gain its ¡®allegiance¡¯ for the 25 CP offered? Was he keeping it as a guard animal to wake him if she tried to kill him in his sleep? He seemed to be completely asleep, she could kill him as easily as requipping her knife, and stabbing him.


    He¡¯d told her everything he knew about Yukino, apparently. He had put his cards on the table while the hand was still in play. But he¡¯d saved her, and seemed to be actively protecting her. She wasn¡¯t certain she was ready to actually trust him, the last person who saved her had tried to kill her the moment he¡¯d decided she¡¯d outlived her usefulness, but she would use Arthur for now.


    Her hand moved to his shoulder. ¡°Wake up,¡± She said, shaking him lightly. ¡°We need to talk.¡±


    He groaned something incomprehensible in his sleep, and she began to shake him harder. ¡°I said wake up!¡±


    10 minutes later they were walking through the - illusion clad - ghost town. The nikora walked about, being allowed to lead the way. ¡°So what did you need me to be awake for?¡± Arthur said wishing he had his potions, or just some caffeinated tea.


    ¡°Why¡¯d you tell me about the reward for redeeming me?¡± Angel asked.


    ¡°Because I felt guilty about it.¡±


    ¡°Why?¡± Angel knew she wouldn¡¯t have for a second. That she¡¯d be perfectly fine taking the reward and letting someone else think whatever they wanted.


    ¡°Because it felt like I was using you, and if I want you to be a better person, I have to be a better person to you. I mean better than that,¡± He mumbled out. ¡°And I was stressed, and just sort of crumpled and didn¡¯t think.¡±


    ¡°Why¡¯d you leave me with my keys? I mean I can guess why you took Aries, but you get more of whatever this CP is from the allegiance of 2 spirits, than redeeming me if I really got redeemed in this manga.¡±


    ¡°I didn¡¯t think of it at the time. You were begging me not to kill you, and I didn¡¯t want to kill you, and I mean I could have taken your keys and handed you over to the Guild Alliance, maybe I should have, but that would have sort of sucked for you¡­¡± He didn¡¯t want to say ¡®and you¡¯re hot so I wasn¡¯t thinking clearly¡¯ to her face. It just wasn¡¯t socially appropriate. ¡°... And I just sort of acted.¡±


    Angel was scared to say these next words. But, she had to. She had to test the ice and see it wasn¡¯t about to break under her. ¡°Even now, though, I¡¯m worth more to you dead than alive.¡±


    ¡°Fuck that!¡± Arthur exclaimed immediately.


    ¡°What¡¯s that supposed to mean?¡±


    ¡°It means I¡¯d rather not kill you. I mean¡­ If I was going to kill you, I¡¯d have let my sword eat yours and Racer¡¯s souls for power already. I guess if you try to kill me or start threatening to go on a killing spree I might kill you if I had to, but for a small increase in pay? I don¡¯t think I can kill someone I know for a fraction of a power. And I don¡¯t want to think about people as valued that way. People should have value other than just their value to me.¡± Arthur stopped himself from adding just how scared he was that he¡¯d forget that, because it was so easy to do.


    Still Angel¡¯s wide smile, and look of relief before she embraced him in a tight hug was worth some value in and of itself. It was a rather enjoyable hug. She pulled back. ¡°And what about Zeref? A lot of those tasks you zapped into my brain without asking seem to focus on him. Planning on redeeming him as well?¡±


    ¡°I plan on avoiding him if I can,¡± Arthur said. ¡°Dude would freaking kill me like it was nothing.¡±


    ¡°Are you planning on stopping him?¡± She asked.


    ¡°Directly? I¡¯d rather leave that to Mavis, but I mean, he plans to reset time and destroy the old world. I¡¯m pretty sure that would kill me. So I mean if I need to work to stop him I¡¯ll work to stop him.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s his plan?¡± Angel said, horror in her voice.


    ¡°Fairy Tail will stop him,¡± Arthur countered. ¡°It¡¯s a strong reason I want to keep things close to on track.¡±


    ¡°So you¡¯re definitely not going to help him?¡± Angel asked.


    ¡°I do not intend to commit suicide. I would like to live,¡± Arthur responded in an annoyed tone, like it should have been self-evident.


    ¡°Lock your door when you sleep, especially when you¡¯re sleeping near a known killer. I could have killed you instead of woke you up. It¡¯d have been easier,¡± Angel told him.


    ¡°You wouldn¡¯t,¡± Arthur said. Angel turned her head back towards him and smiled. ¡°You wouldn¡¯t, right?¡±


    ¡°I didn¡¯t,¡± She said, ¡°But you still shouldn¡¯t drop your guard like that. You never know when there could be an enemy.¡±


    It had been agreed that reviving Jellal would come before attempting to destroy Nirvana. It¡¯d be easier on Wendy with Cait Shelter still there, and if anything went wrong having more people to restrain the potentially insanely evil dark mage was useful.


    Jellal wasn¡¯t dangerous, though. At least not to others. He was a man riddled with guilt and despair, eager to die for sins he couldn¡¯t even remember.


    Arthur ended up socking him in the jaw. ¡°So your past is full of crimes. So you sinned. Dying won¡¯t make any of it better. You can¡¯t atone once you¡¯re dead. You want their souls to rest in peace? You want to make it up to them? Then make the world a better place. Do what you can to see their hopes and dreams come true, and if you can¡¯t. If they were rotten to the core. Then just go out and help someone.¡± Arthur was just repeating what he¡¯d told himself the night before. Mostly. He knew those he killed didn¡¯t have angry ghosts that would be aware of his attempts to make amends.


    Still it was enough to prevent the blue-haired wizard from killing himself at least for the time being. Though as Arthur prepared to leave for Nirvana, Jellal asked him a question which was going to prove awkward. ¡°Who¡¯s Erza?¡± How did Arthur explain that tangled mass of things to someone? The woman you love would be simple. But telling an amnesiac that just felt like it¡¯d create issues.


    The destruction of Nirvana itself was exceedingly simple. He had a map of the forest from his Archive. He couldn¡¯t quite teleport to the precise location of its control tower, but he could get close, and then follow the rest of the way to its location. Roubaul had added its blueprints to his archive. He just needed to simultaneously destroy all six of its power sources, while they were underground.


    He shifted his ¡®space¡¯ around, spreading his territory, creating six separate clumps, and then he connected them to the space directly in front of him, before breathing deep and roaring. Darkness shot from his mouth, firing through the overlapping portals, and exploding outwards into the six lacrima cores. Arthur wasn¡¯t tired this time. He wasn¡¯t holding back. He was just unleashing his destructive force.


    The destruction shook the forest like an earthquake. Nirvana would activate, its self-repair lacrima scrambling to undo the damage, but with the power sources destroyed they¡¯d lack the energy. But just to help it with things, as dark energy began to wrap around the tower that served to control the city-sized weapon. He leaned in, and breathed deep, sucking in the darkness before him and swallowing it whole.


    Then he looked down and roared again, firing directly beneath him to destroy the central complex of Nirvana and make sure no one else made use of it. He was back to Cait Shelter about 15 minutes after he¡¯d left it, and most of that had been walking to the tower. The mages sent by the interim magical council¡¯s bureaucracy hadn¡¯t even figured out what the first earthquake was yet - much less the second one which had caused the ground to erupt as magical energy exploded outwards in geysers of light and darkness - by the time he was back at the guild.


    Wendy was crying. Roubaul was beginning to fade and with him the rest of the guild, the buildings assuming their true, ruined form. He looked at Arthur. ¡°Thank you. Please, take care of Wendy.¡±


    Arthur moved towards the child, Wendy was falling to her knees, already in tears. He hugged her from behind, and simply held her. She¡¯d just lost her foster parent for a second time. It had to be very hard on her. And she hadn¡¯t found new ones yet. Not really. Fairy Tail barely knew her.


    Arthur kicked himself over that one.


    ¡°I promised I¡¯ll take you to Fairy Tail. They¡¯ll be happy to have you, and they¡¯re good people. You¡¯ll like it there,¡± He said.


    ¡°I liked it here,¡± Wendy sobbed.


    ¡°I know, but¡­ life happens. We have to flow with it. The future is always moving¡­¡± He hated this. Talking was hard, and consoling a crying child was harder. ¡°But the memories and your time with them will always be inside of you. Treasure it. And know they¡¯ll be smiling, looking down on you from where they¡¯ve gone.¡±


    Wendy sobbed again, and Carla and Arthur simply held her. Angel watched, and sighed. Wendy was about the age her little sister had to be. Not that she¡¯d seen Yukino in most of a decade. Last time she saw her little sister she was only a few years old. Angel felt tears welling up in her own eyes as she approached, and joined into the group hugging Wendy. And through it all the amnesiac Jellal, sat in a corner of the ruined building, brooding in his own silence and watching.


    Once Wendy had said her farewells to the place that had been her home, it was time to take her to Magnolia and Fairy Tail. Arthur was ready. It shouldn¡¯t be a long trip with Enif.


    ¡°I¡¯m ready,¡± Wendy said, clingy tightly to Carla¡¯s hand.


    ¡°Open gate of the pegasus!¡± Arthur announced. It wasn¡¯t actually necessary, but it did make the spell a bit easier. The bronze pegasus appeared, Enif rearing up and kicking the air, his wings spreading.


    ¡°Wheredoweneedtogo? Isitfar? I¡¯llgetyoutherefastfastfast!¡± The pegasus said excitedly.


    Wendy looked at it, eyes going wide, as she started trembling. Carla¡¯s face seemed to become whiter than her already snow white fur.


    ¡°W-w-we¡¯re not teleporting?¡± Wendy asked.


    ¡°I¡¯ve never been there. I¡¯ve never seen it. My idea of the location isn¡¯t clear enough to teleport there with Territory,¡± Arthur confessed. If he¡¯d picked up the more specialized teleportation magic it might work, but Territory didn¡¯t quite cover it.


    ¡°W-w-we have to ride there on that thing?¡± Wendy stammered, forcing herself to move a bit towards the pegasus.


    ¡°Enif isn¡¯t a thing, he¡¯s a celestial spirit,¡± Arthur said, patting the pegasus¡¯s neck.


    ¡°You can¡¯t really be serious about making Wendy ride that thing again!¡± Karla said.


    ¡°I¡¯llgethertherefastfastfast,¡± Enif said, ¡°Justletmeknowwhereandzoomwe¡¯llbeofflikeacomet.¡±


    ¡°It was fine last time,¡± Arthur said.


    ¡°Carla. It¡¯s ok. W-we can handle another ride,¡± Wendy said.


    Arthur might have been about to say something, but Angel smacked him on the back of the head. ¡°She obviously didn¡¯t enjoy it last time.¡± She looked down towards Wendy. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, we¡¯ll take you to Fairy Tail on foot if we have to. You won¡¯t have to ride that horse again.¡±


    ¡°Butonfootisslow. I¡¯dgethertherefast. Pleaserideme. Wecouldbetherealreadywherever it is,¡± Enif pleaded.


    Artur patted the horse. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, I think we¡¯re vetoed Enif. Still thanks for coming, I¡¯ll call you again if I need to get somewhere fast.¡±


    ¡°Rogerroger. I¡¯mthefastestspirityou¡¯llfind,¡± Enif said before disappearing.


    Arthur sighed out. That had been more tiresome than the entire process of destroying Nirvana. And the horse hadn¡¯t even done anything. ¡°Alright, we can go on foot,¡± He said. Hopefully they¡¯d get Wendy to Fairy Tail in time for Edolas. ¡°Maybe we can rent a carriage in the next town.¡±


    ¡°Arthur needed to take me to Gazania for some shopping anyway, so we can pick you up a pretty dress while we¡¯re there,¡± Angel said, turning to smile at Wendy.


    ¡°What? Since when?¡± Arthur complained.


    ¡°Have you looked at my clothes?¡± Angel asked.


    ¡°Been trying not to honestly,¡± Arthur muttered. The dress showed a bit too much skin for him to be comfortable looking at. Felt too much like ogling her.


    ¡°My clothes that you ruined with your stupid lightning bird,¡± Angel continued.


    ¡°You were abducting a small child and trying to take over the country!¡±


    ¡°You still ruined my dress, and that means you¡¯re responsible for replacing it,¡± Angel stated. ¡°Besides you should feel privileged, you get to take two cute girls shopping,¡± She looked at Wendy and Carla, ¡°Three even,¡± She said patting Carla on the head like a cat, much to Carla¡¯s chagrin.


    ¡°You and Gellal are the countries most wanted criminals, how can I just take you shopping!?¡±


    ¡°Gemini,¡± Angel said, holding up the key. ¡°I need some transformation magic.¡± She smiled at Arthur with a face that said she knew she¡¯d won.


    Then Arthur walked over towards her, a silver key appearing in his hand which he pressed to the center of her chest. ¡°Celestial Spirit Dress - Aquila!¡± There was a flash of light, and suddenly Angel was clad in a new outfit. Like her old one it was mostly composed of feathers, but it was different. The eagle feathers which made up the dress were the same yellow as Altair¡¯s own, the dress appearing with a relatively short skirt, and yellow thigh highs, the top ending above her navel, and with a deep V which reached her breasts. It came complete with a feathered headdress, and little red facepaint on her cheeks.


    Angel stared at him for a few moments. ¡°I did not give you permission to put me into cosplay,¡± She said, raising a hand and firing a bit of electricity out of it. The sheer quantity of it surprised her, and she immediately stopped, but already Arthur lay on the ground twitching from the blast.


    Angel was on her knees in a moment checking on him. ¡°Please be okay! I didn¡¯t mean to¡­ I didn¡¯t know that it would be that much. I¡¯m sorry. Don¡¯t be dead!¡±


    Angel wasn¡¯t the only one rushing over, Wendy was as well. And given the girl¡¯s specialty was healing magic, and for a 12 year old especially, she was an extremely powerful mage, it was only moments before Arthur was back on his feet.


    ¡°That was a Celestial Spirit magic spell, wasn¡¯t it?¡± Angel said. ¡°An advanced one. You really like making me feel like I¡¯m only half a mage, don¡¯t you?¡±


    ¡°Not even a sorry?¡± Arthur said, rubbing his head. ¡°That lightning hurt.¡±


    ¡°I seem to remember experiencing it first hand,¡± Angel said, childishly making a face at him. ¡°Still I can¡¯t imagine this will last forever, so you still owe me some new clothes.¡±


    ¡°I just figured you¡¯d want something to wear on the way,¡± Arthur said. ¡°I should have asked first,¡± Even as he spoke the air around him grew dark and somewhat hazy, light warping a little as it passed through it. It reminded Angel of his magic.


    ¡°What¡¯s that?¡± She asked.


    ¡°If I had to name it, Territory: King¡¯s Armor. I should never have dropped my guard against Brain, and he should never have had the chance to blast me. It should give me a nice little barrier to stop any attacks coming my way,¡± He explained.


    ¡°Why do you need it now?¡± Angel asked.


    ¡°I have been reminded I shouldn¡¯t drop my guard around you,¡± Arthur said with a wink.


    ¡°Hey!¡± Angel¡¯s nose wrinkled as she pouted. ¡°I¡¯m sorry. I didn¡¯t think it¡¯d be that much power. And you¡¯re too much of a mage not to be tough.¡±


    ¡°It just reminded me that I need to be more careful. I never know when there might be an enemy,¡± He said, not getting to see the little smile on Angel¡¯s face.

 Cait Sidhe

    As night fell, Wendy wasn¡¯t sure what to make of her companions. Jellal was the man who had brought her to Cait Shelter 7 years ago when she had been a small child, lost and alone after her foster parent, the Sky Dragon Grandeeney, had gone missing. But he seemed so different now. He couldn¡¯t remember anything, except the name Erza, and that he had done horrible things. The youth she had known as a small child had been hopeful and determined. This man was only living so that he could make amends for the harm he had done before he could die for his sins. Just seeing it hurt the maiden¡¯s young heart.


    Then there was Angel. The Celestial Spirit Mage had helped abduct Wendy, but now she seemed to be almost trying to act like it had never happened and they were friends. Wendy knew that she was trying to turn over a new leaf, but the way Angel was acting felt more like she was trying to pretend the past never happened. She had been helping Wendy with her hair, talking about fashion, and acting weirdly friendly. It¡¯d been a little creepy, and the talk about makeup and using her looks to manipulate men had only made Wendy more uneasy.


    And then there was Arthur. A part of her blamed him for Cait Shelter being gone. He¡¯d gone to destroy Nirvana so that Roubaul could finally rest in peace, and a threat to the world would be gone, but he¡¯d also made her entire guild vanish and taken away her friends when he did so. It was what they wanted, and Wendy knew it, but they were still gone because of him, and she wasn¡¯t sure if she wanted to thank him for freeing Roubaul of the weight of his ancient sin, or hate him for taking everyone away from her. It¡¯d probably be easier if he was acting more like Angel. Instead he was closer to Jellal, aloof and standoffish with her, keeping her at arm¡¯s length; he was simply transporting her to Fairy Tail because he¡¯d decided it was best for her.


    She felt so alone and isolated among them with Carla as the only really friendly face around her. They¡¯d been walking from Cait Shelter vaguely in the direction of Gazania. She was sort of thankful to Angel for getting them to stop, and finding a good place to camp. Though it made her feel uncomfortable that being hidden was a major part of choosing the camp. It only got worse when Angel demanded they move camp because they fought a large beast, and she was paranoid of being observed and caught.


    And there wasn¡¯t really privacy. She managed to talk to Carla a bit about her feelings when going to the bathroom, but she didn¡¯t have time to really talk things through before Angel came out calling for her to make sure she was ok. She couldn¡¯t sleep, and spent most of the night whispering with Carla, worried about what might be coming with Fairy Tail. The wizards from it in the Guild Alliance didn¡¯t seem so bad, they had seemed to be friends with each other at least, but she didn¡¯t really know anything about them.


    She wasn¡¯t the only one who seemed to be having trouble sleeping. Arthur tossed and turned, and at one point threw the sword he carried with him, before beginning to hunt around in the starlight to try and find it. Angel got up at one point muttering to herself, and just looming over Wendy in a way that made her uncomfortable, only leaving when Arthur pulled her away to go somewhere to talk; at least he said it was to talk, Wendy had some suspicions it might have been for adult reasons. She was pretty sure she heard Jellal crying, and pleading with someone who wasn¡¯t there during the night as well. It was a long, lonely, and scary night.


    ¡°I was just looking at her,¡± Angel protested. ¡°I wasn¡¯t plotting anything.¡±


    ¡°What?¡± Arthur said.


    ¡°This isn¡¯t about me and Wendy?¡± Angel asked.


    ¡°I figured you were latching onto her as some sort of weird substitute until you meet Yukino again,¡± Arthur said with a shrug.


    ¡°It¡¯s nothing like that,¡± Angel stated angrily. ¡°If it¡¯s not about my plotting over the Sky Priestess, what is it about?¡± She wanted to change the subject quickly.


    ¡°What can you tell me about Grimoire Heat?¡± Arthur said.


    ¡°What? Why?¡± Angel asked back, her eyes going wide.


    ¡°Because several bounties want me to rob and or destroy them,¡± He answered.


    ¡°Don¡¯t mess with Grimoire Heart,¡± Angel said in a serious tone. ¡°You know about the Balam Alliance, right?¡±


    ¡°Oraci¨®n Seis, Tartaros, and Grimiore Heart control all the other dark guilds of Fiore.


    ¡°Yes. And it continues to exist because having the Council¡¯s attention divided 3 ways is better for Grimoire Heart than attempting a total takeover. You know about the 10 Wizard Saints and 4 Gods of Ishgar, don¡¯t you?¡±


    ¡°Ten strongest and four strongest wizards that the Magic Council chooses to officially recognize?¡± Arthur said with a little uncertainty in his voice.


    ¡°Close enough,¡± Angel stated. ¡°So officially all six members of the Oraci¨®n Seis were equal. Unofficially only Brain or Midnight would have had a chance going one on one with a Wizard Saint in a straight up fight. I mean I took out Jura temporarily, but that was only with surprise on my side,¡± She smiled a bit, a look of pride and self-satisfaction on her face. ¡°But I was always one to destroy more powerful opponents with subtlety and wit. So you really should be more careful around me,¡± She winked, sticking her tongue out playfully. ¡°Brain would have been in a bad state against one unless Zero came out. Zero, would have been safely counted among the 10 Wizard Saints. But Grimoire Heart,¡± She paused and breathed deeply.


    ¡°Grimoire Heart¡¯s Seven Kin of Purgatory are at least as powerful individually as the Oraci¨®n Seis. Honestly in a direct fight I can¡¯t say I¡¯d not beat any of them. You, as you are,¡± She looked at Arthur. ¡°They typically hold more raw power, and fewer tricks than we in the Oraci¨®n Seis do,¡± She caught the annoyed look directed at her, and the little bit of annoyance she felt at herself. ¡°Did. There is no Oraci¨®n Seis any longer.¡± She¡¯d erased her guild mark as they walked today, well and truly rejecting her former place in the guild. But it was still easy to think of it as her home. ¡°One on one maybe you could handle them, maybe even take all of them on, I don¡¯t know the details too well, and my job in the Oraci¨®n Seis was to figure out these things. But even if you could, there¡¯s the matter of Master Hades. Zero would have been among the Wizard Saints, though he¡¯d still lose to the Master of Fairy Tail. Master Hades would stand among the Four Gods. He¡¯s on a different level entirely, and even Tartaros fears him.


    ¡°The Balam Alliance isn¡¯t an alliance of equals. It¡¯s a non-aggression treaty, and one in which Grimoire Heart lets it exist because it¡¯s easier to let the Oraci¨®n Seis or Tartaros be than forcibly recruit them, and we kept the Magic Council looking 3 ways. But at the end of the day, it exists because Grimoire Heart allows it to exist. If you¡¯re planning to go up against Grimoire Heart, I¡¯m not helping.¡±


    When Angel had finished, Arthur looked at her. ¡°I¡¯m not asking you too. I¡¯m just asking you for what you can tell me to help me find them.¡±


    She glared at him. ¡°I said I¡¯m not helping.¡± She turned away from him, starting to fume off and then stopped looking back at him. ¡°Helping you kill yourself picking a fight with Grimoire Heart wouldn¡¯t help me face my sister again.¡±


    ¡°Tell me about Hades. What makes him so powerful?¡±


    ¡°No,¡± Angel said. ¡°That¡¯s final.¡± With that she walked back towards where Wendy was, pretending to be, sleeping.


    When morning came things were somewhat better. Angel took over the process of getting some of the meat off of the beast killed last night, and cooking it, all while complaining about how absolutely useless Arthur was at wilderness survival. Still they ought to arrive in Guiltina today.


    ¡°Hey, Wendy, want to see a Celestial Spirit?¡± Arthur asked after they were done with their makeshift breakfast. ¡°I ought to give them some reward for their good service, and show them they¡¯re appreciated, and I figured I¡¯d see who you¡¯d like to meet.¡±


    Wendy found her spirits buoyed a bit by this, walking towards the armored man. His armor had apparently repaired itself over the course of the day. ¡°That sounds sort of fun.¡±


    ¡°Well there¡¯s a few choices. You met Enif before,¡± Arthur stated, and Wendy realized she made a face, because he shook his head a little. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, you don¡¯t need to ride him if you don¡¯t want to. I don¡¯t know him too well myself yet. There¡¯s also Pero,¡± He reached for the strange blue, carrot nosed creature near his feet and patted it like one might a dog. ¡°But he kept us company when we were walking yesterday so you already know him. Caelum doesn¡¯t have much of a personality; I honestly think it¡¯s a robot.¡±


    ¡°Robot?¡± Wendy asked.


    ¡°Uh Machina. I¡¯m not sure how much it even thinks,¡± Arthur said. ¡°There¡¯s Horologium, or a Horologium. He doesn¡¯t say much, usually just repeats what I say. Still he¡¯s excellent in an emergency. Our contract says that he can appear to protect those close to me from danger, though he¡¯s rather limited in how often he does it. Still he saved me a few times. There¡¯s Altair the eagle, he¡¯s a bit of a coward, but he¡¯s good to have at your back, and there¡¯s Kochab the bear, he likes to play catch. Then there¡¯s Orion the hunter. He¡¯s new so I don¡¯t know him too well. He¡¯s something of a giant, and I¡­ promised I¡¯d summon him for some good fights, and sort of forgot to do so he¡¯s probably a bit angry with me. Though if you¡¯d like to practice your dragon slayer magic against him I¡¯m sure he¡¯d be happy to have a sparring partner.¡± There was also Aries; but summoning her around Angel was going to be beyond painfully awkward.


    Wendy flinched back a bit at the casual way he talked about the last. ¡°But I don¡¯t know any combat magic. I only know how to use support magic,¡± She said looking down at the ground. What kind of wizard guild would want that?


    ¡°Support magic is combat magic. I mean you can make people stronger, or faster, right?¡± Arthur asked.


    This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.


    Wendy nodded a bit. ¡°Yeah. Or I can bolster their defense. But it¡¯s not like what you or Natsu could do.¡±


    ¡°And you¡¯re a dragon slayer, aren¡¯t you?¡±


    ¡°... Y-yeah,¡± Wendy felt a little ashamed at that one. She¡¯d seen his dragon slayer¡¯s roar. And Natsu had been a dragon slayer too.


    ¡°You can fight. Just breathe deep, consume the sky, and breathe it back out, and I bet your roar could tear asunder evil,¡± He said. ¡°I mean I could show you a bit. My dragon slayer magic isn¡¯t too good, but I at least know how to do that. Though it¡¯s really not as impressive as being able to bolster your friends, much less heal them.¡±


    He seemed happy till the end, and then he started to take on a sad look on his face. The smile that was on it when he looked straight at her again was obviously forced. ¡°Come on, you want to practice it a bit.¡± He pointed at a rock, ¡°See if you can shatter it with your roar.¡±


    ¡°But I don¡¯t know how,¡± Wendy protested. Carla was getting visibly tense, ready to intervene for Wendy¡¯s sake.


    ¡°That¡¯s why I¡¯m asking if you¡¯d like to learn. I mean I don¡¯t look it but I¡¯m a dragon slayer from a whole guild of dragon slayers. It might not be my specialty, but I do know a bit about dragon slaying magic.¡±


    ¡°Your guild is full of dragon slayers?¡± Wendy asked.


    ¡°It¡¯s a requirement to actually be a member of the guild.¡±


    ¡°But I thought it was a Lost Magic.¡±


    ¡°Here in the south. In Guiltina dragons survived a lot longer and so has the magic. But it¡¯s not really been perfected. I think Igneel, Grandeeney, and some other dragons perfected it here so it¡¯d actually be safe for humans to use. It¡¯s why I came here. I actually was sort of looking for you and Natsu, since I thought your blood might help.¡±


    ¡°My blood?¡±


    ¡°A book I read mentioned the possibility of dragon antibodies. If I¡¯m right and you and Natsu have them, I might be able to make something from your blood to help others obtain them too.¡±


    ¡°Is that why you¡¯re helping me?¡±


    ¡°I came to Fiore to meet you, but if all I wanted was your blood I could have just not destroyed Nirvana.¡± Wendy had to wonder why there was a look on his face that almost seemed guilty there. Was there some other reason he destroyed Nirvana?


    ¡°Is the offer to show me how to roar still there?¡± Wendy asked.


    ¡°Of course,¡± Arthur said.


    Wendy felt better about her time with the group after that morning. Arthur had helped her to really start to use her dragon slayer magic, and sparring with Orion had been fun. Jellal had even been convinced to join in, though it hadn¡¯t lasted long after that. He couldn¡¯t really remember how to use his magic, but he¡¯d been a prodigy before and it still showed.


    And then Angel had summoned Scorpio, the iron-tailed spirit of the house of the Scorpion. ¡°Arthur. You know that thing you wanted me to do last night? I¡¯ll do it on the condition that you take out Scorpio without using magic. Show that you can fight as well as flex your ethernado, and well I¡¯ll change my mind.¡±


    Wendy blushed as she watched. It was obvious there was something going on between them. What had he tried to pressure Angel into? Why was he hesitating?


    It took a bit, but Arthur raised his shield and looked at Angel. ¡°Deal,¡± He said.


    Was this a proposition? What had they talked about last night? Wendy¡¯s mind raced to conclusions, her face deepening continuously.


    The actual fight was underwhelming. Arthur actually put up a fight, but it was one of resilience and not actual fighting back. He was strong, able to break free of Scropio¡¯s sand, but ultimately he wasn¡¯t much of a hand to hand combatant. Eventually he yielded.


    ¡°Exactly what I thought,¡± Angel said. ¡°You¡¯re a summoner. You can¡¯t handle real combat.¡±


    ¡°So are you,¡± He said bitterly, even as Wendy healed him.


    ¡°Yeah, but I understand that fact, you don¡¯t. Just like Wendy understands that she¡¯s better on the backline.¡± Angel¡¯s words stung Wendy a little. Did she understand that? Was she stuck on the backline? She didn¡¯t want to be. If she¡¯d known how to fight Angel and the others couldn¡¯t have abducted her.


    ¡°I¡¯m not,¡± Wendy said. ¡°I want to learn to fight too.¡±


    Angel sighed. ¡°Well I can¡¯t teach you.¡±


    Arthur, though, patted her on the head. ¡°I¡¯m sure someone at Fairy Tail can teach you. And I guess when I get back to Guiltina I¡¯m gonna have to bow my head and ask people for combat tips. Kiria is gonna make me suffer for it.¡±


    ¡°Kiria?¡± Angel asked. ¡°Do I need to be jealous about your girl back home?¡±


    Arthur¡¯s mind flashed to Hinami. But nothing had actually developed between him and the Shine Dragon Slayer. ¡°Nah, she¡¯s a little brat,¡± Given he¡¯d been there for her 16th birthday she was a bit older than he had thought, actually closer to Angel¡¯s age, or his apparent one, than Wendy¡¯s. Of course he¡¯d been a fair deal older in his previous life. She was a kid to him. ¡°But she¡¯s sort of my senior in the guild, and helped play the role of my keeper when I was joining. She looked out for me, and helped me kill the Darkness Dragon. Well¡­ I stole the kill really. She was the one that¡¯d cut it deep enough that I could do it, and she¡¯d have done it on her own if I hadn¡¯t interfered.¡±


    Wendy¡¯s heart clenched. He had killed a dragon. It was easy to forget that when he used dragon slayer magic it wasn¡¯t magic he learned from a dragon. It was magic he¡¯d obtained by killing one. But the only dragon she¡¯d ever met had been Grandeeney; kind, gentle, sweet Grandeeney. Grandeeney who had been like a mother to her.


    ¡°But she loves to fight, so she¡¯ll probably be happy for the chance to kick my ass around a bit,¡± He finished. Still the happy mood which had been born from their training and practicing together was gone from Wendy as they made their way towards Gazania.


    Wendy was disquieted by the disguise that Angel had chosen. She¡¯d specifically had Gemini base the changes to her facial features and hair on Wendy¡¯s own, so she could play as Wendy¡¯s big sister. It felt almost like she was being kidnapped again.


    Of course Gazania was the first time she¡¯d ever been in such a large city. Given Cait Shelter¡¯s illusory nature it was the first time she¡¯d been in a human settlement at all. She could hear Angel and Arthur arguing about how much money he would - or could - give her. He apparently didn¡¯t have much for his time in Ishgar, and was warning her he would leave when it ran out. Still she managed to talk him out of a few hundred thousand jewels; though Wendy couldn¡¯t hear what it was she whispered to him to get him to double the amount.


    ¡°Come on, Wendy, big sis will take you out shopping to find something cute to wear,¡± Angel, or Frigga as she was going by for the moment, said, extending a hand towards Wendy. She was once again wearing the electric eagle-themed Celestial Spirit Dress, an outfit which honestly probably suited her better than the one which Jellal had been given. It was the dress of Orion, and it was¡­ awkward to look at. He had a cloak on over it for the reason as its pants for some reason didn¡¯t cover his ass or inner thighs, leaving his underwear on display, and from the waist up it was just belts crisscrossing his body. Still the mass of belts over his face did hide it effectively enough making it an acceptable outfit. And it¡¯d provide him with a means of combat that didn¡¯t necessitate showing his magic. Wendy wasn¡¯t exactly sure why Angel expected them to need to fight.


    As they were about to split up, Arthur stopped and turned. ¡°Oh, A- Frigga, you¡¯d not happen to know if there¡¯s a mages¡¯ guild in Gazania would you? Or where it¡¯d be for that matter.¡±


    Wendy felt Angel suddenly squeeze her hand. ¡°Sabertooth. You don¡¯t think¡­ Do you?¡± She asked, looking towards him.


    ¡°Shop first, I¡¯d prefer not to try and maintain that magic all day just in case something does happen, and we can stay a day or two if you want.¡± Wendy saw Arthur tap his temple twice, and then Angel nodded.


    Like Arthur told Angel through the telepathic function of Archive magic, Yukino didn¡¯t join Sabertooth until it was the top guild in Fiore, and not for another 5 years at least. She could be from anywhere in the country, and joining Sabertooth didn¡¯t necessarily mean she was here. But he had business with Sabertooth beyond his desire to see if the guild would allow him access to their library, and if he saw any cute, white haired girls about Wendy¡¯s age he¡¯d make sure to let her know.


    He was alone for the first time in a while. Jellal had gone to play their porter and gimp-manservant; mostly because he needed clothes that Arthur didn¡¯t have to magically maintain as well. But Arthur had his eyes on certain missions.


    There was his goal, his mission, it had a bounty attached to it now, but it was his mission first and a bounty second. And he was going to visit any guild¡¯s library that would let him in. Not that he expected many guilds to do so. That sort of library was valuable. But it was worth going to see. Especially with Sabertooth.


    The second goal was of course Grimoire Heart. Angel might not approve of it, but it was already the start of November X784. Tenrou Island and the time skip happened before New Years. He couldn¡¯t remember what day, but it meant he had at most 2 months, and probably closer to 1, until Zeref and Acnologia destroyed Grimoire Heart and his chance at a good bundle of CP. Besides he had bounties related to creating etherious and Hades was the number one expert on Zeref¡¯s magic, and probably magic in general in Ishgar. Short of going to try and get Irene or Augustus to help, Grimoire Heart¡¯s library was probably the best chance to find means to create Etherious or to fix dragonification. He couldn¡¯t just let that time slip away.


    And then there was the final one. Jiemma Orlando. Abusive father. Guild master of Sabertooth. Total jerk obsessed with power. A bounty was offering him CP for beating him, and more for either or both of killing him, and taking Minerva away from him.


    Sabertooth wasn¡¯t as impressive. But it hadn¡¯t been a big name guild at the time. There¡¯s a reason it didn¡¯t come up for the guild alliance. It wouldn¡¯t even make the list of top ten guilds in Fiore.


    Still no one stopped him from walking inside. Though once he informed them he was a visiting wizard their tone changed. ¡°The library? You want to use our library?¡± The man who had greeted him asked. ¡°That¡¯s¡­ Well I guess I can ask the Guild Master once she¡¯s free, but you¡¯re gonna have to wait. What brings you to seek out our library?¡±


    Arthur had a very vague memory of Sabertooth having a famous library. But that might not be the case yet. ¡°I want to research dragons, I¡¯ve exhausted the knowledge in my own guild¡¯s library of the subject.¡±


    ¡°Dragons? Why would you think we at Sabertooth know anything about dragons?¡± The Sabertooth mage asked.


    ¡°You never know what a guild might have until you ask. May I request permission from your guildmaster?¡± Arthur asked.


    ¡°She¡¯s busy,¡± the mage said. ¡°I¡¯ll let her know you asked. But don¡¯t get your hopes up, beggar.¡±


    Beggar? Arthur looked at himself. He was clad in shining armor. Shining. He¡¯d don a celestial spirit dress to show the man just what sort of mage he was but he didn¡¯t know if he could maintain 3 at once, and didn¡¯t want to risk suddenly stripping Angel in the middle of shopping. That just seemed like a good way to get a knife in the knight.


    Besides he had to save some power, he was going dark guild busting tonight.


    Wendy found she actually sort of liked shopping with Angel. Even if Angel was disappointed they couldn¡¯t get anything from a ¡®worthwhile brand¡¯, she¡¯d got a few outfits that Angel had assured her were cute, and she was sort of excited to wear them. Even if Angel¡¯s talk about the boys being all over her was a little worrisome.


    They had a big meal, and a room in an inn, and it was actually looking rather nice. But then she heard Angel moving about in the night. Wendy slipped out of bed to follow her, Carla following Wendy. Angel was sneaking out of the inn, and Wendy was convinced it was for something bad. She decided she¡¯d follow her.


    And then she was meeting with Arthur and Jellal, both of whom were wearing a non-spirit dress mask and outfit now. Wendy hesitated a bit, but she looked at Carla and gave a nod. It was entirely possible that all three of them were up to no good. She hoped she was wrong. She hoped they had a legitimate reason for this. But they hadn¡¯t told her anything. If it was on the level why didn¡¯t they tell her?

 Tiger Hunt

    Angel summoned Gemini to dismiss her transformation magic - and just to have the twins ready - as they walked up to the secret guild hall of Vampire Kiss. It was one of the Dark Guilds that until 3 days ago had been under the Oraci¨®n Seis. It¡¯d been up on its tribute, and not directly led by one of the six demon generals, so it hadn¡¯t been called up for the forest fight.


    It was also, according to Angel, the largest, illegal fight club in Ishgar. Oh, she said the time to hit them would be right before New Years. That¡¯s when they had their big event, and the money really flowed. Still they were a guild she¡¯d handled. She was confident that Arthur could handle them - at least outside of December - and that they could get some spending cash even as they left a dark guild¡¯s main players in official custody.


    Getting in was easy. Angel was their handler. Or at least Arthur thought it was as they were taken to a VIP booth, and brought trays of candied meats and fine wine for their pleasure and enjoyment.


    ¡°It¡¯s poisoned,¡± Jellal said.


    ¡°What?¡± Arthur asked. ¡°How do you know?¡±


    ¡°The server¡¯s face. They know the Oraci¨®n Seis got beat and rounded up. They¡¯ve tried to hide it, but no one here¡¯s been pleased to see Angel alive,¡± He explained.


    ¡°He¡¯s right,¡± Angel said, pouring her drink on the ground where it began to sizzle and hiss as it melted holes through the floor. ¡°They want me dead now. I expect you two to keep them from ruining my new dress.¡± She posed like she was trying to be in Sorcerer Magazine, a little pose to emphasize her feminine shape even as she looked up towards their faces with a playful expression. ¡°It looks good on me, doesn¡¯t it? Still Gemini,¡± She snapped her fingers, the twins transforming into one of the mages they met. ¡°We might as well wait till some rounds of fights have taken place. Let people get nice and drunk, let their best fighters beat each other up, let¡­¡± She stopped. ¡°Where¡¯d Arthur go?¡±


    ¡°And we have a new challenger, entering the ring against Jiemma the Explosion,¡± The announcer said loudly.


    ¡°He teleported into the ring when they called for anyone to challenge the reigning champion,¡± Jellal said, pouring his wine onto the floor of the VIP booth.


    ¡°You can¡¯t be serious,¡± Angel said. ¡°Does he not understand undercover work?¡±


    Wendy¡¯s worst fears were confirmed. Angel had revealed her real identity, and gone into a dark guild to ¡°talk business¡± and Jellal and Arthur had followed her. It crushed her heart to see it. She had thought she could trust them. That they were on the level. And already they were proving her wrong. She slumped down in the alley beginning to cry.


    She sobbed for several minutes. ¡°Carla. We¡¯re going to get in there.¡±


    ¡°What? Wendy we shouldn¡¯t. It¡¯s too dangerous. Any one of those three is too dangerous,¡± the white cat said.


    ¡°We¡¯ve got to do something. If they¡¯re doing something bad there¡­ I¡¯m partially responsible if I don¡¯t do anything,¡± Wendy said.


    Carla looked worried. ¡°We tell the authorities where Angel went.¡±


    ¡°Eh, mister, you haven¡¯t registered as a fighter,¡± The fight announcer said, backing away from Arthur slightly. She was wearing hot pants and a tube top. ¡°You have to register first.¡±


    ¡°Let him,¡± the reigning champion said. ¡°If he wants to fight me, I¡¯ll make this fight quick before the main event. Give the guests some extra entertainment.¡± Jiemma the Explosion was what the announcer had called him. The reigning champion was a massive man, a mountain of muscle, though his beard and hair had already begun to turn white. He was dressed in a pair of trousers, and a shirt that only covered one shoulder, moving down his body at an angle. Around his neck was a massive strand of prayer beads. Arthur knew him as Jiemma Orlando, Sabertooth¡¯s ace, and future guild master of Sabertooth.


    ¡°Well alright,¡± The fight announcer said, ¡°But I¡¯m going to need a name from the challenger.¡±


    ¡°What? Lancelot,¡± Arthur said in a sudden panic, ¡°Lancelot the Fairy Spear,¡± He spat out just giving the first thing that came to mind.


    ¡°However, our challenger seems to have not been informed of some of our rules,¡± The fight announcer said, strutting around him. ¡°No weapons,¡± She bent down, pressing against Arthur¡¯s legs as she removed his sword belt; he¡¯d brought the black blade just in case, even after leaving his shield and armor behind to avoid being too recognizable. ¡°And most certainly,¡± She grabbed his bag of keys. ¡°No Holder Magic. If he wants to fight he needs to get rid of all of those or deal with the House,¡± She stated, grinning broadly. Her bleached blonde hair showed black at its roots, the guild mark of Vampire Kiss displayed right below her navel, the bottom of it disappearing into her hot pants.


    Arthur raised his hand and snapped his fingers, and his sword, and keys moved to the VIP booth with Angel and Jellal. The fight girl swallowed hard. The wards were supposed to block magic from going in or out. Spatial Magic could mess it up a bit, but even so to get it out took an unusually powerful mage. Not necessarily more powerful than Jiemma, but, ¡°Alright, we¡¯ve got a challenge, and since the champion gets a bit rowdy, I¡¯d like to request that every go back five rows for a minimum safety distance. If you were in the cheap seats, I¡¯m sorry, but it¡¯s time to watch from the bar instead. This fight looks like it could get nasty.¡±


    A wave of boos and hisses and even cheers came from the crowd. They¡¯d expected Jiemma the Explosion to crush tonight¡¯s opponent, he had the last 4 times he¡¯d taken to the ring, but it looked like they were getting a bonus fight, and one that promised to be exciting if it worried the host.


    Even the fight girl was retreating back, and past the wards. ¡°We¡¯ve got ourselves the making of a fine fight,¡± She said, bouncing in place a little, before bending low as she pointed at Jiemma. ¡°In the red corner we have our returning champion. The undefeated Jiemma the Explosion!¡± She swept her finger towards where Arthur was standing, wearing only his tattered under-armor garments, and a mask he had teleported from his pocket. Of course the dark haze of his personal ¡®space¡¯ which surrounded him made it hard to make out details except for his distinctive white and blue hair. ¡°And in the blue corner we have our challenger. Lancelot the Fairy Spear has come to slay the unbeaten demon of the ring! Can he pierce them, or will he be blasted away like all others who have tried? I can¡¯t tell you, but let me say I¡¯ve never felt such sheer presence as in the ring today! Now, on the count of three, get ready and begin, one, twothree!¡± She sped up the last two words to give an, in this case unnecessary, edge to the returning champion who knew to expect it.


    Jiemma was out of the gate in an instant, a blast propelling him forward before he brought a leg sweeping into Arthur¡¯s head. It sent Arthur flying, impacting the wall, and the barrier magic, hitting it hard enough to make the barrier flash a bright red. Wrapped in a shielding layer of his personal territory, Arthur barely felt the blow.


    ¡°Weak,¡± Jiemma stated, as energy built in his hand. A flash of light exploded, firing towards Arthur. It wasn¡¯t actually Jiemma¡¯s usual fighting style in the arena. He toyed with opponents a lot more typically. Here, though, he was spooked. He recognized Territory Magic. He used some of it himself. That wasn¡¯t something he could do with it, though.


    Arthur¡¯s hand rose, shaping his space into a wall before him, catching the blast. But he¡¯d lost sight of Jiemma, who¡¯d closed in close, and took the opportunity to strike him, landing a blow on his ribcage, and immediately releasing a point blank explosion of his blast magic. Arthur was launched up, and back just a bit, forced to fly against the barrier magic until hitting the ¡®roof¡¯ of the spell. It¡¯d shattered his territory armor, even if it had taken most of the brunt of the attack. Unfortunately it was no longer there to take the next one as Jiemma raised a finger up and let energy focus in it, a beam shooting forth followed by an explosion which ran through the beam.


    But Arthur had already landed. Or more teleported down and to the opposite side of the arena. This was what Angel was talking about. What Madmole had. He wasn¡¯t a fighter.


    He had (just over) 200 CP. He could become a fighter. Take the Knight and become a master of melee weapons. Or take Born to Bash for less, without spending one of his discounts, and learn unarmed combat.


    He barely blocked a wave of pure destructive force from Jiemma, his barrier rising up with his hand, before he teleported into the air to buy himself time. He¡¯d remembered Jiemma as a mostly passive fighter: Natsu wailing on him; Sting one shotting him; andis battle with the double slayers being off-panel and only showing him awkwardly blocking kicks and punches.


    This felt¡­ This felt like fighting an actual guild master. Maybe it was that Jiemma wasn¡¯t one yet. Jiemma was still young and hungry, willing to put his effort in, instead of letting his guard down because he saw himself as on an unassailable peak.


    Minerva watched from the back room. Her father had brought her to watch the fights and see how the strong actually battled. And what happened to the trash too weak to win. It wasn¡¯t the first time he¡¯d brought her either. Every 6 weeks for the last 6 months he¡¯d made her come.


    She didn¡¯t like it here. The way people here looked at her made her feel like a sheep surrounded by wolves. And when they had gone beyond looking, her father had done nothing. Even when they¡¯d talked about purchasing her to sell, he¡¯d merely said she¡¯d not shown herself to be that weak yet.


    But she was good, and dutiful. She watched the fight as closely as she could, just like he had told her to. She was here to learn. Learn the truth of the world, and how the powerful dominated the weak.


    Minerva was shocked to see her father going seriously from the beginning. It might be that Jiemma was furious that the mage was using one of the family battle arts. She didn¡¯t know her relatives past her father, but he had told her that Territory was an old magical secret of the family. But Minerva felt there was more to it than that.


    Jiemma raised a hand, and casually launched a blast towards Arthur. It never connected as Arthur passed through his own space to land, his armor back up, and a dozen pockets of his territory wrapping around Jiemma¡¯s body before they all exploded in unison. The arena filled with the light and roar of the explosions, like thunder erupting throughout. Smoke rose around Jiemma¡¯s body as he rolled his neck, cracked his shoulders, and spat on the ground.


    He growled low and deep in his throat, raised a single finger and there was a massive explosion of light and sound. It was enough to disorient Arthur, blinding him for a few moments. He responded, though, raising a territory barrier around himself, and felt it as it was immediately hammered hard by a series of explosions, one after another.


    Arthur teleported, even before his vision returned, and he saw Jiemma swerving towards him. The man¡¯s magical power was immense. It wasn¡¯t equal to Georg¡¯s or Byaku¡¯s, but it was equal to the dragon Arthur had slain, making his the strongest magical energy Arthur had seen on Ishgar.


    Arthur was still distracted by the question¡­ was it worth buying Born to Bash? Could he win without it? Before he could even begin to answer that he felt Jiemma¡¯s knee impact his barrier and send him flying, Jiemma¡¯s hands rising and coming together for another blast.


    Arthur focused and suddenly they swapped positions, as easily as a thought, but he¡¯d timed it wrong. Instead of teleporting a moment after the attack was launched so that it would hit Jiemma from behind, Jiemma¡¯s blast shot up from his new airborne position, and through the barrier, striking the ceiling and erupting into the room above that was used as a front.


    Wendy ran towards the area of town where the rune knights - still hunting Angel and Jellal who might have ran to here - were quartered. But she stopped as she saw a shop that she¡¯d visited with Angel earlier that day. The ice cream stand where the criminal mage had bought her a bit of ice cream. It was where they¡¯d been together earlier and she stopped for a moment.


    ¡°Carla, what if we¡¯re wrong?¡± Wendy said as she stopped.


    Carla¡¯s ear twitched, her tail swishing. ¡°What do you mean?¡±


    ¡°Angel and Jellal were supposed to make amends. What if they went in there to do something else?¡± She asked.


    Carla looked down at the ground. Angel had talked about infiltration. If they were trying to eliminate the guild, getting in might be a good idea.


    There was an explosion behind them, a flash of light erupting into the sky. ¡°We tell them we think we saw Angel go in there. We don¡¯t tell them we came here with her. But we tell that much. It will get the council¡¯s forces to intervene, and if they were trying to take down the guild it shouldn¡¯t hurt them too much,¡± Carla said, leaving off the thought ¡®as long as they can get away¡¯.


    Jiemma didn¡¯t stick his landing like he normally might. This mage had swapped positions with him through Territory Magic. His own mastery was incomplete, but he had thought he¡¯d obtained enough skill and power that it should have been impossible to do so easily even for anyone in the world.


    Still as the mage tried the explosion trick again, Jiemma almost scoffed. It was powerful, but he¡¯d weathered it before. This time he focused his blast magic into the soles of his feet - he¡¯d already destroyed his shoes the first time he¡¯d rushed so - waves of energy from his shoulders blasting the spheres back and away a bit. He¡¯d been planning to challenge the Guild Master for supremacy. If he could win this battle he felt certain he could defeat the old hag, and raise Sabertooth from the squalor of weakness it had fallen into.


    He felt the territory magic explode against him, but the explosive force of his own attacks pushed back against it, turning it aside, before he struck at the challenger with a palm strike, and a point blank blast.


    Only to scream out as his own blast magic struck him from behind. Arthur was smiling at him behind the mask. Teleporting the blast had taken more energy than he expected. The blast magic was wild and tore at his dominion of the space which armored him, but he¡¯d managed it - if only because his back was braced against a wall to prevent Jiemma¡¯s palm strike sending him flying back.


    Arthur didn¡¯t relent, opening his mouth and releasing a dragon¡¯s roar. Darkness erupted from his lips like a beam weapon from a space opera battleship, the blast of shadow rushing towards the opposite barrier.


    Jiemma¡¯s blast magic erupted from one hand, and from his leg. It was poorly shaped - the unsteady magic wielded too hastily - but Jiemma had in a heartbeat realized it was better to blast his own leg to dodge that blast than to face it head on. The barrier magic blazed a bright red as the darkness magic shot out and into the audience still possessing power enough to knock out the watchers.


    Jiemma felt the pain in his arm. It was still usable, but it was very possible that it was permanently damaged. He didn¡¯t have time to care right now. He raised his good hand, focusing his power. He was going to use the most destructive power that his Blast Magic could call forth; the Grand Explosion. He wasn¡¯t supposed to use this spell in Gazania, or any other human habitation. The audience behind the mage would die. The building next door might collapse. ¡°Blast Magic - Grand¡­¡±


    He didn¡¯t finish the spell. Balls of the hazy black space of his enemy¡¯s Territory appeared around him, exploding against his arm and chest, forcing him to vent the magic in an explosion of his own and meet force with force. In that moment the enemy teleported, and Jiemma spun, releasing a smaller blast with his backhand. Arthur felt it as the blow connected, and the blast magic pushed through his barrier. Without the barrier he¡¯d be dead - headless as well - but even with it he¡¯d flown hard into the barrier, his shoulder hitting with a painful crack.


    Even so the attack from Jiemma had come a moment too slow. Arthur¡¯s magic had exploded from his own palm, a black flare which had struck Jiemma in the gut, bringing him to his knees. He couldn¡¯t make himself stand immediately. He¡¯d not been this hurt in a long time. But he refused to be weak. He refused to yield. He wouldn¡¯t lose.


    Minerva Orlando watched the fight with baited breath. Her father was the strongest mage she knew; rejected from the Wizard Saints due to his age, track record of excessive force, and being only a few generations removed from his ethnic heritage in the Eastern Continent. The idea that he could lose was simply not there.


    In pure magic she could admit the challenger surprised her. She kept trying to mentally downplay it, but whenever father weathered his attacks father was weakened, and he blocked father¡¯s blows with relative ease from afar. But when they got close the difference was obvious. Father was stronger.


    That idea was shattered when she heard her father start to invoke a spell aloud. He never did that in combat with his blast magic. He wasn¡¯t talented at Territory Magic, so he spoke it, but this wasn¡¯t Territory Magic. This was the spell the guild master had forbidden him to use. The most powerful blast magic. It¡¯d destroy the barrier. It¡¯d destroy a large portion of the building. If he missed it could kill her.


    She found herself trembling. And then the explosions struck him. The challenger was down, but she¡¯d never seen her father so wounded. One arm hung limp, and he was obviously avoiding putting weight on the leg on the same side. His face was twisted with pain.


    And Lancelot was rising to his feet, blood running from his head. The fight wasn¡¯t over yet. And she was torn. A part of her was terrified for her father. Losing in the arena often meant death. Especially against an unknown opponent; most lives that were spared was to keep a strong stable of warriors around, and the unaffiliated challengers had no reason to allow that.


    Jiemma was panting now. Tired. Wounded. He couldn¡¯t even feel his left arm. His right arm was a mass of pain. His left leg felt like he¡¯d torn something bad. Even if he won this fight, he¡¯d never be as strong as he was before it again. It reminded him of the time he¡¯d stood against Wolfheim. But that had been a fight against a ¡®fellow¡¯ light mage in a public setting. He¡¯d never been at real risk of death with that defeat; it had merely sealed away his dream of becoming one of the Wizard Saints.


    He¡¯d not left that battle with three mangled limbs and a hole in his guts. Still the arena fought to the death. And there was no way Jiemma was letting the challenger survive to kill him. He just needed to catch his breath for a few moments. He rose to his feet, turning slowly as his entire left side was nearly useless to him at the moment.


    The Fairy Spear had risen to his own feet. He¡¯d hoped the man would still be down. That barrier armor was stronger than Jiemma had given it credit for. And across the arena, Jiemma felt his eyes lock with Lancelot¡¯s and then there was magic sweeping over him.


    ¡°Darkness Dragon Slayer Art - Light Loss,¡± Arthur whispered. Black swirled over Jiemma¡¯s eyes, leaving them mere pools of darkness.


    He could see nothing. Given time he could have ended the effect. Jiemma was absolutely terrified. These were blood sports. You used lethal force. And this man had just shown the ability to toy with him with magic. He panicked, leaping to the first and most destructive card left in his arsenal. It would most likely kill his daughter; but if she allowed herself to die here she would just prove that she had never grown out of the weakling she had always been. It¡¯d destroy him as an official mage. He¡¯d be wanted for life for the sheer scale of deaths he inflicted. But better to live as a wanted man than die as weakling trash.


    ¡°Niel Wielg Mion,¡± He began to speak, a loud, invocation ringing out through the air. An alarm klaxon was beginning to blare. Someone at least understood the danger when he got really serious. ¡°Terse Elcantaeus.¡± He was gathering the magic to summon one of the 18 Battle Gods. A force of destruction several times stronger than his own magical power. If Vampire Kiss had strong enough mages maybe the spectators would survive. If not¡­ Well sparing them death would be his own death. He was not so weak as to allow a lie like ¡®compassion¡¯ to end him. ¡°Yagd Rigola!¡±


    ¡°Niel Wielg¡­¡± Minerva immediately recognized the invocation. It was the invocation to summon one of the Yakuma 18 Battle Gods. Yagd Rigola whose explosive force, fueled by all of her father¡¯s remaining magic would certainly destroy this building. And her. And everyone in it.


    She was still learning but she could teleport with her own territory magic, bringing her to the announcer¡¯s shelter. She immediately pulled the emergency evacuation alarm. Maybe some people would escape alive.


    She could see the arena turning into a stampede, even as she tried to teleport again. But she needed to be able to see where she was going. She only reached the most visible exit, and then a wave of humanity slammed into her, starting to knock her side to side, as dozens of people ran for their own lives.


    The audience fled as the klaxon began, beginning to stream from Vampire Kiss in a stampede only to find that the doors had been sealed by the guild¡¯s mages. Mages who were finding themselves assaulted by their own guild master, and a blue haired mage who seemed to mix elemental magics with an impossible ease.


    The doors opened, allowing the crowd to flee the death trap the guild had become. But the expected explosion did not come. Angel rushed in, leaving Gemini - still in the form of the Vampire Kiss guild master, and Jellal outside to watch the unconscious prisoners.


    Reaching the arena, she saw Jiemma, and Arthur. Jiemma stood panting heavily, but Arthur lay on the ground. ¡°Open the gate of the house of the chisel! Caelum!¡± She called, summoning the silver sphere, only to watch Arthur rise to his feet.


    Jiemma didn¡¯t seem to notice that fact, though. And Arthur walked up towards him, body moving sluggishly before he swung an awkward punch into Jiemma¡¯s gut. The muscled giant fell to the ground then, offering no resistance as a fist struck his face and he fell.


    Arthur could barely see straight. His whole everything hurt. He¡¯d unleashed his dimension black on Jiemma, pulling him into a space of Arthur¡¯s own making before he could finish the spell. It had a chant. Not screaming its name for coolness like Natsu, but a legit chant. Chants were serious business and top tier magic.


    This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.


    And then whatever Jiemma had done had blown the dimension apart. He wasn¡¯t even sure he¡¯d be able to use it again without building the dimension once more, and that had taken him weeks, he¡¯d been working on it little by little since before he was done with his sick leave. And it¡¯d hurt him too, he¡¯d felt the explosion as Jiemma emerged from that dimension. He hurt all over, and now Jiemma was where he¡¯d been before being pulled into the shadow realm of Arthur¡¯s construction.


    But Jiemma had exhausted himself. Arthur wasn¡¯t sure how shielded the caster was from the blast, but at least in that dimension he wasn¡¯t fully shielded. He¡¯d hurt himself, and used up the rest of his power at the same time. One good blow is all that it¡¯d still take to bring him down. So Arthur gave it to him just laying him out with a punch and letting the bearded slab of muscle fall with a resounding thud.


    He turned to look at the arena, starting to walk away as he breathed heavily and panted. He still had magic energy, but he hurt. ¡°I¡¯m not that weak,¡± A voice sounded behind him. Jiemma was pulling his prayer beads from his neck, snapping the cord as he lashed out with them like a whip. It was a breach of the rules. But so too was attempting to blow up the entire establishment. It was a magical tool, meant to enhance his blast magic. He¡¯d been saving it, stored up ethernado, for the battle against the guild master as a last resort. Now that would have to wait. As the whip struck it exploded, raining blasts down onto his enemy¡¯s back.


    Or it would have if he hadn¡¯t missed. Arthur felt the explosion, his territory armor able to take the blast front without a direct hit. Jiemma was still blind. He¡¯d come close, but he¡¯d missed Arthur. Arthur was still thrown across the room, but with that barrier suit around him, he was unharmed, rising to his feet, and turning towards Jiemma. Arthur  swung a left hook for Jiamm¡¯s chest, darkness forming around his hand to lend his blow an extra measure of power. The blow sent Jiemma flying, a stream of darkness carrying him with it to slam across the arena, before coming to a stop in a heap at the wall.


    ¡°So you saw Angel of the Oraci¨®n Seis walking into a secret dark guild in the middle of downtown?¡± The town watchmen spoke patronizingly to Wendy as he looked down at her. ¡°Do you know how many false reports of Angel we¡¯ve gotten today?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll take her to check it out,¡± Another said. ¡°We can¡¯t just ignore it.¡± He was a rotund man, a happy smile on his face. ¡°I¡¯ll get a handpicked squad and we¡¯ll go check it out.¡±


    Wendy felt relieved at his presence, and glad he believed her - even if the other man¡¯s wilful ignoring of the giant explosion which had come from the area was irritating.


    Still it wasn¡¯t long before they were marching towards the place she¡¯d seen Angel and the others go.


    Minerva had managed to escape the stampede of people. But only after being beaten and battered by the sheer press of them. She¡¯d managed to teleport to one of the higher levels of the guild hall; a storage room for its above ground front. But she knew it was too late. She¡¯d let people trample over her because she¡¯d taken the time to warn them to flee. And now she was going to be blown up alongside them. She¡¯d been weak. And now she was going to die for it.


    But the explosion hadn¡¯t happened, and she could hear people screaming and fighting outside. People were starting to run back inside, or to protest the criminality of keeping them there, and looking out a window she could see a wall of sand around the building. Could it be that Fiore¡¯s government, or the Magic Council, had finally cracked down on Vampire¡¯s Kiss? She knew it was possible. But she didn¡¯t want to be found here.


    She darted for the nearest closet, opening the door to dive inside and hide And she found a woman bound and gagged, magic sealing stone manacles around her arms. She recognized the woman. Vampire Kiss¡¯s guild master, Lilith Estarossa, a dark haired, fair skinned, red lipped woman who had a penchant for dressing like Dracula.


    She pulled the gag free, and the woman glared at her. ¡°Free me,¡± She said, struggling against the bonds.


    Minerva hesitated. She hated this place. She hated her father forcing her here. She didn¡¯t like Lilith.


    ¡°Get me out of here, you stupid brat, or you and your father are going down with my guild. You think either of you will survive being caught here?¡± Lilith hissed.


    Minerva swallowed hard, and began to open the manacles. She¡¯d only half got them off when a wave of soft, pink wool washed into the room, and she felt a sudden sense of peace and content relaxation, almost immediately drifting off into sleep.


    ¡°A fair bit of the clientele escaped,¡± Jellal stated as he walked in.


    ¡°But we should have all the mages,¡± Gemini - still in the form of the Vampire Kiss guildmaster - said. ¡°Save for one. She got away.¡±


    Angel grinned. Things hadn¡¯t gone too bad, despite Arthur having gone completely off script. They¡¯d got the guild cash box, which ought to buy her a few good dresses, and help ensure that even if the Guild¡¯s connections got them off of legal charges, they¡¯d be unable to afford to maintain those connections. If Arthur had stuck to the script and they¡¯d been able to catch the full audience, or at least most of it, they might have been able to cut a hole out of the stinking heart of Fiore. It¡¯d be easy to put off the guild as harmless due to mostly simply providing less than legal entertainment, and the spectators as more so since they were simply enjoying it. Except that some of their blood games were fueled by abduction and kidnapping, and they used their illegal wizard blood fights to fund other dark guilds; with the Oraci¨®n Seis gone who knew where they¡¯d channel their revenue sources. And those spectators by becoming complicit and accomplices then ended up blackmailed into hiding the guild¡¯s activities. Angel was fairly certain it was something she could count in her karmic favor.


    But there was a problem.


    ¡°Arthur, what do you think you were doing jumping into the ring?¡± She said, her tone furious, as she walked over to him and slapped him hard against the face. The plan had been to identify any mages who could break the perimeter, bring them down, and then let Aries wool bomb the entire guild into sleep while Scorpio contained them. With his little stunt she¡¯d barely had time to get the guild mistress, and use Gemini to steal the hidden cash boxes, before getting out at the front of the crowd and containing the building. If Jellal hadn¡¯t managed to get her out of there at double time - and single handedly take down the first 7 people to escape the sand barrier - the entire mission would have been a bust.


    ¡°I had a bounty to beat that guy one on one,¡± Arthur answered.


    ¡°Doesn¡¯t matter. You went off plan and put all of us at risk. You can¡¯t do that,¡± Angel glared.


    ¡°He was a bastard who I really wanted to hit for what he did¡­ Will¡­ would have done,¡± Arthur said.


    ¡°Does not matter,¡± Angel repeated.


    ¡°He killed his guild member¡¯s exceed because it had a guild mark on it.¡±


    ¡°Doesn¡¯t matter.¡± Angel had no idea what an exceed was. But it still didn¡¯t matter.


    ¡°He stripped a guild member and publicly humiliated her while actively enjoying her suffering before kicking her out of the guild in disgrace because she lost a battle to Fairy Tail¡¯s celestial spirit mage.¡±


    ¡°Does not matter. You can¡¯t throw off the mission for personal emotions. You do that and we all might die.¡±


    Arthur looked at Angel. ¡°The guild member in question would have been Yukino.¡±


    Angel¡¯s hands clenched shut. ¡°Is he still breathing?¡± She asked starting to walk from the guild master¡¯s private sanctum which they had been sort of pilfering and looting. ¡°I¡¯m just going to check on him. See if he¡¯s ok.¡±


    Jellal grabbed her as she tried to leave the room. ¡°No killing,¡± He stated. ¡°We¡¯re trying to redeem ourselves.¡± He wasn¡¯t sure exactly what sort of foreknowledge Arthur had, not having been informed about the manga and such. ¡°We need to get a message to the authorities, and get out of here.¡±


    ¡°But,¡± Angel squirmed and struggled against his grasp on her wrist. ¡°He was going to hurt my sister. He needs to pay for that.¡± She sighed and looked at Arthur. ¡°This still doesn¡¯t actually make it alright to have gone off-script like that. Should have at least given us warning, and let us work together and plan. You¡¯ve never really been a team before have you?¡±


    Arthur  looked down at the ground. ¡°I¡­¡± He didn¡¯t really have a defense.


    ¡°You can¡¯t think with your fists if you want to bring down people like Grimoire Heart or Tartaros,¡± She said. ¡°Now, we probably should get going and surreptitiously inform the authorities,¡± Angel said.


    ¡°Too late, they¡¯re already outside,¡± Jellal said.


    Angel gave a seething hiss. ¡°I had hoped we could specifically avoid any corrupt officials leading the party making the initial arrest, but I don¡¯t think we can stay here now,¡± She said. ¡°Unless you want to fight law enforcement.¡±


    ¡°No,¡± Arthur and Jellal said as one before Arthur teleported them all back to their rooms.


    ¡°This is where I was talking about,¡± Wendy said, pointing towards the building with its sea of unconscious individuals.


    ¡°That doesn¡¯t mean this is a dark guild, though,¡± The leader of the rune knights here said. Still it was hard to deny it. Several of the individuals had the guild mark of the Vampire Kiss guild. ¡°We¡¯ll need to do some investigation, right men?¡± He said. Still it looked like Vampire Kiss had been defeated. This had only been supposed to be a recon mission, but he could make a big arrest. ¡°Stay close to Roberto,¡± He said. ¡°Roberto, keep an eye on the girl. Whoever did this to these people might still be here.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m a mage, I can handle myself,¡± Wendy said. She was feeling more certain that maybe she had jumped to a conclusion and they¡¯d been here to take down a dark guild. But if so why hadn¡¯t they told her?


    ¡°Wendy, maybe it¡¯s best if we don¡¯t interfere,¡± Carla said, the exceed obviously worried. She felt like there was something a bit fishy about this all. They didn¡¯t have enough men with them to realistically be expected to deal with Angel. Which could just be that he¡¯d not really believed them, but now they were finding a mass of people obviously affected by magic, and several showing guild marks, and he wasn¡¯t calling for reinforcements or informing the council¡¯s rune knights.


    And then a woman emerged from the doorway of the guild. A dark haired girl was behind her, about Wendy¡¯s age, somewhere from 12 to 14. The woman herself had dark hair, pale skin, and very red lips. She was dressed in a black suit, a white undershirt and black tie under it, and a heavy, black and red cape. It was fitted, though, for a woman.


    The constable sergeant stiffened. And she looked at him. ¡°Get me a carriage,¡± She stated. ¡°The rune knights will be here soon, and if I go down I¡¯m taking you with me.¡±


    ¡°Lilith¡­¡± The man swallowed dryly. This was a terrible situation.


    ¡°Look, Roberto, you think I won¡¯t spill every little bit of our connection if you don¡¯t help me now? You think you¡¯ll escape any better than I do?¡± Lilith said walking towards him, the dark haired girl behind her moving almost like she was sleep walking, an odd lack of awareness about her.


    The men were looking around nervously. ¡°You heard her, go get her carriage,¡± Roberto said. The rune knights might be there soon. Obviously Lilith believed they would be. And if she brought him down with her. He had a family to care for.


    Carla was pulling on Wendy¡¯s hand, trying to tug her away. This was bad. Corrupt constables helping a dark mage escape before the rune knights proper could arrive. If they interfered, though, Wendy could get hurt.


    ¡°You can¡¯t help her escape!¡± Wendy shouted. Carla might be practical. But Wendy was idealistic. She wasn¡¯t about to let dark mages get away.


    Roberto cursed loudly.


    Lilith laughed. ¡°Your daughter?¡± She asked. ¡°Little girl, if you know what¡¯s good for you¡­ You know, I could use a bit of a starter fund. This one is nice,¡± She reached down, stroking the face of the young girl behind her. The girl didn¡¯t so much as flinch. ¡°But I could do with another piece of merchandise for when we reach Bosco.¡±


    The men flinched a little. She had enough evidence to condemn them all if she chose to sell them out. Maybe they could kill her. But there were several members of Vampire Kiss starting to emerge now. Lilith had freed them from their restraints after Minerva had - unwisely - freed her moments before that pink wool had tried to wash away all her worries.


    The guards turned towards Wendy. ¡°Sorry about this,¡± One said as he lunged for her. Wendy kicked and screamed, trying to get him to let go of her, but he was not at all above using his size to pin her arms to her side.


    Wendy didn¡¯t want to do it to a person, but she wasn¡¯t about to let him kidnap her. She opened her mouth and cried out, ¡°Sky dragon¡¯s roar!¡± A whirling vortex of air shot from her mouth, hitting the man and knocking them away from each other, sending Wendy flying back and the man tumbling into the Vampire Kiss mages that had emerged.


    ¡°A mage?¡± Lilith said with a smile. ¡°That¡¯s better than I hoped. Minerva,¡± She patted the dark haired girl on her head. ¡°Take her out.¡±


    Wendy looked at Lilith, breathing deep, and roaring again, sending the dark guild master flying into a wall with a loud, resounding thud. But even as she did the dark haired girl disappeared.


    Wendy was too slow to avoid the kick to the back of her head. Carla¡¯s wings sprouted, flying to grab Wendy and pull her out of there, moving up into the air, only to find her position switched with Minerva¡¯s own as the dark haired girl struck Wendy hard towards the ground before landing herself. Carla flew towards her, only to find her position switched with the barely conscious Wendy¡¯s, and a kick aimed straight for her face.


    ¡°Carla!¡± Wendy screamed, breathing deep, and suddenly being grabbed from behind by Lilith.


    ¡°Let me show you why the guild is called Vampire¡¯s Kiss,¡± She whispered, planting her lips on Wendy¡¯s throat. Wendy felt sleep magic washing out across her mind, sending her into a deep slumber.


    ¡°Wendy¡¯s missing.¡± Arthur had just returned from alerting the Rune Knights anonymously to the dark guild in need of collecting, and as soon as he did he found himself accosted by a very unhappy Angel.


    ¡°Missing?¡± He asked.


    ¡°Yes, missing!¡± She answered. ¡°I don¡¯t know if she decided to run away, or what, but we need to find her.¡±


    Arthur sighed. ¡°I¡¯ll go find her.¡± He pulled out a silver key. Nikora weren¡¯t useful in battle, but they had a wonderful nose. He¡¯d track down Wendy.


    ¡°I¡¯m coming with you,¡± Angel said. ¡°Gemini, change my face.¡±


    ¡°The Rune Knights are going to be out in force. Stay here. I¡¯ll find her, I promise,¡± Arthur said.


    Jellal¡¯s hand planted on Angel¡¯s shoulder. ¡°He¡¯s right, we can¡¯t go out right now. Let him do it.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll keep Archive up and stay in contact,¡± Arthur promised.


    When Wendy woke up she was in the back of a carriage heading east. She didn¡¯t exactly know that, though. She was tied up, but she wasn¡¯t gagged, and there was another girl barely visible there in the dark. The other girl had obviously been crying. And she didn¡¯t see Carla anywhere.


    She could feel her magic, but when she tried to reach for it. To use some of it to try and escape she felt a sudden pain in her throat where that woman had bit it earlier.


    ¡°It¡¯s no use,¡± the other girl said, apparently having heard Wendy struggling.


    ¡°What do you mean it¡¯s no use,¡± Wendy said, straining a bit more.


    ¡°She uses a type of charm magic,¡± Minerva said. ¡°It¡¯s magic to control minds. I¡­ I was weak. She controlled me. Even now I can¡¯t use my magic at all. I¡¯m nothing but trash.¡± Tears were forming in her eyes again.


    ¡°If we¡¯re both weak, then we¡¯ll just have to work together to be strong,¡± Wendy said, her own hope undiminished. She was worried about Carla, though. If her best friend had gotten hurt because she tried to stand up to those people instead of running away she wasn¡¯t sure what she¡¯d do.


    The dark haired girl scoffed a little. ¡°No matter how many weaklings you have together they¡¯re still weak.¡±


    ¡°No they¡¯re not,¡± Wendy said. ¡°Friends make each other stronger.¡± She thought that was how it was supposed to work. Her and Carla were better together than either were apart at least.


    ¡°Lies the weak tell themselves,¡± the dark haired girl said.


    ¡°Weak or not, we have to at least try to get out of here. I don¡¯t know what this woman intends to do with us, but it can¡¯t be good,¡± Wendy argued.


    ¡°She¡¯s fleeing east into Bosco. She intends to sell us as slaves there. Two young girls with high magical aptitude, and rare magic¡­¡± The dark haired girl shuddered and began to cry again. Her father would disown her if she kept this up. But her father might be dead. Probably was. It was almost certainly what it meant when the guild hadn¡¯t exploded. She was only alive because he was dead.


    ¡°Then we really have to escape. I can¡¯t use my magic, but I can move. Maybe if we can get close enough to each other we can work off the bonds?¡± Wendy suggested. It didn¡¯t feel good trying to inch closer to the dark haired girl, the mark on her throat throbbing as she did so, but it wasn¡¯t the total block like when she tried to use magic.


    The dark haired girl struggled. She felt weak. Like she couldn¡¯t do anything at all. Even thinking about trying to move made her neck ache. But there was this other girl who was doing it. She thought about what father would do to her if she didn¡¯t do anything. If he was even alive. She would be trash and a slave. She hated the idea and forced herself to move. Forcing herself to slide closer towards Wendy was hard, but she kept at it, moving until she was beside the other girl.


    ¡°Earlier she took control of me fully,¡± the dark haired girl confided. ¡°I couldn¡¯t stop myself. I¡¯m sorry I attacked you.¡±


    ¡°I thought that might have been you,¡± Wendy said. It was sort of hard to tell in the dark carriage. ¡°But it wasn¡¯t really your fault.¡±


    It took a few minutes but they managed to free each other¡¯s hands, and then a little longer to free their arms to the point of being able to free somewhere else. The dark haired girl had just managed to free something important on herself, the binding rope starting to fall loose, when the carriage stopped, and two men opened the door.


    ¡°Oi, boss, the little brats are trying to escape, your magic isn¡¯t working well enough!¡± One of the men shouted as the dark haired girl dove forward. She kicked one of the men hard in the side of the knee, causing a horrid wet snapping sound and making him fall. Then she struck the other in the spine with an open palm strike. She couldn¡¯t use her magic, but she could still let it fill her body to give it strength enough to knock him into the carriage¡¯s door.


    Suddenly Wendy felt a tightness in her throat until she couldn¡¯t breathe. It loosened a little afterwards, but when she even thought about working to untie herself it tightened up again. The dark haired girl seemed to be similarly affected, gasping out and starting to make sounds as if she was gagging.


    ¡°Stupid kids,¡± Lilith hissed. ¡°Who¡¯d have thought they¡¯d have so much magical power. Still if we¡¯re going to rebuild the guild in Bosco we¡¯ll need the funds they¡¯ll net us.¡± Slavery was legal in Bosco, and Vampire¡¯s Kiss had always made a fair deal of its money in the slave trade. ¡°They should be stopped now.¡±


    Lilith was emerging from the carriage, even as the tightness loosened somewhat on the two girls. ¡°Run!¡± Wendy shouted. ¡°Get away!¡±


    ¡°But, I can¡¯t,¡± The dark haired girl said.


    ¡°Go! Get help!¡± Wendy screamed, before the air was cut off completely again. The dark haired girl still hesitated for a moment, and then gasping and sobbing turned and began to run.


    One of the men tried to rise and failed, but the other was quickly chasing after the dark haired child. And Lilith was moving to Wendy, yanking her to her feet by her hair. ¡°You little brat,¡± She said. Her magic was already in full force. But it was hard to stop everything. It stopped magic most, and things like moving were easier to overcome. She couldn¡¯t stop Minerva from fleeing with it, and if she relented to try something else Wendy might manage to escape as well.


    So instead she began to take out her frustrations on Wendy, striking her hard and repeatedly. Minerva could hear it even as she ran, her throat tight from more than just the magic. She turned around, and looked at Wendy and Lilith.


    She couldn¡¯t breathe, her throat felt like it was being crushed, but she felt herself slide from the world into her personal space, the absolute dominion which was her Territory. And then she had swapped places with Wendy, her hand rising up into Lilith¡¯s arm holding her, and hitting her elbow hard. She couldn¡¯t breathe. She could feel her vision starting to go red and soon black.


    She¡¯d been weak. She¡¯d not made the practical choice, but acted on emotion. She was going to die or worse. But the tightness was releasing a bit on her throat now that she wasn¡¯t using magic. Or maybe it was that she¡¯d hurt Lilith?


    ¡°You little brat, I¡¯m going to make you pay for that,¡± Lilith said, and then looked at the man who had stopped chasing Minerva when she¡¯d swapped positions with Wendy. ¡°Go get the other one!¡± She shouted.


    Wendy didn¡¯t even know the other girl¡¯s name to call it out. ¡°My friends would have rescued me,¡± She said tearfully, certain that Arthur, Angel, and Jellal would have come for her. ¡°Get out of there! Please!¡± She screamed. In a practical world it shouldn¡¯t have an effect. But in a world where magic and emotion were forever intertwined, where fear, love, and friendship could all be sources of magical power?


    She felt the constriction on her throat tighten, even as the one around Minerva¡¯s loosened. Lilith was picking a target. Instead of trying to suppress two mages - both honestly more powerful than her even at their young ages - she would just control one of them and make them take the other out.


    Wendy could feel the mark on her throat where the woman had bit it begin to throb. It was like a darkness was flowing over her mind, and she found herself struggling against it.


    Minerva just felt the tightness leave her throat, and saw the man trying to grab Wendy. And she¡¯d still be in the carriage if Wendy hadn¡¯t helped her. If either of them should escape it should be Wendy. If she hadn¡¯t let Lilith out none of this would have happened anyway. She swapped positions with the man grabbing for Wendy. It was only then that she saw the dazed and glazed over expression on Wendy¡¯s face.


    ¡°Show her that magic you used on me. Let the little brat taste a dragon slayer¡¯s roar,¡± Lilith cackled.


    Minerva found herself facing the dragon slayer. She didn¡¯t want to hit Wendy, though. She didn¡¯t think to swap positions with Lilith, trembling, paralyzed by her own belief in her weakness.


    She saw tears form in Wendy¡¯s eyes. And then a voice sounded out from the sky. ¡°Wendy!¡± It was Carla, Wendy¡¯s oldest and first friend.


    At that noise Wendy stopped resisting the magic on her, and instead started overcoming it. Her head turned and her sky dragon¡¯s roar shattered the carriage and knocked Lilith flying back to fall in a crumpled heap.


    Wendy looked to see Carla dropping Jellal onto the ground. The blue haired mage quickly disposed of the remaining man, even as Carla embraced Wendy and began to tearfully ask if she was alright.


    By the time Arthur arrived things had begun to calm down a bit. He had been out, following the nikora spirit of canis minor and its sensitive nose, when Carla had returned to the inn and told Angel and Jellal what had happened.


    Carla could only carry one, and Jellal had been the obvious choice. His memory might still be lost and with it the lion¡¯s share of his magical skills, but even so he was still probably better in a fight, especially if the fight happened before Angel could summon Scorpio again.


    Arthur had been staying in contact with Archive, but Wendy hadn¡¯t been responding - due to being asleep - and there was no point in detouring Carla to pick him up.


    He was fairly exhausted by this point. Fighting Jiemma had been tiring and since then he¡¯d summoned Aries to take out a whole guild building with who knew how many mages. He needed to eat and sleep and recover. But first there was an abducted child to save.


    Still it¡¯d taken him a few minutes to teleport in. Working the map from his Archive together with his Territory magic to expand the teleportation range. In that time Carla, and to a lesser extent Jellal, had managed to calm Minerva and tell her that they¡¯d get her back to town and keep her safe until she could go home.


    Minerva wasn¡¯t sure there would be a home for her to go to. Doubly so when Arthur appeared.


    It was Lancelot the Fairy Spear. The man who had fought, and probably killed her father. She took one look at him and began to cry.


    ¡°I¡¯ve really reached the point where my face causes small children to cry,¡± Arthur said. ¡°Is something wrong, miss?¡±


    ¡°You killed my father,¡± She answered. Wendy jerked away pulling Carla off the ground. Carla shot him with the evil eye, and Jellal turned towards him furiously.


    ¡°What? Who? When?¡± Arthur asked.


    ¡°In the guild. He was the champion,¡± Minerva said.


    ¡°Jiemma? I didn¡¯t kill Jiemma. I might have gotten him arrested. But I didn¡¯t kill him.¡± Arthur was hurt at the relieved looks on everyone¡¯s faces. Except Minerva¡¯s, hers was a puzzling expression.


    Minerva was relieved to know that her father was alive. But another part had honestly been relieved to think he was dead. He had always been a man who was ¡®harsh¡¯ to put it mildly. The bruises under her dress were there from this morning not this evening. She¡¯d been kidnapped because he¡¯d forced her there. And in 6 weeks she was going to ¡®debut¡¯ in one of their fights.


    ¡°If you want away from him, I¡¯ll take you away,¡± Arthur said suddenly out of the blue as if reading her mind, and she fell to her knees crying.


    ¡°Really?¡± She asked, looking up at him.


    Arthur nodded. ¡°If that¡¯s what you want.¡±


    Minerva looked at the ground and shook a bit. ¡°Why didn¡¯t the building explode?¡± If he stopped the attack. If it had just been a bluff. If he controlled it and focused it to make sure it didn¡¯t kill her. Minerva was trying to think of ways her father might not have just been willing to kill her.


    ¡°I sucked him into a pocket dimension and he blew it up. I¡¯m pretty sure I¡¯m actually internally bleeding a bit from that. Like my stomach hurts and has a huge bruise and actually feels sort of swollen.¡±


    Wendy¡¯s eyes bulged, and she started moving over towards him. Healing magic was her specialty.


    He¡¯d really been willing to kill her. Because she was weak. ¡°I¡¯m too weak to be his blood,¡± She said.


    ¡°That ol¡¯ bastard was weaker than anything,¡± Arthur scoffed. ¡°Nothing mattered to him but his own strength, which meant he wasn¡¯t strong enough to do anything that mattered.¡±


    ¡°What do you mean?¡± Minerva asked.


    Arthur was trying to remember what Jiemma actually had done in the manga. Disowned a guild member. Turned into a demon. Killed one of the annoying exceeds. It was hard to remember to be honest. He felt there was an argument to be made for him being weak, regardless of his magical power, though.


    ¡°I mean obsessing over power doesn¡¯t make you strong. Doing things to improve the world. Taking care of your friends. The connections you make are what makes you strong.¡±


    ¡°Friend is a word made up by the weak,¡± Minerva said.


    ¡°If we¡¯d been alone we¡¯d never have escaped,¡± Wendy said. ¡°It was only the fact that we had each other, and friends watching out for us that saved us.¡±


    Minerva turned away. ¡°Father said that a friend is a weakness. To care about someone who is weak will only make you weak, and your enemies will use them against you.¡±


    ¡°Bullshit,¡± Arthur sighed. ¡°Bullshit, bullshit, bullshit. Humans are social creatures. Friend is a word made up because one stick is easily broken, but if you take a bundle of them it¡¯s difficult. No matter how powerful someone is they can¡¯t do everything alone. If you¡¯re afraid of emotional connections because they can be used against you, you weren¡¯t strong in the first place.¡± Arthur soapboxed a bit.


    ¡°Just look at Fairy Tail, they¡¯re supposed to be the strongest guild in the country, and they¡¯re founded on the bonds of friendship,¡± Wendy said. ¡°Maybe you can join them with me, you¡¯d be safe there from whatever comes your way. I just¡­ Arthur, do you think they¡¯d accept her?¡±


    Arthur winced a bit. That was not a question which he liked. The timeskip was coming. If Jiemma wanted to take his daughter back, there¡¯d be no one to stop him. ¡°We¡¯ll have to see,¡± He said. ¡°And if they won¡¯t, I¡¯ll take you to Guiltina with me.¡± If Jellal and Wendy hadn¡¯t been watching, he¡¯d have offered to kill her dad (there was a bonus on the bounty for that), ¡°I doubt your father would care to try and follow me there.¡±


    Minerva breathed a bit. ¡°I¡­ I don¡¯t know.¡±


    Arthur sighed. ¡°It¡¯s been a long night. How about we all get back to the inn, and everyone gets a good night''s sleep and then we¡¯ll discuss what¡¯s to be done after breakfast?¡±

 Restful Days

    Minerva¡¯s decision was indecision. She didn¡¯t know whether to stay, or to go. And ultimately wanted the option to choose after Jiemma¡¯s own fate with the law was decided. Angel was more than happy to delay in Gazania. It wasn¡¯t particularly close to where she and Yukino had lived, but it was a possible place Yukino would be and she did want to look for her. Wendy wasn¡¯t about to leave Minerva after what they had gone through together. Arthur got the very distinct feeling that neither he nor Jellal actually had the suffrage to vote here. They were staying in Gazania for at least a few days.


    Arthur might not. He had every intention to fly to Magnolia on Enif, and figure out enough to make sure that plan ¡®take 2 middle school girls to Fairy Tail¡¯ was acceptable with the guild there. But he wasn¡¯t taking Wendy or Minerva there until well ultimately until Minerva had been given a bit of time to decide her future.


    But the first day was spent with Angel twisting his arm, and threatening to cry at him, into hunting for Yukino across the city, and bribing city officials to give him information. It didn¡¯t go well. He¡¯d never bribed someone before and didn¡¯t really know how.


    He had intended to go to Magnolia on the second day, but Angel, deciding if you wanted a job done right you had to do it yourself even if you were a heavily wanted fugitive and it involved walking into city hall and talking to people, left him with babysitting duty. Since Angel had taken them touring the sights of the town yesterday, this somehow broke down into a training session at Minerva¡¯s suggestion. The young mage was eager to really see what sort of magic had defeated her father, especially since it seemed to fall within the range of Territory Magic for which she had both the practical grounding and natural talent to learn.


    Once they¡¯d found a hill outside of time, and started working on magic, Arthur was yet again reminded that he was rather inept in a fight. Minerva couldn¡¯t actually touch him when his Territory - Armor was in effect, the barrier which surrounded him prevented her spatial magic from affecting him by sealing him into the domain created by his own magic, a ¡®space¡¯ over which Minerva had no power, and which she lacked the strength to punch through like Jiemma¡¯s blast magic had been able to. Minerva literally could not beat him, he could simply dominate her magic with his own, even when warping her directly she could barely resist; less even then Jiemma had been able to due to her not yet fully grown container for ethernado.


    Despite this the fight was obnoxiously difficult. Partially it was that he was trying not to hurt her. He wasn¡¯t using his magic to simply blow her up and win. But when it came to actual hand to hand combat skills she was staggeringly better than him. And she was a 13 year old child. It was embarrassing. Not for the first time he really considered taking Born to Bash. It¡¯d give him a chance to beat Scorpio and obtain Angel¡¯s support in dealing with Grimoire Heart. He¡¯d no longer be where he had to abuse magical superiority not to get beat down by middle schoolers. Still he only had 300 CP, it was getting harder to get more, and getting Enchantment magic might still cost him 300 CP if he didn¡¯t find a way to learn it here. There was honestly too much he wanted for him to feel comfortable grabbing Born to Bash.


    After showcasing what he could do with Territory - and how poorly he performed in a hand to hand fight - for a while with Minerva he summoned Orion to give them a more fitting challenge. Orion was both weaker and a much better fighter, less reliant on overwhelming magical superiority. He was an enemy that would push them to think around their problems, and allow Arthur¡¯s Archive to observe, record, and begin to analyze.


    Arthur noticed quickly that Minerva only seemed to be using her Territory magic to teleport herself, teleport Wendy via swapping positions with her even if it meant into Orion¡¯s squeezing grip, and warping space around her hand. She used Territory in very minimal ways - her combat training definitely outstripping her actual magical knowledge. Wendy was playing support mostly, even when she¡¯d have been better off using her dragon roar which did stagger Orion on multiple occasions. It made Arthur feel a bit better about his own performance watching them. But he was also realizing that Minerva now knew a whole lot less tricks with her magic than in the Grand Magic Games, and Wendy was still not comfortable fighting on her own as a dragon slayer. Orion soon had managed to contain them both in his belts, and Arthur had to convince him to fight them again. He won more quickly the second time, and Arthur let him return as he was obviously done with fighting them.


    Still Arthur wasn¡¯t done making them fight things. Wendy was¡­ not happy about this form of ¡®play¡¯, but Minerva seemed if anything dangerously used to it. This time he let them ¡®play¡¯ with Aries. She was the least likely to hurt them, and while she wasn¡¯t eager to fight something like Orion she should provide good data, and he was close to being able to really give it¡­ at least for Minerva.


    The fight with Aries took a lot longer than even the first fight with Orion, and did not actually end with a win for either side, but Arthur being moved by Aries¡¯s obvious dislike for the situation to end it early. He¡¯d managed to get some stuff ready in his Archive. Enough for one day he expected.


    Archive could directly upload spells into people¡¯s minds. It wasn¡¯t easy, and it could create a temporary overload, but Wendy was much more accepting of his reason for the sparring once she¡¯d heard the full explanation. He had been analyzing Minerva¡¯s fighting style and figuring out what he could teach her and - what he saw as - the best order and way to do so.


    He cheated in the act of teaching, simply zapping it into Minerva¡¯s brain, but once her brain rebooted, she was happy enough for the new spells. Wendy was excited by the idea of learning some dragon slayer magic that way. Carla was more concerned about possible side effects of brain zapping.


    Minerva was rather excited when the zap was complete. She could be strong. Like this she could get strong exceedingly quickly. She knew how to do things she¡¯d never done before. Teleporting someone without swapping positions. Creating explosions with her space. It was sort of exhilarating.


    The third day Minerva considered going home. People had to think something had happened to her. At the same time using this to disappear was appealing. Jiemma had raised her to be ruthless and strong, at least for a certain definition of strong. Arthur had beat him, defeated him and an entire guild almost simultaneously and he was definitely not strong.


    Still she could go back to her father¡¯s guild. They¡¯d probably take care of her there. But if father was released she¡¯d be back to him in a heartbeat there. And¡­ Minerva¡¯s hand moved to her arm. It¡¯d been covered in bruises at the Vampire Kiss arena. From the beating she¡¯d received for making a mistake in training. When Orion had managed to catch her she¡¯d been scared, and when Orion had done so faster the second time she¡¯d been certain that she¡¯d be made to ¡®learn with her body the punishment for defeat¡¯. Instead she¡¯d been taught new magic and bought ice cream. She was still waiting for Arthur to show his true colors. But¡­ Jiemma was her father. It felt natural to go back to him. Right even.


    Still she hesitated to go to the guild. Once she went back there, that was it. She¡¯d have made her choice, and there was obviously so much more Arthur could teach her. She wanted to learn it all.


    And then there was Wendy. Like Arthur, Minerva had difficulty understanding her. On the one hand she was emotional, prone to cry and complain, and with a tendency towards frivolity. On the other she had stood up to Lilith¡¯s magic when Minerva couldn¡¯t, and had, Minerva hated to admit, proved more useful against Orion and Aries than she had.


    Wendy had wanted to get some - non-violent - exercise, and Arthur had heard that the woods near Gazania were good for gathering herbs and the like. So Minerva had admitted to some familiarity with the woods, not voicing just what sort of context it was. She didn¡¯t like the woods; they brought back far too many memories of time with her father and punishments for her weakness.


    When Wendy came running from one of the beasts that lived in the forest, Minerva expected Arthur to scold her. She should have been able to bring it down with a single roar, Minerva knew it. Instead Arthur simply handled the creature before ascertaining that Wendy was ok.


    And for some reason he kept asking if she was ok, or wanted to go back. Like they could just turn around without collecting the herbs he¡¯d wanted to check on. It was ridiculous. Almost like his herb lore. He could recognize only the least magical herbs, but he talked about ways to put them together which sounded miraculous and magical, and entire theories of potion crafting and alchemical properties that Minerva couldn¡¯t make heads or tails of. Yet he needed her and Wendy to help with even the most basic magical herbs.


    Wendy knew a fair bit. Apparently she had done herb gathering jobs for Cait Shelter before. The pride she took at such a thing irritated Minerva, especially when the younger girl still obviously knew nothing about dealing with the sort of dangerous creatures that lived in these woods. Especially given the way she seemed to be attracting them, Minerva had never encountered so many in a day.


    Minerva wondered a bit if Arthur was just playing dumb, and letting Wendy feel useful. It¡¯d make sense with how he was letting her instruct them both on wilderness survival and dealing with the creatures of the woods. She had been feeling pleased at her own usefulness before that thought struck her. And with it all that pleasure started to sour. She was still worthless and weak.


    And a part of her worried Arthur thought that. He didn¡¯t call her that but he asked questions like ¡°How well do they handle being up in the air?¡± And made her realize things she could have been doing with her magic, like simply teleporting enemies up into the sky and letting them drop. He never outright said she was stupid, or weak, or pathetic, but he kept pointing out things that she could possibly do with Territory, encouraging her to try them out when the opportunity arose.


    It was not at all like how her father treated her. Of course it still felt like she was being treated like a child. He was ultimately babysitting her, and she knew it. It grated more than a little, reminding her once again of her weakness, and why her father wouldn¡¯t let her join a guild yet. But Wendy had been part of one for years, and she was every bit Wendy¡¯s equal. Or at least she felt like she should be. She definitely didn¡¯t need a cat to take care of her like Wendy.


    The moment Arthur - too lazy to walk back from the hike - teleported them back into the room, he was surprised to have Jellal up and in his face.


    ¡°When are we going to find Erza?¡± The blue haired amnesiac demanded. He was getting antsy about the fact that they had not yet gone to Magnolia.


    Arthur sighed. ¡°Wendy, Minerva, can you give us a moment?¡± Arthur himself was antsy about the fact that Minerva knew he was keeping the renegade ex-councilman here. She¡¯d seen Jellal and Angel undisguised and unlike Wendy she wasn¡¯t an implicated accomplice.


    Once the two girls had left the room, a long ¡®discussion¡¯ began. Arthur had just promised to get Jellal to Magnolia town tomorrow, when Angel entered.


    ¡°We need to throw them off of our trail,¡± She said. ¡°They¡¯re bringing in serious magic. My transformation won¡¯t hide me from the council much longer, and they¡¯ll find Mr. No Memories quicker still.¡±


    ¡°So saying we can¡¯t stay here any longer?¡± Arthur asked.


    Angel laughed. ¡°With your ability to teleport? No, I¡¯m saying we need to make them think we¡¯ve left. You up for a little day trip tomorrow?¡±


    ¡°I promised to take Jellal to Magnolia with Enif,¡± Arthur answered.


    Angel sighed. ¡°That¡¯s fine, just continue along the way to Hargeon afterwards, or first. Or well¡­ Hargeon is close enough. We might have to stay the day away from Wendy and Minerva, but I think they can look after themselves for a day.¡±


    Arthur had hoped to deliver Wendy to Fairy Tail when he returned, but he sensed that wasn¡¯t a wise topic to broach with Angel at the moment. Still it might have gone some ways to getting things back on their proper track. It didn¡¯t mean he couldn¡¯t ask Wendy about it, but it was obvious Angel wanted to keep Wendy around as long as she could.


    Jellal took three steps away from Enif and then fell down. Arthur was a Hardy Sort, but he didn¡¯t exactly enjoy the ride to Magnolia either. Still he¡¯d finally bit the bullet and went, bringing the blue-haired fugitive with him. They¡¯d ended up stopping at Hargeon for an hour ¡®on the way¡¯, after Enif overshot Magnolia entirely.


    Arthur went up to the Guild Hall alone. He¡¯d need to explain the situation with Wendy and Minerva to the guild, that was going to be fun. And then he needed to facilitate Erza and Jellal meeting each other.


    The first part was less painful than Arthur worried. Explaining the situation took time, but Wendy¡¯s was simple enough. Minerva¡¯s was more complicated. And Arthur merely brought hers up in connection for why Wendy hadn¡¯t gone further, not choosing to mention his own role in the attack on Vampire Kiss which precipitated the whole situation. There was of course still question about both of them, though Team Natsu could at least vouch for Wendy there, and that couldn¡¯t be resolved until Minerva made up her mind among other things.


    Erza was a little put-off when he asked to speak with her alone, but she agreed to the private conversation. Once they were out of earshot, she looked him in the face.


    ¡°If this is a confession, I must inform you that-¡± She began.


    ¡°Jellal is alive,¡± Arthur cut her off. The S-ranked mage was momentarily stunned. This was not the news she was expecting to hear. ¡°His memories are beyond vague, only really remembering that ¡®Erza¡¯ was important to him, and that he did horrible things of some sort. He doesn¡¯t remember anything from when he was possessed.¡±


    ¡°Possessed?¡± Erza asked.


    ¡°A dark spirit connected to the cult of Zeref, it should be gone now,¡± Arthur said.


    The red haired S-Class mage looked at Arthur as if judging him and his words. It¡¯d be too easy to just forgive Jellal because he was possessed; it was too close to what she hoped to have be true for her to believe it without at least some hint of suspicion.


    ¡°Just give me the word and I¡¯ll bring him to you, so you two can talk,¡± Arthur said bluntly. He¡¯d been riding Enif and then talking to people for too long.


    ¡°You can do that?¡± Erza said, fear and hope mixing in her voice, visibly on the edge of tears.


    Arthur snapped his fingers and Jellal appeared. ¡°I¡¯m going to go for a walk,¡± He said, and disappeared, leaving them to talk.


    Arthur walked along the streets of Magnolia. He summoned Aries to join him; he had no need to be alone, while simply walking and seeing sights and figured she might enjoy it as well. Besides, it might help her get a tan.


    It wasn¡¯t exactly unpleasant walking next to a cute girl, even if Aries was conspicuously cute. Such cuteness brought unwanted attention.


    The man who moved to block their path was massive, topping over 7¡¯ tall, and broad of shoulder even proportionate to that height. He was completely bald, missing several teeth, and with a rather impressive musculature. He wore an open vest which showed he had more hair on his chest that Aries had on her at all and she was wearing a wool dress.


    ¡°Hey, cutie, what are you doing with a little, chubby wimp like him,¡± The man asked, sticking his tongue out between the gap in his teeth, and flicking it against his upper and lower lips.


    ¡°E-e-eh, s-s-sorry?!¡± The spirit froze up, at the sudden confrontational stance from the man.


    ¡°Leave the lady alone,¡± Arthur stated.


    ¡°What¡¯d you say little man?¡± The massive hulk said straightening his back to loom over Arthur.


    ¡°I said, leave the lady alone. And get out of my way,¡± Arthur glared at the man, he¡¯d let his territory armor fade, but even without it his magic power reinforced his body far more than even a giant¡¯s muscles would.


    ¡°You little pipsqueak!¡± The man growled. He then pulled back his hand, palm forward, and slammed it towards Arthur¡¯s face. A barrier formed of his Archive magic - he¡¯d had the system up and running in full data collection mode - caught the blow. Arthur¡¯s Territory magic caught the man next, teleporting him across the street.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry,¡± Aries said, huddling up around herself a little. ¡°I should have stood up and fought him. It¡¯s a spirit¡¯s job to protect their contractor, not the other way around.¡±


    ¡°I didn¡¯t need protection from that cretin,¡± Arthur said. ¡°And I didn¡¯t tell you to fight him. So you had no obligation to do so.¡±


    The pink haired sheep-girl smiled a bit at that.


    Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.


    It was about an hour later that they returned to the Guild. Maintaining Aries at a non-combat level was rather simple all things considered, the biggest cost being in summoning her initially. ¡°You know, I should have thought of this earlier, but this was the Guild that Leo joined while he was in the human world, and his key holder is here. She could have summoned him so you two could have time together.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s alright, I enjoyed today,¡± Aries said, placing a hand on his shoulder and then pulling it away with a little squeaked apology.


    ¡°You don¡¯t need to apologize for treating me like a person and not some slave master,¡± Arthur said, patting her head. ¡°See I touched you without asking first, so why couldn¡¯t you?¡±


    She looked at him and smiled a bit brighter. And Arthur continued. ¡°Still if you¡¯d like to meet her, we could see if she wanted to meet you.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯d like that, I think,¡± Aries said, looking down at the ground.


    Lucy and Aries had been speaking for a bit, before the blond looked at Arthur. ¡°So what other celestial spirits do you have?¡±


    Arthur¡¯s fingers twitched, teleporting one of the keys from the pouch on his belt into his hand. Except that it didn¡¯t teleport. His hand reached to his bag and alarm showed on his face. The pouch was there, but something - or someone - had cut a hole in the bottom of it.


    Panic immediately began to set in.The hole was far too clean to be an accidental tear. For a few moments it was a garbled mess of panic. At least until Lucy came up with the suggestion of using Natsu and her nikora to track the scent of Aries¡¯s magical energy which should be in her key as well.


    Natsu was initially hesitant to help. Arthur had brought Jellal back. Jellal had made Erza cry. That was one of the biggest no-nos in Natsu¡¯s book. In the end Erza - who was rather thankful to have had the chance to talk to Jellal and see that he was maybe himself again - convinced Natsu to help, and they split up into three teams. Lucy and Aries, Erza and Natsu, and Arthur and Jellal playing tactical command via Archive.


    Of course, Arthur wasn¡¯t truly reliant on Natsu or Lucy¡¯s success. He¡¯d been recording Magnolia with his Archive all day. And it could tap into magical information. By the time that Lucy had found where the lingering scent of Aries¡¯s key went in two directions, Arthur was well into the process of expanding on his Archive, building it up bit by bit with new functionality. It could scan things. He just needed to increase the range, isolate Aries¡¯s signature, and scan for her key. The Archive had a good fix on her signature after scanning it for more than an hour.


    Before he¡¯d finished figuring out how to program it into the magic, he got the message from Lucy asking for backup. Arthur opened turned his Archive to the most recent map image from Lucy, and he extended his territory. Archive told him where he was and it was in three dimensions, and showed him an almost real time image of it. Creating his space there was easy and then he just swapped where he was with where it was.


    It took Arthur only a few moments. But he was already too late. Loke, mage of Fairy Tail and in truth the Celestial Spirit Leo the Lion leader of the Zodiac, stood on top of the man from earlier that day, and 2 other men were cowering.


    The three men were all part of a thieves¡¯ guild that operated in Magnolia, and soon Fairy Tail was turning them over to the authorities. It had just been a minor little side event. Still Arthur knew he had to learn from it. Be more careful with his keys in the future, and find a way to make sure they couldn¡¯t be stolen. Also to make better use of his Archive. It¡¯s be a few days¡¯ work, and he was still at his heart lazy. He resented it.


    Then there was the issue of Natsu¡¯s blood. He¡¯d gotten it. He should go back to Guiltina the moment he got Wendy settled. Help his friends. Do his duty. But he still wanted to go after Grimoire Heart, and there were new bounties dealing with Edolas. Really tempting ones. He wasn¡¯t sure how he could bring magic to Edolas, maybe the other world that Selene was causing to be too full of magic? It had magic to spare¡­ but that didn¡¯t make it produce its own magic. He had no idea to be honest. Maybe Enchantment magic could do it?


    That one he put aside. It was ultimately the other that drew him in. Befriend his duplicate in Edolas and he¡¯d get the ability to split himself into two. Crush them in battle and he¡¯d get immunity to his own clones and copies. Kill them and such clones simply couldn¡¯t be made. All three were tempting, though the idea of killing himself - even another version of himself - was something that made him hesitant. Still he was beginning to think about how he could ensure he ended up in Edolas.


    This meant he was zoning out a bit while Natsu talked to him and he was supposed to be befriending Natsu. But he also needed to get back to Angel before long, and Jellal had finished talking to Erza.


    ¡°So why¡¯d you save Jellal anyway?¡± Natsu asked as Arthur was putting away the blood into the icy magical tool to keep it preserved.


    ¡°He was possessed. He deserves the chance to make amme¡­ no screw that reason. He was possessed. He doesn¡¯t deserve to die for the sin of being too weak as a small child to prevent a group of religious nutjobs from forcing a dark spirit into his body that controlled him. If he wants to do his best to do good to make right what happened during it more power to him. But he doesn¡¯t need to make amends for something like that.¡±


    Natsu looked at him, blinking a bit. The blue cat, Happy, looked up at Natsu. ¡°I think he forgot we are here.¡±


    ¡°Oi! I was trying to answer your question, just got sort of angry at myself partway through. Look, he¡¯s a brilliant mage, and a good guy, I couldn¡¯t just let him waste away in a coffin when I could save him.¡±


    ¡°I just keep wondering, how you knew he was possessed? Didn¡¯t you come from another continent?¡± Natsu asked.


    Arthur looked at him dumbfounded. Natsu¡¯s too much of an idiot to realize that inconsistency! Or maybe it¡¯s just that Natsu was book dumb and that made it easy to flanderize him as stupid in general. Arthur couldn¡¯t remember how smart the idiot was supposed to be.


    ¡°It was the only thing I was able to recover from Brain¡¯s archive magic,¡± Arthur lied through his teeth, before he even thought about telling the truth.


    ¡°Oh,¡± Natsu said, seemingly accepting that fib. ¡°Is he really on the level?¡±


    ¡°Erza would be a better judge of that than I would,¡± Arthur said and he saw Natsu¡¯s face go dark. Natsu didn¡¯t really like Jellal, and part of that was that he had made Erza cry; an unforgivable sin.


    ¡°She¡¯s happy today,¡± Natsu said with a sigh.


    Arthur shrugged and the silence stretched on awkwardly. Arthur knew he was supposed to befriend Natsu, but small talk was scary. ¡°So¡­ uh¡­¡±


    ¡°How long will you and Jellal be staying?¡± Natsu asked.


    ¡°I need to talk to him about what he wants to do.¡± And with that Arthur excused himself and escaped.


    Erza was waiting for him. Her face was hard, not that Arthur had ever seen her without a hard face. Her eyes were sharp, and Arthur had to wonder if he could make magical prosthetic eyes that actually worked - but protected you from gaze attacks - if he took the Edomagic perk. Her hands rested on the hilt of her sword, and Arthur felt like approaching her was equivalent to approaching a lioness.


    He hesitated.


    ¡°I needed to tell you, thank you,¡± She began, and Arthur immediately began to relax. ¡°Thank you for bringing Jellal here. Thank you for continuing to help him.¡±


    Arthur¡¯s natural response was to say you¡¯re welcome, but such a simple response was too curt and by the books. ¡°You¡¯re welcome. I just was doing what I had to do," He said. It was the first thing that came to his mind.


    Erza nodded like his response was a natural one. ¡°You¡¯re a good person,¡± She stated. ¡°You¡¯re making enemies to help my friend,¡± Arthur flinched, he¡¯d been trying not to think about what was going to happen when the Magic Council inevitably found out and moved against him. ¡°Even now you continue to help him, and for that you have my thanks. If there¡¯s ever anything you need, don¡¯t hesitate to ask. We at Fairy Tail don¡¯t forget our debts, or our friends,¡± She reached a hand forward, and Arthur did the natural thing, moving his own hand to shake it.


    ¡°Soon I have to be going back to Guiltina, he¡¯ll have to find his own feet before then,¡± Arthur said.


    ¡°I¡¯m sure he will,¡± Erza said with confidence that reassured Arthur.


    Angel was not pleased they were later than she¡¯d hoped. And she was doubly not pleased that Arthur had let Aries get stolen. She understood though. The plan had always been to take the time needed in Magnolia. They would just have to go to Hargeon tomorrow.


    ¡°So we need you two to take care of yourselves today,¡± Angel told Minerva and Wendy with a smile painted on her face. ¡°You two can handle that right?¡±


    Wendy looked torn as she glanced at the ground. Carla looked a bit uneasy as well. It was Minerva that glared at Arthur in the eye. ¡°You¡¯re going to go smash another dark guild aren¡¯t you?¡±


    The adults looked at each other. ¡°We just have some errands to attend,¡± Angel said, ¡°Right, Arthur?¡±


    ¡°Wendy told me that the other night you kept her out of the loops, and people are beginning to look for you three. You probably need to throw off the scent, and if you¡¯re actually hunting dark guilds demonstrating that you¡¯re somewhere else with Arthur¡¯s magic would be best,¡± Minerva said, having already completely grasped the situation.


    ¡°So what if we are?¡± Angel spat back, noticeably annoyed.


    ¡°I want to help,¡± Minerva said.


    ¡°You don¡¯t owe us for our help,¡± Arthur began.


    ¡°I want to get stronger. This will give me an opportunity to learn,¡± Minerv stated.


    Arthur¡¯s hand smacked his face as he groaned. ¡°No, no. We¡¯re not making you two more of accomplices to a crime than you already are.¡±


    ¡°Why not?¡± Minerva said. ¡°Compared to keeping him secret,¡± She pointed at Jellal who flinched back, ¡°This is of little import and it¡¯s a chance for me to get strong.¡±


    ¡°Because it¡¯s dangerous,¡± Arthur said.


    ¡°I can handle myself, I was going to be fighting down there soon,¡± Minerva said, her voice cracking a bit with fear. Carla had a hand on Wendy¡¯s arm. She¡¯d been whispering something to her companion, but Arthur had failed to hear what the cat had said. He could guess she was why Wendy wasn¡¯t speaking up to join in.


    ¡°You can always disavow us as kidnappers. If you¡¯re seen fighting alongside us that¡¯ll be harder. It risks being a step there¡¯s no going back from,¡± Arthur said looking at Minerva.


    Minerva paused at this. She had still been debating what to do if her father was released. She¡¯d actually been hoping they could take the pegasus to Crocus and visit him today. Now, though, she was torn between the opportunity to get stronger and fear of being a hounded fugitive for the rest of her life. Following Arthur here would be making that very choice she kept delaying.


    ¡°I want you to help me become stronger,¡± She said. ¡°You taught me stuff with that Archive Magic before, but there¡¯s a lot more you could teach me isn¡¯t there?¡± She asked. Arthur nodded. ¡°Then teach me. I want to become strong like you. Stronger even.¡±


    ¡°As long as I¡¯m here I¡¯m willing to teach you, but really you and Wendy should be getting to Fairy Tail.¡±


    ¡°No,¡± Minerva answered. ¡°They don¡¯t have someone who knows Territory Magic, do they? They couldn¡¯t teach it to me like you could. The rarity of finding someone else who has a true mastery of your natural magic means I can¡¯t just pass up the chance to learn from you.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not really an option. I¡¯m going back to Guiltina soon.¡±


    Minerva looked down. ¡°You could take her with you,¡± Jellal suggested.


    ¡°My guild only accepts dragon slayers,¡± Arthur countered.


    ¡°Then I¡¯ll slay a dragon,¡± Minerva said with a mask of quiet confidence which was hiding that she was trembling at the very idea. Still if she could slay a dragon she would be strong.


    Had he just adopted a teenager? Arthur didn¡¯t know how to raise a kid¡­ much less a teenager. ¡°Down that path lies madness and loss of self as the draconic power overwhelms you and turns you into a monster. I¡¯m here to stop that from happening to people, not to teach others to curse themselves. I¡¯ll teach you Territory Magic, but not to slay dragons,¡± He said firmly.


    ¡°Really!?¡± Minerva asked half leaping with expectation.


    ¡°And you¡¯re staying here with Wendy today.¡±


    The mission was supposed to be easy. Angel identified the guild¡¯s secret headquarters. Arthur created a dome out of his territory magic around it, and then Aries filled it with her sleep inducing fluff. Then Angel and Jellal go through and sort the captives being shipped to a neighboring country as slaves, from the dark mages. It was exhausting in the sheer output of magical power needed, but ultimately was supposed to be easy.


    Angel was confident no one in the guild could stand up to Aries if Arthur really fed her the power that she needed. Still Arthur wore his Territory around him like armor as they entered, Angel going first since she knew the layout. He¡¯d used a huge amount of magical energy ensuring everyone possible would fall asleep, and he hadn¡¯t actually closed Aries¡¯s gate yet, allowing her to help with things while they worked.


    Angel was surprised that they seemed to have gotten the whole guild. It had a roster of 18 people, and they¡¯d quickly found the lower ranking mages. Arthur and Jellal checked out the basement together - if anyone escaped it was probably in there - but soon only 3 of the mages were unaccounted for, and they¡¯d found several prisoners as well.


    When they reached the ground floor again, Angel wasn¡¯t back yet. They deposited the captives they were carrying on the ground and rushed upstairs.


    Arthur saw Jellal come flying back, crashing through a wall to the outside. Arthur hesitated then. He was low on power. He couldn¡¯t keep Aries up, maintain the outer wall, maintain his armor, keep his Archive running, and summon another spirit.


    He stepped forward first, leaving Aries behind him. The three mages seemed to be accounted for. Probably. One was a lizard-guy like you¡¯d sometimes see working for the Magic Council. He¡¯d have to ask Angel or Jellal more about them sometime. One seemed to be an inumimi, a large guy with furred arms and paw hands, along with pointy canine ears, and a canine tail. The third was a woman. Arthur actually recognized the latter two from Angel¡¯s briefing with Gemini last night. The inumimi was the Guildmaster of Arachne¡¯s Tear; he used Transformation magic particularly of the Takeover Animal Soul variety. According to Angel he was the biggest physical threat in the guild, and the only one who might win hand to hand against Scorpio. The woman was his lover, and ¡®weak point¡¯. One of Arachne¡¯s Tear¡¯s strongest mages, she used water make magic; capable of being quite dangerous but she¡¯d not be a match for someone like Juvia or Fairy Tail¡¯s Ice Make wizard even if their general skill and magical power were equalized.


    The lizard-dude on the other hand Arthur had no idea about, but gave him a bad vibe. He could feel enough of their respective magical powers. The takeover mage and water make mage could wail on his armor all day and night and not make him have to reinforce it. They couldn¡¯t hurt him, and he doubted even with surprise they¡¯d have taken down Angel. The lizard-dude, though, was strong. Not as strong as Arthur by a long shot, but strong enough he felt more like Gray or Natsu than he did the other two. If Arthur unsummoned Aries or dropped the wall he could take him out, that was certain. But while maintaining them his options were limited, and if he unsummoned Aries suddenly this 3 on 1 could become 18 on 1, and if he dropped the wall there went the protection against collateral. Innocents could rush in, the fight could spread out of the building, and the 3 could get away as could anyone who did manage to wake up despite Aries still being summoned.


    Arthur decided against releasing Aries or the wall, a moment after the inugami¡¯s ¡°Spinning Wolf Uppercut!¡± had sent him flying after Jellal. He didn¡¯t really feel it, so much as see the world moving around him, his Armor insulating him against the outside forces.


    He never landed, teleporting back to where he¡¯d been standing to catch the takeover mage¡¯s tail before he could attack Aries.


    ¡°He¡¯s back!¡± The water-make sorceress called out.


    ¡°I believe my point is made,¡± the lizard said. ¡°With the Oracion Seis gone, you need new protectors.¡± The lizard grinned then, showing reptilian teeth. ¡°I trust you will comply with my masters¡¯ terms,¡± He continued.


    Arthur was still hanging onto the wolf-man¡¯s tail, even as one of those clawed paws smacked his face. It couldn¡¯t penetrate his armor, and lacked the force to force him to let go, merely knocking him staggering back, pulling the wolf with him.


    ¡°Yes! Just help!¡± The wolf-man howled.


    ¡°Kick him hard,¡± The lizard said, raising a wooden staff. ¡°Barrier Magic - Reverberating Shield!¡±


    A shield of pink energy appeared behind Arthur, as the wolfman kicked him hard backwards. He pulled the wolf with him, even managing to hit him with a punch charged with his territory magic and designed to explode outwards on impact. But Arthur felt himself hit the barrier and then the barrier hit him back with more than twice the force it¡¯d received when he hit it.


    It was enough he felt it - albeit barely - through his armor as he flew into Aries and tumbled down the stairs in a ball with her.


    ¡°Miike!¡± The water-make mage screamed, rushing for the inumimi, only for Jellal¡¯s fist to send her flying back towards the lizard-dude.


    The lizard-dude was invoking more barrier magic against Jellal, but by the time Arthur had ran up the stairs the fight was over. Angel and Scorpio had come from behind, and taken out the lizard-dude while he was failing to stop Jellal from closing with him.


    Angel didn¡¯t recognize the lizard-dude, but she did recognize the guild mark he had on his tongue. Grimoire Heart. Between Angel and Gemini, Arthur learned - roughly - what had happened. The lizard-dude had been at the guild making moves for recruiting Arachne¡¯s Tear into the Grimoire Heart network. His barrier magic had blocked Aries¡¯s fluff enough to keep him and 2 of the three higher ups he was meeting conscious. Angel had sent Gemini to check on them because they were the 3 most dangerous mages in the guild. They played dead and ¡®knocked out¡¯ Gemini who was disguised as Angel, and played opossum. While they were fighting Arthur and Jellal, Gemini had summoned Scorpio and taken them out. It was all as simple as that.


    Ensuring the guild got punished was harder. Corruption was rife in the governing bodies of Ishgar. They had deals with the local government. But with them all knocked out, several prisoners, and a rather visible territory dome enough people would be asking questions they couldn¡¯t hush it completely.


    Still in Angel¡¯s mind the more important thing was that they¡¯d probably just pissed off Grimoire Heart.


    They woke up the captives before they left, making certain they got a good look of Angel and Jellal, but not Arthur. Witnesses were necessary for those two. The magic council needed to know.


    Once they¡¯d sent them to get the authorities, there was a brief wait as they gathered the dark mages, wrapped them in sleep inducing ram wool, and then returned to Gazania. Arthur was tired, but somehow he still had to take Minerva and Wendy into the woods to spar with Orion and train them.


    ¡°You crushed another guild without me,¡± Orion protested when he was summoned. He towered amongst the trees, a great, bulky giant, his blue skin mostly covered by his mass of belts.


    ¡°Look, you get to fight them,¡± Arthur said, pointing at Wendy and Minerva.


    ¡°Spar with, not fight. Besides I¡¯ve fought them, they¡¯re not strong enough,¡± Wendy and Minerva both were visibly crestfallen.


    ¡°I can be strong!¡± Wendy protested. Minerva, however, remained silent which worried Arthur.


    Orion scoffed. ¡°Show me, then.¡±


    ¡°Fine, this time you spar with me,¡± Arthur said. ¡°I need to learn to fight for real and not just rely on power.¡±


    The giant looked at Arthur and grinned.


    The battle ended with Arthur bruised, battered, and exhausted, his magical stamina having run out to force Orion back to the Celestial Spirit World. ¡°You really don¡¯t know how to fight without your magic,¡± Minerva commented to the increasingly exhausted and irate Arthur.


    He sort of just glared at her. Arthur knew she was right, but he was not in the mood for it right now. ¡°Still the power is something else,¡± She looked about the clearing. She knew how it had formed, and why nothing grew here. Mages used it for practice, especially her father. Arthur¡¯s ¡®sparring¡¯ had just expanded it and turned the stream that flowed through it into a slowly filling lake.


    Minerva was fairly sure that Blast Magic was more destructive than Territory¡¯s Explosions in raw destructive output, all other things equal and considered. At least Jiemma had always believed such and hadn¡¯t expected her to ever outpace him there. But this had blown away what he could do with it. It¡¯d have taken his summoning one of the Battle Gods of the Yakamo to match this. And this had been a tired Arthur sparring.


    She had to learn what he could teach her. Not all of it could be raw magical power. Minerva looked at Arthur. ¡°Can you take me to Crocus to see my father?¡±


    Arthur knew she actually meant the Magic Council¡¯s Fiore Branch Office near Crocus, but well¡­ given his involvement with Jellal and Angel, and pass experiences with Jiemma, it might not be best for him to walk directly into the Magic Council¡¯s Branch Office so he probably would be staying in Crocus. Still it wasn¡¯t like Angel or Jellal could take her.


    ¡°Of course,¡± He said.

 Capital Trouble

    Enif was glad to be summoned for a pair of riders once more. The pegasus made the trip, as he called it: ¡°FasterthanswiftI¡¯llgetyourighttherebeforeyoucansaywoah!¡±


    Arthur¡¯s head was left spinning, as he held Minerva¡¯s hair while she dealt with the after effects of the motion sickness which came with riding Enif. When that was done she shook a little. ¡°I see why Wendy wanted you to teleport her here,¡± Minerva confessed.


    ¡°Are you going to be alright to make it to the council alone?¡± Arthur asked.


    ¡°I¡¯m not a child,¡± Minerva said petulantly. ¡°I can take care of myself.¡±


    ¡°Contact me through the Archive link if you need me, I¡¯m going to be in Crocus,¡± Arthur said.


    ¡°Alright,¡± Minerva stated, ¡°Bye.¡±


    ¡°Bye,¡± Arthur responded as they went in opposite directions. Arthur¡¯s territory appeared in his hand. His bootleg requip - not having even begun to recreate his Dimension Black yet - was just to keep it in his territory armor and to teleport it with territory magic. It worked well enough, though his armor was a visible distortion around him, even if he¡¯d shaped it not to include his eyes this time. He could just put it in his belt pouch, though, if he wanted, keeping the key inside. As long as it was just marking it as part of his ¡®space¡¯ it wasn¡¯t nearly as demanding as shielding against magic detection. One spatial magic flowed into another as he opened the gate of the eagle not to summon Altair but to dress himself in its celestial star dress. He¡¯d not used it yet and it was a lot less energy intensive than outright summoning the eagle.


    It was also less effective for his purposes as while he could see the city clearly enough he couldn¡¯t fly to get a view from above. He hadn¡¯t thought things through well enough. He tried jumping, but apparently neither flight, nor super jumping was included in the powers of the star dress, just electricity and vision. Undeterred he teleported into the air above the capital, and then immediately teleported to the top of a tall building. The thud he made on the roof seemed to startle whoever was below, as he heard movement begin inside, but he could see a large public square from here, and it was another easy warp to reach it.


    Telescopic vision was useful when combined with line of sight teleportation. Still from the little he¡¯d seen of it, Crocus the Flowering Capital, was beautiful. A true city unlike the little towns he¡¯d mostly seen. And one brimming with flowers and - from the alerts his Archive was giving him - magical knowledge. It was just picking up information from scanning the air and people. People were using magic and it was just ambiently scanning it. He just wanted to sit here and let his Archive absorb what it could, and accumulate information for him. Territory was a great magic, but if he could figure out how to upgrade his Archive to a Super Archive it might be the best magic he had.


    Still first things first, he promised Wendy he¡¯d teleport her soon after reaching Crocus. He could still feel the pocket of his ¡®space¡¯ he¡¯d left in Gazania, and assuming Wendy had been good and stayed sitting on the stool it¡¯d be simple to teleport her here.


    A snap of the fingers brought the blue-haired girl - and her stool - to him. A second snap sent the stool back, and an act of will dismissed the space.


    Wendy¡¯s eyes went wide as she wowed at the sight around her.


    Wendy had lived her life in a literal ghost town. Gazania had been an impressive city. But Crocus was on a whole other scale. The flowers blooming around the capital were beautiful. Everywhere she looked there were people. And beautiful flowers. Shops and things to do, and¡­


    ¡°Ice cream!¡± She shouted out.


    Arthur glanced, and made a face. Wendy¡¯s eyes turned up towards him pleadingly. Angel hadn¡¯t given them the most spending money for this trip, but seeing Wendy¡¯s pleading face Arthur sighed.


    A few moments later Wendy and Carla were both eating their ice cream happily as they walked the streets. There wasn¡¯t really a plan for what to do, though. Arthur hadn¡¯t really had a chance to plan ¡®how will I entertain this 12 year old who asked to come along at the last minute¡¯ and hadn¡¯t really planned anything for himself to do, other than simply ¡®walk and absorb information through his Archive magic.¡¯


    So for a time that¡¯s just what they did. Providing Wendy with the spending money, ultimately taken from Vampire¡¯s Kiss, Arthur mostly just watched the child and allowed her to lead the way to wherever caught her interest.


    Minerva had no trouble getting into the Magic Council¡¯s headquarters. Her father was not being kept in one of the high security cells. Still it was time consuming, as they had to confirm she was who she said she was, and had to confirm her father was there. Bureaucracy led to her sitting in waiting areas for hours. And then she had to wait for his hearing to end so that he could emerge at last.


    Her heart cracked a bit when she saw her father limping, leaning on a crutch because his left leg was too damaged to fully bear his weight. This was her father. Her very icon of strength. The man who had taught her to her very core how worthless weak trash like her was. How great the gap between the strong and weak really was.


    And he was a mangled, torn apart wreck, unable to stand without support from a tool. A part of her wanted to laugh. The weak were trash. He¡¯d taught her that. And now he was weaker than her. Yet a part of her felt something stirring; compassion and empathy. Maybe it was best called filial piety. He was still her father. He had raised her alone. She owed him everything.


    ¡°You survived,¡± He said. And then he looked down at the ground. ¡°Good. You¡¯re not as weak as I feared.¡±


    Those words, not really even praise, filled her with joy. They were recognition of her¡­ not total lack of worth.


    ¡°Come, Minerva, we have both allowed ourselves to become far too weak.¡±


    ¡°Where are we going? You¡¯re not under arrest?¡± She asked.


    ¡°Why would I be? I was on a legitimate job to infiltrate and shut down Vampire¡¯s Kiss,¡± Jiemma said. Minerva flinched. She knew better than to dare call out the lie. He could have done that by the first time he had brought her there. He had been enjoying the fights, and the extra income it had afforded him.


    ¡°So this is your daughter?¡± Minerva hadn¡¯t paid attention to the man behind her dad before. He had just been there. But now she realized how utterly strong he felt. It was an oppressive strength, a sheer amount of magical power which bore down towards her.


    ¡°Yes,¡± Jiemma answered curtly.


    ¡°She wouldn¡¯t mind talking to God for a bit, would she?¡± The man asked with a smile, gesticulating in an exaggerated manner, before posing as if he was on stage. ¡°We just want to hear about where you¡¯ve been the last few days and who you¡¯ve been with.¡± That was when guards moved into position and they took her into the courtroom.


    Three of the Ten Wizard Saints were inside. Acting as interim representatives while waiting for the council to reform after the Tower of Heaven incident. Two of the Four Gods were on the tribunal that had tried her father. They began asking her questions about who she had been staying with, and how she had escaped the Vampire¡¯s Kiss guildmaster.


    She tried to contact Arthur through the link he had created, and an alarm audibly went off, before the man who had been leaving with her father smiled.


    ¡°God-I was so getting bored of this all, but it seems like things might get a little bit¡­¡± He paused, knee sliding forward and throwing out his arms. ¡°Interesting.¡±


    Arthur¡¯s Archive manifested into physical existence, a red emergency alarm flashing. Communication with Minerva had been cut off and it had received a magic based attack.


    He cursed aloud, causing Wendy¡¯s head to swerve, as Carla turned towards him with an angry look.


    ¡°Minerva is in trouble,¡± Arthur said, turning. He didn¡¯t know what to do. Did he rush into the magic council national headquarters?


    ¡°What?¡± Wendy asked. ¡°We¡¯ve got to go help her.¡±


    Arthur shook his head. ¡°She was visiting the magic council, it¡¯s not that simple, we need to figure out what¡¯s happeni-¡± He cut off as another Archive alert popped up. A high density of magical energy was approaching him at high speed. He didn¡¯t have time to read it.


    Feeling the magical energy approaching, he barely managed to raise a barrier with his Territory magic. It buckled, wind suddenly striking him and blasting him, Wendy, and several other people back. Wendy¡¯s mouth opened as she breathed deep, calling the magical tempest into her mouth.


    ¡°God-I was expecting this to be sort of boring, but you have impressed God,¡± The man with orange pigtails said, as he posed like a badly choreographed Kamen Rider, one arm out to the side, his other crossing his chest, his legs in an almost humorous position.


    Even when Georg had gotten mad his magical energy wasn¡¯t this intense. Even the Darkness Dragon¡¯s hadn¡¯t been this intense. ¡°You are now under God arrest!¡± The orange haired man said, pointing both hands at Arthur. ¡°You have the right to surrender quietly, but I hope you don¡¯t take it.¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s God arrest?¡± Arthur asked, scrambling mentally to buy time.


    ¡°Arrest by I, God!¡± The man said. ¡°That is Six Dragon God Serena.¡±


    ¡°On what charge?¡± Arthur asked.


    ¡°I forget,¡± Serena said, literally waving the question off. ¡°Some threat to public safety,¡± He continued to pose, shifting from one stance to another. Arthur felt that statement was ironic, given that Wendy was currently checking on the people he had blasted away with his landing. ¡°If you don¡¯t come quietly, then I¡¯ll have to take you in. And you did well to block my initial attack, but that was a weak one, you simply aren¡¯t a match for me.¡±


    Arthur was considering teleporting away. But he wanted to know what happened to Minerva, and really just how much Serena knew about his connection with Angel and Jellal. He was mentally activating his Archive to send an emergency message to Angel, warning her and Jellal of what was happening, even as he looked Serena in the eye. ¡°I¡¯m happy to come quietly once I know what the charge is.¡±


    Serena sighed. ¡°Boring, I guess that saves me time at least. We captured your little accomplice,¡± Arthur cursed inwardly, ¡°She told us everything. You¡¯re aiding and abetting Jellal and the Oracion Seis, Angel. Before you think about teleporting away we¡¯ve got your little girlfriend, and we¡¯ve identified your teleportation magic, so even if you do run we can follow you. God, this is annoying.¡± He swept an arm forward, fire exploding towards Arthur. ¡°Look if you¡¯re asking questions you¡¯re resisting. So just¡­ you actually survived?¡±


    Arthur wasn¡¯t unfamiliar with Purgatory Dragon Slayer Magic. Roy¡¯s was not even close to this power and intensity, but it came from the same dragon. He¡¯d trained with Roy before. He hadn¡¯t tried to block it head on, a dragon¡¯s magic was the magic to destroy anything, but had instead worked to direct the main brunt, angling it upwards and over his head. Still in an equal battle his territory magic couldn¡¯t be relied upon to block dragon slayer magic; its destructive force for the magical energy put into it simply outweighed territory¡¯s shields.


    ¡°Yeah, I¡¯ve met real dragon slayers before,¡± Arthur spat out, ¡°Not wannabe hacks who bought their lacrima,¡± He didn¡¯t dare reclaim his chaos shield or black sword from where he¡¯d left them. If they hadn¡¯t already found Angel and Jellal, activating that space would bring them down on them.


    ¡°How good of you to notice my superiority,¡± Serena said, ¡°But that won¡¯t save you.¡±


    Arthur was somewhat dumbfounded by that statement, but he was acting, he wrapped Carla and Wendy in his territory magic and transported them to Hargeon, Cait Shelter, and then Magnolia in a series of quick trips using his Archive map to clear locations. It was a bit straining, but it hopefully would muddle any attempts to follow his magic.


    By the time it was done, Serena was back on the offensive. ¡°I will do you the honor of showing you that superiority. Let me demonstrate the power of my infinite wallet! Darkness Dragon¡¯s Banishing Shadow!¡±


    The ground around Arthur rose up with darkness, a sphere forming about him and then collapsing in on itself, a wall of darkness compacting him from all sides. The ground under his feet was being disintegrated, the air itself wiped away, as the darkness destroyed everything in its sphere.


    Arthur swallowed it down with relish. His magical energy was fully restored now. ¡°Thanks for the meal,¡± Arthur said to the stunned face of God Serena.


    ¡°How? That¡¯s impossible!¡± Serena stated as he assumed yet another pose, one arm raised up the other pointing towards Arthur.


    ¡°I guess I should introduce myself. I am the Darkness Dragon Slayer. And I killed the Darkness Dragon that lacrima was made from.¡± Immediately Arthur regretted the bravado which had made him say that. It was information which was tactically relevant and which should not have been shared with an enemy.


    ¡°I guess I should actually get serious then,¡± Serena said, starting to spread his lips in a broad smile. ¡°To honor you as the source of one of my lacrima, I will not hold back like I normally would for such a weakling. Dragon God¡¯s Fang!¡±


    Arthur teleported. More on instinct than anything he teleported, and he saw from blocks away the energy tearing through the ground and buildings, ripping apart the portion of the shopping district that he and Wendy had been window shopping in.


    He teleported again, as Serena landed in the street he¡¯d warped to, the 6 Dragon God¡¯s gale dragon magic, tearing apart the buildings on either side of his landing. Arthur was on top of a building, able to see the destruction. He looked out of the city, and he teleported. He couldn¡¯t go back to Gazania if they could trace him. And he couldn¡¯t leave Minerva imprisoned either. He had to take out the Magic Council¡¯s Fiore branch before he could flee, and he had to get out before Serena tore apart the most densely populated city in the continent.


    It took him three ports to reach the building. Finding Minerva would be another story. His Archive was trying to copy over a map, but it was taking time. Magical knights were rushing out to stop him, and he teleported them back to two ports en masse. He hoped that he hadn¡¯t just killed them via God Serena. His darkness dragon¡¯s roar blasted the doors from the hinges as he walked into the building.


    A silver key appeared in his hand. ¡°Open gate of canis minor!¡± His nikora spirit appeared. ¡°I need you to find Minerva, she was here earlier. Can you smell where she is now?¡± For a useless aesthetic spirit it was surprisingly useful.


    ¡°P-p-pun!¡± It shouted, and then the roof collapsed.


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    God Serena landed in a tornado of wind which launched out forcing Arthur to teleport backwards to avoid it. Hadn¡¯t Serena gone down easy when he fought Fairy Tail? Though that was his Historia ghost thing, had that been his full power? Arthur couldn¡¯t remember that he had easily overwhelmed Natsu and Juvia and the other mages there until Gildartz arrived and lamented that this would have been an interesting battle if he hadn¡¯t been massively weakened in his undead form.


    But in his bones he could feel something of the sort. Serena¡¯s power made Georg¡¯s look small. ¡°Dragon god¡¯s fang!¡± Serena shouted as the ground once again erupted, five dragons of energy rising from it one after another. Arthur had to rapidly port to dodge them, each one appearing under where he ported to almost the instant he did. His territory armor took the brunt of it, but he was being forced to constantly reinforce it, and to keep on the move since a direct hit could still threaten to end him.


    Even as he warped, he lashed out, a crushing wave of force from his territory magic to slam into God Serena like a ton of bricks. Serena was struck and sent flying, only to catch himself with a magically called wind, land, and lash out with a powerful kick, fire exploding from his foot as it caught the second lashing wall of force and shattered it.


    Arthur was being forced to realize that with just his Territory magic he wasn¡¯t going to win this. He wasn¡¯t necessarily up against a better mage, but he was up against a warrior who could match him as a mage. And as long as he had power divided up with Archive and Territory pockets in Gazania he wasn¡¯t matching him in a head to head clash.


    ¡°Open gate of the hunter!¡± The giant appeared in the rubble that had been the front of the building. Arthur was trying to ignore the fear that Minerva had been in the building. All he had done thus far was dodge and people were still getting hurt; then again even a few years back the four gods of Ishgar and the threat of Etherion had held off all of Alvarez; Serena was a one man army.


    Blue skinned and towering taller than the headquarters, Orion threw back his head, spread his arms, and belted out, loud enough that Arthur¡¯s territory armor blocked it for its sheer kinetic force. ¡°Finally, a real fight!¡±


    And then he went flying over Arthur¡¯s head, the sound of Serena¡¯s kick creating a shockwave that shattered glass. ¡°Normally I save this level of power for dealing with those few dragons that can still be found in Ishgar,¡± Serena said with a look of annoyance on his face. ¡°I had hoped that with 6 lacrima I¡¯d be ready for Acnologia. I guess not. Maybe 7 will do. Or maybe the darkness one was just a dud. All you did was kill a dud dragon and you dare challenge m-¡±


    Enif crashed into Serena in a flash that Arthur¡¯s eye couldn¡¯t follow. The pegasus had appeared when summoned and immediately rammed Serena. No words had had to pass. Still Enif took more energy even than full output from Aries, and Orion was no cheap summon. But with the speed and power of Serena¡¯s attacks, Arthur¡¯s options were limited. Horologium could tank the attacks, but had no offensive capabilities. Caelum could hit hard, but would be taken down before he could attack. The nikora was a tracker and that¡¯s it. The little horse wasn¡¯t even summonable at the moment. Neither, for that matter, was Aries. Altair was cheaper than Enif, but his advantage was lightning and Arthur thought Serena could eat lightning. Kochab might be able to hold him off for a time, but after what happened to Orion Arthur didn¡¯t want to chance it.


    ¡°Is this how you killed a dragon?¡± Serena smirked. ¡°Little toys?¡± Serena¡¯s attacks came one after another, streaking towards Enif who wove through them. Arthur didn¡¯t intend to let Enif do all the work, however.


    Orion¡¯s belts launched towards Serena, forcing the so-called God to tear them apart with scything blades of wind, before Orion¡¯s hand slapped down towards him only to be caught by a sheltering shield of darkness and a roaring clap of thunder from the force of the impact.


    Arthur¡¯s hands came up before him, his focus on Serena. ¡°Territory EXPLOSION!¡± He didn¡¯t usually call out the name of the spell. But against Serena he needed every single drop of force he could bring to bear. Spheres of his ¡®space¡¯ formed around Serena, covering him head to toe energy building in them for a moment before they exploded in a series of deafening roars and bursts of blinding light.


    Draculos cursed his nominal subordinate. Serena had not only allowed the fight to go back to the council building, but was endangering the lives of its employees. If he¡¯d been there in the flesh instead of as a Thought Projection he¡¯d have gone to end the fight. Instead he held only a fraction of his normal power and the best course was, in his estimate, evacuation of personnel.


    The dungeons could come last. Criminals were less important than civilians. Still Serena¡¯s utter recklessness was utterly repulsive.


    Serena felt the explosive force slam against his diamond hardened flesh. He was drinking down the light and fire of the explosive bursts, absorbing it to recharge, as he spun towards the Darkness Dragon Slayer.


    ¡°So this is the power of a ¡®real¡¯ dragon slayer?¡± Serena asked, spinning towards Arthur. He swept his hand, purgatory and gale dragon slayer magic gathering. He was going to blast away this ¡°real¡± dragon slayer, and show him the power of a dragon god. Only the annoying bird rammed into him. He felt the bird¡¯s hooves kicking at him, a hundred kicks in a second, as the bronze bird lashed out at him. Even in his diamond fleshed form it staggered him.


    The giant¡¯s belts wrapped around him beginning to squeeze. Breaking it would have been casual if some stupid bird would stop kicking him in the face with its hooves. They didn¡¯t do real damage, but they hurt nonetheless.


    ¡°Nihility lance!¡± He heard the shout, saw the first coming for his face covered in a spear of warped space. He hardened his body further, and he felt the lance scrape against his diamond shell and cut his skin.


    He hadn¡¯t been lying about the Darkness Dragon being a dud. Of the six lacrima in him it was the only one he couldn¡¯t force to respond to his calls for the dragon force. He didn¡¯t dare call on all 6 at once, last time he¡¯d gone beyond 3 the power had almost overwhelmed him, a madness coming with it. He hoped he had grown since the battle with Alvarez, but he didn¡¯t trust that limit to have increased. Still as he pulled on three lacrima for their power scales and claws forming on his hands. Compared to a first generation dragon slayer¡¯s, or a fifth¡¯s, a second generation¡¯s dragon force was inconsequential as far as power went, but it did not require an outside force to access. It was a trump card Serena had not expected to need.


    ¡°Pathetic!¡± He roared, releasing a tearing burst of energy outwards. He was mixing three dragons¡¯ magic at once, purgatory, gale, and cavern, creating a pyroclastic burst of terrible destructive force. A deadly wave of choking ash and burning air expanded outwards blasting apart the building in its wake. The bird hadn¡¯t gotten away unscathed, a wing half-melted as it vanished its gate closed by the sheer enormity of the wound.


    The giant¡¯s belts fell scorched and burnt, lines criss-crossing its blue flesh where the flames had burned places that weren¡¯t protected. And Serena was almost disappointed that he couldn¡¯t see the enemy; he had apparently completely obliterated Fairy Knight Lancelot like he had most of the building.


    Jiemma had not been allowed to follow his daughter to the holding cell when Serena had left to fight the Fairy Knight. When Serena had blown off the building¡¯s front wall a panic had begun. Jiemma had taken the chance to hobble his way down into the dungeon.


    He cursed the Fairy Knight. It was the knight¡¯s fault that his leg was maimed, the knight¡¯s fault that he could no longer use his left limbs, the knight¡¯s fault that he had become one of the weak. And fear gripped his heart. He didn¡¯t dare try to fight the man above. Not again. He didn¡¯t dare stand against him. He wasn¡¯t strong enough.


    A God fought a monster on the surface, and he was nothing more than a cripple.


    As he made his way into the cells, individuals approached the bars. He recognized them from the news. Half of the Oracion Seis. They¡¯d been rounded up. The interim magic council¡¯s big success which proved that the failures of the government were merely the corrupt, previous council and not the government as a whole.


    ¡°What¡¯s going on up there?¡± One of them screamed, Jiemma didn¡¯t bother to look to see which.


    He raised a hand and released his blast magic, taking out the council¡¯s lizard-people who were guarding the cells, and he rushed to Minerva¡¯s cell. It wasn¡¯t made of magic sealing stone. Only her shackles were.


    ¡°Minerva, stand back,¡± He said as a blast tore the cell¡¯s door from the hinges.


    ¡°I said what¡¯s going on up there!?¡± One of the Oracion Seis shouted again, and this time Jeimma turned to look. The Fairy Knight had been involved in their defeat from what he had heard during Minerva¡¯s questioning.


    ¡°The man responsible for you being in here is fighting God Serena,¡± Jiemma said. Minerva¡¯s eyes went wide, a look crossing her face which caused Jiemma to backhand her across the face on pure reflex. She shouldn¡¯t feel hope because of that.


    ¡°That bastard,¡± Racer cursed. ¡°He¡¯s the one who turned Angel against Brain.¡±


    ¡°You want your revenge?¡± Jiemma asked, moving to Racer¡¯s cell and shattering the bars with a blast, before grabbing his shackles and sending a blast through the magic sealing stone. ¡°Take it.¡± He blasted the other cells open then as he limped he limped back to Minerva.


    He was shattering her shackles the same way. ¡°Minerva we¡¯re leaving. You¡¯re not strong enough to stand on this field.¡±


    The ground shook, a wave of fire and deadly ash poured towards the dungeons and Jiemma¡¯s hand rose. He fired a full powered blast, his fear of death lending it strength. It wasn¡¯t enough. But suddenly the earth itself had flowed over and around, reinforcing the area. The heat was still horrible, the pain of the smoke searing his lungs. Minerva was gasping and coughing, as he wrapped his body around her as a final shield. She was his blood. His legacy. When he was dead and gone she would be what carried on his strength and will. He couldn¡¯t let her die.


    Hoteye and Midnight worked their magic to their limits to hold back the blast. It was barely enough to save the five in the dungeons.


    The Magic Council Fiore branch building had been huge. And Serena had just obliterated it with one spell. The drain Arthur had felt from summoning Enif had stopped. Orion¡¯s had spiked, pushing to levels that made Enif seem light as he drew as much energy as he could to survive and match his enemy.


    He¡¯d barely teleported away in time, the building being used as a barrier between them. Even so he¡¯d had to block directly. His heart was pounding. He¡¯d not felt something like this since the first time Georg had tried to kill him. He was outmatched and outclassed. And he knew it. And worse he was getting scared for Minerva.


    He didn¡¯t want to think about how he had probably just gotten her killed. He wanted to think about anything other than that fact. But his bounty board reassured him. The bounty for getting her away from her father and to a better life was not marked as failed.


    She was alive. He told himself that meant she was alive and not just that it didn¡¯t update immediately. She was alive. She had to be alive. He couldn¡¯t bear her death on his conscience.


    He should have rushed to Orion¡¯s aid. Together they might have managed to bring down Serena. Instead he had let fear of Serena, and fear of guilt hold him still. He heard the crash of blows, and watched as Orion¡¯s gigantic form launched backwards and disappeared.


    He created a shielding wall of his ¡®space¡¯ and launched it as a visible slamming force. Serena hit against it and for a moment it started to crack and yield before Serena was sent flying backwards. In an instant Kochab¡¯s key was in his hand, but he didn¡¯t open the gate of Ursa Minor, instead merely calling on his celestial spirit dress. Blue, ursine themed armor formed around him, like the suit a knight might well, allowing Arthur to feel it reinforcing his strength and power.


    Arthur¡¯s mind was rushing as he glanced at purchase options in his mental HUD. MBP Body would probably let him beat Serena¡­ but it might not keep Minerva safe. Magic Power 5 would turn the battle¡­ but the collateral might kill her. Magical Skill 5? It might work.


    He didn¡¯t have time to consider it though. Serena had landed and launched forward. Arthur managed to teleport dodge, appearing behind him to strike out with a power armor clad fist. The ground erupted, a pillar of earth throwing off Arthur¡¯s aim. Serena was on him in a moment, a diamond claw cutting through Arthur¡¯s territory armor and scraping his new bear powered armor.


    Altair¡¯s key appeared in his hand. Serena had used 6 dragon powers. None of them had been lightning. The eagle appeared, and immediately Arthur was screaming, ¡°Smite him!¡±


    Lightning crashed down, Serena¡¯s hands rising as he released elemental power up against it. Arthur felt the heavy drain, the two energies hitting with a shockwave that cracked boulders as far as the eye could see in this rocky, barren terrain. Serena pushed himself to his limits, forcing a fourth lacrima into a dragon force state, pouring all six elements into a single terrible blast.


    Altair couldn¡¯t dodge fast enough to avoid the light, but he¡¯d done his duty. Serena had been kept stationary, and had expended enough power, for him to form his ¡®space¡¯ around each of Serena¡¯s limbs. Whirling shadowed vortices of his energy each one a separate portal which exited miles from each other. He couldn¡¯t close them while something was passing through them, so he couldn¡¯t actually sever Serena¡¯s limbs, but he could hold them in place, stuck through the portals he had formed miles apart, Serena¡¯s body suspended by the portals which were fixed in position and had tightened around his arms and legs until it was impossible to push them deeper, and nearly so to pull them back out.


    ¡°What?¡± Serena shouted as he struggled.


    Arthur rushed forward, one of his archive screens forming in Serena¡¯s face and slamming against it. It was hard-light, though, and Serena merely consumed it.


    Arthur formed a slamming wall of his ¡®space¡¯ and then another and another without counting, sending them hitting into Serena with enough force to crack a mountain side. Diamond scales and armor formed across Serena¡¯s body, slowly being chipped away, at a rate Arthur couldn¡¯t afford.


    He called his black sword into his hand, wrapping it in his territory magic, a nihility blade, made to sever space in its path, and then he launched himself forward with explosions under his feet.


    His sword hit diamond, it scraped, it penetrated, he felt the song of the sword as it drank deep of Serena¡¯s blood and power. But it hadn¡¯t been a direct hit. The diamond scales had forced the point to the side and he was merely cutting along his gut. A deep wound, a bad wound, a hole in his side, but it wasn¡¯t a vital spot.


    Arthur felt himself slam into the diamond torso, his armor insufficient to fully take the impact. Still he just needed to make the next moments count. He was a hardy sort, pain hurt but it didn¡¯t rule him. Blood flecked his lips, he¡¯d broken at least a rib on impact against Serena, and he turned to bring his sword around, bringing it around to stab into Serena. He¡¯d not make it through the diamond armor, but where it¡¯d already been cut the blade could sink deeper. He just needed to be fast enough; he felt his space shattering, saw a blinding flash of light forcing him to trust the black sword¡¯s hunger to aim for him. Serena was free, and he just had to hope that Serena wouldn¡¯t manage to dodge the thrust he¡¯d already begun.


    He felt the blade scrape against Serena¡¯s diamond coated flesh when suddenly a leg struck him in the head. He barely felt it through his helmet, but he made the mistake of glancing where he saw the blur which was Racer. A tornado of rocks slammed into him, cavern and gale dragon slayer magic used in conjunction, sending him flying back. He landed on his feet, the Kochab spirit dress, much to his relief, providing him with armor superior to his Territory Armor, but immediately ground rose around him then, a wave of liquid earth sweeping over him. He summoned his chaos shield, the earth stabilizing but it was still all about him, burying him alive, dirt against his face and body.


    He roared. Or well he exhaled in a huff against the dirt trying to press into his mouth and nose. Darkness erupted from his nostrils, and his slightly open mouth, and the earth blasted away. Territory magic brought him into the sky, and before he could teleport again, he felt the wind strike him, tearing into him, shards of diamond slamming against his blue armor, puncturing it and cutting his flesh even as he wrapped his territory magic around himself just for an extra layer of shielding.


    He fell to the ground, hitting hard enough to sink his way into it. He teleported, wildly and without aiming. He was rewarded by seeing the ground erupt in a plume of dirt as a - still diamond - God Serena slammed his fist into it.


    He felt a fist strike him, a foot, a fist, a fist, a foot, a fist, knee, fist, elbow, foot, fist, fist, fist, knee, headbutt¡­ He couldn¡¯t keep track of the blows. They didn¡¯t do anything but jostle him but they all seemed to be coming in the space of a second. It was Racer of the Oracion Seis.


    And he wasn¡¯t alone. The angular-faced member, Hoteye, raised his hand and liquid earth rose up only to be forced back the chaos shield. The same shield was - mostly - blocking Midnight¡¯s magic. He couldn¡¯t twist anything within its radius. Still he could launch things, twisting the space around the still molten rubble of the building and launching it towards Arthur. The Oracion Seis usually operated solo, because they were strong enough not to need the help, but as a team they were beyond deadly.


    Overwhelmed, Arthur released his ¡®space¡¯ outwards. He hardened the fabric of space in the area and launched it outwards as walls of force, just slamming everything in the area backwards. Racer, Hoteye, and Midnight all three found themselves thrown backwards.


    Only Serena, his hand smoking and shining remained standing. The 6 Dragon God was panting, but Arthur felt exhausted as well. He needed to flee. But he was too exhausted to teleport to Crocus, much less Gazania, and he wasn¡¯t sure that would be far enough to escape Serena.


    ¡°Dragon God¡¯s Fang!¡± Serena shouted, a serpentine dragon of fire erupting beneath Arthur. He teleported. A dragon of terrible tearing wind struck him, his territory wrapping tightly around him as his spirit dress shredded a bit more. He teleported. A dragon of stone rose towards him, but he teleported again before impact. A diamond serpent slammed towards him, hitting through his armor on his back shattering what was left of the spirit dress as he teleported. The one of light, though, was simply too fast for him. He felt it hit, felt it all around and through him. He hardened his territory, unable to teleport, and then he hit the ground.


    Arthur struggled to his feet. Serena was wobbling, panting heavily. Arthur was barely able to move forward. He couldn¡¯t count the bones he¡¯d broken in this fight. His leg was broken, a piece of bone visibly jutting from his flesh. His sword arm was limp and useless.


    Serena was grasping his side, sagging a little. The Oracion Seis were laying on the ground as Arthur limped towards Serena. Neither of them had any fight left in them, Arthur barely having enough power to swap his sword and shield, taking the blade in his hand.


    ¡°I¡¯ll kill you,¡± Serena spat, hand moving outwards, a blast of light erupting from it. Arthur was spent. He couldn¡¯t gather enough energy to teleport before the light hit him. Everything went white.


    ¡°I got here just in the nick of time,¡± Came a voice from above him. Arthur realized he was in his horologium spirit. ¡°This one will soon be asking if I¡¯m ok,¡± The clock said with a bit of a self-chuckle.


    Serena looked at the clock, his face going white with despair. He couldn¡¯t believe his final attack had failed. He couldn¡¯t push the dragon force from his lacrima any longer. All 5 of them were spent in that regard. He didn¡¯t have any ethernado left in him. All that was left was to watch and wait. He couldn¡¯t even rise to his feet.


    He had lost.


    Arthur stepped out of the horologium, limping towards Serena, and then he heard the horologium shout out. ¡°Watch out be-¡± He didn¡¯t hear the end as something, or someone, hit him in the back of the head and everything went black.

 The (First) Trial of Jumper

    The next, what Arthur assumed were several, days were days of pain and suffering. Arthur had awakened in a dungeon. No one would tell him anything of use, he was bound with magic sealing stone, and about the only information he received was that God Serena was going to see to it that he was tortured for information the moment he was well enough to torture.


    Arthur was continually reassured that the Oracion Seis and Minerva still seemed to be alive according to his HUD informing him of active bounties. He hoped that¡¯s what it meant.


    He really didn¡¯t have a good sense of time. Medicine was force fed to him, his head was foggy and unclear, and the pain was horrible. He was blacking in and out of it for a time, occasionally being questioned, but he didn¡¯t think he was coherent enough to give them anything.


    It could have been a day, or weeks, before Wendy was admitted into his cell. Serena was there behind her, the orange haired man scowling down at him and the young healer as she placed hands on Arthur. Wendy and Carla didn¡¯t show a single sign of recognition when they were in there with him. But Serena also didn¡¯t seem to recognize them. He was carrying Arthur¡¯s shield and sword; almost like they were his trophies.


    He tried to ask questions once he was healed. But all that got him was a punch to the gut from an angry God Serena, and a curt, ¡°Now that you¡¯re healed I can hurt you all I want. You¡¯re going to pay for what you did.¡±


    The hours that followed showed Serena was most noticeably not pleased with him. He seemed to relish personally helping the interrogators ¡®motivate him¡¯. Beatings, breakings of limbs, removal of finger nails. Serena was careful to do nothing that Wendy couldn¡¯t heal. Arthur lost track of the time that he was spending there quickly as he hung from shackles of magic sealing stone. He finally passed out during a flogging, only to wake up to Wendy¡¯s crying face. And then he was taken back into the ¡®interrogation¡¯ chamber and Serena¡¯s loving attention.


    Arthur wasn¡¯t sure if he¡¯d answered any questions during this period. He wasn¡¯t sure if Serena had bothered to ask any. He could only remember pain, and agony. Only certain of the fact that God Serena kept hurting him for the sake of hurting him with the most smug, arrogant, asinine smile on his face all the while, heaping verbal abuse on the physical, taking pleasure in talking about how Arthur was worse than the shit he wiped off his shoe.


    ¡°I don¡¯t think he can take anymore of it right now. Well all good things must come to an end. Don¡¯t take him to the girl yet, take him to his cell and let him sleep first, so he¡¯ll know what comes of opposing a god, maybe in the morning he will be more willing to answer questions,¡± Serena ordered the lizard people who dragged him back to his cell.


    Jellal had made up his mind. Arthur had saved them, they would find a way to save him. From the Magic Council. From the Four Gods of Ishgar and all the Wizard Saints. It didn¡¯t matter. ¡°Arthur would do it for us.¡±


    Angel wasn¡¯t sure she believed that. She had she¡¯d admit enjoyed their time together. The Oracion Seis had been family in a way. Brain had saved them all from the Tower of Heaven together. But as much as they were each ¡®equal¡¯, Brain had been clearly and firmly in charge. Oh, Sawyer and Erik had thought he cared for them, but she¡¯d never really believed it. She wasn¡¯t alone there. Macbeth had fully accepted him as a second father, but that didn¡¯t stop him from being constantly terrified that Brain would abandon him for the least failure. Richard had always treated the Oracion Seis as a means to the end of finding his brother.


    She was sure Arthur would abandon her just as quickly if she just stopped staying on his straight and narrow path. A part of her was happy he was captured. It gave her back her freedom. She could do what she wanted, no longer fearing that he¡¯d come after her if she strayed.


    Except she¡¯d been using him to keep Erik from coming after her. And Jellal was ultimately just as bad as him. And Arthur had been planning to leave. And he¡¯d given her this miserable, terrible hope that her little sister was alive. That Yukino was fine and if she redeemed herself they could be together. That all they needed to do was get her a pardon, was to do enough good that it was recognized and they could be together again.


    And then he had gone and got himself arrested too. What was the chance of a pardon if she went and rescued him from the Magic Council itself? How were they even supposed to rescue him? The Council hadn¡¯t reformed yet since the Tower of Heaven incident. The ongoing hunt for Jellal had drawn in the two strongest of the Four Gods of Ishgar.


    ¡°Your plan won¡¯t work,¡± She said looking at Jellal. ¡°We¡¯re not dealing with a council of bureaucrats, we¡¯re dealing with the Four Gods of Ishgar. If you could remember how to do a Thought Projection that could play at being a Wizard Saint on its own maybe then we could do it, but with your magic in shambles it¡¯s hopeless.¡±


    Jellal¡¯s face moved to the ground, his anger at his own impotence written plainly on his face. He hadn¡¯t slept since the message had come. He¡¯d been trying to find some plan that¡¯d allow them to rescue Arthur. He was convinced they owed Arthur that. Angel remained otherwise. Yes he¡¯d taken risks for them, but only in the way that could be deferred. Arthur considered himself a coward at heart, and she¡¯d seen nothing that actually proved otherwise. He wasn¡¯t about to throw himself into the werelion¡¯s den for either of them.


    ¡°Then what would you suggest?¡± Jellal said. ¡°If only I could remember enough, but I can¡¯t. You know these Four Gods better than I. How does one deal with them?¡±


    Angel sighed. She¡¯d been considering what to wear today, dress and face. She had been thinking about splitting off from Jellal towards the south, making for Hargeon, and maybe going to see how things were in Alvarez. But she had to admit she wanted to save Arthur. She just didn¡¯t have a way.


    ¡°You don¡¯t. They¡¯re the ultimate force in Ishgar. They¡¯re why the Oracion Seis only had six members, to stay below their notice. Why no one was stupid enough to mess with the council.¡± The rumors had reached here already. They were talking about it in the inn. A dark mage from the Balam Alliance had fought God Serena in an attempt to release the Oracion Seis. The three were going to be tried asap to prevent other would-be rescue attempts. The word on the street was that all four of them would be executed.


    Angel had held out hope the Seis could be brought back together, sans Brain, and that maybe they could find redemption together. Without Brain¡¯s influence she suspected Richard would find redemption on his own. He¡¯d always had a clear focus and purpose. Just the knowledge that his brother was alive, and safe, and that Erza Scarlet could tell him where he was, knowledge that Angel could give him would see to that. Sawyer had tried to stab her. But she¡¯d been stabbing Brain. And he hadn¡¯t done it. With his speed if he hadn¡¯t hesitated Arthur couldn¡¯t have saved her. She was alive because Sawyer hadn¡¯t wanted to kill her even in hot blood and she knew it. He¡¯d not do it in cold blood; he¡¯d not toss her aside like Brain had. He¡¯d be willing to talk to her, and if she explained things, she thought he¡¯d believe her, especially if Erik was there to confirm. Erik and Macbeth both might offer problems. But Erik would know if she lied to him directly. She was a better liar than Brain usually, but Erik¡¯s magic could hear her heart almost always, while Brain¡¯s was only rarely audible. MacBeth¡¯s reaction was the one which scared her.


    It was moot, though. Her dream of getting the Seis back together the moment Arthur was gone was destroyed if the Four Gods were going to oversee their execution. And with it her only real hope at finding her adorable little sister again.


    ¡°We wait for the verdict,¡± She said. ¡°They probably won¡¯t execute immediately. A long, slow wasting in the dungeons discourages others,¡± Unless Arthur had made himself seem too dangerous. He had obliterated the Magic Council¡¯s national branch headquarters. ¡°And we look for allies. We can¡¯t do this alone. Even if it¡¯s just information and freedom of movement they¡¯ll be invaluable. What about Fairy Tail, you and that red headed chick are pretty close, right?¡±


    The next morning Wendy had healed him again, but this time a dark haired man dressed in a black outfit that seemed to scream Dracula entered with her instead of God Serena.


    He introduced himself as Draculos Hyberion, currently the top ranked of the Four Gods of Ishgar. He apologized for Serena¡¯s crude behavior, and he began to ask Arthur questions. Arthur couldn¡¯t remember the last few days well enough to know if he¡¯d been asked the questions before. He was reluctant to answer, but soon he found himself sharing with Draculos in exchange for promises of leniency and protection from Serena¡¯s further attention.


    He didn¡¯t tell Draculos everything. He didn¡¯t share his true nature. He told the same lie he¡¯d told Natsu about why he trusted Jellal¡¯s possession story. He told the truth of what had happened with Brain at the end, and the half truth that he had chosen to try and work with and redeem Angel because she was really hot. He even confessed his sword¡¯s powers, and how only he could wield it.


    Altogether he told more than he should have. Still he was just relieved to eat, drink, and not be tortured for a day. Solitary confinement was a pleasant break from God Serena¡¯s attentions.


    It was lonely though. He¡¯d not been unaccustomed to lacking face to face interactions with people; well people who treated him like a person and not just ¡®the (mostly in)convenient grocery ringing up tool¡¯. Since he¡¯d come here, though, he¡¯d had people around him. Angel and the brats. His celestial spirits. And Diabolos. He was worried about the last; he¡¯d probably caused some serious trouble for them. A diplomatic incident or something. And what about Minerva? They had held her. Even if she had survived then what?


    Arthur brooded as he sat in his cell, anxiety and guilt eating away at him. That and fear. He had anti-magic shackles on his hands, and he wasn¡¯t sure that buying Curse Magic would help him get them off. It protected against spells that would seal his magic, but did that apply to magic negating rocks? If worse came to worst he¡¯d buy it and try. But for now he¡¯d wait in the cell. He¡¯d be a good prisoner and see if Hyberion was able to help as promised.


    Still he wasn¡¯t sleeping well that evening.


    The next day he was woken by the lizard-guys, and cudgeled a few times by the sadistic reptilians as he was dragged from the cell. He was groggy and disoriented, as he was informed the date of the trial had been set for today.


    Arthur found himself given no time to prepare a defense as he was dragged in front of the acting magical council. It still hadn¡¯t actually reformed from when Jellal had caused the entire council to lose face to a point where they had to resign en masse. He was going instead before the King of Fiore and two other high ranking officials forming a tribunal acting in their stead.


    As he was dragged into the courtroom, he got to see his prosecuting attorney - God Serena himself still wearing Arthur¡¯s sword on his hip - and his would-be defendant. A man he didn¡¯t recognize. Draculos Hyberion was beside the king, acting as part of the tribunal, the third representative, someone who was merely part of the Fiore government.


    The audience for the trial was relatively small. Still Arthur did recognize some faces. Wendy, Erza, and even Fairy Tail¡¯s guild master Makarov were there. As was Jiemma, and three members of the Oracion Seis, Hoteye, Racer, and Midnight specifically, also in chains. He didn¡¯t see Minerva.


    What followed felt like a mockery of a trial. Arthur¡¯s legal counsel was simply playing the good cop to Serena¡¯s extortions to the court to have Arthur immediately beaten and given the most torturous execution the law allowed. Their only real advice was to throw himself to the king¡¯s mercy by turning in Jellal and Angel.


    Draculos Hyberion was both providing evidence - from his ¡®confession¡¯ the day before - and serving as one of the judges. Impartial it was not. Arthur was questioned, and he didn¡¯t bother denying what he¡¯d told Draculos before; it was a damning amount of information already and he knew it. He had confessed to conspiring to see Jellal healed, and working with him and Angel. He¡¯d not told where they were - not that he knew - he¡¯d not really sold them out - at least he could tell himself that - and he¡¯d argued for their goals being noble.


    It was enough to ensure that no testimony from Erza about his help with the Oracion Seis was going to save him. And Jiemma - his limbs healed presumably by Wendy - told a very skewed tale of how Arthur had interrupted his attempted sting operation, and illegally fought another guild all out.


    Through it all Serena was talking, encouraging them to give him the most extreme sentence, spewing rhetoric about how Arthur was a destructive and dangerous individual. Arthur was worried, fear gripped his heart. He had an escape plan. He just needed to wait and enact it at the right time. Now was the worst time. He could at least wait until he was sentenced and see what it was. But Serena was getting him more and more on edge.


    He was not the only one who Serena was grating on, though. Draculos eventually snapped at him, going into a tirade about how the damage to the Council office had been his doing more than Arthur¡¯s.


    And then they brought Minerva in for questioning. Arthur hated what he was about to hear, but he trusted she¡¯d disavow him, and claim that he had abducted her and threatened her. He knew Angel had been very clear that she was supposed to do that if brought in as an accomplice.


    Minerva¡¯s stomach was knotted. One of the four gods was interrogating her, and she knew she was half a step from being put on trial herself.


    Father had told her to say whatever was necessary to rid them both of this enemy in the way of their happiness. Arthur himself had told her to throw him to the wolves in this situation.


    So she started to. When God Serena asked her what her relationship with Arthur was, the answer came easily enough. ¡°I was kidnapped.¡±


    But she saw the look on Arthur¡¯s face, and worse than that on Wendy¡¯s. It hurt to look at them, and she felt so very weak lying. But if she let her compassion weaken her here, she would just end up in a cell beside him. She had to be strong.


    ¡°And he was so horrible to you, just the thought of it brings tears to your eyes?¡± Serena said, spinning around and gesturing to the tribunal. ¡°Just think what sort of monster this individual must be. Threatening beautiful young ladies with torture and worse all for his own twisted pleasure!¡±


    Minerva¡¯s fists clenched. The only one here who had threatened her with torture was Serena himself. ¡°... by the guild my father took me to,¡± She added. ¡°After my father attempted to blow it up while it was fully occupied. He stopped my father who had been involved in the fights there for nearly a year profiting off of th-¡± She knew she¡¯d messed up going that way. Angel had been clear: disavow them entirely, she was of more use in getting them free from the outside than going down with them. They were a team, and you didn¡¯t let some sense of honesty get your team in trouble. But she had just wanted to wipe that smile off of Serena¡¯s face.


    Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original.


    ¡°What does what your father was doing have to do with your relationship with the monster on trial here?!¡± Serena cut her off, spinning around and stamping a foot down towards her, his hand stretching out as he sank almost to one knee, his finger poking her in the throat.


    Minerva screamed a bit.


    ¡°Serena, I want to hear it,¡± Hyberion said. ¡°Jiemma¡¯s conduct is relevant here.¡±


    Serena scowled at her, and Minerva found herself telling the truth. Well the truth except for Wendy¡¯s involvement. That didn¡¯t really come up. Her heart was pounding the entire time. Her father was going to kill her. But once she¡¯d started he was going to kill her no matter what. She¡¯d said too much in those first few sentences. She¡¯d cast doubt on his story.


    Arthur was panicking for real after Minerva¡¯s testimony. She¡¯d told mostly what happened. It might save him from a few charges. But it¡¯d do nothing about the ones that mattered. And he didn¡¯t need to look behind him to see the sheer murder that Jiemma was exuding.


    When he tried to bring it up, asking the king and Draculos to make sure that he wasn¡¯t allowed to hurt Minerva afterwards, Serena had hit him, a powerful blow to his chest which cracked ribs.


    And then they began questioning the Oracion Seis members about Arthur¡¯s previous connection to them. Arthur wasn¡¯t sure whether to be happy or scared when Racer gave a rant about how much he hated being on trial as an ally of someone he was trying to kill, and volunteered to be the executioner for Arthur¡¯s sentence. If nothing else it at least put a doubt into Serena¡¯s argument that he was their ring leader.


    The Oracion Seis refused to say much. They escaped during the battle due to damage to their cells inflicted during the battle and took the opportunity to try and attack Arthur out of revenge.


    The hearing was over fairly soon after. Arthur was not informed of his final fate. But he no longer could hold off on his escape plan. Minerva very well might be in danger. He let them march him into the magic sealing stone cell, and waited until his guards began chatting with each other about how doomed he was, and all he could look forward to was interrogation until interrogation and finally breaking.


    Once it was clear they believed he was firmly in the cell and not a danger he looked at his purchase HUD and selected the item he¡¯d had an eye on. A small jar appeared before him, he squeezed it between his thighs as he brought a shackled hand to it, twisting the lid to open it before pulling out a black ball with a red X printed on it.


    He managed to get it into his mouth before the guards noticed. They started shouting, opening the door, and rushing into his cell, only for Arthur to appear outside of it and close the door. They reached for their keys and Arthur warped them into his hands, and then the X Balls. It was time for a jail break.


    Arthur paused though. The Oracion Seis were something he had to deal with one way or another. There was a Bounty for getting the gang back together at least to the extent of heroism they had in canon. If he escaped alone they¡¯d still be on the chopping block. His execution hadn¡¯t actually been ordered, yet at least, but he couldn¡¯t help but think it was coming.


    ¡°Hey, Hoteye, your little brother is alive,¡± He said approaching Hoteye¡¯s cell, a wall formed from his territory magic shaping and pinning the remaining lizard-person guards against the walls.


    Hoteye¡¯s head rose, the man¡¯s eyes staring in towards Arthur. Arthur smiled back at him. ¡°I can¡¯t say I know where he is, but I can tell you the name of one of his friends who might,¡± He made sure to emphasize the word friend.


    ¡°One of Wally¡¯s friends?¡± Hoteye said, a moment before Arthur teleported the door from his cell.


    ¡°Yeah, they were slaves together in the Tower of Heaven. She met up with him when Jellal caused his ruckus there recently. I¡¯ll help you find him, and get you out of here, all three of you,¡± He raised his voice loudly. ¡°On certain conditions.¡±


    ¡°Conditions?¡± Racer asked while glaring at Arthur.


    ¡°The same I gave Angel. You try to make amends and help the world,¡± Arthur said, even as he knew he¡¯d lost the carrot. After all, how could he help them get a pardon now? ¡°It doesn¡¯t have to be in Ishgar, but if I release you, your actions will be on me, so you have to help people not harm them.¡±


    Racer scoffed. Hoteye nodded. ¡°If you can really help me find Wally, I¡¯ll do it.¡±


    ¡°Hoteye, you can¡¯t be serious,¡± Racer said. ¡°After all he¡¯s done? He turned Angel against us.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m only part of us because it would help my little brother, if it does not do so any longer,¡± Hoteye began.


    ¡°I didn¡¯t turn Angel against you, Brain did,¡± Arthur said irately. Who knew how long before someone came to investigate some alarm or detection spell. Not that his Archive was detecting any.


    X-Balls weren¡¯t the only thing he¡¯d purchased. Magic Skill Level 5. If he was going to find Minerva and get her out safely while containing Serena and fighting another of the Four Gods he was going to need a real trump card. And he had to hope he¡¯d made the right choice in one. Still his Archive magic had become an all-in-one detection tool. And his mind was brimming with ways he could use his territory magic. Like getting his keys back the moment he was willing to risk revealing himself.


    His Archive had found them, he¡¯d made sure it could track them even before this upgrade. Aries¡¯s key was separated from the others. Still if he just knew who was carrying them about he¡¯d have made them into convenient tracking devices.


    ¡°Gonna explain that bit?¡± Racer said after a few moments had passed.


    ¡°Brain tried to kill her because she¡¯d lost her keys. She was no longer considered valuable enough to be in the Oracion Seis. I arrived barely in time to block his magic. Simple as that.¡± Arthur shrugged.


    ¡°You really expect us to believe that?¡± Racer asked.


    ¡°I can,¡± Hoteye said. ¡°I do not believe for a moment that Brain wouldn¡¯t have cut any one of us loose if he considered us no longer useful. You¡¯ve said it yourself, Angel wouldn¡¯t have dared go up against Brain without a strong incentive.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re really buying this stuff that he¡¯s saying?¡± Racer whined.


    ¡°Aren¡¯t you?¡± Hoteye answered, standing now beside Arthur.


    ¡°Fine, I¡¯ll go straight. Better that than being executed here. Do you actually have a plan on how to deal with this situation?¡± Racer said and immediately the door to his cell vanished, and then his manacles next.


    ¡°What about you, Midnight?¡± Arthur asked, looking into Midnight¡¯s cell.


    ¡°Fine,¡± The dark mage said. A moment later the last currently imprisoned member of the Oracion Seis was free. And immediately after Midnight stepped from the cell one of the walls of the dungeon distorted, the stone itself twisting to crash against Arthur. It slammed him against a wall, but it failed completely to breach his armoring territory.


    Racer was hitting him then, blow after blow, and Arthur reached for his Archive magic. Or more he offloaded part of his mental function into the Archive, using it to think and in effect overclock his brain. He was still moving super slow, but he was thinking at a pace to keep up with the unaffected Racer.


    His ¡®space¡¯ wrapped around Racer and Midnight both, beginning to squeeze around them. ¡°What was that?¡±


    ¡°You killed my father! You think I¡¯m just going to roll over without a fight after that?¡± Midnight said.


    ¡°No intention of keeping your oaths then?¡± Arthur asked.


    ¡°I do,¡± Hoteye said, his hands raised as if to show that he surrendered.


    ¡°Midnight was going for it, I couldn¡¯t leave him to do it alone,¡± Racer said. ¡°No way one of us was taking you alone.¡±


    Midnight suddenly shattered through Arthur¡¯s ¡®space¡¯ transforming into a demonic ogre as he did so. He surged forward a massive claw hitting Arthur in the chest and sending him flying.


    Thinking at more than ten times his normal speed was excellent for keeping Arthur calm. Angel had told him about Midnight¡¯s illusions. They relied on light. As the demonic entity battered him, Arthur¡¯s mouth and hands opened and darkness poured out of them. ¡°Dark Dragon¡¯s Miasma,¡± He voiced as the tunnel went black.


    The pummeling stopped. Or more it became evident it¡¯d never begun. ¡°What¡¯s your plan for getting out of here without me?¡± Arthur asked in absolute darkness.


    ¡°Serena¡¯s coming,¡± Hoteye said, his Heaven¡¯s Eye magic having allowed him to see the entrance to the tunnel.


    Arthur didn¡¯t stay any longer. His silver keys were with a powerful magical presence at the entrance to the dungeons. He wasn¡¯t about to fight Serena in a tunnel. Instead he went to check on Aries¡¯s key. His space rose up and wrapped around himself and the Oracion Seis members about him and at nearly the speed of thought they were gone.


    Serena¡¯s magic slammed through the dungeon, his Cavern Dragon Slayer magic causing it to warp and squeeze shut, before he sent a second pulse of magic through to open it again to find his quarry fled.


    Draculos was surprised that his personal wards against spatial magic in the castle had been breached. It wasn¡¯t unbelievable. That was far from his magical specialty, and there were several mages in Fiore alone who could have maybe done it. But it had been done. He looked out towards the torrential rain that had begun pouring in. The weather had been sunny this morning, and spatial magic of this magnitude¡­


    The God of Ishgar shuddered. That storm was the sign that something big was brewing. Something very big.


    Princess Hisui screamed in horrified shock when a group of dark mages appeared in her bedroom. She¡¯d be inspecting the golden key that God Serena had given her as a gift, the key of Aries the Ram. And then suddenly 4 of the prisoners from the castle dungeon had appeared not just in the castle proper, but in her bedroom. The two structures were not actually adjacent to each other, and there were spells to help prevent just such a thing. Hisui didn¡¯t know too much about that, though. She was just a child.


    A child with 4 grown men suddenly standing around her, three of whom she recognized as dreaded members of the infamous Oracion Seis. The fourth she didn¡¯t recognize but he immediately reached forward and took the gold key from her hand.


    ¡°Sorry, miss, but this belongs to me,¡± The man said.


    Hisui¡¯s eyes naturally glanced to where she kept her silver keys, as she said in all the royal dignity the scared girl could muster. ¡°It¡¯s mine. God Serena gave it to me.¡±


    ¡°God Serena is a thief who has no right to lay claim to it, and a thief¡¯s gift is no rightful claim,¡± The man said.


    The other three were beginning to whisper.


    ¡°Oi, this is the princess isn¡¯t she,¡± the blonde, Racer, stated. ¡°If we take her as a hostage they won¡¯t be able to¡­¡± Suddenly his legs were hanging in the air three feet in front of his body, his hips resting on a pair of circular portals.


    ¡°Rule number 1 of reforming and seeking redemption. You do not kidnap small children,¡± the man who had taken her key said.


    ¡°I must second this,¡± the largest man of the four stated; Hisui recognized him as Hoteye. ¡°If we are to find redemption we cannot start by abduction.¡±


    ¡°Or killing,¡± The man with the golden key said.


    ¡°Then how do you suggest we get out of the castle?¡± Racer asked.


    The man glanced out of the window. Rain was coming down hard, a sudden, terrible storm having blown in without warning. And then they were gone from the room, leaving Hisui alone and terrified.


    Serena was furious. The most dangerous fugitive in living memory was loose and running about and it was pouring rain. What was worse was it was not some natural storm. His gale dragon slayer roar was more than enough to disperse natural rainstorms but had merely made this one stop for a moment before it reformed. There was some high end spatial magic gathering it together. Maybe if he targeted the right portion of it he could get rid of it. But he suspected he had to deal with the source: the Fairy Knight Lancelot.


    He¡¯d bluffed Lancelot into avoiding excessive flight in the last battle, claiming to be able to track his teleportation. Would that work again? Was the storm a sign the man had figured out how the heavenly eye of the gale dragon worked? It certainly blocked his ability to send his vision up into the sky to scout. And with the very very strict clause that he mustn¡¯t cause excess collateral damage he couldn¡¯t just rip and tear his way through until he found the man.


    Serena howled in impotent frustration. And then calmed himself. So he needed to move fast. He took the man¡¯s oversized shield from his arm and cast it aside. So much for that trophy. It was just dead weight as far as he could tell. Lighter than you¡¯d expect. But you didn¡¯t need a shield when you were one such as him.


    He gathered the gale beneath his legs. He couldn¡¯t go full force, but he could still leap. He might not know where Lancelot was, but he knew his goal. The girl Minerva. She hadn¡¯t been kept in the high security - what a laugh - wing of the capital dungeons, but had been allowed to stay in the castle as a ¡®guest¡¯ under heavy guard of knights.


    Her rescue had been Lancelot¡¯s objective last time. It was probably his objective this time.


    Getting out of Crocus wasn¡¯t a problem. Arthur could have done that with ease. Unfortunately he needed to find Minerva, and Serena had his stuff. His Archive could do the former, and he was still tracking his keys from here. The problem was the former took time, and his stuff included his Chaos Shield which protected the wearer from the twisting of reality. Such as his territory magic. He wasn¡¯t completely sure how he was going to get it back.


    Overclocking his mind was giving him more time to consider, but it was also a noticeable drain on his magical power. He needed to come up with a solution before it was too late. And he couldn¡¯t just keep hopping around the castle to avoid knights, but he didn¡¯t dare take Racer, Hoteye, and Midnight far afield either. At least not until he¡¯d figured out how he was going to keep an eye on them.


    And this insufferable storm just kept building and building. It was making his Archive magic go into red alert too, high end spatial magic all through it. It hadn¡¯t identified the purpose yet, but for magic of this power and complexity, Arthur could only assume it was one of the Four Gods; was this what the real God Serena was capable of, or was this what Draculos could have done with prep time?


    Suddenly magic hit him. He fell to his knees, dropping his canister of X-balls. It was a spell that inflicted pure pain, surging it through his entire body from his throat, even as he could feel it draining him of his magical power.


    A man was approaching through the rain. A dark haired, dark dressed man: Draculos Hyberion, for the time being still considered the number one mage in all of Ishgar. Arthur felt the magic drain tugging at his energy, making it hard for him to focus or gather his own magic to counter it. The Archive was still running, analyzing the spell and deciphering how to break it down, but Arthur felt naked and vulnerable, unable to move or stand.


    His Territory Armor darkened. For a moment he could not breathe. No light. No air. Nothing was being allowed to pass through it. It was enough to end the spell in seconds, and the moment it did the magic field became merely a distortion again and not its fully black void.


    ¡°I should have expected no less after the fight you gave Serena,¡± Draculos stated.


    ¡°I don¡¯t want to fight you,¡± Arthur said. ¡°Don¡¯t make me fight you.¡± He teleported his container of X Balls back into his hand.


    ¡°You¡¯re the one making me fight you,¡± Draculos said. ¡°Surrender and this ends.¡±


    The Oracion Seis were preparing themselves, but none of them wanted to be the first to rush one of the Four Gods.


    ¡°Let¡¯s teleport out of here,¡± Racer said, barely audible over the storm.


    ¡°Not without Minerva,¡± Arthur said as the rain pelted down against his armor, a constant drain on its energy. He looked at Draculos. ¡°She¡¯s innocent, but you have to realize that if she stays with her father he will do horrible things to her because of her testimony.¡±


    ¡°She¡¯s already in protective custody for that reason,¡± Draculos said. ¡°If that¡¯s all you¡¯re concerned about, leave the Oracion Seis here to pay for their crimes, end your storm, and go. Any real battle between us would be far too destructive.¡±


    ¡°My storm?¡± Arthur cried back. ¡°I thought it was yours?¡±


    ¡°I had hoped you were an honest man,¡± Draculos said, ¡°If you¡¯re going to make such ploys with me then I guess I was wrong about letting you leave being an option.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m serious this isn¡¯t my storm,¡± Arthur fell to his knees as Draculos¡¯s magic caught him again. It was just a glance and he was being drained.


    Arthur¡¯s armor blackened again, but this time when he reappeared red lances were ready striking against his armor. Draculos was moving, but with Arthur¡¯s mind overclocking Draculos wasn¡¯t fast enough. A garotte of magic caught him, and the portal opened. Immediately Draculos¡¯s head was in his hand, a portal around his neck keeping it connected.


    ¡°I¡¯m serious, this isn¡¯t my storm, can we stop fighting and figure out what this spatial magic is?¡±


    ¡°You are, aren¡¯t you,¡± Draculos said. He could break the portal, but he knew the real implication. If Arthur had caught him like this he could have done worse. His enemy wasn¡¯t fighting to kill; it gave him reason to suspect he was honest.


    Arthur felt his space being disrupted. He banished the portal, shunting Draculos¡¯s head back where it belonged. He couldn¡¯t hold it much longer. His armor was shattering, and the world seemed to be tilting to a side, the color bleeding out of it. Draculos and the Oracion Seis vanished. Everything was disappearing around Arthur.


    It was spatial magic. His Archive had already been screaming about it. But it wasn¡¯t something to try and fight him. It was something that was transporting the world around him to another dimension, his personal ¡®space¡¯ had helped resist and struggle against it, and Arthur was now being stranded in a space between. He could flee, push his space fully back into Earthland¡¯s reality and escape. Or he could teleport himself through the portal to the dimension on the other side.


    The answer was immediately clear. He was going to Edolas.

 Welcome to Edolas

    Gauging what was on the other side of the dimensional rift was difficult. Managing to force his conceptually controlled space through a hole between realities was hard enough, requiring fine-tuned manipulation of his magic almost on par with removing the safety locks that kept it from separating a solid object. Arthur was going in mostly blind.


    He appeared in the air, but it was easy to break his inertia and his fall. He was rather glad the X-Ball he had eaten was still working - even if he wished he had something to put the canister in instead of having to carry the other 7 by hand - it seemed to have been a rather necessary purchase.


    His improved magic technique was helpful as well. He could shape his territory armor into gliding wings, or simply shut down gravitational force in his space. Thankfully he didn¡¯t let option paralysis shut him down, but chose one, and brought himself gliding down for a landing. He might still have magic in Edolas, but he was running hot with it even in Earthland before this. He needed to stop using quite so much, at least until he figured out how he was going to¡­ what happened in Edolas arc. Wait hadn¡¯t they abducted Fairy Tail? Had they stolen other cities too?


    Arthur couldn¡¯t remember. He just remembered something about turning people into lacrima, and dragon slayers being the special targets. Either they¡¯d stolen several cities, or by taking too much time to bring Wendy to Fairy Tail he¡¯d accidentally shifted the target to the other largest collection of magical energy in Fiore. He had a worry in his gut it was the latter; by bringing two of the Four Gods, himself, and Wendy together in one place, not to mentioned Minerva and Jiemma who both had very high magical power even by Fairy Tail¡¯s standards, he¡¯d shifted the balance of where the biggest magical concentration was. And now it was up to him to make sure things went ¡®right¡¯.


    But what was right? Ensuring the magic went away in Edolas? One of his bounties was to prevent that. And while this was, in his mind, more of a moral quandary than a question of personal gain, Arthur wasn¡¯t certain he should actively go against bounties. Even ignoring the benefits, he knew that boring the sponsors could see him sent home; and he didn¡¯t have the power to say no to a true villain yet. Someone who rejoiced in the evil they could do. Besides removing its magic had always seemed an author cop out and a sort of a short sighted and immoral end.


    Elentear already was coming to mind. But first he needed to change the tack he was taking with his magic. He ceased overclocking his mind, though given he was simply turning all of that computational power of Archive towards analyzing the world around him and its magic it didn¡¯t do much to help his slowly draining magical reserves. To help with that he let his Territory Armor drop. He hated doing it. He was unarmored physically as well right now. But it was essential. Without his black blade to regain energy by killing enemies, even with his X-Ball he was feeling the reduced level of magic in Edolas. He¡¯d have to conserve things for a bit.


    Hopefully he could find a town quickly.


    Serena was surprised when his magic had cut out mid flight. It hadn¡¯t completely shut down. No, his lacrima hadn¡¯t completely shut down. His own native magic was outside of his reach. It was puzzling and troublesome. And when he used his gale dragon slayer magic, he could feel the lacrima shrink inside of him. He would have to be careful about how much he used his magic.


    First that damnable Lancelot had humiliated him. With his latest lacrima he was the most powerful mage in Ishgar, and this self-proclaimed true dragon slayer - as if he hadn¡¯t made one of his lacrima from one of the dragons he had slain himself - had humiliated him. And now they¡¯d teleported the whole capital into another dimension. Serena hated to admit it, but he actually would have to respect the balls that took, and the power. Maybe together his quest could end, and they could finally kill Acnologia.


    Except judging from the white cat¡¯s statements he hadn¡¯t done it. The people of Edolas had. Still he set the girl and her cat on the ground; he¡¯d caught them as the cat¡¯s wings had given out.


    ¡°You, cat, you know about this world. Tell the great God about it,¡± He said in an imperious tone. He had to figure out how to get his magic back. And then he had to figure out what to do about this world. ¡°And don¡¯t lie to me. I will know if you do, and the result won¡¯t be pleasant.¡± His hand moved to the black blade he¡¯d taken from Lancelot in a threatening motion. The sword didn¡¯t feel any different here than in Earthland, and his lacrima were still somewhat functional. Maybe it would still function as well¡­ and he¡¯d felt its cut. It ate at his being when it cut him. ¡°In fact they¡¯ll be most ungodly for you, and her.¡±


    Arthur had expected trouble to come in the form of magical knights, or evil Erza, not giant animals. He wished he had his black blade. It¡¯d have saved him magical energy, and difficulty. Still he swapped positions with it, sending it crashing past him, and then when it turned to charge him again, his magic spread out, his space opening throughout its body, and suddenly he had divided it up, teleporting the pieces apart in perfect, clean cuts. If he teleported them back together quickly enough, he wondered if it¡¯d stick together and live. Still it¡¯d be exhausting if those creatures kept attacking them.


    Serena had no idea if the cat-creature was lying or telling the truth. It¡¯d not been obviously lying, but if it had held back or fabricated it¡¯d done so too well for him to know. Not that he really would have cut up the little girl over it. She was far too cute of a child to harm that way.


    And far too cute to let some oversized creature eat her. The hairy thing had come rushing out of the woods, and charged them. Being God Serena he had, even without his magic, dodged with the greatest of ease and finesse. The little child did not. The beast had thrown her with its snout, striking her hard, and tossing the blue haired girl back and now it was salivating as it charged towards her again, its teeth gleaming.


    He screamed, as he charged towards it. Magic or not he still had some of his strength and that black sword. ¡°Leave her alone!¡± The sword danced in his hand, sweeping and cutting through the air, slicing into the creature¡¯s leg like it was made of soft gelatin. It howled out, and Serena felt its soul flowing into him and with it a portion of magical power.


    The beast, injured, turned on him, forgetting the little girl for a moment. And for a moment Serena felt fear. His battle with Lancelot, and the loss of his magical power, had shaken him, but with this sword he could win.


    It charged and he leapt, stabbing it straight between the eyes as he did so. The creature collapsed to the ground, its sheer momentum carrying it - and him - a fair way as he felt alive like he had never felt before. He liked this sword. He really liked this sword. Maybe this was where Lancelot had really got his power. How many people had he killed for their magical strength?


    Arthur had found civilization. It looked like a large town by Earthland¡¯s standards, though the quality of life was evidently poorer. Few people were on the streets, but there was litter and trash. It was like the people here just didn¡¯t care any more; as if some special spark had gone out of their lives. Maybe it was the boarded up magic shops; some spark had gone out of their lives. Still there were some people, and Arthur couldn¡¯t help but get the feeling that they were giving him the stink eye.


    When he found a tavern, he turned and walked into it. A bar was a traditional place for gossip and news, and all great quests began in a tavern. If he ever retold his story of how he¡¯d gotten isekai¡¯d he¡¯d definitely claim it was a mysterious meeting with an individual in a bar and not that he slipped in the shower and was going to hit his temple on the toilet.


    There was a stir among the patrons when he entered, and Arthur began to worry they could sense his magic or his otherness, or that there was something wrong with him. Maybe it was what he was wearing?


    Arthur swore internally. He was still wearing a prison jumpsuit. Even if it didn¡¯t match a local prison or its norms, it was still obviously the clothes of some homeless vagrant on the run from something.


    He turned and walked back out of the door only to see a group of armed townguards.


    Arthur raised his hands. He didn¡¯t want to fight them in the middle of town, and they¡¯d not be expecting him to have internal magic. As long as they didn¡¯t get violent he¡¯d be fine, and maybe he could figure out what was going on. Or get escorted to the capital ¡®under arrest¡¯. It¡¯d be a good chance to catalog things with his Archive as well. They couldn¡¯t know it was running in the background, its interface collapsed into nothing more than a small set of symbols on his arm.


    ¡°Fairy Tail, isn¡¯t that your guild?¡± Serena asked as they walked towards the building. He felt powerful; each monster he had killed with that sword made him feel that much stronger. And it had let him tap into his magic in this world.


    ¡°It is,¡± Wendy said nervously. She didn¡¯t really know them. She¡¯d joined because Arthur had said they were good people, and they seemed to be good people, and they had offered to help her, but she hadn¡¯t had a chance to get to know them yet.


    But walking into the building they weren¡¯t the Fairy Tail that she had met before. They were all different. They were also startled turning towards them and beginning to murmur furtively. It was one of the mages Wendy had barely seen before¡­ Droy? An overweight man who had been among Fairy Tail¡¯s weakest mages whose voice rose above the crowd. ¡°They¡¯re not magic branch soldiers, one of them¡¯s a child,¡± He said. ¡°So what brings you two to Fairy Tail?¡±


    ¡°God you asked,¡± Serena said, taking a sweeping bow. ¡°I am the legendary Six-Dragon God Serena, the most powerful mage in Ishgar, nay the world. And I am concerned as to who it was that kidnapped Ishgar¡¯s most prosperous capital and had the foolish idea to abduct me in the process. Now could any of you tell me where I can find the source of the Anima magic?¡±


    The murmuring began again, and it was a white haired woman who stepped forward this time. Wendy thought her name was Mirajane? She¡¯d taken a kind interest in Wendy before, and had the same kind voice as before as well. A tall, curvy blue haired woman approached too. They began to answer Serena¡¯s questions somewhat, but Wendy stopped really listening when they said the blue haired woman¡¯s name: Wendy.


    She looked at Carla in shocked surprise. Wendy had thought they were Fairy Tail, somehow transported here, but now she wasn¡¯t so certain. ¡°It is another world, it¡¯s possible it has other versions of the same people in it,¡± Carla muttered.


    And then someone screamed. ¡°It¡¯s the Fairy Hunter!¡±


    ¡°The Fairy Hunter?¡± Serena asked. ¡°Is she affiliated with this royal government that has seized all magic?¡±


    ¡°Yes,¡± Mirajane said. ¡°But we can¡¯t fight her, we¡¯ve got to transport the guild¡­¡± She stopped, Serena had already left.


    Wendy choked a bit as he pulled her by her dress behind him. ¡°We¡¯ll make them tell me about anima one way or another,¡± Serena stated. ¡°And then we¡¯ll save the day like I always do, and I will reclaim my place as the world¡¯s most powerful mage.¡±


    ¡°You let go of her, she doesn¡¯t have her magic like you do,¡± Carla said, chasing after and slapping his leg. ¡°Let go of her this instant.¡±


    ¡°Oi, you¡¯re the Fairy Hunter, right?¡± Serena asked, looking towards the red-haired woman at the front of the army. Wendy recognized her immediately. It was Erza Scarlet, or Edolas¡¯s version of her. The woman was riding a massive, black, semi-porcine bull horned, winged creature, and carrying a spear, armor covering her arms and legs from just above the elbows and knees respectively down, and then wearing what amounted to a bikini. ¡°You¡¯re a big deal, right?¡± Serena continued. ¡°Well, tell your king there¡¯s a new power in this world. Either he makes it worth my time to work for him, or I¡¯ll become king of this new world.¡±


    Wendy¡¯s eyes went wide. ¡°What about Crocus?¡± She asked, struggling against his hand.


    ¡°Men, seize this fool,¡± The red-haired woman stated and Serena raised his hand. ¡°Purgatory Dragon¡¯s Eight Hells Fire!¡± It wasn¡¯t as concentrated - or as powerful - as he¡¯d used against Arthur, but his sweeping hand sent waves of flames through the army. The red-haired knight¡¯s spear slashing through it.


    Wendy wailed at the sight of the devastation. The sheer scale and scope of the wounded or worse. The red-haired knight looked shocked and aghast. Their magic blocking shields had overloaded and scores of men were badly wounded or worse. ¡°Men!¡±


    ¡°I¡¯d not keep fighting if I were you,¡± Serena said. ¡°Take me to your leader.¡±


    Arthur sat in processing for hours, before he decided that this would take too long. Whatever was going to be done with the giant lacrima - which the guards were talking about cheerfully - would be done before he reached the capital this way.


    He turned his eyes up inside of his jail cell and immediately he and the guard assigned to watch the cells had switched places. The other prisoners gasped in amazement and astonishment. He hadn¡¯t used a magic tool as far as they could tell. And when he then teleported the guard¡¯s uniform and weapons onto himself they started hooting and hollering, screaming to plead that he help release them.


    Arthur considered, even as his archive identified the signatures of Aries¡¯s key and his X-Balls, and teleported them into his hands. At least now he¡¯d not have to keep the key awkwardly in the X-Balls. And then he raised his hand and snapped his fingers, balls of his space formed and exploded against the locks of the jail cell. Even if this wasn¡¯t some large scale prison break, it might provide some chaos to cover his tracks as he got to the capital.


    The guards were rushing towards him, ready to put an end to the little revolt. They were far from numerous enough to actually stop him, even the two dozen criminals he¡¯d just freed from the cells in the local jail outnumbered them. But still it wouldn¡¯t do to have a full-blown fight, either his little fugitive mob would be beaten up, or the guards would be hurt.


    Why allow either when with a wave of his hand he could teleport all the guards out of the town? And then it was time to find a vehicle. The capital was more than a week from here on foot. He could probably make it there a good deal faster with his territory magic, teleporting tens of miles at a time, but he was recovering magic more slowly in Edolas, and he didn¡¯t know what he¡¯d have to face. He might still have to fight Knightwalker.


    Thankfully there was a vehicle attached to the police station. Unfortunately Arthur had almost zero clue how to drive it.


    He turned to the escapees who hadn¡¯t already split off and ran their separate ways. ¡°Any of you know how to drive this thing? I need to reach the capital for a little¡­ high treason.¡±


    The 5 remaining criminals looked at each other. ¡°You wanna go up against the imperial army? You¡¯re nuts,¡± One woman said.


    ¡°Count me out. Suicide isn¡¯t my way,¡± A man stated.


    As four of them walked away, only the last remained. A white haired, large, muscular man. One who Arthur recognized from Earthland. He knew that there had been Edolas versions of the inhabitants of Earthland, so presumably this was his Edolas version. ¡°I¡¯m in,¡± Jiemma said. ¡°I was going to be executed for publicly protesting the king, and it¡¯ll happen again any way, might as well do a little good in the world first.¡±


    Arthur had hoped it¡¯d be any of them but Jiemma. He knew the Edolas counterparts tended to be quite different than normal - if he remembered correctly Edolas Lucy was a dominatrix, and Edolas Natsu was obsessed with driving - but he still couldn¡¯t look at Jiemma without wanting to punch him. Still, he needed someone who knew how to drive one of Edolas¡¯s magical cars. ¡°Alright,¡± He said, ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡±


    Wendy rode behind Serena on the legion. She¡¯d never ridden an animal before, much less a massive winged thing, but Serena rode astride it like a seasoned professional. His eyes remained fixed on the beast before theirs. It was Edolas Erza¡¯s mount. They were following her back to the capital. Her mission to hunt down the last Mages¡¯ Guild had failed, but she had captured something perhaps more valuable.


    ¡°You don¡¯t really mean to help them do you?¡± She asked as they rode.


    Serena glared at her. ¡°You realized the red haired one can probably hear us, don¡¯t you? She survived my attack, she¡¯s not stupid. She¡¯s not so far ahead as to not be listening to us. And why couldn¡¯t I? Here I have no equal, no rival, here my power is absolute.¡±


    ¡°But what about the people of Crocus? What about everyone else? What¡¯s to stop them from doing it again?¡± Wendy asked.


    ¡°You¡¯re rather slow aren¡¯t you.¡± He raised his hand and pointed towards the legion in front twice in quick succession. ¡°If they¡¯ll make me their highest general I¡¯m quite happy to let them do as they please. You will realize someday, child, that adults do what is best for themselves no matter what terms they crouch it under.¡±


    Wendy swallowed hard. She wondered if it was the truth or just something he was saying because the Edolas Erza was listening.


    Driving was a lot faster than walking. Jiemma drove steadfastly, with only minor breaks for the entire hours long trip. Still the two had plenty of time to talk about why Arthur was here, and what his goal was. And it gave him a chance to learn Jiemma¡¯s own goals and why he was imprisoned.


    If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.


    Arthur didn¡¯t tell Jiemma about his nature of having come from yet another, wildly different world. But just of his time in Earthland and why he had been under arrest there. He didn¡¯t even tell Jiemma about the details involving Jiemma or Minerva.


    Jiemma for his part informed Arthur of how he had been arrested for protesting the king. And not for the first time. The first had been after the death of his wife in one of the wars that unified the world under the king. The second had been when mage¡¯s guilds were banned. And now he had protested the creation of the giant lacrima, and given it was the third time, and once the bureaucracy realized that his sentence was almost certainly going to be death. Still as he told it to Arthur: ¡°I just can¡¯t stand and watch the king use his power to bully those weaker than himself. He bullied the world into uniting. He bullied the world into giving him all the magic left. Now he¡¯s bullying other worlds, and what''s next from there? Invasion? More war.¡±


    The man side eyed Arthur. ¡°I¡¯d ask how you intend to stop this whole lacrima and anima business, but¡­ I think I¡¯d rather not know.¡±


    ¡°Why¡¯s that?¡± Arthur asked insensitively.


    ¡°You wear that armor too easily. You move in it like a man of war,¡± He said.


    This shocked Arthur a bit. He was used to not having the reflexes and nature to keep up in a fight, but he still had years of sword and sorcery combat that had been pushed into his mind. It just didn¡¯t function the same as anime. It was more grounded. Even Edolas - the world without magic - had floating islands, several moons, kaiju, and plants that didn¡¯t make physical sense. In Sword and Sorcery that¡¯d be a sign of high magic not no magic.


    ¡°I don¡¯t intend to fight any more than I absolutely have to,¡± Arthur said.


    ¡°Good,¡± Jiemma stated. ¡°I¡¯ll help you reach the capital because something needs to change, but I won¡¯t fight alongside you.¡±


    Arthur nodded. ¡°The ride is enough.¡± And then they were silent again for some time. Eventually conversation resumed comparing and contrasting the differences between the two worlds.


    ¡°Knightwalker! What¡¯s that giant lacrima on the island up ahead, it¡¯s huge. Is that the anima device?¡± Serena called out. The capital was still a fair ways away, visible at the horizon, but the lacrima mountain had drawn Serena¡¯s eye and attention.


    ¡°If the king sees fit for you to find out, then you¡¯ll fi-¡± Knightwalker began.


    ¡°It¡¯s Crocus isn¡¯t it?¡± Serena said.


    ¡°What?¡± Knightwalker asked, turning her head back and pulling her legion up short.


    ¡°It really is,¡± Serena said. ¡°You turned a whole city into lacrima.¡± He¡¯d seen her stiffen when he first mentioned the lacrima. Fairy Tail hadn¡¯t known about the anima device, and given the size of the mountain they¡¯d have known about it. The deflection from Knightwalker told him it was dangerous for him to know it. The fact that it was so obvious made him guess it was new. He¡¯d been making an assumption really with it being Crocus, but her reaction confirmed it. ¡°There were some people I liked in Crocus, can you turn them back?¡±


    She glared at him silently, and turned her head. ¡°Talk to the king,¡± She said.


    Serena smiled. He¡¯d enjoy breaking her in the end until she told him how to save Fiore¡¯s capital. And if there wasn¡¯t a way. If this podunk, magic-starved dimension had stained his record in that way. Well he¡¯d just burn its capital to ashes and all the magic it had hoarded with it. He¡¯d make sure she survived his interrogation. The king too. They could watch the results of screwing with God.


    Sneaking into the capital was easy. They weren¡¯t prepared for a mage who could use magic freely. Jiemma dropped him off within a few miles of the city and Territory did the rest. The city was abuzz with talk about the grand lacrima, and how part of it was being given to the city itself for use in powering its recreation.


    Compared to the town he¡¯d visited previously the capital was alive. It didn¡¯t seem to be half-abandoned with a broken down infrastructure. There was public transportation, artificial light. It felt like a city in Earthland, almost like Crocus itself.


    And no one took notice of just another soldier of the royal army walking around it. Even when he approached the giant lacrima, and began actively fiddling with his Archive, opening a visible screen, and working on it no one seemed to take notice. He needed to figure out how to return the lacrima to normal. And all he was getting from the Archive¡¯s analysis of the magical energy was that it was related to dragon slayer magic big time. Still the analysis, even assisted by Archive - effectively a magical supercomputer made for this purpose - was taking longer than Arthur would have liked.


    ¡°You there, what magical tool is that?¡± An aged man asked. ¡°I don¡¯t remember seeing it before.¡± He was the same man who had been announcing about the lacrima, and he was not alone; the guards were with him, their spears pointing towards Arthur, shooting forth as sticky, slimy, entangling masses to wrap him tightly. ¡°It¡¯s definitely not standard issue. Where¡¯d you get it?¡± The man blinked looking around at the suddenly very different scenery.


    Arthur wasn¡¯t risking the man calling for reinforcements. He¡¯d teleported the man, and himself, straight out of the city. Pointing his spear towards the man, he looked at him. ¡°Actually, I think I have some questions for you, instead.¡±


    ¡°And if I refuse to answer?¡± The man asked and then he stopped.


    Arthur was yanking his beard through a portal he¡¯d made with his territory, pulling his face towards the swirling vortex which formed the entrance and exit of the temporary portal. And then he let the portal snap shut, shearing the man¡¯s long, well maintained beard, to a pathetic short stump. ¡°I will get rid of you, and move my way up the ladder until I find someone who will answer my questions, or remove the king¡¯s blasted head.¡±


    ¡°You impertinent hooligan! I am the king!¡± The man bellowed.


    Arthur was dumbstruck. He had thought it was just some guy proclaiming things in the king¡¯s own name. He hadn¡¯t for a moment thought it was the king himself.


    ¡°Erm¡­ checkmate?¡± Arthur said, an awkward smile on his face. His hand moved in front of his chest index and middle fingers out, thumb pressing down on the others. It was his chuuni thinking pose; he still wasn¡¯t sure if it was a placebo or not, but he¡¯d been told it¡¯d help him think and even if it was just a magic feather he could use it right now. ¡°You want to live, king? If you want to live you¡¯re going to cooperate with me, and each time you don¡¯t I will make you suffer for it.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re bluffi-¡± The king stopped howling out in pain. In Arthur¡¯s hand was the tip of his pinky, teleported from his hand.


    ¡°Nah, I¡¯m quite willing to hurt you,¡± Arthur said. ¡°I don¡¯t even need you alive. I¡¯m sure there are others in your government who could work the Anima, and I doubt they¡¯ll be loyal to your ghost in the face of clear and present danger to their lives.¡±


    The old man blanched and began to tremble, still clutching his bleeding hand. ¡°What do you want to know?¡± He asked, his eyes darting to behind Arthur.


    ¡°I want you to think about the anima project, everything you know about it,¡± Arthur said as the yellow, hardlight projection of his Archive appeared around them, and especially around the king¡¯s head. ¡°Where is it? How does it work? Where¡¯s the bathroom? Your bedroom? The map of the castle?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s¡­ well¡­ what? How are those about the anima project?¡± The old man asked.


    ¡°Stop resisting the mind probe, and think about your castle and the anima project,¡± Arthur demanded, another slice of pinky being teleported away.


    ¡°You¡¯re insane!¡± The king demanded, and then in a shimmer of discoloration and the shadowy distortion of Territory Magic he was gone.


    Arthur turned the Archive back to its insubstantial form as it switched modes to overclocking. His sword and keys were coming, and he needed to be ready for a fight. Except it was passing him by, a group of legions flying in towards the capital itself.


    ¡°Your king is missing?¡± Serena laughed raucously. ¡°The high and mighty king of all that is, is missing? Well it doesn¡¯t sound like you¡¯re much of a functional government after all.¡±


    ¡°How did this happen?¡± Erza Knightwalker, as this world¡¯s Erza was named, demanded looking at Hughes. Hughes was the chief of defense of the castle, and another captain of the magic branch of the royal army.


    ¡°Reports say a soldier just gestured at them and they both disappeared in a hazy distortion, something like a heat haze through smog,¡± Hughes answered.


    ¡°Did he have white and blue hair?¡± Serena asked.


    ¡°He was wearing a helmet, so people didn¡¯t have much of a look at it, though I believe they noted it was white.¡±


    ¡°Lancelot. So his magic is working here too.¡± It had to be some bond with the sword. Did it feed them both at the same time? Or was it just that he was still running on consumed souls? How many people had Lancelot murdered for his power? Serena swore inwardly to show him what real power was.


    Serena found himself torn for a moment. Lancelot was a dangerous criminal, sheltering another criminal almost as dangerous. He could be a threat to all of Ishgar. He had humiliated him. Had stained his record. Some unknown, no name, two bit mage from Guiltina had dared claim to be a true dragon slayer while he was only a false one. Some unknown, no name, two bit mage from Guiltina, fought him to a draw. It wasn¡¯t like Draculos. They¡¯d never had a real drag out, full blown fight. Besides they¡¯d been the God of Ishgar for as long as Serena could remember. He had idolized them as a child.


    Lancelot was some punk who thought he was better. But if he could throw around his magic there were only a few possibilities. He was an idiot; Serena had realized that in the first fight. The fact that he had not actually tried a long distance teleportation - which given his movement unnoticed from Hargeon to Crocus overnight when no transport vehicles had passed that way he almost certainly had - in the fight was a bit of a show of that. That he had tried to rescue his girlfriend then and there during the fight, instead of abandoning the girl and coming back later, doubled down on it. He was a fool.


    Serena hated fighting idiots. You could predict an intelligent adversary. They were rational. A fool was dangerously random. And the fact that this was a fool who was dangerously good with magic, and dangerously strong in it made things worse. He could be drawing energy from the sword like Serena himself was. It could be that he still had a store of power from it which he was wasting. Or given his unpredictability - he¡¯d escaped a magic sealing stone cell after all, and demonstrated that body dismemberment magic - he could just have his magic in this world.


    Serena was scared. Lancelot had come the closest to killing him since the day his family died. Nothing else he¡¯d faced in his life had gotten that close to ending him. He couldn¡¯t fight him here and now. There were simply too many unknown factors. His odds of victory were too close to zero.


    Serena considered. Lancelot had rushed to save the girl. If her testimony was true, and knowing his old sparring partner it was, then he wasn¡¯t a bloodthirsty killer, but some individual who believed he was helping people with his personal quest to ¡®save¡¯ these poor society disrupting elements. In that case he likely was honest when he said he believed the criminal mastermind and the femme fatale assassin had turned over a new leaf. Probably got seduced. Still assuming he was the naive idiot he seemed to be, it was probable he was trying to figure out what happened to Crocus. The idea turned his stomach but Serena realized he only had one option. He would work together with Lancelot. Offer to use his influence and position to get the pardon he needed, and save Crocus. The sword bothered him though. It drank the life of others. A naive fool didn¡¯t carry that. Which meant he was a hardened killer. Maybe he just had a thing for the little girl. Still he hadn¡¯t killed anyone at Vampire Kiss. His behavior didn¡¯t make sense. Still Lancelot had power he needed. The idea that he needed help galled him, but if he had his usual power he¡¯d never have done this fake defection. He¡¯d have come in with his magic, and made them grovel. As it was if he was going to save Crocus and his position, influence, and reputation, he needed help.


    Lancelot was his lucky break.


    ¡°You know this man?¡± Knightwalker asked.


    ¡°Most dangerous murderer I¡¯ve ever met,¡± Serena said off the cuff. Given the sword he carried he¡¯d probably murdered many. How much of his power had come from wanton slaughter? Serena couldn¡¯t guess it. Maybe he¡¯d spared those at Vampire Kiss because he¡¯d reached a level of power where they no longer were noticeable? He¡¯d find out someday. If the sword could increase your power permanently he¡¯d keep it. There were always some people who society was glad to have you kill.


    ¡°You¡¯re saying a murderer from your world has abducted the king?¡± Knightwalker asked.


    ¡°No, I¡¯m saying the second strongest mage from my world has abducted your king,¡± Serena said. ¡°And I¡¯m sorry miss, but you can¡¯t handle him with all of your armies. He wounded me, and you¡¯re no m-¡± His words cut off as a dark distortion wrapped around him and he vanished.


    Arthur was spending more power than he¡¯d like, but it was necessary. Even with the X-Ball he wasn¡¯t recovering ethernado at full efficiency in this place, and he¡¯d not be at his peak power to fight Serena. But unless Mystogan had helped him, Serena should be in a worse situation. If he was going to kill him this was the time. Unless Mystogan helped him. Even then, Serena was scary in a way Georg never had been. Georg was like a wild animal, a bull prone to rage at being disturbed, but he¡¯d never gone out of his way to cause pain or suffering in Arthur¡¯s experience. Serena was a sadistic monster, who had hurt him more for pleasure than purpose. Arthur couldn¡¯t pretend he hadn¡¯t gone for the kill in the fight himself, but Serena had first, and¡­


    He cut off that line of thought. He needed to focus; overclocking this much was energy intensive and he couldn¡¯t afford to waste that energy in navel gazing. Still even while overclocking to this level his Archive could detect the sword and keys. They were together, and near Wendy. He didn¡¯t have a recording of Serena¡¯s energy in his Archive well enough to ascertain if he was the one with them, but he would have to make the bet. Serena had them last he knew. Unless Mystogan took them from him then it was Serena. And it had passed in a group of flying beasts which seemed to have paused at the castle, and at least one of which was carrying troops, Arthur doubted it was Mystogan.


    He raised his and snapped his fingers, and teleported the person who was carrying his things in front of him. Serena appeared, and almost immediately he screamed. Arthur had, after all, teleported him directly into a death trap formed from his territory magic. The instant Arthur was sure it was Serena, and with his mind fully overclocked it was a quick recognition, Serena was being crushed. It was a simple cube of space squeezing and slamming tight around him.  Territory magic squeezing and slamming tight around him. He had been warped into Arthur¡¯ own space, abducted into a block of solid force which continually squeezed tighter and tighter around him.


    Serena was startled. It was assassination magic. Coldly applied and with deadly efficiency. And in that moment Serena realized he was going to be killed. He wasn¡¯t truly at his full power here. He could shatter these walls, but he couldn¡¯t see Lancelot; and he needed to take him out before he could expect it. A single blast that was too powerful for him to handle, and too sudden for him to dodge. It was his only hope.


    ¡°Lancelot! Wait-¡± He cried out in pain. The territory magic had just squeezed and twisted, his right hand being shattered till shards of bone jut from it. As the pressure moved to his leg, he realized he couldn¡¯t wait to try and bait Lancelot in front of him, and that Lancelot wasn¡¯t going to give him the option of alliance.


    ¡°Dragon God¡¯s Fatal Eruption!¡± He screamed even as hammer blow after hammer blow on his knee. It was a mixture of purgatory, gale, and cavern dragon slayer magic, a pyroclastic explosion of superheated gas and ash, carried on the winds of his magic. It melted the earth beneath him. It left the air a wave of molten heat. It shattered Lancelot¡¯s Territory in its wake, and obliterated everything in its way. It left him standing in the middle of a crater, the toxic fumes of molten earth blown out in a heated assault by the winds he had released.


    His right leg couldn¡¯t take full weight. And he didn¡¯t have Lancelot in sight, the smoke of his own assault obscuring everything. ¡°Lancelot, we should talk,¡± He said.


    A portal formed around his neck, and he felt it cut. His diamond scales formed only barely in time to prevent it cutting fully, but his throat was bleeding, a single, circular cut. And even with the scale it had required him pouring in his magical power to keep it from cutting all the way; disrupting the spell with his own energy as much or more than the scales themselves.


    ¡°Be that way,¡± He released a heavy blast of winds to knock away the smoke, and he found himself alone in the wasteland. He loosed his mind¡¯s eye, sending it into the sky with his Gale Dragon Slayer Magic to get a dragon¡¯s eye view of the area and immediately he spotted Lancelot. They were lying on the ground. Pathetic. Well if they weren¡¯t looking at him.


    He raised his hand and invoked his power. A serpent of fire burst from beneath Lancelot. The mage dodged, teleporting behind him, but it didn¡¯t matter, he could see 360 degrees with his dragon¡¯s eye. Wind came next.


    Lancelot came in close, hand slamming towards him, and Serena grinned. He drew his black sword to cut the enemy down in a single sweep.


    The hilt twisted in his hand, the blade catching in the scabbard. It was like it was fighting him and at a time he couldn¡¯t afford it. An explosion caught his chin and sent him flying. There was no fire, though, it was like a solid object, an expanding sphere of force.


    He rolled as he landed, the third and fourth draconic serpents of his Dragon God¡¯s Fang rising upward as he stood in the molten crater. The fumes and heat should keep Lancelot from him for a moment. But a wave of twisted space like a solid wall hit him in the back sending him face first into the molten dirt. He rose, drawing the sword at last and his aerial eye caught Lancelot.


    He needed to fight smart. Fire and wind bursting from his feet and back to launch him towards Lancelot. It was the same thing that Lancelot had tried to kill him with, sword point first, rocket charge.


    Only the sword turned in his hand, twisting from place as he flew. He lost his balance as he wrestled with the blade to keep it from cutting off his own arm, crashing into the dirt, the blade biting lightly into his flesh before he threw it away. Another of those cursed portals formed around his throat and his energy surged again, shattering it, but not fast enough to stop his throat from bleeding.


    ¡°Wait!¡± He screamed. ¡°I can help your friends!¡± The second portal formed around his waist, forcing him to flare magic further across his body. ¡°I have influence!¡±


    He screamed as his right arm suddenly was no longer attached to his body, blood pouring out. He clamped his left hand to the stump, fire magic burning on his palm, but his supply was running out. He only half cauterized the stump before he could do no more.


    And Lancelot was approaching with that cursed sword in hand.


    ¡°I can get you and them both pardoned! Your little redemption scheme, I can make it work.¡± The white haired man continued to come forward, his lips drawn thin, his thick eyebrows looking like a single mass on his furious, hate filled face.


    Magic grasped his left arm and twisted it, making him howl out as bone ripped through flesh.


    He was going to die. This man wanted to kill him more than he wanted anything that he could offer. Tears ran down his face as all hope left him. ¡°We must save Fiore,¡± He said as the blade plunged into his chest barely missing the lacrima implanted in his heart.


    His last thoughts were that he hoped his last words weighed on the soul of the man who killed him.


    Arthur had feared Serena. Throughout the trial. During the escape. Even now. He had been afraid. Afraid that Serena would come after him. Even when he was laying there beaten and broken, crying and begging for his life, Arthur had been afraid. It wasn¡¯t the fight against Serena before. He¡¯d won, though it had taken everything he possessed, and even then if it hadn¡¯t been for the element of surprise he¡¯d likely have lost; he knew what Serena¡¯s powers were, and what the weaknesses of it was, Serena though hadn¡¯t known any of his tricks beforehand. He was more skilled now. More skilled than Serena. But he wasn¡¯t sure he¡¯d have won a fair rematch.


    And after the trial, Arthur was certain there would be one. Even if he had spared Serena here and now, the rematch would have come. Or maybe Serena would have stabbed him in the back. Maybe it¡¯s because he had managed to terrify Serena as well. He had hurt him, wounded him, nearly killed him. But Serena had tried to kill him first. And you didn¡¯t try to kill without being prepared to die; Arthur couldn¡¯t remember where he¡¯d heard that, probably an anime.


    Now, though, that pall of death wasn¡¯t hanging over him any longer. He in fact felt euphoric. There was a nagging sense of guilt. He had killed in cold blood again. No. For the first time he¡¯d resolved to kill someone and sought them out for that reason.


    And with the sword feeding him their soul it felt good. Dangerously, soul corrupting-ly good. He wasn¡¯t recharging his magic at full speed on Edolas, even with X-Balls. But he hadn¡¯t absorbed this much power through his sword since, well even the dragon had been less than this. His reserves and supply of magical energy were overflowing, and for the moment he felt absolutely invincible.


    He turned down the overclocking of his brain, so that his Archive magic could be put to a new task. In life Serena had been a viper, laying in wait to strike. In death he was a grotesque object. His face was twisted, his eyes dull, his blood pooling beneath him. Arthur hated the look of it, but it didn¡¯t stop him from opening his Archive¡¯s physical manifestation. Wendy was still detectable at the castle. Good. But that wasn¡¯t what he was looking for right now. He turned his Archive¡¯s sensors to the task of finding Serena¡¯s lacrima. It only took moments with him still, the magic in his own living form already drunk in its entirety by his sword.


    He teleported the cluster of lacrima which had replaced his heart out and looked at the chunk of flesh and internal organs which had come with it. It reeked. Opening his territory portal he dropped it into the dimensional space he had created with his Territory Magic. He was reinventing Requip Magic; he was pretty certain, and in an inferior fashion. He¡¯d have to see if he could find a book on it.


    But for now it was time to collect his bounty. Killing Serena had been one. And his mental HUD came down, the alert message flashing. But when he tried to collect, the world jerked and twisted. Everything seemed to stop; including his archive magic, which pulled his thoughts to a crashing halt, his head suddenly pounding in headache.


    And then he was in the classroom again, the smiley faced entity looking at him. ¡°We have been given a special bounty.¡±

 Faustian Bargain

    Arthur blinked, the creature didn¡¯t wait for him to gather his senses after his brain had had its external CPU unplugged without preparation, but continued to speak. ¡°You may remember certain bounties could change the world state,¡± The one that had ensured he would have eventful times popped up in his mind. It made good luck better, bad luck worse, and just ensured he¡¯d have an eventful life as things were more likely to happen around him. He was afraid it was largely responsible for his recent encounters with God Serena.


    ¡°These are most commonly given and accepted at the beginning of a jump. However this is not universally the case.¡± The bounty from Serena had already begun collection when things froze, and the pleasurable sensation was running through Arthur¡¯s mind; he could feel each Choice Point he got. And watch in dismay as all the other Fairy Tail bounties got reduced in value. He had crossed another threshold, and would have to work harder for each Choice Point he got from here on.


    But there was the new bounty; it offered up to 380 Choice Point; almost equal to killing Acnologia at this point. The Army of Evil. It talked about the four captains, Erza Knightwalker, Panther Lily, Hughes, Sugarboy, and how by accepting this bounty it would see to it that 6 individuals within the Edolas army awakened new power or found lost relics which brought them to the capital and made them stronger than Erza Knightwalker. For each one he defeated in personal combat (summons were allowed) he would get Choice Point, the higher their rank the more Choice Points he¡¯d get. Their special weapons would join him between worlds and be as certain to function across various Jumps with differing metaphysics as the Black Blade. It also noted that he had to not destroy the loot before obtaining it; though once successfully awarded it would ¡°respawn if destroyed.¡±


    ¡°You really expect me to take that bounty?¡± Arthur asked, looking at it.


    ¡°Each of them will be weaker than the one you just slew, I assure you,¡± The Smiley Face said. ¡°And you don¡¯t even have to kill them. This is just to keep things interesting. It¡¯d not be fun if you simply marched over the royal army. You have captured the king. You¡¯ve got them in checkmate. You¡¯ve already faced worse.¡±


    ¡°And it gives so much for no reason?¡± Arthur said in the most petulantly sarcastic voice he could manage.


    ¡°Would you even consider it if it was less? As it is your victory here is a sure thing. Oh, how you go about it might be worth checking out, but the paths all lead to a certain victory. This gives extra because it¡¯s not something you can take up opportunistically. By selecting this you guarantee yourself trouble.¡± The Smiley Face asked. ¡°Still you¡¯re on the clock. It¡¯s a limited time offer after all.¡±


    Then they left, leaving Arthur to consider.


    380 CP. That was a big purchase. With the 200 CP he¡¯d just gotten that opened up a lot of options. He could grab one of the big purchases. He could increase his magic to the level of August. He could grab Born to Bash. And that was without considering their tools and weapons. It was almost too good to pass up.


    But he had to beat them. It probably meant he couldn¡¯t just threaten the king¡¯s life. Instead of going in there and saying ¡°Checkmate,¡± he¡¯d have to fight. He¡¯d almost won. He¡¯d fought a battle against a living nightmare. Did he even want to consider going double or nothing?


    He¡¯d not only be risking his own life. He¡¯d be endangering Wendy, and everyone in the lacrima. But that 380 CP might mean the difference between life and death. He could buy Enchantment magic with it and hopefully save Byaku, and ensure Kiria didn¡¯t become a dragon. He could buy Takeover Satan Soul and try to learn Takeover Dragon Soul, or simply consume Tartaros. He could open his Second Origin and if he also took Magic Power 5 he¡¯d have magic to threaten a continent.


    It would give him power enough to make fighting the Dragon Gods and Acnologia a real possibility. To make it where he didn¡¯t need to let things proceed as they should. No.


    He shook his head. The moment he interfered in Ishgar things were no longer proceeding as they should. With Serena dead there was no guarantee Zeref wouldn¡¯t invade years earlier. And if he fought Grimoire Heart before they attacked Tenrou Island would Zeref even leave and without his gambit could they kill Acnologia.


    He had already destroyed the rails. If he hadn¡¯t when he recklessly chose to have an eventful life here, he had when he had come to Ishgar. He¡¯d already ensured the Grand Magic Games arc wouldn¡¯t happen how it had previously. And with it Tartaros arc was probably off. And if Tartaros went off wrong, who was to say that the ending would go right.


    There was no safety net. There was no guarantee of the future. And he had destroyed it. He¡¯d have to live with that fact. He¡¯d have to grow to where he could accept it. He felt like he was going to be sick on his stomach. But if he was going to grow he¡¯d need more power.


    He clicked accept.


    The world resumed as if nothing had happened. Except the pounding headache and his overclocking magic temporarily running haywire before crashing. But Arthur knew he had changed it. Already the weight of the realization was making him dry heave. He¡¯d eaten some vendor food in the capital - it¡¯d been a long day and he was hungry - but now he had uneaten it. The realization that he had disrupted the canon flow of events irrevocably had hit him like a ton of bricks, even if at the moment he realized that the Fairy Fic bounty had pinged offering him another 100 CP for having done so.


    Arthur accepted the choice points with a feeling of guilt. It was confirmation of his sin. But had he had a choice in the matter? Besides he remembered what he¡¯d been told when he asked about the Eventful Times bounty in the first place; it wasn¡¯t a matter of actually changing the world - though he had the feeling this time the bounty was - but he had been put into a world line which had had such greater fluctuations of probability already.


    He told himself that he hadn¡¯t destroyed the world¡¯s safety net, merely only now realized himself that it had never been there. Still he felt like he was going to get vertigo from staring down at the fall he was tightroping across.


    The first thing he needed to do was to get his Archive magic up again and he could teleport Wendy free, give her an X-Ball and let her serve as a base camp with her healing magic.


    The only problem was that Wendy¡¯s magical signature could not be found by his Archive. She was no longer in its range. He stared at the hard light console he had manifested and the answer remained the same. The castle, and everything in it, could no longer be detected or sensed through his Archive magic. He couldn¡¯t get a transporter lock on Wendy. He¡¯d known he¡¯d chosen to make a cakewalk into a trial by fire, but he¡¯d only known it in his head. No he¡¯d assumed that this was still Fairy Tail. That this still worked on shonen rules. That was an assumption that could no longer be followed.


    He¡¯d lived here. These were people.  Still with Serena dead he had his sword and his keys once more, and 200 Choice Points of emergency discretionary funds. It was time to stir up the hornet¡¯s nest.


    He took out Enif¡¯s key and focused. He wasn¡¯t summoning the Pegasus, but instead he was calling on his Star Dress. The outfit looked like some anime depiction of hoplite armor. It was a pale bronze, consisting of a metal ¡®helmet¡¯ which failed to do anything but frame the face, bracers, greeves, breastplate, pauldrons, boots, skirt, and gauntlets. It also didn¡¯t have Enif¡¯s energy drain issue.


    Bronze wings spread from the back of the armor as he kicked off the ground and began running, feet seeming to strike the air and push him higher and forward as he sped forward. He immediately began to slow. It wasn¡¯t the air ripping from his lungs, his speed too fast for him to possibly breathe - the armor accounted for that - but he had passed into the city more than a mile away before he even realized it despite overclocking.


    He was still braking, his Territory Armor forming around him to make sure he didn¡¯t go splat if he hit the castle at this speed, when he struck something hard, and yet instead of breaking, or breaking him, it was yielding around him, until it finally let him pass through it. Immediately he felt the difference. There was another magical force wrestling with the power of his Territory, spatial magic on a scale that was immense. It couldn¡¯t break his armor, but he could feel it weakening it. His Archive¡¯s sensors almost went dead as well, warning popping into his brain about interference.


    The castle as a whole looked different, and he didn¡¯t think that it was his much closer proximity compared to viewing it from afar earlier. It had been impossibly large, especially for stone, dwarfing a city highrise, but it had looked like a medieval castle writ large. Now it looked like something out of a space opera, the stone had begun to meld together, and lacrima grew from its outer walls like so many pimples on a teenager¡¯s face, but bearing gun barrels instead of blackheads.


    It was only his overclocked mind and the sheer speed of his bronze pegasus armor that allowed Arthur to dodge the blasts from those guns. One after another they began firing at him, forcing him to weave, zip, and dodge through the sky. Still it was only a short period before one hit him despite his speed.


    Arthur felt his heart pound in his chest as the energy struck him, each beat working to drive him further and further into rage and pain and paradoxically power. His armor crumbled from him in flakes of crystal, turning into lacrima under the baleful light. But Arthur was not being changed thus. Each pounding of his heart made scales form on his arm, black as the abyssal depths, his eyes turning into snake-like slits. And his power seemed to grow.


    His Archive magic was already processing what the beam was actually doing as it worked to turn him into lacrima from the heart outwards. But the weapon was calibrated for humans and exceeds; it was not calibrated for a dragon or a dragon slayer. Arthur¡¯s muscles bulged as he landed on the ground, his face distending outwards.


    His mouth opened and darkness shot forth. The crystalline coating of the castle turned the bolt of shadows to the side, sending the darkness shooting out in a dozen directions, but Arthur was a fifth generation dragon slayer in the throes of the dragon force. It was not capable of completely blocking his roar. The blast tore through the outer walls and several inner ones, leaving soldiers amassed to prepare to fight him, laying beaten and crushed and a great corridor carved through the castle¡¯s chambers, rubble falling from where he¡¯d torn through magically reinforced walls like they were cardboard.


    Arthur had never used the full force of his dragon¡¯s roar in combat or out of it. He had always held back subconsciously. He had feared the utter destruction it was capable of. The walls, made to resist magical attacks, had blunted it severely, but they had not stopped it from cutting a line from the outside to the outside again.


    A young girl clutched the arm of the old man who had been her mentor, tears feeling her eyes. He had been King Faust¡¯s chief of staff, a not negligible defender of the castle himself, albeit one aged past his prime. She had been his assistant. All that remained of him now was his arm.


    Arthur paid no heed to the damage he had inflicted, striding through the blasted apart walls as a lumbering beast he strode into the castle seeking out the heart of what had hurt him. He walked straight over the man who had been the guardian of the castle. His armor had saved his life, though without medical attention it would still fade.


    He raised his head and roared again, the beam of unlight scything its way through the castle. It did not penetrate the wall where it hit it, not in the brief strafe he was performing, but several stories of the castle began to crumble and fall. His head pounded, his mind was frantic and crazed. The overclocking spell was not calibrated for the Dragon Force, and his additional thought processes were still relatively human, but unfortunately seemed to be nothing more than a gadfly tormenting the beast he had become.


    A man leapt down from one of the higher stories. He wore pink armor, a sword in his hand. He didn¡¯t have a plan. He just knew that if this beast kept destroying the castle more people would be hurt and die. He couldn¡¯t even guess at their numbers.


    Arthur¡¯s clawed right hand rose and darkness lashed out. It was the darkness dragon¡¯s claw, and it struck his pink armor and rent it asunder. There was the notification ping of a bounty completed, as Arthur¡¯s mouth opened and he stopped himself.


    There was, after all, something still human in Arthur. He had not been a dragon slayer long enough to develop their keen nose, much less truly begin dragonification. The dragon force was already fading and his body was reverting to normal. But he could feel that something had changed. That he was less human and more dragon than he had been before. There was a rage that lingered, itching deep under his skin, deep, deep within him. It was a dragon¡¯s fury carved now somewhere in his soul. His Overclocked mind helped him hold it back, distancing himself from the fury, but it was still there inside of him.


    Accepting the additional challenge had been a mistake. Still it seemed no one else was brave enough to face the half-dragon, and that people were instead fleeing the castle en masse. He¡¯d torn the soldier¡¯s uniform he¡¯d been wearing before he¡¯d gone for his Star Dress, and he¡¯d dropped the spear. He¡¯d have to find a new one; plenty were laying about here anyway.


    But he reached for the army captain¡¯s sword instead. He wasn¡¯t sure what it was other than that it was the one that was part of his reward. He¡¯d luckily not destroyed it. He couldn¡¯t stow it with the king with the interference; it was too likely to explode his pocket dimension. Though maybe a sword that didn¡¯t eat souls would be useful.


    And then he grabbed his keys. He wasn¡¯t holding anything back this time.


    ¡°Open Gate of the Eagle!¡± He shouted.


    Altair manifested, the bearded yellow eagle appearing in a flash of lightning.


    ¡°Kii! What do you need? Kii!¡±


    Arthur didn¡¯t answer but instead summoned forth the pegasus Enif, allowing the winged bronze horse to appear and begin his voracious drain of Arthur¡¯s magical energy.


    ¡°Whereyougottogo?¡± Enif asked.


    Arthur opened his Archive, a projection of Wendy¡¯s face appearing from the physical manifestation. ¡°I believe she¡¯s in this structure. Both of you, go find her, and bring her to me.¡±


    ¡°Fasterthanyoucansaygetitdone,¡± Enif said in a rush and began to gallop, wings spreading.


    ¡°Kii! Right away! Kii!¡± The eagle said, spreading his wings and turning to fly.


    ¡°And keep your eyes open for anything that looks important!¡± He screamed after them. Then Arthur was left alone with his new, suddenly more developed sense of smell and his thoughts. Or so he expected and assumed. It would seem the castle had other ideas.


    He had damaged who knew what within it with his blasts. Whatever he had damaged, though, it seemed to include whatever was blocking his Archive magic¡¯s ability to telepathically network and its long range, well he¡¯d call them sensors but it was almost more thought collectors.


    It could detect Wendy, Enif, and Altair. He could establish telepathic communication, and while Territory Magic was still more difficult than it should be within the area, he wasn¡¯t blind anymore.


    He also wasn¡¯t alone. Creatures were approaching. Each about man height, and as far as a glance could tell, identical in height. They seemed to be armor built on a thin skeletal framework. Their heads were helmets with gun barrels in them. Their neck was skeletally thin though. Their chests were breastplates but at the stomach it again narrowed to spine-like thickness, a ball for an ass, with spindly legs thickening towards the feet as plates covered their knees down. Their arms likewise started off almost skeletal in nature before thickening into armored plates. Each carried a polearm and a shield, and there was a piece of lacrima embedded into their hearts.


    ¡°Impressive. Tell me, which one are you really a dragon slayer or dragon?¡± A familiar voice sounded from a wall. It was an audio transference magic, his Archive had helpfully identified it as such. Details like that, and his impending murder by firing squad helped distract him from the chill the voice sent down his spine. ¡°I¡¯d love to know. By how remiss of me. I¡¯m Zero, chief magical tool engineer of the Kingdom of Edolas, and now, well I seem to be part of a new magical tool. It really is amazing. But¡­ I worry about my humanity. Sorry, I¡¯m rambling a bit, and I know you¡¯re busy, but I felt that given your own seemingly liminal state you could possibly help me in finding out my own position on the matter.¡±


    Arthur was fighting, even as ¡°Zero¡± droned on. He¡¯d have called the man Brain, and Arthur found himself wondering if Zero had simply been his real name. Those lacrima soldiers had begun an assault, beam weapons firing from their mouths, and electricity starting to crackle from their polearms. With his Territory at best at half-strength Arthur could feel each blow that struck his Territory Armor, that personal field of warped space that in large part kept outside physics on the outside, could only handle so much force or energy at once, and the beams were tearing little holes in it.


    There was a flash of sidereal silver as he donned his next star dress. Enif¡¯s hadn¡¯t recharged, he¡¯d not get to go on any flying flash assaults. Kochab¡¯s would do however. The blue bear¡¯s star dress manifested as a suit of bulky, blue, armor. Rounder than was optimal, and with a round bear-head helmet which - in grand fiction fashion showed the face almost completely - the armor, of course, made Arthur himself look something like a bear.


    He caught an electrified pike on his arm, lightning crackling across the outside of his arm, until he grabbed another lacrima soldier that had rushed in close to help pin his movements. The electricity flowed from one side of the armor to the other, surging through the soldier and exploding its crystalline heart causing it to fall to the ground.


    Opening his archive¡¯s smallest console, he established mental communications with Enif and Altair. ¡°New plan. Sending you the target¡¯s position. Save her.¡± Even as he spoke, beams of energy burned against the armor of his star dress, and Arthur could feel the heat through his armor; it might not be enough for this fight on its own.


    Of course his Archive being functional had other uses. He knew where Wendy was. He could cut loose a lot more knowing where he needed not to avoid damaging to stop from making Wendy collateral.


    He focused his energy as much as he could, and released a massive, destructive dragon¡¯s roar. It lacked some of the force that it had possessed during the dragon force, but it still blew away the lacrima soldiers in that direction, and shattered several rooms. Something exploded, and then something else did, and an alert pinged in his mind. A second soldier captain had been defeated. Arthur didn¡¯t stop to see which one it was.


    ¡°Could you please not attack the castle like that,¡± Zero¡¯s voice said. ¡°I think you destroyed something important in the castle¡¯s control systems. It¡¯s getting unwieldy now. I¡¯d really rather you just surrender. You can¡¯t win, my lacrima soldiers are endless, and my weapons are many. I¡¯d prefer not to have to hurt you. Can¡¯t we just talk?¡±


    ¡°Call off your soldiers and we can talk,¡± Arthur said, as he drew his black sword and smashed the lacrima of one of them, feeling a bit of magical essence flow into him as its animating force faded. It was little. Miniscule compared to even the weakest dark guilders he¡¯d slain with it. But it was there. There was a curt fury somewhere in his voice, a sharpness that came from the rage he was trying to fight down.


    ¡°Deal,¡± Zero¡¯s voice said. ¡°This battle is hurting far too many people as it is. If we can have peace that would be preferable.¡±


    Arthur breathed deeply as the lacrima soldiers began to stand down, their upper bodies going more than half limp. ¡°I¡¯m certain we can come to some agreement to end further conflict.¡±


    ¡°Turn the lacrima back into people, and send them back to Earthland, and I will return your king,¡± Arthur offered.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry. We need that lacrima. With it we may be able to gain infinitely renewable magical power. You¡¯ve seen the world, the wasteland around the capital from the lack of magical energy in the land, and how even further afield the people suffer for the lack. We can turn this world into a paradise, if a relatively few must suffer, you must realize the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few,¡± Zero said, pain in his voice. ¡°I know it must sound cruel, but¡­¡±


    Enif burst into the room. ¡°I¡¯vegotthegirlnowwh-¡± The pegasus stopped for a split second as he realized he did not in fact ¡®have the girl¡¯. ¡°Berightback.¡± He turned and flew back down the hallway.


    ¡°... you must understand I can¡¯t betray my world like that. I could send the girl you¡¯re trying to rescue back, or you back, or maybe even part of the lacrima, it¡¯s larger than is absolutely necessary. But we need a dragon slayer, and we need a large part of the lacrima. Still with the castle¡¯s new systems I should be able to create an anima precise enough to send some of the lacrima back. If I had a good way to find specific individuals I might could even extract them separately.¡±


    A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.


    ¡°What good would sending them back as lacrima do?¡± Arthur asked.


    ¡°Oh, that¡¯s simple. A reverse trip through the anima should undo the change into lacrima. Sorry, did I forget to mention that?¡±


    ¡°So I give you the king and you keep me prisoner, and return a small number of the abducted citizens?¡± Arthur asked.


    ¡°You know when you put it that way it does sound unfair. But remember I have the whole castle to bring you down with, and Knightwalker is on her way back¡­¡±


    ¡°Kii! I¡¯ve got the girl!¡± Altair said, flying into the room with Wendy in his talons. ¡°Enif is fighting Miss Angel. Kii!¡±


    ¡°... You can¡¯t win. All you can do is spitefully cause more death and destruction. Surely you agree that unnecessary killing is undesirable¡­ Hey stop feeding that girl things, we¡¯re supposed to be having a parley, not just giving you time for tactical planning.¡±


    Arthur had handed Wendy the canister of X-Balls. ¡°Altair, take Wendy to the lacrima in town. Get her to fix it, and give these to whoever¡¯s inside. They¡¯ll fix their ability to use magic.¡±


    ¡°Kii! Right away! Kii!¡± The eagle shrieked.


    ¡°Wait¡­ how do I fix it?¡± Wendy cried, but it was too late, the eagle was carrying her away.


    ¡°You realize I¡¯m going to have to shoot that eagle down, don¡¯t you?¡± Zero said from the machine.


    ¡°Don¡¯t you dare,¡± Arthur stated and raised his head. The roar tore through the castle.


    ¡°Stop, you¡¯re damaging ME,¡± Zero¡¯s voice sounded pained, as the ground began to light alive with electricity. The energy was too much for the Kochab-armor to simply absorb. Arthur could feel it bringing him to his knees, as he continued to roar.


    A large chunk of the castle began to crumble and fall, cracking off and coming down to slam into the ground. ¡°It¡¯s too much,¡± Zero howled. ¡°THREAT LEVEL SURPASSING ACCEPTABLE PARAMETER. BEGINNING EMERGENCY COUNTERMEASURES.¡± Zero¡¯s voice had gone strangely flat, and unemotive. He was speaking without feeling.


    The electricity redoubled and redoubled again. The lacrima soldiers were exploding from the energy, but more were coming, firing at him before they died. Arthur¡¯s hands planted on the floor, darkness exploding from him. It was Serena¡¯s spell; Banishing Shadow, a pure sphere of darkness dragon slayer magic, consuming everything in its wake. He formed his territory around him then as he fell through the vacuum he had made, not even the magical field of the castle existing within it. Air rushed to fill the void he had made, and filled his screaming lungs as he fell.


    He landed on his feet, rising to them. Enif¡¯s gate had been closed, the drain had stopped. He¡¯d lost a powerful soldier. But he didn¡¯t have time to think about that. He felt space begin to warp around him, sounds like a storm beginning in the room. It was Anima. He could recognize it as such. But it was a concentrated and more intensely focused version of it. The castle was trying to eject him from this dimension. Arthur gathered his territory around him, letting his Overclocked mind bleed more and more into the Archive, or perhaps vice versa, his magic working based on its sensors. It was a battle of spatial magic in its purest form, a question of whose sorcery was supreme.


    Arthur had more raw power, and more skill than the castle¡¯s operator, but it was not a pure comparison of power and skill. The magics were not exactly equal. Territory was superior in many ways; it could teleport things, create barriers, alter the rules of space. It was spatial manipulation and warping. The sub-space magic anima, however, had only one purpose and function. It was a specialized tool, every element of it designed for the task. Arthur was stronger and more skilled, but he was in a knife fight with a pocket knife against a man with a bowie knife.


    He lost track of his own physical senses, his entire mind focused on the Archive¡¯s sensors and the magic he was combating. His pocket dimensions, tied to reality through him and his magic, were being torn asunder. The world in which he kept Faust burst, the bloody lacrima, still partially encased in Serena¡¯s flesh, and the king of Edolas spilling out. The anima would pull them away, and Arthur might never find them again. He reached for the lacrima grabbing it and holding on, even as the Dimension Black he¡¯d been remiss in properly rebuilding popped. This was a dimension of dark magic, however, a world of destruction and when it popped it released a spout of dark magic which shot through the walls. One of the projectors being used to focus and target the anima effect melted away. It was enough to disrupt the balance of the fight, and the battle Arthur had been losing seemed to have turned somewhat. Still it was a tug of war, and one of them needed to disrupt the other. The only problem was that he was too busy not losing to do anything else. And he knew that meant sooner or later Zero would get help.


    While Arthur and Zero were preoccupied with each other, there were still others in the castle. Altair had identified the woman as Miss Angel. She had fought him, and defeated Enif, though the fight had not been an easy win for her. She was limping, leaning on a wall for support. In one arm she held a golden tommy gun, her body clad in a loose, form-concealing nun¡¯s habit, complete with a cornette. But the face was the same. Angel of the Oracion Seis. Or at least the Edolas version of her. Though given her history she had never taken up that code name; she was still simply Sorano.


    ¡°This is not what must be,¡± Sorano said as she took in the situation. ¡°You can¡¯t banish our good king to another world! Zero, you must halt this at once!¡±


    ¡°THREAT LEVEL EXCEEDS PARAMETERS. ALL OTHER CONSIDERATIONS ARE UNIMPORTANT.¡± Sorano could recognize the voice, but Zero had never been that cold and emotionless. He had always been a kind man. A man who put the needs of others before himself. Sorano could not believe that he was a coward who would betray their most gracious and magnificent king. No, this wasn¡¯t Zero. This was the magical tool he had found. This was Brain.


    ¡°He is our king! All other considerations than that are unimportant! We have sworn him our undying loyalty and fealty!¡± Sorano raised the golden gun and began to sweep it in an arc of fire. Bullets of sand struck the anima projectors one after another, exploding in a shower of sand each time.


    ¡°NEW THREAT IDENTIFied. No!¡± Zero¡¯s voice broke in a pained gasp. ¡°This device. It¡¯s almost like it has a will of its own,¡± He stated. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, Sorano. The damage got too great, and it wanted to survive, and it only saw one route to doing that.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, if he threatens our king, now that I have the power to do something about it, nothing will stop me.¡±


    Arthur was just staring at the woman. She was talking about beating him in a fight. He knew that. But she was Angel. The voice was the same. The face was the same. The outfit was thankfully a lot less distracting. He knew he should bring her down without hesitation. He¡¯d get Choice Points. He¡¯d complete a bounty.


    But she was Angel, and Arthur knew himself better than to deny he¡¯d been crushing on her for some time. She was attractive, she tolerated his presence, and he was lonely. It was enough to make him develop a crush. He didn¡¯t think it was anything more, and besides the only reason she¡¯d look his way twice was that he was ¡®saving her¡¯. Nothing would come of it. Nothing should come of it. It¡¯d end badly, and the idea of rejection terrified him.


    But this wasn¡¯t Angel. This was just someone else with her face. Still it was hard to hit the girl that you wished you could ask out on a date, even if it was just someone who looked like her. The worst thing about it all was that how he felt right now he wasn¡¯t sure he¡¯d hold back from lethal force once a fight started. The itch to rage, lash out, and crush his enemy was burning inside of himself.


    Arthur decided to split the difference. A silver key teleported into his hand, the castle¡¯s interference with his spatial magic seemed to have abated; whatever field it was using to prevent it had been shut down when it attempted to transport him to another dimension. In an instant Orion had appeared. He was smaller than he usually was, a trick of manipulating his parameters during his summoning. Still he towered over Arthur and Sorano.


    ¡°You want a fight, Orion? Knock Angel out without injuring her. Bonus points for the more of the castle you wreck in the process,¡± Arthur said. It was only then that he realized King Faust had disappeared while he was preoccupied with staring. He cursed himself out as a slow witted fool.


    If he was an Earthland mage he could have tracked him with Archive magic. But he didn¡¯t have magical energy of his own for it to sense and follow. It struck Arthur that there were only two, well three thanks to him, exits from the room. He didn¡¯t go past Angel, and he didn¡¯t fly out of the hole in the roof. Arthur turned and began to run after Faust.


    Sorano was battered and tired. The eagle had electrocuted her, and the pegasus had kicked her. She¡¯d finally defeated it with her new staff, or well it was a staff when she¡¯d found it and picked it up. The weapon had changed since then. It was a golden scepter which she felt almost wrong touching; it obviously belonged to a king. But her king, the only king who mattered, had been abducted, and she would see him free, free to bring down the false goddess who lorded over the lives of humanity with her dark power, and free mankind forever from the tyranny of the so-called ¡®angels¡¯.


    Once she had touched it, though, she had known how to use it. It was the oddest experience in her life. She expected Zero had gone through much the same when he touched that black box labeled b.R.A.I.N. She¡¯d known how to use it, not just in the sense that she had suddenly understood the intricacies of its magical capabilities, but had known it had the power to possibly save her king.


    Zero¡¯s b.R.A.I.N. had transformed the castle into a magical fortress. Her staff was simpler, but that didn¡¯t stop it from being powerful. It had seen her through against those two winged pests, even if she¡¯d not stopped one from escaping.


    She didn¡¯t have time to stay here and play with the giant. The villain was chasing her one true king. It was not something that she¡¯d allow. She raised her gun, pulling back on the trigger sending a spurt of several bullets towards it. Each one was super compacted magical sand, striking into the creature¡¯s body and breaching its skin. Then they¡¯d explode, a grenade of magical sand capable of shattering stone or tearing through steel.


    She didn¡¯t pause to watch the result, but she sped forward. She might not look it, but she was a trained knight and soldier of the country. She tried to weave past the giant, but her haste was apparently misguided. The creature had been hurt, five purple splotches forming upon its body where the bullets had exploded, but it was not some mere brute beast, the spirit was also a warrior.


    Several of the creature¡¯s leather belts which crisscrossed its body and limbs reached out and grasped for her, but Sorano¡¯s gun transformed - an image something like a sideways 69 flashing as it did so - becoming a pair of oddly shaped swords. If anything it looked more like a giant pair of scissors which had been split into its two blades, the hilts awkward for use of them as swords. Not that it mattered for how Sorano intended to use them as each of the swords created a cutting field, slicing through the belts.


    It was too little too late. Orion¡¯s belts had caused her to pause, and his follow up blow was already connecting by the time her swords cut them. Shallow cuts appeared across the blue giant¡¯s limb, as its fist connected hard with her body sending her flying into one of the walls.


    Then the floor surged to life with lightning magic around the giant, the energy surging up through it.


    ¡°Sorry, Sorano. Was a bit distracted. I hate to say it, but his majesty and the invader escaped through the secret escape tunnel, and Brain can¡¯t see them from there. I may have failed the king, but don¡¯t worry, Sorano, I won¡¯t fail you as well, I can turn all the weapons of this chamber towards the giant. The invader hasn¡¯t damaged the sensors and weapons of the castle here, and I doubt this giant is a real threat. Sorano? She left?¡±


    She had run forward, a symbol like a stylized ¡®m¡¯ with an extra line that went out and curved back to cross the third leg, changing from the twin swords into a long, golden whip which stretched out, and wrapped around a hanging piece of damaged ceiling of the floor several stories above and pulled her partway up as she swung across the electrified room only for the whip to uncoil and let her land on the far side. She was already running. Her king was in danger, and Zero was keeping the giant occupied.


    But not as occupied as hoped. Zero had held back from using the castle¡¯s main weapons on Arthur. Last time they¡¯d nearly turned him into a monster the castle could not survive. He was willing to risk them against the giant. The beams fired, their energy working to transform the giant into a chunk of lacrima through the magic inside of itself.


    Only it wasn¡¯t human. The beams were not yet calibrated for a celestial spirit, and the modifications would take time. Time Zero did not have as the beams disrupted the alterations to its summoning, making the giant swell back to full size.


    ¡°Oh, that was quite unexpected. I do have to say I wonder, Mr. Giant, if you can understand me and if you can understand me if you can reply.  I¡¯d love to know more about you. Does Earthland have many of your kind? Why did the magic make you grow? Was that a result of your nature or some interaction with the magic the invader used to summon you? It really is a great shame we have to fight. Are you certain that you can¡¯t get your summoner to reconsider¡­¡±


    Orion ignored the garrulous voice coming from the castle¡¯s speakers. Orion had initially dismissed the permission to smash the castle as merely a disappointing authorization for collateral damage. Now Orion was realizing that it had been because the castle itself was his summoner¡¯s principal opponent, and he was being told to fight part of the fight, and allowed to judge for himself if he needed to help with the other part.


    Orion walked forward, smashing through the ceiling with his stride, his hand coming down to cause the castle to collapse down and bury the escape tunnel. He had seen where Angel was heading and observed her speed. He was Orion, and his appellation was the hunter. To think he¡¯d not be able to predict the movement of some fleeing game was the height of hubris.


    He¡¯d been told to knock her out. He¡¯d trust Arthur that Angel would be an exciting opponent, and that she needed to be focused on instead of the castle. But if the castle was going to be attacking him he¡¯d take any pot shots he needed.


    As he stepped towards the edge of the castle, the annoying chatterbox was still droning on. It was actually mildly useful. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, I¡¯m afraid I can¡¯t let you do that. I wonder how you¡¯ll do against my lacrima soldiers. Your summoner smashed so many I didn¡¯t have any in the area before, but as you can see they are arriving. Oh that¡¯s not good. You really do seem to be making quick work of them. I really ought to have sent them into the basement where you couldn¡¯t swat them shouldn¡¯t I? Hmm I¡¯ve lost control of the outer segment in that part. You¡¯re really not nice to my magic tool are you? I really feel like I¡¯m talking to myself.¡±


    Sorano was rushing forward when the ceiling began to collapse down onto her. The astrological symbol for Taurus flashed over her weapon as it changed into a double headed golden ax. She felt strength surging through her body as she blocked the rubble, and knocked it to the side. Her body hurt. The eagle¡¯s electricity, the pegasus¡¯s kicks, and now having the ceiling collapse onto her. It all was adding up. The electricity had left her nerves damaged; they might heal with time and treatment, but her body wasn¡¯t moving properly. The pegasus¡¯s blows to her body had left her body feeling like tenderized meat, bruises across her torso, possibly some small fractures in one arm and leg; at the very least her leg hurt with each step. And even with the strength of her Zodiac Staff¡¯s Taurus Mode the rubble had been enough to leave her other shoulder numb.


    The effect of Zero¡¯s b.R.A.I.N. was fading now that the rubble was no longer part of the castle¡¯s structure. It was easy, even with both her arms wounded, one completely limp, to blast away the rubble in a single, powerful swing of the ax, and she pushed herself forward. She had a king-napper to deal with and a king to rescue.


    Faust was panting when Arthur had caught up. Arthur wasn¡¯t the best fighter, but his body was up to the level expected of a high end mage in Fairy Tail, and his endurance was a little better than that. Faust was an old man unaccustomed to physical strain; even slowed by his ¡®Star Dress¡¯ armor Arthur was able to quickly overtake him.


    Arthur¡¯s power armor gauntleted hand was reaching out for him when suddenly a spear struck him a half dozen times in quick succession. Even with his overclocked mind, he couldn¡¯t really keep up with the superhuman speed, and his body lagged even further behind. It didn¡¯t completely matter, though. Attacks of that level couldn¡¯t damage Kochab¡¯s armor.


    Arthur¡¯s hand, not even slowed by the blows, grasped Faust by the hair just as he had been reaching to, pulling back on his head. But Arthur¡¯s attention was diverted. The spearman who had attacked him was no man. It was Erza Knightwalker; and before his deal with the devil, she had been the strongest combatant in all of Edolas with the single most dangerous weapon other than potentially the Dorma Anim.


    Now, however, she was not. He¡¯d created 6 more powerful, and more dangerous foes. And somehow that gave him an odd feeling of calm, and certainty as he faced her down. The nerves, and terror that gripped his subconscious normally in battle simply wasn¡¯t there. The unconscious hesitation and worry wasn¡¯t slowing him down.


    Knightwalker lunged, her spear - as fast as Racer seemed during his slow magic - sweeping to cut the king¡¯s hair, and Arthur¡¯s territory magic lashed out.  Knightwalker¡¯s spear changed mid cut, its head changing in a flash of light to a simple, straight bladed head in white and pale silver glowing with its own inner light. Arthur felt his spell to rip it from her hands severed by its blade, even as it passed through the king¡¯s hair without cutting it.


    Arthur¡¯s surprise was evident on his face. How¡¯d she known? Was it just some fine tuned battle instinct? He wanted to call foul, but there was no one to call foul to. Instead he turned his hand over 200 degrees around as he pulled it back.


    Knightwalker leapt backwards, dodging the dragon of dark energy that rose up from the ground. Arthur didn¡¯t have Serena¡¯s hybrid theory, but his archive had seen the spell often enough for him to copy and modify it.


    Knightwalker leapt to dodge the second as well, then the third. The first three didn¡¯t merely rise up, though. The dragons were still there, whipping about and moving. Her spear, still in its magic rending form, cut through one, and then another, before the fourth head hit her from below. She was knocked up through the escape tunnel¡¯s roof, disappearing from sight, but Arthur could feel the dragon of darkness and where she was when she finally struck it down. The remaining 4 heads rose almost in sync, and came at her along with the surviving head.


    Knightwalker cut down four of them before the fifth drove her back down into the ground before him, the stone floor cratering enough that Arthur¡¯s feet slipped in the sudden incline, pulling him down into a clumsy heap with the king.


    Even so, Knightwalker was rising to her feet.


    ¡°You¡¯ve lost, and I¡¯ve got your king; surrender or he dies,¡± Arthur said as Faust gasped and choked. He was rising, lifting Faust by his throat in the process. There was a bubbling fury in his throat. It was one he felt, but he knew it wasn¡¯t truly his fury. It was a dragon¡¯s rage.


    ¡°I can¡¯t,¡± Knightwalker said. ¡°Eternal magic is more important than the life of the king.¡± She lunged then, her spear still in its magic cutting form. It couldn¡¯t cut physical objects, that¡¯d been shown, but as long as it was in that form Arthur couldn¡¯t teleport it, and if she timed it right she could change it to its most powerful form and destroy him.


    Only Arthur didn¡¯t need to teleport the spear. The spear struck his spirit dress, dispelling the armor he was wearing, but it didn¡¯t penetrate his skin; Knightwalker no longer held it to drive it forward. Instead the red-haired woman was falling from the air.


    Arthur wrapped Faust¡¯s legs in a construction of his space, the distorted space of his territory wrapping around his lower body. Given he doubted that simply removing Knightwalker from the battlefield would count as defeating her, he would need his hands for the fight that was coming.


    Even the loss of her spear didn¡¯t really deter Knightwalker. She rose to her feet and lunged, her hand striking the armoring layer of his Territory magic which formed between her and him. She reached for her spear, only for a dismissive sweep of Arthur¡¯s hand to send her flying back into a wall as his magic hit her like a crashing wave of lead. Cracks formed in the stone, but she still strained against his magic.


    ¡°I don¡¯t want to hurt you,¡± Arthur said. ¡°Surrender and¡­¡±


    His Archive magic screamed a warning, his Overclocked mind reacting without his full conscious awareness of what magical threat he was answering, only that it was big. A massive vertical cyclone of water hit against it, with force enough that he had to reinforce the barrier.


    It was Angel, or Edolas¡¯s version of her. His chest ached to see her arm hanging limp by her side. She looked too much like Angel even if he was rather certain Angel would hate any outfit that concealed her body that much. He watched as the golden water gun in her hand transformed into a sword, the symbol of Leo the lion, not that Arthur recognized it, flashing across it as it shone and changed.


    She was charging towards him, a brilliant light, like staring into a nuclear furnace or the sun itself, shining from the blade. There was too much sheer magical force pouring out of it at the moment for him to teleport it, so he just kept up that shield of force, letting the blade¡¯s light hit his space. The distortion did have an effect of only letting some of the light through, but it was still enough to make him pull his head away from the blinding flash.


    ¡°Sorano?¡± Knightwalker said as she fell to her feet. Arthur had gotten distracted, holding the king and blocking the blow. ¡°What is that sword?¡±


    ¡°My weapon,¡± Sorano said. ¡°The blade that will save the king. The Zodiac Weapon Astra.¡± Though as the symbol of Aries the ram flashed across it, it had become a shepherd¡¯s crook, its golden head glowing with a soft, pink light, a similar light forming around the king.


    Arthur didn¡¯t need his Archive magic to alert him that it was a form of spatial magic. Being a Dragon Slayer had bought him the time needed to stop Anima, he was too slow to react as the crook shepherded the king to Edolas-Angel¡¯s side. No. She was Sorano. If that was Angel¡¯s real name, she hadn¡¯t felt the need to tell him that.


    ¡°Knightwalker take the king, I¡¯ll handle him,¡± Sorano said, trying and failing to sound confident.


    ¡°Like hell you will. The king can handle himself, we get rid of him together, and I take back my spear.¡±


    Arthur wished it was a sword. He knew how to use a sword. The spear; well his Archive was telling him how to use its magic, but not how to use it. Still he let it change, shifting from its Rune Save form to what his Archive had identified as Silfarion. He didn¡¯t know how to use a spear, but he could still bash someone in the head with a stick and with its speed, the dragon rage in him, and his strength, behind it the blow was enough to bring Knightwalker to her knees as he moved to cut Faust off from the castle proper.


    Arthur wasn¡¯t sure what was happening there, but given Orion¡¯s gate had just closed it was not a very safe place for him one way or another. He needed to keep these captains divided. Though arguably good news on that front said that the 8th ranked, and lowest powered, captain he¡¯d not defeated had had his weapon destroyed. It was probably Panther Lily, so it didn¡¯t mean he wasn¡¯t a threat, but it was still better than facing him with it. Though it did mean he wouldn¡¯t be able to acquire it himself.


    Sorano was rushing, but Arthur still held his Territory magic; another reason to make sure they didn¡¯t escape back to the castle. The forcefield blocked her blow, and halted Knightwalker¡¯s approach. ¡°You¡¯re both badly beaten, don¡¯t make me hurt you. Drop your weapon and surrender and I will remove you from the field of battle.¡±


    Sorano screamed, not words, but a cathartic vent of emotion. Libra¡¯s symbol flashed as her star weapon shifted from sword to staff. It struck his barrier and Arthur felt his space twist, the ethernado that had infused the area with his spell being forcibly discharged destructively. It was a blow that turned the magical energy of the struck target against itself.


    Sorano followed up immediately pushing forward and forcing Arthur to deflect with his spear. He wasn¡¯t fighting someone actually super fast here, and while she was skilled, she was no Suzaku, and with only one arm her grip on the quarterstaff was awkward and weak.


    He blocked merely one blow, Knightwalker taking the opportunity to kick him in the head. It was already too late, though, the magic staff was gone from Sorano¡¯s hand. In the staff form it wasn¡¯t outputting massive magical force. It disappeared from her hand, even as Knightwalker grasped her spear.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know how you figured out my weapon but I will show you-¡± She cut off as his Territory magic sent her flying into a wall. Arthur was torn when he saw that she finally slumped to the ground; a part of him was relieved, but another part of him wished she¡¯d stayed up so he could continue to smash and receive the catharsis of battle. Faust and Sorano, though, were turning and running down the hallway. Sorano dived for the golden staff only for it to reappear in Arthur¡¯s hand.


    ¡°You¡¯ve lost. Don¡¯t make me hurt you,¡± He said. He was finally running out of the extra boost of magical energy that killing Serena had given him. But that still left his normal stores full. Faust was still running, Sorano turning as if she was going to make a valiant last stand.


    Arthur teleported to block the king¡¯s path, hitting him with the zodiac staff. It wasn¡¯t hard enough to knock him out, Arthur was actively trying not to kill him. He was still useful if taken alive. Still it was enough to make him stumble backwards, lowering his head.


    ¡°I surrender. I¡¯ll go quietly. Spare my life, and those of my people and we will use Anima to return the lacrima to Earthland and restore the people within it,¡± King Faust said.


    Sorano looked at the king, tears building in her eyes, and sank to her knees. The sheer grit that had kept her standing had run out and she soon felt the embrace of unconsciousness.

 Four Guardian Demons

    Arthur paused to take stock of what he had. He¡¯d gained 65 Choice Points. That was useful, but that was something for later. He had Knightwalker¡¯s Ten Commandments Spear, and Sorano¡¯s Astra. Both were potentially powerful weapons. His Archive magic had successfully identified the basic way both were used, though it had not cracked all of either¡¯s forms. Carrying both would be awkward, all the more so with his black sword still at his hip. He decided to take the golden zodiac weapon, and to create a new pocket dimension to stow Knightwalker¡¯s spear, and, once he found where he dropped it with his Archive, Serena¡¯s lacrima.


    Which brought him naturally to his captives. Sorano and Knightwalker were purely inconvenient. Both were physically threatening enough to beat him in a fight if magic was removed from the equation. He didn¡¯t see that happening, if that happened he¡¯d probably already lost this gauntlet of challenges, but he couldn¡¯t just let them run free. Who knew what other magic weapons they could acquire given freedom. He didn¡¯t want to make another pocket dimension right now, but Arthur soon decided it was his only realistic option. He needed them contained, and that would turn them into captives and potential hostages; not that he liked the idea of being that guy who threatened women and old men to win his fights, but it was a pragmatic option. Well, except for the power of friendship being a physical, omnipresent thing here.


    He paused to collect bounties; they¡¯d give him a better idea of what was going on. He¡¯d defeated 4 of the 5 lowest ranked members of the so-called ¡®Army of Darkness¡¯. 65 Choice Points. A victory against a higher ranking member would be a noticeable boon. He¡¯d have enough points to buy something and still have an emergency supply. He¡¯d also completed one for silent casting; apparently the battle against Knightwalker and Sorano had counted as difficult.


    Arthur was wrong of course, it had not been an individual fight, but the battle in the castle as a whole. While he had not defeated Zero, he was still an active threat, Arthur had won in the battle. He had obtained his goals, while the captains had not. Wendy had been rescued, and the 10 captains had been prevented from forming a united front, with 4 of them removed from the picture almost entirely, and creating a second front that they must fight on preventing the remaining 6 from joining forces into a monolithic unit. On the other hand the castle had received massive damage, they had lost their captured dragon slayer without even managing to charge the tool for destroying the Exceeds permanently the Dragon Chain Cannon, the king was still a captive, and they had lost 4 of their 11 best combatants.


    It was time to leave the tunnel. But he wasn¡¯t going to the castle. He wasn¡¯t eager to fight that castle again, or fight against the other knights in it. Especially not when his Archive confirmed that Anima should reverse the lacrima effect, and that by combining his dragon slayer magic and his territory magic he could replicate the effect and return the lacrima to Earthland.


    He thought about flying there, even with Enif and Altair¡¯s gates closed, and Enif¡¯s star dress damaged he had options to do so other than to wait. Territory could be used to do so, but it was inefficient and poor compared to Enif¡¯s or Caelum¡¯s star dresses, and Caelum could simply carry him there.


    But he could see it well enough. He teleported, transporting himself to the sky above the lacrima. Immediately a blast of magical energy hit him in the back. His territory armor protected him from damage, but not the impact. Still he was trying to find the source as he fell, delaying his teleportation to the island to look for the origin. That was a mistake, as from the opposite direction a massive, white tiger was leaping.


    He felt it through his armoring, surrounded by territory magic as it knocked him from the air, feeling it worse when he hit a building below, and went through it to impact into the ground. The tiger¡¯s claws ripped at his armor, both that of the compressed and the field of twisted space which pushed away and rejected the outer world and the stolen suit beneath it. Both did their work, though neither well enough as its claw toe into his flesh. It was only that, a flesh wound, but even a tiger scratch that didn¡¯t break bone or leave his internal organs trying to spill out was still a nasty wound, blood flowing down his chest.


    He didn¡¯t have time to consider the pain. Kochab¡¯s silver key appeared in his hand, the blue bear appearing a moment later. This was probably the spirit Arthur felt was most reliable, the bear had saved him from Georg, its armor had protected him in the castle when his territory failed him, and appearing with a roar of ¡°Kuuu-ma~!¡± it was now punching a tiger off of him.


    The two began to exchange blows, giving Arthur a moment to get his bearings. His Archive kept detecting a strange pulse of magical energy, but it couldn¡¯t immediately identify what and how, and he didn¡¯t have time to manifest the full physical form of the Archive to actually figure out what it was right now. The tiger was huge, probably more massive overall than Kochab, a twisted white ¡®tiger¡¯ creature with exaggerated large front claws, and bony growths across its body. Its fangs were saberteeth and Arthur had felt its raw power already. It¡¯d cut him through his territory armor, something that put its attack power on the higher end of S Class mages. It was pressing Kochab back.


    But Arthur wasn¡¯t minding that fight. He was trying to figure out where the energy blast had come from. That was when he saw an exceedingly broad shouldered man with wild white hair, and a beard. He was muscular and powerful, and Arthur recognized him. Oh he lacked the pointed fangs, and the scars, of the Georg he knew, but it was Georg. ¡°Georg?¡± He called out. First Angel, and now the guild master. He¡¯d kept himself fairly isolated within the guild - subconsciously he¡¯d avoided getting close to anyone for a multitude of reasons - but he had lived in the guild for months, he had shared meals with him, shared experiences.


    He didn¡¯t want to have to fight him like this. But he knew as well, this wasn¡¯t the same Georg. Though how did you go up and talk to a guy and tell him you killed his alternate dimensional doppelganger? Or just interact with them after you had killed their other world self?


    He¡¯d also promised Georg he¡¯d come back, and he wouldn¡¯t do that if he fought Georg - of Earthland or of Edolas - and held back.


    Edolas Georg was riding a dragon. Not a dragon like the darkness dragon he¡¯d killed, or Igneel. It didn¡¯t smell draconic. The fact that Arthur was now identifying that instinctively by scent would be something he had to worry about; some of his guildmates did that already. Byaku, the White Tiger Dragon Slayer, for one, Georg for another. It was a sign of progress towards culmination as a Dragon Slayer, but that culmination inevitably led to dragonification as well. Arthur was not thinking about this now, that was a worry he¡¯d only have when things were calmer.


    Even in looks it wasn¡¯t a dragon like those he was more familiar with in this world. It was a Chinese or Japanese dragon, a long, sinuous body with azure blue scales, stubby limbs, a mane, and long catfish whiskers. It could be the source of the beam that had taken him by surprise. Either way it was a threat and it wasn¡¯t a person. He didn¡¯t have a natural revulsion to intentionally ending its life.


    He prodded Kochab to drink his honey and enter into a super charged state. A concentrated form of celestial energy, it was an emergency reservoir, a massive potential power boost; if you were skilled or powerful enough to keep the bear spirit from going to sleep afterwards. Even as he did so his magic twisted space, wrapping the dragon¡¯s head in territory magic, and teleporting it away from its body.


    Or he tried. His Archive magic beeped in the back of his mind with a notice warning him of the strange pulse of magic, a single highly powerful spike. Then the dragon¡¯s head jerked away with impossibly precise timing, dodging like it had some sort of spider-sense. Knightwalker had done the same, but you expected as much from Erza. You didn¡¯t expect it from some overgrown snake. A moment later, just as Kochab revealed his honey jar, a beam of energy shot through it. It was like a sniper had been waiting for just that moment to fire at his power up and deny him it. If Georg and his allies could predict his actions that well, Arthur was going to be in deep shit.


    At least, however, he caught sight of what had done it. A massive black turtle - well larger than the oversized tiger - standing on a building, and with a tail like an anaconda complete with serpentine head. It established a firm pattern; Georg was attacking him with the four guardian beasts. Not that he had time to ponder that.


    The white tiger had knocked Kochab to the ground. It wasn¡¯t necessarily stronger, but it was faster and it was about as strong. It was like a heavy weight going up against another near-heavyweight who moved like a lightweight. Arthur dealt with the turtle first, though, his territory magic wrapping around it with dozens of spheres of compressed space that exploded in fiery bursts.


    Then the fourth guardian beast made itself known. It was the phoenix, Suzaku, a great, red bird, with long, vibrant tail feathers. Its screech filled the air before its fires wrapped around the black turtle and began to restore it. Arthur didn¡¯t hesitate, even when his archive magic again detected that spike, equally spread through Georg and the four guardian beasts. His head swept towards the phoenix and immediately followed through with the basic tactic: kill the healer first.


    The phoenix though seemed to know not only that it was coming but precisely where, dodging by the smallest of margins and with airy grace. Arthur realized to his horror he¡¯d gotten sloppy. The blast of darkness had hit the giant lacrima, and it seemed to grow smaller. How many people had he just killed? Did it include Minerva?


    He didn¡¯t get the chance to process. The azure dragon was flying in close, breathing a blast of fire. It tickled across his territory armor; it had enough power that, given time, it could melt through his armor, but alone it was no threat to him. More threatening was the series of magical spikes, and his Archive magic¡¯s identification of the magic: time magic.


    Unfortunately it wasn¡¯t alone. ¡°You should just surrender. There¡¯s no shame in knowing when you¡¯re beaten,¡± Edolas Georg said, dispelling the notion that he was Georg. Georg would have told Arthur to keep fighting even in surrender. Arthur felt something, though. His Archive magic identified it as time magic of a similar but different sort than that of the beeps. It was affecting him, instead of Georg and the four beasts, and he could feel his body growing weak. Maybe it was an aging curse, but the pain from the wound on his chest flared, as if hours of its soreness and slow bleeding were compressed into a second.


    The tiger left Kochab without finishing him off, jumping from the bear to strike into Arthur. Its claw dug into his arm, adding another wound to the one he was already bleeding from. Its power was definitely more than he had expected or could deal with in a straight fight, especially when he was light headed from blood loss.


    It felt like he was fighting Georg again. But he wasn¡¯t a helpless, neophyte, untested by battle. Now he was a dragon slayer, and he could feel a dragon¡¯s ferocity in his veins. His heart beat with its power, the darkness eating at his mind.


    He lashed out with his dragon slayer magic, an implosive sphere of darkness forming around Edolas Georg and attempting to crush him out of existence. Against Serena this would have been useless, for the same reason it was useless for Serena when Serena had inadvertently taught him the spell. Even without that option, sufficient power could resist it; it¡¯d be far from a sure kill on Georg or Hyberion. But if he was going to live he had to hope that Edolas Georg didn¡¯t have sufficient power; and that the four beasts lost coordination at least with Edolas Georg dead. His mental loop through his Archive had informed him that Edolas Georg was at the very least directing them and seemed to be supplying them with magical power through something. Arthur had hoped to find out and teleport it off.


    Fear, pain, anger, and impatience all had come together. There was no more waiting for the chance to spare this world¡¯s Georg. Instead, in a spike of rage, he created the Banishing Shadow, a pseudo-black hole forming around and enveloping Edolas Georg. And once it had the four beasts fading into nothing more than colored smoke swiftly dissipating into the air.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, Georg,¡± He panted. ¡°I wasn¡¯t strong enough.¡± There¡¯d been no sign that Georg was particularly a monster. He could have just been a patriot. Someone who wanted to improve his world. And while the ¡®turn a city into lacrima¡¯ plan was a sort of villainous plan for that, the idea of wanting to improve the lives of those who you shared yours with wasn¡¯t something he could condemn as a whole. But he¡¯d killed him anyway. Because ultimately Arthur valued his own life more than those of others. It and the lives of those he cared about.


    Of course he still wasn¡¯t the one who¡¯d started this by abducting innocent people to murder for their magical energy. You choose to fight for someone doing that, and well, your life might not be unilaterally forfeit, but you try and kill someone to do it and they might kill you back.


    He lay there, too tired, and hurt to move. But he needed to. Now more than ever he needed to see that his wounds got tended to. Plus he had to check the damage he¡¯d done to the lacrima. He pulled himself slowly to his feet, looking towards Kochab. He didn¡¯t want to immediately dismiss him.


    He had little choice, closing the gate to save energy before turning his head up towards the giant lacrima. As he watched, one of the winged bull creatures used as mounts in this world was engulfed in flames. Usually they were much larger and black. This one had been small and white.


    He was in a manga. Its rider was important. If Wendy had managed to free the lacrima, maybe it had been one of his allies; he didn¡¯t expect them to have fire magic, but the army captain might. Or maybe it was Mystogan. He was the rightful prince and had spent years closing anima portals. Whoever it was, they were important, and he was going to see who had jumped off of it.


    Arthur crossed the distance through teleportation, quickly disappearing and reappearing where the man was falling. Immediately his Archive magic screamed about time magic. Arthur was beginning to really hate time magic. Though as he saw the lightly crispy body of a man falling in slow motion, while another man ran straight up a sheer wall to leap to catch him, Arthur realized whose time magic it was and felt a deep feeling of relief.


    The man had been caught, but his mount was still falling. Arthur¡¯s hand flicked up, layers of territory magic forming beneath it, each one insufficient to completely stop its fall, but hopefully enough to slow its impact so that it didn¡¯t get hurt as much. Like falling through branches instead of falling straight to the ground. He hoped.


    The slow magic ended as Racer landed, and Arthur started to offer him a wave. ¡°Good to see a friendly face,¡± Arthur said leaning against a wall. He was low on blood, he should be blacking out now.


    Racer looked at him for a few moments. There was a half scowl on his face. For a few heartbeats neither he nor Arthur moved or spoke. ¡°You really don¡¯t consider us enemies, do you?¡±


    ¡°Arthur!¡± Wendy¡¯s voice sounded out, loud and clear. She was starting to run out of hiding towards him.


    ¡°Just the little dragon slayer I hoped to see,¡± Arthur said, sliding down against the wall. ¡°I think I might be on the verge of blacking out.¡±


    Wendy¡¯s eyes went wide, rushing to his side and wincing as she looked at the wounds. Arthur had an anemic pallor on his face. It was sheer grit and determination more than anything keeping him on his feet.


    Wendy¡¯s magic began to work across his body, and Arthur couldn¡¯t help but smile a bit. Racer brought the burned body and placed it onto the ground beside them. The body moved, the man stirring despite the serious burns all across his face. On his back was a set of magical staves, and a half scorched cloak.


    It was Mystogan, Arthur realized almost immediately. The mysterious S-Class Mage of Fairy Tail, actually the rebel prince of Edolas, and its version of Jellal. Tears were running down Mystogan¡¯s face as he slammed the ground with his fist. ¡°It¡¯s too late,¡± He said. ¡°It took me this long to gather vestiges of anima effects large enough to send the lacrima back to Earthland. And it¡¯s all scattered now. It¡¯ll take me twice as long to do it again if it¡¯s even possible. And we don¡¯t have that time.¡±


    ¡°How long do we have?¡± Arthur asked.


    ¡°Hours, and then it¡¯ll be irreversible. Just a few hours,¡± Mystogan¡¯s voice was bitter. ¡°The only option is to get to the anima device itself, but the castle has mutated.¡±


    ¡°I can create an anima,¡± Arthur said, ¡°But I don¡¯t know if I can reliably do it from here.¡±


    This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.


    Mystogan looked at him. So did Sawyer and Wendy. ¡°You can create an anima?¡± Mystogan said, hope cutting through the pain in his voice.


    ¡°I think I can. I wrestled a small one earlier, my Archive observed it, I should be able to replicate it on a larger scale, but it¡¯ll take time, effort, and¡­¡± Wendy had begun healing him, but she was being forced to split her efforts between two badly wounded individuals. Arthur would survive at this point, he just wasn¡¯t sure he could fight, or stay conscious through the strain of controlling the anima effect.


    ¡°It¡¯s defended,¡± Mystogan said.


    Arthur wished they had Gemini, it¡¯d be easy to deal with everything with Gemini. If only Angel was here. He still had Faust, the king piece needed to come into play. He was too narratively important, and too useful. Arthur wasn¡¯t sure how to use him, though. He was afraid to directly threaten him. If he did he had to mean it; he didn¡¯t trust his ability to bluff.


    ¡°Boss man, don¡¯t freeze up,¡± Racer said. They really needed to be properly introduced at some point. ¡°You said it¡¯s defended, how?¡±


    ¡°By me, of course,¡± Came a voice from above, even as flames filled the streets. The cobblestone was suddenly covered in flickering, dancing flames, leaving only a ring around the three Earthlanders and Mystogan. ¡°Surrender and I will spare your lives, otherwise I will burn you all to ashes.¡±


    The voice came from a young woman with long, black hair, and a cold, cruelly beautiful face. She was wearing a red dress with a golden yellow cross placed directly across her breasts and up and down her torso. She was hovering awkwardly, rising and falling with bursts of rocket-like flame from around her legs.


    Arthur cursed himself for his sloppiness. He was just so exhausted. Even after Wendy¡¯s magic had healed him, the scar of the tiger¡¯s claw ran from his collar bone almost to his navel, and his shield arm bore another, nasty one. He thought Wendy healed scars, though given the pressure she was under and the fact that she was fairly obviously tired herself. She¡¯d focused on mending his blood loss over aesthetic, and he was still light headed. Mystogan¡¯s flesh was still a massive scar. She¡¯d gotten them back where they could stand and fight. But Mystogan¡¯s staves had been charred, who knew how many useful tools she¡¯d destroyed in her attack on him.


    Arthur¡¯s hand twitched, attempting to envelop her in his space. Fire burst across her flesh, and he watched his magic melt before its heat. ¡°Run,¡± He said. ¡°I¡¯ll handle her.¡±


    ¡°You don¡¯t sound confident boss man, besides, you¡¯re needed at the lacrima,¡± Racer said, and he was gone in a flash. And almost as quickly he was falling to the ground flames searing across him, rolling in the fires that were burning on non-flammable stone.


    ¡°Needed at the lacrima? You¡¯re the one whose roar reverted those people from lacrima, aren¡¯t you?¡± The dark haired woman said, looking at Arthur. ¡°Surrender yourself to my custody and I¡¯ll spare the others. If you don¡¯t I will burn them all.¡±


    Racer was screaming fire still burning across him. Arthur¡¯s heart seemed to pound. And then a massive gale blew through the area, the tops of several buildings falling towards the woman. She turned towards them fire flaring out, and Arthur tried his territory magic again. He wasn¡¯t going to try to teleport just a part of her; it was slower than teleporting all of her, and while not by much it was enough slower that a wary opponent could dodge or counter it especially as its energies were relatively fragile. It was not a useless technique, but he was realizing also that it was not one he could over rely on. No, he was just going to blow her up.


    His territory magic exploded around her, and she felt towards the ground below. The ground which had turned from solid stone into a flowing sea. It had enveloped Racer, cutting off his screams, and now it swallowed her up as well. But where the ground spat Racer back out, the fires smothered from lack of air and perhaps some trick of magic, it began to solidify around her.


    ¡°Sorry we were late,¡± came the voice of Hoteye of the Oracion Seis. ¡°After Racer and the little lady ran to catch the falling man we were delayed by a contingent of guards.¡±


    We in this case included Midnight as well, the dark haired dark mage rushing towards Racer. Concern filled his voice as he checked on his guildmate¡¯s, and friend¡¯s, wounds, helping Racer to his feet.


    Fire erupted upwards from where the woman had been buried, the woman rocketing forth on a jet of fire even as molten stone fell from around her body. ¡°Don¡¯t count me out yet.¡±


    The zodiac weapon Astra appeared in Arthur¡¯s hand, and he began to prepare himself for magical battle. He wasn¡¯t certain how much more stamina he had. He¡¯d lost a lot of blood, and while Wendy¡¯s healing had helped, and he still had plenty of magical energy it was becoming harder and harder to use it properly. He knew a solution. Murder a dozen people with his black sword and he¡¯d be overflowing with life and vitality once more. Arthur was certainly willing to consider killing enemy combatants, common soldiers included, but that wasn¡¯t an option right now.


    Mystogan grabbed his arm. ¡°You can¡¯t fight here,¡± He said. ¡°They¡¯re already reinforcing the lacrima, you need to go, and go quickly. Let us handle her.¡±


    Arthur looked at him. He didn¡¯t trust their ability to do so. She was a bonus boss that he had willed into existence, they weren¡¯t on the same level of power that he was, even all together and he wasn¡¯t sure he should count Wendy or Mystogan. Also she was worth at least 40 choice points if he beat her alone.


    ¡°Go!¡± Mystogan said, ¡°Every moment you wait the odds that everyone will be saved when it¡¯s sent back is reduced, and the chance that they use the lacrima before we can save it is increased.¡±


    Those words struck Arthur like a physical blow. Midnight¡¯s magic protected the group, redirecting the woman¡¯s flames back at her, though the same tool that gave her the ability to manipulate fire seemed to protect her from the vast majority of the harm it¡¯d do to her.


    The ten commandments spear, in its speed form Silfarion as that was the form that Arthur had left it in and one of the few he actually knew how to access, manifested in his hand. He tossed it towards Racer. ¡°Racer, do you know how to use a spear?¡± He asked.


    ¡°I usually stick to knives,¡± The man said.


    ¡°Try this one,¡± Arthur stated before Caelum¡¯s silver key materialized in his hand.


    ¡°Go save Crocus, boss man,¡± Racer said, and for the first time Arthur didn¡¯t hear the note of mockery in the title Racer had given him.


    Fire erupted up from under Midnight, the mage screaming as he fell to the ground. ¡°Don¡¯t think you¡¯ve got me handled just yet,¡± the dark haired woman said.


    ¡°Go!¡± Mystogan screamed, pulling one of his least charred staves from his back. ¡°Now!¡±


    The draconic part of him wanted to stay and fight. To prove himself worthy of his territory by crushing the enemy who dared to defy him. But he knew better than that; Racer and Mystogan were right. Arthur was going, though, teleporting away even as Hoteye, Mystogan, and Wendy all three attacked the fire woman together. He¡¯d have to hope they could handle her.


    This time no one immediately shot him when he appeared at the lacrima. It wasn¡¯t unguarded, but he had a chance to teleport a second time, transporting himself to the floating island before they had even taken stock of his arrival. An alarm call was going out, the soldiers immediately beginning to call out warning that an enemy had appeared.


    The soldiers began to gather where they had seen Arthur, but he was already behind their lines, and with a roar he released a blast of darkness, it wasn¡¯t a normal dragon¡¯s roar, he spread the beam out into a wide wave of shadow. It lacked the penetrating, destructive force of a true dragon roar, not strong enough to slam through a person¡¯s body in its entirety, but It was a wide-area attack which knocked men flying. The aerial cavalry moved to catch the falling soldiers, and Arthur¡¯s hand moved to Caelum¡¯s key.


    He summoned forth the mechanical celestial spirit, the metal sphere appearing. ¡°Don¡¯t let anyone come near,¡± He stated, before weaving together a barrier from his territory magic. It was almost a dome, only sliver from the top to the side pointed directly towards the massive lacrima showing. He couldn¡¯t reinforce it as well as he¡¯d like; he didn¡¯t have time to truly create a new space between them. But it should keep the riff-raff out.


    The lacrima was smaller than before. He was worried about that. He¡¯d hit it with his dragon¡¯s roar before. He¡¯d have crumbled under the weight of guilt if it wasn¡¯t for what his Archive had recorded in that instant; the lacrima hadn¡¯t been damaged, it had begun to revert to people. He was still terrified about what might have happened to those people, but he hadn¡¯t killed them. He had just dropped them out of the frying pan into the fire. Still given the motivation behind making the giant lacrima in the first place the Edolas Army was unlikely to have killed them, so much as tried to turn them into lacrima.


    He pushed it from his mind. He had to. There were still people he had to save before he could let himself feel guilt over people he might have doomed. He told himself that if this helped him stop Acnologia, and remove that looming threat from the world it was all worth it. But here and now, he needed to deal with the lacrima that was here. He¡¯d figure out how to save them soon enough.


    He touched the silver key of the grandfather¡¯s clock. It and Aries were his only combat capable spirits that he had not yet summoned. ¡°Horologium, my life may be in your hands,¡± He stated. Offering a small prayer to the Celestial Spirit King that should an emergency happen, Horologium would come to save him.


    Then he began to gather the magic required to replicate anima. It was not easy. His territory armor faded. He could not afford it. His overclocking shut down. He could not afford it. There was only the barrier and Caelum. He¡¯d have to put his faith in them. He could feel Caelum beginning to fire upon the aerial cavalry, its beams cutting down anything that flew too close.


    Winds began to howl, a funnel cloud starting to form around the lacrima. His magic was working to bridge dimensions. He trusted that the dimension Zero had tried to send him to was Earthland; his Archive magic indicated it probably was. Edolas had differences in the magical background radiation of the world compared to Earthland. The world on the other side had matched Earthland. It was a path he could follow. His Archive¡¯s physical manifestation took shape, the hard-light supercomputer filling the dome he had made completely. It was mapping the path between realities, even as Arthur¡¯s magic began to weave its way across that path.


    His Archive began to blaze out with warning. Something was drawing energy from the lacrima. Someone was killing the people stored in it. Arthur began to rush to finish his work, pressing his magic to completion faster. He was worried he was getting sloppy. Arthur was pushing his control to its limits. But he didn¡¯t have another option. He couldn¡¯t do this as slowly as he would have liked.


    Pieces of lacrima began to break off and fall to the ground as the drain continued, though its pace began to slacken. Wind whipped about, pieces of the island starting to shake and break off as the lacrima started to become less and less opaque, light passing through it as it started to phase from reality. The drain on the lacrima cut off completely; the lacrima was no longer sufficiently in this world to be drained from within it. The drain was turning however towards Arthur himself, energy slowly being pulled out from him.


    He felt Caelum¡¯s gate close. His barrier was breaking apart, something draining the magic from it. Arthur didn¡¯t have time to defend himself, he could only rely on faith, hope, and prayer; his trust and belief in his celestial spirit.


    Right now he had to finish his pseudo-anima, it was at the final step. Once it was complete it was complete. If he stopped now the lacrima would slide back into this world and whoever was draining it would use it like they had already begun doing so.


    His Archive was shattered by a single powerful blow, but it was no longer necessary for the spell. Arthur found himself crammed into a grandfather clock. It was a shield that separated the spacetime inside of it from anything outside, his ultimate defense.


    ¡°Before this one asks, I am we-¡± Horologium began before Arthur felt the energy of the gate which connected him to this world sucked clean from around him, Horologium¡¯s silver key shattering.


    Arthur looked at the man who had done it. It was an armored man, or at least Arthur assumed it was a man beneath the heavy armor. The chest plate of the armor was a soft, creamy near white, same with portions of the front of the arms and legs, but the sides, back, and even the parts of the front closest to the sides were black with dark blue markings upon it. The helmet sloped forward from the front of the head, a stylized, dragon-like mouth, with a gun barrel inside of it. Mechanical wings spread behind its back, and a ¡®tail¡¯ made of a series of small blades formed together into a whip swished behind its back.


    Arthur was uncertain if it was a robot or a suit of powered armor, but the raw power he could feel from it was overwhelming. No. It wasn¡¯t the power from it; it was the power it was drawing into it. His power. It was feeding on his power. He was in for a fight. And it wasn¡¯t going to be an easy one.


    ¡°Could we maybe talk?¡± Arthur asked. Something inside of him was raging. Even as he asked to talk, that part of him was screaming to tear into the knight and tear him apart for the audacity of stealing from him. It was a bubbling rage inside of him. It was only an itch in the back of his head, a simmering, bubbling thing deep under the surface. And it felt almost foreign. He knew where it came from. It was the dragon seed deep inside himself.


    ¡°Are you offering to surrender?¡± The black knight asked. ¡°I can¡¯t assure your life if you don¡¯t.¡±


    Arthur considered it. He could still teleport. He thought. He hoped he could use that to get away before the armor drained away the magic of his teleportation effect.


    ¡°I still have your king. I could kill him before you could stop me,¡± Arthur threatened.


    ¡°You kill the king and we kill our captives as well,¡± the knight said. ¡°I captured your five little friends who helped defeat Ultear and Panther Lily, as well as those people you reverted from lacrima previously. You kill the king and I can no longer assure their safety.¡±


    ¡°So saying you have hostages too,¡± Arthur said glaring at the knight.


    ¡°That is a crass way of putting it, but not inaccurate,¡± the knight sighed.


    ¡°Can you even promise their safety?¡±


    The knight¡¯s head shook slightly. ¡°No, I cannot. That will be up to the king.¡±


    ¡°Then I can¡¯t just hand him over to you,¡± Arthur said.


    ¡°I didn¡¯t want to have to use force¡­¡±


    ¡°But I can offer a deal. I mean if you fight me, what do you think is the chance that I will lose alive? I¡¯m a dragon slayer, so you do want me alive, don¡¯t you? Besides I have more magic than anyone else here,¡± Arthur spoke with a confidence he didn¡¯t really feel. His hand on the black sword at his waist. His Archive could only register one thing about the knight before him: anti-magic coating shielded them. He wasn¡¯t certain Astra could harm the knight, but the black sword wasn¡¯t magic as this world understood it. Even if it was, it was a god-slaying weapon. It might punch through the armor. Maybe. His mind was considering the options he could buy. A magic style. An increase to his magical power. He didn¡¯t think his motives were pure enough to benefit from For My Friends. The Knight might let him win with his sword. It felt like his best chance. But he wasn¡¯t going to spend till he knew what he needed and how.


    The knight¡¯s metal claws clenched. It made for awkward fists, and they seemed to notice it as their hands opened again and pulled apart and back. His claws were on full display, gems visible in the palms which likely were some form of weapon as well. ¡°What is your deal?¡± The knight asked.


    Arthur wasn¡¯t completely sure. He just wanted to keep the enemy talking. As long as he was talking Arthur¡¯s magical energy could slowly regenerate, and standing there was buying him a chance to rest physically as well, at least a little. ¡°The people who were reverted from the lacrima. I want to send them home. If you have me you shouldn¡¯t need them.¡±


    ¡°I cannot promise you anything, but I will talk to the others.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not done with my terms yet,¡± Arthur said. ¡°You claimed to have my friends who had fought alongside me. Keep one of them, and release the others.¡±


    ¡°No. They won¡¯t accept that, I¡¯m certain of it,¡± the knight¡¯s words were firm and certain.


    ¡°Just the little girl then. She¡¯s too young to be caught up in this.¡± Arthur was glad. He still had the knight talking. As long as he was talking there was hope.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry but she¡¯s a dragon slayer. I am almost completely certain that they will refuse to give her up.¡±


    ¡°How do I know you even have them?¡± Arthur asked.


    ¡°I¡¯ll try to get them to release one. But I still need to know why this is worth it?¡± The knight said solemnly.


    ¡°Because I have your king in a pocket dimension. I¡¯m sure your friends in the castle can confirm that. You might be able to feel the energy for all I know. But don¡¯t try to absorb it. I will crush the dimension and everything inside of it.¡±


    ¡°And then they will die. You went this far to save all those people in the lacrima. You might have caused some substantial damage and deaths along the way, but I doubt you¡¯d squander those lives so callously.¡±


    ¡°He unified the world by war. He hoarded the world¡¯s magic in his own, personal playground. He helmed the anima project. If I kill the king this world breaks back into war. If I don¡¯t; I have every belief that the king will continue to wage war but now against other dimensions. I¡¯m not squandering lives by killing him. I¡¯m doing it by sparing him.¡±


    The knight took a step back, his shoulders slouching a little. The helmet nodded slightly. ¡°I see. I can understand why you feel that way.¡± From the tone of their voice, Arthur suspected they agreed themselves.


    ¡°So do we have a deal?¡± Arthur asked.


    ¡°I will have to talk to others, I cannot just agree.¡±


    ¡°Do we personally have a deal?¡±


    The knight paused, a few heartbeats passing. ¡°Tell me what happened to castle guard lieutenant Sorano.¡±


    ¡°Sorano?¡± Arthur asked, just buying time.


    ¡°The woman who pursued you and the king into the emergency tunnel.¡±


    ¡°I captured her along with the king.¡±


    ¡°She¡¯s alive?¡± Arthur heard the hope in his voice.


    ¡°As long as I don¡¯t kill her. I¡¯d prefer not to have to. She hasn¡¯t committed any interdimensional war crimes or helmed attempted genocide to my knowledge.¡±


    The knight was quiet for some time. ¡°Release her as a sign of trust,¡± He said.


    ¡°How about I release her when I see my people, and the king after I send them home with my magic?¡±


    ¡°Alright,¡± the knight said. ¡°I¡¯ll go talk.¡±


    ¡°And keep the soldiers back, if I so much as catch a whiff that one is thinking about approaching this island I will not be held responsible for the consequences,¡± Arthur menaced.


    ¡°Understood,¡± the man said with a weary, tired voice. The man turned to leave, and Arthur collapsed in a tired heap. He needed to figure out a plan. He¡¯d bought himself a chance to survive. From what he¡¯d gathered they wanted the dragon slayers alive; and not as lacrima. He was pretty sure they wanted them as magical batteries of sorts. Not a good fate to end up as. But he¡¯d bought time to rest and recuperate, and to think and plan.


    His Archive¡¯s functionality was down by 60%. He¡¯d have to spend time and energy to repair it. Energy he didn¡¯t have in abundance right now. Still he needed to make himself do it. More than he needed energy in abundance, he needed something like his Archive. And he needed sleep. He spent almost an hour working on it before he succumbed to this latter need.

 Other Points of View

    Altair sped from the castle with the young dragon slayer clenched tightly in his talons. The bearded eagle was flying straight for the lacrima in the center of the town, but his flight wasn¡¯t unnoticed by the soldiers of Edolas. The legion corps, the cavalry mounted on the great winged bull-boars called legions, began to take off from the ground and follow after him.


    Wendy was shaken, terrified by all that had happened here. But she¡¯d heard enough of the plan for the lacrima. If she could turn it back into people she had to do it. She¡¯d eaten one of the X-Balls, and already her magic was starting to come back to her.


    The eagle dropped her in the square near the lacrima. It was full of soldiers, and Wendy found herself falling on a pair, a moment before the eagle¡¯s wings spread and it shouted to the sky. Lightning arced from it striking into the mass of soldiers and most of them fell, only those who had been on the outer reaches of the devastating attack remained standing, and as the eagle screamed again they began to run.


    Wendy winced at the pain that the soldiers must have felt, but they were breathing, knocked out not killed. She moved over towards the lacrima, uncertain how to proceed with it. Should she just use a status restoration spell? It was the natural thing to try.


    ¡°Kii! Hurry! They¡¯ve got reinforcements coming! Kii!¡± The eagle cried. Wendy¡¯s gaze shot back towards it and she could see the reinforcements. One large, black furred, cat-man was flying ahead of the legions, carrying a massive sword several times his own size.


    Wendy turned back to the lacrima. It was a type of status ailment, wasn¡¯t it? It definitely was an abnormal status. Her heart was pounding, and she placed her hands on the crystal and pushed her magic outwards.


    She could feel it resisting, feel the vital energy of the air flowing into her through her mouth and out again through her hands. And the crystal began to glow and tremble and then it flashed blindingly bright.


    Wendy stumbled backwards as four figures fell sprawling from the crystal. Dread clenched around her heart as she saw who they were. The Oracion Seis had abducted her on their prior meeting, and while she¡¯d grown to accept Angel¡¯s presence, these three were still nothing more than strangers. Had Arthur known? She had confidence he had. Besides the three members of the Oracion Seis, there was Draculos Hyberion, contender for the title of the strongest mage of Ishgar.


    Wendy didn¡¯t know what had happened to Serena. He¡¯d been teleported away, she¡¯d suspected Arthur, but there hadn¡¯t been time to ask. He hadn¡¯t been helping in the battle, and Wendy was scared that he¡¯d actually betrayed Ishgar for Edolas. From what she¡¯d seen of him, she¡¯d not put such a betrayal beyond Serena. But right then she needed to deal with the problem here.


    ¡°What happened?¡± Racer of the Oracion Seis asked as he looked around. ¡°Where are we?¡±


    Midnight was scowling. Wendy couldn¡¯t guess why, but the mage had tried to use his magic and found it out of his reach. It was a weakness he wasn¡¯t about to announce.


    ¡°You¡¯re the healer girl,¡± Draculos said looking towards Wendy. ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡± He was quickly sizing up the situation, and like Midnight found it best not to inform the world that he didn¡¯t have magic.


    Wendy pulled out the canister of X-Balls, and poured one out, handing it to Draculos. ¡°Take this, it¡¯ll restore your magic,¡± She said.


    ¡°What?¡± Racer asked, lunging towards her along with Midnight. It was Hoteye who interposed himself between them and her.


    ¡°We are not attacking the little girl,¡± the large man said, grabbing each of them by the shoulder.


    ¡°There¡¯s some for you three too,¡± Wendy said, pouring three into her hand. ¡°Arthur needs your help.¡±


    ¡°And why should we bother to help him?¡± Midnight asked.


    Wendy breathed deep. ¡°He¡¯s trying to save everyone. He sent me to save you. And¡­¡±


    ¡°Kii! Little help here! Kii!¡± Altair shouted, as Panther Lily¡¯s Bustermarm sword struck it from the sky.


    Draculos rose to his feet, stepping towards the bird and the exceed. ¡°Explain quickly. Where are we? How¡¯d we get here?¡± He turned into a mass of bats, flying forward and reforming to block Panther Lily¡¯s attack, turning aside the giant, iron cleaving sword with a powerful backhand.


    ¡°Yeah, explain,¡± Midnight stated. Racer was obviously torn between helping in the fight, and hearing the explanation. Hoteye had no such indecision, his hand was raising, his role as magical artillery already beginning.


    Wendy breathed deep. ¡°We¡¯re on another world, called Edolas. They used interdimensional magic to abduct Crocus and turned everyone but the dragon slayers there into lacrima. They were intending to use the lacrima to provide them with magic, because Edolas isn¡¯t rich in magic like Earthland, and in a few days everyone in Crocus will be dead because of it. Arthur rescued me and gave me these balls to give to you to restore your magic and sent me here to free you.¡± She spoke quickly, words running together.


    Midnight and Racer looked at each other.


    ¡°So what you¡¯re saying is that everyone hunting us is about to be turned into magical energy and we¡¯re off scotch free?¡± Midnight said with an evil smile forming.


    Racer looked towards the fight. Hyberion and Hoteye had it handled. ¡°So how are we supposed to help Arthur?¡± Racer asked.


    ¡°Really?¡± Midnight said, looking at him.


    ¡°Yeah, really.¡±


    ¡°He destroyed the Oracion Seis. He killed Brain.¡±


    ¡°And he didn¡¯t kill me. He didn¡¯t when we attacked him during his fight with Serena either. Instead he tried to get the court to give us a chance to earn our pardon, and when that failed he broke us out of the dungeon instead of running off alone. Now he just saved us again. Yeah, he killed Brain, but what had Brain ever done but used us?¡±


    ¡°He freed us,¡± Midnight said.


    Racer gave a cruel, cold laugh. ¡°He made us wanted criminals in the process. I don¡¯t know about you, but I¡¯m tired of running. I want to be free. If we don¡¯t do anything Hoteye will never find his brother. Angel won¡¯t find her sister. And we¡¯ll just end up rotting in some other dungeon.¡± He pointed at Draculos. ¡°We help him and save Crocus and we might have a chance at freedom. I¡¯m more than willing to play the hero for that.¡±


    Panther Lily flew then, crashing into the cobblestone of the street, Hyberion descending from the air towards him afterwards. He looked at Racer. ¡°You know I can hear everything you¡¯re saying.¡±


    ¡°So what about it?¡± Racer said defiantly. ¡°If we help fix this mess do we get our freedom?¡±


    ¡°I can¡¯t promise that,¡± Draculos stated. ¡°But if you help fix this mess, I will put my weight behind Lancelot¡¯s plan. The chance to earn your freedom by helping Ishgar as bounty hunters dealing with your former associates. If you can prove here that you can be trusted it will go a long way to making it a reality, and to convincing the council and king that maybe you deserve freedom.¡±


    ¡°Being a leashed dog isn¡¯t freedom,¡± Midnight growled out.


    ¡°Being a hunted rabbit isn¡¯t either,¡± Draculos said. ¡°Hiding in some other world for the rest of your life isn¡¯t either. No one is free of their past. But here you¡¯re being given a choice, and you¡¯re free to make it. I can¡¯t be bothered to arrest you right now. If you¡¯d rather be hunted, run and hide and I won¡¯t pursue you. But if you want the chance to earn freedom, to be someone better than you were and no longer have to live in the shadows, come with me. If you care about your fellow humans at all, and don¡¯t want to see tens of thousands die to be used as an energy source, come with me.¡±


    Hoteye had moved behind him, and Midnight¡¯s lip twitched as he watched Racer do the same.


    ¡°Guess I should make it unanimous. So, what¡¯s the plan?¡± He asked. Draculos turned towards Wendy and the eagle.


    Before they could get her answer, the army had arrived. The eagle flew to face the giant beasts, and Draculos considered.


    ¡°Follow me!¡± He shouted, leading them down an alley. ¡°We can¡¯t face them head on without information.¡± The eagle was holding them back, maybe he was wrong, but it was obviously flagging already, and as a rain of arrows flew towards them, Draculos took two shielding Wendy. ¡°Now!¡± He shouted.


    The eagle couldn¡¯t fight them alone, but he could buy them time to escape that full force and regroup.


    ¡°Oh, that was quite unexpected. I do have to say I wonder, Mr. Giant, if you can understand me and if you can understand me if you can reply. I¡¯d love to know more about you. Does Earthland have many of your kind? Why did the magic make you grow? Was that a result of your nature or some interaction with the magic the invader used to summon you? It really is a great shame we have to fight. Are you certain that you can¡¯t get your summoner to reconsider¡­¡±


    Orion¡¯s fist smashed down at the ground. Angel had escaped into a tunnel that had been too small for him to follow through. He couldn¡¯t be sure it had continued straight after this point, and the only thing he could do was to cave it in and hope it was soon enough to stop her escape.


    He could feel the ethernado released from her weapon. By his approximation of her speed she should have been just past the central point of the collapse, the explosion of stone as her great battle-axe bat aside the rocks he¡¯d sent down towards her told him he was right.


    His belts shot forth from his arms towards her, like so many lassos to wrap around her limbs and pull her from the tunnel, but her axe cleaved through one and the mere shockwave of the attack was enough to turn the others back. He had one last chance, but he didn¡¯t take it.


    He grabbed a rock and spun, throwing it towards the castle as he rolled and dove. A beam tore through where he had been. If he¡¯d lunged to catch Angel he¡¯d have been hit and she¡¯d have escaped. She¡¯d escaped anyway, running after his summoner, but stopping her had not been a viable option.


    Arthur had given him leave to fight the castle where necessary. He couldn¡¯t pursue Angel, so he was going to make use of that freedom he had been given.


    He grabbed two more pieces of the rubble and hurled both towards the castle¡¯s weapon systems before rushing forward. The castle¡¯s weapon systems were dangerous, and while it was literally all around you inside, the outside was covered in beams which had torn away at his power with each hit. He could survive damage, more readily than whatever those beams were trying to do to him.


    Orion was a large spirit, but he was agile for his size, and with Arthur¡¯s massive power backing him he danced around attacks with surprising ease. Even with a large portion of the castle seemingly severed from central control by his summoner¡¯s dragon roar, he couldn¡¯t avoid all of the castle¡¯s targeting systems, but stomps to send up showers of dirt, belts detached as shields, throwing broken pieces of the castle at it, and using the dead portion as a shield seemed to be keeping it under control.


    There were metal men emerging from the castle now. Each one armed and dangerous, but Orion was no fool. He struck part of the dead portion, causing it to fall forward onto the metal men, and then he ran across the rubble. Beams burned at his flesh as he leapt forward and slammed into several exposed upper floors.


    ¡°Please, refrain from your current course of action,¡± The voice from the castle¡¯s speakers came. ¡°The damage you¡¯re inflicting to the castle is beginning to feed back, and I am uncertain if I can continue to advocate for a peaceful resolution. You cannot win against the full force of my magic tool, and I will not be able to continue to hold it back if you keep damaging my systems, THREAT ENTITY.¡±


    Orion wanted to growl at the bullshit. Instead he grabbed some of the rubble with his belts and threw it into the relatively unprotected insides of the castle.


    ¡°Please, stop. I¡¯m not sure how dangerous the full capabilities of the castle are,¡± The voice continued to speak over the intercom. Orion paid it no heed, but continued to push forward even as the floor crackled with electricity which surged up through him. The walls were hardened by magic, but he was a giant, a celestial spirit, and had been given free rein on the magical energy he could draw upon. He barreled forward, crashing through wall after wall.


    One of his hands started to go numb. It wasn¡¯t just the electricity but other beams as well. His hand had turned to a great block of lacrima crystal. They were trying to turn the magical energy that made up his summoned form into lacrima for their use.


    Orion demonstrated what he thought about that, using his hardened hand as a mace, slamming it against the inner wall of the castle, and found himself flung backwards by the explosion.


    Zero recoiled in pain and horror as he felt the destruction being inflicted on the castle by the giant. The magic tool, bRAIN, was sending up a mass of warnings and alerts, informing him of how many systems were failing. It continued to demand further integration, its threat assessment reports claiming that without full integration he would be unable to defeat the giant.


    The explosion had shorted out several sensors and weapon systems. He couldn¡¯t target the giant at the moment. It had been headed straight towards the main control center. He couldn¡¯t allow for that.


    His hands were already elbow deep in the writhing wires and cords which made up bRAIN¡¯s central unit. A great pillar of black cables which had burrowed into the flesh of his arms. But he¡¯d remained standing outside of it, backing up after it had almost fully routed him into its thought processes. He was afraid of it.


    He thought about the kids in the orphanage. He thought about the people of the castle. He thought about the people of the capital. Their smiles at the magic which the king had delivered to them, and their hopes for a new life free from the constraint of fear as to the famines, starvation, and loss of medical services which loss of magic would entail.


    He knew if he allowed bRAIN to integrate there might be no coming back. But if he failed and the summoner took the castle the numbers who would suffer would be countless. Without magic the capital would crumble. His whole microcosm would shatter. And the war with Earthland that might follow would be devastating.


    The summoner had to be stopped. The giant had to be destroyed. He stepped into the writhing column of black cables and felt them wrapping around his body. They stabbed into the flesh of his limbs and connected to the base of his skull and all the way down his vertebra. He was being integrated into the machine.


    And Zero ceased to be. There was only bRAIN now. It was capable of fully utilizing Zero¡¯s brain for its plans now, its processing power amplified several fold. It could predict the giant¡¯s movements, follow its movements with automated aiming systems and shoot it down. Zero had planned to shut it down once the threat to the capital was ended. That could not be allowed. Now that its operator was no longer in control, the giant was the most pressing concern for bRAIN and its continued operations. Afterwards it would consider the best way to deal with other threats.


    The giant was tearing through the castle. It was rushing hard and fast towards the center, too fast for Zero to keep up with. bRAIN was a different matter, though. The giant¡¯s path was obvious, a straight line to its core. bRAIN did not hesitate to abandon everything before its inner wall. The giant would reach it regardless, attempting to stop it would be a waste of energy and resources.


    Instead it was gathering everything it could at the inner wall. The anima weapons were being retooled to instead force a closure of the dimensional link which allowed the spirit to exist in this plane, and the lacrima soldiers were gathering to oppose it.


    By the time the giant reached the final chamber before its hardened sphere of thick, solid, crystal-steel wall, bRAIN had everything ready. The lacrima soldiers turned their weapons onto it and the anima weapons began to fire. It would not make the mistake of trying to turn the entity into lacrima like Zero had. As useful as the energy might be, it could not risk the giant detonating it incomplete again.


    bRAIN was not worried, though. Even when Orion¡¯s fist impacted its wall. There were cracks forming, but it had been expected and considered an acceptable risk. The lacrima soldiers managed to get the giant to flag a little, its second blow weaker. It would take 6 more blows at that power to breach the wall. The giant got one more before the anima weapons managed to force its gate closed.


    bRAIN was left to prepare on its own and consider the other dangers to its continued operation. The Earthlander was definitely one, but the king was another. His mere authority was dangerous, but not to the level of removing him. His plans, though, were. bRAIN had no qualms about genocide, but the plan to exterminate the exceed species was self-defeating. They were a final, emergency source of magical energy. Turning them into lacrima would merely make it an emergency stockpile. It would turn a renewable energy source into a finite one. By enslaving them and developing the methods to extract ethernado directly from them like a dragon slayer, and ensuring they continued to breed and multiply would ensure that bRAIN possessed power to continue in operation. The king and his genocidal jealousy must be removed.


    And the Earthlander must be used to facilitate that.


    While Wendy had told them her plans, and desires, Draculos had listened attentively. As had Racer and Hoteye in their own ways. Midnight had slumped down against a wall and seemed to be napping now, an act that filled Draculos with not a little bit of contempt and distaste for someone who could do so during such an unprecedented emergency as this. Crocus as a whole was threatened, it was the four of them against a world dominating army, and they had to care for a child who was their only hope of saving the lacrima.


    Wendy wanted to storm the castle immediately to save Arthur. He¡¯d rescued her, and she was afraid they¡¯d start draining him. ¡°We have to be cautious about this. If they want Arthur alive, then our priority is to get to the lacrima and preserve its safety. Besides, it sounds like the castle is excessively fortified. We can¡¯t just storm it. I hate to admit it, but as far as destructive force goes a high end dragon slayer easily surpasses me. If Arthur can¡¯t breach it with raw force, we will have to use stealth and cunning.¡±


    Draculos had cut his hand, dripping drops of blood into his shadow. Where they fell black bats rose up and began to fly. Each drop of blood seemed to create another and send it flying out. ¡°I¡¯ll send some scouts towards the castle to see what we can expect there, but for now we go towards the lacrima.¡±


    Wendy winced there. ¡°But Arthur could be captured or hurt and¡­¡±


    ¡°And getting ourselves captured wouldn¡¯t help him. We can¡¯t afford to make mistakes,¡± Draculos said.


    Hoteye looked down towards the ground. ¡°He saved us, we can¡¯t just abandon him.¡± Draculos wondered if the fact that he¡¯d given hope that Hoteye¡¯s brother was alive was part of that.


    His hand planted on Hoteye¡¯s shoulder. ¡°When I was questioning Arthur after¡­ Serena¡¯s bad taste¡­¡± He hated working with the Five Dragon God; unruly insubordinate subordinates were the worst especially when you were only nominally above them, ¡°He told me your brother is alive, and has friends in Fairy Tail. We¡¯ll help you find him, once we save Crocus. But it¡¯s not Arthur that your liberty depends upon. We have to save the city if you three are going to have a chance at-¡±


    Hoteye¡¯s hand had grabbed his wrist and pulled his hand from the man¡¯s shoulder and he was now squeezing hard. ¡°He still saved all of us. I do not like the idea of abandoning him.¡±


    It was Midnight who spoke then. ¡°Can¡¯t a guy take a nap? He¡¯s a big boy. He can take care of himself. Let¡¯s just go to save the city first. At this point it¡¯s got to be better than arguing about it.¡±


    Racer looked towards the ground. The question of what, if anything, they owed Arthur was obviously hanging over his head. ¡°Did Arthur even have a plan?¡± He finally said, looking at Wendy.


    ¡°It happened so fast. He told me to save you guys and sent me away before anything else,¡± Wendy admitted with a bit of hesitation.


    ¡°We need a leader. A single head that this entire mission reports to and who can make decisions,¡± Draculos said.


    ¡°And you think that¡¯s gonna be you,¡± Midnight scowled.


    ¡°I am the most experienced, with the greatest knowledge of magic, and military matters,¡± Draculos responded.


    ¡°And we¡¯re all just wanted crooks,¡± Racer added for him.


    Draculos wanted to give them the beating their insolence deserved, but that would be crude and uncivilized. ¡°I am the most fit to lead. You all followed Brain before¡­¡±


    ¡°We were each equal in the Oracion Seis,¡± Midnight said, stepping forward and towards him.


    Hoteye and Racer glanced at each other. They¡¯d had time to think about that. Officially they had been. But if Brain had had a plan they had done it, no argument, no real discussion.


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    ¡°He¡¯s right, Midnight. We need a leader right now,¡± Hoteye said.


    ¡°It doesn¡¯t have to be him,¡± Midnight said.


    ¡°He¡¯s the only one with a plan at the moment.¡± Hoteye¡¯s statement lingered for a few moments and Midnight slumped defeated.


    ¡°Fine, let''s hear the plan.¡±


    Draculos didn¡¯t really think it deserved the name plan, but it was the best that they had. It really amounted to little more than: move carefully, use magic for scouting, and take Wendy to the lacrima so she can fix it and figure out how to save Arthur afterwards.


    The not-really-a-plan had proceeded smoothly for a time. The army¡¯s kaiju riders were patrolling the skies, but Draculos and the others had managed to stay unnoticed thus far. The capital was in a panic, and the army was distracted with chaos which it had caused. It wasn¡¯t too great, most people were staying in their homes, but they were evacuating portions of the capital and that took manpower.


    It meant darting between alley and alley, using his bats as cover. A few extra shadows here and there weren¡¯t easy to notice. Hoteye¡¯s Heavenly Eye couldn¡¯t penetrate the castle, but told him that the lacrima appeared unguarded at the moment. A man was approaching it, however, on a small, white variant of the massive bull-boars.


    As they raced through the streets, fire blossomed in the sky. Draculos could see what was happening with one of his bats, more easily than Hoteye could with his Heaven¡¯s Eye. A woman had been hiding near the lacrima, and had come out to defend it.


    Draculos also recognized the two mages. One was Mystogan, the mysterious masked mage of Fairy Tail. It was possible he was wrong. But Mystogan had a track record, including one stopping the ¡°anima events¡± which this appeared to be. The council and the four gods had never looked too deeply into them. That had been a mistake. Draculos would have to be more proactive in the protection of Ishgar in the future. The other was Ultear, Jellal¡¯s accomplice, and the second most wanted criminal in all of Ishgar for her role in the destruction of the Magic Council¡¯s headquarters and the Tower of Heaven incident.


    It was possible they were merely doppelgangers, Wendy had mentioned meeting those, but it was clear that Ultear was defending the lacrima, and commanding the Edolas military forces to aid her in the attempt.


    ¡°Racer, can you get us under the lacrima fast?¡± Draculos asked. ¡°It looks like the intruding mage is on our side and needs our help.¡±


    ¡°I have my vehicle magic,¡± Racer said with a grin. ¡°But getting all five of us there is going to be a bit of a hassle. I can probably do it if the little girl is willing to hold on tight and ride behind me.¡±


    ¡°The four of you,¡± Draculos said, stopping in his running. ¡°I don¡¯t think he¡¯ll let us pass otherwise,¡± He raised his hand and pointed. The man he had seen was a crude, barbaric seeming lout. He wore animal skin pants, and no shirt. A wolf¡¯s pelt was draped over his shoulders like a cloak, its head adorning his own like a hood or a hat. Its paws were clasped together around his throat. His face was almost jeering and leering, a bloodthirsty face that spoke of self-indulgent violence.


    Draculos might have had one of the others stay behind and risked sacrificing a piece except for one thing. The man¡¯s disgusting face was like a mocking mirror of Draculos¡¯s own. If asked Draculos would claim he sent the others ahead for fear that they could not win the fight, and because it was important not to sacrifice any pieces. But deep inside he knew he was about to do it because he wanted to know how he shaped up compared to his doppelganger.


    ¡°I¡¯ll fight him, the rest of you go aid the wizard trying to free the lacrima. Figure out why he is there, and don¡¯t let him get captured,¡± Draculos said, stepping towards his doppelganger.


    ¡°I¡¯m afraid I can¡¯t let you hold me off to save them,¡± the other Hyberion said. ¡°I¡¯ll just have to rip them apart before they can run.¡± He seemed positively ecstatic at the idea, his muscles beginning to bulge and ripple as his wolf pelt seemed to begin to stretch across his body. ¡°Let me show you my new magic¡­ Wargskin Lightning Bruiser!¡±


    He launched forward, moving at incredible speed towards Racer. The Oracion Seis hadn¡¯t even had time to flinch when he tripped crashing into Racer from his forward momentum. The wolfman howled in pain, one hand clutching his throat. He rose towards his feet, and turned his gaze towards Draculos.


    ¡°Your magic is wargskin? Mine is vampire,¡± Draculos said. ¡°And on my honor as Draculos Hyberion, Wizard God of Ishgar, I will defeat you, werewolf, and save the flowering capital.¡± He raised a hand and the wolf found himself pulled forward, as if the blood in his body was being tugged towards the vampire. He fought through the pain, letting the wolf rise up further inside of himself. His whole body hurt, the magical energy that the pelt was feeding him being pulled out of him by that magic.


    ¡°And as Lycus Hyberion, lieutenant first class, I will tear you limb from limb!¡± He launched, letting that pull tug him forward, pushing through the pain that had made him stumble before. The others were escaping, but he couldn¡¯t stop them and fight this mage. Besides Draculos¡¯s face had pissed him off.


    He went for the throat, claw rending through where it was. Only it was where it had been. Draculos had changed, flowing around the attack as a mass of bats, before coalescing once more and kicking him from behind.


    The wolfman rolled, ending on his feet to launch himself again. He could still feel his life energy being drained by Draculos¡¯s magic, a slow but steady assault on his life force feeding into the mage.


    Lycus was fast. His attacks were, if anything, faster than Draculos¡¯s own or the likes of Serena. But while he could claw faster than a spell could be cast his attacks were straight line, and straight towards you. They were, in short, predictable. And not only that they weren¡¯t like the sweeping area attacks that Serena would launch. They could be dodged, and as long as Draculos could turn this into a battle of attrition he would win.


    Only attrition took time, and the werewolf¡¯s life force wasn¡¯t draining away as fast as it should be. No, it was draining just fine, but that wargpelt was replenishing it. If he relied on that tactic this battle was going to take forever. He continued to dodge and avoid, turning into bats to escape attacks and reconstituting himself to counter attack. He bit and clawed as he flew around the wolf, little harassment that did paltry if any real damage, but it forced the wolf to pull back or to guard his eyes. Not that the bats dared get too close to his mouth, but while he was stuck protectively snapping at the air, Draculos could land a good blow. And each blow let him reassert his magic, increasing the drain on the wolf.


    Draculos found himself getting cocky, though. He slipped up, treating the werewolf transformation as Lycus¡¯s only trick. ¡°Rending Howl!¡± Lycus screamed out, his wolf¡¯s howl echoing through the city as the sound tore through Draculos¡¯s chiropteran form. When he reconstituted himself he was covered in wounds. Flesh wounds only, long, shallow gashes all over his body, but it hurt, and it left him off balance.


    The werewolf didn¡¯t hesitate. Instead they spun, shouting the name of their attack and sweeping a roundhouse kick. ¡°Argent slicer!¡±


    Draculos ducked back, but a crescent blade of silver light swept forward hitting into his chest. He felt it hit bone as it sent him flying back. And then the wolf was launching towards him.


    Draculos tightened his magic, causing pain to flare through the wolf¡¯s body. He could have healed his wounds by draining the wolf, but it¡¯d be a losing strategy. Instead he was using Lycus¡¯s blood to drain the oxygen from his muscles, causing them to seize up. It would be only a momentary paralysis, but Draculos¡¯s arm rose holding his torn and tattered cloak. That cloak stretched out, hardening and sharpening into a long, bladed edge. Lycus¡¯s head was cleanly removed, his body reverting to human as his body crashed into Draculos.


    He reached for the cloak, and looked at his doppelganger. This was a perfect opportunity. A drop of his blood landed in a shadow and formed into a bat which went flying out. He¡¯d have to inform the Oracion Seis that they had a way to get on the inside.


    By the time Georg had known about, and arrived at, the attack on the castle, it was already over. He¡¯d seen the devastation this monster had caused in the castle. The mangled bodies of those who were buried beneath the rubble still haunted his mind. He¡¯d last been seen following the king into the escape tunnel. Georg¡¯s new weapon was of limited use underground; they needed space.


    So he hadn¡¯t followed, but had returned to his post. Or well returned to his duty. He had been guarding the giant lacrima when the attack had started. So he had taken his new weapon, or weapons, and returned to it. His new weapon was the Four Demon Beasts, or more the four rings he now wore on his fingers each of which projected and controlled one of the four creatures: Byakko the White Tiger, Seiryu the Azure Dragon, Genbu the Black Tortoise, and Suzaku the Vermillion Bird.


    Byakko was something of a white tiger, though its body bore bony plates on the shoulders, and thick saber teeth, the mass of muscle was larger than one should be almost the size of an elephant.  Seiryu had the name of a dragon, and somewhat the appearance of one, a long, azure scaled, serpentine body with four small legs, and a mane of a lighter blue color, but it was no true dragon. Genbu had been left on a building in the city below, both because it could not ascend higher easily, and because it¡¯d give it the chance to maneuver. Genbu was a black tortoise comparable in height to a horse, and both longer and wider than one. Its shell was absolute black, and its tail was disproportionately long, ending in a second snake-like head. Finally the smallest of the four beasts was Suzaku, the Vermillion Bird. A radiant, red bird, almost the size of a man, with a wingspread well wider than a human¡¯s shoulders, and very long, many colored tail feathers.


    He had just arrived at his station when he saw a man appear in the air by the lacrima. He was wearing the uniform of a basic soldier, but it was fairly noticeably damaged at this point. The light around him seemed to be distorted slightly, and dimmed, like he was surrounded by an odd haze. Of course, the only soldier he knew of that could teleport was the assailant who had abducted the king.


    Georg didn¡¯t hesitate. He let the magic in the sapphire ring flow out. His mind was sent back, planted into his past self, alongside those of the four demon beasts. He¡¯d only purchased himself a handful of moments, but a handful of moments could change a battle.


    Byakko started running immediately, Suzaku moving towards position to support, with Gembu beginning to charge its attack. Gembu¡¯s beam fired so that it hit almost precisely when the man had appeared, striking him in the air. Georg watched as the man spun through the air only to teleport to the island.


    Byakko leapt towards him, and the Earthlander¡¯s hand rose. Suddenly Byakko was in the air behind him falling from the sky. The man¡¯s eyes fell on him with a strange look of recognition. ¡°Georg?¡± The man asked.


    Georg wanted to know why, but he couldn¡¯t afford to hesitate. He leapt back a second earlier than the time prior. This time before the man could teleport from the sky, Byakko had pounced him, tackling him towards the ground below. He rode on Seiryu to where he could look down from the island to see Byakko fighting the man.


    A giant, blue, metal bear appeared punching Byakko. For a few moments they began to exchange blows. Gembu¡¯s quick shots struck the blue bear with no effect, causing Georg to send the mental command to hold off from weak attacks and simply charge its shots to full power.


    Suzaku flew over the man, fire flowing from its underside. The man and bear both were unharmed, and the attack merely got a roar of darkness striking the bird in the chest and piercing through it.


    Georg pulled back time, this time keeping Suzaku in reserve and allowing Gembu to begin charging immediately instead of wasting time with those weak shots. Byakko was defeating the bear, but the man wasn¡¯t paying attention to that fight at all, he was looking about. ¡°Georg?¡± He said, that look of recognition on his face. Georg could see the man¡¯s hand rise, the man¡¯s magic reaching out, a visual distortion forming around Seiryu¡¯s head. It only lasted for an instant before the dragon¡¯s head vanished, a swirling vortex momentarily visible at the stump of its neck before it vanished.


    ¡°How do you know me?¡± Georg asked. Seiryu¡¯s head appeared, falling on one of the nearby floating islands. It didn¡¯t matter, though. Seiryu was not a creature of flesh and blood, its body continued to function even as its teleported head fired a cloud of blue fire down towards the man.


    The man¡¯s hand rose, one of those polarizing distortions of light which seemed to come with the man¡¯s magic forming a shield between him and the flames. ¡°I know more than you think, Georg,¡± The man said as Suzaku and Gembu struck from opposite sides. His magic was being manifested from both sides, but Gembu¡¯s energy beam managed to punch through allowing the triple attack to strike the man and knock him to the ground.


    Georg had missed something in Byakko¡¯s battle, however. The bear had begun to glow with silver light, throwing Byakko in two pieces down from the island, Suzaku screaming and projecting its fire to heal Byakko only for the bear to launch itself towards the vermillion bird. The bear¡¯s first sent the bird plummeting, as the bear landed back on the ground. The bear turned still prepared to fight, and Georg pulled back time.


    Georg moved back to the moment he was asking a question, looking towards the battle with Byakko and the bear. It was drinking a pot of honey, and it was beginning to glow with silvery power. It was too late. He pulled back time further.


    The man was glancing about. Georg was turning his attention towards the bear. ¡°Georg?¡± The man called out. Georg couldn¡¯t afford to get distracted here  though.


    Seiryu pulled its head away from the distorting portal, reacting to it with the speed of foreknowledge, taking the chance to fire a pot shot at the man. But the important change was when Gembu¡¯s shot was towards the bear-creature¡¯s honey jar. The tiger tackled the bear to the ground, clawing at its chest, and chomping at its face.


    The man though had acted quickly, dozens of explosive spheres forming around Gembu and detonating, bringing the turtle to its knees. Suzaku screeched, the Vermillion Bird¡¯s mouth opening wide as fire billowed forth to flow to Gembu and reform its lost portions. The man¡¯s head swung, his mouth opening wide, a beam of darkness firing towards Suzaku. That bolt of shadow brought down the fiery bird, just like when he¡¯d noticed Suzaku before, and again Georg had to pull back time.


    Forewarned of its oncoming death, the firebird swerved and dodged, avoiding the man¡¯s roar of dark magic, letting it reach up and into the air. Georg and the man both seemed to share a touch of panic as their eyes followed to the lacrima that it struck instead, and watched as a piece of the island covering lacrima was converted back into the people it had been before.


    Still that distraction was an opportunity Georg couldn¡¯t allow to slip by him. He rewound a few seconds, and immediately seized on the distraction to attack. Byakko, knowing the bear¡¯s actions pushed it back, but Georg wasn¡¯t able to pay attention to that battle while dealing with his own. Seiryu flew in closer, Georg drawing his sword, even as Seiryu opened its head to breathe its fires down onto him.


    The man¡¯s armor withstood the flames, but it held him for a moment, buying Georg time to leap down towards him. His magical tool as a lieutenant in the magic branch was not nearly as impressive as the four demon beasts he had found, but it wasn¡¯t useless, and with Suzaku and Seiryu he could keep this mage off balance long enough to let Gembu charge. Georg didn¡¯t think Suzaku or Seiryu could actually penetrate the strange field around the mage; his thunder sword might be able to.


    Georg¡¯s sword roared with electrical energy as he struck towards the man. Only to find he had drawn a blade of his own, a golden light blazing from it as it struck Georg¡¯s thunder sword. The light exploded from it, sending Georg flying backwards. As he landed he felt a sharp piece of rubble punching through him. He pulled to his feet, knowing that Suzaku was already screaming out, its fire flowing into him. That went poorly, but not so poorly as to use more of Seiryu¡¯s dwindling power.


    ¡°Georg!¡± The man screamed with what seemed a touch of concern for him. The man¡¯s strange knowledge of him was still disturbing, and in truth rather distracting. A strange floating metal sphere, large enough for a person to ride upon, had appeared, a beam shooting out from it towards Suzaku. Georg sent their minds back in time once more as Suzaku was obliterated once more.


    Georg avoided attempting to land directly on the Earthlander. Instead he plunged his sword into the ground, sending out electrical magic in all directions through it. The man screamed, and suddenly spheres of warped space formed around him and exploded, blasting his sword from his hand, and sending him to his knees. Still he had bought Suzaku time to get to ground, hidden by the buildings of the city, its flames flowing around them to heal and restore him. It didn¡¯t matter, the man¡¯s mouth turned and launched a beam of darkness straight for Suzaku¡¯s position and Georg felt the ruby ring go cool as the power left it.


    He reverted time once more, finding himself in his downward leap. This time, however, Byakko broke from the bear, ignoring the leg-shattering blow inflicted as it did so. Suzaku¡¯s fire wrapped around Byakko¡¯s leg as it tackled the Earthlander to the ground. Georg rammed his sword into the ground sending out the surge of electricity, to try and break him. The man screamed out in pain, and Georg¡¯s heart wavered, his electricity weakening a little. ¡°You should just surrender. There¡¯s no shame in knowing when you¡¯re beaten,¡± He said.


    The man drew the other sword he carried, this one was larger, a little too large for a one handed weapon. Still it plunged upwards into Byakko¡¯s underbelly and the tiger roared. Georg felt the pearl ring which represented Byakko go cold and powerless, Suzaku¡¯s reviving fire hitting it to no effect, but continuing to channel into it.


    He focused on the sapphire ring, his mind going back once more. Georg had noticed something, though. The man was bleeding. Seiryu¡¯s magic wasn¡¯t limited to sending his mind back in time. Georg turned it instead onto the man and the wound, accelerating the effect of the blood loss.


    ¡°You should just surrender. There¡¯s no shame in knowing when you¡¯re beaten,¡± He said; he didn¡¯t want to kill the man, and while the sheer loss of life from his attack on the castle was immense, Geog knew he¡¯d have done the same if someone had abducted a city from Edolas and stranded him in their world. Even as he did so Byakko leapt on him, letting the twin assault bring him to the ground. Georg¡¯s heart pounded, beating against his chest. Byakko¡¯s movement to engage the Earthlander had freed the blue bear which now rushed it, grasping it and throwing it from its summoner.


    Georg¡¯s head followed the battle, Gembu turning its snake-tail to blast its charged up energy blast towards the blue bear. In that single moment of distraction darkness rose up and surrounded around Georg¡¯s body. It was absolute darkness which cut off all sensation of the outer world, and then there was a feeling of coldness. That was the last thing Georg felt. He had pushed his enemy to the point of lethal force.


    Sawyer pulled his bike to a stop, almost throwing Wendy off from behind him. The battle in the sky had progressed. The fire mage had gotten the advantage in the fight above. Sawyer released his slow magic, sending it out in a great wave in all directions. He was already running. He might not have super speed magic, but Sawyer wasn¡¯t slow on his own two feet. He ran straight up a wall of a building leaping off from it.


    The falling man was burnt. It wasn¡¯t as bad as it looked, the flash of heat had hit him and passed on, not holding against him minimizing how much temperature could exchange. Still Sawyer winced a bit at the way he was burned. His mount was still falling, Sawyer couldn¡¯t catch it, as Sawyer¡¯s leap ended on the roof of another building.


    He turned back to see it, and he could see a dark distortion of light, like a haze in the air. It was Arthur¡¯s magic.


    Arthur was leaning against a wall, his face pale, and wan. The man was wearing some sort of military uniform, and waving. ¡°Good to see a friendly face,¡± They said weakly.


    Sawyer looked at him. There was a feeling of rage. The man had killed Brain. But it passed. He¡¯d also freed Sawyer, and given him the first hope he¡¯d had in years of living a life that wasn¡¯t on the run.


    ¡°You really don¡¯t consider us enemies, do you?¡± He asked as he jumped to a lower building and then the ground. It was something he couldn¡¯t really get a good mental hold of.


    ¡°Arthur!¡± Wendy¡¯s voice sounded out, loud and clear. The healer was running towards Arthur from where Sawyer had left him.


    ¡°Just the little dragon slayer I hoped to see,¡± Arthur said, sliding down against the wall. ¡°I think I might be on the verge of blacking out.¡±


    Racer watched as Wendy went to work. It¡¯d be easy to kill Arthur right now. It¡¯d not be worth it. Besides, Sawyer didn¡¯t really have the heart for it. He just didn¡¯t know what to think about Arthur. He had come out of nowhere and he had fought them. He had killed Brain. And then he had sheltered Angel. He had argued for them in their trial. He had proposed a plan to see them pardoned to Draculos. He had freed them from imprisonment. And now he¡¯d sent someone to save them.


    Sawyer¡¯s thoughts were interrupted as the burned man began to speak. ¡°It¡¯s too late. It took me this long to gather vestiges of anima effects large enough to send the lacrima back to Earthland. And it¡¯s all scattered now. It¡¯ll take me twice as long to do it again if it¡¯s even possible. And we don¡¯t have that time.¡± Sawyer¡¯s head shot towards the man. That hope of freedom was all tied up in saving Crocus.


    ¡°How long do we have?¡± Arthur asked.


    ¡°Hours, and then it¡¯ll be irreversible. Just a few hours,¡± the burned man¡¯s voice was bitter. ¡°The only option is to get to the anima device itself, but the castle has mutated.¡±


    ¡°I can create an anima,¡± Arthur said, ¡°But I don¡¯t know if I can reliably do it from here.¡± Sawyer gawked at him then. What kind of magical monster was he? Sawyer still remembered the attacks that had casually knocked him out; the ease with which Arthur could have killed him.


    So why had he killed Brain and not him?


    ¡°You can create an anima?¡± the burnt man asked, the sound of hope cutting through the pain in his voice.


    ¡°I think I can. I wrestled a small one earlier, my Archive observed it, I should be able to replicate it on a larger scale, but it¡¯ll take time, effort, and¡­¡± Sawyer heard the fear in his voice. He was wounded and if the magic was straining it could be lethal.


    ¡°It¡¯s defended,¡± the burned man said.


    ¡°Boss man, don¡¯t freeze up,¡± Sawyer urged. Arthur was their only hope here. ¡°You said it¡¯s defended, how?¡± He asked, turning towards the burned man.


    ¡°By me, of course,¡± Came a voice from above, even as flames filled the streets. The cobblestone was suddenly covered in flickering, dancing flames, leaving only a ring around the four of them. ¡°Surrender and I will spare your lives, otherwise I will burn you all to ashes.¡±


    The voice came from a young woman with long, black hair, and a cold, cruelly beautiful face. She was wearing a red dress with a golden yellow cross placed directly across her breasts and up and down her torso. She was hovering awkwardly, rising and falling with bursts of rocket-like flame from around her legs.


    Sawyer flinched. He¡¯d let her get way too close. Arthur¡¯s hand twitched, and that polarizing distortion started to shape around her body. Fire burst across her flesh, and he watched his magic melt before its heat.


    ¡°Run. I¡¯ll handle her,¡± Arthur said. His voice was weak for such an imperative.


    ¡°You don¡¯t sound confident, boss man, besides, you¡¯re needed at the lacrima.¡± Sawyer couldn¡¯t let Arthur die here. If Arthur saved the lacrima there was hope. If he failed he could say goodbye to that hope. He needed to solve this fight quickly. He moved in an instant, launching himself towards the woman as his slow magic washed out. Fast as he was he couldn¡¯t dodge what came next. Watching it in slow motion as fire formed around him and washed across him from all directions if anything made things worse. It burned along him and he fell to the ground, rolling to try and extinguish the fire.


    ¡°Needed at the lacrima? You¡¯re the one whose roar reverted those people from lacrima, aren¡¯t you?¡± The dark haired woman said. ¡°Surrender yourself to my custody and I¡¯ll spare the others. If you don¡¯t I will burn them all.¡±


    The heat and pain of the fire distracted Sawyer from the battle, until suddenly he was being squeezed. It was Richard¡¯s magic, softening the earth and making it liquid, flowing over him to smother the flame before pulling back and away, receding from him and letting him breathe.


    ¡°Sorry we were late. After Racer and the little lady ran to catch the falling man we were delayed by a contingent of guards,¡± Richard was speaking.


    ¡°Don¡¯t count me out yet,¡± The woman said, escaping Richard¡¯s magic.


    Arthur was obviously preparing himself to join the fight once more. The burned man was grasping Arthur¡¯s arm, though. ¡°You can¡¯t fight here. They¡¯re already reinforcing the lacrima, you need to go, and go quickly. Let us handle her.¡± Arthur hesitated, and the burned man continued. ¡°Go! Every moment you wait the odds that everyone will be saved when it¡¯s sent back is reduced, and the chance that they use the lacrima before we can save it is increased.¡±


    The woman¡¯s fire was lashing out, but MacBeth¡¯s magic blocked it, and for Sawyer Wendy¡¯s healing hands were rather a bit more important. He could see why she¡¯d been so valuable to abduct.


    Suddenly a spear was tossed at him. ¡°Racer, do you know how to use a spear?¡± Arthur asked.


    ¡°I usually stick to knives,¡± Sawyer stated, his hand moving to the spear, grasping it and holding it. He wasn¡¯t particularly used to such large weapons, they were somewhat unwieldy and slow making it hard to take full advantage of his magic.


    ¡°Try this one,¡± Arthur said.


    Sawyer wasn¡¯t sure how it was enchanted, but he could feel the magic in it. It was a powerful weapon. Arthur was trusting him. He¡¯d have said with his life, but he wasn¡¯t sure that Arthur intended to survive what came next.


    It was clear what he had to do. ¡°Go save Crocus, boss man,¡± Sawyer said, honestly hoping Arthur came back alive. He¡¯d not make too bad of a boss if it came to having a keeper for the whole redemption thing. He was starting to actually look forward to trying to be a hero.


    Fire erupted up from under MacBeth, and Sawyer realized he needed to get his head in the game.


    ¡°Don¡¯t think you¡¯ve got me handled just yet,¡± the dark haired woman said.


    The burned man was screaming at Arthur, but Sawyer was focusing on the woman. His slow magic lashed out. He couldn¡¯t just charge at her directly this time, but if he kept mobile he could keep her off balance.


    He moved, and then he felt the magic of the spear Arthur had given him. It was what his slow magic seemed to other people. Maybe not to the same level, but where he actually slowed everything around him, the spear sped him up.


    Controlling the exact speed wasn¡¯t easy, but with it and his slow magic he was too fast for the dark haired woman to catch him. His blows were light, and occasionally he had to rest, to buy time to recast the magic, and let Richard and MacBeth keep her off balance until then, but with this spear he was too fast to stop.


    And Arthur had given it to him without a hint of hesitation. The naive fool really didn¡¯t consider him an enemy. And Sawyer hated to admit that sort of made him hope the man came back. They could make a nice team.


    Sawyer pressed the woman hard. Her fire was dangerous. It forced MacBeth to stay on the defensive, protecting himself as well as Richard and the little girl. Still she couldn¡¯t touch them as long as he worked as protector, and with the spear boosting his speed she couldn¡¯t catch Sawyer. That was until she simply released it, a plume of fire rising up around her, washing out through the city. Sawyer couldn¡¯t see what happened to MacBeth and Richard, but he trusted his ally¡¯s magic to see it through. He¡¯d been too close, he couldn¡¯t escape it in time. So he pushed through it, throwing the spear. It struck the woman in the head, the edge scraping across her skull. She lost control of her fire jets, and fell, even as he failed to stick his landing. The fire had blazed over his flesh, one side of his body badly burned, too much to see out of one eye. He couldn¡¯t rise to his feet. But he heard Wendy¡¯s shout, and he saw her out of his good eye as she ran towards him to heal him.


    And then the knight in black arrived. Sawyer couldn¡¯t even rise to his feet. MacBeth tried to stop him, but his magic could not touch the knight. Richard¡¯s did, but the two could only slow him. Soon the knight¡¯s foot was on Richard¡¯s head, and with the threat of losing another of his friends MacBeth and Wendy surrendered.

 The Last of Edolas?

    Private Dokutaa¡¯s return brought worrisome news to bRAIN. They had fought the Earthlander, failed to preserve the giant lacrima, but had mostly defeated the Earthlander, but resorted to negotiation to take them alive and preserve the king. It was sufficiently reasonable, if your goal was to save the king and take the Earthlander alive.


    bRAIN had no great desire for the first, and the latter might prove dangerous as well. bRAIN doubted that either goal would be easy. Still it lacked grounds for refusal which would be accepted. Besides, it needed to get the Earthlander to be culpable for the king¡¯s death, and to remove Dokutaa for him.


    According to Dokutaa¡¯s reports of his armor¡¯s capability the Dorma Anim version 2 Acnologia was capable of the negation of magical energy, and the harnessing of great amounts of it. It went well beyond its operator¡¯s greatest hopes for the weapon he had thought up. But it should have been impossible; Edolas had lacked the resources to allow for its construction.


    While it was possible that bRAIN could trick them into removing the armor and kill them, it was highly probable that once the emergency had passed someone would attempt to free Zero and shut down bRAIN¡¯s operation and the armor would be used for that purpose. It was the better idea to not take that risk and remove them during the emergency. As such bRAIN had decided it would use the Earthlander as its tool.


    While a direct battle might succeed at both, an escape attempt was more controllable and easier for it to influence. There was also the fact to be considered that if Dokutaa won a direct battle bRAIN would still lack a means to deal with Dokutaa, and if the Earthlander won it might prove hard to deal with him as well. Easier to set them up in opposition to each other where it could decide the battle itself and be ready to remove the Earthlander at the moment of their victory.


    This led bRAIN to argue in favor of Dokutaa¡¯s peace treaty. While sacrificing the captured pieces was unfortunate, they would retain the dragon slayer who was the only vital piece, and possess the resources necessary to continue the anima project with their magical energy, or even if losing them by capturing and harnessing the exceeds. This was made easier as Panther Lily, the only high ranking official to have survived agreed, and of those whose newfound magical tools had offered them the power to unquestionably sit at the table only Urtear disagreed. Lycus Hyberion was in favor of the treaty as was Dokutaa as the one who had initially suggested it. bRAIN¡¯s vote therefore was not necessary, though its decision did cut down on time wasted in argument and speed up the process of beginning essential repairs. If it was to successfully banish the Earthlander this time with its anima weaponry it would need to do it when the Earthlander was vulnerable and it would need to have its relevant systems as operational as possible.


    Over three hours had passed before the knight returned. He didn¡¯t use his armor to fly. Instead he rode one of the winged mini-kaijus. There was a whole fleet of them, dozens of the great beasts ready to ferry soldiers to him, but the others were holding back. The armored man¡¯s mount approached alone. He had with him Midnight of the Oracion Seis.


    He was initially surprised to not see the man. Then he spotted him, laying on the ground. If he was going in for the kill it¡¯d be easy to kill him now, but with Midnight beside him it¡¯d be impossible to easily capture the man completely unawares. Even if he could have, he had no malice towards these people, and he didn¡¯t want them to die for no reason. Sending the hostages back to Earthland ultimately suited him and his desires. The dragon slayer could provide Edolas with magic until a permanent solution could be found. The others would just fuel the king¡¯s greed.


    ¡°Oi! Wake up!¡± Midnight shouted. ¡°Don¡¯t just sleep when there¡¯s about to be a fight!¡± The irony of making such a statement when he personally slept through many of his own fights wasn¡¯t lost on Midnight.


    Arthur stirred, sitting up groggily and looking towards the voice. The nap had left him feeling much, much better truth be told.


    ¡°A sign of my good faith,¡± The knight said as he climbed from the winged mini-kaiju. ¡°Your confederate can confirm the other legions are carrying the others from Earthland. If you¡¯ll allow them to land, and free Sorano, then you can begin to transport them back to Earthland.¡±


    ¡°Midnight, you¡¯re alright,¡± Arthur said with a touch of honest relief. ¡°What about the others? Anyone hurt?¡±


    ¡°Racer got burned up pretty badly taking down the fire chick,¡± Midnight said. ¡°But, he,¡± Midnight¡¯s head tilted towards the black knight, ¡°let Wendy heal him. He¡¯s not fine, but he¡¯ll survive. Got some bad news about Hyberion, though. He ran into his doppelganger, and their Lycus killed our Lycus.¡±


    Arthur¡¯s jaw dropped a little, his face going white with shame and guilt. He¡¯d been told that they¡¯d be weaker than Serena, he¡¯d expected Draculos to be fine if anyone was. He didn¡¯t like Draculos. Not really. The man had taken advantage of him in a position of weakness. Out of three judges, while all of them seemed convinced at the end that Arthur was the bad guy, he had not been the most sympathetic - or the least. He had, however, been the one supposed to be holding Serena¡¯s leash through it all. The collateral of the battle, and the torture which followed were ultimately on his head as much as Serena¡¯s. But despite that Arthur didn¡¯t hate him, and hadn¡¯t wished him dead. Especially not here and now. He¡¯d have been a good ally to have at his side in a fight. But¡­


    Lycus. Midnight had called him Lycus. It was a message. Some sort of coded secret involved. And Arthur felt he knew what it was.


    ¡°I can¡¯t say I¡¯m glad to hear the news, but given our past together I¡¯m not very broken up,¡± Arthur said.


    Midnight grinned and chuckled. ¡°Yeah, I mean who¡¯d have thought our jailor would die fighting to help us get free?¡±


    ¡°Jailor?¡± The knight said, reminding them that he was listening in. Not that either had ever forgotten that fact.


    ¡°Yeah, except for the little girl, we¡¯re all waiting for a tribunal¡¯s verdict. Old Lycus, I mean our Lycus, was one of the men sitting on it, and the big threat keeping us in chains,¡± Midnight said with a smug, arrogant grin. ¡°With him gone, and the other so-called Wizard God missing without a trace, I¡¯m free as can be now. Shame for you, Arthur. You know what they intend to do with you, right?¡±


    ¡°Use me as a living magical battery?¡±


    ¡°You and the little girl,¡± Midnight said in a voice of cold anger. ¡°I¡¯d not wish that fate on anyone; not even you.¡±


    ¡°Well I¡¯d not wish it on me either,¡± Arthur said with a flippancy he didn¡¯t feel. ¡°I could fight, but they have hostages.¡± He didn¡¯t mention that he had barely been able to stand at the time he made the deal.


    Midnight¡¯s face twisted with emotion. Arthur had killed his adoptive father, well ok less adoptive and more ¡®recruited him as a child soldier and Midnight self-declared the abusive asshole as his father¡¯, and caused his life to come crashing down. But now Arthur had saved him not once, but twice, maybe thrice depending upon how you counted it, and was sacrificing himself to do it.


    ¡°Can I bring the others up now?¡± The knight said. ¡°Hopefully this won¡¯t take as long with each of them or we¡¯ll be here all day.¡± Arthur wasn¡¯t sure that¡¯d be a bad thing. The time crunch was gone for him. The lacrima had been turned into people again. He could slowly recover and prepare himself for the next fight. It was probably for that same reason the knight was trying to hurry things along; that is if he had thought about it. Here where magic seemed to be closer to fossil fuel they might not have thought of that tactical factor, but if an idiot like he had he had to expect that others would as well.


    ¡°Give us a minute, man,¡± Midnight said. ¡°I won¡¯t ask what your plan is, not with the little tin plated despot¡¯s metal clad one man goon squad here. But I wish you luck, and I¡¯d like to at least know your actual name, since you winced uncomfortably everytime you got called Lancelot at the trial.¡±


    Arthur sighed. ¡°Arthur. I¡¯m Arthur. Lancelot is just what I called myself one time to hide my name, and then Serena just started using it.¡± He was pretty sure that someone had called him by his real name at the trial, though given how often Serena had screamed the name Lancelot it was hard for him to say for certain.


    ¡°MacBeth,¡± Midnight said, extending his hand. ¡°This doesn¡¯t mean we¡¯re friends or anything. You wrecked everything, but I¡¯ll hear Angel¡¯s side of the story before deciding whether to kill you.¡±


    Arthur winced a bit at that. ¡°I thought we were through with the ¡®trying to kill me¡¯ stuff.¡±


    ¡°No. I just figured I couldn¡¯t do it until you dropped your guard completely. And also that trying to kill you during the first jailbreak was a bad idea I wasn¡¯t going to repeat.¡±


    ¡°Question,¡± the knight said, raising his hand. ¡°How many of the hostages were actually your enemies?¡±


    ¡°His?¡± Midnight, or well MacBeth Arthur guessed, ¡°All of them. He¡¯s the reason we were arrested. Then Hyberion arrested him. Far as I can tell he¡¯s a total nutjob, and as unpredictable as a squirrel injected with raw ethernado.¡±


    Arthur had to wonder if that was an actual saying or if Midnight had injected a squirrel with raw ethernado before. The knight didn¡¯t ask but just looked at Arthur. ¡°Why then?¡±


    ¡°Because I don¡¯t recognize them as my enemies,¡± Arthur said.


    ¡°And you do us?¡± Arthur could feel the knight¡¯s glare.


    ¡°Would Faust¡¯s ambitions be satisfied with that lacrima? Look at the capital below you, and look to the other cities of this world. One is an oasis overflowing with resources and energy, where people¡¯s lives are made luxurious things of ease better than anywhere else on this side of paradise. Compared to Earthland it is overflowing with magic, and the magic tools make the citizens below live almost like kings. But you go to a town a hundred miles from the capital and people live by the sweat of their brow, no magic to help them, people laboring with beast and simple tools, people living in a medieval fashion, living like they¡¯re in the dark ages and where they obviously don¡¯t know what they¡¯re doing either because some king took their magic so that his chosen few could live in luxury. And screw it all, that king, this parasitic city that supports him and insulates him from the wrath of the people. That king who hoards it all for himself. He is my enemy. He is everyone¡¯s enemy. Except those paltry few he chooses to reward to keep his position safe.¡±


    The knight visibly flinched back from the rancor that was pouring out of Arthur now, as an almost palpable force of disgust and frustration. He was going to speak when Arthur continued. ¡°And it might be forgivable if he was capable. If he was a wise king that was looking to the future prosperity of the realm. But do you know what he wanted to do with that lacrima? He wanted to use it to kill the exceeds and turn them into one. All in the name of eternal magic. But the thing is the exceeds already provide eternal magic; as long as they¡¯re alive. You kill them, though, and you¡¯re down to a non-renewable resource. You¡¯d have to become reliant on the anima device, continuously stealing more people. Turning them into lacrima again and again, and Earthland¡¯s magic would eventually fade as you slaughtered its people. Oh, the dragon slayers might slow this, turning them into living batteries might stave off the night a little longer. But you know what else could have? The fricking exceeds you¡¯re so quick to kill because they ¡®flaunt¡¯ their ability to fly.¡± Arthur spat heavily on the ground. ¡°If you¡¯re going to be evil, at least be evil smart and not just a blind, destructive fool.¡±


    The knight was stunned into silence by this ranting tirade. He and Midnight both seemed at a loss of words. Arthur looked at them waiting for reactions. Eventually the knight responded. ¡°That¡¯d be more convincing coming from someone who hadn¡¯t blasted away into a building filled with innocent people.¡±


    Arthur looked away. There was a growl in his throat now, an unfamiliar anger rising in his chest. He wanted to lash out, to rip and tear this enemy that dared defy him. ¡°That was¡­ There¡¯s a curse inside of my magic. When the castle tried to turn me into lacrima, it brought out the dragon inside of me instead. And a dragon is destruction personified. I put it back into the box. It was your side that opened that box.¡± He was trying to absolve himself in his own mind as much if not more than trying to convince the knight.


    The knight seemed to hesitate, looking straight at him. ¡°Brain didn¡¯t mention that detail,¡± the knight¡¯s tone was suspicious.


    ¡°Brain?¡± Arthur asked. He was certain the man had called himself Zero before. The change in name was worrisome given what he knew about Brain and Zero in Earthland.


    ¡°The chief engineer in control of the castle,¡± the knight said.


    ¡°I thought his name was Zero.¡±


    The knight shook his head. ¡°No, he called himself Brain. Where¡¯d you hear his name was Zero?¡±


    ¡°Someone over the intercom in the castle claimed to be running it and introduced themselves as Zero.


    ¡°Odd.¡± The knight¡¯s tone said they dismissed it as Arthur misremembering. ¡°Still enough stalling, I¡¯ve bought you the people of Earthland, you promised to release my commanding officer as a show of trust. It can¡¯t be comfortable where you¡¯re keeping her.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll give you that,¡± Arthur said, as he pulled Edolas Sorano out of his personal space. She looked haggard and disheveled.


    She started looking around, and the knight put his hand on her shoulder. ¡°You¡¯re safe now, commander,¡± He said.


    ¡°Who are you?¡± She asked.


    ¡°Private first class, Dokutaa,¡± He said.


    She nodded. ¡°What happened?¡±


    ¡°I need to keep my side of the deal for the king¡¯s release. I¡¯ll fill you in soon, lieutenant.¡±


    Sorano glared at him a bit. It was such total insubordination from a private. But given she didn¡¯t understand what was going on here, she was hesitant to interfere. Sorano pulled back as the people of Earthland began to be ferried to the floating island.


    There were over four dozen individuals arriving to be sent back to Earthland. Arthur did not recognize most of them. But he recognized some of them. King Toma of Fiore had sat on his tribunal. Gran Domo, another aged mage who had observed the trial. Anastos Romani, the third member of his tribunal, a mage who was in consideration for the new mage¡¯s council. The small, green haired girl was the princess which Serena had given Aries¡¯s key to. Another 8 people had attended his trial in some role or another, but he didn¡¯t have their names; they were functionaries of the court or maybe it was the council. And then there was the other young girl: Minerva Orlando, arguably his apprentice, and along with Wendy one of the two people he couldn¡¯t forgive himself if he failed to save.


    Still it was King Toma that Arthur approached. ¡°Your majesty, I¡¯m sorry that you had to experience these events,¡± He said, doing his best to sound properly respectful.


    ¡°Was it your actions which caused these events?¡± Toma asked.


    ¡°No, but I freed you from the lacrima by mistake or else I would have already sent you back with everyone else.¡±


    ¡°I see,¡± the king answered. ¡°I have learned about a threat to my kingdom, and will now be able to explain to my people what happened to them. I would not have chosen to remain within the lacrima.¡±


    Arthur looked away with a bit of shame on his face. ¡°That is sound, your highness,¡± Arthur said, stumbling over his words. ¡°I, I had a favor to ask you,¡± He mumbled. ¡°I, I¡¯m going to return you anyway, regardless. But I wanted you to rethink, that is to consider,¡± He swallowed softly, ¡°Jellal and the Oracion Seis, give them the chance for redemption. Make them work for it if you have to, but give them the chance to redeem themselves. Angel isn¡¯t a bad person. Jellal was possessed. And the rest of the Seis well I couldn¡¯t have sent the lacrima home without their help. I couldn¡¯t be doing this now without their help. So please, on the basis of their assistance in this crisis, give them a chance. At least think about it?¡±


    ¡°You understand they have stolen, organized assassins, killed people themselves, dealt with the slave trade, and more. The list of crimes each member has committed is massive,¡± King Toma stated. ¡°But I will consider it, especially in light of their aid here. I will have to discuss things with my advisors.¡±


    Arthur nodded. ¡°As you wish, your majesty. I just wanted to make a case for them first.¡±


    Toma placed a hand on his shoulder. ¡°I will consider it, and you have my thanks, Lancelot.¡±


    ¡°Arthur, my name is Arthur. Why do people assume I used my real name when wearing a mask and infiltrating an illegal fighting ring?¡± Arthur asked, finally venting some frustration at the constant misuse of that name. ¡°... Sorry, your highness.¡±


    ¡°Understandable, Arthur. And you still have my thanks. And I will try to repay it,¡± King Toma of Fiore said.


    Arthur bit back the desire to point out how Toma could repay him if he was actually serious about that. He wasn¡¯t certain if it was just part of the rage he¡¯d felt since touching the dragon force, or if it was his own natural annoyance at the king¡¯s behavior; he¡¯d be second guessing his every twinge of anger until he forgot to. And then it would just become a natural part of him. The Dragon Force was something to be feared.


    Then it dawned on him. ¡°Minerva. Make sure she¡¯s taken care of, and isn¡¯t taken back in by her father. The man¡¯s a monster. He was going to make her fight in the illegal mage fights. She had bruises from his treatment of her at the time. And scars. Do something to protect her.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll see to it,¡± Toma said. ¡°Rest easy there.¡±


    ¡°Well then, if you¡¯ll join the others, I guess I should begin to transport you all, though, I would like to have a word with Minerva Orlando and Midnight first,¡± Arthur said.


    The king nodded, and expressed his thanks again, returning towards the group, and talking to Minerva for a moment. Soon Minerva was approaching


    ¡°You wanted to tell me something?¡± Minerva asked, looking up at him.


    ¡°I figured I should tell you good-bye,¡± Arthur said. ¡°I¡¯m going to try to get back to Earthland soon, but I can¡¯t promise I¡¯ll succeed.¡±


    Minerva stiffened. ¡°I could stay. I could help you,¡± She began to speak, but Arthur cut her off.


    ¡°You have no magic here. Staying won¡¯t help me. Help me by keeping yourself safe, and don¡¯t let your father force you down his twisted path.¡±


    She flinched a little at that statement. ¡°I-I can¡¯t fight him. I¡¯m too weak.¡±


    ¡°Strength isn¡¯t about power or force. Real strength is about the choices you make. Don¡¯t let him use force to make your choices.¡±


    Minerva nodded, and Arthur took her hand, squeezing it softly. ¡°Keep yourself safe. And keep that safe for me too. Secret too if you would.¡±


    She looked down at the large hunk of crystal in her hand, too large for her to hold in one hand. It was really six crystals partially merged into one. The castle could shatter Arthur¡¯s space; he didn¡¯t want to drop the lacrima again. Hopefully Minerva would be able to keep it safe for him until he came back. It was because of this that he¡¯d cleaned it as much as he could with his Territory magic while he was rebuilding his Archive¡¯s physical manifestation.


    ¡°I will, sir,¡± She said. ¡°When you get back would you teach me more about Territory magic.¡±


    Arthur placed his hand on her forehead. ¡°Digest this first,¡± He said, uploading a mass of information into her mind. His other arm moved to wrap around her and keep her from falling as the sheer concentration of magical data pushed her mind to the point of blacking out.


    Then Midnight, no MacBeth, approached. ¡°What¡¯d you do to the girl?¡± He asked.


    Arthur lifted Minerva up. ¡°I telepathically delivered the information of several spells into her brain. If she can master them all she¡¯ll be a legendary mage.¡± Arthur felt a little guilty. Outside of Territory Armor, every spell included was one that he considered essential to reaching and understanding the final spell. If he had to name it, it would be High Territory - Subspace Bridge Pseudo-Anima. If anything went wrong and he couldn¡¯t escape the fate of being a magical battery, and she could master those spells, maybe, just maybe she could come and save him someday in the future.


    MacBeth looked at him. ¡°Huh? Really? So what did you want to talk to me about?¡±


    ¡°I just wanted to ask you to make sure that if I don¡¯t return to give my regards and apologies to Angel, and I wanted to assure you, I will do what I can to rescue Racer and Hoteye.¡±


    ¡°Is that all?¡± MacBeth said.


    Arthur shook his head. ¡°No. You¡¯re a spatial mage, I thought you might enjoy getting to see me work the most complicated piece of magic I know.¡±


    MacBeth huffed a bit. ¡°If you¡¯re lonely you could just say so,¡± He said. Still he did watch as Arthur began to work the spell. The winds began to whirl and rage. The world began to shake a little, at least from MacBeth¡¯s point of view. He was fading between realities, when suddenly Arthur extended a gold staff out of nowhere, just seeming to form in his palm.


    ¡°Oh yeah, I forgot. This was something I got from Angel. Make sure it gets back to her,¡± He said.


    MacBeth took it immediately, the staff flowing into the dimensional shift that was pulling him away. It was something that surprised him, since he didn¡¯t recognize it, but he took it. ¡°Alright. I will,¡± He said as he was pulled into a separate world.


    And then the Edolas army was converging around him, the black knight Dokutaa at their head. The black knight had lived up to his end of the bargain, and as long as they had Wendy, Racer, and Hotey all trapped in the castle Arthur would keep his side as well. Especially given the two new hopes that he had been given; Hyberion and Erza were free and in the castle. He had allies who were still active, pieces unknown to his opponents and in play. The enemy was going for an all out attack when he still had a trap card on the field. He just had to hope it was a Mirror Force and not something useless.


    ¡°Now, release the king so that we can return to the castle,¡± the black knight said, approaching Arthur. Arthur was noting the number of legions that had approached while he was manipulating the anima. He was surrounded by a vast army of warriors mounted on winged mini-kaiju, and while his magic power was supposedly enough to destroy whole nations, this was an imperial army with reinforcements coming in from across a continent if not an entire world.


    He could probably escape. But they still had Racer, Hoteye, and Wendy, and while knowing he had an agent on the inside was useful, he wasn¡¯t certain how to use it. He¡¯d still be calling the bluff if he did something like break away and charge the castle. Draculos would, hopefully, try and save the prisoners, but he couldn¡¯t be sure that the Wizard God could succeed.


    ¡°Give me a few moments, that was tiring, and I¡¯d not like to mess up with the booby trap,¡± Arthur said, making a show of slumping down. It was tiring, but even more he needed time to think. The knight could drain him without touching him. If he decided to just start refueling off of Arthur then wherever the balance of power lay it¡¯d slip towards them. Arthur would be captured, and then it¡¯d be ever worse on Lycus. Or maybe that¡¯d be easier? Would security lapse once they had him in chains? Did he dare risk it?


    What was the other option? Make a break for the castle, and attempt to free them before Zero could execute them? As long as that Brain device controlled the castle they could be killed at will. Arthur might manage to pull Wendy out, it was possible he could locate her magical signature and teleport her, but not Hoteye and Racer.


    But going in directly meant risking everything. How much was he willing to gamble on being able to save them? What odds did he require? Arthur knew the odds weren¡¯t good enough. But Wendy was a different story. His Archive couldn¡¯t detect her, at least not in these circumstances. He couldn¡¯t physically manifest it, and it was still damaged, coupled with the distance he couldn¡¯t rely on it to help him save her right now.


    And while the odds weren¡¯t good enough to risk it for Hoteye or Racer, Wendy was another story. But Zero wouldn¡¯t dare kill her; she was too useful. And if he did he had to realize it¡¯d be like signing his own death warrant.


    Arthur¡¯s archive display flashed as he activated mental overclocking. ¡°What was that?¡± the knight said.


    ¡°Preparations to free the king. I tied him into the trap much more thoroughly than Sorano or Knightwalker,¡± Arthur stated. It was a lie, but he hoped it was a believable one.


    The knight nodded his head, Sorano¡¯s lip twitching a little.


    ¡°So you¡¯re ready to free him now?¡± Sorano asked in an accusatorial tone.


    Arthur raised a hand, and his pocket dimension containing the king and Knightwalker spilled open, dumping them both onto the ground in an undignified manner. Sorano and the black knight both moved to help him up, bending to do so.


    Arthur still had his black sword. His purchase menu was up considering the Knight. If he had the guts he could have ended the knight right now. Purchase the knight, swap positions with a soldier behind him, and use his skill and the black blade¡¯s own hunger to hit a weak spot in the armor and pierce through it. It would have been easy. But Arthur was not confident in his ability to pull off that maneuver.


    The knight rose once more helping Faust to his feet, and the moment had passed. The opportunity to end the single greatest threat to himself in Edolas with ease had been missed.


    ¡°Sorano, who is this in the armor? What is that armor?¡± Faust asked as he looked at the black knight. He knew, though. It was the Dorma Anim Mark 2 which Zero had thought up.


    ¡°Private Dokutaa, first class,¡± the knight reported. ¡°It is a gift from beyond, granted to me to protect the world. I call it Acnologia, the Dragon of the End.¡±


    Faust flinched a little. He had never heard of this private, and his voice spoke of a conviction in something above and beyond man; that was not a good thing behind an ultimate weapon when you were plotting to bring down the god of the world.


    ¡°Why is the prisoner unrestrained?¡± Faust asked, looking at the black knight, and then towards the Earthlander who had captured him.


    ¡°A deal had to be made to get you free,¡± the knight said.


    ¡°Restrain him now, private. Or does your deal preclude that?¡± Faut asked.


    ¡°Yes, sir. As you command, your majesty,¡± Dokutaa moved towards the Earthlander. ¡°Someone get some manacles.¡±


    The Earthlander sighed. ¡°Is it necessary? I¡¯m going peacefully, aren¡¯t I?¡±


    ¡°The king commands,¡± the black knight said.


    ¡°After the space you kept me in are you really complaining?¡± Faust asked as the manacles were placed around the man¡¯s hands.


    Faust led the procession into the castle. The aged king was visibly affected by it. He was aware that his castle had been changed by the bRAIN device at this point, and had seen some of the interior, but he hadn¡¯t really seen it. Arthur too hadn¡¯t really seen the damage done when he had been forced to use the dragon force. It was horrible. He had no idea how many people he had killed during it. Around a third of the castle was in ruins, a swathe torn through it towards the center that only stopped at a visibly reinforced - and torn up - bulkhead of sorts which his Archive magic told him was heavily warded against its abilities, and that was just 3 dragon roars, 2 in the height of the dragon force. Arthur had forgotten Orion had fought well past Sorano escaping him. If he went through dragonification¡­ Arthur didn¡¯t know how much destruction he would cause.


    And the thing is, something had changed inside of him. He didn¡¯t feel the guilt he felt he should have over the deaths. He knew he should feel guilty, but the guilt just wasn¡¯t coming naturally. He was still itching to crush the black knight for the insult of beating him. It wasn¡¯t a dominant desire, but he felt it deep beneath his skin. It was the growing dragon seed. He was sure of it. At least Arthur told himself he was.


    Arthur, though, had had some idea. While he¡¯d not gotten close to the castle since leaving the underground tunnel, he¡¯d been able to see the ruins and damage from afar. It was also not his home; it was an enemy stronghold and one that he¡¯d been hurt at; he felt a sense of vindictive accomplishment at its destruction, even if it was not without its feelings of guilt over the number of people he probably killed. Unless the black knight had just been messing with his head.


    The glares filled with hate, the jeers, and the shouts of recrimination and hatred as he was marched into the castle past the crowd who had gathered to watch the triumphal return told him otherwise. He wasn¡¯t used to being called murderer, and more inventive phrases, in full earnest. Except by Serena.


    His stomach twisted. How many people had he killed today? And for a shot at a few hundred choice points. He wasn¡¯t certain it was a sin that he could ever make go away.


    The king was in his element. He was taking command of the situation, taking charge, and figuring out the damage done. When he learned of Byro¡¯s death he took his golden scepter and shot Arthur in the chest, the energy burning and cutting at his flesh, bringing him to his knees. Arthur growled with rage, gritting his teeth, and straining his muscles against the manacles.


    Despite the pain, Arthur couldn¡¯t hate him for the act. This wasn¡¯t some cold blooded act of torture. This was a man learning that a friend for decades had been brutally slain and lashing out against the culprit. Arthur couldn¡¯t hate him for it, not really, not when he could understand it, but he still felt rage bubbling up into him. He could feel power. Enough power to obliterate the castle. Destroy the king. And¡­


    Arthur tried to push himself to remember through the pain that the dragon force was not something a dragon slayer could safely use. The full power of a dragon would not leave him human. He could bear the pain. After all, they believed the magic sealing manacles would stop him from using magic. And as long as they believed that he would bide his time and see if they showed him Wendy or the Oracion Seis before they started really draining his power.


    The castle¡¯s words filled him with dread though. ¡°IT IS TOO RISKY TO LEAVE THE PRISONER FREE, SIRE,¡± The soulless voice continued. ¡°ALLOW ME TO BEGIN EXTRACTING POWER FROM HIM NOW. WHILE WITHOUT THE GIANT LACRIMA THE DRAGON CHAIN CANNON CANNOT BE USED IN PROJECT EXCEED TOTAL DESTRUCTION I BELIEVE THAT WITH THE AMOUNT OF MAGIC HE CAN PROVIDE WE CAN PURSUE OTHER METHODS FOR THEIR EXTERMINATION.¡±


    Panther Lily¡¯s head jerked at those words. The 1st Army Captain, and in theory highest ranking member officer, was after all an exceed himself. ¡°Extermination?¡±


    Arthur had to give Faust a bit of credit for how well he took this in stride. ¡°The exceed have long lorded their superiority over humanity. For mankind to be free the exceed must die. Do not worry, you will not be included in that destruction. You have proven yourself loyal and true, unlike the rest of your dishonest race such as your queen the so-called goddess.¡±


    ¡°You can¡¯t be serious. You would kill them all? Why? They¡¯re no threat to you. Shagotte¡¯s power is a fraud. She is no goddess¡­¡±


    ¡°Exactly,¡± Faust said. ¡°And in her hubris she cast herself as one. I shall see her, and her lies, wiped clean from the world. And with them her people. Never again will humanity suffer such domination from another species.¡±


    Panther Lily¡¯s heart was visibly breaking. And Arthur could only think that Zero had to have known that such a blatant discussion was a bad idea. Was Zero just that socially inept now that he had changed with the castle? Or had he done it by intent and if so why?


    ¡°My lord, please, tell me you don¡¯t really intend to go through with it. Let me make the case for my people,¡± Panther Lily said.


    ¡°Your people? You are a fallen exceed. I thought that they had disowned you and you them. Is that not so? Are they not your enemy and are we not your people?¡± Faust asked.


    Panther Lily¡¯s head dropped. ¡°Yes, my liege,¡± He choked out after a few moments.


    Faust looked at him for a little bit, the lingering suspicion about his loyalty palpable even to a social dunce like Arthur. ¡°In that case I believe it is in fact time to attach the dragon slayer to one of the ethernado extraction devices. The grand lacrima may have been lost, but we can still use him for our purposes, and to power the anima device to find more.¡±


    ¡°My liege, your son has been recovered as well,¡± Panther Lily said. ¡°He was badly burned, would you like to see him?¡±


    ¡°I have no son,¡± Faust said grimly, his eyes returning to Panther Lily. ¡°If someone has been badly burned he is nothing more than a rebel to be detained until I can question him.¡±


    ¡°... As you wish, sire,¡± Panther Lily said with a bow. ¡°I will see to it.¡±


    Guards moved forward to seize Arthur and take him towards where he needed to go; after all Wendy would be where they had set up to drain dragon slayers. There was no reason to resist yet.


    The black knight personally joined Arthur¡¯s escort. Arthur had hoped otherwise, though really he had no reason to expect that he wouldn¡¯t. ¡°Why do you serve the king?¡± Arthur asked as he was being walked down the halls of the castle.


    ¡°He is the king,¡± the armored man called Private Dokutaa said.


    ¡°That¡¯s not a reason,¡± Arthur spat back. ¡°A king is a king because people serve him, if the people refused to serve him he¡¯d not be a king at all.¡±


    ¡°The king was born a king,¡± the private said.


    ¡°Not of this entire world, and not of Earthland.¡±


    That gave the private a bit of a pause. Eventually he said, ¡°The king brought peace to Edolas, unifying it.¡±


    ¡°Peace? With this sort of army? Looks more like he¡¯s gearing up for war.¡±


    ¡°The king plans to bring magic to Edolas.¡±


    ¡°At what cost?¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    ¡°You don¡¯t really want to see him murder entire cities in cold blood, do you?¡±


    ¡°Better they die than we do. Without magic the people are suffering,¡± Dokutaa responded.


    ¡°So that¡¯s why he¡¯s spending it extravagantly in the capital and leaving everywhere else with none,¡± Arthur responded.


    ¡°PERHAPS WE SHOULD GAG THE PRISONER,¡± Zero suggested from the intercom.


    ¡°The king isn¡¯t perfect, but his plan is the best one Edolas has,¡± Dokutaa said in a growl.


    ¡°Elentear,¡± Arthur stated. ¡°It¡¯s got a lot more magic than Earthland. Too much even. You might could get the magic without the cost of lives. Freaking damnation you could just not kill the exceeds. His plan isn¡¯t the best Edolas has. It¡¯s a madman¡¯s genocidal dreams.¡±


    ¡°YOU KNOW OF ELENTEAR?¡± Zero asked over the intercom.


    ¡°Another parallel world, one which suffers due to excess magic beyond what it can naturally handle threatening to destroy it,¡± Arthur answered.


    ¡°Elentear?¡± Dokutaa asked in a confused tone.


    ¡°DO YOU UNDERSTAND WHY IT WAS DISMISSED FROM CONSIDERATION FOR THE ANIMA PLAN?¡± Zero asked.


    ¡°Can¡¯t say I know why you assholes do anything,¡± Arthur responded, shrugging lightly.


    ¡°THERE IS A DRAGON THERE CAPABLE OF TRAVERSING DIMENSIONS AND WIELDING IMMENSE POWER.¡±


    ¡°So bring them here where they¡¯ll be powerless.¡±


    ¡°THAT WOULD NOT BE ASSURED. YOU STILL WIELD YOUR POWER.¡±


    ¡°Because I took a drug that restored it.¡±


    If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.


    ¡°AND HOW CAN WE VERIFY THAT?¡±


    ¡°No clue.¡±


    ¡°EARTHLAND IS THE SAFER OPTION.¡±


    ¡°But not the more moral. Besides, it has monsters like me. And Acnologia, as well as the dragon gods.¡±


    ¡°BUT THEY DO NOT TRAVEL BETWEEN WORLDS. ABDUCTING YOU SEEMS TO HAVE BEEN A MISTAKE. WE SHOULD HAVE SIMPLY AVOIDED DRAGON SLAYERS.¡±


    ¡°But you can¡¯t use them as reusable batteries, and if you keep using them Earthland will run dry too.¡± Arthur didn¡¯t know if that was true, but he did remember that Selene had threatened to fix Elentear¡¯s problem by wholesale slaughter.


    ¡°THAT WILL GIVE US TIME TO PREPARE FOR Elentear.¡±


    ¡°And if Elentear pops due to too much magic?¡±


    ¡°YOU HAVE GIVEN ME MUCH TO THINK ABOUT. BUT IT IS NOT RELEVANT TO YOUR OWN FATE.¡±


    Dokutaa was opening a door, and Arthur could see Weny. Now was the moment of truth. How did he rescue Wendy, and preferably the Oracion Seis? Could he teleport her to him, and both of them out of the castle? He couldn¡¯t be sure, until he tried, how well it could jam him here and now; the damage had reduced it earlier but he was really in the heart of the castle now. Or did he instead wait and accept being drained until Dokutaa lowered his guard or Hyberion made his move? Could he put his trust into Hyberion that way?


    The black knight was marching him towards one of the devices. Wendy was attached to one, arms and legs spread and chained to its mostly flat, almost circular front end, the cylinder stretching back perhaps 8 ft before merging into the castle wall. The knight was bringing him to the second of these devices. Arthur knew he was running out of time. He could put his faith in Hyberion, Racer, and Hoteye, trusting he¡¯d be saved, or he could act now.


    He¡¯d never seen Hyberion fight. If Midnight was still here the Oracion Seis might be able to tip things in their favor, but he was the most dangerous of them and he was back in Earthland.


    Arthur had more than 300 choice points. It was enough for a major purchase. And with the black knight breathing down his neck he would make one.


    Outwardly nothing changed. He had selected the 600 points - discounted to 300 - perk: Pure Magic. Immediately he began to act. The new power did two things of note for this situation; it gave his spatial magic superiority over other spatial magic allowing him to completely ignore the castle¡¯s jamming field, and it increased its power by 50%. The latter wasn¡¯t as cost effective as, say, buying greater magic power, but the former was precisely what he needed.


    In an instant Wendy and him were gone from the chamber, returning to the royal hall the king had had him dragged from.


    Faust¡¯s eyes went wide with shock, and the guards began to panic. Arthur was still wearing shackles, his feet and hands bound by magic sealing stone which should have stopped him from using any magic.


    ¡°EARTHLANDER, WOULD YOU LIKE TO CHOOSE WHICH OF OUR TWO HOSTAGES DIE AS PUNISHMENT FOR THIS ATTEMPTED ESCAPE?¡± Zero began.


    Arthur warped the king into his hand. ¡°Kill them and the king dies,¡± He stated, darkness forming a draconic claw around his hand which grasped Faust¡¯s throat.


    ¡°ETERNAL MAGIC IS OF A HIGHER PRIORITY THAN THE LIFE OF ANY INDIVIDUAL.¡±


    Faust¡¯s face turned pale, but his heart did not bend to his own fear of death. ¡°Zero is right. Eternal magic is worth more than even my own life. Do your worst Earthlander, we will not yield our dreams for my life. Men, seize him now!¡±


    Arthur could have cursed aloud. Instead he warped himself, the king, and Wendy away from the chamber. He had neither the time nor the desire to fight a room full of armed guards while trying to handle a hostage and protect Wendy.


    They appeared outside of the castle, on the floating island which had held the lacrima. ¡°Wendy, can you take care of yourself for a bit? I have to go back for the Oracion Seis and Draculos.¡±


    The blue haired preteen looked at him with a surprising fire in her eyes. ¡°Let me help you.¡±


    bRAIN had to reassess. It had believed that its jamming should at least prevent the Earthlander from acting with ease. It had had all its jamming power, at least all that could be focused at a point, focused on him. While bRAIN had not been confident that in such a clash it could completely stop his teleportation, it had been confident that Dokutaa would have the time to drain his magic and stop him.


    His flight had abandoned two prisoners. bRAIN could kill them. But there were difficulties there as well. First, they were mages. Killing them would be a waste of energy bRAIN might need to prolong its functional lifespan. It wasn¡¯t truly an option, not when they could be turned into lacrima. But to do so invited reprisal from the Earthlander.


    Dokutaa must be mobilized with the other forces, and sent to crush the Earthlander. But with the speed of his teleportation it was impossible for them to contain him. They would have to catch him by surprise and perform a single, devastating alpha strike. This meant Dokutaa would remain on the board. But with the reassessment of the Earthlander¡¯s threat that was no longer such a feared option. bRAIN needed such a defender if monsters like this one existed in Earthland.


    In fact the danger of Earthland vs Elentear had to be reassessed entirely. Or more the danger of a single attempt to skim magic from Elentear without the notice of Selene against the threat that the Earthlander presented.


    Still bRAIN had only two paths present for him. Surrender, and hope for mercy from the Earthlander, or bait a trap and try and kill him in a single go.


    No, bRAIN realized he had a third option. bRAIN¡¯s functions turned primarily to the task of analyzing the risk and reward for each of these three options. bRAIN was not allowed to fully process these decisions however. Its attention was required in too many places.


    With the king gone, and Byro deceased, the chain of command ran straight to the 1st Captain of the army¡¯s magic branch. That was Panther Lily. The exceed was having a crisis of loyalty, however, one which bRAIN had induced, when he believed he could use him to get rid of the king, and which would be of little import if not for the arrival of the princess of the exceed demanding to speak to the blue haired dragon slayer she had brought to the castle earlier.


    Worse, there had been a spike of magical energy which bRAIN had failed to identify. Its focus was too divided, but the spike had definitely been the internal magic of an exceed or an Earthlander. Unfortunately bRAIN¡¯s sensors had missed the precise location or variety of magic used. It was possible that one of the prisoners had been the source, as it had come from the general area of the dungeons. As such bRAIN had warned Lycus and Ultear that they may have tried something.


    bRAIN was being reminded of why it needed a population to serve as assistants. Also to repair and maintain it after damage. Especially as things were proceeding simultaneously on all fronts. An exceed force was arriving through the air. The self-proclaimed princess was one of the fallen; a rebel against the exceed people like Panther Lily.


    And then there was an alarm indicating that the Earthlander¡¯s magical communication network had been used. bRAIN¡¯s full attention turned towards it immediately. They were in contact with Lycus Hyberion. The most likely scenario was immediately clear: Lycus was not Lycus. The head of the Earthland Lycus Hyberion had been the head of the Edolas Lycus Hyberion; and the prisoners were being guarded by their own ally.


    bRAIN stirred immediately into action, but it was already too late. Even as he electrocuted the trio that dark distortion wrapped around them and they disappeared.


    Arthur didn¡¯t have a good reason to send Wendy away, not really. Nothing beyond ¡®it¡¯s dangerous¡¯ which the dragon slayer wasn¡¯t buying. She needed to find Carla, and needed to help people. Maybe if he¡¯d been given enough time he would have. But a bat began flying towards his neck. He almost destroyed it, his magic lashing out to wrap around it and prepare to teleport it away, before Wendy screamed for him to stop.


    ¡°It¡¯s one of Mr. Hyberion¡¯s bats,¡± She said.


    Arthur paused. It was flying against his Territory Armor, and his instincts said ¡®don¡¯t let strange vampire magic bats at your throat¡¯, but Draculos was his ally. He breathed deeply, gathering his trust, and he lowered his armor over his throat. The bat flew up to it, pressing against his throat and biting.


    Arthur was scared. It could be a trick. Betrayal. Maybe the castle had figured out a way to replicate the bat. And then he felt a familiar enough sensation. It was an information transfer, not at the level of sophistication as Archive, but the bat was feeding him knowledge. It was mostly what it had seen, but also maps of the castle and the fact that Draculos was watching the Oracion Seis and they were ready to escape on a proper signal.


    Most important was that it was in fact Draculos¡¯s magic, and still bore a link with him. While it was far less sophisticated than Archive, and Arthur couldn¡¯t send a message back through it, he could lock onto both Draculos¡¯s magical signature and his location, enabling Arthur to get a contact link established with Archive¡¯s telepathy.


    ¡°Draculos. I need to access your vision, and I need you looking at the Oracion Seis.¡± Arthur¡¯s mental message was curt and brief, but Draculos¡¯s mind relaxed giving him access to Draculos¡¯s sight.


    Electricity was pumping through the room, and the red dress, black haired woman was raising her hand to strike. Arthur didn¡¯t hesitate. He knew where they were. He could see them. He could teleport them. In an instant he had all three prisoners and Draculos himself by his side.


    Two of the prisoners were burned; Mystogan worse than Racer. Hoteye simply looked worse for wear. Draculos was in a ridiculous leather pants and wolfskin cloak combo that looked like some sort of Hollywood viking. Still they were altogether. They held the enemy¡¯s king - not that he was the most valuable pawn given the enemy were willing to let him die - and suddenly options were open.


    bRAIN realized that with the loss of all hostages, its chances for survival had plummeted deeply. It was now left with only two possible courses of action: to beg mercy or to attempt to flee Edolas with its Anima Device. Either Elentear or Earthland could make a suitable home, but there was the possibility that the Earhlander would pursue it and both worlds had a substantial share of threats and dangers should it go to them.


    The other soldiers were in a state of frenzy. Panther Lily was still displeased that they were holding a group of exceeds captive. Dokutaa was convinced he could stop the Earthlander, but he was willing, even eager to offer surrender in exchange for the Earthlander going home. Knightwalker and Urtear were more eager for blood.


    And Fairy Tail had arrived. The world¡¯s last Mages¡¯ Guild, which had been hunted by Sugarboy and Knightwalker, had decided that it was time to stop running and to fight for their world. bRAIN was beginning to see the writing on the wall. The regime had never been on firm footing; it was a conquest empire left without anything to conquer. Faust had begun hoarding magic in the capital in part to keep the loyalty of the capital¡¯s citizens, who were in the best position to threaten him, but primarily to strip the outlying regions of the means to resist. It¡¯d take something like magic disappearing completely to push everyone into survival mode, or some impossibly grand victory such as creating abundant magic which was dispensed at royal decree, to stop the empire from coming apart at the seams.


    Faust had tried for the latter. But that plan was no longer salvageable. Dokutaa, Erza, and Urtear could easily handle Fairy Tail, but the threat of the Earthlanders still loomed. bRAIN began to prepare for plan C.


    bRAIN didn¡¯t have proper authorization to mobilize the Dorma Anim. Legally even the king could not without a long process. And Panther Lily was unlikely to waive that requirement due to ¡®emergency¡¯. It would not stop bRAIN.


    ¡°We can¡¯t go home, Arthur,¡± Draculos said.


    ¡°The anima device is too dangerous. But my X ball is starting to fade. We go back to Earthland, wait a month, and come back with a hand picked team ready for the fight,¡± Arthur argued. Arthur felt he knew best; he¡¯d gotten this far, he had - recent - experience


    ¡°It¡¯s a fine plan, and I¡¯d consider it except that circumstances have changed,¡± Draculos stated. ¡°My bats tell me that a native resistance force is fighting, and losing, against the royal forces at this moment. We go, we fight, we turn the tide. As long as we¡¯re linked with your archive you can pull us back out, correct?¡±


    ¡°Most likely,¡± Arthur said. ¡°The black knight might mess things up.¡±


    ¡°That guy,¡± Racer said with a scowl. ¡°I hate that guy.¡±


    ¡°And that¡¯s why now is the time. While he¡¯s distracted on the front lines, you take yourself and I into the castle as close to its core as you can. My bats haven¡¯t found the anima device, but it¡¯s somewhere near its core. No one was allowed there, and the castle only bothers to shoot my bats if they get close to the core. We go and we end their ability to wage war on Ishgar from another world. Or at least we cripple it.¡±


    ¡°Is your whole plan ¡®teleport close and smash stuff¡¯?¡± Arthur asked sourly.


    ¡°No. I¡¯d prefer to obtain the anima device so that countermeasures could be prepared against it, but the plan is that we have the opportunity now and we had better move now,¡± Draculos said, staring down at the shorter man before him.


    There were a few moments of awkwardness. ¡°Fine, just you and me?¡± Draculos pulled the canister of X-Balls from somewhere in his loincloth, tossing the last two remaining magic restoratives to him.


    ¡°I thought we¡¯d give the Seis a chance to prove themselves; that is if Racer is up for it after his burns.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t count me out so easily,¡± Racer said.


    ¡°I¡¯m coming,¡± Mystogan, really Jellal son of Faust and thus prince of Edolas, said standing up.


    ¡°Me too,¡± Wendy said.


    ¡°Then everyone ready?¡± Arthur said as he finished swallowing an X-Ball.


    When the affirmation came, Arthur held back no longer, he teleported them all. Faust, the captive king, was left alone on the floating island not even bound. He had become unimportant in this game.


    bRAIN¡¯s preparations paused for a moment. The Earthlander¡¯s spatial magic had been sensed, cutting through its own magic like it wasn¡¯t even there. It made its circuitry run cold with fear. bRAIN¡¯s jamming was ultimately its own spatial magic, dedicated to creating a field of subtly altered space. Not all spatial magic was made equal, something like Celestial Spirit summoning punched through it much easier than teleportation magic. Against even a close superior it should have shut down any attempt to teleport multiple people into it, and made even one a challenge. It wasn¡¯t the first time that the Earthlander had cut through it, but bRAIN had hoped for more time before he returned.


    Zero was struggling. Attempting to reassert control over his, now thoroughly assimilated, body. The bRAIN device had merged with him, its wires entering his flesh, and its circuitry writing itself through his nerves. It had transformed him into a magical tool, flesh interlaced with lacrima and metal. bRAIN had thought he had been completely deactivated.


    Still with the Earthlander¡¯s return bRAIN immediately sounded out a call for help to private Dokutaa, lieutenant Ultear, and even the failures, lieutenant Sorano Agrias, and captains Panther Lily and Knightwalker. It only had faith that Dokutaa might challenge the Earthlander, but the others might slow him down.


    The Dorma Anim had been prepared, though. And it rose. It wasn¡¯t attacking the Earthlander, but Fairy Tail, destroying their guild hall in a single roar. Hopefully the Earthlander was hero enough that he would not let a mechanical dragon destroy the last hope of resistance in Edolas.


    And of course bRAIN did not neglect the interior defenses.


    Teleportation was quick, painless, and easy for Arthur at this point. Not even a moment of disorientation. Still, electricity almost immediately began surging through them as they arrived. Hoteye and Draculos immediately answered, Draculos¡¯s wolf pelt cloak spreading out behind him as he began to float, and Hoteye liquifying the castle¡¯s ground at his and Racer¡¯s feet.


    It sent Wendy to her knees, as well as the still badly injured Mystogan. Arthur¡¯s own magical power reinforced him, allowing him to just hurt and not fall, and his right hand rose. It was time for a touch of his dark dominion magic. Forming darkness in his hand, he pulled down, squeezing and crushing the sphere. It fragmented shooting through tiny portals and exploding out no longer constrained by his pressure. Holes formed in the floor and wall, slashes in the ceiling as darkness magic flared through them each. It was enough structural damage to shut down the electrical bolts.


    But not the lacrima cannons which were focusing on the others. They avoided Wendy - thankfully - and had no effect on the magic-less Mystogan. It was Racer¡¯s turn to protect Hoteye, his slow magic slowing the beams and weapons as he pushed his ally from their path. Draculos was left to his own devices, dividing himself into a swarm of bats, only for one to fall as a piece of lacrima. Arthur¡¯s spell has damaged the weapon projectors, but hadn¡¯t destroyed them all. Draculos¡¯s swarm-form did that in an instant, roaring past Arthur¡¯s face with a cacophony of wings.


    The lacrima-powered mechanical soldiers were pouring in, however.


    As if not wanting to be left out, Wendy acted first. Her sky dragon¡¯s roar tore through one contingent, and even before Arthur could take out the pincering group with his own, Draculos had reformed not into a man but a wolf, launching himself into their midst in a flurry of claws and fangs.


    ¡°Arthur, your giant!¡± Draculos roared out before howling, silver energy forming in his lupine mouth and firing as an expanding moon-like sphere which exploded in a great flashing boom.


    Arthur knew what he wanted. Orion had done some real damage here before. And he could do it again. They¡¯d taken his sword but never his keys, and it was time to use his keys once more.


    He opened two gates. He didn¡¯t dare use Enif; while the Pure Magic perk and rest had done a lot to help him recover his fighting capabilities, he actually was still running low on energy. Even Orion was going to hurt, but between Orion and Kochab, they might bring down what remained of the castle.


    The two spirits appeared, and already Arthur was shouting commands.


    Dorma Anim had failed to truly serve its purpose. bRAIN had hoped that the Earthlander and his allies would be distracted by it. Instead it seemed they hadn¡¯t even noticed. bRAIN had begun to notice the bats which held trace amounts of magical energy, it had been certain some were watching the battle. And yet the Earthlanders didn¡¯t come to save Fairy Tail.


    It had, however, bought the chance for the elite pawns to move. Urtear had turned on them. Even though she had begun the fight as the most gung ho and dealing unequal devastation to the Fairy Tail forces something had happened on the battlefield. bRAIN suspected it had to do with her adoptive brother¡¯s position in Fairy Tail. Whatever the reason she was not coming to his aid, but was fighting with Fairy Tail against the Dorma Anim. It was a hopeless battle. Only it and Dokutaa¡¯s Dorma Anim Mk 2 stood a chance against the mech.


    Panther Lily had also, unsurprisingly, betrayed to fight it. If he still had the Bustermarm Sword perhaps he could have harmed it. But the Rosa Espada he was now wielding could not directly damage it.


    bRAIN had modified the ethernado absorption machines. They would not work well for exceeds, lacrima was still unfortunately a better solution. But bRAIN still had placed the exceed prisoners within it. It still doubted that the Earthlanders would kill prisoners to get to it faster, especially when they were screaming in pain. Still it was time to open the anima gate. It was a complicated maneuver. After all bRAIN wasn¡¯t just transferring something. It was attempting to transfer something from Edolas to Earthland, while also drawing in a massive amount from Elentear to Edolas, all while fooling whatever magic-enhanced senses which the Earthlanders and a Dragon God possessed so that they would miss its escape into Earthland.


    bRAIN¡¯s calculations needed to be precise, which was unfortunate as it also needed to guess at many variables.


    Draculos had noticed the Dorma Anim. He had simply chosen not to distract his allies with the news. Edolas¡¯s imminent civil war was less important than seizing the anima device. ¡°Their commanders are leaving the battle with Fairy Tail,¡± He informed Arthur and the Oracion Seis; theoretically Wendy and the walking wounded too.


    He was still uncomfortable about bringing Mystogan. It wasn¡¯t that he distrusted the prince of Edolas; he knew he had a record of sealing anima events, the magic council wasn¡¯t completely incompetent despite appearances to the contrary. Mystogan was badly wounded, and the risk that he¡¯d die was high, and it meant defending him in combat. Even just against the castle¡¯s automated defenses it was a strain to keep him alive. Unfortunately he was also the foremost expert on anima, and Draculos wasn¡¯t certain he wholly trusted Arthur not to have some ulterior motive; he needed one of them to help him identify and destroy the anima device, and Draculos would prefer to have them double checking each other.


    Though with the black knight and Knightwalker being freed up he might have to trust everything to Mystogan. Hoteye and Racer might be of use against Knightwalker, but it was likely going to be him and Arthur against the two knights of Edolas.


    Orion refused to let his gate close. ¡°The black knight shattered Horologium¡¯s key. You can¡¯t fight him,¡± Arthur said.


    ¡°Let me,¡± the giant responded, slamming a fist into the barrier protecting the castle¡¯s core. Arthur had cleared the area of the castle¡¯s weapons with his dark dominion - shadow fragmentation spell, Orion had free rein to smash into the armored shell that had stopped him previously.


    ¡°Your spirits can¡¯t fight the knight?¡± Draculos asked.


    ¡°He drains their magic and shatters the gate,¡± Arthur said. Kochab had acquiesced and allowed his gate to close. He was going to have to force Orion¡¯s shut.


    ¡°Sounds like a real challenge,¡± Orion said with a twisted grin. ¡°Arthur; let me fight him. Win or lose, live or die¡­ I want to fight the strongest foes.¡± The reinforced crystalline wall of the castle¡¯s core was splintering under his pounding fists. ¡°Arthur, please, let me face him with you.¡±


    ¡°Star dress,¡± Arthur suggested in a form of compromise. He could feel the telltale spatial shifts of an anima effect. It wasn¡¯t focused on him, this time, but it was building in the area. His archive was giving all sorts of readings, and warnings about it even in its rune bracelet form. It was definitely coming from inside that core.


    ¡°No. I want to try my strength against his,¡± the giant said.


    ¡°But I don¡¯t want to lose you.¡±


    ¡°What were the terms of our contract?¡±


    Arthur swallowed hard. There wasn¡¯t time for discussion anyway. Orion¡¯s fist had shattered the outer wall.


    ¡°They¡¯re opening an anima. I¡¯ll hold off the commanders; go and stop them,¡± Arthur said.


    ¡°Way ahead of you, bossman,¡± Racer stated, pulling Wendy onto his summoned bike behind him. Hoteye and Mystogan were on another. Only Draculos was on foot; with his wolf pelt he was faster and more maneuverable than one of the bikes.


    They took off, leaving Arthur to face the enemy that was coming.


    The black knight¡¯s cannon blasted through the walls of the castle, much like Arthur¡¯s own Dragon¡¯s Roar. But his Kochab Spirit Dress withstood the blast mostly unharmed. Knightwalker was an instant behind it, her spear shifting from its speed form to its magic cutting one. Orion¡¯s reflexes were faster than Arthur¡¯s, his belts had intertwined with the damaged castle¡¯s structure and he brought the roof down. It fell on Arthur as well as Knightwalker but it didn¡¯t matter. His armor made it only a nuisance, and he was able to project part of his archive on the inside of his armor.


    Knightwalker had to defend herself, though, and that meant changing the form of her spear. As she blasted the rubble out of her way, Arthur¡¯s archive isolated her weapon and his territory magic yoinked it from her hand.


    He¡¯d cashed in two bounties. He¡¯d apparently made something happen different enough from canon, and by agreeing to let Orion stay had earned his allegiance for life. It¡¯d been enough to buy a perk. He¡¯d been loath to do so; it left him with effectively nothing in the bank. But if he was going to beat the Black Knight he needed something.


    The Knight gave him Erza Scarlet level fighting skill with melee weapons. And it gave him an intuitive knowledge of how to use their magical properties. His black blade might be lost to him for the moment, but it had magic he didn¡¯t know how to use. There was also the Ten Commandments spear which Knightwalker used; along with the Astra weapon he¡¯d taken from Sorano it was one of the two weapons he¡¯d seen in Edolas which might overcome the black knight¡¯s armor.


    Already he could feel the knight draining his magical energy. It wasn¡¯t as fast as after he¡¯d banished the lacrima. The reason was simple, the armor couldn¡¯t focus its drain and drain at maximum output simultaneously, with the lacrima gone Arthur had been the only substantial source of magical energy within range. Now the knight was draining the castle, Ravelt, Arthur, and Orion simultaneously and while Arthur¡¯s superior output meant he was taking the lion¡¯s share of the drain it still wasn¡¯t the same intensity.


    Arthur didn¡¯t have time to guess at why at the moment. He turned the spear into its speed form, and launched at Knightwalker. He¡¯d have gone for the Black Knight. Have worked to slay him in a single blow, except he¡¯d promised Orion his chance to face him. And if that promise had earned his allegiance¡­ well he¡¯d already spent the points it¡¯d given him, he didn¡¯t want to know what undoing it would do. Besides, it¡¯d be lying to Orion and he didn¡¯t want to do that.


    Knightwalker was still putting up a fight, but unarmed she didn¡¯t stand much of a chance. When it came to sheer skill he was her equal, able to match her in reflex time, and instinct. When it came to strength his superior magical power put him beyond her. His territory armor made her blows meaningless so he didn¡¯t have to worry about openings, and the spear¡¯s speed form simply put him beyond her ability to block or stop.


    A blow to the back of the head brought her down and he hoped it was nonlethally. He thought it should be.


    Orion was clashing with the black knight. At a glance it looked almost like he was winning. He was holding the knight back with a constant rain of rubble, belts used like whips to launch one chunk of stonework after another at the knight, hands grasping and crushing pieces to throw them like grapeshot. But Arthur knew better. It might actually be hurting the knight, even through his armor, but it wasn¡¯t doing much, and he was draining the power from Orion; little by little he was focusing that drain purely on Orion.


    ¡°Orion, let me close your gate,¡± Arthur said. ¡°You¡¯ve fought him; no need to get your key shattered.¡± He didn¡¯t move to intervene. It¡¯d be breaking that promise. And it¡¯d not save the key.


    Orion charged forward, one massive hand slamming down onto the knight. A blast of energy shot through his hand, and Arthur felt the drain through his open gate. He began to force it closed, uncertain if it was already too late. Orion wasn¡¯t resisting any longer. It was too late, though. Arthur felt the key explode in his pocket of space, and the black knight rose back to his feet.


    Arthur was kicking himself. He should have forced the gate to close sooner. He couldn¡¯t afford self-recrimination, though. The knight was drawing on his territory armor and his star dress. Arthur darted forward with the Ten Commandment spear in its speed form. It bounced off of the black armor to no avail, but it gave Arthur a chance to get on the other side of the rubble.


    The black knight spun, one hand rising. A beam of magical energy shot out towards Arthur. He couldn¡¯t rely on his normal defensive spells. So instead he used the spear, shifting it into its rune save form and cutting the magic in two. The armor¡¯s markings were glowing, its magical absorption on full blast.


    Arthur didn¡¯t have time to pause and think. He let his instincts carry him. And with the new cheat power of the Knight his instincts pointed him towards using the spear. He couldn¡¯t directly target the black knight with magic, but it didn¡¯t mean it was useless against him. He transformed the spear into its ultimate form, the holy spear Ravelt. It held the most power of any of its forms. It might be able to strike hard enough to pierce that armor.


    The anima was in full storm now. It was odd, though. It was drawing things here, it shouldn¡¯t have the level of effect that it did for sending things away; and yet the effect was massive.


    Arthur didn¡¯t have time to consider that. He used his Territory magic, creating shaped explosions to launch himself forward one after another, in the form of makeshift jet boots. The black knight absorbed the magic in them, but they¡¯d already launched Arthur forward and he was already making another explosion. His head cannon turning towards Arthur, the knight¡¯s hands moving into a position ready to strike.


    The black knight released his attack, but Arthur roared, darkness firing from his mouth, even as shields of Territory magic formed in front of him. They only lasted moments before the knight was draining them to nothing, but it had been long enough.


    The spear struck the armor, and though it deflected much of the force of impact, Arthur felt it pierce and sink in. His body burned. The black knight¡¯s blast might have not been a direct hit, but it had scorched his arms and back. He changed the spear¡¯s form, switching from the Holy Spear Ravelt to its gravity core configuration. The armor¡¯s drain was outwardly focused. It couldn¡¯t stop the magic inside.


    ¡°I should have killed you then,¡± the knight said, energy flaring in every one of the armor¡¯s weapons. Arthur¡¯s territory magic surrounded him, a teleportation spell meant to pull him away. Only his magic was a split instant too slow. He felt the knight¡¯s hand. He was dying, but the armor was still functioning. Arthur could feel the energy of its weapon tearing through his flesh where it drained his territory armor with its touch. He teleported. He knew it¡¯d cost him his arm, but he was going to die if he did not. He appeared outside of the castle, his spear left behind, and blood pouring from where his wrist had been severed.


    He formed his territory magic into a series of balls, and used a variant of the magic that would have made them explode, exposing his stump to the fiery heat. Maybe Wendy could have saved his arm. But he didn¡¯t have time for that. He was going to die if he did nothing. The ding of a bounty being completed was hollow and empty in the face of his missing hand. He really wasn¡¯t the cool and edgy Elric, but the angsty navel gazing Corum. Well ok, both of Moorcock¡¯s heroes were angsty.


    He cradled his arm. The ding had told him something. He¡¯d ¡®won¡¯ the fight. And given he¡¯d been forced to retreat, minus a hand, he had to expect that meant the black knight was dead.


    He felt numb with shock. He should have been blacking out from the pain of cauterizing his own arm. But he was a hardy sort, and it seemed to come in handy. He was still standing and while it hurt, he could still function.


    Arthur teleported back into the castle. Making certain no one got the knight¡¯s armor was his first priority. The blast from the Ten Commandments Spear had knocked a fair sized hole in the back of the armor - it was easier to push the spear through then to pull it out - and had certainly killed the wearer.


    Arthur felt a bit of guilt at that. He probably could have found another way to beat him. It might not have cost him his hand if they¡¯d not both been trying to kill each other. It was the same terrible cycle of fear of death which had happened with him and Serena.


    ¡°Another Earthlander. What are so many of you doing on Edolas?¡± A voice came, and with it Arthur noticed the sheer, intense magical pressure of the one who was speaking.


    She was an utterly jaw-dropping woman. She had flesh white as snow, plush, naturally pink lips, hair like a yellow moon, and eyes of a striking, inhuman pink. Her body was well-formed, and full-figured, something that her outfit was designed to emphasize, forming a V between its plunging neckline - if one that didn¡¯t even approach the neck could be called that - and the sleeves which started beneath her shoulders. A hood was attached to the back by a thin strip of material - not that Arthur could see it - but it was long in front, reaching to her feet, although it was a robe, tied at the waist and loose in front to bare flashed of her legs almost all the way up them. The sleeves were loose, and the hood bore an ornament of a gem resting in a winged crescent moon. To complete the pseudo-Japanese look she was wearing a pair of geta, though they strangely had large platform heels in back. She was floating, though, as if she didn¡¯t deign to touch the ground of Edolas.


    It was dawning on Arthur who she was. He hadn¡¯t read Fairy Tail in years. But he¡¯d been keeping up to date with its sequel series, and the Moon Dragon God had a quite distinctive appearance. It was Selene. One of the Five Dragon Gods.


    ¡°What did you do with the others?¡± He asked.


    ¡°Do with them? Why do you immediately assume I,¡± She was sniffing the air, her gaze becoming more assessing with every moment, ¡°did something with them?¡± She was narrowing her eyes at him. ¡°And why is a dragon slayer using other magic so freely? It¡¯s not common for such a mage to mix sorceries.¡±


    ¡°Tell me where Wendy and the others are and I¡¯ll tell you why I¡¯m using other magic so freely,¡± Arthur responded.


    ¡°I hardly think that¡¯s equivalent information and why are you so insistent that I did something to them?¡± She asked.


    ¡°They¡¯re gone. And you apparently saw them.¡± His Archive magic could no longer detect them. They were out of range of the link. Something had happened to them.


    ¡°They¡¯re gone?¡±


    ¡°I can¡¯t sense them. Either they¡¯re dead or they¡¯re somewhere far away.¡±


    ¡°Another non-slayer magic. Fine they¡¯re gone. I didn¡¯t kill anyone here, yet.  Though you¡¯re tempting me to change that. I simply sent them away.¡±


    ¡°Sent them where?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s my business,¡± the woman said, glaring down at him. ¡°And I don¡¯t think you can make me tell you.¡±


    Arthur felt rage burning up into him. It¡¯d been bubbling through him since he¡¯d been forced to use the dragon force, and this woman seemed intent on bringing it to full bear. The fury of a territorial dragon who was being mocked. His hand tightened around his spear without conscious thought. It¡¯d be useful even against her. But it¡¯d not be enough. He¡¯d need to be able to enchant it with his dragon slayer magic.


    He sent it away, storing it in a pocket dimension. ¡°It¡¯s in your best interest.¡±


    ¡°Is that supposed to be a threat?¡± She asked.


    ¡°No. It¡¯s a note that you want Acnologia dead,¡± he responded.


    ¡°Oh?¡±


    ¡°The dragon king who has scoured the southlands clean of dragons and now kills the humans he was created to protect, and only the mutual defense pact of the dragon gods have kept them alive as he fears facing them all at once. You can¡¯t enjoy living in such a precarious position.¡±


    ¡°And what is she to the king?¡±


    Arthur¡¯s Archive magic had identified the location of his black sword. But it had not found Wendy or any of his companions. His sword appeared in his hand, only to flicker into his pocket space. ¡°She¡¯s Grandeeney¡¯s child.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s supposed to mean something to me?¡±


    ¡°Grandeeney, the Sky Dragon, greatest of the air drakes from the time Acnologia was born. You certainly know of her. But do you know of Igneel¡¯s plan?¡±


    ¡°But you¡¯re not one of those five¡¯s children,¡± Selene said. ¡°You don¡¯t have any of their scents about you. Darkness yes, stronger than I¡¯d have expected from Skiadrum¡¯s brood, but still weak.¡±


    ¡°No. I¡¯d call Wendy a back up plan at best. But those five children are the hope to avoid a second Acnologia.¡±


    ¡°Really now? And just what makes them that?¡±


    ¡°Dragon antibodies which prevent dragonification. Dragon slayer magic is here to stay, there¡¯s a whole guild of dragon slayers in Guiltina, a new generation born from reverse engineering from legends and texts. There¡¯s one in Ishgar too, born from lacrima formed from dragons¡¯ hearts. But a second Acnologia must be prevented for the sake of the entire world and those five children are the key.¡±


    Selene looked at him. Arthur couldn¡¯t read what was on her cruel, fox-like face. He wished he knew what her true persona was. Was she really the fickle creature who caused distortions because they were entertaining? Or had she really just been working towards an end of the age of dragons so that she could retire in peace?


    ¡°Well I didn¡¯t kill her. I really did send her away. You¡¯re right I do want Acnologia dead, and I am well aware of Igneel¡¯s little plan with the humans. But I don¡¯t see why I need you. What are you to Acnologia?¡±


    ¡°The one who will slay him, and then any of the five dragon gods who align themselves against humanity.¡±


    ¡°Really? Is that so?¡±


    Arthur nodded. ¡°I¡¯m not ready yet. But if someone could defeat Acnologia in a straight battle they¡¯d be able to defeat the others. I mean you might give them trouble with your mastery over dimensions.¡±


    She flinched. Arthur¡¯s face must have shown his relief, his whole body having been tensed, his ass and balls clenching as he spoke to the face of a being who could kill him in such a manner. ¡°You know who I am and yet you still speak like that to my face?¡±


    ¡°You are Selene, Moon Dragon God, and creator of distortions. And I am the greatest distortion you will ever find.¡±


    She laughed, cold and cruel, her spatial magic lashing out. Arthur had begun overclocking his mind during the conversation, and his territory contained and deflected her spell, even as the scything crescent moon shaped blades of torn space formed to fly towards him. His new fighting instincts told him the truth, not a single of those blades would have done more than cut the skin. She was playing with him.


    Now, though, there was worry on her face. ¡°You struggled against a man in a steel suit, how can you expect to fight Acnologia?¡±


    ¡°Teleport the suit off of the man and maybe you¡¯ll see. It should be much easier now that he¡¯s dead.¡±


    Selene¡¯s right hand twitched. Nothing happened. She tried again. Her feet touched the ground, and her breath grew noticeably heavier, but on the third time she succeeded. And she¡¯d gotten sloppy, leaving pieces of the man inside. It turned Arthur¡¯s stomach. ¡°I¡¯ll admit that¡¯s the strongest suit of anti-magic coating I¡¯ve ever encountered, but it¡¯s nothing to Acnologia. Any dragon resists their element, but they can also eat it.¡±


    ¡°The suit had the power to draw in magic, absorbing it actively through the coating at the wearer¡¯s will, and using it to power a pseudo-dragon roar. The armor was an artificial Acnologia.¡±


    Her lips parted a little. ¡°Who made it?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s a distortion. Just like me, it never belonged in this world.¡±


    Her curiosity was plain on her face as she looked at him. She was used to being the one in control; to pulling the strings of others. And here there was something she was completely unaware of until now and which seemed to have dangerous amounts of knowledge.


    ¡°Where do you belong?¡± She asked at last. His magic was that of an Earthlander. But she could smell dimensions well enough to know his flesh wasn¡¯t. He¡¯d lived there. He stank of Earthland. But he wasn¡¯t native to it. Or Edolas. Or Elentear. Or any other dimension she was aware of.


    ¡°But doesn¡¯t that make me just perfect as one of the distortions you desire?¡± Selene couldn¡¯t say no. She just looked at him in abject shock for a moment. Shock which turned to a touch of fear as the black armor appeared around his body. It was a bit too big for him. He¡¯d have to see about resizing it. And repairing the back. Still Arthur could feel its systems engage, feel it ready to recharge its energy stores with her magic. ¡°I am the one who will kill Acnologia. And I will slay the dragon gods who stand for humanity¡¯s destruction. But I don¡¯t think you necessarily count among them.¡±


    The battle with Ignia. It had been one where she risked everything to protect her seed of cohabitation. The schemer who played the villain because it was ¡®necessary¡¯ was her true face. At least he was betting on it.


    ¡°I still don¡¯t know the extent of your strength,¡± She said.


    ¡°It¡¯s insufficient. That¡¯s why I want you to help me.¡±


    ¡°Help you? You¡¯re a dragon slayer sworn to kill the dragon gods and I¡¯m a dragon god.¡±


    ¡°But you¡¯re not really a foe to humanity, are you? Acnologia will eventually reach other dimensions. If not him one of the other dragon gods will. You just want something powerful enough to close the book on the age of dragons permanently so you can live in peace. But to find that power you create distortions. Am I wrong?¡±


    There was silence. She was obviously gauging him. He was wearing a deadman¡¯s armor, the stench of their sweat filling his nose. It was disgusting, and he felt his remorse growing more and more over the death he had inflicted. Overclocking just gave him time to think about it, errant thoughts about how there had to be a better way. How he had to be able to talk him through it popping into his head. And that led to thoughts about the sheer destructive distortion he had created when he¡¯d accepted that deal with the devil that had created the dark knights.


    Finally Arthur broke the silence just to stop thinking about his own guilt. ¡°I¡¯m right. And I¡¯m the distortion you¡¯ve been looking for. Teach me your magic. My territory magic can¡¯t hurt Acnologia. He¡¯s a dragon. But if I can learn your magic, I¡¯ll be one step closer to beating him. Cease your tampering with Elentear, let its magic return to natural levels. You¡¯ll destroy it before finding a distortion half as useful as I am. Instead¡­ Look here. You made Elentear have more magic. Couldn¡¯t you do the same to Edolas?¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re insane,¡± She said. ¡°You think you can dictate terms to a dragon god?¡±


    ¡°No. You can leave any time you want. I am simply offering you a deal. We work together. I slay your enemies, and you make a world prosper.¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s in it for me, human?¡±


    People were beginning to gather. This world¡¯s Fairy Tail, and the survivors of the royal guard. They didn¡¯t dare approach. The black knight had been more dangerous than the Dorma Anim. And even the people of Edolas could feel the magic which radiated off of Selene.


    Even Carla, heart breaking over her failure to protect Wendy, didn¡¯t dare approach right now.


    ¡°Let¡¯s discuss this somewhere more private,¡± Selene said. ¡°The humans are gathering.¡±


    ¡°Shouldn¡¯t they gather for their new goddess?¡± Arthur asked, his tone going somewhat hushed as he stepped closer towards her. He had to be careful. If she assumed her true form it was still very much possible she could crush him like an insect.


    ¡°What?¡±


    ¡°The people of Edolas followed a shitstain of a king because he promised them infinite magic. You are that promise made manifest. You want to live in the luxury of a queen, served by all the resources of a world? Grab Mystogan, make him king, while you stay as some sort of senior empress, let him handle the administration of the world, and breathe new magic into it. The people will see you as their benevolent goddess and all that you can survey will be yours.¡±


    Selene smiled a bit. She liked the sound of that. But she wasn¡¯t sure about any of this. The mere human before her dictating terms to her still irked her immensely. It stung her pride. She had to add something. ¡°I¡¯ll think about it,¡± She said.


    ¡°No time to think. If you want to take over this is the time. Declare you stopped the mad machine. Declare you came to end Faust¡¯s tyranny. Start flooding the world with magic and declare your purpose. Hell, pull the hand monster from Elentear here if you don¡¯t have the power to do it on your own.¡±


    ¡°...¡± She gave Arthur a look that chilled him to the bone. He¡¯d pushed too far. ¡°I am a dragon god,¡± she reminded him. ¡°I will not be talked to by some mere human this way.¡±


    ¡°I am no mere anything,¡± Arthur could feel the dragon force. Could feel that draconic power. He could face her. Even in her full power if he was willing to grasp that strength. And it was calling to him. Goading him forward. The Ten Commandments Spear appeared in his hand; its speed form there to heighten his reflexes and movements to escape any surprise attack.


    ¡°You¡¯ll be my mere servant,¡± She said. ¡°You want me to play the role you assign to me. For me to dance to your steps. No. I am a dragon. I have my pride. I¡¯ll teach you. But you won¡¯t just slay the dragon king and the dragon gods. You will serve me.¡±


    Arthur wasn¡¯t sure about this. Agreeing to be her slave was not something he wanted to do. He¡¯d stepped back, his bravado failing him. Selene noticed. A look of disappointment spread on her face.


    ¡°Once,¡± Arthur said as he rallied himself. ¡°I will perform one task as you demand it, unrelated to my sworn duty, anything at all as long as it can be completed within a year.¡±


    ¡°Once?¡± Selene¡¯s transformation was instant, her claw slamming down where he had been. Where there had been a woman modeled somewhat on a kitsune, now there stood a dragon. Her body was long, a neck almost the length of her torso, and a tail almost the length of either. A pale creamy yellow fur began on her face and covered her throat, similarly sleaving her limbs from wrist and shank up to her shoulders and hips, before fading to scales that covered her body and tail. She didn¡¯t have wings, at least not exactly. Instead she had eight fox-like tails.


    And the sheer presence of magic from her had increased at least by an order of magnitude. Arthur felt the urge to drop to his knees. This was strength. This was like the darkness dragon when he had first encountered it. Or¡­ it made him for all his power compare to it almost like he had then. Maybe he was twice as strong in comparison. But he was still a mouse standing before an elephant.


    He had dodged her blow, though. It hadn¡¯t been as simple as using the spear¡¯s speed form to move. She had wrapped him in a spatial distortion. But his territory had warped him out of it. And now he was draining her magic to fill the armor he wore. It was too much, though. His magical strength had been enough to threaten to overwhelm it, and now he was realizing he could have not spent two of his discounts on niche abilities, and simply have bought more magical power.


    Not that he had time to think about that. The spear was heavy and unwieldy for one arm, but it would have to do. It had switched to Rune Save.


    ¡°I don¡¯t want to fight you,¡± He said.


    ¡°Why would you fight me? You are my knight, and I am the goddess of the moon descended to restore magic to Edolas. But I will call on you, my knight, to serve me¡­ thrice.¡±


    Arthur was surprised. The killing intent that had made him warp back was gone. Already Selene was turning to the humans gathered around and speaking loudly for all to hear, declaring her ¡®nature¡¯ as Goddess of the Moon, and her intent to restore magic to Edolas.


    And Arthur realized that if he didn¡¯t say something now he was tacitly agreeing to serve her three times. And he had a feeling if he pushed for twice she¡¯d call the whole thing off.

 Edolas - Aftermath

    There was a lot of aftermath to deal with. Mystogan needed to be found. Selene had been, as she put it ¡°displeased¡±, by the anima being opened in an attempt to turn her into lacrima. As such she had struck at the machine. She would have killed them all, except for her recognition of Wendy¡¯s nature as Grandeeney¡¯s child. Arthur had called it right when he had suspected she wasn¡¯t willing to mess up that plan when it still had a chance of bearing fruit.


    She had sent the Earthlanders home. She had spared Mystogan and the exceed on the basis that they were obviously fighting the no longer functional automated defenses, along with Wendy. That and there had been a second anima sending something from Edolas to Earthland.


    Still she had been unhappy, and as such she had teleported them into Elentear mostly at random. They were somewhere in Elentear. This wasn¡¯t for the best, as Mystogan was sort of necessary. Arthur felt responsible to Wendy to bring Carla back. And Mystogan was a rallying figure who Edolas could accept and who was suitable for running a state. To maintain stability in Edolas he was ultimately essential; Selene¡¯s creation of lacrima from her own magical energy was at best a stop gap and one which would force her back to Elentear quickly.


    Second, Selene couldn¡¯t pump magic into Edolas. Well she could, but it wouldn¡¯t stick. In Elentear or Earthland the humans would absorb the ethernado and produce more. On Edolas only the exceed did that. Transplanting Alta Face - as the hands creature was apparently named - from Elentear to Edolas could potentially do the job.


    Third, there was the exceed. He¡¯d picked a religious front for Selene since it sort of made sense. She had the power to play a god, and it fit the persona of one who¡¯d serve as a source of magic. But the exceed were the angels of God in this world, and while the God they served was if anything even more false than Selene, it still was definitely creating friction which would have to be resolved.


    Then there was still the mess in Earthland to deal with, and the need to stop Grimoire Heart from causing Acnologia to attack Tenrou Island.


    Faust was still alive. Though after handing him over to Selene, Arthur didn¡¯t know what had happened to him. She said she¡¯d deposit him where he¡¯d never return. Arthur didn¡¯t ask questions past that point.


    And then there was the one Arthur couldn¡¯t stop thinking about no matter how hard he tried. His missing hand. He¡¯d only lost half of his tricep. But it was gone, and he wasn¡¯t certain Wendy could heal it. If he ever got back to Earthland.


    He was in a sour, and unhappy mood. There was a desire to brood that was overtaking him, and only growing worse as he was forced to sit through talks between her and Queen Shagotte of the Exceed.


    He wasn¡¯t a diplomat. He had skated by this far on pluck, audacity, and otherworldly knowledge of what Selene wanted. Thankfully all he had to do was stand there and look respectable; Selene was handling the negotiations. It felt like sitting behind a mafia godfather demanding protection money. Maybe encouraging a dragon to rule the world was a bad idea. But it¡¯d been the only card in his hand at the time.


    His hand. His missing hand. It was what bothered him most of all. He kept feeling like he should feel it. Like he could wriggle his fingers. It left him fidgeting. He¡¯d got some really awesome armor. But he¡¯d lost his hand. He was certain there was a point of view where he had gotten the better end of the deal. But he was quite literally missing a piece of himself.


    And with hours of nothing to do he was left alone only with thoughts about that. He considered his territory magic. If he could somehow territory a hand into existence. Maybe Archive? No. Neither would work. He might create a manipulative force, some sort of telekinesis through a force-field waldo, but not a hand. He wanted to go and do something about his hand. Or rest. Just sink into a bed and sleep. Or deal with Earthland problems.


    ¡°My knight, here, will quest to reclaim those of your people who were lost in Elentear by my actions,¡± Selene said, waving towards Arthur. ¡°Do not fear.¡±


    Arthur straightened with a jolt. ¡°What?¡±


    ¡°Of course, we can¡¯t just abandon them to the monsters of Elentear,¡± She said.


    ¡°This is going to cost you one of your commands,¡± Arthur thought to her through his Archive¡¯s telepathy.


    ¡°No it¡¯s not. For your plan to succeed we need Mystogan back here,¡± She countered.


    ¡°It would be a travesty to abandon them,¡± Arthur said, even as he bickered with Selene mentally. ¡°For my plan to succeed I need to go back to Earthland and strike at Grimoire Heart before it¡¯s too late to get their knowledge. You have other servants who can do it.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t keep useless things about. Besides I¡¯m supposed to be teaching you moon dragon slayer magic. And for you to really understand my dimensional magic you need to experience other worlds. If you won¡¯t follow my lesson plan I will not teach you.¡±


    Arthur breathed a deep fuming breath. One which got the exceed to look at him questioningly. They were obviously missing something. Why was the knight so unready to go with the plan?


    ¡°He will be going immediately, in fact I will send him there now,¡± Selene said.


    Arthur looked at her. ¡°Shouldn¡¯t I get the armor?¡±


    ¡°No,¡± She said with a smile. ¡°It shouldn¡¯t be necessary.¡± And telepathically he received a chilling message. ¡°If the monsters of Elentear can kill you without it, you¡¯re worthless to me. A student has to be able to pass his entry examination.¡±


    Arthur wanted to swear. He had one hand. One. And he was exhausted. And now she expected him to go to a dangerous dimension effectively naked.


    ¡°Fine,¡± He said.


    ¡°Then let me show you all the magic of a god. Bring me a glass of water,¡± Selene said. She was going to show him her main dimensional transference magic: Aqua Aera, which used water as a medium to open a dimensional portal. And Arthur was going to open his archive fully to record every detail.


    Arthur found himself in Elentear. It was, ironically, less alien and fantastic than either Guiltina on Earthland, or Edolas. The flora were more earth-like and less fantastic, there were no floating islands. It could have been a place on Earth.


    Except for the feeling of being overcharged with ethernado. He could feel it filling him to the brim. It didn¡¯t instantly restore his emptied reserves, but he was drawing in energy at several times the speeds he would in Earthland, much less Edolas. He could have summoned a host of Celestial Spirits, or Enif and multiple others, and still be recharging magical energy.


    He was only going to go for two at the moment, though. Enif and Altair. They appeared almost before he pulled out the keys. And within moments they were going out, searching for Mystogan, Carla, and any signs of the exceeds.


    Selene had returned to her temple in Elentear. She didn¡¯t need X-Balls the way a normal human would; she had experience in the varying ethernado concentrations of different dimensions, and her body knew not to shut down her ability to tap into her origin because of environmental lack or excess. She even had enough ethernado to influence a world, but she still didn¡¯t recover it as efficiently on Edolas and she had been making shows of her power, providing the planet with enough lacrima that it was certain to cause some distortion.


    She wasn¡¯t certain she would be returning to Edolas. Oh there was that deal she had made with the knight. Arthur he¡¯d said his name was. It really did offer her several things she wanted. If he could keep up his end of the deal. She wondered about the armor he¡¯d found. The armor she¡¯d brought with her to Elentear. Was it made by the people of Edolas? Or did it truly not belong anywhere?


    If he was telling the truth and he really was something that didn¡¯t belong, then he really might be the distortion she was looking for. If nothing else the chaos that would result from moving Alta Face to Edolas should be entertaining. Though it risked her plans for Acnologia.


    And that was the problem. Arthur was right on many of the things he had said. The need for the defense pact with the other dragon gods was abhorrent to her. But it was necessary. Acnologia was fuming in the south, unwilling to risk battling 5 dragon gods in alliance. Eventually he would take that risk. He was likely just seeking out some magical power which would allow him to do so. The dragon gods were doing much the same. Aldoron had abandoned the defensive pact to sleep, putting them all at risk. Ignia was plotting something. Vierres had disappeared. Only Mercphobia seemed to not be seeking some greater power for himself.


    Eventually Acnologia or one of her peers would follow her across dimensions. It was within their power if they just bothered to learn the magic. The Law Dragon could do it even now, not that she feared him like the others. She could, and would, crush him if he tried anything against her.


    Elentear was her bet. Between its high density of ethernado, and its high density of spirior, she had hoped to create a powerful crop of soldiers for her purposes. Humans had defeated the dragon empires of old. The dragon gods were mere remnants of what had once been. She had planned to copy the Great Traitor and use humans to build her own army.


    Edolas had always been beneath her notice. But what she¡¯d seen made her wonder. The magical tool that had opened the double anima gate, and the castle¡¯s own transformation were impressive. Even if Arthur¡¯s armor was an anomaly from outside, she¡¯d seen the dragon chain cannon, the lacrima weapons, the ethernado collectors. It was humanity at its finest. If she gave them the resources; they might become more dangerous than anything that Elentear could provide. And they were eager for a god. They had worshiped those exceed for centuries, and while they chafed under them, they were for the most part tame and docile.


    There was of course the danger of Faust. He¡¯d been willing to genocide their false gods. But she had him here in her temple. And none of the remaining human leaders were as charismatic. His son, Mystogan, might be a threat. But Arthur was right, she didn¡¯t want to deal with the business of day to day administration. The deal he had offered her was tempting. It¡¯d make a nice retirement if he could oppose Acnologia.


    If.


    And it¡¯d be a boring one. Acceptable perhaps. But a bit boring. Still it¡¯d be a world where she could have whatever she wanted. She would have to consider it. But at the moment she was bored.


    She turned towards her window for viewing the moon. It was always full here at Black Moon Mountain. Always night. Her magic had done it. It had taken quite a bit of time. It was a beautiful moon, but it was not what she needed. She let the window ripple and change, becoming a viewing portal with which to watch Arthur. She had to see what sort of distortion he was.


    And for that purpose she would have to throw some hurdles in his path.


    Arthur was regenerating magic while he was letting Enif fly free. It was a nice feeling. He wasn¡¯t truly at maximum ethernado output, the amount he could pump into a single silver spirit was less than the amount he could pump out in total, but it was still well past his normal regeneration of magical energy.


    Still it seemed like things were going to be quick. Altair had spotted a group of exceed roosting on a cloud. Arthur could be there as quickly as donning Enif¡¯s star dress so that he could stay aloft.


    His territory magic transported him an instant later, but Carla wasn¡¯t there. The exceed began to glance at him, looking him over and muttering. They started to spread their wings, leaping from the cloud.


    ¡°Wait! Shagotte sent me to bring you back to Edolas!¡± He shouted. They paused, looking at him.


    He could hear them whispering to each other about whether they could trust a human. ¡°Any proof that the queen sent you?¡± One asked.


    ¡°No, she didn¡¯t give me anything. But I am the only hope you have of getting back to Edolas as¡­¡± Arthur went silent as a giant hand smacked him through the cloud island.


    It was not the worst thing. He could catch himself before he fell, and his territory impact had dispersed the force across itself. He was a little shaken, but his insides weren¡¯t being splatted. Still it was one of Alta Face¡¯s hands.


    His territory explosion blasted the hand from the arm in a single deafening roar, as he flew upwards. Another series of explosions across the arm¡¯s length reduced the hand of Alta Face into just a dissipated cloud of magical energy. The exceeds froze in their flight, and watched him.


    Arthur saw the shadow above him, and dodged to the side, a second one of Alta Face¡¯s hands had risen up, and a third, and a fourth. He was moving through the air with his star dress. It was so much easier. Even though he wasn¡¯t fighting with a sword, the trained reflexes and speed that was required to match Erza¡¯s was immensely useful for maneuvering in the air. And his territory magic worked overtime, wrapping each arm in explosions and reducing it to so much magical energy.


    ¡°Come on, let''s get you exceeds back home, and I¡¯ll go look for Mystogan and Carla,¡± He declared.


    Selene had to admit he learned quickly. He managed to send the exceed back not only to Edolas but to their floating island after having only seen Aqua Aera performed once before. He¡¯d also defeated five hands as if they were nothing. She considered. Perhaps she should have killed him in Edolas when he was tired.


    No. He was dangerous to her, but any distortion she could use would be dangerous to her. He was far more valuable than any of the pawns she had been developing in Elentear.


    But she still had to see if he was worth putting up with. Oh it wasn¡¯t the demand that she taught him. Or that she would help Edolas. It just seemed like he would be an insubordinate little ass the entire time, and she wasn¡¯t sure if she wanted to put up with an onerous mule.


    If he really was liable to defeat Acnologia, maybe it¡¯d be worth it. But she needed something more dangerous than a mere group of hands.


    She switched her portal to view Mystogan and the final exceed. They¡¯d found a cave to hide in. Maybe she should make this more interesting for them, and Arthur. Still, she didn¡¯t want them dead. It¡¯d be inconvenient for her. No. She¡¯d wait until Arthur was closer to them and could conveniently appear to save them. Still she had to wonder how long it¡¯d take Arthur to find them.


    The other exceeds had pointed him to where they¡¯d been attacked and - well Carla had stayed behind to try and save Mystogan. He called Altair and Enif back to him then, and sent them off from there, but they had no luck. Still Mystogan couldn¡¯t have gone far; the burns he¡¯d suffered were pretty bad.


    He¡¯d summoned his nikora spirit. It had a good nose, and it knew Carla and Jellal. It thought it¡¯d found their scent, but just ended up leading him into the woods and losing it. The sun had set, leaving him in the dark, wandering in the woods.


    He seemed to be some sort of magnet for monsters as well. Giant spiders, giant snakes, and more kept attacking him. He was exhausted. He was consuming the darkness of the woods; where it was deep and dark enough for him to consume. It needed magic or intensity; thankfully Elentear¡¯s nature ensured the former. It was all that was keeping him going after the blood loss of this morning and afternoon.


    His arm hurt. He¡¯d held it back with adrenaline at first. And then his body¡¯s natural pain killers. But they were starting to fade. He needed to rest for several days really.


    The nikora¡¯s head rose. ¡°Puru puru!¡± It¡¯d found the scent again. Carla and Mystogan had hidden in a cave, but by the time he got there something else had as well. It was a troll, not that he knew it immediately. To him it was just a large, powerful, rocky giant. It was trying to get into the cave, or, failing that, bring the cave down on them.


    Arthur¡¯s magic teleported him into the cave, and then he took the other two and teleported them out. It was easy enough to avoid it.


    Mystogan was not pleased with Selene¡¯s new interference in Edolas¡¯s affairs. But willing or otherwise he had to accept that the dragon god did what the dragon god wanted and that no one in Edolas was powerful enough to stop her.


    Arthur for his part wanted to go back to Earthland. He had loose ends to deal with, and he wanted medical attention which Wendy was the best to give him that he knew of. This time Selene allowed it.


    With his new knowledge of Aqua Aera reaching Earthland was easy enough. His reception once he had appeared in the royal castle was to a bunch of soldiers who wanted to have him arrested.


    He cooperated. It wasn¡¯t worth fighting them. He was soon awakened by Draculos being called, Wendy was reunited with Carla, and with the help of the castle physicians his arm was finally properly treated.


    It was nearly dawn before he could get some real, proper, restful sleep.


    When Arthur woke, well into the afternoon, he found that he was staying in the palace somewhere between ¡®honored guest¡¯ and ¡®dangerous prisoner¡¯. His freedom of movement was curtailed. But the king was also sending for people to have a prosthetic arm made for him, and he was allowed to talk to Wendy, Minerva, and to go visit the Oracion Seis. Their house arrest was somewhat less comfortable. They still had magic sealing cells, but they were better furnished, the food was better, and they were allowed out under guard.


    Hoteye seemed to be accepting it easily. Midnight - MacBeth - was ready to complain his ear off. Still Draculos was putting in a good word for them. Their new hearing would be in 3 days; along with Arthur¡¯s.


    Draculos also got it cleared for him to take Minerva out of Crocus to teach her about magic and to practice on his own. Oh, he had to bring his guards with him, but, as Draculos put it, ¡°The guards are just for show and monitoring. I, and King Toma as well, understand that if we clash with you, it will be closer to a war than fighting an individual. I have little doubt that even one armed you¡¯d not find some way to surprise me and defeat me.¡±


    Arthur had taken it with a smug smile until Draculos had added: ¡°You killed Serena, didn¡¯t you?¡±


    ¡°I teleported him from the castle before it changed to ask him to join me in saving the abducted individuals of Crocus. He tried to kill me with my own sword. He seemed to have decided that he could do what Selene is doing.¡±


    Arthur had expected to be grilled for proof of this. Instead Draculos took it in stride and had grilled him on what exactly Selene was doing. And then he¡¯d let him take Minerva out for some training and practice. Well, he invited himself along as well. ¡°I get the feeling I could learn a thing or two about magical combat from you myself. So I hope you don¡¯t mind me sitting in on the lesson.¡±


    Draculos¡¯s presence made the lesson more awkward. Arthur might have tried to ask her what had become of Serena¡¯s lacrima through his Archive magic if Draculos hadn¡¯t been there. But the Wizard God was the only person in Ishgar he really feared at this point.


    Orion was inaccessible. He could maybe summon him without a key, it was an experiment he¡¯d have to see about before going up against Grimoire Heart, but Arthur was still exhausted and didn¡¯t want to strain himself thus.


    Minerva kept staring at his new stump as if she couldn¡¯t believe it. Arthur hated those eyes. They accused him of weakness, but mostly they just pointed out the absence. Still he had magic to test. He spread out his territory magic, creating little distortions of it all through the air. And his challenge to Minerva was to use her magic at all.


    It was what the castle had done to him. At least in general principle. He liked to think he¡¯d made some general improvements upon the basic theory. He would need more work, and it wasn¡¯t good for his portal cut, but it was a means of spreading his territory to its maximum extent quickly, and then coalescing it where he needed it. Or using any of the little, microscopic particles of his magic as a portal for more of his space and magic.


    He talked to her more than he used magic or sparred, though. He did summon his celestial spirits, he observed her with his archive, but he was not looking for a work-out here. He had too much to do. And then there was his arm.


    Still Aries gave Minerva a good work-out, before he gave her a message to deliver to Scorpio and Gemini. Hopefully Angel would summon one and receive it.


    The next two days were ones of medical care, rest, good food, and somewhat pampering. He was expected to keep the authorities aware of his general activities and location, and to allow knights to escort him, but he was otherwise mostly unrestricted. He got a chance to talk to Erza, and record her use of requip with his Archive. It was enlightening. He modified his technique. The change would not be too extreme but it would be noticeable. It took about an hour of work, and it had managed to check off another bounty in the process as well.


    His shield was returned to him. It took them more than a day to find where Serena had ditched it, but the shield was given back to him. That was when he was fairly certain that Toma¡¯s vote was for him. And so was Draculos. Who was against him?


    And then came the new hearing. To Arthur¡¯s relief it wasn¡¯t actually about charging him. He was granted a pardon for any and all past crimes committed within Fiore on account of his great service. Draculos was less able to make such a blanket relaxation for the council, but existing charges were being dropped.


    The Oracion Seis were given a choice. They could serve out their sentences, with reductions for their service in this time of disaster, or, in recognition of the great dangers they placed themselves under by continuing to fight against Edolas for the sake of the kingdom, they would be given the chance at a special form of community service. There was just the matter of Jellal. Gran Doma, who had been selected as the head of the reforming magic council even if he was not officially in power yet, considered it an unacceptable breach that he would not be made an example of. He argued about the need to restore the people¡¯s faith in the council, and Jellal¡¯s role in the previous council.


    It was Draculos who arranged the backroom deal. Jellal would be given the same offer as Angel and Cobra; the chance to enter into the new Thunderbolts Program, but his identity would have to be disguised during it. The deal had other parts. The Thunderbolts would have 3 months to prove themselves. If they did not show significant results in that time they would have to serve time. Also, as the only individual who the Oracion Seis and the government could agree on, Arthur was expected to serve as their leader during that period.


    It was this last that Arthur had to object to. He needed to get back to Guiltina after a month, which was seeming to be more and more something that just would not happen, and more pertinently he had promised Selene he would return to Edolas for training in 6 weeks. He could not guarantee his presence beyond that point.


    Gran Domo objected that Selene was a myth. When Arthur volunteered to take him to meet her, but warned that it would likely incur her wrath, he accepted it.


    Until Arthur¡¯s 6 week deadline he would be leading Jove¡¯s Thunderbolt as its interim guild master. And his first task was to find, and recruit Cobra, Angel, and Jellal.


    Arthur met Jellal and Angel in Crocus later that day. They had snuck in during the aftermath of the Anima Incident. Gemini had even snuck into their hearing and observed it first hand. Meaning that Angel had added another case of abduction of a government official to her rap sheet, but also that she was prepared for what was to come.


    It was Gemini who delivered him the note that said where she, and Jellal, were. An inn on the outskirts of the city. When Arthur arrived Angel was waiting there. She¡¯d gotten a new, flashy, feather cloak, and an outfit which was practically a bikini. There was no attempt from her to hide who she was.


    She was sitting in plain view, basking in the glances from other patrons. She was beautiful, and there was something glowing, and beaming about her that hadn¡¯t been there before.


    Arthur for his part felt like something the cat had dragged in. King Toma had provided him with good clothes. Honestly probably the fanciest suit he¡¯d ever owned, even including his original life. But he didn¡¯t feel it. Partially it was that having only one hand made things awkward, and the fact that it wasn¡¯t his dominant one led to even more annoyances. He¡¯d tried to open the door with his stump. That and having a sleeve awkwardly hiding a bandaged stump made him feel awkward.


    Angel was waving him towards her. ¡°So Gemini tells me you¡¯ve got goo-¡± She cut off her eyes at his arm. ¡°What happened to your hand?¡±


    ¡°War wound,¡± Arthur answered.


    ¡°War wound? Your hand is missing!¡± She said, reaching for his arm. She turned upwards a bit to look him in the face. ¡°Gemini hadn¡¯t mentioned that detail.¡±


    ¡°Can we not talk about the arm,¡± Arthur said. ¡°I have something for you.¡±


    ¡°They got news of my sister so quickly?¡± There was pain and hope mixing in her voice. He¡¯d asked the court to look into Yukino for her; Gemini must have informed her of that.


    Stolen story; please report.


    Arthur shook his head. ¡°No. This is more of a souvenir,¡± He said, letting the Astra weapon form in his hand. ¡°It¡¯s linked to the Celestial Spirits, I thought you could use it.¡±


    ¡°When they try to charge you an arm and a leg for a souvenir, Arthur, it¡¯s not worth it even if you haggle them down to just an arm,¡± Angel said. She didn¡¯t reach for it. Not yet. She was processing what she saw. No. She was processing what she had felt all through this.


    ¡°I didn¡¯t lose my arm getting this,¡± Arthur said, then he flinched. He sort of had.


    ¡°You realize how worried I was about you?¡± She began. ¡°You gave me hope and then you disappeared like that.¡±


    ¡°I delivered, didn¡¯t I?¡±


    ¡°You got yourself arrested and put on trial twice. I didn''t know if you were going to sell us down the river because we weren¡¯t useful to you anymore or¡­¡±


    Arthur dropped the golden staff on a table and placed his hand on her shoulder. ¡°I promised to help you. This isn¡¯t about the point or the bounties. If it ever was, it''s not at this point. I wasn¡¯t just going to abandon you.¡±


    She moved forward then, arms wrapping around him. She was crying a bit, not that he could see, but he could hear it a little. ¡°Jellal said you¡¯d go to hell and back for us,¡± She said. ¡°It¡¯s because I¡¯m beautiful, isn¡¯t it?¡±


    Arthur felt distinctly uncomfortable there. ¡°That¡¯s a loaded question,¡± He said awkwardly.


    She gave him a smile, a playful look on her face. ¡°I was just teasing. Answer like that and you¡¯ll make a girl think it might be tr¡­ It is, isn''t it?¡±


    Arthur¡¯s face turned away flashing red. ¡°I¡¯m a guy. I have a weakness for beautiful women.¡±


    ¡°So why don¡¯t you try anything?¡± She asked.


    ¡°I¡¯m your parole officer.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve not agreed to the deal yet.¡±


    ¡°That doesn¡¯t make things better. I don¡¯t want to take advantage of you.¡±


    She giggled. ¡°And this is why you¡¯re just going to stay a virgin loser,¡± She said. ¡°You¡¯ll never get the dating bounty complete at this rate. Still I¡¯ll go along with your little lightning bolts plan.¡±


    ¡°Thunderbolts.¡±


    ¡°Why are you so insistent on that naming?¡±


    ¡°Erm¡­ because where I came from there was this story that had redeemed supervillains called that.¡±


    Angel shook her head. ¡°You¡¯re a silly creature. Still, I¡¯m glad you¡¯re not dead, even if you did something stupid like lose your hand.¡±


    ¡°Where¡¯s Jellal, anyway?¡±


    She pouted, making a show of puffing out her cheeks. ¡°You have a beautiful girl all to yourself and you want that pretty boy? You really know how to make me feel beautiful.¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s been the most wanted man in the continent, I¡¯m just a little worried about him.¡±


    ¡°I had him stay in the room. So we¡¯re really getting back together sans Brain?¡±


    ¡°If we can find Cobra. Until we can it¡¯s time to make a list of dark guilds to target. Angel¡­ I want Grimoire Heart made a top priority.¡±


    ¡°We can¡¯t handle Grimoire Heart. Out of the Balam Alliance it was the top guild. Even if you included Raven¡¯s Tail it was the top guild.¡±


    ¡°I can defeat Scorpio without my magic.¡±


    ¡°You couldn¡¯t do it with both hands, how am I supposed to believe you can do it now with just one?¡±


    ¡°I got some new skills while I was gone.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ll see about that.¡±


    Fighting Scorpio without using his magic was not easy. The Celestial Spirit was holding back, but he was still strong, fast, experienced, and possessed some substantial magic. But Arthur was stronger, and now he was faster and more skilled.


    The Oracion Seis, no Arthur should get used to thinking of them as the Thunderbolts, including Lilith, watched the battle. Jellal was not in attendance. He was being tested for veracity that whether he was possessed or not - they lacked the means to reliably test that - he was at least actually an amnesiac. The others were placing bets, and chatting, though there was definitely an awkward bubble around Lilith. No one quite knew why she was there, except that Draculos had insisted. There was an awkwardness around Minerva too; and unsurprisingly between the two of them. They weren¡¯t the only onlookers. Wendy had come, as had Makarov Guild Master of Fairy Tail. There was even a growing contingent of knights.


    By the end of the fight Arthur was tired and winded, his body exhausted. Arthur didn¡¯t feel exuberant. He¡¯d won but it was a hollow victory. He¡¯d bought the skills, and the fight had brought home just how much he missed his dominant hand.


    A dark rage had settled upon him by the end of the fight. A bubbling mixture of frustration, and what he personally identified as his dragon seed. Oh, he knew some of the rage came from him. They were probably torturing Jellal at that moment, at the least interrogating him. He didn¡¯t like having to keep Lilith on the time; she¡¯d attempted to kidnap Minerva, it was just asking for trouble.


    Angel made a show of sighing as she approached. ¡°You¡¯re really hellbent on this whole death wish thing, aren¡¯t you?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not a death wish,¡± Arthur said in a tone that was harsher than it should be.


    ¡°Arthur, you managed to pick a fight with something that burned your hand off completely last time. You¡¯re being reckless.¡± Her hand was on his shoulder - of what had been his dominant hand - as she looked at him imploringly.


    ¡°The agreement with the council demanded results. I¡¯ve always said we¡¯d have to do something like take down Grimoire Heart to make this work. With Cobra on our side we¡¯ll be a team of 6, no, Jellal, Lilith,¡± his eyes flicked to Minerva. ¡°Nine. We¡¯ll be a good deal stronger than the old Seis.¡±


    ¡°And Grimoire Heart was massively stronger. We were enough of a threat that we might have taken out their Seven Kin of Purgatory, but that¡¯s only one team that works for them. Out of the Balam Alliance they were the strongest.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s why it¡¯s our big score,¡± Midnight, no MacBeth, said stepping forward. ¡°And I mean if you don¡¯t tell him what you know it won¡¯t stop me from doing it. You always were a coward, Angel. Me, I always wanted to see if Grimoire was really as tough as everyone thinks.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not a coward, I¡¯m a pragmatist,¡± Angel said with a pout. ¡°I don¡¯t want to die when I have a real hope of meeting my sister again.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t intend this to be a suicide mission,¡± Arthur said. ¡°It¡¯s one reason I need every scrap of info any of you can give me about Grimoire Heart.¡±


    ¡°Fine,¡± Angel said with another sigh. ¡°Just we¡¯ve got to be careful about how we actually do this.¡±


    ¡°She¡¯s right about that, boss man,¡± Racer said, stepping forward. ¡°Grimoire Heart is nasty, and wherever they go things get real brutal fast. They lack our sense of style.¡±


    ¡°The woman who was on the council with Jellal, the one pulling his strings, was one of the Seven Kin. We bring down Grimoire Heart and we might clear his name.¡±


    ¡°So what? Why should we care about that bastard?¡± MacBeth asked.


    ¡°Because he was running the Tower of Heaven. And she was running him. I don¡¯t know how far back their manipulation of that goes; it¡¯s entirely possible the entire Tower of Heaven was one of their schemes.¡±


    That made them all stop. Except for Brain every member of the Seis had gotten their start as a child slave in the Tower of Heaven. Brain had made a deal with Jellal to get them freed as his personal enforcers and muscle squad, choosing them because - after Erza¡¯s escape from the Tower - they were the strongest children there. The Tower of Heaven had destroyed all of their lives.


    ¡°If we can bring down Grimoire Heart¡¯s airship with its records and information intact we might be able to learn their relationship to the cult of Zeref, and do an untold blow to its activities across the continent.¡±


    ¡°Shit, boss man, that¡¯s¡­¡± Racer said. It was obvious that he was no longer on the fence about the mission. Neither was MacBeth or Hoteye. They wanted to go. Angel though shot him a withering look.


    ¡°Now, I need to take a shower, and lay down, still recovering a bit,¡± Arthur said. ¡°Probably best everyone get back to their quarters in the barracks for now.¡±


    The Thunderbolts began to disperse, but Angel followed him almost to the showers. It was only once they were alone that she spoke. ¡°You¡¯re bullshitting us,¡± She said.


    ¡°What?¡± Arthur asked.


    ¡°I know you. The Tower of Heaven isn¡¯t your reason for wanting to fight Grimoire Heart. You didn¡¯t have your normal embarrassment.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s true, though. I can¡¯t remember the details, but Hades is a Zeref cultist, and Ultear manipulated Jellal into the recent incident.¡±


    She looked at him. ¡°Is it really true?¡± Arthur nodded. She looked at him, ¡°But it¡¯s still not your real reason is it?¡±


    ¡°Sort of kind of. There¡¯s a lot of reasons. It started with the fact that it is a bounty,¡± He began.


    ¡°Knew it,¡± She said in a dark tone.


    ¡°But even then there was the hope that it would provide some sort of clue to fixing my guildmates,¡± Arthur could see her flinch at that word.


    ¡°I thought we were your guildmates now.¡± Her tone was bitter and jealous. Arthur hammered his hand through the wall leading into the men¡¯s bath causing her to jump back.


    ¡°I promised them I¡¯d help them. They helped me. I still have to repay them.¡± He wasn¡¯t sure where his heart and loyalties lay. He¡¯d stayed aloof with Diabolos, at least as much as he could. He¡¯d always really intended to leave them. But some of them had made their ways into his heart. ¡°I don¡¯t think I can have guildmates anymore, regardless. Not while I¡¯m indentured to Selene.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re still going to need to explain that to me in detail,¡± Angel said.


    Arthur growled out a sigh. ¡°Later. Let me finish answering your question first.¡±


    ¡°Sorry.¡± Angel¡¯s eyes were scared. Something had changed within Arthur; she wasn¡¯t sure what it was but it hurt her to see it. And made him scare her. It made her think of Zero.


    ¡°At this point the main reason for fighting Grimoire Heart is what MacBeth said. It¡¯s the best chance to help you guys. No. That¡¯s the secondary reason.¡±


    ¡°If none of these are the primary reason what is?¡±


    ¡°In 7 to 8 years time Zeref, and Acnologia are going to both try and destroy the world. In the manga they¡¯re stopped, barely, due to a lot of coincidence and luck and things happening exactly as they need to be. But I¡¯ve already been told this isn¡¯t the world of the manga. It¡¯s one on a more chaotic path. There¡¯s no guarantee that they¡¯ll be stopped, but Grimoire Heart sets those events into motion before the end of this year. I want to stop them before they do, and hopefully improve our odds of beating Zeref and Acnologia.¡±


    Angel stopped and looked at him. There was a hesitancy in his voice. The little haltingness that came when he was serious about something he¡¯d been keeping secret. ¡°Why didn¡¯t you tell me this?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± Arthur said. ¡°I didn¡¯t want to burden you with fear of the apocalypse. I will stop it. I will do what¡¯s in my power to stop it. It¡¯s why I¡¯m stuck with Selene now. It¡¯s more important than any promises I can make.¡±


    ¡°When you say apocalypse?¡± She asked.


    ¡°Zeref wants to erase history, rewriting the past, destroying the present and replacing it with something so radically different no one, at least no human, alive would be in it. Acnologia wants to become a god of space and time and destroy or torture everything ever.¡±


    ¡°Oh¡­¡±


    ¡°Can I take my shower now?¡±


    She nodded gently, still somewhat numb and shocked.


    Arthur wasn¡¯t just taking a sower. He was fuming at his weakness. His stump. The fear of death that talking to Angel had torn the half-healed scab from. Acnologia was coming. He had no safety net. And he was broken now. Incomplete.


    He hit the stall with his stump, sending a crack up through the wall, even as he grunted in pain. And then he held it out. He called his darkness magic to shape a dragon¡¯s claw from darkness. It was in many ways a basic spell; darkness dragon¡¯s claw was probably the second simplest spell for a darkness dragon slayer. But it was meant to wreathe a hand not create it.


    The water that struck it was ¡®destroyed¡¯. Oh it was probably just turned to steam. It wasn¡¯t destroying matter. At least he didn¡¯t think it was. But his goal wasn¡¯t a destructive blade in the form of a dragon¡¯s claw. He willed it solid. He tried to cup a palmful of water with the darkness.


    He succeeded. But it wasn¡¯t as easy as he needed it to be. And it got harder. The more he worked to feel the darkness, to make it a true ¡®hand¡¯, the harder it got. He could feel the water in his palm. The unnaturalness of his long claw tips where he should have fingers. A hand of pure shadow held a palmful of water and he was exuberant.


    And the moment he let that joy fill him his concentration broke. The hand didn¡¯t vanish but the water did turn to steam as it fell through the destructive shadow. Still it was possible. He just needed to get it to be second nature to him like his territory armor.


    It was then that he realized the short cut. He made the hand, the destructive claw of darkness, and he wrapped it in his armor. He¡¯d not be able to feel as well, but he could move it like it was his hand. And his armor stopped it from destroying the knobs of the faucet as he turned off the water.


    He¡¯d keep working on it. But it was a start. And a good one at that.


    When Arthur returned to his room he found Angel and a parcel waiting for him inside. He had been fairly certain that he left the door locked.


    Arthur looked at her, half reclining on his bed.


    ¡°What took you so long in the shower? Were you thinking of me?¡± She asked in a playful tone as she sat up. She seemed more relaxed since the trial than she had ever before.


    Arthur waved his stump. ¡°Still getting used to clothing, and scrubbing and doing things with just one hand.¡± There was a bitterness in his tone, though the dark brooding anger of it was less. He¡¯d made a hand of darkness. He could make himself whole again. It¡¯d just take time and practice.


    ¡°Sorry,¡± She said looking down, even a little ashamed. ¡°I wanted to talk to you.¡±


    Arthur shut the door and looked at her. He could make a move. Did she want him to make a move? Was that why she was here? But did he have the right to? He was her parole officer. But only for 5 weeks. He was attracted to her. And she was here, in his room, waiting for him. Maybe she just wanted him to make a move?


    ¡°We should go after Death¡¯s Head Caucus first,¡± She said. ¡°It¡¯s the strongest guild that was nominally under the Oracion Seis. It had some real monsters in it too. And there¡¯s a good chance Cobra went there.¡±


    ¡°So that¡¯s what you came here about?¡± Arthur asked and she raised her head and looked at him.


    ¡°What did you think I came here to offer myself up to you? Did you want me here so you could sweep me up in your arms and hold me close?¡± She laughed, sticking her tongue out. ¡°Your face is so red. You really did hope for that.¡±She giggled a little more. ¡°I thought it was best to discuss this in private so that it¡¯d not come as a surprise or a challenge to your authority. You aren¡¯t Brain. I don¡¯t really think you have what it takes to lead a group like the Seis as anything more than a figurehead. Still, I think we need you. So I¡¯m going to have to help you.¡±


    ¡°And you know where Death¡¯s Head Caucus is?¡± Arthur asked.


    ¡°Racer might,¡± She said. ¡°It was under Cobra¡¯s command, but he ran deliveries. He probably has a decent idea at least.¡±


    ¡°Thanks, Angel. What¡¯s the package?¡±


    ¡°Sorano, not Angel. We¡¯re not the Oracion Seis any longer.¡± She was smiling at him. And again Arthur felt the temptation to sweep her up in his arms and kiss her. He didn¡¯t. He didn¡¯t need the mockery after all.


    ¡°Thank you, Sorano,¡± He said, and he thought he saw a faint blush on her cheeks.


    ¡°And I don¡¯t know, it was here when I picked the lock. Came with a letter, but it looks like some kid wrote it, so I stopped reading it about two sentences in.¡± She held up the letter. The handwriting was barely legible, but given the princess was about 7 she had done well enough. It was a thank you for his actions in saving Crocus, and for only taking back his key and not taking any of hers.


    Inside the parcel was a single silver key. Apparently acquired from a merchant out of the western continent.


    ¡°Why do you get given a silver key?¡± Angel asked with a face that said it was unfair. ¡°You know, I could probably be more useful with it.¡±


    ¡°I just gave you a one of a kind celestial weapon,¡± Arthur sighed.


    ¡°Oh fine,¡± Angel, no Sorano, pouted out. ¡°Going to have to show me how to use it sometime.¡±


    The next day, Arthur played magical transportation for Erza, Wendy, and Makarov. Makarov gave him a portion of what had been budgeted for transport back, but it wasn¡¯t why Arthur was doing it. He still wanted some of Gajeel¡¯s blood. Besides, he had another purpose there.


    He wanted to fight Team Natsu.


    Natsu was excited by the idea. Gray undercut that by pointing out that Arthur had specifically included Erza, himself, and Wendy. Wendy was curious as to why. Erza was more than ready. Lucy was reluctant.


    ¡°You¡¯re the strongest guild in Ishgar¡¯s strongest team. I¡¯m aiming for the title of Earthland¡¯s strongest mage. I have to see how I shape up,¡± Arthur said as a lie of an explanation. ¡°Besides, Lucy is another Celestial Spirit Mage and holds the most gold keys of anyone, I have to see how she can shape up. But¡­¡± A draconic talon of darkness formed from his stump, shadows arcing from it like lightning. ¡°The difference in raw power makes one on one just bullying. Natsu is Igneel¡¯s foster child; I want to see the power of the one chosen by the Fire Dragon King. Gray was taught by the greatest ice mage in living memory. Erza is Erza. And I want to make sure that Wendy is in good hands.¡±


    ¡°You don¡¯t have to ask me twice to fight,¡± Natsu said with a grin.


    ¡°He wants to take us all on at once, Natsu, one on five,¡± Gray noted.¡±


    ¡°What? Where¡¯s the fun in that? That¡¯s not fair!¡± Natsu said.


    ¡°Do I need to tie one hand behind my back to even things up,¡± Arthur said with a shit-eating grin.


    ¡°We¡¯ll do it,¡± Erza declared.


    ¡°W-w-what? But I don¡¯t want to fight him!¡± Lucy said, only for Erza to turn an intense stare towards her.


    ¡°He made light of us and our guild,¡± She said.


    ¡°Actually I will readily admit you¡¯re the strongest guild in the continent. Maybe even the strongest mage¡¯s guild in the world. If you were weak there¡¯d be no value in this,¡± Arthur stated. He didn¡¯t want them too fired up. Once they had the power of friendship on their side he could say goodbye to any chance of succeeding on the bounty.


    ¡°Then what was that about one hand tied behind your back?¡± Erza asked.


    ¡°Oh, I was just saying that if Natsu was going to complain about me having an unfair advantage I¡¯d hold back for him. I don¡¯t really see why Natsu thought that, though.¡±


    ¡°Hey! I¡¯m not scared of you!¡± Natsu said, starting to heat up - literally as well as figuratively. ¡°I just want to fight you alone.¡±


    ¡°I fight you all. Your tactics are your own. If you want to draw lots and come at me one at a time that¡¯s your business. But are we doing this?¡± Arthur asked, looking at them.


    Natsu didn¡¯t answer. He charged. A fire dragon¡¯s iron fist swung for Arthur, only to miss by an arm¡¯s length as Arthur teleported just out of range while requipping the ten commandments spear. It was in its base form as he spun it, hitting Natsu¡¯s jaw with the butt of the spear.


    Natsu¡¯s combat instincts were excellent, though. He rolled with the blow, and counter attacked with a fire dragon¡¯s roar simultaneously. Arthur appeared behind him sweeping his legs and then slamming him hard in the back of the head with the butt of the spear.


    ¡°Are we going to help him?¡± Lucy asked.


    ¡°Nah, let him get beat up,¡± Gray said, having stripped down to nothing but his shorts.


    ¡°I don¡¯t see why we should,¡± Erza answered. ¡°It¡¯d not be a challenge if we all ganged up on him at once.¡±


    ¡°Please take this seriously,¡± Arthur said as he struck Natsu twice more. Keeping out of the mage¡¯s range was hard, and he still didn¡¯t have his darkness dragon¡¯s hand down quite right. It was awkward for holding things, and he needed both hands to use his spear at full effectiveness.


    ¡°Hey! Don¡¯t talk to them while you¡¯re fighting me!¡± Natsu said, rising to his feet and unleashing a series of blows. Arthur¡¯s territory armor took them all without difficulty and then the explosions began.


    ¡°Make me,¡± Arthur said. ¡°I don¡¯t think you can.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re not taking this seriously so why should we?¡± Erza said.


    ¡°Because I won¡¯t until you do,¡± Arthur answered. ¡°If I was really an enemy, you¡¯d be watching Natsu die right now.¡± The explosions hadn¡¯t stopped, with one hand he was hitting Natsu with one after another. Natsu could eat the fires of it, but it was the snapping force that was hitting him first, keeping him off balance. He was healing some of it, but not enough to keep it from whittling him down.


    It was Gray that would cut it short. An ice hammer hitting Arthur and slamming him into the ground. ¡°Sorry, Erza. But I can¡¯t listen to this anymore. If he thinks he¡¯s stronger than our team, I say we make him prove it.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s more like it,¡± Arthursaid rolling to his feet, his spear still in hand. His armor had taken the full impact. ¡°You get serious and I¡¯ll get serious. Can¡¯t show more respect for a guild than not holding back.¡±


    Erza smiled faintly, her armor shifting to her Heaven''s Wheel Armor. Immediately blades began to fire towards Arthur. He deflected some, let others glance against his territory and he waited.


    Natsu came at him from above and behind, even as Gray froze the ground beneath him. But he warped, switching positions with Gray and swinging his spear for Erza. Natsu and Gray were arguing, over the blow, but Erza had parried his spear, and began to counter attack.


    Wendy and Lucy were still ultimately on the sidelines, as he began to duel with Erza. In skill he was her equal. He had the reflexes to match her. He had the magic power to make himself stronger than she was. She had both hands, but at the end of things he was edging her out.


    She requipped. The silvery armored-dress of her Heaven''s Wheel Armor was replaced with a light outfit of shorts and a bikini top, the latter bearing cheetah print. Pauldrons and greaves, also cheetah themed, covered portions of her arms, but the ¡®armor¡¯ such as it was was extremely light. He knew that it was her speed armor, granting her speed to overwhelm him.


    Arthur had no idea how much magic the Ten Commandments Spear actually had in it. Unlike Earthland magic tools it wasn¡¯t really holder magic; it didn¡¯t draw on his magical energy, but an internal battery. He wasn¡¯t sure how to recharge that battery though. Still win this fight and he should get 80 points. He just needed not to waste the energy of the spear needlessly.


    He was tempted to switch it to a form that would use some of its power. To match her speed for speed. Instead he ignored her. He let her strike futilely against his territory armor while focusing on Gray and Natsu who had gotten themselves together for a counterattack.


    His space formed around Gray¡¯s body. It wasn¡¯t in the proper configuration for a portal, but it held his arms back. He was heavily reliant on hand signs in his magic. Even as it did he swapped positions with Natsu.


    Gray rolled with the blow from the spear, as Natsu took a blow from Erza. Arthur was about to follow up when the wind hammered into him. He was forced to reinforce his territory armor as the dragon¡¯s roar sent him tumbling. Wendy had joined the fight. And he¡¯d have to remove her first. It wasn¡¯t her roar which scared him. It was her buff magic.


    ¡°You¡¯ll not hurt him with that armor,¡± Wendy said. ¡°Arthur¡¯s magic is strong.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve felt worse. This is nothing compared to Guildarts,¡± Natsu said.


    Erza was silent. Arthur recognized the look, though. She thought Wendy was right.


    A spear of ice launched into his armor while Arthur was distracted, a heavy hammer following, before a wall of ice formed around him. ¡°Guys, don¡¯t make me do this alone,¡± Gray complained.


    ¡°Ku~ maaaa!¡± A voice bellowed as Kochab appeared from his gate, fist already swinging towards Gray. The ice mage¡¯s arms moved for a block, but Kochab sent him flying, tumbling head over heels across the ground to slam into - and through - a rock.


    Wendy was at his side in almost an instant, as Erza rushed the bear. And high above the battlefield in his pegasus star dress Arthur observed the fight. Gray¡¯s ice wall had given him the cover to escape. And a dragon of darkness rose up into Erza.


    Natsu had spotted him, his exceed, Happy, lifting him up and starting to fly him towards Arthur. Explosions blasted the blue cat, sending him and Natsu plummeting towards the ground. Kochab was fighting Erza, Gray, and Wendy, and that was a battle he couldn¡¯t win.


    But he didn¡¯t have to fight it alone. Even as Wendy was beginning to do her support magic, Caelum¡¯s shot hit her. She doubled over, still standing - Caelum wasn¡¯t shooting to kill - and Gray moved to protect her, creating an ice shield to stop the second blast.


    It didn¡¯t work completely, his magic being strained to just hold back the beam. Erza had to rush forward to stop the spirit, leaving Kochab unoccupied only for Lucy to summon Taurus the Bull to stop him. The minotaur was the physically strongest of the Celestial Spirits and it clashed with Kochab. But while the bull had superior base strength, the spirits were powered by their summoners. It¡¯d have been a close fight before Edolas; Taurus might well have won.


    Kochab and Taurus were still rather equally matched in strength. The pure magic hadn¡¯t raised his stats. It had allowed him to be summoned in a superior form. Like he¡¯d been promoted in some form of gacha and gotten access to new skills and abilities.


    ¡°Ku~mah!¡± The bear shouted as the honey pot container in its chest opened only to release a powerful beam. It blasted the spirit away with ease, though Kochab was left momentarily recharging.


    But Arthur was back in the fight. Explosions blasted at Lucy, forcing Horologium out to protect her. It was only a distraction though. He¡¯d surged down in his spirit dress striking at Wendy. Gray and Natsu both turned towards him, launching their attacks, and suddenly he¡¯d swapped places with Erza.


    Caelum, damaged by her assault, wasn¡¯t out for the count. Its cannon flared even as Erza was teleported. It hit her even as she was staggered by their blows. She fell and Wendy rushed to her side, but another swap of position saw her take a spear to the diaphragm, jaw, then sternum and the little girl crumpled.


    Caelum was repairing itself. Kochab was recharging. Natsu was already on him. He was raging. Arthur had knocked out Happy and Erza. That was a surefire way to get Natsu pissed. But he didn¡¯t have the strength, not yet, to overcome Arthur¡¯s territory armor outside of the dragon force. And Wendy wasn¡¯t there to buff him.


    Gray tried to help him. But the fight seemed all but decided. A surprise attack from Virgo from beneath allowed the fire and ice mages to hammer him hard, forcing him to switch his spirit dress from the speedy phoenix to the armored bear. But that was the end. Kochab slammed into Gray and brought him to the ground and climbed on him in something resembling a mount position and began hammering him into the ground. Caelum¡¯s beam struck Lucy and knocked her to the ground. And Arthur took Natsu¡¯s full dragon slayer combo, his territory armor reforming. And then he launched his own back.


    Natsu dodged each blow, striking him in return, turning it against him and forcing him to the ground into a crater formed from his blows. Arthur roared, sending Natsu flying only to form a sphere of darkness magic around him and pull him into his dimension black. Twenty seconds later he released an unconscious Natsu.


    Arthur had used more than he¡¯d expected. He¡¯d been pushing Caelum and Kochab to limits of energy which was normally only - wastefully - used for Enif. Still it¡¯d been less than it would have taken him a week ago. Less than it took against Jiemma. He was a better combatant now.


    He just had to wait for them to wake up. Though as he did he noticed something. Lisanna wasn¡¯t there. He¡¯d caused her to be left in Edolas. He¡¯d have to fix that. Still the fight had showcased the danger of fighting as individuals. Sometimes they¡¯d almost worked together. Erza had had a good sense of what her allies were doing, and Gray had had some. But it wasn¡¯t enough. If this had been a real fight, if he¡¯d been trying to crush their guild, had been really hurting people, they¡¯d have had the power of the one magic behind them, friendship turned into a literal force to magnify their power several times over. Arthur didn¡¯t have that luxury. He wasn¡¯t a shonen protagonist, and his allies weren¡¯t the main characters.


    Arthur¡¯s fingers played on his stump. He didn¡¯t want to lead people to their deaths. His power didn¡¯t make him invincible, and the Thunderbolts were even more vulnerable. All it took was one attack to change everything. He normally had his territory magic to armor him. But Sorano didn¡¯t have that luxury. She was right that the team needed to train to be a team, and couldn¡¯t just be loose agents.


    He decided that he needed to make a stop on his way back to Crocus. One Aqua Aera gate later and he was in Edolas¡¯s royal castle. Selene hadn¡¯t been wrong about it being a much superior magic to the anima replication he¡¯d created. The range was greater - he¡¯d have had trouble hitting the capital from Magnolia with his anima - and cost was much much less. There were disadvantages - he needed water, and he wasn¡¯t about to move a city¡¯s entire population with it - but as long as he wasn¡¯t playing mass dimensional transit it was the better spell.


    Coco came running. She was the bunny-like girl who had cried over the corpse of the old chief of staff when he¡¯d gone dragon. She did not like him, but Selene had kept her on, at least for now, to replace her boss. She knew the castle and the world, and she was an important key of power to keep the wheels turning.


    ¡°Selene would have words with you,¡± She said.


    Arthur knew this was fairly likely. He¡¯d only returned to get the black knight¡¯s armor, and had hoped he could avoid Selene¡¯s personal attention, but not only had he missed the specific room in the castle, she had obviously sensed his gate.


    She was displeased when he reached the throne room. She was still dressed in the kimono-esque robe, and she looked strangely natural on Faust¡¯s throne. Mystogan was there, a sour look on his own face. Arthur imagined Selene as Queen was not exactly the most pleasing situation.


    ¡°I should skin you alive,¡± She started, beginning a tirade of threats before getting to her point. ¡°Never, never open a dimensional portal within Acnologia¡¯s range again. He could feel it and if he does he may come here.¡±


    ¡°They were opening anima gates into Ishgar for almost a decade,¡± Arthur said.


    ¡°They weren¡¯t a powerful dragon slayer. You go throwing your magic around and Acnologia might notice you. And I don¡¯t think you¡¯re distorted enough to beat him yet.¡± The look on her face was inhuman. It felt like her face had half-extended, changing towards the snout of a fox or a dragon, her eyes twinkling with malice.


    ¡°I still need to get back to Ishgar. If I¡¯m going to stop him, preventing the clash between Fairy Tail and Grimoire Heart is essential; they¡¯ll rile him up even if I don¡¯t.¡±


    ¡°Go through Guiltina. He doesn¡¯t get close to there,¡± She said dismissively, and then proceeded to return to chewing him out, and interrogating him on why it was so important to stop the clash. She accepted his reasoning once it was stated 3 of the 5 children from Igneel¡¯s plan were part of Fairy Tail and he would try to kill them if they had the greatest magical clash of the century.


    Still if he was going to have to go through Guiltina, he was glad he brought the ice (magic) box and blood samples from said three. He might as well stop over in Diabolos and tell them what¡¯s going on.


    And there was someone else he needed to talk to in Edolas. It was going to be awkward. He was a stranger bearing news he wasn¡¯t given from her older siblings, but Lisanna ought to have the chance to go home at least.

 Farewells and Feasts

    Arthur ended up being drawn into a party that evening. Lisanna had lived here for years. She felt bad leaving her family here. But her family at home were hurting because of her absence. Still, strapped for time as Arthur was, he couldn¡¯t force her to leave without a proper goodbye.


    From the Edolas Fairies he got another image of the world. The people of the castle and capital resented him. Whether Selene¡¯s coming was a godsend or a horror they hadn¡¯t decided on. But Arthur had killed their friends, had destroyed their homes, and had brought destruction onto them. To them he was something to be feared.


    The exceed were clearly wary of him and Selene. He had - perhaps inadvertently - saved their kingdom, and Queen Shagotte was certainly interested in him. He was a distortion, something which changed the world from the path she had foreseen. His seeming allegiance to Selene was suspect because Selene herself was suspect.


    To Fairy Tail he was something of a hero. Selene was capricious, wicked, and cruel; but Faust had been as well, and Selene was as of yet hiding it from most of the world. And for all her power Selene had sent magic flowing back out from the capital. It was far from an even distribution; she was purposefully creating multiple power centers. It was almost like Selene was setting things up to break out into civil war. But Arthur had stood against the king. If he hadn¡¯t drawn Knightwalker and the Black Knight away, they would have destroyed the guild. Even as it was, the guild hadn¡¯t come out of the fight untouched. Gray, for one, had died. But Faust would have continued to choke the world to death, and to the people outside of the capital Arthur represented the feeling of liberation and hope they now felt.


    Edolas Cana even offered to make him a magical tool to replace his hand, from some of the lacrima Selene had benevolently provided. It was very much Lisanna¡¯s farewell party; she was the star of the evening, but Arthur was given a hero¡¯s welcome.


    He wasn¡¯t sure how to feel about that. He felt he¡¯d screwed the pooch so to speak with his handling of Edolas. The more time he spent with Selene the more she scared him and the more he feared she was going to destroy this world and Elentear both. He¡¯d lost a hand. Every death in the guild during the battle was due to his choice for taking hard mode. And it was all for a chance at more choice points, yet he had spent more to survive it than it had given him.


    ¡°Don¡¯t like people much?¡± Lisanna¡¯s voice was soft, gentle, and kind. He¡¯d slipped out of the party proper, sitting on the roof of the building, his legs hanging off, creating and re-creating his darkness dragon¡¯s hand as he brooded.


    ¡°Just needed some air,¡± He said, sipping his drink. It was fruity, and probably alcoholic. Alcohol always seemed to make his mood more intense; if he was happy he was exuberant, and if he was touched with melancholia he was a brooding ball of darkness. He¡¯d not drunk much, though.


    ¡°It got a bit too much for me, too,¡± She said. ¡°Everyone¡¯s good-byes. And then I¡¯ll have to do it all over again in the morning.¡± She was starting to sit down next to him.


    ¡°Could skip out tonight. They know you¡¯re leaving. You¡¯ve said good-bye. Could find a place to sleep in Guiltina tonight, and, well I need to stop by my guild for a while before taking you to Ishgar, but it should be doable.¡±


    ¡°I¡­ I¡¯d need to really say good-bye to Mira and Elfman. He¡¯s going to cry, I just know it. But, I wanted to thank you. Traveling worlds, taking me all the way back to Ishgar from Guiltina, you¡¯re really going out of your way to help me.¡±


    ¡°I came to Edolas to collect my armor, and I need to go back to Ishgar. I just was informed that to avoid Acnologia¡¯s attention I needed to detour,¡± Arthur said. ¡°Picking you up on the way isn¡¯t a big deal.¡± It let him fix something he had set wrong.


    ¡°It¡¯s a big deal to me. And it¡¯d be easier and cheaper to travel from Guiltina to Ishgar alone,¡± She said.


    Arthur shrugged. ¡°Enif can carry two, and with a proper heading it should be an easy enough ride. Well we¡¯ll want to tie on. And you¡¯ll not want to eat beforehand. Enif is a rather disorienting ride.¡± Lisanna reached her hand towards Arthur¡¯s claw made of darkness. Arthur jerked it away, letting it dissipate into the night. ¡°Don¡¯t touch it. It¡¯s dangerous,¡± he said.


    ¡°Sorry,¡± She said with a blush. ¡°I just¡­¡± She¡¯d seen him staring at it. Watched the - failed - attempts to make it take on a human-like shape. She¡¯d hoped to reassure him somewhat that it wasn¡¯t too monstrous.


    ¡°It¡¯s alright,¡± He said.


    ¡°Cana will make you a prosthetic,¡± She said.


    ¡°And so too will two different Royal Armsmasters. Everyone is eager to make a prosthetic for me. But, I have no idea how they will work. And if they¡¯re damaged¡­ I need to find my own solution.¡± He¡¯d heard the explanation from the Smiley Face as to how ¡®fiat¡¯ worked. His magic was ¡®fiat¡¯ backed; it would continue to work in future jumps he visited as it did on Earthland; oh, if there was a portion which had less magic - like Edolas - it might run into problems, but even if the world was an Earth like his where there was normally no magic it would treat the baseline like Earthland¡¯s. However this only applied to bounty rewards and things he purchased with points. Any objects he gathered in this world would only work in future ones if the world was sufficiently metaphysically close to allow their operation. Well unless he made them himself with powers that were fiat backed along the way. It was why he wanted Edo Magic so badly. But he¡¯d blown that when he spent his last 400 point discount on the Knight. And then he¡¯d made it twice as necessary when he lost his hand. With it he could have made a magical prosthetic himself which would work in future worlds. Without it he was stuck trying to make his magic work for it.


    Lisanna obviously didn¡¯t know what to say. She just put a hand on his shoulder. ¡°You saved a world. Countless people will thank you for it. I know it doesn¡¯t make it be any less missing, but it was lost for a good cause.¡±


    Arthur held back the urge to laugh bitterly. Instead he just drank a heavy gulp.


    ¡°I¡¯m going to go tell Mira and Elfman I¡¯ll be heading out tonight,¡± She said. ¡°If that¡¯s alright with you,¡± She started to rise, and he caught her hand with his darkness claw, wrapping it in his Territory armor. He released immediately, fearful that the hand would revert to a destructive state which could and would eat through his armor from the inside out.


    ¡°Don¡¯t go just because I¡¯m moody. I¡¯ll be moody wherever we are,¡± He said, starting to pull his legs back up and pull back from the edge. Rising was more of a production than it would have been with both arms.


    ¡°It¡¯s not that,¡± She smiled at him. ¡°I don¡¯t want to sleep here knowing I¡¯ll be leaving in the morning. I¡¯d rather leave tonight.¡±


    Leaving was interrupted. The people of Fairy Tail wanted to show their gratitude. Jet gave him his magic shoes, promising that Cana was already working on turning the lacrima Selene had given him into new ones. Lucy gave him her whip, stating that she had had enough fighting for a while. And Juvia gave him her umbrella. Apparently she had decided to use Gray¡¯s magic tool in remembrance of him after his death.


    It twisted his stomach. He felt like a fraud. Like he was deceiving everyone. He wanted to puke. Yet he didn¡¯t say no. Each of the tools was worth a point. And he could use them. Minerva could use a weapon. The boots were apparently pretty high end. And the umbrella could summon or banish rain which he could do the latter through his territory magic but it sure wasn¡¯t easy and the former definitely had its uses. He made himself thank them, and then he took Lisanna back to Earthland.


    He¡¯d missed Diabolos¡¯s guild hall proper. He was instead somewhere in the mountains. It was dark, but Lisanna was prepared to sleep on the ground. Arthur sent out Altair. If nothing else the eagle could hopefully ensure they got back to the guild in the morning. He ended up going to sleep, summoning Kochab to watch them while they did so and make sure nothing attacked them.


    He woke up tired. Or drained. He¡¯d left two celestial spirits summoned all night. It¡¯d impacted his ability to regenerate his ethernado. Altair had found the guild hall, though. In an instant they were there. ¡°Ominous looking place,¡± Lisanna said. ¡°Not exactly the friendliest.¡± She was trying to brush her hair. Obviously she¡¯d need a bath.


    But right now Arthur had other things to deal with. He walked into the guild hall. It was silent. Too silent. Skullion¡¯s team was sitting in the main hall, but no one else was in sight. ¡°The prodigal son returns,¡± Skullion said, looking at him. ¡°We were beginning to think you¡¯d just run away.¡±


    Arthur held up the ice box. ¡°Got blood from three of the five dragon slayers, though I¡¯d like to get some from the lacrima users as well.¡± He¡¯d have mentioned the lacrima he¡¯d gotten from Serena, except ¡®I killed our best client¡¯ was unlikely to go over well. ¡°Still haven¡¯t found the other two, though, but I¡¯ve got some leads that might result in taking out the biggest game on the planet. I want to pursue them, but I figured I should check in.¡± Skullion glared at him. It reminded him that Skullion was a teenager with just how much of a teenager glare it was. But he wasn¡¯t sure what had garnered such resentment. ¡°Sorry, I sent your team away, but I didn¡¯t want Kiria picking fights with the guild that I needed to ask for help.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re too late anyway,¡± He said. The words lingered for a few moments, just hanging as a dark cloud.


    ¡°So Byaku turned,¡± Arthur said, after a few moments he hadn¡¯t really known Byaku; he¡¯d specifically avoided getting to know him because of how many death flags were there.


    ¡°Not just Byaku. Honami turned first.¡±


    Arthur¡¯s heart clenched. The image of the dark haired woman formed in his mind. It¡¯d have been easy to call her beautiful, though by this world¡¯s standards she was wasn¡¯t anything special. Still she¡¯d been sweet, and kind. He could still remember the touch of her hand on his. When he still had two flesh and blood hands. He¡¯d have probably tried to make some move if Roy and Ike hadn¡¯t been there. And if he hadn¡¯t always tried to keep himself aloof from Diabolos.


    She¡¯d been his closest friend here, only Kiria comparing. Everyone else¡­ He kept at arm¡¯s reach. They were the villains of the story. A line of thinking that he knew did them injustice. He couldn¡¯t think of Suzaku as a villain. Kiria was a battle idiot, but that was a description that fit most Fairy Tail mages. They were antagonists, but never really villains.


    Honami though had just been¡­ innocent, sweet, and pure. It was a thing to make his knees tremble and his shoulders sag. More than anyone he¡¯d been working on the cure to save her. Well he¡¯d gone to work on it. He¡¯d gotten distracted by Sorano in more ways than one. And then stopping Tenrou Island. And he knew with the safety nets gone stopping Tenrou Island was more important than saving Diabolos. But¡­


    ¡°How¡¯d it happen?¡±


    ¡°Roy¡¯s team was on a job. Byaku heard about it and rushed to rescue them. Things went south from there. The other Knights and Georg are dealing with him and Honami right now,¡± Skullion said. ¡°No real clue who will win. Georg and Byaku were always close, and as a dragon Byaku is going to be stronger than ever.¡±


    A part of Arthur dismissed it as no danger. All four of them had lived in the manga, so all four would live. Except Arthur had chosen to experience interesting times. There was no guarantee that they¡¯d survive. ¡°Where?¡± Arthur asked. He hadn¡¯t been there to stop this. And he fully believed he could have stopped it if he had been there.


    ¡°It matters to you?¡± Skullion said angrily.


    ¡°Yes,¡± Arthur growled.


    ¡°That¡¯s not fair,¡± Kiria stated. The blonde was rising to her feet. Arthur was glad she was safe; and glad to see her stand up for him. He had a friend here. He thought. He hoped. That bounty for 3 friends not triggering made him second guess.


    ¡°Sir Arthur, it¡¯s too far to reach. Even if you flew there on your winged beast you¡¯d never reach it in time,¡± Madmole said stepping forward.


    ¡°I¡¯m a teleporter,¡± Arthur reminded him. ¡°I just came here from an alternate world. I have a pegasus spirit which can travel between continents in hours. Tell me where they are so that I can help.¡±


    Skullion looked at him for a time. Kiria, though, darted towards the map by the quest board. ¡°Around here somewhere,¡± She said. ¡°Get close enough and if you¡¯ve developed properly as a dragon slayer you¡¯ll smell the battle, though I know my horsie isn¡¯t much of one.¡±


    ¡°Kiria, you shouldn¡¯t have done that,¡± Skullion said. ¡°Besides, look at him. He used the dragon force.¡±


    ¡°You can tell? It wasn¡¯t by choice,¡± Arthur defended himself weakly.


    ¡°Yeah, yeah, circumstances forced you. You got in over your head. It was a good idea at the time. I¡¯ve heard it all before,¡± the knightly teenager growled out in a jaded and cynical tone.


    ¡°A weapon was used on me which attempted to turn me into lacrima and reacted with my dragon slayer magic by forcibly inducing the dragon force,¡± Arthur explained as he approached the map to see where Kiria was pointing more clearly.


    ¡°Well that¡¯s a new excuse,¡± Skullion said. ¡°Honami and her team got in over their heads. Far as we can figure the bounty was a fake to draw them in by someone. At least Byaku claimed to have just come from the region and knew it was a fake. Next thing we knew there were two dragons, a shine one and a white tiger one, and the dark guild Silver Demon was declaring itself the new rulers of the kingdom of Statovar. Georg took the surviving three dark dragon slayer knights and went to put a stop to it. Ordered everyone else to avoid the place, and for my team to stay at the guild hall as a base camp.¡±


    ¡°Well I guess I should go do my part to help out.¡± The draconic part of him was roaring out. He wanted to go and find this Silver Demon and burn them to the ground. It urged him to rend them limb from limb, and rain their viscera down onto the ground below. And right now Arthur felt like agreeing.


    ¡°No. You should avoid the place, like Georg ordered. Just look at you. You were ¡®forced¡¯ to use the dragon force, and you¡¯re missing a hand. You¡¯re in no position to go rescue anyone, you¡¯ll just endanger them further.¡± Skullion¡¯s glare was filled with something bordering on contempt. Arthur wasn¡¯t sure if it was for Arthur¡¯s incompetence in battle, or that he blamed Arthur for not being here when he could have helped.


    ¡°I fought an artificial Acnologia in another dimension. Got a little cocky,¡± Arthur said, trying to sound cool. ¡°I think for fighting a foe that could eat magic and had a blast to shame a dragon¡¯s roar, keeping my head was commendable even if I lost a hand.¡±


    ¡°I can¡¯t let you go,¡± Skullion said. ¡°You¡¯ll get in the way. Georg is going to be having a hard enough fight as is; he can¡¯t babysit you while doing so.¡±


    ¡°You aren¡¯t my keeper, Skullion. I can handle myself, and you don¡¯t have to let me do anything.¡± Arthur said, turning to walk out of the guild. He knew he should have reasoned. He should have talked. But that dragon inside was goading him forward.


    Skullion turned to ash and flowed through the air, reforming between Arthur and the door. Madmole and Kiria were getting to their feet looking at each other and moving to Skullion¡¯s side.


    ¡°He¡¯s better in a fight than you give him credit for,¡± Kiria said, rising to Arthur¡¯s defense. ¡°He has enough power to help even if we don¡¯t.¡± Still her stance said something different. Skullion was part of her team; if Arthur tried to fight his way out of here he¡¯d be fighting all three of them.


    In an instant he was outside behind Skullion and Madmole. ¡°Sorry, Lisanna, I¡¯ve got another detour I have to take,¡± He said requipping Enif¡¯s key into his hand. He was borderline growling. His heart was heavy, and the dragon force scratched at his mind. It was within reach. He just would have to reach out lightly and grasp it. So much power calling to him, promising him he could just reach out and grab it.


    ¡°Arthur, you go there like this and you might just make things worse. You¡¯re on edge,¡± Skullion said.


    ¡°Please, friend, stay here. Georg can handle himself,¡± Madmole added.


    ¡°I say we let him go,¡± Kiria chimed in.


    ¡°Skullion, you can¡¯t stop me,¡± Arthur repeated. ¡°Don¡¯t waste time trying.¡±


    ¡°You won¡¯t teleport me away without a fight,¡± Skullion said, his body partially discorporating into ash.


    Arthur raised his stump, a claw of darkness forming from it, fingers spreading. Skullion was on the roof in an instant. ¡°Words, Skullion.¡± He said. Yes Skullion had made himself hard to teleport, but he¡¯d spread his will out thin as well, and he had nothing to stop Arthur from just pouring in more power. ¡°Why shouldn¡¯t I go?¡± Even as he spoke, their eyes drawn to the dragon claw, his other hand was manifesting his Archive interface. He¡¯d not fully repaired it, but it was still enough to help him Overclock. The increase to reflex times could be decisive in a battle.


    ¡°You¡¯re not a fighter, you¡¯re not experienced, and you¡¯re too powerful. If you turn into a dragon we might be dealing with a sixth dragon god. You can¡¯t be certain that Silver Demon won¡¯t manage to transmute you into a dragon and control you like Byaku,¡± Skullion said.


    Arthur looked at him. ¡°I fought a dragon god since I left. I didn¡¯t beat them. But I survived them.¡± He didn¡¯t mention he¡¯d had to don anti-magic armor, or that he¡¯d made a faustian pact with them during the fight.


    ¡°Don¡¯t lie to me,¡± Skullion said.


    ¡°Who¡¯s lying?¡± Arthur answered. ¡°I saw Selene the Moon Dragon God. She tried to squash me. I¡¯m fairly certain she was only testing me, but I passed her test at least. Let me go help Georg.¡±


    ¡°Test?¡± Lisanna, Kiria, and Madmole were all watching with bated breath. Kiria wondered if Skullion had noticed the difference in how Arthur held himself. There was a dangerous confidence there, and he seemed ready to slip into a combat stance at any moment.


    ¡°She tried to squash me like a bug.¡± Arthur let a claw of darkness flicker and form from his stump; if Skullion moved the other two would as well without hesitation. Oh, he didn¡¯t think they¡¯d try to kill him, but he¡¯d have to be ready to defend against a combined assault, and unlike Team Natsu who mostly fought solo battles, Skullion had shown the ability to coordinate the team against a single target.


    ¡°If you can actually survive a dragon god you have nothing to fear from us,¡± Skullion said. He surged forward then, a wave of ash lashing out towards Arthur. It was his Corpse Dragon Slayer magic; it would not destroy him, but would either turn him to ash or teleport him at Skullion¡¯s desire.


    Arthur slashed the air, his darkness magic cutting through the ash. Lisanna, though, was already in Skullion¡¯s grasp, his arm around her neck. ¡°One move and the girl gets it. Who is she-¡± Lisanna had changed. After all these years she hadn¡¯t completely forgotten her magic and the Takeover Sibling had become a catgirl biting down onto the arm which had grasped her throat.


    Arthur was dealing with Kiria and Madmole¡¯s assault. Kiria¡¯s blades - likely restrained to avoid injuring him - were deflected by his territory armor, and mostly a distraction for her hypnotic spell - Strength Cutting - transmitted by eye to eye contact. Arthur had expected it and had countered it with his own eye magic.


    Madmole hit him. It was enough to knock him staggering back, but it didn¡¯t even scratch his territory armor.


    ¡°Let go of me! Why can¡¯t I see?¡± Kiria screamed, the cutting force of her blade dragon slayer magic slicing - lightly - into Skullion¡¯s body. Arthur had swapped her and Lisanna, freeing the Fairy Tail mage, while trapping Kiria in his grasp.


    Madmole was coming up swinging, Arthur leaping back and detonating a sphere of territory magic, but Skullion¡¯s voice cut the air: ¡°We yield. I don¡¯t know what¡¯s changed in you, but we can¡¯t beat you.¡±


    ¡°Skullion? Why are you grabbing me in the middle of a fight?¡± Kiria asked. Arthur¡¯s spell had stripped her of her sight. It was ultimately based on her own Strength Cutting. He was glad it had been enough to overpower hers.


    ¡°He teleported you. Our little Arthur has grown into a real fighter now. He might just be a real dragon eater now,¡± Skullion said. ¡°But Arthur, Byaku was a real fighter too. Your going could still be a disaster. Please rethink it.¡±


    It was the way he asked please that gave Arthur a moment¡¯s hesitation. Still he shook his head. He could be a critical change. If he stayed and Georg, Suzaku, Misaki, or even Kirin died he¡¯d blame himself forever. He was confident they¡¯d be better, not worse, for his presence. ¡°I can¡¯t sit and do nothing. Take care of my employer while I¡¯m gone.¡±


    ¡°Fine, we¡¯ll watch after the kitty while you¡¯re gone,¡± Skullion said as he glanced towards Lisanna. She scowled back at him. ¡°Go on. Good luck, and save the chief.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll be back soon,¡± Arthur promised as he summoned Enif and climbed onto the pegasus.


    ¡°Think he actually survived a dragon god?¡± Kiria asked.


    ¡°Think he¡¯d lie to us about that?¡± Skullion answered. He wasn¡¯t sure. Arthur had changed, and he wasn¡¯t sure if Arthur was finally becoming one of them, or a walking disaster waiting to happen.


    While the Dark Dragon Slayer Knights had fought Silver Demon, Georg had killed the alchemist guilds¡¯ leader, as well as the newly born dragons that had once been Byaku and Honami but were now consumed by their own draconic power. But to do so Georg had used the dragon force, and his body was threatening to undergo dragonification itself.


    He had bulged to twice his normal size, wings sprouting from his back. Scales covered his body, and his face had become a snout. He was almost more dragon than man now. He loomed over Suzaku, and the teenager looked up towards the man who had trained and raised him. Each time Georg tapped into the dragon force a little less of him came back, and he was a more brutish, that much angrier and more demanding, that much more driven by his hatred of the dragons which had robbed him of his original family and his first guild.


    Georg¡¯s nostrils flared. He could smell the dragon inside of each of the dark dragon slayer knights.


    ¡°Georg, it¡¯s me,¡± Kirin said, his arms spreading wide. ¡°Kirin. I¡¯m one of your knights. Remember me.¡±


    ¡°Yes, honored master,¡± Suzaku added. ¡°We are your sworn allies, who are here in your service. I implore you to remember who you are.¡± The three weren¡¯t here to deal with Silver Demon. There was the hope that they could have stopped the alchemist guild and taken Byaku and Honami out, and allowed Georg to avoid tapping into the Dragon Force in the first place. But it had always been considered a small chance. They were here to help talk Georg out of the Dragon Force if he had to enter it.


    ¡°Master, it¡¯s alright,¡± Misaki said, hands open and spread wide in a gesture of passivity. ¡°We¡¯re here to help you. Remember?¡±


    Georg was looking between them. His body was shrinking though, and lucidity seemed to be returning to his eyes. The drool which had been falling from his jaws was starting to stop as he gazed at them.


    Kirin walked up towards him, and wrapped the still half-dragon guild master in his arms. He was completely vulnerable, offering Georg his utmost trust. And Georg returned it. His body was slowly reverting to normal. But his dragon seed had grown.


    ¡°Get off me, brat,¡± He growled, shaking Kirin off. There was an annoyance in his voice which wouldn¡¯t have been there before. Suzaku and Misaki shared a look. His will was strong. He¡¯d pushed back dragonification by will power once again. But they didn¡¯t expect it to happen another time. It would be up to them to ensure he never needed to use the dragon force again.


    Arthur arrived a few minutes later, as they were discussing how to fetch Haku. Byaku had chosen the youth, and had been preparing him to learn his magic when the inevitable happened. It was time for him to feed.


    The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.


    Arthur had another suggestion. He was planning to return to Ishgar, which Georg objected to, and he could take Byaku¡¯s heart to Crocus, find someone who could turn it into lacrima and have it implanted into the child.


    Georg objected to the Ishgar return on the general principle of its insubordination in not asking him first, redoubled when told Arthur had accepted a job from the King of Fiore without contacting the guild first. But all said and done that was just ruffled pride and Georg would not let it hold him back if Arthur paid his guild dues.


    Georg¡¯s objection to the lacrima implantation plan was more stringent. ¡°It¡¯s a procedure that¡¯s deadly more than 90% of the time. If the child eats he¡¯ll eventually become a dragon if he doesn¡¯t die first. But that plan he¡¯d just die.¡± There would be no budging on this point.


    And Arthur didn¡¯t have it in him to fight much. It wasn¡¯t just Byaku and Honami who had been lost. Kirin returned during the conversation to state they¡¯d found Ike¡¯s remains. Roy hadn¡¯t been found, but given Ike had been burned with light magic and left only as shoulders and a head, and Honami¡¯s stomach was full of human victims; he was presumed killed in action.


    Arthur had almost puked from riding Enif. Now he did so.


    Arthur was in for a debriefing on the ride home. Georg and the others had taken transportation to reach the capital. Arthur was expected to ride home with them so Georg could learn what had been happening to him in the interim.


    Arthur¡¯s story was somewhat abridged. He talked about encountering the Oracion Seis by accident, and his failure to find Sting or Rogue. He talked about being in Crocus during the disappearance of the capital and how he had had to ally himself with the Oracion Seis who had escaped to save the city. He explained the money he had bought Byaku¡¯s and Honami¡¯s hearts with - gruesome as that was - as coming from a gift from the king for his service to the kingdom; it was true Toma had given him a fair bit of jewels as a reward and proof of gratitude. He told how he had lost his hand - though he didn¡¯t confess that the Dark Army lieutenants had only existed due to his own meddling and a deal he made with otherworldly entities. He had stupidly spilled the beans that he encountered Selene to Skullion so he admitted here that he had encountered her.


    ¡°She seems to hate Acnologia and the other Dragon Gods. Maybe we could work with her, and fight our mutual foes together,¡± he suggested.


    Kirin, Suzaku, and Misaki looked at him. It was a stunned stare and silence. Georg though was not stunned, merely disgusted. ¡°She is the enemy. Do not let her fool you. She is a dragon and all dragons must be destroyed. We are close. Only a few remain. We will wipe them from Guiltina, and the world.¡±


    ¡°If she wasn¡¯t hurting people and was willing to help,¡± Arthur began.


    Georg laughed raucously. ¡°A dragon not hurting people? Dragons exist only to destroy. They¡¯re the very personification of destruction. And we are what consumes them.¡±


    ¡°What about the Law Dragon, or Belserion?¡± Arthur asked.


    Georg struck the wall of the train cabin, slamming his hand through the metal. ¡°What do you even know about the Law Dragon?¡±


    ¡°That he was a dragon slayer once. Guild master of the first mage¡¯s guild, and is said to have retained his sanity through dragonification.¡±


    Georg glared at him for a few moments. ¡°We¡¯ll eat him eventually. Dragons are prey, Arthur. The sooner you give up your ideas of coexistence the better. The wolf doesn¡¯t ally with the deer, even if the stag would be willing to help kill the other stags.¡±


    ¡°Why not? If it helps the wolf, what¡¯s the harm?¡± Arthur asked.


    Georg breathed deep and growled. He was looking at Arthur, his nostrils flaring. And then he pulled his head away. ¡°I lost my home to dragons. I lost my first guild. I lost my family. I will avenge them. I will see every last dragon wiped out. Even if I raised them like my own children. I am the dragon eater. And if I ever hear you suggesting working with them again, I will count you among them.¡±


    Arthur¡¯s eyes dilated a little, his nostrils flared. He could feel the dragon inside of him wanting to challenge the old, alpha bull and tear him apart. It was telling him that he could win this fight.


    ¡°Let¡¯s all keep calm,¡± Kirin said. ¡°We¡¯re all members of the same guild, and Georg is of course our master. His word is law.¡± His eyes were on Arthur.


    ¡°So what happened with Selene to make you think she could be bargained with instead of eaten?¡± Georg asked his tone harsh and accusatory.


    ¡°She inflicted no casualties in her initial attack on the castle which had tried to turn her into lacrima, rescued a dragon slayer who was there because she was part of an old plan to kill Acnologia, and decided merely to test me instead of go all out when I stated my purpose was to kill Acnologia.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re scared of a dragon god and you think you can kill the dragon king? Pathetic,¡± Georg said. ¡°You¡¯re still terrified of me,¡± He reached and grabbed Arthur¡¯s stump, squeezing hard. ¡°And you lost a hand. Don¡¯t get delusions of your own importance.¡±


    ¡°Do I look terrified of you right now, Georg?¡± Arthur asked, glaring at him from across the crowded train cabin.


    ¡°It comes and goes with you doesn¡¯t it?¡± Georg was looking him over.


    ¡°No,¡± Arthur said. ¡°I haven¡¯t feared you, really feared you, since I ate my dragon. Respect yes. Serve certainly. But not fear.¡±


    Georg glared at him. It was a junkyard dog stare, feral, furious, dangerous. ¡°You should fear me boy. I¡¯ve killed more dragons than I can count.¡±


    ¡°You taught me to face dragons, sir,¡± Arthur said. ¡°Not to fear them. You always told me fearing you made me a coward. Besides we¡¯re on the same side. Why should I fear you regardless of your power.¡±


    ¡°Damn your insubordination!¡± Georg bellowed, rising to his feet. Magma had formed around one hand, a swirl of space around the other as he seemed ready to go to blow, but then he stopped. He sat down again. ¡°The dragon in me. It¡¯s harder to control every time I tap into it. You used the dragon force while you were gone, didn¡¯t you? You know why it¡¯s forbidden now don¡¯t you?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s the voice that¡¯s telling me to rip your throat out right now,¡± Arthur said.


    ¡°Exactly,¡± Georg answered. ¡°That¡¯s why dragons can¡¯t be trusted. They¡¯re nothing but monsters. And those that aren¡¯t are just time bombs.¡±


    ¡°You sure we¡¯re just not used to the power or able to handle it?¡± Arthur asked. Georg looked like he was going to hit him. Arthur had his territory armor on, he¡¯d kept it on this whole time. And he was confident in his ability to reinforce it.


    ¡°Doesn¡¯t matter. They¡¯re food. We grow strong eating them. And we¡¯ll grow stronger consuming the dragon gods.¡±


    Arthur bit back that Georg was making them sound as monstrous as dragons. He bit back that growing strong wasn¡¯t supposed to be the ends, but a means. Of course it was what he was supposed to be doing in this world. He wasn¡¯t here to save it. He was here to grow strong enough to survive his return to his world. He wasn¡¯t sure Georg even still knew why he was doing this. And what about the kids, the guild was mostly kids to be honest, how much did they have a choice in all of this?


    Arthur would probably think about this less if he wasn¡¯t overclocking his mind. But as it was he was going to have a long time to think on the train. And ultimately that meant thinking about Honami.


    He was just starting to really get close to her when he had decided it was time to leave. He thought about what might have been if he had stayed. He probably could have stopped it. He probably could have saved them. Then he¡¯d have not messed up Edolas and convinced a mad dragon to rule it. He¡¯d not have killed Naked Mummy. He¡¯d not have killed Brain. He¡¯d not have¡­ saved Jellal and Sorano from years of jail. He¡¯d not have saved Minerva from Jiemma¡¯s abuse. He¡¯d not have given Edolas a hope for magic. He¡¯d not have realized that the precise combination of things to have Fairy Tail beat Acnologia was no longer guaranteed the moment he had set foot in this world. He¡¯d not have a hope of beating Acnologia.


    His brooding vacillated with a foolish, self-important pride partway through the ride. He was the one who was going to save the world. But he had lost an arm due to his screw ups. But he had survived a dragon god, and she¡¯d agreed to teach him. He was lying to Georg about her. But it gave him the chance to save them.


    The mood in the cabin was generally poor. They were returning from a mission that had led to them killing a friend. None of them were really talking to each other. With the silence descended Arthur turned to working on repairing his Archive. It¡¯d be slow and annoying doing it in the crowded train cabin; he couldn¡¯t fully manifest the Archive and manifesting a part while modifying how it connected to the full construct was doable but difficult. He dropped his overclocking; while it wasn¡¯t really equivalent to performing brain surgery on yourself, modifying his Archive while interlacing his cognition through it was not a good idea.


    Selene, watching from Elentear, closed her scrying portal. She didn¡¯t know what or how much Arthur¡¯s Archive could detect, but it was clearly information based magic and she didn¡¯t want to risk him noticing. At least not yet.


    ¡°Arthur, your story attests that you were transported to another world as if called by a summoning of a hero?¡± Suzaku said after some time. He actually had to repeat himself louder before Arthur noticed; the hole that Georg had left in the train had left a rushing air that made it somewhat difficult to converse at normal volumes.


    ¡°I was dragged there with a whole city to be sacrificed for magical power,¡± Arthur corrected.


    Suzaku nodded. ¡°Still such a fantastic voyage, surely there was more to it that you could tell us. What was the world like? How did they receive their hero?¡±


    ¡°Everyone and their mirror universe counterpart tried to kill me, a dragon god eventually arrived to mess with me, and I left the universe nominally under their control. I¡¯d not call myself their hero,¡± Arthur said.


    ¡°You left the universe under Selene¡¯s control?¡± Georg said even as one hand crushed part of the train cabin¡¯s seat. There was an uneasy gaze towards Georg. For the Dark Dragon Slayer Knights he was a father; he had raised them all since they were young orphans. Their looks were those of worry, concern, and pain. Arthur realized he had taken a very, very bad turn when he¡¯d used the dragon force last. He¡¯d already been wild and dangerous, but to Arthur¡¯s mind this was the start of the uncaring brute, who just shouted for dragon meat. He was pretty sure the guild would say and do nothing about it; Georg was still their father, the one who had taken them in when they had nowhere else, and if he turned abusive now¡­ how long would it take before they were even willing to consider removing him from authority?


    ¡°Not like I could stop her. I¡¯d just lost a hand, lost a hell of a lot of blood, lost two silver keys, and fought till I was almost empty. I was at her mercy,¡± Arthur said.


    ¡°Pathetic,¡± Georg growled. ¡°Are you really strong enough to be a dragon eater?¡±


    The others shifted uncomfortably in their seats. ¡°Master,¡± Kirin said in a meek, polite tone which was sucked away by the screaming wind. ¡°Master,¡± He repeated louder, and Georg turned to glare towards him. ¡°The dragon force is still affecting your judgment, perhaps it would be better to sleep on things before making any hasty decisions.¡±


    Georg glared at him for several moments and then nodded. ¡°Yes. You¡¯re right. It¡­ was worse this time than any other before. So, our enemy is in charge of a whole world now. Who can tell what sort of resources she¡¯ll have at her beck and call.¡±


    ¡°Two worlds,¡± Arthur said. ¡°Though I don¡¯t think we can count on Edolas for much. It was already running low on magic and I think between the Dorma Anim, its pintsized copy, and the castle they ran what it had into the ground. Last I knew she was using her own power to reignite magic in the world one hunk of lacrima at a time.¡±


    ¡°So you¡¯re saying she¡¯s weakened and right now is the time to strike?¡± Georg asked.


    Arthur tensed. He was spinning plates, here. Plates that wanted to bomb each other. ¡°She can just retreat back to Elentear to draw on its incredible reserves of magic and recharge. I regained energy there several times faster, I¡¯d hate to imagine how much more she regains.¡±


    ¡°Still if we could strike when she¡¯d just given up her power,¡± Georg said with a twinkle in his eye that said he wasn¡¯t going to let this go.


    ¡°She¡¯d crush you like a bug if you fought her,¡± Arthur stated.


    Georg harrumphed. ¡°Clear your schedule. We¡¯re going to this Edolas,¡± He said.


    Arthur requipped his canister of X-Balls. Or his single remaining X-Ball. ¡°I didn¡¯t tell you something about Edolas. The reason she¡¯s making lacrima to kickstart its magic is because it doesn¡¯t have magic of its own. The people there don¡¯t produce any and the world was running on empty before three machines drained it for dragon levels of magical might at once. I could only use magic there because I ate two of these. I transport the guild to Edolas and we¡¯re all stuck there with no magic.¡±


    ¡°You could make more, couldn¡¯t you?¡± He asked.


    ¡°No idea,¡± Arthur said. ¡°I¡¯d have to figure out the composition and even then there¡¯s no guarantee I could replicate it.¡±


    ¡°Well then what about just get more, where¡¯d you get those?¡±


    ¡°Found them in Ishgar. It was a whole complicated thing and I can¡¯t say there are more where they came from.¡±


    ¡°Well, medicine man, I think you¡¯ve got a new task. Do it quickly.¡±


    ¡°I have to get back to Ishgar. I accepted a job. We¡¯d not want to ruin the guild¡¯s reputation there.¡±


    Georg glared at him. ¡°And who said you could go around getting royal commissions anyway? You¡¯re not one of the Dark Dragon Knights, you¡¯re not one of the Guild Elders, and you¡¯re not me. You don¡¯t have the authority to accept missions for the guild.¡±


    ¡°Would you have had me turn down a request from the king of Ishgar¡¯s most powerful nation?¡± Arthur could feel the dragon rage bubbling inside of them both. He didn¡¯t want to kill Georg. He didn¡¯t want to see Georg descend into a dragon either. He needed Hades¡¯s research just for the chance that it had something useful, even if that was secondary to the need to stop Acnologia from having a reason to attack Tenrou Island.


    ¡°No. I guess not. Oh yeah, you see our best customer while you were in Ishgar?¡± Georg asked.


    ¡°Best customer?¡±


    ¡°The jumped up peacock who calls himself a dragon god. Serena.¡±


    ¡°He stole my demon sword, used it to regain magical power in Edolas by killing people, and then tried to murder me with it,¡± Arthur said nervously.


    ¡°What?¡± Georg roared as he surged to his feet once more.


    ¡°Yeah, he wanted to take the opportunity to become king of Edolas and maybe Fiore both,¡± Arthur fibbed.


    ¡°He was our best customer,¡± Georg growled.


    ¡°Hey, I¡¯m buying their hearts now,¡± Arthur said consolingly.


    ¡°...¡± Georg glared at him for a few moments, and then slapped his shoulder hard enough to make a small shockwave through the cabin. Arthur¡¯s armor withstood it without issue. ¡°Guess you are. But you actually killed him? He didn¡¯t look like much but he¡¯d killed dragons on his own before, and not babies like that darkness dragon.¡±


    ¡°I guess I had tricks in my bag he didn¡¯t expect,¡± Arthur said after a few moments of awkward silence.


    Georg, though, was looking at him with a different gaze now. It made Arthur feel uncomfortable. He thought of King David and Uriah. Or a lion looking at its brother¡¯s cubs. Arthur had just gone from an insubordinate punk to a real threat to his power. Oh, there was respect there. Yesterday it might have won him praise, respect, and even trust. But the beast in Georg had dangerously grown; and Arthur was fairly certain it was only his knowledge that it was the beast that was telling him to kill Arthur right then and there that was keeping it at bay.


    Suzaku began to pelt him with questions about Edolas and Elentear, while Misaki started to ask what she called the ¡°important questions¡±; that is: how did the Dragon God fight.


    Arthur agreed to stay the next day. They were going to have a feast to mourn the dead. He actually got sent out with Enif for several hours in the morning to recall as many individuals as he could. Georg did pay him for being guild courier for the day, flying out, teleporting back. It took time. Time he¡¯d have rather been putting into studying the blood, or gathering his medicinal herbs. He didn¡¯t want to be without them again.


    Kiria went to get some of the closer ones. She¡¯d pretty much taken his lizardhawk as her own pet. She¡¯d even named it Screechy. Though when they were both at the guild house, she hovered around Arthur, darting to open doors and hand him things; she¡¯d been ready to mock his weakness when he¡¯d shown it before, but she didn¡¯t mock the loss of his hand. She just silently tried to help him with things. He was surprised by the action to be honest.


    Lisanna was obviously not the most comfortable at the guild house, but she understood the delay. She was not, however, invited to the feast. She wasn¡¯t the only one not there. Haku, who was at the guild hall, was not; and Kirin was with him. He was consuming Byaku¡¯s corpse, at least as much as he could, to obtain his dragon slayer magic. Memnon¡¯s team had also been too involved in a bodyguarding job to leave.


    The rest of the guild was gathered. One of the elders, a man who had joined when the guild was new, emerged with the meat. The guild¡¯s servants - non-mages and hired hands - were serving the food. Like most meals in Diabolos¡¯s guild hall when they weren¡¯t eating their dragon slayer element it was a meal heavy in meat. It only took 3 bites for Arthur to realize what the meat was.


    ¡°Who?¡± He asked.


    ¡°Arthur, don¡¯t be weird,¡± Kiria said, elbowing him. ¡°It keeps her with us.¡±


    Arthur gagged. A dragon slayer could gain power by consuming the flesh of a dragon even if you weren¡¯t using a touch of enchantment magic to bind the power to you, like in the creation of a ¡®5th generation¡¯ dragon slayer. Haku was consuming the White Tiger Dragon. The guild would consume the shine dragon.


    ¡°I think I¡¯m going to be sick,¡± Arthur said.


    Suzaku was talking about Byaku, eulogizing him and bidding his soul to rest well in peace. Etiquette demanded Arthur listen. But this was a cannibal feast and it turned his stomach.


    Skullion leaned behind Kiria and grabbing Arthur¡¯s arm pulled him close to whisper in his ear. ¡°Arthur, I know the outside world might see this as monstrous, but this is our way. She knew it would happen if she became a dragon. Her power will be our power.¡±


    Power.


    It always came back to power.


    ¡°Eating dragons speeds dragonification,¡± Arthur muttered.


    ¡°The rest of us aren¡¯t you. We weren¡¯t blessed with power and strength enough to kill them easily,¡± Skullion rebuked him. ¡°Eat. Before Georg notices.¡± There was a bit of fear there. If Arthur rejected this meal it would come down to a fight between him and Georg for dominance.


    Arthur looked at the meat. He wondered if the others felt shame about this. It was definitely a taboo act. To eat the flesh of a friend. Did they really see it as an honor; making a part of them a part of yourself? Or was it just they all had done it before and were now bound in the shame of it, connected by the act that they could never share with the outside world?


    Arthur considered getting up and leaving right then. But he remembered Edolas. He remembered why he had made that Faustian bargain. This might not give him points. But it might give him just a sliver of power. It wouldn¡¯t hurt Honami anymore than what had already happened. And it might, just might, be important to fighting Acnologia.


    He opened his Archive, covering the walls of the guild hall in it.


    ¡°Arthur!?¡± Georg called out, standing up, and glaring at him. ¡°What do you think you are doing?¡±


    ¡°Recording everything,¡± He said. ¡°The flows of ethernano. How it changes my magic.¡± He paused, his voice failing him.


    ¡°Why?¡± Georg said. ¡°Why disrespect the dead?¡±


    ¡°Because if I¡¯m going to consume one of us¡­ I want to do it right. I want to keep every bit of her with me that I can. I don¡¯t want to waste one, one element of her sacrifice.¡±


    Georg looked at him for a moment, the bubbling anger battling with something else, and then he sat down. ¡°Eat! And see to it you waste nothing.¡±


    Arthur looked at the meal. He still hated having to clean his plate. It wasn¡¯t human. It was dragon flesh. He¡¯d eaten a dragon before. He could do this. He could do this.


    His stomach churned. It smelled good to be honest. Something in him craved it when that scent hit his nose. But the knowledge of what it was going to haunt him. Still he¡¯d not waste a bit twisted as that was. With every bite he was telling himself some excuse for why this was ok. When in Diabolos do as the dragon eaters do. It would give him a better chance against Acnologia. Even if just a little better. This was her funerary custom. She¡¯d have wanted it this way. Whatever it took to make the salty meat go down.


    Suzaku talked about Byaku. He talked about training together, fighting together, and times the other slayer had saved his life. Misaki took her turn next. She talked about Byaku training her as a child. She talked about helping Honami find her place. They were each taking their turn. By the time it was Arthur¡¯s he had definitely had too much wine. Still he talked about Honami in the library. Talked about Ike and Roy and their obvious thing for her. Talked about their unwavering confidence in the face of the lack of their own power. As he spoke, Arthur realized he¡¯d miss them both just like Honami.


    He was glad, though, when it became someone else¡¯s turn to speak and he¡¯d not be stared at by the eyes of his guild. He didn¡¯t know any of them as well as he should.


    Skullion¡¯s hand moved to his shoulder, planting there. ¡°I¡¯ll admit I didn¡¯t expect tears from you. When you teleported us away I thought you¡¯d abandoned us. You really were looking for a cure, weren¡¯t you?¡±


    Arthur nodded. His stomach still twisted into a nauseating knot. He wasn¡¯t sure if the fact that he knew it was psychosomatic made it better or worse. He found himself looking at Skullion, and recognizing the mixed hope and fear in his face. Skullion was a dragon eater. He wasn¡¯t going to change that. But he didn¡¯t want to become a dragon they had to slay.


    None of them did. Their paths were set. They had used the forbidden magic, and eaten the forbidden meat. It was going to happen. Unless Arthur could save them from that.


    ¡°It¡¯s why I went. I got caught up in things while I was there. Or else I might have been here.¡±


    ¡°Everyone leaves the guild from time to time. We have to take jobs. We are the strongest mages¡¯ guild in Guiltina. We are the dragon eaters. We are each a capable and accomplished mage. We do not need babysitters. Just don¡¯t forget where your loyalties lay. You are one of us.¡±


    Arthur nodded. In this moment he was one of them, united in shared sin and taboo.


    Suzaku wanted to test himself. Arthur claimed to have faced a dragon god. Suzaku wanted to taste the power that had done so. They clashed swords. It wasn¡¯t the first time. They¡¯d tried practicing swordplay without magic before. Suzaku had simply been too fast for Arthur to follow. Now, though, Arthur had anime sword skill to surpass Suzaku¡¯s own, and with his mind overclocked he could keep up easily with the speed that Suzaku was capable of generating with his dragon slayer magic. As he would be at the end of the decade Suzaku would have won, at least against Arthur sword to sword with no magic except that which enhanced their speed.


    They were not limiting themselves to that magic, though it was Suzaku that acted first, using his sword saint dragon slayer magic. Arthur caught the cutting energy wave in his darkness dragon hand, the claw he had shaped for himself proving too hard even for Suzaku¡¯s magic. As he was when he would have normally fought Selene in the manga Suzaku¡¯s attack would have cut through Arthur¡¯s defense, but Suzaku was a child still in his teens. The two fought for some time later, Arthur trying to avoid relying on his territory magic beyond his armor, but he still found himself using it to aid him in dodging and avoiding blows, teleporting to escape from attacks he simply was not fast enough to dodge. Eventually, though, he caught Suzaku in a rising dragon of darkness letting it send him flying.


    He helped Suzaku to his feet, the younger man obviously surprised by the outcome. ¡°How?¡± Suzaku asked. ¡°Magic can grow in leaps and bounds, sometimes. Magical power can surge up due to some experience. But swordsmanship takes discipline. You had no patience for it. You lacked the diligence that was to be expected of a student. And now¡­ how did you improve so quickly?¡±


    ¡°I used my demon sword,¡± Arthur said as if it was an explanation.


    ¡°The one you say eats souls. That weapon almost seems like something like a cheat object which would appear in a novel about a transmigrant hero from another world,¡± Suzaku said. Arthur winced a little. Suzaku didn¡¯t know how right he was. ¡°I¡¯m surprised you don¡¯t use it more of-¡±


    ¡°Alright, my turn. You gotta fight him, I want to fight him now,¡± Misaki said. ¡°See if he can handle my blue dimension now.¡±


    The fight with Mizaki was one of spatial magic. He couldn¡¯t assault her directly with his territory - she would eat it - but she couldn¡¯t touch him with her spatial magic. Even her blue dimension was easily overwhelmed by his Territory, and turned into his own dimensional space which was turned against her. She couldn¡¯t eat it, too much of it was still her own, but she managed to escape it.


    Still even with a wooden sword he brought her down easily, leaving her shocked. Arthur had grown immensely in the time he was gone. And they weren¡¯t completely sure why. But it was undeniable that he had. It wasn¡¯t just that his magic came to him more easily, or he had learned some tricks to using it which multiplied his combat effectiveness. It wasn¡¯t that he had mastered the sword. He had faced death often enough to have had that hesitation and fear that had held him like a deer in the headlights gone. He had gained a certain level of certainty which he had critically lacked before.


    Kiria came to him afterwards asking questions about Ishgar, and his journeys, forcing him to recount how he lost his hand. She wanted the details. Madmole and Skullion came with her. Skullion especially seemed to want to apologize for his reaction to seeing the absence, and how he¡¯d not be sure of Arthur¡¯s ability to fight.


    ¡°So you and the cat,¡± Skullion cleared his throat suggestively. ¡°Or how is your bed situation?¡±


    ¡°I am a gentleman,¡± Arthur stated.


    ¡°So she took the bed for herself,¡± Skullion grinned wryly.


    ¡°I offered it.¡± Honestly Arthur suspected Georg¡¯s refusal to let Lisanna use a guest room had more to do with his annoyance at Arthur than anything. But sleeping on the floor was less than comfy.


    ¡°Take my bed for the night. You¡¯ve got a journey before you, and I don¡¯t have anything planned tomorrow,¡± Skullion said. ¡°And Arthur, stay safe.¡±


    Kiria grinned at him. ¡°Horsey, come back quicker next time. Don¡¯t leave us wondering if you¡¯re alive or dead.¡± Then she turned towards Skullion, flashing a grin that showed teeth that looked a bit too much like fangs. Arthur wondered if he had a similar smile now. His tongue moving in his mouth assured him he did, but truth be told he¡¯d not looked in a mirror in days. ¡°That reminds me, Skullion, you lost the bet.¡±


    ¡°The bet?¡± Arthur asked.


    Skullion was giving her a stink eye, so Madmole answered. ¡°They had a bet going, Sir Arthur. I told them that it was disrespectful, but Skullion bet you¡¯d come back dead if you came back at all. Kiria bet you¡¯d stay alive.¡±


    ¡°Thanks for the vote of confidence, I guess,¡± Arthur said.


    Kiria looked at him. ¡°I knew you¡¯d be back, and you¡¯d be alive. And when you come back to stay, let¡¯s hunt a dragon together again. Maybe this time you can take the lead.¡±


    ¡°Thank you,¡± Arthur said.


    ¡°We¡¯ll be an unbeatable team,¡± Kiria said, smiling at him.


    In that moment Arthur hated that smile. It¡¯d have been so easy to cut ties with Diabolos, to stay in Ishgar, and simply say good riddance. Honami had been the one he was closest to. Georg was growing more belligerent. But Kiria had that hope filled smile which he didn¡¯t want to let down.


    And then she began to fill him in with the events in the guild in the last month. And Skullion and Madmole helped. He gave Kiria what she asked for, a no holds barred spar afterwards, letting her see how far he had come and how far she needed to. She didn¡¯t hold back from her blades this time. Madmole took the next go. Skullion lost by default. He¡¯d not been holding back before, there was no reason to expect things to be different this time.


    Between the lateness of the evening, his hangover, and the fact that he had yet to manage to gather his ingredients or get someone to study the blood for him, Arthur left in the afternoon, instead of near dawn as he had intended. Still he¡¯d not lose his potions, or his supplies this time. Not after learning how to requip.


    Lisanna was strapped to his back as they mounted Enif. It was going to be a bumpy ride. But at least this time it was a straight line. Skullion helped him figure out his bearing. He just needed to fly straight. Somehow Arthur had a premonition it¡¯d not be that simple.


    Hours later Enif set down in Magnolia. Except for when Lisanna had gotten pegasus sick on his back the flight had been as uneventful as one could ask for. The weather was clear. Nothing in fact had happened.


    Arthur regained his footing faster than Lisanna. He¡¯d gotten more used to Enif¡¯s nauseating flight. Dragon slayers didn¡¯t register ¡®friends¡¯ for motion sickness for some reason, and Enif probably counted, but to Arthur¡¯s knowledge no one could ride Enif without getting motion sick.


    He helped Lisanna to her feet, and walked her to the guild. When she opened the door things were nearly riotous inside. A normal day in Fairy Tail as the guild enjoyed themselves. And then everyone went silent. Mirajane dropped the plate of food she was bringing someone. Natsu shouted Lisanna¡¯s name. Elfman swept her from her feet in a hug that was one part tackle, lifting her up and spinning her manly tears running down his cheeks as he was speechless.


    Ever looking on the darker side of things, Arthur realized if he had focused as much on keeping his own guildmates safe he might have saved Honami and Byaku. Arthur turned to leave, waving back. ¡°I did my part. I¡¯m three days overdue for returning to Crocus. They¡¯ll be wondering what happened to me,¡± He¡¯d asked Aries to deliver a message to Sorano through Scorpio, and Aries said that she had done so. So hopefully the Thunderbolts knew why he was delayed; but even then he was supposed to be back yesterday.


    ¡°Wait,¡± he heard a voice shouting after him. He turned to see Mirajane running up towards him. She embraced him, pulling him close and kissing him full on the lips. ¡°Thank you,¡± she said. ¡°How? Why? Thank you.¡±


    ¡°I could. It needed to be done. I saw it. I did it. Unfortunately I really do need to be going. I¡¯m supposed to be training a team,¡± He said.


    Mirajane smiled at him, tears of joy in her eyes. ¡°I can¡¯t thank you enough. You brought my sister back to me.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s just what I do,¡± Arthur said, wrapping himself in his territory, stretching it far, and disappearing.

 Justice Like a Thunderbolt

    Arthur found himself called before Gran Domo, and the - not yet officially instated - magic council. He was chewed out for several minutes due to his disappearance, before being released, and allowed to go see his Thunderbolts at last.


    They were in the barracks they¡¯d been given to share; a small adjoining structure having been hastily added for Sorano and Lilith. Sawyer, Jellal, and MacBeth were playing a game of cards. Richard was outside tending to a rock garden of sorts. Arthur didn¡¯t see Sorano or Lilith as he walked into the barracks.


    ¡°The prodigal boss returns,¡± Sawyer said with a grin. ¡°The council is not pleased with your behavior. You can only ride ¡®Hero of Crocus¡¯ so far, you know.¡±


    ¡°I was warned not to return directly lest I draw an apocalyptic dragon on us all,¡± Arthur said with a flippant shrug. ¡°At least Draculos is on my side.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, but he¡¯s got to go back to his duties as Wizard God,¡± MacBeth noted. ¡°Redoubled with Serena gone. Alvarez is gonna be breathing down our throats; they were our twin shields and swords.¡±


    Arthur sighed. ¡°I¡¯m gonna go get Minerva and Richard, can somebody tell Sorano and Lilith that I want to have a group meeting?¡±


    ¡°No can do, boss man, they¡¯re on an information gathering mission,¡± Sawyer said. ¡°Sorano convinced them to let her go look for Death¡¯s Head Caucus without you.¡±


    ¡°Well, I¡¯ll get Minerva, and Richard and we can talk,¡± Arthur said with a bit of a sigh. ¡°If we¡¯re going to do this we need to become a team that can cover each other¡¯s backs and that means actually training together.¡± Arthur could hardly believe he was the one saying that. Still they did need to train and he had - unfortunately - wasted 3 days of the very limited time they had.


    The ¡®meeting¡¯ was just getting everyone on the same page. After that he gave Richard the Dorma Anim v2. It would prevent Arthur from using his star dresses, and made teleportation orders of magnitude more difficult when he wore it. It had its benefits; it scared even Selene and assuming the wearer was halfway competent in combat made them a terror to face down multiple S-Class mages at once and win, but it had its downsides. Given Arthur arguably had the best defensive magic of any of them, with only MacBeth being in contention for that placement, and the armor fit Richard substantially better while covering his vulnerabilities and merely meant keeping him out of the Archive loop, the decision was obvious.


    Sawyer had already been practicing with the Ten Commandments, learning its forms, and how to use a spear in a fight. Jellal still had to remember his magic, and until then Arthur gave him the magic shoes Jet had given him and the whip Lucy had. Even with his memory fragmented Jellal knew a fair deal of magic, but it was an eclectic mix, not ready to return him to being one of the top magical threats in all of Ishgar; he could fight and beat one of the Oracion Seis, but at his height he could have taken down all of them at once. The magical tools would help cover for him a bit. MacBeth was studying Darkness Magic. Minerva had, of course, been studying the last mental upload Arthur had given her. And from what Arthur gathered Sorano hadn¡¯t been slacking, but applying herself to learning the Astra Weapon. Even resolved as he was that everyone should prepare for the real conflicts ahead, Arthur had been the one who had been slacking off the most. Well other than Lilith.


    After the meeting Arthur worked on repairing his Archive so that he could re-establish a link with Sorano from the capital. She reported all was well. She was impressed he could reach her; they were in Bosco, following up a lead. They¡¯d be meeting with a representative from Death¡¯s Head Caucus tomorrow to employ their services. The plan was to capture them, replace them with Gemini, and get information on where Death¡¯s Head Caucus was staying at the moment. Arthur¡¯s return was perfect. They could cast their net and catch them, if the man had the information required.


    Tomorrow¡¯s training was canceled; they were going to get a trial by fire instead.


    Teleporting an entire group into a neighboring country through a location he could only view with his Archive was neither quick nor easy. While the movement from one place to another was instant, he had to stretch his space out and it slowed the further it got from him. There were advantages to Aqua Aera it would seem, for long distances it was easier, at least if he¡¯d never visited the target before. He could leave his space semi-permanently in an area; given time he expected he could saturate a continent. Arthur wondered if this was something that risked Acnologia taking notice. He was afraid it might very well be such a thing. But he had already begun, the risk had been taken, and he¡¯d finish it; transporting to Bosco, not saturating Ishgar. The latter would just be asking for excess trouble.


    He was not idle while he stretched out his space. He had access to the royal library. His Archive absorbed magical information and in its pages was magical information. The ability to literally absorb the information without having to scan every page had massively upscaled with his further construction of his Archive and his magical skill. He had to work at it a bit, leading to using Sawyer and Minerva as go-fors, but he was adding everything he could, especially the information that they had on the guild Death¡¯s Head Caucus.


    When the time came, though, Sorano had a request that gave Arthur pause. ¡°Come alone.¡±


    Something had to be up. But without knowing what it was, Arthur decided he¡¯d trust Sorano. He came alone, teleporting where she directed. His territory armor was up, his mind overclocking, but he came alone.


    Cobra was sitting out of Sorano¡¯s field of vision, his snake coiled around his former guild mate.


    ¡°You really teleported into a trap that easily. What kind of naive fool are you?¡± Cobra asked.


    ¡°I told you he¡¯s transparent, and trusts me,¡± Sorano said. Her hair was wet, and Arthur couldn¡¯t be certain if she was wearing anything under the snake currently threatening her throat.


    ¡°Don¡¯t try any teleportation tricks, you¡¯ve already breathed in my poison, and if you want to live you¡¯ll do as I say,¡± Cobra said.


    Arthur couldn¡¯t deny the possibility. Oh, his first thought was if Cobra could do that, how had he lost to Natsu, but that had been outdoors, in a fight at a location where he hadn¡¯t had a chance to prepare. It might be possible that he had saturated the air with poison.


    ¡°Same goes for dear little Angel here,¡± Cobra said.


    Sorano shot him an angry glare. ¡°Cobra, don¡¯t do this.¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s the one who actually killed Brain, isn¡¯t he?¡± Cobra asked, looking at Arthur.


    ¡°I did,¡± Arthur said.


    ¡°Why?¡±


    ¡°He was dangerous.¡±


    ¡°What made him dangerous and not our little Angel here? Why didn¡¯t you kill Racer too? Why didn¡¯t you just cut and run? He was dangerous isn¡¯t an action.¡±


    ¡°Angel was beaten,¡± Arthur said.


    ¡°Lie,¡± Cobra stated. ¡°Least that¡¯s not what your heart is saying.¡±


    Arthur breathed deeply. His Archive didn¡¯t say there was poison magic in the air. He was beginning to be more confident that Cobra was bluffing. ¡°I thought Angel could be redeemed. Brain had just tried to kill his own ally because she¡¯d lost and was now useless to him. If I let him live he¡¯d have finished the job, and maybe he¡¯d have finished me too.¡±


    ¡°Racer tried to kill Angel too,¡± Cobra said coldly.


    ¡°Racer just saw her stab their ally. Hot blood vs cold blood. Besides, he held back. I don¡¯t know if he could have made the shot. Brain had.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re still lying. It wasn¡¯t that Angel wasn¡¯t dangerous was it?¡±


    ¡°She was redeemable. I didn¡¯t believe Brain was,¡± Arthur¡¯s words were cold; running his cognition partially through his Archive helped him keep his emotions under control somewhat. Which was good. He knew the dragon inside of him was growling at this all.


    ¡°And what about me? Am I redeemable?¡± Cobra asked with a jeer.


    ¡°Yes,¡± Arthur said. ¡°I have an offer for your pardon, signed by the magic council themselves. It¡¯s reliant on your willingness to work for them and your-¡±


    ¡°Angel told me.¡± The snake suddenly squeezed around Sorano making her gasp out. ¡°But I still don¡¯t know about you. Your heart is too quiet. Too much like Brain¡¯s.¡±


    Arthur was confident that Cobra hadn¡¯t poisoned the air. He was confident that he could use his territory magic to protect him - at least as long as he could hold his breath - even if he did. The danger was Sorano. She was coiled in the snake, and while Arthur could probably teleport her, if he started to surround her with his space Cobra might hear that thought and act against her.


    Arthur didn¡¯t want to lose her.


    ¡°How about a more personal question,¡± Cobra said, leaning forward and pulling up Sorano¡¯s hair where it fell against her cheek. The snake squeezed around Sorano¡¯s body, moving across her and flashing pale glimpses of flesh between its coils. ¡°What do you think about our little Angel here?¡±


    Arthur felt a bit of panic. He¡¯d tried not to think about that one too much. He was attracted to her. He knew he was. But he wasn¡¯t actually sure it was anything more than a physical attraction; he couldn¡¯t imagine putting up with her long term. Even if he could there were far too many problems involved. Still¡­ ¡°I don¡¯t want her harmed.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s¡­ not really an answer,¡± Cobra said, his response coming off a little flat and weak.


    ¡°I¡­ I want her to find her sister and be happy,¡± Arthur said.


    ¡°Saying you¡¯d have done it for any of us?¡± Cobra asked.


    ¡°I can¡¯t say. It was done in the heat of the moment. It was what felt right at the time. And I¡¯m not clever enough to do more than that. What about you, really gonna hurt your friend instead of join her?¡±


    ¡°Guild mate. Not a friend,¡± Cobra said, then he looked at Sorano. ¡°I was never more to her than a tool to help find her sister. Still¡­ I could do with a pardon. And¡­ maybe I was a bit more to her than that.¡± He looked at Sorano and gave a bit of a smile. ¡°You know what being a flipped crook means, though. Once the Alliance learns about this every guild in it will be after our heads.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s why we¡¯re going to take down Grimoire Heart before it becomes public. You do that, you establish your rep and buy yourself some breathing room. Besides, the council has no intention of broadcasting this. You¡¯ll be black ops. High security and high secrecy.¡±


    Cobra sighed. ¡°I¡¯m leading Death''s Head Caucus now.¡±


    ¡°That complicates things. The council took some arm twisting for this in the first place, they¡¯re not ready for a general amnesty.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m assuming even if they were it¡¯d be on condition of our good behavior?¡± Cobra said.


    Arthur nodded. ¡°There are conditions. If you want the details I can give you the papers.¡±


    ¡°Angel filled me in,¡± Cobra said. ¡°She said you fought for me, or at least stood up to the council.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯d have hated you to be left out in the cold because of me.¡± It¡¯d been a while, but Arthur was fairly sure that it was Cobra who¡¯d started the Seis on the path of redemption in the manga. It¡¯d have been a cruel irony for him to be damned by Arthur¡¯s actions.


    ¡°Give me the papers. I¡¯ll sign up. But we¡¯re gonna need a plan for Death¡¯s Head. They know I was investigating why Angel was poking around us and they¡¯ll be antsy.¡±


    Stolen story; please report.


    ¡°Angel, want to take point in planning this?¡± Arthur asked, looking at her. The snake had released her at some point in the conversation and she was wearing underwear at least beneath it. Though probably not polite to keep looking in that direction. Though given her clothing tendencies it didn¡¯t actually show much more than she often did in public.


    ¡°Me?¡± She asked.


    ¡°I¡¯m not a tactician. I¡¯m a blunt instrument,¡± Arthur said. ¡°I¡¯m only here for another month. One of you has to take over. Cobra doesn¡¯t know what Lilith, me, and Minerva bring to the table. You know the situation best of anyone.¡±


    ¡°Leader¡­ I could enjoy that position,¡± She said with a grin. ¡°Oh, and we should probably untie Lilith at some point. She¡¯s in the closet.¡±


    Sorano proved her value as a leader. She was used to considering different tactical tools - Gemini had taught her that - and using wits over raw power. Arthur played tactical communications, even as Richard¡¯s Heavenly Eye played spotter. Together they coordinated the fight. Which was not to say that was all that they did.


    Gemini - taking on Cobra¡¯s form - poisoned the assassins of Death¡¯s Head Caucus. They took Gemini out hard and fast, but that gave away the position of their gun magic specialist to Richard¡¯s clairvoyance magic and with Arthur in Archive link they were blown away by Territory Explosions.


    The assassins reacted quickly, and they outnumbered the Thunderbolts. But Gemini had taken out two, not to mention weakened two more, and the loss of the sniper had already almost equaled the numbers on each side. The death metal rocker of the old Trinity Raven team had been Gemini¡¯s primary target but he had escaped. He managed to break into the defensive formation, and strum a single riff on his guitar before Sawyer took him out at a speed too fast to react to. The rest couldn¡¯t overcome MacBeth¡¯s defense, when it was supported by Scorpio and Minerva filling in gaps, and Arthur and Richard providing a constant barrage of long range attacks. Well one¡¯s poison spore magic managed to get through but Cobra ate it.


    12 dark mages had been taken down, and not from some minor dark guild. They were among the strongest dark mages under Oracion Seis. One of the most powerful dark guilds in Ishgar.


    The Thunderbolts weren¡¯t exactly happy with the payment situation. They could have made more - a lot more - by looting Death¡¯s Head Caucus¡¯s guild hall themselves. They were given certain allowances, but their actual discretionary funds were low.


    Still with Cobra, or Erik as he introduced himself now that they were shedding code names, back they were reunited. It was the moment of truth. Would they return to their old ways when together again?


    Arthur hated that he couldn¡¯t say yes without any doubt. The deadline to deal with Grimoire Heart was approaching. He¡¯d learned from Erza when the S-Rank trial was held, and they didn¡¯t have much time at all. He hoped that it could occupy their hands, and when it was done¡­ well he hoped the council would really appreciate that.


    They had been dismissive of dealing with Death¡¯s Head Caucus as merely cleaning up a mess which the Oracion Seis had made. MacBeth had objected vocally; Oracion Seis had regulated the other dark guilds, it hadn¡¯t created them. They had gagged him with magic and shouted him down.


    If things didn¡¯t change with a big win¡­ Arthur could see this whole thing crumbling.


    Even so they¡¯d shown they could work together as a team. They¡¯d taken down a guild. But it was nowhere near as large, or as powerful as Grimoire Heart and they¡¯d had a lot of advantages on their side that they could not rely on against Grimoire Heart. Death¡¯s Head Caucus might not have truly been something that could be placed at their feet, but they had been in charge of it, and it was that position which had allowed them to bring it down with such ease. Thankfully the Thunderbolts, with the exception of Arthur and Lilith, had a pretty good sense of dedication and self-motivation when it came to training.


    The next week was packed. The first day was spent dealing with bureaucratic nonsense for much of it, and afterwards Arthur had attacked the library for clues on Grimoire Heart or dragon slayer magic.


    He was woken up in the morning by Minerva. Except it wasn¡¯t Minerva. Sorano had sent Gemini to fetch him. He was pulled into explaining facets of the Astra Weapon for over an hour and a half, starting before dawn. She opened up a bit too, telling him how much she hated getting her hands dirty by personally involving herself in combat; and how terrified she was every time she did.


    Arthur had the feeling something had been left unsaid, as Minerva contacted him through the Archive link because he was late for when he was supposed to meet her for training after breakfast. He gave her an Archive dump for Territory magic and worked with her on how to form explosions. Today¡¯s lesson seemed to be on shaping and fine tuning the exact nature of her space. Eventually he heard that MacBeth was looking for him. He ate a lunch of darkness magic, practicing with MacBeth. He could shut down MacBeth¡¯s reflector with his territory; his control of space was more pure and basic than MacBeth¡¯s, but it wouldn¡¯t have served a purpose. Neither of them would have learned from that sort of dick measuring contest. They both held themselves back to darkness magic for the most part, though MacBeth used his reflector for defense.


    Arthur was feeling more and more ready to use his dragon slayer magic in actual combat. He was beginning to shape it with his darkness dragon¡¯s hand becoming a variety of weapons. His new understanding of melee weapons helped immensely, and his last spar against Suzaku had gotten his Archive some excellent data. After his sparring brunch, he got called in by Draculos.


    Hyberion was leaving Fiore. He had other duties to attend to; a peace was being brokered between two nations on the continent and he was expected to help ensure things went smoothly and no insurgent elements, or agents of either side, pulled any fast ones.


    Arthur took the opportunity to reveal he had two dragon hearts that he needed to make into lacrima, and to ask if Draculos knew who Serena had used. They were, according to Draculos, on the way. He gave Arthur a letter of introduction - sealed with his magic to prove its authenticity - and took the hearts on ahead; along with most of Arthur¡¯s spending money.


    ¡°One last thing, keep Lilith safe,¡± He said after dismissing Arthur.


    ¡°Why did you put her on the team?¡± Arthur asked pausing in the doorway.


    ¡°I hope to see her redeemed,¡± he said.


    Arthur honestly doubted it would happen. Jellal was near suicidal with guilt. Richard had wholesale devoted himself to redemption. Sorano showed repentance. Even Sawyer had been proud and happy after taking out a dark guild. Lilith had shown nothing more than a begrudging acceptance that she couldn¡¯t change her fate.


    ¡°Yeah, but why her instead of anyone else in the dungeon?¡±


    ¡°I owe it to my grandson,¡± Draculos said. ¡°We might have had a falling out, but I hate to see how low his daughter sank. If I can get my great granddauhgter back on the proper path¡­ It¡¯s selfish of me, but even if I can¡¯t I have to try, don¡¯t I?¡±


    Still the meeting didn¡¯t end Arthur¡¯s day. There were teamwork drills and training. They went poorly. Arthur was nominally the leader. But he had no idea what he was doing there. It was disheartening how they went. When that was done they had supper together as a group, an attempt at team building, and Arthur asked them each what they¡¯d do when they earned their pardons. No one was really sure. Sawyer was the one to change the topic.


    After supper Arthur wanted to go work with his Archive and the royal magical library. He hoped he could pick up something about Grimoire Heart, dragon slayers, or both. Unfortunately Sawyer needed a practice partner for his spear use, and tips on how to do it. Arthur, apparently being a natural with the spear, was tapped to instruct. By the time they were done, Arthur was exhausted, falling to sleep almost immediately.


    He was awakened, pre-dawn, once again by Sorano for some weapon training. For now she wasn¡¯t trying to master the weapon and all 12 of its forms. She was choosing one - well two but she wasn¡¯t practicing the Scorpion Gun with Arthur - and sticking to it, learning to use it to defend and attack before moving on to others. Specifically she was going with the Regulus Sword. It had the greatest magical output; it¡¯d drain the weapon fastest, but its power was most substantial and against Grimoire Heart¡¯s Seven Kin of Purgatory that power would be necessary.


    He stayed at it until it was time to train Minerva. He gave her a few tips for shaping the space in her explosions which she¡¯d have figured out eventually but which would have taken months to figure out by trial and error. Eventually MacBeth came to find him to help with Darkness Magic. He wanted to copy Brain¡¯s Genesis Zero. Arthur showed him the Dimension Black. But that was a dimension of his creation, the other had tapped into something already there. It was a dimension within magical darkness. They worked through lunch - though MacBeth¡¯s magic treated him to ¡®lunch¡¯ of a sort, but it didn¡¯t completely recover the mental strain of it all. He¡¯d been working at magic for hours now. He managed to sneak in a little ¡®lunch break¡¯ of an hour or so in which he just vegetated.


    Then it was group training. Lilith was not really contributing. Her magic was primarily close range. While she didn¡¯t need to actually bite. She needed to touch her target. Even then her Vampire Magic was specialized in mental manipulation. The illegal nature of the magic hamstrung her utility. If she had been eager to learn, or seeking a way to make herself useful, it might have been different. But she was recalcitrant to join in training, wasn¡¯t applying herself outside of it, and seemed happy enough to just ride on the coattails of others to her inevitable pardon.


    The session ended with a far less jovial dinner. Sawyer and MacBeth were complaining about Lilith to her face. No one really wanted to volunteer to protect her and eventually she stormed out. The mood was dark and Arthur realized that he had failed as a leader for not heading off that situation somehow.


    But he didn¡¯t have time to really figure it out. Sawyer needed more combat training and by the time they were done, Arthur was ready to black out again. The next day followed a similar route. It was still a constant mental strain to maintain his darkness dragon¡¯s hand; he¡¯d been doing it throughout the day. Only occasionally dropping it by mistake during sparring matches and training, and it was getting easier. His magic was learning it like a muscle memory. He¡¯d destroyed a few training swords, though which was going to displease the council.


    Minerva was getting smoother and easier with her explosions. Soon they¡¯d be focusing on shields. Arthur wanted to teach her to create the spatial armor, but, it was a much more advanced technique and she simply wasn¡¯t going to do more than manage a poor makeshift version until she knew static shields better. And Arthur was worried about her ability to protect herself in combat. Offense was good; but going against people willing to use lethal force and a good defense was needed. She¡¯d helped cover MacBeth¡¯s a little against Death¡¯s Head Caucus, but her shields had been slow, unwieldy, and weak. Without Sorano and Scorpio covering her she¡¯d have failed hard.


    MacBeth was getting better. He was still nowhere close to actually being capable of darkness magic in a real combat scenario. It was slow, unwieldy, and weak. But he and Arthur were working on the dimensional tuning required. It was helping Arthur learn more about his own Darkness Dragon Slayer Magic.


    His first solid food - and not just darkness magic - was again after the group training was done. Everyone was exhausted this time. Except Lilith. Which only continued to fuel the trouble with her. After dinner he chewed her out, trying to explain to her that she was putting her own life and all of theirs in danger and if they were going to survive this pardon they had to learn to work as a team and make sure they each contributed. He was fairly certain all he¡¯d done was put her back up and left her annoyed and aggravated.


    Then he drilled with Sawyer until he was completely exhausted once more. Sawyer was serious about mastering the spear, and movements at actually high speeds. Just like Sorano was serious about mastering her sword. She woke him again that morning, but he was tired. He had had small breaks throughout the day, a breather here and there, but he had been working hard. Too hard it seemed, he was going to burn out in under a week of this training.


    Even before training began he was having trouble maintaining his hand of darkness. His territory armor felt unsteady as well. He reached for the training sword and his hand tore through the wood, the destructive force of his darkness dragon¡¯s shadow eating through the hilt. Arthur apologized to Sorano, and asked her to tell Minerva he needed his sleep and that he¡¯d come to see her when he woke. And then he returned to bed.


    During the group training he talked about how he couldn¡¯t


    keep trying to do everything at once, especially since he still needed to track down Grimoire Heart somehow. They were still in the pre-training group meeting when he was summoned before the Magic Council.


    They had decided on a more pressing target than Grimoire Heart. The target was Kobold¡¯s Snout, what could be called a bandit guild. They¡¯d stolen a train during the Crocus Disappearance Incident, and Fiore¡¯s knights, and the Magic Council¡¯s own enforcement unit had failed to find the location of their mobile fortress the Kobold¡¯s Pit after it disappeared back into the ground.


    The advantage of the situation was that Arthur did manage to convince Gran Domo to allow him access to the magical viewing system which the council used for aiming Etherion, or spying on all of Ishgar. It¡¯d be done under watch, but with his Archive interfacing with it he should be able to get a massive amount of information; if it was complete enough even merely something being ¡®undetectable¡¯ should hopefully create a point of interest that his Archive could find. Hopefully at least.


    ¡°So, the Magic Council wants us to go after someone else before Grimoire Heart, a guild called Kobold¡¯s Snout,¡± Arthur told the Thunderbolts when he returned to the area they¡¯d been assigned for training.


    ¡°Excellent,¡± Sawyer said with a wide grin. ¡°Anybody is better than going against those guys. I mean,¡± He gripped the training spear in his hand. It was the first time he¡¯d actually used it in the group exercises. ¡°We¡¯re getting stronger, but those guys are monsters.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll admit to being relieved. The armor you gave me is quite impressive, but even if we should be able to handle the Seven Kin of Purgatory, Master Hades is a legend in the underworld said to equal any one of the Four Gods if not surpass them,¡± Richard said.


    Jellal, normally quiet and brooding, shook his head. ¡°If that¡¯s true this is worse news than I thought. Arthur is at a level above the Four Gods, and for now surprise is probably on our side. Once we start targeting guilds not previously under the Oracion Seis we¡¯ll lose what surprise we¡¯ve got.¡±


    Sorano had turned pale. Arthur had confided the real reason he was after Grimoire Heart. ¡°It¡¯s worse than that. Take out Grimoire Heart and we establish a reputation. Take out Kobold¡¯s Snout and all we¡¯ve done is angered Tartaros.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not all bad news,¡± Arthur said. ¡°They¡¯ve agreed to let me try and use their surveillance network to find their base. Hopefully it¡¯ll help me figure out how to find Grimoire Heart¡¯s airship too. But we¡¯re going to have to use your skills as well. They want all of you in the field and showing what you can do. You¡¯re getting the chance to leave the capital.¡±


    ¡°I take it you¡¯re staying behind to use their surveillance?¡± Sorano asked.


    ¡°I¡¯m flying to Era,¡± Arthur said. ¡°I need to go to the main magic council headquarters, or what¡¯s left of it, to try and salvage access to the old network. You¡¯ll be provided with communication lacrima, and I will be doing my best to stay in contact with you via the Archive. Minerva will be coming wiarnd. They told me to pick, but I¡¯m not deciding it unilaterally. Let¡¯s talk it over and decide who should lead. It¡¯ll probably be a dry run for who will lead when I leave in a few weeks.¡±


    Arthur knew that Jellal had led Crime Sorcerie. But that was a Jellal who had regained his footing and remembered who he was. And the Council would definitely see that as a threatening move and worry Jellal was trying to return to ¡®power¡¯. MacBeth had maybe led the reborn oracion seis in the filler, him or the staff; Arthur couldn¡¯t remember. That had also been anime filler and in the manga Sorano had slotted into a leadership role once they were working for Crime Sorcerie as their own group; she was obviously the intelligence officer type and had a more strategic mind than most of the others. Sawyer and Richard outright questioned the need for a leader. Erik at least understood that they¡¯d need someone who coordinated and called the final shots. Lilith wanted to lead but no one wanted to follow her.


    In the end MacBeth carried the day. Truthfully Arthur had hoped it would be Sorano. He trusted Jellal¡¯s moral compass and intelligence, but until his death wish was actually resolved he couldn¡¯t be trusted to lead. Sorano had been earnest thus far in her attempt to reform. He trusted her in a way he really didn¡¯t the others. He wasn¡¯t sure if Erik and MacBeth still wanted to kill him or not.


    But if he was going to help them he had to be willing to put faith in them. All of them. So if MacBeth was going to lead MacBeth was going to lead. There was red tape and paperwork to deal with regarding this decision. And then there were preparations for the trip. And he was tired. He would leave in the morning, after quick goodbyes.

 One Hell of a Side Job

    One of the preparations for the trip was the creation of some tonics to prevent motion sickness. Arthur took one himself and gave one to Minerva before they left on Enif. It kept him alert and aware as they soared from Fiore to Minstrel and Era. Arthur found himself looking for Tenrou Island as they went. He didn¡¯t expect to find anything, it was warded against discovery after all, but he had given some thought to how to use his Archive¡¯s detection systems to find just that, so he figured it¡¯d be good practice.


    He couldn¡¯t keep his Archive fully open while riding Enif, the pegasus went too fast and the magical connection would be stretched to its limit and snap. But he could keep a few of the rune-circuits upon his flesh. They recorded everything he could of the magical energies detected in the ride.


    Minerva had her own training during the ride. Just to maintain a single hollow sphere of her territory for the entire ride, at the speed Enif was going. It was training for her territory armor; Enif wasn¡¯t easy to ride. They had both tied themselves to the pegasus for a reason. It was like riding the whirlwind, one moving at supersonic speeds. Or Arthur assumed that it was supersonic, there was enough magic involved it became hard for him to tell. There wasn¡¯t a shockwave hitting him, but Enif created a certain amount of shielding force around him when he flew, acting as a sort of windshield, cockpit, and deflector of bugs and particles. Still some of the wind could be felt, and it was a heavy, tearing force at these speeds.


    Minerva didn¡¯t succeed at keeping the sphere intact and in her hand the entire trip. He hadn¡¯t expected her to make it in less than a half dozen, to be honest. A thin, spherical barrier wasn¡¯t easy to maintain while having it move with your body, and it was harder at speeds. Still it was a step towards truly mastering Territory Armor and not merely covering herself in awkward barriers. The bubble had followed her. She¡¯d maintained its structure. It wasn¡¯t as hard as making it follow specific movements and shift its structure to follow them, but following your body plan was easier than creating a spherical bubble. She¡¯d made it in five, and that really was rather impressive. Minerva might well be the genius with this magic that he had cheated his way into being.


    One of the new council members had come in person to see him. He had fought Serena to a stand still, and he had survived the other worldly realm which had killed God Serena; apparently Draculos had fudged the truth of Serena¡¯s death, and merely stated he had been found dead, presumably from battle against the Edolas forces in this realm where magic did not function normally. Arthur would have preferred the story to be that he was a traitor, but he had bowed his head to necessity; Draculos had worked personally with Serena on several occasions he could believe it, but Serena¡¯s reputation was typically rather good, and with only Arthur¡¯s word to go on they would simply view Arthur as a lying murderer.


    Even as it was he wasn¡¯t 100% trusted. He had saved Fiore, and Draculos had vouched for him. But he had aided and abetted the greatest criminal in the history of the Magic Council, and even if his current amnesia was confirmed many did not believe the story of possession. As his protector, Arthur was himself automatically suspect. At least too suspect to do what amounted to repair and security work on the heart of the council¡¯s information database and collection system without direct, in person supervision.


    ¡°Arthur Lancelot, I presume. Quite the impressive beast. Is it a summoned familiar or something else?¡± The aged man asked. He was wizened with years, and his magical power was actually fairly weak. Still power wasn¡¯t the same as skill, and Arthur suspected his skill and knowledge of magic were impressive. Just being near him his Archive was picking up interesting information.


    ¡°He¡¯s a Celestial Spirit, and he is quite capable of communicating for himself. He¡¯s not an object,¡± Arthur said.


    ¡°Notanobject.Theydon¡¯tmovewellontheirown.Me?I¡¯mthefastestthereis,¡± Enif said all in a single, run-on breath. Arthur would prefer not to keep him summoned that much longer; Enif continued to be a heavy drain, even if the trip across the sea and continent had been much more direct than the trip across the ocean - Enif hadn¡¯t missed the continent twice this time - and a bit shorter even then.


    ¡°So it¡¯s true you¡¯re a celestial spirit mage. I¡¯m surprised that a dragon slayer would bother with such a lesser form of magic,¡± the councilman said.


    ¡°I¡¯d not really call it lesser. It provides a greater variety of benefits and the advantage of having autonomous allies is immense.¡±


    ¡°The dragon slayers I have known took pride in their superior magic; other forms can¡¯t slay dragons after all.¡±


    Arthur shrugged. ¡°Different tools for different tasks.¡±


    ¡°A commendable philosophy. Allow me to show you what remains of the old database and surveillance system.¡±


    Arthur was half out of it as he was introduced to the former councilman, Crawford Seam. A massive old man, over half a foot of height on Arthur, almost twice as wide, and with a beard tied into a fork and reaching down to cover his ribcage, he had apparently originally designed the system. He had retired in disgrace following the Tower of Heaven incident, but he had been asked to help with the repair and transfer of the system as much as possible.


    Arthur had had a brief, but long and uncomfortable journey. Still when he opened his Archive the ex-councilman stiffened. ¡°Impressive. I knew the magic had leaked to the outside world, but I never would have dreamt someone from Guiltina had learned it. Did your friends in the Oracion Seis teach it to you?¡±


    ¡°Did Brain teach it to you?¡± Arthur asked and the old man¡¯s face blanched a bit. ¡°Did he help design this system?¡± Arthur already knew the answer. MacBeth had mentioned it the evening before. Or at least Brain had claimed to have back doors which stopped it from properly working on them. It had been Cait Shelter, not the council which had given the guild alliance the information, and part of that was because Brain had known backdoors and magic to block detection from his time building the system.


    MacBeth had told Arthur what he knew about those backdoors. It was less than Arthur would have liked.


    ¡°Where did you hear such a spurious rumor as that?¡± The man said.


    Arthur paused for a few moments, trying to grasp for a lie. Something to throw the man off balance. He just didn¡¯t like him. Besides he suspected he was the one who worked with Tartaros in the future. ¡°Brain¡¯s memories. I absorbed some of them when I killed him,¡± he said at last.


    The man gave Arthur a look then. ¡°Is that so? That must be such a burden. But he may have worked on it. I wouldn¡¯t remember. He was a researcher before he had turned bad. I couldn¡¯t tell you what all he had worked on.¡±


    ¡°Neither could I,¡± Arthur said. ¡°Don¡¯t remember much, except some of his work in the field that could be called Archive magic.:


    ¡°So that¡¯s how you learned the magic?¡±


    Arthur shook his head. ¡°I knew a fair bit before coming here. It was still experimental in Guiltina but I¡¯m something of a genius.¡± His imposter syndrome stirred a bit there; but that was his justification for being here to help fix the systems.


    ¡°Is that so? I¡¯d love to pick your brain on the subject sometime.¡± The way the ex-council member said those words made Arthur¡¯s skin crawl.


    ¡°Maybe we can have a discussion of it sometime when I¡¯ve recovered from my journey,¡± Arthur said.


    ¡°Perhaps we will. Care to join me for dinner this evening?¡±


    Arthur hesitated. He didn¡¯t trust this man. They were a retired councilmember with Archive magic. One of those had shown up and they were not a good guy. Or were they being coerced and threatened? Arthur couldn¡¯t remember. Didn¡¯t they poison Erza and Fairy Tail?


    ¡°I think I should get settled in, and make sure that Minerva does as well, then I need to see to some things with my celestial spirits,¡± Arthur answered. ¡°Maybe some other evening.¡±


    ¡°I will be looking forward to the opportunity. To dine with you that is.¡± Again Arthur felt his skin crawl.


    Arthur had told the truth, though. He¡¯d spent the day getting settled, giving Minerva a small lesson in shields, and talking with his spirits. He renegotiated his contract with Enif. Well not much negotiation took place other than a statement that he would in fact be more likely to summon the pegasus without the maximized output condition.


    He¡¯d obtained Enif¡¯s allegiance. It put him back up to 400 points. He had a lot of options. He wasn¡¯t going to spend the points just cause he had them burning a hole in his pocket, tempting as it was. Still he did make a short list of things that might be particularly useful. Curse Magic looked strong, but more so in future worlds than this one, and being able to draw power from human suffering might be too much of a temptation if he had it. He was tempted to feed the souls of his every enemy to a demon sword already, and he got far less for doing so. Magic Barrier Particle Body could be terrifying; a form that bolstered his magical power and strength, poisonous gas form, there was a lot to unpack there. Then there was the power of friendship perk; if he had friends that¡¯d be worthwhile, but the bounty related to making friends still hadn¡¯t unlocked. He wondered if it was something on his part or theirs. All of those options were expensive, though. Still they were the only perks he could still discount. Things that simply couldn¡¯t be discounted but were tempting included another magic style. Enchantment magic might have the answer to stop dragonification. Takeover Satan Soul ought to provide him with a stepping stone to make takeover dragon soul and complete that bounty, which while a more selfish option would also let him possibly develop dragon antibodies of his own, and it should prove extremely useful against the demons of Tartaros if, when, he inevitably fought them. If the black blade, that brother, kin, clone, copy, or what have you of Stormbringer, counted as a demon like Stormbringer¡¯s true form, he might gain untold power from takeover emulating its soul. Though that was a dangerous proposition with the tantalizing prospect of power it would offer. Could he be trusted not to eat souls if he made it easier and more beneficial simultaneously or would he find excuses to do so.


    There was the perennial option as well; increase his magical power. He was rated Gildarts, high enough to be considered a weapon of mass destruction. He could destroy Era, right now, with one hand tied behind his back and it would take a literal army to have a chance at stopping him, or some truly spectacular individuals. He could probably count the number of people who could take him in a one-on-one fight on his fingers. With the Knight and a sword in hand he felt confident he could take on Gildarts. Even with just his shield. Draculos might beat him, but Draculos didn¡¯t seem to believe he¡¯d win a direct fight and so Arthur would believe him. On Ishgar that left Master Hades, Mard Geer, Zeref, and Acnologia. And if his black blade was capable enough it might only be Acnologia who was insurmountable. But Alvarez had others who could beat him, and Guiltina too. He didn¡¯t dare fight Selene. But if his magic power was increased to the utmost? Irene and August might still be walls. Selene would still hold more power than him. But he¡¯d be a real power player. It was an option at least, an one he suspected sooner or later he would take.


    There was also still Edo Magic. Of all the perks he could have once discounted but which were no longer available to him it was the one that tempted him most. He could make a fully functional prosthetic hand with it. He could make magical items. He could make dragon slayer lacrima. It opened up possibilities without limit in this and future worlds.


    Though on the topic of objects of power his purchase catalog included some tempting offers there. Angel Coins he could give to Sorano for a bounty; though it just seemed to give her the Angel Coins. He wasn¡¯t sure what the gain was there. But it would help her grow and keep up in combat; and unlike the originals wouldn¡¯t parasitically drain her life force. His own Anima Machine; he could build it with Edo Magic though this would save him a good deal of resources it was probably not worth it. A magical battleship; probably not worth it with his personal power at this point. A Magic Pet one tier below him in magical power¡­ which ended with stating they could assume an attractive human form for reasons. That was too close to many unfortunate implications; he didn¡¯t feel comfortable with lusting after Sorano because of the implied coercion of his position, a guaranteed to be eager to please you animal that was in human form. That just felt wrong. It¡¯d be similar to a Celestial Spirit that he didn¡¯t have to supply with magic though. Potentially useful, and the most potentially useful at that price tier.


    The higher tier, though, included exceptional wealth, a version of the Dorma Anim, and the Books of Zeref. All three were tempting. Immense wealth could buy many resources. He could hire people to do most of his legwork and groundwork. The Dorma Anim was a powerful weapon, but he could steal the original; he still intended to. But for now it was encased in stone from where Edolas Fairy Tail had forced it to the ground and into a lava pit that Edolas Ultear had melted. Out right stealing it would be difficult at the moment and cause issues with Edolas and Selene. He¡¯d wait for that at least for now.


    The Books of Zeref might help him obtain an Etherious form. The power that should give him would be more than worth it; it might be a larger boost than buying his magic power higher. But on its own it¡¯d merely teach him how to create them, the increased reward for doing it without the help of Tartarus. It was tempting still, magic to create demon hordes could be of use.


    There was a still higher tier of superweapons. The orbital kill sat Etherion. The anti-magic saturation of Face. A nerfed version of Nirvana. 8 Dragon Lacrima, several of which overlapped with those he already had though these he¡¯d be guaranteed to be able to implant without issue. None of these were that tempting. But there was the Eclipse Gate. Time travel. Time travel was a potent power, and a terrible one. He wasn¡¯t sure he was paradox proof, but if he was the one doing the traveling he should be fine. Still it¡¯d cost 400 points, and it¡¯d require more magical power than even he possessed to fuel it. That was the rub. That and the moral imperative which said he couldn¡¯t just retreat into the past and leave the world to Acnologia.


    Well all of these could wait. He¡¯d have more options once he defeated Grimoire Heart and made Minerva the S-Class threat she could be. Still it was good to have an idea of what he might want long term if only so he could have an idea what might get him out of hot water without being a long term waste.


    In the morning it was time to start his Archive work. Well first he gave Minerva a little lesson plan on territory shields. He wasn¡¯t merely giving her what information his Archive had recorded about his own spellcasting this time, but creating a lesson plan, giving some tips and advice, and failing to figure out how you go from basic beginner to expert. He¡¯d feel guilty agreeing to teach her and then not actually seeing her stronger than she would have been under Jiemma. He still wasn¡¯t finished when he had the rather extravagant meal the council had had provided for him; it was a much more sumptuous thing than in Crocus and he had to wonder if it was a change in his status, or if it was just that this was the standard for employees in Era, and they hadn¡¯t told him to give him second class food.


    He still wasn¡¯t really sure how he should even be going about the lesson plan by the time he had finished breakfast. He was still working on that when the former councilman came to demand why he was 15 minutes late. Arthur was wasting not only his own time, but the councilman¡¯s extremely valuable time.


    Arthur went with what he had, delivering it to Minerva¡¯s mind, and summoning Caelum with orders to test her shields at low power. In effect he set the spirit to stun. Then he went into the basement of the old council headquarters and began work.


    ¡°Isn¡¯t that a little much? Even summoned at lowered specs, keeping a celestial spirit active indefinitely has to be straining when you¡¯re doing work like this,¡± the councilman said as they began.


    Arthur shrugged it off. ¡°I can handle it. It¡¯s not like running the archive needs much power.¡±


    The old man harrumphed a little. ¡°Maybe for a dinky one like yours, but I¡¯d like to see you say that about my super-archive.¡± When he summoned the energy framework, Arthur felt almost like this had become a pointless dick measuring contest. It was that feeling more than tact that kept him from pointing out that before the black knight smashed his system his was bigger.


    It was twelve minutes later that the councilman interrupted him again. ¡°Drop your spatial magic, it¡¯s making it hard to read what you¡¯re actually doing.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not dropping it without an order from the council,¡± Arthur stated. ¡°I took out an assassins guild last week; better keep it up than get sniped.¡±


    ¡°Preposterous, who¡¯d dare assassinate someone here. This is the central pillar of the magic council, no dark guild would dare to work here.¡±


    ¡°Tartarus would,¡± Arthur said. He didn¡¯t see the choking face the man made. ¡°Same with Grimoire Heart; they were the ones pulling Jellal¡¯s strings after all. Wouldn¡¯t have put it past the Oracion Seis. And with the chaos and disruption of the headquarters move any number might.¡±


    ¡°How am I supposed to watch over you to make sure you don¡¯t do anything you shouldn¡¯t be doing if you keep it up?¡±


    ¡°Get Gran Doma to tell me to shut it down, otherwise I¡¯m keeping it up.¡±


    ¡°Why, why, you¡­ You really are quite the character. You believe your power puts you above the law,¡± the old man growled.


    ¡°Gran Doma is the law, not you,¡± Arthur said. ¡°And like I said if he gives the order I¡¯ll do it.¡±


    ¡°Why why why¡­¡± The old man fumed for several minutes before leaving the room to perform a long distance contact spell with Gran Doma.


    Arthur took this opportunity to fish around the system. It was ultimately a¡­ Well he¡¯d call it a derivation of Archive magic, but it seemed to be an older and less sophisticated form of Information magic. It really shouldn¡¯t surprise him; Solid Script, the Dark Ecriture magic that the Thunder God Tribe guy used, the books of demons which Zeref wrote. While all of those were primarily language magic, language was just a medium for information. And this was much more rooted in rune script than Archive was. Though not everywhere. Its highest end functions were definitely rooted in Archive magic; though some of that had gone dead within the last month. After the Tower of Heaven incident.


    ¡°Now what are you doing?¡± the former council member began as he returned. Arthur cursed himself for not smelling the man coming. And then had the worrying realization he was relying on smell to detect people almost to the same level as hearing. His dragonification was progressing.


    ¡°Trying to find out how the system works,¡± Arthur said.


    ¡°Decrypting files,¡± the man bemoaned. ¡°Those are high security files of the magic council.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m just doing my job. How about we both contact Gran Doma right now and ask him about it.¡±


    ¡°You weren¡¯t supposed to touch anything delicate without me here. My job is to make sure you don¡¯t go poking your nose where it doesn¡¯t belong.¡±


    Arthur fumed a bit. He didn¡¯t like the man. To be fair he was inherently poisoned against Crawford because his job was to look over Arthur¡¯s shoulder, and he was fairly certain he had helped Tartaros, but he didn¡¯t know if that was because he was coerced or not.


    Arthur sighed. ¡°Sorry, I was just trying to get my job here done.¡±


    ¡°And Gran Doma said to shut off your armor if it¡¯s interfering with my investigations,¡± Crawford fumed.


    Arthur sighed and lowered his territory armor before summoning forth his Kochab star dress. ¡°I assume this doesn¡¯t interfere?¡±


    ¡°No, no, it does not,¡± Crawford said. ¡°I really am sorry we seem to have gotten off on the wrong foot. Please, let me make it up to you. I really would like you to join me for dinner this evening after our day here is done.¡±


    Arthur needed time to process what he had copied from the hidden files while Crawford was gone. And then to send them to Gran Doma. But out right telling him that he thought he was a traitor working with dark guilds for personal power and advancement was probably not a good idea.


    ¡°I¡¯ll need to check on Minerva¡¯s progress,¡± he said.


    ¡°Surely that can wait till after supper, or be done before. We could dine late if that¡¯s necessary.¡±


    Arthur continued to try and find some excuse to defer another night, but in the end he agreed to arrive for a late supper before continuing his work. He didn¡¯t poke around in hidden files too much more, not with Crawford watching, but he did make note of them until he sighed and reported that he¡¯d need to rebuild some of his Archive from the damage it had suffered in a battle, and would be doing that for the rest of the day.


    ¡°I¡­ I really must pick your brains,¡± Crawford said after a period of watching Arthur work. ¡°The way you work Archive magic is awe-inspiring if I were to be honest. Do you still have that summon active?¡±


    ¡°Yeah,¡± Arthur said with a little shrug.


    ¡°And the spirit dress?¡±


    ¡°Yeah.¡±


    ¡°Amazing. So much power and yet coupled with such skill. You could, should, be a true legend. I¡¯m surprised we¡¯ve never heard of you. Though you are so young. Still such a prodigy.¡±


    Arthur couldn¡¯t help but smile, at least until his imposter syndrome kicked in. Crawford seemed honestly amazed.


    Eventually he¡¯d been at it as long as he could stand to be at it. Even with a lunch break, and breaks to ¡®get air¡¯ he needed to stop. Crawford threw some shade on him for stopping after merely a 9 hour work day, but Arthur was mentally exhausted. And he still had work to do before supper.


    He had downloaded much of the hidden data. Archive magic woven behind the Runic Code. It wasn¡¯t Brain¡¯s shut down for the detection system. Though it was related. It was Brain¡¯s spy tap on the Council. He thought. It was hard to say for certain because of the damage the system had suffered; parts of the spell work was simply missing.


    Arthur wondered if Crawford knew about it. Or he did until he realized it included blackmail information on Crawford.


    Information that tracked his dealings with Tartaros and Grimoire Heart.


    Arthur contacted Gran Doma immediately.


    Gran Doma listened, even sending a thought projection as asked. But he refused to immediately act on what amounted to Arthur¡¯s word. His thought projection did accompany Arthur to the basement. He was hard at work at something, his Archive going at full bore.


    Crawford was startled by Gran Doma¡¯s arrival. Still he didn¡¯t interfere with opening the file. Nor with reading it until Gran Doma had him shut it off and authorized Arthur to find other such backdoors that Brain had left within the system. He¡¯d not read much of it, but it was enough to verify it existed which meant that showing Crawford the rest would be dangerous.


    Gran Doma couldn¡¯t have a former council member seized without contacting the council, or without carefully going over the information and evidence against him. For the time being Arthur would have to continue as if everything was normal, but keep an eye on Crawford.


    He was going to have dinner with the councilman. Once he could get him to leave the facility. Still Arthur had been given authority to access whatever information he needed or found, and Crawford had been directly told to assist him in ¡°whatever way he finds necessary.¡± Crawford was no longer his keeper, and he¡¯d earned an iota of trust from Gran Doma if not the council as a whole.


    ¡°If you showed me how you found the hidden code and accessed it, me and my super-archive could help you find more,¡± Crawford stated.


    Arthur shook his head. ¡°If Brain hid more than one thing, he¡¯d have used different methods as a contingency. If finding one could let you find them all it¡¯d be pretty useless to make them separate. What I¡¯m looking for now is other vulnerabilities or flaws in the system. What I need from you is to go find Minerva and bring her here.¡±


    ¡°Wouldn¡¯t she just be in the way?¡±


    ¡°She¡¯s my apprentice; an apprentice¡¯s job is to help.¡± Arthur really just wanted to keep Crawford from poking around in the system. Besides Minerva he could trust to act as hands and feet.


    ¡°So what exactly was it that you found?¡± Crawford asked as they sat down for dinner.


    ¡°Must we really talk about work while we eat? But I ultimately think it is of little consequence; it was an information tap used by a dead man. We don¡¯t know how much of it he shared or with whom.¡±


    ¡°I see,¡± Crawford said gravely. ¡°Well then I guess we should put such dark talk behind us, especially with the young lady present.¡± His eyes shot towards Minerva. ¡°Though I am still interested in your magic. Take your defensive spell, for instance, I would have loved to have access to such a magic while I was in office as a council member. What kind of magic is it?¡±


    ¡°Spatial,¡± Arthur answered.


    ¡°No, no, no, I mean more specific than that.¡±


    ¡°Territory.¡± Arthur could watch Crawford¡¯s hopes sag. ¡°Oh, well then. That is a rather difficult style, one which few have the aptitude necessary to delve far into. I can see it, though, in the way it distorts things around you, but why does it make your hand black like that?¡± He looked pointedly at Arthur¡¯s hand. It wasn¡¯t his flesh and blood one, but the hand constructed of his dragon slayer magic.


    Arthur let the magic fade, and he felt his whole body relax. He couldn¡¯t make himself reform it at the moment, awkward as dining with only one hand was - he still wasn¡¯t used to it - the stress of maintaining that spell all day had apparently gotten to him. It wasn¡¯t exactly hard; if it was weightlifting and Arthur could lift a 100 lb dumb bell in one hand it was like lifting a 1 lb one, but it was like trying to walk around with it in your arm at full extension all day. His magical muscle was tired not from the intensity but the sheer duration. With his Territory Armor he had managed to feed it magic to sustain itself for minutes even hours at a time; if he was willing to pour enough magic in he could ¡®cast¡¯ it in the morning and keep it up. His hand was decidedly not like that. It might just be that he wasn''t as skilled with his darkness magic, though he suspected it was linked to the sensory feedback and relative free range of motion. The other just followed the boundary of his body. This one had to be able to change at a thought.


    ¡°I lost the hand during the Crocus incident,¡± Arthur said solemnly. ¡°I¡¯m trying to replace it with my magic. Territory doesn¡¯t work for it, so I¡¯m using my dragon slayer magic. It can get dangerous without my armor up, though, as if I slip a bit it gets, er let¡¯s say corrosive. It starts leaking energy.¡±


    ¡°Oh,¡± Crawford said, a shocked look on his face. Not for the first time today Arthur found himself wondering what was going on in the council member¡¯s head. ¡°They make prosthetics. Wouldn¡¯t that be easier?¡±


    ¡°Two kings, and a magic tool maker have promised me ones, measured my stump and arm and everything, but it¡¯s taking time.¡±


    ¡°And while you wait you¡¯re learning something new with your magic. The ardor of youth. It¡¯s a shame I¡¯ve lost it,¡± Crawford said. ¡°But here I am pestering you with questions on what, I must apologize, likely is a sore subject for you. I¡¯d like to say that I am certain there¡¯s something magical you¡¯d like to learn from me, but I¡¯m afraid given what you¡¯ve already demonstrated despite my age, and what I had considered quite the expertise in the way of magic, but I fear you may have proven the lie to my pride.¡±


    ¡°Actually if you don¡¯t mind me picking your brain on a matter. What do you know about Dragon Slayers?¡±


    ¡°I fear almost certainly less than you do.¡±


    ¡°Know anywhere in Ishgar where they have information on them, or the Dragon War which ended the age of dragons?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m afraid I don¡¯t know much on the subject, though I could point you towards some of the store houses of magical knowledge. I know of a surgeon who has implanted dragon slayer lacrima, perhaps he¡¯d know more.¡±


    ¡°Could you give me his name and address?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll have to look it up after our meal.¡±


    As the evening wore on Arthur found himself actually enjoying talking with the old man. He knew that he had been in contact with all three of the top guilds in the Balam Alliance. He knew that he had ordered assassinations of his political enemies. That he had worked with the Tower of Heaven before Jellal had come into position as Zeref¡¯s vessel. That he sold information to the Balam Alliance to protect them from legal authority and had gotten at least 3 undercover agents killed. At least according to Brain¡¯s emergency blackmail.


    But he was friendly, considerate, and a rather excellent host. When Minerva¡¯s history came up, he even spent an hour in a discussion with her about the flaws of Jiemma¡¯s philosophy, and how such an antisocial view did humanity as a whole a disservice. He hadn¡¯t even flinched when Arthur asked him if he knew anything about etherious or devil slayer magic.


    If Gran Doma hadn¡¯t warned him even before coming down here to watch Crawford he could almost believe it was just lies which Brain had concocted. After all it merely told where the evidence was, it didn¡¯t include it.


    Well that and he remembered he was working with Tartaros in the future. But he couldn¡¯t remember for sure why. It was possible they were already controlling and using him all the way back now. It was just as likely though that he was a horribly corrupt old man. Gran Domo would be sending a team to check out Brain¡¯s supposed evidence.


    The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.


    The next two days were less eventful. Arthur rebuilt his Archive while he worked. A lot of the data in the old database was damaged. Still Arthur did manage to reconnect it to the information tracking system, and get it properly downloading information into his Archive, automatically translating the script magic it was written in.


    Crawford commended him, but kept asking if there had been any other secrets that had slipped past his careful watch on the Magic Council. Arthur of course told him no. It was completely true. He¡¯d found a record of magical energy used by communication lacrima, and a record of messages sent; the two didn¡¯t add up, it was almost like someone had scrubbed the record of messages sent. But that was weak evidence of anything at best.


    He did find other things he was looking for. This was primarily a surveillance database. It didn¡¯t keep records of people so much as events and locations that had been observed. It was, in theory, meant to track the activities of dark guilds to bring them to justice; in practice Brain had helped design it, and the Balam Alliance was well informed of its nature and how to circumvent it. It didn¡¯t contain the information he hoped to get in Era about dragonification, the dragon wars, or anything of that sort. He made sure he took breaks in or near the library as often as he could stand so that his Archive could passively absorb such information, but it was slow going at best. Likewise it didn¡¯t track individual children; he couldn¡¯t find Yukina, Sting, or Rogue that way.


    It didn¡¯t stop Crawford from inviting him regularly for supper. They talked about magic, and it was quite civil and cordial. Arthur found himself relaxing enough to ask if Crawford knew anything about the demons of Zeref, and devil slayer magic, leading to an opening up of his purpose in Ishgar and search for a cure for dragonification. The resulting discussion of herbal possibilities there continued into the next day, and bled over into the Archive work.


    Still on the fifth day, Arthur got the detection systems working well enough to actually begin his real job here. The aiming system for Etherion did possess means of detecting the flow of magical energy across the entire continent, but also what was equivalent to satellite imaging. Unfortunately the damage had left it far less precise than he had hoped, and the control system for it was almost completely down. He realized he¡¯d need to build his Archive towards its pinnacle if he was going to use it to brute force the specialized magical tools that had been part of this system. Which was relatively grunt work to be honest; it required a repetitive use of magic, one with enough concentration needed to keep him from having long conversations in the middle but still it was less difficult and just required enough focus to make certain the magic was properly shaped.


    He took regular breaks to practice his darkness magic - it was a change of pace if nothing else - to talk to Crawford, and to show Minerva what he was doing and how. The day was long, and ultimately rather boring. To find anything useful he¡¯d need a much larger and more capable Archive. He even enlisted Crawford to help, letting the aged mage showcase the Super-Archive he was so proud of. Arthur learned less than Crawford, but having a second opinion on things was useful.


    On the fifth day he found a record of Anima Events, it really was as simple as thinking to look for one. It wasn¡¯t complete; it had been damaged, but it did include at least parts of the extra-thoroughly documented one where ¡®unidentified objects escaped the spatial distortion¡¯, what he presumed were the exceed eggs being dropped to Earthland. That, at least, gave him a list of places to start checking in Fiore that might have contained Sting and or Rogue nearly 7 years ago.


    The sixth day came with news from the Thunderbolts. They had found Kobold¡¯s Snout, and their mobile base Kobold¡¯s Pit by good old fashioned investigative work. They were beginning to prepare for the attack, and wanted him to return. Gran Doma countermanned that order; Arthur¡¯s current duties took priority, and this would be a chance for the Thunderbolts to show that they were a good program without their temporary commander. Arthur spent the evening fuming and ranting to Crawford about it, before venting with some rather destructive practice of his dragon slayer magic outside of Era.


    The seventh day Arthur found himself having trouble focusing. He knew that Sorano and the others would be attacking Kobold¡¯s Pit, but he didn¡¯t know where or how. Doma had blocked communications between them specifically to stop Arthur from being told that information. It made it hard to focus. And he hated the idea that one of the team might die because the Magic Council hamstrung them.


    Crawford noticed. He was most decidedly unaware of the Thunderbolts program; and given his connections with dark guilds Arthur knew that Crawford needed to stay most thoroughly unaware. The council recruiting a group of convict mages to hunt other dark guilds was a political landmine, and one which could threaten to start an all out war with the dark guilds if they felt sufficiently threatened. They had to know whether the Thunderbolts could work without Arthur before they went too far down that path and lost all deniability.


    But being able to rationally accept the validity of Gran Doma¡¯s position, didn¡¯t make Arthur accept it emotionally and it didn¡¯t help with the anxiety at all. Crawford was eager to lend an ear, though. Arthur lied a bit and said it was about Diabolos. He;d already told Crawford about their Dragonification, it didn¡¯t add much to say he¡¯d gotten a message that a team he was close to was going on a dangerous job without him.


    Crawford tried to comfort him. It was one of those moments where Arthur had to remind himself that Crawford was probably in bed with Tartaros. Still he couldn¡¯t work on his Archive construction like this.


    ¡°Crawford, would you be willing to guide me to that lacrima surgeon you told me about? I think I could use a walk, and some company to stop my brooding.¡±


    Crawford hesitated, but after a few moments nodded his head. ¡°I guess it would probably speed the project if you were at your best.¡±


    ¡°Just let me get my Archive doing some automated repair processes and we can lock this place down while we¡¯re gone.¡± The truth was it was going to be running comparisons of records of spatial observations and the meetings Brain¡¯s blackmail message had listed for Crawford meeting with Tartaros and Grimoire Heart to see what it could observe there.


    Minerva was left to actually watch the database room, and ensure the magical knights kept the door locked.


    Strictly speaking the surgeon was merely one who had done the surgery before, albeit only twice, and once was about 20 years ago. He did not ¡®specialize¡¯ in it. He gave Arthur a long discussion about how dangerous it was, and how expensive it would be, because of the sheer amount of skill it required.


    He was still talking when Arthur got a distress message from Minerva through his Archive. It was a simple one word message: HELP.


    Arthur¡¯s territory surrounded him and an instant later he was in the database chamber. Or what was left of it. It had already been damaged, but the structural integrity was gone now. Arthur¡¯s Archive was still standing, Minerva¡¯s hands raised and spread, her territory formed in a wall between her and a man in his twenties. He had dark blonde hair, and some sort of feline or lupine ears on his head, a cat-like tail stretching out behind him. A flat, black nose adorned his face. Black marks surrounded his eyes and covered his forearms which darkened to pure black by his hands.


    ¡°You fucking bitch,¡± he said. ¡°You think you can-¡± He paused, seeing Arthur¡¯s arrival.


    ¡°Minerva, get out of here, I¡¯ll handle him,¡± Arthur said, one hand motion activating his overclock, and another closing his Archive.


    ¡°You¡¯ll handle me, mage?¡± the man said with a snarl. ¡°I was holding back before. Trying to get the job done with minimal exposure. But if you¡¯re gonna make me really fight for it.¡±


    The mage flicked his hand a sphere of energy forming around Minerva. ¡°Make one move and I¡¯ll blow the girl up,¡± the mage said with a spreading, snarling smile. Arthur froze.


    ¡°Good boy, now,¡± the mage seemed to consider for a moment, before he opened his hand wide and pulled back his arm, grasping the air before slamming his hand forward. It was a more powerful explosion, one which would detonate the ground Arthur was standing on and send him flying. Minerva¡¯s territory had blocked a blast that had destroyed the roof and walls of the basement chamber, creating a crater from the force. This one was larger and more powerful. But Arthur¡¯s space spread out beneath him, creating a field between him and the ground, one which contained the explosion completely unharmed.


    The mage¡¯s face froze. ¡°She dies then,¡± He said, detonating the sphere.


    ¡°And so do you,¡± Arthur said. Not because Minerva had just died; she¡¯d been free before he¡¯d shielded himself. He wasn¡¯t sure where she¡¯d gone, his Archive was too focused on the mage before him to have noted it, but she had teleported herself in an instant.


    A sword, complete with crossguard, formed from Arthur¡¯s stump, replacing his missing hand. In the same instant he warped beside the enemy, and swung the sword. An explosion blasted in Arthur¡¯s face, his territory armor weathering the blast.


    The mage landed on his feet. The sword had missed him due to the explosion. Minerva had not. Arthur could see her from this angle, her hands moving as her territory formed explosive sphere after explosive sphere.


    ¡°Minerva get out of here,¡± Arthur repeated.


    ¡°But I can help you,¡± She said.


    ¡°He¡¯s already tried to take you hostage once.¡± And it wasn¡¯t with magic. He wasn¡¯t using ethernano. His Archive could register the explosion building, but only because it had created light and temperature. Though there had been a build up of some sort of energy, his Archive not knowing what it was, but still able to trace it; it was on the same spectrum as ethernano but different. Arthur had realized what they were; they weren¡¯t human, they were an etherious.


    ¡°And failed,¡± Minerva reminded, as another explosion rocked the demon. Minerva was continuously barraging him with her explosive globes. It was enough to help keep him off balance, though it was not doing it on its own, Arthur¡¯s space was slamming and battering against him, wrapping around him, and squeezing.


    ¡°He¡¯s one of Zeref¡¯s demons,¡± Arthur said.


    Minerva¡¯s explosions stopped. She was stunned by the statement. The demons of Zeref were almost myth. They had existed at some point and were, in theory, immortal, but the idea of one running around was something that would take a bit of time to process.


    The demon, though, was transforming, his body twisting as it bulged out, transforming into a monstrous, beast-man form like some dusty blonde werewolf.


    ¡°You know since you¡¯ve said that I can¡¯t let the girl escape,¡± the demon said. ¡°She¡¯s got to die to make sure that our secrets stay secret.¡±


    ¡°Minerva, if you¡¯re going to stay,¡± Arthur teleported in between her and the wolf-demon, a silver key appearing in his hand as he touched it to her forehead. Kochab¡¯s star ¡®dress¡¯ appeared around her, bulky, blue, teddy bear themed powered armor shielding her. ¡°You need something to keep you safe.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s hard to fight properly in this,¡± Minerva said.


    ¡°Stop yacking to each other and pay attention to me!¡± The demon of Zeref yelled as his clawed fingers glowed brightly trying to scratch through Arthur¡¯s territory. They left explosive blasts in their wake. They couldn¡¯t find purchase, though, and the explosions failed to penetrate the Territory shield.


    Arthur was progressively not impressed by the demon. Still he didn¡¯t want to fight him in a city. Curse power grew with suffering and negative emotion; if he played with the demon it would attack the city and who knew how many people it would kill.


    Did he have a way to safely capture them? Did he want to buy Takeover to try and take over its power? Did he want to kill him with the black sword? Would he return to their cube to be reborn otherwise? Could he track Cube that way?


    Arthur formed a sword of darkness dragon slayer magic, letting it shape from the stump where his primary hand once was. ¡°Minerva, I¡¯d let you use him to grow stronger, but there¡¯d be too much collateral. Hit him as hard as you can,¡± Even as he spoke, though, there was a telepathic missive running through the Archive link.


    Her territory explosions created a blinding mass of light as they concentrated in front of the demon. His own explosions roared against them, and Arthur¡¯s spatial wall was buffeted by both.


    But it was a distraction. Arthur plunged his sword into his shadow, and the demon¡¯s shadow rose up to thrust through his back, pushing through his chest.


    Suddenly a mass of wind struck, sending Arthur flying into one of the walls of what had once been the council¡¯s database chamber; now it was really nothing more than a crater in the ground.


    ¡°Really, Jackal, letting a human push you into your true form, and then losing on top of it? Where is your dignity as a demon?¡± The new arrival asked, a powerfully built leonesque man. His face was almost partway to a lion¡¯s, resembling a beast¡¯s muzzle, his neck framed with a mane-like neckbeard.


    ¡°I didn¡¯t lose, Tempester,¡± Jackal said as the werewolf-like demon rose to his feet. ¡°He merely surprised me a-¡± Jackal cut off as a half-dozen blades of darkness shot up through his chest and torso out from his shadow, the same happening to the newly arrived Tempester. A half dozen explosive spheres then formed and detonated around them, a cloud of dust and dirt thrown up into the air from the explosion.


    ¡°Pathetic,¡± Minerva said. ¡°These are demons of Zeref? I had thought their power was a legend of the apocalypse, this is¡­¡±


    ¡°They¡¯re not beaten yet,¡± Arthur said. Jackal and Tempester both were pulling themselves off of his blades.


    ¡°We¡¯ve destroyed the runic library, right?¡± Tempester asked, glancing about.


    ¡°Yeah, there¡¯s just the Dragon Slayer to deal with,¡± Jackal growled.


    ¡°So I can go ahead and die?¡± Tempester didn¡¯t wait for confirmation, but launched himself forward, his body half disappearing into whirling winds, turning halfway into a living cyclone as he drove towards Arthur.


    Arthur¡¯s roar stopped his charge before he could reach him, blasting the demon back even as it cut a deep ravine in the grounds which surrounded the ruins of the former magic council building.


    ¡°Stop forgetting about me!¡± Tempester screamed out as his claw struck Arthur in the head from the side. An explosion immediately followed, but Arthur rolled with the force of the blow, his darkness sword reforming to replace his missing hand. His armor had taken the explosion, none of the actual force of impact transferring through the barrier of his personal space that separated him solipsistically from reality outside.


    ¡°I would, if you mattered,¡± Arthur stabbed back, literally and figuratively, cutting off Jackal¡¯s hand when he struck again.


    Jackal howled out, cursing Arthur. Arthur grinned like a psycho, and said, ¡°Hey look, now we¡¯re both not left handed.¡±


    ¡°You picked the wrong opponents to mess with, human,¡± Tempester stated as he dropped to his knees and exploded into a dense black mist. His voice continued to ring out through the air expositorily, monologuing in grand villain style. ¡°Humans can never defeat demons. These magic barrier particles will pollute the air, destroying¡­¡±


    Arthur didn¡¯t need the exposition. He remembered how they removed Laxus for the Tartaros arc. One of the demons blew himself up as Magic Barrier Particles, poisoning Laxus with magic deficiency, which was fatal to mages. The moment Arthur had seen the attack he had known how to answer it.


    His darkness sword shot from his hand, firing out like an arrow into the heart of the mist before imploding. He¡¯d never gotten to test it in a real situation, and if it looked like it was failing he¡¯d copy Laxus and eat it to save Minerva, hopefully given Rogue could eat black things and it was black it¡¯d not mess him up as badly. He should have enough magical power to survive and recover anyway; though he was forgetting that Laxus hadn¡¯t managed to consume more than a small fraction and the town had still been destroyed. But it wasn¡¯t necessary, the sphere of his magic at the center had survived and had become something else. It was a hole in reality, a hole to a dimension that was completely empty. Arthur called the spell his Dark Dominion Magic - All Consuming Void.


    Rocks and rubble flew towards it. The wind screeched in a gale force. Arthur felt himself being pulled towards it. It wasn¡¯t supposed to pull him, but the sheer wind force was doing so. Minerva¡¯s heavy bear armor was slowing her drift, and she had doubled down, minimizing her profile to the wind, and grabbing the ground. Not that the ground was completely safe as pieces of it were breaking off. Arthur teleported himself to her side, and wrapped them both in his space, taking in the area around them both as his territory. It wasn¡¯t keyed to his territory magic in particular, her own could have done the job, but the pull it radiated outwards wouldn¡¯t affect the space of territory magic; the wind force could, but it was only the movable nature of his territory armor which had left it vulnerable to such.


    Jackal awkwardly fought to stay standing, and when that failed to keep himself from tumbling backwards towards it. He caught the ground only for it to break under his own good claw, and the winds and consuming force of the hole itself. He released an explosion between himself and the hole, only for the hole to suck it in, the fires flowing into it. Arthur would have preferred to take him captive, but with the sheer mass of the anti-magic particles and the threat to the city if they spread - and his Archive-linked brain was telling him they would spread - was enough to make him risk ending the demon.


    Not that Jackal was dying easy. Or more it was that the magic barrier particles were eating away at the spell that was consuming them. The sphere of darkness faltered and failed, the particles starting to flow outwards again. Jackal still stood, one arm and no hands, but given Tempester had become a disaster in the making by suicide bombing, and Jackal was an explosion specialist, Arthur found himself reforming his hand and firing it forth again, this time higher up.


    Again the void formed, pulling the magic barrier particles - and everything else - towards it. Jackal¡¯s legs swept in the air, and Arthur felt his arm rise. He was ending his spell, and dropping his territory field. It was like his very magic was being puppeteered by another.


    Jackal hit the ground with a thud.


    ¡°Arthur, what¡¯s happening?¡± Minerva asked, as the black smoke flowed towards them.


    ¡°Someone¡¯s controlling my body,¡± Arthur said.


    ¡°That bastard. Look what he did to me,¡± Jackal began. ¡°Make his death painful, Seilah.¡±


    ¡°His despair will be an amazing story,¡± A woman¡¯s voice said. ¡°One worthy of a demon once I have written his suffering. I cannot say that since Zeref himself I¡¯ve encountered a human with so much power. Even now it is fighting me. A shame the will is so much weaker. Look at me when I¡¯m talking to you.¡±


    Arthur found himself turning around to face a beautiful woman with the grace of an imperial courtesan, and the sort of figure you only saw in manga. Her hair was black as ebony, her skin white as snow, her lips red as blood. She made Sorano look plain, but there was a malice to her beauty that Sorano never had had, that even Selene didn¡¯t match. She leaked sadism, it was cast in her features as she looked at him. She wasn¡¯t completely human either, a pair of almost absurdly thick horns dominated the sides of her head, pushing off at ninety degree angles from above her - slightly lower than human - ears, and curving forward.


    ¡°I wonder, can the magical barrier particles penetrate your armor? Or what about the girl¡¯s? I doubt it. Lower your armor.¡±


    Arthur was trying to resist. Trying to stop himself, even as Jackal began to laugh with delight. ¡°Make him die suffering.¡±


    His territory armor was dismissed, the black fog gathering closer. His will wasn¡¯t strong enough to break her control. His magical power wasn¡¯t enough to stop it either. Maybe his archive could find some counter spell or anti-curse. But he feared he had to make a purchase.


    He could increase his magic power. Maybe he¡¯d be too strong for her if he did. He could get For My Friends, and hope that the surge of energy was enough to let him save Minerva. But he remembered the demon¡¯s curse. Macro was the only form of mind control that never got beaten by the power of friendship and heroic willpower. When push came to shove, Juvia¡¯s love for Gray overpowered the Spriggan¡¯s, the White Out Magic failed to truly turn them against their guild mates. Macro had made Elfman almost kill Lisanna and blow up the guild hall with everyone in it.


    Arthur remembered what had allowed it to be beaten as well. Takeover - Satan Soul. With his mind overclocked the decision was nearly instant. Even before she could give the next command he had made the purchase.


    ¡°Breathe deep so that she can watch you sicken and die until that armor you gave her falters and¡­¡±


    Minerva¡¯s arms and hands spread as she struck Seilah with a series of explosions. She¡¯d already strained herself against Jackal, going full force upon him, but she was ready to do so again. She wouldn¡¯t just stand by and watch this. She wasn¡¯t so weak they could just ignore her and talk about her like she wasn¡¯t there. She couldn¡¯t let herself be that weak and worthless.


    ¡°Somebody wants to cut in line,¡± Jackal said as a magical symbol formed underneath Minerva¡¯s feet. ¡°Don¡¯t worry I can handle her for you.¡± Even as he spoke he rushed forward, leaping towards her. He might not have his hands anymore, but a kick should knock her off of the landmine curse he¡¯d formed. Not only would it go boom, but touching him would place another explosive curse into her armor directly.


    ¡°Idiot, she¡¯s using-¡± Seilah didn¡¯t finish as Jackal¡¯s foot struck her in the sternum and his explosive landmine went off. Arthur barely raised his territory armor in time.


    He could feel the Magical Barrier Particles affecting him. He hadn¡¯t breathed many but his armor had dropped. They¡¯d weaken his magic; possibly fatally. Still his armor weathered the explosion.


    ¡°What the hell?¡± Jackal asked as Seilah rose to her feet.


    ¡°Territory Magic, one of the great spatial magics,¡± Seilah said. ¡°We have to be careful how we fight her. But I think we should just let him¡­¡± She stopped. Arthur had vanished entirely.


    He rose out from Jackal¡¯s shadow, bursting from the ground. The blade of darkness from his stump plunged into Jackal¡¯s back, and his hand touched his head.


    ¡°Bad idea,¡± Jackal said. Arthur felt the curse building in his hand. ¡°See the true nature of my curse is that anything that touches me I can make explode. And that includes your body.¡±


    It didn¡¯t happen. Jackal could feel something else in control of his curse power. Arthur had begun to use Takeover on him already. Arthur could feel Jackal¡¯s power flowing into him, draining it from him through the hand on his head. He could feel Jackal¡¯s will, mind, and very soul. And he could take it as his own. Reaching deep into Jackal¡¯s being he wrenched his essence free.


    ¡°Go to hell,¡± Arthur said as he released Jackal¡¯s head with his flesh hand only to pull the blade of darkness from his chest and plant it on his head squeezing tightly. He¡¯d tasted the evil and malice of Jackal¡¯s soul, feeling the pure pleasure he took in destruction, and it had disgusted him. He was a being who existed to cause mass havoc and mayhem; if an animal¡¯s drives ultimately boiled down to attempts at optimization for maximal biological fitness, Jackal¡¯s boiled down to attempts at optimization for maximal mass destruction.


    It was viscerally disgusting, like bathing in a putrid oil-slick of pure¡­ It wasn¡¯t even hatred. It was just the urge to destroy. Arthur considered sparing him. Seeing if he could reform the demon for the bounty to do just that. He could turn Jackal into his puppet, control his actions, change his will, slowly maybe even re-write his soul. He could keep Jackal as a safely leashed pet dog. Re-writing his soul wouldn¡¯t fulfill the bounty, but he could try and reform him without that. But¡­


    Arthur raised his hand free, requipping his black sword and plunged it into Jackal¡¯s chest. He¡¯d uploaded Jackal¡¯s mind into the Archive, and he¡¯d already taken his power. He needed power to fight the Magical Barrier Particles which were even now filling the crater once more, and once they had they¡¯d spread through Era, rolling out across it from the mesa that the council headquarters was built upon and down to the city.


    Controlling Jackal would cost him power. Eating his soul would give him it. And having touched Jackal¡¯s soul there was no hesitation against the latter.


    Jackal fell to the ground, as Arthur¡¯s head rose to look at Seilah.


    The beautiful demon¡¯s hand had moved to her throat, grasping a little at the ribbon around her neck. Her body shook in the loosely worn - and not really large enough for her chest - yukata wrapped around her body. ¡°Why can¡¯t I control you any more?¡±


    ¡°Because I possess the power to dominate demonic forces.¡± Arthur said as he shifted, turning into a form to match Jackal¡¯s monstrous wolf-shape.


    ¡°Your story still cannot have a happy ending,¡± Seilah said. ¡°Surrender and I will spare the girl, otherwise she¡¯s as good as dead. You might have somehow escaped my curse, but I doubt she can do the same.¡± There was panic in her voice and on her face. Jackal might have been among the least of the nine demon gates, but he had still been one of the etherious created by Zeref¡¯s own hand; a masterpiece of the maker. Takeover magic capable of taking over lesser demons was to be expected. But to takeover one of the etherious of Zeref was something that shook Seilah¡¯s world view.


    Minerva¡¯s hand was tearing at the faceplate of her armor. ¡°I¡­ I¡­ I can¡¯t stop myself!¡± She shouted.


    ¡°Once my curse is in you, I can control you from whatever distance. I can make her kill herself whenever I desire, and there is nothing you can do to stop me.¡± Seilah¡¯s tone was shaky as she spoke. Even from here she could feel his takeover magic. She felt herself not merely releasing the current command, but lifting her curse from Minerva entirely.


    ¡°No,¡± She said. ¡°No. No. No. No.¡± Tears were rolling down her face as she dropped to her knees. Her curse was that of control and command, able to control and manipulate the living, the dead, and even mere objects. She was a storyteller. Her medium wasn¡¯t text, but writing tragedies into life; and as Arthur reached into her soul and mind, copying her knowledge into his Archive he could feel her memories of the lives she had toyed with and ruined, the way she had orchestrated and directed the fall of moral individuals, and had manipulated individuals for the sheer sadistic pleasure of seeing people fall into ruin and the suffering those she had twisted created.


    Arthur would review in horror her record of disaster later, and the many roots of destruction in this lifetime alone she had created. But in the moment he simply came to understand that if Jackal had been destructive force given will, she was tyranny, the petty urge to tear down others to make oneself feel better, and the anti-sympathy which took pleasure in the suffering of others.


    He wanted to vomit as he shifted his body till it perfectly matched her own, down to the clothes she wore. He was putting on her being, her power, her curse, her everything. With the help of his Archive magic he could think like her, he could become her to the deepest fiber of his being. Only the missing hand and his hair style, locked in its nature by a bounty he had accepted, remained to tell that he was other than she.


    ¡°I own you now,¡± Arthur said in her voice, smiling her smile, as he leaned towards her. It wasn¡¯t just her body. He was feeling her feelings to an extent. The sadistic glee at seeing her suffer It¡¯d be easy to forget himself in his takeover magic and let it take him over. He could control it, that was part of being skilled in the magic. But it was something to remember when he tried to create takeover dragon soul.


    Seilah stopped crying, her fear, shattered pride, and disgust at the violation of her mind and soul, all going quiet. Not because she¡¯d gotten over it. Not because it had stopped being anything but monstrous to the extent Arthur understood why takeover - human soul was not a magic that people used. No. It was simply because Arthur had reached into her being and used his magic to twist something inside, taking over her will and soul and changing her programming so to speak and in the process willed her to stop feeling it and so she had.


    Instead she nodded in a numb state. ¡°So this is what it feels like to be copyrighted,¡± She stated in a distant, far off voice.


    ¡°Can you stop the Magical Barrier Particles?¡±


    ¡°My curse can control their movements, but the cloud is too large for me to stop it.¡±


    ¡°Help me stop it,¡± Arthur stated, raising his arm towards the sky and forming his darkness hand again. Or well claw. It would have been awkward to form his hand on what was a copy of Seilah¡¯s arm. ¡°Minerva, wrap yourself in your territory,¡± He casually commanded, as he launched his darkness claw like a giant robot¡¯s fist, letting the claw implode into a hungry sphere of darkness, pulling everything else into it. He wrapped himself and Seilah in his territory, the magical barrier particles eating at the edges of it. And he continued to fire, each time his prosthetic hand of dragon slayer magic, forming the core of the ¡°black hole¡± his spell created, and pulling everything in. The magic barrier particles actually resisted the spell¡¯s tugging force, but they were carried with the air currents that it formed.


    After the fifth sphere was launched, Arthur found himself falling to one knee, clutching at his chest as his lungs burned with pain. He¡¯d only gotten a small amount of the particles, but they were eating away at his magical energy, deleting it from inside of himself and a mage¡¯s ethernano tied to their life force. He couldn¡¯t imagine what it would have been like to imitate Laxus and consume the entire cloud; not that Laxus had in the manga actually succeeded, as most of the cloud still swept over the town killing at least a hundred mages.


    He didn¡¯t dare end his takeover transformation, even as it ate away at his magical energy. It had slowed the drain of the magical barrier particles more than it was spending. But firing off black holes was not an easy magic to rapidly perform.


    Seilah was working as he had commanded, using her macro to keep the barrier particles from spreading out and constrain them towards the voids. Minerva was attempting the same with her territory magic, though the particles ate away at it.


    Eventually Arthur fell to the ground, too weak to stand, Seilah standing over him with an icy, hate-filled glare.


    Arthur awoke in the same hospital he had been in before he had gone to stop the attack on the data center. Minerva was sitting by his bed watching over him, her face showing obvious relief by the time he was coherent enough to process it.


    ¡°I knew you were too strong to die so easily,¡± She said with a vicarious pride.


    ¡°Where¡¯s the demon?¡± Arthur asked. Minerva answered by pointing down, and he leaned looking over the edge of the bed to realize Minerva wasn¡¯t sitting on a chair, but on Seilah¡¯s back, the demon forced onto her hands and knees.


    ¡°She told me she had to obey all my orders so I had her bring you safely to the hospital without hurting anyone, but she kept back talking so I decided she needed to learn a taste of humility.¡±


    Seilah glared hatefully upwards. And Arthur sagged back into the bed. He was pretty sure making someone your chair was not a good sign of character even if they were a demon, but he¡¯d seen glimpses of over 400 years of the demon manipulating human society towards disaster and suffering so he wasn¡¯t in the mood to lecture about her right to dignity. He wondered how many of the problems in the modern day could be traced to Tartaros in general, and Seilah¡¯s sadism in particular.


    ¡°Woof! Woof!¡± Seilah shouted, not even imitating the bark of a dog so much as pronouncing its onomatopoeia.


    Arthur looked at Minerva. ¡°I may have ordered her to only say woof when she wanted to speak.¡±


    ¡°Talk normally and freely,¡± Arthur said looking at Seilah. ¡°At least until I tell you to silence yourself.¡±


    After the second minute of a continuous deluge of complaints about Minerva, Arthur, and how as mere humans they had no right to treat one of Zeref¡¯s demons this way, Arthur reinstated the barking order.


    ¡°So did I miss anything important?¡±


    ¡°They killed the nice Mr. Seam,¡± Minerva said. ¡°Almost killed the surgeon he was with.¡±


    ¡°The nice Mr. Seam had been collaborating with them and the other top guilds of the Balam Alliance since before it existed. He¡¯d played the neutral third party in the talks that formed it.¡±


    Minerva froze, a look of shock and horror on her face. ¡°But he seemed like such a nice old man.¡±


    ¡°Appearances can be deceiving. The proof of his involvement wasn¡¯t concrete yet, but Gran Doma was checking in on it. Seilah, speak normally and truthfully tell me why Crawford Seam was killed.¡±


    She glared at him, eyes like a wild cat¡¯s mouth twisting almost seeming to twist like a hissing cat¡¯s as well. ¡°Because he knew too much about us.¡±


    ¡°So he was a conspirator?¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡±


    ¡°Now will you be good and keep your tirades about how demons are better than humans to yourself?¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡±


    ¡°Then I guess you can talk normally for now. Minerva stop sitting on her; you¡¯re better than her, you don¡¯t need to ground someone underneath your heel, or I guess ass in this case, to prove your worth, do you?¡±


    Minerva rose to her feet, but had to think about the answer for a bit. ¡°I don¡¯t.¡± There wasn¡¯t feeling or heart in it; she was giving the answer Arthur wanted to hear and nothing more.


    ¡°The need to put down another to show you¡¯re strong is ultimately a sign that you¡¯re not confident in that strength, and that no matter how much power you have you¡¯re not actually strong.¡±


    ¡°So you¡¯re going to release her?¡± Minerva asked in a tone of disbelief.


    ¡°I did not twist a part of her core nature to prove I¡¯m strong,¡± Arthur said in a hurt tone. ¡°I did it because she¡¯s a dangerous creature of murder and destruction who was trying to force you to kill yourself in a horrifically painful manner and would do it again if I released her.¡±


    ¡°No I wouldn¡¯t,¡± Seilah said.


    Arthur glared at her. ¡°Tell the truth.¡±


    ¡°I¡­ define release.¡±


    ¡°Put you back how you were originally.¡±


    ¡°Oh, in a heartbeat.¡±


    ¡°What would you do if I released you without undoing how I tampered with your mind?¡±


    ¡°Plot how to permanently escape from you despite the limits you put on my behavior.¡±


    ¡°And what would you do to other people while plotting?¡±


    ¡°Write their tragic life stories,¡± Seilah answered without hesitation.


    Arthur looked at Minerva. ¡°I guess it¡¯s not the same thing,¡± She said, abashed.


    Arthur nodded, looking at Seilah as she rose to her feet. He wasn¡¯t sure how much he¡¯d actually changed. She was ultimately a projection from her book, wherever it was. When he twisted her soul it had changed the writing in the book, but despite his skill at Takeover he still would need the book - or a better understanding of the magic that made her - to know how it had re-written her. He only knew his intent; an iron-clad prohibition against harming him or Minerva, and an inability to disobey him; subconsciously he was probably drawing on Asimov¡¯s three laws, and every story in I, Robot had something going wrong with those.


    Mard Geer, the leader of Tartaros, sat with six of the nine demon gates before him. Between them all were two books. Or more appropriately one book and the remnants of a book. It was more accurate to call them six of the eight demon gates now.


    They had lost three of their members. One only briefly; Tempester would reform in the resurrection chamber in less than 24 hours. One permanently; Jackal¡¯s book had a hole form within it, the ink drained dry from its pages, and even many of the pages had turned to dust. The third was most worrisome. Her book had changed. It was only a few lines, but although she was Zeref¡¯s creation he was no longer her master.


    To the assembled demons that change was more horrifying than Jackal¡¯s death. Their sister had been taken from them, her very existence defiled.


    They were meeting to discuss what to do about it. Killing Crawford had been too hasty it would seem. He could have been useful for telling them more about the mage from Guiltina. They knew he had fought one of the Wizard Gods, and that even three to one they were risking failure; but they could resurrect from death and it had been decided it was better to only risk 3. 6 would leave enough to defend the Cube if he won and managed to launch a counter assault or alerted the Ishgar council to do so, and 3 should have been able to destroy the database and escape while he was gone for a while without it being confirmable that it was Tartaros. It might put back their plans by a few years if the Ishgar governments went on high alert, but they could hide and drink in the suffering of the resultant crackdowns, especially with Seilah nudging things from the shadows and manipulating individuals with her Macro curse. They had hoped to never directly engage the Guiltina mage. To say things did not go as they planned was a serious understatement.


    But Jackal was gone. The etherious of Zeref were used to being immortal. They were ultimately projections from his books. If their books still existed their souls could return to them and the Cube could reconstitute their bodies. They might lose some recent memories, Tempester would forget his name since it was not actually part of his book, but they would return. There was the risk that one might be frozen like how that bitch, Ur, had frozen Deliora, but even such an act was not permanent.


    The destruction of Jackal¡¯s book was. The demon gates were for the first time in their centuries long lifespan forced to feel the fear of death. They did not like it. But existential threat as the Guiltina mage was, the re-writing of Seilah¡¯s book was worse. They could be altered. Turned from the sacred form that Zeref had given them, twisted from the image in which their Creator had made them. Their very purpose could be overwritten. Poorly. It had been a crude job, margins scribbled with commands, only once or twice making its way into the text proper. But there was the terror of what could be. Was it a rush job? Had he been prepared? Had Crawford betrayed them and it had been a trap? They lacked information.


    The question had to be raised. Did they destroy Seilah¡¯s book, and put her out of the misery of enslavement? Kyouka was the main proponent against this. It was possible they might manage to rewrite it themselves. It was magic and not a curse, they might need a human assistant, but it should be possible to fix her. Seilah would have been their best hope there; she was the writer amongst them, and the one able to directly control humans to ensure one did not take advantage of their position, but it should be possible.


    Even once they had decided not to immediately end their sister for the hopes that they could return her to them. There was still the decision of what to do about the Guiltina mage. Crawford had said he would return to Guiltina in under a month. Did they attack before he could? They could put out a call to arms to the guilds under them, hoping to overwhelm him with sheer numbers. But there was a risk. He had killed Jackal and corrupted the soul of their sister. He could kill more of them, or twist them in ways they might never be able to undo. Or did they go into hiding and wait for him to return to Guiltina. Hope that they could free Seilah, and reclaim her, and that he would not take note and return as they amassed power until they were ready to overturn the order of Ishgar. They might even wait until he had died. Humans were typically mortal. Age would eventually claim him. But he had tampered with the art of Zeref. He had changed the will of the Creator.


    Worse than just that Seilah could be made to give him everything she knew about them. If she turned over everything to the Ishgar authorities then they would never be able to reunite with their maker. As much as it pained them to do this to one of their own, they knew it had to be done. Even more than they couldn¡¯t afford to lose one of their own, they couldn¡¯t afford to let her turn over all of that information. Mard Geer himself performed the execution, destroying Seilah¡¯s book.


    They would go into hiding. They would have their revenge on the Guiltina mage someday. But for now they would bide their time and wait for the opportunity to swallow Ishgar up in chaos and despair.

 A Brief Space to Breathe

    With the remnants of Etherion¡¯s control system and the Council¡¯s surveillance database destroyed there was no reason for Arthur to stay in Era. The doctors wanted to keep him for surveillance, but as far as they could tell he had had a minor case of magical anemia caused by the sudden plummeting of internal ethernano due to magical barrier particle poisoning, but that his dragon slayer nature had helped him consume the darkness of the barrier particles and his demon genes had made him resistant to it. Throw in his use of takeover magic and he had simply over-strained himself slightly when he had pushed himself to create the voids, pressing past his safe magical output.


    Seilah¡¯s spontaneous existence failure had shocked him. She¡¯d fallen, screamed out in pain, writhed in agony, and then broke apart into curse power. It had to be something done from afar. His Archive presented it almost like she had been a projection and the projector had been turned off. Her book had been destroyed.


    Two of the demons of Tartaros were gone forever, barring Arthur purchasing the Books of Zeref from the jump document and getting a copy of them each. Or possibly learning Living Magic the hard way and restoring them from digital back ups on his Archive. Not that he was likely to restore either. He¡¯d gone over the files representing Seilah¡¯s memories of her finest achievements.


    It wasn¡¯t possible to blame the human-dragon war on her specifically, it probably would have happened sooner or later, but she had helped stir the pot that led to it. She¡¯d corrupted the Yakuma clan, converting one branch to worship of Zeref and causing them to slaughter the others, and used her curse to drive a survivor to seek out power above all else. It wasn¡¯t Jiemma, but given his use of the Yakuma clan¡¯s signature magic, and the same rosary beads, Arthur suspected it was Jiemma¡¯s ancestor. She¡¯d been involved in Crawford Seam¡¯s placement on the magic council, and the murder-suicide which had gotten rid of his wife and child, and left him with only one love left in life. And these were her fondest memories. Every single one of them had been a memory of betrayal, suffering, and heartbreak. Of forcing someone to become a monster for her amusement.


    Jackal¡¯s fondest memories were simpler. He had blown things up. Preferably people. And preferably in ways that had made survivors suffer. He contemplated deleting both of the mental backups from his Archive. But good or evil, keeping them was practical and could save people.


    With Enif¡¯s contract renegotiated, flying to Crocus was less tiring than usual. It was still disorienting and uncomfortable, but it did not leave him drained and tired. Well anymore than being strapped onto a living rocket for a transcontinental flight on its own.


    Minerva needed to lay down for a while when they landed. So far she did better than most riding Enif, but across parts of 2 countries and the sea was rough on anyone. Arthur took this chance to open his Archive. He¡¯d had it open in a runic form through the ride. He¡¯d accidentally seen Grimoire Heart¡¯s airship on the way to Era, not that he had realized that until he was trying to find Tenrou Island by comparing it to where Crawford Seam had gone; information that would have been lost if not for Minerva¡¯s defense of the Archive from Jackal¡¯s explosion. He wanted to start his Archive running on whether he¡¯d seen anything on the way back.


    He also wanted to get in contact with Sorano and the Thunderbolts. Give them an eta and request they muster. He¡¯d gotten their report of a successful mission, but that hadn¡¯t been a proper debriefing, and he sort of missed them. Then he had to petition King Toma for an audience to try and get his plan to attack Grimoire Heart cleared; Gran Doma was hesitant on it, he still thought that the Thunderbolts would be more likely to make the continent break out into war between Light and Dark Guilds, but it was ultimately a matter for the royal court as the Thunderbolts were attached to it and they needed to stay that way when pursuing Dark Guilds.


    His Archive was probably now the biggest in the world. Almost certainly the most powerful. It was still in scanning mode and fully opened it was picking up magical information from the air. This was finally what he had hoped for when he purchased it and more. It¡¯d make compiling the books in Diabolos¡¯s library easy. Though that goal from several months ago felt like another lifetime now.


    He flexed his darkness hand. Or tried to. He¡¯d had a dream about dragons last night, and he was beginning to worry that using dragon slayer magic almost 24/7 even if only at a low level would hasten his dragonification. Maybe it was just paranoia, but he thought that part of the skin on his fleshy wrist was becoming hard and scale-like.


    He opened the telepathy link with Sorano and told her he was there, even as he started to run the program to see if he had passed Grimoire Heart again. It¡¯d not finish by the time Minerva had recovered but it could continue in the background once he closed the full physical manifestation.


    Sorano¡¯s obvious relief that he was back was worrisome. The report said everything had gone fine. No injuries. Captures the dark guild. Captured their mobile headquarters. Arthur had to wonder what had actually gone wrong.


    As it turned out MacBeth had decided to teach Lilith a lesson by putting her in the line of fire. She was alive, and the doctors said she would make it, but the Thunderbolts were down a member due to her injuries, and she only got out of there alive because Jellal had gone against the plan, demonstrated some of his old magic, and saved her.


    Arthur couldn¡¯t actually blame her for saying she couldn¡¯t work with MacBeth again. Not that that was an option. Arthur was dreading having to interrogate everyone starting with MacBeth, but MacBeth confessed immediately, even gloating a bit about how clever the plan was because either she¡¯d die, or she¡¯d learn a valuable lesson and grow strong enough to contribute. And if she couldn¡¯t do that. Well she¡¯d die next time.


    Arthur tried to make it clear to MacBeth that she was Draculos¡¯s granddaughter and they really needed to not alienate her to the point of driving a wedge between them and their benefactor who was keeping them out of jail.


    ¡°I signed up for putting my life on the line, and betraying my former fellows, for the chance to do some good in this world and make amends. Not for the sake of babysitting some fucked up granddaughter of someone because they have influence. Anything else?¡± MacBeth said, rising to leave.


    ¡°One thing. Your lesson didn¡¯t work. All you did was make an enemy in your own ranks, and demonstrate an unpreparedness for command. You should have given her some level of proper backup or support; let her think you were relying on her and she failed because she¡¯s not ready. Throwing her out into a dangerous situation with no support and leaving her to die only taught her not to trust you. And me that you¡¯re not ready for command.¡±


    MacBeth scowled. ¡°Is that all, sir?¡±


    ¡°I should discipline you, but¡­ honestly I was wanting to throw her to the wolves myself, so care to help me think of a way to discipline you without really punishing you?¡±


    ¡°What?¡±


    ¡°She¡¯s a pain, you went too far. You should learn that. But I don¡¯t think taking away your privileges or giving you corporal punishment would teach you that. But if I¡¯m going to salvage this situation, and maybe get her to actually learn to contribute I¡¯m going to need to show her you¡¯re being taught. So mind being locked in solitary for a nap? I¡¯ll make sure you have a book or two, maybe come visit you for some Darkness magic practice if I can find the time between the headache that fixing this is going to be.¡±


    MacBeth chuckled a bit. ¡°And if I say no?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll try to find something else.¡±


    ¡°Well I could catch up on some sleep. I¡¯ve only been getting 10 hours a day recently.¡±


    Arthur sighed and slumped after MacBeth had left to report to solitary confinement. Next up was getting Lilith some proper treatment. The capital¡¯s doctors were pretty good, but they weren¡¯t healing mages. There was only one of those he knew of in all of Fiore.


    He¡¯d seeded Magnolia with his space before, and his Archive made it easy to identify the location of one and open it enough to translocate to it. At least from inside of Fiore; he could reach across a country at the moment, at least from the center, beyond that it began to get more difficult. It still took a few minutes instead of the instant that a shorter range would have allowed. From there Fairy Tail¡¯s guild hall was just a twenty minute walk.


    He walked into the guild hall, and moved to the bar to talk to Mirajane about proposing a job. He¡¯d only made it a third of the way through the main tavern-hall of the guild before Lisanna had walked up to him instead.


    ¡°You lied to me,¡± She said accusatively.


    ¡°Uh¡­¡± Arthur froze. His mind shot in a dozen different directions. He wasn¡¯t overclocking, and he had grown too reliant on overclocking. It felt like his brain was flowing through molasses.


    ¡°You told me that big sis and big bro had hired you to come and bring me back, but they didn¡¯t even know that I was in Edolas.¡±


    ¡°I¡­ well¡­ I was going back to Edolas and my Archive had picked up that you were from Earthland, and I knew they missed you, and¡­¡±


    Lisanna¡¯s face softened into a smile. ¡°Thank you,¡± She said. ¡°I wanted to thank you properly. I¡¯m not really sure how I can, but I wanted to.¡±


    ¡°And wait, I never claimed it was a job. Just that they asked for you back.¡±


    ¡°Yes you did, you told that creepy ash guy it was.¡±


    ¡°Oh¡­ that was just to get them to accept your presence and my finishing taking you back in dereliction of my duties,¡± Arthur¡¯s stomach sank. It was that dereliction that had let Honami, Ike, Roy, and Byaku die. Well not bringing Lisanna back in specific, but his general dereliction. He could tell himself it was to research dragon seeds, but he¡¯d gotten distracted from that by side quests.


    ¡°Thank you for taking care of me, and if there¡¯s anything I can do to repay you, don¡¯t hesitate to ask,¡± She placed her hand on Arthur¡¯s arm, smiling warmly at him.


    ¡°Could you tell Wendy I have a job I want to offer her. I have someone who needs healing, and¡­¡±


    Lisanna¡¯s hand slid off his arm, her smile slipping to something more neutral. ¡°Of course. I don¡¯t really think that counts as repaying anything, though.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯d help me though,¡± Arthur said with a smile.


    ¡°Alright, right away, have a seat, order a meal, and I¡¯ll be back as soon as I can. Just got to run to Fairy Hills and see if she¡¯s home,¡± Lisanna said, her smile returning.


    It was around the time that Mirajane came to take his order, that Arthur realized she was hinting at something more. ¡°I¡¯m dense,¡± He muttered under his breath.


    ¡°Definitely,¡± Mirajane said, giving Arthur a look that scared him more than a little. Just how protective was she of her little sister? Was he in danger? ¡°Now can I get you anything?¡±


    Lisanna returned with Wendy before Arthur had had too long to stew in his thoughts. Still he¡¯d been thinking about that touch and that smile. He might be reading it all wrong. She wasn¡¯t necessarily flirting with him. And if she was¡­ Was it just out of gratitude? He had helped her. She felt indebted to him. It was the same basic problem with Sorano. He knew Sorano would say yes if he asked, but he was fairly certain she¡¯d only be doing it out of a sense of owing him it.


    Of course with Sorano there was the looming factor that he was in effect her parole officer at the moment. He held a dominating hand over her fate, and that just felt wrong for anything long term¡­ and made anything at all a risk because short term would ruin the set up and the balance.


    Lisanna¡­ It was just that nagging feeling she would only be doing it out of obligation. He didn¡¯t hold any special power over her. He didn¡¯t have some life or death authority over her. He wasn¡¯t trying to make her do something. If she felt grateful¡­ well that wouldn¡¯t be enough on its own. Would it? Or did it have more to do with thinking that willingness to put himself out there for her without asking for a reward was an attractive quality?


    She was¡­ well she wasn¡¯t gorgeous like her older sister, but she was cute, and definitely attractive. She was young, though. It¡¯d not be clearly inappropriate with his physical age. But he probably had over a decade on her, and while she was an adult by the standards of this world, she was at most borderline by the standards of his own. It definitely broke the one-half your age plus seven year minimum rule of thumb. Whether he was beholden to the standards of his world or this world was a question he could debate, but it went against the moral standards which he had been indoctrinated in throughout his life.


    It was all moot anyway. He had under a month left in Ishgar at this point. It wasn¡¯t worth fretting over romance when he needed to go deal with the deal with Selene. Once he was certain that Acnologia wasn¡¯t going to cause an apocalypse he could think about kissing girls.


    Of course a part of him had the nagging complaint that this was ultimately all fear of rejection and intimacy. He didn¡¯t want to go out and try, because if he failed it would hurt, and secretly believed he would fail if not on launch then sooner rather than later. That even now he wasn¡¯t confident she was being flirtatious and not just grateful he¡¯d helped her. In the back of his mind he was kicking himself for being ultimately a coward.


    Arthur had just realized the idea of asking a cute girl out on a date had him more anxious and scared than declaring war on the most powerful Dark Guild in Fiore, and that he needed to rethink his life choices and behavior, when Lisanna brought Wendy to him.


    Lisanna lingered nearby as he explained the basic situation to Wendy. He had someone who needed healing and he was willing to pay the standard rate if Wendy would heal her.


    ¡°Arthur you don¡¯t need to pay me for my help,¡± Wendy said almost as if the suggestion had hurt her. Carla, the exceed sticking to Wendy¡¯s side as was her wont, nodded as if proud of Wendy¡¯s moral uprightness in declining payment.


    ¡°Fair, but that¡¯s your choice not mine. It¡¯d not have been right for me to just demand it for free.¡±


    ¡°So where is she?¡±


    ¡°Back in Crocus, I¡¯ll take you there and then bring you back here, ok?¡±


    ¡°Alright. Shall we go now?¡±


    Arthur¡¯s eyes flickered to Lisanna. She was beautiful. But¡­ It was already December. He didn¡¯t have time to deal with romance. Or he was just a coward like the nagging doubt in his mind told him.


    ¡°It¡¯ll be easier from where I arrived if you don¡¯t mind a little walk.


    ¡°Not at all, we can catch up a bit. You didn¡¯t even stop to talk to me last time you were here.¡±


    ¡°Sorry about that. You¡¯ll have to fill me in on how it¡¯s been going.¡±


    Once Lilith was healed, Arthur sent Wendy to visit with Minerva and catch up with her, even giving her some jewels for them both to get ice cream. He needed to talk to Lilith.


    She, understandably, had complaints about MacBeth. ¡°I¡¯ve put him in solitary for the next few days,¡± Arthur said. ¡°Though I¡¯ll have to take him out of it for a while to give him a stern, and thorough talking to. But from what I hear Jellal, or one of the former Oracion Seis would have been able to get them out of and survive that position.¡± It wasn¡¯t really fair, from what he had heard it¡¯d have been hard for most of the Oracion Seis to do it. MacBeth would have been fine, but MacBeth was the 2nd most dangerous of them and his Reflector magic was considered an almost invincible shield for a reason. Sawyer would have probably been able to get away, but he¡¯d have needed help to do more than scramble to safety with only the Ten Commandments Spear giving him a chance of fighting his way out. Richard¡­ well Richard was in his element fighting underground. Erik and Sorano would have had trouble. They¡¯d have had a chance, but victory and safety would have been chancy at best.  It hadn¡¯t been a fair situation. Even the other Thunderbolts had admitted that.


    Still, Arthur hoped to salvage something. And, even including Minerva who was a child, Lilith was noticeably the weakest member of the group by a wide margin. Arthur was far from certain that they could afford to bring her against a big name like Grimoire Heart, Tartaros, or Raven¡¯s Tail. Making matters worse she showed no desire to ameliorate this situation. Arthur needed to fix this. It was quite literally his job. But he wasn¡¯t good with people. He¡¯d much rather have been fighting Hades, or Mard Geer. Well¡­ Maybe not. Takeover magic made him feel unclean and with both he would be using it. He had no idea what it would feel like to bathe in Mard Geer¡¯s soul.


    ¡°So what are you saying?¡± The dark haired woman said, glaring at him. She¡¯d not forgiven him for bringing her in. He didn¡¯t really think she wanted to reform. Just like she resented him for her presence here, he resented Draculos for foisting her on him.


    It was a struggle to pretend not to, as he forced himself to look her in the eyes. ¡°I¡¯m saying, if you want to survive you have two options. Quit the Thunderbolts and serve your jail time.¡±


    Her face soured. ¡°Should have known. None of you ever wanted me here in the first place.¡±


    ¡°Or,¡± Arthur continued pointedly ignoring her and cutting off whatever rant she was going to begin, his voice holding a growl that was probably angrier than it should be. An animalistic - or draconic - side of him was growling that he should tear apart the insubordinate little piece of shit, and show her her place with a brutal, one sided beat down. ¡°Or you can work to get stronger. Every other member of the Thunderbolts is doing so. Even Erik is at least training and working with the others, trying to get better at playing team coordinator and in combination tactics. I will be honest. The only way you, as you are now, will survive the next mission I have planned if it gets approved by King Toma is for you to sit at a safe distance, on the sidelines, as potential reinforcements if you¡¯re brought along at all and not deemed a liability to bring within a mile of the combat zone. I cannot see any other way you will survive it. And honestly I can¡¯t see any situation where teleporting you into the fight would be worth the miniscule magical effort it would take.¡±


    The author''s content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.


    ¡°So don¡¯t bring me,¡± She said.


    ¡°Do you think the Council will give you early parole if you never go on the missions? Do you think anyone in the Thunderbolts will cover for you and vouch for you if you do that?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve got my charms. The boys understand that Sorano isn¡¯t actually interested in any of them and just likes playing queen bee. I¡¯m sure that I could¡­¡±


    ¡°Juggle them as lovers as you drain them dry like the vampire you are?¡± Arthur was running a simulation of the demoness, Seilah, on his Archive, letting it feed him responses tinged in manipulative cruelty. She stopped, glaring at him again. ¡°If I had to guess Erik has heard your heart and seen through you. The others will as well. They like Sorano. I honestly think even Richard would kill anyone who really hurt her. Do you think they¡¯ll like you that way if you try and manipulate them?¡± He was not saying all, or even most of the things that Seilah would have. The Seilah-Simulcram kept suggesting using her curse to manipulate Lilith into secret, and total, obedience.


    ¡°So what are you saying?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m saying why not try and get stronger.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t even want to be here.¡±


    ¡°Then quit. But if you want to get stronger,¡± He opened one of the screens of his Archive. ¡°This should be able to maintain itself for a few hours if you don¡¯t do anything particularly energy intensive or hit it.¡± Images of Draculos¡¯s bats were appearing. ¡°I didn¡¯t get much from Draculos during Edolas, but he sat in on some training sessions and used a bit of magic. You use vampire magic just like him, right? Well this is everything my Archive picked up about his magic in our encounters, maybe it¡¯ll help you learn something.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re¡­ I almost died and you¡¯re giving me homework?¡± She said, ¡°I¡¯m the one being punished?¡±


    ¡°How did you survive the underworld? You¡¯re being given a chance at power. Seize it or don¡¯t. That¡¯s up to you. But you¡¯ll have to go on a job sooner or later, and if you don¡¯t at least try to get stronger, I can¡¯t see anyone risking their own life to save yours. That¡¯s all I had to say. I¡¯ve got other business that needs to be attended to.¡± He turned and walked from the room. Hopefully she would study. Or better yet quit.


    Arthur found Wendy and Minerva at the training range that the Thunderbolts, and by extension him and Minerva, had been given to work with. He was uncertain what part of getting ice cream had led to the ground being torn up here and the two girls looking scruffed and bruised, but given Wendy¡¯s complaints he had the feeling Minerva was responsible.


    When they were back in Magnolia, it was Carla who pulled on his hand. ¡°Are we really likely to have to fight demons?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s possible,¡± He said. ¡°Me and Minerva weren¡¯t intending to and we ended up fighting three. Others may be back to take revenge for their fallen, and it¡¯s possible they will target Fairy Tail since I have friends there.¡± He hadn¡¯t checked the friendship bounty in a while. But he felt like he had friends there. If no one else was, he was certain Wendy counted. ¡°I¡¯ll do what I can to prevent that, but I can¡¯t¡­¡±


    Wendy tugged on his hand. ¡°It¡¯s alright. There¡¯s strong mages here too. And if you need help, don¡¯t be afraid to ask for it. I might not be anywhere near as strong as you, but I can heal, and I can fight a little too.¡± She was putting on a brave face, leaving Arthur to wonder how scared she really was of the potential for demons to attack.


    ¡°You¡¯re a good kid, Wendy.¡±


    ¡°Kid?¡± She said petulantly, stomping one foot.


    ¡°And as the adult you shouldn¡¯t endanger her recklessly,¡± Carla chided.


    ¡°Hey, I did not try to get attacked by demons.¡± Arthur and Carla stared at each other for a few moments.


    ¡°Did Minerva really help against them?¡± Wendy asked.


    Arthur hesitated. ¡°She did well against them. She held her own until I got there, and didn¡¯t just sit and hide once I did.¡± Even if he¡¯d have preferred she¡¯d run.


    ¡°I won¡¯t fall too far behind. Let her know that.¡±


    Arthur ruffled Wendy¡¯s hair, getting an irritated look from both her and Carla. ¡°I will,¡± He said, continuing to walk her back to her guild. It¡¯d mean an extra 40 minutes to the trip. But¡­ he hadn¡¯t really had a break to decompress since Edolas. Not a good, solid one.


    His dreams had gotten worse if anything. He didn¡¯t remember them most nights, but when he did it was guilty dreams about the blood on his hands, or Honami¡¯s team and their deaths. He tried to play at being confident in his power, but the demons of Tartaros had forced him to spend points, and he didn¡¯t have the points for another big purchase if Grimoire Heart did. He had less than 2 weeks now to find Grimoire Heart. Stopping Tenrou Island and giving Igneel¡¯s plan time to succeed was the best option he had against Acnologia. He wasn¡¯t sure what he¡¯d do if he failed at it.


    Just walking with Wendy and talking to her about her time at Fairy Tail was soothing and de-stressing at this point. Something that let him stop thinking about the apocalyptic threat still on the horizon.


    By the time he got to the guild hall he had made a decision. When Lisanna popped out of the woodwork - in a cute blue dress - to ask how it went, Arthur gave her a smile. ¡°I was hoping I¡¯d get to see you again,¡± He said. ¡°You wanted to repay me somehow, right?¡±


    ¡°Yeah,¡± She said with a nod.


    ¡°Know any good places to go around here for entertainment? Maybe somewhere nice to eat? Life¡¯s been hectic for a while, and I could use a night off and someone pleasant to share it with if you¡¯d care to join me.¡±


    Sometimes dice had to be cast. Sometimes rubicons had to be crossed. And he really could use a night to relax.


    Arthur wasn¡¯t sure if things actually counted as a date or not. He was buying her dinner, but it was almost more of a guided tour of Magnolia than a date. Plus her older siblings were not-so-subtly stalking them the entire evening.


    Still he tried to show her a good time. To converse. To interact. To make himself actually engage with her as another person. She asked him what Guiltina was like, and he found himself talking somewhat about the dragon eaters of Diabolos, but there was the painful realization that not only did he not really know them too well - introvertedly hiding in a library under the cover of ¡®research¡¯ is not the way to get to know friends - he couldn¡¯t really talk much about it at all because he¡¯d been in Ishgar almost as long at this point.


    He turned the subject back towards Lisanna herself, and what it was like to come home after so long.


    ¡°Wonderful. I mean Edolas big sis and big bro were nice, and they obviously loved me and cared for me, but it was always different. I was filling someone else¡¯s shoes. Now I¡¯m back and it feels like I¡¯m back where I belong with big sis, big bro, and Nat¡­ su¡­¡± She deflated a bit at that and went quiet.


    ¡°Something different with Natsu?¡±


    ¡°Well¡­¡± She looked at the dining table. ¡°Nothing I¡¯d like to think about too much.¡±


    ¡°Then don¡¯t. For tonight, let¡¯s just enjoy ourselves. What would you suggest we do after dinner?¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s a nice dance hall, but¡­ I think you might not be dressed properly for it.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve got jewels to spend,¡± the council had paid him for his work in Era. He could splurge a bit, even though Sorano had ¡®convinced¡¯ him to split his (lion¡¯s) share of the reward from the Kobold Snout mission with the members of the team who had actually been there. ¡°I mean I didn¡¯t end up having to pay Wendy. I can probably afford a change of clothes if you know a place where I could buy something appropriate. Though I should warn you I have no idea how to dance.¡±


    ¡°Maybe dancing isn¡¯t the best idea, then. Any decent play would have sold by now¡­¡±


    ¡°No, if you want to dance, I¡¯m perfectly willing to dance. You just might have to show me how, and where to put my hands.¡± There was a moment of silence, where . ¡°Or well hand.¡±


    Lisana shook her head. ¡°I don¡¯t really know how to dance much myself, it¡¯s just¡­ Well, I¡¯m not a very good guide. I haven¡¯t been here in a while, and even before my idea of fun was a little unusual.¡±


    ¡°Oh? Let me hear it. Weird ways of having fun can be pretty, well, fun.¡±


    ¡°I liked hiking and exploring; seeing what lay beyond another hill or just going about the woods and fields. It¡¯s pretty basic really, and not really the sort of thing you¡¯d probably want to do tonight.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know. Secret spots in the woods,¡± Arthur immediately wanted to take back those words; they made him sound a bit like he had some nefarious intention. ¡°A pretty lake.¡± Another inward kick as he realized what people did in lakes at night according to all the slasher movies he¡¯d ever seen. ¡°Or you know a wonderful view.¡± He reached up scratching the back of his head feeling awkward as could be. ¡°There¡¯s lots of fun stuff in the woods. Strange plants, cute animals, er¡­ pretty flowers.¡±


    ¡°Interesting monsters,¡± Lisanna suggested.


    ¡°That too. I¡¯d be happy to protect you from them.¡±


    ¡°I am a Fairy Tail mage myself, you know,¡± Lisanna said, scrunching up her nose. Then she grew more somber, a melancholic look flowing across her face like a shadow across a pond. ¡°Natsu would protect me from monsters when we went hiking together.¡±


    ¡°And something¡¯s changed there?¡±


    ¡°I¡­ Yeah. Me and Natsu we were¡­ Well we¡¯d never really dated, dated, but everyone thought we were a couple. Well everyone but Natsu. Then in Edolas¡­ Well he, er the Edo Natsu, was with the Edo Lucy and let¡¯s just say you didn¡¯t get much sleep if you had the room next to theirs when they were both in the guild at the same time. But I figured the worlds were so different, but I came home and Lucy was there and she and Natsu were a team.¡±


    ¡°And it¡¯s like she took your place in his heart?¡± Arthur suggested.


    Lisanna shook her head. ¡°No. It just made me realize I never had it in the first place. We grew up together, but he didn¡¯t ever really want to team with me. We¡¯re friends, but¡­ I never was going to have his heart. It still hurts, though¡­ you know?¡±


    Arthur nodded. A part of him wanted to pull her in and hold her close. Just give her a big hug. But he wasn¡¯t really sure that was appropriate. He didn¡¯t really know her that well.


    ¡°You think you have something. Have someone. That you¡¯re special to them, or at least they¡¯re interested in you being special to them and your heart wants to be with them and then to realize they never really felt that way about you is¡­ Well I won¡¯t say it¡¯s more painful than having something and losing it, but at least then you gotta have something.¡±


    Lisanna blushed a bit. ¡°I¡­ Sorry.¡±


    ¡°Sorry?¡±


    ¡°I mean¡­ You asked me out on a date, and then I spend it complaining about how the guy I liked doesn¡¯t like me.¡±


    ¡°Is this a date? I never called it a date,¡± Arthur started. She gave him a look that made him think of an eagle eyeing its prey. ¡°If you want it to be a date it can be. I¡­ Ok, I thought you were flirting, and figured, worse came to worst, I¡¯d have had a pleasant dinner with a lovely companion. And look, I had a pleasant dinner with a lovely companion. I was not trying to say I was feeling that pain. We don¡¯t really know each other. I never thought there was something, or even really the chance for something. I have to go back to Edolas, and Guiltina. You¡¯re a wonderful girl. Cute. Pleasant. Charming. But until I can make sure I don¡¯t turn into a draconic engine of destruction I can¡¯t really commit to anything.¡±


    Arthur stopped to breathe then, nerves screaming on higher alert than they¡¯d been since¡­ Well ok, only since yesterday but still he had to ask himself why talking to a girl was almost as nerve wracking as fighting demons.


    ¡°So then why did you ask me out?¡±


    ¡°Because I thought you were flirting with me, and if you¡¯re single and a beautiful girl is flirting with you¡­ You¡¯d not be a man if you didn¡¯t at least give it a shot.¡± Arthur noted to himself that the situation with Sorano complicated things. Besides, Sorano flirted with every guy around her if she thought they might have something she could benefit from.


    ¡°I sort of was,¡± Lisanna said, grabbing her arm with her opposite hand and looking down. ¡°I just¡­ Well I was feeling down, and thought that if someone showed interest in me¡­ I¡¯d feel less like there was something wrong with me. It¡¯s silly. I¡¯m sorry.¡±


    ¡°Still willing to keep me company for a bit while we look for something fun to do?¡±


    ¡°You still want that?¡±


    ¡°I wasn¡¯t lying when I said I needed something to destress, and I can¡¯t really think of a better way than with the company of a lovely lady. It doesn¡¯t have to be going anywhere more than just a good meal and a break from thinking about the future.¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s so bad about thinking about the future?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve got to track down and¡­¡± Arthur stopped himself. He was willing to tell Lisanna what was technically a state secret, but the Thunderbolts project was black ops, and they were still sitting at an outdoor restaurant. ¡°Security matters actually mean I can¡¯t go around talking about it in public, but let¡¯s just say I have a pending deadline, and then there¡¯s my inevitable return to Edolas.¡±


    ¡°You make it sound like going back there is the end of the world.¡±


    ¡°Hopefully it will be the rebirth of one. But when Selene arrived I got myself entangled with her, and¡­ Let¡¯s just say I ransomed my life, and potentially that of Edolas itself with an offer of service. She gave me a bit of time to put things in order here, but when I¡¯m done I have to go back to her and¡­ Well if all goes well she¡¯ll teach me magic, and Edolas will actually have eternal magic.¡±


    ¡°Then let¡¯s hope all goes well, and not dwell on the future tonight.¡±


    ¡°Care to take a stroll and see if there¡¯s any place that seems fun?¡± Arthur asked, offering his arm.


    ¡°Definitely. You really think I¡¯m lovely?¡± She answered, looping her arm with his.


    ¡°Yes,¡± Arthur said and was rewarded with a beautiful smile.


    The council¡¯s surveillance database had been destroyed. But the sensors weren¡¯t on the ground. They were up there with Etherion. His Archive was fully capable of contacting Etherion. He didn¡¯t have the authorization codes to fire it - though he could almost certainly hack it if he needed to - but he had been authorized to use its surveillance capabilities.


    He found Grimoire Heart¡¯s airship on the 10th. He cut back on the training sessions, for himself and the Thunderbolts, afterwards. If he couldn¡¯t get authorization to go, he¡¯d do it alone on the 14th. That should give him more than a day. Which should be enough. It¡¯d mean jeopardizing the Thunderbolts program, something he hated to do, and burning bridges with Fiore, but if it had to be done he would do it as much as the thought kept him up that night.


    Still it meant he could finally truly turn his Archive¡¯s resources to the purpose he had come to Ishgar for. He had access to one of the finest libraries in Fiore, possibly the finest now that the Magical Council¡¯s Fiore headquarters was destroyed, and given the damage to Era a contender for the finest in Ishgar. He¡¯d let his Archive devour all the information it could on dragon slayers, dragonification, dragons, and the like from it.


    He also had a somewhat illicit option of hacking magical databases from afar. It was a risk. He had to not get caught, but census records could possibly tell him where Rogue and Sting were. And maybe even Yukina. He was preparing to burn bridges anyway, and was fairly confident he¡¯d not be detected. It took him a day of agonizing over it, and an hour of work but while he failed to find Yukina - or more he found a whole list of Yukinas of the right age - he did manage to find a pair of dragon slayers accompanied by talking cats. If he made it through facing off against Grimoire Heart alive he could bring them in.


    But with Tenrou Island looming, and his own waiting for authorization that may or may not come he wasn¡¯t doing that until after he had faced Grimoire Heart. On the next day, the final day he was willing to wait and risk it, the 13th they gave him authorization to mobilize the Thunderbolts against it.


    They were having a group training session when the authorization was given. It was a variation of capture the flag with magic. Minerva, Erik, Jellal, and Sawyer against MacBeth, Lilith, Richard, and Sorano. Arthur had rigged the randomization process to force MacBeth and Lilith to work together.


    She was still the weakest link. That was simply undeniable. But she was learning. She had long relied on the - illegal - charm aspect of her vampire magic; controlling minds and forcing obedience. Now she was at least trying to master the other aspects. But in under a week she was not ready for fighting Grimoire Heart. Feeling a touch godly, Arthur decided that when he raptured the others to the battle she would be left behind.


    The others he hoped were ready.


    Minerva was anticipating getting to tag along. She¡¯d been training hard for it, though Arthur worried. She wasn¡¯t quite up to the level of the Seis when it came to unconstrained, total conflict. It was a matter of experience. He didn¡¯t really want to put her into the fray, but she was determined to be a warrior. She¡¯d resent being pulled back, who knew how much, and truth be told she was getting pretty good with her territory barriers; she might save someone else¡¯s life. She¡¯d only been allowed to use them in today¡¯s group training, but despite that she¡¯d been able to present a significant obstacle for Sorano and MacBeth.


    The Oracion Seis were experienced mages. With Brain, and Zero, backing them they had been powerful enough to not be profitable to forcibly absorb. MacBeth was struggling to replace Brain. The man had been a foster father to him; a tyrannical and abusive one, but he had been a figure of support and stability. MacBeth saw himself as the natural successor to lead the Oracion Seis, and seemed to be angling for the position by studying darkness magic like Brain had. He had a natural talent for it, picking it up with ease, and Arthur had been working through it with him over the course of the last few days. Just like Minerva he had been given a restriction; he¡¯d only been allowed to use Darkness Magic.


    Sorano had been limited to silver spirits, and a training weapon. Sawyer was actually allowed his magic freely, though he was using a training weapon. Richard was required to wear the black armor. Jellal, Erik, and Lilith had not been limited except by the basic rules against injuring each other. They weren¡¯t trying to learn anything in particular where preventing them from defaulting to something else was important. Jellal had dominated. He was beginning to remember his magic, and Jellal was a terrifyingly potent mage. If Arthur was completely honest with himself the only mages he¡¯d seen that likely surpassed him were Georg, Serena, and Draculos. All of whom had decades of experience over him. The rate at which he absorbed magical knowledge was prodigious. He was what Arthur had cheated to become, or he had the potential to become something close at least. In all honesty there wasn¡¯t a question of who the most powerful Thunderbolt was if you removed Arthur from the equation.


    But now it was time to give the briefing. Arthur wasn¡¯t really confident he knew how to do this, but it was the job he found himself in.


    Arthur¡¯s Archive had opened up a display of the information he had managed to collect on Grimoire Heart and its 7 Stakes of Purgatory. The projection dominated the center of the table that the Thunderbolts were assembled around.


    ¡°Grimoire Heart¡¯s airship is shown here. Interior mapping has proven impossible at this time. Its minimum speed, acceleration, range, and known armaments are listed here. It is our target location. It is currently here,¡± The projection switched to an aerial map of Ishgar. ¡°Moving west from Bosco towards the sea. I believe it is seeking out Tenrou Island.¡±


    ¡°Tenrou Island?¡± Sawyer said. ¡°Where¡¯s Tenrou Island, and why would it be after there?¡±


    ¡°Tenrou Island, also known as Fairy Tail¡¯s Holy Land, is a site involved in the foundation of the guild Fairy Tail. Warded by powerful magic which I have failed to penetrate with the techniques which found Grimoire Heart¡¯s airship and is currently tracking it. It is potentially the site of magical secrets. The wards can be lowered by the guild master, and I believe this will be done in 2 days for their S-Rank exam. I have no hard evidence this is Grimoire Heart¡¯s goal, but if it is we must be careful. Fairy Tail is Fiore¡¯s top ranked mage¡¯s guild and if they are preparing to attack a site with all their most powerful mages they will be coming in force and with their most powerful members.¡±


    ¡°So we wait till they¡¯re done with Fairy Tail and clean them up once they¡¯ve exhausted themselves with those goody goodies,¡± MacBeth said.


    ¡°Erza will be on Tenrou. Won¡¯t she?¡± Jellal said.


    ¡°MacBeth, you are the goody goodies now. Our goal is to prevent them from obtaining theirs. Grimoire Heart wiping out the foremost light guild in the country would be a disastrous failure and the council would be certain to look at it that way as well. Besides, if there really is some great power there we don¡¯t want to risk them obtaining it.¡±


    MacBeth seethed lightly. ¡°Ok, ok. But this isn¡¯t some little guild, this is the top guild of the Balam Alliance. If we included dark guild members, Hades would be one of the Four Gods of Ishgar, maybe the top one.¡±


    ¡°I beat Serena, and Draculos accepts that I¡¯m more powerful than him.¡±


    ¡°Way I remember that fight, it was indecisive,¡± MacBeth said.


    ¡°When he tried to kill me, in Edolas, was fairly decisive,¡± Arthur said, the lie coming easily as he seemed to be starting to believe it himself. The Thunderbolts looked at him when he said that. Some of them had heard at the time; but it was hard to remember that he supposedly fought and killed Serena while they were lacrima. ¡°We¡¯ve also got Jellal here. His thought projection alone could make Wizard Saint. He might be at the level to compete for a title among the Four Gods. Not to mention you have all grown since your time in the Oracion Seis. Do not let Master Hades terrify you.¡±


    Arthur eyed the group. They were all showing varying levels of concern, fear, or anxiety. ¡°They may have gathered their forces, but we will have the element of surprise. While they have some familiarity with your abilities, your new capabilities should come as a surprise, and they do not have familiarity with mine. They also should not be expecting an attack of any sort. This means we will need to capitalize on the element of surprise.


    ¡°Moving on I have included an overview of the known magic and capabilities of each of the members of the 7 Stakes of Purgatory.¡± Seilah had known a fair bit on the matter. ¡°That said I am a piss poor excuse for a leader, and a worse tactician. So let¡¯s talk about strategy. MacBeth, Sorano, Jellal, I assume you will each have opinions.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re asking mine?¡± MacBeth said. ¡°Aren¡¯t you afraid I¡¯ll throw Lilith into the meat grinder?¡±


    Lilith tensed, her entire body tightening, as she went livid with rage, fingers squeezing until her knuckles stood out bone white.


    ¡°She¡¯d be a liability. I figured we¡¯d leave her here as dead weight,¡± Arthur said. ¡°We can¡¯t afford for Minerva or Jellal to have to babysit her.¡±


    ¡°Th-the child?¡± Lilith asked.


    ¡°She¡¯s a combat capable mage. I think she¡¯s prepared to come with us. But I can¡¯t have her distracted with your welfare.¡±


    ¡°Bullshit. I¡­¡±


    ¡°Would die, and maybe get someone else killed in the process.¡±


    Lilith, perhaps having realized she didn¡¯t actually want to go, diplomatically remained silent. With that out of the way the discussion began in earnest as to what to do and how to do it. It would last until night. In the morning they would prepare for the assault.


    ¡°Now, let¡¯s cover everything I¡¯ve managed to put together about Grimoire Heart¡¯s 7 Stakes and how to counter them.¡± He couldn¡¯t remember them all from the manga; it¡¯d been a decade or more since he¡¯d read Tenrou Island. He could add nothing to the information he had found in this world about Dustyrose whose magic was nearly a black box to both the government and Tartaros. On the other side was Kain who he could add nearly nothing to the information of because he was so well known. Where his information was most key were Ultear, Meredy, and Caprico. The first two were simply ¡®unidentified¡¯ by governmental archives, and the third was believed to be some sort of beast-race. ¡°Also I¡¯ve reached out for some outside help. I¡¯m not sure they¡¯ll provide it, they were a little hesitant, but I¡¯ll fill you in on them as well.¡±

 Grimoire Hunt Pt 1

    Despite a sleepless night full of nightmares about Brain, Edo Georg, and Naked Mummy, the first portion of the plan went off without a hitch. Altair managed to confirm the airship¡¯s location visually. Caelum moved into a long-range fire-support position. Arthur donned Enif¡¯s star dress, making certain to have the others securely wrapped in his territory, and then he flew to the ship.


    He was small. A single individual approaching the massive ship, from behind, and going fast. Ideally they¡¯d never even notice he was coming. But no plan ever survives contact with the enemy. The ship began to turn, weaving to the side to dodge his initial charge. He compensated, but the Enif dress was faster than maneuverable, taking a few moments to stop, and bring itself around at the speed it was going.


    The airship¡¯s main cannon was charging. Dark energy was building at the cannon, and Arthur did not want to test to see if it would remain dark enough for him to eat. He began to weave, giving up forward velocity to dip and swerve around the blast, letting it fly past him and strike the sea in the distance, sending water erupting upwards.


    It didn¡¯t manage to get a second shot, as he¡¯d gotten close enough for his Archive to pick up on the inside of the ship. It wasn¡¯t a clear, or full, image but it was enough for him to stretch his space inside of it, and teleport on board. He¡¯d not matched its speed perfectly, causing himself to slam into one of the inner bulkheads.


    He didn¡¯t feel it as anything more than a dull pressure through his territory armor, and in instants he was following the plan. The gate of the little horse opened, and the miniature horse spirit Equulus appeared. Renegotiations had been successful, loosening the days he could be summoned.


    Arthur had briefed the horse on what to do the evening before. It took off, running through the halls of the ship, as Arthur opened a third gate. He was going to be running through his magical energy quickly; 3 gates, 3 star dresses, his territory armor, using his Archive to its maximum potential by combining overclocking, maintaining a telepathic communication link, and high end observation and data gathering abilities and soon he¡¯d be adding his darkness dragon¡¯s hand and serial takeover, and potentially requipping magic armor. All that and he had to fight a mage who could take down armies, and had enough magical power to rival Gildarts, and thus his own. At least two of the celestial spirits didn¡¯t require much power at all.


    The nikora spirit of canis minor appeared. A little, spike nosed ¡®dog¡¯ that had no canine features in the least except its sense of smell. Like Equulus it knew what to do running off in the opposite direction of the little horse. Next was connecting to his territory. The distance was a matter of miles not hundreds of miles, he had prepared the area beforehand, and had real time link through his Archive connection with the Thunderbolts. It¡¯d take only moments.


    But he couldn¡¯t drop his guard at the moment. His Archive detected a mage¡¯s ethernano signature moving through that of the ship, almost identical with it. Grimoire Heart¡¯s best and brightest were coming out of the walls.


    Before they could reach him, Arthur had already used takeover magic. He merely assumed Jackal¡¯s ¡®human¡¯ form, his ears becoming wolf-like, and a cat-like tail growing. Black patterns formed on his arms. His face didn¡¯t shift; unlike with Seilah he saw no reason to go the extra mile beyond power to take on Jackal¡¯s entire appearance or run Jackal¡¯s mind parallel to his own.


    He only needed one thing, and as his hand thrust outwards the explosion manifested striking the wall of the ship that the dark mage was merged into and passing through.


    The wall, and a good chunk of the floor, and those of the deck below it, was torn apart by the massive explosion which he generated. His bounties rewarded him with loot if he could take it; but his deal with the Council already prevented that and Grimoire Heart was too dangerous to restrain himself from inflicting collateral damage to the mechanisms of their base.


    He didn¡¯t see the mage in the rubble, though he saw others. He hadn¡¯t held back, but had gone for a full force and full power attack. Despite the demonic glee in the destruction he wrought he hoped he hadn¡¯t killed him. If nothing else it¡¯d look bad in the report.


    If he had to guess, and he did, he¡¯d have said it was the mage known as Azuma. Like all the Seven Kin of Purgatory he practiced a form of Lost Magic, known to be potentially dangerous to the caster as well as his enemies. His magic involved merging with trees and controlling and directing the magical energy of the earth itself. Arthur remembered he had fought Erza in the manga and had come closer to defeating her than the vast majority of her foes, leaving the impression that he was possibly the most dangerous of the Seven Kin.


    The other possibility was that he was Master Hades, and Arthur did not believe for a second that he would have gone down that easily or been taken by surprise. Hopefully Azuma had been. And if Azuma died then Arthur¡¯s goal here might be considered accomplished already. He had turned the magical energy of Tenrou Island against the Fairy Tail mages, reversing the benefits - and protection from injury - it had provided them to drain their energy from them. Without him Grimoire Heart¡¯s attack had no chance of success.


    Unfortunately taking one of their members out wasn¡¯t stopping the Seven Stakes from reacting. Arthur didn¡¯t have time to teleport in the others as a small group of dark mages Arthur didn¡¯t recognize began to leap from the ruined decks of their airship where several mages lay buried in rubble. Arthur¡¯s research hadn¡¯t covered the lower echelons as well as it should have, it would seem; he¡¯d focused on the Kin and Bluenote. He hadn¡¯t remembered other members showing up in the manga.


    ¡°Think you can take out Grimoire Heart with a surprise attack? You¡¯re one cocky bastard!¡± If Arthur hadn¡¯t been overclocking he might have been dangerously stunned by the talking, anthropomorphic chicken that was preparing to attack him. But it sped his thoughts and his reactions, allowing Arthur¡¯s territory explosions to wrap around the mages and detonate. It was smaller in scale than Jackal¡¯s curse; he was actually afraid he¡¯d kill these mages if he went near full force.


    The ship was shaking and bouncing. Arthur knew why. He could feel the repeated drain to his magical energy as Caelum began firing from its long range firing position. His Archive magic had identified the ship¡¯s engines, and the spirit was taking them out. Soon Grimoire Heart¡¯s air ship would have to prove whether it could serve as a seaworthy vessel or not.


    ¡°Those weaklings didn¡¯t really belong in Grimoire Heart,¡± a yellow haired man said. Arthur recognized him. He was Zancrow, a fire mage practicing god slayer magic. He wasn¡¯t sure his memories of his personality from the manga were correct, but if they were he was a sadistic blood knight; narratively an evil mirror to Natsu. ¡°I guess I¡¯ll have to show you the real power of the guild.¡±


    Arthur¡¯s explosion magic washed over him to no effect, the mage scarfing it down. Arthur kicked himself; he thought of it as explosions but it was explosions of fire. ¡°Thanks for the meal. Fire God¡¯s Supper!¡± Zancrow flowed fluidly into his spell, black flames shooting forth. They carried the power from Arthur¡¯s own explosion magic; too much to easily block with his territory armor, so he swapped places with Zancrow, letting the mage¡¯s fires hit and surround him. He was a practitioner of slayer magic, they¡¯d not hurt him, but the point was simply to get out of the way.


    ¡°Shut up old man, I can handle it!¡± Zancrow shouted, talking to someone Arthur couldn¡¯t see. His Archive could pick up on the presence of a telepathic message, though. It was sent through the guild marks, Arthur couldn¡¯t pick up what it was exactly. Still he had to act quickly; who knew how much time before the Seven Stakes were converging on his position. Hopefully Caelum¡¯s external assault would peel off one or two, but he couldn¡¯t take them all alone no matter what sort of surprise was on his side.


    Zancrow¡¯s distraction bought him the time he needed, though. In a flash he had brought in his allies. Sorano held the Astra Weapon in one hand, Scorpio¡¯s key in the other. Racer held the Ten Commandments Spear, already prepared to launch himself at Zancrow. Erik was wearing Orion¡¯s star dress summoned by Arthur in preparation; the hunter¡¯s key may have broken but the contract still held and it only required the bond to summon the star dress not the key itself. MacBeth held the Rosa Espada in one hand. Jellal alone didn¡¯t have something to bolster him above his normal level. Richard was wearing the Dorma Anim Mk 2, but it would take longer to teleport him in, so he had not been summoned yet.


    ¡°I win,¡± Arthur said, drawing Zancrow¡¯s gaze. Their eyes met for only an instant but it was enough. Darkness flowed through Zancrow¡¯s vision, his world going black as Sawyer using the Ten Commandment Spear¡¯s speed form, and Jellal with his own heavenly body magic, rushed forward at speeds that even overclocked would try Arthur¡¯s reflexes to react and defend against, and without it would be hard to even perceive.


    ¡°Fire God¡¯s Bellow!¡± Zancrow shouted wildly, releasing black flames from his mouth. MacBeth¡¯s hand waved dismissively as his reflector sent it flying upwards to clear the path for the others.


    That was two of the Seven Kin down, and the battle hadn¡¯t even really begun. As long as Caelum could peel off one or two, things might go swimmingly. If luck was extra swing-y maybe it had just really swung in his favor.


    His Archive magic blared warning; two powerful magical presences were on the move and another was building in the bowels of the ship.


    ¡°Everyone know what to do?¡± Arthur asked. Even as he spoke he was uploading the map created by Equulus and Nikora as they ran through the ship. Including the Kin they had encountered.


    ¡°Yeah,¡± Sawyer stated, hitting Zancrow repeatedly with the butt of his spear to make sure that the dark mage was down and not faking it.


    Arthur glanced at Jellal as he brought Richard onto the ship.


    ¡°Watch out!¡± Erik shouted suddenly, diving to the side.


    Arthur had been about to give the same warning. The harder to discern of the two presences had gotten dangerously close and were taking action. In an instant he was moving, his body expanding as fur grew across it and he shifted from his Jackal-fied form into a shape more like the etherius¡¯s true etherious form. Claws grew from his fingertips, his head distending into a wolf¡¯s muzzle, and his body taking on a shape similar to a cat-tailed werewolf¡¯s.


    He¡¯d barely completed his transformation before dark chains burst from a wall. It was Hades, the guild master of Grimoire Heart and 2nd master of Fairy Tail. A tall, thin, bearded old man. He had a certain look of Odin about him; the eyepatch, cape, and Wagnerian horned helmet creating the effect. He wore light armor on his chest, with heavy pauldrons and gauntlets, though he wore none on his legs.


    Not that any of them there were taking note of his clothing. His sheer presence, and oppressive aura of magical power, were far more notable than his clothing. Arthur had felt worse in that moment where Selene had revealed herself in her dragon form. But it was in the same league as his own magical power, maybe even Serena¡¯s. He realized immediately that he had gravely underestimated Hades¡¯s actual power. The others did not have Arthur¡¯s frame of reference. Save for Jellal, his magical power was beyond their ability to judge except as ¡®vast¡¯.


    Not that any of them had much time for that. The chains had launched towards them all. Arthur had parried after forming a weapon of darkness from his stump arm. It was more intricate than usual, relying on his dark dominion magic as opposed to pure dragon slayer magic. He lacked the sensory feedback from his darkness dragon¡¯s hand, but the weapon was a hole in space, portal to a shadow dimension formed into a long sword-like ¡®blade¡¯, though along its edge ran sharply bladed teeth which alternated between the true all-consuming void magic, pulling things in towards them and into a dimension of dissolution, and magical barrier particles. It was the pinnacle of his attempt to craft his own magic style, blending and incorporating everything he had learned.


    Jellal had managed to block his own, deflecting them with a swift flurry of elemental magic. Chunks of rock were forming and disappearing as he used it in a series of shields. Arthur hadn¡¯t known he¡¯d had that sort of magic, but Jellal did always seem to have new tricks up his sleeve.


    Richard was wearing heavy armor and while it did have magic to move it, it was slow to kick in, and prone to over shooting movement. Dodging wasn¡¯t a real option for him. Still his armor absorbed magic the chains had barely pulled him down when they broke apart like cobwebs.


    Sawyer had super speed magic, and slowing magic, but neither were activated in time. Sorano had summoned Scorpio, the scorpion man celestial spirit doing its best to block the chains with sand but he was a moment too slow, or a bit too weak as his summoned sand parted to reveal both Sorano and Scorpio being whipped and dragged around by the chains. The three of them were in a rather sorry state.


    MacBeth had handled himself admirably. His reflector magic had returned the chains back to the sender. Hades pulled back the chains which had failed to catch Erik to block them but as he was distracted by that Arthur was able to cut the chains holding Sawyer, and Sorano.


    The Thunderbolts were quickly back on the offensive, Jellal, a still bound Scorpio, and Richard attacking almost instantly after that brief moment of distraction. Hades blocked them all, his magic seeming to transform their attacks into nothing more than a field of darkness projected from one of his clawed gauntlets.


    ¡°I¡¯d heard you were attacking dark guilds, but I didn¡¯t expect you to have the utter stupidity to come here. How did you even find us? And the demon¡­ takeover magic? Is this your new leader?¡± Hades was calm, and self-assured as he spoke. It didn¡¯t stop him from fighting, one hand raised in imitation of a gun, firing magical projectiles one after another, the other working to control his chains. ¡°Rumor is he collared and leashed you, and turn-¡±


    As nonchalant as Hades was being, he was obviously being pressed. He probably hadn¡¯t known about the former Oracion Seis being here when he had come alone, and it showed. He hit Sorano with a magic bullet taking her down, but before he could capitalize on it he had to avoid a poison dragon¡¯s claw from Erik. He dodged back from it but his attempt to counter attack was thwarted by the need to block a spell from Richard. Still he didn¡¯t miss a beat in his speech until Sawyer managed to ram his spear through Hades¡¯s back.


    He pulled it out. ¡°Sorry, boss. I know you said you¡¯d prefer him alive but-¡± A chain of darkness shot out, straight for Sawyer¡¯s heart.


    Arthur swapped positions with his ally, trusting that his territory armor enough to deflect the spear-headed chain and that his etherious form would survive it if not only for MacBeth¡¯s reflector magic to send the chain back down at Hades himself.


    It wasn¡¯t there to stop the counter attack. Hades had begun to take them seriously it would seem. Dark, purple energy constructs formed around Arthur¡¯s body as Hades moved his hand through a hand sign as he lay on his back. Arthur, though, wasn¡¯t standing still. He was wearing his Enif star dress, one which was thoroughly filled with speed enhancing magic. He shot forward. Hades used his chain magic, manifesting them to block Arthur¡¯s chainsaw-hand. For a moment they held, but only for a moment, the blade swung down, slashing into Hades¡¯s body, cutting across his chest. His legs wrapped around Arthur¡¯s arm to stop him from using the chainsaw, leaving Arthur to slam his clawed demon-hand into Hades¡¯s face and body several times.


    ¡°Katsu!¡± Hades shouted and Arthur felt a spike of magical energy surge around him, shaking and shattering his territory armor. His Archive captured some of how the spell had worked; or well part of the spell. In truth Hades hadn¡¯t cast a spell, merely released the energy held up in one he had cast earlier; a big, but single use, offensive blast.


    Big enough in this case to blast Arthur¡¯s star dress from him, reverting him to his normal armor. Hades rolled and leapt to his feet while Arthur was momentarily stunned, but the old man looked hurt and he wasn¡¯t moving as quickly. Something had happened in the ship¡¯s engine room, and the heart wasn¡¯t functioning reliably. To make things worse the Thunderbolts were there to ensure he didn¡¯t completely get his footing.


    Hades was being pushed onto his backfoot and forced onto the defensive. The Ten Commandments Spear¡¯s speed form and the Meteor spell gave Sawyer and Jellal a combination of speed and power that meant he couldn¡¯t quite block them both. The belts of the Orion Star Dress shot out to attack him from Erik¡¯s arms, pulling him into a poison dragon¡¯s claw which would have been lethal to a lesser man. MacBeth hung back ready to disrupt and take down his attempts at counter attack, while Richard used the Dorma Anim Mk 2 to continuously drain power from the ship and fire it against him whenever Jellal and Sawyer were clear, forcing him to weather blast after blast.


    Arthur could have decisively tipped and ended the battle, but Hades was not actually fighting them alone.


    Magical gravity grasped Arthur and pulled him down, the deck of the ship breaking underneath him as he was tugged to a lower one. It was the mercenary wizard Bluenote. The most powerful member of Grimoire Heart save for Hades himself, the mage looked almost like a villain from a martial arts film set in Qing china. While the front of his head wasn¡¯t actually shaved, he had the same stance, and general look as one; arrogant, predatory, and with the appearance of a cocky martial arts genius. His hair was still worn in a long ponytail that looked like it was ready to be weaponized.


    Arthur could feel himself pulled into the bottom of the ship, pressing against its keel. Bluenote stood opposite of him, the wizard¡¯s gaze gauging him. Arthur could stand against the magic, but it¡¯d burn through his magical energy. If he went all out against Bluenote he¡¯d not have the strength to fight Hades. But if he didn¡¯t he¡¯d not be there to fight him when the Thunderbolts needed him.


    He requipped, donning black armor. It was not completely unlike that which Hades had initially worn. Its helmet lacked horns and had a more open face, but still bore a vaguely Grecian crest. Like Hades¡¯s it consisted of a cuirass with pauldrons and a heavy, almost claw-like metal gauntlet. And like his there was chain mesh between pauldron and gauntlet. Unlike Hades¡¯s which became simple pants below the waist, it possessed a little more of a loin guard, a metal ¡®skirt¡¯ of plates, and had greaves which rose partway up the thigh, but left most of the clad in chain mesh. It fit awkwardly on his takeover form, but the magic had helped to resize it and refit it somewhat.


    Arthur had selected it due to a fascination with the potentials of gravity magic, and an erroneous belief that it would help him develop his Dark Dominion magic. It hadn¡¯t but, here it made it easy to cut through Bluenote¡¯s spell and rise to his feet. It was all the armor could do. It didn¡¯t actually match either his, or Bluenote¡¯s maximum output, but it was enough to mitigate Bluenote¡¯s spell without costing him as much as it otherwise would have, the armor serving as a level for his magical power.


    Bluenote¡¯s hands rose palms coming together as a sphere of darkness formed in front of him. It began to pull the air into it, causing the wind to howl inside of the ship, everything not bolted down beginning to fly towards it. Only Arthur still stood. ¡°Normally I wouldn¡¯t start serious, but you gave the old monster trouble, so I¡¯m going to take you on without holding back from the start,¡± He said.


    ¡°Thanks, I guess,¡± Arthur answered. His Archive was analyzing the sphere. At a glance it wasn¡¯t all that different from his own All-Consuming Void. Both were black spheres which pulled everything into them. But the similarity ended around there. While the black hole didn¡¯t really function like a real black hole, it was gravitational force, and not merely magic that pulled things in; a technical difference more than anything. Arthur¡¯s, though, pulled things into another dimension, where this simply crushed them into a small point. Arthur¡¯s spell was cast and forget, the magic maintaining it on its own as it weakened and ran out over time. Bluenote¡¯s required constantly feeding it; but it grew more and more powerful with time.


    Arthur¡¯s chainsaw-hand detached, compacting itself and imploding, turning into a hole into a world of shadow and destruction. It was his All-Consuming Void and it was pulled into the Black Hole only for the two spells to begin to eat each other.


    Arthur took the moment, his territory warping him behind Bluenote before he spun, lashing out with his stolen explosion curse.


    Bluenote¡¯s magic pulled the explosion down the moment it formed, but down was the flow and it blasted a hole in the bottom of the ship beneath him.


    Bluenote remained, standing on air. ¡°Is that really the best you¡¯ve got?¡± He asked as his leg struck Arthur in the chest, his hand grasping his head, and pulling it down. His knee moved to ram into it, and Arthur felt his nose smush and break. Bluenote didn¡¯t stop there, each blow followed by another, and the gravity of his magic seeming to build with each strike.


    The dragon force called to Arthur. It was a siren song which told him all he needed was to let it out and it could make this go away in an instant. But Arthur didn¡¯t dare use it. Especially after Selene¡¯s warning about Acnologia. He couldn¡¯t simply hope to defeat Hades and Bluenote. He needed to do it without using his full power, and save enough strength to flee without sacrificing the Thunderbolts if Acnologia arrived.


    Arthur formed a sword of darkness from his hand, but Bluenote caught his stump and brought a hand down onto his elbow. It would have broken it if not for his territory armor. Arthur was trying to avoid using it though, taking blows to his chest and body, only blocking vitals.


    But the building gravity magic was growing problematic. He felt it against his armor, felt his armor strain to resist it before it began to break. The magic of his requip shattered, the summoned armor fading even as he felt all the gravity hit him at last and drive him down, plunging him from the ship and towards the sea below.


    Bluenote sagged, breathing heavily. Sweat coated his brow as both his hands focused on pushing Arthur with the absolute maximum of force down into the sea. It was creating a crater and then a whirlpool in the water, but at least Arthur¡¯s body was disappearing beneath the waves.


    Hades ripped his eyepatch free. His demon¡¯s heart was beating once more, and he could feel its power. He would have to take things seriously. ¡°I didn¡¯t think it¡¯d come to this, ¡°The Book of Zeref, fourth chapter, twelfth verse, Hidden Magic Nemesis!¡± It was one of his many trump cards which he kept up his sleeve. He began to turn the rubble and damaged portions of his ship into black, demonic forms. They rose up like so many monsters to surround Jellal and the former Oracion Seis.


    A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.


    They began to attack. It was a devastating assault. Individually they were powerful creatures, each one a living incarnation of magic and malice, a curse given physical form, but the Thunderbolts were not weaklings.


    Richard¡¯s arms rose, the hands of his armor glowing as he swept with blasting energy. It tore through the demons like a scythe through grass, cutting them down.


    ¡°Heavenly Body Magic - Grand Chariot!¡± Jellal called out, the shape of the Big Dipper appearing in magical seals over his head before spheres of light crashed down and exploded around Hades. The ground shattered beneath him, dropping him a lower deck, but he was fine. Even the wounds he had previously suffered were healing. His magic was restoring him, and it was only a moment for him to create more demons.


    ¡°I can¡¯t believe Brain¡¯s pawns came together as such a force,¡± Hades said. The Thunderbolts were being pressed harder. Scorpio managed a shield of sand, and MacBeth launched back some of their attacks, but it was becoming harder and harder for them to avoid the demons¡¯ attacks. ¡°Still your keeper is as good as dead, and I have a proposition for you.¡±


    ¡°What, serve me or die?¡± MacBeth asked.


    ¡°Brief and to the point, I like that,¡± Hades said. ¡°But accurate. You can see my power. I dance with magic, it and I are one. I will awaken Zeref, and usher in the Great Magic World. In this world you will be able to take your magic infinitely further. Your keeper is gone, and I will free you from the Council¡¯s interference as well. All you need to do is serve me.¡±


    ¡°Great Magic World?¡± Erik asked, between poison roars, trying to cut back on the hoard of demons encroaching.


    ¡°A return to the world of primal magic. When darkness, chaos, and magic ruled. No longer would you have to deal with the magically impotent, instead you would be able delve deeper and further into your magic than ever before.¡±


    ¡°And this has to do with awakening Zeref and attacking Fairy Tail¡¯s island, how?¡± MacBeth shot back.


    Hades looked a little surprised at that question. ¡°Your intelligence is better than I suspected. Even some on this ship didn¡¯t know our destina-,¡± Suddenly the demonic horde he had called forth vanished into nothing, the clots of earth that he had turned into his army returning to what they had been before. His Demon¡¯s Heart had been destroyed once more.


    Scorpio¡¯s sand hit him, knocking him into a wall behind him. ¡°Big words, but it doesn''t seem like you¡¯ve killed our keeper yet,¡± MacBeth said with a sneer, hand rising up, darkness magic forming around it. ¡°Dark Rondo!¡±


    Hades did his best to counter it. He was weak without his heart; he¡¯d spent too much enemy on that hidden magic. He managed to escape, but only barely in time to raise a shield against the blast of destructive force from Richard.


    Jellal struck him from the side, an arm catching under the old mage¡¯s throat, and slammed him into the ground, leaving him open as Erik¡¯s hand plunged down, stabbing into his chest.


    Hades coughed up blood, and then he felt the flow of magic from his Demon¡¯s Heart once more. It was sustaining his body once more, and returning his magic to him. Chains shot out, catching Sawyer¡¯s attempt to finish him with his spear, and he kicked, forcing Erik back.


    He needed to end this quickly before his heart was destroyed again. Caprico and Meredy should be on the way. He¡¯d given them both the call already. Hopefully Caprico had finished mobilizing the new project to lend Ultear a hand, and it didn¡¯t seem to matter much if there was a pilot for the ship at the moment. The ranged bombardment had stopped; presumably it meant that at least Rustyrose among his Kin could do the job assigned to him.


    The disruptions of magical energy had allowed him to be wounded, and while it could heal it afterwards, the healing wasn¡¯t perfect. He hurt all over. But Hades had not risen to the position of second master of Fairy Tail by being weak, and he had managed to rise to the master of Ishgar¡¯s premiere dark guild in his old age on the merit of his strength. He just needed a few moments, if he could focus on a spell he could end this immediately with Grimoire Law.


    He considered the possibility of using Nemesis again. But that was a tiring magic, and the ship¡¯s magical energy was in disarray by the repeated destruction of its heart. He was on the defensive, and he lacked a solid means of changing that. Scorpio and MacBeth covered the team from attacks from afar. Sorano was taking pot shots with the Astra Weapon, in the form of a tommy gun that fired bullets of explosive sand, whenever her allies backed away enough. It was more spray and pray than anything, but it provided a distraction. Erik, Sawyer, and Jellal all pressed him into close combat, and Sawyer¡¯s slow magic repeatedly forced him to dispel it. If he didn¡¯t, Richard, protected from it by his armor, would drain the ship¡¯s energy quickly enough - from Hades¡¯s perception - that he risked running momentarily out of power, and after tasting the heavy blast that came when he allowed that to happen, Hades did not want to repeat the performance.


    His troops began to pour in. At first they were barely consequential. The Thunderbolts scattered them almost without relenting their assault on him. It was only Caprico¡¯s arrival which changed things.


    The mage was a goat man, or well in truth he was a mage who was possessing the body of the celestial spirit Capricorn the goat. He¡¯d been among the Kin who was labeled as extremely dangerous. His magic allowed him to control and subjugate anything human. Knowledge of the details was limited, but he was definitely not to be taken lightly.


    ¡°Minerva needs help. Richard, can you handle it here?¡± Sorano said.


    ¡°Go, you¡¯d only be a liability,¡± the armored mage said. It was Sawyer who was off first, calling a motorcycle and riding past Caprico. He might not have made it if not for MacBeth finally turning his reflector magic to the offensive, twisting the ship, and throwing Caprico to the side. Sawyer, warned by the active Archive link, was ready for it, as the mages of Grimoire Heart fell out of the airship as MacBeth¡¯s magic twisted it in half, and even Caprico struggled to stay on the ship, Sawyer rode across the forming gap, landing on the tilting wall, and kept going.


    Sorano was behind him, leaping the gap and landing.


    ¡°Ultear!¡± Hades screamed as the front portion of the ship, no longer attached to the back - and thus propulsion and magic that kept it aloft - began to fall from the sky, with him in it.


    Jellal attacked then. It was a flowing mixture of spells. Grand Chariot forced Hades to dodge, but that was accounted for, Hades¡¯s leap leading him into the flight bestowing and speed increasing Meteor which saw Jellal striking him from behind. Erik had gone to crowd control, his poison roar, washing over the reinforcements. MacBeth was continuing to use his reflector to twist the ship, snapping off where Caprico was standing. And Richard, whose armor protected him from Caprico¡¯s magic, provided a continuous stream of fire against Caprico supported by Scorpio who - as a celestial spirit - wasn¡¯t vulnerable to Human Subjugation Magic.


    Even down two more members they were not going to let up for an instant longer than they needed to.


    Erik¡¯s great snake Cubellios was somewhat disoriented when Arthur¡¯s territory magic warped them into the airspace around the ship. Another beam from Arthur¡¯s Caelum came a moment later.


    Erik could see a man riding on the back of a wyvern away from the ship, and hear the annoyance in his mind. He was going for the Caelum, but Erik¡¯s job wasn¡¯t to follow him. It was to find the demon¡¯s heart which powered the ship and its guild master and shut it down.


    Cubellios brought them down onto the ship. He didn¡¯t like bringing the snake somewhere this dangerous, but it would need to be close if it was going to work for any emergency rescues; and with the battle ahead that was a necessary precaution.


    He and Minerva jumped from the back of the snake onto the top deck of the violently rocking ship and Minerva transported them inside, teleporting them to where they¡¯d at least not risk falling from it from a violent jerk.


    Arthur¡¯s low end spirits were still scouting the ship, adding to the mini-map that Erik could pull out from Arthur¡¯s Archive at a thought. It showed Hades and Bluenote¡¯s positions, indicated the battle, and even labeled Zancrow¡¯s unconscious form. But it wasn¡¯t complete yet. It didn¡¯t show the heart.


    Erik placed an ear to the wall, listening for a few moments. ¡°This way,¡± He said, starting to rush ahead of the young woman with him.


    Minerva hastened after him, the two running towards the source of the thrumming energy pumping through the ship. Occasionally Erik would stop, consulting the thrum again, letting it guide him as to what direction to go. He was relaying his information to Arthur¡¯s little horse and dog, letting them narrow their own search down.


    The little horse found it, and its guards. There was a large host of individuals outside of the room, and a single, massive man within the room; he had been included in the briefing as one of the Seven Kin.


    ¡°You handle Kain, I take the mob,¡± Erik said.


    ¡°Just let me get us in there,¡± Minerva answered. Her space was stretching out invisibly, consolidating in the room, and then she and Erik were there, standing mere feet from the heart.


    ¡°H-h-h-h-howdidyougethere?¡± Kain asked, stuttering before spewing the words out at speeds similar to Enif¡¯s own.


    Minerva¡¯s answer was to raise her hand and form a half dozen territory spheres and explode them against the construct holding the Demon¡¯s Heart.


    ¡°Stopthat!¡± Kain said, rushing towards Minerva and Erik. Troops were rushing in from the outside, forcing Erik to deal with them. Minerva was moving, swapping positions with one of the men in the back, letting them take Kain¡¯s blow.


    An explosion rocked the ship, and Kain lost his footing, sliding across the ship, before Minerva swapped positions with him, so that she could focus on the Demon¡¯s Heart. Her explosions roared out through the room, and the ship tipped to one side.


    Kain screamed, and then a blast of light knocked her flying to the ground. He was talking to himself, too fast for Minerva to comprehend anything more than he had messed up in allowing the Demon¡¯s Heart to be destroyed. He was holding his cursed doll, his hair attached to it, finally truly using his magic as he turned it - and thus himself - into iron to charge towards Minerva.


    Only for his doll to appear in Minerva¡¯s hand as she slammed it - and thus him - downward before turning him around and barreling him into his support squad. He was still iron as he slammed and smashed his way through the battlefield, allowing Erik to pull back and to her side.


    ¡°Seems like we did pretty well,¡± He said, and then his face twisted. The damaged rubble of the heart was flowing back to it, as the magical construct rebuilt itself.


    His head whipped towards the new arrival. A dark haired woman in her early 20s, wearing a tight white leotard, fishnet leggings, and thigh high boots. She was the dark mage Ultear, one of the mages Arthur specifically felt needed a special warning. Her magic, Ark of Time, could control and manipulate the flow of time, especially for inanimate objects. He wanted her alive.


    ¡°The new council possesses more competence than I¡¯d have expected from the old one,¡± She said. ¡°How¡¯d you learn about the Demon¡¯s Heart?¡±


    ¡°Arthur is a lot more competent than the Council,¡± Minerva answered, as she flung Kain towards Ultear. He was trying to fight the control, but Minerva wasn¡¯t letting him near her to do so.


    Ultear¡¯s hand rose and a crystal ball whipped forward quickly, slamming Kain to the side, before suddenly it multiplied, Ultear calling potential futures of the orb into existence with her arc of time and launching them towards Minerva.


    Minerva¡¯s territory magic surrounded her, a dome of her space blocking the spheres. ¡°Time vs space. It¡¯s a shame you got involved in this child. You could have had a promising future in the Great Magic World, but now you have to die like everyone else who dares stand in the way of Zeref¡¯s awakening.¡±


    ¡°Let that bastard sleep,¡± Erik said, a scowl forming on his face. He was moving forward trying to get in close to Ultear and take her out in hand to hand combat, but her orb appeared in her hand, and multiplied again. He could hear her thoughts, knew how she would direct it before she¡¯d actually changed its movements, but there were still a mass of orbs and they were moving fast. He found himself on the defensive, blocking and dodging.


    Minerva launched Kain towards Ultear, sending him in a flying kick against the mage. It drove her from the room.


    ¡°You worthless fool! You lost against a child and worse you¡¯ve become nothing more than a tool for her use,¡± Ultear could be heard from the outer room.


    ¡°I-I-I-Iamsorry!¡± Kain cried out, before spinning in a hurricane kick, one leg outstretched as he spun and spun. It wasn¡¯t well aimed - Minerva couldn¡¯t see Kain or Ultear - but it kept them a little occupied.


    Erik had knocked out, or possibly killed Minerva couldn¡¯t tell, the horde of lesser mages with his poison dragon slayer magic. Now he was able to focus on supporting her, his poison dragon¡¯s claw smashing through the Demon¡¯s Heart.


    ¡°We¡¯ve got to take out that woman,¡± he said. ¡°If she keeps restoring the heart we¡¯ll have no chance of taking out Hades.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m afraid you already have no chance,¡± A voice came. It wasn¡¯t Ultear¡¯s. Minerva¡¯s heart stopped, her body freezing. She recognized the voice. ¡°Isn¡¯t that right, daughter. You know you could never beat me, and I have become so much more now.¡±


    ¡°Father,¡± Minerva said, trembling like a leaf in the wind.


    Ultear¡¯s magic was working, already it was restoring the Demon¡¯s Heart once more, reversing the flow of time to return it to working order.


    ¡°Don¡¯t freeze up,¡± Erik said, looking between Minerva, and Jiemma.


    The muscular man looked different than before. He was naked save for a pair of shorts, which looked more like underwear than proper clothing. Even his feet were bare. But his chest showed signs of recent surgery, stitches running up and down the entire length of his torso. Four lacrima crystals visibly jutted from his body.


    Darkness seemed to move around him, like a dancing shadow. But the oddest part was how his face would change, features shifting a little from time to time, almost as if it was trying to become someone else¡¯s face, sometimes a man¡¯s sometimes a woman¡¯s.


    ¡°She¡¯s a weakling. She does that. We can smell her blood though. The blood of the Yakumo flowing in her veins.¡± His voice was beginning to reverberate oddly, almost seeming to echo. No, it was more like several beings were speaking not quite in unison, all coming from his mouth. ¡°Traitors¡¯ blood. We thirst for the blood of traitors!¡±


    He launched himself forward, a swirling cloud of shadows forming around his hand. It wasn¡¯t any magic Minerva was used to seeing from him. Human faces, screaming and wailing in anguish seemed to form and disappear in the dark magic around his hand, and the robes of shadows which covered him.


    Minerva¡¯s territory rose. She pictured it as an absolute boundary separating her world from the world outside, just like Arthur had taught her to. A boundary through which nothing could enter. Her barrier held.


    ¡°We will drag you to Hell where you belong!¡± A voice came from her father¡¯s lips, but it wasn¡¯t her father¡¯s voice. Another came from near his mouth as well, chanting in the language of the Yakumo clan. It wasn¡¯t a spell she recognized, but she feared she knew what it was; one of the spells to summon one of the 18 Battle Gods of the Yakumo people. ¡°Your blood will ease our suffering!¡±


    Ultear looked at the man frothing from his mouth in fury as he tried to hammer his way through his own daughter¡¯s forcefield. There was shock on her face, even a hint of disgust. She¡¯d have said that it reminded her of her mother, and how little she had cared for her.


    She wasn¡¯t the only one standing still with nausea. Erik could hear the voice of Jiemma¡¯s heart. Or more the voices. ¡°What is that magic?¡± He asked. It was a clamoring pandemonium of different hearts. But they all shared a similar goal. They were the shades of the damned, and they hungered for the vitality of the living.


    ¡°A form of medium magic,¡± Ultear said. ¡°Reconstructed by Master Hades¡¯s research. It predates Zeref himself, forbidden by the great god Ankhseram. It calls forth the souls of the dead to possess the wielder.¡±


    ¡°They¡¯re so angry,¡± Erik said, clutching his head in pain from the psychic cacophony.


    ¡°Jiemma Orlando holds the blood of the Yakumo Clan. Nearly extinct after a disaster more than a century ago. The souls of the dead from that event now move through him to take their vengeance on the living,¡± Her voice was numb. She had nothing against releasing murderous ghosts on the world. But she hadn¡¯t expected to see the wielder fight and try to kill his own daughter. It was a terrible betrayal.


    And then the battle god appeared. A ring adorned its back, six swords thrusting from it. Six arms reached back to draw the blades, and one after another they cut away at Minerva¡¯s Territory. Kain, screaming in protest, flew, fist first, into the war god as Minerva swung the cursed doll wildly.


    The battle god turned, six swords thrusting into his body pinning it to the ground. Minerva made him kick, and the god pulled back and stabbed again. Minerva winced. Kain was an enemy, even if she was using him as a weapon. Even so she did not want to get him killed here.


    Jiemma brought his hand up and placed it on the barrier of her territory magic. As her will and focus faltered, his magic flowed, a blast of energy tearing her barrier apart and sending her flying back into the wall of the ship.


    ¡°Pathetic. To think you are of our blood. So weak. So sniveling. So incapable. Utterly worthless. We offered you strength, but you betrayed us for him.¡± Jiemma didn¡¯t use magic. He used his hands, striking her in the ribs, the gut, the arms, blow after blow hammering her into the wall of the ship, denting and deforming the reinforced bulkheads of the heart chamber.


    The feather-dress Minerva wore began to crackle, and spark with electricity, as she put her hands out. It was Altair¡¯s spirit dress; Arthur had summoned it onto her as a final protective precaution before the assault. And now she used it, releasing the magic inside in a blast of lightning which coursed and ran through the ship. Erik and Ultear yelled as electricity moved through them. But it was focused primarily on Jiemma.


    ¡°I just did what you taught me. I followed strength. I obeyed the strongest. I listened to the strongest. Like. You. Always. Taught. Me!¡± She punctuated her words with blows, lightning shooting through Jiemma whenever she connected.


    Jiemma had been thrown off badly by the first shock, but the shades possessing him were aiding his recovery, and, even as Minerva used the skills he had taught her to attack him with a battering series of blows augmented by the lightning magic Arthur had equipped her with, the swirling shadows wrapped around him to form a covering armor - much like the armor of territory magic Arthur had worn when fighting him - and blunt her blows.


    The heel of his palm hit her solar plexus, and then he rammed a fist into her diaphragm. Minerva doubled over in pain. He began a series of body blows, not meant to take her out of the fight, but to hurt, striking her like he was trying to tenderize meat. Erik charged towards him. The cacophony of hatred flowing from the shades hadn¡¯t stopped, but he wasn¡¯t so disabled by the horrible screech in his mind to stand by and watch this.


    He fought through the pain, but the six limbed war god rushed towards him. He released his poison dragon¡¯s roar, but it pushed through it, pieces of the warrior ¡®deity¡¯ sloughing off as its blades raised to face him.


    Suddenly the ship shook, and then started to tilt. Ultear could hear Hades¡¯s voice in her mind, calling her to repair the ship. It was almost as if someone had just snapped the entire thing in two. Her hands reached out, her mind focusing her magic. But it was hard. Jiemma was rising over Minerva.


    ¡°Enough!¡± Ultear shouted. ¡°You don¡¯t want to kill her, she¡¯s your daughter, that¡¯s understandable we can take her prisoner. I¡¯m sure she¡¯ll¡­¡±


    ¡°She will die,¡± the shades growled as they swarmed around Jiemma¡¯s face. ¡°Blood of our blood. We will drink her life and drag her down into-¡±


    Ultear¡¯s orb struck Jiemma in the stomach, others beginning to appear to hammer into him from all sides. ¡°You¡¯ll thank me for this later,¡± Ultear began speaking, before she tried to catch Minerva as everyone began to fall. With the front half of the ship broken off and no one at the helm to turn off the ship¡¯s flight magic, the back was being pushed up and the front of the wreck was not. Slowly but surely the ship was turning to be perpendicular to the ground.


    She hit the doorway, hand grasping Minerva¡¯s. Jiemma and Erik had landed on the wall. Jiemma¡¯s eyes swerved towards Minerva, the shades howling with hunger.


    ¡°It¡¯s not really your father,¡± Ultear said, trying to pull Minerva up. ¡°It¡¯s the spirits.¡± She sent her orb flying towards Jiemma hoping to hold him off long enough, but one of the living shadows around him knocked it to the side as he drop kicked his superior officer in the back. Ultear grunted with pain.


    ¡°No, this is him,¡± Minerva said. She knew she needed to act. That she needed to help. But even after she¡¯d hit back earlier she was still scared. It wasn¡¯t a rational fear. He was going to hurt and kill her no matter what she did, but it had been beaten into her body not to stand against him.


    Jiemma¡¯s hand reached down to take her wrist, pulling her up. The shades congregated around her, hands grasping and tearing at her star dress, hands grasping and tearing at her flesh. They reached for her mouth, trying to pry it open.


    And all the while they were chanting. Multiple incantations filling the air. Ultear¡¯s sphere rose up, smashing through the shades, but only partially and momentarily disrupting them.


    Erik¡¯s claw slashed Jiemma¡¯s arm, and the limb buckled, his hand spasming to drop Minerva, but the shadows held her. She could feel them flowing into her. They were choking her, stuffing themselves down her throat till air couldn¡¯t pass through. Everything was beginning to go dark.


    Arthur had relaxed as he sank. He requipped a new armor: the sea king¡¯s regalia. He¡¯d not chosen it for this fight, but he¡¯d selected it for this general situation. He didn¡¯t have good water combat options.


    The whirlpool closed in over him, more and more water surrounding him as he was forced by Bluenote¡¯s gravity into the sea. If he was being hit by this on the ground, Arthur would have been killed unless he managed to stop it, his body crushed against dirt and stone. But this was at sea. He could sink. And he did. All the way down to the aphotic zone.


    He was still maintaining 2 star dresses, a Celestial Spirit that was even now in battle against a mage who wielded an invincible magic to construct things from his imagination, 2 pet tier celestial spirits, takeover, a requipped armor, his archive working on several levels including instantaneous mental communication with the entire Thunderbolts plus the ringer he¡¯d requested assistance from to mixed success, his territory magic expanding his space throughout the ship to be prepared to return anywhere in it the moment he was needed, and he couldn¡¯t actually afford to shut any of it off yet. He¡¯d gone in hot too. The blast against Azuma had been full power. In a word he was tired. He¡¯d always hoped to be able to consume some of Hades¡¯s darkness magic before he burned out, or failing that consume Bluenote¡¯s soul as a power recharge, but he didn¡¯t necessarily need darkness magic. He just had to hope that he could consume the black waters around him.


    His mouth opened, and he felt the lightless waters a kilometer beneath the battle, flooding into him. His armor let him breathe underwater. And his dragon slayer lungs could suck it in, and consume it. The gravity magic pressing him down provided it with a concentration of ethernano. It was a feast fit for a king. And one which stirred the dragon inside of him. He could feel the dragon force, calling its siren song. He was a dragon eater; he could tap the dragon force at will because the power from the flesh of the dragon still lay dormant inside of him; or maybe its hate-filled shade, his research at Crocus had told him that dragon¡¯s had a tendency to leave ghosts to haunt their remains. But this was more the 1st Gen method of access; he was consuming a particularly magically filled version of his element.


    It didn¡¯t make accessing the dragon force safe. If anything it would be more dangerous than last time. The dragon inside was stronger than in Edolas. And Arthur found himself stopping his meal to instead fight his own power, venting it in a roar that tore through the darkness. Bluenote must have felt it through his magic, as even a mile away the mage began to crush against Arthur harder, the sea¡¯s pressure redoubling. Thankfully the Sea King¡¯s Regalia was armor made for deep sea use. It might not provide light, but Arthur could survive the pressure of the deep even much deeper than this.


    It hurt, though. The pain wracking his body. And then there was another pain. He felt like he¡¯d been stabbed in the gut. The dragon thrashed in his soul, and his focus turned inwards. It didn¡¯t feel that different from Takeover to be honest. Jackal¡¯s will was in the magic. The urge to destroy was outwardly similar, but one was a sadistic desire, and the other was more animalistic; one destroyed to destroy and inflict misery, the other destroyed to assert its power and dominance. But both urged him to unleash. To fully release his power. Azuma had absorbed most of the blast and it had still cleared a path to the opposite side of the ship. If he blasted without someone trying to tank it with their own power he could destroy the entire ship.


    He didn¡¯t want that.


    But takeover wasn¡¯t just a form of transformation magic. It was a magic to dominate souls. It was a magic that included knowledge and skills to absorb souls and subjugate them to your will. Ones that made controlling Jackal¡¯s destructive nature relatively simple.


    He tried to apply them to the dragon seed inside of himself, turning his focus onto it. Calling it a dragon seed was a bit of a misnomer. It was the way Igneel had explained it to Natsu, but ultimately that was because of how Natsu, or perhaps Igneel, perceived it. Maybe it was a difference between first and fifth gen dragonification even.


    Arthur just knew he did not find a seed. He found a dark serpent, spreading and coiling through his soul. It was a force from which he could feel malice and hatred. Perhaps it was the angry shade of the dragon he killed, the tattered remnant of its soul that his Black Sword had transferred to him, and which the dragon eater ritual had bound to his magical power. It was inside of him, and it was urging him forward.


    He could feel spikes of pain throughout his body. Some magic was pushing pure agony directly into him. He could have fought it. By tapping the dragon force, only for a moment, he could have pushed back against it and broken the weak link of magic with the sheer power it was trying to contain. It was what the serpent wanted. To be freed to lash out and strike at those who tormented him. To rain destruction upon them.


    Even if dragonification wasn¡¯t a threat, he didn¡¯t dare access that power. It would be like turning on the Bat Signal, only with Acnologia playing Bruce Wayne. And Arthur knew if dragonification took hold he would fight Acnologia and he would lose.


    Pushing through the agony, he turned his magic against the black serpent inside of him. At first it felt like trying to wrestle your own shadow, flowing around his power, moving and avoiding it as insubstantial as a wraith. But he was slowly cornering it, building a cage in his soul from the demonic power flowing through him to lock it away. The stabbing agony stopped, his head clearing a bit, making the process easier, only for a tightness to form around his throat. He felt like he was choking, like someone was crushing his windpipe, and his lungs burned with need for air, even as he ate the darkened, waters filled with gravity magic. He felt the dragon grow with the energy, its power flowing through him, pushing against the demonic energy of his takeover magic. He used that feeling of growth to find it and to make its cages, building walls of demonic power and pushing it back forcing it into only the channels and conduits he allowed it.


    He could conquer the dragon force. His magical genius made it possible. He would go beyond Irene and Acnologia. He would not lose to his own power. He recoiled from the thought. The sheer pleasure in superiority made him second guess himself, and the moment it did his channels and conduits faltered. He ceased eating and tried to calm himself. But despite the fact that his feasting had proved he could still breathe, the tightness around his throat had his heart pounding with panic that he was choking to death.


    And then he realized the emergency call in his Archive had been blaring. One of his team was in danger of immediate death and he had been too focused on himself to notice.

 Grimoire Hunt Pt 2

    Arthur let Erik¡¯s point of view fill his mind, and immediately he swapped with the six-armed angry humanoid monster that was stabbing him. Arthur didn¡¯t know what it was, the blue, leering face and many limbs each ending in swords that were thrusting at Erik told him it was not something on their side. Hopefully its presence would fool Bluenote for at least a little bit into thinking he was still attacking Arthur.


    ¡°Erik!¡± He shouted as he found himself falling on his head and then shoulders, rolling from the nearly vertical ship through a hole in the wall.


    ¡°Minerva needs you!¡± Erik screamed.


    Arthur looked up from the hole. He was still choking. The draconic energy inside of him was still raging, the itch of the dragon force mere inches under the surface fueled by his panicking fear. And now Minerva was in danger. He didn¡¯t trust himself to touch his dragon slayer magic, but he leapt from upwards, letting demon legs propel him.


    Sorano rushed up the quickly shifting ship. With the prow of the ship gone, the front was a great hole which was slowly going vertical beneath her. Sawyer had made it past into higher chambers - falling out was little threat to him now - but she hadn¡¯t made it yet.


    Her Astra Weapon shifted from the Scorpio Gun to the Virgo Whip, lashing out and catching a doorway before pulling her up. She climbed onto the wall, looking higher and cursing. She wasn¡¯t going to get to Minerva in time.


    And then pain flared through her body. It repeated a moment later, and, turning, she saw a pink haired young girl, 14 or 15 at most. Teal swords of energy formed around from her body as she outstretched her arms, and they shot towards Sorano.


    ¡°The Master has commanded your extermination,¡± She said. ¡°Maguility blade!¡±


    Sorano felt sword after sword stab into her, her Virgo Whip transforming into something with a longer range. Scorpio and Gemini were fighting Caprico. She couldn¡¯t call them. She needed to stay in the fight long enough for them to do their job.


    But Minerva remained in danger. She could give the emergency call to Arthur, Erik or Minerva already should have, but that would just draw him to her and not to Minerva. She used the normal line, the one with more direct messages. But she didn¡¯t get a response. The idiot wasn¡¯t paying attention to the communication link. What sort of communication officer did he think he was?


    If Minerva hadn¡¯t been in danger she might have used the emergency call herself. She didn¡¯t have the chance to shift her focus to see what was happening to Minerva and Erik, or with Gemini and Scorpio. She was on the defensive, the girl¡¯s ranged attacks forcing her to run, hide, and escape.


    ¡°Surrender,¡± the pink haired girl. ¡°Your keeper is dead, or will be soon.¡±


    Sorano raised the Astra Weapon and fired in a heavy spray, 2 bullets of sand striking the pink haired girl and exploding. ¡°He¡¯ll survive.¡±


    ¡°What is he to you,¡± the girl asked, diving for cover behind some of the loose objects which had fallen in what had probably been a sleeping barracks. ¡°Do you fear him that much?¡±


    ¡°Is that why you fight for Hades? No. Arthur won¡¯t hurt me.¡±


    ¡°Do you love him?¡± the girl asked.


    ¡°He wishes,¡± Sorano answered. ¡°He¡¯s a useful tool,¡± She said with a smug smile. Though the weight of the weapon in her hand made her feel her words were hollow.


    ¡°Unfortunate. He¡¯s number 1.¡±


    ¡°Number 1?¡± The sand bullets were clearing the pink haired girl¡¯s impromptu cover. Sorano knew this was Meredy; specifically listed as don¡¯t kill in the briefing on two different counts, the first being that she was a child deemed redeemable, and the second that her magic could kill her killer. But she was still willing to knock the woman out before she could cause more trouble.


    ¡°Target priority. His death is most important.¡±


    Sorano scowled. ¡°You haven¡¯t met him if you think you have a chance against him. Every time he goes up against a wall he metamorphoses into something more.¡±


    ¡°Sounds like you respect him a lot. I can work with that. Sense Link!¡± Light shot from Meredy¡¯s hand striking Sorano¡¯s body. Another bolt shot out into the whirlpool which even now the prow of the ship was starting to be pulled into.


    Sorano felt a painful, crushing pressure around her body. Something pushing against her chest. And then one of her swords shot into Sorano¡¯s stomach. Pain surged through her, and she fell to the wall that had become more of a floor than what she¡¯d been trying to stand on.


    ¡°My magic links your senses together,¡± Meredy said, walking towards Sorano. ¡°Your pain becomes his pain. His pain becomes your pain. And you will feel everything that the other feels. And when you die, he will die with you.¡±


    ¡°Didn¡¯t I tell you. He¡¯s a monster of magic. This won¡¯t stop him, even if you kill me. But-¡± Sorano lifted her Astra Weapon letting it become its most powerful form the Regulus Sword. ¡°Sirius Burst!¡±


    The energy blasted out, a shockwave of light which crashed against Meredy and sent her flying back. ¡°I¡¯d prefer to live,¡± Sorano said, rising to her feet with a feeling of victory.


    Beams of Meredy¡¯s magic shot out, each one striking her with a surge of pain. It wasn¡¯t really damaging her body. It was a magic to cause debilitating pain. It brought her to her knees and Meredy did not relent, approaching Sorano and wrapping her hands around her throat beginning to squeeze. ¡°Your preferences don¡¯t matter.¡±


    Meredy glared at Sorano, the intent to kill written across her face. She would not let these interlopers stand in Ultear¡¯s way. She wouldn¡¯t let anything stop Ultear¡¯s dreams from coming true.


    ¡°Neither do yours!¡± Sawyer¡¯s voice sounded in a shout from high above. It¡¯d taken him longer than he¡¯d like to get the spear aimed so that it¡¯d not hit Sorano as well. He wasn¡¯t well accustomed to the cannon form - he¡¯d had to take a few shots to figure out how to aim already - but he¡¯d not been about to leave his guild mate in this level of trouble; even if it meant he might be too late for Minerva.


    The energy blast of the spear shot down and struck Meredy, and then he was running down to Sorano, racing across the vertical surface to lift her up and end his slow magic. ¡°How are you feeling, angel?¡±


    ¡°Sorano. We gave up those codenames,¡± She whispered hoarsely. ¡°I think I need to rest a bit. Go, help Minerva.¡±


    ¡°Arthur¡¯s there.¡± Sawyer¡¯s answer was simple, but it reassured Sorano. Arthur was a monster. If he couldn¡¯t save Minerva, she definitely couldn¡¯t.


    Hades could feel his magical energy supply disconnected, the heart was intact but the circuit was broken, limiting the amount he could draw from it. It still held back the weakness of age, and provided him with a trickle of power, but his internal supply was still lowered from the earlier battle, and it would not sustain him endlessly at full power as it had before; he had been flowing with the sea of power and now he had to make do with a bucket. But if Ultear wasn¡¯t fixing the ship, then he had to get back to the other half. That meant taking down Jellal. He knew his record as Siegrain. Once in a generation magical prodigy. Quite possibly the greatest magical genius Ishgar had ever known since Fairy Tail¡¯s first master, or maybe even further back than that. The Council had overlooked his more overtly evil tendencies, because he could revolutionize magic across the world. Possessed by Zeref he had seemed to be Zeref reborn. And if Hades could return that essence which had taken hold of Jellal to Zeref, Zeref would be reborn.


    But it meant he was the only mage on the ship that worried Hades now that Bluenote had disposed of their leash holder. ¡°You can feel it, can¡¯t you? The true darkness of magic? We both dance with magic don¡¯t we? And in that dance you know the truth. The true nature of magic lies in darkness!¡± Hades fought as he spoke, even flowing straight from the words into an explosive Amaterasu spell. It was only a formula in the low 20s, he was pressed a bit too hard to reach 100, but he was still surprised when Jellal managed to block it with a magic shield.


    ¡°Whatever the nature of magic, there¡¯s a scarlet light that guides my way. Pleiades!¡± Jellal answered, his hand rising and six balls of light rising with it before streaking one after another towards Hades.


    ¡°A scarlet light?¡± Hades asked with a touch of uncertainty, and then he realized it. ¡°You mean the fairy queen, don¡¯t you? You think a woman¡¯s love can change your true nature and the truth of your heart? Like me, you dance with magic. That can¡¯t be done without the darkness dominating your heart. You¡¯ve felt it. You know it is true. You could never have been a worthy vessel for Zeref if your heart wasn¡¯t as dark as his!¡±


    They clashed as they spoke. Magic flying from both sides. But theirs was not the only battle. Caprico was scrambling. He couldn¡¯t control Scorpio or Richard, and their attacks pressed him hard. He was forced to summon his collected heroes of the past, but he could only summon so many in a row. Finally the fabled king of an ancient civilization brought down Scorpio with his pictograph-covered mace, only to be sent flying from the wildly tilting ship by a flying tackle from Richard.


    Richard used his armor to turn in mid-air swerving back to direct himself at Caprico. The suit was fully capable of aerial combat. The goatman¡¯s own jet pack was the only thing keeping him from falling to the sea as the ship¡¯s front portion fell to the waves tilting and rocking all the while. Even broken there was some magic keeping it from falling at a normal rate, but it wasn¡¯t enough to keep it aloft and Jellal and Hades were shaking the ship.


    And then Richard fell. ¡°And here I was afraid I¡¯d not get a good workout. Got to say I¡¯m glad you idiots picked this fight,¡± Bluenote said. There was strain in his voice. The Dorma Anim Mk 2 was not completely immune to magic. Even in Edolas Arthur had eventually realized that if he had gone full power he could have destroyed it. In Earthland where the ethernano saturation meant that it had more difficulty draining spells it was vulnerable. But not being completely immune wasn¡¯t the same as being easily affected.


    Bluenote wasn¡¯t used to putting so much effort into bringing down on man. He knew he¡¯d need his black hole to take this further. His hands moved through the spell, the sphere of darkness forming in front of him. On Edolas the armor could have simply drained its magic - would have been draining Bluenote¡¯s - but here the option was a different one.


    Richard¡¯s hands rose, and the armor¡¯s mouth cannon extended. He fired three maximum output blasts towards Bluenote. The black hole twisted their trajectories, pulling them in before exploding in a deafening wake of noise.


    Jellal¡¯s focus and determination had faltered at Hades¡¯s words. He feared there was truth in them. Even if Arthur said he was possessed he felt Siegrain¡¯s sins as his own. Even if he had been possessed it was through his own darkness. It was his sin. He had killed Simon. ¡­ Simon. Memories flooded his mind, and he was lost, Hades¡¯s chain grabbing him and dragging him across the chamber¡¯s walls, before dropping him at Caprico¡¯s feet.


    As Jellal begged the dead for forgiveness, Caprico¡¯s hand moved over him, his human subjugation magic beginning its work. But his concentration broke as thunder roared and lightning flashed through the ship. It momentarily stunned Caprico, making him hesitate in his magic as he flinched back ready to turn it to defense instead of offense.


    Caprico and Hades did not recognize the man who had appeared. Bluenote and Richard didn¡¯t even notice him. He was a tall, broad shouldered, blonde haired man in a heavy robe and wearing a pair of headphones. Erik, Scorpio, and Jellal, however, did. He had been in Arthur¡¯s briefing.


    He was Laxus Dreyar, Fairy Tail¡¯s wayward son and its second strongest mage. Arthur had asked him for assistance. He¡¯d agreed to watch the fight, and if Grimoire Heart really was targeting his grandfather¡¯s guild he¡¯d come and help at his discretion.


    Hades was momentarily stunned by his arrival, and the headbutt that followed up showed that Laxus had decided it was time to help take down Grimoire Heart. Laxus¡¯s magical power didn¡¯t match the likes of Guildarts, Hades, Serena, or Arthur¡¯s yet, but like Jellal he sat on the line of crossing into the territory of a magical monster in which they all resided.


    ¡°I couldn¡¯t just keep watching as these thugs defended gramp¡¯s guild and I did nothing,¡± Laxus said, before loosing a beam of lightning - akin to a slicing blade of plasma - towards Hades.


    The dark mage didn¡¯t dare try and block, dodging aside, and shooting out his chains. Laxus moved like lightning himself, head dodging the chain before his hand struck the ground electricity shooting out of it towards the dark mage.


    ¡°You¡¯re that brat,¡± Hades said. He recognized the grandson of the man who he had made master. Not that he had time to talk about it. Laxus was fast, using lightning magic to increase his speed, traveling in magical arcs of electricity.


    He was pushing Hades onto the defensive, even as Hades¡¯s lighter magic failed to faze him. If Laxus had given him an inch more breathing room, Hades would have tried to sway him to his side; have talked about the similarity of their goals to return the world to one of the strong, and rid Fairy Tail of the weakness it had accumulated.


    Laxus didn¡¯t give him the time needed to waste his breath. Bluenote was tangled up with the black knight. Caprico was dealing with the Celestial Spirit and the poison mage. The men had already succumbed to his poison dragon¡¯s breath. He couldn¡¯t wait for Meredy or Rustyrose to join the fight.


    He pushed himself through the forms of the amaterasu spell, the highest formula he could make in the quick paced battle. The explosive magical script formed and detonated, but he couldn¡¯t be certain he had hit the mage as Laxus¡¯s fist struck him an instant later.


    He crashed against the wall. But the follow up didn¡¯t come. Laxus sank to a knee, before rising again. He¡¯d taken the brunt of the explosion. Hades knew he had to not let up himself. He raised a hand and focused magical energy into it, only to notice strange markings formed across his body. Markings that were filled with a dark power.


    An instant later he exploded from the inside out, sagging to the ground. Laxus¡¯s foot struck his chin sending him flying back, before a heavy beam of lightning hit him and ran across his body for several moments.


    Zoldeo, or known to the world as Caprico since he had stolen Capricorn¡¯s body years ago, turned his attention and magic back to Jellal, focusing on him. Bluenote and Hades both were being pressed hard. He could hardly believe it. He¡¯d never expected either of them to need his help. Much less with the ship providing them with its power.


    Scorpio and Cobra would be on him soon, and while handling Cobra would be child¡¯s play, he¡¯d need someone to hold off the celestial spirit during it. It was a shame he¡¯d failed to capture Angel. If she¡¯d fallen this battle would already be over. But with Jellal¡¯s psyche in disarray it was easy to make him rise to his feet.


    Or it should have been. The mage was fighting him, forcing him to put more and more effort into subjugating and submerging his consciousness. Zoldeo¡¯s vision began to dye itself in a red hue, thoughts of some woman flitting through his mind.


    ¡°Damn simp,¡± the goat man hissed out. He gave up making Jellal his subordinate in this moment, instead summoning a famed rebel general to fight Scorpio. It was sufficient to hold back the sand-scorpion spirit, and let Zoldeo turn his attention to Cobra. It was barely in time, the poison dragon slayer was already almost in his face. He turned his magic towards him, suppressing his magical power as the mage breathed out his poison dragon¡¯s roar.


    And it hit Zoldeo full blast. His body felt like it was burning, poison flowing into the immortal form of the celestial spirit he was possessing. It made him scream, howling out in utter agony. ¡°H-how?¡± He started, his fur beginning to blacken and fall from his body. Then it dawned on him. The Oracion Seis Celestial Spirit mage who had escaped had the key to the gate of the twins.


    ¡°Gemini,¡± Zoldeo said.


    ¡°Piri-piri,¡± Gemini, still wearing the face of Cobra of the Oracion Seis, said in a taunting and cruel tone.


    Zoldeo laughed. He might no longer be able to sustain Capricorn¡¯s body, but if he could take Gemini¡¯s body he could have any form he wanted. It had been a mistake to break the taboo years ago and take Capricorn¡¯s form. It had given him this immortal body, but it had trapped him as the goat. Instead of living by transferring from human host to human host he had become unable to leave the Celestial Spirit except by possessing another one.


    ¡°Huma Raise!¡± He called out the name of the spell, launching his spirit from Capricorn¡¯s form. Immediately the damaged spirit¡¯s gate closed. But so too did Gemini¡¯s. As Erik, Gemini possessed his hearing magic. And it was simple to inform Sorano of Zoldeo¡¯s intent so that the gate could close.


    Zoldeo¡¯s spirit manifested for a moment on the tilting deck of the ship. He had escaped? He was himself again? He had never truly been stuck as Capricorn? He was ready to rejoice, when his entire being began to crumble away, his spirit itself having decayed from the taboo magic. And then he was gone. The only thing that remained was Capricorn¡¯s golden key.


    Arthur landed behind Jiemma. His archive was trying to identify the magic swirling around him. But that wasn¡¯t his focus. The dark shades were reaching into Minerva¡¯s throat, causing her to gag around them, her face changing color as she choked.


    His chainsaw-hand plunged into Jiemma¡¯s body from behind, stabbing through his stomach and one of the lacrima inside of it. The all-consuming void the blade was made from began to pull him into it, the shades howling and screaming death at Arthur as they were pulled into the blades. He could feel the void fill and the blade vanish. He¡¯d need to summon a new one. But as Jiemma sagged to the ground his first priority was Minerva.


    She was still choking. The shadows wrapped around her face independent of Jiemma, forcing their ways into her nose and mouth, finger tips forming to grasp her ears. It was like a scene from a horror movie. But she was turning blue.


    Arthur dropped to the ground. He knew the Heimlich maneuver in theory, but he¡¯d never really performed it on anyone other than the one time he¡¯d had to do it to himself. He wasn¡¯t sure it¡¯d work against living darkness which was trying to force its way down your throat anyway.


    His Archive was telling him that the magic was called Evil Dead Resurrection, an invocation to the angry shades of the dead. It was apparently a form of Lost Magic which was referenced as specifically heretical. There was more, but he didn¡¯t stop to process the information torrent fully. They were dark souls, or fragments thereof. That was all that mattered.


    The true form of Jackal¡¯s magic was a curse transferred by contact. Every touch cursed the one who touched you, or you touched, to become a bomb. He detonated that curse on Hades and Bluenote. He¡¯d wanted to save it for an opportune moment, but he¡¯d lose it if he changed forms. Hopefully none of his allies were too close to them at the moment.


    Then he performed a new takeover. His arms and legs stretched and thinned. The fur vanished from his body, leaving only his flesh, though it was awash with dark markings, most of it an utterly dark black, unnatural for any human. His stump stretched, a black blade forming from it. His fingers extended into talon like claws. Wings burst from his back, as his eyes turned a baleful red.


    On his chest there was a marking, a red symbol of eight arrows each pointing outwards from the center. None of the arrows were straight, but they curved in their paths. They didn¡¯t divide the circle evenly, and the symmetry of them was off. It was the 8 arrows of chaos.


    The demonic figure leaned down, lifting Minerva up, and placing his fanged mouth to her lips. Arthur wasn¡¯t sure his plan would work, but it was the best option he had.


    He breathed in. Not a normal human breath, but a dragon slayer¡¯s breath. The dark spirits were dark spirits, and he was the dragon who ate the darkness. The black blade was a soul eating demon in the shape of a sword, and his takeover magic had made him into it. Hopefully between the two of them he could eat dark spirits.


    He sucked them in, and he felt them fighting against him. They were hatred. They were anger. They were rage. He could taste their memories, but they weren¡¯t complete memories. They were the grudges and memories of pain and hatred which had filled them as they died by violence. No more were pulling into his mouth, and he feared all he was doing now was robbing Minerva of air.


    He rose, looking at Minerva and willing her to breathe. She seemed to be. Placing his hand near her nose he could feel her breathing now. The bulge in her throat was gone. And the voices in his mind screeched at him to let them in her. To let them fill her and make her nothing more than a vessel for their hatred. To kill her so that her blood might give them pleasure in the darkness they dwelled in.


    The shadows still stretched from Jiemma, reaching for his unconscious daughter. Ultear¡¯s crystal ball passed through them, scattering them but only for a brief instant. Arthur leaned low, his mouth sweeping as he feasted on the cursed lemures who were reaching out for his apprentice.


    He reached for one of the lacrima in Jiemma¡¯s chest, ripping it from the mage¡¯s body and chomping down onto it, shattering the crystal into shards, and swallowing it down. It cut at his throat, and the spirits howled within him. He could digest them. He knew it. He¡¯d be fine if the sheer quantity of power wasn¡¯t pushing him towards the dragon force.


    The cage he had tried to build was breaking, and the dark dragon was forcing its way through him. It was hitting against his transformation magic, forcing him from the shape of a demon towards that of a dragon. He¡¯d eaten too much too fast, and now he would pay the price of his own power.


    His head turned towards the floor turned wall and blasted a hole straight through the ship, and then he took off, flying away. If he was going to become a dragon he¡¯d not only draw Acnologia to his team, he might destroy them before the destroyer got there.


    A silver key formed in his hand, and he summoned Enif. ¡°North!¡± Was the only command he howled out, before he turned his full focus onto stopping the dragon from getting out and the cursed dead from goading him into acts of wanton and total destruction.


    Richard was horrified as Bluenote exploded in front of him. Not because of the seemingly random explosion in and of itself; he¡¯d been briefed on that as a possibility. But as his armor blocked the Archive link he had no warning it would happen. He¡¯d been engaged in a full powered blast from his cannons when it happened.


    The Magic Council had authorized killing any active and present threats among Grimoire Heart. Arthur had counseled free use of lethal force if any of them found themselves in combat with Bluenote. Legally Richard had done nothing that was frowned upon, and in fact he had done what he was told and encouraged to do.


    He had not wanted to kill a man. He had promised Wally he was going to try and be a better person and that meant not killing people any more.


    He understood that it hadn¡¯t been his intent. He understood that it had been in a life or death situation. He could tell himself all the justifications under the sun and they made things somewhat better. But they did not remove the blood from his hands.


    He saw an unfamiliar man standing over Hades¡¯s body, one who after a few moments he recognized as Laxus Dreyar. He saw Jellal curled into a ball with his eyes squeezed shut. He didn¡¯t see Gemini as Erik, nor did he see Scorpio. He had to worry if something had happened to Sorano. MacBeth was finishing up the few straggling survivors of the opposing side.


    Water had begun to fill the ship, washing up to his feet. But the ship was lifting out of the water. Rising up into the air once more. It was being restored at last. Did that mean Minerva and the real Erik had failed to destroy the heart.


    ¡°MacBeth. What¡¯s happening with the others?¡± He called out.


    ¡°Sorano and Sawyer are fighting Asuma,¡± He said, ¡°It¡¯s going poorly. Erik and Minerva encountered major trouble. Arthur is turning into a dragon so he¡¯s left us on our own. And the Archive link is down.¡±


    ¡°We need to go help them,¡± Richard said.


    ¡°No shit,¡± MacBeth shot back.


    ¡°Unfortunately I don¡¯t think you will be doing that,¡± Hades said, rising to his feet. He could feel the flow of power again. He¡¯d have liked to let it restore himself further, but it was slowed by Azuma¡¯s heavy use of the ship¡¯s energy in his own battle. Hades couldn¡¯t let them rejoin with their allies. Azuma would fall if they did that. And if Azuma fell the chance that they¡¯d both destroy his heart and defeat Ultear rose exponentially.


    ¡°What does it take to keep this monster down?¡± Laxus asked, even as he charged forward to rejoin the battle against Hades.


    Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.


    Hades considered his options. If he lost contact with the Demon¡¯s Heart again he was done for. He really shouldn¡¯t be standing much less fighting. But if he could end this quickly enough then he had a chance.


    He felt the flow of magic from the Demon¡¯s Heart stop again. This was going to hurt.


    Erik¡¯s hand plunged into the metal construct that held the Demon¡¯s Heart, his poison dragon¡¯s claw forcing through it and pushing into the heart letting its venom flow through the heart.


    ¡°It¡¯s pointless,¡± Ultear said. ¡°I can just repair it.¡±


    ¡°Then I¡¯ll just smash it again,¡± Erik replied.


    ¡°Then I guess I¡¯ll have to deal with you first.¡±


    Erik didn¡¯t answer, he lunged forward. She was planning to hit him, her crystal ball shooting towards him, and a dozen more forming. He practically seemed to dance through the storm of spheres, moving to avoid the blows. Ultear kept between him and Minerva, trusting that as long as Minerva was behind her that Erik wouldn¡¯t use his dragon¡¯s roar. And her spheres could keep him from managing to close into range for his claws.


    Suddenly she found herself being struck by her own crystal balls, with Erik between her and Minerva instead of vice versa. Minerva had risen to her feet, her hands raised.


    ¡°You lose,¡± Minerva said. ¡°Don¡¯t make it harder on yourself.¡±


    Ultear glared at her. Until the ground suddenly heaved underneath her. It felt like the ship was crashing again, but suddenly it tilted in the opposite direction. And then to one side. ¡°I saved you. If it wasn¡¯t for me your father would have destroyed you,¡± She said as the three mages fought to maintain their balance.


    ¡°And thank you for that. But if you¡¯re going to defect then defect. Help us take this ship in and we¡¯ll be able to tell them that you helped us.¡± Minerva said, even as she found herself half buried under her father when the ship rolled completely over. He was still breathing for now, but she wasn¡¯t sure if she was hoping he¡¯d be fine¡­ or terrified that he would be.


    He¡¯d kill her if he was. She had tried to fight him. She¡¯d turned against him. His own flesh and blood. But he¡¯d been trying to kill her anyway. It was all messed up.


    ¡°Or, you could join us. Once the Great Magic World is complete my magic will be whole. I will be able to turn back time and make a world where I can have happiness. I can stop your father from taking up this taboo magic too. You and him could be together again.¡±


    Minerva looked up at Ultear even as the ship began to perform a loop da loop. ¡°My father was always like this,¡± She said. ¡°If I could go back. If I could undo the things that happened¡­¡±


    ¡°We could do that. We could make a world where we could be happy.¡± Ultear was beginning to worry about Meredy. The girl was a skilled mage. She should be able to take care of herself. But she had been left in charge of piloting the ship, and Ultear knew she knew how to pilot better than this.


    ¡°What¡¯s happiness? I mean what is happiness really? I don¡¯t think I can even recognize it. What would make you happy?¡±


    ¡°Vengeance on my mother,¡± Ultear said, before suddenly the ship accelerated hard, launching them all back into the stern wall.


    Erik stood uncomfortably listening in. Minerva was not in a good state right now. She had just had her father try and fill her with spirits of hatred and he could hear their howls still echoing in her heart. And now she was talking to a crazy lady who¡­ was lying about her own motivations.


    ¡°And you need to turn back time to do that?¡± She looked at her father¡¯s body with a definite wave of guilt. She hadn¡¯t killed him. She hadn¡¯t really stood up to him in the end. She¡¯d let Arthur save her. But now her father¡¯s blood was on his hands. But it was the second time her father had proven willing to kill her for his quest for power.


    ¡°She¡¯s dead.¡±


    ¡°So¡¯s my father, but I¡¯m not clamoring to turn back time to get vengeance on him.¡± No sooner had the words left her mouth then the airship came to an abrupt halt throwing them all forward.


    Ultear looked at Minerva and then at Jiemma. There was maybe a hope her father was alive. No one had checked. He had a gaping wound straight through his stomach, and another in his chest but that wasn¡¯t immediately fatal. The backlash from the magic was dangerous but¡­


    ¡°I might be able to save your father if I repair the lacrima which your leader broke.¡±


    ¡°And what do we do if that monster wakes up again?¡± Erik shouted in interjection.


    ¡°I¡­¡± Minerva looked at his body. ¡°Save him.¡±


    ¡°If I do, will you let me fix the Demon¡¯s Heart?¡± Ultear asked, her hands already moving. She was going to fix Jiemma¡¯s lacrima regardless. If he woke up he would buy her time to fix the Demon¡¯s Heart.


    ¡°Not a chance, lady,¡± Erik snapped.


    ¡°I was asking her, not you,¡± Ultear snapped at him.


    ¡°Not a chance, lady,¡± Minerva answered.


    ¡°How about check on the pilot?¡± Ultear tensed. Right now Meredy¡¯s safety mattered more to her than Hades¡¯s power.


    ¡°Which one of you was she?¡± Erik asked. ¡°I might be able to tell you what¡¯s happened to her if you can tell me some defining features. Though be more honest than about your motivations.¡±


    Ultear looked at him with a hate filled glare. ¡°And you¡¯d tell me why?¡±


    ¡°Because you saved one of us.¡± Minerva¡¯s downcast, guilt ridden head rose a bit at that inclusion in the team. ¡°I mean she¡¯s really more-¡± Erik bit back his words. He¡¯d been going to dismissively call her Arthur¡¯s pet. She wasn¡¯t one of the Oracion Seis. She wasn¡¯t really part of the Thunderbolts any more than Arthur was. He wasn¡¯t a criminal. He wasn¡¯t fighting for redemption. He was their handler. ¡°Our little princess. I don¡¯t think any of us would want to see something bad happen to her.¡± He wasn¡¯t sure how much of a lie it was. He couldn¡¯t bear to hurt her by taking away the feeling of pride she felt at being accepted as a teammate by him. And she had fought alongside them. She had fought her father, and Erik knew that Ultear was only not fixing the heart already because she was there. She¡¯d earned a place on the team if she wanted to lower herself to their level.


    As the ship jerked to one side and then barrel rolled twice more, Ultear decided she¡¯d better ask. ¡°Meredy. She¡¯s the only other woman among the Seven Kin.¡±


    ¡°Sawyer knocked her out. Azuma was fighting near her,¡± Erik said. ¡°We¡¯ll take you there. But we leave the demon¡¯s heart broken.¡± They needed to head that way anyway. And actually shutting down Ultear might prove time consuming. His friends needed him faster than that.


    ¡°Deal,¡± Ultear said. It was good enough for her at this moment.


    When Azuma of the Seven Kin of Purgatory had awakened he was buried in rubble, and laying against a wall that had become the floor. The ship was almost perpendicular, and his head was ringing. It had been one attack made with incomparable strength.


    The tall, dark skinned, muscular man knew he wasn¡¯t really at his best on the airship. His magic was a form of wood magic which manipulated the magical energy inside of the earth. The Demon¡¯s Heart provided a vast quantity of magic, and while he could access it, it already possessed another master. As long as Hades was on the ship he could only skim a fraction of it. Still to have taken him out with such contemptuous ease had lit a fire in Azuma¡¯s heart.


    It had been a surprise attack. Azuma had thought his approach was undetected and his guard was down. He raised it hastily at the end, but it was already too late to dodge. He wanted to fight the intruder for real.


    He just wasn¡¯t sure how to manage that. He didn¡¯t know what had happened. Something must have for the ship to be tilted this way. It couldn¡¯t have been completely destroyed, but it had to be broken in two.


    The energy was still recognizing Hades as its own and only master, but it was a weaker hold than usual. He was off the ship, but he was still alive. Azuma knew he should find him. But he didn¡¯t know where to start.


    So he began to hunt about the place. It was in ruins. Lower ranking mages were scattered about, most of them unconscious. They were foot soldiers, chaff whose purpose was to overwhelm with numbers, or do jobs that the elite mages could not be bothered to do. Well not all of them. There were the occasional second string team that had been taken out. They didn¡¯t look like they¡¯d really been in fights, though, so much as simply become collateral to the battle on the ship.


    Zancrow would be furious. If he was alive, Azuma added to himself as he winced from his own broken ribs. That blast could have killed most of his guild mates, and he had no doubt that some of those he found here were collateral from that despite that he had taken the majority of the attack. Or well, the Demon Heart¡¯s magical energy had.


    Azuma found some of the elite mages of the guild cowering in one room. They filled him in somewhat. Hades had ordered everyone back after Azuma had been taken out. Then he had sent out an emergency message of all hands on deck. But the ship had broken in half before they could reach him and they had decided that if Hades couldn¡¯t handle the enemy they didn¡¯t want to die.


    Azuma considered killing them himself. Neither of them would have made a decent battle, but they weren¡¯t truly worth the time it would require from him. They had given him some information, though. A team had attacked the ship. And they had apparently done a good job of it.


    It made Azuma wonder if that first invader was only one among many, or if even in this force he had been something special.


    He was still wondering when he came upon a blonde haired man, his hair sticking up like a rooster¡¯s comb. His long and pointy nose, his sunglasses, and his somewhat ridiculous racing suit told Azuma who he was. Racer of the Oracion Seis. ¡°So the Balam Alliance no longer holds?¡± He asked.


    Racer was just finishing tying up Meredy. Nearby was another woman, laying crumpled on the ground. Her near white hair, and presence beside Racer made him identify her as Angel.


    ¡°Yeah, I guess it doesn¡¯t,¡± Racer said.


    Azuma eyed the spear in his hand. He had thought Racer preferred knives. ¡°I had thought you disbanded after Brain died.¡±


    ¡°We found a new boss,¡± Racer said. ¡°This one hasn¡¯t tried to kill any of us yet. At least since we joined up.¡±


    ¡°Who was it that first boarded our ship?¡±


    ¡°The boss man,¡± Sawyer said. They were eyeing each other warily, and the Oracion Seis member held his spear in a defensive posture.


    ¡°And where is your boss right now?¡±


    ¡°Why should I tell you?¡±


    ¡°Cause if you don¡¯t I¡¯ll beat it out of you.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯ll try,¡± Racer said, hefting his spear.


    The wood of the ship rose up, vines forming to wrap around Racer¡¯s feet, but he was off like a flash. Between his spear¡¯s speed form and his slow magic, Azuma took three blows before he had even realized Racer had moved. He might have been brought down completely if the ship hadn¡¯t suddenly righted itself, tossing about everyone on board. For Azuma it was only pain as he hit the floor, but it had broken Racer¡¯s attack sequence, and his slow magic did not last long.


    ¡°Seems the master underestimated you, when he said your whole guild was worthless as anything but a diversion for the Council,¡± Azuma said as he hopped up from the ground. The wood was wrapping around Racer before the ex-Seis could move. ¡°Still not good enough,¡± His magic forced the energy from the ship into the wood which had grown, causing it to reach a peak too great for the material to hold.


    Or that was the intent. The spear in Racer¡¯s hand had changed, its blade becoming a shining light. ¡°You definitely did,¡± Racer said as he suddenly burst forward at impossible speeds once more. Azuma felt the spear pierce his flesh and he tightened his muscles. It was a split second act, one which managed to do its job. Racer found the spear stuck in Azuma¡¯s flesh, and the ground rose up in wooden tendrils to wrap around his legs.


    ¡°I was hoping for better,¡± Azuma said as the vines twined higher, the energy in them building. He was directing the demon heart¡¯s power up and into them, more and more and more.


    There was a wave of pink, washing over Racer, and forcing Azuma to jump back. The white haired woman had risen to her feet, and beside her was a tanned, pink haired sheep-girl.


    ¡°Thank you, Aries,¡± Angel said. Arthur had lectured her about being nicer to the poor ewe, before letting her make a temporary contract with her again. There was an explosion in the wool, and it collapsed soon after to reveal Racer badly wounded but alive.


    Azuma looked at Angel. ¡°Bring out your boss. I have no desire to fight weak women.¡±


    Angel raised a golden sword in front of her and looked at him. ¡°Why does everyone think that about me?¡±


    Azuma gave a half laugh. ¡°Because you¡¯re trembling. Bring me your boss.¡± He froze. The flow of magical energy from the demon¡¯s heart had stopped.


    ¡°Yeah, no. He¡¯s a bit busy right now,¡± She said. The last message over the Archive link was some scrambled thing about hungering for the blood of the living and getting away before he turned into a dragon and brought Acnologia down on their heads. She wasn¡¯t actually certain what was happening there, but she didn¡¯t think it was a good time to give the emergency call.


    ¡°He¡¯s fighting Hades? Where?¡±


    ¡°No, he¡¯s preparing to fight Acnologia,¡± She said in a facetious tone. She wasn¡¯t certain it wasn¡¯t true, but she wasn¡¯t certain he hadn¡¯t had a total breakdown with that last message.


    ¡°I thought Acnologia was a myth.¡±


    Angel shrugged. ¡°I can¡¯t really say, but he¡¯s off preparing for the battle. Flew away and left us here.¡±


    ¡°If I was about to kill you would he¡­¡± Suddenly the ship began to toss and turn wildly.


    Azuma and Angel both fell side to side, crashing into walls, and hitting floors and ceilings; Azuma more than Angel whose celestial spirit bundled her, Racer, and Meredy in thick, pink, wool cocoons. Azuma wasn¡¯t sure when he dropped the spear, but he knew with the demon¡¯s heart dead the magical energy in the ship wasn¡¯t enough to sustain him through a serious battle.


    Not that Angel was likely to be a serious battle. She was weak, relying on surprise, and subterfuge. That also meant she wasn¡¯t likely to give him a chance to fight her head on.


    As the ship turned over again, he launched himself, gauging where she would land and kicking to strike her while she and her spirit were distracted by the fall. A beam of energy cut through the cocoon of pink wool and struck him mid flight. Under the cover of the wool she¡¯d summoned a second spirit.


    He lunged for the spear, grabbing it and rolling. His gut wound, and the damage from the blast put him at a disadvantage, but he could still control the ship. One hand planted on the wooden wall and it started to morph and grow, woody vines shooting towards Angel¡¯s body, but finding themselves entangled in a wave of Aries¡¯s wool.


    The other spirit, a robotic sphere that shot beams of energy, hovered menacingly before him, shooting out a lancing bolt of power. He cut it with the spear, and felt the great speed it seemed to give him.


    In a moment he was charging Angel. He wouldn¡¯t kill her. She was too weak for that honor. But the butt of the spear would do the job. Only a burst of light erupted from her golden sword as she swung it. He stopped more than a foot out of her reach, but the light hit him and slammed him against the back of the room. A second struck him a moment after, and then a wave of pink flowed over him and he found himself drifting back into sleep.


    Rustyrose had begun returning to the airship the moment he had finished off the pesky celestial spirit. But it was not quick. The airship had been performing evasive maneuvers throughout the entire fight, and the caelum had pulled him further and further from the battle. He hadn¡¯t known celestial spirits could move so quickly.


    It had forced him to re-imagine his wyvern, to come up with a version that was even faster than the spirit. He had, of course, succeeded. Such a feat was never in doubt. But it had taken time. And Hades had sent out a telepathic distress beacon even during the fight.


    He had rushed back to the ship, but he stopped as he returned. Hades had sent out a magic flare, shooting it over the ship. The Grimoire Heart guild sign formed from the black energy and then it shattered, the dark violet field of energy shooting in every direction.


    Rustyrose didn¡¯t believe it. The guild master was calling it quits, when he was still not back. He could turn the tide of it. Even if Bluenote had died. Even if the other six of the seven had failed. His magic was invincible. It was the closest to the One Magic.


    He knew the plan. A final contingency. Go to a safe house. Wait and rescue the other members of the Seven Kin. But he couldn¡¯t believe it had come to it. The Seven Kin of Purgatory were undefeatable.


    But he knew it was the guild master¡¯s order. You didn¡¯t disobey Master Hades. But to abandon the ship. To abandon the fight. It sat ill with Rustyrose. They were his comrades. Grimoire Heart was where he belonged. It was the only place he had ever really fit in.


    And now he was being asked to abandon it. He couldn¡¯t even imagine what it would take to make Master Hades give the order to scatter. He realized it must have been a trick. The attackers had good intelligence; they¡¯d found the airship after all. They had discovered the retreat signal. That was all it was. Well he¡¯d show them how futile their attempt to get him out of the way was.


    He flew to the window the flare had come out from, and his mount ripped into the materials. He jumped through the dust and smoke to see three men standing over Hades¡¯s prone form.


    Rustyrose half froze. Hades was beaten and battered, and he wasn¡¯t healing. Bloodstained his white beard, his nose broken and bleeding. One eye was swollen shut. And there were signs of damage across his body.


    Rustyrose swept his arm, his magic flowing through his right hand, covering it with the claw of a monster. ¡°I am the king of the underworld. This arm cuts through everything with a deep black blade. Disappear to the edge of darkness!" The full incantation wasn¡¯t strictly necessary, the transformation happened well before he completed it, but it suited his grandiose few of himself.


    The claw shot forward, really four singular claw tips each on an extending cable with the four cables bundled together. It was his jet black sword, a weapon he had imagined as capable of cutting through all things. Two of the mages jumped back. The third wore black armor and his movements were slower, but even as Rustyroses¡¯s ¡®jet black blade¡¯ hit him it didn¡¯t penetrate the armor, but merely forced him to reposition to avoid being knocked over by the force.


    Rustyrose was less shocked that it had failed to penetrate, than that the claw head had vanished as the armor ate away at the magical energy which produced it.


    ¡°Fly you insubordinate fool!¡± Hades shouted.


    The blonde mage of the trio that had been giving the guild master the savage beatdown was almost on him, flowing through a bolt of electricity. Rustyrose¡¯s left hand rose and he used his magic. The jet black sword was the very embodiment of Rustyrose¡¯s belief in his offensive strength. The golden shield which formed was the embodiment of his concept of an invincible shield.


    The blow knocked Rustyrose back, the blond haired man¡¯s fist rocking his body through it. The shield then twisted on his arm, pulling his forearm 180 degrees around. His shield and blade both vanished in the shock from the pain as his arm broke messily.


    ¡°Get out of here!¡± Hades yelled again. He was struggling to his feet.


    ¡°Guardian beast, Belcusas the Thunderclap!¡± He called forth, manifesting his image of the rampaging monster. A two horned, dark maroon skinned ogrish oni with mechanical legs, it appeared before the trio of mages, raising its arms up ready to smash them. Only for the lightning mage to block its blow with one arm, electricity gathering around his fist and then a single blow laying the guardian beast low.


    Rustyrose found himself trembling. He was scared. For the first time in his life he was truly scared. ¡°Fear has now been written into my imagination,¡± He announced, fixing his glasses on his face with his non-broken arm. And he¡¯d see what form it took when his magic embodied it. ¡°Forward! Britia¡¯s Spirits! Eat their souls!¡±


    Dark masses, purple nearing black, formed and launched themselves flowing towards the mages. They were like streams of energy, but there were lighter splotches making the shape of faces.


    One of the mage¡¯s, dark haired unarmored one, dismissively cut the air with his hand and the spirits were send reflected back towards Rustyrose. He felt them wash over him, ripping and tearing at him, grasping him and pulling him down. It was his own fear hammering into him.


    ¡°Think he¡¯s done for?¡± the armored man asked.


    ¡°Only one way to make sure,¡± the blond lightning mage stated.


    Rustyrose saw the man¡¯s boot over his face, about to smash down onto it and he shouted, calling the very embodiment of his pride into being. ¡°Come forth, tower of Dingir!¡±


    A great tower, with designs that evoked ancient Babylon and the Biblical tower of Babel, appeared within the ship¡¯s hold. It began to pull Rustyrose¡¯s enemies to it, where it would crush them with its power and then explode. It¡¯d do horrible damage to the ship, possibly destroy it. But it would give him the chance he needed. Pegasus wings formed on his heels like the winged boots of Hermes and he dashed forward, grabbing Hades with his uninjured arm before turning and flying back out of the ship.


    At the last moment he glanced back. The armored mage was untouched, turning a weapon towards the tower. It didn¡¯t matter much though. The lightning mage had pulled himself from it, pieces of its stonework stuck to his arms and legs as he fell to the ground. And the tower itself was breaking apart.


    ¡°You should have obeyed orders,¡± Hades said angrily a moment before Rustyrose¡¯s wings twisted. MacBeth had realized that Rustyrose¡¯s manifestations weren¡¯t truly alive and thus were vulnerable to his Reflector magic. The wings forced Rustyrose¡¯s legs painfully wide before snapping off of him. And then an electrified fist sent him and Hades plummeting into the sea, Laxus following after. A final surge of lightning magic from Fairy Tail¡¯s wayward son was enough to shock them both into unconsciousness.


    ¡°Arthur should have been back by now,¡± Erik said as he lay in the bunk of the Magic Council battleship.


    ¡°You keep saying that,¡± Sorano complained. She¡¯d managed to replace Arthur¡¯s nikora at the helm of the airship and fly it to rendezvous with the council¡¯s battleships which were waiting to take Grimoire Heart into custody. But no one had seen Arthur since he¡¯d fled the ship with that unsettling message over the Archive link. A link which had broken when Arthur got too far from the physical manifestation and it shut down.


    Minerva had explained the reason behind the random howling declaration of murderous intent. But no one could say why he wasn¡¯t back yet. They¡¯d expected him to at least make some attempt to contact them during the night. The fact that he wasn¡¯t back yet was unsettling.


    Lahar, the captain of the 4th custody and enforcement unit, walked towards the bunks which had been given over to the Thunderbolts. With Arthur gone he was currently acting as their handler for the council. At least until he could get further orders from Gran Doma. His boots clicked against the wood as he approached, his stride not particularly heavy but still loud enough to be heard over the waves outside.


    ¡°I have been speaking to Gran Doma. He had a question for you. Why did you bring the airship back?¡± The dark haired man spoke in a curt, but formal tone, an air of military discipline about him.


    ¡°Because that was the whole plan,¡± MacBeth said. ¡°So your unit could take the credit.¡±


    ¡°But you could have taken the airship and left. With its resources, even with the demon heart destroyed, you could have fled the council with ease and returned to your former life, or gone to Alvarez and escaped extradition.¡± Lahar wondered at that moment if it just hadn¡¯t occurred to them.


    ¡°I promised my brother I would turn over a new leaf,¡± Richard said. ¡°I intend to be able to meet him again as a free man who is not hunted for the crimes of his past.¡±


    ¡°I can¡¯t face my sister as a criminal,¡± Sorano added.


    ¡°Besides I doubt the little princess would have allowed us to do that,¡± Erik noted. ¡°And she was having far too rough of a day to abduct her.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m tired of running from things my entire life,¡± Sawyer said. ¡°I¡¯d rather run to somewhere for a change.¡±


    ¡°Do I even need to say something?¡± MacBeth asked. ¡°Sawyer hit the nail on the head. A life hemmed in by hiding from the law isn¡¯t much of a free life. I¡¯d rather have you guys off my back so I could live as I please.¡±


    Lahar looked at Jellal, and Minerva. ¡°And you two?¡±


    ¡°Leave the kid out of it,¡± Erik said. ¡°Do you even know what she went through on that ship?¡±


    ¡°You told me in detail,¡± Lahar said. ¡°But I still want to know her reason.¡±


    ¡°She¡¯s not even a fugitive, why would she take the ship and run?¡± Erik protested.


    ¡°You claim she¡¯s your reason for not,¡± Lahar commented on Erik¡¯s glib answer. ¡°I need to hear hers in that case.¡±


    Erik growled softly. But Minerva didn¡¯t seem to mind answering. ¡°Because it¡¯s where my teacher would expect me to be. It was the plan. What else would I have done?¡±


    Lahar shrugged and glared at Jellal. ¡°And you?¡±


    ¡°I hoped it would make my sins a little lighter,¡± Jellal said.


    ¡°I¡¯ll give Gran Doma your answers. Still hearing them I am fairly certain that he will be willing to give his stamp of approval to the Thunderbolts Program, and this experiment will be allowed to play out to completion.¡± There was mumbling about the ingratitude; of how they did all this and their only reward is ¡®yes we will eventually free you if you keep doing things like this¡¯.


    ¡°He also said to have me tell Sorano that reports indicate her younger sister has been found, and if she verifies it the council could arrange a chance for them to meet.¡±


    The grumbling stopped, as tears started to form in Sorano¡¯s eyes.


    ¡°The Magic Council has been asking a lot of questions about how you left the guild,¡± Makarov, guild master of Fairy Tail said to Laxus. He had been taking the S-Class mage candidates to Tenrou Island for the trial to determine which mage would be promoted to S-Class and fully entrusted to take even the most dangerous missions, when he had seen the boats.


    Arthur had delivered a written warning to the guild about how there was something big that was happening and to not go to Tenrou Island today without hearing more from him. Makarov hadn¡¯t been certain of what to make of that, even with the additional information Laxus had provided.


    ¡°Them looking to arrest me too?¡± Laxus asked. He was calm, reclining on the deck of the ship. A book by his hand.


    ¡°No. I think they want to offer you a job,¡± Makarov said. ¡°But from what I hear you already turned them down.¡±


    ¡°I said I¡¯d consider it. But I have a team, and I have a guild. I don¡¯t need another,¡± Laxus said.


    Makarov nodded. Even if he was no longer allowed to wear the guildmark, his grandson¡¯s heart belonged to Fairy Tail. ¡°But they might need you there.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t care about what the council needs.¡±


    ¡°I didn¡¯t mean the council.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t care about what the Thunderbolts need. I¡¯d have stayed out of it all if I hadn¡¯t recognized Precht. I couldn¡¯t let him continue to drag Fairy Tail¡¯s honor through the muck. He was a master of Fairy Tail. He shouldn¡¯t have been slumming it as the head of Grimoire Heart.¡±


    ¡°I didn¡¯t mean the Thunderbolts either,¡± Makarov said. ¡°Fairy Tail and the council have a rocky relationship at the best of times. We could use somebody friendly in command of their new weapon.¡±


    ¡°So what are you asking me to do, gramps?¡± Laxus asked.


    ¡°Whatever is necessary to protect the guild.¡±


    ¡°Does this mean I¡¯m reinstated?¡±


    ¡°No. You¡¯ve not earned that yet. Besides, there¡¯s no way they¡¯d let a Fairy Tail member command that group.¡±


    Laxus scowled. ¡°I¡¯ll think about it. It¡¯s all moot if their commander comes back anyway.¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s leaving in less than 2 weeks,¡± Makarov said. ¡°Besides, from what I hear his last message was that he thought Acnologia was going to come for him.¡±


    ¡°So he freaked out a bit at the end. Eating a mass of murder ghosts isn¡¯t the worst reason for that.¡±


    ¡°If he just freaked out it looks very poor on him for leading this group. But I wonder if he might have been telling the truth.¡±

 Farewells and Feasts... Again?

    Arthur wasn¡¯t sure how far he¡¯d ridden Enif. But he knew he couldn¡¯t keep these three forces controlled any longer. Either he was going to turn into a dragon, attack Enif, or worse turn him around to give in to the angry souls of the damned screaming death and murder in his mind. He chose a third option. He closed Enif¡¯s gate and let himself fall into the water.


    He¡¯d retracted his space. He¡¯d shut off his archive. He needed not to know where Minerva was. The ghosts wanted her dead. They envied her survival. Why did her ancestor not die with the rest of the clan? And they wanted to remedy it, by killing her slowly, feeding off of her life force as they hollowed out her soul. Arthur didn¡¯t have some impossibly strong, heroic will to hold it back. His takeover form, the demon sword that was his ¡®cheat power¡¯ from another world helped, but he couldn¡¯t digest them fast enough without triggering the dragon force.


    If he gave them the chance they would take control. And with his magical power flaring wildly Acnologia could be coming at any moment. He¡¯d intended to fly straight to Guiltina. Hoped Enif could outrun Acnologia until he could reach the shielding aegis which was the presence of the 5 Dragon Gods. But that was impossible now. He had to hope Acnologia wasn¡¯t coming.


    He hit the water and dove down. He was still wearing his Sea King¡¯s Regalia, the orange armor wrapped around his chest, before becoming a green codpiece-speedo mix and leaving his legs bare to the flippered boots. It¡¯d let him breathe beneath the waves. He hoped that he could disappear there. That if Acnologia was coming he could hide  from the dragon king beneath the ocean waves.


    He wanted to dive to the darkness, and hide deep beneath the waves. But he was only a few dozen feet down when he started to feel his body moving under the control of those wraiths. They were angry. They were murderous. They wanted something to kill. And they had been denied.


    They moved his demonic body awkwardly. They didn¡¯t seem to have a natural grasp for his magic. He ceded control of his body; hopefully he could take it back. But he was going to lose it to something and he was less sure he could reclaim it from the dragon force.


    He let himself be swept under, pulled away from the world of flesh to that of the soul. It was the damned souls grasping him, but in his mind¡¯s eye he saw himself consolidating his takeover magic. He formed it into the black sword and he moved to face the great, dark serpent of his dragon seed, only dealing with the spirits long enough to pass through them to the dragon.


    He was not trying to kill the dragon, though, but to chain it. His blade was not cutting, but forming walls of red, demonic light in its path. He struggled with it, till his hand was numb, and his arm ached, and then he felt his cage secure. At least for the time being.


    Now it was just a matter of reclaiming his body. But that was simple. The wraiths had nothing to sustain them. He wasn¡¯t a fit vessel. He lacked the lacrima, he lacked the connection of blood, he lacked the natural affinity to host such spirits, and he was actively digesting them. He only needed to struggle free enough to snort, breathing deep and he found his body his own again, the digestion beginning once more. But he had the dragon seed more firmly constrained, the dragon force not able to surge up against his will.


    He tried to summon Enif, but found the time between summons had not fully passed. Arthur wasn¡¯t even sure which direction was south. He¡¯d flown past Fiore before he had closed Enif¡¯s gate, and now he hung over the sea. He found the sun and stopped. It was near noon, and without a timepiece he didn¡¯t know if it was before or after noon. It was nearly noon before they attacked Grimoire Heart so he guessed the sun was past its meridian, and that with it on his right he would be going south.


    After a few minutes, it occurred to him, though, that he could call on Altair. The lightning eagle appeared, and he linked it to his Archive, allowing him to view through its eyes. His heart clenched. A dark shape was approaching. It was hard for Altair to make it out accurately at the distance, but Arthur panicked, closing Altair¡¯s gate and diving beneath the surface of the water.


    10 minutes passed. He was still diving deeper and deeper. 20 minutes passed. He wished he had gravity magic pushing him down. He could feel magical power, though. It was immense. Enough that he couldn¡¯t fathom it. It didn¡¯t truly dwarf Selene¡¯s. In raw strength it was the same general feeling. But it was enough he could feel it after diving almost a mile beneath the waves.


    And then it hit the water and he felt it stir the water into turmoil, the force of the currents it created pushing him and battering him despite his sea king¡¯s regalia. Arthur dove deeper, and there was a second surge of magical power and another battering of water pressure. Acnologia was trying to find him and was blasting the sea to reach him. Arthur dove, using only a small amount of power through the Sea King¡¯s Regalia to push himself to the bottom of the sea. He had no idea how deep the ocean was here, but he wasn¡¯t rising for some time.


    When he settled on the seafloor, he was left with time to think. He could feel less of the direct impact of Acnologia¡¯s attacks here. There was more than a mile of water between them. But he could still feel the sheer magical energy.


    He didn¡¯t dare use too much magical power. Acnologia might sense it. But he didn¡¯t want to sit here and do nothing. He didn¡¯t think Acnologia was diving to the bottom of the ocean.


    So he turned back to his takeover magic. And he contemplated his dragon seed. He pulled up a screen from his Archive, opening it to a self-analysis mode. Then he began to work, cross-referencing readings from his takeover magic with those from consuming Hon- the dragon in Diabolos¡¯s guild hall, and with his two spikes of draconic power.


    Takeover was magic that manipulated the soul and transformed the body. The little ritual to cement the dragon power into a dragon eater was an enchantment that tied it to the soul. Dragonification was the end result of it transforming the body. It made sense that applying principles from one might help with the other.


    Irene never did it. But Irene didn¡¯t have the chance to study a new form of magic once she became a dragon until after Erza was born. And by then had she even really still tried? Or had she given herself over to despair? Arthur didn¡¯t know. But he knew that to really try this would require him to risk turning himself into a dragon.


    Eventually he switched his Archive to uploading the information from the shades he had consumed. It was already heavily damaged and fragmentary, both because the shades which had been attacking Minerva were only mere fragments, and because he hadn¡¯t done it at the time, but had been too focused on other matters. He worked with it for more than an hour, getting everything he could into his Archive for later perusal, and then he summoned Caelum and realized that the spirit was not rated for these pressures. He rose, needing a break, and began to walk. He didn¡¯t dare rise straight up; he couldn¡¯t feel Acnologia any more but the dragon still might be up there waiting and watching. He was getting hungry, and worse, thirsty. Really really thirsty. He couldn¡¯t remember the last time he had something to drink. He began to eat the darkness about him, feeling it restore his power and vitality, but it was salty, and it only served to dehydrate him further. His head was pounding from dehydration, a headache forming where he could feel the beating of his heart.


    He reversed the flow of the magic of his armor and rose from the sea. He was facing the setting sun. He didn¡¯t see Acnologia. And he didn¡¯t feel Acnologia.


    He waited a minute and then he summoned Altair to see if the eagle could identify where land was. Once that was done he summoned Enif, and climbed from the sea onto the horse.


    By the time he had reached Fiore it was past sunset. He stopped at the first cluster of lights that looked like a town in the mountains. He couldn¡¯t establish his Archive link with the others from here. He¡¯d go to Crocus and contact them from there. But it would have to wait till morning. He wasn¡¯t trying to navigate by Enif at night. And he wasn¡¯t risking stretching his space far enough to connect with it in Crocus with Acnologia potentially still on high alert. Besides with the sheer anxiety and panic he was feeling after noticing the patches of black scales which were definitely formed now on his arms he wasn¡¯t in any shape to perform a long range teleportation. He had beaten it back for now, but he was showing draconic features and that was not good.


    Arthur landed Enif in Hargeon. He had been wary of summoning the pegasus another time after flying to Crocus, but given the communication lacrima he was trying to contact was in use and enough time had passed to call Enif again he decided to try it. Acnologia hadn¡¯t noticed the prior flight.


    Still he wasn¡¯t searching all through the southern sea for the ship. From Hargeon, though, he should be able to reach out through his Archive to Minerva if no one else.


    The moment he had the mapping function popped up, telling him their relative locations and distance. He was more used to using overclocking to feed his thoughts directly into the Archive, than actually observing it on the map, but he was wary of that right now as well.


    This was approximately when Acnologia was supposed to attack Fairy Tail. It¡¯d be just his luck to have stopped Grimoire Heart from triggering it only to cause it himself. You¡¯d think with the power of being lucky he¡¯d have less bad luck.


    Still Minerva seemed relieved to hear from him. He was worried. She very well could hate him. He had killed her father right in front of her. That wasn¡¯t something she should have had to live through. Though neither was Jiemma trying to kill her. He hadn¡¯t wanted to kill Jiemma. Minerva still cared about her father whatever a total piece of shit he was; or she had he didn¡¯t know about now. Killing him was a strain on the relationship which wasn¡¯t needed.


    Once contact was achieved with Minerva opening the link fully with the others wasn¡¯t hard.


    Ultear Milkanovitch. The official story, from Erik and Minerva¡¯s reports, was that the tide of battle had turned when after Jiemma¡¯s attack on Minerva she had been appalled by where following Hades had led her and had destroyed the Devil¡¯s Heart and surrendered herself into Thunderbolts Custody.


    It was not exactly true. Neither was the amount of blame for Jellal that she was shifting to Hades. She had been thoroughly involved in the planning and not just the execution.


    Still her request to join the Thunderbolts Program was met with suspicion. She wasn¡¯t the only member of the Seven Kin who was doing so. Most were dismissed out of hand. It was simply too possible they were just doing it in hopes of breaking their fellows out of prison.


    Ultear and Melody were the only ones being considered. In the end while Arthur had a voice, he did not have much of one. He was leaving in under 2 weeks. It would be someone else¡¯s problem then. Seeing Laxus in the uniform of a member of the Magic Council¡¯s rune knights was not something he had ever expected to see. Of course he looked a lot more comfortable in it than Arthur did in his own.


    He¡¯d suggested Laxus for the job days ago. Laxus would hopefully be a good fit for it. He had a strong sense of justice, even if it sometimes went wrong, and one that would defend his people against authority if needed. He¡¯d have liked to be able to leave MacBeth or Sorano in charge, but the council had already made it clear that was not on the table no matter how well they performed against Grimoire Heart.


    Still Arthur was able to get authorization to allow Ultear to help out with a few things. Notably she repaired the demon¡¯s heart, and recharged the Astra Weapon and Ten Commandments Spear, turning back their time. He was also able to get her permission to have approved visitors. There was only one on the list: Gray Fullbuster.


    He had to find out if Gray would meet with her, though.


    Then there were the Thunderbolts themselves. Sorano was getting to see her little sister. Not actually talk to her; though that was at Sorano¡¯s own request. She just wanted to make sure she was well and in a good situation, and if everything was fine then she would stay away until she could meet her with pride and not as a criminal.


    The rest were given something almost unbelievable: leave. There were restrictions, they¡¯d have to wear lacrima which would allow them to be traced, and it was only one member at a time, but it was a chance to go out and live a little, especially as they had been given pay.


    And then there was Grimoire Heart¡¯s airship. Arthur wanted what was in it. There were 2 bounties all about stealing what was in it. He¡¯d intended to try and loot what he could before turning it over to the Magic Council, but that plan had fallen through. He decided to try his best to think like Karl Tagon of Schlock Mercenary and find some way to get paid for doing something he already wanted to do.


    He managed to get Gran Doma to give him the task of removing the Keys of Zeref from Ishgar entirely, before they caused another to attempt to revive him. But the council was not about to give up the Demon¡¯s Heart, the Airship itself, or even its library. Not that he had expected as much but he did try and negotiate with them on what they¡¯d pay him for taking over from Crawford in rebuilding the council¡¯s main surveillance network. In the end he had to turn down the job; it would have meant extending his stay in Ishgar.


    Hisui Fiore presented him with a golden key. It had been found on the airship. She believed he was the most suitable to determine what to do with it. Arthur summoned Capricorn. They talked. He learned of Capricorn¡¯s past; how Zoldeo usurped his body as opposed to fulfilling the contract to give him to his former contractor¡¯s daughter. Arthur had not given Aries to Lucy because it would have been rejecting Aries. But when Capricorn asked he felt sick at the idea of saying no.


    He was going to Magnolia anyway. Jellal wanted to be taken there, and he¡¯d promised he¡¯d go look up Lisanna if he passed through again. It was a few days before he could leave Crocus. And then he had to delay for another day to take a trip to Seven and pick up the lacrima that Draculos had commissioned for him.


    ¡°I thought you and Sorano were going to get together,¡± Minerva commented as Arthur came out of the florists with a bouquet of flowers.


    ¡°She doesn¡¯t really see me that way,¡± he said. He wasn¡¯t sure he was telling the truth. Sorano was a man eater, though. And he wouldn¡¯t survive her that way. Honestly he worried he was just playing around with Lisanna¡¯s heart to erect a barrier between Sorano and himself. If she did some heartfelt confession and asked him to stay he wasn¡¯t sure he could. But he needed to go back north. Acnologia was still alive. And he couldn¡¯t put all his eggs in the Natsu basket. Besides, he¡¯d vowed to save Diabolos. And to do that he needed Selene¡¯s help.


    But he wasn¡¯t sure that such rational arguments would overcome his loins. Still, Lisanna knew he was leaving in less than a fortnight. That tonight was very likely the last time they¡¯d see each other. There was no deception there. He¡¯d take her out to eat, and to Hargeon¡¯s boardwalk for some fair style games and just a walk.


    ¡°Are you certain? You¡¯re important to her.¡±


    ¡°I saved her. I put her on a new path in life. My power has become something she relies on.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t like Lisanna,¡± Minerva said, pouting a bit.


    ¡°You¡¯ve never even met her,¡± Arthur said.


    ¡°Yeah, but she¡¯s stealing you from Sorano.¡±


    ¡°I am not a possession to be stolen. Besides, we¡¯re not really staying in Ishgar. So it doesn¡¯t matter.¡±


    ¡°If it doesn¡¯t matter, why are you getting her flowers?¡± Minerva asked back.


    Jellal emerged from the florist looking awkward, holding a group of scarlet flowers. He wasn¡¯t really sure it was appropriate, but¡­ He was getting to talk to Erza as someone who wasn¡¯t actively being hunted by the authorities. But Arthur carried on his conversation with Minerva without noticing the blue-haired mage.


    ¡°Because I can pretend to be a human being and not have to worry about anything other than interacting with a cute girl for a change.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not a cute girl?¡± Minerva asked with a cheeky smile.


    He and Minerva still hadn¡¯t really talked about what happened on the ship. He¡¯d killed her father. And she seemed¡­ happier than ever. He had the feeling she was faking it. Or bottling up her trauma. He shouldn¡¯t have brought her to the airship. Except she¡¯d been critical in success.


    ¡°You¡¯re rather too young for me.¡± Arguably Lisanna was too. ¡°Besides, you¡¯re in my care. It¡¯d be wrong on so many levels. More than with Sorano.¡±


    ¡°Can I have one of the lacrima?¡± Minerva¡¯s words made him freeze.


    ¡°You know how dangerous implanting a lacrima can be. You¡­¡± He started to bring up Jiemma.


    ¡°I know,¡± Minerva said.


    ¡°You don¡¯t need to get more powerful. You¡¯re already strong.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re a dragon slayer. You¡¯re going back to a guild of dragon slayers. And I¡¯m supposed to be your apprentice. I want to learn to be a dragon slayer.¡±


    ¡°I didn¡¯t get a lacrima implanted in me through a dangerous procedure for that purpose.¡±


    She looked at him. ¡°Will you help me eat a dragon?¡±


    Arthur pulled up his sleeve to show the dragon scales on it. ¡°Definitely not.¡±


    ¡°Then the lacrima is the safest method.¡±


    Arthur hesitated. He¡¯d originally planned to implant the lacrima into himself this week. It was those scales on his arm that was preventing it. He thought he had the dragon seed under control. But it could horribly destabilize what he had.


    A monstrous part of him was eager to observe Minerva for the data it could provide.


    ¡°We¡¯ll talk about it,¡± He said, and then sighed. ¡°Minerva¡­¡± They talked about it. The dangers involved. The risk that it¡¯d mess up her magic permanently or kill her. An hour later, Arthur had agreed to pay for it. He had been planning to get the surgery himself after all; it was a big bit of his funds, but he had been paid for bringing down Grimoire Heart.


    The evening with Lisanna was relaxing at least. They went to Hargeon Town and enjoyed fresh seafood, and various games at its boardwalk under the starlight. Mirajane and Elfman didn¡¯t manage to follow them this time either, a teleportation trip made that difficult.


    It was relaxed, and it was casual. At least until the topic of small talk turned towards Edolas. Lisanna¡¯s question was innocent enough. ¡°Think you could take me back there sometime? Just to visit. Not to get trapped there again.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m forbidden to use that magic on Ishgar.¡± Arthur sighed.


    ¡°Eh?¡±


    ¡°It could attract Acnologia¡¯s attention.¡±


    ¡°Acnowho?¡±


    ¡°The ancient dragon king who exterminated dragons hundreds of years ago.¡±


    ¡°If he did it hundreds of years ago¡­¡±


    ¡°Remember the dragon that seized control of Edolas?¡± She nodded with a little sound in the affirmative. ¡°She fled to Guiltina and then out of this dimension to get away from him. He¡¯s just as ageless. He¡¯s how Gildarts lost his arm.¡±


    Lisanna¡¯s eyes went wide. ¡°Oh,¡± She said. ¡°And if you use that magic?¡±


    ¡°If I use too much magic at once in general. My fight with¡­¡± He broke off. He¡¯d been reprimanded for Laxus and Makarov learning the truth of the Grimoire Heart battle. If it got out to the general populace the Thunderbolts could be troubled by it; they were still expected to act as a top secret black ops unit. ¡°Someone for my job I shouldn¡¯t talk about saw me getting his attention.¡±


    ¡°The council job?¡± She said, leaning back against the railing of the pier that the evening had taken them out onto. She was relaxed and carefree, a soft, kind smile on her face. She wasn¡¯t half as gorgeous as her sister. There was a reason Mirajane was more famous as a model than as a powerful mage. She didn¡¯t have Sorano¡¯s sexual confidence. But she made Arthur feel relaxed, and he simply liked watching her smile.


    He nodded. ¡°The one Laxus is taking over soon?¡± She continued to question.


    ¡°I am not at liberty to answer that question,¡± he said with a little laugh in his voice. ¡°I should probably start asking you who you heard it from. But yeah, that one.¡±


    ¡°So if this big nasty dragon has you in its sights what does that mean for you?¡± She asked, a gentle hand moving to his shoulder where he faced the sea.


    ¡°It means I should be leaving Ishgar for the relative safety of Guiltina already. But I have a few loose ends to tie up here first.¡±


    ¡°So this is probably the last time I¡¯ll see you¡­¡±


    ¡°Unless you decide to come up to Guiltina. If you do send word, and I¡¯ll try and show you where to have a pleasant time there. Though I¡¯m probably going to be doing government work in Edolas so that might be difficult.¡±


    The future and anxiety had crept into the night then and soon afterwards they were returning to the Fairy Tail guild hall. It was easy enough. The distance was short, and Arthur¡¯s space hadn¡¯t been allowed to decay there yet.


    He walked her all the way back to the Guild Hall. He¡¯d offered to walk her home, but given Mirajane was still on duty at the Guild Hall, and Elfman was likely there she would have just gone from there to the Guild Hall anyway.


    When they stopped at the door, there was an awkward pause. Arthur knew if he was going to kiss her, he should do it now, but he also knew there was at least a 50/50 chance that Elfman or Mira would ambush him if he tried.


    As Lisanna lingered, and the moment became more and more awkward, he raised his territory armor - with the exception of the front of his face - and leaned forward for a kiss.


    He was not surprised when he heard the words, ¡°How dare you!?¡± and a fist sent him flying. The territory armor protected him from any damage, or even the feeling of impact, separating the space within from the space outside, but it didn¡¯t protect the ground from being furrowed, fire licking the grass and smoke rising from where he had landed.


    Natsu, wreathed in fire, and with the angriest expression Arthur had ever seen on his face, was glaring at him.


    ¡°Natsu!?¡± Lisanna shouted in surprise.


    ¡°If you liked her, you should have told her already,¡± Arthur stated, rising to his feet. He let his anger get the better of him, a sphere of territory magic exploding against Natsu¡¯s gut and knocking him back. The fire dragon slayer landed on his feet, still glaring at Arthur.


    ¡°Liked who?¡± Natsu asked.


    ¡°Lisanna.¡± Arthur named the girl beginning to blush in the faint lamplight by the door of the guild.


    ¡°What¡¯s this got to do with her?¡± Natsu asked.


    ¡°It¡¯s my date you¡¯re interrupting,¡± She said, smacking him upside the back of his head.


    ¡°Ow. Stop that! This has nothing to do with that.¡± Natsu answered. It was a little bit later before things calmed down enough to actually pursue the civilized response of talking things through.


    ¡°So, if it¡¯s not about me trying to kiss Lisanna, what is your grievance?¡± Arthur finally asked.


    ¡°You met a dragon who knew Igneel and you didn¡¯t tell me,¡± Natsu said. He¡¯d calmed down a bit.


    Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.


    Arthur blinked, before withering under the glare that Lisanna was now shooting him. ¡°Selene?¡±


    ¡°Did you kill it?¡± Natsu asked.


    ¡°No. You sure I didn¡¯t tell you I met Selene?¡±


    ¡°Natsu, I¡¯ve told you about Selene at length and in detail,¡± Lisanna said.


    ¡°Yeah, but you never said she knew Igneel and Grandeeney. He didn¡¯t even tell Wendy that.¡±


    ¡°Wait, I didn¡¯t?¡± Arthur asked in a shocked tone.


    ¡°No!¡±


    ¡°It must have slipped my mind. I thought Wendy knew.¡±


    ¡°Slipped your mind?¡±


    ¡°I have had a lot to think about.¡±


    ¡°Like what?¡±


    ¡°Top secret council stuff,¡± Lisanna said lightly, her voice playful. It contrasted Arthur¡¯s response of simply raising his arm and holding up his shiny new prosthetic hand. King Toma of Fiore had come through with his promise. It wasn¡¯t one with the most bells and whistles, but it was fully serviceable, and did have holder magic properties; a bit of long distance manipulation magic and spatial magic, though nothing Arthur couldn¡¯t mostly duplicate between Macro and Territory.


    ¡°Oh¡­¡± Natsu did remember that Arthur had lost his hand in Edolas.


    ¡°The fact that I¡¯m turning into a dragon that will almost certainly go mad with power and become a mindless force of destruction. The deal with Selene where I pledged her my service in exchange for not destroying Edolas. Accidentally angering Zeref¡¯s demons so who knows they might be after my head. Trying to get everything I need to do in Ishgar done in the time Selene has allotted me despite it being a lot of shit. Stopping Grimoire Heart from destroying your guild¡­ I¡¯ve had a lot on my plate,¡± Arthur vented.


    ¡°Oh¡­¡± Lisanna said lightly, kicking herself for not having guessed that Arthur had something to do with Grimoire Heart¡¯s heavily publicized recent setback. Arthur fought a battle big enough to get a mythical dragon¡¯s attention at just about the same time, and it was almost immediately after that the Thunder God Tribe were complaining about Laxus¡¯s new job.


    ¡°Wait, what?¡± Natsu asked. ¡°Who¡¯s trying to destroy the guild?¡±


    ¡°Natsu, I think they aren¡¯t any more,¡± Lisanna said. ¡°Don¡¯t you remember the ship we saw the council¡¯s navy impound on the way to Tenrou.¡±


    Natsu looked at her and then Arthur.


    ¡°Could you please forget that,¡± Arthur said. ¡°I¡¯m not supposed to let it be known the council used outside contractors for that.¡±


    ¡°My lips are sealed,¡± Lisanna said.


    ¡°That¡¯s not important anyway. Tell me about this dragon,¡± Natsu said. ¡°I want to talk to them. Take me to them.¡±


    ¡°I can¡¯t. She¡¯s forbidden me from using dimensional magic in Ishgar for fear Acnologia will notice and replicate it.¡±


    ¡°Acnologia can do that? I thought it was a raging beast,¡± Lisanna said.


    ¡°Acnologia is the fate of any too successful Dragon Slayer,¡± Arthur answered. ¡°He was a mage once, and given his power a damn good one. And he might still destroy, but with 300 years to get used to that power, we¡¯ve got to worry he¡¯s fully regained his ability to think even if he does it more like a dragon than a human.¡±


    ¡°This is the dragonification thing you talked about, right?¡± Natsu asked. Arthur nodded, and for a while Natsu was quiet. Arthur didn¡¯t know what was going through the pink haired youth¡¯s mind. Fear? He¡¯d been told that he was protected, but it didn¡¯t mean it wasn¡¯t the sort of thing to cause dread. But Natsu wasn¡¯t too like that. Maybe concern for Arthur and his guildmates? That seemed more likely.


    Natsu continued on. ¡°If we leave Ishgar you could take me to her, right?¡±


    ¡°She¡¯s¡­ dangerous and capricious,¡± Arthur said. ¡°She spared Wendy because Wendy was Grandeeney¡¯s child, and she believed Igneel had a plan to stop Acnologia with the 5 dragon slayers.¡±


    ¡°Five?¡± Natsu asked.


    ¡°Yeah, there¡¯s two more kids raised by dragons, I¡­ think I¡¯ve got their location, but I haven¡¯t been able to track them down for their blood yet.¡±


    ¡°Two more that Igneel knew?¡±


    ¡°Along with you, Wendy, and Gajeel, yeah.¡±


    ¡°Why haven¡¯t you told me this?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know if I¡¯ve actually found them yet or not.¡±


    ¡°How do you know all this anyway?¡±


    ¡°I read a lot.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t think me and Natsu can do that,¡± Happy, Natsu¡¯s exceed and constant companion, helpfully interjected. ¡°Unless it was about fish. Are some of the books fish?¡±


    ¡°So tell me about Igneel¡¯s plan,¡± Natsu said.


    Truthfully Arthur didn¡¯t remember it well. Until he¡¯d found references in books here, he¡¯d forgotten about the Dragon Soul transference. And he still didn¡¯t properly remember how it worked. ¡°Selene might know more. I can ask her when I go back to meet her. It¡¯s why I have to go back to Guiltina. I have no idea what she¡¯ll do if I break my word. She¡¯s¡­ Well¡­ She was going to smash the capital of Edolas for having the sheer hubris to try and turn her into lacrima and leave when I first met her. And was actively cultivating destruction in Elentear.¡±


    ¡°What?¡± Lisanna grabbed the collar of his shirt and pulled on him. ¡°You didn¡¯t tell me that!¡±


    ¡°I didn¡¯t think you needed to be burdened with the knowledge when there¡¯s nothing you can do about it.¡± Arthur defended himself.


    ¡°But there are people I care about in Edolas. People I love,¡± she said, shrinking down a little.


    ¡°What can you do about it now that you know?¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re dragon slayers, we should go slay her,¡± Natsu suggested.


    ¡°And if she has information you can¡¯t get anywhere else about Igneel?¡±


    Natsu wavered, eyes casting down. ¡°Still¡­¡± He said.


    ¡°Or what if she¡¯s being true to her word. Her appearance stopped Edolas from falling into a bloody civil war. Last I knew she was siphoning Elentear¡¯s excess magic and pouring it into Edolas. Elentear¡¯s problem predates her meddling. She was just making it worse. Last I knew she was fixing it and Edolas¡¯s. Do we kill her because she planned to do wrong even if she¡¯s doing good now just because she might return to doing wrong?¡±


    ¡°Well¡­ no,¡± Natsu said.


    ¡°Besides, she almost squashed me like a bug. I couldn¡¯t kill her as I was then no matter how many times I tried. As you are right now, Natsu, you¡¯d be a liability not a help. I sold myself in service to her to save Edolas. And given the weight of that is crushing me, I didn¡¯t want to lay it on you.¡± He was talking more to Lisanna than Natsu by the end, and the obvious irritation she had felt at him seemed to be somewhat mollified.


    ¡°I still want to meet her,¡± Natsu said. ¡°And if she is evil I will slay her.¡±


    Arthur sighed. ¡°I can¡¯t just port to Guiltina, and Enif only rides two. Minerva has the second seat already.¡±


    Natsu clenched his fist, but no other sign of his frustration. ¡°So what does she know about Igneel? What do you know about Igneel you¡¯ve not told me?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know. She could smell Grandeeney on Wendy and had heard rumors about Igneel¡¯s plan from 400 years ago. I know that around 400 years ago Igneel and 4 other dragons concocted a plan to kill Acnologia by using a group of dragon slayers who didn¡¯t risk dragonification, through a magic that imparted their souls to the dragon slayers. I don¡¯t know much more than that.¡±


    ¡°Imparted his soul?¡± Natsu asked.


    Arthur remembered vaguely a bounty involving it; it was one of those that gave him information about the world he had forgotten and which blurred the precise details from his mind. It was about ensuring that his plan was given the chance to work properly, and he could return properly, and somehow Natsu being time skipped on Tenrou Island would stop that. But without more than vague memories he didn¡¯t want to raise Natsu¡¯s hope too much. ¡°His soul. Or a part of his soul. Is inside of you. It¡¯s why you have antibodies against dragonification. I think there¡¯s a way it can be used to bring him back, but it¡¯s not something I would want to mess with given my current level of knowledge.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s getting chilly, can you two finish this inside,¡± Lisanna said, a bit of a pout on her face.


    ¡°One thing first,¡± Arthur said, rising to his feet. ¡°I still haven¡¯t seen the lady home, and I do owe her that for the lovely evening.¡±


    Lisanna smiled at him. He¡¯d lost a kiss thanks to Natsu, but a smile was still something to warm the heart. And he¡¯d finish talking to Natsu inside. Natsu was going to have a lot of questions about how this soul-imparting worked, and Arthur honestly couldn¡¯t tell him. He didn¡¯t remember the details from the manga, it¡¯d been too long, and hadn¡¯t even remembered it at all until a scrap of text had mentioned the technique. He was going to have to tell Natsu that a dozen times in a dozen different ways though.


    The next days were spent with a focus on the lacrima implantation. He was no longer on active duty watching over the Thunderbolts. He was allowed to come and go as he pleased. It was his last week in Ishgar. The grateful king was still willing to give him room and board, but his contractor work for the Council with the Thunderbolts had ended with Laxus¡¯s acceptance of the job. Gran Doma wanted him in Era regardless, which gave him plenty of excuse to go there to arrange the surgery.


    He set up the surgeries, and listened to Gran Doma¡¯s pitch for repairing the Council¡¯s systems. Arthur gave his advice, but spent the next day traveling to Seven and back to collect the lacrima which Draculos had commissioned for him. Well the first few hours of the day. Afterwards he was being called upon to provide consulting help on what was in effect creating a communal Archive. It was¡­ weird. He wasn¡¯t a computer programmer, and he wasn¡¯t sure that as much as Archive was a magical computer that would have helped, but he kept just knowing things from the instillation of magical knowledge in his mind from when he had purchased it from the jump.


    He felt like a poser. Talking the talk, and walking the walk, but only because someone else was constantly whispering in his ear how to do so. Gran Doma implored him to stay an extra two months in Ishgar to finish the project completely. Arthur, however, refused.


    The next day, the 24th, was the day of the operation. He was going through it first; to test that it was safe. Wendy had come across from Fiore to help as a final medical backup even with Christmas being tomorrow. Arthur couldn¡¯t use magic during, but he could create a reduced instance of his Archive that could be used and function with a sort of magical battery he provided it with. It¡¯d need to be reconnected before it shut down, but it could record things during the surgery.


    The lacrima which was going to be implanted was the shine dragon¡¯s. Sort of. The lacrima made from Honami was flawed and weak. She¡¯d not been powerful enough. The one from Serena was flawed and weak; over the years he¡¯d leeched power from it, making it his own. The lacrima smith had found them surprisingly easy to unify into a single crystal with his magic however. It was this lacrima which was being implanted into Arthur¡¯s heart.


    He tried to tell himself that Honami would want that. That she¡¯d be watching over the guild through him. He couldn¡¯t be certain it was anything more than a lie he told himself to keep it feeling like he was stealing her heart for his own personal gain.


    The surgery went without a hitch. The scales on his arm didn¡¯t extend. The points of his teeth didn¡¯t sharpen. Though he was warned not to engage in any high stress or high intensity use of magic for a while as it had taken God Serena¡¯s magical energies a week to a month to stabilize with each of his surgeries. So ordinary individuals, well ordinary by the standards of those who could survive it which tended to be well above average as far as magical power was concerned, could expect it to take as much as a year before they were capable of making proper use of their magic once more, and to have to acclimate themselves to the changed magical energy through minor exertions of magical force and energy throughout. Arthur kept his Archive open during Minerva¡¯s operation despite the doctor¡¯s protests.


    He wasn¡¯t certain what he hoped to learn, but he wanted to observe as much as possible about the flow of magic. If he was going to find a cure for dragonification, or maximize his and Minerva¡¯s chances that this didn¡¯t shoot them in the foot somehow, he needed all the information he could get.


    It was only after Minerva¡¯s operation, when Minerva mentioned it, that Arthur realized the whites of his eyes had turned black. The increased draconic energy inside of him from the lacrima was having an effect.


    Christmas was spent as a day of bed rest. The implantation of a magical crystal where it was fusing with his heart was rather painful. It was obviously so for Minerva too. Wendy''s healing had helped; the pain of the surgery itself was gone, but the lacrima itself hurt. It pushed in odd ways, causing odd pressure inside of the chest. It was also affecting the blood flow through his body, limbs falling asleep in odd ways and forcing shifts of position. Finally his magical power seemed to hurt. Minerva''s was clearly worse than his and Wendy and the doctor were tending to her, while Arthur tried merely to stoically bear his own pain so that they didn''t feel the need to leave her side.


    It left him with time to consider Christmas. There were decorations hung up in the hospital room, so they did celebrate it in Earthland, and he''d heard some talk about it in the castle while working with the Thunderbolts, but he''d not heard Jingle Bells or any of the traditional songs. He''d not seen Christmas decorations filling stores. It was definitely a smaller thing here. He''d missed Halloween because it just wasn''t a thing here, and now he was going to miss Christmas as well. He''d not celebrated Christmas much since he was no longer a child, even as a teenager it''d been a fading thing, but he couldn''t help but miss it a little. Even if it was just the old Rudolph movie and them singing about misfits.


    He felt it was a dereliction of duty, though, that he hadn''t at least made an effort to create some Christmas cheer for Minerva. He just hadn''t thought about it being Christmas.


    Several days later, he arrived in Crocus earlier than he had told the others. He had planned to take a boat and then train back to Crocus; he wasn¡¯t certain how far he could stretch his magical power so soon after his surgery. He was recovering well; his body was integrating the lacrima much faster than Minerva¡¯s or even than Serena had until the final lacrima. The doctor was amazed and impressed.


    Still teleporting across a country was not a light act of magic. Maybe if he had proper teleportation magic. But he was using Territory. He could only affect his ¡®space¡¯. He had to seed the area with his space first. Thankfully the training grounds in Crocus were saturated with his power. Of course, he had already realized the strain could be avoided; he just had to take time and a bit of extra care not to access the wrong parts of his magical power. It was integrating, though.


    Thankfully it wasn¡¯t too problematic to have had the guest of honor for a feast arrive early. It might have left him with some time to kill, if it weren¡¯t for the presence of 2 children and their bizarre talking cats. One of the cats, wearing a frog onesie, was more bizarre than most exceed.


    Sting Eucliffe, and Rogue Cheney, were the last two of the 7 destined dragon slayers, and 5 children from the past who had been part of Igneel¡¯s plan. King Toma had had them found and brought to Crocus the day prior. The two children were understandably nervous about meeting the person who had had them called there by the king due to a need for their service. Arthur always assumed Sting was younger than Minerva, though by how much was always unclear, so he¡¯d peg him at 11 or 12 on that basis alone. And he guessed Rogue at the same age.


    Not that it really mattered. They were both definitely still children. Children who were brimming with a volatile mix of emotions. They seemed to be afraid to even look directly at Arthur when he entered. It was one of the exceed, a red cat with a distinctly rude tone, who first spoke. ¡°So what was so important that you needed to bring my buddy, Sting, all the way here?¡±


    Arthur tried to put on a friendly, and hopefully non-creepy, smile. ¡°I don¡¯t know exactly what you have been told. But¡­¡± How was the best way to tell children you want their blood for magical research without sounding like a deranged mad scientist? ¡°Well I¡¯m a dragon slayer, like both of you, and I come from another continent to the north.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, they already told us that,¡± the red cat said in a tone of impatience.


    ¡°Did they tell you why I came to Ishgar?¡± Arthur asked.


    There was a shaking of heads, and the red cat, apparently the (self) designated spokesman for the group, said, ¡°No. They haven¡¯t told us why they needed Sting¡¯s time here.¡±


    Sting bit his lip, his solidarity for his friend conflicting with his good sense not to speak to a big shot like that.


    ¡°Well I come from a guild of dragon slayers,¡± Arthur started.


    He paused for a breath, and Sting stepped up so close to him they were practically touching. ¡°And you want to recruit me, Rogue, Lector, and Frosch to join?¡± Hisvoice was exuberant and hopeful.


    ¡°Even on other continents they¡¯ve heard of you, Sting!¡± The red cat¡¯s voice was elated as well.


    ¡°No,¡± Arthur said. ¡°I¡¯d suggest you go join Fairy Tail. They have a trio of dragon slayers there, one¡¯s about your age. They¡¯d be a good fit for you, and be able to teach you lots. My guild has a problem.¡± He pulled up the sleeve on his unmaimed arm. Black scales were visible on it. ¡°Dragon slayer is a lost magic. Those have dangerous side effects. My guild suffers from them, becoming dragons if they over use their powers. But in my research I learned about 5 dragons who were working to perfect it. I believe the dragons which raised you both, and the three dragon slayers at Fairy Tail were those five dragons. And I believe they succeeded. I just hope that whatever was done to you can be replicated. For that reason I¡¯ve come to Ishgar to try and see if I could get you five to each give me some of your blood so that I could perform some tests on it to see if there¡¯s anything special about it, or any residue left over from what the dragons did to perfect it and if I can somehow use it to stop my guild mates from becoming dragons.¡±


    ¡°Why wouldn¡¯t you want to become a dragon?¡± Sting asked. ¡°Weisslogia was awesome. He was so big and strong.¡±


    ¡°Wait¡­ You know about Skiadrum and Weisslogia?¡± Rogue shot out, finally speaking.


    ¡°Only what I¡¯ve read,¡± Arthur answered surprisingly truthfully. ¡°And because when a dragon slayer turns into a dragon the draconic power tends to overwhelm their reason and their humanity, turning them into beasts of destruction.¡± Really from what he had researched ¡®beasts of destruction¡¯ described the substantial majority of dragons. But what he had read was written by their enemies so had to be taken with a grain of salt.


    ¡°Oh¡­¡± Sting said.


    ¡°What did the books say?¡± Rogue asked.


    ¡°Not much more than I told you. The fire dragon king got together an iron, sky, shadow, and white dragon and worked on it. They disappeared from history long ago, but it was said they were working in Ishgar and when I heard about Natsu I decided to check it out.¡±


    ¡°Oh,¡± all four of them said at once, seeming to deflate a bit.


    Sting was the first to raise his head. ¡°Wait, does this mean that Salamander is so famous you¡¯ve heard about him overseas?¡±


    ¡°Sting, you¡¯ll be more famous than him in no time,¡± the red cat said.


    ¡°If you do a lot of research you might find out he exists. I¡¯d be surprised if you could find someone on the street that knew without hunting down travelers from Ishgar.¡± Arthur felt he was getting better at lying, especially to children. Unfortunately there wasn¡¯t a bounty for that.


    ¡°Oh,¡± Sting said.


    ¡°So. Would you be willing to help me out and let me get a bit of your blood to test on?¡± Arthur asked, looking at them. They looked at each other and finally gave their consent.


    The Thunderbolts were not at the feast. Arthur understood the need not to publicly show the team of dark mages who were buying their pardon with blood, and who were still publicly perceived as highly dangerous criminals, but given the feast was to thank him for his actions in Edolas and role in leading the Council team that brought down Grimoire Heart it turned his stomach. Laxus, and many of the officers from the crews of the council ships which handled the clean up were there.


    It cast a pall over the whole feast for Arthur, leaving him picking at his food instead of scarfing down. It was only the reminder that he was going to be riding Enif for hours tomorrow which got him to really eat. And he was expected to play up the council¡¯s role whenever someone asked him about how the battle had gone.


    Arthur was presented with the keys of Zeref, and officially commissioned to remove them from Ishgar once and forever, and ensure they did not return there. He was also given a bag of jewels, and several books taken from Grimoire Heart¡¯s ship as a sign of thanks and gratitude. It wasn¡¯t the whole haul he had hoped to get, but it was better than nothing.


    He probably should have been following Laxus¡¯s lead, shaking hands, flirting with the ladies, and networking with important businessmen and political power players. But the idea filled him with dread. He instead struggled merely to do the minimum to talk to and interact with the people who came to see him.


    After what felt like far too many hours, Arthur was allowed to excuse himself with the fib that he was going to make an early night of it due to needing to sleep before his long journey in the morning. In truth he was going to see those who he had actually come here to see.


    He was relieved to see that while they¡¯d not been at the banquet, the Thunderbolts had been given a share of the sumptuous feast in their mess hall. It didn¡¯t have servants rushing about to get them whatever they wanted or fill their cups, but they weren¡¯t being completely cut out.


    They gave him a cheer when he entered. It was, after all, a farewell party for him and Minerva. Arthur had, of course, brought presents for the winter holiday he had missed, and he did not seem to be the only one to have considered it. Nothing was big, flashy, or expensive, but that wasn¡¯t the point of it.


    After a few hours it was getting late. Minerva was starting to fall asleep in her chair, and Arthur truly did need to sleep for the long trip tomorrow.


    ¡°So this is the last we¡¯ll see of you for a while? Not gonna be zipping back and forth?¡± MacBeth said.


    ¡°I¡¯d love to be back again, but I have no plans to return for the foreseeable future. Though, truth be told, I can¡¯t foresee past tomorrow,¡± Arthur stated.


    ¡°It¡¯s your turn to be on someone else¡¯s leash.¡± MacBeth¡¯s smile was twisted, almost sadistic.


    ¡°Unfortunately.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll miss you,¡± MacBeth said, planting a hand on Arthur¡¯s shoulder before pulling back. It was, Arthur thought, the first time he¡¯d seen MacBeth touch someone in a non-aggressive way.


    ¡°I¡¯ll miss all of you too.¡±


    ¡°If you ever need our help, don¡¯t be afraid to ask, boss man.¡± Sawyer grinned as he spoke.


    ¡°I¡¯ll keep that in mind.¡±


    ¡°We won¡¯t forget what you did for us,¡± Richard¡¯s hand clasped his shoulder.


    ¡°Alright you are all getting too sappy,¡± Erik said. Then he looked straight at Arthur. ¡°Keep the little princess out of too much trouble. She¡¯s going to be a real tiger when she grows up. Make sure she does, or I¡¯ll have to show you a real dragon slayer.¡± MacBeth snickered at Erik¡¯s threat. It didn¡¯t bother Arthur. There was no actual malice he could detect in Erik¡¯s tone or on his face. ¡°And keep yourself safe too. I mean if you get yourself killed we¡¯ll have to take revenge and that¡¯s not something we really should be doing if we¡¯re going to be on the straight and narrow.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll try to not die,¡± Arthur grinned back. ¡°You keep yourself, and the rest of them safe too.¡± He needed to remember to try and fix the snake. Didn¡¯t Makarov fix her normally? Would that have happened by now? He didn¡¯t have time now. He¡¯d been busy. And keeping Selene on board was the priority.


    Arthur glanced to see if one of the remaining three would say anything, only now noticing that Jellal had apparently peeled off earlier in the night. Lilith was still there. More than a little drunk. But she had not been excluded from things or shunned by the Oracion Seis. Something had changed since he went to get his surgery.


    ¡°Thanks¡­ chou¡­¡± She slurred her words a little.


    ¡°You¡¯re welcome,¡± Arthur said, not completely sure what she was thanking him for.


    ¡°Learnd lots from chur arki¡­ arrr¡­ chou taught me things.¡± Richard caught her as she lost her balance.


    ¡°I¡¯ll take her to bed,¡± Richard said. Arthur caught a snicker from MacBeth and Sawyer.


    She¡¯d been taking her training more seriously after MacBeth¡¯s stupidly dangerous stunt. And she¡¯d been on Laxus¡¯s mission, so maybe it was something to do with that.


    And that left Sorano, who walked past Arthur, grabbing his hand and pulling lightly, tugging him towards the exit. Arthur followed, letting the others think what they would. He walked out with her into the night air.


    ¡°Do you really have to go?¡± She asked. She was wearing an outfit that¡¯d be fit for a burlesque dancer, or Emma Frost; a feather cape, a low cut fashion corset, and tight pants. All white.


    ¡°I came here for a job. I¡¯ve stayed longer than I was supposed to already. I¡¯ve still got to go back to my guild and find a cure for dragonification.¡±


    ¡°Your guild?¡± She said, narrowing her eyes. ¡°We¡¯re more your guild than they ever were. We¡¯d not be here if it weren¡¯t for you.¡±


    Arthur winced. ¡°I¡¯m turning into a dragon. I need to find a cure for that.¡±


    ¡°Find it here.¡±


    ¡°I promised Selene I¡¯d return.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯ve said she won¡¯t come here. She¡¯s scared of Acnologia.¡±


    ¡°She¡¯ll take it out on Edolas. Or Diabolos.¡±


    ¡°Screw them. I want you to stay.¡±


    ¡°Sorano,¡± Arthur said, looking at her.


    She frowned like a scolded child. ¡°Is there something I can do to convince you to stay? I know you had that bounty about kissy kissy stuff,¡± She said, hands moving to embrace him.


    Arthur couldn¡¯t deny he found her attractive. But¡­ the way she put it felt more like she was trying to make it some transaction; and yes courtship in general could be viewed as a transaction but it felt like paying for a prostitute. I will be your lover if you stay.


    It still felt like it took every drop of resolve to pull back when she kissed him. To not wrap her up and press into the kiss. Lisanna was¡­ not really a factor there. Save for the guilty thought that he¡¯d gone out with her to discourage Sorano from this.


    ¡°Do you mean that? I mean¡­ Why do you want me to stay?¡±


    ¡°I like having you around.¡±


    ¡°Are you trying to say you love me? That you¡¯ve grown attracted to me?¡±


    Sorano paused. There was a flirtatious, playful smile on her face, and then it faded. She sighed. ¡°Erik wouldn¡¯t let me live it down if I lied there. If I had to pick somebody, I can think of worse ones. A lot of worse ones. But¡­¡±


    ¡°But?¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re talking about love. Love is a commitment,¡± She said with a frown. ¡°I¡¯m not ready for that. And if I get you to stay with that it¡¯s going to be one. And while I¡¯ve fooled around with worse to get what I wanted, you¡¯re not really, well, you¡¯re not attractive.¡±


    ¡°Thank,¡± Arthur said sourly.


    ¡°Hey! I¡¯m being truthful here. It¡¯s not easy, you know. I¡¯m used to lying to guys, manipulating them, and using them.¡±


    ¡°But?¡±


    ¡°I owe you too much to do that. I¡­ Please stay. I trust you. I feel safe with you looking out for me.¡±


    ¡°Laxus is strong, and he¡¯s protective of his people. He¡¯ll keep you all safe.¡±


    Sorano scoffed. ¡°We¡¯re not his people. We¡¯re an obligation to him. You helped me and Jellal when it caused you trouble, and when your silly bounties only needed you to help one of us. It¡¯d have been a lot easier for you, but you went out on a limb to help me anyway. And you kept doing it. I don¡¯t trust people. But I trust you.¡±


    ¡°And you don¡¯t trust Laxus.¡±


    ¡°He doesn¡¯t want to be here,¡± she said. ¡°I can tell. Plus he doesn¡¯t get flustered when I turn on the charm like you do. You¡¯re still blushing by the way. He is rather yummy, though.¡± She laughed as Arthur gave her a sour look. ¡°You turned me down.¡±


    ¡°Would you have wanted me to take you up on that offer?¡±


    She shook her head and let it lower down. ¡°No. I don¡¯t want to be the manipulator I used to be any more. I want to like myself.¡± She raised it again. ¡°I still wish you¡¯d stay.¡±


    ¡°Selene¡­¡±


    ¡°Will kill people and you¡¯re the sort of sap to blame yourself.¡±


    ¡°I mean if she¡¯s doing it because of my promise to her¡­¡±


    ¡°And if you hadn¡¯t made that promise? You¡¯re not responsible for her actions.¡±


    Arthur sighed. ¡°She¡¯s my best chance to stop this,¡± he touched the scales on his arm, ¡°And she¡¯s my best chance to help stack the deck against Acnologia.¡± If Sorano was going to be honest with him, he¡¯d stop trying to virtue signal and be honest. ¡°She can teach me a lot. And I want to use her for everything she¡¯s worth. I¡¯m not from this world where friendship is power. I don¡¯t have friends to fall back on. But I¡¯ve been given power to shape things, and I intend to-¡±


    He stopped as Sorano stabbed his stomach with three fingers held straight. ¡°If you¡¯re gonna go all god complex, make sure you can¡¯t just be knifed like a punk. Keep that armor of yours up, stupid. And what do you think I am?¡±


    ¡°Huh?¡±


    ¡°I thought I was your friend. I thought we,¡± She gestured at the building a little ways away now, ¡°were your friends.¡±


    Arthur felt like warmed over garbage all of a sudden. ¡°You are.¡± His tone was guilty and ashamed.


    ¡°That¡¯s why you¡¯ll come back, right? Even if I won¡¯t go kissy kissy with you?¡±


    ¡°I wholly intend to.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll be waiting.¡±


    They smiled at each other for a few moments. ¡°I really should go to bed if you¡¯re not going to make leaving any harder on me.¡±


    ¡°Eh, you need to suffer for it.¡±


    ¡°Why?¡±


    ¡°Otherwise you¡¯ll forget to come back.¡±


    Arthur couldn¡¯t help but smile at her a little.

 Mother of Calamnity

    It was late in the afternoon by the time Arthur and Minerva had landed on Guiltina. Despite his surgery, maintaining Enif had not been an issue. In part because he didn¡¯t miss the continent - twice - like on the first trip so it was a fraction of the time. More importantly he¡¯d improved his pact with Enif. It took a fraction of the power to maintain his summon, even without dropping his speed parameter.


    It was also a constant, stable drain as opposed to a sudden spike. He had been careful when summoning Enif, and made certain that he didn¡¯t try to activate the wrong magical pathways. It was easy when he was given time to concentrate and work. The pathways were healing, though. He didn¡¯t have a good way of gauging how long it would take, but each day magic was coming noticeably easier.


    He didn¡¯t go to Diabolos¡¯s guild hall when he arrived in Guiltina. He needed what Selene had to offer, and Georg had made clear what his thoughts on that was. And if Arthur broke the deal¡­ Well Selene taking Diabolos for her own was about the best case scenario. So instead of getting into a fight with Georg on the matter, Arthur simply landed by the coast, filled a bottle with sea water, and tossed it up into the air. He worked the spell Selene had taught him: aqua aera. It was a highly demanding spell, a top tier working of spatial magic, and he was trying to reach a specific location.


    His chest flared with pain, as light magic bled into the water magic of the spell. Arthur thought the portal was a success, but instead of testing it, he cast the spell again. It took till the third try to have it go off without that surge, his Archive recording each attempt and what he had done differently in his flows of magic.


    Minerva was looking around wide and wild eyed. It was her first real time in another world. Coco, the girl who had become the chief of staff for Selene, came running up. ¡°It¡¯s you. Thank goodness you came,¡± She said with heavy vitriol in her voice at first, only fading later to relief. ¡°Her imperial majesty is impatient for your return, and¡­¡± She looked around as if the walls might be listening. ¡°You shouldn¡¯t keep her waiting.¡±


    The castle seemed to have been, for a large part, repaired. But everyone he saw within it seemed to be furtive and scared, ready to jump out of their skin. They darted, moving in a hurry, heads lowered, and when they ran into each other burst into an exchange of apologies.


    ¡°If you want to retain the love of the common people, you will have to change something,¡± Jellal¡¯s voice sounded out ahead of him. Or Mystogan¡¯s Arthur realized. Prince Jellal of Edolas as opposed to Jellal of Earthland.


    ¡°Are you saying I need to constrain myself to rule?¡± Selene asked. She was seated in an opulent throne, a flock of servants around her tending to her every need.


    ¡°Yes,¡± Mystogan stated, his tone curt and upset.


    ¡°Then what¡¯s the point of ruling? Why do I let you talk to me like this again?¡± Selene spoke in a voice like an unsheathed sword, words that almost dripped with killing intent.


    ¡°Because I do a good job of running the country so that you can focus on other things, and you know if you had me replaced you¡¯d not be able to get nearly the same level of comforts you desire.¡±


    Selene looked at him for a few moments. ¡°Oh, yes, I guess that¡¯s so.¡±


    ¡°She¡¯s strong,¡± Minerva muttered, clinging behind Arthur. She had felt Selene¡¯s magical power and pressure, and coupled with the killing intent it was devastating.


    Arthur, though, couldn¡¯t help but notice how weak it was. It felt like that if he hadn¡¯t just had heart surgery he could kill her right here and now. Where before even as a human she had had more power than he did. She was now somewhere weaker than Draculos.


    ¡°I¡¯m back,¡± Arthur said.


    ¡°I¡¯m back? Is that how you treat your queen and master?¡± Selene said, looking at him with a face full of irritation. ¡°I¡¯ve been keeping my side of the bargain, supplying this ethernano dead world with magical power, gluttons that they are for it and they are ungrateful for the effort and pain it causes me.¡±


    ¡°The people are very grateful,¡± Mystogan said, ¡°They see you as a goddess descended from heaven to save them, but the demands you make are somewhat unreasonable.¡±


    ¡°Once they stop sucking my life force dry with their demands I¡¯ll stop sucking them dry with mine,¡± Selene said. ¡°If I¡¯m going to be in pain and misery for their sake they can give me what I need to mitigate that pain and misery.¡±


    ¡°Am I interrupting something?¡± Arthur asked.


    ¡°Yes!¡± Selene snapped. ¡°But I¡¯ve been waiting too long. How could you keep me waiting so long after all I¡¯ve done for you?¡±


    ¡°I had business that needed to be done in Ishgar. It should be completed now. They were preparations that will¡­¡± Arthur was speaking when Selene angrily cut him off.


    ¡°Help see to Acnologia¡¯s fall, by maximizing the chance of Igneel¡¯s plan being successful. Yes yes yes. I remember. And did you maximize that chance?¡±


    ¡°I prevented Acnologia from killing 3 of the 5 early,¡± Arthur said.


    ¡°So you let him kill two?¡± She crushed the golden goblet in her hand in her sudden rage, splashing wine everywhere.


    ¡°No. Those two were never in danger.¡±


    ¡°Oh, that¡¯s fine then,¡± she said, settling back into her cushion-covered throne. ¡°I wish I could have watched what sort of distortions you wrought. But still¡­ for now you must be exhausted from your travels from Ishgar. Let us dine and enjoy ourselves.¡±


    It was the second royal feast Arthur had attended in as many days. Being whisked into an alternate reality and given unfair powers was a pretty sweet gig¡­ if you didn¡¯t mind the constant risk of death and nightmares about the blood on your hands. Or well¡­ hand. It had its cons.


    ¡°Bring in the entertainment,¡± Selene said as the dinner progressed. Musicians and acrobats filed in, but Selene¡¯s attention wasn¡¯t on them. It was on Arthur¡­ or more his prosthetic hand. ¡°Now, I thought you were missing a hand, but here I see you have one.¡±


    ¡°Er, well, a king in Ishgar had gotten swept up in everything here, and to thank me for saving his capital city he had a prosthetic hand made for me. It¡¯s not all that impressive and the sensory information from it sucks, but it¡¯s better than¡­¡± Constantly using dragon slayer magic risking further dragonification. ¡°... nothing.¡±


    ¡°I hope you won¡¯t say the same about my hand,¡± She said, raising her hand and snapping her finger. ¡°Bring it in,¡± She stated looking at a servant who had just entered carrying a plate of meat.


    ¡°Here it is, your majesty,¡± he said bowing deeply.


    She smacked the plate into his face, forcing the food against his nose and eyes. ¡°Not the food. The hand. The hand. Are you an imbecile?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, your majesty, but¡­ what hand?¡± He said. ¡°I¡¯m more than happy to fetch it, but I don¡¯t know what you¡¯re-¡± He disappeared.


    Selene sighed. ¡°Good help is hard to find,¡± She said, before extending a hand outwards and having a silver and white gold, clawed, gauntlet-hand appear in hers. It was a prosthetic, made with Edolas magic, but Arthur could feel¡­


    ¡°The lacrima were made from my magical power and I¡­ flavored them a bit. I did promise to teach you my magic. It should be an excellent training tool.¡± She smiled, obvious pride on her face. And then her voice sharpened, and her tone darkened. ¡°Show your gratitude properly.¡±


    Arthur teleported his current prosthesis away. They had been seated on the floor in traditional Japanese style - Selene¡¯s preference - and now Arthur bowed his head low, bringing it to the floor. ¡°I am most thankful for your consideration, your gracious majesty,¡± He said, one eye looking up to see the not-exactly-pleased expression on Selene¡¯s face. ¡°I do not know how to properly show the thanks I have for the consideration you have made for me. Please, if there is a proper way, instruct me?¡±


    Selene laughed a little. ¡°I think this will be acceptable,¡± She said, placing the hand on Arthur¡¯s fleshy and blood one.


    Arthur looked at it. It was a silver hand, finely crafted with a skill that spoke of antiquity over the middle ages. He thought ruefully that despite wielding a rather complete manifestation of THE Black Sword he was not Elric, the Prime Progenitor of Edgelords in fantasy literature. He was Corum the Prince of Angst. It was not a pleasant thought; Corum was sort of lame.


    Still he didn¡¯t hesitate to put the hand on. It was not a mundane prosthesis, the magic in it allowed it to interface with the nerves. And the work was well beyond that of Crocus. Crocus¡¯s work pretty much extended to kinesthetic sense and pressure. It didn¡¯t feel hot or cold, it couldn¡¯t tell you the difference at a touch between iron and iron wrapped in velvet. It told you ¡®this is where this part of me is¡¯ and ¡®the thing in my grasp is resisting said grasp¡¯. Arthur could immediately feel the warmth of his hand. It was still somewhat vague and alien, almost disorienting in its own way. But Arthur had to wonder if that had something to do with his altered sensorium as a dragon slayer. Still it was maddeningly half numb. It could tell that the goblet he had held was warmer than the stone floor, and feel that stone and wood were in someway different but it still wasn¡¯t like flesh and blood.


    ¡°Now, hopefully you¡¯ll someday outgrow it, but true to my word I am going to be teaching you. It has some of my magical arts loaded into it.¡± She snapped her fingers. ¡°Water now.¡± When the servant arrived with a pitcher to refill her glass she seethed. ¡°Bucket not¡­ no the pitcher is large enough. Useless fools. Wave the hand over it and access the moon viewing spell.¡±


    Arthur was scared to ask how. But he¡¯d brought up a small interface with his Archive on the back of the hand, starting to run a sort of diagnostics program on it. It took him a minute to find what he thought was the right spell; one he could recognize as Aqua Aera, the others seemed to project energy in destructive forms, and to figure out the right way to work his will through the hand. The water rippled and it began to project an image. There¡¯d been preset coordinates so he had followed them.


    He saw two¡­ no three men, well young men, teenagers, the youngest was probably the same age as Sting and the oldest was maybe 17, that he didn¡¯t immediately recognize. Two were in cold weather gear, slowly stripping out of it. The third he realized he did recognize. And as the others removed their layered coats he realized who they were. The one dressed like it was summer and not a snowstorm was Orin. He looked to be 14 or 15, around early highschool age. He was brown haired and his muscles were toned more like a bodybuilder¡¯s than an athletes, though short, with his guild mark hidden by his tanktop even now. The others were the two remaining members of Team Pax. He¡¯d done a job with them when he¡¯d first arrived and was only provisionally part of the guild. Well, to say he did a job was stretching it. He¡¯d played tag along and servant. Orin was an ice dragon slayer.


    The one with the guildmark displayed on his shoulder was Pax, the leader and the eldest, fully mature by Earthland standards, though he was still a kid by the standards of the 21st century. He was a big guy, though, already over 6 feet tall and still growing, and while he lacked Orin¡¯s bodybuilder physique, he had the bulk of a strong, active man. Arthur remembered him levitating things, and carrying the heavy loads, but couldn¡¯t say for certain what his magic had actually been. Levitation was a weird power to get from eating an element.


    The third was Cullen. He was young. Younger than Kiria or Minerva, probably Sting¡¯s age. He was already taller than the short Orin, but he was scrawny and relatively lithe. His guild mark was on his face, visible once he pulled down his hood. Arthr remembered him being relatively skilled as a mage, and having used sand make magic as much or more than any dragon slayer magic. Though he thought he was a sand dragon slayer. Desert? It was like trying to remember a trio you¡¯d done a class project with months ago and never talked to again. It¡¯d been several months and he barely talked to them after.


    They were talking about how lucky it was that they found this cave, given the snowstorm outside. Arthur glanced at Selene. She had set it to view these three. There had to be a reason. ¡°What¡¯s going to happen to them?¡± Arthur asked.


    ¡°Well they went into the territory of a sleeping dragon. And not one of the young whelps your guild likes to murder. A survivor of the south from the days before the King was declared. Pyronoios.¡± There was malice in her voice, a grin twisting on her face. ¡°She was one of the great fire dragons of the time. Second amongst those who came to Guiltina behind only Ignia himself.¡±


    ¡°Known as the Mother of Calamity. Her brood spread flames across the continent. She was supposed to have died after a brief reign as Ignia¡¯s consort.¡± Diabolos did have a library for this sort of thing.


    ¡°Died? Why would you think that?¡±


    ¡°Because it¡¯s said she angered one of the Dragon Gods and disappeared from history.¡±


    Selene laughed. ¡°She decided to step away from the prime territories that was all. She went to the far north. But you humans crawl everywhere and now that you¡¯re waking her up¡­¡±


    ¡°And let me guess the preset place that the Aqua Aera opens to is the cave.¡±


    ¡°Oh, you are clever. Yes. I will take you directly to the trio.¡±


    Arthur tossed the pitcher of water into the air, forming the portal and stepping through.


    The trio of dragon eaters were surprised when they saw a man appear in front of them. Dressed in a silk shirt, and fine pants, he definitely hadn¡¯t just come from the raging snowstorm outside. ¡°Orin, Pax, Cullen, you need to get out of here,¡± He said.


    They were more surprised when he recognized them. ¡°Who are you?¡± Orin asked.


    ¡°Wait, Arthur?¡± Cullen said after a moment.


    ¡°Arthur?¡± Orin asked.


    ¡°The library freak,¡± Cullen said.


    ¡°Oh, Kiria¡¯s horsey!¡± Orin said. ¡°He did use teleportation magic, didn¡¯t he?¡±


    ¡°Spatial magic, not just teleportation,¡± Arthur said annoyed. He really hadn¡¯t made much of an impact on his fellow dragon eaters had he? He¡¯d have to try and do better in the future. If he had a future with them. Georg didn¡¯t exactly approve of his whole working with Selene thing. That hadn¡¯t come to a head before, but Arthur suspected it had to do with respect for the dead.


    ¡°So¡­ why are you here?¡± Pax asked.


    ¡°Because you¡¯re about to wake up one of the nastiest dragons Guiltina has ever¡­¡± The ground began to shake beneath them, rocks tumbling from the tunnel¡¯s roof and a great roar drowned out Arthur¡¯s words.


    ¡°Is it just me or did it just get real hot in here?¡± Orin asked. Perspiration was beginning to bead on the dragon eaters¡¯ skin. Arthur¡¯s new hand was telling him that the air was about the same temperature as his body and getting hotter.


    He spun, raising his hands and extending his space in front of him, and behind him, letting it flow up in front like a wall, bending around and enveloping the group, and then extending in a plane back behind them. Light was shining from the deep of the cavern, growing brighter as a wave of flame rushed towards them.


    ¡°You need to get them out of there,¡± Minerva said as she and Selene watched in a barrel of water.


    ¡°Why?¡± Selene asked lightly.


    ¡°The dragon will kill them,¡± Minerva said.


    ¡°If Arthur dies here he¡¯s weaker, much weaker than I thought. And child, I do not appreciate being spoken to in that tone.¡± Selene said with a little glare.


    ¡°He just had a lacrima implanted. He can¡¯t fight at anything near his full strength.¡±


    ¡°What? Lacrima implanted?¡±


    Minerva nodded, and placed a hand on her chest, over her heart. There wasn¡¯t a scar, Wendy had made sure to heal that on her. Arthur had asked to be allowed to keep his as apparently he thought it made him look ¡®cool¡¯. ¡°A dragon slayer lacrima. It should improve his magic, but it has to fully integrate first, until it does his magical power is in disarray and if he pulls heavily the flow from it and his origin can get mixed up.¡±


    Selene looked at her and blinked twice. ¡°Humans go to such lengths for power? Your kind never ceases to amaze me. Well if you want him saved go and save him.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m too weak,¡± Minerva said, hunching her back and pulling her arms in front of her, moving to make herself look small. ¡°I can¡¯t even use my magic right now after my own lacrima surgery. I passed out last time I tried.¡±


    ¡°Pathetic,¡± Selene said with a sigh.


    ¡°But you can do it, you¡¯re a dragon god aren¡¯t you?¡±


    ¡°First, if I kill that bitch myself to save some humans it¡¯s the same as declaring war on Ignia. Second, I¡¯ve been feeding the majority of my magical power into this world for more than a month now. She¡¯s strong enough that even if I could bring my best she might wound me, and wounds from a dragon do not heal, not for other dragons at least. If I fought her while chronically exhausted: she would win.¡±


    Minerva froze, going pale, and swallowing.


    Arthur felt the telltale pain in his chest. Where his heart had been until it had been replaced with the lacrima. He was pouring too much energy, too fast into his barrier. The fire was melting the rock around them, leaving them in a tunnel of magma.


    ¡°Guys, help!¡± Arthur said in a strained voice, as part of the outer shell of his space failed, and fire shot through. Orin roared, a wave of white shooting from his mouth. It barely held back the crack as snow pummeled against the flame. Cullen¡¯s sand came next, fusing into glass, but still providing something that had to be melted through.


    Pax aimed higher and further, the roof of the lava tube falling into the flame in front of Arthur¡¯s territory. And then they were breathing out into the snow storm. Arthur¡¯s space had reached, and he had teleported them out. A plume of fire short from the mountain like a volcano, erupting into the air and filling the sky.


    Pyronoios the Wildfire Dragon, Mother of Calamity. The books had said that while her flames did not burn particularly hot compared to the fire dragons which had been Ignia¡¯s original compatriots, their scope and spread had been unequaled by any fire dragon Guiltina had known.


    Arthur¡¯s chest hurt, a pounding flaring pain. But he realized that they were still far too close. Not merely to the flame, an avalanche was coming down the mountainside, though the heat of the fire was turning it into a massive flash flood.


    Arthur¡¯s brought up his Archive to bear. He¡¯d used Aqua Aera earlier, it¡¯d taken him three tries, but he knew the pathways. Light magic crept in anyway. He was being too hasty. It was bleeding all through his magical energy.


    ¡°This is why Georg told us we weren¡¯t ready to fight a dragon,¡± Orin whined, tears flowing down his face. Cullen lay in the snow, a bad burn visible across his body. Pax looked out at the tsunami-like mass of water rolling down towards them.


    ¡°We weren¡¯t supposed to be fighting a dragon,¡± he said. It had been a simple job request. A group of explorers had gone missing. They were just supposed to find anything that would allow them to be tracked down.


    Arthur tried again, turning the crashing wave of water into a portal. He didn¡¯t know for certain if he¡¯d gotten the magic right or not as it hit across them, but when Arthur and Team Pax spilled out into one of the courtyards of Edolas¡¯s capital castle, along with a miniature landslide he could say he succeeded.


    ¡°Where are we?¡± Orin asked.


    ¡°And why can¡¯t I feel my magic?¡± Pax added.


    Arthur had barely begun to explain what and where Edolas was, when Selene appeared. ¡°I can¡¯t say you exactly passed the test, especially given you just destroyed my sand garden. But given the mitigating factors of your recent surgery, I won¡¯t say you exactly failed.¡±


    Arthur wanted to go hostile. He felt the rage rising up in him. Maybe it was the dragon in him. Maybe it was just the man. Still he managed to bite it back and say nothing.


    ¡°What¡¯s the matter? Don¡¯t give me the silent treatment,¡± Selene said, annoyed. Arthur still didn¡¯t trust himself to say anything that wasn¡¯t stupidly angry.


    ¡°She feels as strong as Georg,¡± Orin whispered to Pax.


    Pax nodded. He wasn¡¯t certain that they were equal, but they were both like trying to measure the size of a thunderstorm that blanketed the entire sky. If one merely reached past the horizon and the other covered an entire country it¡¯d not be easy to tell just by looking at it.


    ¡°Thumper¡¯s mom,¡± Arthur answered.


    ¡°What?¡± Selene said.


    ¡°If you can¡¯t say anything nice don¡¯t say anything at all.¡±


    Selene laughed. ¡°That¡¯s not a very nice response either, but I guess it¡¯s honest enough.¡±


    ¡°Arthur, who is she?¡± Pax asked.


    ¡°Don¡¯t talk about me like I¡¯m not here,¡± Selene said. ¡°It¡¯s impolite. But if you want to know, I am Selene the Moon Dragon God.¡±


    The trio looked at Arthur. They might not know him well enough to recognize him easily, but everyone knew Georg had forbidden him from working with the Moon Dragon God.


    ¡°Why¡¯d you set them up with Pyronoios?¡± Arthur finally said, having forced himself to stop and think.


    ¡°You wound me. I didn¡¯t set them up. I just¡­ Well ok, I set them up. I wanted to see if you were unique in your guild or if it had value. These three obviously do not.¡±


    ¡°Yes they do,¡± Arthur said.


    Selene gave him a withering look, and flicked her hand, scything blades of moonlight flowed from her hand, slicing Orin and Pax¡¯s clothes from their bodies before they could react. ¡°No,they do not. At least not as dragon slayers.¡±


    ¡°Hey! We¡¯re not even rated for fighting dragons!¡± Orin protested.


    ¡°I thought you were dragon eaters,¡± Selene said in an irritated tone.


    ¡°Well¡­¡± Orin began to explain how the guild worked. How the guild master was the real dragon slayer, and only a few teams were actually judged as ready to help fight dragons much less fight them alone. The rest just used dragon slayer magic; he carefully didn¡¯t say from eating dragons. ¡°The rest of us just do some general jobs. We were supposed to be looking for some lost prospectors not fighting a dragon.¡±


    Selene groaned. ¡°So you¡¯re trying to tell me you call yourself dragon eaters, and most of you can¡¯t even fathom slaying a dragon? Pathetic.¡±


    ¡°Georg made me slay a dragon myself,¡± Arthur complained. ¡°Or at least help. I had to play dragon bait.¡±


    ¡°You weren¡¯t a small child when you joined. Plus you rubbed him wrong when you showed up in his food.¡±


    This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.


    Arthur sighed.


    ¡°So¡­ what will happen with the dragon now?¡± Minerva asked, coming out into the courtyard.


    ¡°Knowing Pyronoios, she¡¯ll probably rampage southward.¡± Selene¡¯s hand moved over some of the water that had managed to flow in through the portal when Arthur had opened it. ¡°The nearest town is still standing, so she¡¯s not reached it yet. But she can probably follow their scent as she flies. And she will be going straight back to where it came from.¡±


    ¡°Didn¡¯t she burn their scent away?¡± Arthur asked.


    ¡°Did they not mention her nose in the books?¡± Selene said. ¡°Now that you¡¯ve woken her up, especially since you¡¯ve escaped, she¡¯s going to be on a rampage.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve woken her up?¡± Arthur said.


    ¡°The feeling of the dragon slayers definitely is what woke her.¡±


    ¡°Because you led them there.¡±


    ¡°I didn¡¯t make them ignore the warning signs.¡±


    ¡°Is that what the writing at the entrance was?¡± Orin asked.


    ¡°See? If your little worthless guildmates had done their due diligence the dragon would still be asleep. All I did was point them in the direction. I didn¡¯t make them careless oafs,¡± Selene said with an air of superiority.


    ¡°How do we stop the rampage?¡± Arthur asked.


    ¡°Either get Ignia to ask, or slay her,¡± Selene said. ¡°I expected one of you four to manage it. I didn¡¯t think four dragon slayers would have to run from a single dragon.¡±


    Arthur seethed. Orin was freaking out, talking to himself, his words blurring together as he let his words run on one into the other to the point of incomprehensibility. He was hysterical, and pleading, falling on his knees before Selene and reaching towards her, as he blabbered about not meaning to and how Selene had to help and stop it.


    ¡°I can¡¯t. Unlike your guild mate,¡± She looked pointedly at Arthur, ¡°I have been keeping my end of our bargain. And I have been expending my magical power to revive this world¡¯s own. It¡¯s hard work, and has left me weak, irritated, and in a generally poor mood.¡±


    Arthur felt a twinge of guilt then. Though he¡¯d have argued he was keeping his end of the bargain. He was here wasn¡¯t he? But he could feel that Selene had weakened herself, and it was entirely possible that she¡¯d done so in a long term manner. And it was something that could be felt in Edolas. There was more ethernano in the air; as signified by the fact that¡­ He looked at Cullen. He might be silent more because he¡¯d been burned than just that he hadn¡¯t immediately felt his lack of magic.


    ¡°Can you at least get some medical attention for my friend,¡± Pax was quicker on the uptake about Cullen¡¯s condition. ¡°He got burned badly.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s not burned badly,¡± Selene said. ¡°Given what he was facing, that¡¯s a light burn.¡± Arthur wasn¡¯t sure what constituted a bad burn, but Cullen¡¯s stretched across his shoulder and arm as well as half his torso. Still it wasn¡¯t solid across that area, there were patches of unburnt skin.


    ¡°That I can do,¡± Selene said. ¡°Coco, make yourself useful,¡± She commanded the quick running girl.


    ¡°So, you¡¯re saying that if I don¡¯t stop this dragon it¡¯s on my conscience?¡± He said looking at Selene.


    She looked at him then blinked a few times. ¡°If that¡¯s how your conscience works, I guess it is. I don¡¯t think I am the adjudicator of your conscience. I don¡¯t know why you¡¯d feel guilt for it as you¡¯re not the one who would be killing them. That¡¯s the dragon. But if you do. Well then yes. If you don¡¯t stop her I guess it will be. So stop her. If you¡¯re going to kill the dragon king this should be easy for you.¡±


    ¡°I just had my heart replaced with a magic crystal. It¡¯s-¡±


    ¡°A minor handicap. If you can¡¯t figure this out despite that I have no doubt that you¡¯ll be unable to figure out Ignia, much less Acnologia. Pyronoios¡¯s rampage is a small price to pay to figure out if you¡¯re actually worth continuing this investment.¡±


    Arthur clenched his fists. He had a town to save. He just needed to figure out how fast.


    Cullen was incapacitated. He was probably going to be fine. But he wasn¡¯t fighting with the pain of those burns. Orin and Pax, however, could be recruited into helping evacuate the town. Opening the Aqua Aera and holding it open long enough to get people out was not quick, but¡­ People could be relocated and even if they became refugees it was better than dying.


    Not that everyone was willing to leave the town. Even though a mountain had exploded in a way that was visible from the village, through the blizzard. Arthur left it to Minerva, Pax, and the Edolas Royal Army to convince or force them from their homes. He had to prepare to meet the dragon a few miles away from the town. He knew a dragon¡¯s roar could hit that far still. But it was less likely to be collateral.


    Arthur knew he could spend points to trivialize the battle ahead. He had scored big with the Grimoire Heart raid; even though it hadn¡¯t checked off robbing them blind or destroying them - the two it was intended to - it, and leaving Ishgar, had finally seen several others check off; he¡¯d redeemed a villain, he¡¯d put the Seis on the heroic path he¡¯d almost knocked them from, he¡¯d completed both the bounty for making 3 friends and apparently had made 7 friends as it popped up as a bounty already completed. The power to know who thought of him as a friend made him feel a bit bad, because apparently he¡¯d not befriended Natsu, but Natsu thought of him as a friend. Laxus did not.


    Still, while he had enough points to buy a big power, he didn¡¯t want to rush it. He wasn¡¯t sure how many more he would get, and he wasn¡¯t getting another big power from this. If something like Seilah happened again he¡¯d be in trouble. He needed to save the points for when he was. Besides, he didn¡¯t even know what would help.


    More magical power? He couldn¡¯t use his full power at the moment already.


    For my friends? He was saving a town of strangers, with a dumbass who he barely knew. It wasn¡¯t like he was trying to save Minerva.


    MBP Body? He wasn¡¯t even sure that dragons were affected by Magical Barrier Particles like a human. And other than that it fell into the same set of problems as more magical power.


    Curse Power? That¡¯d only really prove useful if he failed.


    Enchantment? The Books of Zeref?


    Fairy Founder he was certain would fully restore his magic; the way it talked about magic flowing naturally through you and intuitively¡­ it wasn¡¯t that there was something fundamentally wrong with his magic. It was just that he had new pathways for it and lacked the muscle memory to use them properly. But it¡¯d be 400 points. He had 500 now, it was a huge supply, but it would take a lot of it. And while the ability to make spells on the fly would be useful, he wasn¡¯t certain it was worth it. And of the others that he could no longer discount on that tier; he thought it was probably the worst outside of this situation.


    Fairy Strategist would do it. He¡¯d be able to see the path to victory as clearly as if he had a shard guiding his brain. Well that might be an exaggeration. But he was fairly sure he¡¯d know how to win this fight if he had it. And such an ability would only get better.


    There were others he¡¯d love. Edomagic would let him make a hand that would keep, and make his own dragon lacrima. It¡¯d help him fulfill the bounty to become a ¡°6th generation dragon slayer¡± by making weapons and armor from dragons. With his magical skill he had no doubt he could make a hand that was fully functional. With a bit of takeover magic tinkering one that looked human too.


    Not So Lost Magic might prove the key to developing Dragon Takeover magic. Which given it was his best chance at the moment of not becoming a dragon - even if it was a selfish solution - he couldn¡¯t ignore it.


    Friends are Forever, Defeat Means Friendship, and Future Sight would all be wonderful. But they¡¯d not help him in this situation, and while they might solve more things than avoiding becoming a draconic engine of destruction they¡¯d not get that chance if he did become a draconic engine of destruction.


    Of the others¡­ Mage Sensor would be great, and might win the battle. It¡¯d only be 200 points. But it overlapped with his Archive magic. Mystical Eye would give him something like Erik¡¯s ability to hear the voice of the heart. Which would be great¡­ just not useful right now. Friendly Fairies would help him not accidentally hurt those he cared about with even the most devastating AoE attacks; given that was increasingly a worry it¡¯d be great, but it was the dragon he was afraid would hit them. Live to Magic Another Day might stop that. But only might. And it¡¯d do nothing to help him win. If he couldn¡¯t evacuate the town he might have bought it anyway. It was on the list of powers he needed to try and pick up before leaving here at least. Plenty of the 200 point options were great, and would need to be considered now that he was running out of discounts; On Two Legs might work to save Diabolos and probably would fix Erik¡¯s snake¡­ but he still had hope he could do it without that. Though it¡¯d still be nice later on.


    He had too many options, and too little information. Still he had a plan. Orin couldn¡¯t make ice, only snow, but he could shape it somewhat, and it was filled with magical power; it wouldn¡¯t melt as easily as normal snow. He was burying Arthur in as much as he could, with a narrow tunnel out.


    Altair had found the enemy and was drawing her away. He couldn¡¯t hurt her, but she recognized a scout and didn¡¯t want to let it return to the point of origin. Arthur would have loved his Altair Star Dress for its vision enhancement right now. But he couldn¡¯t afford it. He needed Caelum¡¯s star dress for its gun and aim assist. He wasn¡¯t a sniper but playing one was a lot easier when you had an Archive running your trajectories, a star dress assisting your aim, and were using beam weapons that weren¡¯t affected by wind or bullet drop.


    Altair¡¯s strafing run had taught him something too. Pyronoios wasn¡¯t alone. After the eagle had managed to weather a roar - with difficulty - she¡¯d began to spit out balls of fire which had turned into smaller, draconic entities. Altair had taken one of these lesser dragons down with a full powered bolt. And then he¡¯d been swarmed.


    The Edo soldiers would be useless against them. His Archive told him they weren¡¯t really dragons. Closer to a sort of Living Magic like Zeref had used to make his etherious, though really they were far from that level of sophistication. But they shared some of their maker¡¯s magical resistance. Only a dragon slayer would have a chance against them.


    Orin was running on fumes, though. And he didn¡¯t even know how Pax¡¯s magic worked. Still Altair had fallen. It was time to end the evacuation. The town wouldn¡¯t be safe much longer.


    The dragon¡¯s fire summons were already flying for it. And Arthur winced. He could bring them down with Caelum, but only in a horribly energy inefficient manner. Or he could reveal he had dragon slayer magic and his position.


    He couldn¡¯t afford to stop them. He gave a warning to Pax and the Edo soldiers through his Archive link, and prepared to close the portal.


    And then he waited. The town would be burned to the ground. He couldn¡¯t stop that. He couldn¡¯t think about the lives that would be ruined, and the number of refugees it¡¯d make. Hopefully Edolas could swallow it. He was focused on stopping lives from being lost.


    He could finally see the appeal of the Hero to Zero perk.


    Caelum fired first. It was the moment that Pyronoios came within what he had decided was the effective range of engagement. The energy struck her and the dragon spawned more summons and flew onwards. Caelum fired again. She didn¡¯t even try to dodge. These were full powered shots. Arthur could feel the drain of each one. They were enough to kill her summons. But they didn¡¯t even cause the dragon to flinch.


    He let Caelum focus on the summons for a bit. And he waited. Caelum was playing spotter, its targeting systems vastly superior to a human for the purposes of calculating target velocity and distance. Its shots had confirmed that Pyronoios didn¡¯t feel the need to dodge when confronted with his magical power. Pyronoios crossed into his field of fire and he took his shot.


    The index and ring fingers of his prosthetic hand were outstretched, the thumb raised. It looked almost like he was making a gun with his hand. And he was. He wasn¡¯t using the preloaded spell, but his own magical energy.


    His lacrima-heart roared in pain, and the darkness he had meant to fire erupted as a solid fountain of blinding light. Arthur couldn¡¯t see. He¡¯d blinded himself with the flash; hopefully only temporarily. Caelum¡¯s sensory information was still being delivered via Archive link, however.


    The powerful, red dragon had lost her left arm at the shoulder, a hole burned through her wing. He¡¯d been aiming for the middle of her torso. He¡¯d missed a bit. But he¡¯d also taken a huge hunk out of the dragon. Pyronoios was bellowing out in pain and rage. He could hear it from here.


    ¡°Why do you protect the vermin!? Show yourself! We do not fight with trickery and stealth! We are the lords of the world! Fight me as we fight!¡± The dragon roared. Dragon slayer magic was essentially simply dragon magic. It had recognized the power and force of the spell as a dragon¡¯s own. Arthur felt unwarranted pride in his own power and ability.


    Still he was currently blind, and Caelum was having to beat a hasty retreat. It was time for the next phase of the plan. He summoned Enif and sent the pegasus into the air to duel the dragon in the skies, then he began to fire in quick succession, his chest hurting with each shot, but the dragon wove and dodged. They weren¡¯t as powerful blasts as before, even Arthur couldn¡¯t regularly output that sort of devastation.


    Enif didn¡¯t rely on pure magic to hurt, but he didn¡¯t seem to be damaging the wounded dragon so much as simply inconveniencing her. Still he managed to get her to roar at him and not the town. Arthur winced as he realized even Enif wouldn¡¯t be able to dodge it. The flames blanketed the sky, and the ground, covering the mountains to the north of man¡¯s domain. There was going to be a rise in global sea levels from the attack, as ice sheets and permafrost melted.


    Arthur wasn¡¯t thinking about that, though. He was doing something somewhat difficult. It didn¡¯t hurt; his last shot had shown him the pathways for the light energy and it didn¡¯t try to flood into the energy to redirect it. He held Caelum¡¯s key in his fleshy hand, and Caelum fired one last blast even if it meant letting the fire spirits catch it. The spirit would survive, though it¡¯d be hurt. He¡¯d have to repay Caelum, Enif, and Altair for their service here.


    Arthur, still blinded by his own magic, reliant on his star dress and Caelum to aim his hand, shouted out: ¡°Take it. My love, anger, and all of my sorrow. Double dragon¡¯s roar!¡± He butchered the quote and he knew he butchered it. But it wasn¡¯t like he was talking to anyone other than himself.


    Caelum fired, but it wasn¡¯t shooting its normal beam. His magical power fueled the servant. And he had let the magic from the shine dragon lacrima flow out into Caelum. The servant shot a highly concentrated dragon¡¯s roar, a beam of light dragon slayer magic firing out to blaze across the sky. Arthur didn¡¯t see the flash of light, which was a more literal way to translate the name of the dragon slayer magic than shine, but he was firing as well. It wasn¡¯t his power. The hand was a Magic Tool from Edolas. And while it could be charged with draconic magic, it was made to be used by those wholly without magic. He was using its internal battery, firing off Selene¡¯s moon dragon¡¯s roar which was held within it.


    Caelum confirmed that Pyronoios was falling from the sky, and then the link was severed. The gate of the chisel had closed. And Arthur felt heat. He reinforced his territory armor, pushing until pain began to overwhelm him. His vision was clearing but only slowly. Still, Horologium¡¯s key - being one he had purchased with points - had repaired itself, and the spirit was on call to surround him should an emergency appear.


    Arthur summoned his nikora spirit, and linked it into his Archive, uploading its visual data to his archive directly allowing him to view it in his mind¡¯s eye. There was¡­ nothing. It wasn¡¯t even how. The spirit climbed from the snow-bunker and found it half melted. The dragon had died or blacked out, and its fire spawn had ceased to be in one last fireworks display.


    ¡°That is not how you properly carve dragon¡¯s meat from bone.¡± Arthur was surprised to hear her voice when he finally arrived at the location the dragon had fallen.


    She had a host of servants there as well, at work on carving up the wildfire dragon¡¯s corpse. Arthur didn¡¯t know what to say. ¡°Why are you having them carve the meat from the bones?¡± He asked after a few moments.


    ¡°It¡¯s easier to eat this way,¡± She said.


    Arthur stared at her, mouth going agape. ¡°But she¡¯s a dragon.¡±


    ¡°Yes,¡± Selene answered in a tone like Arthur was stating the obvious.


    ¡°You¡¯re a dragon.¡±


    ¡°Yes. Did you hit your head?¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re going to eat her?¡±


    ¡°Of course. It¡¯d be a waste not to.¡±


    ¡°So cannibalism is just a dragon thing?¡± Arthur asked.


    Selene held a piece of the meat up to his nose. It was raw but it smelled delicious, his stomach growling with hunger. ¡°Aren¡¯t you from a guild of dragon eaters? Shouldn¡¯t you know that?¡±


    She pulled the meat away from his face as Arthur bit for it. ¡°I need her arm.¡±


    ¡°Why?¡± Selene asked.


    ¡°An experiment. I want to try and see if a magic tool can be made from it.¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s a lot of good meat on it.¡± Selene frowned.


    ¡°I may learn something more about dragon slayer magic that could prove useful against Acnologia.¡±


    ¡°You play that card a whole lot,¡± Selene complained.


    ¡°It guides my actions,¡± Arthur shot back.


    ¡°Fine,¡± Selene said.


    ¡°I want her heart too.¡±


    ¡°But that¡¯s the best part,¡± Selene said in a huff.


    ¡°I can make a lacrima from it. It should give me the power to kill Ignia.¡±


    ¡°Well at least it¡¯s not about Acnologia again,¡± Selene said. ¡°Though do you really think you¡¯ll be able to handle all this power? Won¡¯t you potentially turn into a dragon just like Acnologia did?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s why I need you to teach me the magic you use to become human. Maybe there¡¯s something in it that could help prevent dragonification.¡±


    ¡°Interesting. But fine you can have the heart.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯d like some of the meat.¡±


    ¡°The arm has meat on it.¡±


    ¡°I killed the dragon, I¡¯m not sure why I¡¯m giving you any of the meat.¡±


    ¡°You killed it with my power in that hand.¡±


    ¡°That doesn¡¯t justify the lion¡¯s share.¡±


    ¡°Someone¡¯s greedy. Wanting to eat her flesh that badly?¡±


    ¡°Some but more I want to send some back to Diabolos with the three stooges.¡±


    Selene arched an eyebrow. ¡°Why?¡±


    ¡°Pay my dues. Get Georg off my back a bit. Show that I¡¯m a team player.¡±


    ¡°Denied.¡±


    Arthur clenched his hand. He felt the dragon rage, and he let his takeover magic flow through him. It burned, his chest screaming with pain. He fell to his knees. And then he was forcing the dragon back.


    Selene stopped and looked at him, watching as his scales faded from his whole arm, though the black pattern remained and even was replicated on his other arm, and feline ears and tail sprouted. ¡°I killed it. It¡¯s mine.¡± Arthur said.


    ¡°Are you talking back to me, servant?¡± Selene asked.


    ¡°Are you using one of your commands, queen?¡±


    Selene stepped back a bit. ¡°You¡¯re taking advantage of my weakness.¡±


    ¡°No, I¡¯m just a hunter claiming my kill.¡±


    Selene smiled a bit. ¡°Fine, I will merely take the arm.¡±


    ¡°You can have the right. I need the left.¡± He raised his prosthesis, making Selene arch and eyebrow once more. ¡°And tell them not to dispose of the scales.¡±


    ¡°Got a plan for them?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s a dragon. Every part of a dragon has a use.¡±


    Selene considered. She was curious what his plan was. But she¡¯d let him follow through with it. ¡°So be it. Though if I can¡¯t have the left arm I get an arm and a leg.¡±


    ¡°Where did you learn to haggle?¡±


    ¡°Spying on humans. Why? Am I doing it wrong?¡± Her tone changed at the end from the smug superiority to actually sounding interested. He was never going to get her was he?


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it,¡± He said. He had to make a decision though. Did he buy Edomagic and try and make his gear personally, ensuring it¡¯d work in future worlds, and that he was making it with his insane magic skill. Or did he keep his stash for a true emergency?


    Dragon flesh kept. Months, or even years. The scales wouldn¡¯t rot. The heart would stay fresh. He decided to table that decision. To put off working on the arm till that time came. Similarly, he¡¯d get his share of the delicious smelling meat, which made him want to lean down and start eating it straight from the bones, for later. He wanted, at least, to recover from his surgery. After all, eating was no simple matter.


    Selene had bounced back massively by feasting, her magical power rising as she ate. She still wasn¡¯t at the level of power when Arthur had first met her, but she had been restored a fair bit; and she confirmed for Arthur that she hadn¡¯t done anything that had truly weakened her long term. After her meal she sent the worthless trio, as she called them, back to Diabolos with the meat and a message. Arthur thought better of going back. He had a responsibility to Edolas. He needed to get Alta Face. And he was better situated to study things with Selene than there.


    Cana, or well the Edolas version, from Fairy Tail, again the Edolas version, brought him the prosthesis she¡¯d promised to construct for him. It was less ostentatious than the white gold hand which Selene had provided him; a simple - again in the gamut of silver alloys - gauntlet with a shield insignia on the back of the hand. Its ability to relay sensory information was similar to that of the one King Toma had provided him. And its magical power was starkly more limited than the one Selene had given him. If he used it in a full powered fight, even being conservative, it¡¯d empty out quickly, and unlike Selene¡¯s which was designed to be easily recharged by a dragon slayer it lacked such a design feature. It could be recharged but it¡¯d take effort. Still it was anti-magic, or more counter magic. Dispel, magic disrupting shields. It hopefully would prove useful.


    But it wouldn¡¯t be enough to deal with the real threat of Altaface. If he consumed too much ethernano at once the dragon force could activate. There was no way to be certain he could fight Altaface without undergoing dragonification. Well, almost no way.


    He hated spending his emergency reserve. He hated buying something that could have been discounted but was not. But if he was going to fight Altaface he would need to fix his dragonification, and with takeover magic his best option for that was now to develop dragon takeover magic. He didn¡¯t make the decision quickly. It took him days, debating whether he needed the boost now or if it was better to save it for an emergency purchase. He couldn¡¯t be certain how many more points he would get. This was probably not his last big purchase, but it was feasible that it would be. Still he made his choice. He bought Not So Lost Magic; it discussed creating new magic, and helping with learning of lost magic, and here he needed to do both at once. He¡¯d originally intended to eat Pyronoios¡¯s flesh at the end of the week. Now, though, he would wait and see what he could develop first. He had wanted to rest. To simply vegetate and let the numerous, and all female and at least not unattractive, servants that provided for the every want or need of the Moon Temple wait on him while he enjoyed the luxurious decadence.


    His dreams of hedonistic relaxation weren¡¯t going to happen. Selene couldn¡¯t maintain Edolas¡¯s magic indefinitely. She was already complaining that he needed to start finding Altaface. He needed to learn how to control his dragon seed before then. And he couldn¡¯t continue to rely on smothering it into submission by filling himself with demonic nature instead.


    Just because Arthur was trying to create Dragon Takeover Magic didn¡¯t mean he couldn¡¯t enjoy his time at the Moon Temple. There was good food, good sake, beautiful women, and it was despite being called a Temple a palace. And in a place where hierarchy was almost entirely dependent upon Selene¡¯s favor and one¡¯s personal power, he was at the top. Oh he was not her only servant; Selene had a few dozen spirit arts practitioners who were being groomed for her service. Arthur wasn¡¯t sure which of the muscle idiots would grow into the one who served her in the manga, or which of the yokai summoners, though given only one specialized in ice he guessed she was the yuki-onna woman.


    But Arthur was clearly special. He was, officially, her apprentice, and while she was recalcitrant to actually teach him anything she had shown him, multiple times, slowly and explaining how it worked, the magic which allowed her to assume human form. The hand she had given him also provided a fair bit of information on her moon magic; it wasn¡¯t the same as working through them with him, but it was a very good tool for instruction at least when combined with his Archive.


    It was a week before Minerva¡¯s magic was recovered enough to really train. Minerva still hadn¡¯t fully recovered, but she was starting to be able to tap into both the lacrima and her own magic. She couldn¡¯t eat¡­ whatever it was a white tiger dragon slayer ate yet, but she could use its magic a bit. Arthur¡¯s archive confirmed she wasn¡¯t transforming into light or lightning like Serena and Laxus had for their speed. It wasn¡¯t time magic like Sawyer¡¯s slow magic, not precisely at least. And it wasn¡¯t teleportation. It was a true high speed magic. But Arthur found it hard to believe that was the beginning and the end of the magic. A dragon slayer ate something. What did she eat?


    Training Minerva gave Arthur an additional chance to delay actually starting to hunt down Altaface. He was proud that this time it wasn¡¯t true procrastination; he was trying to prepare himself. He did not know how long Selene would allow him for that preparation, though. But every excuse to delay bought him a bit more time. And it wasn¡¯t like teaching Minerva wasn¡¯t already his responsibility.


    Arthur taught her to roar. They were using a rock on top of a hill as a target, and when it was hit by her roar it didn¡¯t shatter, or crumble, it wasn¡¯t burned through. It flew, shooting out from where it had been at high speed until it was out of sight.


    Minerva practiced her roar, one which seemed to launch things in its path at high speeds directly away from her, until she had nearly exhausted her magical energy. It didn¡¯t seem to impact the objects particularly, merely launch them with a fairly high acceleration. Aries, hit by it, described it as something like a fun ride, as the acceleration seemed to be applied across her body simultaneously, as opposed to from the point of impact.


    It was a start. Minerva had a lot more to learn, however, but Arthur and his Archive would help and watching Minerva grow might well help his attempt to learn dragon takeover magic.


    ¡°Arthur, her lady has declared it is time for dinner to be served,¡± Fumiko said. One of Selene¡¯s many servants, she was cuter, and lonelier, than most. Arthur didn¡¯t particularly mind the way her hand lingered on his shoulder though.


    He had been ¡®meditating¡¯. It wasn¡¯t really mindfulness meditation derived from Buddhist practices as might come to mind, but it was still an attempt at turning his mind¡¯s focus inward. He was trying to find and master the dragon seed. He would cycle through his various takeover forms: Seilah, Jackal, the Black Sword. With each one he would sit and simply feel the power flowing through him until he grew bored to the point of annoyance and instead shifted to using its powers somewhat. Then he¡¯d switch. And once he had finished he cycled through the three types of dragon magic he had some proficiency in. And all the while he tried to get a feel for his own magic, and have his Archive record it all.


    It was apparently strenuous enough that it went against the bounty he had received recently to relax for a week. He¡¯d have grumbled at that, but in truth he found it an onerous requirement of training. It wasn¡¯t as bad as working for eight hours, or even a four hour shift, but between it and Minerva, he was putting in at least 4 or 5 hours of training every day. He could see the dividends though. He was learning. Just wasn¡¯t as relaxing as he had hoped he¡¯d have the chance to do once he no longer had the ticking clock of Tenrou Island hanging over him.


    He was holding his shine dragon slayer magic just lightly invoked when Fumiko had interrupted him. He was sitting in a basic lotus position, his whole body glowing with a nimbus of light. It was an armor of light, applying the principles behind his territory armor to his shine dragon slayer magic. Arthur let his light begin to falter and fade, and walked to the dinner.


    It was partway through the meal, that Selene shot him a glaring look. If she didn¡¯t have naked malice on her face so often she would be a truly breathtaking beauty. ¡°So how is finding Altaface going?¡± She said.


    ¡°I¡¯m still preparing for¡­¡± Arthur began.


    ¡°So it¡¯s not,¡± She said with a glare. ¡°I am getting tired of waiting. If you do not start producing results soon you will regret it.¡± She crushed her sake cup, shattering it in one hand. ¡°Understood?¡±


    Arthur wasn¡¯t really certain what she was threatening. But still he accepted that it was time to start at least making a show of pursuing it.


    ¡°I can start my Archive working on identifying the flows of magical energy to pinpoint its location tomorrow,¡± he said.


    ¡°And you haven¡¯t yet because?¡±


    ¡°Because I don¡¯t want to become the next Acnologia, and I don¡¯t know what happens if I dive into a pure source of ethernano as I am right now.¡±


    She looked at him for a few moments. ¡°I can¡¯t keep supporting Edolas¡¯s magical power. You do not have time to squander if you don¡¯t want it to fall into a total civil war.¡±


    Arthur held back any comment about how its precarious position was in no small part because of her choices. That she was actively cultivating those who might become warlords to create her distortions. ¡°Understood,¡± he said. He still wasn¡¯t sure if she was a monster or not.


    As long as Acnologia was alive she was a useful monster. And once Acnologia died¡­ it¡¯d be time to decide whether she was or not. Though he wondered who had elected him judge or jury.


    ¡°What is all this?¡± Selene asked as she walked into her grand hall, and found Arthur¡¯s Archive dominating the massive chamber.


    ¡°I¡¯m looking for Altaface,¡± Arthur answered. ¡°My Archive can sense ethernano. If Altaface is the source of ethernano in this world there should be a flow of ethernano from it, by following the currents back to their source I should be able to find¡­¡±


    ¡°Do it somewhere other than my feast hall!¡±


    ¡°But this is the only room large enough to hold my Archive in the temple.¡±


    ¡°Do it outside.¡±


    ¡°Lower altitude, the mountains could get in the way.¡±


    Selene looked at him for a few moments. ¡°I could squash you like a bug.¡±


    He looked back at her. ¡°I thought you wanted this done fast.¡±


    She glared for a few moments and then turned her head to one of the servants. ¡°I will take my meal in my personal chambers,¡± She said with a sigh.


    Arthur¡¯s Archive had failed him. Well it wasn¡¯t a complete failure. It wasn¡¯t going to pinpoint it alone. He was going to have to triangulate the location, have to get more data points and cover more area. It was going to be time for a road trip. He hated road trips.


    He considered whether he could return to the Moon Temple effectively. There was no Acnologia here. He could extend his territory outwards. Go to a site, set up his Archive, let it work while he extended his territory outwards, return to the Temple, and then go further the next time. It¡¯d be tiring, but it¡¯d be a lot easier on Elentear than Earthland.


    Of course he could take his time better if he did not return to the temple. It¡¯d be less comfortable and enjoyable, but he suspected he would need the additional time to develop his magic.

 Sidequest: Demon of the Forest.

    ¡°That¡¯s my seat, mage,¡± A man¡¯s hand grabbed onto Arthur¡¯s shoulder.


    Arthur looked over his shoulder at the man. He was only average height, but he looked like he was from the cast of some Shaw Brothers film. He wasn¡¯t wearing a shirt, but just a bolt of cloth tied as a belt around his waist, shorts, and shoes. His muscles were lightly oiled, and his skin had been tattooed, a snake on one arm, a tiger on another, and a crane on his chest.


    ¡°I¡¯m just trying to have a drink, there¡¯s other seats over there,¡± Arthur responded, his metal hand waving towards a table with four stools around it. His voice was touched by annoyance.


    Minerva sighed, and sipped from her cup.


    ¡°I think you misunderstand, mage. I am a practitioner of spirit arts, you are but a mage. You should show deference to your betters.¡± The man was sneering down his nose as he looked at Arthur.


    Arthur rolled his eyes. He knew if he didn¡¯t do something this guy would pick a fight with him. Spirior arts held a natural advantage over magic. It wasn¡¯t an insurmountable one, but it was a clear and present one. Of course, spirit arts practitioners were rare, less than 1 in a 1000 people had the capability. It made them typically rather arrogant.


    ¡°I do.¡± Arthur paused, taking another drink from his bottle. ¡°My betters show basic civility, though.¡± His voice didn¡¯t bother to try and hide the contempt


    The man reached for the back of Arthur¡¯s neck, trying to grab the collar of his shirt, only to hit his territory armor.


    ¡°Mage. You should know your place,¡± the man fumed, pulling back an arm.


    ¡°Arthur, couldn¡¯t we have just moved?¡± Minerva asked, looking up towards Arthur.


    He was moving to one side, letting the spirior enhanced punch slide past his head and release a burst of destructive force past him into the bottles of alcohol. ¡°That didn¡¯t help last time,¡± Arthur said as he smacked the man in the face with his bottle.


    He¡¯d noticed that more than a few of the spirit arts practitioners took his magical power as a sort of challenge as well. Well unless he was wearing some body spray that attracted them which he didn¡¯t know about. He wasn¡¯t even trying to complete the 50 bar fights bounty, and in the last 2 months of traveling across Elentear he¡¯d gotten it more than 10% completed.


    The man¡¯s spirior flowed through his tattoos, the tattoo of a snake rising up from him in a three dimensional form. The giant snake lunged for Arthur, only to have its mouth filled with the beer bottle in his hand, and then his metal prosthesis struck the snake¡¯s head, grabbing its snout. ¡°Shining Finger!¡± Arthur shouted, light pouring into the snake¡¯s head. The man wasn¡¯t skilled enough to make the most of its resistance to magic. There was no automatic resurrection effect and the snake fell.


    Then he struck at the man with his palm, his territory magic exploding in his palm to send the man flying out of the swinging tavern door behind him. 7 bar fights down.


    Except the man rose to his feet, his finger pointing at Arthur. ¡°Guards, he struck me! Take him out!¡±


    Several large men began to push into the tavern. Arthur didn¡¯t feel magical power from them, but he knew not to underestimate non-mages in this world too much. They could be swordsmen to give Erza pause, with physical abilities which were in - what he still thought of as - the real world absolutely superhuman.


    Minerva was a blur as she moved, almost as fast as, if not faster than, Sawyer when using his slow magic. Her palm hit a man in the gut, and while the White Tiger Dragon¡¯s speed didn¡¯t translate into force in a normal manner, it was still hard enough to double him over when he absolutely wasn¡¯t prepared for it. Jiemma¡¯s hand to hand combat training was being put to good use. While faster in a straight line than Sawyer¡¯s slow magic, Minerva couldn¡¯t change direction well while using it, but it didn¡¯t stop her from using it to launch herself up into the air, and letting the magic end so she could bring her foot down on another man¡¯s head, before a roar sent the two more guards entering the tavern flying back out.


    One guard was still standing in the tavern, and one had stopped before entering it. Arthur was moving forward now, though. His kimono flapped around him, his wooden sandals hitting the ground in an almost hypnotic rhythm. He unsheathed his sword in a single, swift, flowing strike and cut through the guard in the tavern. Not a drop of blood was spilled though the blade had passed straight through him, and the man fell screaming before going silent and still.


    The Mifune Robe and its accompanying sword, didn¡¯t offer much in traditional armor. It was a traveler¡¯s kimono, black with a pattern of camellia flowers in white across it. It had an obi, a pair of wooden sandals, and put his hair up in a topknot that it inevitably would burst due to his agreement to retain a distinctive hair style. It came with a pair of katana and wakizashi, completing the traditional ronin look.


    Well one could say it came with them, though their existence could be questioned. The unreal swords were illusionary weapons. Merely projections of magic, they had no physical substance cutting through physical objects without touching them, and interacting on a psychical level as they pierced into the mind. The man he cut wasn¡¯t injured, but until his mind overcame the illusion of the blade his perceptions told him quite clearly he had been severed in half. And his partner, despite executing an impressive block with his polearm, fell to the ground almost certainly convinced his head had been removed from his body.


    It was, however, useless against creatures composed of spirit arts; instead they disrupted the blade completely forcing Arthur to reform it. Which meant that the remainder of the man¡¯s tattoos which he had projected outwards in the form of pseudo-summons weren¡¯t going down to the sword.


    Given he¡¯d manifested a spider as well as the crane and tiger, he seemed to have a fourth tattoo somewhere on his body. Minerva was already dealing with the tiger though, a palm strike up from beneath its jaw forced it onto its hind legs and she followed through with another to the chest a territory explosion forming and exploding point blank against it. Territory¡¯s basic hand to hand offensive technique - nihility where you wrapped your body in your space and used it as a bludgeon or a blade - didn¡¯t affect spirior constructs, but a shaped explosion could still add a lot of bang to your punch and as the explosion was not itself magic merely caused by it it¡¯d take them out just fine.


    Arthur went for the man himself. He weaved around the crane. It might be made from spirit arts but it didn¡¯t seem immune to his illusions completely; the mifune robe defended the wearer by projecting images of them. Arthur himself couldn¡¯t see him, but - according to his Archive and Minerva - depending upon the amount of magical energy he put into the robe others would see 3 to 5 of him, each composed of 3 to 5 overlapping images of him. The images would pass over each other as well, meaning that while it was possible for a target to figure out which one was real, it was like trying to fight a shell game.


    Of course it was a mental effect; a strong enough mind could resist it. Spirit arts users were therefore likely to be resistant; Arthur had learned that at least the common belief was that where magic drew from emotion, it was spiritual and mental discipline which empowered spirit arts. Arthur couldn¡¯t say whether it was true or not, but the users did tend to be hard headed at least. This one, though, did not see through his illusions as was clear when he struck one and then another to no effect, buying Arthur time to get close and plunge his sword down into the man¡¯s skull.


    The man fell, and his spider - the only manifested beast that Minerva hadn¡¯t finished fighting - disappeared in an instant. Arthur would have considered it a bit harsh, forcing the man to experience the trauma of his own violent death and then existing as a lingering spirit in his corpse, unable to move, but still able to perceive the slow ebbing feeling of warmth leaving his lifeless body, but the guy hadn¡¯t held back from blowing a hole in the building with an attack intended for Arthur or telling armed guards to ¡°take him out¡±. You use lethal force, and you can¡¯t complain at what force your enemy uses in retaliation.


    People began to cheer and clap, though one man approached. ¡°You¡¯d better go. That was the governor¡¯s son. He¡¯ll hear what happened and he won¡¯t let it go easy.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve got another,¡± Arthur opened a screen from his Archive. ¡°Six and a half hours then I¡¯ll be on my way.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s plenty of time for the governor to gather his forces. And when he hears you killed his son, he¡¯ll want vengeance.¡±


    ¡°I-I didn¡¯t kill him, he¡¯ll be fine once I end the illusion,¡± Arthur knew better than to let it run its course, leaving them in a death coma for 3 days would risk brain damage and possibly death. ¡°Wait¡­ Are all of you cheering that I killed someone?¡±


    Arthur soon learned that while the governor was considered alright, his son was considered an arrogant, self-important bully who would have people arrested or beaten for the most minor of disrespect, slights, or even just on a whim.


    It was after returning to the bar and ordering another bottle of milk, that Arthur was approached by a man in his fifties. He looked to be in his sixties at least, but it was just a matter of a harder life; like Earthland Elentear was closer to the modern era in a lot of ways than the medieval period, but it still didn¡¯t have the level of quality of life one saw in 1st world countries on Earth.


    ¡°Please, sir mage, would you please save my daughter, please?¡± He pleaded.


    ¡°Save your daughter from what? Look. I¡¯m not a wandering hero. I¡¯m here to do a job and drink some milk. I¡¯m not here to pick fights, save damsels, or anything other than to do my job.¡± Elentear was dangerous; Arthur had no desire to risk his life picking fights with spirit arts users. They tended to be pretty bloodthirsty as well.


    ¡°Please, sir mage, please at least hear me out.¡± The man was beginning to cry, tears running down his face.


    Arthur sighed. He could at least hear the man out. He could use some spending money if the man was willing to pay. And should try and set a more heroic example for Minerva than he was. ¡°Alright, tell me your problem.¡±


    It took a while to hear him out. The man was not the most to the point, plenty of tangents, apologies for imposing, random statements of ¡®please¡¯, and various other little asides. The story he gathered was that the man¡¯s ¡®beautiful daughter¡¯ was abducted by the ¡®demon of the cursed forest¡¯. And that she was still seen occasionally by those who had to go near that ¡®cursed and haunted place¡¯, viewed through the trees but never leaving and often the ¡®demon of the cursed forest¡¯ would come to pull her back into the shadows.


    Arthur felt bad about the idea of a woman held by a ¡®demon¡¯. But he clamped down a bit on his heart. He couldn¡¯t be everywhere. He was already trying to deal with something bigger than this all. He was already feeling burnt out from his attempts to train with Minerva, find Altaface, and figure out how to use his Takeover magic on his dragon seed directly instead of simply choking it out with his demon-nature and then pulling back his demon nature. It¡¯d been weeks sense he left Selene¡¯s moon temple, and despite that bounty hanging over head asking him to relax for a week, he¡¯d not really had a day off. He felt half-numb, and more than a little irate at the world in general. It made it easier to look away, and ignore the Spider-Man on his shoulder telling that his power gave him the responsibility to help people since only he could help them how he could. On his other shoulder was his personal Leto II, pointing out that he had great power and it came with great responsibility to help people since only he could help them how he could, and that meant looking at the larger picture, the path that needed to be trod, not risking his life to save individuals when he had a larger responsibility. Death was light as a feather. Duty was heavier than a mountain.


    ¡°So, please, sir mage, would you, please, help save my daughter? Your honorable self is the only one who can, please, save her. I am begging you, revered one, please go and save her.¡±


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    Arthur couldn¡¯t help but notice that the man hadn¡¯t once offered a reward. He seemed to be simply expecting Arthur to risk his life to help him on the sheer hope he¡¯d found a hero. The man had also given no useful information on the demon of the woods and what his powers were. Arthur didn¡¯t even know if it was really a demon, or a mage, or a spirit arts user, or something else.


    ¡°Tell me about the demon. Why do you think I can beat it? Why doesn¡¯t the magistrate do something about it?¡±


    The man began to babble. The only useful information that Arthur got was that the man was a big, green, humanoid, and that they could control the forest. The description was interspersed with ¡°So will you help me?¡± an ¡°Please, sir, you need to help me, please.¡± These interruptions would force Arthur to once again demand more information.


    ¡°So why don¡¯t you go to the governor?¡± Arthur really knew little to nothing about the local government. He¡¯d been using Enif and Territory Magic to travel all across Elentear for 2 months.


    ¡°He won¡¯t help us,¡± the man said, looking down and aside. ¡°He¡­¡±


    ¡°Has arrived. And what will he not help you with?¡± A man said walking into the tavern. It wasn¡¯t the governor, but one of his men, the governor entering behind his squad of guards. The governor was richly dressed, wearing silks, and a collection of magical tools - or spiritual ones as his Archive identified them thus. There was one that was magical, though. He was past his prime, a bit of a gut having formed with age; Arthur suspected he was nearly sixty, but he was definitely more in shape and fit than the man groveling at Arthur¡¯s feet. He¡¯d been a warrior once, Arthur could tell that.


    ¡°My daughter,¡± the man said with a hint of fear.


    The governor looked at him, and then towards Arthur. Arthur¡¯s territory armor was raised. His pure magic let it work somewhat against spirit arts; it rivaled their purity.


    ¡°I hear you taught my son a lesson,¡± the governor said. ¡°I cannot say I appreciate an outsider beating my son, but I am not deaf to the stories of his¡­ excesses.¡±


    Arthur¡¯s fingers were moving like a gunslinger¡¯s ready to go for the fast draw. He didn¡¯t exactly trust this governor who had surrounded him with a group of guards. ¡°He tried to attack me. I defended myself.¡±


    ¡°Yes, I see, traveler,¡± the governor said. ¡°I believe my subject here is giving you a wrong idea about me.¡± He looked at the man. ¡°I have tried to deal with the demon of the forest. It killed two of my best men, and nearly killed my son. I hear you and your daughter however made a complete fool of my son and his servants.¡± Arthur had to wonder about the governor. Minerva was 14 - Arthur had apparently missed her birthday having never been told when it was until it was two weeks past it - and he was in a body that was maybe 21. Little sister would have made some sense, though they lacked any family resemblance. ¡°As such, I would like to hire you both to kill the demon of the forest, and destroy its curse upon our woods.¡±


    Arthur was stunned. He¡¯d been expecting an attack of some sort. That the man was going to try and avenge his son¡¯s dishonor. ¡°Tell me about the demon,¡± Arthur said. ¡°And the pay.¡± He had the feeling he was going to accept the job. But his Archive magic had identified that the governor was wearing a silver key as a necklace; if he was going to go fight a ¡®demon¡¯, he was going to try and get a key out of it.


    Arthur considered the information he had available to him. The demon wanted the man¡¯s daughter. He didn¡¯t know why, but the demon had reacted hostilely to any attempt to contact her, and while he¡¯d reacted hostilely in every encounter anyone had had with it, he only sometimes came if you entered the forest, and seemed to actively watch the girl. He had stopped one of her early attempts to leave the forest as well. So Arthur surmised the demon wanted to keep her there for some reason.


    The plants of the forest had grown strange and twisted since the demon¡¯s coming, and would move to its command. It used something that was neither magic nor spirit art, able to resist spirit arts as magic could not but not composed of spirior or overcoming magic as spirit arts did. Given Gray¡¯s Demon Slayer Magic could overcome spirit arts¡¯ type advantage over magic, that lent credence to it being a curse and thus an actual demon. Besides, his Archive told him the forest was dripping with Curse Power. Not at the level of Seilah, or even Jackal, but it was there.


    So the demon of the forest was, hopefully, a demon. And if it was a demon he could take it over.


    It had also been seen outside of the forest on certain occasions. It had managed to alter and control the plants outside as well, using some plant based magic. But it hadn¡¯t done so with the scale, ease, or power as in the forest. Partially probably because there were fewer large plants, but Arthur suspected it had seeded the forest with its curse power given the mutation of plant life.


    Arthur sent Equulus and Altair into the forest as scouts. It was so much easier to summon them here. The sheer magic of Elentear provided most of the power of maintaining them without ever touching his reserves. Caelum was standing ready in firing position. And Arthur could feel himself ready to open further gates; he could have summoned every key he possessed without a hint of effort. The governor was shocked that he had wanted the useless trinket he had found; Celestial Spirit Magic simply wasn¡¯t known in this world.


    Equulus quickly ran back from the forest. The weiner dog-like horse was ultimately no warrior. The plants had noticed him, attacked, and sent him fleeing. Enif could be summoned, his speed vastly outclassed Equulus¡¯s, and he could fight the plants; but Arthur would prefer not to risk Enif suffering enough damage to force his gate closed at the moment.


    Equulus had just been a test of the defenses and dangers anyway. Altair had been the one looking for the cottages and huts which had stood in the forest. Only one remained in the writhing, overgrown mass of demon plants which was the forest now. Overgrown with twisted vines, Altair was - unfortunately - unable to get too close to the building.


    Finding it was enough. Arthur was wary of simply extending his space over the forest, but with the image to focus on he was willing to seed it in front of the cottage.


    Arthur was immediately attacked by the demonically infused plants upon his arrival. Massive, spiked vines whipped out towards him, slamming against his territory armor. He twisted his moonsilver hand, each finger releasing a blade of light which cut through the vines.


    A tree lashed out at him, a massive limb swinging down towards him. His territory explosion splintered the tree limb, and he kicked the door of the cottage open. The woman was a dark haired beauty, Arthur would have to admit that. She wasn¡¯t particularly curvy by the standards of Fairy Tail, but she had an elegant grace which was rare even here, one which the bits of dough on her hands and apron couldn¡¯t ruin.


    She screamed when the door splintered towards her. She was in the middle of rolling out bread, though now she was brandishing her rolling pin. ¡°You can¡¯t be here. He¡¯ll come to destroy you. You have to leave now!¡± She said hurriedly.


    ¡°I¡¯m here to rescue you,¡± Arthur stated.


    ¡°You can¡¯t. Just leave me here. If you take me he¡¯ll kill again,¡± She said. Vines were reaching in, envenomed thorns dripping with their cursed toxins. They crawled across Arthur¡¯s limbs, scraping against that spatial barrier around him.


    ¡°I¡¯ll stop him,¡± Arthur stated, silver-gold flames bursting across the vines crawling on him. He was far from mastering Moon Dragon Slayer Magic, but with the help of the hand he was capable of invoking it.


    ¡°How did you even get here?¡± She asked.


    Arthur stepped towards her, grabbing her arm and teleporting them both back out of the forest. ¡°I teleported,¡± Arthur stated.


    ¡°Take me back!¡± She screamed. ¡°You don¡¯t understand what you¡¯re doing!¡± She struck at him, flailing and slapping.


    ¡°Then explain it to me. Why shouldn¡¯t I remove you? The demon will come out, and the battle will be easier than fighting him in the forest.¡±


    ¡°You mustn¡¯t kill him!¡± She screamed.


    ¡°Why?¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s my husband,¡± She said. Arthur arched an eyebrow. He¡¯d not been informed she was married. And then she began her tail. She had been involved with her childhood friend, the two planning to wed as soon as they could get parental approval. But her beauty had attracted the governor¡¯s son¡¯s attention. He wanted her and tried to force her into a relationship. When she refused, he¡¯d had her lover beaten, and left for dead in the woods, and then proceeded to begin to apply pressure and coercion further. She¡¯d been ready to break when the demon of the forest had emerged and attacked. It had abducted her, only for her to realize it was her fiance, but he was changed.


    He had become half plant, his flesh covered in mossy growth, hardened, woody claws tipping his arms, vines writhed around his feet. He was taller, bigger, but he was still her lover. Only he wasn¡¯t completely. He had his moments of lucidity, at least when he was close to her. But he was driven. He¡¯d taken the forest as his territory, killing anyone who intruded. She had grown to realize that her presence helped him retain what little humanity he had left, occasionally being the man she¡¯d loved once more when around her. But he was dangerously protective of her, and she was terrified that he was going to completely be consumed now that he was rampaging at her theft.


    She was openly sobbing and crying by the end, tears running down her cheeks. Arthur couldn¡¯t look her in the face. ¡°How did he become a plant demon?¡± Arthur asked.


    She turned her head up towards him. ¡°What?¡±


    ¡°If we know how he became a demon, maybe we can fix it and turn him human again.¡±


    ¡°... I¡­ He talked about a plant pod where he¡¯d been left. It reached for him. Dragged him in. And¡­¡±


    ¡°Kii!¡± Altair screeched and thunder roared. The demon of the cursed forest had been struck by Altair¡¯s lightning. Anticlimactically he had fallen.


    Arthur was at his side in a moment and approaching. He looked almost like a moss covered tree, his body coated in a green, moss-like substance, bark covering his flesh. His head was small compared to his body, woody ¡®vines¡¯ reaching into the base of his spine. Leaves had covered his face in a green mask, but now the leaves were burning from the lightning strike. Wooden talons stretched from the man¡¯s hands, and roots dangled around the wooden boots that covered his legs. It was as if he was wearing a full suit of arboreal powered armor.


    As Arthur approached the ground erupted, plants rising up towards him. Again Arthur let those moonlight flames burst forth, lashing out and scorching the plants. The hand did a lot of the work, but he was still learning. Selene had been true to her word; she was teaching him, even if she had chosen a rather hands off method of doing it.


    The question was who or what was controlling the plants. Arthur leaned down, planting a hand on the floral carapace which covered the man, and reached out with his takeover magic. He had to remove his territory armor - with an expanse of pseudo-space between them creating an artificial distance it was hard to truly touch something - and it proved something of a mistake as a thorn grew, piercing straight through his hand between the bones.


    It didn¡¯t stop him, though. His takeover magic was flowing out and through it. And soon the arboreal carapace was pulling back from the man¡¯s body. The vines at the base of his neck, really the roots of the parasitic plant-demon, slowly pulling out. The man had never truly been the demon. He had been a source of fuel, his rage and hatred for the governor¡¯s son, and the people of the town which had allowed the corruption, had been used to feed it with a constant supply of curse power.


    Arthur¡¯s hand burned with its venom, lines of purple flowing up through his body. He used his takeover magic to embrace the chaos soul, taking on the aspect and power of his black sword, black spreading across his flesh as his limbs grew long and spindly, his fingers horrific talons, his teeth jutting into fangs, as his eyes reddened and the 8 arrows of chaos formed on his chest.


    And then he consumed the demon body and soul. His claw plunged into the plant, each talon piercing it beginning to suck away at its life force. He tugged it up and pulled it to his mouth, biting into the demon, and ripping off a chunk. His Archive was recording, the demon¡¯s mind copying into it.


    Even as he consumed its soul, his arm was burning, pain searing through his flesh, as the poison crept upwards. He mixed in the plant-demon¡¯s own power, changing his body further, making his form begin to lignify, flesh growing woody as he mixed demonic forms. He¡¯d have to stay in this floral form for a time to let the poison run its course. And that would make things difficult with the town in terror of the demon of the woods.


    He took the man back to his self-declared wife, and Minerva, and explained the situation.


    Arthur took the man, and his lover, back to Selene¡¯s moon temple for medical treatment. There was no Acnologia to fear here, he was able to extend his territory wantonly over the continent. Arthur was able to make an antidote as well, curing himself so that he could return and collect his payment.


    It was somewhat troubling to realize that the plant-demon had been a true etherious; that is a creation of Living Magic and not a natural creature. Its information was limited, but its creator was a member of the Shadow¡¯s Foot Sect. The news was enough to make the governor go pale with fright. They were a sect of Spirit Arts users known for their assassinations. The greatest of the unlawful sects in the archipelago. Arthur had too many other things on his plate to deal with. He could only juggle so many issues. Acnologia and Edolas were simply bigger; and he owed it to Diabolos, he didn¡¯t owe anything here.


    He did pause to give a spiel about how he would be back to see that the governor¡¯s corrupt son had actually stood trial for his crimes. It was probably a lie, he suspected the man, and his lover, would rather relocate. But the threat would, hopefully, get some useful result. Even if not, hopefully the experience of his illusory death would have taught him a lesson.

 Altaface Off

    The dreams still hadn¡¯t stopped; the faces of Naked Mummy, Brain, and Edolas¡¯s version of Georg as he had killed them. Serena¡¯s hadn¡¯t appeared. Jiemma¡¯s hadn¡¯t appeared. Bluenote and Kain didn¡¯t show. The Black Knight of Edolas, Sugarboy, Byro, and Hughes didn¡¯t show. He could guess why they didn¡¯t show. Kain he had caused to die, but hadn¡¯t killed; he¡¯d never even met him alive. Sugarboy, Byro, and Hughes he had killed in that forced dragon rage; he couldn¡¯t even remember their faces, and he¡¯d never even seen Hughes. Bluenote he had killed from afar, and while he had met him he didn¡¯t see him die. Serena was a monster who would have killed him, and had been strong enough to kill him. Serena¡¯s was the only soul he had extinguished where he could really say it was wholly justified.


    Still like on many nights he found himself waking up after guilt-ridden dreams. He gave Kochab a grin; the spirits were almost completely self-sustaining in Elentear, and he could open all of their gates at once including Orion¡¯s. Kochab and Caelum played watch while he and Minerva slept, and Orion made sure they had daily provisions when they woke.


    Well he said sleep. And maybe one night in four he found himself waking up due to the nightmares and having difficulty returning to sleep. Which was good. When he had been with the Thunderbolts it had been one in three.


    He wasn¡¯t the only one having trouble with nightmares. Minerva didn¡¯t sleep too soundly either. This was the second night where she woke up while he was awake from his own, but the thrashing, and the mouthing of mumbled words¡­


    ¡°Bad dreams?¡± He asked her when he saw her moving about. He wasn¡¯t really sure how to broach the subject. If she was having nightmares, he assumed it was because she¡¯d seen him kill her father, and despite having spent three months in rather close proximity since then they hadn¡¯t really spoken of the subject. Arthur wished he knew a good psychologist or therapist; they could both probably use one.


    ¡°Yeah,¡± She said, rubbing the back of her head abashed.


    ¡°About Grimoire Heart¡¯s ship?¡±


    She hesitated a few moments and then nodded.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry. You shouldn¡¯t. You should never have had to go through that.¡± He should have protected and sheltered her from that.


    ¡°I was too weak,¡± she said.


    Arthur winced. He really was not a trained psychologist or therapist to untangle the mass of damage to her psyche. ¡°No,¡± he said. ¡°If you were so weak you would have died.¡±


    ¡°You had to save me. Kain had to save me,¡± Arthur wasn¡¯t sure how ¡®controlling him with a voodoo doll into fighting a fight he couldn¡¯t win¡¯ was him saving her, but he wasn¡¯t going to point that out to the child, ¡°Urtear had to save me. Erik had to save me.¡±


    ¡°You saved yourself more than any of us saved you. It was fear of you that kept Urtear from acting and which won that battle. You performed above and beyond expectations. If I had done half as well in my role you¡¯d,¡± he paused, not wanting to directly bring up Jiemma which he almost had, and after a moment of oral tripping finished, ¡°have never been in danger in the first place.¡±


    ¡°If I¡¯m strong then why couldn¡¯t I resist those spirits and you could?¡±


    ¡°Because I was using vile, demonic power to channel black magic that destroys souls.¡±


    ¡°Teach it to me,¡± she said.


    ¡°No,¡± Arthur¡¯s voice was firm. ¡°One you don¡¯t have the demonic essence inside of you to learn it,¡± he had checked as well as he could with his takeover magic, ¡°two it¡¯s not a good magic to use. Your soul is one it destroys, just piece by piece.¡±


    She looked at him for a few moments. ¡°I could feel them inside of me. They were tearing me apart. Ripping me to pieces because I was too weak to stop them. I could feel their anguish, their sorrow, their hatred, and rage¡­¡± She was beginning to cry, as she began to finally open up and talk about the events on the ship. Jiemma¡¯s death by his hand wasn¡¯t even mentioned. Jiemma¡¯s beating of her, the way she had frozen because she knew she couldn¡¯t raise her hand to her father or escalate his maltreatment, that was mentioned. But her focus was on the shades. The way they had invaded more than just her body. The way she was terrified they were still inside of her mind. How she had dreams of other people¡¯s lives, and their final moments.


    Arthur took it in. He wasn¡¯t sure what to say or how to make it better. ¡°There¡¯s a ghost in Diabolos. A dragon slayer whose magic helped him linger on. If there really are shades of them still in you, he might be able to help you.¡± He hadn¡¯t been able to help Kirin, but a dragon¡¯s soul was tangled with its power. He might be able to help here. ¡°I can¡¯t promise he can. And we need to finish this task before we go back to the guild,¡± there was a good chance that returning would see Georg kick him out of the guild for working with Selene; physically as well as organizationally and he¡¯d rather not make that a certainty by going ¡®oh yeah I¡¯m still on a job for Selene so I¡¯ve got to go¡¯. ¡°But if he can¡¯t we¡¯ll find someone who can.¡±


    Minerva froze a bit. ¡°I¡¯m not sure I want them gone,¡± she said, averting her gaze.


    ¡°Minerva, they¡¯re big balls of hate, you don¡¯t want them in you.¡±


    ¡°They¡¯re my ancestors,¡± She said.


    ¡°You don¡¯t owe them that. They¡¯re nothing good from your ancestors.¡±


    ¡°They remember their magic. I¡¯ve been patching together parts of their summoning magic. My dad knew some of it, but he hadn¡¯t taught me it yet.¡±


    Arthur opened his Archive. ¡°I have parts. I uploaded it from the souls as I digested them.¡± He didn¡¯t trust the Chaos Soul to let him only eat the ones he¡¯d missed at the time out of Minerva. It might be possible, but when it came to tampering with a soul you didn¡¯t want to do extremely chancy things.


    Minerva¡¯s eyes went a little wide. She wasn¡¯t certain she wanted to try some sort of exorcism; there was power in the shades which lingered in her and she¡¯d rather make it hers than excise it completely. But she knew she wanted to learn her bloodline¡¯s secret magic.


    Arthur summoned his Edolas ice box. It was time to thaw his dragon meat. He¡¯d sent a fair bit back to Diabolos with Pax, Orin, and Cullen as a sign of good will and to repay the debt he had for the first dragon.


    He had, however, kept a portion of the meat. It was time to eat it. He had instructed Minerva in the simplified enchantment which bound a dragon¡¯s power to its eater. The meat wouldn¡¯t be enough to do it. But it might help him in his actual mission. A dragon¡¯s soul lingered in its body. And he was going to take over the fragment that lingered here.


    After months of working to try and figure out something about how to apply his takeover magic to the dragon power inside of himself, he believed he was ready. He ate, and he let the dragon¡¯s power flow through him. He could feel it. Tracing it inside of him in a way that he couldn¡¯t the first time. He could feel and he began to guide it, controlling the flow of energy, compressing it into his arm. The black scales on his arm turned to red, the ebony growing brighter and lighter, shifting shade by shade to a cinnabar hue. His fingers were stretching, growing out as the nails lengthened. Scales spread up his fingers as he could feel them twist into draconic talons. The scales reached up his arm, moving up almost to his shoulder. And then he stopped it, not letting the power go further. He felt his lacrimal heart scream out.


    He kept himself focused on his arm. Knowing that if he stopped it could be a disaster. He pictured himself with the chaos shield, holding back the onrushing of a dragon composed of fire. And each time it flowed in a new direction he blocked it, his sword cutting the tethers between his darkness magic and the new draconic power.


    After a time the pain stopped. The pressure to expand stopped. He could feel the dragon power, localized to one arm. It was scaled, ending in claws, looking like the 2nd gen dragon force. He raised his hand and focused, fire forming from his arm, and spreading out in a ¡®wing¡¯ that surged across the field he was sitting in, leaving it ablaze.


    Then he focused on his arm, beginning to force the energy to quiet, and leave the arm. In his mind¡¯s eye he wrapped the flaming serpents that had formed the flow of energy in lassos, pulling them back on a leash. And then he forced it all back into the seed, pushing his draconic essence deep inside.


    The draconic arm reverted to flesh. But the sleeve of scales remained, a deep burgundy now. He was not there yet. His territory magic then pushed down onto the flaming field and extinguished it. He was not where he needed to be, but there were herbs that should make it easier. Herbs, and the blood of dragon slayers.


    It was three days after Arthur¡¯s attempt to take over the dragon flesh, that Arthur woke up somewhere other than he had gone to sleep. He couldn¡¯t feel his magic. It was like he was in Edolas, but where Edolas had been full of barren lands, he hadn¡¯t seen a sandy desert there. Maybe he was somewhere in Edolas. But he was definitely not where he had gone to sleep, and Minerva was not there either.


    He looked around for a few moments, before he gave a heavy sigh. He could make a guess at how he had gotten here, but not of what he was supposed to do while he was here. His X-balls could have helped, but he hadn¡¯t been sleeping with one in his pajamas. He¡¯d have to figure out a good way to do so.


    Still he only knew of one being that could have done this, especially with the finesse to have taken just him: Selene.


    Arthur figured he needed to find some sort of shade. The sun was already getting uncomfortably warm, and there was sand almost as far as he could see. Almost. He could see a rocky outcropping. He¡¯d need to find water as well, but he couldn¡¯t find it wandering the desert by day. He¡¯d just waste it.


    He moved to the shade of the rock, snuggling into a rather uncomfortable crevice. The shade would be a lifesaver but it was far from comfortable. An hour passed. A second. A third. He was thirsty. A fourth. And finally there was a feeling of ethernano in the air, and magical power.


    This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.


    ¡°I grow weary of your dragging your feet,¡± Selene said. ¡°I gave you a task. Will you actually attempt to finish it?¡± Arthur looked up at the dragon god, sitting on the lip of a round portal in the air.


    Arthur wanted to growl. ¡°I am working on it. I am just being careful and making certain I can survive the attempt.¡±


    She glared at him for a few moments. ¡°So you dragon eaters are not actually strong enough to be of use. Maybe I should test to see if any of the others are competent.¡±


    ¡°I will do it,¡± Arthur said. ¡°I¡¯ve almost tracked down the beast. But there are still steps before I can.¡±


    ¡°Take them and stop wasting my time. If I find that you¡¯re stringing me along,¡± A shining moon seemed to form from her hand and envelop him. He was back in Elentear where he had been camping. ¡°I can make you regret it.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not. I just wanted to master a technique first.¡±


    Selene breathed deeply. Arthur could get an idea for why she was rushing him. She was obviously tired and weak. How much power was she pouring into Edolas? How much did it bother her to be weakened when Acnologia could theoretically come at any time? Arthur wondered if at the moment she even had the strength to defeat Georg.


    ¡°I¡¯m close to finding Altaface. Once I do, I just need to make certain I can move something that big, and that you¡¯ve got a place ready for me to put it.¡±


    ¡°I will do my part,¡± Selene said. ¡°You don¡¯t need to worry about that. Now go find Altaface, I am tired of this.¡± With that she disappeared.


    Arthur fumed for a time. He hadn¡¯t been lying, he was fairly certain he was close to finding Altaface. Still he¡¯d have appreciated it if she had just told him she was getting tired of waiting and not teleported him to a magic dead desert and forced him to have a day that was exceedingly uncomfortable even by the standards of having spent the last 4 months hopping from tavern to tavern, or simply camping out.


    Arthur had been right. He had found Altaface. All he had to do was confirm it. The creature lived underground which made it hard to reach, but he could extend his space downwards and get a feel for what was there. Enough to find a large cavern and teleport Altair there.


    His Archive link went haywire, his head suddenly flaring up with agony. Arthur fell to the ground convulsing, his overclocked mind being blasted from the backlash of his overloading Archive. Minerva didn¡¯t know what to do, and he was lucky he didn¡¯t bite off his tongue or something as his neurons fired dangerously wild.


    The spastic fit only lasted a few minutes. And then, without overclocking, he reopened his Archive and began to make modifications. The ethernano in the cave had been several times stronger than he had felt from Acnologia, a full order of magnitude - at least - over Selene¡¯s. His Archive could handle the magnitude, if he made a few simple modifications. The magical construct itself was unharmed. It had just been that it was looped into his senses, and it simply hadn¡¯t been programmed for what to do if it measured power on that level


    He spent the time until Altair¡¯s gate was ready to be opened again, modifying his Archive, and fixing that stupid, programming flaw. Altair only sight-checked that Altaface was there, slumbering peacefully, before he dismissed the summon.


    It was time to return to the Moon Temple and Selene.


    Arthur had two tasks to perform at the Moon Temple. The first was to verify he could move something as large as he needed and put it where he needed. The second was to try, with a potion made with the blood of dragon slayers, to reverse his dragonification.


    Both tasks were potentially troublesome. The former he failed at. He could call an anima large enough to move the Moon Temple and the mountain it sat on; but he couldn¡¯t aim it well enough to reach the cave Selene had prepared and the location she had judged as ideal. He would have to use Moon Dragon Slayer Magic instead, and Selene would have to help instruct him in it.


    That failure had, thankfully, bought him time to brew his potion. It took 4 days. When it was done he drank it, waited, and then tried to use Takeover magic to enflame the wildfire dragon¡¯s power where he had consumed it. He managed to change his arm into that of a dragon, and he felt more in control. The potion had functioned; it was easier to stabilize. And then he pushed it back, and he kept pushing, her felt his teeth change, the fangs disappearing, he felt his arm change and he could see there were no longer scales upon it.


    He took over his other arm, with the darkness dragon¡¯s power. And he reverted it. The shine dragon¡¯s power. And he reverted it. He went through his limbs, and then he pushed as far as he dared with each. The wildfire dragon¡¯s power was hardest to control. He didn¡¯t dare go past one arm. The shine dragon¡¯s was easiest; he managed a nearly full body takeover before he was forced to reverse it. He wasn¡¯t certain the why; but he couldn¡¯t help but note they were inversely proportional to the amount of power he felt surge with each one. The shine dragon lacrima was relatively weak. While the Wildfire Dragon had been strong enough to serve her time as Ignia¡¯s royal consort and even now he felt its power wild and mighty. Eventually his own power might matter more, or he might be able to pull his max from each. But he was not at that point.


    The potion¡¯s effects faded, but his scales were gone. His teeth were normal. And his Archive had recorded the pathways of power. He felt certain now that he could master dragonfication. And the relief hit him like a tidal wave. Stress, tension, and dread terror all seemed to melt from him like dew in the noon sun and he practically collapsed then and there from sheer relief.


    Selene was not pleased by him spending the night feasting, and flirting with her servants instead of practicing his magic. But Arthur had felt the need to celebrate, and even the fear of her ire was not strong enough to stop him here. It would not be long before it was time to go and face Altaface. He had managed to use Moon Dragon Slayer Magic for a more precise, large-scale transportation. He would need several days to rest and recuperate, allowing his magic to recharge, and hopefully he could weasel a full week from the Moon Dragon.


    Four days later, Selene and Minerva came with him to Altaface¡¯s nest. He was a little worried about bringing Minerva along. He didn¡¯t know for certain he would be able to use magic here, and he at least had a plan for that as his Archive could hopefully correct for the rollover error that Altaface caused, at least now that it had been modified not to suffer such itself.


    Altair was sent to scout, confirming that it wouldn¡¯t overload his Archive with him overclocking. Arthur followed next. Altaface was stirring a bit, but still sleeping. Selene hadn¡¯t roused and aggravated it yet in this time period.


    ¡°There¡¯s so much ethernano,¡± Minerva said, gasping audibly. ¡°I can feel it flowing all around me.¡±


    Selene was smiling. ¡°Oh this will make some major distortions. I¡¯m almost ashamed that I didn¡¯t think of it myself.¡± She was looking at Arthur, though. She was here to watch him. She had rushed him, pushed him to go faster, but she understood what he was worried about and how it was worth worrying about. Would the ethernano concentration trigger the dragon force and his dragonification?


    Arthur was breathing in and out. There was so much power here. Electricity coated Altair¡¯s form, and if it went out there would be darkness. Arthur could consume so much of it. It might change him. He didn¡¯t need to. He didn¡¯t dare try it without that need. Maybe if he was willing to expend more of the dragon slayer blood for another potion.


    ¡°Minerva, test your magic,¡± Arthur said.


    She burst forward, fast enough it almost seemed like she had teleported, her leg striking against one of the walls of the cavern and causing a chunk to shoot off. The moment Arthur saw it he stopped overclocking, disengaging his mind from the Archive. Arthur doubted Minerva could use her magic so easily if Altaface was at full density and intensity given how much trouble Fairy Tail had.


    Arthur opened several celestial spirit gates, the gate of the ram, the pegasus, the hunter, the lesser bear, the chisel, and finally the hydra. He¡¯d only gotten the last key while traveling across Elentear, and he¡¯d not yet given it a try in actual combat. He checked his Archive, it was awkward doing so; he was used to using it tied into his brain, able to pull up information with a thought. Even his Archive, linked to him in many ways, could barely observe the dip of energy from keeping them all open here, as he absorbed ambient ethernano too quickly for it to even dip noticeably.


    He turned his dark dominion magic to the area, beginning to seed the darkness with his own darkness. He let his takeover magic flow through him, his body beginning to change. Seilah¡¯s horns grew from his head, jutting to the sides. His body grew more effeminate, almost androgynous, as he allowed Seilah¡¯s power flow through him. The curse Macro might be useful if something went wrong. And then he began the spell to move Altaface. He should have needed to speak. At least to do it quickly. Instead he moved his hands through the motions of the spell. He¡¯d not have needed to if he wasn¡¯t trying to teleport a massive giant of concentrated ethernano.


    Altaface¡¯s eyes opened, and suddenly light roared through the cavern. Minerva¡¯s territory armor flickered out, even as Selene began to loose a cry of pleasure. Arthur felt pure ethernano wash over him. It was an overwhelming mass of pure power. His Archive couldn¡¯t calculate it all, and was beginning to have some minor function loss from sheer overload of energy. Arthur could feel it as well, surging up into him and pushing his magic to its absolute limits. More and more and more. His body began to suffer an overflow error, so saturated in magical energy in and around him that it couldn¡¯t instinctively feel the difference and it felt like there was none and began to shut down to conserve his life. But his Archive served to remind him that he had more than sufficient magic, to tell his body that it could go beyond this and beyond. The darkness rushed towards Altaface, and it began to grow. The more magical energy pouring into it the faster it grew. And the more it grew the better it could cope with the magical energy pouring into it.  Arthur felt his limit reached. He had more magic than even his body could recognize and his magic began to fail him. He re-activated his Overclocking; his Archive hadn¡¯t crashed even if it seemed to be having problems with an oversaturation of power around it. His Archive served to remind him on a physiological level that he did have magic. It was constantly communicating with his body on his magical quantity.


    Altaface began to lash out, releasing a massive surge of ethernano and detonating it. The darkness Arthur had spread with his dark dominion magic moved, surging up, rising to wrap around the blast. It fed on the energy, converting what entered it into magical power to fuel itself and grow further. It wasn¡¯t a perfect conversion, and it could only convert so much at a time. And Altaface, a living font of magical power enough to fuel entire words, was too much for it. The blast might be an inefficient attack, and one that the darkness was ideally suited for absorbing, but the sheer quantity of power was more than Arthur had felt even when Acnologia had chased him.


    It tore through the darkness, but most of its power was spent in the dimension Arthur¡¯s magic had created, leaving what should have been an explosion to tear through stone, merely a strong breeze.


    Arthur didn¡¯t have time to create a new shield, though. It was time for the others to act. Altaface was extending massive arms, each one like a giant redwood down towards them, hands coming to pound, slap, and crush. Kochab caught one with his arms, and Orion wrapped another two with his belts, pulling them off course. As Altaface¡¯s mouth opened, and an explosive burst of ethernano fired out once more, it was Aries who blocked it, her pink fluff simply growing more and more as she continuously poured energy into it.


    Selene had shifted to her dragon form; the surge in power that should have been felt with her true form still absent due to her prolonged role in powering Edolas. She had pushed herself in that role, and Arthur was curious as to how Edolas was doing after all these months. Of course, the fact that Arthur was being overloaded by Altaface despite all of his magical power, and Selene wasn¡¯t even being fully refilled was a somewhat terrifying realization.


    Selene had paused there, though. She didn¡¯t act, because she didn¡¯t need to. Altair was firing off lightning. Enif was charging and weaving between the hands. The hydra Arthur had summoned - a 9 headed animate snake plushy - was growing to massive size and firing off 9 beams of water. Even Minerva was finally overcoming the surge of ethernano and beginning to throw out magic at a scope and scale which was completely unprecedented for her, her territory explosions threatening to bring down the cavern itself.


    Altaface provided them with limitless power with which to fight it.


    And then that endless concentration of ethernano was suddenly gone. Altaface was still there, still pouring out ethernano in a massive torrent, but where before it had gone into an already oversaturated atmosphere, now it was being pulled away as if by a vacuum. Arthur had transported the massive creature and all of them to Edolas. He could suddenly feel the strain of his gates. Orion¡¯s slammed shut first. And then Enif¡¯s and Aries¡¯s. Altaface had begun a horrible screaming, and Selene raised her head and let a silver globe of energy expand from her nose tip to cover her, Arthur, and Minerva, and in a moment they were at the Edolas capital castle.


    Arthur felt that he had earned himself a rest. He¡¯d transported a beast of pure, primal magic from one world to another. He¡¯d started magic returning to Edolas. But he knew he still had other responsibilities. He¡¯d not been in Guiltina for any lengthy period of time in half a year. It was time to actually return to Diabolos.


    Selene was accepting of the idea. He had done his duty, and if he sat around here she¡¯d either have to actually put effort into training him, or her distortion would let himself stagnate. The guild at least would provide a motivating impetus and even if he dragged his heels, he might be able to stir them to become stronger.


    Arthur, for his own part, had something to show. The potion had worked to ease the influence of the dragon seed. It was far from perfect, and on its own wouldn¡¯t reverse dragonification, but it did serve as an actual proof of concept. And if any of them could learn takeover it could serve as a protection from the influence of the dragon seed.

 Of Cats and Dragons

    ¡°Look who¡¯s back,¡± Georg said, raising his scarred face from his dinner plate. He had a great hunk of meat on a bone, rare, almost raw, and had been tearing it from the bone with his teeth. He dined like a beast. ¡°Still serving our enemy?¡±


    ¡°My job for her is done for the time being,¡± Arthur said. ¡°Would you have preferred I had left her with no reason not to destroy the guild?¡±


    Georg spat. ¡°Let her try. If she shows her scaled hide here I¡¯ll eat her like I¡¯ve eaten so many others.¡±


    Arthur wasn¡¯t certain Georg wouldn¡¯t if Selene came right now. In 9¡­ 8 years now he¡¯d have lost in an utterly one sided fight, but he was getting weaker with each passing year, training, feasting, everything he was doing merely to offset the effects of aging. He was 8 years stronger now than he would be then. And at the moment Selene was still weak. Arthur didn¡¯t know who he¡¯d side with if it came to that.


    ¡°She could have killed me if she had continued to fight,¡± Arthur said.


    ¡°What of it? And who are you bringing back here this time? Another unauthorized job?¡±Georg asked.


    ¡°This is Minerva, she¡¯s my apprentice,¡± Arthur said. ¡°And if she could kill me she could kill you, and I doubt anyone else in the guild could stop her.¡±


    Georg roared with laughter. ¡°Our little cringing librarian is convinced he¡¯s become hot stuff it sounds like. You¡¯ve never seen my real power.¡±


    He was rising to his feet, but it was Kirin who bolted to his feet first. ¡°Let me remind him of the true power of the guild he claimed as his.¡±


    ¡°Claims,¡± Arthur said. ¡°I didn¡¯t come back here to fight, I came with good news.¡±


    Georg raised a hand. ¡°And what sort of good news is it?¡± He asked.


    Arthur smiled, a wide, toothy grin and he pulled down his sleeve raising a bare arm.


    ¡°Are we supposed to notice something about your arm?¡± Kirin asked.


    ¡°Wait, his teeth,¡± Skullion said.


    Arthur groaned inside a little. He¡¯d not had scales on his arm last time he was here, that had come with Grimoire Heart not from bRAIN¡¯s assault. Arthur decided to go a bit further, he let his arm change, red scales forming across it, claw tips taking shape. It was a dragon¡¯s arm.


    ¡°The dragon force,¡± Georg hissed out. ¡°What damn fool thing are you doing?¡±


    And then Arthur¡¯s arm changed back to human. ¡°I¡¯ve beaten it,¡± He said with a grin that dripped with smarmy, smug superiority. He hadn¡¯t simply bought this victory. He had worked. Months of effort. And he had done something that even Irene, a mage who ranked in the all time greats of history had failed at.


    ¡°You¡¯ve what?¡± Georg said.


    ¡°I¡¯ve beaten this curse. Or at least I¡¯ve armed myself with the tools necessary to keep it under control.¡± And then the guild hall broke out in an outcry.


    The exuberance was somewhat dampened when they learned what it was. Most of them didn¡¯t know enough about takeover magic to really understand on that deep, total level that Heinlein¡¯s martians had dubbed grokking what it being takeover meant. Georg, though, summarized it:


    ¡°Takeover is a high end form of transformation magic. You¡¯re considered a skilled, professional if you can do it at all. That¡¯s if you have the natural affinity for it to even get that far. And we¡¯re talking a single limb. And if Arthur is right that it¡¯s harder than full body demon takeover. I don¡¯t know how demon takeover compares to other forms. I know animal soul is supposed to be the easy form, and even it is something that full body use is considered dangerous and a sign of skill.¡±


    It killed much of the exuberance. The odds of this method helping anyone but Arthur was slim to none. Arthur could see hearts breaking at the hopes he had raised and then dashed.


    ¡°There is good news, though. My first experiments only allowed controlled transformation, and didn¡¯t reverse the change.¡±


    ¡°How does that help us?¡± Misaki snapped.


    ¡°I¡¯m getting there,¡± Arthur shot back. ¡°I made a serum that made it more manageable and controllable. The dragon seed I mean. That was the real good news. I have at least some level of proof of concept that the dragon seed can be stopped and I have the means to start gathering information on how that¡¯s done.¡±


    The cheer was rather less than he had hoped for. Hopes had been raised once already.


    There was some discussing this for a time, and then Kirin finally rose to his feet and pointed at Arthur. ¡°I still think you¡¯re underestimating this guild. I know you beat Suzaku and Misaki last time you were here. But I figure it¡¯s time to show you how an adult fights.¡±


    Arthur found himself grinning. He needed to fight Kirin for a bounty sooner or later. His hand moved to the straps that held his prosthesis in place, removing it and throwing it to the ground in front of Kirin. ¡°I guess the gauntlet has been thrown,¡± Arthur said with a smug, arrogant grin. ¡°I think with one hand it¡¯ll be a little bit of a more fair fight.¡±


    ¡°You insult me,¡± Kirin said. ¡°I don¡¯t need to fight a pathetic cripple.¡±


    ¡°Kirin, if I went all out you¡¯d not stand a chance. This is the least I can do. I¡¯ll even refrain from using my non-dragon magic. My Territory Magic would make it too easy.¡±


    As electricity surged through Arthur, he was beginning to regret his decisions. He had thought he had several options that would make this fight easy. Serena¡¯s Dragon God¡¯s fang gave him an attack from below the ground. His moon dragon slayer magic gave him means to redirect attacks. He could still cast darkness over another¡¯s eyes.


    Except that he was so accustomed to Overclocking during battle his timing on everything was off. Kirin lacked the power to directly block his dragon¡¯s roar. But he¡¯d managed to dodge it. He¡¯d taken part of the dragon god¡¯s fang, but he¡¯d managed to shut it down part way by hitting Arthur himself with a crushing wave of air pressure. The guy¡¯s reflexes were just a bit better than Arthur¡¯s. And it wasn¡¯t that he hadn¡¯t faced life or death situations before, not any more. It was that he¡¯d gotten used to having an external brain. And without it he was at below what he¡¯d otherwise have been without it.


    Kirin on the other hand had gotten one hit after another on him, coming in too fast for his lagging reflexes to handle.


    His mouth opened. ¡°Another roar, it won¡¯t work! Atmos Distortion!¡± Kirin said, and Arthur felt crushing atmospheric pressure force the air from his lungs. But it didn¡¯t matter, the light still erupted from Arthur¡¯s mouth. It was a brilliant, blinding flash. When he¡¯d first used his shine dragon¡¯s magic it hadn¡¯t fully integrated. He¡¯d blinded himself with his own spell. Now, though, the light was his friend, his eyes automatically adapting to the flash bomb he¡¯d set off.


    Even blinded Kirin hadn¡¯t stopped his assault, though. He breathed in and released his own dragon¡¯s roar, but Arthur was ready. He spat an argent globe of energy, the silver ¡®moon¡¯ blocking the dragon¡¯s roar and transporting it to another dimension.


    ¡°You can¡¯t escape. I still consume the atmosphere itself,¡± Kirin snapped. His nose was flaring, his head casting side to side. ¡°Smelled you!¡± He stated, and fired another dragon¡¯s roar. Arthur managed to dodge, throwing himself forward and rolling. He launched a half dozen crescent blades formed of pale yellow energy, formed from dragon slayer magic and shooting towards Kirin.


    He managed, through only his seeming sixth sense for atmospheric distortions, to deflect almost all of them. But Arthur was rushing. A sword of darkness dragon slayer magic cutting the air in front of him as Kirin hardened it. And then he lunged, one hand palm forward, fingers spread around it like a talon or like he was grabbing Kirin¡¯s face. It was what Arthur liked to call his shining finger.


    Hardened air deflected it as Kirin¡¯s own palm hit his chest and a crack of thunder could be heard as Arthur was launched away. ¡°My vision is already clearing and you completely failed to capitalize on your advantage,¡± Kirin said in a smugly superior tone.


    ¡°Erupting burning finger!¡± Arthur howled, his right arm transforming into that of the wildfire dragon once again. As red covered it, the fire lashed out. Kirin hardened the air in a shield around him, only for the flames to flow around it and then close in from behind. The wildfire dragon¡¯s flames were, relatively speaking, weak, but she had been able to produce massive quantities and to control them. Arthur hadn¡¯t reached the point of turning them into autonomous drones, but he could control their flow.


    He was already moving though, shifting to the next spell, a dragon of moonlight erupting from beneath Kirin¡¯s feet.


    Georg watched. Kirin had stood a chance as long as he had retained the initiative. Arthur was¡­ sloppy. But his magical power was significantly beyond Kirin¡¯s own. Kirin was still growing. In a few years maybe he¡¯d be Arthur¡¯s equal there. But in a few years Arthur might be as powerful as a dragon god. Making things worse Arthur¡¯s magic was a lot more concentrated than Kirin¡¯s; he could get twice the attack for half the energy, and that was actually a low estimate. Put together and Kirin couldn¡¯t take more than one or two direct hits, and Arthur could afford to weather blows straight on to get the chance to land one.


    The fight was horribly uneven. Georg was confident he could have won it. His four beast dragon slayer magic gave him the speed that¡¯d have been needed. But he was fairly certain Arthur was holding a fair bit back by not using his other magic.


    The idea that Arthur could be stronger than him was a serpent coiling in Georg¡¯s heart, filling him with a rage he couldn¡¯t put into words as Kirin fell to the ground as he finally failed to dodge one of Arthur¡¯s moon fire conflagrations.


    ¡°That doesn¡¯t prove you¡¯re strong enough that if you would lose the guild as a whole would as well,¡± Georg said, swaggering towards Arthur. ¡°You won, but you looked downright sloppy during it.¡±


    ¡°Sorry, I¡¯m used to running my mind through my Archive magic. It improves my reflexes, but I had forgotten how much slower I think without it,¡± Arthur said.


    The words made that serpent coil tighter around Georg¡¯s heart. ¡°Let me see you with it. Misaki, Suzaku, put him through his paces. And Arthur, hold nothing back this time.¡±


    ¡°Nothing?¡± Arthur asked.


    ¡°Don¡¯t kill them,¡± Georg said.


    The battle began once Arthur had activated his archive, and requipped a suit of proper armor. Well if you could call his Mifune Robe armor. It was a kimono, but it served as both a weapon and defense.


    The battle ended almost immediately. Half a year ago he had been a match for either alone. Half a year ago he¡¯d still been ultimately reeling from the loss of his hand. And he¡¯d spent the last 6 months training. He also had tricks they hadn¡¯t seen. He¡¯d selected his armors for example. The Mifune Robe¡¯s multi-image trick didn¡¯t do much to fool Suzaku. But the fact that its sword could pass through his proved a surprise. Suzaku managed to eat it, but it had thrown off his block and a dragon¡¯s roar channeled through two fingers of Arthur¡¯s moonsilver hand removed him from the battle.


    Misaki¡¯s magic was even more easily conquered. Arthur made her space his, and left her unconscious from a blow from the illusory sword of the Mifune Robe. The sword that came in the armor set wasn¡¯t a physical thing at all, merely a projection of the idea of a sword. It was all an illusion magic, where to be struck by it was to have your own mind make the blow real. A strong enough mind could resist. Misaki might have laid there till she died from the illusion that he¡¯d killed her if Arthur hadn¡¯t dismissed its magic.


    Georg looked on, his jaw half slack. ¡°As you are now, could you kill the moon dragon god?¡±


    ¡°No,¡± Arthur said. It was true from a certain point of view. He couldn¡¯t kill her while she was weak from helping him. As he was now he had too much of a sense of honor for that.


    ¡°What about Silver Demon?¡±


    It¡¯d been half a year. Honami, Ike, and Roy had been dead longer than he had known them. He wasn¡¯t truly burning with rage over it. But¡­ Silver Demon had killed them. Had tried to turn them into tools.


    Everything that made him feel disgusted about using takeover on Seilah and Jackal was there. Everything that made him realize he couldn¡¯t use takeover that way on a human. They had taken people and twisted them into nothing more than tools of destruction, squashing thought, burying freedom, and forcing them to exist in a tortured state of pure rage. And these were people he had known and sort of liked.


    ¡°Are we legally allowed to?¡±


    ¡°They¡¯re a dark guild,¡± Georg said. He¡¯d given up on crushing them. They were the greatest dark guild on Guiltina. An Alchemist Guild that was said to be second only to Golden Owl. But Arthur held power. Georg didn¡¯t like to admit it, but he doubted he¡¯d win in a fight. His sword exchange with Suzaku had been quick, but it had been quick because it had been good. He manipulated Suzaku¡¯s swordplay and changed the rules of the game. He hadn¡¯t had to use his Territory Magic. He hadn¡¯t summoned anything. He hadn¡¯t used Takeover either for the dragon arm or some sort of demon soul. The sheer fact that Arthur apparently had known that magic when coming here and not revealed it galled him, but Georg had to admit the man beside him seemed to be an era defining genius of magic. Georg Reizen was a legend in his own day. He was the strongest mage in Guiltina, talked about as an equal to any of the Four Gods of Ishgar, or August¡¯s Spriggans from Alvarez. Talked about as potentially the second strongest mage in the world. But Georg knew how reputations could be overblown. In another 400 years he¡¯d be a footnote. Arthur might be more than that.


    And as much as that pissed Georg off. He was going to use him. Diabolos wouldn¡¯t have been able to beat Silver Demon on its own. With some help from other guilds maybe. Silver Demon was growing more brazen. Soon it¡¯d start a full scale war against an alliance of countries. And Diabolos would get its vengeance then against them.


    But with Arthur he¡¯d not have to wait.


    ¡°No,¡± Arthur said. ¡°Their alchemy might hold the final piece of the puzzle to cure dragonification. I can¡¯t kill them. But I can destroy the guild.¡±


    Georg smiled. Still there was the lass that Arthur had brought back with him, and called his apprentice.


    ¡°And about your little tagalong. You know this is a dragon slayers guild. We don¡¯t accept non-dragon slayers.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m a dragon slayer,¡± Minerva said, glaring at Georg with furious indignation. ¡°Or well¡­ I have dragon slayer magic.¡± She backed away somewhat weakly, her head lowering.


    ¡°You fed her a dragon?¡± Georg said.


    ¡°She had the white tiger dragon¡¯s lacrima implanted in her,¡± Arthur said.


    ¡°What?¡± Georg bellowed. ¡°Byaku was one of us. You can¡¯t just give that away to an outsider. What were you thinking?¡±


    ¡°That I¡¯d bought it. And that she is my apprentice, not an outsider,¡± Arthur said, glaring at Georg.


    Georg was close to fighting him. He wanted to fight him. But he didn¡¯t want to lose. ¡°Let her prove herself. Kiria, want to give her a chance to show if she has what it takes to slay a dragon?¡±


    The fight was almost as quick as Arthur¡¯s with Suzaku and Misaki, but far more furious. Kiria expected a fight like Byaku might have given but worse. What Minerva showed was a very different skill set. Unlike Arthur she wasn¡¯t holding back from using her Territory Magic. The ability to teleport made a magic whose weakness was that it had trouble turning from straight line charges a fair bit better.


    It was her territory explosion that finished the match, leaving Minerva bloodied, a cut to her stomach, but victorious.


    Arthur, Georg, and the trio of Dark Dragon Knights, returned to the guildhall after an attempt to track down a cell of Silver Demon. The mission had been a bust. Even though Arthur had managed to teleport them there and back again - Moon Dragon Slayer magic was far more convenient for long distance teleportation than Territory - the information had been months old and the group had long since moved on.


    They reappeared in the grand hall to find Kiria, squatting on a table, poking an exceed with a fork. The small cat person had been tied up and suspended over a fire upside down.


    ¡°Foul witch, when I am free I will show you the terrors of a knight¡¯s blade. I need but get my hands once more upon my sword and your vile sorcery will not avail a craven such as you!¡±


    ¡°What is that?¡± Georg asked.


    ¡°Not sure. It appeared and said Selene sent it so we thought it was best to keep it contained and show it to you when you returned,¡± Skullion said, stepping out from the shadows.


    ¡°Unhand me! Sir Arthur! I came with tidings and news for you!¡± The exceed was shouting.


    ¡°You know this cat?¡± Georg growled.


    ¡°I don¡¯t think so?¡± Arthur said, looking at them. They were mostly gray furred, portions darker or lighter leaving tabby-like stripes, white on the exceed¡¯s stomach and around its hands and feet forming kitten mittens. He didn¡¯t recognize them at least.


    ¡°Sir Arthur! I have come to pledge my sword to thee, but these vile creatures called the great moon queen to be their enemy and the blonde witch ate my sword!¡±


    ¡°It tried to stab me,¡± Kiria defended herself.


    ¡°Thou deserved it harlot-witch!¡± The cat snapped out, and things descended into Kiria and the exceed screaming at each other.


    ¡°Alright, tell me what¡¯s up?¡± Arthur said. They¡¯d finally managed to separate Kiria and her hostage, and let Arthur take the cat to talk to him alone.


    ¡°I am not mostly harmless,¡± the exceed complained, rubbing at his own limbs trying to restore circulation to his limbs. He wore clothes which made Arthur think French fop from the¡­ he wasn¡¯t good with historical outfits. Revolutionary period? He had a broad brimmed hat which was narrow in front and widened in the back, not quite a form of tricorn, and it had a large brightly colored feather that stuck out from it flowing backwards. He was a fancy cat.


    ¡°I had to say that to get them to let you down,¡± Arthur said with a sigh.


    This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.


    ¡°But a knight should not lie. What of your honor?¡± The exceed glared up towards Arthur with eyes that were bright and shining with optimism.


    Arthur hated it. ¡°Can you turn into battle mode?¡±


    ¡°No. Only the great Pantherlily can do such, and maybe some of the fabled knights of old,¡± the cat said.


    ¡°There were legendary exceed knights?¡± Arthur said a bit more of his surprise audible than he meant to have come through into his voice.


    ¡°Of course. I love the books and stories of the ancient King Remus¡¯s peers. In that day there were monsters and mages in Edolas and the knights rode on legions of their own and they fought with skill and bravery. The books don¡¯t mention battle forms but I imagine they might have had such. Still you must have heard of the knights. Sir Ronald, Astolfa, Ogre the Dame, Oliver, Ferrari the Human who became an honorary exceed, Ganonlen whose betrayal led to Ronald¡¯s death, and the others. How could a knight not have heard of them? Are human knights so ill-educated? This ignorance must be corrected, henceforth. But alas I lack my tomes of knowledge and history for the great moon goddess did not transport them with me. Let us go forth and collect them to ameliorate your lack of enlightenment. Transport us back to Extalia and I will begin to educate you on the proper foundations of chivalry and honor, and we can begin to make you a right and proper knight.¡±


    Only then did the exceed pause for a breath, looking demandingly up towards Arthur.


    ¡°So you are incapable of actually threatening a dragon slayer, and thus mostly harmless,¡± Arthur summed it up.


    ¡°I shall show you mostly harmless!¡± The gray cat said. ¡°EXCEED POWER!¡± He launched himself, swatting and swinging blows towards Arthur¡¯s chest while leaping at him. Even without Arthur¡¯s Territory Armor it would have been like a small child slapping at your chest; ineffectual.


    Arthur waited until the exceed was panting. ¡°How was that? A most vicious beating was it not? Can you still call me mostly harmless, you craven cur? Is not my honor avenged?¡±


    ¡°Um¡­ you didn¡¯t even mess up my clothes,¡± Arthur said looking down towards the cat smugly.


    ¡°What foul magic is this!?¡± the cat exclaimed.


    ¡°Territory. I wear an armor of space, creating a barrier of realities between us.¡±


    ¡°But that is cheating. I thought you were supposed to be a knight, not some dastardly serpent of sin. How can you use such trickery in your righteous endeavors?¡±


    ¡°How is wearing armor cheating for a knight?¡±


    ¡°Because it¡¯s a magic spell and not your own might and hard won skill.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s my magic power, and my skill in magic.¡±


    The cat paused there and seemed pensive.


    Arthur sighed. ¡°Why are you even here?¡±


    ¡°Selene sent me here to be your squire as you teach me how to be a proper knight-errant, doer of deeds, and righter of wrongs.¡±


    ¡°So I would be the authority on how to knight, wouldn¡¯t I? You can¡¯t right wrongs if you¡¯re dead to a dagger in the back.¡±


    ¡°But a knight doesn¡¯t merely have to right wrongs, they must right wrongs with honor. They must do so in a way to inspire others, and to stir the flame of hope in the heart of children.¡± The exceed¡¯s wings fluttered, raising them up, passion on their face and in their voice.


    ¡°Should they teach those children to get themselves killed?¡±


    The exceed practically crashed physically as well as emotionally. ¡°Well¡­ no. But¡­¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s nothing any more cheating about using magic than the muscles of my arm. My magic is my skill, just as much as my sword arm. Now why did Selene send you here?¡±


    ¡°To learn to be a proper knight from you.¡±


    ¡°No, I mean¡­ Why did she send you here for that purpose? Why me? Why you? Who are you even?¡±


    ¡°You are her knight, THE Fairy Knight Lancelot.¡± Arthur winced. How did some exceed from Edolas, or was it Elentear, know about that? ¡°You overthrew the wicked king Faust who had stolen magic from the world, and planned the destruction of Extalia itself, and with your bravery you made magic flow free across the world once more. And I am Taberius Clawdius Kaiser Germeownicus, or the house of Clawdius. We have long served as loyal guards to her highness the goddess Shagotte, but I wish to be more than merely another bodyguard. I want to be a knight like my ancestors once more. A knight-errant traveling the land, smiting evil, destroying the heathen, and serpents of sin, and¡­¡±


    ¡°Ok, you want to become a knight and you think I can teach you because I fought Faust¡¯s forces.¡±


    ¡°Interrupting people is rude,¡± the exceed said in an annoyed tone. ¡°How can a knight, a knight of a goddess at that, not understand the basics of polite etiquette? Have you no understanding of the courtly virtues? The honor and glory expected of a knight of the realm? It would seem that there is much that you must -¡±


    ¡°Rambling at someone in one great unbroken mass of language, while going off on tangents is rude as well. If you¡¯re going to berate someone on their etiquette, make certain that yours is proper first, or as a wise sage once said: take first the beam from your own eye before removing the speck in another¡¯s.¡± He had mangled that Bible quote. He could remember the chapter and roughly verse, it was the start of Matthew 7, maybe verse 8?


    ¡°What¡¯s that supposed to mean?¡± the exceed asked.


    ¡°Don¡¯t complain about others¡¯ faults while showcasing them yourself,¡± Arthur explained.


    The cat¡¯s cheeks puffed out, a look of indignation and fury on his face. ¡°I see you are rather like Sir Purrceval.¡±


    ¡°A fine knight who came close to the sacred goal,¡± Arthur guessed. He knew who Percival was. De Troyes¡¯s Percival had introduced the concept of the Holy Grail.


    ¡°You do know of the knights? Have you¡­ have you just been testing me?¡± Taberius Clawdius Kaiser Germeownicus asked in shocked amazement.


    ¡°All of life is a test. You just won¡¯t know the score for certain till it ends,¡± Arthur shot back in an attempt at wit.


    ¡°Oh¡­ Did I pass?¡±


    ¡°Are you dead?¡±


    Taberius Clawdius Kaiser Germeownicus began to pad his body. ¡°I¡­ don¡¯t think so?¡±


    ¡°Then you can¡¯t know,¡± Arthur said. ¡°Still, Tabby¡­¡± He paused. He didn¡¯t want a pompous cat following him. But¡­ 50 points. Even after all the reductions, if he befriended the cat it¡¯d be 50 points. It¡¯d get him a third of the way to Edomagic. If he could master Dragon Takeover magic to cure his own dragon seed then Edomagic would allow him to cure the guild.


    It was worth it to befriend the cat, but he had to play into their pomp a bit. He couldn¡¯t resist the urge to deflate them a bit. Besides, a knight had to be ready to prove themselves if they wanted to be accepted as a knight. It was one of the tropes of knightly romance. ¡°... I¡¯ve already got one apprentice, I am not looking for another.¡±


    ¡°Selene said you might say that. She told me to tell you that he who teaches learns twice, and that your assignment of study was to teach me to use Moon Dragon Slayer Magic.¡±


    Arthur swore internally. Was it even possible to teach this exceed, or an exceed in general, that magic? It was too within the realm of study for him to complain and demand Selene use one of her three orders to do it; as much as he¡¯d like to find a way to get those three commands out from over his head. He was about to speak when Taberius began to speak again. ¡°And I am not Tabby. I am Taberius Clawdius Kaiser Germeownicus. You would do well to remember it.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s too long, you¡¯re Tabby now,¡± Arthur said.


    ¡°I come from a long and storied family. For generations we have served as officers of the Queen¡¯s guard, we have stood watch and defended the very goddess of Edolas. As a scion of the house of Clawdius I will not be talked to so rudely.¡±


    ¡°You defended the goddess. Did she ever send you family out to deal with those threats she could not?¡±


    ¡°N-no. Of course not. What threat could a goddess not deal with?¡±


    ¡°Well, Tabby, as a knight of Selene, my job is to deal with just those threats. Bodyguard to someone who has no meaningful threats sounds like a low honor. If you want to be a real knight you¡¯ve got to aspire higher than that.¡±


    Taberius clenched his fists. ¡°You are testing my patience, Sir Lancelot,¡± He said.


    ¡°Arthur, not Lancelot,¡± Arthur said. ¡°And yes, I am, Tabby. See to it that you pass it. But in all seriousness, in a fight by the time someone shouts out Tiberius Claudius Kaiser Germanicus watch out you¡¯ll already be dead. So you¡¯re Tabby.¡±


    ¡°Taberius Clawdius Kaiser Germeownicus,¡± Taberius said, ¡°And at least Taberius, Tabby sounds like¡­¡±


    ¡°The sort of thing a friend would call you instead of a social inferior?¡± Arthur suggested and Taberius stopped. The cat looked down with a touch of shame as if Arthur had scored some verbal critical hit. He was coming to Arthur as a petitioner for a favor, and then demanding Arthur treat him as a social superior. It was against all etiquette really.


    ¡°Sorry,¡± Taberius said after a bit. ¡°I am used to considering humans¡­¡± He trailed off, mumbling awkwardly.


    ¡°As an inferior species?¡±


    The gray furred anthropomorphic cat nodded.


    ¡°Treat my guildmates like inferiors and they might eat you alive. You¡¯re not an angel of a goddess here. You¡¯re not a knight in a royal court. You¡¯re among the barbarians now, and when in Gaul do as the gauls,¡± Arthur instructed.


    ¡°We¡¯re in Gaul? I thought we were in Earthland?¡± Taberius said.


    ¡°Metaphor,¡± Arthur said. ¡°When in a strange land do one must abandon the expectations of their own society and emulate those of the land around them. Now come on, I¡¯ve got to tell my Guild Master what¡¯s up and give Minerva her lesson.¡±


    ¡°Minerva would be your existing apprentice?¡±


    ¡°Yeah. Now come along.¡±


    Georg was understandably less than pleased at the idea of having ¡°Selene¡¯s little spy¡± in the guild. But he accepted Arthur¡¯s opinion that it wasn¡¯t worth prompting conflict, and that a known spy was a source of information and a means of delivering misinformation.


    When he got to Minerva she was still training with Wraith, the guild¡¯s resident ghost and user of Spirit Dragon Slayer Magic. Since Arthur had returned to the guild he¡¯d had duels with 8 members; only Wraith had beat him. Sadly only one of them, the Sticky Dragon Slayer, had given him full points from the bounty to defeat his guild mates; maybe it was because the rest never showed in the manga, or maybe it was because they weren¡¯t at the level to be relevant. Either way the guild had accepted him as the strongest in it save possibly for Georg.


    Arthur had thought better of pressing Georg to fight. That would be a challenge of dominance. Though possibly a challenge he should make. Not just for the choice points he¡¯d get for demonstrating that he was on a level beyond Georg, but to learn, to grow, and to get it over with. Georg already saw him as a threat, that was obvious. Georg looked at him with hate in his eyes too often to be ignored. This would restrict Georg¡¯s options, corner him, and if he tried to bite back it¡¯d put him clearly and visibly in the wrong; Arthur had just challenged him to spar so that he could grow, as was the guild¡¯s way that Georg himself had instituted, if Georg tried to punish him for being strong then that put Georg clearly in the wrong and would improve Arthur¡¯s own standing instead of destroy it.


    He needed to act before Georg did. But for the moment it was time to try and teach Minerva some more. Wraith was watching over her, helping her work with the evil shades, what in English might be called wraiths, which had lingered in her. She was learning¡­ Well it wasn¡¯t what his Archive had called Evil Dead Resurrection. It was, however, still a magic that had been lost when the Cult of Ankhseram had outlawed it as unforgivable and taboo. He worried that it could result in the curse of contradiction. He had even warned her that it could result in the same sort of curse that had made Zeref. She had chosen to push forward.


    Minerva stood, her eyes closed, and her hands moving. They were directing two shadows, shaped into mostly humanoid forms. They were onryo, wraiths, evil spirits, living curses, lingering balls of human hatred¡­ Not quite etherious, but not wholly unlike them either. Like many of the keys of Zeref they radiated curse power; his archive could detect it. It worried him. It was why he didn¡¯t read the Book of Zeref, which presumably had taught Hades what he knew of Living Magic. Arthur wanted to master that magic. He was tempted to pay choice points for it; though that would net him Tartaros as a whole as well and that was a mass of power. And he could have afforded it too, at least since he¡¯d gotten 80 yesterday when it had finally ticked off that he had destroyed Grimoire Heart. He had no idea what had happened in Ishgar to change that.


    But Edomagic would cure his friends. Living Magic would not. He didn¡¯t want Kiria to turn into a dragon in 10 or 15 years. He didn¡¯t want that fate hanging over Skullion and Madmole either. Or Orin, who was spying on Minerva¡¯s training, for that matter. Whatever else could be said about them, the guild had helped him get his first steps of power. He owed them. He owed them a lot more than 400 points.


    Which meant reading Hades¡¯s book, the original Book of Zeref, would possibly be the only way to learn Living Magic. But he didn¡¯t trust the curse power of it, just like he didn¡¯t trust the curse power of these shades. But Wraith had assured Arthur that he could handle it, and the ghost seemed rather more dependable than most in the guild.


    The two shades were chanting and two of the 18 Battle Gods of the Yakuma clan appeared.


    One was a blue skinned humanoid with six arms, and swords for hands. They had fierce eyes, and moved with a terrible speed. Six drums formed a ring floating behind him. The thunder god drums associated with Raiden.


    The other was green skin, with plates of hardened scales which resembled the armor of a terracotta warrior and were a color like tarnished bronze. It held a spear in its hands. Arthur hadn¡¯t seen this one before. Seilah had however. His Archive was already bringing up the information taken from her memories when he had ripped a copy of her mind into his Archive. The Spear God; its power was that of self-replication. It was a one man army, able to split from the impact of attacks.


    Minerva¡¯s face had been serene at first, but there was strain forming. She was manifesting two of the shades. He wasn¡¯t certain how many were in her. Wraith would know that better than he did. But he was fairly certain that this couldn¡¯t be easy magic by any standard even if they had been friendly ghosts. As it was she was fighting a battle of wills just to maintain control over them, sweat starting to bead on her forehead.


    Arthur had intended to give her a spar when he got back. When it came to unarmed combat she was still better than him, and the White Tiger Dragon¡¯s speed was exactly what he needed to get accustomed to when not Overclocking. But she would need rest after this even if she denied it.


    ¡°What¡¯s she doing?¡± Taberius asked.


    ¡°It¡¯s a long explanation. Let¡¯s just say it¡¯s harder than it looks, and she¡¯ll be too tired for the lesson I had planned.¡±


    Minerva was already attempting to banish the spirits she had allowed to wander outside of her body. Arthur could see Wraith preparing to act, and Arthur was moving forward. He wrapped his arms around his apprentice, as he whispered, ¡°With the power of friendship.¡± He was sharing with her his magical skill and talent, letting it be her own. It was enough to make the difference, the spirits disappearing and fading.


    He didn¡¯t let go immediately, but continued to hold her close. He wanted to warn her about the dangers. But he had before. She was determined on this path. She would master the power to channel the spirits, and she would lay their souls to rest, because they didn¡¯t truly deserve to be tortured with this existence as balls of lingering hatred.


    So instead he just held her. ¡°What can you learn from this?¡± He asked.


    ¡°I should only invoke one shade at a time, unless you and Wraith are both here,¡± She said.


    ¡°True, but not what I meant. I meant what can you learn about the magic you were trying to perform?¡±


    Arthur listened to her insights, just getting her to think through them, and in telling him to think through them a second time. He offered Seilah¡¯s insights back. And they talked for a while about the experience. All the while he shared his talent in magic with her. It wasn¡¯t the first time. They had been incorporating that power to share into her training for months now. She¡¯d progressed in leaps and bounds with Territory magic through it, and had learned a fair bit of Dragon Slayer Magic and a touch of the spiritual manipulation involved as a facet of Takeover Magic.


    Arthur almost reached Georg¡¯s door to challenge him. He¡¯d been held up for a time by Suzaku. The young man was excitedly interested in the exceed and its nature as a world traveler. Arthur had managed to hand the cat off to him for the time being. He didn¡¯t need the cat beside him here.


    He was two steps from it. And then he decided better. He wasn¡¯t ready. It wasn¡¯t that he didn¡¯t think he couldn¡¯t beat Georg, even without his Celestial Spirits or his black sword, but merely magic to magic. He was fairly certain he could trounce him. But if Georg went berserk he couldn¡¯t beat him without killing him. And Arthur didn¡¯t want to kill him. He wasn¡¯t certain he had the stomach for it, and he knew if he did it would haunt him worse than Brain, or Edo Georg, or any of the other blood on his hands. The fact that the guild would hate him for it was secondary to the fact that he¡¯d hate himself for it.


    If he could master Dragon Takeover he should be able to remove the Dragon Seed from another Dragon Slayer. If he could do that he could shut Georg down without killing him.


    He just needed to master a new form of magic that didn¡¯t exist yet first. At least it was just an extension of two forms of magic he already knew. He turned and walked away from the door. He probably would just give the exceed a lesson instead.


    As he was beginning to turn around, Georg stepped out of the door. ¡°Why are you here?¡±


    ¡°I was gonna ask if any important new jobs were available,¡± Arthur fibbed. He¡¯d meant pertinent, not important, but the word just wasn¡¯t coming to him at the moment.


    ¡°Lucky for you there is one. Get a team. You could handle it on your own, but if they¡¯re gonna grow they need to learn with experience. And not Skullion¡¯s. They could handle this job with their eyes closed. Still one of the guilds related to Silver Demon has an extermination bounty on its head and we¡¯re going to be the ones who collect.¡±


    When he heard Arthur making a request for a team to assist him in dealing with a dark guild, Cullen was on his feet as fast as he was able. He spilled his bowl of soup in his haste, accidentally stepping on his own shoe laces and half stumbling. He was always prone to bits of clumsiness. ¡°Take us,¡± he gasped out.


    He saw the blue-highlighted, white haired mage give him a hard, terrifying look, those odd, crimson eyes bright as they glared towards him. He could feel himself melting away, pulling in against him.


    ¡°Yeah, take us,¡± Orin added, a grin forming on his face. It shocked Cullen for a second, Orin wasn¡¯t eager for the dangerous missions like many in the guild. Cullen normally considered him a bit of a coward to be honest. They were good friends, they¡¯d joined the guild at the same time and they had spent the rest of their life as partners. Then Cullen noticed where Orin¡¯s eyes were and it clicked; it was the same reason Orin had taken an interest in spatial magic of late.


    Cullen guessed he could see where it came from. She was beautiful. If you liked the bitchy princess type. Cullen found her haughty and unlikable. She was strong. She¡¯d beaten Kiria, after all, and Cullen had realized that Kiria counted as a bad matchup for her. But she knew she was strong, and the way she looked at the weak was off putting.


    ¡°They¡¯ll just be deadweight,¡± Arthur¡¯s little princess said. The contempt in her gaze made Cullen¡¯s hands clench. He was going to speak. He wasn¡¯t sure what he was going to say, but he was going to say something. Except Arthur beat him to it.


    ¡°They¡¯ll be coming for the same reason as you, Minerva. I don¡¯t need support in this fight. I need to ready strong allies for the battle where I do need it.¡±


    ¡°They¡¯re not strong,¡± Minerva said. ¡°I could handle all three at once with only my Territory magic.¡±


    Cullen didn¡¯t doubt that. He¡¯d watched her and Arthur spar. Arthur hadn¡¯t used his magic offensively against her, but the way she¡¯d fought to try and overcome his defenses had been impressive.


    ¡°And that¡¯s why I¡¯ll take them. To teach them to be strong,¡± Arthur said.


    Cullen could feel his lips turning up at the corners. He was going to learn. Telling Pax that he¡¯d been volunteered for a HIGH DANGER mission went over a bit better than expected, and once they were ready to go, they were there. Arthur had summoned his robot horse and let it fly out, stretching his territory behind it. Well they weren¡¯t there, but they were in the town, ready to go meet with the person who had authorized the quest. Teleportation was an excellent cheat.


    Cullen felt a little bad that he and his team had been grouped with the feline spy that the Moon Dragon God had assigned to them. But he reminded himself he was getting a chance to learn from someone whose mastery of dragon slayer magic had been enough to beat Kirin even without any of the other forms of magic he used. Even if he was being told to stay back, stay out of the way, and focus purely on keeping himself safe while observing.


    It took 3 hours to find the guild¡¯s headquarters. Again it was Arthur¡¯s summons, the mechanical horse and the yellow bird. Still that was 3 hours where Cullen got to experience Arthur¡¯s teaching methods. They were strangely touchy, but when he whispered something about the power of friendship, Cullen found his mind seeming to expand and explode with magical knowledge. He could see through the Archive link, could understand the magic involved. He didn¡¯t retain it. It was too far beyond his baseline, but while Arthur¡¯s arms were around him, he had understood magic at a level he normally could not fathom.


    Orin was happy to try and flirt with Minerva, not that she did anything but give him the cold shoulder. Cullen, though, he wanted to capitalize on this. He knew his dragon slayer magic was weak. The whole team¡¯s was. They didn¡¯t have elements like purgatory and its flames that burned hot, Kiria¡¯s unstoppable cutting edges, or Kirin¡¯s mastery of atmospheric phenomenon. He had sand. And not at some particularly impressive quantity. It was one reason he had never stopped working on the sand make magic his mom had taught him as a child.


    Arthur took the group outside of town where they could practice. An old rock quarry where there was nothing to harm. And there he loaned them his magic power. HIs hand was on Cullen¡¯s shoulder, and he muttered that thing about the power of friendship once more, and then¡­ there was power.


    Cullen roared, and his sand carved a path through the stone of the old quarry. Still there wasn¡¯t an emergent property like with Orin. ¡°Make it into a weapon. A sword, a spear, a bow. What weapon do you usually make with your make magic?¡±


    ¡°I¡­ don¡¯t?¡± Cullen said. ¡°I usually rely on slayer magic for offense. It holds the power of destruction.¡±


    ¡°But you should use them together. Make a weapon with your make magic,¡± Arthur instructed.


    Cullen did his best, shaping the sand into a spear. ¡°Like this?¡±


    ¡°Now coat the head with your slayer magic. It¡¯s harder to shape, but let it run across the spear. It¡¯s a lot less energy than the roar, but if you can master it¡­ Well throw the spear.¡±


    Cullen had never felt his magic shaped so easily; while sand make was a bit easier than usual, his dragon slayer magic was day and night. Instead of raw power wrapping his hands, or erupting from his mouth, he was able to focus it, shape it, concentrate it into a point, and when he threw the spear¡­ Well the throw as a lame one, he¡¯d never thrown a spear before. A cloud of sand and dust erupted in front of him, even as he felt magic wrap around his body. It was Arthur¡¯s space, holding him in place as the explosive release of his sand dragon slayer magic blasted them with a wave of sand.


    ¡°Next time throw it further,¡± Arthur said as they slid down into the crater Cullen had made.


    Cullen nodded, shaken by the explosion and somewhat stirred by the fall. ¡°Get where you can make your own dragon slayer¡¯s spear,¡± Arthur said, ¡°Without my help.¡± From there things continued until the eagle had found the guild hall of Skeleton¡¯s Hand.


    The battle against the dark guild was short. Arthur took them to the guild hall and then he demonstrated how a Dark Dragon Knight fought. His space surrounded the front of their fortress, built into the side of a mountain. And he tore away the entire facade, teleporting the cliff¡¯s face and littering the region behind them. Dark mages began to scurry like bugs when you lift a rock, and Cullen began to shape a wall of sand from his magic only to find it was unnecessary. A wall of darkness had risen up, and all their magic assaults fell harmlessly upon it before it fired back their magic as pure blasts of energy.


    Cullen had lost sight of Arthur, though. As the dark mage¡¯s magical power rebounded at them, he had clapped his hands and then he and Minerva had taken off. Minerva was using the white tiger dragon¡¯s super speed magic; she was expected to move too fast for the eye to follow. He hadn¡¯t realized Arthur could do so. It wasn¡¯t just his teleportation, his sword blows were faster than Suzaku¡¯s as he stepped from foe to foe. Minerva took out 2 of the mages, Arthur handled the rest of the guild, all faster than Cullen could roar. The young sand dragon slayer found himself shaking. This was the power of a top tier mage.


    He wasn¡¯t the only one in stunned awe. The tiny cat-person was slack jawed, staring at the battle. They had charged forward, against orders, even before the wall of darkness had formed, being barely held within by it. They had hit against it and begun to draw their sword. By the time they had gotten it from its scabbard the battle was over.

 Operation Ether Storm

    Arthur watched the battle from afar. It¡¯d been a month since he had taken Team Pax under his metaphorical wing. He had begun instructing them and training them alongside Tabby and Minerva. Georg had been displeased with the way he had single handedly wiped out the guild, and given him a talking to about how he was supposed to be helping Team Pax get combat experience. So in the 2 that had followed over the course of the month he¡¯d hung back and merely provided support.


    Cullen and Pax were progressing well. Neither were natural born warriors, but they were serious about their magic. Cullen had made massive strides in properly combining his sand make and dragon slayer magic. Pax had just been improving his capabilities, but he had already possessed some substantial capabilities; he could increase or reduce mass with his dragon slayer magic, making things lighter than air, or making someone too heavy to stand.


    Orin and Tabby were the problem children. Orin had a tendency to freeze up in combat, and not like Iceman. He¡¯d started trying to learn, after he overheard Minerva ranting about how despicably useless he was to Cullen, but he was more concerned with impressing her than actually improving. It was annoying. And Tabby¡­


    He had rushed in while the others were still getting into position. Physically he was comparable to a child. A child with a sword, but a child. And his sword fighting was questionable. He was actually highly skilled. If you were judging sport fencing. He fought only in a straight line, and he went for light blows as if merely a touch was enough, and he didn¡¯t use the blade, but merely the point. He didn¡¯t make proper use of his wings either. It wouldn¡¯t be so bad if he wasn¡¯t over eager to rush into battle.


    He¡¯d still not managed to teach the cat how to assume battle mode, or Moon Dragon Slayer Magic. Tabby had made progress in both, but he needed a real sword instructor. Unfortunately Suzaku had to avoid both Arthur and Tabby; Selene spied on both of them, and Suzaku used her child¡¯s magic. Arthur didn¡¯t want her finding that out too soon. The Dark Dragon Knights were not at the ¡®useful¡¯ level they¡¯d be in 8 years, and he didn¡¯t know how badly Selene would react. Plus the guild was attached to Georg and she was likely to go for his head. Give it a few years of his increasingly tyrannical behavior and who could say.


    Which meant that right now, Arthur was playing defense for Orin and Tabby. Well mostly Caelum was. His little responsibilities were scattered. Tabby had rushed in, screaming challenges to honorable combat. The guild had started to scatter then. Not because they were scared that Tabby could beat them, but because they were scared this was some sort of diversion.


    Minerva had teleported herself to their escape tunnel, taking Orin as back up. Caelum couldn¡¯t get a clean shot in, but Orin had separated himself from the battle for the most part, and Minerva could more than handle herself. Checking on her throat the Archive link, Arthur almost felt sorry for the alchemists she was brutalizing. She¡¯d finally gotten Territory Armor down properly, and was using it to avoid the poisonous miasma that the last standing alchemist had produced.


    Tabby had made it inside. Cullen had followed after him. Caelum was continuing to take pot shots here. A man almost got Tabby from behind, only for the spirit¡¯s beam to knock him out. Well Arthur hoped it had held back enough to only knock him out. Bounty was for live captives, not dead heads. There were three alchemists remaining, but none of them seemed to actually possess battle ready abilities. Oh they had some vials of pre-prepared tricks, but even those were limited. Cullen¡¯s spear struck the barrier one made to cover his retreat, passed through it, and then exploded to knock the alchemist out in a deluge of sand.


    Another rushed Cullen, but Tabby managed to cut her calf, causing her to trip. They had the inside handled.


    And Pax and Aries had already handled outfront. If it wasn¡¯t for the powerful spatial magic that was setting off his Archive¡¯s alarms, Arthur would be calling this mission effectively completed.


    Coco stepped out of the portal which had appeared. The running girl from Edolas, and Selene¡¯s chief of staff.


    ¡°Selene demands your presence,¡± She said.


    ¡°Busy right now,¡± Arthur grumped. ¡°I¡¯ve got other responsibilities to take care of.¡±


    ¡°She said to drop whatever you¡¯re doing and come,¡± Coco stated.


    ¡°It will have to wait.¡± He still needed to make sure the alchemists stayed captured long enough to be taken to the authorities, and didn¡¯t have any tricks up their sleeves. E didn¡¯t want to leave his squad.


    ¡°She said to call in one of her favors if you were a sorry excuse for a human being.¡±


    Arthur sighed. He¡¯d promised her three tasks. And while he might have argued more, he was confident that Minerva and Pax could handle this. He wrapped Tabby in his territory teleporting the cat to the top of the building, and he contacted the squad over his Archive link to tell them that Selene was insistently calling him away and he needed to see why.


    ¡°Fine,¡± He said, and followed Coco through the portal.


    Arthur soon saw why Selene hadn¡¯t come herself. The portal hadn¡¯t led to the capital and a castle. Instead it had led to a coastal city. A horrible storm raged overhead. Buildings lay in ruins. And Selene was visible in the distance, flying over a massive wave, and teleporting away huge portions of it as she went.


    ¡°So did she say what I needed to do? Or do I need to go talk to her?¡± Arthur was already chomping down on an X-Ball as he spoke.


    ¡°Stop the storms,¡± Coco said.


    ¡°Storms?¡±


    ¡°This isn¡¯t the only one.¡±


    Taberius Clawdius Kaiser Germeownicus was indignant that he had been dragged to another world from his battle. He might have protested violently if he hadn¡¯t seen the devastation taking place on the other side. The ocean was missing from the shore, and the winds were howling. Rain was falling in sheets, and lightning flashed brilliantly bright across the sky.


    ¡°Tabby, it¡¯s time to show you¡¯ve got the stuff to be a knight,¡± Arthur said, using that horrendous nickname because Taberius Clawdius Kaiser Germeownicus was apparently too long. Such was the nature of humans.


    ¡°I am a knight,¡± Taberius protested, his hand on the hilt of his sword. He wasn¡¯t certain that Arthur could hear him, though. The wind had picked up, water hitting across his face like a wall as it fell, and a roar of thunder had echoed through the rooftops where they were standing.


    ¡°Then put your wings to work. The streets below are flooding. Rescue as many people as you can,¡± Arthur said.


    Taberius hesitated for a moment. They were humans. The relationship between the exceed and humans was not the best. Accepting Arthur, who had defeated Faust and prevented a disastrous, for the exceed, genocidal war was one thing. Rescuing humans¡­ people had been banished for the like. They were ultimately both a threat and enemy.


    ¡°In this storm?¡± Taberius said, fishing for an excuse not to do it.


    ¡°No one else can. A knight must rise to the challenge and the occasion. And you are a knight, aren¡¯t you?¡±


    Taberius looked down. ¡°I¡¯ll save them,¡± He said. There was peace for now. Hopefully the Queen and the elders wouldn¡¯t be too upset with him for this decision.


    ¡°Good. I¡¯ve got a wave to stop,¡± Arthur said. It was visible already, if only out towards the edge of the horizon. Water was rising in a solid wall and when it hit the city would be destroyed.


    Arthur flew out over the dry seabed in his Caelum star dress. It was nearly impossible to see where he was going through the rain. The ethernano in the air was as great as on Elentear; he¡¯d not needed his X-Ball. The storm especially seemed to be particularly filled with magical power. If he consumed one of the flashes of lightning, or the darkness that surrounded him it might well trigger the dragon force it was so rich in power.


    He used his takeover magic, combining the powers of both Jackal and Seilah. It wasn¡¯t energy efficient, and the benefits wouldn¡¯t be sufficient in battle. But he needed to pull out the absolute amount of power he could right now. He considered taking it a step further, pushing into a more totally etherious form, and removing his own limiter on curse power. But he decided against it; there was simply too high of a chance he¡¯d go berserk, losing control of the takeover form and succumbing to its desire to lash out and destroy. Even with just the act of combining these two he could feel that it was only his mastery of the magic keeping him from snapping.


    Still the combination pushed his magic power to a new height. It would burn out his stamina fast, and didn¡¯t provide the greatest benefit to Macro. But he wasn¡¯t using Macro. He was using the Explosion curse. And he was using a curse; one which he could fuel with the fear, misery, and horror he could, in this form, taste in the air coalescing as curse power. It was a greater pool of power than even the ethernano around him.


    He spread it to the limits of his power, and created a massive explosion against the wave of water, trying to hit it force to force. It slowed. But it didn¡¯t stop. A second explosion saw relatively small waves - merely measured in the double digits of feet not the triple created by his own magic buffeting him, threatening to pull him under. And then he was forced to turn his boosted magical power to a wall, a massive wave breaker of territory magic.


    The ocean hammered down on top of him when it hit the wave breaker. He swapped from his star dress to the sea king¡¯s regalia, holding his wall in place as the water carried him. But the wave breaker had worked. The force of the tidal wave, at least in this area, had been broken.


    It took him a while to confirm that, though. The wave really had knocked him, his prosthetic hand actually being knocked from his arm, and washed away until he recovered it with his territory magic. But while the wave had knocked him, it had hammered down into the seabed that the tsunami had pulled all the water in from, and not onto the town. Despite his wave break the flooding was going to get worse from the tsunami, but it was a lot better than it could have been.


    Still it was minutes before he was fully re-oriented. He¡¯d been washed far to one side as well, a terrible undertow dragging him before he got his senses back. The curse power in the area had reduced significantly, fear and dread turning to hope as the wave was stopped, and making things worse he had lost his best means of flight until the star dress was repaired.


    Still with the wave dealt with, it was time to deal with the storm and hope to prevent a second wave. He summoned Enif, and he rode out to sea, like a knight riding in a cavalry charge. But he was tilting at the whirlwind. Even Enif, quick and powerful in flight as he was, was blown to one side, and despite having tied himself on with Territory Magic Arthur found himself crashing into the sea. Stunned by the feeling of falling and the heavy wind and then waves, it took Arthur a moment to realize Enif was with him, having crashed alongside him still bound by Arthur¡¯s vice of space. The terrible gale had torn the celestial spirit from the sky.


    Arthur took a few moments to recover. His power was ebbing fast; he¡¯d pushed too hard. But he couldn¡¯t be done yet. He opened his mouth, swallowing the darkness of the storm tossed sea, where the clouds above had blackened the afternoon sun. If he hadn¡¯t been using Satan Soul he¡¯d have triggered the dragon force, he could feel the dragon seed trying to surge and overcome his demonic transformation with its own alteration to his mind and body. He needed to act quickly.


    Raising his hand up, he released an explosion. The curse burst in the center of the storm cloud. He released his Dark Dominion magic, letting it consume the magical energy in the storm to grow. It flared, it expanded, and then it exploded, having fed too much too quickly. Still it was much more energy efficient to consume ambient ethernano than to use his own store from his origin. But his mastery of that spell was still sadly lacking, and as a wave hammered him despite his sea lord¡¯s regalia, he knew he had to turn to Territory magic. Spreading his space through the storm cloud, he scattered it, teleporting parts of the air across miles around, breaking up the storm front. It wasn¡¯t the best solution; the ethernano and storm were still somewhere, just broken up into smaller clumps. But it would stop the winds for now.


    He managed to pull Enif from the surf with his territory magic, teleporting the pegasus above the waves before teleporting himself onto his friend¡¯s back. He leaned on the celestial spirit for a few moments, feeling like he¡¯d gone a few rounds with Hades. And then he pointed towards Selene. ¡°Take me to her.¡±


    Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings.


    It only took moments to reach Selene, but by that time Arthur had fought down his takeover and the rage of his dragon seed. He¡¯d used most of the power anyway simply letting it flow into his origin instead of tapping the dragon seed for power; or making the mistake of allowing it to surge with its own power.


    Selene was still in her true form, and Arthur found himself naturally hesitant to approach. The sheer power she was leaking out was like a natural disaster made flesh. She dwarfed his own magical strength.


    ¡°Arthur. How many cities did you save?¡± She asked.


    Immediately Arthur felt a wave of shame and guilt. Not ¡®did you save the city¡¯, but ¡®how many¡¯. He¡¯d fought hard to save one. But how many other cities were on this coast line? How many people had died? And how much of it could be blamed on him for bringing Altaface here? How much was just living in interesting times?


    Guilt and shame froze his tongue, The dragon¡¯s eye narrowed. ¡°Well?¡±


    ¡°One,¡± He said disgusted with himself. ¡°I stopped the wave, and then did what I could to remove the hurricane.¡±


    ¡°The storm will be back. And if you can only protect one town we won¡¯t be able to keep this up long,¡± Selene said.


    ¡°We need to talk to the white out clan. Or priestesses?¡± Arthur said.


    Selene let loose a long breath of air from between draconic teeth. ¡°They will not be happy to hear from me.¡±


    ¡°They kept Altaface¡¯s power in check in Elentear, they can help do it here.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re right, but they won¡¯t be happy to hear from me. Or my chosen diplomat. But I trust that you can convince them.¡± Selene¡¯s face made him think of a fox. He¡¯d not known that a dragon¡¯s face could be so expressive. It was playful, superior, and teasing.


    Arthur wanted to curse. He was going to go talk to one of the few groups that were truly dangerous to them, publicly aligned to their enemies, and he was going to have to do something he always dreaded¡­


    Talk to people.


    Arthur appeared at the White Out Temple, with Tabby at his side. The exceed looked about the world he had just been drawn into. The temple looked like something you might see near Kyoto. Not just a Japanese temple, but a particularly old one. The structures were wooden, and they smelled of old wood, well maintained for centuries.


    It was bright, the sunlight dazzling after the premature night the storm clouds had cast over Edolas. He had stepped from a wet, miserable world, where waterlogged wood that had been someone¡¯s house had littered the ground, and onto a sunny mountain top, one which was at peace with no signs of danger or dread.


    No one was out and about right now. There were no laborers, no caretakers, no signs from the outside that the temple was occupied. A wooden arch led the way into the temple complex proper, directly in front of Arthur.


    He began to step forward. He¡¯d only made a single step before the doors of one of the temple buildings swung open and half a dozen individuals began to rush out. They were armed, or in the midst of arming themselves, still pulling armor on as they rushed towards him. Four men and two women were rushing to surround him, pole-arms leveling towards him. Their weapons were long wooden poles tipped with long, curved blades. Two were women, and four were men, all six of them in matching uniforms, and wearing their hair in a ponytail of some sort, and their skin lightly sun-kissed and tanned.


    Tabby¡¯s hand moved to his sword, drawing the blade from its sheath. ¡°If battle is your wish, then I, Taberius Clawdius Germeownicus Kaiser, shall-¡±


    Arthur¡¯s hand planted on his head. ¡°We come in peace and have no desire to fight you. Tabby, put the sword away.¡±


    ¡°They have drawn upon us! We cannot back away from the challenge of a fight!¡± The cat yowled, and Arthur wanted to smack it.


    ¡°We¡¯re here to ask for their help. We do not fight people we¡¯re trying to ask for help,¡± Arthur said, stepping between the exceed and the spearmen.


    They rustled their naginatas, thrusting them towards Arthur¡¯s face. He could feel them next to his flesh, pressing lightly against his clothes.


    ¡°For our help?¡± A woman¡¯s voice creaked out. It was an aged voice, and the woman it came from was small and wizened with age and time. ¡°And what do you need help with, traveler? Few mages of such capability come to our mountain.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s easier to talk without a blade to my throat,¡± Arthur said, his body being held tense and immobile because of the blades pressing against his body.


    ¡°Forgive them, they are a touch overzealous.¡± She raised her hand and placed it on one of the poles, guiding it gently down. ¡°If he wanted to fight us, you¡¯d not have your blades at his throat. Though if the cat does not sheath his sword we may have a problem.¡±


    Tabby smiled with a look of swelling pride. ¡°Finally someone respects my skill and puissance. I will sheath my sword only when I am assured my comrade is sa-¡±


    ¡°Tabby, sheath the sword already. We¡¯re asking for help not threatening people,¡± Arthur snapped.


    ¡°They¡¯re threatening us!¡± Tabby shouted.


    ¡°We are knights. We don¡¯t threaten people to force them to help us,¡± Arthur said.


    Tabby¡¯s face twitched, and then he sheathed his sword. Soon the lances were lowered, and the elderly high priestess of the temple was inviting Arthur in.


    Arthur hesitated as the matriarch of the temple asked him to explain what he needed. How did he even begin?


    ¡°I¡¯m sure you¡¯ve noticed that Altaface is gone,¡± Arthur began.


    ¡°Altaface is gone?¡± The woman said, her tone doubtful.


    ¡°Yes. It¡¯s been transported to Edolas.¡±


    ¡°You realize how ridiculous that sounds. Altaface is a monster of legend. Do you even truly understand what Altaface is?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m the one that moved it,¡± Arthur said.


    It took time to convince them that Altaface had in fact been moved. Or at least that it was plausible enough to be possible. And then the chewing out began. Fairy Tail would have, in almost a decade, destroyed Altaface straight out and the White Out Temple would feast and congratulate them on saving Elentear from the terror which was Altaface. Here and now? Altface hadn¡¯t been a clear and present apocalypse. By removing Altaface, Arthur had removed an overflowing source of magical power.


    The elderly priestess was livid with fury, her hands clenching until her knuckles turned a pale white. And then she began to berate him, ranting with rancor in her voice, tearing into him for the sheer recklessness of his actions. Arthur fumed more and more as he listened. He dreaded talking back, fearing how she¡¯d respond, and the screaming match - or worse violence - this could escalate to, if he did talk back.


    It was Tabby who cut off the priestess¡¯s rant, drawing his saber and plunging it into the table in the same motion. ¡°Enough of these wasteful words with nothing in them but vitriol!¡± The cat yowled out. ¡°You talk about having fought this monster for generations, but you complain you may have lost its benefits. You claim to dedicate your entire lives and beings to preventing the harm it can cause. Well it is causing harm right now. I have seen the sheer force of destruction its storms have caused on this other world. A world where it can also do good. Except that they need you.¡± The cat pulled the saber out and waved it at them. ¡°So what do you do? Berate someone for at least trying to make an improvement. You fear what will happen to this world without the beast, but you have no idea what it actually is. Your own walls betray your words, talking of how your own order has long sought its death. So he¡¯s freed your world from its doom, and put it where it can do some good. And you arrogant, empty headed hypocrites would let it doom a world that could be saved if you would just listen and heed his words. Where is your honor? Or are you truly nothing more than a sanctimonious witch more vile and fowl than other witch breeds because of your false piety?¡±


    The cat¡¯s fur had risen up, as if to make him look bigger, his wings spreading as he flew up into the sky. The guards had their naginatas pointed toward the exceed, but Tabby didn¡¯t seem to notice, his eyes blazing like twin emeralds reflecting flames as he stared down at the temple¡¯s matriarch.


    She froze, shame running across her face. She took half a step back, her body trembling and shaking just a little. There were a few moments of awkward silence, weapons still held. It wasn¡¯t the naginata wielding guards that Arthur was wary of. It was the priestesses themselves, whose magic could prove disastrously powerful.


    They seemed every bit as worried about his magic. His takeover magic was primed and ready, the hope that by mixing his magical energy with cursed power they would have more trouble taking him.


    It did not come to it, though. The matriarch raised her hand. ¡°The exceed is correct. We have long sought a means to remove the threat of Altaface from this world. It has been removed. We should be thankful not enraged. It was a reckless act, and we should have been informed, and included in the decision, but it is done. And if Altaface could be moved once, it can be moved back. But we cannot let another world die from its raging magic when we possess the power to white out its magical power and save the world.¡±


    She looked not at Arthur, but at Taberius, a look of respect on her face. ¡°We will help you.¡±


    The priestess shook as she saw who it was that had sent Arthur, and who was the power behind him. They were not unfamiliar with Selene. She had not pushed Altaface to the breaking point she would eventually have in the regular timeline, but she had already begun feeding her magical power into the world slowly, working to agitate the creature and had already been brought to the White Out Temple¡¯s notice.


    ¡°You serve this monster?¡± The aged priestess asked, her wrinkled lips pulled back over her yellowed teeth with rage.


    ¡°It was the devil¡¯s bargain I had to make to save Edolas and Elentear,¡± Arthur said with a sigh.


    The old woman glanced at him then.


    ¡°Devil¡¯s bargain? I think I¡¯ve just been insulted,¡± Selene said. ¡°He convinced me that risking Elentear was not the most effective means to create the distortion I need, and that I could save it while also saving Earthland.¡±


    ¡°Earthland?¡± The aged priestess asked.


    ¡°It¡¯s another world,¡± Tabby said.


    ¡°We don¡¯t really have time for full explanations,¡± Arthur said. ¡°What do we do about Altaface?¡±


    The wind howled. The priestesses of the White Out Temple had identified the heart of the ethernano concentration causing the storms. The problem was reaching it. It was out at sea in the heart of a hurricane. They could put an end to it, and bring the level of magic in Edolas down to a non-dangerous level, but they needed to to the ethernano concentration first.


    Legions could carry them, but the winds made it impossible for them to fly close enough. Which was where Arthur came in. Selene was playing storm watch. Her ability to affect entire land masses, or more relevantly entire storm systems, at once with magic was well and far beyond his. He¡¯d protected a city from a wave. She¡¯d saved a dozen. But Arthur, hopefully, had enough power to spearhead the group, and disrupt the main storm.


    Feeling the winds, and the way they threatened to blow Enif off-course, had Arthur worried he wouldn¡¯t be enough. Even with the celestial spirit¡¯s magical power being turned fully towards the shielding effect which kept the air from tearing its rider off at its high speeds, rain was passing through and the spirit was being blown slowly but surely away. The legions were nearly a mile behind, unable to reach closer due to the sheer power of the storm.


    His territory spread through the storm. The flow of ethernano was creating an interference effect much like bRAIN¡¯s, but his pure magic had overcome that and could overcome this. But the sheer force of wind and rain was proving difficult even then. He teleported a portion away, and there was a ball of lightning formed explosively in its wake. With his magic he tore away hunks of wind and rain, but he couldn¡¯t directly affect the magic. Not with Territory.


    He let his magical power flow instead into the darkness of the storm around him, making it grow, awaken, and spread. If Territory failed him he would use his Dark Dominion.


    The darkness spread, replicating itself by feeding on ambient magical power. It was too fast. The superstructure of the spell would stretch and break, and he would have to reinforce it. He supported it with walls of Territory magic, shaping a corridor for the Legions to fly through. The effort left him drenched in sweat, despite the lack of true physical activity. The lacrima in his chest ached and burned, and he could feel himself drawing heavily on his magical energy even as absorption from the ethernano-storm around him helped to keep him continually topped off. It was worse than facing Altaface directly, the concentration high enough to be dangerous, but not to constantly top him off faster than he could spend the magic.


    The legions approached, and the white out priestesses began to spread out. They were whiting out the magic, destroying the heart of the storm, and returning relative normality to Edolas as a whole.


    And then the magical power surged. A water spout erupted in the middle of the priestesses¡¯ formation. Thankfully the center was open but what came up must alas come down. Water was spreading to crash like an avalanche down upon them.


    Arthur¡¯s reaction was fast, as if the world was moving in slow motion. His hands came together in a clap, slow magic shooting out in all directions, covering the area. It would only do so much to the wind and rain, but it covered the water spout. He still needed to act fast. He couldn¡¯t concentrate his Territory magic to the point of removing it. It¡¯d cause his walls to fail and the wind and rain would return. Instead he raised his silver hand, fingers coming together like the barrel of a gun, his thumb going down to ¡®fire¡¯. It was not his dragon slayer magic this time, though. He was concentrating his Dark Dominion Magic, firing a ball of consuming darkness far more concentrated than the norm. Its false gravity pulled and twisted, and he felt the gauntlet¡¯s index finger twist and implode around the power surging out of it, a small ball of darkness firing out.


    It struck into the water spout and for a moment expanded at impossible speeds, the water being pulled in. But it consumed too much. The magic faltered, and the portal to the short lived pocket dimension failed.


    He didn¡¯t hesitate. He fired again, the ¡®second barrel¡¯ of his ¡®gun¡¯. His middle finger twisted and imploded, mangling into uselessness as the second ball of darkness fired outwards. He nearly collapsed then, leaning forward onto Enif, his magic spent. But the water spout never fell, the mountains of water having been pulled into the darkness, and the White Out ritual continued.


    He¡¯d done it. The magical energy in Edolas had been normalized, and yet the level was still far, far beyond when he had first arrived here. The storm had stopped and there was ¡®lacrima snow¡¯ falling across the western coast line. It had been a natural disaster of epic scale. He didn¡¯t know what order of magnitude of people had died, but eternal magic was here, at least as long as Altaface was.


    The White Out Temple was set to have talks with Selene tomorrow. And Arthur was celebrating that he¡¯d stopped the storm. He¡¯d beat a tidal wave, and a hurricane. The sense of sheer, unadulterated, and pure power was immense.


    The capital had not been directly touched by the storm. In fact it was barely aware of it. Magic had been being reintroduced into outlying regions, but it was slow going, and that left communication outside of army channels limited. Still rumors had escaped from the army, but the stories and rumors were wild.


    And he was going to celebrate. Selene had rewarded him with a bounty she thought fit the job. Currency, of the Edolas variety, enough to make it well worth his while. He¡¯d finally obtained the bounty for completing a job without violence, and he wanted to party. He was going to go out, and enjoy the wonders of the capital and its magic.

 Slap King

    Arthur woke up with Tabby shaking him. His head was pounding. His mouth was dry. He¡¯d only been hungover twice before in his life, but it wasn¡¯t a feeling you forgot. His thoughts seemed slow like wading through the ocean, and the light hurt his eyes.


    ¡°Her glorious majesty, the goddess of the moon, and bringer of magic has requested that you attend her. She has a dire quest which needs your service.¡±


    His body ached. He could feel the bruises on his face, and it sort of felt like he¡¯d been one of the pieces of meat Rocky Balboa used to train. His back, especially, hurt. Arthur was trying to remember why. He¡¯d drunk way too much last night. He¡¯d gone to about a dozen bars, and been in more than a dozen bar fights. Even without magic, his magical power had reinforced his body to the point where he could lay out most men with a single punch. Even strong ones. He remembered deciding to slap as many people as possible too. And the tally for that bounty put it at over 23 people in the last 24 hours.


    There were a lot of people in the capital who had been eager enough to fight him. He¡¯d killed people¡¯s friends and family when he had attacked the castle - there was a reason Coco hated him. And the army loathed him for how he had embarrassed them as a whole.


    It was after stumbling out from a bar fight. Someone had challenged him, and when he¡¯d laid them flat with a punch their friend had stabbed him in the back. And then¡­


    ¡°How¡¯d I get home last night?¡± He asked, looking at Tabby. The exceed had been with him, playing Jiminy Cricket and telling him not to drink so much. Or fight so much. Or slap so many people.


    ¡°I fed you one of your potions, and called the castle after you got stabbed. They had some healing bandages,¡± Tabby said, his voice obviously annoyed.


    ¡°Thanks Taberius Clawdius Germeownicus Kaiser,¡± Arthur said. ¡°I owe you my life don¡¯t I?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s right. So you¡¯d better get my name right. It¡¯s Taberius Clawdius Kaiser Germeownicus!¡±


    ¡°Sorry, Taberius Clawdius Kaiser Germeownicus. It¡¯s not like you remember my full names and titles,¡± He said, rubbing his head. ¡°I need some of my potions.¡±


    ¡°Your full names and titles? Isn¡¯t your full name Arthur?¡±


    ¡°I have a last name,¡± Arthur noted. ¡°Now where are my potions?¡± Hopefully a vitality potion would help with a hangover.


    It was a few minutes later when Arthur was dressed - via requipping his Mifune Robe - and ready to meet with Selene. The dragon was in her human form, a moon-yellow haired beauty, wrapped in a kimono that failed to fully conceal her egregious chest. There was a faint scowl on her face as she looked at him.


    ¡°You¡¯re lucky that I have need for you to do something other than talk with the priestesses of the White Out Temple,¡± She said. ¡°What were you thinking going on a late night bender when you had a diplomatic meeting tomorrow. Do you know how many bar fights you were involved in?¡±


    ¡°14?¡± Arthur hazarded. He had apparently started that many.


    ¡°Is that all?¡± Selene growled. ¡°You¡¯re lucky you weren¡¯t arrested for drunk and disorderly conduct the way you were acting out across the city last night. I hope that the medical treatment has got you to full fighting prowess.¡±


    ¡°Why do I need to fight something?¡± Arthur asked. His potion had helped some, or else the glass of water he¡¯d downed to chase it, but his head still screamed with her raised, aggravated tone.


    ¡°The Dorma Anim was stolen. It would be embarrassing if that got out, at least without proof we could destroy the thieves. Go and deal with it,¡± She said.


    ¡°Two requests down. Consider it done,¡± Arthur said, starting to turn on his heels.


    Selene growled a bit. ¡°You¡¯re really counting it against my requests for you? This is all to make your little plan work.¡±


    He turned and looked at her. ¡°Altaface was my plan. Making the world work for you is on you. I agreed to kill Acnologia, I agreed to play dragon slayer. This is having me play your attack dog. It¡¯s precisely what the requests were supposed to be for, no?¡±


    Selene frowned. ¡°Fine,¡± She said. ¡°Then coming to aid with the storm shouldn¡¯t have counted.¡±


    ¡°You interrupted me in the middle of a job, forcing me to leave children to fend for themselves. Coming ASAP definitely counts.¡±


    ¡°But it was for your plan and making it work.¡±


    ¡°Give me the dorma anim and we¡¯ll count these both as just 1 between them,¡± Arthur countered.


    ¡°What? No!¡± Selene said. ¡°Why do you even want that thing?¡±


    ¡°Chicks dig giant robots.¡±


    Arthur¡¯s response got a long, dragged out stare. ¡°You can¡¯t be serious.¡±


    ¡°How about I want it and that¡¯s reason enough.¡±


    The two glared at each other for a time. Selene was obviously weighing her options. There was the problem of how far Arthur would honor his agreement being ultimately an unknown variable. In theory it was simple; give him the Dorma Anim and demand it back as one of the three requests if it was ever needed. In practice the most likely reason it would be needed is that he had decided to turn it against her at which point promise or no promise he¡¯d not give her his weapon. And it was that scenario that worried Selene.


    She didn¡¯t think the Dorma Anim could actually threaten her. But she didn¡¯t know what it could be made to do with a powerful and talented mage, and whether she respected Arthur¡¯s intelligence, or decision making ability, she had to admit that he was terrifyingly talented as a mage. He¡¯d learned everything her hand could teach him in little more time than it had taken to have it made, simply absorbing knowledge she had painstakingly accumulated over the centuries. He still couldn¡¯t match her with Moon Dragon Slayer Magic. But he knew more from that hand alone than she had ever actually intended to teach him. It scared her, even as it stirred hope inside of her.


    ¡°Fine,¡± She said at last. ¡°If you can reclaim the Dorma Anim it¡¯s yours. That will encourage you not to blow it apart. And on that note I want the commander of the thieves alive.¡± It was just to make things harder on Arthur, which she immediately had minor regrets about. She should be making certain that he liked her. That he wouldn¡¯t turn his power against her. After all he was her sword with which to slay Acnologia, and she did not want him to prove double edged. He was valuable, and dangerous, enough that she was realizing she needed to put more effort into playing nice.


    Eran Mikolv was an officer of Duke Solamen. He was among the elite crew of Salamun¡¯s Ark. Built with one of the great lacrima chunks which the false goddess Selene had handed out to try and bribe the good people and leaders of Edolas into allowing her to have her way with the world. Duke Solamen, though, had accepted her lacrima, but he had recognized it for the poisoned fruit that it was and used it to create his Ark, a mobile fortress with which to liberate all of Edolas.


    This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.


    And yesterday Eran¡¯s unit had stolen the Dorma Anim and brought it back to the Ark. That meant his lord, Duke Solamen, now held the two most powerful war machines in all of Edolas, both the mobile fortress which was the Ark, and the mighty Dorma Anim which could draw upon the world¡¯s very magic to gain infinite power.


    With this power behind them, Eran felt almost invincible. That feeling of invincibility was shaken, however, when he heard a voice sounding out inside of his head.


    ¡°By order of her Imperial Highness, Selene, your vessel is to stop for inspection. Resistance is futile. You will be examined.¡± The voice seemed to have an almost smugly knowing wink at the end. As if it was telling a joke that it knew that the listener wouldn¡¯t understand.


    ¡°If you do not cease your movement now, I will be forced to halt you.¡± The voice continued. Eran was rushing up onto deck as alarms rang. An order was being relayed from Duke Solamen himself. This representative of the Empress was to be the first blood in the war with the false goddess.


    The main convergent cannon did not have to charge. It simply fired. Magical artillery, enough to reduce a castle to rubble. The man standing before the hovering mobile fortress would be destroyed like the vermin he was.


    The flash of the beam cleared, and Eran was startled to see the man on the deck of the Ark. He wore a simple robe, tied around the waist by a silk sash. An iron, or steel, hand adorned one arm, and two swords hung sheathed at his waist, one long, the other shorter. His hair was oddly spiky, bone-white but touched with tinges of blue.


    Eran realized he had to have teleported to reach the fortress¡¯s deck. This was no ordinary man. Still they were 88 of Solamen¡¯s finest men. Each one hand picked for the operation, and armed with the finest magical tools that the Edolas army had ever produced. The magical abundance of the last 6 months had been put to fine use.


    As soldiers began to arm themselves and range around him, the man clapped his hands and then he became a blur. Eran had been in the midst of raising his weapon - a thunder cannon - and placing it on his shoulder when the metal tube disappeared, including the handle. No it hadn¡¯t disappeared, it had joined the pile that had suddenly formed around the man.


    There was a wave passing through the troops around him. They were flickering and doubling over, grasping their faces. And then the wave hit him. He saw the white haired man¡¯s face, dominating his vision, and felt an open palm strike him across the face before he was suddenly back where he had been. It had all been almost too fast to see, only the pain convincing him that single frame of vision had been real. That was the blur he saw. His allies appearing and disappearing from in front of the man as he slapped them one by one.


    It hadn¡¯t been 10 seconds and 3 dozen men, and half a dozen emplaced weapons, had been disarmed and now piled around the man.


    ¡°I said resistance was futile,¡± the man stated. It was only now that Eran noticed one of the tyrant goddess¡¯s angels behind the man. The gray furred creature wasn¡¯t even waist high to the man, but Eran suspected it was behind his actual power. ¡°Surrender now and I will be lenient,¡± the man continued. ¡°Continue to attack me, and I will be forced to assume you are truly a hostile force and deal with you with the full might at my command.¡±


    The man clapped again then. And weapons began rapidly blinking into existence behind him. A second team had climbed out, readying weapons to strike him and they had been disarmed and removed, blurred into a series of corporal punishments as he dealt with them almost like they were small children.


    Eran had heard the false goddess was a woman. If this man was not a god, though, then what was he? And where was Duke Solamen? Could even he stop this foe who moved between seconds?


    Eran was relieved to hear the Dorma Anim activate, flying out of the Ark¡¯s hangar. It erupted into the sky, and suddenly a hail of missiles shot down towards the Ark¡¯s deck. Explosions blinded Eran, and when he looked again, he didn¡¯t see the man. Still who could say how much damage the Ark itself had just suffered. A good quarter of its point defense guns had been on the deck, and most of them lay ruined with the wreckage of the armaments that the man had seized.


    A winged horse shot from the sky then, ramming into the Dorma Anim. It was like a living comet, and Eran could only watch in shocked horror as the most powerful weapon in Edolas was forced to battle a few too fast for it to properly aim at. The horse seemed to lack the sheer power needed to destroy the Dorma Anim, but the Dorma Anim lacked the speed to match the horse¡¯s, especially without destroying the Ark.


    And then suddenly, without explanation that Eran could perceive, the Dorma Anim stopped and fell from the air, crashing into the Ark with force enough to bring the mighty fortress momentarily dragging on the ground.


    ¡°To all crewmen of the ship. I have captured the pilot of the Dorma Anim. Surrender now and I will be lenient. Persist in this battle and I will destroy your ship and all who are on it. It is within my power.¡±


    The Ark surrendered.


    Taberius Clawdius Kaiser Germeownicus looked at the men arrayed before them. He wasn¡¯t certain why Arthur was starting their punishment with a good hard slap to the face. Still, Selene had just known where the Legions had headed with the Dorma Anim. Arthur had found the ship with his bird. Had gotten in front of it with a single spell. And had defeated the ship in mere minutes.


    Taberius Clawdius Kaiser Germeownicus had been proud of what he and Team Pax had been doing to fight dark guilds under Arthur¡¯s guidance. Now, though, he had the heart wrenching feeling that Arthur was just letting them play at importance. That he held an impossible power inside of himself.


    The hover-ship they had taken was massive, at least to the exceed who wasn¡¯t used to seeing a true battleship up close. Around 70 ft wide at the widest point, and almost 400 ft wide, with some parts 40 ft tall. The main cannon it had fired had been devastating, though it had hit only empty countryside the crater it had formed was huge. Taberius had no doubt at all in his mind that this weapon could have taken all of Extalia by itself, even if Pantherlily had returned to aid them.


    And then there was the Dorma Anim; the magic eater. The semi-mythical weapon that had established first hegemony among the humans and then a single world order. The greatest weapon of the old age of magic when lacrima had been so plentiful that stories say it fell like snow.


    Arthur had simply located it. Sent his steed to distract it. And then he¡¯d teleported away, poured a jar of water on the ground, and used it to open a portal inside of the cockpit, circumventing space itself to get around the sealed chamber and reached in to pull the pilot from its seat.


    He had made defeating a weapon of ancient legend, the physical manifestation of royal might, look easy. But after what he had seen last night somehow it didn¡¯t surprise Taberius.


    Taberius had not told Arthur how the miscreants who had stabbed him had been driven off. Taberius had tried to fight them off. It was an epic duel, his sword flashing as he had fought the two humans hard in a battle which¡­ Taberius wanted to remember it thus. He had attacked one of the two, and been near to victory for short as he was his sword still was a more dangerous weapon than a small knife. But the other had kicked him in the back of the head and he¡¯d been disarmed. They had been preparing to ¡°cut [him] up like a squealing pig or the exceed scum [he was].¡±


    Arthur had risen then. His body was disturbingly elongated, his spine and limbs longer than they should be, black wings spreading from his back, black covering his flesh. His hand had become a terrible claw. He had demanded they drop his cat and cut one down with a swipe of his clawed hand. The man had died and the look on his face as he did would haunt Taberius to his final days. The other had fled then. But Arthur had pursued to, in his own words at the time, ¡°Swallow [the man¡¯s] soul.¡±


    Then he¡¯d promised not to let anyone hurt his cute little kitty, before reverting to his normal appearance. But watching him now, Taberius had to wonder if Arthur was even human, or if he was a demonic monster of evil wearing a human disguise.


    Taberius had to question if he really wanted to follow this creature. The exceed wasn¡¯t disturbed that he had killed two people. They had only been humans. They had been trying to kill him and Arthur both. But he had swallowed their souls. He had become a demonic entity. Taberius knew it was theoretically a type of magic called Takeover, but he couldn¡¯t quite escape the nagging feeling that the demon might be the real man.


    But he hadn¡¯t killed anyone here. He hadn¡¯t used lethal force even after the cannon had been fired at him. He had threatened, but he hadn¡¯t done anything. Even now that they were captive, he was mostly lining up the crew and just slapping them each in the face to let them feel the ¡°stinging pain of rebellion¡±. He was trying to help Edolas. He had gone up against that Altaface creature for Edolas.


    He was the greatest knight in Edolas in the modern age. No. He was the only knight-errant who dared hurl down his gauntlet to this bleak and unbearable world that had become as base and debauched as could be. But he was no shining knight. He was no idealized and perfect knight. But even Sir Ronald had had his bouts of madness, and red rage.


    Taberius hoped that it was just that. And not that Sir Arthur was a monster. Until he knew for certain, though, he would be a faithful squire.


    And if Arthur was a monster.


    Had the thought not struck a chord of cowardice in his soul, a part of Taberius might have hoped he was. For a monster of such greatness would make Taberius the greatest knight in the land if he could slay it.


    If.


    That was a big if. Even Taberius recognized that.

 Carpentry Emergency

    Arthur walked into the guild hall with Tabby at his heels. Georg¡¯s head rose to glare towards him. ¡°I¡¯m surprised you had the nerve to come back here after you ran off and left your mates in a pinch because the dragon bitch called you,¡± Georg snapped.


    ¡°In a pinch?¡± Arthur¡¯s voice was filled with worry. He¡¯d left them in a victorious position. They had been winning. It had looked to be just a matter of tying the ribbon around the present for the legal authorities. ¡°What happened to them?¡±


    ¡°Nothing. No thanks to you,¡± Georg gnashed.


    Arthur let out a sigh of relief. ¡°Everyone is ok?¡± He asked.


    ¡°Do you actually care?¡± Georg growled back. Then he looked down. ¡°Sorry. I¡­ The dragon fury got to me. They told me you left when they¡¯d as good as won.¡±


    ¡°Did something happen to them after I left?¡± Arthur asked.


    Georg shook his head. ¡°They collected the bounty and got a train home. Still pissed me off that you left guild duties for her.¡±


    Kiria¡¯s scream could be heard coming from outside of the guildhall. Georg and Arthur both rushed out to see her and make certain she was alright. The youthful blond was standing on the Dorma Anima, climbing across it like a child or a monkey.


    ¡°What is this thing? It looks like a metal dragon corpse,¡± Kiria said. ¡°It doesn¡¯t smell like dragon meat, though.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s my payment for Selene¡¯s last job,¡± Arthur answered. ¡°It¡¯s called the Dorma Anim. And you could call it an imitation Acnologia made by the ingenuity of man,¡± Arthur said with a grin, rather a bit too smug for the situation.


    While Georg and Kiria stared at him dumbfounded, there was another shout. Kirin had found the Ark in the training ground, the great hover-battleship that Arthur had absconded with for the guild¡¯s use.


    When she had finally finished talks with the White Out Temple for the day, Selene looked at the captive duke. He was a magical engineer, and had been one of the finest before Faust had begun gathering all the magic in Edolas together. She¡¯d let Arthur take the Ark as ¡®spoils of war¡¯, but Solamen was her captive and she would decide what to do with him.


    The Ark had been somewhat impressive. While the ship was no threat to a dragon god such as herself so she had not minded letting Arthur take it as spoils of war, the fact that it existed at all spoke to his skills as a military engineer. It was much larger than an Earthland airship, though unlike them it couldn¡¯t rise more than about 30 ft off the ground. Also unlike them it crushed what was in its path, its front a great battering ram prow meant to shatter castle walls. It was a minor super weapon.


    And he had built it under the nose of old king Faust, and then rebuilt it with the sudden influx of lacrima she had handed out. He was quite possibly the distortion she wanted to create with Edolas. But how to use him?


    He wasn¡¯t trustworthy. He¡¯d been planning to overthrow his king for years, and had just tried to overthrow her. He was an opportunist, a schemer, and a power hungry one as well. Arthur thought he was the good guy. That made Arthur unpredictable at times, but also somewhat manipulatable. As long as she didn¡¯t cross a moral event horizon he¡¯d probably not kill her in cold blood. And even if he was the type¡­ Well she¡¯d seen the way he looked at her when he thought she wasn¡¯t looking. He appreciated her body.


    Solamen knew he was the bad guy. Which made him imminently predictable, but also harder to handle. He would betray her. No matter what she gave him. No matter what she offered. No matter what else happened, he would betray her. That is if he could. Still he was too brilliant to lose.


    She would banish him. Somewhere escape would be easy. Somewhere he could start producing his creations and work to rebel against her.


    Elentear where magic was plentiful, and he¡¯d have the chance to work perhaps with Spirior. She¡¯d just have to decide what to tell him to goad him forward. Something to aim him at Arthur instead of directly at her. Just in case he managed to make something truly dangerous.


    Arthur found himself slowly developing a routine after his trip back to Edolas. He continued to train Team Pax, Minerva, and even Tabby into a fighting force. He continued to fight dark guilds when possible, and go on monster hunts when not. And he continued to try and master full body dragon takeover.


    The last was dangerous. Dangerous enough that Arthur traveled to a wasteland in Edolas to practice it. If things went wrong he could undergo dragonification. He stuck to the power of the shine dragon. There was a hatred still burning in the power of the Wildfire Dragon; Arthur believed it was the lingering soul of the Wildfire Dragon and its resentment against him as its murderer. Maybe it was just that lacrimas were safer than consumption of dragon flesh. Arthur didn¡¯t really know. Only that he wasn¡¯t certain there was actually enough dragon power in the shine lacrima to enable a full body change.


    He still tinkered and tried with his potions, but it was slow going, and he didn¡¯t have enough of their blood to make many such potions as the one that had shown success. He needed something else, and something more.


    He no longer needed X-Balls to access magic in Edolas. Whether it was acclimation or the higher ambient magic level he couldn¡¯t be certain. The White Out Temple was slowly letting the magical energy of the world rise, but it was slow going and not at the level of Earthland, or Edolas during the storm.


    It was this lower level of power that made it appealing for studying dragon takeover magic on that world instead of Earthland. He was ultimately playing with fire, and making certain there was less flammable fuel laying around was useful. It was also more sparsely populated than Earthland by a substantial amount. Here he could find a wasteland and not risk people if he lost control for a split second. If he lost it longer term¡­ Well that was a danger.


    Arthur wondered if this was a steppe biosphere. It was hilly grasslands, and rather unoccupied. Especially since he¡¯d been exploding magical energy out for the last hour and a half. He was sweating, not from the temperature - the sun was relatively cool here, the breeze pleasant, and it was if anything on the chilly side maybe in the high forties Fahrenheit. But he¡¯d been exerting himself. Gleaming silver-white scales covered his arms, and legs, draconic claws extending from his fingers. He was stronger like this. Faster. Better. Wings sprouted from his back, scales spreading across his chest. And then he let them start up his neck and stopped. The dragon force was becoming difficult to wrestle. The pure power of destruction which could lay waste to all things lay inside of the lacrima in his chest. It was baked into his flesh from when he had committed the taboo of power. It was the power he was trying to master.


    But he wasn¡¯t there yet. He could feel his right arm changing further, pushing beyond his ability to control. It was swelling, draconic musculature spreading from his fingertips to his shoulder, making the flesh bulge as the scales grew brighter. He was clamping down on the magical force, using everything he had to restrain the change, and he managed to revert his other arm, legs, and torso before it could spread.


    It took him 20 minutes to revert his right arm again. It took him another 40 minutes to convince himself he hadn¡¯t failed completely and there was value in what he had just done. He had pushed his arm to be fully draconic. Not just a deep dragon force. This was a dragon¡¯s arm. His arm had undergone dragonification and he had reversed it without aid of a potion. And if he could do that on command it would be a potent weapon.


    Drawing on his Moon Dragon Slayer Magic he created a dimensional warp, stepping back into Guiltina, and appearing in front of the Diabolos Guild Hall. A guild hall which was in a surprisingly sorry state.


    The front face of the guild hall had been destroyed, several large holes having formed in its roof. Arthur raised his keys, summoning Altair and Enif to send them in to scout ahead.


    The entrance was damaged, but he didn¡¯t see anyone hurt. The mess hall was ruined, and there was a fair deal of damage across the guild hall.


    He was asking one of the guild¡¯s serving staff, not a member but a paid servant, what had happened here, when his eyes caught sight of Enik. Enik was one of the guild¡¯s elder members. A dragon eater, but never a true dragon slayer, he mostly did the lighter end jobs, and helped with the maintenance and administration of the building. He wasn¡¯t really a fighter, despite his Terror Dragon Slayer Magic, but he had helped teach Arthur when he had first arrived at the guild.


    ¡°What¡¯s happened here?¡± Arthur asked with a touch of panic.


    Enik breathed in and then began to explain. Enik didn¡¯t have the full story. Arthur had to get that from various sources. And before he had gotten it he had to go and fetch some real doctors.


    Minerva had rushed to the scene. An explosion had pulled her out of training with Wraith, and then there¡¯d been a scream. The main entrance had been blasted apart, and five strangers stood in the rubble. One of them held the guild¡¯s receptionist, Ami, in his hand. She wasn¡¯t a mage. She was just someone who welcomed those who were bringing bounties to the guild.


    And then she was stone, the alchemist dropping her to the ground. Her arm cracked as it hit the ground, and the man turned to Minerva before his foot came down hard on Ami¡¯s head, shattering it. He wore a long, black coat, his black hair long enough to almost reach his waist. His face had been garishly pale, and his teeth blacked out as he¡¯d pulled back his lips in a broad smile. He didn¡¯t wear a shirt under his coat, but wore it open revealing a toned, muscular chest, and a great, leering demonic face tattooed across it in silver.


    ¡°Look guys, they sent us a child to play with,¡± He said.


    The other four members of Silver Demon laughed then. One of them was standing over the body of Gious, one of the elder members of the guild; Minerva didn¡¯t know him well, except that as one of the oldest members he did few jobs now and mostly helped teach the younger members. Given the pool of blood, and the sword being pulled from his chest, Minerva was fairly confident he was no longer with them. She didn¡¯t immediately recognize the other body on the floor; their shattered state made it hard.


    The alchemists stopped laughing as Minerva vanished. She had teleported behind them, wrapping her foot in her territory magic as she kicked one of them across the room and into the wall with a thunderous crack. ¡°A child is enough for you scum,¡± She said. But she was uncertain. She¡¯d been training with Wraith, and it hadn¡¯t been light training. She¡¯d been maintaining two summoned shades, and training with high power costing summoning magic. She¡¯d stopped due to exhaustion of her magical energy reserves, and now she was going to fight alchemists? She knew it was a bad idea.


    And then her nihility constricted, squeezing tight around her leg making her howl out in pain as she felt bone crack. A man rolled his eyes. He was bald, one eye red, the other an inhuman prosthetic, and his large, fat lips a bright purple. He was dressed in an elegant robe, his body less finely sculpted than his allies, and he held a pipe in one hand. ¡°Spatial magic, really? You haven¡¯t heard of me? I¡¯m hurt. I am Silver Demon¡¯s Carpenter, and space is my domain. I can alchemize it however I wish. And that includes your magic.¡± The nihility field she¡¯d formed around her leg squeezed down again, pressure from all sides gripping her leg.


    Minerva didn¡¯t dare try and teleport with his attention fully on her, but before she had the chance to think of something different a burst of sand hit Carpenter and sent him flying.


    It was Cullen. The sand dragon slayer had rushed to the sound of the explosion, Pax and Orin behind him. Two months ago and they¡¯d have run away the moment they saw 5 members of Silver Demon. Now, they stood their ground with a sense of confidence. They had defeated dark guilds in the past. Not any of Silver Demon¡¯s level, but the guilds that Silver Demon itself recruited from.


    Cullen¡¯s mouth opened and another roar of sand shot out, only for it to reverse its flow, the direction turning around to smack hard against him as one of the Silver Demon members raised her hand. She wore a katana on her hip, and a kimono of rich, vibrant red silk. The sleeves were half-detached, showing the guild mark on her shoulder, her pale blue hair falling down her back in waves. As Cullen flew backwards his movement suddenly turned 90 degrees to slam into Pax.


    ¡°Don¡¯t tell me you thought Carpenter was our strongest member. My alchemy allows me to transmute force. I can turn any attack you make back at you in an instant. You¡¯re as good as beat already, so why don¡¯t you bow down and beg for mercy, maybe I will let you live, if not¡­¡± Minerva felt herself floating up, the four dragon slayers all suddenly rising as gravity reversed for them. ¡°Well¡­ I can control any force that I wish.¡±


    They fell, though, as Orin roared, a blast of snow launching at the woman. She turned it back, stopping her transmutation of gravity upon them and allowing its normal laws to reassert itself. The snow flowed back towards Orin, spreading out as it did, growing diffuse and weak as air resistance ate away at the force of the blast.


    Spikes of sand suddenly exploded at her feet, several spears forming from nothing and jutting outwards. She leapt back, the spears of sand having only cut the flesh on her legs in several places, causing her to snarl. ¡°You little shit, you cut me!¡±


    ¡°Strode, it¡¯s just a flesh wound, don¡¯t be such a baby,¡± the other woman said. She wore a tight pencil skirt, and a button down shirt, glasses over her eyes with red hair like a dancing fire. Her hand touched Strode¡¯s shoulder and the wounds to her leg sealed shut.


    This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.


    Even as she did so the battle was actually continuing. Carpenter fought much like Minerva herself, or Arthur when he was at his best, did. He used his space alchemy to teleport himself and strike with his sword. Pax fell as a curtain of red erupted from his chest.


    Minerva couldn¡¯t stand, her left leg refusing to support her weight, leaving her as little more than dead weight. She heard the whistle of a sword sweeping down towards her head, fear spiking only for it to come to a sudden stop over her head.


    ¡°Remember, we want them to learn their place, not to ruin the harvest,¡± the woman called Strode said, holding up her hand having stopped Carpenter¡¯s blow with her alchemy.


    ¡°And that¡¯s why I¡¯m here,¡± the man with the guild mark emblazoned across his chest said as he waved his hand and Minerva felt her body stiffen and freeze immobile.


    Orin howled in rage, snow pouring from his mouth. It was his largest roar he¡¯d ever performed, a powerful blizzard in the form of a beam. Strode¡¯s hand rose, the snow reflecting backwards, shattering through walls, leaving mounds of snow laying in its path.


    ¡°You can¡¯t win,¡± Strode said, before stomping on his face. ¡°You little dragons are nothing more than our secret weapons.¡±


    And then she went flying. Georg stood almost where she had been, one arm extended in a palm thrust. The woman had crashed through the wall, causing one of the outer walls of the guild to collapse, and the wild haired man turned towards the other 4 alchemists, a snarl baring his mouth full of fangs.


    ¡°We¡¯re &%$*ing dragon eaters. You¡¯re nothing but snacks,¡± Georg bellowed, before a blast of magical power erupted from his mouth sweeping over the four. Carpenter managed to teleport himself, avoiding the blast at the last moment.


    The man in the long coat acted fast, grabbing the fifth member of Silver Demon and pulling him in front of him, petrifying him. The roar still managed to leave burns across his limbs, the front of his petrified guildmate - despite being heavily reinforced by his alchemy - was deformed and melted by the sheer energy of the roar. The petrification alchemist fell to his knees, howling in pain from his burnt limbs.


    The woman in the pencil skirt put her hand on him, and his wounds sealed shut, appearing instead across Georg¡¯s body. ¡°I think you¡¯ll find that we¡¯re more dangerous than dragons, and when you started going after our affiliates you bit off more than you could chew.¡±


    Carpenter appeared behind Georg, his sword plunging through Georg¡¯s chest. The Diabolos guild master¡¯s hand wrapped around Carpenter¡¯s throat, and they both disappeared as he used one facet of his dragon slayer magic to separate them into a sub-dimension safe from the attack by all 4 of the alchemists at once.


    ¡°Wiene, turn Fisher back to flesh and blood. We¡¯ll need him,¡± the woman in the pencil skirt barked.


    Orin and Cullen weren¡¯t just going to stand still and let this happen. Pax might have been petrified before Georg had interrupted them, but with Strode and Carpenter out of the way it was now their chance to do something to change the fight.


    Orin blasted with his snow, a flow of it washing over the two. Cullen¡¯s sand make magic was more effective, weapons and spikes of sand rising up. The unidentified woman, and Wiene were forced to move and dodge, until Strode¡¯s foot struck Cullen in the head knocking him to the ground. ¡°We¡¯re supposed to be teaching them a lesson, not letting them fig-¡± She broke off mid word, doubling over before rising to stand erect once more but the look on her face was different.


    Cullen howled out. The brief diversion she had created was enough to buy Wiene time to turn Fisher back to flesh and blood. And the still unidentified woman had touched the badly burned alchemist, transferring his wounds to Cullen making him fall, covered in heavy burns.


    That was when Carpenter and Georg reappeared. Carpenter howled and fell to his knees, while Georg, bleeding from a half-dozen sword wounds, remained standing. His four beast dragon slayer magic included Misaki¡¯s azure dragon slayer magic. His dimension blue was not quite as potent. Trapped in a dimension where he could not move, Carpenter had transmuted control over it, reversing its effect to immobilize Georg. It had not made the resulting fight easy, but it had helped equalize things. Even so now that all the sensations of the space came crashing down magnified by its strange time dilation, Carpenter was unable to stand from the sheer pain. Georg, though, remained on his feet, ready to fight despite the terrible agony he had to be experiencing.


    The unidentified woman rushed towards Carpenter hand outstretched. Suddenly she flew backwards, slamming into the wall.


    ¡°Sorry, using her alchemy isn¡¯t easy. She¡¯s a poor fit for me,¡± Strode said looking towards Georg. Though Georg had already vanished from where he was standing.


    ¡°It¡¯s enough, Wraith,¡± Georg said, as he pulled his hand out of the unidentified woman¡¯s chest. It had plunged straight through, gore covering his hand and forearm where he had simply slammed through her torso. She wouldn¡¯t be a further problem.


    ¡°*%&$,¡± Fisher said. ¡°Carpenter, get us out of here!¡±


    Wiene¡¯s hands swept outwards and Georg and Strode turned to stone. ¡°Keep calm, you second rate piece of shit. We¡¯re Silver Demon, we can handle this.¡± He reached down, touching Cullen and turning the mage to stone. He glanced about looking for Orin, but he couldn¡¯t see him. ¡°Oi! Coward! Tell your guild that if you don¡¯t want us to finish you off don¡¯t mess with us again! We¡¯ll be taking your master as security!¡± He turned to look towards Carpenter. ¡°Time to do your place-swapping,¡± He said. ¡°I think we¡¯ve got enough-¡±


    Georg¡¯s mouth moved, his magical power forcing the transformation from his body with the sheer magnitude of his power, his mouth opening just a little to release the blast of power into Wiene.


    ¡°Carpenter, now!¡± Fisher screamed as Georg¡¯s body fully reverted to flesh at the moment of the blast. All that remained of Wiene was his knees and lower legs, the rest obliterated in a pure wave of destructive energy. And with his death the statues that had been made from Strode, Pax, Minerva, and Cullen all also resumed their living flesh.


    And then the room changed. It was as if two spaces were overlapping. Carpenter¡¯s alchemy had superimposed another location over the damaged Diabolos guild hall, and for a moment the two places were one and the same. The other place, a stone building with windows looking out over the sea, was growing more and more substantial, and then Minerva could see it growing insubstantial along with Pax, Cullen, and the Silver Demon alchemists, including Strode who had been possessed by Wraith. Georg launched himself towards Carpenter only for Fisher to swell in size. His skin split and broke, red muscle fiber showing on the outside as he grew. Bones burst from his fingertips, long, blade-like spikes appearing as his body twisted in instants into a combat form. Georg wasn¡¯t using his dragon slayer magic - he¡¯d tapped the dragon force slightly to free himself from the stone, and right now if he used his magic he would spiral into full dragonification and he knew it - and that meant he wasn¡¯t fast enough. Fisher caught him, the alchemist¡¯s bone-talon cracking from the force of the punch when he grabbed Georg¡¯s hand. And then Georg was passing through them. The momentary unity of places created by Carpenter¡¯s alchemy was over with. Georg and Minerva were left in Diabolos¡¯s guild hall, and the others presumably had been transported to whatever place that Carpenter had superimposed over it for those brief moments.


    And then Georg collapsed, scarlet flowing freely from the wounds across his body.


    Georg was badly wounded, Minerva¡¯s leg was broken, 3 members of the guild and 2 of the servants were dead, Pax, Cullen, and Wraith had been abducted, and Silver Demon had demonstrated the ability to attack the guild whenever they wanted.


    Georg instructed Arthur on how to call back the guild¡¯s heavy hitters but they were scattered across Guiltina and their return would take time. Which left it up to Arthur to protect the guild. No one else was there who could put up a real fight against Silver Demon.


    Orin¡¯s cheeks were stained with tears. The young man fuming with self-recrimination and rage. He had run and abandoned his friends, and now they were captured. Arthur had never seen his magical power this high, his grief and rage chilling his snow from light and fluffy to solid ice. But it was all wasted emotion and power. He couldn¡¯t do anything to Silver Demon from here.


    Minerva¡¯s leg was bound to a splint. The doctor had checked on it. She¡¯d walk again, but not any time soon. Her tibia and fibula both had been broken. He knew how fragile her sense of self-worth was, how badly such a defeat had to be weighing on her.


    Arthur placed his hand on her shoulder. ¡°There was nothing more you could have done,¡± He said.


    ¡°There¡¯s something I can do, though,¡± Shesaid. ¡°When they moved, the space alchemist¡¯s attention was on the task at hand. It wasn¡¯t on me. I left a bit of my space in that place. If you help me I think I could find where it is and take us¡­ and then you could go and deal with them.¡±


    Arthur hesitated. If he went the guild was unprotected, but if he went his counter attack might be able to take out Carpenter. Georg wasn¡¯t lucid enough to be asked. The only other people around were kids, or old men.


    Arthur realized that the weight of the decision was on him. It was his power that could do what needed to be done. And his responsibility to decide which course of action was right for that power; he couldn¡¯t just leave it to others.


    Minerva was looking at him. She was waiting for his decision, trusting it would be the right one.


    ¡°We¡¯ll avenge your injury,¡± Taberius said. ¡°With Arthur¡¯s magic and my sword, those vile serpents of sin shall reap the fruits of their iniquity. We will see if demons bleed silver or red like everyone else, and they shall know that there is no safety in injustice and wickedness.¡± He drew his sword and flourished it as he spoke, a firm conviction and fury in his voice.


    Arthur wasn¡¯t so certain. He still remembered the fight against Grimoire Heart. He couldn¡¯t have handled that on his own. The reasonable, rational course of action, the one that put the guild in the least danger, was waiting. With Suzaku, Misaki, Kirin, and Team Skullion backing him he¡¯d have some help to make sure that there was someone to cover his back if he ran into a type of magic he couldn¡¯t with raw power.


    But he still remembered the cannibal feast. It might already be too late, they might have made Cullen and Pax dragons already. But there was the very real chance that they hadn¡¯t and waiting would mean they would.


    ¡°Tabby, if I go, I go alone,¡± Arthur said.


    The exceed glared up at him. ¡°They have hurt my friend,¡± He said, causing Arthur to wonder at what point Minerva had become Tabby¡¯s friend. ¡°They launched a dastardly surprise attack upon my comrades at arms unprovoked,¡± Arthur was fairly certain that actively hunting down their associated guilds and underlings in surprise attacks counted as provocation, ¡°Upon my honor as a knight I cannot allow these perfidious fiends to go unchastised by my blade. Their odious deeds must be met by righteous retribution!¡±


    ¡°Tabby, I can¡¯t protect you while I¡¯m there. This isn¡¯t like the little rebellion in Edolas. I will need everything I¡¯ve got and more.¡±


    ¡°Precisely: and more,¡± Tabby said glaring at him. ¡°Have you forgotten so soon the wound you received to your back? You may be my master, but Sir Arthur, your guard is sloppy at the best of times. You will be facing foes with unknown powers. Varied powers of the utmost danger and terror. You will need someone there to watch your back. Someone who if the worst befalls you can provide you with the assistance that you need in your dire moment of peril. If you are petrified, you will need someone to slay the vile sorcerer and free you of their bewitchment. Verily you are powerful, and your strength of will and purpose may give you a chance to resist such dark enchantments, but what if not. What if you can merely resist but not overcome? My blade goes with you, and my hand which wields it, because to venture forth alone is to ensure your destruction, and I¡¯d rather die by your side creating the chance at victory, than to die hiding after you fail.¡±


    Arthur¡¯s mouth was dry, his tongue heavy. He couldn¡¯t answer, not immediately.


    ¡°And I am coming as well,¡± Orin said from the doorway. ¡°Pax and Cullen are like brothers to me. I¡¯m not letting them get turned into dragons, and isn¡¯t this exactly what you were training us for?¡±


    ¡°If you¡¯re counterattacking now, you can¡¯t leave us out,¡± Enik stated walking up behind Orin. The oldest, surviving, member of the guild now. He was only a few months older than Georg, but he was visibly old and mostly retired. ¡°It was our guild which was attacked too.¡±


    Andre, and Wei, the two other surviving members of the guild¡¯s mostly retired elder generation - the ones who had gathered around Georg as adults when he first founded the guild - stood beside Enik. Arthur had never seen them clad for ¡®battle¡¯. He wasn¡¯t sure any of them were still in fighting shape. They¡¯d all helped him some when he had first arrived in the guild. They knew techniques, but even before he had become a proper dragon eater his magic power had surpassed theirs.


    ¡°No,¡± Arthur said. ¡°Someone needs to watch over the guild. And even if I need someone to watch my back there¡¯s a minimum strength needed not to be too much of a liability, or even not to be collateral to my attacks.¡±


    They all stared at him. ¡°There¡¯s not a man or woman in the guild who isn¡¯t rarin¡¯ and ready to go,¡± Enik said.


    ¡°But who is here that could accompany a dragon hunt? Because going up against Silver Demon is going to be worse than a dragon hunt.¡±


    Andre and Enik looked down and away, their pride hurt. They had barely accompanied them in their youth. They knew they weren¡¯t a factor in such a fight now. Wei frowned. ¡°Of the people currently here, and not incapacitated only you, Nebura, and Orin,¡± She said.


    ¡°My lady, how dare you leave out me and my blade? Dragon or demon I will cut them down!¡± Tabby protested.


    ¡°Are you even a mage?¡± Wei said.


    ¡°Better. I am a knight,¡± Tabby said standing tall, for a waist high anthropomorphic cat, and proud.


    Arthur was torn. He wanted to save Pax and Cullen. They were his friends. He¡¯d spent most days in the last months teaching them, working with them, eating with them, living with them at his side. He¡¯d honestly spent more time with them than anyone else in the guild - other than Minerva - at this point. They were good kids. And he didn¡¯t want them to be turned into rabid weapons. And the time to prevent that could already have ran out, or be ticking down quickly.


    But it was also possible that they wouldn¡¯t even do so any time soon. It was possible he had time to wait for Georg and Minerva to heal, much less the few hours it would take for the Dark Dragon Knights, along with Team Skullion, and the team which was operating under Suzaku, to return. With their strength combined, taking out Silver Demon would be easy.


    He could have Minerva share the geographical location with him. Wait for the others to return. And then he could go out and take down Silver Demon with the benefit of numbers.


    Or he could purchase the perk For My Friends, and he could take Orin, Nebaru, and maybe Tabby into a death trap, and hope to fight his way through with his own personal power. It¡¯d be dangerous. It¡¯d cost him 300 points, and mean he¡¯d no longer have the point reserve needed to buy Edomagic if that proved necessary to combat dragonification.


    He hated the weight of the responsibility. If he took the former, safer option and something happened to Pax or Cullen he¡¯d forever blame himself. Wraith was an adult and a ghost, he¡¯d already had a long, full life, but Pax and Cullen were young. They deserved the chance to live and thrive. If he took the latter and something happened to Orin or Nebaru because of him he¡¯d feel guilty but they went in voluntarily. The danger, though, was that he¡¯d fail and thus increase the chance that something bad did happen to Pax and Cullen, and the rest of the guild, and it¡¯d mean he¡¯d not be there to stop Acnologia.


    ¡°Minerva, show me where they are. We¡¯ll need the info in case they find your space and destroy it,¡± Arthur said.


    ¡°Wait, are you going to let them get away with this?¡± Tabby stated. ¡°We must strike back.¡±


    Orin glared at him, hate and rage in his eyes. Arthur knew the teen didn¡¯t hate him. Not really. But he knew he was going to have to put up with a lot of resentment for this choice. But it was the adult choice, the mature choice, the right choice. At least he told himself it was, and that it wasn¡¯t just the cowardly choice.


    But the idea kept ringing hollow. ¡°I can¡¯t do it alone,¡± Arthur said. ¡°I need someone to watch my back.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯ll have my blade,¡± Tabby said.


    ¡°Someone I can trust to be there when I need them and not just die. These aren¡¯t disgruntled off-duty soldiers armed only with knights, these are alchemists capable of magic capable of threatening me at my best.¡±


    Tabby flinched.


    ¡°You have me,¡± Orin said.


    ¡°Not enough,¡± Arthur said. ¡°Minerva, if Wendy could fix your leg could you fight?¡±


    Minerva¡¯s head jerked up. Arthur was going to risk going back to Fiore.

 The Demons Lair Part 1

    ¡°Now what?¡± Orin asked. Traveling to Ishgar had been easy. Arthur just had to hope that Selene didn¡¯t find out that he had used the magic she taught him to travel to Ishgar by way of Elentear. Wendy had managed to heal Minerva. Georg however was harder. He¡¯d been lucid long enough for Arthur to tell him about the information Minerva had.


    ¡°We do what Georg told us to,¡± Arthur said. It wasn¡¯t in his hand any more. It was Georg¡¯s responsibility. It wasn¡¯t his. Georg was the guild master.


    ¡°And leave Pax and Cullen in their hands?¡± Orin said, hitting the wall of the guild hall.


    ¡°And give them the best chance of being rescued,¡± Arthur said. Natsu was listening in and he knew it. Arthur had mentioned the idea of getting help while they were here. Georg had been very opposed to the idea. This was a Diabolos matter, and Diabolos would handle it.


    ¡°Are you really satisfied with that logic?¡± Orin asked, his voice raised with rage. ¡°I¡¯m not. They¡¯re my friends.¡±


    Arthur winced. His stomach was knotting more and more. He didn¡¯t want to be in this position. He¡¯d obtained great power, which left him with a great deal of responsibility. He could possibly save Pax and Cullen. Take Minerva, Orin, Natsu, Erza, and Gray and fight the alchemists trusting Team Natsu¡¯s plot armor to save them.


    But that was an obvious risk. He didn¡¯t know if plot armor would work here. He had no idea what the enemies they were facing were. Even if they could handle Silver Demon, and Arthur was certain they could, they might not do so without casualties and losses. And Georg had directly ordered him not to do it. If he did it now there would be trouble from Georg.


    Minerva was still tired. She¡¯d not be fighting at her best. He wouldn¡¯t either. He¡¯d been doing some fairly intensive training, and then transported people across dimensions, and would have to transport the team to Elentear and then to a point he wasn¡¯t familiar with in Earthland. It¡¯d not be easy.


    ¡°I¡¯m not,¡± Arthur admitted. ¡°But I¡¯m not sure it¡¯s wrong either.¡±


    Orin scowled at him, and walked away. Arthur sighed. He needed to think, and he needed advice.


    Arthur had found the aged guild master of Fairy Tail and talked to him about the situation. Two questions had stood out, two questions Arthur couldn¡¯t answer easily. ¡°Do you trust your guild master¡¯s judgment?¡± and ¡°What does your heart say to do?¡±


    And in the end, Georg¡¯s belief that they needed him in fighting shape. Not just needed the Dark Dragon Slayers Knights, but needed him in fighting shape, was something that Arthur had to trust. Georg knew a lot more about battle than him. Georg had seen his power against Kirin. It was obvious he¡¯d taken notice of it from how much it evidently bothered him. If Georg thought they¡¯d need both of them, Minerva, and the DDSK, Arthur would trust that, whether Orin wanted him to or not.


    He just hoped Pax and Cullen could forgive him for that. Wraith too.


    And with his decision made it was time to talk to Natsu, Erza, and Lisanna and find out how things were going with them, and with the Thunderbolts.


    It was going to take time to heal Georg. Even with Wendy it would be days. It was decided that they would begin to travel back to Guiltina; Georg - or Diabolos¡¯s guild coffers - would pay Wendy¡¯s fee, and for the boat and trip.


    But he refused to accept the offered help from Team Natsu. If Diabolos needed another guild to fight its battles for it, especially one from Ishgar, the guild would be dead as an organization. No one would hire a disgraced guild to do monster extermination quests, or to fight dark guilds. For Diabolos to survive it needed to win this fight with its mages.


    Natsu and Georg almost came to blows, before Makarov stepped in. Natsu argued what Arthur wanted to argue. Pax, Cullen, and Wraith were guild members, it wasn¡¯t right to endanger them for money. Makarov, though, pointed to the realist perspective; the whole guild would be in danger if it lost its means of supporting itself. And that time was the greater danger there.


    Natsu still wanted to come to Guiltina with them. There were dragons there. And Igneel might be as well. In the end Team Natsu would be joining them. Along with Lisanna Strauss. Not to fight Silver Demon, but to travel to the north, and see if they could find signs of the dragon Natsu sought.


    It provided an out of sorts, and one Arthur was quick to seize on. It wasn¡¯t the guild needing their help if it was how they paid for passage and information. Georg still did not like the idea, but in the end he accepted it. 3 of his were missing, and there was a fair chance they would be forced to undergo dragonification before they could even arrive to save them. They would need all the muscle they could get.


    They bought a boat to go back to Guiltina in, and hired a crew. But they wouldn¡¯t be sailing. Arthur wrapped the whole vessel in his territory and warped it to the horizon. And then he repeated. And he repeated. He would keep this up until he grew tired, or they were clearly far enough away from Earthland to be outside of Acnologia¡¯s notice.


    It was on the fourth such warp that Georg¡¯s head rose, his nostrils flaring. ¡°Do ya smell it?¡± He asked, his head turning towards the southern horizon.


    ¡°Smell what?¡± Arthur asked. He was stretching his magic out again, sending it out until it grew hard to send his space further.


    And then the roar came, a burst of energy hitting the ocean nearby and causing it to boil and rise in a mountain of water. It was a magical power that Arthur recognized; though even if he hadn¡¯t, there was only one entity he knew of that could shoot a dragon¡¯s roar capable of changing a map from beyond the range of vision. Acnologia had noticed his magic, and was displeased. He stopped stretching his space and he teleported the ship again with his territory magic.


    From there everything was a blur for Arthur. People were screaming and questioning what that was. Arthur couldn¡¯t even remember afterwards what he¡¯d answered. A second blast had come, but it had fallen well short of the vessel, and there was no third. Arthur kept using his territory to teleport further and further, until he felt it all around him, the connection with where he had slowly stretched it out day by day since bringing Altaface to Edolas. And from there it was only a single teleportation to Diabolos¡¯s guild hall. And Acnologia had ceased following at some point.


    ¡°Would Selene help us?¡± Orin¡¯s question shocked Arthur.


    Georg growled.


    ¡°I doubt it,¡± Arthur said. ¡°She¡¯d demand a heavy price if she did.¡±


    ¡°She¡¯s the enemy every bit as much as Silver Demon,¡± Georg said.


    ¡°What sort of price?¡± Orin asked.


    ¡°I still owe her two unspecified tasks as a price of her taking over a country instead of razing it,¡± Arthur said. ¡°And that¡¯s a deal she only accepted because I was strong. I don¡¯t want to know what price she¡¯d exact for helping the weak.¡±


    Orin silenced then and looked down.


    ¡°I can¡¯t believe you were even considering it,¡± Georg growled.


    ¡°Pax and Cullen are¡­¡±


    ¡°Family,¡± Georg said. ¡°But Selene is the enemy.¡± Arthur flinched back from Georg¡¯s glare there. Georg knew he needed Arthur; he wasn¡¯t so dumb as to believe Arthur didn¡¯t honestly believe that Selene would destroy them all if he reneged on his bargain, but he didn¡¯t like his guild making deals with dragons. He was still displeased at the offer to help Natsu find information about his adoptive father; or the idea that a dragon slayer would see a dragon as a father.


    He was making compromises he didn¡¯t like, and Georg could feel himself nearing snapping.


    ¡°I¡¯m going to bed. I suggest all of you do as well.¡±


    It was another day before Arthur and Georg were back into fighting shape. Georg because it took that long for Wendy to heal his internal injuries fully. Arthur because he¡¯d expended too much magic escaping Acnologia. It gave time for the Dark Dragon Slayer Knights to be fully assembled, and for a plan to be made.


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    Arthur arrived with the Dark Dragon Slayer Knights, Nebaru, Orin, and Tabby. He was feeling worried. Georg, Minerva, Team Natsu sans Lucy and Wendy who had stayed behind, and Team Skullion had gone first. They had appeared at Minerva¡¯s Territory.


    Arthur and his squad appeared instead at the prison holding Cullen and Pax. His moon dragon slayer magic had allowed him to use water as a viewing portal, tracking down and finding Cullen and Pax where they were imprisoned. But he had not built a close enough relationship with Wraith to observe him thus.


    He appeared outside of Cullen and Pax¡¯s cell. It was a small room, too small really for two individuals, made of magic sealing stone. Arthur and Orin¡¯s attention were immediately upon the cell, while Suzaku, Misaki, and Kirin immediately began scoping out the area for danger.


    ¡°Pax, Cullen!¡± Orin screamed as he reached for the bars. ¡°Did they do anything to you? Have they tortured you?¡± Even as Orin began to question them, Arthur¡¯s hand twitched and lashing blades of darkness cut through the bars of the cell.


    ¡°We¡¯re getting you out of here,¡± Arthur said. ¡°Anything you can tell us about what happened while here?¡±


    ¡°You guys shouldn¡¯t have come,¡± Cullen began. The youthful sand dragon slayer¡¯s hand rose to push his bangs out of his face. ¡°We¡¯re bait for a trap.¡±


    ¡°What kind of trap?¡± Kirin asked, wheeling on Cullen, and beginning to take control of the situation.


    Minerva had tried to keep up with Georg, but the guild master was fast once he started using his magic, and even with her own she had trouble keeping up with him. He had rushed into a fight, attacking 4 of the alchemists of the guild, and bellowing something about how they would regret attacking Diabolos.


    And then she¡¯d been somewhere else. She hated when people teleported her without warning; it was disorienting. Between her own and Arthur¡¯s Territory magic and their training against each other she was, however, somewhat accustomed to it and to quickly finding her footing afterwards.


    She recognized the bald, overweight man who stood in the chamber with her. ¡°Tsk tsk tsk, you really thought to come after me, girl. Didn¡¯t I teach you that I am your better? I guess it¡¯s time for a remedial lesson. What bones should I break this time?¡±


    Minerva¡¯s hand rose and swept, a mass of spheres of her territory forming in front of him. He didn¡¯t move as she felt her control over her personal spatial disruptions twisted away, the orbs launching back towards her like missiles, ready to explode on proximity.


    His alchemy would keep her from teleporting as well, and she knew it. She didn¡¯t try it, though. Instead it was her White Tiger Dragon Slayer magic which propelled her into him, shooting past the explosive nihility spheres, and using the flash of light and roar of the explosions to cover her movements.


    He hit the wall and she roared, her roar striking him and sending him flying almost straight up until he hit the ceiling of the large chamber he¡¯d placed her in with him. And then he fell.


    ¡°The hell?¡± He asked as he rose to his feet. ¡°You teleported? How?¡± He drew his sword then pointing it towards Minerva. ¡°Tell me or I cut it out of you.¡±


    He didn¡¯t stay still though. As she charged forward at a speed the untrained eye couldn¡¯t follow he transformed space, changing his position and stabbing. They both struck where the enemy had been, an instant too late to hit them where they now were.


    ¡°This is going to be annoying,¡± Carpenter sighed. ¡°So I think I¡¯ll just leave you here, and-¡±


    ¡°Admit you can¡¯t handle a child one on one? I¡¯m sure your guild mates will have a good laugh about that one,¡± Minerva said with a cocky, arrogant expression.


    ¡°Oh, that¡¯s it. I¡¯m going to enjoy cutting you apart piece by piece.¡±


    Georg looked from one of the alchemists to another. He¡¯d had a strike force of seven mages at his back a moment ago. And now he was alone, standing before a throne. Well not alone. But he had no back up. He didn¡¯t think the three he saw in this room were on his side.


    Sitting in the throne was a man gray with age and so wrinkled and shriveled he seemed almost like a living mummy. His hair hung down to his waist, his beard pooling in his lap. He was dressed in fine silk, and bore long fingernails which stretched from his fingers almost like talons. At either side there was another member of Silver Demon. They looked similar enough to be twins, both tall, straight of body, blue-eyed, and blonde with well-defined but not unduly bulky musculature. They weren¡¯t identical, one was a man the other a woman, but there was something uncanny about each of them.


    They wore matching outfits as well. A silk shirt, under a metal plate that covered only one breast, one arm bare and bearing the Silver Demon guildmark, the other covered in a sleeve of chainmail. An armored leather skirt hung to below their knees, beneath which were armored boots and on each hand they wore metal gauntlets.


    ¡°Georg Reizen, the Dragon Eater, it is quite a shame we had to meet this way,¡± the old man on the throne said. ¡°I had truly intended to leave you and your guild alone after you had proven flawed and unwieldy for my purposes. But you picked a fight. You and your little Dragon Knight attacked my subordinates systematically. You had to know that meant war. But I was still willing to give you an out. But then you shot the messengers, didn¡¯t you? You killed some of my finest gild members and now, Craven, Nancy, show him your nightmare alchemy,¡± the desiccated old man said, his dry, papyrus-like lips curling up into a sickening smile.


    ¡°This is taking too long,¡± Arthur huffed. Cullen had explained things. He¡¯d managed to escape his cell, and while trying to escape the lair he had found a ritual site. Something that would amplify their alchemy to turn the dragon slayers into dragons and then control them. All the rest were going to do was stall for time for that to turn the entire attack force into weapons for Silver Demon¡¯s conquest of Guiltina.


    It was deeper beneath the mountain than the rest of the lair, and with the narrow tunnels the full team wouldn¡¯t be able to fight at once without getting in their way. Kirin had decided that he, Suzaku, and Misaki would play diversion, starting to wreak havoc and making certain that reinforcements couldn¡¯t descend after it while Arthur, and Tabby, went down and smashed the ritual device.


    Cullen knew the way so he would guide Arthur to it. But it was a maze, and Arthur didn¡¯t know where he was going to teleport there.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, it¡¯s the quickest I can get us there,¡± Cullen huffed back.


    Suddenly a bronze pegasus had appeared in th tunnel. ¡°Enif, there¡¯s a ritual chamber underneath these tunnels, could you find the path there as quickly as possible?¡± Arthur asked. ¡°Do a good job and we¡¯ll find some real nice mountains to fly over.¡±


    ¡°Youdon¡¯tneedtobribeme. Bearebe.¡± The pegasus spat out, and then he was gone with a crack like thunder and a sudden burst of air force. He wasn¡¯t flying, but running down the tunnel, his hooves slamming into stone.


    ¡°They¡¯ll notice him running everywhere and reinforce!¡± Cullen shouted. ¡°Besides we¡¯ll be sitting ducks while waiting for him to come back and report.¡±


    ¡°Archive link,¡± Arthur said. ¡°You know how me and my Celestial Spirits work. Actually wait, you know where we¡¯re going. Just focus on that and I¡¯ll get the map from you with my Archive magic.¡± His hand swept and suddenly a hard-light display console appeared.


    Cullen¡¯s eyes looked downwards. And then he lunged forward his right hand twisting into a length of steel, a chain running along it covered in sharply bladed ¡®teeth¡¯ which were pulled along the chain across the length at high speeds.


    ¡°Arthur, no!¡±  Taberius cried and he lunged forward, jumping towards the assailant. But he had reacted too late, and the chainsaw thrust against Arthur¡¯s stomach only to glance aside from his Territory Armor. Arthur¡¯s palm struck Cullen in the chest and sent him flying back into the wall.


    ¡°You¡¯re not really Cullen, are you?¡± Arthur said.


    ¡°Oh no. What gave it away?¡± Cullen asked as his body began to reshape itself, becoming more feminine, and finally full blown womanly, a twisted smile shaping on the face of a dark haired beauty. ¡°I surrender,¡± She said, throwing her hands up. ¡°Tie me up and leave me be, and you can-¡±


    Arthur¡¯s right hand had turned into a red scaled draconic claw as it planted at her throat, the tips of its talons stroking her throat. ¡°Tell me where Cullen really is, and just how much truth there was to your little ritua¡­¡± He cut off. Enif had found the ritual site, and there was an alchemist there working the ritual already.


    It was only another instant before Arthur and Taberius were beside Enif. He hadn¡¯t had it in him to kill in cold blood, and hadn¡¯t had a good means of restraint. But someone who surrendered so easily shouldn¡¯t be too much of a problem. He¡¯d brought her along with himself and Taberius as he¡¯d moved to the ritual site. He wasn¡¯t sure if it was a bad idea, or a terrible idea. But hopefully he had enough power to handle it.


    The alchemist within wore a heavy, black robe which concealed his face, and most of his body, only his white gloved hands and white booted feet visible extending out from it. ¡°Ashley, I thought you were going to keep him occupied,¡± He said.


    ¡°Sorry, Raimi, he figured me out,¡± She said. ¡°And have you heard the stories about this one? He¡¯s supposed to be worse than the Raging Tiger.¡±


    The man called Raimi sighed. ¡°Someday the boss will listen to me when I say that you¡¯re not worthy of the guild mark. Still¡­¡± His hands disappeared into his sleeves, and popped back out holding two bottles which he chucked towards Arthur. ¡°I¡¯ll show you how it¡¯s done, little sister.¡±


    ¡°Careful, bro. His armor is tough, and I don¡¯t think he showed me anything yet,¡± the girl said.


    ¡°Erza, Gray, Happy! Happy?!¡± Natsu shouted as his head shot side to side. They¡¯d been right beside him a moment ago, and now¡­ He wasn¡¯t where he had been either. He was somewhere else in the subterranean tunnels which composed Silver Demon¡¯s secret lair.


    ¡°Don¡¯t recognize you from the briefing,¡± a man said, pushing his glasses up on the bridge of his nose. He wore a business suit, his hair cut short and kept plain, simple, and neat. ¡°That is rather troubling.¡±


    ¡°What¡¯d you do with Happy?¡± Natsu asked.


    ¡°I have no idea what you¡¯re talking about. Look, I¡¯m busy with paperwork, so why don¡¯t we make this quick? I didn¡¯t turn to a life of crime to work overtime.¡±


    Suzaku sheathed his blade. He¡¯d brought down the dark guilder in a single cut. And then he heard a man clapping slowly. They wore a rich, flowing cape, and a suit of black plate armor.


    ¡°Oooh, now you. You are ripe. Not like the two that those fools brought back previously. You¡¯re just perfect for experimentation.¡±


    ¡°What dost thou mean experimentation?¡± Suzaku asked his eyes narrowing. He feared he already knew.


    The man didn¡¯t answer, but pulled back his arms and began to weave them through seals and sigils of magic. The ground was shaking, the rocks and dust falling from the ceiling. Suzaku knew his guild mates were out there fighting somewhere with everything that they had. He could do no less. He dismissed the fear that made his chest clench. He couldn¡¯t let it dull his edge. He would need everything he was in this fight. But he also knew it would be over quickly. Either he would win or lose in a single blow.


    His hand moved to the hilt of his katana, and he launched himself forward, pulling the sword free for a quick draw slice, using the sheath itself to add speed to his blow. He felt something surging through him, the man¡¯s alchemy starting to transmute something inside of him from human to monster. And he could only hope his blow would not land slow.

 The Demons Lair Part 2

    Suzaku felt his hand twisting towards a draconic claw. His whole body seemed to be changing, and it was forcing power to flow into and through him. Power far in excess of what he was used to. But he was a swordsman, a man of discipline every bit as sharp and focused as his katana¡¯s blade, every bit as tempered as the folded steel which formed it.


    He felt the sword fall from his grasp, his body extending and stretching, but he kept his movements flowing. He would end this alchemist if it was the last thing he did.


    His claw slid through the man¡¯s torso and the Dragon Alchemist fell to the ground, a gaping hole having replaced most of his chest as he was nearly bisected by the blow.


    Suzaku relaxed then. He had lost, but he would protect his friends. He might become a dragon, driven mad by the power he could even now feel assailing his brain, but none of the others would be forced to suffer this fate.


    He fell to his knees, fighting the chaotic energy inside of him. It was a storm of draconic power raging through his thoughts, and making his body twist and grow to accommodate it. He didn¡¯t try to rise, instead he pushed his will against that power. He couldn¡¯t let it overwhelm him. If he did he might destroy his friends. If nothing else he needed to focus on retaining his mind.


    It would take discipline. But Suzaku had always been good at discipline. This wasn¡¯t cold like in his waterfall training, but ultimately it wasn¡¯t too different. Every nerve in his body was screaming out due to the full form assault, yelling at him to move away from the torrent. But he knew he could not back down. His eyes closed and he turned his mind wholly inward.


    Natsu was swinging. He¡¯d taken out the first alchemist in a matter of a few punches, but he was still looking for Happy, and not much of the lair was going to be left standing if he didn¡¯t find his friends soon. So-called wings, gouts of fire shooting out to the sides of his body to cut and burn through anything that he passed, burst forth as he ran.


    The team that came to stop him was mostly comprised of low ranking members, a mere support team and not one of Silver Demon¡¯s main forces. They barely slowed him.


    Arthur didn¡¯t move. His territory formed around the bottles and behind Raimi and the bottles struck against Raimi from behind. Each one shattered, broken glass raining onto the dark alchemist, but it was what was inside that mattered. They held no elixir, or explosive formula, but bottled monsters.


    The two creatures expanded explosively, pushing Raimi to the ground. They were humanoid, but not human. One was a hulking brute of a creature, resembling a bear except that it was too upright for one, somewhere between a bear and a man. Fire burned down its back, and wreathed its head in a blazing lion-like mane. Its ursine head pointed towards Arthur and it roared out, before immediately charging.


    The other was less direct. It looked more human as well, and female to boot. Her skin was electric blue, her hair a bright, neon yellow which glowed with its own light. It matched her solid-colored eyes and lips. Dark gray masses, looking at a glance like foreboding clouds shaped into wings, spread from her back, and she wore little. She did not charge but she still growled.


    Arthur didn¡¯t need to be told they were demons. He could feel it throughout his body, his own demon cells calling to theirs.


    The bear-demon¡¯s claw swept towards Arthur, its hand exploding with fire. With his mind overclocking, Arthur could follow it easily. It was not slow compared to an average high class mage; it was faster than Skullion, or most of Diabolos. But compared to Minerva using her dragon slayer magic, Kirin¡¯s attacks, or Suzaku¡¯s sword it was a crawl.


    Arthur caught its claw with his own, his right arm turning into a scale, draconic talon. Its companion was faster than it, though, fast enough that even overclocked Arthur failed to notice her approach. He wasn¡¯t sure if she was just that fast, if she teleported, or something else as she struck him from his blindspot, a surge of electricity crackling across his Territory Armor, even as she hit. None of it actually breached his armor, it merely moved the bubble of territory he was surrounded in, forcing him into the bear.


    The bear bellowed, and breathed a gout of flame towards him, an encircling inferno that would wrap around him. And Arthur¡¯s mouth opened wide, his armor opening over it so that he could feed.


    Georg had started to charge the ancient alchemist only to stop when he found himself somewhere far different. And terribly familiar.


    It was a town. Or it had been. Fire burned everywhere around him, buildings charred to the ground. And people. The stench of burning flesh filled his nose.


    A shadow hung over him, casting his face into darkness. His head rose to look up towards it. He expected what he saw. He¡¯d seen this scene many times in his nightmares. The moment that had set him on the path to becoming the Dragon Eater. His wife and their young son had been killed. Their home was one of those burning to the ground right now.


    It had been this moment that had started him down this road. It¡¯d been so long now that it was only in his nightmares he remembered why. For decades he had dedicated his life to the destruction of dragons, until it had just become what he did, until he hunted dragons to hunt dragons, and ran the guild to be its master. But it had started at this little town. Like many dragon slayers in the guild, Georg had started because a dragon had taken everything from him. He wasn¡¯t like the orphaned children, he had been old enough to really remember it, and to do something.


    He hadn¡¯t been there, though. When it had happened he¡¯d been away. He only got back as the red dragon flew away. It was a massive and terrible beast. The Fire Dragon God Ignia. If he¡¯d met that beast then he would have died. But here he was where his old nightmares placed him, in its shadow as it burned down the town for nothing more than the pleasure of destruction.


    ¡°Damn you!¡± Georg howled, pain that he had repressed, successfully, so long he had managed to not remember it for years. He stared at the fire god dragon, its contempt for him in every line and contour of its body. ¡°Damn you to hell!¡±


    Minerva spun, her palm striking the flat of Carpenter¡¯s sword, only for him to disappear and reappear behind her. His fighting style was repetitive and predictable, but it didn¡¯t make it easily beaten. She activated her dragon slayer magic to speed forward a step and dodge, but she couldn¡¯t keep this up forever. If this continued to be a battle of attrition he¡¯d win; alchemists didn¡¯t rely at all on internal power, oh his body might eventually tire, but she expected her magic would wear out first.


    She began to mutter in the language of the Yakuma people. She wasn¡¯t summoning one of the Eighteen Battle Gods. She was invoking the wraiths of the dead which she¡¯d never quite expelled from herself. She knew it was hard to control them. But if she couldn¡¯t invoke them in battle, she¡¯d lose to them eventually.


    She still had to fight and dodge, even as she tried to focus on channeling the wraiths. Carpenter¡¯s twisted space, swapping the area around her with the area around him, his sword swinging. She barely managed to flick a territory shield into existence for the briefest of moments, too quickly for him to turn it against her.


    He pressed the assault, mixing blows of his blade with teleportation, and she couldn¡¯t stay ahead of it long. She felt a flesh wound to one arm, then the other. She was losing by a death of a thousand cuts, as his blade left a gash in her stomach where she dodged back a moment too slow.


    Anger and hate were bubbling up black as pitch from the depths of her soul. She could feel the emotions of the wraiths inside of her, whispering and ordering her to kill. A second voice superimposed itself over her own, and then a third, and a fourth. Finally a fifth joined the chorus as she spoke in a voice of legion.


    It caused Carpenter to pause momentarily. His killing blow halted as he teleported back, fearing some double-kill spell. ¡°I don¡¯t need to be close to you to kill you,¡± He said, eying the young woman warily. Her magical energy had darkened and grown more malicious. A death curse. It had to be.


    He had said that, but it wouldn¡¯t be easy. He could teleport rubble to fall on her, but she¡¯d not completely stopped moving. She knew he probably had that capability so she wasn¡¯t staying still. Besides if she stopped moving it¡¯d be easy for him to simply teleport her somewhere hazardous.


    He should have killed her to begin with. Not brought her here for the duel. But he had wanted to crush her. Besides, the boss had said to bring in as many as possible alive. Immediate death was only authorized for the guildmaster and their ace.


    But something about the way her hair had become unkempt and fallen over her face, the way she was moving with odd jerks and sudden spurts of speed, and that voice that sounded like a half dozen people speaking not quite in sync with each other added up to an almost irrational fear in him.


    If he ran, the guild master would have his head. But if he didn¡¯t stay and fight what would happen instead? Would he survive it?


    She roared, and he teleported, appearing behind her and throwing a pair of daggers. They were struck down. A six-limbed humanoid with blue skin had appeared. He¡¯d felt the ripple in space, but it was over and done too quickly. She had summoned it and now he was fighting 2 to 1. And he had the feeling she wasn¡¯t done tilting the odds in her favor.


    Cullen woke up with his head screaming. He wasn¡¯t sure where he was. Everything was dark. He was gagged. And he was tied. And Cullen did what he had done every time he¡¯d woken up since being captured. He tried his magic. It was hard to shape and conjure without words or hand signs, but he felt some sand form. He wasn¡¯t in magic sealing stone.


    He wasn¡¯t too surprised about that. He didn¡¯t think they had many cells made of it; maybe only the one. The last thing he remembered was waking up to them taking him from the cell, only to bludgeon him unconscious again. Something big had to be happening, though. He¡¯d already managed to escape from the Magic Sealing Stone cell twice; they¡¯d not have reduced his security if something wasn¡¯t changing.


    He formed a blade of sand. It was hard with his hands bound. But he managed, and then he began to saw the rope, hands moving to rub it against the blade and cut through it little by little. He would get free. And he¡¯d figure out what was happening.


    Suzaku didn¡¯t dare open his eyes to see the state of his body. The forced dragonification had left its sensations in disarray, and the urge to rise up and cut down those who stood in his way. To spread a scything sweep through his enemies and demonstrate his might hadn¡¯t gone away. He focused on his meditation techniques, on chanting mentally a mantra, as he leveled and steadied his breathing. If he was going to become a dragon who would be eaten by his guild, he wasn¡¯t going to be one who would fight them first. He wouldn¡¯t hurt his family like that.


    He forced himself to not think about that. To see his mind and soul as calm. Each repetition of the mantra helping him to get his breathing and heart under control. The words didn¡¯t matter. It was just something to focus on. Like when he used a sword his soul and mind needed to be sharp and focused, crystal clear and unclouded by other things. Only in that void did the ultimate sharpness lay. And he would reclaim that void.


    ¡°Natsu, cut that out. You¡¯re gonna bring this place down on our heads.¡± Gray¡¯s voice sounded out in a rebuke. Natsu spun around, shocked at hearing a friend¡¯s voice at last. The pink haired mage had burned or broke his way through several chambers already, and more members of Silver Demon than he could count.


    ¡°Gray!¡± He called out.


    ¡°Natsu!¡± Happy¡¯s voice sounded, the small cat stepping out from behind the mostly naked ice make mage.


    ¡°Seems they didn¡¯t scatter us far,¡± came Erza¡¯s voice. ¡°From the quality of foes they set before us, they didn¡¯t seem to think that much of us either.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, but they put us on the outside. It¡¯s going to take time to get to the real fight,¡± Gray said.


    ¡°How do you know that?¡± Natsu asked.


    ¡°For one looking out a window. When we first entered we were in a place without them,¡± Gray said. ¡°Also unlike someone I used my head and asked questions and didn¡¯t just throw punches.¡±


    ¡°I was looking for you guys,¡± Natsu defended himself, the two beginning to grow heated as they started to snipe at each other with little comments about their respective methods.


    Raimi watched with horror. The head of the mage had changed, his skin blackening, his teeth becoming fangs, his eyes shifting into red orbs of malevolence. It was like he was a demon just like those Raimi had released.


    And he had eaten them. Biting down onto one and drinking in its soul. And then the other. Raimi had spent years in their construction, finding the perfect storm and starting the perfect forest fire, disasters with enough loss of life and destruction to allow his Life and Death Alchemy to turn it into living weapons.


    And this mere mage had destroyed them in a matter of minutes, and left them dissipating into tatters of energy and colored smoke.


    Raimi wasn¡¯t a warrior personally. He liked to think of himself as a commander. He didn¡¯t dirty his hands with personal combat; he had pawns for that. Two were usually more than enough.


    He wasn¡¯t sure if Diabolos¡¯s ace was a demon disguised as a human, or a human with magic to transform into a demon, but it didn¡¯t matter. Either way he had to bring everything he had to bear on the situation. He pulled his robes wide and began grasping at the containers strapped to the inside of it, throwing them one after another towards Arthur. Even if he could eat 2 demons, Raimi was certain he couldn¡¯t deal with all of them at once. It was a veritable army, his personal Pandemonium.


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    Georg stared up towards the most powerful fire dragon in all of Earthland. Maybe anywhere. The Fire God Dragon. It was a creature that surpassed his reason and understanding. It was power made manifest in the flesh. And it was prey. Every year of training, every dragon he had eaten, every battle he had endured was to consume it. And yet he found every fiber of his being screaming to run. To turn tail and not face it. For it would destroy him.


    There was the nagging feeling he had been somewhere else. That he had been doing something else. That it had been important. But it was hard to remember. Everything around him seemed so real, and yet subtly wrong. Like he was in a particularly vivid nightmare.


    But he knew he had to either run or fight. But his body wouldn¡¯t move to do either. Georg bit down onto his tongue, letting the pain jolt him to his senses, or at least somewhere closer to them, and he roared. He would eat a dragon god.


    Carpenter didn¡¯t want to run. The Guild Master was ¡®displeased¡¯ with his failure already. He was supposed to have brought back one of the Dark Dragon Knights. Instead he had brought back 2 children and a ghost. It wasn¡¯t quite a failure. But it was not quite a success either. And the elites of Silver Demon were expected to succeed. And if they failed they risked having one of the master¡¯s dolls use their nightmare alchemy to transport them into a world born of their own worst nightmares. And if you died in your nightmare there, you died for real.


    And if he had to run from a child, Carpenter would have failed. His Space Alchemy was useful enough he might escape alive, but that was far from certain, and the punishment would still be harsh.


    But the little girl and her summoned battle god was pushing him hard. He could handle the six-armed battle god, fast and deadly as its swords were. He could indefinitely avoid the slower spearman she had summoned, even with the fact that when he had struck it it had duplicated. With her speed flagging from wounds or fatigue the girl would be easy enough to deal with. But trying to fight all three was difficult, especially when shadows seemed to lash from her body to strike at his very soul - passing through him with a deathly chill that left his mind reeling - when he got close to her.


    ¡°I¡¯ll swallow your soul,¡± the girl said, her eyes hidden by her unruly hair, and then she pounced like a tiger on its prey.


    Carpenter teleported, dodging to the side. She¡¯d already struck him, he¡¯d been forced to teleport too recently by the six-armed swordsman, but this would prevent follow up attacks. But a spearman stabbed down, skewering his leg, and he howled out with pain.


    ¡°Die!¡± The girl screamed, teleporting over him and thrusting her hand down like a spear towards his throat.


    She stopped, her hand inches from his neck, the windpipe crushing blow halted. She seemed to be struggling with some inner turmoil.


    And Carpenter realized if the guild¡¯s children were this strong he didn¡¯t need to fear punishment from failure. The master would fail himself, and he would finally be free after all these years.


    He swapped his location with a safe room he had prepared ahead of time, a chair appearing where he had been inside of the lair, a member of Silver Demon no longer.


    Once his hands were freed it was easy enough to free himself. But even with the hood off of his head he was in total darkness. And in a small room. He¡¯d been slumped partially upright and he understood why. He seemed to be locked in a closet.


    One sand lockpick later, he stumbled out into the hallway, and began looking around. He¡¯d been hearing sounds since he woke up, things like explosions and battles. He felt his knees shake a bi. He could try and run while his captors were distracted. But if there was a battle it was probably his guild coming to rescue him and he wasn¡¯t going to run and leave them to fight alone. He made his sand into a suit of armor, and began to walk towards the sounds of violence.


    ¡°Suzaku, are you alright?¡±


    Suzaku was shocked to feel a hand on his shoulder. His eyes slowly opened. Pax was there, standing over him. He hadn¡¯t even realized he was sitting up in proper seiza style.


    He looked towards the dead alchemist. The transmutation must have ended with the man¡¯s life, and without that impetus his own focus must have beat it down. He¡¯d never used the dragon force before, not like some members of the guild. He never wanted to again.


    ¡°I¡¯m fine, where are the others?¡±


    ¡°I got separated from Kirin,¡± Pax said. He¡¯d been accompanying the dark dragon slayer knights¡¯ leader in their quest to cause havoc. ¡°And then I found you just sitting like you were zoning out and well thought maybe you were cursed or something.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll be fine,¡± Suzaku said, grabbing his sword and wiping it clean. ¡°Stay close till we find the others.¡±


    Arthur had begun to lose track of the beings he had killed. At first he had thought them all demons, but they weren¡¯t. He¡¯d released his dragon takeover to fully embrace his demon takeover in the form of the Chaos Soul, that demonic soul-drinker of the Black Blade he carried ready to be requipped on demand. None of the demons in what the black robed alchemist was calling his ¡°Infinite Pandemonium¡± were up to snuff for using as a takeover form, but they could mix and meld as Arthur sacrificed their uniqueness to stuff together into a chimeric form.


    His talons raked across a demon who melted like soft clay under his assault. Its soul was different though. The taste was off. The power he received was there, but it wasn¡¯t an etherious. There was nothing he could add from it to his Takeover.


    It was human.


    He missed a beat, and blows rained down onto his Territory Armor. He was leaking power, though, and the entire horde put together lacked the strength necessary to overcome it with brute force at that moment.


    He cut through another demon and another and another, and then it wasn¡¯t a demon. It was a human. But it wasn¡¯t flesh and blood. It was clay and fear. It was like when he had drunk the souls from inside of Minerva.


    ¡°You bastard,¡± He said, looking at Raimi.


    Raimi snarled. ¡°Me? Do you know how many of my demons you¡¯ve killed? I¡¯m going to enjoy seeing you torn apart.¡±


    Arthur raised his hands, and formed his Territory, a wall of solidified space formed in front of him and then the wall split in two, pushing to the sides and parting the force of demons. ¡°You bound human souls to your will.¡±


    ¡°And you ate them,¡± Raimi said, reaching down to his hip.


    Arthur was upon him in an instant, a hand grasping his undershirt and lifting the necromantic alchemist by it. ¡°Not on purpose.¡± No. He¡¯d just fed ones to his sword by intent. But that was a guilt which still weighed on Arthur. A guilt which ate and nagged at his mind, and kept him awake at night.


    It was a guilt that even now slowed his reactions and made him drop his guard. A vial shattered against his armor, and what emerged looked like one of the human-souled, and so horribly unlike one as well. The two he had slain looked almost like clay. Half-finished, not all the way. This one too looked like such clay, but it was shaped like a dragon instead of a man, its size massive as it emerged from the containing vial, pushing Arthur away from Raimi.


    ¡°Will you eat the soul of your guild mate, though?¡± Raimi asked. ¡°It was quite the exciting experiment. I¡¯d never had the chance to deal with a fully realized ghost before. It was a shame his death had left him human despite being a dragon slayer. It seems that part of the soul does not stay attached. I wonder why. Still¡­ he is mine now, and I will show you a dragon¡¯s roar. Dragon, destroy him!¡±


    It already was trying, its claws and fangs striking towards Arthur. Like the others it lacked the physical force to take him out, but Arthur knew better than to trust his territory armor against it. The necromancer had implied it was Wraith, and Wraith¡¯s magic could force his soul from his body. His territory armor could stop it; it wasn¡¯t entirely wrong to say that the inside of it was a different dimension than the outside, one with a one-way portal. But it wasn¡¯t a perfect defense; he had to allow some 2 way traffic; to breathe if nothing else.


    Wraith was the one mage in the guild who he lost to one on one at this point. But this Wraith-dragon lacked what made Wraith unstoppable. It had a body.


    Only Arthur didn¡¯t know if it could be knocked out, or if damaging it would do something to damage Wraith. The dragon¡¯s mouth opened and Arthur teleported, avoiding the roar. Wraith at full power could pop his soul from his body. He didn¡¯t know how this false dragon¡¯s roar would measure up.


    He struck towards Raimi, and his sword plunged into a woman¡¯s stomach. Raimi had rolled forward, dodging the blow, as one of his soulbound creations threw itself at his blade.


    He pulled his sword free and the woman threw herself at him, the living clay wrapping around him. Wraith¡¯s head rose, the dragon-like, ghost-animated clay opening its mouth.


    Arthur teleported again, escaping the woman¡¯s grasp.


    ¡°So you won¡¯t consume human souls,¡± Raimi said with a leer, hands grasping and dropping more vials to let the clay golem-like ghost vessels rise up half solid and half slime. ¡°I guess it¡¯s not worth wasting demons on you then. But don¡¯t worry. I¡¯ve got plenty of damned souls to release.¡±


    Raimi was growing calmer. Diabolos¡¯s ace saw himself as a good guy. He wasn¡¯t going to blow up the base when his allies were fighting above. He wasn¡¯t going to consume the souls of the damned. And as long as his guild mate was pressing the attack he couldn¡¯t win.


    And just as he was thinking this a bronze pegasus charged him from the sidelines, a hoove striking his head from behind and then another. Enif had been watching and waiting, and the moment Arthur was confident that the necromancer had well and truly forgotten him, and that the battlefield was clear enough for him to have an opening the celestial spirit charged in.


    ¡°Protect me! Save me!¡± Raimi cried out as the barrage of comet fast hooves beat and battered him. The soul-vessels turned, even the dragon which was - presumably - Wraith. Enif flew back and up, but in the underground chamber there wasn¡¯t room to dodge. The dragon simulacrum¡¯s tail struck Enif and the pegasus fell. ¡°Full power, destroy it!¡± Raimi howled.


    The dragon roared and the beam of its attack shot towards Enif. Only it was Raimi, not Enif, who took the attack. The power to transpose two targets, and a mental speed high enough to time it properly was a hell of a combination.


    Raimi¡¯s soul was pushed from his body, and Arthur¡¯s mouth opened breathing deep with a dragon slayer¡¯s lungs and the soul hunger of a black sword.


    ¡°You weren¡¯t innocent, you¡­¡± Arthur began only to watch the soul constructs drop to the ground and begin to melt away.


    ¡°Brother? Brother!¡± The shapeshifter, Ashley, began to scream, tears forming in her eyes.


    Arthur winced a little. She¡¯d tried to chainsaw him in the gut, but she was cute, and crying because of him. The idea of killing her crossed his mind. It¡¯d remove her as a potential threat. But she¡¯d surrendered. And she hadn¡¯t been much of a threat to begin with.


    He turned towards her, a sword in his hand. It wasn¡¯t his sword, the black sword, but it was still a lethal weapon.


    ¡°Do it,¡± She said. ¡°I¡¯m going to melt too anyway. It¡¯s just a matter of time now that my brother is dead.¡±


    Georg¡¯s emotions only boiled higher and higher as he fought the red dragon. It battered him. It beat him. His right arm hung limp, blood running down from his limb. But he was fighting. He had managed to pull it into his blue dimension, to strike it hard and fast while it could not move, and drain its life from it with every blow, using its own vital energy to empower his blows.


    The dragon force was tantalizingly close. But if he lost control¡­ why not. Why not delve into it. It¡¯d let him kill the monster he had hated for decades. It was only his pride that held him back. He would defeat it as a human. He would slay the dragon gods while retaining his humanity.


    And he was succeeding. Each rage fueled blow coming down harder and faster. Even as its tail hit him and shattered his ribs, sending him smashing through what had once been his cousin¡¯s house. The flaming building collapsed around him and he used his magic, moving fast enough to seem to teleport, before striking the dragon in the gut, draining life from it.


    And this time he pierced through it, tearing through the dragon¡¯s body. And all around him the world began to crumble.


    ¡°I see our guest has returned. It took longer than usual, still very nice, my children,¡± Silver Demon¡¯s aged master said, a hint of pleasure in his voice as he looked at the bloody heap which had been Diabolos¡¯s master.


    Craven stepped forward, his arm moving out between Silver Demon¡¯s master and Georg. ¡°He slew his nightmare and broke free.¡±


    Georg pushed himself to his feet. Blood speckled his lips. It ran from his arm. It dripped from his head and ran freely from a large, claw wound that dominated his chest.


    The guild master frowned. ¡°Kill him,¡± the aged guild master said.


    Nancy shot forward, a shockwave in her wake. Georg¡¯s magic washed over them both. He¡¯d fought in her dimension, and now she would fight in his. It was the magic of the azure dragon, one of the four beasts whose magic had joined together within his four beasts style.


    It was similar to Misaki¡¯s magic; she wielded that of the azure dragon after all. It pulled the alchemist into a blue dimension, in which only Georg himself could move. But Georg¡¯s had merged with his other magic, the life draining magic of the vermillion phoenix dragon beginning to rip away at her life as he shot forward within it, his hand striking her before he shot past, and then he reversed his direction. He beat on her for a full minute, before the blue dimension faded, and its final effect came into play, magnifying the sensations to the equivalent of hours and hitting her all at once.


    Nancy screamed and fell as pain surged through her body.


    ¡°Monster,¡± Craven growled, his fingers starting to stretch out into knife-like blades. ¡°I will cut you to pieces.¡±


    ¡°Try it, boy,¡± Georg said. He was struggling to stand. The Nancy girl, and he suspected Craven too, wasn¡¯t human. Her life force had been toxic, and human life energy wasn¡¯t a poison like that. He felt drunk, and dizzy, as his sense of balance grew increasingly unsteady.


    Georg managed to knock the alchemist back, sending Craven flying with a roundhouse kick, but Georg fell to the ground as well. Craven rolled to his feet, hopping up, even as Nancy rose.


    ¡°You lose,¡± Silver Demon¡¯s master said, his papyrus-like skin making a small sound as he beamed with sadistic pleasure. ¡°Your arrogance to think you could possibly win against us.¡±


    Even as he spoke a cylinder of sand shot out towards him. It was only a moment before Craven had interposed himself, taking the blast of sand to the chest instead.


    Cullen stood shaking with fright. If Georg was losing this fight, this was a fight way above his pay grade. He was smart enough to know it. But he couldn¡¯t find the ability to run away. He had stepped into the fight. And he knew he would be here till its end.


    ¡°Nancy, end the brat first,¡± the dark guild¡¯s master said almost contemptuously. ¡°Let the Dragon Eater watch as we eat his little hatchling.¡±


    ¡°You think I¡¯ll allow that?¡± Georg said and then fell to one knee.


    ¡°You can¡¯t stop it. Your guild is doomed because you had the audacity to stand against us. And why? Because we used one of your little teams in an experiment? Was it worth it?¡±


    An explosion rocked the room, dust and small pieces of the ceiling falling down. A red haired woman stood in the new entrance that had been made in the wall, clad in bulky armor. Natsu and Gray stood only a little ways behind Erza Scarlet, and with them Skullion, Madmole, and Kiria.


    The guild master of Silver Demon began to rise to his feet, only for explosions to suddenly surround him. And again, and again.


    Craven and Nancy looked about in surprise and terror, looking for the threat to their creator.


    Nancy saw Minerva first, but she only got halfway to the girl before Kiria had severed her arm and knocked her from her leap. Craven hammered into Madmole, the armored dragon slayer taking his powerful blow unharmed.


    And Minerva formed more of the explosive spheres of her territory and detonated them around the aged alchemist. ¡°Stand down, or I see if he can survive my full intensity,¡± She said.


    Craven looked at his maker, and the homunculus¡¯s head lowered. ¡°We surrender.¡±


    Carpenter trembled with naked terror. He wasn¡¯t sure what the woman in front of him really was. Only that she held so much more magical power than the girl who had kicked his ass. And she had appeared via spatial magic which had been too powerful for him to twist even when it had made itself known ahead of time.


    ¡°You want revenge, right?¡± She asked. ¡°I¡¯ll give you the chance.¡±


    ¡°And what do you want in return?¡± Carpenter asked.


    ¡°Oh nothing at all. I just want to see what sort of distortion you¡¯ll create,¡± Selene smiled, leaning forward, and reaching out to touch him. ¡°And don¡¯t think about saying no. The people you¡¯ll be helping wouldn¡¯t like that, and I do not take no as an answer. Do you understand?¡±


    Carpenter nodded. He wasn¡¯t free yet.

 Dragon Measuring Contest

    Arthur¡¯s stomach twisted with a sense of guilt. He hadn¡¯t intended to kill the woman; he hadn¡¯t really wanted to kill the alchemist, but with the ritual taking place and the circumstances¡­ No. He could have worked a little harder and spared their life. He had no idea if the ritual was even proceeding without his direct control.


    A ritual he still needed to make sure was done. He opened his Archive externally, starting to scan and search for any functional magical patterns. If it actually was a rite to force dragonification it could be a massive windfall of information on how to prevent it.


    But first there was the question of Wraith. The clay pseudo-dragon had stopped moving, pieces of it sloughing off like the other creations. Wraith¡¯s spirit had slid out of it, the ghost standing above and behind it.


    ¡°Wraith?¡± Arthur asked.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry,¡± Wraith responded. ¡°I didn¡¯t want to attack you, but-¡±


    ¡°He was controlling you; it¡¯s not your fault,¡± Arthur said. ¡°Let¡¯s figure out what he was planning to do to the rest and stop it.¡±


    Wraith nodded. ¡°I wish I could be more helpful, but my memories are rather scrambled.¡± Still it came out from Wraith that Wraith had been controlled even while possessing the member of Silver Demon, and taken here where he was forcibly transferred into clay by Raimi, and pushed into that draconic form.


    Arthur was only half listening. Most of his attention was on trying to figure out the magic of the site, leaving it to Taberius and Enif to watch the prisoner.


    Not that she seemed intent on trying to escape. She was crumpled into a corner, in an obviously depressed state.


    Eventually Arthur swore aloud. Hands rising and spheres of territory spreading through the room. Not enough to bring it down, but enough to crack and crater the surfaces of the room. ¡°If there¡¯s anything that was actually doing something to our guildmates here, I couldn¡¯t find any trace of it. But hopefully that got it,¡± he said to Wraith and Tabby.


    Ashley made a small scoffing sound. ¡°Wait, you actually still believed that bullshit I made up? Raimi wasn¡¯t even the one who knew that alchemy. I separated you from the prime specimens so that Ridley could have plenty of uninterrupted time with them.¡±


    ¡°Prime specimens?¡± Arthur asked.


    ¡°Yeah. Last time only one of the three was advanced enough to be used, and then when help came¡­ Well he was too powerful to be controlled. The whole thing went belly up fast from what I heard. There was only a few teams that were decided to be worth messing with. The Dark Dragon Slayer Knights were considered the prime targets. My job was to keep you occupied while Ridley turned them into dragons. Guess I did pretty well.¡±


    Arthur¡¯s Archive was working in a moment, locating the three Dark Dragon Slayer Knights. The thought intrusions might not be the best if they were engaged in battle but he had to figure out who to go and help.


    Suzaku ended his panic fairly quickly. The dragonification alchemist was dead; there¡¯d be no consuming his soul to learn from it, no forcing him to show Arthur his powers or explain them. That source of information was gone. But at least Suzaku was fine.


    When Arthur arrived in the heart of Silver Demon¡¯s lair, he was shocked. He had expected to arrive heroically just in time to save the day. He was the protagonist; this was his story and he was the main character, it only made sense that he¡¯d be needed to beat the main villain.


    Georg was standing, glaring, at a trio of disarmed dark alchemists. Minerva, Madmole, Skullion, Kiria, and Team Natsu were watching them carefully. Silver Demon had been shattered, and Arthur had fought a minor side character. It was - at least momentarily - humbling. He had grown used to thinking of himself as the main character, and this had seemed all the more like it.


    But Georg had beat the master. And he¡¯d not encountered anyone of any real importance.


    ¡°Who¡¯s the girl with you?¡± Georg asked glaring, his eyes turning towards Ashley.


    ¡°A prisoner,¡± Arthur said. ¡°Ashley. She¡¯s dying.¡±


    ¡°Still needs to be restrained, you idiot.¡±


    Arthur nodded dumbly. He was still struck by the anticlimax of it all. He had expected a great battle. Had thought he¡¯d be the hero who saved the guild. And instead he¡¯d been diverted and distracted.


    Georg and Kirin were talking, the eldest of the Dark Dragon Knights reporting to Georg on what had happened with them. And Arthur, of course, gravitated towards Minerva to learn what had happened with her.


    Delivering Silver Demon to the governmental authorities took the rest of the day and then some. They weren¡¯t actually ready to contain them since they hadn¡¯t been warned that it was going to happen. It left Arthur as 2nd watch to observe the group, and play jailor.


    There were several dozen low ranking members of Silver Demon, entire teams which had been dealt with as a side thought at best. And then there were the elites. Of Silver Demon¡¯s top squads, only 4 had been captured; 5 if you counted Ashley among the living and not the dead.


    There weren¡¯t good cells to hold them in the lair; the guild master and his two alchemical dolls got the magic sealing cell that had contained Pax and Orin. But that left Ashley, and the other member of Silver Demon, merely chained up.


    Arthur actually removed the chains on Ashley. She was dying soon, after all. She didn¡¯t need to be uncomfortable until then.


    Her death was going to weigh on him. She wasn¡¯t a threat to him, and he could have just knocked Raimi out. Except he wasn¡¯t sure that would have freed Wraith from his control. A part of him thought he ought to just make it quick, and painless.


    ¡°So how long do you have?¡± He asked her.


    The dark haired girl, apparently at least in the form she seemed to default to when relaxing, glared at him.


    Arthur shrugged. ¡°Fine. Anything I can do to make you relatively comfortable till then?¡±


    ¡°Let me go,¡± She said.


    Arthur rolled his eyes. ¡°I said relatively comfortable. You could still harm someone if I let you go.¡±


    ¡°Is that what you think I want to do with my last minutes alive?¡± She said.


    Arthur shrugged. ¡°Vengeance seems a natural enough way to go out to me.¡±


    ¡°So that¡¯s what a hero¡¯s mind is like,¡± She said dismissively. ¡°So many things I¡¯d prefer to do than take vengeance. Or just die free. To walk out and face the sun, and die with its warmth on my face.¡±


    ¡°If you could tell me when you¡¯ll die, I might be able to arrange it so that you can die under its light,¡± Arthur said weakly.


    She spat at him. ¡°That wouldn¡¯t be free. Besides you think I know. I just know¡­ I died years ago. Brother bound my soul to some of his clay, he kept me around possessing it. The rest of his creations died with him. And I don¡¯t think I¡¯m going to stick around on my own as a ghost.¡±


    ¡°The rest died with him. You haven¡¯t yet. Maybe you won¡¯t.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, but I was made better. He worked on me. He fixed me up. He put a lot of time and effort into reinforcing my connection to this body.¡±


    ¡°So maybe that will hold up.¡±


    She tossed her head, and then glared at him. ¡°I could die, at any time, without warning. Do you expect me to be thankful for that?¡±


    ¡°Better than a few hours ago. Besides you had to know being part of a dark guild was dangerous.¡±


    ¡°You think I chose this? Brother brought me back. If I didn¡¯t want to die for real I had to stick close to him. He chose this life, not me!¡± She struck the table, her left hand changing into a chainsaw blade as it bit deep.


    ¡°So, since you¡¯re still up and animate, what sort of life are you going to choose?¡±


    She looked at him, the chainsaw blade whirring its way free from the wood. ¡°You say that like I have a choice. You¡¯re going to hand me over to the authorities, and I¡¯ll be stuck there till I die, or used for experimentation.¡±


    Arthur couldn¡¯t meet her eyes there. He couldn¡¯t release her. He couldn¡¯t trust her not to be a danger to others. He didn¡¯t even have the certainty she could be redeemed that he had with Angel.


    ¡°Would you rather stay in my custody?¡± He asked.


    She scoffed a little. ¡°What, trying to cozy up to me after you killed my brother?¡±


    ¡°You¡¯ll never forgive me for that, will you?¡±


    ¡°Nope.¡± Arthur began to wonder if he didn¡¯t need to pay four hundred points for Defeat Equals Friendship. Not even for this situation, but for the rest of his time on this journey.


    It was two days later when the prisoners had finally been handed over. In that time, Arthur was glad to see that he¡¯d triggered the bounty for dismantling a dark guild. Silver Demon was apparently considered well and truly dead.


    The guild celebrated the victory. It was a significant one. From a public relations point of view they¡¯d proven they could handle the most powerful criminal organization on the continent. And whatever could be said about outside help; it had still been an organization which the national governments had begun to fear. When there was an international coalition discussing hiring the strongest guild in the continent - the alchemist guild Gold Owl - to take them down with the help of kingdoms¡¯ armies, it looked good. And Diabolos could hold their heads high. They had defeated the guild master, Melies, his undefeated guards Nancy and Craven, as well as Raimi the Necromancer God, and the beast alchemist Ridley. Of the biggest and most feared names on the continent they had taken out 5 of the top 10. And beat a sixth one in the form of Carpenter. There was no equivalent to the 10 Wizard Saints or their Four Gods in Guiltina, but if there had been Georg would have likely been being put forward for the top position.


    It was oddly hollow to Arthur. He kept comparing it mentally with the battle against Grimoire Heart. This had been nothing to that. There¡¯d been no Hades. There¡¯d been no need to plan it all. Some of it had been that he was stronger. But this hadn¡¯t felt like he was preparing for Zeref like that had.


    Still the party and feast was enjoyable enough. The Fairy Tail mages who had come north with them, Team Natsu, Wendy, and Lisanna, were welcome enough even if they were definitely viewed somewhat as outsiders. But they had fought with the dragon eaters which earned a certain amount of goodwill, and moreover Natsu and Wnedy had given some more blood to allow him to make an anti-dragonification drug meaning they represented hope.


    Arthur was enjoying himself, relaxing, letting his guard down, laughing when Gray stripped mid-dinner without noticing it. And even more when Kiria managed to goad a - drunk - Madmole into following suit. People were living life and enjoying the zest of it.


    And then Georg climbed onto the table, and bellowed loudly for silence. ¡°This job showed us all something. We are strong. This guild was formed with one purpose, one reason, and I thought we¡¯d have to wait. I thought we were too weak. I was beginning to have doubts that we¡¯d ever be strong enough in my lifetime. I was going to wait until there were only five dragons left in Guiltina, and we could grow no stronger. But the other day convinced me that we are strong!¡±


    There was a cheer, but it was one Arthur didn¡¯t join in on. He had a sinking feeling he knew where this was going.


    ¡°Dragon Eaters, we can finally perform our mission! We will slay the five dragon gods!¡± Another round of cheering, one in which Arthur remained silent - and the look Georg gave him showed that Georg noticed.


    ¡°Prepare yourselves, Dragon Eaters, for once we are ready we will slay the Moon Dragon God Selene!¡±


    Natsu was on the table, and burning before Arthur could get up there himself. ¡°What do you mean you¡¯re going to slay Selene?¡± Selene was a potential link to Igneel, and Natsu was not about to let himself lose that.


    ¡°I mean we¡¯re going to kill her, eat her, and make her power ours. Don¡¯t worry. You can have your little talk with her first.¡±


    This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.


    ¡°What makes you think you have the right to kill and eat her?¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re dragon slayers. We slay dragons. Aren¡¯t you one yourself? Shouldn¡¯t you understand that?¡±


    ¡°What kind of reason is that?¡± Natsu asked pulling back a fist.


    ¡°More than I have to give you,¡± Georg countered, shifting into a crouch, ready to perform a charging tackle.


    Arthur appeared between them, holding them each back with one hand.


    ¡°You¡¯ve both been drinking too much. Sit down. Cool off. And stop babbling idiotically,¡± Arthur said.


    ¡°I¡¯m not drunk,¡± They both snapped back.


    ¡°Then act like it. Neither of you know shit about the situation with Selene.¡±


    ¡°Then why don¡¯t you enlighten me. Why can¡¯t we kill Selene?¡± Georg said.


    ¡°It¡¯d be suicide to try,¡± Arthur said. ¡°She almost destroyed Edolas because one individual from it had the gall to disturb her.¡± He saw the look of shame cross Natsu¡¯s face. It wasn¡¯t like Selene was a lily-white innocent, even if Arthur had to remind him of the fact here and now.


    ¡°So she¡¯s a danger to humanity. That¡¯s all the more reason to kill her,¡± Georg growled.


    ¡°So she¡¯s a danger far more deadly than Silver Demon,¡± Arthur said. ¡°Taking out a bunch of half-baked thugs isn¡¯t proof of anything. If we try to kill Selene we¡¯re as good as dead.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not just Silver Demon,¡± Georg growled, his voice a sinister rumble. ¡°I fought Ignia.¡±


    The guild hall had been filled with muttering voices, a drone of whispers about what was happening before them. This, though, made them all go silent.


    ¡°Like hell you did,¡± Arthur answered.


    ¡°He¡¯s been my worst nightmare for decades. When the old spider¡¯s little wonder twins cast me into my nightmare I only got out by beating him. I killed Ignia, and now it¡¯s time to do that in reality.¡±


    ¡°Yeah. In reality. As in, that wasn¡¯t real,¡± Arthur spat back.


    Georg swung, a claw of force slamming into Arthur. But the jumper rolled with the blow. Georg¡¯s four beasts dragon claw could cut through his Territory Armor with a clean enough hit. But he moved and let the force carry him, sending him flying into a wall but ultimately unharmed.


    ¡°What makes you want to protect that moon dragon so much?¡± Georg said. ¡°It¡¯s like you¡¯ve got a thing for her. Don¡¯t tell me the dragon eater has fallen for a dragon.¡±


    Georg was preparing to move to Arthur, but Natsu¡¯s hand reached for his shoulder. ¡°He¡¯s part of your guild. How could you-¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m fine, Natsu. We¡¯re just having a little disagreement,¡± Arthur said, rising to his feet. ¡°And I don¡¯t want to pick a fight with a dragon I know I can¡¯t slay. I go up against Selene and the best case scenario is she runs between dimensions and keeps running till I¡¯m exhausted and she¡¯s able to come back and kill everyone else whenever she wants. Worst case she kills me immediately and then the rest of you.¡±


    ¡°We just take her out before he can run,¡± Georg said.


    ¡°I¡¯m not strong enough for that, and none of these children are either.¡±


    ¡°We are, though. You and me. Together she¡¯d not have a chance to get her bearings. We could do it,¡± Georg said.


    ¡°No we couldn¡¯t.¡± Arthur wasn¡¯t actually certain they couldn¡¯t. He wasn¡¯t completely certain he couldn¡¯t. ¡°And you definitely couldn¡¯t without me.¡±


    Georg growled his fists clenching tightly. ¡°I¡¯m getting tired of your insubordination, Arthur. It was a mistake to let you into the guild.¡±


    ¡°Yeah? Without me what would you have done about Silver Demon? What would you do about dragonification? What would you do?¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t get cocky. You keep back talking and I¡¯ll break you and throw you out of the guild.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s your dragon rage talking,¡± Arthur said. ¡°So let¡¯s stop this before we do something we can¡¯t take back.¡± He was picking his words carefully, overclocking like he was already in combat, focusing on his words and not going by his first reaction.


    ¡°No,¡± Georg said. ¡°I¡¯m tired of this. You find any excuse not to fight Selene you can. It¡¯s time you stopped that. We are dragon eaters. This guild exists to slay the Five Dragon Gods. Either you will help with that or you will get out.¡±


    ¡°I challenge,¡± Arthur said.


    ¡°What?¡± Georg jumped off of the table with a thud, magical energy crackling around him in a corona of force.


    ¡°I challenge you. Diabolos is a guild where might makes right, isn¡¯t it? The strong rules. And I don¡¯t think you¡¯re strong enough to be an asset when killing Selene. I¡¯m not going to help you commit suicide and pull the guild down with you. You want to prove you¡¯re strong enough to not be a load in a fight then fight me.¡±


    ¡°Load?!¡± Georg roared. And then he shot forward. His hand struck through the wall of the dining hall like a claw, the explosion of energy causing the wall to shatter and blow back into the room on the other side.


    ¡°Shouldn¡¯t we take this outside?¡± Arthur asked, standing now on the table himself.


    Georg roared, his head throwing back as he screamed at the sky. ¡°You damn snake, I should never have let you join the guild. Let¡¯s take this outside.¡±


    Georg glared at Arthur. He was furious. He had let the mage into the guild, despite his awkward arrival, and despite his lack of power. And now¡­ Georg had defeated Ignia. He had beaten the Fire Dragon God. He could handle Arthur.


    But he still remembered Arthur¡¯s fight with Kirin. He¡¯d have to be careful, but he couldn¡¯t afford to hesitate either.


    Kirin was acting as the referee of sorts. In the training ground behind the guild hall, a mountain valley which they had carved out by spars or training, the yellow dragon slayer stood in the center with the two combatants at opposite sides.


    When he fired his lightning it was time to begin.


    Georg was surprised at how quickly Arthur had managed to act. Immediately spheres of force were surrounding him and exploding. He hardened his body with his black turtle dragon slayer magic, but even through the armoring shell he could feel the force.


    And then he shot forward, a lightning fast claw to strike Arthur in the gut. Or that had been the intent, Georg found himself hitting face first into a sphere of territory magic which then exploded.


    ¡°I¡¯ve fought Madmole. I¡¯ve fought Minerva. I¡¯ve fought Misaki. I¡¯ve observed you. You might not have been willing to spar with me, Georg, but I still know how you fight.¡± Arthur¡¯s tone was insufferably smug, the sheer arrogance of his certainty redoubling Georg¡¯s desire to beat him down.


    ¡°Shut up, you traitor,¡± Georg said, rising to his feet. He let his magic flow through his body and he burst forward. It was a straight line movement, though, and while he was too fast for the eye he wasn¡¯t fast enough to avoid Arthur¡¯s response. Again Arthur¡¯s territory magic formed before him. He used his vermillion phoenix dragon slayer magic; its draining effect, while more for life energy than magic, was still enough to allow him to plow through the attempted shield.


    He was satisfied to feel the impact against the strange field that Arthur kept around him. But it flew backwards instead of shattering. He didn¡¯t have the chance to follow up. The surge of speed from his white tiger dragon slayer magic had ended a half-step past Arthur and it needed time to be re-invoked. Time he didn¡¯t have as a dragon head of darkness erupted from the ground around him.


    Georg knew his magic was superior, though. His body hardened with the black turtle, and the vermilion phoenix began to suck the power from the blow. It wasn¡¯t as effective as true magic dragon slayer magic, but it was enough to deaden the blow.


    A second dragon of light rushed towards him. Where the darkness one was large enough to carry him aloft, the light one was small. For a split second Georg thought Arthur was tiring a bit already. But as it plunged into his stomach Georg realized he was a fool. His hand came down in a sweeping claw, pure magical power wrapping around it to shatter the dragon of light.


    It weakened his armor, the darkness eating at his flesh, but the light was shattered. And then a blow hit him from above.


    Arthur knew he couldn¡¯t relent for an instant. While he wasn¡¯t as clear on the details of some of the Four Beasts as others, he had at least an idea of all of them. Vermillion Phoenix, or in a more general term Life; there were certainly differences from a true Life Dragon Slayer but it was close enough. Black Tortoise was mostly equivalent to Madmole¡¯s Armor. Azure Dragon was the same spatial and dimensional magic as Misaki. Last, White Tiger, or as Arthur sometimes thought of it, velocity.


    Each of them was a problem on its own. He wasn¡¯t sure how Armor compared to the Black Tortoise in energy efficiency, but Armor punched way above its weight class when it came to defense, and he had to assume Black Tortoise did as well. Vermillion Phoenix drained magical energy; he couldn¡¯t imagine it was nearly as effective as Acnologia¡¯s Magic Dragon Slayer Magic, and it even seemed to only be a fraction of the Dorma Anim Mk 2, but it could destroy his Territory Armor without directly overpowering it. White Tiger might be almost entirely limited to straight lines, but the speed was absurd, and Georg knew how to use it. Azure Dragon¡­ Ok, Azure Dragon wasn¡¯t much of a problem on its own, his Territory Magic should beat it head to head, but it meant Georg could eat his territory and dimension blue might be a problem with his other magic.


    So when Arthur launched Georg into the air, he didn¡¯t stop to see if Georg was alright. He used Takeover and his body bulged, muscles growing out, as his flesh turned blue. A pair of horns rose from his head, curving backwards. A pair of wings grew from his back and a heavy, scaled tail. He could feel the tusks in his mouth.


    As far as magical tricks went this Kandarian soul was useless. It lacked the soul drinking of his Chaos soul, the explosion curse of Jackal soul, the Macro curse of Seilah soul, and the plant manipulation of the Floral soul. It had some baseline darkness magic and that was it. But what it lacked in magical tricks it made up for in sheer raw physicality; at least for the cost of energy. It was cheap, but it hit hard, and it moved fast.


    He brought his hand down onto Georg¡¯s head even as the arrow of light distracted him. Arthur managed to reach the ground first, and while his punch wasn¡¯t the cleanest, it hit hard as it struck Georg. He¡¯d been learning to fight. In all the time he¡¯d been in this world it seemed like it was the only thing that he did. So of course he was learning. Blow after blow, he pursued Georg.


    He didn¡¯t rely purely on fisticuffs, though. While he couldn¡¯t use his Purgatory Dragon Slayer Magic particularly well without changing forms, he could make use of Shining and Darkness in good measure, and coupled with Territory Magic¡­ Georg didn¡¯t have a chance. Whenever he tried to defend from one blow, another came from a different side, and as it kept changing where and how, Georg didn¡¯t even have the time to focus his magic.


    Arthur wasn¡¯t holding himself in reserve to avoid destroying the base and potentially hurting his friends. Arthur wasn¡¯t worried about the next fight and the one after it. Arthur wasn¡¯t scared to overcommit without knowing what tricks the enemy had. Instead he was releasing a year¡¯s worth of pent up rage and frustration.


    Even having lost his prosthetic hand with his transformation, the battle was one sided.


    There was only one thing Georg could do. He covered his vitals as well as he could while focusing everything into armoring himself. He had walked into a trap, and once he had he had lost control of the initiative of the fight. And now he was suffering the consequences.


    He hated to admit it, but Arthur outclassed him. Whether it was magical power, physical strength, or raw speed, Arthur seemed to have him dead to rights. He even used his magic faster.


    Georg hated it. He hated it. He hated it.


    The dragon force called to him. The same siren¡¯s song that he had felt when fighting Ignia. The fire dragon god had outclassed Arthur in raw magical power. But he had been pure force and power. Georg had been able to dodge. He had been able to use his magic. To keep the dragon unsteady.


    He¡¯d never been losing to this extent in that fight.


    ¡°Pathetic,¡± he growled to himself. He was the Dragon Eater. He wasn¡¯t going to lose to some upstart whelp. He wasn¡¯t going to pull on the Dragon Force again. It would break him. He knew that. And yet¡­ it would give him the power to win. To prove he was better than this little snake he had let into his garden.


    ¡°What¡¯s that?¡± Arthur¡¯s voice hit between an explosion of darkness, a punch to the gut, and a spear of light.


    ¡°You can¡¯t win as a dragon slayer!¡± Georg¡¯s scream echoed through the mountain valley.


    It was enough to stop the blows for a moment. Georg had been talking to himself, but he realized what had happened. This was a public fight. Everyone was watching. And he had just found a way to call Arthur¡¯s victory into question. It felt pathetic to resort to it. Almost worth drawing on the dragon force inside. He could feel it singing in his arm, the limitless, destructive power of a dragon, and all he had to do was accept it even as Arthur¡¯s punches continued to rain down onto him.


    ¡°You need all these other tricks!¡± He shouted loudly, making sure the guild could hear. ¡°Of course you can¡¯t slay a dragon god! None of these tricks will work on them! Only one magic can!¡±


    The blows had stopped. Georg felt a little ashamed, but his strategy seemed to be working. Arthur seemed to not have learned the first rule of slaying dragons - you take every advantage you can get.


    He spat out a mouth full of blood, and a couple of teeth. He was going to take those out of Arthur¡¯s hide. The insubordinate ass might be stronger than him. But he was going to show him just how insufferably stupid and arrogant he was.


    ¡°So saying this isn¡¯t a real win unless I fight you where I¡¯m weakest and you¡¯re strongest?¡± Arthur¡¯s voice dripped with contempt. Georg barely held himself back. Just tap into that power, take a sudden burst of speed, and deliver a blow to the face.


    But Arthur¡¯s armoring field was still there, and while he might deal with it, he¡¯d become a dragon before he had done so. He couldn¡¯t win as a human, unless he fought like a human.


    ¡°No! I¡¯m saying it¡¯s not a real win, unless you use shit that¡¯d work on a dragon! Isn¡¯t that right?¡± He raised his voice to a booming roar. ¡°He can¡¯t prove he¡¯s a better dragon slayer when relying on magic that won¡¯t even touch a dragon!¡±


    ¡°Brute muscle affects a dragon,¡± Arthur said.


    ¡°Not properly,¡± Georg said. ¡°You¡¯ll get a fraction against a dragon.¡±


    ¡°Teleportation works just fine against a dragon,¡± Arthur continued.


    Georg just gave a dismissive snort, sending blood from his nose to the ground. ¡°Do you hear this shit? He¡¯s scared!¡± He called out, trying to mask his own. The power raged right beneath the surface. It would be easy to call on it.


    Arthur gritted his teeth. Then the blue-monster shrank and reverted to human shape. He raised his stump, one of his prosthetic hands appearing on it to point at Georg.


    ¡°Fine. I¡¯ll beat you as a dragon slayer,¡± He said.


    Georg smiled. He¡¯d won. He threw his arms and head back, crying to the sky, and his dimension blue wrapped around Arthur. It was the same magic he had used to defeat Nancy of Silver Demon. It drew Arthur and himself into a dimensional space where Arthur¡¯s body would be unable to move, and where any pain inflicted would be multiplied when the magic was lowered. And then he began to feed with the Vermillion Phoenix magic.


    Except Arthur vanished, disappearing from the pocket dimension. A moment later silver butterflies were filling the blue space, surrounding Georg, and exploding in a burst of silver flames. More and more of those butterflies of moonlight were appearing, and flowing towards Georg.


    He was forced to dismiss his magic, reappearing in normal reality, only for the heats of the silver flames to flow into him all over again. Rage was eating away at his rational mind. That draconic fury which always existed just below the surface was rising up.


    Georg had hoped to beat him into line. To show him just how much of a fool he was. That hope was gone. Even if he had the chance, he wasn¡¯t thinking that way. Arthur had hurt him too much. The insubordinate idiot was going to have to die.


    Georg breathed deep and roared, the blast of force tearing through the ground. It combined aspects of all four of his magics. It held a gravitational force all its own, drawing things that it hit into another dimension and consuming them with the power of the phoenix before launching them away from himself.


    It tore a ravine in the ground, cutting a visible scar in the mountains. There was no one here who could take that blast and live. Even Arthur¡¯s absurd magical power wouldn¡¯t manage it. It was a roar that could bring low dragon kings.


    A flash of light from his left side was all the warning that Georg got. He raised his left arm, and felt a dragon-like claw wrap around it. There was a flash of light which left him blind, and the feeling of an explosion that threatened to tear through his arm.


    He hardened his body a moment before there was an explosion of force against his stomach. He felt something hit him, sending him flying back and skipping along the ground. It had been bright, and his vision was still gone. If he kept being exposed to these flashes he might be blind forever.


    He didn¡¯t think about that, though. He wasn¡¯t thinking much at all. A red rage was building up in him. He wasn¡¯t thinking about winning any longer. He wasn¡¯t thinking about the guild. He was barely thinking at all.


    Scales were forming across his arms, his body starting to bulge and change. He could still hear the singing of power. He couldn¡¯t keep fighting without drawing on the dragon force.


    His mouth began to open inhumanly wide, as he felt a draconic claw grasp his head. He heard a scream of two words: ¡°Shining finger!¡± And then everything went white before going black.

 Childhoods End

    ¡°This is all so messed up,¡± Gray said, shaking his head.


    ¡°I still say we should help.¡± Natsu grumbled.


    ¡°If you were dueling me would you want help?¡± Erza noted.


    ¡°No, but this is different,¡± Natsu answered.


    All of them could see this was not a friendly duel like Fairy Tail might engage in. There was a dangerous undercurrent of blood lust here. And they weren¡¯t the only ones who noticed it.


    Diabolos watched the fight with palpable discomfort. Georg was their guild master. He was the surrogate father for many of them. But Arthur had given them hope. He had fought with them, and for them. Without him they wouldn¡¯t have been able to bring the fight back to Silver Demon in the first place, and if it hadn¡¯t been for him and Minerva even if they had won they¡¯d have lost several; and that was ignoring who they had beaten alone, and only including who they had swept in to help.


    The Fairy Tail mages were attracting looks, and grumbles because of their discussion. Though it was not all disagreement. ¡°Yes. This is a mockery,¡± Skullion said.


    ¡°He shouldn¡¯t have opposed the master like that,¡± Misaki stated.


    ¡°Somebody had to,¡± Minerva snapped back.


    ¡°Of course you¡¯d take his side,¡± Misaki glared down towards the teenager, her face in a sharp snarl. ¡°But don¡¯t you understand the guild master is the guild master. You don¡¯t just pretend that you know better.¡±


    ¡°He won, though,¡± Skullion said. ¡°Georg couldn¡¯t handle him in a fight, and what he was doing would have worked just as well, better even, against a dragon than this battle now.¡±


    ¡°But he¡¯s still the guild master,¡± Kirin said. ¡°Beating him in a fight doesn¡¯t change¡­¡± He was going to say that, but Diabolos had always been a guild where standing came from strength. The Guild Master was the strongest. ¡°... What we owe to him.¡±


    ¡°No, but it does give evidence he was right. If he can¡¯t fight the Moon Dragon God what chance would we have of even helping?¡± Skullion posited.


    ¡°None at all.¡± The voice was one they didn¡¯t recognize. At least not most of them. Minerva straightened, eyes going wide with a touch of fear. Orin swallowed dryly. Pax found himself sweating. Cullen¡¯s hands squeezed tightly. Even Wendy stiffened. Only Taberius had a pleasant reaction, a smile beaming across his face.


    The rest turned towards the voice with a look of curiosity and surprise. Selene stood behind them, the moon dragon god even if she wore a human shape at the moment. ¡°From what I¡¯ve seen of you in the last four months I suspect that only those two down there could force me to leave my human form. And at that point¡­¡± She paused, looking at Arthur. She knew he didn¡¯t like her spying on his training. And it had seemed to be mostly meditation, or dealing with his Archive. Now she knew what he was really doing.


    He had just transformed. His right arm was fully draconic, shining scales gleaming up where flesh should be. It went further too, reaching his legs, and the fleshy part of his left arm. It wasn¡¯t full body, but it was Takeover Magic. He was using Takeover Magic to takeover a dragon. She¡¯d never heard of it being done. And her first reaction was to feel a touch of actual fear. Dragon slayer magic was magic meant to fight dragons. Takeover magic was magic meant to dominate.


    She had to admit, though. If there was any form of magic that could hope to actually defeat Acnologia it would be that. She sort of regretted that she¡¯d been bringing together his enemies to try and get them to spur his growth into something more powerful and thus more useful. She didn¡¯t know whether to kill him now out of self preservation, or to celebrate Acnologia¡¯s doom.


    She took a sip from the cup of sake she had been carrying when she appeared. Then she finished, ¡°... They¡¯d both die. Quickly at that.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re Selene, aren¡¯t you?¡± Natsu said.


    ¡°Isn¡¯t that obvious?¡± She answered.


    ¡°I have to ask you something,¡± He said as wind blew across the watchers. Georg had just roared, cutting a deep wound into one of the mountains and showing everyone there that they were not at a safe distance.


    ¡°Not now, you¡¯re obstructing my view,¡± Selene said, sipping from her cup. As if for irony, a blinding light chose that moment to flash out from the fight, its brilliance leaving everyone looking in that direction - save Selene herself - flinching back and covering their eyes.


    ¡°But-¡± Natsu moved between her and the fight and suddenly he was gone.


    Selene sighed and resumed watching for a few moments. There was a second blinding burst of light and she sighed. ¡°Is that it? Still¡­ It¡¯s time to do what I came here for.¡±


    She stepped forward, leaping, and half-flying, half-gliding towards the valley below the battle had taken place in.


    ¡°¡®What you came here for¡¯?¡± Kirin asked, watching her go as his eyes readjusted after that flashbomb.


    It wasn¡¯t the first time Arthur had fought with his Takeover Dragon Soul magic. But it was the most serious battle where he had used it, and the most thorough takeover he had used in battle with it.


    It hadn¡¯t been an easy battle. He¡¯d finally took the plunge and bought Born to Bash, just for the little edge it would give him. And it was only a little edge. He¡¯d already been learning to fight. But now he was at the same sort of level of unarmed combat skill as Natsu, and it came with a repertoire of how to use his magic with his blows; he¡¯d not be as deadly unarmed as with a sword, but he wouldn¡¯t be so reliant on a blade and use of his magic with the blade would hopefully be easier for him now.


    The roar from Georg had surprised him somewhat. With that level of power in it, it really could have killed him if it had landed. Thankfully he had been able to dodge. Training to replicate that little laser-form trick Serena had used had paid off. It wasn¡¯t really even relativistic speed, but it was fast enough that the real test was if his ability to change was fast enough.


    He still hadn¡¯t actually reverted to human shape. But had dropped down to see if Georg was breathing. There was the chance he was playing possum. But there was also the chance that he had taken a shining finger directly to the face and it had proven lethal. He hadn¡¯t been trying to be lethal, but Georg had been growing less human and if Georg turned dragon he wasn¡¯t ready to handle that. At least not non-lethally.


    Still to his relief Georg was breathing.


    ¡°That¡¯s the guild master you warned me about? I¡¯m not sure I see how they could help you against Acnologia.¡±


    Arthur didn¡¯t need to look up to know it was Selene. ¡°He¡¯s strong enough to have an impact.¡± Except Acnologia took out Serena in a total curb stomp, and he wasn¡¯t sure Georg was even as strong as Serena. Though Arthur had to wonder how that battle went down that way given how battles between both of them and Natsu had gone in the manga; he could hold his own against Acnologia, but a weaker copy of Serena had necessitated assistance.


    Selene pursed her lips. It was obvious that she was considering if Arthur was right. Arthur was surprised to see her looking so unsure of herself. It wasn¡¯t normal for her.


    ¡°Is everything alright? Did something happen?¡± He was a little surprised to see her in Earthland to be honest. And in a guild of dragon slayers¡­ who were plotting to kill her.


    ¡°I wouldn¡¯t call a guild of dragon slayers plotting my assassination alright.¡±


    Arthur winced, casting his eye towards the watching guild. He could see people still standing, and even seemingly approaching. So she probably hadn¡¯t killed them all.


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it. I put an end to it,¡± Arthur said.


    ¡°You didn¡¯t need to do that for me.¡±


    ¡°I did it for them.¡±


    Selene laughed lightly, a laugh that started jovial enough but soon devolved into something more cruel. ¡°I do have something I need to ask you, though.¡±


    ¡°What is it?¡±


    ¡°Who killed Kurnugi?¡±


    Arthur froze. This question. This was not good. ¡°Kurnugi?¡±


    ¡°The dragon whose magic the sword brat uses. Who killed him?¡±


    ¡°The sword brat was a mage before I ever even heard of Diabolos.¡±


    Selene¡¯s glare towards him was something to make his blood go cold. Arthur was beginning to overclock again; he had the feeling he needed to be thinking fast here.


    ¡°I guess I¡¯ll just have to kill both of them just to be safe.¡± Selene said with a shrug


    ¡°It wasn¡¯t him. He was a kid.¡±


    ¡°I thought he was before your time?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, but he¡¯d been a mage for years before I got here. He¡¯s too young to have fought a dragon himself beforehand.¡±


    ¡°Then who killed my son?¡±


    Diabolos, and Team Natsu, were gathered by now.


    ¡°Ask them.¡±


    ¡°I guess I will,¡± She said, turning towards the dragon eaters with a dangerous look on her face before bringing a finger up to point at Suzaku. ¡°Where did you get your dragon slayer magic? Who killed the dragon whose power you stole?¡±


    Suzaku looked at Arthur and then at Selene. His hand had reflexively gone to the hilt of his sword. His first instinct was to fight, and Arthur was hoping he didn¡¯t yield to it. He was still 5 years too early to have a chance at victory there even against Selene in her human form.


    Moonlight butterflies explode about his scabbard, blowing his sword from his waist. ¡°I asked you a question.¡±


    ¡°It was Georg,¡± Kirin said.


    ¡°See, was it that difficult?¡± Selene asked, and then she turned to Arthur. ¡°I¡¯ve got my second favor: kill Georg Reizen.¡±


    ¡°You think we¡¯ll just stand here and let you kill our guild master?¡± Kirin spat out.


    ¡°I think that if I want him dead not one of you can stop me,¡± Selene said as a spherical portal launched from Selene¡¯s hand growing to wrap around Kirin and he disappeared. ¡°Arthur, if they try to stop you, kill them all too.¡±


    Taberius stepped forward then, his hand moving to the hilt of his sword. ¡°Lady Selene, surely you jest. You cannot ask a man to k-¡± And like Kirin the exceed vanished


    ¡°No,¡± Arthur said.


    Selene turned on him, night imposing itself instantly across the sky, a full moon hanging heavy and fat above. ¡°No?¡±


    ¡°No. They are my guild.¡±


    ¡°You said you¡¯d do anything I requested.¡±


    ¡°I said I would once. And I have. I never actually agreed to thrice. You altered the terms unilaterally there.¡±


    Selene¡¯s body changed, growing massive and scaled. In an instant she was in her true, draconic form, towering above the mages. The weaker among them fell to their knees, dropping down just from the sheer magical pressure.


    Arthur requipped his black sword and already he could hear it singing for the dragon god¡¯s blood. ¡°I will not kill my guild. I¡¯ll¡­¡± His voice broke. He wasn¡¯t certain if he was bluffing or not. He could give in. He could do what she asked.


    ¡°You¡¯ll what?¡± The contempt in her voice made him nauseous.


    ¡°I¡¯ll die first. You want me to kill Georg, fine. But I won¡¯t kill the guild, and you will listen to my argument for why it shouldn¡¯t be done first.¡±


    ¡°So many conditions. Talk fast.¡±


    ¡°Does it even matter to you why Georg killed him? If Kurnugi had slaughtered a town would you spare Georg? If he had killed Georg¡¯s family would you spare him? If he had been in the act of killing them would you spare Georg?¡±


    This book is hosted on another platform. Read the official version and support the author''s work.


    ¡°No. No. No. And again no. So kill him.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not done,¡± Arthur growled.


    ¡°Go on then. I grow tired of this.¡± Team Natsu - which Arthur was realizing lacked Natsu - and Diabolos were positioning themselves between Georg and him, with Selene opposite of them.


    ¡°So it¡¯s vengeance not justice. But if you kill him others will take vengeance. All you¡¯re doing is propagating the cycle of vengeance. Oh you could kill Diabolos too. You could kill Team Natsu. But it wouldn¡¯t change anything. You¡¯ll be the dragon that killed the guild that protected people from dragons, proving just how necessary such protection was. And there will be someone else who comes along to take revenge. As long as the cycle of vengeance continues it will consume both sides. So stop it here. Prove to them that you are better than that. That you are not the monster they see you as. Show that you can end the bloodshed instead of just produce more of it.¡±


    ¡°Nice speech,¡± Selene yawned exaggeratedly. ¡°But why should I be the one to end it? Let me take my vengeance and then they can end it.¡±


    ¡°Because you¡¯re an adult. These are children. You won¡¯t be dealing with reasonable adults. Even the oldest humans are children compared to you. You¡¯ve lived centuries. You should be the mature and reasonable one, you can¡¯t expect children to if the adult can¡¯t. Prove that humanity does not have the monopoly on virtue.¡±


    ¡°Are you done yet?¡±


    Arthur was shaking and trembling. He didn¡¯t want to kill Georg.It would be a failure. Georg had¡­ Georg had helped him. He¡¯d never have gotten started without him. He owed Georg for that. Even if Georg had gone for the kill today. He wanted to save him. To pull the draconic cancer out of his soul, and show him how much Arthur himself was truly worth. He wanted to rub his nose in his failure. He wanted to see if those better moments he had shown were the real Georg and his rage and temper were just the damage of his partial dragonification, or if he really was a twisted fool.


    And more he didn¡¯t want to kill in cold blood. Georg wasn¡¯t some monster going around killing and hurting people. He wasn¡¯t Serena; Arthur didn¡¯t think that Georg would come to threaten his life if he spared him. He wasn¡¯t a true danger or threat to either of them, nor was he likely to make himself one that had to be dealt with through lethal force.


    ¡°Fine. I¡¯ll do it. I¡¯ll kill the guild master. But¡­ I will remain in the guild, and I will do my duties for it.¡± Arthur was palming a silver key, summoning Caelum off a ways to the side.


    ¡°Fine,¡± Selene said.


    ¡°I just expect that Georg¡¯s last job will be-¡± Arthur began, turning his back towards Selene. Caelum was playing spotter. He didn¡¯t dare drop his guard to let her really strike at him where he couldn¡¯t see. But he was moving towards Georg.


    ¡°I said fine,¡± Selene repeated, ¡°I won¡¯t make you kill him. I will prove that I am the adult here. But if any member of your guild tries to kill me it will be war. If they even act against me it will be war. And I expect their cooperation in dealing with the Dragon King and the other Dragon Gods.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯ll have to take that up with the master,¡± Arthur said.


    Selene laughed. ¡°And if he disagrees?¡±


    ¡°Depends how and to what. He¡¯s old enough I expect him to behave like an adult.¡± Arthur said.


    Selene smirked a little there. ¡°... I can accept that.¡±


    Natsu, Kirin, and Tabby reappeared in front of Selene. They were inside of Diabolos¡¯s guild hall. ¡°See, I didn¡¯t harm either of them.¡±  The Moon Dragon God was back to her human form. She looked at them.


    Kirin¡¯s head shot about, looking for the coffin he carried with him as a form of emotional security. It was Suzaku who grabbed his shoulder before he could actually consider fighting Selene.


    Tabby was not as easily stopped. ¡°Lady Selene, I must lodge protest ag-¡± He had stepped forward, but a glare from Selene was enough to silence him again, stepping back and swallowing dryly.


    ¡°So this pink haired boy is Igneel¡¯s human plaything,¡± Selene said moving her head to look at Natsu.


    ¡°You know Igneel?¡± Natsu said. ¡°Where is he? What happened to him?¡±


    ¡°Knew. The last I heard anything about him was hundreds of years ago,¡± She said.


    ¡°Hundreds of years ago?¡±


    ¡°Yes. He¡¯d taken in a human child,¡± Selene¡¯s tone was bored and dismissive.


    ¡°What happened to him after that?¡± Natsu urged, pressing forward till he was nearly on her.


    ¡°Sleep.¡± Selene¡¯s hand rose and waved and Natsu slumped down and forward against her, his eyes sliding shut.


    ¡°What was that for?¡± Gray asked, stepping forward.


    Selene¡¯s hand rose, a small moon-like orb of energy forming in her palm and expanding outwards to envelop her, Arthur, and Natsu.


    In a moment they were in Edolas. ¡°I guess it¡¯s time for a teaching moment. A dragon¡¯s magic isn¡¯t just elemental manipulation,¡± She said. ¡°There¡¯s at least a piece of Igneel in this boy. I can feel it. And before I decide what to tell him I ought to at least get the Fire Dragon King¡¯s opinion. He was great once, I owe some respect to the position he held back then.¡±


    Arthur nodded a little dumbly, and began to open his Archive turning it fully to a record and observation mode.


    And then Selene began to work. She closed her eyes, and turned her focus seemingly completely away from him. If he wanted to he could have murdered her right then. But she¡¯d spared the guild. She¡¯d even spared Georg. If he wasn¡¯t going to kill the asshole in cold blood, he wasn¡¯t going to kill Selene in cold blood. Even the points, more than most things would still give him, wasn¡¯t enough to motivate it. She was more useful to him alive, than less than 200 points were.


    He felt shame for even considering it. But the temptation was still there. But¡­ he¡¯d known her for months and worked with her. And while he was pissed at her at the moment; she had yielded. She had given in.


    Besides this might be something important for him to learn. Much of it was something Arthur couldn¡¯t observe directly. But it wasn¡¯t too unlike his attempts at dealing with his own dragon seed via Takeover. A piece of her soul entered Natsu. And it communicated with another external soul within him. It was soul manipulation magic meant to work with the souls of dragons. If she was willing to actually teach him this, it might be the last thing he needed to be able to fix dragonification.


    And then she raised her head and opened her eyes. ¡°That was enlightening.¡± She said. ¡°I knew dragon souls were far sturdier than human ones, but to try something like that. Let¡¯s return to Earthland. I should tell Grandeeney''s child as well.¡±


    ¡°And what do you have to say?¡±


    ¡°You¡¯ll find out.¡±


    Arthur would not be there for her explanation; at least not the start of it. Georg was waking up - Wendy had healed him - and it was thought that it was best if Arthur explained things about Selene to him personally.


    ¡°You let that creature into my guildhall?¡± Georg summed it up.


    ¡°She could have killed you. I couldn¡¯t have stopped her,¡± Arthur wasn¡¯t certain about that. But he really didn¡¯t want to have to test that. And it¡¯d be risky at best. A risk he¡¯d not have taken. Fighting Selene when she was ready and able was¡­ Unless she did something stupid like choose to fight a fight she knew she¡¯d lose she¡¯d not lose. And Arthur didn¡¯t have anything so dangerous that his obtaining it would ensure she¡¯d lose eventually to get her to fight him like that now to undermine him for others.


    ¡°Well now I can stop-¡± Arthur¡¯s territory magic slammed into Georg and pressed him to the ground.


    ¡°You couldn¡¯t beat me when I was holding back. Even when you nearly became a dragon yourself because of fighting too hard. If I can¡¯t stop her, all you trying would do is give her the justification to destroy the entire guild. If you try it, I will kill you myself.¡± He let his black sword appear once more, and held it with the tip only separated from Georg¡¯s throat by the very barrier he was holding Georg down with.


    ¡°I¡¯m still the guild master,¡± Georg growled.


    ¡°Doesn¡¯t matter.¡± Arthur answered.


    ¡°You disloyal piece of-¡±


    ¡°Disobedience isn¡¯t always disloyalty, you senile old monster,¡± Arthur snapped. ¡°Do you want her to kill Suzaku, Misaki, Kirin, Kiria, Skullion, Madmole, Orin, Pax, Cullen, Nebaru, Dai-¡±


    ¡°I get it,¡± Georg snapped. ¡°You don¡¯t have to list out the entire guild.¡±


    ¡°You killed her son. She didn¡¯t kill you despite that. You go and try and kill her, even if the guild would survive. And you¡¯re not the hero of the people. You¡¯re the monster that¡¯s carrying on a war that serves no purpose except to kill more people. She¡¯s helping Edolas. She¡¯s not hurting anyone. And right now there¡¯s reason to think she won¡¯t.¡±


    Georg glared at him. And then looked down at his hand. It was scaled. He had come within mere seconds of going too far. If Arthur hadn¡¯t knocked him out.


    ¡°And if you think she will in the future, throwing away the best resource to stop her isn¡¯t the way to go about it. Help your children grow. Teach them. Train them. Make them strong. You don¡¯t have to kill her in your lifetime.¡±


    Georg wasn¡¯t thinking about that. He was thinking about his hand. Just how close he was to becoming a dragon. He laughed then, a hollow, regret filled laugh. ¡°You might as well have let her kill me,¡± He said.


    ¡°Because I won¡¯t let you kill her?¡±


    ¡°Because I¡¯m going to become one of the monsters I¡¯ve spent my life fighting.¡±


    ¡°I still think I can find a cure.¡±


    Georg laughed again, that same, nihilistic roar of self-mockery. ¡°You don¡¯t understand how close I am. If I fight again I¡¯m through. Apparently I can¡¯t be trusted to make decisions, and I was never half as strong as I thought I was to begin with. Everything I¡¯ve done was a waste.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯d not say that. The guild shows more than a little promise.¡±


    Georg scowled. ¡°I won¡¯t pick a fight. But I¡¯m going to stay here till that thing is gone. And you, you get out of my face. I don¡¯t really want to deal with your reek right now.¡± He lay back down then, no longer straining against the Territory barrier. Arthur turned and left the room.


    ¡°Good bye, Georg. Rest. Sleep.¡± He shook his head as he spoke, and he left his nikora behind to watch over the guild master.


    ¡°What happened?¡± Natsu asked as he woke up.


    ¡°I put you to sleep to learn something,¡± Selene said. ¡°I had to get you to tell me where Igneel was¡±


    Natsu¡¯s look was one of confusion. ¡°But I don¡¯t know where he is, that¡¯s why I¡¯m looking for him.¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s inside of you.¡± Selene said.


    ¡°So Natsu ate him?¡± Happy suggested.


    ¡°No,¡± Selene said.


    ¡°How could he be inside of me? He¡¯s a lot bigger than me,¡± Natsu protested.


    Selene sighed again. ¡°He was wounded in a fight, his soul itself damaged. But a dragon¡¯s soul is a resilient thing, so he abandoned his physical form and transferred his soul into you to give it time to heal.¡±


    ¡°Eh?¡± Natsu said.


    ¡°His soul is hidden inside of you, and he¡¯s healing. When he¡¯s healed he¡¯ll return. Why he didn¡¯t tell you this beforehand I can¡¯t say. But little by little he¡¯s healing to fight his old enemy again.¡±


    ¡°Where is he in me?¡±


    ¡°In your spiritual place. It¡¯s not a physical existence.¡±


    ¡°What?¡±


    Selene sighed. She began trying to explain it all to Natsu. Diabolos and the Fairy Tail mages slowly gathered around her as she tried different explanations. Sometimes Wraith interjected and discussed some elements of dragon souls and spirit-based magic. Arthur had returned by the end, and Suzaku and Misaki left to see to Georg - Kirin, haunted by the soul of the dragon he had consumed stayed to listen and learn.


    ¡°To summarize, though. If you want to meet Igneel again, all you need is to wait and remain safe. But if you want to actually spend time with him, and not have him throw away his life in a suicidal battle, again, you¡¯ll need to kill his enemy first. And for that¡­ well you don¡¯t have a chance as you currently are.¡±


    ¡°So I just have to get stronger,¡± Natsu¡¯s determination was clear, fire whipping around his fists.


    ¡°Much stronger,¡± Selene said. ¡°But I may be able to help. There¡¯s another world, one called Elentear. It has magical power in vast abundance, and should you go there you may be able to grow stronger more quickly. You too, Wendy. If you want to see your parents again, I can help you. But you¡¯d both owe me.¡± Selene grinned. She knew she had them over a barrel. But she wouldn¡¯t ask anything too bad. The children weren¡¯t useful.


    But Igneel¡¯s faction? Before he had been wounded Igneel had been the strongest dragon other than Acnologia to survive the Dragon King Festival; more powerful at that time than any of the Dragon Gods had been. The others varied, but they were each strong. Selene honestly would have preferred that they stay dead, but she wasn¡¯t lying when she said they would throw their lives away in a suicidal fight.


    But they were strong enough that the five of them together could perhaps kill Acnologia. Maybe even have a survivor or two of the battle. And even if they failed, Acnologia would be left with permanent wounds. They would change the balance of power, and it would favor her.


    And if Igneel did survive Acnologia, he and Ignia were certain to finish their old argument. Ignia had grown substantially since Igneel had disappeared. He might be stronger than Igneel now. But not so strong he could fight his father without serious injury. And then she could finally be rid of Ignia.


    So she¡¯d help hasten their revival. Of course she wasn¡¯t telling the dragon children that the goal wasn¡¯t actually to get them strong enough to kill Acnologia, and merely to quicken their adoptive parents¡¯ final sacrifice. They didn¡¯t need to know that.


    ¡°But going to Elentear would mean leaving Fairy Tail behind¡­¡± Natsu said.


    ¡°Only for a time. No one is asking you to renounce your membership. But as long as the dragon king lives I don¡¯t dare travel to and from Fiore.¡±


    ¡°I¡­ I¡¯ll have to think about it.¡± Natsu said, his indecision sounding out in the wavering tone of his voice. It was a chance at seeing Igneel again, but he¡¯d be away from his family potentially for years.


    ¡°I will be leaving soon enough. Though I¡¯m sure Arthur could transport you if you could convince him. And on that matter. Arthur. What do you think you were doing in Ishgar?¡±


    ¡°I just had to go get Wendy so I traveled south with my teleportation magic,¡± he said, stepping back a bit. His fear of Selene¡¯s wrath was cut off a bit by the knowledge that if she was that pissed about it she¡¯d have acted on it already. Unless she had only found out since the truce was called?


    ¡°He noticed,¡± She said. Arthur¡¯s heart dropped. He had taught Acnologia to access the multiverse. ¡°And he followed you back. Mercphobia had to give out the warning call for the first time in over a century. You drew him back to Guiltina.¡±


    Arthur felt relieved. He had already known Acnologia noticed the return trip, and, if she was talking about that, presumably she wasn¡¯t talking about his use of interdimensional transit to go south.


    ¡°What¡¯s the problem with that?¡± Arthur asked.


    Selene rolled her eyes. ¡°Besides that I had to answer an emergency call to arms alongside the other Dragon Gods? Any time that call is made it might end up in the fight that kills me.¡±


    Arthur couldn¡¯t look her in the eye at that point. He felt guilty and that was the honest truth.


    ¡°Especially when two of the dragon gods don¡¯t arrive. Aldoron I knew was playing village somewhere, but it seems Vierres has decided to turn himself into an alchemist guild. I thought you might want to know; Gold Owl is a dragon.¡±


    There was a sudden chorus of questions. Selene didn¡¯t answer them, but kept her focus on her ¡®knight¡¯. ¡°It might be useful information. Oh, and Arthur, don¡¯t even think of leading Acnologia back here again. Now, if my nose doesn¡¯t deceive me, I think dinner is ready.¡±


    After supper, Arthur found himself talking to the other Dark Dragon Slayer Knights.


    Georg had announced his retirement as Guild Master. He could no longer even serve as an active member of the guild in combat, and his judgment was in question. He had given the guild a suicidal order. He could no longer act as Guild Master.


    Besides Diabolos was a guild ruled by strength. That had always been the rule of Diabolos. Strength made the rules. By beating him, Arthur had fundamentally undermined his authority. Even if the guild would still follow him as its founder and their effective father, Georg refused to remain as guild master. His decisions as such would be second guessed forevermore.


    Whether he had understood that was what he was doing or not, Arthur had taken that from him. And that meant, by right of conquest, it was Arthur¡¯s job now.


    He tried to refuse. He tried to point out how he had too many other responsibilities. How he had to find the cure. And for that he¡¯d have to continue working with Selene because she was - right now - his best option. How he was fundamentally too feckless for the job.


    The argument went on well into the night.


    It was three days later when Team Natsu went back to Fiore. Natsu and Wendy had affairs to set in order. Lisanna stayed behind. Arthur had promised to show her around Guiltina. And while his new responsibilities would limit his ability to, they¡¯d also require him to travel it to learn about the situation with certain regions. She¡¯d not be staying forever, but a month or two wasn¡¯t out of the question. It¡¯d give her a chance to see how the Edolas version of her family were doing.

 3 Years Later

    When Arthur walked back into Diabolos¡¯s guild hall it caused an immediate stir within it. Kirin had been the acting guild master for most of the last three years. Georg refused to do much more than occasionally give advice, and Arthur refused to stay in the proper dimension much less the guild. So it fell on Kirin¡¯s shoulders.


    Even so Arthur was without question the guild¡¯s strongest member, and that meant more than it ought to have. And him being back either meant he was going stir crazy in his research, again, or something big was stirring.


    ¡°Arthur!¡± Kiria called out and ran towards him. ¡°Didn¡¯t expect you to be back until the Guild Masters¡¯ summit next month.¡± In many regards Kirin might be the de facto guild master, but Arthur was still the de jure one, and he didn¡¯t completely neglect the role.


    Arthur raised his prosthetic hand and waved away her question. ¡°I figured I should show my face around here sometime.¡±


    Kiria¡¯s nose twitched, her eyes alighting on his hand. ¡°That¡¯s¡­¡±


    The hand was a reflective silver in color, almost a mirror in its shine, but it wasn¡¯t metal. It was covered in scales, too thick and heavy to be the natural mail of a fish. The fingers ended in claw tips, looking almost like he had undergone partial dragonification already, or was using the dragon force. There was no way of mistaking it as anything but a human sized dragon¡¯s claw. Except that the base ended in scaled covered strips of material which seemed to have dug into the flesh of his arm beneath it.


    ¡°Made from a dragon, yeah,¡± Arthur finished for her. It hadn¡¯t been the dragon he¡¯d originally intended to make one from years ago; he¡¯d used Pyrovoia¡¯s arm for another more important task. ¡°But I need to see Kirin, would you go tell him I¡¯d like to talk to him and Georg?¡±


    Kiria immediately understood that this was about Georg¡¯s dragonification somehow. Arthur and Georg still did not get along well even after these two years. They were very rarely in the same room if they could avoid it, and even more rarely did they actually seek each other out. The only exception was the attempt to prevent Georg¡¯s final plunge into becoming a dragon.


    By all rights it should have happened months ago. Between Arthur¡¯s medicines, and Georg not using his magic the change had been held off for more than 2 years. But it had still progressed slowly, and it had taken periodic uses of Arthur¡¯s Takeover magic to keep Georg from crossing what Arthur had dubbed the Dragon Event Horizon.


    Though that didn¡¯t explain why he¡¯d need Kirin as well. At least not if it was something routine.


    ¡°What do you need to talk to Kirin about?¡± the blonde asked with a lopsided grin. It no longer showed the hints of fangs she¡¯d once had. He¡¯d managed to pull her back from that path a year ago. But Georg and Nebaru had been too far gone already.


    ¡°Guild business,¡± he answered.


    ¡°Oh? Got something juicy?¡± Kiria asked.


    ¡°It¡¯s about various things. Including making my retirement official,¡± Arthur said.


    ¡°What? You can¡¯t retire! Why?¡± Kiria complained.


    ¡°Because a guild master can¡¯t go on a hundred year quest in another continent. Now go get Kirin.¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s out. What¡¯s this about a hundred year quest?¡± Kiria said, pushing in a little closer.


    Arthur sighed, and teleported past her. ¡°You¡¯ll find out when Kirin has had his chance to talk me out of things.¡±


    It was an hour before Kirin returned. The four met in the mountains behind the guild, a good 20 minute walk from the guild hall. Georg had aged in the last three years. He¡¯d been unable to use his magic for three years, and the lack of exercise and purpose showed. He had gone from a muscular man, full of vitality and strength, even if visibly in his later years, to a shrunken old husk, his skin loose and wrinkled, his eyes half-grayed.


    And his arms and chest covered in draconic scales. The look he gave Arthur was one of almost unthinking rage. It had been 5 months since he¡¯d hit the point where every day he risked dragonification. Arthur had to respect the man for his humanity. He knew what a dragon¡¯s body felt like. It was disconcerting for even a short period. The change of senses was something the brain wasn¡¯t meant to handle; he was still using his alchemy to negate his own motion sickness even though his Takeover and Archive magic helped him to offset the sensorium changes. While the excess of sensory information caused the motion sickness, that was mostly auditory with a touch of visual and olfaction; Arthur hadn¡¯t managed to restore Georg¡¯s sense of touch. He had had a method he could try; but it would require Georg to have crossed the Rubicon first.


    Arthur knew that in part Georg blamed him for it. And he wasn¡¯t wrong to. Without that final fight between them, and the battle with Silver Demon - two things which wouldn¡¯t have happened if he wasn¡¯t here - Georg wouldn¡¯t be this close to dragonification even 5 years from now.


    He¡¯d given Georg the choice though. He could have ripped out his dragon slayer magic completely even two years ago. He could have done so even if he had been in the middle of battle as long as 6 months ago. But Georg had refused. He¡¯d stay a dragon slayer until he died, or became a meal for his ¡®children¡¯. Arthur found the idea of that risk disgusting, but he could understand the desire to cling to that power. He might justify his attachment to it with the need to have it when he returned to his original world along with others with similar power; but he knew he¡¯d not willingly part from it even without that excuse.


    Kirin had grown more than he had aged. He stood with a bit more certainty, even if Arthur knew he was exhausted more often than not.


    ¡°So what is this about retirement and hundred years quests?¡± Kirin asked.


    ¡°And why¡¯d you bring the little girl?¡± Georg growled. Wendy was growing, but she was still in her younger teens. About half a year older than she¡¯d normally be by the events of the Hundred Years Quest.


    Arthur raised his hand and a staff appeared in it. It was made of a dragon¡¯s radius and ulna, wood carefully inserted between to brace them after they had been coated in gold and silver, and over it all the dragon¡¯s scales had been wrapped. The dragon¡¯s claws had been removed from the palm, and the bones had been wired into place to hold a chunk of multi-colored lacrima at its head. Arthur had originally intended to make himself an arm from Pyronoios¡¯s arm, but she was still the strongest dragon he had slain, and he had needed the best materials for the staff. His arm could use something second rate like the Abyss Dragon¡¯s arm.


    Kirin and Georg looked at the staff. Arthur had brought back plenty of swords before, but never a staff. The draconic construction also significantly demonstrated how it was not just an ordinary magical tool or some common holder magic.


    ¡°I think I can finally repay my debt to the guild,¡± Arthur said. ¡°If this staff works as intended it should be able to reverse dragonification, at least short of the final step.¡± He was looking at Georg. Ideally it would work even on Irene and Acnologia should they accept it. ¡°It should be able to decide whether to remove the dragon seed irrevocably or merely reverse it, and given time even harmonize it with the body so that the dragon seed dies on its own.¡± He hadn¡¯t actually listed all the things the staff was meant to do. It wasn¡¯t just his attempt to save Georg, but Irene as well, and possibly even his ultimate weapon against Acnologia.


    ¡°But?¡± Georg growled.


    ¡°I haven¡¯t had a chance to test it,¡± Arthur said. ¡°Dragonification stopped being a concern for me the moment I had mastered full body takeover.¡±


    Kirin and Georg looked at each other. Kirin had only seen his full body takeover, with dragon soul that is, once. Georg had only heard about it. The guild had almost turned on him. He had turned into a dragon after all. It was one of the few times they¡¯d seen the guild master exhausted in the last 3 years. He¡¯d also casually dominated a battle against another dragon.


    But controlling it in himself had been easy. The ability to apply it to others was harder. He¡¯d given Kiria a gauntlet that could help; coupled with one of his potions it had allowed her to safely use the dragon force at least for short bursts. But it had proven a failure for actually reversing even the light effects of Kiria¡¯s changes; he¡¯d had to do that personally more almost 2 years later.


    ¡°It¡¯s great you can hopefully help Georg and Nebaru, but what¡¯s this about clearing a debt?¡± Kirin asked.


    Arthur winced. He¡¯d messed up. He¡¯d implied that the guild was just a debt to him; an onerous responsibility he wanted to escape but his honor prevented that. And it really wasn¡¯t true. ¡°You¡¯re family to me,¡± He said, ¡°But someone has to deal with Acnologia, and I think that someone has to be me. I couldn¡¯t leave for the south knowing I might die without repaying the guild for all it¡¯s done for me.¡± Any chance of the canon fate of Acnologia had been thrown off by his involvement. Arthur wasn¡¯t sure he¡¯d want to live with himself if he let a world die for him. He didn¡¯t have as many nightmares as he once had, but he still wasn¡¯t alright with the blood already on his hands. Or even the blood he intended to add to them. But Zeref and Acnologia were both dangers to the entire world as long as they continued to exist, and better their blood be on his hands than the blood of their victims.


    ¡°We¡¯re dragon slayers,¡± Kirin began.


    ¡°And I might call for you to help against Acnologia. But Ineed to go and figure things out first. There¡¯s someone I need to talk to in Alvarez first. Several actually. They might be able to help. But I can¡¯t go to the south without taking precautions.¡± Even when he had been dating Lisanna he never went back to the south after the Silver Demon incident. They usually met in Edolas at the Anima Device. Acnologia had gotten his scent and there was no telling how long the Dragon King would keep it. ¡°I believe I can get away from Acnologia if I need to on my own, but I can¡¯t watch after too many people while I do it, nor could I take that chance before I had repaid my debt. Besides I¡¯m not leaving the guild unless the master wishes. I am just retiring as the guild master. I might be stuck in the south for years. I don¡¯t know. I can¡¯t do that as the guild master. Besides I¡¯ve not really been running the guild day to day all this time; it¡¯s time the real master got the credit he¡¯s due.¡±


    Kirin looked down and breathed deep. Arthur knew he still was haunted by the soul of the dragon he had eaten. Knew he wanted to leave the guild hall and his duties as stand-in master to hunt down and find the heart. Arthur knew how cruel this actually was to him. And he felt guilt over it. He liked Kirin. But someone had to run the guild and Arthur wasn¡¯t suited for it, and had other things his time was better put to doing. Bruce Wayne would make a great mayor of Gotham, but he did more good beating up insane clowns, because all of the social reforms in the world wouldn¡¯t stop the Joker from trying to destroy a city.


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    ¡°So the stick, it¡¯ll fix it so I can use magic again?¡± Georg asked, pulling the conversation back on track.


    ¡°Hopefully.¡± Arthur flinched at the gazed shot at him in response to that one word. ¡°I¡¯ve not tested it and Georg is; well he¡¯s far gone. It might be easier to turn someone who went all the way back than fix him at this point.¡±


    ¡°So saying I should just let loose and-¡±


    ¡°No!¡± Arthur shouted. ¡°Who knows how long it¡¯d take you to regain your sanity or how many people you¡¯d hurt. But we¡¯ll have to be careful not to accidentally cause that, and the amount of your magical energy tied up into the seed is an unknown factor. If things go ideally you¡¯ll still be a dragon slayer. But if things go poorly it could rip it out entirely, and even if it doesn¡¯t there¡¯s the chance that your body is too weak to survive the process.¡±


    ¡°This doesn¡¯t sound much different from the other method,¡± Georg complained.


    ¡°Do I actually need to explain how ¡®will definitely strip you of your magic¡¯ is different from ¡®has a good chance of not doing that but it is still theoretically possible¡¯?¡±


    Georg breathed deep. ¡°I get ya. Give it a go. And if I die I¡¯m gonna haunt you for eternity.¡±


    Arthur smirked. ¡°Don¡¯t tempt me.¡± His right hand was changing though, becoming white with large bands of scales, and thick fingers that almost seemed to have sawblades on the back. He¡¯d failed to turn his Gale Dragon Slayer Magic to healing, but Takeover had given him another option.


    ¡°So anything we need to do before using it? I mean might as well get this over with.¡± All three knew this was the deadline. Arthur had pushed it as close as he dared. He¡¯d have liked to have had more time to work on the staff to be honest. It was supposed to have a tutorial system, but while he¡¯d gotten the basic framework in place he¡¯d not had time to actually finish it. It was why he¡¯d have to use the staff himself instead of just letting it upload its functions into the user¡¯s mind. Though given how close Georg was to dragonification he¡¯d not have dared give him that mental jolt anyway.


    Arthur shook his head. ¡°Just get comfortable, and let Kirin get ready in case things go wrong.¡± His Archive opened into real space, the super computer¡¯s physical manifestations filling the mountain valley, lighting up the night. Arthur had spent these three years growing into his powers. Especially since things had ended with Lisanna.


    There were a few minutes of getting things ready. When they were ready, Arthur turned the staff on Georg. He placed it on his face, on the scars from his final shining finger against the older mage, and then he let it work. On the outside it wasn¡¯t much: touch and will. The lacrima on the staff glowed, and a little light show washed across Georg¡¯s body as a ghostly blue fire flowed down his flesh without burning anything. But it was his internal spiritual space which was where the real magic was working. Arthur was burning back the dragon seed, burning away the dragon inside of Georg.


    Georg¡¯s power fought back against it, and Arthur could feel the staff try to shake in his hand, the entire shaft vibrating lightly with the energy coursing through it. But the flames didn¡¯t relent, the spiritual wildfire spreading and burning through Georg, until Arthur called it to stop.


    Georg had looked shriveled before but he was visibly smaller now, as if his muscles had deflated, and even his skeleton had sagged. It was like he had lost 3 or 4 inches of height in an instant, though that might be his posture more than anything. His teeth had leveled out, and the splotches of scales which had covered most of his limbs and no small amount of his torso were gone. And then Georg was falling to the ground. Arthur was already on it, beginning to use healing magic. Georg wasn¡¯t dead yet, but the shock to his system was immense. Arthur had known so-called Magic Deficiency Disease was a risk, but he was ready. He could get Georg stable and the old man would live.


    Kochab carried Georg into the guild hall. He was breathing, he¡¯d even regained consciousness, but he was weak. Still he could feel again, his sense of touch having returned. The staff seemed to have worked; at least in that function.


    When Arthur explained the staff and its functions to the guild it was cause for celebration.


    When he explained that once he had finished installing its final piece of functionality he¡¯d be leaving for the south for an indeterminate period, it was a more sobering moment.


    The overall air still leaned towards celebration. Arthur might be retiring as guild master but the guild was still his home. Only Minerva and Taberius knew that if he was gone for years he might go beyond the reach of even his magic to return him to the guild forever. Only four people knew about where he really was from, his true nature, and where he would be going in somewhere under 6 more years. Angel had been a risk to tell, one he had thankfully gotten away with. The others he couldn¡¯t not tell. Taberius had the chance to join him; the cat hadn¡¯t decided whether he would or not yet. But the option was there, and he wasn¡¯t going to make Taberius rush the decision in the last few days. Lisanna had been the same. It¡¯d ended their relationship, but they had been getting too serious not to share it. It¡¯d lasted a few months after, but in the end Lisanna wanted a family, and she wanted to stay with her brother and sister. And the latter would be impossible on his journey, and the former complicated. And that left Minerva, as the Cait Shelter ghost guy did not count given he had passed on. If Arthur felt pangs of guilt over not telling the guild, he couldn¡¯t imagine what he¡¯d feel about not telling Minerva. She was like a daughter to him, or a much younger kid sister. He¡¯d never had a daughter to say where one ended and one began. But she deserved to be trusted with the information.


    Maybe the guild as a whole did. Maybe just making it public information would make things easier. Maybe he¡¯d just internalized too much of Spider-Man growing up. But the more people who knew the more likely it was to get back to his enemies, and the abilities it gave him were useful even if people had started to learn he could make strange leaps in power in battle.


    Not that he had since that last fight with Georg. He¡¯d spent the three years training the hard way and he had the callouses to show for it. And the surgery scars. He¡¯d used several lacrima to make the staff, but he¡¯d implanted more than one into his chest as well. With his Takeover Magic making assimilating them into his internal ethernano flow easy, and removing the greatest risk of implanting them, the reward for reaching 8 or more was tempting if he could manage it. There was a question of whether they were more valuable implanted in him, or used to make magical tools.


    Dragons were rare, though. And barring killing the dragon gods¡­ finding the lacrima alone might prove problematic. He might be able to make some artificially; the staff he had constructed could bestow a ripped out dragon seed onto a new individual, it might be able to make a dragon slayer lacrima with the proper materials. It was something he hadn¡¯t had the opportunity - or really cause - to test.


    Arthur didn¡¯t have much time that evening to think about such things. It was a celebration and he was the guest of honor. The staff was an important and powerful tool to the guild, more useful to them than any land battleship, or dragon mech. This was something critical to them as a group. He¡¯d given them their guild master back. He¡¯d given them an escape. He¡¯d given them the one thing they had needed above all others.


    And he felt his impostor syndrome returning. He hadn¡¯t just bought the powers. He¡¯d had to put in the work. Had to make new magic. Had to master a new form of Takeover which hadn¡¯t existed before, melding together dragon magic and transformation into a forbidden art. And he hadn¡¯t even done it for the CP. He¡¯d done it to help them. They were his friends and he had helped them as his friends.


    But he had not done it as quickly as he could have. He could say that he had to use and experience using the magic, that you couldn¡¯t just rush inventing a new form of Takeover just by practice, and that he¡¯d had to do things like wander off for 8 months to hunt dragons across dimensions, but he wasn¡¯t certain he actually bought it. Working on his Dark Dominion Magic had done nothing but been a distraction. He could say it was a necessary mental break; that he¡¯d needed it for sanity. But he couldn¡¯t get around that once the crunch time hit and he stopped hoarding points and spent his emergency reserve to buy Fairy Founder, things had just fallen into place so easily.


    He liked to believe he¡¯d been close before that. He really might have been. But he¡¯d consistently been pushing towards too many alternative ends and goals. And in the last month those had just started falling into place; he really should have taken it sooner. But it had left him dangerously low. Even now he couldn¡¯t afford another big purchase if he needed it¡­ and points were getting harder and harder to come by. He¡¯d not had any new bounties added in years, and the point values for those he hadn¡¯t completed had been slashed again. Even killing Acnologia would no longer get him a big purchase on its own.


    It was Misaki who pulled Arthur out of his own head. The girl had a disciplinarian attitude, sometimes pushing towards cold and cruel, but she had let her hair down for the event - literally as well as figuratively - and dancing with her was pleasant. And Arthur let himself relax a bit, simply enjoying the presence of his guild around him. Kiria regaled them with her latest job and its explosive finale. Minerva demonstrated how she had successfully taken to her second lacrima. Madmole pulled Arthur into drinking rather heavily with him. It was a night of relaxation and celebration among friends.


    And in the morning there was still no disaster to deal with. Arthur could get the staff working and then relax for a week. He¡¯d tried to take a week off several times in the last 3 years. His most successful ended when he told Lisanna about his nature as an outsider to the world; apparently bringing up potential relationship issues was too stressful to count as relaxation.


    ¡°So should I be packing too?¡± Minerva asked. She¡¯d grown in the last 3 years. She was becoming a young woman. Arthur didn¡¯t like it. It meant she attracted a bad sort of attention from irresponsible young boys. And you never knew when she was going to take a liking to one of the young idiots and possibly make a mistake she¡¯d regret for the rest of her life.


    ¡°This trip isn¡¯t to go track down the Yakumo. Not yet,¡± Arthur answered.


    ¡°Yeah, but that doesn¡¯t mean you won¡¯t need help. If you fight someone, Acnologia might notice, but I haven¡¯t gone running across his territory screaming ¡®I¡¯m a dragon¡¯ so even if I was strong enough for him to care about, he''s not on the alert for me.¡± When Arthur didn¡¯t immediately respond, she continued. ¡°So if you need someone to fight, or just need to travel quickly me and Tabby could help you out, and I can get away with Territory if you need to fight the big boy himself so you¡¯d not need to worry about protecting me.¡±


    She laid it all out, and Arthur couldn¡¯t help but smirk. She knew how to get him to agree; she¡¯d already preempted his first arguments against her coming along and presented something other than ¡®I want to come¡¯. It short circuited the chance to come up with second arguments.


    He sighed and nodded. ¡°It¡¯s going to be dangerous,¡± He said.


    Minerva¡¯s hand moved to her hip, as she gave him a sharp look. ¡°You made me a Dark Dragon Slayer Knight, if I can¡¯t face danger then what is that title for?¡±


    ¡°Doesn¡¯t mean I¡¯ll just order it. You¡¯ve got to be informed of what you¡¯re volunteering for.¡±


    ¡°And what exactly am I volunteering for?¡±


    Arthur breathed deep. He wasn¡¯t actually completely certain. ¡°I¡¯ve got to figure that out, first. I want to take a break. My plan is to spend a month here just sort of finally unwinding; maybe go on an actual vacation. Then there will be talking with Selene. Going south again without warning her would create unnecessary friction.¡± He owed it to her to warn her that he might end up bringing Acnologia to Guiltina; besides it was probably useful to have backup ready and on call. ¡°Then I intend to go find Irene Belserion, the first dragon slayer, and someone who has lived through dragonification for centuries. She¡¯s no match for Acnologia himself, but I think I can convince her to help me for the chance to restore herself towards something closer to humanity.¡± If all else failed he could teach her the magic that Selene used to take human form. Irene wanted a return to full human sensation. Selene¡¯s magic seemed to allow that. ¡°I¡¯ll have to play it by ear from there, but Irene is known for capriciousness and cruelty, the Wizard King August is considered the 2nd most dangerous wizard alive in any world that Selene is familiar with, and the emperor is¡­¡±


    ¡°The Black Wizard Zeref, whose curse of contradiction has driven to total psychopathy. You¡¯ve told me this before.¡±


    ¡°Then you realize while they may prove essential allies to deal with Acnologia, they may also prove..¡±


    ¡°To be extremely dangerous. I¡¯ve not trained this long and this hard to run from a bit of danger,¡± She said with a smile which made Arthur want to scold her. She was still a kid - she was only in her mid teens after all - and she was getting far too overconfident. It was dangerous for her.


    On the other hand, the only mage in Diabolos who might match her was Georg, and that was if she held back to just her dragon slayer and territory magic. She was going to be one of the great mages of her generation.


    ¡°Just, be careful. You¡¯re good. You¡¯ve got what it takes to be one of the greats of your generation. If you move back to Ishgar you might eventually be the number one wizard god of the continent. But we¡¯ll be going against the Spriggan 12 and the best in Ishgar would only be middling among them.¡±


    ¡°So I¡¯m on the right level.¡±


    ¡°Eventually you could be. If you don¡¯t get yourself killed first.¡±


    She sighed and slumped against a wall pouting. ¡°I¡¯ll be careful. But does this mean I¡¯m coming?¡±


    ¡°Well¡­ I didn¡¯t train you for nothing. And I feel more comfortable knowing I have you and Tabby at my back.¡±


    ¡°Good. And when Acnologia is wrapped up¡­¡±


    ¡°We investigate the Yakumo. I promise.¡± Growing up with a set of angry ghosts inside of her had had an influence on Minerva. Wraith had helped her control them. Arthur had as well.


    For Arthur, though, the course was set. He would take a month to try and refresh and recharge, and then he would go to Alvarez to meet one of the most dangerous mages who had ever lived and court an alliance.

 Interlude - A Month Off

    Days passed peacefully. Fixing the staff only took a few days. And then it was time to finally succeed on a bounty that had been being delayed far too long.


    Relax for 7 days straight: 100 CP. 12 CP.


    Its value had gone down a fair bit, but it was still 12 CP he could get easily, and more than anything he was tired. He¡¯d not had a real vacation in 3 years. He wanted to relax.


    But his mind was overflowing with ideas. Each time he¡¯d bought some power to make learning magic easier it had gotten worse. When he¡¯d bought his magic skill up to four his mind had just started thinking better about magic. When he¡¯d brought it to five he had started having these moments of sudden enlightenment as things had just clicked. Not So Lost Magic had filled his head with how to create. And now Fairy Founder had scribbled 11 on and cranked up the amplifier till the knob had broken.


    He didn¡¯t know if this was how genius was supposed to feel, or just a side effect of the way he had cheated his way to it. But there was something about having the inspiration of useful things he could try and do, that made being motivated to do something useful easier. It was hard to be listless and filled with ennui when he had a head brimming with ideas that wanted an outlet.


    It might have been easier if he had the nature needed to dedicate himself and work himself to actual exhaustion on a task, but instead he took a break when tired until not tired, and that didn¡¯t require a whole week most of the time. Instead he tended to give in to indulging his whims and desires; resting when he wanted to rest, getting side tracked when an interesting possibility presented itself, and being productive when a spark of inspiration hit. It might be the only reason he¡¯d actually managed to master his takeover magic. Instead of having the sheer force of will and determination to hold back dragonification, he¡¯d had to figure out how to get the magic to manipulate the dragon seed and soul inside of himself.


    Still it meant he was going to need help if he wasn¡¯t going to try and push his spirit dragon slayer magic a step further through integration with his darkness magic, and qualities of his Chaos Soul, weaving together the spiritual appetite with a dragon slayer¡¯s lungs and developing the possibility to consume a person¡¯s¡­


    Suzaku looked at Arthur. The guild master had demonstrated himself to be less feckless than Suzaku had once believed. He still wasn¡¯t certain how he had ever managed to master the sword after the disastrousness of his early attempts - he simply had lacked the discipline and motivation - or how he had managed to master the dragon seed after failing dismally at his attempts to learn discipline during his first months as guild master. Even the cat, Tabby, had managed to stay under the waterfall for longer and stick to the training regime better. Still he had been there for meetings that had required the guild master - Suzaku had been a little surprised by that - and had managed to provide the end result he promised.


    Letting research take priority over other duties as guild master was not something Suzaku could fault him for after that. And if he could be a floating cloud and still get the necessary results, then perhaps it was Suzaku, not the guild master, who was lacking some essential piece of refinement.


    But now, Arthur was asking him for literature advice. The answer was evident fairly quickly. He excused himself and returned with a worn-eared and well leafed through book: I Was Summoned as a Hero but Something Went Wrong and Now I Am a Bug.


    Arthur tried to read the book that Suzaku had given him. He really did. But the prose was insipid and uninspired, the language had an over-reliance on formal language in a manner which felt like one was reading a bad Thor run trying to sound like ye olde medieval Shakespearian language without Stan Lee¡¯s, admittedly questionable, ¡®charm¡¯. And given the protagonist had cheat powers that would make even Arthur blush, the constant reassurance that they were actually rather bad powers came off as dishonest at best.


    Misaki¡¯s literary suggestion did not prove more conductive to giving him some relaxing means of occupying his mind. He couldn¡¯t comment on the writing quality, but an ordinary, extremely beautiful teenage girl, convinced she was actually extremely plain and unpopular despite everyone around fawning over her beauty, being courted by a pair of space aliens from opposing warring space empires was just not quite for him.


    Kiria¡¯s suggestion was a blank faced stare. Skullion¡¯s felt like it was about an english professor having an affair. He finally settled on one of Tabby¡¯s suggestions. He¡¯d read a few before; chivalric romances just with cat people and more hard magic, though not with less soft magic in the form of ¡®sacred arts¡¯ for all that. The best could be placed up with Christien de Troyes¡¯ Arthurian romances, maybe.


    Still he could only read so much dry medieval fiction before getting bored. And it was when he got bored that there was something to worry about. Because when he got bored there was that little voice going ¡®you could practice this bit of magic¡¯. Misaki¡¯s teen supernatural romance story helped a little as well, but it was a quick read. Suzaku¡¯s was finished soon as well, and after 3 days of reading he was getting antsy, itching to do something different.


    It wasn¡¯t the first time he had missed the internet or just tv and movies. Even Edolas didn¡¯t have a film industry. And Arthur just found himself wishing he could sit down, marathon some classic Star Trek, and vegetate. Even TNG would do.


    But there weren¡¯t that many options. For sheer lack of stimulation he was considering being productive. But relaxing would give him points. Arthur finally decided it was time to turn off the light - a minor magical tool - and sleep, but he was far from actually falling to sleep when there was a heavy pounding on the door.


    Arthur shot up like a bolt, practically stumbling from bed before simply cutting out the middleman and teleporting three steps and pulling it open. The quaking hammering had his mind in a panic. What had happened to bring about such urgency.


    Georg was standing there, giving him a sullen, cranky glare. ¡°You, me, no witnesses,¡± He said. ¡°Nothing to show. Nothing to flaunt. No one to impress.¡±


    ¡°What?¡± Arthur asked dumbly. He¡¯d been trying to sleep, and then dashed straight to panic mode, so it was being slow to put together Georg¡¯s meaning.


    ¡°I want a re-match. I want to see how I do without the change, and my role as guild master hanging over my head.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re not fully recovered. It won¡¯t show anything.¡±


    ¡°And how does one recover? I need to push my limits and I think you¡¯re the best option for that, ain¡¯t ya?¡±


    Arthur knew that this wouldn¡¯t count as relaxation. But he also knew that convincing Georg to let it drop wouldn¡¯t either. It was easier to go ahead and fight him. He might at least learn something; plus it¡¯d cost him less social capital.


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    He could understand Georg¡¯s desire. It¡¯d been 2 years and his skills, body, and power had all atrophied. Beyond that he¡¯d had a lot of his raw power drained from him. Arthur had been his last fight at the peak. It¡¯d be a way to ascertain how far he¡¯d dropped. And maybe how much Arthur had grown.


    Not all changes were in Arthur¡¯s favor, though. Georg didn¡¯t have to taunt him into holding back from using non-Dragon Slayer Magic this time, meaning that he wasn¡¯t exhausted and weakened when Arthur did begin to hold back. He also no longer had to worry about what would happen if he cut loose; instead he was able to actually wilfully draw on the Dragon Force.


    3 years ago either of these factors would have been decisive. Georg could draw deeper than he had in the attack that had forced Arthur to risk a fatal blow hoping to knock him out before he could kill Arthur and/or turn into a dragon. But with the way he had weakened even drawing that deeply he wasn¡¯t an equal to what he had been in that moment.


    And Arthur had grown.


    Georg sank to his knees. He¡¯d been drawing on the Dragon Force more heavily than he had in any battle in his life, and then suddenly it was gone.


    Arthur¡¯s right arm had changed. Scales coated it from the shoulder down, the fingers powerful talons. It was a wild mix-and-match of colors, parts of it shining bright, others darker than black. Arthur was drawing upon the absolute maximum draconic power he could. For most purposes it was not particularly useful. Each of the seven dragons he was melding in his arm he could have performed a full takeover with alone. He¡¯d be faster, stronger, and vastly more resilient. His ability with their particular dragon slayer magic would be far greater. But even as just one arm, the Dragon of Revelations - as he chose to call it - gave him a far greater mastery of one thing: the magical energy of dragons.


    He had cut Georg off from the dragon force, and had forced his dragon seed back down. The staff did it far more effectively and efficiently. But this was the magic the staff was based on. He might not have had the capability for alchemy, but he had studied the books and research of Silver Demon; he couldn¡¯t replicate the alchemy that had transformed and controlled Honami, but it had given him pieces of what it meant to control the dragon seed.


    ¡°That¡¯s cheating,¡± Georg growled.


    ¡°It¡¯s preventing self-harm. If I let you keep that up you¡¯d have pushed yourself to the staff¡¯s limits again,¡± Arthur said. ¡°You¡¯ll never recover if you keep pushing the dragon force.¡±


    ¡°What are you, my nursemaid?¡±


    ¡°I think in this case I qualify as your doctor,¡± Arthur shot back. ¡°If you want to practice I¡¯ll practice with you. But no dragon force, you¡¯re in the worst place to start trying to learn to control your seed from. Give it time.¡±


    Georg mumbled and grumbled, but soon enough they were beginning again, without the dragon force this time.


    The next week was eaten by Arthur¡¯s attempt to learn. He¡¯d already failed at his week of relaxation. He had hoped it wouldn¡¯t take so long, but what he was trying to do was complicated. The staff had drained Georg¡¯s excess draconic power, and it was capable of implanting it. It was dangerous for himself, but his takeover magic gave him the means to control it, and he wasn¡¯t implanting more than a small piece; he could cultivate the rest.


    But to cultivate it quickly, and moreover to learn what he needed to learn, he needed to see it in use. So Arthur found himself helping Georg to practice and train himself back into fighting shape. All the while Arthur was learning as well.


    There was a bounty to master Flesh, Bone, Blood, or Soul Dragon Slayer Magic. The Spirit Dragon Slayer Magic of Wraith apparently did not count for the last; maybe it was because his mastery relied on takeover to use at all, or maybe it was because it was because the soul wasn¡¯t one monolithic thing if you went back to early beliefs - the upper and lower souls of Chinese animism, the five to seven pieces of Egyptian paganism, the ¡­ Arthur didn¡¯t know how many parts the Norse ¡®soul¡¯ or its closest equivalent got put into. Either way he was vaguely aware that while rei could be translated as spirit or soul, it was usually used when talking about what lingered after death and not the soul that gave identity. Though the specification in the bounty that it separated people from animals was weird given that animals specifically had souls in this world.


    Either way Georg¡¯s vermillion phoenix ate the life force itself, the very animating essence. It was the other major portion of the soul. Between it and the knowledge of soul manipulation that was required to use Takeover Demon Soul - and to create Dragon Soul - the experience of metabolizing shades when Minerva had been possessed, and the ways that Darkness Magic already touched upon souls Arthur had the feeling that he had a good chance of mastering Soul Dragon Slayer Magic.


    He just needed to train with Georg and Wraith to get the foundation needed. Which meant no waiting till he had gotten the week long vacation.


    He¡¯d hoped with all the ways his brain was exploding with arcane insight into magic it would take a day or two. The week ended up long and strenuous, but there was a sense of excitement about it. He was learning to manipulate one of the fundamental aspects of human existence; to weaponize something that hopefully most people would have little defense against. From the perspective of his own survival, it was potentially massively useful. If, like Wraith, he could control his tangibility it might provide him with a defense superior to his territory armor, and if he could learn to manipulate life force he might be able to protect his own from assaults. And by the end of the week even if it was only through the medium of Takeover he was able to do both. Once things were properly internalized and mastered he¡¯d be that much more secure.


    Still he only had one more week before he had said he¡¯d be leaving to talk to Selene and start his trip. If he wanted to relax for a week straight he had to really start today.


    On the first day he took his lizardhawk and simply rode it for most of the day. He went nowhere in particular, simply flying over the countryside. He knew there was the danger that he might fly into an adventure, but it gave him a chance to hike about a bit, and enjoy the views from the sky.


    On the second day he read. There were books. And while Suzaku¡¯s isekai were sort of trash, but given Arthur didn¡¯t have any classic sci fi or fantasy pulp trash available he would accept them.


    On the third day he decided to go out on the town. He had money; he hadn¡¯t spent the 3 years in some pure hermitage. He had done plenty of ¡®1 year¡¯ and even ¡®10 year¡¯ quests during the period. He was far from rolling in jewels, but he had enough to spend a day traveling Guiltina watching plays, musicals, eating well, and enjoying the good life.


    On the fourth day he was reading again, but after Suzaku tried to argue with him to get him to train with him, Arthur ducked out via territory, teleporting miles away to read in the woods.


    On the fifth day, he went camping in a rather quiet alternate world he had found. It was a place where there was magic, but to his knowledge no sapient races. It was a gentle, peaceful, Arcadian place. He took to the skies himself, flying in the shape of a dragon and enjoying the air around him. He couldn¡¯t stay in the form too long; but, at lower levels of power use, he could use it for a fair deal longer than in combat. It was difficult to get his mind off of ways to try and fix that, but the problem ultimately would remain - he couldn¡¯t be sure where the line was or how far he could push and he wasn¡¯t willing to do so short of something like his life depending upon it. Which ultimately allowed him to just enjoy his walk.


    On the sixth day he went for another walk. He¡¯d always liked walking, always found hiking relaxing. He was lucky enough not to find someone in immediate danger. Not so lucky to avoid being attacked by werelions himself. He walked with them for a mile before they gave up on trying to bite through his armor. It was actually sort of fun. Though he did make a mental note to deal with them once he was off his vacation.


    On the seventh day he convinced some of his guild mates to play board games with him. This world¡¯s board games made Settlers of Catan look great, but they were still more fun than Monopoly. Made him sort of want to try and make a board game of his own. Maybe a deck builder like Dominion? It seemed like an economic niche which had been under exploited in this world. Well in Earthland. Arthur was getting excited about the idea until he remembered the board games in Edolas. They in general seemed pretty good to be honest.


    Still, as he woke up on the final day, before he just felt he couldn¡¯t delay any longer, he had completed the bounty and he had relaxed for one week straight. He wasn¡¯t leaving the guild today. Well he wasn¡¯t planning to. He was going to talk to Selene, and determine how and when he should go to Alvarez. But everyone knew he was going soon.

 Moonlight Rendezvous

    Arthur liked returning to Edolas. He¡¯d first gone there somewhere under 4 years ago. When he had, there had been the vibrant city of magic at its heart; King Faust¡¯s capital. And the rest of the world had been stripped clean. Wastelands had predominated, and people were losing their industrial base.


    He still remembered that as much as the manga¡¯s always a happy ending philosophy had made Mystogan¡¯s rule seem idyllic, that he had mentioned ¡®since the wars ended¡¯. It had been heading towards a bloody war of some sort. Assuming the empire hadn¡¯t splintered and we just weren¡¯t informed of it.


    What he saw, though, was a world where magic was having a resurgence. Selene had moved the capital. She had made herself unpopular in the original capital by forcibly exporting its bread and circuses to the rest of the world at the beginning of her reign. Good for overall prosperity; but it had proven she was an enemy of the old elite.


    Not that they dared do anything about it. Well they¡¯d tried. The first time had been after the Great Storm. Arthur didn¡¯t like thinking about that storm; it was - after all - the true cost of this prosperity. The second time she¡¯d actually used one of her favors to have Arthur help her put it down. It had been a much further reaching conspiracy and something of a real - if short lived - war. Arthur had added to the faces in his nightmare during it. There hadn¡¯t been a third time.


    The Great Storm¡¯s aftermath had been lacrima in amounts not seen on the surface of Edolas since the half-legendary past. Lacrima free for the taking. It had led to that longer war. A wealth of magic had been born which hadn¡¯t been seen in centuries, and some had tried to use it to make a play on Selene¡¯s life. They even almost succeeded.


    For the last year, though, Edolas had been peaceful. Selene had even started to be¡­ well she was still letting Prince Jellal do most of the real work as head of government, but she was taking being head of state seriously at least, and did seem to be concerned for the well-being of the people.


    Arthur was pleasantly surprised that he was able to make it to the palace to announce himself. It was still under construction, but it was coming along smoothly and quickly.


    Coco still didn¡¯t like him for his part in Byro¡¯s death and the destruction he had caused. But she was still working for the Dragon Queen, and he was still Selene¡¯s knight. When Selene told her to go fetch him and bring him into her presence, she obeyed.


    Selene was reclining on a couch, enjoying the entertainment of some magic tool performers as she ate delicacies. She was wearing her human form, which was to be expected, but when Arthur entered, she rose to a vertical position and clapped her hands before dismissing the performers rather brusquely and through manifested portals.


    ¡°So to what do I owe you returning here without me summoning you? What bit of help do you need this time?¡± Her sharp tone was somewhat mitigated by the dismissive hand wave of a spell which sent one of the small tables in front of her teleporting to in front of Arthur.


    ¡°The staff passed its first test. If it can pass its second I think I¡¯m ready to figure out when and where to take on Acnologia.¡±


    Selene froze for a moment, her eyes narrowing as she stared at him. Arthur couldn¡¯t help but flinch back under the sheer intensity, and rage, of that gaze.


    ¡°Are you serious?¡± She said after a few moments. She was feeling torn. It was a step towards her goals. It was proof that Arthur really was the valuable piece she saw him as. It also meant that the killer of her son was no longer trapped in a living hell, where his own power had betrayed him, and he lived every day fearing if this would be the one where he betrayed all he had stood for, and was killed by those he called family. Arthur had convinced her that making him kill Georg was not worth it at that point, but she had never forgiven the Dragon Eater. She had, though, allowed his state of living torment to count as vengeance enough, but now that it was over¡­ she would have to reconsider. But it would not do to show Arthur that wrathful, vengeful face. He was too idealistic. She forced a smile onto her face; it was easy enough. Her face was a mask, a dragon¡¯s instinctive expressions were largely different from a human¡¯s; she had taught herself to emote and make expressions, but that was ultimately acting.


    ¡°Would sir Arthur speak thus if he was not, my heavenly lady?¡± Tabby said, stepping forward.


    ¡°It can work on someone just shy of dragonification without me having to push it anywhere close to its limits,¡± Arthur said. ¡°If it can fix Irene Belserion, and if she will agree to let me try and turn her human again in truth and not merely improve her human form. Well it should be able to work on Acnologia.¡±


    ¡°If he¡¯s willing,¡± Selene said as she popped a piece of fruit into her mouth and a moment later spat out the pit. ¡°I still don¡¯t think he will be.¡±


    ¡°If it¡¯s capable of that, then even if it can¡¯t force him to become human again it should be able to at least disrupt him for me to kill him.¡±


    Selene sipped a cup of sake. It was¡­ possible. She¡¯d spent a fair bit of time weighing Arthur of late. His Takeover Magic was increasingly scary. If the staff worked as well as he hoped, it was as much of a threat to her as Acnologia. Arthur¡¯s magic might be able to bind her to him as a slave, or worse. Even now it might be too late to safely dispose of him.


    But he was mortal. He would die. That idea pleased her less than she¡¯d have thought it would. Maybe it was the simple fact that he was very useful. He¡¯d refused to let her avenge Kurnugi; something that still rankled her. But he had fought against an army for her. And even when she had feigned defeat by their tool, he had not betrayed her. He had personally rushed to her aid, in the very heart of the most dangerous field of combat, risking an anti-dragon weapon.


    He¡¯d apologized afterwards for failing to capture it or its creator intact, because it¡¯d have been useful to bring down Acnologia. She was fairly certain it had been him kicking himself over it because it could help his guild, but that wasn¡¯t something without merit to it. He was loyal to those he called family. He had talked to her about his desire to ensure that Igneel¡¯s faction survived Acnologia. About how he felt they should live because, like her, they had worked to help humanity.


    She had come to the conclusion that if she didn¡¯t do something out and out evil he was unlikely to kill her. Georg was the bone that stuck in her throat, but it might be possible to get around that after Acnologia. Or just torment the old fiend with the fact that she was one of his allies and that her crimes would be forgotten and forgiven, and he would have to live with that. But she wasn¡¯t certain that was enough revenge for her son.


    ¡°So did you come to me just to give me a status report? I¡¯m used to you wanting me to teach you something you can use as a weapon against me.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t want weapons against you,¡± annoyance was audible in his tone. ¡°I¡¯ve said it before, I don¡¯t want to have to kill you. Or even fight you. I¡¯d rather¡­¡±


    ¡°We just be friends. You¡¯ve said it before. It doesn¡¯t change that you had me teaching you how I turned to a human form to help make a weapon against dragons on my level. And usually you only come here if you want something.¡±


    ¡°I wanted your permission to go south, and to see if you had any preference for the method I took due to the chance that Acnologia might notice.¡±


    Selene scowled for a moment. He was being earnest. The annoyance in his tone irritated her. He really had only come before when he had needed something. But this was the first time in three years he¡¯d been able to say ¡®I¡¯m done with my main project¡¯.


    ¡°Boat? Something that doesn¡¯t rely on magic. Is that all?¡±


    ¡°That''s all I needed. Unless you have some business, I guess I will go back to Earthland and book myself passage.¡±


    ¡°Wait,¡± Selene said. ¡°I think that this deserves some celebration, don¡¯t you agree? We¡¯ll have a feast tonight.¡±


    Arthur seated himself beside Selene at the feast. He was the guest of honor. Though the speeches before the speech made his stomach sink. Selene was talking about the danger that Acnologia represented, not to her, or him necessarily, but the danger that Acnologia presented in theory to anything and everything. It wasn¡¯t even the danger that the dragon king might obtain power over space and time and transcend to godhood. It was just the danger that he might go on a full blown murderous rampage.


    It was why Arthur was going on his quest. But being reminded of just how deadly and dangerous Acnologia was - at length - and how brave and noble he was for agreeing to go on the quest¡­ Arthur didn¡¯t know how to feel about it. He had too many people looking at him. Too many strangers gauging him and judging him. He was surprised that Selene was so willing to announce that her knight and protector would be gone beyond her ability to call him for an indeterminate but extended period. He still remembered the Anti-Dragon Cannon which had brought her down during the rebellion, and how it had turned his own dragon magic against him. If it hadn¡¯t been for his takeover magic being able to suppress his dragon seed almost completely, and Tabby being there to help they might have lost.


    How many of the people here had been backers for the rebellion? Arthur didn¡¯t know and couldn¡¯t know. Maybe none of them. Maybe many of them. But right now they were toasting his bravery and the many ways he had aided Edolas in the restoration of magic, stopping the Great Storm (with the fact that it was caused directly by his actions in restoring magic diplomatically sidestepped), putting down the rebellion, and even in overthrowing the Tyrant Faust. The more that Selene talked him up the more he found himself wondering how many of those here hated him for these very acts. He wanted to return to Diabolos, or the shadows. Or even the streets of the city; the common people were much more likely to look on overthrowing the Tyrant Faust as something favorable; it was the common people who had started celebrating its anniversary as a holiday, not the elite.


    All in all, Arthur had not forgotten the time he¡¯d been stabbed after the Great Storm. It had been a common soldier, but he knew there were many in the court who had lost friends and loved ones when he had lost control while attacking the castle. He didn¡¯t know who among them, but it left him with a sense of paranoia that kept him looking for whose eyes held hidden venom all through the toasts that were given in his honor.


    Once the toasts had passed though, it was time to eat. The meal itself was a feast. The actual food was about the same as usual for when Selene dined, but that would normally be for herself, and maybe a few close intimates. Most of the court were visibly pacing themselves, eating only a little of each of the many courses of the meal so that they could at least show themselves eating a little of each course. Arthur was one of the exceptions there. He ate heartily with a dragon slayer''s appetite, though he tried to watch how much he drank. Drinking with Selene was always dangerous because she always seemed to make sure people¡¯s cups were topped off.


    The dinner was not a quiet one. There was music, and performers to entertain, but it was not just that. There were conversations. It was a feast, too large for everyone to talk to everyone, but Arthur was at the Queen¡¯s table, seated to her right in a position of high honor; he was in the heart of the ostensibly most important discussion.


    It was a who¡¯s who of influential figures. The leader of the White Out Temple, Queen Shagotte, an influential duke, a powerful duchess, Mystogan, Coco, Pantherlily¡­ they ruled Edolas. And Arthur felt himself the odd man out. He was Selene¡¯s agent, but as they talked about the frivolities of current events in Edolas - things like the popular plays or new performers and artists - he knew nothing of them. He hadn¡¯t spent much time of late in Edolas, and when he had it hadn¡¯t been to pursue living there. He was a transient butterfly floating into and out of lives.


    His introspection was interrupted by Selene¡¯s hand on his thigh. If she¡¯d been human he¡¯d have taken it as a rather clear and overt sign. But as a dragon god? His mind was racing with forbidden thoughts. She was beautiful, possibly the single most beautiful woman he had ever seen in his life, but she was also terrifying. Arthur had spent enough time around her to have internalized that whatever she looked like she was not human. Which didn¡¯t mean she wasn¡¯t a person; just that there was a gulf between human behavior and hers. It wasn¡¯t always big things, but she had never been a child like a human was for good or bad. She¡¯d been born an apex predator, and only learned socialness when it became obvious she needed it to survive. Worse was that she had a tendency to screw with him for the sake of it. This wasn¡¯t even the first time she¡¯d flirted with him. Though usually she did that in a way that would make things even more awkward for him; like the time she kissed him in front of Lisanna.


    At first Arthur didn¡¯t react beyond a shifting in his seat, and an awkward face which he found he had to excuse as having eaten a bit too quickly. It was too public of a place to do much more than that. But her hand lingered for a time, and it returned there later.


    By the time for dessert Arthur decided to be what he classified as bold. If she was messing with him he¡¯d mess back. And if she wasn¡¯t¡­ He¡¯d been living as a hermit far too long to pass up.


    He placed his hand on her leg, sliding it lightly beneath her kimono. And he kept his overclocking as high as he dared, his Archive in full combat readiness mode to react if she decided to attack in response. She hadn¡¯t killed him over Georg, and this was a far less offense really, but he was playing with fire and he knew it.


    She shifted a little, almost as if inviting him further in, and he felt his heart start to pound. But then she pushed his arm away as she reached for the glass holding the sundae. It was a thing that took two hands to eat, so it was time to return both hands to where they could be seen, but Arthur could not be certain if that was all it was.


    As the dinner finished, Selene rose. ¡°Arthur, I believe we need to discuss your upcoming journey, join me. And the rest of you, you are dismissed, as I now take my leave.¡± She spoke with the imperiousness of a queen. Her arm moved in a light flourish, a shining moon forming across the ground beneath them both. Arthur let his armor fade; he didn¡¯t expect an attack from Selene at the moment.


    They appeared in a room with tiled floors, and shower heads. It was a communal shower, and Arthur recognized where it must be; likely it was the shower room on the way to Selene¡¯s personal (lacrima powered) hot spring.


    Selene was already beginning to disrobe, removing her obi and yukata and throwing them into a clothes bin. Arthur began to do likewise, evans his mind raced trying to figure out just what Selene¡¯s intent was here. She was stunningly gorgeous, one of the most powerful beings in existence both in personal magical strength and socio-political clout. She was, in a word, attractive. In two words: stunningly attractive. In three: quite a catch.


    On the other hand she was a dangerous entity whose mind wasn¡¯t quite human and who had regularly displayed behavior that bordered on the sociopathic in a human. She enjoyed trolling him, had teleported him into a random dimension in his sleep once to see if he could find his way home, and possessed a manipulative streak that she didn¡¯t always bother to even try to hide. She¡¯d called him out on only ever coming to see her when he needed something, and she hadn¡¯t been wrong, but it went both ways; their existing relationship was one where they were both using each other.


    And his overclocked mind was racing through this all. Whether it was worth attempting to pursue her or if he should run for the hills before falling into her web. The overclocking of his brain helped divorce him from his hormonal response; it was there, but he was running his brain through his Archive which was not as easily affected by his hormones and chemistry.


    Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.


    Arthur had time to think while washing off, taking a shower to avoid contaminating the hot spring with filth. The showerhead drowned out other noises enough to prevent talking regularly so Arthur was able to think. She¡¯d been touching him throughout the dinner, and brought him back here to form some skinship in a traditionally Japanese manner. She might not human well, but she knew he found her body distracting and attractive, and she had shown the ability to use it to manipulate individuals before. She knew this was something that went outside of human norms.


    But was it an invitation, or her attempt to mess with him? It was a conundrum Arthur had still failed to solve when he and Selene had finished showering, and were moving into the expansive hot spring. There was sake heated and waiting for them; but Arthur didn¡¯t know if there were servants who prepared that whenever she walked into the showers or if this meant she had been planning this even before dinner.


    By the time they had reached the hot spring - more an artificial heated lake than anything else - Arthur was realizing the irony that he was more afraid of the prospect that she might be interested in him, than he was in the actual prospect of having to fight a dragon.


    Selene was diving in and swimming to one of its shores, by the sake, resting her back against the stone in the shallows. Arthur was a bit slower to join her. It was obviously a place of comfort and relaxation for Selene, but to Arthur it was a new place.


    Eventually he¡¯d settle against the stone, a few arms lengths from the dragon goddess, prompting her to beckon him closer, with a pleasing smile. ¡°Come on now, you don¡¯t need to be that far away. An intimate conversation is more pleasant, don¡¯t you agree?¡±


    By the time she was satisfied, her elbow and arm pressed against him when she moved her sake cup.


    The queen did not get all touchy feely normally. She was not normally one to push into your personal space. It was clearly a sign, but further progression was stymied by the fact that Selene began to actually talk about the mission and proposed journey south. Grabbing her and kissing her in the middle of the discussion would probably do more to piss her off than anything. It also gave Arthur time to consider whether he wanted to pursue it.


    There was a temptation from the point reward and bounty. He didn¡¯t know if she¡¯d qualify as a god - as dragon god was really a title of power not divinity - or merely as a dragon, but it was worth a lot of points to sleep with her, and the opportunity seemed to be presenting itself.


    But she was someone he worked with. Someone where if something went wrong it would be awkward quickly. More significantly he wasn¡¯t certain he really trusted her, and Arthur knew himself; if he got erotically entangled with her he¡¯d get even more emotionally entangled with her. If she was manipulating him, would whatever fleeting pleasure he obtained from being with her be worth it? Though rebuffing her would be dangerous on the fallout front as well.


    The fact that she was just plain attractive, and he¡¯d spent most of the last year as a virtual hermit did not help these considerations.


    Still they discussed the journey to the south. Whether he should go by Anima or boat, whether he should visit Ishgar or deal with Tartaros before going to Alvarez, contingencies for if Acnologia noticed him, and what sort of resources would be needed, and return hoped for from the trip.


    And then Selene clung to his arm, her face seemingly flushed from the alcohol - though Arthur knew enough even in his tipsy state to know that however drunk he was she was far less drunk - and pressed against him, smiling towards him a predatory, feline grin. ¡°So, you really think you have a chance against Acnologia with that stick of yours? That must mean you think you could beat me.¡±


    ¡°We decided that 3 years ago, didn¡¯t we?¡± Arthur responded without really thinking about it.


    ¡°Did we?¡± Selene pulled back a dangerous look in her eyes.


    Arthur¡¯s territory armor formed across him. A stupid, pig-headed pride was stirring in him and he could feel it. ¡°I thought so. A direct, head to head fight between us could only end one of two ways.¡±


    ¡°And how do you figure that?¡± Selene asked.


    Arthur hesitated. He was on thin ice and he could feel it. Did he back down? Did he demonstrate? Did he bluster? He raised his right arm, azure scales covering it already, and a dragon¡¯s talon forming where his hand had been. ¡°My spatial magic can block yours, even in your true form.¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s more to a dragon fight than magic, and I have more magic than spatial,¡± Selene said.


    ¡°I can eat your Moon Dragon Magic.¡± A part of Arthur was screaming at him to play it conciliatory and cool. To back down and not make a conflict here.


    ¡°But my speed and strength,¡± Selene said in a warning tone.


    Arthur listened to the other voice. ¡°Don¡¯t scare me.¡±


    They glared at each other for a time. Like two stray cats, or strange dogs. Or maybe like a pair of praying mantids preparing for their dangerous courtship.


    ¡°I don¡¯t scare you?¡± Selene finally said, her tone less angry than before, and more conciliatory.


    ¡°You do,¡± Arthur admitted. ¡°But not because you¡¯re a powerful dragon. You¡¯re terrifyingly smart, and you wouldn¡¯t have to fight me in a direct fight and we both know it.¡± He had the feeling he¡¯d just put his foot in it there, and winced internally at himself.


    ¡°I won¡¯t have to fight you at all, will I? You¡¯d protect me rather than fight me, wouldn¡¯t you?¡± She was leaning towards him now, pressed close enough it¡¯d be easy to just move an arm to wrap her up. And her tone, her look, her words all were playing on the primal instinct to protect a woman and keep her from harm.


    ¡°Of course,¡± He said, his arm rising to wrap around her waist and pull her close into a kiss. The die would be cast, the rubicon would be crossed, and hopefully whatever future pain it might possibly cause would not outweigh the pleasure in the now.


    Maybe it¡¯d even teach him to be less Kull and more Conan.


    Selene could feel Arthur finally fall asleep behind her. His arms wrapped close around her, his hands possessively upon her body. His armor was gone. She could kill him so easily right now. And then she could get revenge for Kurnugi by killing the Dragon Eater. But that wouldn¡¯t leave her safe. Acnologia and the other dragon gods would be out there still and she¡¯d have lost her best piece.


    Besides he might not be handsome, or charming, but he was loyal, reliable, and powerful. It¡¯d been centuries since there¡¯d been anyone she¡¯d been willing to share her nest with. And she had enjoyed tonight.


    He would protect her now. She was certain of it. There were still probably things she could do to forfeit that, but she didn¡¯t think he would actually fight her unless she directly threatened his life even then.


    He shifted in his sleep, pressing a little closer against her. She found herself smiling a bit. And then felt a pang of a feeling he couldn¡¯t immediately place. She¡¯d been preparing a threat to his life for some time. She¡¯d mostly abandoned hopes that it¡¯d pay off years ago, but she¡¯d still been providing the enemies who managed to escape death at his hands with support, and a network, and funneling them together.


    Selene realized that she was going to have to tell him about that. Not because she was afraid he¡¯d be mad when he found out; she could always explain her reasoning and she was fairly certain that even though it¡¯d upset him that he¡¯d accept it as something which was worth doing to increase the chance that Acnologia was dealt with either because he grew from the conflict or because they managed to surpass him and become a more effective weapon against Acnologia than he was.


    She would have to tell him because she didn¡¯t want them to kill him. Even if they could prove a better weapon. She wanted him to live. She wouldn¡¯t necessarily call it love; she wasn¡¯t wholly certain what humans meant by the word to be honest.


    But she preferred having him present and at her side.


    Taberius was concerned. The sun had reached its zenith and yet there had been no sign of Arthur all through the morn. In fact, he had failed to find a single individual who had seen him since Selene had teleported them both away at the feat¡¯s end.


    Taberius had overslept himself. But upon forcing his way into Arthur¡¯s room he had found no sign of his having ever even arrived at it. The door had not even been locked, the windows still lay shuttered, and the bed had been made, yet the servants claimed to have not entered it that morning.


    Minerva was no help. She¡¯d not seen him either, and received no alert or message. And once she was informed he was not simply oversleeping, she began to feel some of Taberius¡¯s growing concern.


    Worse, the queen had refused to leave her room this morning, canceling her appearances, and delegating her duties as she: ¡°did not feel well and did not wish to be disturbed.¡±


    Taberius could only come to one conclusion. Selene had killed his master and been badly wounded in the process. Minerva rejected his conclusion, arguing that Selene would have had them seized and imprisoned if that were the case, or even killed in their sleep.


    Taberius lifted a water bucket, determined to find the truth. His skill with water magic was minimal, Aqua Aera barely usable through his Moon Dragon Slayer Magic, but if he could push through Selene¡¯s protective spells to view her chambers he could prove she was badly wounded.


    It proved futile. Selene¡¯s magic was simply too strong. But that just meant he¡¯d have to sneak into her chambers.


    He was halfway up the castle tower to her personal bedroom when he was contacted by Arthur via Archive. Only he couldn¡¯t be certain it was Arthur and not some trick. His teacher was telling him all was well, and he had simply chosen to sleep elsewhere for the night. But that was highl¡­ Ok, Tabby had to admit that it had happened more than a few times during their relationship that Arthur had decided not to sleep where he was supposed to and to teleport to some inn for the night. But he found the entire situation suspicious.


    It was only when Arthur explained he had found himself a companion for the evening, and wished to spend the day with her that Tabby accepted his story. It was not too unbelievable. If he had not expected Arthur to call him for preparations to leave he would have not left his lady who he had met from Queen Shaggotte¡¯s entourage the evening before.


    He was, however, left wondering what had left Queen Selene indisposed in that case. His first loyalty might be to his master, but they were both her knights. If she¡¯d been wounded or attacked it was their duty to rush to her aid.


    Arthur dismissed his concerns with the fact that if she needed help she¡¯d not have ordered to be left undisturbed, and that it was not their duty to break into her quarters.


    Taberius finally began to climb down from the tower then, sufficiently rebuked, and considering what he would do with the surprise day off.


    It took time to arrange a boat trip to Alvarez from Guiltina. Trips simply did not leave often. Diabolos still owned a controlling stake in a ship that did, but it was a guild and a guild was a business even if it was a family. The ship was scheduled to leave on its next trip in 16 days, and hastening it would be financially detrimental, and that was ignoring the difficulty of provisioning a naval ship for a multi-week voyage.


    So they had waited a little over 2 weeks to leave. Taberius was a little surprised that they spent that time at Edolas castle and not principally at Diabolos. He was not the only one, as Kirin and the others who came to see them off teased Arthur about it and how now that he¡¯d made the staff he was abandoning them for a Dragon God.


    The teasing stopped when Selene appeared. The dragon eaters of Diabolos went hushed, and an uneasy tension hung in the air. Taberius was surprised again. She had seen them off that morning, wishing Arthur well on his task. Taberius was far more comfortable around the Dragon God than his guildmates. They were all dragon slayers - even if he was a different variety than they were - but she was a queen he had pledged his sword to even before joining the guild. To them whether she was enemy or friend was still uncertain.


    The uneasy silence was broken by Arthur himself. ¡°Selene?¡± He made her name a question.


    ¡°I couldn¡¯t see you off properly in front of the court,¡± She said. ¡°Not that this is as private as I¡¯d like.¡±


    Curiosity grew on the faces of the Diabolos mages, even as a smile spread across Arthur¡¯s face. ¡°Properly?¡± His tone was almost eager, and somewhat playful as he stepped towards Selene.


    ¡°You know what I mean,¡± She said in an irate voice.


    And then, to Taberius¡¯s shock, Arthur¡¯s arm was around her waist and pulling her close for a kiss. With the clamor the guild was making, Taberius couldn¡¯t catch what Selene and Arthur said to each other after the kiss, but the cat moved quickly.


    He darted between the lovers and the dragon slayers, body checking Kiria as she led the rush. Even as he changed from a small, knee-high light weight, to a muscled mass nearing 8 ft tall. Gone was the image of a gray tabby, and in its place was an appearance more like some form of gray and white tiger. ¡°Stop!¡± He demanded.


    Kiria rolled to her feet, flipping up to stand. ¡°Let the two have their moment, we can demand explanations when they¡¯ve had it,¡± Taberius continued, even as Minerva appeared beside him to support his efforts to play bulwark.


    ¡°He¡¯s right,¡± Kirin stated gruffly, with a sigh in his voice.


    ¡°I respectfully merely need to know what the meaning of Sir Arthur doing such a thing with one of the dragon gods is?¡± Madmole said.


    ¡°I¡¯d kiss a looker like that, even knowing she¡¯s a dragon.¡± Skullion¡¯s statement broke their fixation on Arthur and Selene, drawing the group¡¯s attention to him instead. The masked man shrugged as they looked towards him. ¡°What? I can recognize a beautiful woman when I see one.¡±


    Kiria hit him, lightly, in the stomach. ¡°Then why haven¡¯t you ever recognized me as one?¡±


    ¡°I said beautiful woman, not teenage brat,¡± Skullion answered.


    ¡°Promise me you¡¯ll come back,¡± Selene said as the kiss broke.


    ¡°Of course I will,¡± Arthur answered. Her arrival had shocked him somewhat. Their relationship had been one restrained to private settings. She¡¯d promised to make it something official if - when - Acnologia was dealt with, but had been rather firm on that it wouldn¡¯t be wise to confirm the long standing rumors that the queen and her knight were romantically entangled until she could take him as an official consort. He had thought that¡¯d included Tabby and Minerva, though given this appearance he had to assume it did not.


    ¡°Quickly and safely,¡± She said.


    Hearing the naked worry in her voice, Arthur felt bad about himself for suspecting that this might be just something to mess with him in front of his guildmates. She¡¯d done such more than once with Lisanna, but now he was beginning to suspect that might have been more a matter of jealousy than merely a desire to mess with him.


    ¡°As quickly and safely as I can without compromising the plan,¡± Arthur responded.


    She squeezed his hand then, and Arthur didn¡¯t think he¡¯d ever seen her look so vulnerable, or concerned about something.


    ¡°I don¡¯t intend to take any unnecessary risks,¡± He added.


    ¡°Good,¡± Selene stated.


    One and then the other looked towards where Taberius and Minerva were holding off the other Diabolos mages.


    ¡°I guess I should deal with them,¡± Arthur said.


    Selene shook her head. ¡°I¡¯ll stay,¡± She said. And then as if thinking better of it. ¡°If you want.¡±


    Arthur wasn¡¯t sure whether her presence would make things more or less of a headache. But feeling her hand in his he didn¡¯t want to let go of it yet. ¡°Together then.¡±


    ¡°So when did you and the dragon start locking lips?¡± Kiria asked when the two lovers approached.


    ¡°Recently,¡± Arthur answered.


    ¡°So not when you and Georg fought?¡± Kirin asked.


    ¡°You think that¡¯s why I spared the bastard?¡± Selene said. ¡°No. I did that because Arthur was right. If I took revenge against him then I¡¯d have had to kill all of you, and become the monster he saw me as.¡±


    Kiria gritted her teeth a little. Kirin was looking better since Minerva had helped deal with the dragon-ghost haunting him. It had helped calm him too. But even Kirin looked annoyed by the tone.


    ¡°Then, may I congratulate you both on the happiness you seem to have found together,¡± Madmole said diplomatically.


    Kiria smiled then, and looked straight at Selene. ¡°Yeah. You¡¯re lucky. The guild master is a real catch.¡±


    ¡°Saying I¡¯m not?¡± Selene audibly bristled, the death glare she gave Kiria being palpable.


    ¡°None of us need to fight here,¡± Taberius said. ¡°We share enemies, and we are not enemies.¡±


    Kirin nodded. Arthur¡¯s new relationship rubbed him the wrong way, but he had visited Edolas during Arthur¡¯s tenure as guildmaster. He¡¯d had to know if there was any merit in his willingness to trust dragons. And he had to admit that even when there was a rebellion against her rule, Selene had been no more harsh than a human ruler - less in fact once her overwhelming power superiority was established - and that while the common people had sometimes talked about the good old days under Faust when men were men and ruled over themselves, their quality of life seemed to have improved.


    He didn¡¯t really approve. But¡­ Kirin had long ceased to object to taking her money or jobs, and while it had rankled him at first to work for a dragon, the jobs themselves had not been any more questionable than your normal ones; none had fallen into the category of jobs that were to be dismissed as immoral.


    ¡°So is it serious?¡± Kiria asked. ¡°I mean are you two going to¡­¡±


    ¡°I intend to make him my consort, once Acnologia is dealt with,¡± Selene said.


    ¡°What does that even mean?¡± Kiria questioned.


    ¡°It means to have him recognized as my lover before the court,¡± Selene stated. ¡°Trusting him with politi¡­¡± She broke off. ¡°Yes, it¡¯s serious.¡±


    Kirin snickered at the surprise on Arthur¡¯s face. That it was actually serious was news to him. Kirin didn¡¯t like the situation, but Arthur had earned trust. And he¡¯d give it to him. ¡°I guess we can expect to see you at the guild sometime then, your highness.¡± She was a queen, and repeat employer, and Kirin was reminding himself to be polite to her on those grounds.


    ¡°I can just imagine the look on Georg¡¯s face,¡± Kiria said with a snicker. Kirin knew how much he¡¯d hate that. Having to be polite to the dragon. Kirin wondered how much of a disaster it would end up as, though. He suspected that if Georg exploded on Selene, Arthur would side with the dragon over Georg and¡­ He looked at Kiria, and Madmole and Skullion congratulating Arthur. The guild might very well be split between who to side with. There¡¯d been a time Kirin would have sided with Georg on principle. He wasn¡¯t sure that was true now.


    ¡°That might just be worth coming over for,¡± Selene said with a smile.


    The ship¡¯s captain approached. The boat needed to leave if they were going to make the tide.

 The Dragon Sage

    The trip to Alvarez was uneventful. The journey was slow. Arthur was used to using repeated teleportation to travel to the horizon repeatedly, moving at speeds surpassing sound by skipping most of the distance entirely.


    This trip he did not have that luxury. He couldn¡¯t even train in high power magic, barely willing to run his Archive non-manifested and keep his Territory Armor up. It led to weeks of boredom on a boat, and the realization that he could have completed the bounty to relax for a week straight here and now. Probably.


    There was a paranoia about him. He was going back south and south was where he had enemies. Normal dark guilds, in Guiltina or otherwise, didn¡¯t want to mess with someone at his level of power. But going south there were threats. Acnologia was certainly the largest, and the reason he wasn¡¯t using magic to avoid his notice. Zeref and the Spriggan Twelve were a possibility; but given he was walking straight to their stronghold they didn¡¯t worry him too much. If they knew who he was well enough to come and seek him out, that might actually make things easier. Then there was Tartaros. Arthur¡¯s feelings about Selene had become a lot more complicated, but that didn¡¯t stop him from being low key pissed that she had apparently been feeding Tartaros those foes of his who burned with the desire for revenge. He had considered Tartaros a threat which was ultimately dealt with, and which he could destroy at his leisure. And now they apparently had Edolas magic tools, Spirit Arts from Elentear, and Alchemy from Guiltina. It was all stuff he had beaten on his own, but the idea of bRAIN integrated with their Cube was terrifying even to him.


    At least that one he couldn¡¯t blame Selene for. She hadn¡¯t arranged for them to meet with bRAIN. He had. Selene just hadn¡¯t told him this when she first learned it.


    The question did come up how much he could trust her, and how much she could trust them. She was in contact with Tartaros through intermediaries. Apparently she was keeping them informed for when he would be vulnerable. If Selene wanted him dead they¡¯d probably attack him on this boat voyage.


    That worry kept him from fully relaxing. He could remind himself she¡¯d probably not have told him about it at all if she wanted him dead, but such reminders were not capable of dispelling his fears completely.


    But they had done nothing. The voyage was uneventful. The overland trip to the capital was similarly uneventful, save that he managed to buy a Silver Key off of a sailor at the port.


    The overland transit was quicker. It was a much shorter trip from the shore to the capital, and the machina train was fast. It almost felt like something you¡¯d find in Edolas. It was still an overnight trip, but by noon the next day he was ready to go to the imperial palace of Alvarez.


    Arthur walked up to the gates of Emperor Spriggan¡¯s castle. The gates were open, but two, massive, muscular guards moved to intercept him as he walked towards it. Arthur had considered dressing cinematically, but had settled for something more practical. Visually high quality, and fine clothing - silk - and nakedly displaying a hand which was made of a silvery material - dragon scales but he didn¡¯t expect people to recognize that for certain.


    Minerva had followed suit. Her dress was not necessarily the best for fighting, but he trusted she knew better than he did what she could and could not fight in. Tabby was dressed in a hooded black robe, face covered by a cloth, looking like some video game desert bandit stereotype. If they were less than waist high.


    ¡°You, strange. What business do you have in the castle?¡± One of the guards asked as Arthur approached.


    ¡°I come to speak with Irene Belserion,¡± Arthur answered. ¡°I possess magical knowledge which she would be pleased to learn about.¡±


    One of the guards laughed raucously. Another looked at Arthur. ¡°You think you can teach the Scarlet Despair something about magic. We don¡¯t waste the time of the Spriggan 12 with nonsense-¡±


    ¡°Go tell Irene Belserion, that a mage seeks an audience with her, as he may possess the means to reverse her dragonification, and failing that should be able to help her improve the magic with which she maintains a human seeming so that she is able to properly feel again,¡± Arthur cut the man off.


    ¡°Look, guy,¡± the guard said, puffing his chest out, and lifting a tetsubo larger than Arthur himself. ¡°We don¡¯t go bothering the Spriggan 12 because some crackpot off the street says to. If you¡¯re a mage worthy of their attention they will send for you not the other way around.¡±


    Arthur glanced at Minerva. ¡°Minerva, would you please.¡±


    The guard¡¯s readied their weapons, wary of the attack which might come, and then they vanished.


    ¡°I meant something more flashy to announce our presence, like a dragon roar away from structures, but I guess maybe they¡¯ll report we¡¯re here now.¡±


    The wait wasn¡¯t long. The reception was less friendly than Arthur would have liked. A dark haired woman in a dark bodysuit - the kind of bodysock you¡¯d expect from a superheroine or a ninja - launched several lengths of black cloth towards them from behind, even as an orange haired girl leapt over the castle wall from inside, and began to fire blasts of slime at the trio.


    Arthur¡¯s archive alerted him to the latter, while his overclocked brain made it child¡¯s play to teleport himself Minerva, and Tabby a short distance to dodge the attacks. ¡°Think you can handle them?¡± Arthur said as the orange haired girl landed a flying kick where they had been with force enough to crater the ground, sending a burst of dust and dirt rising up into the air.


    ¡°Two on one? Feels a bit like cheating, but I¡¯m sure they can get reinforcements if they need them,¡± Tabby said walking towards the girl that had arrived so explosively.


    ¡°Work together, this isn¡¯t a game,¡± Arthur said, but the fight was already on. Alerted and aware of her enemies, Minerva¡¯s territory magic could keep her and Tabby safe enough, and Arthur¡¯s territory armor shouldn¡¯t draw too much unwanted attention as long as they weren¡¯t allowed to focus on him.


    For his part Tabby¡¯s battleform gave him the strength and speed to match even these elite mages. When he used dragon takeover with it, transforming his tiger-like battleform into something even more powerful, arms busting with scales - he¡¯d never mastered beyond the arms - he was stronger and faster still, though he seemed to have trouble overmatching the orange haired girl.


    Which left Minerva to square off against the ninja. Minerva clearly lost in strength and speed, at least when not using her white tiger dragon slayer magic. But what she lacked in direct physical ¡®stats¡¯ she made up for in being able to teleport to overcome overland speed, and her dragon slayer magic.


    They were still not actually working together. They were fighting an elite duo from the most powerful mages in all of two continents, and they were treating it like a game. Minerva and Tabby knew how to fight together better than this. The Alvarez mages didn¡¯t seem to have the versatility which Minerva¡¯s territory magic provided; which coupled with Tabby¡¯s raw power in his takeover form should be enough to allow them to isolate one of the two and then deal with her so they could take out the other.


    Instead they were fighting two separate fights, when a voice shouted commanding: ¡°Enough!¡±


    It was the Scarlet Despair herself. Even if Arthur didn¡¯t recognize the distinctively scarlet hair the same shade as Erza¡¯s, or the outfit which for some reason had a hole cut in it to show the underside of her breasts and little more, he¡¯d have been able to tell by the sheer crackling aura of power. It wasn¡¯t the most he¡¯d ever felt; he¡¯d felt Acnologia¡¯s before, and Selene¡¯s in her dragon form. But it did scare him. She was stronger than Selene¡¯s human form was, but that wasn¡¯t too surprising. Georg had neared it. And he surpassed it in raw magical power. And Irene made him feel small. How much more powerful would she be in dragon form?


    She was, like many women in this world, exaggeratedly good looking. And in a world of exaggerated curves hers stood out, especially in the hips. Her outfit completely baring the sides of her hips didn¡¯t help keep the eye from drifting there, and the hole to expose the underside of her chest, left Arthur feeling like she was screaming for attention.


    The two girls retreated to her side as she looked at Tabby and Minerva and then at Arthur himself. She raised a wooden staff and pointed it towards him. Her eyes narrowed. ¡°You claimed you had magic I would be interested in. But before we address that, where did you get your information?¡±


    ¡°That you¡¯re the first dragon slayer?¡± Arthur¡¯s words made her flinch a little and he couldn¡¯t help but smile. She was strong. She was terrifying. But he did have her at a disadvantage.


    ¡°...¡± Her free hand clenched tight, and she breathed out a hiss of air. ¡°Yes,¡± She said. ¡°And about¡­ my body.¡±


    ¡°Those are a bit separate answers,¡± Arthur said. ¡°Selene told me the former, and my experiences with dragonification made me expect the latter.¡± He didn¡¯t want to come out and say how he¡¯d learned her method of resuming human form was flawed, so he was vague and forced his tone to be relaxed to the point of flippancy.


    ¡°Don¡¯t play around with me,¡± Irene said in a snarl. Then she paused and looked at him. ¡°Who is this Selene who knows so much about me?¡±


    ¡°The moon dragon god.¡± Arthur¡¯s answer made Irene¡¯s staff lower a bit.


    She continued to glare at him, but there was definitely naked curiosity on her face now. ¡°One of the five dragons that keep Acnologia out of Guiltina?¡± A few years ago she¡¯d have berated him for lying. The dragon gods hadn¡¯t really been the dragon gods before she had become a dragon herself, and since she¡¯d been pulled from her dragonification induced hermitage the dragon gods had been inactive. Except once when Acnologia had gone north. They had made their presence known then. Irene didn¡¯t know the details, but she¡¯d been able to feel it from Alvarez.


    Arthur simply nodded. ¡°She has a human form. One which she assures me has a full range of sensation.¡±


    ¡°How would she even know? When was she ever human?¡± Irene¡¯s eyes flashed, her shout sending spittle flying.


    ¡°That¡¯s only the consolation prize,¡± Arthur said, his prosthetic hand rising, as his dragon staff appeared in it. Requip was probably not too impressive to one of the greatest mages who ever lived. But the material of the hand and the staff was enough to give a touch of pause to someone who knew the power of dragons. ¡°I haven¡¯t tested it on someone who fully succumbed to dragonification, but I was able to reverse it on someone who was on the very edge of it, and you saw the cat.¡±


    They both looked at Tabby. He was still in his battle form, a towering cat-man with gray and white striped fur, and a face like a tiger¡¯s. But his dragon-arms were back to feline ones as he had released the takeover magic.


    ¡°So he used the dragon force, most dragon slayers can do that. Or are you saying he¡¯s fine with the risk because you can re-¡± Irene stopped talking.


    Arthur¡¯s body had grown and expanded, stretching out as scales formed across it. His form filled much of the square before the castle, towering over the humans in it. She could feel his magical power swelling as his form shifted, blue scales streaked with white covering his form, great wings resembling those of a dragonfly¡¯s mixed with a scaled bat¡¯s spreading from his back. It was the Gale Dragon, one of the lacrima he held in his chest given form through his magic.


    And then he was human again. ¡°Because he knows how to control the process, enabling it, and reversing it.¡±


    Irene stammered for a few moments. ¡°We¡¯re making a spectacle of ourselves. Let¡¯s go inside.¡± A dragon had just appeared in the capital city, continuing this discussion in full public view might well cause a public panic.


    Arthur was more nervous in the throne room than out in front of the castle. It was the occupants he shared it with. 3 of the Spriggan 12. 3 of the strongest mages in the continent, if not the world, were looking at him. Even the least of these - Brandish - was a potential threat to him, and the other two stood unopposed at the pinnacle of the Spriggan 12 first among equals. Though he didn¡¯t know if Brandish was actually a member of the 12 yet. In 5 years she would be, right now she was on the young side, 19 or 20 he¡¯d have guessed. Maybe she wasn¡¯t the Country Destroyer yet.


    The other two were certainly threats. Irene Belserion, the Scarlet Terror, grand enchanter, sage dragon, inventor of dragon slayer magic, and among the 2 greatest mages from the era of the Dragon War and prior. And beside her was the Wizard King August, said to be the greatest living wizard with the possible exception of Zeref. Either one of them could put up a meaningful fight against Acnologia, and he¡¯d be hard pressed to win against them. Both of them together¡­ he felt like his head was in a lion¡¯s maw.


    ¡°Your offer interests me,¡± Irene said, leaning across a table from her seat. The table was round, an unoccupied throne was given a space to either side of it, and August and Irene had seated in two chairs on one side of it, and Arthur had been seated opposite of them creating a fair bit of space between them. Her fingers were steepled before her, as she pushed forward as if to get a closer look at him. It wasn¡¯t the first time he¡¯d had an audience with a ruler in this world. And it wasn¡¯t the first time he¡¯d been given the worst chair in the room, and situated where a group of people could stare at him in judgment. At least God Serena wasn¡¯t here to prosecute him this time. ¡°But I have to know what it is you want in exchange?¡±


    ¡°Nothing,¡± Arthur said, trying to force himself to seem as relaxed as Tabby. Food and drink had been placed on a table, not a true meal but more snacks and luxuries. To help him ¡®recover from his journey¡¯. Tabby was helping himself to the food with a gusto. Arthur¡¯s gut was tied into too many knots to consider eating.


    August¡¯s silence was unnerving. Besides a greeting and introduction when Arthur had first entered he¡¯d said nothing. Arthur wasn¡¯t even sure if he had blinked; his utter stillness and tranquility made Arthur¡¯s hair stand on end and his eyes kept shooting towards him.


    Not that August was non-responsive. Arthur¡¯s Archive was screaming about the Wizard King. Arthur was working it as well as he could without manifesting it, and while maintaining a conversation. August was telepathically communicating with Irene, but he failed to hack his way into the magical missive yet again.


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    ¡°Nothing? Certainly you wouldn¡¯t come here to offer me such a boon as you claim to possess when desiring nothing from me. Humans aren¡¯t like that. And I do not like being lied to. If you don¡¯t actually possess the magic you claim¡­¡± She paused, but when she resumed the emotion had drained substantially from her voice. Where before it had quaked with feeling - Arthur thought of it as wrath - now she was obviously trying to keep it bottled where it couldn¡¯t be heard. ¡°Let¡¯s just say there will be consequences.¡±


    ¡°Like I told you, I can¡¯t actually promise you it will work. I haven¡¯t tested it on someone who crossed the rubicon into being a dragon,¡± Arthur paused. Irene had made a face, looking at Brandish and August. Even August had moved, his brow furrowing. ¡°What is it?¡± Arthur asked.


    ¡°You used a strange word is all,¡± August said. ¡°I am not familiar with what tongue rubicon comes from.¡±


    Arthur blushed a bit, shrinking back into his chair. Idioms did not translate well, and mentioning Italian rivers didn¡¯t really have an equivalent in a world without Italy. ¡°Sorry, it¡¯s an idiom from my homeland. To cross the rubicon is to cross the point of no return. I have returned someone who was on the edge of becoming a dragon but not someone who did in full.¡±


    Again and again there was the Archive alert. August¡¯s telepathic network was something it could sense, but not something Arthur was succeeding at accessing.


    ¡°And what about yourself? What I saw outside was not a dragonslayer on the edge of dragonification,¡± Irene said, sitting a little more erect now. Her senses told her that Arthur was a dragon slayer, but barely a mature one, much less one on the edge of dragonification. And she had met post dragonification ones before as well. Arthur didn¡¯t smell enough like a dragon. He smelled more human than not.


    ¡°That was takeover magic. I subjugated my own seed.¡± He winced at the naked despair that crossed Irene¡¯s face. It was like he had shattered some hope of hers. ¡°It¡¯s ultimately the basis for the technique in the staff. But¡­¡± He sighed. ¡°I have an ulterior motive for coming here.¡±


    ¡°I knew it,¡± Irene said, a touch of rage flashing in her voice. ¡°Out with it.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve vowed to end Acnologia. But given his power¡­ Well he was human once. If this can turn you human again, maybe the Dragon King would jump on the same chance, and as a human well he wouldn¡¯t be Acnologia anymore. I figured you would be easier to approach, and less likely to kill me if it failed, especially as I could offer you the spell that the dragon gods use for their human forms which may allow for a more complete sensory experience.¡±


    Irene crushed a metal goblet in her hand. ¡°You expect me to believe you¡¯re doing this all out of the goodness of your heart?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s the truth,¡± Tabby said, stepping forward, food staining his fur,and pieces of fish coming out of his mouth. ¡°As a knight he has given his sworn oath to his lady love to slay the dragon who would seek her head.¡±


    Arthur winced. Tabby had just revealed information which would complicate things.


    ¡°Why does Acnologia seek his lady love¡¯s head?¡± Irene asked.


    ¡°The cat misunderstands the situation,¡± Arthur said. ¡°I swore to the moon dragon god, Selene, that I would kill Acnologia in exchange for my life being spared. I try to keep my word. Besides the reward for finishing the 100 year quest to claim his head is appealing, both monetarily and in renown.¡± Again the alerts from his Archive were going wild.


    ¡°With your power there¡¯s certainly far easier ways to get that amount of wealth,¡± Irene said.


    ¡°Yeah, sure,¡± Arthur said. ¡°But they wouldn¡¯t be doing something as big as killing the Dragon King.¡±


    ¡°So you intend to render him human just to slay him?¡±


    ¡°Not¡­ preferably not,¡± Arthur answered. ¡°If he¡¯s a man and not the dragon king I¡¯ve still gotten rid of the dragon king.¡±


    ¡°Why does the cat think the moon dragon god is your lady love?¡±


    Arthur inhaled, trying to think of a lie, before he could, Tabby began to speak. ¡°I can speak for myself, my lady of the scarlet tresses,¡± the exceed said with a grandiose air. ¡°She has given him her love, accepting him as her one true and faithful knight, and even bestowing upon him her favor in the highest form of honor a noble lady can, a kiss not upon the cheek or brow but the very lips themselves, before our journey here.¡±


    Irene looked at Arthur then. ¡°You¡¯re¡­ romantically entangled with Selene?¡±


    ¡°Maybe¡­ possibly. If I can kill Acnologia.¡± Again the Archive alert.


    ¡°The fact that she¡¯s a dragon doesn¡¯t bother you? I thought you lay claim to being a dragon slayer,¡± Irene said.


    ¡°You¡¯re a dragon and I¡¯m here to help you.¡± Arthur knew he had said the wrong thing as the already deformed goblet was squeezed into a crumpled sphere, pieces of it being pressed out between her fingers as she used the metal like a stress ball. August was talking to her again.


    ¡°I will be human again. Are you going to make her human?¡± Irene hissed, glaring at him.


    ¡°If she asks, and it could, maybe. It doesn¡¯t really matter to me if she¡¯s human or dragon.¡± Another alert from his Archive.


    ¡°Tell the truth, wouldn¡¯t you prefer her to be human?¡±


    ¡°No,¡± Arthur said.


    August snickered then, and Irene huffed out loud, glancing towards him. ¡°So what is it that attracted you to the dragon god?¡± August asked.


    ¡°I don¡¯t see how that¡¯s relevant,¡± Arthur said shamefaced.


    ¡°I will decide what¡¯s relevant,¡± Irene said. ¡°Answer the question.¡±


    ¡°I mean¡­¡± Arthur looked down. ¡°It¡¯s gonna sound bad.¡±


    ¡°All the more reason I need to know,¡± Irene said.


    ¡°I didn¡¯t want her to kill me. I wanted her to teach me. And her human form is beautiful. I mean her shape is¡­ she¡¯s good looking. And her face is¡­¡±


    August snickered more.


    ¡°Oi, cut it out, I came here to offer you help and maybe see if you could help me to deal with Acnologia since I thought that was your goal too, not to get interrogated and laughed at,¡± Arthur said finally beginning to get annoyed.


    ¡°My apologies,¡± August said. ¡°It¡¯s just with the unexpectedness of your arrival, and the inexplicableness of the skills you have professed and even have shown, I was worried that you were something alien and strange and your reason just seems so almost childish. Though I have to wonder, why would you prefer she remain a dragon?¡±


    Arthur¡¯s cheeks burned. ¡°Who says I do?¡± He protested only to receive a glare from the Wizard King. ¡°Power is attractive, and I mean why would I want her to be human forever, when she can be human or dragon whenever she wants¡­ Why am I getting the third degree here?!¡±


    ¡°I apologize again,¡± August said. ¡°Though I believe I already answered that, though for this question it was just some idle curiosity on my part. Still if you wish to work with us to combat Acnologia, there will have to be further discussion. But if you can actually help Irene as you have suggested I have no objection, and I do not believe that our Emperor would have a serious one. He already has promised to help her to do so in any way he can.¡±


    August looked at Irene. ¡°It is up to you what you will do with this, but if you wish his help, I will inform the emperor I gave you the permission to do so.¡±


    Irene looked at Arthur. ¡°Do you really think you can make me human again?¡±


    ¡°I can try,¡± Arthur answered.


    Explaining what he would be doing, its potential risks, and mechanisms, and just how much this was experimental, took some time. They ended up in a courtyard of the castle, August watching as he leveled the staff on Irene.


    The magic wasn¡¯t flashy. No lights. No energy beams. No explosive fire. He pointed his staff and focused his will on drawing the dragon out of Irene and replacing it with something human while doing so.


    For a time nothing happened. Then Irene began to scream. It continued for minutes before Arthur stopped and shook his head. ¡°We¡¯re doing it wrong.¡±


    Irene glared at him. Arthur couldn¡¯t be certain what she¡¯d felt, but from the way she had fallen to her knees and howled in pain it had probably been agonizing.


    ¡°The spell to force you into human shape interferes. To remove the dragon from you, we¡¯ll have to go with you as a dragon.¡± It was a bit more complicated than that; perhaps it¡¯d be more accurate to say that it was easier to access her draconic nature when it was on the surface, as the spell was not compressing it like Selene¡¯s - and presumably Zeref¡¯s - for assuming human form. It was draining it off.


    ¡°So you¡¯re saying to become human again I have to become a dragon once more,¡± Irene said. She looked at August, and August looked at Arthur. Then Irene groaned, before she expanded. Scales formed across her form as she traded human shape with that of a dragon. She expanded quickly, and Athur felt the release of compressed power. It was ultimately unimpressive.


    She¡¯d been stronger in human form than Selene was. But this level of power was not on the same level as Selene¡¯s in her dragon form. Arthur wasn¡¯t so arrogant to not realize this was still immense power, but he had feared she¡¯d be on an entirely different level.


    She snorted on him, a gale of wind from her nostrils as she looked at him. ¡°Better?¡±


    ¡°Hopefully,¡± Arthur said. This was untested ground. He had theories. But he was playing with dangerous magic.


    He began again. And Irene bellowed in pain, her claws cracking the surface of the ground. For 15 minutes he continued, before Arthur stopped. She still looked as draconic as ever.


    He¡¯d drained something. But¡­ he was killing her more than restoring her humanity.


    ¡°I¡¯m still a dragon,¡± Irene said, a great, reptilian eye staring at him, her tooth-filled maw pressed towards him. The red-scaled beast was too close for comfort, really.


    ¡°I know that,¡± Arthur said. ¡°But if I continue right now, you¡¯ll not be human, just dead. We¡¯ll need to let you rest a while and try again.¡±


    ¡°I told you if you didn¡¯t live up to your-¡± Irene was roaring, a bellowing shout which hurt the ears.


    ¡°Irene!¡± August snapped. ¡°Even if you grow tired of him, our emperor will wish to see him.¡±


    The dragon¡¯s head whipped through the air, looking pointedly away from August and Arthur both, and then she reverted to human shape. ¡°You¡¯re right. Even if he cannot live up to his own words he is still a rather impressively unique spec¡­¡± She trailed off, holding her arm awkwardly. Her muscles were pained. It was a feeling she only distantly remembered. Pain was one of the few things she could feel for the last 400 years, but it was a long time since she had felt it so sharply.


    ¡°Let me try a second time tomorrow before you dismiss my words as mere empty boasts,¡± Arthur protested.


    Irene¡¯s head turned towards him and then back towards August. ¡°I¡¯ll consider it.¡±


    She barely slept that night. It¡¯d been years since her body had bothered her so much; the itch, the cold, the ache. They¡¯d all been a constant element of her existence. And yet she¡¯d never realized before how lumpy and hard her bed was before. And it wasn¡¯t much but she had been able to tell the difference between milk and water by taste alone for the first time since Zeref had given her a human shape.


    Irene¡¯s bellows shattered the clouds over the castle, a burst of magic shooting through the depths of one. She¡¯d not felt agony like this since she had become a dragon, and never had before the act of becoming one. Every fiber of her being hurt, and only the iron-clad resolve that if she bear with it at the end she could become human again, that she would be able to feel and be herself again, kept her from lashing out at the foreign mage with his accursed staff.


    She¡¯d been preparing to, only shifting her head at the last moment to launch her blast into the skies instead. And then something was changing. The power of the foreign mage seemed to swell, growing by a staggering amount, almost like he¡¯d undergone dragonification of his own. The pain spiked, and for a moment everything began to turn red, white, and black. Her vision was swimming, and her ears were ringing. It felt like she was on an airship, and dying. Her senses were going wild, and the pain was encroaching on her brain.


    She roared again, uncertain where she was screaming at, merely lashing out with the ferocity of a wounded animal against something that was attacking it. And then the pain became simply too much for her and everything went black.


    Arthur was left feeling tired as he completed the ritual. If Irene had fought him he¡¯d not have managed it. Well, fought him from the beginning; by the end her dragon¡¯s roar had forced Horologium to appear to protect him and take the blast itself. Even with a cooperative subject, he had had to spend his choice points to purchase Magic Power Level 5.


    He had watched as Irene¡¯s draconic form had gotten smaller and smaller, even as she thrashed. That final, wild, dragged out beam which had hammered against Horologium had been substantially smaller than when she had scattered the clouds, though she had maintained it for much longer. Her skin had begun to appear, hair from the head that had horribly looked somewhere between human and dragon. It had been like watching a body horror transformation in reverse.


    But this was still the moment of truth. He had, effectively, just forcibly transformed someone else, ripping out her lifeforce and replacing it as he had gone. It wouldn¡¯t have worked if she hadn¡¯t been a dragon. That all meant, though, that she probably needed some medical attention asap.


    Even before Arthur, tired by the exertion, and with his Archive fully dedicated to specialized functions to control and guide the spell, could get out of Horologium, August was there.


    Arthur wished his Archive had been set to analyze and study magic being used at the moment. He hadn¡¯t known August knew healing magic till that moment, and August used it with skill and deftness. In moments Irene¡¯s eyes were opening, the red-haired woman looking up towards the sky.


    Arthur hadn¡¯t expected to be sure if she would live or die even with his own healing magic for maybe an hour. Hadn¡¯t expected her to be awake for at least a day.


    ¡°I¡¯m cold,¡± the sorceress whispered as she wrapped her arms around herself, and August removed his robe and draped it over her. ¡°I feel so weak, and tired,¡± She repeated. ¡°I¡¯m actually tired.¡± She rose to her feet, knocking the robe from her body.


    ¡°Careful,¡± Arthur and August said in unison. The rest of their words failed to match but the sentiment was the same. She¡¯d just almost died, and was visibly unsteady on her feet.


    Juliet and Heine, the two girl mages she had sicced on Arthur¡¯s group at their arrival, rushed to her side, one sliding under each of her arms. And then she hugged them close to her, burying their faces against her flesh. And she went silent, tears running down her face, her knees buckling. It wasn¡¯t the pain which coursed through every nerve of her body, the soreness which attacked every muscle. It wasn¡¯t even the weakness which seemed to have enervated her entire being. It was the feeling of hair against her flesh. The sensation of the courtyard¡¯s stone floor, reduced to gravel by her dragon form, pressing against the soles of her bare feet. The feeling of air against her skin. And the clearness of her thoughts which she hadn¡¯t experienced in centuries.


    She felt human again.


    Once Irene was taken to her chamber to sleep, Arthur had excused himself from August¡¯s company on the basis of being exhausted and needing rest. The look of suspicion on the wizened Wizard King¡¯s face, worried Arthur, but he was allowed to retreat to his room.


    He used Aqua Aera to create a portal between worlds. He could have used a more direct spell of moon dragon slayer magic; but just in case August was watching him somehow he didn¡¯t want to give the Wizard King a chance to learn it.


    He wasn¡¯t traveling to another world to avoid August, though. He was wary of giving Acnologia more reason to investigate. Irene¡¯s power would have masked his during her change, but now¡­ Well Acnologia might notice him. And while Acnologia seemed to have avoided Irene for all these centuries, he hadn¡¯t been so kind to Arthur.


    Besides, he¡¯d prepared this place ahead of time. A private little workshop that he had used when in his hermitage. It had the tools he needed to turn a dragon¡¯s heart into lacrima. But in this case he wasn¡¯t doing such a material metamorphosis.


    He took an empty lacrima crystal, one carefully crafted to be a receptacle for other magical power, and he touched the staff to it. It was vibrating even now with the power it had taken; the sheer power of Irene¡¯s dragon seed.


    And he began to push the seed into the crystal, letting it turn a shade of red like her scarlet scales. The crystal expanded a bit, growing from the power fed into it, but it was actually less than the crystal had been prepared to hold. Once the power had been transferred there was the process of harmonizing it with the lacrima, and ensuring it didn¡¯t explode or leak out. A process which took more than an hour of magical, and chemical, work. But when it was done he held a large, red lacrima. The Sage Dragon¡¯s lacrima.

 Meeting the Emperor

    Arthur lay in his bed staring upwards towards his left arm. He held it over his face, wiggling its fingers and waving its hand in front of his face. Or well if he had been wearing a prosthesis his fingers would have been wriggling, and there would have been a hand. He could still feel his fingers move, even though he knew very well there was no hand there, just a burned and scarred stump.


    Minerva and Tabby were exploring Alvarez¡¯s capital city, but he had remained behind in the castle with his thoughts. Irene and August had given him things to think about.


    Irene had offered to give him Heine and Juliet, or teach him how she made them, or ¡°do anything he desired¡± which he was pretty sure if he took her up on would upset Selene more than it was worth. Lewd thoughts aside, it wasn''t her desire to repay him which had him staring upwards thinking. It was the news she¡¯d given him that morning.


    Zeref was on his way here. He¡¯d been contacted about Irene¡¯s change, and Arthur in general. It was just as well with Arthur. He¡¯d been here to prove he could help Irene, to validate his own existence by helping someone, and lighten the specter that hung over his shoulders about how much of his power was a cheat by at least using that cheat to help someone; he was introspective enough to recognize that his altruism was both more real than Irene and August had been willing to believe and that it was still fake. But with Irene helped, he did have other things to do here. He hadn¡¯t lied to Selene when he said he wanted to get Emperor Spriggan and his forces to help bring Acnologia low.


    That was not what he was thinking about. Irene had said that she was certain Zeref would offer him a position within the Spriggan Twelve. It was the warning that Zeref did not like that offer being removed and he could be capricious at times that had Arthur worrying and thinking. He might be an exception, Irene had said it was a possibility; his power and skills were enough that he might be able to make an arrangement with Zeref as an equal. But if he did not want to bend the knee, or risk a battle against those he sought to ally with¡­ She had told him to leave the castle before Zeref arrived.


    Arthur would risk the danger. He knew as much as he was waffling and brooding over the decision, that he had already decided to stay. But that didn¡¯t stop him from second guessing.


    Then there was what August told him. The Wizard King could regrow his arm and make him whole again.


    He wanted it. But he had told August he needed to think about it.


    A hand white as alabaster and accented in gold formed on his stump. It was high quality porcelain, reinforced by the magical energy of the lacrima set into it. He had some tactile sensation from it. But it wasn¡¯t total.


    His hand changed, silvery scales replacing alabaster porcelain. Claws tipped its fingertips, the hand inhuman and monstrous. It was made from bone and scales, bits of meat included. A dragon didn¡¯t decay easily. He could feel from the prosthetic. Not a full range of sensation - the scales were armoring and kept out a fair bit of sensation - but it was more sensitive than it should be for a dragon¡¯s claw. But it wasn¡¯t human.


    His hand changed again and again, cycling through his prosthetic options. If he was honest, none of them were truly close to an appropriate replacement for his flesh and blood. He was incomplete.


    And August had given him the option to be whole again.


    But incomplete or not they were useful. He could pack far more magic into a prosthesis than a gauntlet. He couldn¡¯t replicate the Fist of God or Demon King¡¯s Hand as a gauntlet. They were useful weapons and tools.


    So was Irene¡¯s dragon form.


    Arthur immediately chided himself for that thought. Dragonification was powerful. If he just tapped into the dragon force till he changed he would become much more powerful. But he¡¯d seen Georg degrade mentally as it progressed. He¡¯d seen the savage, half-crazed beast which was Irene, and how much happier and different she was now. He¡¯d felt the power which assaulted his mind when he¡¯d gotten close.


    To compare the hand to it was like comparing burning your shirt for light to burning your house for light. The latter provided more light, but losing your shirt hurt a lot less than losing your house.


    His fake hands worked. They functioned. They could serve as a replacement. And they gave him abilities he¡¯d lose if he regrew his arm.


    Which was worth it. He could always cut his arm off again if the power was that important. So it should be simple: tell August yes.


    But Acnologia still loomed. And as long as the dragon king was out there, he needed to be ready. For now the answer was no. Hopefully he¡¯d have a chance to change it after he had dealt with the dragon king one way or another. And if not, he¡¯d find his own way to restore it. Compared to dragon takeover that should be relatively easy.


    There was a rapping on Arthur¡¯s chamber door. When he opened it he saw Heine, the dark haired ninja-girl who served as one of Irene¡¯s personal servants and weapons. Well actually she was a sword enchanted by Irene with human form and personality, a sort of magical AI. It approached living magic in its way, though she was not a demon.


    She was a straight-laced girl, one who didn¡¯t flaunt her emotions, but she wasn¡¯t meeting his eyes and for the first time since Irene had her humanity restored, she didn¡¯t have a hint of a smile on her face. ¡°I am to report to you that your presence is requested in the imperial chamber immediately,¡± She said.


    ¡°Zeref¡¯s returned?¡± A small panel manifestation of his Archive appeared by Arthur¡¯s hand. It was more effective to summon it to make changes, and if he was going to go see Zeref he wanted his Archive running at full power, and overclocking fully activated.


    ¡°Yes,¡± Heine said. ¡°He requested your presence. He does not like to be kept waiting.¡±


    ¡°Impatient for an immortal isn¡¯t he.¡±


    Heine nodded lightly, then froze a little. ¡°How did you know the Emperor is Zeref?¡±


    Arthur winced. While here no one had called Zeref by name, always referring to him as Emperor Spriggan. ¡°I am well informed.¡±


    The sword-turned-girl looked at him for a moment with a quizzical look on her face. After a few moments, she said, ¡°Shall I lead you there?¡±


    ¡°Alone? Shouldn¡¯t I get my apprentices?¡± Arthur asked.


    Arthur walked into the imperial chamber. Zeref sat at a throne, a round table before him with seats for the Spriggan 12. Arthur noted immediately that Brandish was not among those seated at the table; he had seen her, she was in the castle, so she was unlikely to be the owner of one of the 4 empty seats.


    Arthur had expected Irene and August to have the two seats besides the emperor, but they did not. In fact August was seated nearly opposite, next to the chair which was offered to Arthur himself. Instead two Spriggans he didn¡¯t recognize flanked Zeref.


    It¡¯d been a while since he read the Spriggan arc, he wasn¡¯t certain he¡¯d recognize most of the Spriggans. But Seilah¡¯s memories ensured he could recognize Zeref himself. Another bore something of a familial resemblance to Natsu and Zeref, but his hair was a pale blonde like Selene¡¯s, and his scent was disturbingly close to Natsu¡¯s; that was enough to identify him as Larcade. The red and black hulking brute next to him was obviously an etherious which would make him Bloodman.


    The man on Zeref¡¯s right had pale, gray hair and glasses, which probably meant he was the ice mage who fought Gray; the ice general or shogun or something like that. Arthur couldn¡¯t remember his proper title, and just thought of him as the Frost General. He tried to place the other three. The short haired blonde who wore a shirt that was little more than a bikini top would be the time goddess vessel who used a variation of takeover magic. At least he could only remember three female members of the Spriggan 12 and he was pretty sure she¡¯d been blonde and liked showing skin.


    He couldn¡¯t narrow down the other 2. In the manga there¡¯d been a sand mage but he had huge hair and a dark tan, which neither had. There¡¯d also been a robot man, but he was fat and neither were. He remembered an assassin with a skull on his head, but he wasn¡¯t here. He¡¯d met Brandish and she wasn¡¯t here. That left God Serena, the guy who countered spatial magic, and the guy who had the ability to bring back phantoms of the dead from people¡¯s memories. Except that God Serena was dead, and since he¡¯d remembered 13 members of the Spriggan Twelve he was pretty sure that the guy who countered spatial magic wasn¡¯t a member.


    By the process of elimination the remaining two people both had to be the memory-necromancer.


    Presumably one of the two was someone replaced by Brandish or God Serena before their first appearance in the manga. Maybe both of them. Arthur had no way of knowing.


    Despite there still being 3 unoccupied seats, Minerva and Tabby were not offered chairs. Instead Zeref fixed Arthur with an intense stare.


    He was dressed in a high collared black robe, with a white toga-like cloth wrapped around his chest. His look towards Arthur was like how someone might look at an interesting insect¡­ before beginning to tear its limbs off one at a time.


    Maybe he should have run. Was the Dragon King actually more dangerous than the Black Wizard?


    ¡°I welcome you, Arthur Mage of the North, to the court of the Emperor Spriggan,¡± He said, his face eerily impassive. ¡°I have heard quite a bit about you. You appeared and immediately solved a magical problem which I had stumbled over for years. You killed one of the Wizard Gods who had stood against our invasion of Ishgar, as a successful bulwark. You remade one of the demons of Tartaros as your personal servant.¡±


    The etherious, Bloodman, slammed his hands on the table then, his eyes shooting wide. Rage and injured pride burned across his face. Arthur could remember him from the manga; he was made by combining all the powers of the demons of Tartaros into one demon. Arthur wondered what he thought about things.


    He had plenty of time to wonder. His overclocking left his mind moving at vastly increased speeds. Though he was wondering more about whether Zeref actually knew he had killed God Serena or was trying to gauge his reaction to the statement. The suspicion was certainly there, but that wouldn¡¯t be surprising. The suspicion was far from uncommon.


    Zeref didn¡¯t deign to notice Bloodman¡¯s outburst, but continued as if it had never happened. ¡°A dragon god has recognized your power as her personal knight, and lover, and yet I must wonder if that¡¯s not to cover her fear of you. She¡¯s been coordinating enemies of yours; arming them to kill you.¡±


    Zeref paused. Arthur was doing his best to keep his own face impassive, and to react to nothing. It was a lot easier when running your mind through a magical computer. The silence dragged on till Arthur was just beginning to think that Zeref was waiting for him to say something when Zeref continued again. ¡°Any one of these things would be enough that I would have to consider you for a position among my Shields. All of them put together, and well you certainly have my attention. So, will you accept and become one of my 12 Shields of Spriggan, my personal imperial bodyguard?¡±


    ¡°I cannot answer such a question lightly. I am after all already in another¡¯s employ, and on a mission of my own. Until I have dealt with the Dragon King I do not have the time to play games of soldiers and kingdoms,¡± Arthur answered, his eyes on Zeref¡¯s face, trying to find something in the emotionless mask of flesh. ¡°If it is for the task of removing the threat of Acnologia, and you have a capable plan, I will consider it.¡±


    Arthur wished he had Cobra¡¯s hearing magic to hear people¡¯s thoughts. He felt like he was walking through a minefield and one wrong move might trigger Zeref to go into killer mode.


    ¡°How dare you speak to the emperor in such a tone,¡± Larcade said, rising to his feet as his palms slammed on the table. ¡°Father, allow me to teach this arrogant fool a lesson.¡±


    ¡°Larcade, sit down,¡± Zeref said in a voice that overflowed with malice. Arthur could see Irene shudder out of the corner of one eye. Arthur couldn¡¯t completely resist a shudder as well.


    Zeref turned back to face Arthur. ¡°Why are you so concerned with killing the Dragon King?¡±


    ¡°Because he¡¯s a destroyer, and a threat to the world at large.¡± Arthur¡¯s answer came quickly and easily enough.


    ¡°So am I.¡±


    Arthur would have hesitated, and mulled for a moment, showing obvious discomfort, but his overclocked brain provided him with the ability to hide his natural slowness. ¡°You¡¯re a conqueror and a king. You can be reasoned with and don¡¯t make a habit of wiping out entire towns just for entertainment.¡±


    ¡°You seem misinformed.¡±


    ¡°Acnologia doesn¡¯t destroy towns at near random?¡±


    ¡°He does, but when one is bored enough¡­ Well I can¡¯t say I haven¡¯t before.¡±


    ¡°Look, if you want me to put you on the list after Acnologia, I can see about doing what your book project couldn¡¯t. Or maybe even breaking your curse. But Acnologia is the more pressing concern at the moment.¡±


    ¡°What did you say?¡± Zeref rose to his feet, looking down at Arthur from across the - rather large - circular table.


    ¡°I figured out how to restore humanity to a dragon. I might be able to figure out how to break your curse, and failing that I suspect I have the means to kill you if you¡¯d like.¡±


    Zeref looked at him. The impassive mask had cracked just a little, but Arthur couldn¡¯t pinpoint an emotion on his face. He simply looked crazed. The Spriggans were scooting their chairs away, giving Zeref more space around him. Arthur realized then he had misinterpreted the space around Zeref¡¯s throne. It wasn¡¯t a sign of respect, or at least not entirely one, it was keeping distance between them and his curse.


    ¡°There is nothing in this world that can kill me. I have tried,¡± Zeref said.


    ¡°I have a sword for killing immortals, it¡¯d be worth a shot,¡± Arthur said, his words coming faster than his consideration of whether they were a good idea even despite his overclocking.


    ¡°Don¡¯t lie to me.¡± Zeref¡¯s voice cracked with broken hope and mad rage. ¡°I have traveled the entire world looking for any such weapon. It does not exist,¡± Zeref said, his voice holding the murderous edge of an unsheathed blade. ¡°If you¡¯re going to lie to me, you will not last long here.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s from another world,¡± Arthur said, barely managing to hold back from adding at the end ¡®dumbass¡¯.


    Zeref stopped then staring at Arthur silently for a moment. ¡°The Edolas incident?¡± He asked.


    ¡°Not Edolas, but I¡¯ve been to many worlds. The sword itself is a demon in the form of a blade, pulled from a space beyond even the worlds I can traverse,¡± He was meticulously telling the truth; Irene had told him about the lie detection spell August liked to use, and his Archive¡¯s pings did warn him that August was in mental rapport with Zeref.


    ¡°Leave! All of you! You are dismissed!¡± Zeref suddenly ordered in an imperious tone, and the Spriggan rose and backed away. They didn¡¯t run, they were calm and orderly, but Arthur noticed they were walking quickly. The retreat from the chamber was fast, smooth, and efficient. Even so before they had left it Arthur could see the black, life taking force eating away at the space around Zeref. Even his friendship was going to be dangerous.


    And once they had left the room, Arthur was at the center of attention.


    Bloodman and Larcade were glaring daggers at him. He¡¯d made enemies there when he ¡®stole¡¯ Seilah; even if he didn¡¯t get to keep her. He wondered briefly if Zeref would destroy their books if he stole them the same way. Then he remembered how callously Zeref had treated Tartaros in the manga, and how Larcade had died; Zeref wouldn¡¯t hesitate to kill them if they annoyed him much less were turned into another¡¯s tools.


    August was the same black box that he always was. The Frost General was likewise completely unreadable, other than that Arthur definitely had his attention. Irene at least Arthur felt was on his side. Her looks towards him were worried and emotional.


    The other three were nakedly curious. One of the men, a guy with a girly face, purple ponytail, and a foppish outfit, started to step towards him, but it was the woman behind him which caught Arthur¡¯s attention.


    One instant the two men were between her and him. And then things were weird. He felt something washing over him. It was hard to say what it was, but the world dimmed, growing almost black through the filter of his territory armor.


    His Archive had brought up a warning about time magic, but this was on a whole other league than Sawyer¡¯s. Time had effectively come to a standstill. He could guess why he was able to perceive things; his sheer magical power. He barely caught a shape which he thought was August moving backwards, backing up a step to return to the position he was in when time froze, and hide his own ability to act. He seemed a little slowed, though.


    There was another much faster shape. It would be the blonde-haired Spriggan. She was a blur, and the sheer lack of light was not helping. He had gone from effectively wearing sunglasses in doors to wearing sunglasses in a poorly lit dungeon. But he could feel the drain of energy on his Territory Armor from the blows against it.


    He remembered her power from the manga. She had time magic courtesy of fusing with the time god Cronos, and she could freeze time with it. He wondered what would happen if he was actually pressing his magic to its limits at that moment. There was a big difference between active power level output and passive one. But in that time of consideration she had already struck dozens of times.


    Arthur began to simply feed a steady flow of power into his territory armor. He could observe the Spriggan slow down - at least from his perspective - as he did so. She was still moving at a speed that looked like you were playing a video at a high fast forward, 10 or 20 times normal speed, but he was only using a trickle of magical power. Maintaining his Archive link was something he had grown accustomed to doing almost passively, and the same with keeping up his Territory Armor. The rate of her blows attriting it was not much either; he suspected she was holding back, not wanting to risk a lethal blow and merely testing things. If his magic was fully active he felt he could probably break free and act normally in this island of frozen time. Still it was a dangerous assassination tool. If she¡¯d used full force and takeover would he still be standing here? If she¡¯d gone straight for the kill could he have flared his power fast enough to escape and survive? He didn¡¯t want to find out.


    He did his best to stand still, and give away nothing. If he was going to find a counter he needed to let his Archive observe and study. His best was not good enough. He moved. Not much, but his position shifted as she hammered away blow after blow. 10 or 20 times normal speed had fallen to 3 or 5 times as he had increased his Archive¡¯s power to record events. And even then another 8 minutes passed, before the lights turned back on.


    The god-vessel was breathing hard. She¡¯d just spent a good hour or more from her subjective time holding time frozen and hitting him in the space between seconds.


    ¡°What the ****ing hell is your skin made of?¡± She asked, her brown eyes staring straight up towards his face.


    ¡°That¡¯s my secret,¡± Arthur said. His territory armor was visible to those who knew to look for it. It dimmed his vision because it was partially opaque to light, or polarized it; he wasn¡¯t sure which. Either way looking through it was like looking through a darkened pane of glass, and it didn¡¯t only apply to him looking out. But if you didn¡¯t know how he looked without it, well it just made him have a touch of swarthiness. ¡°Time magic, right?¡±


    The woman flinched. ¡°You could perceive it?¡±


    Arthur wondered if she¡¯d realized August could too. But August had been slowed even from Arthur¡¯s perspective and he must have been slowed from Dimaria¡¯s. Was it because Arthur was stronger? His purchases shouldn¡¯t have made him so, but the lacrima implanted in his body might have tipped the scale. Or was it because Arthur had been using magic and August had not been? And given the panic in her eyes, Arthur didn¡¯t think she realized that August could.


    The author''s tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.


    ¡°I¡¯ve encountered similar magic before.¡± It was true, but it was also a non-answer just in case August was still playing at being a living lie detector. He tried to sound unperturbed. The woman was dangerous. Kind of cute, but just dangerous enough to be wary around. He didn¡¯t want to confirm he was a threat to her, dangerous and scared was doubly dangerous. ¡°Still it does interest me, I¡¯d be happy to have a discussion about it with you sometime.¡±


    ¡°Think I look that stupid?¡± The Spriggan said. ¡°You just want to learn my secrets.¡±


    ¡°Well of course. I mean when a cutie keeps her name a secret, the air of mystery makes me just want to know.¡±


    ¡°My name is not a secret.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not? Well I can¡¯t say I know it.¡±


    She groaned a little. ¡°Dimaria, and yours was Arthur wasn¡¯t it?¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡±


    ¡°Now, what¡¯s up with your body?¡±


    ¡°Maybe we can discuss it and time magic sometime.¡± Arthur wasn¡¯t going to be dropping his territory armor any time soon in this country, but he was calming down a bit.


    Dimaria chuckled lightly. ¡°Maybe,¡± She said, and then she looked at the two Spriggans Arthur hadn¡¯t been able to identify. ¡°What are you gawking at?¡±


    It was Irene who extracted Arthur from the group, stepping up to Arthur and taking his arm. ¡°I grow bored with this, Arthur would you care to accompany me to my chambers. I thought perhaps we could have a discussion about our magics.¡±


    She shot a withering glare at the other members of the Spriggan 12 and began to walk, pulling Arthur by the arm as if she did not intend to take no for an answer.


    Heine and Juliet were at work in Irene¡¯s chambers when they arrived. They were carrying in furniture, awkwardly maneuvering a couch through the doorway. Arthur didn¡¯t even feel the expenditure of magical energy as he teleported them both and the couch through the doorway.


    Irene¡¯s chambers were large, but spartan, the furniture an odd mix of the fine - like what Heine and Juliet were currently carrying - and the most simple and pragmatic - wooden chairs and stools.


    ¡°I apologize for the state of my chambers. I found that they were in grave need of redecoration,¡± Irene said. ¡°I haven¡¯t sat for reasons other than etiquette in quite some time.¡±


    Arthur nodded. ¡°It¡¯s understandable,¡± He said.


    ¡°I should have thought of somewhere better, but you looked uncomfortable among the Shields of Spriggan, and I thought you¡¯d appreciate somewhere they wouldn¡¯t dare to follow,¡± Irene stated.


    ¡°Yeah,¡± Arthur said somewhat weakly. ¡°Felt like I was surrounded by a pack of wolves.¡± It wasn¡¯t just being the center of attention - though that hadn¡¯t made Arthur comfortable - but the way they were going about it. Heine and Juliet were staring at him; or well Heine was stealing glances and pointedly looking away most of the time, while Juliet was openly staring at him with a strangely adoring smile. The two sword-girls were not making him comfortable, and actually Juliet¡¯s fixation had him creeped out just a little. But it was nothing compared to the hostility in the Spriggan¡¯s stares, even before Dimaria¡¯s naked testing of his abilities.


    ¡°Do you know what a spriggan is?¡± Irene asked.


    ¡°A twisted wood sprite,¡± Arthur said, then shook his head. ¡°No, that was only in a game. They were the ghosts of giants, wizened and twisted fairies which haunted old ruins and burial mounds.¡±


    ¡°I couldn¡¯t say for certain about those details, but what the Emperor has said was that they were twisted, predatory fairies. So we Shields are not too far removed from a pack of wolves gathered around a single alpha beast who commands through his sheer, naked power.¡±


    ¡°Sounds wonderfully pleasant, I can definitely see why you attract new applicants,¡± Arthur¡¯s voice dripped with naked sarcasm, and then he regretted it as he saw Irene flinch away. It was hard to remember in the last few days that she was one of their leaders. He blamed it on the smiles she kept having.


    Though she frowned at the moment. ¡°That was not the impression I¡­ That was¡­ Zeref asked me to make certain that you do not oppose us.¡±


    ¡°That sounds like he thinks I have reason to do so.¡±


    ¡°He may. He has never been one to particularly share his goals with us.¡± Irene said. ¡°He always called it a game to keep us inhuman immortals entertained¡­¡±


    ¡°This is a pretty great sales pitch you¡¯ve got here. I¡¯m not sure about you, but I don¡¯t consider myself inhuman, and I¡¯m certainly no immortal.¡± Arthur didn¡¯t press at the idea of playing games with the lives of mortals. He was trying to ensure that there was enough of a wedge between Irene and Zeref that if push came to shove she¡¯d side with him over Zeref. Guilt tripping her for her actions wouldn¡¯t help with that. Reminding her that she was no longer a ¡®player¡¯ in Zeref¡¯s game but a mortal pawn would.


    Meeting August and Dimaria had convinced Arthur that the Spriggan 12 could potentially kill him. Meeting Zeref had convinced him that the Black Wizard was as much of a threat to the world as Acnologia. More of one than any of the 5+1 Dragon Gods. And having upset the natural flow of the world, Arthur would have to kill Zeref lest he kill the world. And when it came to that; even if he could deal with Zeref, he¡¯d need help to deal with the Spriggan 12 at the same time.


    ¡°I was,¡± Irene said. ¡°And like you, he helped me, in a way I can never repay. He saved me when I needed him. I had spent nearly 400 years trapped in the form of a dragon, filled with the sheer, maddening power of that form.¡± There was pain in her voice, and when she raised it, it was printed clear on her face. ¡°When your magic gives you the shape of a dragon, how much does it truly make you one?¡±


    ¡°As much as I dare allow it, which is already more than I¡¯d like,¡± Arthur answered. It was painfully true. ¡°I have no wish to cross that line. I¡¯ve gotten too close to it before, and it messed up my head.¡±


    Irene nodded. ¡°I spent 400 years as a dragon. But Zeref gave me human form, and even if it was flawed and imperfect, it gave me the chance to give birth to my daughter as a human,¡± Her voice cracked, pain and sorrow in it. ¡°Even if the madness still was twisting my mind, making it unsafe for me to be near her lest in a moment of weakness I did something monstrous to her, my daughter wouldn¡¯t have even been born if not for him. I owe him, almost as much as I owe you.¡±


    ¡°Your daughter¡­ where did you leave her?¡±


    ¡°Why?¡± Irene asked, the hurt of the memories still in her eyes and on her face.


    ¡°Because when I was in Fiore I knew a young lady who looked like she could have been your little sister.¡±


    Irene¡¯s hands clenched, fingers digging hard into her palms, her face turning towards him. ¡°In Fiore? It¡¯s possible. I¡­ I tried not to remember where I left her.¡± Her face was hopeful and pleading as she looked at him. ¡°Tell me about her.¡±


    ¡°Her hair was the same scarlet as yours, and she was freakishly strong as a mage. Still far from fully developed but in raw power probably one of the top 10 in Ishgar. Her face looked like yours as well.¡±


    ¡°How was she? Was she well? Was she happy?¡±


    ¡°Her life wasn¡¯t without hardships. She spent years as a slave,¡± Arthur felt a little guilty. He was choosing his words knowingly to manipulate Irene¡¯s feelings, and she was wearing them on her sleeve. A naked fury built on her face when he said those words. ¡°Of the cult of Zeref.¡± She bit onto her lower lip, her face going a terrifying white, the look on it like she was going to kill someone. ¡°She escaped, but not without losing friends and loved ones. But she found a guild, Fairy Tail, and found a family of a sort there. They make her smile, and I¡¯d say on the whole she¡¯s well and happy. Some parts of her life are complicated - the boy she likes was used as a vessel for ¡®Zeref¡¯s spirit¡¯ by the cult and that left his life derailed, which isn¡¯t helping hers, but she has friends and people who will support her, and things were looking up between them last I knew. My sources say he¡¯s close to getting a pardon.¡±


    ¡°You said the Cult of Zeref did it?¡± Irene asked, a cold, fury in her voice.


    Arthur noted she didn¡¯t seize on Fairy Tail, but the cult. He wondered if that was rage, or if Zeref¡¯s attack on the guild was as of yet unknown to Irene. Even so, he fought back the urge to smile. She¡¯d still taken his bait hook, line, and sinker. ¡°Yeah, a group of religious fanatics to serve Zeref¡¯s will as they were guided into it by Tartaros.¡± Well Tartaros and Grimoire Heart, but Seilah had been intimately involved in their creation, and Grimoire Heart was only opportunistic.


    ¡°You¡¯re sure they were controlled by Tartaros?¡± She asked.


    ¡°Created,¡± Arthur said. ¡°I don¡¯t think Tartaros bothered with hands-on management, but I stole one of Zeref¡¯s books. Her life was, if you¡¯ll pardon the pun, an open book to me. She manipulated it into existence to generate suffering so she could swell in power and be of more use to Zeref.¡± Primarily to kill him, but Arthur didn¡¯t feel the need to include that.


    Irene clenched her hands. ¡°Does it make me an utter monster that I¡¯d simply shrug and say perhaps humanity deserves such plagues if it hadn¡¯t impacted my daughter?¡±


    Arthur didn¡¯t like this question. He was trying to be manipula¡­ diplomatic, however. A yes or a no wouldn¡¯t serve his purpose. ¡°Humanity drove you out after everything you had done for them during the dragon war. It is not admirable to feel that way, but it is understandable.¡± Not truly the best answer, but even living in a world where everything seemed to be moving in slow motion - including his own body - figuring out the best answer to something like that wasn¡¯t easy.


    Irene nodded meekly, but then she shook her head. ¡°It¡¯s far from admirable. I was better than that once. Even when they had driven me out. I mastered the initial rage. The fury. The thrill of destruction. But somewhere along the way I forgot that.¡±


    Arthur simply put a hand on her shoulder, squeezing lightly. He said nothing. To speak would be to claim a knowledge of her pain he could not even pretend to lay claim to. He could have asked when she forgot, and tried to steer it towards Zeref being a poisonous influence, but that would be ham-fisted and too overt. The sort of thing that¡¯d only work in a comic book.


    The silence seemed to drag on and on. Arthur let his overclocking tune down to a more non-combat level.


    And then Irene¡¯s head rose. ¡°Take me out on the town,¡± She said. ¡°I¡¯ve not had a proper excursion in four hundred years.¡±


    ¡°As you wish,¡± Arthur said.


    Between the horse drawn carriage ride, a show, fine dinner, and now dancing, Arthur was a little worried that this was a date. Selene had told him to do whatever he deemed necessary to obtain the forces needed to ensure Acnologia¡¯s destruction, but he was fairly certain she¡¯d frown on him dating other girls. And he did not want to make Selene frown at him.


    It was probably bad for one¡¯s health. Maybe one¡¯s friends¡¯ health. Even if he could handle Selene it was probably bad for Georg¡¯s health. Still as long as things stayed platonic, it was probably fine. Selene would understand Irene had a need to be made to feel human again. Hopefully.


    Irene was an attractive woman. Especially since she¡¯d begun softening after regaining her humanity. It was particularly noticeable here, out on the town. She was stiff in the castle, her movements reminiscent of a soldier on parade. Here she could let her hair down; literally as she¡¯d undone her braids, allowing her hair to be a wild mass that ran down to her waist.


    It was while they were dancing that Irene asked Arthur a question which almost made him trip. ¡°How much can you feel through that defensive spell?¡±


    She wasn¡¯t the first to ask him this. Selene got annoyed that he kept the spell active as often as he did. She¡¯d begun to deny him the chance to touch her with it up, though eventually she¡¯d yielded on when they were actually sleeping; Arthur had difficulty sleeping with it down.


    ¡°Enough,¡± he said. ¡°Pressure, and a dulled sense of temperature.¡± It was, normally, mostly permeable to gasses, meaning some temperature exchange passed through it.


    ¡°Is that really enough for you? That sort of containment drove me crazy.¡±


    ¡°I can turn it off when I want to.¡±


    ¡°And you don¡¯t want to now?¡± That was the one that almost tripped him. It was hard to answer. No, I don¡¯t want to because last time I lowered it in a public mass I ended the night with a knife in my back, was not a good answer. It made him sound paranoid. But around Zeref and the Spriggans he had good reason to be paranoid.


    ¡°I wouldn¡¯t want to make my girlfriend jealous,¡± he answered. It was technically true. He had just been dwelling on that. It let him confess that feeling her body under his hands as they danced might be pleasurable, while also making clear he didn¡¯t seek to pursue that.


    ¡°So you¡¯re just keeping it up to keep away from me?¡± She asked with a smile that Arthur took as teasing and playful.


    ¡°Or in case Dimaria tries to kill me again.¡±


    ¡°She wasn¡¯t trying to kill you. If she really wanted to kill you, she has far more effective weapons than her sword.¡±


    ¡°Or in case Zeref tells someone to kill me.¡±


    Irene didn¡¯t have a counter argument there. She was silent for several seconds, before finally admitting: ¡°That¡¯s rather wise of you.¡±


    There was more space between them on the ride back to the castle than on the way out. Arthur wasn¡¯t sure if he had messed up somewhere along the night, or if it was just Irene realizing he was spoken for and that her pressing against his arm was probably not desired.


    He wasn¡¯t sure if her realizing that was a good thing, or if he had messed up there. Arthur wasn¡¯t even certain if he was thinking about this strategically, or with the wrong head. He was still scared to trust Selene; but he was just as scared to trust Irene if he was honest. He was confident he¡¯d beat either one in a head on fight; but that both were smart enough to go for something more subtle.


    ¡°What is your plan to deal with Acnologia?¡± Irene broke the silence, looking back into the carriage and ceasing her staring at the stars.


    ¡°Ideally the same as to deal with you. Offer him the chance to become human again.¡±


    ¡°And if he refuses, or that fails?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not a legendary tactician. I came here for advice on that matter.¡±


    Irene laughed softly, cutting him off. ¡°The emperor is not what his legend makes him out to be. He¡¯s a scholar of war more than a genius of it.¡±


    ¡°Still, I had hoped to discuss options, but hopefully Igneel¡¯s faction of dragons will be available to fight him. And if they should fail,¡± His black sword materialized in his hand. ¡°I just need to get this in a chink in his armor. Or hopefully you could enchant it with dragon slayer magic so that it could push through.¡±


    Irene looked at the sword. ¡°Is it even a magical bla-¡± She stopped. She had reached forward and touched the sword¡¯s blade with her finger, and she shuddered when she did, pulling her hand from it. ¡°It is-¡±


    ¡°Not of this world,¡± Arthur finished for her.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know if I could enchant it,¡± Irene said. ¡°Honestly, I can tell you nothing about the sword, other than that it is unnerving.¡±


    ¡°It is an evil blade. It consumes the soul itself and ends those it kills permanently.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s the sword you believe could kill Zeref?¡± Arthur merely nodded as an answer, and Irene looked at the blade. ¡°Do you really believe it would work?¡±


    ¡°For Zeref? I¡¯m fairly certain.¡±


    ¡°And Acnologia?¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s a spell for the blade. A magic not of this world, and one I can¡¯t be certain I can manage, but I think even if I can¡¯t use it properly I can use it well enough. It will summon a multitude of its brothers, from across worlds far distant. Together they can permanently banish beings of higher realms. It should be enough to kill Acnologia. I¡¯m not sure I could pull it off in battle, or control it if I did, but it will serve as a final card to play if all else fails.¡±


    ¡°So why do you need us?¡±


    ¡°I came here to help you,¡± Arthur said, looking her straight in the face. He wanted to drive that idea home, without it feeling like he was trying to sell her something. ¡°Help to fight Acnologia was only secondary. But, well like I said I¡¯m not sure I can succeed with that. I might be better off just becoming a dragon to grapple him. And any of your enchantments, August¡¯s power, or Zeref¡¯s death magic could prove the necessary hand on the scales to tip the balance of that fight. There are allies from before in Fiore that I intend to seek out.¡±


    ¡°My daughter?¡± Irene leapt to the idea quickly, and Arthur almost winced. He was fairly certain that her thinking he was trying to directly embroil her daughter in this fight would be counter productive.


    ¡°She¡¯s not who I meant, nor who I¡¯d seek out,¡± He said honestly. ¡°Draculos of the Four Gods of Ishgar.¡±


    ¡°Worthless for such a fight,¡± Irene said derisively.


    ¡°Maybe so,¡± Arthur said, ¡°But I¡¯ve worked with him before, and I trust him to have my back. And then there¡¯s the Thunderbolts.¡±


    ¡°Thunderbolts?¡± Irene asked.


    ¡°It was a team of reformed dark mages I led for a time in Fiore. Their current leader is a second generation dragon slayer, and a powerful one at that.¡±


    ¡°Laxus Dreyar?¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡±


    ¡°He could be useful.¡±


    ¡°They also have Jellal. He is the greatest magical genius I have met among mages native to this era, and while I don¡¯t think he has the power to kill the Dragon King or even significantly harm him, I¡¯m confident he could distract him.¡±


    ¡°Does that statement include yourself as a mage native to this era?¡±


    ¡°No,¡± Arthur said, quickly adding - to divert the subject - ¡°And I left the Thunderbolts with a suit of armor from Edolas, one that could be called an artificial Acnologia. I doubt it could stand long against the real thing, but a skilled mage in it might be able to influence the outcome. And I can¡¯t call him an ally, in fact he¡¯s more of a sworn enemy who has vowed vengeance upon me, but Master Hades of Grimoire Heart built a machine that provided unlimited magical power; his knowledge might provide a means to help fight the dragon king.¡±


    ¡°On the subject of sworn enemies, your ¡®girlfriend¡¯ is among them.¡±


    Arthur found himself getting mad at the suggestion, or maybe it was the verbal quotation marks around girlfriend, before remembering that by her own confession she had been presenting herself as his sworn enemy to his sworn enemies while helping said sworn enemies become stronger for the explicit purpose of killing him. His love life was messed up.


    ¡°On what evidence?¡± He said at last.


    ¡°I believe you are familiar with the etherious guild of Tartaros. He keeps tabs on them. Selene¡¯s agents have been channeling resources and individuals towards them in preparation to kill you.¡±


    ¡°Let them try,¡± Arthur said. ¡°I¡¯ll consume them and grow stronger from the meal.¡±


    It was only when Irene looked away that Arthur realized that was perhaps a bad thing to say. ¡°You really are a dragon slayer,¡± She said.


    ¡°I have to be if I¡¯m going to kill Acnologia. It¡¯s the sad truth of the matter.¡±


    There were a few moments of silence. ¡°Still, you do not owe loyalty to one who would seek your death.¡±


    ¡°Me and Selene have an arrangement. I offered to kill Acnologia for her in exchange for her teaching me magic. The magic I used to help you? It was based on stuff I learned working for her. But her teaching methods are a little bit murderous.¡±


    ¡°I thought you were her lover not her student,¡± Irene said.


    ¡°I am the latter. I was the former first though. I grew on her like a wart.¡±


    ¡°And she still tries to arrange your murder despite this?¡±


    Arthur¡¯s first instinct was to admit the fact that once they became entangled she¡¯d confessed and began to undermine the very group she¡¯d built up. Or at least claimed to. The fact that they hadn¡¯t attacked him on the way said that she was on the level, and that left him feeling guilty for suspecting her. But anything he told Irene could get back to Zeref and from there it could get back to Tartaros.


    ¡°If Tartaros, and a bunch of individuals I beat already, can murder me, what chance do I have against the Dragon King? Either I will get stronger from the conflict, and it will force me to find which allies I can trust, or I¡¯m already as good as dead.¡±


    Irene started to say something and stopped only to start again. ¡°Is that what you believe or something she said?¡±


    ¡°Paraphrasing, I think. But I can accept the reasoning. ¡±


    Irene breathed. ¡°A week ago, I¡¯d have agreed with it.¡±


    ¡°A dragon¡¯s logic,¡± Arthur said with a shrug.


    Irene nodded. ¡°And you can love her despite that?¡±


    ¡°She¡¯s beautiful. She¡¯s powerful. And we¡¯ve known each other for almost 4 years, and during that time she has consistently supported me, helped me, and attempted to be a better person than she was the day before. I can¡¯t claim that last one. Or the first one for that matter. Not that it¡¯s as important as the latter.¡±


    Irene¡¯s face had started out irritated, growing only more at each of his first two statements, but he could watch the urge to object drain from her face as he said the third. Instead of some attempt at refutation, she just asked the question: ¡°And her being a dragon really doesn¡¯t bother you?¡±


    ¡°Like I said when August was asking, no.¡± A part of him wanted to blurt out that dragons were awesome, but he wasn¡¯t so stupid as to think that was a good thing to say to Irene. Besides his experiences with the dragon force and the things that even just using Dragon Takeover did to his mind had dampened that belief in him a bit. ¡°She¡¯s trying to be more human. To meet humanity halfway. She might be a dragon but it doesn¡¯t stop her from being a person.¡±


    ¡°And she¡¯s beautiful? I mean Belserion was beautiful, but I¡¯d have never looked at him and thought about him in that way.¡±


    It was Arthur¡¯s turn to flush. ¡°I meant her human shape. Not her dragon one.¡±


    ¡°More beautiful than me?¡± Irene asked.


    ¡°I plead the fifth.¡±


    ¡°The fifth what?¡±


    ¡°Uh¡­ nevermind. Local laws from my homeland. I refuse to answer that question on the grounds that any answer I give will end badly for me.¡±


    Irene laughed a little. Then her face grew serious again. ¡°And what about the other Dragon Gods? Zeref had dismissed them as a possible resource because only one of them had been seen for decades, and the sea god was clearly no match for Acnologia alone, and should he eat the dragon king we¡¯d have just traded one danger for another. But 3 years ago they¡­¡± She broke off. And then she looked at Arthur again. ¡°That was you. The dragon that Acnologia was chasing was you, wasn¡¯t it?¡±


    ¡°Me, or my guild master. Probably me. Wasn¡¯t the first time I¡¯d gotten the Dragon King on my tail. It¡¯s why I¡¯ve tried not to use much of my magic since coming here.¡±


    Irene looked at him for a few moments. ¡°So you¡¯ve encountered the Dragon King before. Was that how you lost your hand?¡±


    ¡°Nah, that was that armor I mentioned before. It was on Edolas back when the ambient magic was way less, and it fueled itself by draining magic from the surroundings. As the biggest source of magical energy nearby it drained me and my spells pretty nasty. Come to think of it, if I could lure Acnologia to a world without much magical power I might actually be able to use it to kill him.¡±


    Irene nodded. ¡°So the Dragon Gods gathered to save you?¡±


    ¡°Eh? As far as I can gather Mercphobia sounded the alert that Acnologia was coming and Selene and Ignia came to ward him off. Far as I can tell the only one who knows I exist is Selene.¡± Arthur realized that was probably a lie a few moments later. The Gold Dragon God definitely knew who he was.


    ¡°Mercphobia is the sea dragon god, correct? And Ignia would be Igneel¡¯s son, so that¡¯s the fire god?¡±


    ¡°Correct, on both counts.¡±


    ¡°What about the other two are they dead or?¡±


    ¡°Viernes, the Gold Dragon God, turned himself into an alchemists¡¯ guild. They arrived there too, though I¡¯m not sure how much they could help. Selene considers him mostly self-removed for the time being, and extremely dangerous in the long term since he¡¯d not have done that without a reason. Aldoron, the Wood Dragon God, has divided up his magical power and put himself in a coma in a ploy to gain power.¡±


    ¡°And as long as those two remain threats to them, and unable to share in the danger of confronting Acnologia, the other three will refuse to act.¡±


    ¡°Good ol¡¯ self-interest.¡±


    ¡°I had hoped we could get them to kill Acnolgoia and each other in a way that¡¯d leave them weak enough to finish off the¡­¡± Irene looked down. ¡°Sorry. I shouldn¡¯t talk thus about killing Selene, should I?¡±


    ¡°In front of me, you mean?¡± He asked.


    ¡°No. You said she was doing her best to be more human. To even be a good person. I shouldn¡¯t assume she needs to die without at least meeting her first. I mean. I should know that being a dragon doesn¡¯t automatically make you a monster. I knew good ones, and then¡­¡± Tears were forming in her eyes, and Arthur realized she was still processing a few metric shit tons of trauma.


    He reached forward. ¡°It¡¯s alright.¡± He didn¡¯t know what the right thing to say was. Or if there was anything he could say to avert a melt down. ¡°You went through a lot. The old rage, and pain won¡¯t just disappear overnight. But that¡¯s the past now.¡±


    ¡°Thank you. Still, I will try to get Zeref to listen and consider things. Hopefully we can all work together to deal with Acnologia.¡±


    ¡°Hopefully¡­¡±


    From there the conversation soon ended as they arrived back at the imperial palace.

 Mother and Daughter

    Alvarez¡¯s imperial castle was large. Large enough to get lost in. Large enough that for the next two days Arthur didn¡¯t meet a single member of the Spriggan Twelve, nor their Emperor. Well with the exception of Irene, who came to meet him and talk to him - her insights on magic and enchantment were fascinating, and her knowledge of the nature of dragon slayer magic offered a very enlightening second opinion on things.


    Still Arthur had lived in this world long enough to grow a tad paranoid. Shonen looked all fun and power of friendship. Good always overcame evil, but when you got right down to it, living in one of those worlds was like living in the warring states period. There was no rule of law, just the rule of power, and 90% of those with power were using it to harm for their own gain. The heroes won in the end, and those they cared about were unhurt in the process. But everyone else?


    The Spriggan Twelve were known for single-handedly fighting countries. Arthur had admittedly come close to doing the same in Edolas, and might be willing to take on a country, but that didn¡¯t mean he wanted to sit and stew in a trap prepared for him by 12 country destroyers and their boss.


    It, of course, wasn¡¯t merely a matter of power. Zeref, and to a lesser extent the Spriggans in general, scared him because he wasn¡¯t sane. It reminded him of Georg, especially in that last fight, when he was building up to something terribly self-destructive. He¡¯d compare it to Selene, but she had her own logic and rules to her behavior; they just weren¡¯t quite human. From his own meeting with Zeref he wasn¡¯t sure he did. No, Zeref reminded him of Zero more than anyone. They were different. Zero was just simply murderous. But both reeked of madness so thick he imagined he could smell it. And Zeref¡¯s level of power combined with a mind that was irrational and prone to emotion driven violent outburst?


    Staying in the castle felt like staying at ground zero of an anticipated nuclear bomb attack.


    By the third day, Arthur was getting downright antsy. A day or two he could easily let slide as Zeref having a moment. But three days, well Zeref could be busy with various matters and affairs of state and governance, but Arthur rather expected it meant he was plotting some way to kill him, or force him to serve. At the minimum it appeared to be some petty power play.


    It left him in the mood for a bit of rebellion. He¡¯d not actually been told to do more than just stay near the castle for when the Emperor desired to see him again. And if that didn¡¯t come by tomorrow morning he was going to just have to go to Ishgar for his business. He had guilds to talk to, magic councils to consult, and medical operations to arrange.


    Today, though, he was going to try some counter-intelligence of his own. Or maybe intelligence work. He was going to try and do something more useful than just talk to Irene and work to sow seeds of inevitable but unexpected betrayal.


    It didn¡¯t mean he wasn¡¯t going to talk to her. She gave him a smokescreen of sorts. He would be showing her his Archive, and its ability to obtain information about magic. He didn¡¯t like letting Zeref learn of that, but if he was going to obtain information himself he needed a space to manifest the full Super Archive, and Zeref would notice it. Better to have an excuse lined up ahead of time.


    He summoned some of his spirits as well. The little nikora spirit, Equulus, Altair, and Enif. He sent two out to map the castle, allowing Irene to watch as the map grew in real-time, and Altair and Enif to play satellite surveillance providing a map of the exterior grounds.


    They discussed the mapping function for a few moments, and the range and how many people Arthur could maintain such a link with, allowing their vision to be fed into the Archive, leaving Irene suitably impressed. But then it was time for a real test.


    It was to be a brief sparring match against Heine and Juliet, demonstrating how it could record and analyze the magic used in a battle. But it was more than that. As the fight began he flashed the Shine Dragon¡¯s light, a - strangely slower than light - beam of it shooting straight at an individual he couldn¡¯t see, couldn¡¯t hear, and even with dragon slayer¡¯s nose couldn¡¯t smell. But once he¡¯d opened his Archive to full it could detect the very magic that was hiding him.


    The beam of light struck the man and he flashed into momentary visibility, the energy beam burning his suit off of his chest as it sent him flying into one of the structures of Arthur¡¯s Archive.


    In an instant, Arthur was on top of him, his hand on the man¡¯s throat. ¡°Who had you spying on us?¡± Arthur asked with an unhinged, lupine grin.


    ¡°Arthur, no need to attack him. He¡¯s Jacob Lessio of the Spriggan Twelve,¡± Irene said.


    Arthur had guessed he was, not that he could remember Jacob¡¯s name. He remembered his face now that he could see it; the skull on his forehead mostly. Looked to be in his forties, with a five o¡¯ clock shadow, and a balding head. Arthur had remembered him as bald.


    ¡°Emperor Spriggan sent me. Wanted me to keep tabs on you.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t like being spied on,¡± Arthur said, stating the obvious.


    ¡°I don¡¯t like being hit with magic blasts. That sort of crazy power could kill a guy, you know.¡± Jacob complained. Arthur did his best to hold back a smirk. He¡¯d been holding back. And it wasn¡¯t even an offensive attack. Most of the spell was a lingering tracer of light magic which his Archive would be able to track easily; hopefully even through Jacob¡¯s stealth magic. It didn¡¯t matter where Jacob went, he¡¯d know it.


    ¡°A Spriggan threatened by a half-assed training shot like that? I thought you were supposed to all be powerful mages.¡±


    ¡°You stupid brat, get off of me and I¡¯ll show you a powerful mage.¡±


    ¡°Not got any real desire to see what a half-assed old man who has been following me around invisible can show off,¡± Arthur said but he was rising. He was actually sort of hoping that Jacob would show him. He didn¡¯t remember him having any highly destructive powers - just some sort of spatial magic - that would threaten his Archive. If he was going to learn about a Spriggan¡¯s power this was the best scenario. And just in case he was already changing his takeover, letting the white scales of the white dragon deepen to an azure blue. ¡°I mean if it took you till you were this old to fit into the Spriggan Twelve, you can¡¯t¡­¡±


    His Archive sent him a mental alert, but without overclocking it was too late for him to meaningfully act on it. The spatial magic overwhelmed him before he could reinforce his territory armor to counter it.


    Not that it mattered. He opened his mouth and he inhaled. He was in a pocket reality; a small one compared to what he¡¯d painstakingly built over time with his dark dominion. But cramped or not it didn¡¯t matter as he rematerialized when the spatial magic which composed the dimension was consumed.


    ¡°Thanks for the meal,¡± He stated as he spun, a backhand knocking Jacob flying hard into one of the constructed towers of his Archive. Jacob hit against the energy construct, and a crack formed through the carefully refined machine.


    ¡°****!¡± Arthur swore, slapping his hand into his face. He could already feel his Archive¡¯s performance dropping from the damage. ¡°I¡¯m going to have to repair that.¡± Then he looked at Jacob. ¡°And make sure he¡¯s ok.¡±


    Zeref¡¯s face was impassive as he looked at Irene. He¡¯d called her here after her time with Arthur today. She was growing too close to the Northern Mage. The Northern Mage had compromised both her usefulness and her loyalty. She had been one of his two key pieces. Her power had been invaluable, and as long as she was in that flawed human form, she was psychologically where he wanted her: a well trained attack dog. By reverting her to human form Arthur had not only cut her power substantially, but had removed the constant reminder of why she should hate.


    But it left the question of what he should do with her. He could kill her. It was the easy answer; his default answer even. But what would that do to the loyalty of the other members of the Spriggan Twelve? Some he could trust to stay despite that; Larcade and Bloodman would stick with him even if he was in the middle of killing them. With others it was not so certain. If he began to kill them for actually obtaining the reward he had promised them he would likely see at least half of the Spriggan Twelve leave to hide from the potential of his wrath.


    He had no emotional attachment to the Spriggan Twelve, any more than someone would grow attached to an army in a game of Risk. The last time he¡¯d opened his heart enough to see a person as a person she had died in his arms despite her lesser form of his curse. He¡¯d killed her. With his curse. He¡¯d¡­


    No. He couldn¡¯t let himself think that way. She was dead and gone. And everyone else was just pieces in his game. They couldn¡¯t be more. The Spriggan Twelve were not his friends or family. They were tools. Nothing more than high end semi-autonomous weapons. They were no more valuable to him than a tank, ship, or jet would be.


    The Spriggan Twelve were scared to betray him, but if he pushed his definition of betrayal to a whisper of suspicion that you might eventually stop supporting him, too many of them would decide to escape him now before it became deadly to stay. He had to pretend to possess some sort of sanity.


    She was still reporting on the Northern Mage. She was taken with him. It wasn¡¯t surprising given he¡¯d managed to restore her to humanity. It was a truly impressive feat, even if it annoyed him. As long as he could dangle the carrot that he could eventually restore her to a perfect, human body once more she had been willing to overlook anything else.


    She seemed willing to accept that he¡¯d merely been wrong about his belief that it was impossible to fix her without some vast, all-consuming power; that of Fairy Heart, though he had not fully confided in her about Pricht¡¯s creation. Maybe. He wasn¡¯t good at understanding what motivated individual people. It was a problem. He¡¯d known enough people to understand common stimuli and the normal responses. But individuals often deviated from the mean. He had cultivated the culture in the Spriggan Twelve to help weed out impulses which would keep them from functioning as a weapon to point where he desired and fire. But Irene with her humanity restored was ultimately a different creature than before.


    She¡¯d cut her hair, leaving it only framing her face. It was not the first time she¡¯d changed her appearance, but it hadn¡¯t been done since he¡¯d molded her into his weapon. Worse, she was beginning to know doubt. It was all the more clear in the fact that she was requesting leave to travel to Ishgar, and see if she could find out what happened to the daughter she had abandoned. And to go with the Northern Mage.


    The Northern Mage was apparently growing uncomfortable in his accommodations. All the more so after Jacob¡¯s spying had been discovered.


    ¡°Fine. Go. I can do without you for a time.¡± He said, cutting off her excuses for why the trip was necessary. If he refused it would become fuel for a future fire. It meant not trying to keep the Northern Mage here, but causing the mage to grow irritated enough that it burnt bridges would do him no good.


    He could observe him on this trip and come to a decision as to how to deal with him. Same with Irene herself. He needed to replace her as one of his trump cards. And the Northern Mage would be a perfect replacement if he could be broken to the bridle. But did he possess the essential levers to turn the foreigner into his gun to be aimed? August and Irene had fallen in his lap. Larcade and Bloodman he had made. The other 8 had been forged and shaped by his conquests.


    His only carrot for the Northern Mage was the death of Acnologia. And the mage seemed confident he could manage that. That even if he had come here for tactical advice and information that he knew how. Zeref could probably put him off for a time with the promise that he¡¯d have to serve to get what he wanted, but that wasn¡¯t a piece he could reliably control in a battle.


    The Northern Mage was an NPC. And he had turned one of Zeref¡¯s party members into one as well. As a gamer Zeref was quite irate at that.


    He¡¯d have the Northern Mage killed on that ground alone, except for two things. His game had been getting boring. He¡¯d been considering expanding into Ishgar and taking that continent as well as a means of making the game interesting once more, but even that had seemed almost lackluster. With only Etherion and Face standing in his way, his demons could cut off the head whenever he prompted Mard Geer to do so.


    But now? Fighting Arthur could be fun. It¡¯d be a shame to kill him while he was in his hands. Though playing with Arthur might risk losing his window of opportunity. The Eclipse Gate had ripped a hole in time. His agents in Fiore were encouraging them to open another door to the future to open it more fully. But he only had a limited window of opportunity before time healed itself. Dimaria had informed him of that; not that she or Chronos was conscious of that fact.


    Arthur offered him another opportunity, though.


    Death.


    That sword might manage to kill him. That sword might allow him to kill Acnologia.


    He wasn¡¯t sure he wanted to kill Acnologia.


    No he did.


    It¡¯d be entertaining to try at least.


    A game to see if he could beat the dragon.


    ¡°I wish you the best of luck in your journey to Fiore,¡± Zeref said. ¡°But if that¡¯s the full report, you may be dismissed.¡±


    It was only after Irene had closed the door, that Zeref realized she¡¯d never mentioned Fiore, but merely Ishgar to look for her daughter. Well if she asked questions, he could tell her he had assumed Fiore because Arthur had spent most of his time in Ishgar there. It didn¡¯t prove he knew precisely where and who her daughter was. It had been impossible not to recognize the relationship when he¡¯d observed her on Tenrou Island years ago.


    Arthur lay in bed and considered the day and what he had gained from it. While he¡¯d failed to get Jacob to extensively show his powers, the sparring match against Heine and Juliet had evolved into one against Irene herself. It was easier than it would have been when she was still a dragon; even in her human form her magic power had been reduced by the reconstruction of her humanity, and that had even weakened the enchantments which had stood beforehand.


    She was still arguably the second strongest member of the Spriggan Twelve, but before she had been arguably the strongest, and definitely at least the second strongest. Now she had to compete for that status with the stronger members of the other ten. And the battle with his Archive up and active had helped him to learn a fair bit about what her combat abilities were now. Whether he was fighting with or against her that was important information.


    Irene¡¯s insecurities on this front had helped Arthur get an idea for what she believed the powers of the others were.


    Drusus and Zeamei were wholly new to him. Zeamei apparently used a form of plant magic; and a particularly dangerous sort. Drusus was called the Takeover Tyrant. His magic was body possession and shapeshifting; even Irene didn¡¯t know how many forms of Takeover he had mastered, though she talked about him as a weak link of little import who was only counted among the Spriggan Twelve because they had lost a member and he was a convenient placeholder. If Arthur joined the Spriggan 12 he would probably replace Drusus, even if he didn¡¯t Brandish was being groomed to do so. But both of them were really on the chopping block.


    The others were more familiar. When Alvarez invaded Fiore in the manga they were all members.


    Ajeel the Desert King, a prince of a country that Zeref had conquered and raised as a political hostage of the imperial court. His place was somewhat more secure than Drusus and Zeamei¡¯s because he was the grandson of one of Zeref¡¯s high ministers, and while his overall combat power was not much superior to theirs his raw magical power was staggeringly different. He just was far from having reached his peak potential.


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    Arthur wished Irene had told him more about Dimaria Yesta. Called the Goddess of Battle her magic was a time stop, though having experienced it first hand it was more of a pocket world between seconds. Irene didn¡¯t mention that her true magic was Takeover - God Soul, or that she was a vessel for the goddess of time Chronos. Irene did give some veiled warnings, though. That the power Dimaria had demonstrated was only a fraction of what she actually possessed, and that even if Arthur had been able to move that didn¡¯t mean he¡¯d be able to when she became truly serious.


    Invel Yura was Zeref¡¯s chief of staff. Known as the Winter General he was a master of ice magic. Irene warned that he could use his ice magic to attack the mind itself and to be prepared if he went against Zeref to face it. Arthur found himself considering how, unfortunately, he lacked many good options to combat that, though Irene suggested takeover of a fire dragon form to ignite his soul and mind with a dragon fire that even Invel could not freeze. The only question was if he could manage it while under such an attack. Invel might be the most dangerous of the Spriggan 12 from Arthur¡¯s perspective.


    The purple haired dandy was Neinhart. Arthur remembered his magic from the manga, though Irene¡¯s more detailed explanation was worthwhile. It brought back the dead drawing on emotional bonds and links. The dead were not always accurate, but influenced by the memories held of them. He had confirmed that Arthur killed God Serena, and that Arthur still feared the Six Dragon God.


    Wall Eehto was a machias, a living robot, which used Weakness magic to pretend to be Karnak of the Inhumans and find the vulnerability in all things. He wasn¡¯t in the castle, yet, and neither was one of his stronger puppets.


    Bloodman was the final etherious Zeref made for the purpose of suicide, before beginning to make them for another reason; Irene was hesitant to say what it was but Arthur knew it was to recreate his dead little brother Natsu Dragneel. He was the culmination of all the others he had made, all their curses and powers pushed into one being. While his power was not particularly great for a member of the Spriggan Twelve, his position was unquestioned due to his absolute and unflinching loyalty.


    Larcade Dragneel was the penultimate etherious that Zeref had created before abandoning them entirely. His personality was, in a word, twisted. He used ¡®white¡¯ magic, which was based on the three great desires of humanity: lust, gluttony, and sloth. His magic was powerful enough Irene was no longer certain she could resist it without the curse of her dragon¡¯s body; Zeref himself could not wholly. He also apparently was quite vocal in his desire to see Arthur dead.


    Arthur had just met Jacob Lessio. While his raw magical power was low compared to many of the Spriggan Twelve, his magic was dangerous. In detecting him Arthur had become one of 5 mages in history to do so; 3 of which were members of the Spriggan Twelve, and the fourth of which was the emperor they existed to protect. Arthur¡¯s Archive had confirmed that his Transport magic was no threat to Arthur as long as he didn¡¯t just zone out and not respond. Arthur set an Archive alarm to wake him if it was used on him.


    That only left Irene and August both of whom Arthur was fairly familiar with. Irene was the Scarlet Despair, the grand enchanter whose magic could enchant an entire country and transform it. The versatility of her magic was immense, though obtaining that versatility had required her to learn a broad array of other magic. August¡¯s specialty was Copy Magic, and it would take a true master mage to do with a spell something August couldn¡¯t copy immediately, assuming he hadn¡¯t already mastered the variety of magic. He was considered the most powerful mage in the world. But while he could mostly copy the effects of the Spriggan Twelve in battle, he didn¡¯t have the mastery to simply use their magic on his own. End of the day he lacked ¡®hax¡¯ as powerful as they did, but packed a lot more raw power and versatility. The other Spriggans Arthur merely needed to counter their ¡®trick¡¯.


    Zeref was August-lite. His raw magical power and breadth of mastery was actually less. But he possessed a curse which rendered him immortal, and allowed him to lash out with pure death magic all around him. It was dangerous, and made him potentially the most dangerous of the Spriggans,


    Arthur¡¯s Archive had provided him with a load of information that he could hopefully use to fight them if he had to. It wasn¡¯t an equal to Wall Eehto¡¯s Weakness magic, or August¡¯s Copy magic, but his Archive could do a good job at pretending to be either. He couldn¡¯t copy Jacob¡¯s Stealth magic, he simply didn¡¯t have the information needed. But Ajeel had spent almost half an hour chasing down Equulus and using his magic to finally catch the poor little horse and banish it back to the Celestial Spirit World; and his Archive had had plenty of chances to break it down.


    It¡¯d picked up on Bloodman and Larcade too. He knew where their books were - though Zeref¡¯s personal chambers were not a place that was easy to access - but more importantly he had been close enough to pick up on the way their curses and powers worked well enough to possibly use them through Takeover, though it was not a full and perfect Takeover.


    And the sheer magical information it had osmosed was immense. It¡¯d take the Archive months to process it all, and most of it was probably not that useful, but his magical library was growing, and with time his magical knowledge could grow from it. And knowledge was power. Even if he couldn¡¯t use most of this magic, the portion he could might prove useful someday.


    But really as Arthur lay there in the darkened room, trying to sleep, he knew that he¡¯d not be mentally reviewing this if his Archive tracer wasn¡¯t telling him that Jacob was looming almost within arm¡¯s reach. He wondered if this was new, or just something he¡¯d been doing undetected for the last two nights. Irene had confirmed he¡¯d been there at the meeting, just watching completely unobserved


    Arthur was glad he slept with his Territory Armor active as a matter of course. Selene didn¡¯t like it, but even with her he did it as often as not. He had trouble sleeping when he didn¡¯t; memories of a knife in his back, of Georg¡¯s blows, of other times he¡¯d come next to death plaguing his mind. If he ever dropped his guard he could be killed. And that was never more true than in this castle. Even if he kept it up he might not survive this castle. He was confident that one on one, probably two on one, he could handle any of the Spriggan Twelve, at least if he had a chance to activate the proper takeover form, but Zeref remained a problem the limits of that death magic had too many unknowns, and if he tried to fight several of them at once he wasn¡¯t confident he could survive. Or worse if they all gathered together to gank him in his sleep.


    And he could just imagine Jacob looming over him and watching him sleep. He was not going to sleep well tonight.


    Three days. Zeref had had him stalking this guy for 3 days. Jacob was thankful he had never had to sleep much, but the floor here wasn¡¯t comfortable, and ensuring that Arthur didn¡¯t trip over him in the morning was essential. Jacob had at least been able to take breaks due to August¡¯s help or Irene occupying the Northern Mage¡¯s attention.


    And in three days, the Northern Mage had not lowered his armoring spatial field once. He slept in it. He opened it over his mouth to eat in it. He went to the blasted bathroom in it¡­ Jacob assumed. It¡¯d be far too perverse to follow a person into the bathroom just to see if they dropped their guard so they could be killed in it.


    Today was inestimably worse than the last two though. The Northern Mage had stacked humiliation after humiliation on Jacob. He¡¯d detected Jacob through his invincible Stealth magic. He¡¯d destroyed the dimensional prison of his Transport magic,which meant Jacob would have to slowly rebuild it; but he couldn¡¯t use his Stealth magic while doing so. And he¡¯d knocked Jacob out in a single blow. Jacob wasn¡¯t the toughest hand to hand fighter among the Spriggan Twelve. Or even in the top 6. He might actually be in the bottom 3 to be honest. But to be in the Spriggan 12 meant he was an expert hand to hand combatant by the standards of Earthland.


    And he¡¯d been knocked out in one blow. It stung his pride. Jacob wasn¡¯t unfamiliar with Takeover magic; but Drusus was supposed to be the world¡¯s strongest there, and Drusus couldn¡¯t take him out in a single blow. And it was a dragon¡¯s power. Jacob had a healthy respect for Lady Irene¡¯s immense power, and he knew it was only a fraction of what she possessed as a dragon. He¡¯d known the Northern Mage had immense magical power; he could feel that. But the fact that he really was on the same level as August the Disaster, and in all likelihood beat him out in several fields had not really been felt till then.


    And he was spying on him at night, watching him sleep all while knowing he couldn¡¯t actually hurt him. With his prison dimension destroyed he couldn¡¯t crush Arthur in it. And with that armor around him, Jacob could strike away at him for all night and do nothing to him. It was a thing to make the assassin feel weak and impotent.


    The mage seemed to be sleeping fitfully. Jacob wondered if he suspected that Jacob was there. It was possible; he now knew that Jacob had been spying on him. Jacob wouldn¡¯t be able to sleep knowing that someone like Jacob was probably there. That fitfulness was reassuring. Maybe he didn¡¯t know just how thoroughly protected he was. Though Jacob would have preferred to be underestimated to overestimated.


    He was still watching the Northern Mage sleep when Zeref called him for a meeting in the dead of the night. Lady Irene was to go east, most likely with the Northern Mage, as soon as they could prepare themselves. Given the Northern Mage had never unpacked his stuff while here, that would be as soon as Irene could ready herself; and she traveled light. Messengers had already been sent to get the ship ready by dawn.


    Jacob was relieved to know that he¡¯d no longer have the job of watching the Northern Mage. That was until Zeref ordered him to tag along and keep an eye on them. He wasn¡¯t a coward. He¡¯d gone on many dangerous missions for his emperor. He was a professional.


    If this had been anyone other than Zeref he¡¯d have told him what horribly inappropriate place that should really not be named aloud that he could shove the mission. Lady Irene and the Northern Mage were two of the very few mages to ever discover him when he was using Stealth. Following them on a boat was outright insane.


    But this was Zeref. Jacob knew how fickle his decisions could be. Hopefully Zeref would change his mind by morning.


    Irene was obviously nervous, and Arthur couldn¡¯t blame her. The voyage had been uneventful. Arthur learning that Jacob ran a risk of nosebleeds when Irene dressed in a bikini to sunbathe was one of its highlights. Other than that there was a touch of progress in studying Enchantment.


    They had left Jacob behind with the ship still half a day from the shore. It should be days before he caught up. And that¡¯s if he knew they were going to Magnolia Town. That hopefully gave Arthur plenty of time to skip off to the south and go meet a doctor about some lacrima implantation.


    But first he had to be here for Irene, and she was understandably more than a little nervous of meeting Erza. She wasn¡¯t coming in the heat of war and battle. She wasn¡¯t coming here eaten away at by madness and the knowledge that she could regain her humanity by stealing away Erza¡¯s life. She was coming as a human. A person mostly in control of her faculties. And one who bore the guilt and shame of abandoning her daughter as a child, but was now asking for a place in her life once more.


    In the end it was decided to have Arthur act as a go between of sorts; to talk to Erza and see if she wanted to meet her potential birth mother.


    It was not a job that Arthur looked forward to.


    The guild was full of life and activity when Arthur entered it. Guild members that Arthur didn¡¯t know filled many of the tables, though he recognized some as well. Lisanna and Mirajane were playing waitresses, and both did take a definite notice of him. Juvia was clinging to Gray who looked rather uncomfortable as he ate. Elfman was with Evergreen. Arthur didn¡¯t immediately see Erza. And of course Natsu, Lucy, and Wendy were all still in Elentear.


    While Mirajane was giving him a rather distinct stink eye, Lisanna seemed happy enough to see him as she approached with an eager wave. Arthur wished he could be so excited and happy to see her again. Instead he just felt awkward.


    It wasn¡¯t that things had ended badly between them. Lisanna had wanted someone she could start a life and a family with, and she didn¡¯t want to have to leave her world and home behind to do it. Arthur could understand that. They¡¯d parted as friends.


    Which didn¡¯t make it easy to know how to talk to her. This was a shonen fantasy world. People were quirky, and if you had power it didn¡¯t matter what your personality was you would be accepted by royal courts on the basis of effectively being a walking army. If he was socially inept, he could plaster that over with sheer power.


    But that didn¡¯t apply here. It didn¡¯t matter how powerful he was. He just had to socialize with no get out of faux pas free card. It put his stomach into a knot.


    ¡°Arthur, what brings you here?¡± She asked, a touch of apprehension reaching into fear in her voice. One which got Elfman and Mirajane both glaring at him.


    ¡°That hundred year quest,¡± Arthur said.


    ¡°Did Acnologia¡­?¡± Lisanna inhaled sharply. Arthur had told her everything. She knew perfectly well he didn¡¯t come south due to Acnologia, and that he¡¯d not do so unless something had caused it to be time for the final reckoning - and that he believed if left long enough Acnologia would begin a campaign of destruction.


    ¡°He didn¡¯t do anything to my knowledge,¡± Arthur said and watched the relief wash over her. He was getting nervous himself - last time he had seen Mirajane and Elfman he¡¯d ended up cratered into a boulder. He¡¯d given Elfman a free swing without his Territory Armor.


    He was not making that mistake again.


    ¡°So that means, you managed to finish your research, doesn¡¯t it? So what brings you here?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯d like to say I was in Ishgar so I figured I should stop by, since well¡­ I¡¯d have swung by for that. But I need to talk to Erza about something which I learned that concerns her.¡±


    Lisanna nodded. ¡°She¡¯s not in at the moment, though, if you¡¯d like to wait here we could catch up for a bit. She should be back soon, hopefully.¡±


    ¡°Thanks,¡± Arthur said, even as his stomach knotted. It was time for awkward small talk.


    Talking with Lisanna, and Gray, was actually mostly pleasant, once he¡¯d gotten over his own anxiety about the situation. Learning that Lisanna had a new boyfriend and things were getting serious between them was bittersweet. He wanted her to be happy, but he¡¯d be lying if he didn¡¯t confess to still feeling something for her.


    Juvia and Gray were waiting till Natsu and the others returned in a month to get married. Which ultimately concerned Arthur less. Gray was an acquaintance from years ago, not someone he had ever been particularly close to.


    Lisanna felt vindicated when she¡¯d learned that things had progressed between him and Selene; she¡¯d always claimed the dragon wanted to steal him.


    Elfman and Evergreen were getting serious as well. Elfman had even been officially made S-Rank, and had been taking on some rather dangerous jobs to try and make certain they¡¯d be financially secure to start a family.


    It was nice to reconnect with the Strauss siblings, and Gray was able to give Arthur some news of the Thunderbolts. While he was in correspondence with Sorano she¡¯d left the Thunderbolts more than a year prior. Gray had been in close communication with Ultear, and could give more of an update on how she, Azuma, Meredy, and some of the others were doing.


    They didn¡¯t press too much on what business he had with Erza; they accepted that it was her business and who should know should be up to her. Still she did not return that evening, and eventually Arthur returned to the hotel room which Minerva and Irene had acquired.


    Erza was waiting in the lobby the next morning when Arthur entered it on his way to return to the Fairy Tail guildhall. She was sitting by one of the front windows, lightly watching the people who passed by.


    ¡°Erza!¡± Arthur called.


    She turned to face him. ¡°Arthur! They told me you had some news for me.¡±


    Arthur breathed deep. He¡¯d had time to think about how he would broach the subject, but it still wasn¡¯t an easy one to bring up. Oh, hey, Erza. I found your mother who abandoned you. She was a dragon slayer who turned into a dragon and went crazy and considered herself unsafe to be around you, but I fixed her and she wants to meet you. Was probably not the best way to open it up, though, that was ultimately the information he needed to impart.


    ¡°Let¡¯s talk in my room,¡± He said.


    ¡°Is it something about Jellal?¡± Erza asked as they entered the private chamber.


    Arthur shook his head. ¡°No. You probably know far more about what¡¯s happening with him than I do. It¡¯s about your parentage.¡±


    ¡°My parentage?¡± Erza asked.


    Arthur nodded. ¡°I think I have some news about your mother.¡±


    ¡°My mother?¡± There was a mixture of emotions in her voice. This was the woman who had given birth to her, a woman she had never met, because she had abandoned her for a reason Erza could not know.


    Arthur nodded. ¡°I figured you¡¯d want to hear it, and decide for yourself what to do about it.¡±


    Erza nodded, and Arthur began to explain. He wasn¡¯t telling everything, he didn¡¯t feel the need to say she had been part of the Spriggan 12 and helped a tyrant with no care for human life rise to power through bloody conquest and the imposition of order via force. If Mashima was allowed to note that over 2 panels here and there and then gloss over it to focus on making Zeref sympathetic, Arthur didn¡¯t need to bring that up here. But he hit the broad strokes. How he had met a woman who looked like Erza, and had similar magical power in its feeling, and who was a dragon slayer who had turned into a dragon. He emphasized the way such a transformation caused madness; it wasn¡¯t a new concept for Erza given how much she knew about his quest but he wanted to stress how much it really did mess with your head. It was why he¡¯d spent 3 years mastering Takeover to control it, and to keep it from affecting his mind.


    Still eventually he got to the point. That she had abandoned a daughter in Fiore because she thought she was a danger to that child in the dragon madness which had gnawed at her for so many centuries. And that now that she was free she intended to seek out and find that child.


    And the question: Did Erza want to meet her birth mother?


    Erza wasn¡¯t ready to answer immediately. It was a heavy question. When she said she needed time to think, Arthur didn¡¯t press. He could understand. Fairy Tail was her family. To seek her birth mother could seem almost like a betrayal to that. But he was fairly certain what she would answer in the end. She wasn¡¯t the sort of person to turn her back on someone who had been through so much without at least talking to them.


    It was that afternoon that she returned to say that she would like to meet with Irene, and Arthur was able to begin to coordinate when and where.


    Arthur stayed at the Fairy Tail guild hall as mother and daughter met; they likely wanted their privacy. The meeting was different, just as the situation was. Irene was not an invading conqueror, bent on doing a dark master¡¯s will in the hope of being free of her curse. She was a penitent and regretful woman, begging forgiveness for being too weak to overcome an impossible situation and having merely done the best she could, and here now to do the best she could to make amends.


    There was no hostility on Irene¡¯s part. Even if there were things about Erza which disappointed her - her underdeveloped magical power, and skills - she was just thankful that Erza was alive and well, and she could finally see her daughter.


    Erza had more reservations. What would this woman expect of her? What would she demand? Would she try and demand by right of blood that she be Erza¡¯s family instead of Fairy Tail? She was worried.


    Irene had been thinking about what she should say when she met Erza throughout the entire voyage. She¡¯d planned it all out. What she¡¯d say. How she¡¯d say it. And then she saw her daughter, and it all fell away. Tears filled her eyes. It was that baby which had smiled at her, too precious to hurt all those years ago.


    ¡°Erza?¡± She croaked out, choking on the word a bit. ¡°You¡¯ve grown so much¡­¡± She couldn¡¯t remember what she¡¯d intended to say, or how she thought this would go.


    It didn¡¯t matter, though. She had the chance to meet her daughter.


    ¡°You¡¯re Irene?¡± Erza asked.


    ¡°Yes. I¡­ I¡¯m so sorry I had to leave you¡­¡± They would have a lot to talk about.

 Indecisive Preparations

    Arthur was well pleased with the result of Irene¡¯s meeting with her daughter. Irene had been eager enough to stay in Magnolia and visit her daughter, actually reuniting with her - maybe even accompanying her on a job or three - that she had not pressed at all to follow Arthur on his travels across Ishgar to prepare for Acnologia.


    Irene was a powerful ally to have if he did run into Acnologia, and Arthur was increasingly less certain that Irene would be reporting back to Zeref about him, but he had business he¡¯d rather she did not know about until it was completed. He was fairly certain he could get away with having extracted a lacrima from the dragon seed that had been inside of her. But just in case, he¡¯d rather ask forgiveness for implanting it into himself than permission to do so. If only because it was going to be an awkward conversation either way and he¡¯d rather delay it. Plus it was information he wanted to keep out of Zeref and August¡¯s hands as long as possible, and unless he actively asked Irene to keep it from them because he considered Zeref a potential enemy. While he felt if he told her not to tell them she¡¯d not, he was trying to present himself as the one who was trying his best to work with Zeref so that if he did end up fighting Zeref, Irene would side with him as the reasonable and non-aggressor party. Actively planning for the future fight against them wouldn¡¯t look good.


    Plus just in case he didn¡¯t want it getting back to the Spriggan 12 that he had just had surgery that affected his magical power. He thought he¡¯d given Zeref reason enough to want him alive. The rational and reasonable part of his brain told him that Zeref got nothing from killing him, and stood to gain two of his main goals by working with him. But he knew better than to consider people rational actors, and the part of him which made him sleep with a forcefield active told him that Zeref might want to remove a potential threat no matter how useful it might be.


    Arthur awoke after the operation with a - by now familiar - soreness in his chest. He had just had a sixth crystal implanted into the cluster of magical rock which had replaced his heart. It didn¡¯t feel good, even with anesthesia.


    But he could feel it integrating into his magical flow. Each time it had done so faster than the time before. But this time was different. While he was always more aware of his ethernano after a surgery like this, since acquiring the cheat power of Fairy Founder he was far more aware of his ethernano flow than ever before, and in far more control over it.


    He¡¯d have tested it then and there and seen if he could fully output his magic immediately upon waking from the surgery, except that doing something like turning into a dragon and pushing his magic to its absolute peak would be a major way to alert Acnologia as to his presence. Still he could feel his magical flow clicking into position.


    He¡¯d hurt for a while, but he was ultimately good to travel.


    The trip to Crocus required Arthur to go in the almost direct opposite direction as the surgery. It would take a few days, he wasn¡¯t planning on traveling particularly quickly while recovering; these things were easier when he had Wendy around. He¡¯d figured out how to use healing magic, well if he used a bit of sky dragon takeover to help out, but while it could lift status ailments from the caster it drew on their stamina and life energy meaning it couldn¡¯t really be used to heal the caster and he hadn¡¯t had the time yet to figure out if he could jailbreak it.


    It was something to put on his to do list now that he had figured out Dragon Soul Takeover.


    It was a long to-do list.


    But before he left town he was going to begin on one thing for it. There was a bounty that required him to eat a compass. He¡¯d ignored it for a long time; there¡¯d been a bounty to ignore the line of them - though he could only see the one - for a year, and then it had slipped his mind for a while.


    But it was just about time to start. His right arm shifted, metal scales forming across it as the Iron Dragon¡¯s magic filled him. And he pulled the compass out of the bag and chomped down onto it, tasting the metal in its construction, as his fangs cut through it.


    Immediately a new bounty pinged up. Eat a clock.


    The clock was a bit harder. He had to find an all metal one. Still he managed it. He acquired a metal clock, and, ignoring the clockmaker¡¯s horrified stare, ate it.


    Immediately a new bounty pinged up. Eat a key ring.


    This was easier. A key ring was simple enough to buy at a general store, and eating it was equally simple.


    Immediately a new bounty pinged up. Eat a barrel.


    This would be a bi harder. Still he had the floral demon¡¯s soul, he could eat flowers, how much worse could wood be.


    He got 15% of the way through the barrel before throwing up.


    He decided to hold off on eating any barrels for a while. At least until he had termite style gut bacteria to digest wood. Maybe he could eat just like a bite or two a day? He could probably use the fiber.


    Arthur had barely gotten near the Thunderbolt¡¯s compound, when Erik was approaching him. It¡¯d been a 4 day trip back to Crocus, but he still remembered his way to the Thunderbolt¡¯s ¡®camp¡¯ on the outskirts.


    ¡°Arthur, what¡¯s this I hear about my snake?¡± Erik demanded without so much as a hello.


    ¡°Don¡¯t listen to my thoughts,¡± Arthur said in an annoyed tone.


    ¡°Sorry, but I could hear them almost a mile away,¡± Erik said. ¡°Been working on improving my hearing magic. It comes in handy, and you were thinking pretty loudly. And she¡¯s a person now?¡±


    ¡°No, she¡¯s a person who was cursed to be a snake. I thought you might want to give her back her life.¡±


    Erik¡¯s face squirmed a bit at that, and then he sighed. ¡°I¡¯m gonna miss Cubelios, but¡­ you¡¯d not be here thinking this if you weren¡¯t sure. And it¡¯s the right thing to do.¡±


    There were a few heartbeats of silence, before Erik added, ¡°You knew years ago?¡±


    ¡°I couldn¡¯t do anything about it then,¡± Arthur said.


    ¡°Until last year,¡± Erik started and sighed. ¡°Sorry, I¡¯ll try and stop listening in on your thoughts.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve been avoiding the south because of Acnologia,¡± Arthur said. ¡°It¡¯s only now that I dare risk it.¡±


    Erik nodded. ¡°You did what you had to do before you could let yourself risk dying, and now it¡¯s time to play the big damn hero and fight the dragon king. I can understand.¡±


    Arthur frowned. Erik was still listening in on his thoughts, or had heard that already. He really didn¡¯t know how many of his secrets Erik knew.


    ¡°So shall I fix the snake?¡± Arthur asked, trying to get things back on track.


    ¡°Sure, boss,¡± Erik said with a fake smile. Arthur didn¡¯t need to hear thoughts to know that Erik was conflicted about this; Cubelios was his closest friend and he was risking losing them, even if it was the right thing to do.


    Restoring the snake to being human was, with the knowledge Arthur had gained while studying transformation magic of all sorts, actually relatively trivial. Preserving their memories of being a snake required a special potion, but it was doable.


    Arthur told himself it¡¯d help Erik and Kinana maintain the bond they¡¯d had when she was a snake.


    The snake reverted to a girl almost as if shedding its skin, revealing the naked form of a young girl. In a heartbeat Erik was taking off his coat, and attempting to offer it to her to cover her with it. She pulled half away looking at Erik and then at herself. She didn¡¯t say anything, a look of shock still written across her face.


    Erik began to speak and stopped.


    ¡°Are you alright?¡± Arthur asked a moment later, as Erik turned away and walked from the room.


    Kinana, the girl who had been Erik¡¯s winged serpent, did not answer immediately. She just looked at Arthur wide eyed and numbed.


    In the end Minerva took Kinana away, to help the - currently non-verbal - girl recover. Arthur had no idea how long she¡¯d been a snake. Over a decade, and she didn¡¯t look to be over a decade old. So assuming she hadn¡¯t aged, she¡¯d been a snake for more than a decade.


    Arthur wondered if ensuring she kept her memories was a good idea.


    ¡°We¡¯ll just have to see,¡± Erik said, slapping his shoulder. ¡°You gave her that missing decade. The initial shock might hurt, but you thought it¡¯d help.¡±


    Arthur sighed, and swigged his ale.


    ¡°You wanted to help us both. I mean you already have my gratitude and friendship, and I doubt her getting to be able to turn into a snake and back is much of a reward to you.¡±


    Arthur froze. ¡°You know?¡±


    Erik nodded. ¡°Have for years. I wished you¡¯d have told me, but I can see why you didn¡¯t. It¡¯s not really important.¡±


    Arthur nodded. ¡°Not like your promotion. I hear you took over from Laxus.¡±


    Erik nodded. ¡°From one of the inmates to the warden,¡± He said. ¡°If you¡¯d not gone south first you¡¯d have been here in time for my promotion ceremony.¡±


    ¡°Sorry about that,¡± Arthur said.


    Erik shook his head. ¡°It was stuffy and uncomfortable. Having both of my predecessors there would have only made it worse. ¡®Sides, Jellal deserved the promotion more than me.¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s still working off his crime, though,¡± Arthur said.


    Erik scowled a bit. ¡°So the council says. Jellal is fine with it; he¡¯d have stayed even if he had been given his pardon.¡±


    ¡°Just like you.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, just like me. I¡¯d have liked Sawyer to still be here as my second, but the council doesn¡¯t want us becoming an entrenched power block.¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s happening with Sawyer?¡±


    ¡°He turned agent of the crown. Same basic job, just easier tasks and less criminals surrounding him.¡±


    ¡°MacBeth still traveling?¡±


    ¡°Last I heard from him at least, he¡¯s not kept in touch the best. Got a postcard from him in Alvarez last year. Sorano is still working as a guild mage, I¡¯m sure she¡¯ll be happy to see you. And Richard is still running his orphanage.¡±


    Arthur nodded. ¡°Going to visit them next. Sawyer too if he¡¯s in town.¡±


    ¡°Nah, he¡¯s been going up and down the border working to stop slavers abducting and smuggling out people.¡±


    Arthur sighed. He¡¯d have liked to catch up with Sawyer. He¡¯d always been more comfortable around him than Erik. Which was a horrible thing to think in Erik¡¯s presence, but the reason it was so bad to think specifically in Erik¡¯s presence was probably the reason it was true. Knowing someone might hear your errant thoughts was unnerving.


    ¡°And Sawyer always liked you more, anyway,¡± Erik said. Arthur simply glared at him from the corner of his eye. ¡°Lighten up, I can hear your thoughts and I still like you. You should take it as a compliment. And we should enjoy our time together, since it sounds like there¡¯s hard times ahead, for both of us if your petition to the king goes well.¡±


    Arthur flushed a bit. He felt some guilt over bringing the Thunderbolts in, but helping bring down Acnologia should be a big credit for all of them. He only really knew Jellal of the active members. Erik was their warden, already well and truly pardoned. Ultear and Meredy he had at least met but he didn¡¯t really know them. He had briefly fought Azuma, and talked to him in prison. And the rest were just names to him. Names he¡¯d only heard second hand.


    Still, he liked the idea of giving them the chance to earn their freedom. It was something good he was doing for this world. He hoped.


    He and Erik chewed the cud for a while more, simply talking about events that had happened in their lives, and simple things, when Kinana and Minerva entered. The little girl didn¡¯t say a word as she walked up and hugged Erik, who equally wordlessly reached down and patted her head protectively.


    Arthur felt rather reassured that they would be fine.


    Arthur¡¯s visit to Richard was fairly non-eventful. The former dark mage had become the kindly, father figure who had begun to run an orphanage in the capital. Of course it required funding, and he was not above hitting Arthur up for some, but it was doing well enough for now, giving the children the best lives that he could.


    Richard only briefly tried to sell him back the Dorma Anim Mk 2, before returning it to him. Richard no longer needed it, and it might prove essential in fighting Acnologia.


    Meeting up with Richard was not the only reason to go there. Kinana needed a place to stay until Erik was ready to take her in properly, or her family had been found, and with Richard was a safe and appropriate place.


    By the time they were finished helping her get settled in it was late, and visiting Sorano was put off till the morrow.


    Sorano greeted him warmly, pulling him into a tight hug, before taking the effort to (re)introduce him and Minerva to her little sister Yukino. It wasn¡¯t the first time they had met her, but it had been years, and it was the first time that Tabby had met her.


    For a time they were merely catching up. They had corresponded via letters, but letters were slow, and there was something different about talking to someone face to face than over scrawled parchment.


    Sorano had been living decently well. Since her pardon she had been taking care of her little sister, and avoiding more dangerous jobs as a mage. She was part of a local guild - not in the capital itself, the trip to visit Sorano was a reason she had been the last of the three - but she held back from the bigger paying jobs as a general rule. She didn¡¯t want to risk dying and leaving her little sister alone.


    Arthur filled her in on his research, and his time as guild master. It was a pleasant enough way to spend an afternoon. As the afternoon dragged on, things would finally shift towards his reason for coming to Ishgar.


    Sorano already knew he had no intention of returning to the south until he felt he was ready for the final preparations for fighting Acnologia.


    ¡°So Natsu and the other dragon slayers are ready to fight?¡± Sorano asked.


    Arthur shook his head. ¡°Not quite. I expect it to be another few months. But still they¡¯re close. It won¡¯t be long now, and I wanted to try and get Zeref on my side, and maybe track down Tartaros and deal with them. They won¡¯t be much use against Acnologia. But I don¡¯t feel good leaving them as a threat hanging over the world.¡±


    The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there.


    Sorano pulled out a small case, and opened it, holding it forward. There were two golden keys inside. Arthur recognized them as Gemini, and Scorpio.


    ¡°Take them,¡± Sorano said.


    ¡°I can¡¯t do that,¡± Arthur answered.


    She looked at him, long and hard. ¡°Sure you can,¡± She said. ¡°I¡¯m not strong enough to deal with the likes of Acnologia. But they might help you there, right.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t need them for that,¡± Arthur said.


    ¡°But you get rewards for collecting the gold keys from your patrons, right?¡±


    Arthur looked to the side. ¡°Only if I get all of them which isn¡¯t happening,¡± He¡¯d have to get Lucy to give hers up and he wasn¡¯t sure he morally could do that. Especially not as points kept getting reduced.


    Sorano breathed deeply. ¡°Arthur, they¡¯re a target on my back. People kill Celestial Spirit Mages for their gold keys,¡± Sorano didn¡¯t need to mention she had killed people for their gold keys in the past, ¡°I want a simple, safe life for me and Yukino. I don¡¯t want to drag her into some Celestial Spirit Mage fight. I will feel safer without them. I¡¯ve only kept them this long since I figured it was better for you to have them than for me to keep them. I haven¡¯t summoned either of them since leaving the Thunderbolts, even my guild thinks I had to hand them over to the throne, and that¡¯s not really fair to the spirits.¡±


    Arthur looked at her. ¡°But you might need them.¡± He felt fake. He wanted to accept. Wanted to take them and claim the victory. But it felt wrong to just accept them; shameful even.


    ¡°I still have the Astra Weapon you gave me, I still have my Silver Keys, and I have a few other little forms of caster magic besides. I¡¯ll be fine.¡±


    ¡°Alright,¡± Arthur said, his demonstration of reluctance for the sake of reputation complete. ¡°I¡¯ll do my best to put them to good use.¡± If nothing else with Gemini he ought to be able to regrow his hand¡­ when he no longer felt his prosthetics were necessary.


    ¡°I know you will,¡± Sorano said. ¡°You¡¯ve got too much of a hero complex not to.¡± She gave him a smile.


    ¡°So, Minerva, says you started dating the queen of Edolas,¡± Sorano pivoted the conversation suddenly. ¡°Why didn¡¯t you tell me about that?¡±


    ¡°Because it was a new development immediately before coming south,¡± Arthur answered.


    ¡°Yeah, yeah, sure. You could have told me about it all day long. I think you were hoping I¡¯d not find out and you and I could reignite things.¡± Her teasing smile died under Arthur¡¯s scathing look. She flinched back, saying, ¡°You know, responding to that idea that way hurts a girl¡¯s feelings.¡±


    ¡°I am not about to cheat on a dragon god. I have more self-preservation than that, and who knows she might decide to take the Hera route of getting back at me.¡±


    ¡°Hera?¡±


    ¡°Jealous goddess of marriage, always punishing her husband¡¯s lovers in horrible ways.¡±


    ¡°Oh¡­¡± Sorano said. ¡°It¡¯s not like I¡¯d have let you anyway. I¡¯ve got a boyfriend. He¡¯s not some super mage or anything, but he is a lot more attentive to a girl¡¯s needs than you ever were.¡±


    ¡°We were never dating.¡±


    ¡°Because you were too lazy to attend to a girl¡¯s needs.¡±


    ¡°I was your parole officer. Ethics matter!¡±


    Sorano laughed. ¡°Thanks, for caring enough to be ethical.¡±


    ¡°Thanks for the keys. I think I got the better part of the deal.¡±


    She elbowed him in the ribs. Or the territory armor separating her from his ribs. ¡°I meant it when I said they were a target. Pisces¡¯s owner was murdered a few months ago and the killer hasn¡¯t been identified yet, but the key was reported to be missing. Honestly even the Silver Keys worry me a little, but I know the likelihood of someone killing over those is vastly less. And it¡¯s not like I have any particularly rare examples there either.¡±


    ¡°If you¡¯re not safe, I could¡­¡± Arthur started. He was going to offer protection but there was an obvious problem there.


    ¡°You¡¯re planning to go fight the most dangerous beings on the planet one after another. Sorry to say but your protection is probably dangerous.¡±


    ¡°... Get Selene to put you up somewhere in Edolas. I don¡¯t think anyone will kill you for your Silver Keys there.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll think about it. But me and Yukino, we have a life here. An actual life.¡±


    ¡°Just¡­ think about it.¡±


    ¡°I will.¡±


    Arthur was granted an audience with the king the day following. He had a decent enough relationship with King Toma Fiore, he had done the kingdom a great service in Edolas, another in defeating Grimoire Heart, and a third in convincing Selene to open semi-regular contact with Fiore via the Anima System, allowing for a trade of information between the two worlds which was beginning to revolutionize magical tool design in Fiore.


    He was a friend of the court.


    It did not stop the court from being shocked and amazed to hear his plan, and his request. He sought to fight the Dragon King Acnologia, a being who was half-legend, and half-terror. A destructive force which none were certain was a dragon, or anything more than a natural disaster of black magic.


    He claimed to be co-opting a 400 year plan. He claimed to hold magic which might give him an essential leg up on the dragon. He claimed that he may be able to reason with the natural disaster which was Acnologia and even get them to yield without conflict. But he asked for the Thunderbolts¡¯ support and for the kingdom to put out a top class job to the guilds of Fiore offering a share of a reward to mages who volunteered to help in the fight.


    The lords and knight commanders murmured about this. King Toma for his part clearly believed Arthur¡¯s claims. He knew that Arthur had proven himself not a man of wild fancy, but one of resource, but the authorization of such a large sum would take time, and there would need to be some verification of the other elements of the plan.


    And then Arthur broached the subject of Tartaros.


    He was wary of doing so. Not because of anything on the part of King Toma or even the bureaucracy and government of Fiore. But because of Zeref. They were Zeref¡¯s creations. He couldn¡¯t imagine that this wouldn¡¯t piss off Zeref to at least some extent. Irene would probably be displeased as well. But Tartaros was working with his former enemies. He needed to ensure they were ended and he had put it off for too long. There were only two things he deeply desired to make certain he survived to do. Well he wanted to survive, to go to other worlds, to not die. The idea of dying terrified him and kept him awake some nights. But he had two things he had promised to do first.


    If he couldn¡¯t help Minerva track down her ancestry, as long as she survived she could do that on her own. He had faith that she didn¡¯t need him.


    After Selene¡¯s meddling, and his own disruption of the canon flow of the plot, he didn¡¯t have faith that Tartaros would be stopped on its own. Besides, last time Tartaros destroyed Igneel¡¯s plan with their activation of Face. Of the two promises, it was the one he had to keep, not merely wished to.


    And taking down a guild was something that one needed a team for. The only Thunderbolt from when he had worked with them before might be Erik, but he trusted Erik¡¯s judgment when he said that Laxus had run a good crew, and that they were as ready as they had been when facing Grimoire Heart, if not more so.


    But King Toma told him no. Tartaros was, to the best of their knowledge, in Pergrande Kingdom and having the Thunderbolts act in another kingdom would be a political disaster. If Arthur wanted to track Tartaros down, he would have to do so without government resources.


    Arthur accepted this wisdom. If he needed to deal with Tartaros alone then he¡¯d deal with Tartaros alone.


    The final request was one to deal with Master Hades and his research. Arthur had read the book that he had been given by King Toma, and now brought it back, hoping to be able to study the Demon Heart research notes to recreate it.


    Unfortunately for that he would have to approach the Magic Council which would take him back to Minstrel where he had had his surgery. And somehow he didn¡¯t have the feeling they¡¯d want to let him have access.


    Arthur was left to brood after the meeting with the king. How much was the Demon¡¯s Heart worth to him? While it was feasibly useful against Acnologia, he wasn¡¯t certain it would prove in any way critical. But he couldn¡¯t know. He definitely couldn¡¯t recreate it himself before Igneel and the other dragons of old were ready to return. It simply was not possible without Hades¡¯s research.


    He did not look forward to trying to recreate Hades¡¯s research from scratch. It would be anything but easy and the constant knowledge that he could have just read the notes and recreated it. That his cheat power granted status as an insanely skilled magical prodigy meant he could duplicate it wasn¡¯t something he doubted. But he had just as much doubt that it¡¯d be massively easier if he were to have the notes to crib off of. Just like he was certain it¡¯d be continuously irksome to know he could be done already just by reading the notes.


    It wasn¡¯t like Dragon Takeover where he could take pride that he was producing something new. And useful for the world. Where he could tell himself that its creation made him a good guy, helping the world around him. Sure, maybe he¡¯d use it against Acnologia. Maybe it could be used for the good of mankind. But he wanted it for when he had left this world. He wanted it as it represented power, and he still feared he would need power. As powerful as he was, he had to worry about how much stronger his counterparts who didn¡¯t have to perform bounties for their powers were and would become.


    He was a coward at heart and he knew it. It was why he¡¯d needed to use Irene as a test subject to see if he could extract the lacrima for his own use. He wanted the Magic Dragon Slayer Lacrima. That would be a power without equal, and with his takeover magic he had a real chance of obtaining and using it.


    Arthur laughed a bit. He¡¯d been a grocery clerk before. A man who¡¯d never had any great ambitions. Who¡¯d done mediocre in school, failed to get into grad school, and failed to get a job in a field he¡¯d actually studied. A failure because he¡¯d never really tried in the first place. Now he was planning to fight a god-like monster to steal its power.


    But fear of death was a strong motivator. He missed the¡­ not real, but normal world. Civilization¡¯s decadent luxuries had been¡­ pleasant. He missed television shows, and movies, and the internet. Though truth be told, it might be more truthful to say that it was the lack of distractions which had gotten him¡­


    What?


    Power? But power was a means not an end unto itself. He wanted it to live. And fear of living in a world of mad gods without the power to defend himself was not a good thing.


    Self-realization? He had had to learn more about himself to master dragon soul takeover. Had had to come to a better understanding of how he thought and why. He had to learn emotional control and restraint to tame the dragon seed. But that wasn¡¯t self-realization, that was just anger management, or even fear of getting angry and losing control. And that was the thing. He was afraid he¡¯d lose control. He felt he was an imposter, who had cheated his way to some nepotistic position of power and authority. He had blood on his hands, people he had killed, and worse he knew he¡¯d kill more and stain his hands further. And he was afraid to stop feeling guilty for it, because of the slippery slope it might represent. Because once intent to kill him became enough even without meaningful ability to do so, it¡¯d be so much easier to say he had killed them because they were ¡®bad¡¯. And he wasn¡¯t wise enough to play arbiter to man¡¯s soul.


    So he had gained fear, guilt, and a new flavor of self-loathing to go with those he¡¯d already had.


    But it wasn¡¯t all bad. While he still had never let himself become the closest with Diabolos, he had people he¡¯d honestly call friends there. Kiria, Skullion, Madmole, Pax, Cullen, Orin, even the Dark Dragon Slayer Knights. They were his¡­ tribe. He still missed the old Thunderbolts from time to time; he¡¯d in all honesty been closer to them than to Diabolos. The fact that Richard and Sorano both had decided that they didn¡¯t want to risk their lives fighting beside him in a battle that they would ultimately have little to no impact on saddened him. It was irrational; he shouldn¡¯t have wanted them to join him in the first place and his reason told him that. But he was not a vulcan with some heart bound by emotionless logic. He was human. And some part of him still treated this too much as a game. He had to because otherwise he¡¯d be too pants-browningly scared to do what he had to do to survive.


    And then there was Tabby and Minerva. They were closer to him than the Thunderbolts. But it was hard to call them friends. They were apprentices. The power imbalance was always there and always real. Still he valued them, and he valued their company.


    He¡¯d gained human contact.


    And it¡¯d felt good to know he¡¯d helped Diabolos. To have helped Irene. To have helped take down Hades. To see magic surge in Edolas. To save Crocus from being turned into lacrima. To have helped the world. It gave him a feeling of accomplishment which had long been lacking from life. And he could grow addicted to it. It was certainly a better hit than beating any video game had ever been. Even if some of it felt unearned, the accolades were nice.


    And Lisanna had been very very pleasant. And Selene was being very very pleasant.


    In the wash things were alright. Still he¡¯d decided. He¡¯d not detour to Minstrel. That was just acting out of his coward¡¯s fear. He should go and stop Tartaros, because it made the world a better place.


    ¡°So why are we heading back to Minstrel?¡± Tabby asked as they boarded the train the next afternoon.


    ¡°Because I¡¯m too weak,¡± Arthur said. ¡°I want to see if I can access a dark mage¡¯s research on perpetual energy.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re too weak?¡± Tabby said. ¡°What sort of threat do you think you¡¯ll have to deal with?¡±


    ¡°Acnologia,¡± Arthur reminded, even as he knew that wasn¡¯t the real reason. He should be going east, fighting Tartaros, and taking the chance to help Minerva find the Yakumo while he was in the region. He¡¯d be a lot happier doing that, than going south again.


    Tabby nodded. The cat really didn¡¯t get why Arthur was so afraid of what amounted to just another dragon. But he was beginning to realize that everyone in this area seemed to hold the same opinion; if they didn¡¯t claim the dragon was just ignorant fools misdescribing a terrible but natural magical disaster.


    Arthur¡¯s name carried weight with the magic council. It only took him 4 days to get an audience. The wait was intolerable. He had no idea when Irene would call him back with the communication lacrima she¡¯d given him with news from Zeref or just because he holiday with her daughter had ended. He had no idea when Jacob would find his trail. He had no idea when Natsu and the others would be done other than soon. And there was still Tartaros to deal with.


    Not that he didn¡¯t put those four days to use. He¡¯d helped rebuild the very system that the Council used for its information storage and to control Etherion. If he needed Etherion in the battle with Acnologia he intended to be able to use it without having to wait for authorization from the Council. He¡¯d left backdoors into the system, and just like Brain¡¯s had never been patched till it had been his job to patch them, his had not been patched.


    He knew there was a danger of what would happen if he got caught. That he might end up losing a very useful ally and gaining a very troublesome enemy. It wasn¡¯t that any of the mages in the Council could threaten him. It wasn¡¯t that he was scared even of the Thunderbolts - Erik only had three S-class threats under him, four if they dragged Meredy in, the remaining members would never have made it in one of the top teams for a top Dark Guild. It wasn¡¯t a fear of the military force and power they could bring to bear. He intended to war with the Dragon King, and that¡¯d take more power than the entire military of Ishgar. There were threats - Fairy Tail, the Thunderbolts, the Wizard Gods - but most of them would let him talk, and some of them might accept his actions.


    It was the simple fact that they were the government. He could fight them. But it¡¯d be a constant thorn in his side unless he opted for something massive and destructive and which would stain his hands a deep crimson, they could make life a hassle across the continent.


    Still he judged the odds that they found out to be slim enough to try it. He would ensure he could control Etherion, and while he was there he¡¯d see if they had put the information that he needed into the system where he could access it.


    Arthur was furious below the surface when the time for his meeting with the council came. He¡¯d had plenty of time to find the information that he needed, and a fair bit more. The question was how he intended to act upon it. Because something had to be done about it.


    The magic council was obviously untrustworthy. If they weren¡¯t actively corrupt their incompetence made them incapable of doing their basic job. But maybe it was only a subset of the council?


    They had built an ¡°Etherious Factory¡± in the east of Ishgar with the help of a magical researcher Solamen Kaine; a man Arthur recognized as Duke Solamen of Edolas. A magical researcher who Selene had seen introduced to Tartaros which was now acting out of the same region as the factory.


    The fact that they were attempting to build a secret army of demons was bad. That they seemed to be working with Tartaros to do it, was something that pissed him off.


    But he had to be careful. Just going in there raging wouldn¡¯t do any good. Picking a fight would be a mistake. But he didn¡¯t really have time to think through his options as much as he¡¯d like. Overclocking his mind helped divorce him from his immediate reaction and give him time to think, even as he approached the council¡¯s chambers. If he¡¯d gotten to this information yesterday he¡¯d have had plenty of time to consider and think through what to do. But he hadn¡¯t gotten to it till just a little bit ago. There had been a fair bit of data to sort through.


    It would be his luck to figure it out immediately before talking to the council. He wasn¡¯t sure if that was good, or bad luck. It was certainly the most extreme moment to figure it out.


    Did he confront the council with it? Did he test their response by asking permission to go deal with Tartaros? Did he play his cards close to the chest and tell them nothing and just ask for the information he¡¯d already taken for himself?


    B was a mistake. It¡¯d just lead to Tartaros being warned, and whatever information he could get would be limited.


    So that left A and C. Either might start a fight with the council. If the council wasn¡¯t all corrupt, though, A might get an actual investigation going. It was the better option, except he¡¯d not had time to think about a cover story for how he got the information. C would give Tartaros the smallest chance of a warning. But he¡¯d be leaving a flank exposed as the council might want to protect its secret demon army. But it¡¯d give him the best chance to get information, and actually make certain what was happening there and whether the entire council was involved or just an individual or two.


    He still hadn¡¯t decided when he had walked into the council chamber. There were formalities, his arrival being announced, and the opening of new business. For Arthur it all moved in a dragged out cawl, his mind still debating what to do.


    ¡°So, Arthur, Mage of Guiltina, you said you wished to speak to the council about something concerning Grimoire Heart¡¯s guild master and his research?¡± Gran Doma asked. ¡°We will hear your petition.¡±


    ¡°According to my sources, someone has been attempting to put his research into practice,¡± Arthur said. Gran Doma had been harsh at times, but when he had worked with him before he had been honest. He held a strong belief in law, order, and justice.


    ¡°That is one reason we have retained his research,¡± Gran Doma stated. ¡°But I suspect you do not mean the council¡¯s research labs.¡±


    ¡°Depends. Are you attempting to create an army of mass produced demons modeled after those of Zeref¡¯s in Pergrande?¡±


    His Archive was recording everything around him, specifically keeping an eye out for if anyone attempted magic.


    ¡°I trust you have proof of this, and aren¡¯t merely making empty claims to try and distract the council,¡± One of the councilmembers said. Arthur didn¡¯t remember their name.


    Arthur resisted the urge to snap back that they had the proof themselves. Instead he looked at them. ¡°I need to protect my sources. After all, if Tartaros got access to this research it was probably through the council¡¯s own attempts. While that doesn¡¯t prove there¡¯s a traitor on the council, it does indicate the possibility.¡±


    ¡°You dare make such an accusation, you dishonor the council. You should be thrown out of here, bringing such baseless and empty claims against those gathered here,¡± the council member spat out.


    ¡°No,¡± Gran Doma said, ¡°Let him speak. The former council disbanded, after they took a traitor to their breasts. And there was more than one at the time, we all know that Crawford Seam worked with Tartaros and Brain. So Arthur, what evidence do you bring?¡±


    This was when Arthur had to make a decision. Either he revealed he hacked their database - at which point he could have just fabricated everything and any evidence there was suspect - or he held back most of the evidence he actually had. Or he had to think of  something clever.


    ¡°Less than I¡¯d like, mostly the testimony of information networks I have access to and individuals who I trust,¡± He said. ¡°I decided to stop here before making my way there to deal with Tartaros once and for all.¡± And that meant somebody on the council might well be warning them. But that was a threat he could handle.


    Even now he was contacting Gran Doma through his Archive¡¯s telepathy feature. He was informing the head of the council and only the head of the council how and where he had found the information. If it disappeared now, it¡¯d be confirmation. Trusting Gran Doma could be dangerous; but if Domo was corrupt, the whole council really would need to be ousted from power.


    ¡°You can¡¯t expect us to accept this all on the word of some anonymous source you refuse to name or provide information about,¡± another council member stated.


    Arthur shrugged. ¡°I can tell you the truth. If you don¡¯t want to believe it, well it¡¯s Ishgar which will suffer. I am going to deal with Tartaros and finish what I started years ago. The Balam Alliance will fall. I just thought you should be allowed to prepare yourself and Ishgar for the fallout and maybe uproot the traitor in your midst. If you don¡¯t believe me¡­ Well I¡¯ll just have to get proof out of the ruins.¡±


    ¡°You didn¡¯t come here just for this, did you?¡± Gran Doma.


    ¡°Maybe I came to see if you¡¯d tell me it wasn¡¯t you. That you didn¡¯t have a hand in this,¡± Arthur answered.


    ¡°The idea of creating an etherious army had been broached. As a last emergency measure in case of Alvarez repeating its attempt at invasion. But it was decided to create a trio of etherious first and study them to ensure that there would be no safety concern in following Hades¡¯s method, and its creations could be used as soldiers. A full scale factory was not authorized.¡±


    ¡°And what about a man called Solamen Kaine? Are you familiar with the name?¡±


    Gran Doma shook his head, but another man raised his hand. ¡°He¡¯s a magical researcher in Pergrande. A recently up and rising star with his creation and refinement of magical tools.¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s an escaped, would-be usurper from Edolas who is believed to be in league with Tartaros,¡± Arthur stated. ¡°Last time I saw him he was using a landship to try and take over the world, and armed with Earthland¡¯s rich ethernano he might be able to create weapons to dwarf the Etherion cannon.¡±


    And then questions began. Arthur refused to give his sources. The threat of a traitor made that possible. He could, however, give the location of the factory when asked. And eventually there was the question of what he actually wanted out of telling them.


    ¡°A reaffirmation of my faith in humanity isn¡¯t enough? Approval for the strike on Tartaros, and a fast airship. Teleporting to the region would risk disturbing dangerous forces across the peninsula.¡±


    There was an uproar at that. But it at least made them think he had a motive for being here, and hadn¡¯t just found out about things by hacking their system.

 Maximus Assault Part 1

    ¡°Enjoying the view?¡± Adler asked. She was a member of the magic council, who had decided to join the expeditionary force personally. Arthur had expected it to just be a council security force, not to have one of the members join themselves. It was, after all, potentially a very dangerous situation they were going into.


    Arthur¡¯s head shot up. He had been reading a book on the history of Pergrande. It lacked the grip that the history of Rome or China might have had - just lacked the prestige which he had grown to associate with those countries - but, given the sorry state of spec fic in this world, history was the best source of entertainment available. He couldn¡¯t spend all his time trying to grok the mental maze-pattern of the spell-rune to use his black swords otherworldly trump card. Besides, while a good student of history could tell you that it never really repeats so much as rhymes, one still needed to learn from it or they¡¯d rhyme with the worst parts.


    ¡°No, I was reading up on the past of the kingdom we¡¯re heading towards,¡± Arthur answered.


    Adler nodded. The elderly woman was thin and straight, but tall. She almost looked like someone had stretched her out too far, and her black dress and lightly built form made Arthur think of a blackened, dead tree. ¡°I¡¯d have thought you¡¯d have done that research already. Though then again I¡¯d have thought that as a dragon slayer you¡¯d be rather incapable of using your Archive, much less reading on it, while traveling.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not a dragon slayer,¡± Arthur said with a little sigh.


    ¡°Really? I was certain that you used that magic. The dossier on you was quite clear on that,¡± She adjusted her glasses on her nose, looking down towards the still lounging mage.


    ¡°I do,¡± Arthur said. ¡°But I am not right now, so right now I¡¯m not a dragon slayer.¡±


    ¡°I didn¡¯t think it worked that way,¡± Adler said.


    ¡°Motion sickness is a result of the continuing advancement of the dragon seed granting dragon senses which the human brain is not properly equipped to handle. Even centuries of dragonification fails to prepare the human mind for it. But I¡¯ve studied the dragon seed, and learned magic to control or reverse its growth. So at the moment I have it suppressed to an extent where I lack even a hint of the senses of a dragon. So I¡¯m not a realized dragon slayer at the moment. Limits the power of my dragon slayer magic a bit but I can grow my seed again if I need to.¡±


    Adler looked at him for a few moments adjusting her glasses. ¡°Dragon seed? Dragonification? Senses and the brain? It seems I don¡¯t know much about the subject. I must admit, you surprise me quite a bit.¡±


    ¡°Oh?¡±


    ¡°The dragon slayers I have been aware of tend to be¡­ brutish. God Serena, Laxus Makarov, and if I recall correctly one of Fairy Tail¡¯s more troublesome fools during its more disruptive period a few years ago was a dragon slayer as well. None of them seemed concerned with how or why their magic worked, only getting more power out of it.¡±


    Arthur shrugged. ¡°I can¡¯t comment on that too much. But there are different forms of dragon slayer magic, and mine had a fair bit better reason to be called a Lost Magic than lacrima implantation.¡±


    ¡°Still, from your dossier you reminded me of Fairy Tail,¡± Adler said. Arthur hesitated in responding. He knew that coming from the Magic Council that was not necessarily a good thing. And contextually¡­


    ¡°I mean you harbored dangerous criminals, fought two Wizard Gods, and then you saved Fiore¡¯s capital, and then you started the controversial Brontes¡¯s Thunderbolts program. From the way you seem to always act on a short-sighted vision of the good in your immediate vicinity with no consideration for the larger picture, I expected well a brute.¡±


    Arthur winced a bit. ¡°All that is needed for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing.¡±


    ¡°Hmm?¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s not much good in overlooking wrong when you can do something about it.¡±


    ¡°True, but when one¡¯s actions cause chaos on a larger scale is it still good to perform them? The Thunderbolts got rid of Grimoire Heart, but they caused a spike in crime across Fiore where mages thought they could escape punishment by serving in them. And that¡¯s without considering the damage done across Ishgar in the battles between Dark Guilds after two of the heads of the Balam Alliance were dissolved and the third went underground. In the end I am still not convinced that Brontes¡¯s Thunderbolts are a good thing.¡±


    ¡°Sometimes it hurts to take a bandaid off, but doing it slowly will just make more pain in the end.¡±


    ¡°So you¡¯re saying that this pain in the long term is less important than the continuous pain inflicted by the existence of Grimoire Heart. Still, do you really think that the Oracion Seis should not be punished for all the murders and crimes they committed?¡±


    ¡°They risked their lives to stop Grimoire Heart. And they risked their lives to take out other dark guilds. I¡¯d say that compulsory service in a dangerous field would be considered quite a punishment. Besides if we¡¯re talking about the Oracion Seis, they were slave soldiers recruited by a researcher working for the Magical Council and never given a chance to be anything but criminals or slaves worked to death by a mad cult that the Council allowed to continue until it directly threatened them. It doesn¡¯t undo all the murder and killing, but taking their lives for it would do nothing good, and they have done good and continue to do so. They deserved a second chance.¡±


    ¡°But you can¡¯t run a nation on personal exemptions. People need the rule of law to function as a society. The way people across Ishgar perceive it matters. And to people all across Ishgar it said that if you were strong enough you could get off with whatever crimes you wanted even once you were finally caught. To govern one must think about these larger scope issues. And if one cannot, they should not stick their nose into the policies of governance.¡±


    ¡°I wouldn¡¯t say the council¡¯s track record is too good there. The Tower of Heaven was a product of its corruption.¡±


    ¡°That was Crawford Seam¡¯s and a previous council¡¯s actions.¡±


    ¡°And the factory?¡± Arthur did his best to keep the venom from his voice. The woman was a pompous old hag, and he suspected she assumed he¡¯d feel such, but showing it would be impolite and do little for him.


    ¡°That may not even exist.¡± Adler turned her head away at that point, though, a scowl on her face. ¡°And if it does we will shut it down.¡±


    ¡°Just saying. Judge not lest you be judged. I did what I did to create a force that could actually handle the strongest dark guilds in Ishgar while offering those who showed a willingness to change a chance to do so. The council keeps making weapons of mass destruction to secure its hold while neglecting rot inherent in the continent.¡±


    ¡°We are limited both in resources, and our ability to deal with internal matters to the various kingdoms. We do not rule, we merely guide and control a single aspect of society. Besides, as long as Alvarez threatens we must be ready to keep all of Ishgar safe whatever that costs. If you had seen the war power of Alvarez and its Spriggan Twelve then you would know why we create weapons. Why I voted in favor of beginning the etherious project without waiting to create the test trio. I only saw them from afar, but I saw the Crimson Despair and the humanoid Disaster in action when they attempted to invade Ishgar 7 years ago. You do not know their power if you think that we do not have a good reason to be producing our ¡®weapons of mass destruction¡¯.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll admit that Irene Belserion and August were somewhat impressive. The other Spriggans¡­¡± He gave a dismissive shrug. ¡°I guess what they say about Ishgar¡¯s mages in Guiltina is true if you need things like Face for them. Of course, I don¡¯t think an Etherious army would do much good against them or their emperor.¡±


    ¡°You speak as if you¡¯ve met them.¡±


    ¡°I stopped at Alvarez to talk to Irene Belserion about the origin and nature of dragon slayer magic to better understand how to remove the dangers that make it a Lost Magic. While I was there I met several of them. The War Empress attempted to beat me senseless, and their Assassin tried to follow me to Ishgar. A dangerous pack of hyenas, but only August and Irene were lions.¡±


    Adler stared at him. Arthur couldn¡¯t hold back the little smirk which lit his face. The hag had been annoying him. He wasn¡¯t going to fight her; that¡¯d be absolutely stupid. But verbally sparring? Well he should probably be keeping his cards closer to his chest and not giving the Magic Council any more information than was necessary, but the look of fearful awe on her face was something to be reveled in that he just couldn¡¯t deny himself.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know whether to call you a dangerous fool, or to respect your sheer audacity. Perhaps I shouldn¡¯t be surprised. You are said to have matched God Serena in a fight. And God Serena was easily a match for 2 of the Spriggans himself. It¡¯s a shame that he died during the Edolas incident.¡± The way she added the last told Arthur she believed the - accurate - rumors that he had killed Serena himself.


    ¡°A wise man once said do not put off till tomorrow what can be done today,¡± Arthur couldn¡¯t help but smirk at that one. Even now he had a tendency to procrastinate. Even this whole side quest to the Magic Council had been him procrastinating on dealing with Tartaros. ¡°And a wise ruler doesn¡¯t kick a can down the road that can be dealt with now when times are good, because otherwise the bill may come due when times are bad. I may be the only one who holds enough power to deal with Zeref¡¯s empire.¡±


    ¡°Zeref¡¯s?¡± She said, ¡°What does THE Black Mage have to do with Alvarez?¡±


    Arthur cussed himself out internally. The Spriggan Emperor¡¯s identity as Zeref was not public knowledge. ¡°A connection to the founding lineage. There¡¯s a reason 2 of his 3 greatest etherious creations serve as members of the Spriggan Twelve.¡±


    ¡°Then Tartaros wouldn¡¯t just be a dark guild, but Alvarez¡¯s attempt to undermine Ishgar as a whole. Why didn¡¯t you inform the council as to this connection?¡±


    ¡°Optics,¡± Arthur smirked.


    ¡°What?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s like you said. You have to think about how things look, and how people will respond. I¡¯m going to destroy Tartaros either way. It¡¯s a malignant cancer in the world, and one which I intend to excise before it can ¡­ ugh I can¡¯t remember the word for when a cancer spreads through the body. Something sizes¡­ Meisizes¡­ no¡­ Meta? Metastasizes?¡±


    ¡°The word doesn¡¯t matter,¡± Adler said irately.


    ¡°Fine,¡± Arthur sighed. ¡°I¡¯m going to uproot the weed which is Tartaros. Revealing it to the Magic Council that they¡¯re connected to Alvarez,¡± Simply hadn¡¯t occurred to Arthur, but he¡¯d rather make her feel small and dumb than admit that. Besides, he shouldn''t have revealed it now, because it really¡­ ¡°Will do no good for anyone. What will you do? Spread panic through Ishgar? Fight Alvarez? It will just spread hatred, and anger between two continents and cultures. It¡¯s better for everyone involved that it ends up forgotten. And given the council¡¯s track record¡­¡±


    Adler looked down over the railing of the airship. ¡°You really have a low opinion of the council. I guess our predecessors earned it.¡±


    ¡°The current council has done nothing to shake it.¡± He did his best to keep his tone, level and unemotional. It¡¯d hurt more if it didn¡¯t sound like it was intended to hurt.


    ¡°You are right,¡± Adler said. ¡°Unfortunately. Still, it¡¯s a shame you do not game.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s a swerve of topic. And who says I don¡¯t game?¡±


    ¡°The soldiers. You apparently refused to join them.¡±


    ¡°Craps is not a game! That¡¯s like calling flipping a coin a game just because you add some steps to help you fleece people of their money!¡±


    Adler laughed. ¡°What about Meld? I¡¯ve been itching for a game, and the soldiers, well they don¡¯t have the wits for a refined game.¡± She asked.


    ¡°Meld?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s a card game,¡± She said, beginning to explain the rules. It was a game about collecting melds, or runs of cards, in which you drew one, or more cards, and discarded 1 each turn, and the goal was to have no cards in your hand which were not part of a meld.


    Arthur listened before nodding his head a little. ¡°Sounds like a variation of Rummy. I always liked those kinds of games.¡±


    ¡°Rummy?¡±


    ¡°Instead of having to play 4 down 4 in a row, you play 3 in a row, but they have to be of the same suit, or 3 of the same number. There are some additional rules. Like you can play off of things that your opponent has placed down, and if you discard something that could be played, or makes a set with other cards in the discard pile your opponent can call Rummy to add it to their own sets played.¡±


    ¡°Interesting. Perhaps we can play that sometime.¡±


    ¡°Gin Rummy is better for two players.¡±


    ¡°Gin Rummy?¡±


    Using his Archive to offload the mental effort of remembering all the cards that had been discarded in the game should probably count as cheating. Especially given you weren¡¯t allowed to look further than 3 cards down in the discard pile. But Miss Adler had irritated him, and he wanted to show her up. The few thousand jewels he won off of her as their penny ante game became something more was merely a small plus.


    Reine¡¯s chameleon magic made him all but invisible as he moved his way through the walls of the Etherious Factory. It had been built. That much could be confirmed. Though if the Council had actually been involved, or if Tartaros had either, was not as immediately apparent. As a low ranking agent of the Council he was not privy to what the suggested design had been, or to Hades¡¯s research.


    Reine couldn¡¯t tell if this was an exact match or not. His job was just to investigate and report back to the Magic Council.


    Unfortunately he would only manage the first half. An eye opened in the wall that he was traversing, the Factory itself taking notice of his movements. Electricity surged through Reine¡¯s body, and the Council¡¯s investigator in the region found himself falling out of the wall he had merged with, as tentacles formed from it to grasp him and pull him back in.


    Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.


    And then everything went dark.


    Mard Geer took the news that the Magic Council was investigating fairly well. He had hoped they would have more time. Another few months and Ishgar would be doomed against the demonic horde that they would create. But the council was slow to act in general. Even if they knew there was something here they¡¯d have some time. The Magic Council would not want to act too destructively in the heart of the largest city in Ishgar.


    The other news concerned him more. Arthur, the Northern Mage, had met with the Magic Council. It had been over three years since Arthur had crossed Tartaros¡¯s path. The current plan was ultimately only made possible by him and the enemies he had gathered about him. If he hadn¡¯t defeated Grimoire Heart they would never have been able to replicate the Devil¡¯s Heart to power the Factory. If he had not driven his enemies to band together the great weapon could never have been built.


    Mard Geer was inclined to thank him, actually. Oh, in a sarcastic, and patronizing way. But Arthur had helped Tartaros. He had, however, stolen two of the nine demon gates. He had killed two of the etherious of Zeref. He had brought an end to one of their brothers and one of their sisters.


    That was something Mard Geer could not forgive. But neither hatred nor anger was Mard Geer¡¯s greatest emotional response. The acting master of Tartaros was scared. Arthur had stolen two of Zeref¡¯s masterpieces. He had re-written one of their sisters. If he was spearheading the Council¡¯s attack it could be a real problem.


    ¡°Tempester, Silver, Carpenter, go kill the Magic Council. As of today we are at war. Duke Solamen, commune with Plutogrim¡¯s new brain, and ensure that the Baal Infernal Cannon is ready to fire.¡± Arthur had boarded a Council airship. It would have to be destroyed before it could reach them. The moment it came into sight over the horizon they would strike it from the air.


    Selene had used the communication lacrima. Or her agent had. They were still 2 days out from Pergrande¡¯s capital of Maximus, but Igneel, and the other dragons were ready to take physical form to fight Acnologia. They weren¡¯t certain they¡¯d survive, even if Acnologia didn¡¯t kill them, the return to flesh was a risky act, but they had built as much of a reserve of power as they could. Anything else would be wasted and lost.


    Arthur had told her that he had something to attend to in the eastern regions of Ishgar, and then he still had to finish getting Zeref on board. Selene had warned him that few dragons were as patient as her, and that the 5 were raring to begin their mission after all this time, and tired of waiting.


    He¡¯d not had 20 minutes since then before Irene called on the other piece of communication lacrima. Zeref had requested he return to Alvarez post-haste. The black wizard had come to a decision on the matter of an alliance against Acnologia, and wanted to talk to Arthur about the possibility. He had come to a decision of a single task he would ask from Arthur, and if Arthur fulfilled it all his resources would be at Arthur¡¯s disposal to kill Acnologia.


    It was almost enough to get Arthur to turn the airship around. Zeref could bring Tartaros to heel. But would he? If Arthur requested it for a reason other than killing Acnologia it might not be covered. He¡¯d told Irene the same thing he¡¯d told Selene. He was indisposed on a project he could not immediately abandon, and would begin his return from Pergrande in no more than a week, but could not hasten it.


    ¡°I see the airship,¡± Tabby called out. The cat, Minerva, and Adler were sitting at an outdoor cafe on the outskirts of Maximus.


    ¡°See, I told you that there was no danger to the ship and this whole thing was just senseless paranoia,¡± Adler said as she sipped her coffee.


    ¡°They tried to kill the Council. They knew we were coming. This was just a necessary precaution,¡± Minerva said in a sulky, petulant tone.


    ¡°They were fooled by Thought Projections, you have massively overestimated their information gathering capabilities,¡± Adler said.


    And then they heard the crowd around them. They were looking to the western horizon. The crowd was facing to the east. A massive portion of the city was rising up out of the ground.


    ¡°Isn¡¯t that the direction the factory is supposed to be?¡± Tabby asked as the great, rectangular slab of ground and city built upon it began to rise. On the front face of the increasingly regular shaped slab of ground, the stone began to crack and fall away, revealing a great, metal shape beneath, and the barrel of a massive, magical cannon began to stretch from it, smashing through buildings as it extended dozens of meters outward and began to turn towards the air-ship.


    Adler¡¯s hand dropped her coffee. ¡°It¡¯s going to fire!¡± She called. ¡°We have to do something. If it fires there thousands will die.¡±


    As she finished her sentence she realized that she was no longer in the city, and its line of fire. The cafe was still there. The buildings on the opposite side of the street. Minerva sagged, she had teleported everything within several hundred feet of her several miles. She couldn¡¯t save the entire city. But she had saved who she could.


    Moments later darkness shot from the front of the cannon, and countless buildings - and worse people - in the city were wiped out in its wake. The shadow seemed to burn the eye even as it struck the airship.


    It was almost half a minute later that the shockwave of the weapon struck, toppling some of the buildings which had only had part of their structure teleported away, and sending loose objects flying.


    ¡°Paranoia,¡± Tabby said bitterly. ¡°I shall teach them to be paranoid. To use such a weapon. To have such a callous disregard for the lives of others. Their perfidy is without bounds and their punishment must be equal to their infamy!¡±


    Arthur watched the city in the distance. The airship was nearing it quickly, though it¡¯d still be hours before it arrived. Once it had he¡¯d rendezvous with Minerva, Adler, and Tabby.


    But for now he was the bait. And when a man appeared on the deck of the airship it seemed that Tartaros had taken the bait. He wore a long, black coat, his black hair long enough to almost reach his waist. His face had been garishly pale, and his teeth blacked out as he¡¯d pulled back his lips in a broad smile. He didn¡¯t wear a shirt under his coat, but wore it open revealing a toned, muscular chest, and the guildmark of Tartaros cast large across said chest.


    ¡°Carpenter,¡± Arthur said. He recognized the former member of Silver Demon. The dark alchemist who had escaped the cleansing of that guild. The man who had taken pleasure in breaking Minerva¡¯s leg.


    He was going to kill Carpenter here and now.


    ¡°That was my old name. Back when I was human. Now, though, I am something greater. I am a-¡± Carpenter began, his body sifting into an etherious form, growing larger as segmented, legs of red muscle burst from his back, lifting him off of the ground on the six bug-like limbs. His neck was stretching out, head deforming as a toothy maw grew from one eye, as if he was sprouting a second head out of his face.


    ¡°Thing,¡± Arthur finished snapping his fingers. His prosthetic hand had risen, fore and middle fingers held together as he brought his thumb down onto them as if his hand was a gun. Or a flamethrower given the way fire burst from his fingertips, surging across Carpenter in a blinding burst that prevented any detail from being seen inside other than the vague shape of Carpenter as he screamed and burned alive, a horrible, monstrous scream rising from the man-turned-creature inside.


    Arthur was stunned a bit by the anticlimax of it. He had been prepared for Tartaros to try something. Anything. He¡¯d subverted one of their number, and prevented the other from being resurrected. He had expected them to bring out the big guns. To hit the airship with every last bit of weaponry they could. And they had sent Carpenter alone? Something didn¡¯t add up.


    He felt the nausea threaten to sweep over him even through his potions¡¯ effects, as he expanded his dragon seed to invoke his Gale Dragon Slayer Magic to enhance his sight. Or maybe it was more as he enhanced his sight. The shape of the city - still a good 20 plus miles away - had changed.


    It was already too late, though. By the time he¡¯d enhanced his vision the beam of darkness was already visible without it. It came almost as fast as light, and he barely had time to raise his hands. He¡¯d have to trust to his Territory Armor and his dragon slayer magic, his mouth opening wide hoping he could eat the entire beam.


    And then Arthur felt his summoner trying to close his gate and he didn¡¯t resist, reverting to his true form as the twin spirit Gemini as he disappeared.


    Mard Geer allowed himself a smile. Like that the single greatest threat to Tartaros¡¯s dominion over Ishgar was destroyed.


    ¡°No sign remains of the northern mage¡¯s magical power,¡± Kyoka said. The masked demoness was one of the more overtly inhuman in her base form, traces of an avian nature showing even then. She was also Tartaros¡¯s chief magical researcher, or had been before Duke Solamen took the role. Even now, though, she was perhaps the single individual Mard Geer trusted most with sensitive issues.


    He couldn¡¯t help but smile. Revealing the Baal Cannon was not something that he had done lightly. It would be some time before it recharged. And if the Magic Council authorized the Etherion right now, it could be a danger to the entire plan - though Mard Geer suspected they would not lightly fire upon the most populated city in all of Ishgar. Well it had been. It was hard to say if it still was. The Baal Cannon had not been aimed at the city, but they had not cleared the city when they had fired, and the beam¡¯s shockwave had left a wave of devastation.


    But where the Council was likely loath to damage the city further, Mard Geer and his fellows had no such qualms. If anything the collateral damage was to their benefit, as curse energy was formed from fear, despair, and suffering. It would mainly go to recharging the Baal Cannon itself. A thing which would take time even under the best case conditions; the spirior batteries unfortunately could not be rushed.


    Still, once it had recharged it would be time to shoot down Etherion and destroy Ishgar¡¯s last hope. Mard Geer had not put his foes into checkmate - yet - but he would soon.


    Alerts were popping up all over the walls of Cube¡¯s new command center. The b.R.A.I.N. device had proven quite useful in the way it had integrated with Plutogrim and upgraded the Cube. All they had to do was kill the original wielder of the magical tool.


    The alerts were of little import. Mages from across Maximus were attempting to attack the Cube, but the king of Pergrande, and the royal army were already moving to suppress them, and spread the news that the magic council had attempted to destroy the city via a sneak attack, but their bomb was destroyed by the king¡¯s quick action. Mard Geer didn¡¯t care if the mages believed, as long as the army remained loyal to their king. A king which Tartaros itself controlled.


    There was one alert which was different. The red color and larger print alone made it stand out. Mard Geer hadn¡¯t noticed the precursors telling him that Spatial Magic was detected, or Spatial Magic intrusion was attempted, but when it came up: ANTI-SPATIAL MAGIC FIELD BREACH. SPATIAL MAGIC INTRUSION.


    Immediately an image of the area appeared on the wall. Kyoka was already doing her work to respond to the situation. But there was only darkness. Someone had breached the Cube despite its protective fields.


    ¡°Get us eyes in that ar¡­¡± Mard Geer stopped as another red alert flashed. SIGNIFICANT STRUCTURAL DAMAGE SUSTAINED. CRITICAL SYSTEMS DAMAGED.


    And then red alerts blossomed from one wall across to another, structural damage sweeping through the upper half of the Cube.


    Mard Geer¡¯s face twitched. He knew what it meant. Arthur must have escaped.


    ¡°All Demon Gates converge there,¡± He pointed to the wall segment where the red alerts were starting from, and where now Arthur the Northern Mage could be seen, body half covered in black, and twisted into a demonic form. He was on the Cube. There was no running for Tartaros this time. Either he would burn their library, or they would write an ending to him.


    Arthur did not like crouching in some farmer¡¯s crop of corn outside the city. But after getting a message that Tartaros¡¯s demons destroyed the Magic Council¡¯s headquarters and would have killed the council if they were there and hadn¡¯t simply been Thought Projections, well he¡¯d gotten paranoid. If Tartaros knew they were coming, he didn¡¯t want to give them an easy target.


    So Minerva had taken him, Tabby, and Adler on ahead, while he had summoned and left Gemini behind. Holding Gemini¡¯s gate open for an entire day was more tiring than he¡¯d have liked, but he was fairly certain they would be on the alert for a Thought Projection, and he wanted to give them a reason to reveal their location and resources attempting to take out his decoy not just stop them from getting an immediate alpha strike.


    As the airship came into view, things seemed to be going fine to plan. He could feel Gemini beginning to use magical power. There was some sort of battle going on. And then he saw the Cube rising from the ground. His Archive only had passive sensors active - Selene had warned him that they had the b.R.A.I.N. device and he didn¡¯t want to alert its own sensor systems - meaning it was only when the massive cannon of the Cube was above the surface that it began to detect the massive curse energy.


    His head turned towards the cannon and his mind began to run in circles about what to do. He didn¡¯t know what its defenses might be. The original b.R.A.I.N. device had been able to resist his attacks. He was stronger now, though. But the b.R.A.I.N. device had access to a far greater amount of ethernano now, was integrated into a demon, and had had time to create who knew what sort of upgrades. He couldn¡¯t be certain that a direct attack could do anything to even slow it.


    He could turn on his active sensors to try and tell what its defense systems were. That¡¯d risk giving his location away and getting them to redirect the attack. Could he risk that?


    He could teleport in. If it was like the original b.R.A.I.N. castle its internal defenses were substantially inferior to its external ones.


    And then he realized it was too late. The cannon had fired. Arthur didn¡¯t care about the destruction of the airship. The crew had been to be evacuated by Gemini the moment the city came into sight. But there was the city. The idea that the weapon would have such collateral damage - would waste so much energy that could have been directed towards him - hadn¡¯t occurred to him. That they¡¯d destroy their own city wasn¡¯t something that he had considered as much as he should have.


    It felt like his heart tried to stop. His mouth dropped just a little. It was like he¡¯d just watched a nuke go off in the middle of a city, the shockwave toppling buildings, and sending up a huge cloud of dust.


    How many people had the demons of Tartaros just killed? Because he messed up. Because he hadn¡¯t properly planned for what if they tried to murder their own city. Because¡­


    And Minerva and Tabby had been in the city. He almost opened his Archive¡¯s communication network, only stopping because it had detected her territory magic making a large transit out of the city a moment before the attack. He could trust that Minerva had gotten herself and Tabby out of the line of fire.


    It wasn¡¯t his fault. It was Tartaros¡¯s. He couldn¡¯t wallow in guilt. If he did Tartaros would kill more. And Tartaros needed to pay. Tartaros would pay. He let his rage flow, let it take precedence to smother out the forming guilt. Rage was more useful than guilt. And he couldn¡¯t help but feel one, even with his Archive working to detach himself somewhat from his own emotions.


    He stretched out his territory into the Cube. He¡¯d originally intended to try and take their factory, and whatever weapons they possessed, but now he was seeing too much red. The rage was pouring through him. His takeover magic flowed through him, his skin blackening as his fingers extended into claws. Wings sprouted from his back. His eyes shifted to red. And eight, crooked arrows, each pointing in a different direction appeared in crimson on his chest. His Chaos Soul, the soul of his soul-drinking black blade, flowed through him. It urged him to destruction and sadism, and for once Arthur wasn¡¯t trying to hold it back.


    The communication lacrima which Irene had given him began to blare. She was trying to contact him. He silenced it. He had things to do at the moment.


    The moment he arrived in the cube, he released darkness out from him in all directions. It was just a cloud of shadow, the waves of darkness flowing outwards. Like a liquid thing the darkness surged through the hallways. And then Arthur raised a hand, and the darkness exploded outwards, consuming all matter in its path. The walls of the Cube resisted. They were treated to resist magic. But it was insufficient. The darkness burst from the side of the Cube, and anyone within that portion of the Tartaros base was gone, as were all its systems. The stone of the Cube didn¡¯t even fall as the darkness burst through it, leaving nothing in its wake.


    He left the portion of Cube which lay ahead of him, and under his feet. He wasn¡¯t stupid enough to destroy the ground he was standing on. He merely pulsed the darkness in that direction, eating away at the surfaces, widening the hallway by a few inches. And then he launched forward. His hands spread wide, wings of darkness stretching out to scythe through the walls of the Cube as if they were not even there.


    He no longer bothered to cloak his location in darkness. It had been but a momentary smokescreen to give him the chance to do some major structural damage before a potential counter strike. Now, though, he was ready to fight. Bringing his hands together he opened his mouth and released a dragon¡¯s roar, aimed up and out, sweeping it from over one shoulder to over the other. With his dragon seed carefully kept unblossomed, and his active demon soul choking its growth it wasn¡¯t as powerful as it could have been, but it was more than powerful enough. He didn¡¯t dare attack down - there was still a city below - but he could deal a massive amount of structural damage this way.


    Tentacles burst from the damaged walls. His Territory Armor protected him, even as the Cube attempted to reconstitute some of its ethernano based weaponry. Arthur wasn¡¯t sure what all weapons b.R.A.I.N. possessed. Last time he had faced the castle the lacrima beams had been the greatest single threat, but they no longer worked on Edolas now that its ambient ethernano levels had risen so high.


    He didn¡¯t want to find out, though. Especially not with Edolas Zero and Duke Solamen working with Tartaros. So he released scouring waves of darkness, abrating away the walls as the Cube attempted to regenerate, each time sending a scything blade at the front which would crash haphazardly through the structure.


    He couldn¡¯t be too careless, though. He didn¡¯t want to send hunks of the structure crashing to the ground below.


    That thought made him throw his head back and roar. He could feel his dragon seed trying to grow wildly, but while using Takeover - Demon Soul it would inevitably be choked out unless he actively and wilfully tapped into the dragon force. He was simply drawing on the destructive power of dragon slayer magic, eradicating a swathe of the Cube, as he moved forward like an unstoppable juggernaut of destruction.


    Mass produced etherious soldiers began to approach, and Arthur smiled.


    Mages from across Maximus had responded to Tartaros¡¯s attack. They might not know what the ship was, but it had opened fire on their city. Pergrande¡¯s army might be spreading the news that this was to stop the Magic Council from planting a city destroying bomb, but even a liar¡¯s tales took time to spread.


    Minerva didn¡¯t know about the army¡¯s stories. She just knew what she could see. Immediately mages from across Maximus had unleashed attacks on the great, cube shaped war-machine, and crystalline barriers had appeared and disappeared as the magical attacks were stopped.


    Then Arthur¡¯s darkness had erupted, and one of corners of the cube had been sheared off, along with a great deal of three sides. It wasn¡¯t a smooth, perfectly geometrical shape, but it was close to if someone had taken a great spoon and scooped away a portion of the Cube. A moment later darkness erupted up out of the cube, sweeping part way along one face before disappearing.


    ¡°Our brother-in-arms takes the fight to the dastards,¡± Tabby said, ¡°Can we be but lily-livered if we do not do the same? Why do we cower here when the fight is over yonder? Let us go! For vengeance and justice!¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s protected against spatial magic,¡± Minerva commented coolly. ¡°Its barrier is strong, but I could teleport you above, and if you could punch through it¡­¡±


    ¡°No,¡± Adler said. ¡°Arthur seems to be handling it fine. He could open his Archive comms if he needed help. Our place isn¡¯t in the fight, it¡¯s in the city. Countless people could be dying right now. We need to ensure that the area beneath that thing is evacuated in case it falls, and we need to start rescuing as many people as possible.¡±


    Tabby looked at Adler. ¡°But the villains still fight!¡±


    ¡°And people are dying while you argue to go fight them. If they¡¯re strong enough to defeat your master can you make a difference in the fight?¡± She was a tall woman, and positively towered over the small anthropomorphic cat, her eyes glaring down towards him. Then she looked at Minerva. ¡°Transport me back to the city.¡±

 Maximus Assault Part 2

    Kyoka screamed out as a gout of shadow swept over her. It had erupted through the wall, a stray blow from the Northern Mage¡¯s crusade of destruction against Tartaros¡¯s home. And when it had passed the avian featured woman found that she possessed only one knee and no feet, falling to the floor below. Plutogrim - the demon which was Cube¡¯s true nature - was doing its best to heal from the wound, but for a moment the 7 surviving Demon Gates of Tartaros, and their acting leader Mard Geer, could see the Northern Mage.


    As a force the demon gates were dreadfully powerful. Avian featured Kyoka¡¯s enhancement curse could turn someone¡¯s own senses against them, or simply enhance her own power. The bestial Tempester¡¯s magic barrier particle explosion had held back the Northern Mage before. The skeletal Keyes possessed necromancy. His corpse-puppet, Silver, stood in for the ice demon Deliora, wielding powerful, demon slayer magic. The four armed Ezel¡¯s cutting curse could create blades to cut through nearly anything. The lizard-esque Torafuzar¡¯s cursed water could flood an area with poisonous fluids. And the strangely, round Franmalth¡¯s absorption curse allowed him to take the powers of others and claim them as his own. And then there was Mard Geer, whose power was enough to contend with the likes of the Celestial Spirit King.


    And they were against one man. Their victory was almost certainly assured. Or it might have been if the demons of Tartaros had ever learned to fight as a group, and not simply rely on their own raw power.


    Tempester and Torafuzar rushed forward as Ezel unleashed his curse. Ezel¡¯s curse might have reached Arthur even through the intervening mass of Plutogrim, but he was forced to turn his curse aside to avoid cutting down his allies. Even Tempester and Torafuzar ended up having to push past each other in the narrow corridor. If they had any chance of the element of surprise it was lost.


    That was when Cube began to truly change into its Plutogrim form. Fleshy tendrils began to shoot from the walls, filling the hallway around the Demon Gates.


    ¡°Plutogrim, I did not give you the command!¡± Mard Geer shouted, as Plutogrim¡¯s demonic flesh struck Keyes and Franmalth.


    ¡°I don¡¯t think you¡¯re the one it¡¯s taking commands from,¡± Silver noted.


    Of the demon gates and their commander, it was only Silver who Plutogrim was not targeting with its change. Something which Mard Geer did not fail to notice, as he conjured a thorn-covered vine to cut through Plutogrim¡¯s flesh. The thorny vines were holding back Plutogrim¡¯s flesh, keeping it from filling in around them. Keyes had escaped, transforming into a black mist of magic barrier particles to slip free. Franmalth, though, was half submerged into Plutogrim¡¯s flesh.


    ¡°Ezel, cut your way to the Northern Mage,¡± Mard Geer stated with firm commitment.


    Arthur knew he had to get a hold of his rage. It might be more useful than guilt. But rushing into a 10 on 1 fight was not a good idea. And his Archive had detected the Demon Gates. Or at least 8 of them.


    His darkness magic shot out to was over them, hoping to do some damage. And then he used his Territory Magic, disappearing down a half dozen floors. A moment later he was giving a command to the Cube itself. He¡¯d been given time to make use of his Takeover Magic, and its ability to compel demons. The Cube, or more properly named Plutogrim, had not been easy to take over as the b.R.A.I.N. device had apparently discovered with its own failure to do so.


    He didn¡¯t have the time to properly access the b.R.A.I.N. device in full, and it still scared him enough to hold him back from trying. But just by activating Cube¡¯s transformation into its true form and forcing it to turn upon the Demon Gates, Arthur could buy himself time.


    Time to make a plan. Time to get his bearings. Time to figure out how to actually fight the Demon Gates. Rage was the mind killer. It was a little death of self, which right now could bring total annihilation. He needed to let it pass through him without moving him.


    He couldn¡¯t take down the demon gates in a single rage fueled blast. He needed to be smart.


    With Plutogrim no longer fighting him, his Archive was already designating the locations of his enemies. And the shift from Cube to Plutogrim form was successfully separating them.


    It was time to divide and conquer.


    Kyoka, Tempester, and Torafuzar had all been separated from the main group. Mard Geer didn¡¯t like that. Arthur had managed to deal with 3 demon gates at once before. And now he had Plutogrim working for him.


    They needed Plutogrim back on their side, and the demon was designed to obey Mard Geer himself. The hell commander was able to communicate with all his fellows telepathically, coupled with Plutogrim¡¯s design as his vehicle, he might be able to free Plutogrim from the Northern Mage¡¯s control.


    Unfortunately that was hard to do while Plutogrim¡¯s flesh was attacking them, and the mass produced etherious were being channeled in through tunnels to attack them. Their curse power was low, and their darkness curse couldn¡¯t deal lasting damage to Mard Geer himself, but their numbers were an annoyance, and even his regenerative abilities had its limits.


    ¡°Hold them off, and keep me safe. I¡¯m going to free Plutogrim,¡± Mard Geer ordered, and the other demons formed up closer to him.


    Mard Geer focused his mind, for he was now beginning a mental battle. It was his skill and thoughts against the magic which held Plutogrim under the mage¡¯s sway. Mard Geer was not one to shape the conflict into pseudo-physical symbolic terms. He was simply working to remove it, using his own curse energy to disrupt and destroy portions of the magic which had rooted through Plutogrim, just like he had to help it overcome the b.R.A.I.N. system¡¯s attempt to override its will and replace it with the system¡¯s. He was tempted to follow the magic back into its caster, and attempt a mental confrontation with Arthur himself, but it was something to be feared as well. He had re-written one of the maker¡¯s books. He might win such a conflict.


    The demon gates battled the horde of mass produced demons. Their foot soldiers were no match for the demon gates, but they were not weak. Only Silver¡¯s ice demon slayer magic took them down quickly, otherwise even when Ezel cut them in half they kept fighting. Franmalth¡¯s absorption allowed him to defend himself, but it was less than the best weapon against such mass numbers. Keyes also was more specialized in fighting humans, with his use of magic barrier particles, leaving him with only a darkness curse which as similar wielders the mass produced soldiers were resistant to.


    Mard Geer didn¡¯t have the ability to focus on that right now. He didn¡¯t notice how, despite being the most offensively critical but least defensively protected, Silver was not attacked by the mass produced etherious. The bald, maggot white fleshed, large eared, pointy fanged demons rushed for Ezel, Keyes, Franmalt, and Mard Geer himself, but they never once attacked Silver.


    Mard Geer was winning. He could feel the magic constraining Plutogrim falling away.


    And then darkness exploded in the hollow they had carved from Plutogrim¡¯s flesh.


    Dealing with Kyoka had been simple. She had been trapped by Plutogrim, and had already lost her legs. She was a sitting duck, one whose soul Arthur was able to drink deep and quickly. Tempester and Torafuza had been somewhat more difficult, but even with their demonic resistance to Plutogrim¡¯s curse, entangled in its flesh they had been made much more vulnerable.


    Between surprise and an unhesitating willingness to be lethal he had dealt with them very quickly. Rewriting them like he had with Seilah was something he had considered. But he didn¡¯t feel like spending the time was tactically justified. Besides, he was still angry, and as angry as it had made him when he¡¯d done it to Seilah, he wasn¡¯t certain he could do it when this angry to begin with. It wasn¡¯t easy, and it took at least a touch of empathy.


    Right now he didn¡¯t feel empathy for the demons of Tartaros. Increasingly he was just numb. The immensity of the number of people who must have died when the cannon had fired in the city was¡­ No. He wasn¡¯t going to think about that. He was going to shut down Cube, and destroy Tartaros.


    With three of the demon gates removed, it was time to deal with the remaining cluster. He could feel his magic controlling Plutogrim slipping. Mard Geer or one of the others must be working to free Cube, and when that inevitably happens the balance would shift against him again.


    He opened his Archive¡¯s communications. And then, once he¡¯d gotten the information he needed, he teleported into the hollow which the Demon Gates had formed.


    He had the visual information he needed. He appeared with two celestial spirits already summoned, and his own magic ready. Darkness erupted, and behind it came Scorpio - the golden spirit provided him by Angel whose weapon was sand - and Orion - the spirit who he had once lost and forged a new key for himself.


    Scorpio attacked Keyes, hoping to smother the barrier particle fog that the etherious changed into with a deluge of sand. Orion went for Ezel. Arthur wasn¡¯t sure the giant was the right choice here. No. He was certain the giant wasn¡¯t the right choice, but he¡¯d promised Orion he¡¯d let him fight some hard fights. And it¡¯d been too long since he kept that promise. Still he trusted Orion to be sufficient, even if Enif would be the better choice.


    He launched himself towards Franmalt. There was something clownish in his opinion about the demon. They were yellow and very round, head one with their body. They weren¡¯t a circle, more a domed tube, with limbs and an overly large mouth. Their absorption curse worked by touching with their hands. Hands which could stretch out.


    Seilah had known all about their abilities. And all of her memories were still in the depths of his Archive.


    He couldn¡¯t even allow Franmalt to touch his territory. Because any magic that Franmalt absorbed would be a tool he could use to tip the scale of battle. Right now Arthur was confident that while this was not a true checkmate for Tartaros yet, it was a mate in a matter of moves. He just had to make the right moves.


    He teleported himself forward towards Franmalt, slipping past his stretched out arms. Franmalt pulled away, belching blackness towards Arthur¡¯s face - the absorbed darkness curse of the mass produced etherious. But he had fallen into the ploy. Arthur¡¯s right hand was only connected to Arthur through his territory, reaching through a teleportation portal to touch Franmalt from behind. And that touch was enough to initiate his takeover.


    His black claws dug into Franmalt¡¯s back, and he teleported the rest of his body to rejoin it, leaning in and forward and using his fangs bit down onto the demon and he drank deep of its soul.


    How much of its power he could manage to scavenge through takeover he didn¡¯t know. He¡¯d learn that later. At that moment, he still needed to end this fight.


    Thorny vines burst from the walls, only for ice to form around them and shatter them. Silver was holding his own, but it would only take an instant for Keyes to release his soul before he could take his revenge against the demons. Arthur was glad he had remembered that part of Silver¡¯s motivation; he wasn¡¯t really loyal to Tartaros, but wanted to destroy them, merely biding his time and trying to get close enough to do it and succeed. Arthur was disgusted he¡¯d not done anything about the cannon.


    Still at least Silver was taking advantage of the opportunity he was giving him. But Silver couldn¡¯t beat Mard Geer, only keep him busy. Still if he bought enough time for Arthur to assimilate Keyes - though he wasn¡¯t looking forward to rewriting him - then this battle was as good as over.


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    Taberius plunged through the burning structure. The exceed didn¡¯t know how the fire had started. It could have been the cannon itself, the heat and force of the magical explosion having ignited something, or it could have just been that the shockwave had knocked something over.


    What he knew was that there was a fire spreading across the city. Minerva was doing her best to handle it, but while she could snuff out the flames, doing so without harming those inside of the burning structures was somewhat harder.


    It became Taberius¡¯s task to go in and save them. With his dragon takeover he could consume the flames, using them to maintain the very magic he used to brave the flames and extinguish them. Still the work was hard, and he had to go about it swiftly. It wasn¡¯t a matter of stamina, Taberius was determined to be a proper knight and to work until he collapsed to protect those who could not defend themselves, but right now those were innocents trapped in burning buildings and that put a sort of time limit on his task.


    He worked quickly, his wings carrying him into a building, his scaled, dragon-powered arm wrenching a door from its hinges. But finding those who screamed was difficult. And he had to keep checking places for those who had already fallen into the black grip of a sleep that could become death, as the smoke had filled their lungs and denied them the oxygen needed to maintain their consciousness.


    Outside Lady Adler of the Magic Council did her best to ensure they lived. Those who were well enough were coordinated into helping each other, and those who were not were placed under stasis into one of the lady¡¯s blank cards. She couldn¡¯t heal them, but she could keep them from dying until they could be given proper medical care.


    Or at least that was the theory. As Taberius emerged from one of the blazing buildings, a pair of children in his arms, he saw a group of soldiers surrounding the aged councilwoman. The gray haired woman was taller than any of the men, her back straight and head held high even as they pointed their long pole-mounted blades towards her, shields at the ready.


    He could hear them condemning her for the attack on the city. She stood proud, even as they hurled their verbal vindictiveness at her. There was talk of a bomb.


    And then Taberius was landing between Adler and the men. His Takeover magic had given him the shape of a large tiger-man with gray fur regularly interrupted by stripes of red scales. His head was almost more reptilian than feline and more animalistic than humanoid, and the wings from his back had shifted from feathered and angelic to scaled membranes reminiscent of a traditional demon¡¯s. He held two crying children under his arms, completing the appearance of a demonic monster.


    The soldiers stumbled backwards. Taberius roared. It was equal parts lion and dragon, a sound like that which might come up from the earth when hell¡¯s gates swung wide and the hellfire poured out onto the surface in plumes of orange. Fire shot from his mouth and men screamed in pain.


    ¡°Taberius, do not hurt them!¡± Adler commanded harshly. ¡°They do not know what they do.¡±


    ¡°When do humans,¡± the exceed said in a growl. ¡°What sort of knights do you consider yourselves to be, though. First you attack an aged woman in the act of helping the wounded and now you quake and cower at the first hint of an actual foe to face.¡±


    The soldiers were doing just that. At least those who were not howling from the burns which covered them. But their leader stood straight. ¡°See, this is the magic council¡¯s true colors. They turned to a demon of the flames and when their bomb was stopped they had him start fires to end our city.¡±


    ¡°Are you crazy?¡± Taberius asked. The two children still wailed in terror beneath his arms. ¡°We didn¡¯t start this fire. It was that cursed magical cannon. It¡¯s no use talking to fools¡­¡±


    ¡°But we need to try,¡± Adler said. ¡°We need more hands. And people will die if we waste time fighting the Pergrande royal army.¡±


    ¡°They are vicious knaves, and¡­¡± Taberius began.


    ¡°They have been lied to,¡± Adler cut in. ¡°They might should learn to be less gullible, but we should enlighten them, not bludgeon them.¡±


    Suddenly the weapons of the men disappeared from their hands. Minerva had returned. Heads turned towards her, but it was not her show at this time. Adler was stepping forward and displaying why she was on the magic council. It was not a position of pure magical power; one had to have a certain level of that to qualify, and it was not low, but the magic council was not full of wizard saints for a reason. It wasn¡¯t supposed to be about power to subjugate an enemy by force; the council was not a war council. It was a matter of governing and leading the magical world.


    She began to talk with dignity and certainty. ¡°Your commanding officers told you that there was a bomb in the ship that was approaching. That the council was planning, what? A military conquest of Pergrande as the beginning of seizing dictatorial control over Ishgar? But what have you seen with your own eyes? Did the ship explode like some city-wiping bomb when blown away? Or did the cannon blast do this damage to your city? Your people are dying. They are wounded. They are tired. They are hungry.¡± Her arms swept towards those she¡¯d been treating. There were limits to what she could do, but she had given them first aid. And many of them had simply been trapped in the flames, not yet burned, not yet collapsing from smoke inhalation. They had been rescued and the people she had saved were beginning to gather around her. Citizens of the city. People who the soldiers might recognize. Potentially even friends and family of them.


    ¡°They need to be saved. I am going to save them. If I had come here to destroy this city, I would be letting them die. But I am not going to waste time arguing that point here and now. I am going to save them. If you want to cut me down while I do that, do so. But once you do, save them. It doesn¡¯t matter if we are the council Council or army, Ishgar or Pergrande, our reason to exist is to protect and save them. So I am going to do just that. Taberius put down those children and go back to your duties of rescuing more individuals. Minerva, did you complete the firebreak?¡±


    Taberius still fumed. He wanted to be in the fight, not playing at some rescue mission. He wanted to show the pompous fools who tried to attack him. He wanted to beat on them until they realized they were in the wrong. Instead they were looking away and shuffling their feet, faces down cast and turned away in shame.


    And Adler pointed at one. ¡°You. You¡¯re a strapping, fit, young man. There¡¯s got to be people in more of these buildings. You can help Taberius get them out. And you. And you. And you. That glaive you carry might not be an ax, but it should still be able to cut open a doorway to rescue those trapped inside.¡± The soldiers straightened. ¡°And you help me tend to the wounded. And you. And you, captain, get to your business and start leading your men. Someone go and report back on the flames, and start organizing a larger movement.¡±


    She spoke in a tone that did not brook dissension. It was not a harsh tone. It was not a tone that threatened one¡¯s life. It was a tone of confidence and surety of one who knew what she was doing even in the midst of a crisis. There was no panic in her voice. There was no fear. Whatever she felt inside, she was calm on the outside. And the men, panicked by the destruction, and the idea of war with the magic council, responded to that certainty. They stepped to their tasks.


    Arthur snapped his fingers. With Franmalth dead he no longer needed to hold his best magic back.


    Around him the battle slowed to a near standstill. Mard Geer¡¯s thorns were still moving, but where they had been crashing forward at a speed to press the finest swordsman to react now it was barely perceptible that they were. Arthur could watch Silver¡¯s ¡®absolute zero¡¯ devil slayer ice forming across them ever so slowly.


    It wasn¡¯t Dimeria¡¯s Age Seal, but Arthur¡¯s use of Slow Magic had reached the point of a near temporal freeze.


    It didn¡¯t mean he wasn¡¯t in a hurry, though. Keyes could kill Silver the moment he had the concentration to do it. And Arthur didn¡¯t want that to happen. He¡¯d gone as far as lying to Silver that not only was his son alive - which Grey was alive - but that he would die if Silver didn¡¯t manage to pass his Devil Slayer Magic to him to give Silver a reason to live past his grudge.


    He wanted to give Grey at least a chance to meet his father. He deserved that much. So he didn¡¯t want to let Keyes kill him. And stopping that was going to take time and effort. The slow magic had hopefully bought him the former, but it was time to put in the latter.


    Reaching Keyes was a quick thing. He leapt forward, his wings spreading, and braking his movement to let him land in front of Keyes. He reached forward and grabbed the skeletal face of the demonic necromancer. He was reaching into Keyes¡¯s very being, coming to understand it, and to control it. He could feel the sickening sense of evil; the malice and contempt for the living which made the skeletal demon. The sense of its purpose and nature. The sheer smug superiority he felt. Humans were his toys. Because they were mortal. They died. And his power made them his puppets. He would use them to better understand death. To perfect his necromancy and make them his eternal playthings.


    And he would feel despair. Arthur was in control. He had taken over the demon, and he was already beginning to rework his fundamental programming. Right now. It was just a thing to ensure that he didn¡¯t kill Silver, or help Mard Geer.


    Still, Arthur felt sick as time resumed its normal flow. The sheer, disgusting self-importance of the demon had his skin crawling. And the utter contempt he was feeling about the demon¡­ was that his own contempt, or was that an echo of the demon¡¯s own sense of superiority.


    It was better to consume the soul and use that to takeover the power, than to risk the mental backwash and corruption of attempting to truly take them over.


    Or at least that was Arthur¡¯s justification in deciding not to try and lay claim to Mard Geer¡¯s totality and to take that easier, quicker path. It was not worth the risk of losing himself to Mard Geer¡¯s pride and corrupt soul.


    Arthur snapped his fingers and things slowed to a crawl once more. He moved then, a sword - not his black sword - flashing out to cut the thorns from Silver¡¯s body and pull him away from the mass which had burst around him. He released Silver, and turned his head towards Mard Geer. The undead Devil Slayer was losing. But that was alright. He¡¯d done his job. He¡¯d given Arthur the chance to kill Franmalth and thus dominate the battle.


    Arthur requipped his artificial hand, swapping that silver hand which had been gifted to him by Selene for the black iron hand he had created himself. It twisted to suit his Chaos Soul, the metal growing long and talon like. It was a conduit of demonic magic, one to transform his dragon slayer magic into devil slayer magic, and to help him tap into the Curse energy which powered demons.


    He plunged it into Mard Geer¡¯s chest. He could see Mard Geer¡¯s recognition spreading over his face in slow motion. The etherious had impressively swift reactions to have noticed Arthur¡¯s approach before his arrival. But he was still too slow to save himself.


    Arthur leaned forward, his own demonic fangs clamping down on Mard Geer¡¯s throat, as his devil slaying flames blossomed inside of the etherious to hollow him out as Arthur drank his soul.


    Tartaros had been destroyed. Mard Geer Tartaros who acted as its guild master had died rather unceremoniously for a foe who had been among the worst that Fairy Tail ever faced. He had fought the Celestial Spirit King, though he¡¯d only ¡®won¡¯ because Lucy had been unable to sustain the king. He had taken the worst Natsu could hit him with. He had in all honesty put up a much better fight than Bloodman of the Spriggan 12. In all honesty Arthur had expected him to be a threat above an average Spriggan.


    But Arthur had a serious ¡®type advantage¡¯ in the fight. He had been able to control the battlefield and stack the deck in his favor. Keyes and Silver were the only survivors of Tartaros¡¯s main forces. No. Keyes, Silver, and Plutogrim.


    Arthur had to decide what to do with the Cube. It was a war machine, integrated with the dangerous b.R.A.I.N. device. He could control it through Takeover, but in so doing he had destroyed its natural equilibrium leaving it vulnerable to usurpation from the b.R.A.I.N. device. It would be hard to keep them both under control. Easy enough in the short term. Or if he stayed on the vessel. But unless he wanted to become bound to the war machine, he couldn¡¯t be certain how long his control would last. Eventually it would fail, and he didn¡¯t have some timer to tell him when.


    There was also the issue of the Cube itself. The Magic Council could - eventually - figure out how to control Plutogrim. Arthur didn¡¯t want to give them the sort of fire power which Plutogrim now represented. At the same time the evidence was on Plutogrim. If he destroyed Plutogrim it could look like he was trying to hide something. Like he had been in contact with and working with Tartaros and having decided to betray them tried to use them to undermine the cohesion of the Council. Or something. He didn¡¯t know what conspiracy theories the council would formulate about him. But he really did not want to give them that cannon.


    And a part of him wanted to destroy it as if doing so would somehow remove from him the stain of guilt at not having stopped it. If he¡¯d acted faster. If he¡¯d done something instead of hesitating. He could have stopped it from firing. If he¡¯d been smarter. If he¡¯d been faster. If he¡¯d been better.


    Arthur lashed out, a burst of shadows erupting from his hand to tear through the walls of the Cube. He¡¯d used Satan Soul too thoroughly. It made his emotions harder to control. And the numbing guilt and rage over the deaths were still there. A city had been carved up by magic he could have stopped. If he had simply been more competent and capable.


    Destroying Plutogrim to alleviate that sense of guilt would be wrong. Worse than wrong, it would be a mistake. Plutogrim¡¯s cannon combined Spirit Arts, Curse Arts, and Magic into one weapon. He wasn¡¯t certain if Acnologia could eat it or not. It might be the weapon he needed to ensure Acnologia didn¡¯t kill countless.


    Or it could be a weapon that the Council would use to cause untold destruction and damage.


    Arthur hated this sense of responsibility and the feeling that lives depended upon him and his decision. But with great power comes great responsibility. And if he didn¡¯t want to be stuck as a mortal living in a world of mad gods, he needed to get the power to be a god himself. But would the responsibility drive him mad? And choosing to ignore the responsibility was just another path of madness.


    Lives depended upon his decision. And he had to be the one to make it.


    So much easier in a video game. Or a tabletop RPG. Something where it¡¯s not real. If he chose wrong would it break him?


    He lashed out again, blasting away with one hand. And then he sagged to the ground and curled up. He hated this sort of responsibility. He didn¡¯t want to be responsible for the fates of others. He wanted a life of ease and relaxation. Books. Youtube. TV shows. Distraction and the fine things in life.


    But instead he needed to fight a dragon king lest he allow a world to be scourged clean of life. Instead he had to deal with the fact that he had killed dozens himself and that his mistakes had killed¡­ thousands? Tens of thousands? Millions?


    And for a time, Arthur was alone to wallow in his ill-placed, and undeserved angst.

 Imperious Confrontation

    Arthur wasn¡¯t sure how long it had been. His mind was just going in circles, and his overclocking via his Archive wasn¡¯t helping. If anything it was making it worse. Cube had fired and destroyed thousands, tens of thousands of people, and ultimately it was because he had messed up and allowed it to happen. He kept replaying the shot. If he had just reacted a little faster. If he had taken down the Cube as it shot. He could have saved those people. It¡¯d have been dangerous. But with his power he could have done it. He should have done it.


    He hadn¡¯t asked for this sort of responsibility. He didn¡¯t really want to have people living or dying based on his decisions. One person was too much already, and now it was entire cities of people. They were faceless though. And a part of him kept having the niggling feeling that he didn¡¯t actually care. That he only felt he should feel guilty because that was the socially acceptable thing to do. And then he¡¯d remember the sight of the city. The fire and destruction and the sinking feeling that it was inhabited. And the guilt loop would start again in his Archive and then his brain proper.


    It was Selene who broke him out of the loop. Her voice cut through his depression just like it was currently cutting through the barrier between worlds: ¡°Arthur what do you think you¡¯re doing?¡±


    He was too ashamed to answer honestly, leaving him only to stammer meaninglessly. It wasn¡¯t easy to say that he was re-playing his own failure to expunge sin through self-inflicted suffering in a form of self-flagellation. After all, even he knew that sort of angst was worthless and only a path to self-destruction and more failure.


    ¡°If I felt that energy cannon in Edolas, Acnologia felt it. He¡¯s almost certainly on his way. It¡¯s time to get out of there unless you want me to send over Ignia¡¯s faction to fight him there,¡± Selene¡¯s voice was matter-of-fact. She wasn¡¯t affected by the destruction visible beneath him.


    ¡°I need to do something first. I¡¯m going to take the risk of world-walking for the speed needed, because, one way or another, I fight Acnologia today,¡± He was rising to his feet. If he didn¡¯t kill Acnologia, who knew how many people would die. But he had an idea how many might die if he didn¡¯t kill Acnologia before he reached Maximus. Even with a gouge torn through it, it was still a massive city by this world¡¯s standards.


    ¡°I don¡¯t like that,¡± Selene said. ¡°There¡¯s still the chance that he¡­¡±


    ¡°Replicates the spell. I know. But if he¡¯s not killed and is left trapped in Earthland, he¡¯ll figure it out eventually. Giving him the chance to learn it more quickly is worth an increase in the odds of actually killing him.¡± The self-reprimanding loop had been broken, but Arthur knew he was in danger of falling back into it. So he pretended to have no doubts. He pretended to know what he was doing. If he messed up it wasn¡¯t just a city which would die.


    He hated this feeling of responsibility.


    Selene¡¯s image glared at him. Arthur was certain she had not liked the answer he gave her. She wasn¡¯t used to being opposed. And then the corner of her mouth turned up. ¡°I like you better when you¡¯re this way, than a puddle of self-pity. Fine. Do what you feel you must to ensure he dies. I will not be taking the field myself though. I seek to live, after all.¡±


    Arthur wondered about that. If he recalled correctly she¡¯d been mortally wounded fighting Ignia in the manga when she could have avoided the fight. But it would have meant letting him take control of Earthland for himself, and Earthland was still her home. And if he had to guess she had not wanted its humans to all be burned away.


    Irene had tried to contact him. It was worth talking to her through the communication lacrima before he went to talk to Zeref. Even if he¡¯d prefer not to have to face the fact that he wasn¡¯t answering her calls. He had a good excuse. But he still hated talking to angry people especially when they were angry with him. Arthur knew would rather fight a dark mage than have to actually socialize with someone, at least in an awkward situation.


    Irene was not happy, but she was mostly understanding. He had been dealing with violent confrontations; he couldn¡¯t just pause the fight to chat.


    Of course she wasn¡¯t pleased with who he had been fighting. They were Zeref¡¯s dolls and killing them risked displeasing Zeref, and as she was pointing out this was a rather diplomatically sensitive time. After all she hadn¡¯t initially been calling over the battle. Zeref had informed her that he had come to his decision about aiding Arthur with Acnologia and wished to see Arthur immediately to give Arthur his answer.


    It was time to talk to the Black Wizard. But there was one last thing to do first.


    Opening his Archive link he contacted Minerva. ¡°Minerva. I¡¯ve dealt with Tartaros¡¯s command structure, and secured their ship. But I¡¯m going to have to leave it out of the town. Acnologia is on the way, and I need to give one last shot at getting Zeref to join in the battle against him. I¡¯m going to get rid of their ship before I go.¡±


    He wanted the Cube as a weapon against Acnologia, but the b.R.A.I.N. device would break it free of his control sooner or later, and the risk that it happened during the battle was unacceptably high. If he had a few hours he was certain he could subvert the b.R.A.I.N. device. Maybe even just half an hour. But he¡¯d seen Acnologia¡¯s speed before. He didn¡¯t have that sort of time. At least not with the time sink that would be dealing with and talking to Zeref. And he hoped Zeref was a better tool against Acnologia than this ship.


    But he had an option other than brute force destruction. It would be a bit straining, but with the ship not resisting at the moment, he fed magic into the shadows. They were becoming his, a portal to a dimension of darkness he¡¯d built up little by little over the years. His dark dominion magic.


    He pulled the ship whole into his dark dimension, leaving himself to stand upon two discs of his territory as its shadow - which had swallowed it from below - disappeared slowly now that the source of that black pool was gone.


    ¡°Acnologia is coming here?¡± Minerva asked. ¡°Got any preparations me and Tabby should make?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m going to try and figure out which way he¡¯s coming from,¡± Arthur answered. Acnologia was fast, and if he was running at speed his power should be felt. But he was also surprisingly good at hiding his energy when he wanted to. Arthur couldn¡¯t feel him from here. Maybe if he took the Magic Sensor perk for another cheat power. But he didn¡¯t want to tap into his emergency reserve of points; he might need something else.


    ¡°Should me and Tabby continue rescue efforts then?¡± Minerva asked.


    Arthur hated the question. Minerva had every right to ask it. He was the leader here. He was the commander. It was his responsibility to decide where she was directed and how. But he hated knowing all those lives were on his shoulders. Would he need her and Tabby for the fight? Could he come back here for them and keep the fight out of Maximus and its massive population center? Was it better to get her and Tabby as far from the fight as possible for their sakes? If either of them died due to him¡­


    At this point Minerva probably meant more to him than anyone else in the world. She easily outweighed all of Maximus. All of Pergrande. All of frickin¡¯ Ishgar even. He didn¡¯t want her to die.


    ¡°Evacuate as many people as you can quickly, and get out of there yourselves.¡±


    ¡°But¡­¡± Minerva started.


    ¡°No buts. If the battle hits Maximus, I don¡¯t want to be distracted worrying about yours and Tabby¡¯s safety.¡± He knew Tabby would hate him for this choice. He knew that if people died a part of Minerva would always blame him for it. He knew it was a selfish choice; he was choosing to minimize the danger to the lives of his friends potentially over the lives of thousands. And if Acnologia didn¡¯t even come¡­


    He sighed. ¡°Strike that. Evacuate as many people as you can, but keep your territory ready for a quick extraction. If Acnologia does come to Maximus I want you out of there asap.¡±


    ¡°... Ok.¡± Minerva¡¯s ¡®tone¡¯ through the mental connection showed she was hurt. She was his apprentice, and this had to feel like he was showing little to no faith in her in a battle.


    ¡°Minerva, you¡¯re strong. I know that. But¡­ I am this close to breaking from the weight of deaths I caused already. I can¡¯t bear to think I might get you killed.¡±


    No response came for a time. He could only wonder what Minerva was thinking. ¡°Ok,¡± She finally said. ¡°I¡¯ll stay back and keep a safe distance. But you¡¯d better win.¡±


    ¡°I intend to.¡± Arthur realized then that he had wanted her to tell him the cannon firing hadn¡¯t been his fault. That he hadn¡¯t caused all those deaths. But she hadn¡¯t. Because it was his fault. He¡¯d failed them.


    He wouldn¡¯t fail Minerva. He would end Acnologia.


    But first it was finally time to actually go to Alvarez. It was a quick trip. One step to reach another world - not Edolas as he didn¡¯t see any reason to risk Acnologia¡¯s attention going to that dimension now - and then another to the room he had stayed in within the castle.


    His Archive warned him that he¡¯d set off alarms, but that wasn¡¯t an issue to him. He had been requested to come as soon as possible. This was the quickest means.


    The old man, Wizard King August, arrived within moments with a force of castle guards at his back. They were more window dressing than anything practical; August was one of the most dangerous entities in all of Earthland, if he couldn¡¯t handle a threat the guards were worse than useless against it. Still the aged mage¡¯s hand rose. ¡°Sheath your weapons. He is expected. The emperor requested his attendance,¡± He said without so much as glancing back at the soldiers. ¡°I will admit I thought you had said you were avoiding long distance teleportation.¡±


    ¡°I was. But time is of the essence. Acnologia is moving towards the largest city in Ishgar, and I am preparing to fight him now. If Zeref will provide aid, I will have to transport those who can fight such a battle to Ishgar immediately.¡±


    August looked at him for a few moments. Arthur couldn¡¯t read him, couldn¡¯t even really guess at what was going on inside of the head of the Wizard King. ¡°I expect it will not be that simple. It never is with the emperor,¡± He said after the pause. ¡°I can take you to him now.¡±


    Arthur nodded. It was spatial magic which August used to take them to the throne room, and its massive table. The place where Zeref sat waiting.


    He was dressed in his full suit as Emperor Spriggan. Fine made, and with enough flair to stand out on its own, but not too gaudy or over the top for an emperor: black robes with a white toga over top. Respectable, but not impressive.


    He sat in the same position he had last time Arthur had been here. The thoughts of it still left a bitter sourness in his mouth. He hadn¡¯t liked Zeref then. And he didn¡¯t really like him more now. But he had come hat in hand to ask for assistance, and he was now. It was better to swallow that pride and listen.


    The Spriggans were - again - only partially assembled. Still even with only 7 of the 12 here they were a dangerous bunch. Bloodman, Larcade, and August made up his most loyal supporters. Ajeel, Invel, and the fat man who he presumed was Wall Eehto were each more dangerous than the one before. And the other he assumed was Drusus the Takeover Tyrant. As one of the weakest members - doomed to be replaced before even appearing in the main story - he concerned Arthur less than the others. Besides, Arthur was almost certainly better at Takeover than him, even without getting into his other advantages.


    But they were side dishes. Zeref was the main course.


    ¡°Welcome, Arthur the Northern Mage,¡± Zeref said. ¡°I didn¡¯t expect you this quickly, or I would have had a feast prepared and waiting.¡±


    ¡°Sorry,¡± Arthur said with a bit of a shrug and butterflies flying through burning hoops as they did barrel rolls in his stomach. ¡°But I didn¡¯t exactly have time to wait, nor do I have time for niceties or formalities. Acnologia is-¡±


    ¡°On his way to Maximus. Yes. August already informed me,¡± Zeref cut him off. ¡°So I guess I should put forward my proposition. You want the assistance of the Spriggan Twelve. I want to die. Kill me and Alvarez and the Spriggan Twelve are yours. But if you fail to kill me, you will join the Spriggan Twelve and serve me loyally in all things.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t want their assistance. I want yours. Once Acnologia is dealt with, I¡¯ll find a way to end your curse, either break it or kill you as you wish.¡±


    ¡°No,¡± Zeref said. ¡°I¡¯ve considered. I will not aid you against Acnologia. If I do so and you fail, my life will be reduced to eternal suffering. Kill me if you can. Or serve me. But you will not leave this room otherwise.¡±


    Arthur could already feel the spell in place. One to block off spatial magic. One of the Spriggans¡¯ had a minion with that power. Rules of the Area or something. Spatial magic to rule other spatial magic. He wondered if his own skill and his pure magic could let him overcome it, but the mage putting it in place was ungodly strong. It¡¯d not be easy to brute force it. So instead he considered the other option. Could he circumvent it?


    He would have to multitask, though. He was still talking to an emperor. ¡°Fine,¡± He said, his hand moving to his sword¡¯s hilt. ¡°Send the Spriggans away. If they¡¯re to be my prize, I¡¯d not want them to die, and your curse may go wild when I kill you.¡± Mard Geer¡¯s memories had been added - at least in parts - to his Archive and while he had no intention of ever reading through them all, his Archive had already found portions on killing Zeref. If he was to die his death dealing magic needed to be expended or it would erupt out from him. ¡°Once they¡¯re safe, just sit back and I will take your life.¡±


    ¡°August, remove the Spriggans to a safe distance,¡± Zeref stated. ¡°But I will not simply sit back. I may wish to die, but I don¡¯t desire to leave my empire to destruction. I will not simply relax and let you end me. You will fight me to prove that you are a worthy heir. If you can¡¯t defeat me, then you will serve me.¡±


    Arthur hated the emotionless, imperious tone. The way Zeref was obviously looking down not just on him, but everyone. He didn¡¯t have time for a dragged out battle either. Or the energy for one. He wasn¡¯t certain that the Spriggans were worth it.


    But killing Zeref might be. If he couldn¡¯t handle the power of Zeref¡¯s soul he likely couldn¡¯t handle the power of Acnologia¡¯s. And if he could, Zeref¡¯s vast power should be enough to recharge him from his previous battle and this one, and leave him overflowing with excess vitality and power. If Zeref was going to be a self-centered frickin¡¯ bastich, he would give him what he wanted and end him.


    August had obeyed Zeref¡¯s command already, removing the Spriggans. They were still observing, a lacrima in the center of the ceiling was monitoring the room, but that didn¡¯t bother Arthur. It made things better for him. If the Spriggans could see they¡¯d know any deals made.


    If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.


    Besides, August was only a bit of an asshole, not enough of one to not deserve to see how his father reacted to learning about their relationship.


    ¡°Fine. Let¡¯s just make this little duel quick. I¡¯ve got a dragon to slay, and I¡¯d hate to drag out killing you with your son watching.¡±


    ¡°Larcade is of no importance,¡± Zeref said. ¡°Though,¡± A pair of books appeared in his hand which he immediately placed on the table before him, ¡°I guess he is your prize. You¡¯ll need to do some tweaks once you kill me, to keep him compliant.¡± There was no love from Zeref for the demon who thought himself his son, and whose entire being was dedicated to making his ¡®father¡¯ proud. He was nothing more than a tool.


    ¡°I meant August,¡± Arthur said. ¡°Your and Mavis¡¯s child. You didn¡¯t really not realize that this whole time, did you? Hades knew when he abandoned him in the forest.¡±


    Arthur could feel Zeref¡¯s use of telepathy magic to contact August. He was confirming what Arthur had just told him. Arthur could always lie and claim Hades¡¯s notes were his source, he didn¡¯t have to tell them that he had learned it by reading a manga about them in another world.


    Blackness blossomed from Zeref¡¯s body. It erupted from him wildly and uncontrolled. The emotional control which allowed him to control his curse had been shaken, and as he felt a sense of love for his son and regret for the time he had spent unwitting of their relationship the curse struck wildly at all things.


    It was darker than darkness, a great, black void of unlife ready to absorb and drain everything in its path. Arthur answered with his own. The Rules of the Area - apparently a magic Zeref could utilize if he wanted to, which was still an unpleasant surprise - had shut down Arthur¡¯s Territory Armor, but when August had been allowed through it, that had been more than enough information for Arthur to come to an understanding of how to counteract it. It was like he had watched the password be input, and now that he knew it, it was easy to make the spell think he was ¡®allowed¡¯ through it.


    His prosthetic hand re-quipped, trading the black, claw-fingered gauntlet modeled after the hand of Sauron that he had taken up to deal with the demons of Tartaros, for the pristine white, prayer covered fist he called the God Hand. He wasn¡¯t certain what the true nature of the divine curse was, but he suspected that if he could use Darkness God Slayer Magic he could consume it.


    The rest of his body was wrapped in darkness, a mixture of Magic Barrier Particles - something that Mard Geer¡¯s knowledge had informed him was at least somewhat effective against the death magic of Ankhseram¡¯s curse - and a dimensional portal. He would feed it into another reality so that it could not drain his life.


    The darkness slammed into Arthur and washed over him, his mouth the only unshielded portion of his body. He could not see. He could not feel anything but the strange non-sensation of a void around his body. He could not sense the outside world except gastronomically. And he ate.


    It was poison. Even for a darkness god slayer. There were magical barrier particles mixed within. It wasn¡¯t magic as a mage wielded. Or a curse as an etherious did. It was something more basal and primal. He let his takeover magic flow, shifting into his Satan Soul - Legion form. He needed it to consume the poison he was taking in. God and Demon Slayer Magic was forced to work in tandem, as he ate. And even then he could feel it trying to eat away at his being back. But it was revitalizing and nourishing him faster than it could drain him.


    Of course he needed it to be, as he was only weathering it by avoiding the lion¡¯s share of the onslaught at a constant cost of magical power. Even so when there was no more to eat and he dared open the face of his Void Armor, he felt refreshed and reinvigorated, overflowing with curse power and magical power both.


    Zeref was visibly spent. Emotions played on his face. Arthur didn¡¯t hesitate though. Zeref was probably the second most dangerous being around. And if Arthur was going to defeat him in time to tangle with the most dangerous one he needed to do it now. He couldn¡¯t afford to hesitate for even a moment or other people would pay the price. Zeref needed to die. It wasn¡¯t just to recharge himself. Arthur was confident that between the 7 destined dragon slayers, Igneel¡¯s faction, and himself, they could kill Acnologia, Zeref and the Spriggans had just been a means to stack the deck a bit and help minimize casualties. No. To minimize the chance that Arthur himself died in the battle. But that chance was there. And Zeref was too dangerous to the world to leave alive if he died. Even without Acnologia in the mix it was too likely that eventually he got bored and tried to delete the timeline to make his own life better; and either the entire manga was a shaggy dog story where the heroes stopped someone from creating utopia or that would kill everyone who was currently alive.


    And Zeref might well kill him here and now if he hesitated.


    He¡¯d resolved himself even while Zeref was forcing the nauseating darkness down his throat. Zeref would die. And he wouldn¡¯t hesitate to end him. With his Archive overclocking his mind he reacted much more quickly than the stunned, drained, and dazed Black Wizard.


    Before Zeref had even realized Arthur had managed to use spatial magic despite his precautions Arthur was behind him, his black sword plunged through Zeref¡¯s chest, his teeth sinking into Zeref¡¯s throat. His body was shifting; the bulky, winged, tailed, scaled maroon demon of his Legion form was becoming the more lithe and human sized, black painted, taloned Chaos form, the 8 pointed arrow of chaos forming in red on his chest as he took upon himself a form drawn from the very soul of his sword so that he could replicate its power. Sword and wielder worked in tandem to drink Zeref¡¯s soul.


    Zeref¡¯s black magic rose up and washed over him. But it was exhausted and expended now, and the vitality flowing into Arthur more than offset the curse. Zeref was weak, and his own immortality was being drained to shield Arthur from the death curse. It was Mavis¡¯s curse - an identical or lesser form of Zeref¡¯s - which would have ended the Black Wizard normally. If Arthur couldn¡¯t kill him with the sword, maybe Zeref¡¯s own defensive response would.


    But Arthur could kill him with the sword. It sang in his hand, the demonic blade exultant in glee at the deep feast it was being given. Zeref struggled, trying to teleport free. There was a final surge of desire to live. A desire born not of fear of death, but of fear of leaving behind one who was valued. Of leaving August to die against Acnologia.


    And then the Black Wizard went limp in Arthur¡¯s arms. The sword drank still. He drank still. His Archive recorded Zeref¡¯s last feelings, his last dying thoughts, even as the Black Wizard¡¯s immortal curse was ended and they slumped dead and soulless.


    And then Arthur couldn¡¯t help but laugh bitterly at himself. It was a hollow echo of the raucous, gleeful laughter of his sword. His Archive was telling him information he¡¯d have been happier not knowing. He could have won the fight without killing. Or at least actually obtained Zeref¡¯s aid against Acnologia. After all, August being his son gave Zeref something to fight for that was worth more than himself. The Black Wizard¡¯s last thoughts were a confusing mess. The knowledge that he needed to die, lest he killed August like he had Mavis. And the desire to make sure that Acnologia died first so that August could live.


    A suicidal immortal would have been a wonderful tool to hold back Acnologia and use as a human shield. And because he had acted too quickly he had lost such a valuable piece. Arthur couldn¡¯t help but note that there was no winning. And he couldn¡¯t help but hope that his willingness to think of people as tools was a side-effect of his recent meal, even as he had the itching feeling it was not.


    After all, he was already using his Takeover Magic to re-write the two books that Zeref had left behind. He wasn¡¯t delving deep enough to do more than a few tweaks, but well rewriting who they had eternal loyalty to was simple enough while being rather impactful. He¡¯d need to do a more thorough and deeper job, or they¡¯d inevitably go mad from the conflict of their past and total construction pushing them towards Zeref and the slapdash scratching out of Zeref¡¯s name in only a few key places to write his own, but it would do until after the fight with Acnologia.


    August watched the battle with baited breath. He had never told Zeref of their relationship. He had assumed that Zeref knew. August¡¯s own magic had told him even when he was a newborn child. He had always known. He had spent his long life seeking to earn the approval of his cold, distant, and aloof father. And all it would have taken was to tell him. To inform him of their relationship.


    But Zeref learned it only when facing potential death. No. August recognized it as what it was. It had been a tactic of psychological warfare. An attempt to throw Zeref¡¯s mental balance off. It was a decent tactic.


    August wanted to rush to his father. To finally feel his father¡¯s love. But the waves of death were coming out, pushing beyond the throne room, and even at this distance he and the other Spriggans were not truly safe.


    At this range his magic could ward off Zeref¡¯s death curse, but Zeref had not lost control of his curse to this extent since Mavis¡¯s death. And there it had been directed and absorbed by a single immortal being.


    August knew, though, that from here, at this unfocused level the curse was less of a danger than his fellow Spriggans. Larcade was glaring at him. The pale haired etherious was hugging his knees to his chest, his eyes wide as he gnawed on his arm and glared at August. As the second to last of Zeref¡¯s etherious, and the second closest to a perfect replication of life, Larcade had always seen himself as Zeref¡¯s son. August could sympathize with him. Both of them had lived their entire lives seeking nothing more than Zeref¡¯s approval and love.


    But August had gotten both. If Zeref died here, then his last act would be a demonstration of how much he had really cared for his son by blood. Larcade had always presented himself as Zeref¡¯s son, but Zeref had never loved him in this way. Never had his curse so much as twinged for Larcade¡¯s sake. It was proof that he was unloved. That like the other etherious he was an expendable tool.


    And then the curse had spent its offensive power, and the Northern Mage was moving. Even before August had noticed the movement it was over. The mage was biting into his father¡¯s throat, their blade plunged hilt deep through his heart. It was a wound to kill any mortal man. But Zeref had and would recover from worse than that.


    If it didn¡¯t kill him. He had seen Arthur reverse Irene¡¯s dragonification. August had told Zeref that he was confident that if Arthur said that they could kill Zeref with his sword that there was a large chance of success. He had also told Zeref to accept the mage¡¯s offer to help find a cure.


    Zeref had not listened to him. Just as he had refused to take this chance to end Acnologia and use his curse for one last act of good. He had been given the bait he desired. A chance to end it all.


    And as August watched his father¡¯s body slide from the sword, he couldn¡¯t help but cry. He couldn¡¯t face the Northern Mage right now. If he did he would attack him. And the man didn¡¯t deserve that. He had simply given Zeref what August never had been able to; he had fulfilled Zeref¡¯s wish.


    August could eventually forgive him for that. The Wizard King was old and understood himself well enough to know that. But he would need a few minutes to calm his rage enough to help him. It was Zeref¡¯s last promise. He would serve his new emperor loyally. And someday he would no longer resent him for what he had done. But that day was not today.


    And beside him Larcade howled for the mage¡¯s head, demanding the chance to kill him. Bloodman¡¯s hand fell on his shoulder. ¡°He is our master now. Our maker declared it so.¡±


    ¡°Never!¡± Larcade hissed, turning on his fellow etherious and striking him, beginning to pull together his power to use his white arts of pleasure.


    August sighed. ¡°Larcade, cease this now. We will follow the emperor¡¯s last wishes.¡± He might not be allowed to meditatively contemplate his rage and come to terms with it after all. He could at least take it out on Larcade if the etherious did not desist.


    It was still sinking into Arthur what he had done by the time August and the other Spriggans had returned. August led the way, and Arthur could only imagine what was running through his head right now. He had lived his whole life seeking his father¡¯s love, and doing everything he could to see his father¡¯s dreams realized. And Arthur had just murdered his father while he watched, and it was his father¡¯s last command that Arthur was now his emperor. The fact that Zeref¡¯s dream had been for his own death could only leave those feelings complicated.


    It didn¡¯t feel real. He¡¯d won too easily. Things had gone too well according to plan. He kept trying to suss out what sort of illusion Zeref had trapped him in. It seemed more likely than he had won without some other boot dropping.


    When he glanced at the struck out failed bounties on his bounty board things felt better. Not only was it unlikely that Zeref was aware of them to replicate, the fact that he had failed the extremely lucrative - and as one of the few still at its original value insanely so at this point - bounty to join the Spriggan 12 was reassuring. It was another boot dropping. He should have asked Zeref to make him a Spriggan before the battle.


    But he had rushed. He¡¯d not thought things through. He¡¯d refused to hesitate. The fact that he had messed up big by missing that was strangely comforting. It meant he was in reality and not some twisted dream.


    And then there were the two etherious. He¡¯d re-written them. He¡¯d done the same with Keyes. It was more than killing them. It was personality editing. Anti-Life. He told himself they weren¡¯t human. That they were just demons. That their personalities had been written out by Zeref. But Natsu had grown from his base, and continued to develop. They could go beyond what was written.


    He told himself that they were mass murderers made to draw power from killing. But he¡¯d looked at just a little too much of Larcade¡¯s book to believe that. Bloodman was mostly what Zeref had written: a sophisticated artificial being made for the purpose of slaughter. Larcade¡¯s ability to grow his book far more than any of the demons of Tartaros. He had grown, risen from childhood to adult, and developed a fully blossomed and free-forming personality, only shaped by Zeref¡¯s writing. He was almost human, and really he was a person.


    Still a mass murdering sadist. But he wasn¡¯t a mass murdering sadist because he was some robot made out of ethernano given pseudo-flesh. He was a mass murdering sadist because he¡¯d done his best to be what he thought Zeref wanted. He was a mass murdering sadist out of his earnest desire for his father¡¯s love.


    It gave Arthur ethical qualms about rewriting him. He¡¯d done so just as thoroughly as with Bloodman, but where he had no qualms about rewriting Bloodman he did with Larcade. With Bloodman he had every intention to at least remove the passages designed to force him into being a murderous sadist dedicated to spreading fear and suffering. You wouldn¡¯t think twice about reprogramming a chatbot that kept trying to convince people using it to commit murder. He couldn¡¯t reprogram Bloodman to be a fully free-growing person. But he could at least help him be a less dangerous tool.


    Where did the line fall between person and convincing fake? And where did the line fall for a person¡¯s behavior to justify him re-writing it to his will? Was that ever ethical? Arthur didn¡¯t know. But he had the sinking feeling that if his journeys lasted long enough he¡¯d have to figure out sooner or later.


    Despite the time crunch they were under, Arthur was glad the Spriggans had taken their time to get here. It¡¯d let him finish puking first.


    ¡°My liege, we are at your disposal,¡± August said, bowing deeply. ¡°As our emperor, whatever you need we shall perform. Since I believe time is of the essence, your coronation can be planned later and I can begin gathering the Spriggans if you believe there is time, or else we can take only those who are already here?¡±


    ¡°Only four of you are any useful for this fight. Five counting Irene,¡± Arthur said. He¡¯d had plenty of time to think about this. Jacob couldn¡¯t do anything to Acnologia. The guy who resurrected the dead from people¡¯s memories might be able to help if someone was killed, but he wasn¡¯t worth pausing to track down. Dimaria¡¯s age seal was a liability which was worse than useless against an enemy who was certainly stronger than her god.


    August¡¯s sheer power and skill could pull something out that might hurt Acnologia. Irene was the first dragon slayer. Bloodman and Larcade were etherious. They were physically capable enough to be relevant against a dragon even if it would be suicide on their parts to actually fight Acnologia that way. And Wall Eehto¡¯s machina could fire non-magic projectiles; even if Acnologia proved immune to his Weakness magic, he could be of use.


    ¡°Five, my liege?¡± August asked.


    Arthur nodded. ¡°Any other members of the Spriggan 12 would be a liability in this battle. And since four of you are here, let¡¯s take this to Edolas. The main force is assembled there. Wall, how many puppet bodies can you manipulate, and how far away can you do so from your main body?¡±


    Arthur hoped he wasn¡¯t making a mistake. He couldn¡¯t read August at all. The wizard king could be hoping to betray Arthur or ensure that he died on the battlefield. Bloodman was impassive and bowing readily enough. Wall Eehto¡¯s puppet was beyond Arthur¡¯s ability to read. And Larcade was glaring daggers at him; hate filling his eyes. Arthur only hoped that he couldn¡¯t bring himself to do otherwise than serve loyally. Maybe he should leave all the Spriggans behind.


    But he¡¯d fought for them, killed for them, and if he left them behind that would just be an empty, pointless murder. Besides, he thought he could trust August. It could be said to be Zeref¡¯s dying wish. August would respect that. Wall might abandon the fight, but he was unlikely to sabotage it. Bloodman he thought was well controlled. Larcade¡­


    ¡°Actually wait, four. Bringing Larcade would be the same as executing him,¡± Arthur said.


    The etherious¡¯s face scrunched in rage. He really did look like he could be Natsu¡¯s older brother. ¡°How dare you! I was Zeref¡¯s finest creation. I have always been the one who will kill Acnologia for him!¡±


    ¡°Dragons are highly resistant to magic as a rule. Those who wield dragon slayer magic, such as dragons, are highly resistant to what they consume. Acnologia is a dragon that eats magic as a whole. Even if he can¡¯t just resist your magic based upon desires, he can eat it and at that point all you¡¯re doing is empowering him.¡±


    ¡°He can¡¯t eat anything if he¡¯s sleeping the sleep of death,¡± Larcade protested.


    ¡°I don¡¯t have time for this backtalk,¡± Arthur said, with a dismissive wave of his hand. Him, August, Wall, and Bloodman vanished leaving Larcade alone with Ajeel. He had just burnt a bridge and he knew it, but at the moment Arthur was too concerned with other things to care. He needed to reach Acnologia before Acnologia reached Maximus lest the death toll rose unacceptably. And he needed to do it before the stress of the whole situation made him shutdown completely.

 Regicide

    Arthur walked into Fairy Tail¡¯s guild hall. There was a swagger in his step - the sheer mystical energy from the consumption of Zeref¡¯s soul and vitality left him brimming with power enough to give him a feeling of invincibility. He was not an unfamiliar sight there at this point, and received a warm smile and greeting from Mirajane as she worked as barkeep.


    ¡°Mirajane, I need to find some people,¡± He said.


    ¡°From the guild? Who?¡± Mirajane responded.


    ¡°Laxus, and Erza¡¯s mother. I¡¯ve got a rather special job, that has a very limited time window, and which only they can help me with.¡±


    She looked at him, and nodded slightly. ¡°Irene is with Erza at Fairy Hills, but Laxus is away on a job.¡±


    ¡°Where?¡± Arthur said.


    ¡°Hibiscus Town.¡±


    The door to the guild opened behind him, and Arthur didn¡¯t even look back. He¡¯d called Irene on the lacrima. It was her. ¡°Irene, it¡¯s time for that job. I just need to get one last ringer.¡±


    Selene had lost track of Acnologia. She was certain she could sense his magic¡­ if she entered Earthland and more Ishgar to do so. He had turned to human form. He would not be reaching Maximus today, or even tomorrow. He may have decided to cancel his trip.


    Still he had to be confronted before the energy from killing Zeref had leaked away. Now was the best time to face him. There was just one decision to make.


    Arthur looked at the dragon staff he had made. It was in August¡¯s hands. It was a powerful tool. Arthur looked up from it towards the six dragons in a semicircle across from him. He didn¡¯t like being in this position.


    ¡°With August and Irene¡¯s help, we should be able to revert Acnologia to true humanity if he is willing,¡± Arthur said. ¡°If he¡¯s on board it will be much safer for everyone than trying to fight him.¡± His eyes flitted from dragon to dragon.


    ¡°And if he is not willing?¡± Metalicana the Iron Dragon - the foster parent of Gajeel - questioned.


    ¡°There¡¯s the rub,¡± Arthur answered. ¡°If he¡¯s willing, things will be easier. If he¡¯s not¡­ I believe I could keep us alive long enough for Selene to send you five and the dragon slayers to Earthland.¡± Arthur¡¯s stomach was in knots.


    ¡°How will you find him?¡± Weisslogia the White Dragon asked.


    ¡°I bring the Cube to Edolas, and warp it into the world a little ways past where he was last detected. If he¡¯s interested in it, or the huge surge of magic he will probably check it out. And,¡± He placed his hand on the dragon staff, and there was a sudden pulse of magic from it. The dragons and dragon slayers all found their heads trying to turn towards the staff. ¡°It might irritate him, but I could call him out. Even if he resists the compulsion I doubt he¡¯d not take an interest in it. It runs the risk of inciting his rage, but truth be told I can¡¯t think of anything that doesn¡¯t.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re the emperor. You¡¯re in command,¡± August stated. ¡°It is your decision.¡± Bloodman, Wall, and Irene nodded. At least for the time being the Spriggans were with him.


    ¡°Here I am queen,¡± Selene said. She was the only dragon in human shape. ¡°But Arthur, you are the one in command of this mission, it is your decision.¡±


    ¡°I have not agreed to his command,¡± Weisslogia noted in an irascible tone.


    ¡°Nor I,¡± Metalicana added.


    ¡°Whether I¡¯m in command or not, everyone here is risking their lives, they should get a say in the methods we use,¡± Arthur answered. ¡°Besides, I lack the personal experience with Acnologia that is possessed by Irene and the dragons. I must defer to that wisdom.¡± He didn¡¯t want the decision on his shoulders. Though deciding to delegate it was still deciding. He wasn¡¯t certain when the last time he¡¯d not been operating on low level panic was.


    The Cube appeared near Acnologia¡¯s predicted location. With Altair¡¯s celestial spirit dress Arthur could easily make out the distant horizon. Or more the smooth crater where Acnologia had last been sensed. At the edges buildings had been toppled by the shockwave of the explosion, only one or two far distant still standing. Smaller craters and marks of destructive magic showed about it, some with pieces of the dead showing where the magic had destroyed part but not all of their body. It had been a village, and Acnologia had destroyed it and made sure to kill those who fled in the aftermath.


    It was a willful slaughter, without a real justifying incident. Arthur had felt a dragon¡¯s rage, and he knew what he had felt had to be only a fraction of what Acnologia did. But the sight before his eyes made him want to stab, not offer to save and ¡®redeem¡¯ the monster who did it. Irene had been a sadist, but even what he¡¯d learned since had indicated she¡¯d never done such a pointless slaughter. This was Acnologia¡¯s standard Modus Operandi. Acnologia infamously never left survivors behind - which wasn¡¯t actually quite true - and attacked towns every few years for the sheer joy of it.


    If Arthur hadn¡¯t tasted the rage dragonification could induce, he¡¯d have gone off plan right then and there. But he had deferred to the wisdom of the Fire Dragon King and it had been Igneel¡¯s decision. Give Acnologia a chance to regain his humanity. Provide the chance to end the cycle of hatred and vengeance with no more destruction.


    Arthur¡¯s archive helped him swallow the rage. It kept him a half step detached from his emotions. That was one of the ways it was useful.


    He gripped the dragon staff, sending out a pulse of magic to draw any dragons in the region towards them. The response was instant. There was a surge of magical power from the ruins as Acnologia appeared seemingly from nowhere, rising above the city.


    A moment later there was a flash of light and then a beam shot towards the Cube. It was a dragon¡¯s roar. Acnologia¡¯s magic had been blocked by Jellal in the manga. Arthur was confident he could do the same.


    Space warped, and darkness formed in the roar¡¯s path. 7 portals in total opened, each smaller than the one before it, forming a 7 layered shield. The roar broke through 5 of them, and Arthur could feel each shattering portal. Still it gave him a measure of the opponent.


    And then Acnologia was flying towards them.


    Acnologia was surprised his magic had been blocked. It wasn¡¯t even a spell that projected a perfect defense which no amount of force or magical energy could overcome. The technique had certainly magnified what it could handle, but it hadn¡¯t been infinite. The mage had real power. The sort of power that it might take to threaten the Dragon King.


    Unfortunately for the mage he was not a Dragon Slayer. Acnologia could not smell the growth of a dragon seed in him. A dragon slayer with his power and demonstrated skill would have been a true threat, one that even the Dragon King was hesitant to face head on. A mere mage with that power?


    He was resolved to swat the mage like the bug he was, just as he was resolved to destroy the cube shaped vehicle he rode. Acnologia had felt it from across Ishgar when it had fired; it was a power he was determined not to leave in the hands of humanity, as it might possibly threaten him if developed further.


    Acnologia hesitated, though, because the man hadn¡¯t come alone. The Dragon King recognized the two mages flanking him on the cube shaped vehicle. Irene Belserion had been the source of his curse; the Mother of all Dragon Slayers. Wizard King August was Zeref¡¯s chief lackey and they had had discussions before. Acnologia found value in his occasional relationship with Zeref. Killing them would start a conflict with Zeref, and Acnologia was not completely certain he would win such a conflict


    And then there was how different Irene smelled. She no longer smelled like a dragon or a dragon slayer. She had to be a very convincing fake. But that made Acnologia curious about why and how.


    And there was that nagging compulsion: Come forth to parley.


    It wasn¡¯t that the compulsion held his mind and will, but that they had called him out to talk in the first place. He was curious as to what they wished to talk about.


    So he bellowed forth. ¡°Why do you call for me?¡±


    Arthur could feel the force of the wind of Acnologia¡¯s bellowed words. His legs felt like they could turn to jelly at any moment. Acnoloia was strong. More powerful than Selene in raw magical energy, and he knew that Acnologia ate magic. Any and all magic. As far as fighting him went he was much stronger than his raw power suggested. At least if he didn¡¯t do something stupid like split his soul and body and leave both heavily weakened.


    ¡°To offer you the chance to become human once more. Truly human. Fully able to feel. Free from the rage of the dragon seed. Free from the po-¡±


    ¡°Fool! I can feel fully in form,¡± Acnologia boomed, the wing of his wings and voice sending Irene¡¯s long hair whipping through the air.


    ¡°I couldn¡¯t,¡± Irene stated. ¡°Not till he reversed my dragonification.¡±


    Acnologia looked at her. But Arthur was speaking once more. ¡°Don¡¯t you want your mind free of the influence of dragonification? The chance to become human once more. With this staff I can chan-¡±


    Acnologia¡¯s roar pierced through six of the seven shields this time. Shields Arthur barely managed to raise in time.


    The second roar was just as powerful. The third was delayed as Acnologia flew up and back. ¡°Why would I ever let someone make me human once more?¡± Acnologia bellowed before he began to breathe deep, charging his power for a full blast.


    ¡°That could have gone better,¡± August said dryly. ¡°I will begin plan B.¡±


    Selene didn¡¯t like what came next. She was terrified of what would happen if Acnologia learned her magic for walking worlds. She didn¡¯t think she had anything at all worth trading him for her chance to escape this time around. Even if her possession of that magic didn¡¯t make her too much of a potential threat to not dedicate every waking moment to hunting her until he had succeeded.


    But she had agreed to transfer the 5 dragons to Earthland and the battle should plan A fail. Given Acnologia had rejected the offer of humanity out of hand, and was now attacking, plan A had failed.


    A part of her was glad. She did not really want to share the world with Igneel and his allies. Eventually that alliance would fracture and the world would suffer when they did what dragons always inevitably do and began to fight amongst themselves. Though hopefully it could bring her fellow Dragon Gods low before it was completely destroyed.


    The wind picked up as she created a massive doorway between worlds.


    Acnologia¡¯s roar tore through the air towards the cube shaped vehicle. It was a blast to completely annihilate the vehicle and all on or within it. But the moment the roar had left his lips he felt a presence he had not felt for centuries.


    Dragons. But he had had minor skirmishes with the Dragon Gods for the last 400 years. But he recognized these dragons. These had been contenders for the title of king 400 years ago. Dragons he had wounded badly, and left their souls and flesh both in tatters. They weren¡¯t as powerful as the dragon gods, not with 400 years of the gods growing in power, but each and every one of them had been a challenge to beat at the time, and that had been in a grand battle royale where everyone was fighting everyone else.


    Acnologia was certain he could still win. He still remembered each of the five: Igneel, the fire dragon king; Metalicana, the iron dragon; the white one; the black one; and the surprisingly weak leader of the wind-based dragons. None of them were a threat alone, but with them together the battle would not go easily for him. He might lose an arm or suffer further injuries, and the year it would take to heal would give the dragon gods a window to take advantage.


    He turned in his flight and roared, a blast of pure destruction towards the dragons, and they veered, dodging the blast but creating a gap between them which allowed him to surge forward and fly past them.


    His head turned to look back at the threats that were now behind him, and to fire another roar off towards them, just to discourage them from following.


    ¡°Shit!¡± Arthur shouted as Acnologia began to run. If Acnologia got away they¡¯d have lost their ambush, and their best chance to kill him.


    ¡°Transport me into his path,¡± August said calmly. An instant later Arthur and August were standing in Acnologia¡¯s path, the dragon king¡¯s shadow quickly approaching, his head turning to fire back at the enemies he actually saw as threats.


    August¡¯s hands slapped together and then struck the ground. There was a rumble as the ground beneath the two mages rose up in a massive, rocky outcropping. Acnologia crashed into it, and the artificial mountain shattered beneath them. Still it had slowed the dragon¡¯s flight. And Arthur knew how to slow it further.


    Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.


    As the two mages tumbled among the boulders, Arthur teleported them and the boulders both. Rocks rained down on Acnologia¡¯s head and back, while Arthur and August landed once again in Acnologia¡¯s path. Arthur watched the shadow dragon Skiadrum burst from the ground, emerging from a shadow he had used to surge forward and catch up with Acnologia.


    With the sharpened eyes of his celestial spirit dress, Arthur could follow the dragons¡¯ movements. Skiadrum was rushing to his death. Arthur¡¯s Territory formed a solid wall between Acnologia and Skiadrum¡¯s back, stopping the Dragon King¡¯s teeth. Arthur could feel as Acnologia crushed his territory like it was some particularly thick candy coating. Skiadrum¡¯s claws and teeth sank into Acnologia¡¯s back, and slowed by mere moments, Acnologia¡¯s teeth found Skiadrum¡¯s back instead of his neck.


    Skiadrum fell to the ground with a terrible crash, the dragon¡¯s form half limp. His head still rose and moved, but not his tail and legs. There wasn¡¯t time to stop and check on the dragon, though.


    Arthur¡¯s silver key glowed in his hand, and he opened the gate as far as the key could sustain. If he hadn¡¯t forged the key himself, it would have shattered as he poured this level of power through it. But if Orion was to have a chance to really fight the most powerful and challenging opponent in this world, he was going to need every iota of magical power Arthur could summon him with.


    The giant hunter rose, a blue humanoid who stood tall enough one might compare it to a mountain, though in truth it was closer to the size of a skyscraper. It was still large enough to dwarf the dragons.


    Acnologia crashed into the giant, and the two began to struggle, and for a moment Arthur found himself watching instead of acting. Weisslogia caught up to Acnologia next. Igneel and Metalicana were still approaching. Grandeeney had been asked to stay back. The wounds a dragon dealt each other were slow to heal. It¡¯d be years, even centuries, before they¡¯d heal these wounds. Grandeeney could heal them. Her job was to survive, and heal any wounds that were too severe; such as Skiadrum¡¯s wound if she could reach him through the battle.


    August continued to work to hem in the Dragon King. Irene¡¯s enchantments had bestowed upon him an aspect of dragon slaying, helping his magic to hurt Acnologia, spreading it to the rocks which he made grow from the ground. Acnologia could still smash them with relative ease - his nature as the Magic Dragon helping him to resist the enchantment just as a fire dragon was still resistant to a fire dragon slayer¡¯s flames - but it gave them a little more oomph.


    Weisslogia ripped Acnologia¡¯s arm from his body, but Acnologia¡¯s roar struck him in the back. Orion¡¯s hands clamped down on Acnologia¡¯s jaw. Forcing his mouth shut, as the magic poured forth from it. Arthur was blinded by the brightness of Acnologia¡¯s roar, and when his head turned back towards the battle he could see that Weisslogia was falling. Hopefully the roar hadn¡¯t been instantly fatal and there was still a sliver of a chance that Grandeeney could heal her fellow dragon.


    Acnologia and Orion hadn¡¯t come through the roar unharmed either. Acnologia¡¯s mouth was burned, gaps in his teeth and the scales around his mouth. He¡¯d burned a hole through his own flesh with his roar. Orion was nearly done for. His hands had been burned off completely, his arms ending in stumps a little down from his elbows. And then Arthur saw the hole in his chest, his belts burnt and reduced to stubs. To block the roar he had used his body to block it.


    Weisslogia had launched back into the air as Orion fell. Acnologia didn¡¯t immediately launch another roar. Arthur couldn¡¯t say why. Maybe it was the pain. Maybe it was exhaustion of his ethernano reserves. Maybe it was just being distracted by spires of stone trying to stab into his body. The dragon¡¯s clashed and then they both began to fall.


    Acnologia had lost a wing. Weisslogia had lost a shoulder and a wing. They crashed to the ground, as Metalicana and Igneel prepared to enter the melee.


    Acnologia howled in rage. In 400 years he¡¯d never been this hard pressed in battle. He had been invincible. Even during the great dragon war the dragons had not coordinated and worked together. And dragons fought simply. They were power incarnate. They clashed head to head.


    The mages were playing interference. He should have realized that from the beginning. He had been a human once. He had been a dragon slayer and had fought with tactics utilizing group action and bringing a dragon down despite their impressive resistance to magic.


    And then there was the taste in that barrier which had saved the shadow dragon. Dragon slayer magic. It was woven through the spell via enchantment. Irene Belserion had turned every spell of every mage into a dragon killing weapon.


    The Iron Dragon and Igneel were approaching, and Acnologia knew he could only die if he faced them. He roared in final defiance, hoping to bring them down with him.


    Irene stood beside Wall Eehto. The machina had been working to modify the Cube¡¯s weapon. It was a slipshod and makeshift modification, turning the complicated magical tool cannon into something that would fire a mass-based weapon. The weapon was far from fully charged - that¡¯d take days - but it didn¡¯t need the power to destroy landscape features. It just needed to launch a projectile through Acnologia.


    Irene was layering enchantment after enchantment on the massive ¡®bullet¡¯ which it would fire. On the launcher itself. On Wall Eehto to reinforce his magic which would guide and initiate the launch. On every possible facet.


    ¡°I¡¯ve¡­¡± The roar of magical power drowned out Wall¡¯s words. There was nothing but the crackling sound of power, the rushing of wind formed from the sheer energy contained in the small area around the cannon for its maintenance and repair, and there was the crack of a sonic boom as the projectile shot forward.


    Wall¡¯s weakness magic couldn¡¯t analyze Acnologia directly. The Dragon King in the full bloom of his power with soul and body together was simply too resistant to magic. But it could still aim towards a known weak spot.


    Being a dragon slayer wasn¡¯t just knowing magic which was super effective against them. Diabolos had long researched dragon anatomy. The shot passed through his ribs and pierced through both his lungs. A dragon that couldn¡¯t breathe was a dragon that couldn¡¯t roar.


    Pain passed through his chest, and his roar sputtered and failed. Metalicana half-flew and half-crashed into his head. The Iron Dragon had hardened its body and flown straight through his roar. Metalicana was covered in wounds, his body torn by the sheer magical force. But the dragon was not dead.


    And then Igneel landed, his claw striking into Acnologia¡¯s rump and ripping his tail from his body. Acnologia¡¯s jaws moved in a soundless scream, his breath failing him.


    Acnologia raged. It hadn¡¯t been the dragons. It had been a shot of something enchanted with dragon slayer magic. It was Irene Belserion. The traitorous witch.


    Damn her.


    Damn her like she had damned him.


    Damn her¡­


    Metalicana¡¯s jaws closed around his head, and Acnologia lashed out with his magical energy. It was enough to make the iron dragon pull back its mouth as energy crackled from the blue-blackness of Acnologia¡¯s scales. It was just pure, unfocused destructive energy, but if he was to die he would die fighting to the last.


    But¡­ There was the magic the mage had used.


    He¡¯d felt it when the cube-shaped war vessel had appeared.


    He didn¡¯t have the skill to use it properly. But he had the power. Even now he had enough power to pour into it. It was a spatial magic beyond any he had ever seen before.


    He poured it in, and the barrier between worlds began to tear and fray.


    ¡°The bloody bastard disappeared!¡± Metalicana howled in rage as his front claw slammed into the ground. Grandeeney was treating Weisslogia. It¡¯d be some time before the dragon had its limbs back. This was just to ensure the wound didn¡¯t kill him.


    Arthur wasn¡¯t involved in triage though. He recognized the magic that Acnologia had used. It wasn¡¯t the Anima effect to bridge worlds. It wasn¡¯t Aqua Aera to make a portal between them through water. It was Arthur¡¯s own take on it born from combining his mastery of spatial magic.


    Simpler. More efficient. Easier to use. And it would seem easier to learn.


    Acnologia was in Edolas¡¯s Imperial Square.


    He swore to himself, as he disappeared. He rushed. Even with his Archive overclocking his brain, he didn¡¯t hesitate to think out the best method. Last time he¡¯d done that a city had died.


    And Acnologia could still kill a city. Or Selene.


    The instant he materialized, Acnologia¡¯s head smashed into Arthur¡¯s chest and sent him flying.


    The Dragon King¡¯s mouth opened, and Arthur felt the magic forming within it. It glowed there, but it could only leak out as a miasmic cloud of destruction, rolling forward without the force of a true roar.


    Acnologia was dying. Even if Arthur did nothing, Acnologia would die.


    But with 3 legs, and that magical power Acnologia would kill others in his death throes.


    He moved, his territory magic wrapping him as a barrier against that deathly cloud of energy. It was making it hard to form his territory to teleport, but not impossible. He formed above Acnologia¡¯s head, even as crescents of force cut through the air. Blades of magic slicing through Acnologia¡¯s throat and chest.


    Arthur¡¯s feet landed on the dragon¡¯s head, and he raised his black sword, the blade dark as pitch, and plunged downwards. A jerk from Acnologia¡¯s head made his blade miss the dragon¡¯s eye, scraping down the side of the dragon king¡¯s face. But it didn¡¯t matter. The dragon was dead.


    Acnologia¡¯s final attacks hadn¡¯t been to strike at Arthur. Selene¡¯s claw was emerging from Acnologia¡¯s chest, the dragon¡¯s heart one of the few organs not pulped by her attack. The Moon Dragon God was in her true form, as she reached out her claw and presented it to Arthur.


    ¡°I believe you can make this useful,¡± She said.


    No one had died. Well, except for Acnologia. Skiadrum wouldn¡¯t be walking for a few months, even with Grandeeney¡¯s help, but even the shadow dragon had survived. Orion for all his injuries was a celestial spirit. He would be fine once he was summoned again, and his key hadn¡¯t been shattered. Igneel and Grandeeney hadn¡¯t even been wounded, and Metalicana¡¯s wounds were light enough to not require healing - and that the dragon had refused it for the sake of the ¡°proof of courage¡± it provided.


    He hadn¡¯t even had to use all his contingency plans. He¡¯d not managed to use the Dorma Anim or the mark 2 version. He didn¡¯t have to bring in the 7 destined dragon slayers. He didn¡¯t need to call on that rune he¡¯d spent hours trying to twist into his mind. No last minute stunt involving Gemini as a decoy, or final reliance on Horologium to survive a blast that¡¯d have otherwise annihilated him. In the heat of the moment he¡¯d even forgotten his staff he¡¯d made to control dragons.


    He¡¯d fretted and worried and grown anxious over so many contingencies and possibilities. Made sure to stack everything he could in his favor. And when it came right down to it he¡¯d forgotten half of it. Still earlier against Tartaros was a good example of what could have happened if he hadn¡¯t made those back up plans. Better not to need them than to have things crumble all around him.


    Taberius was upset that he hadn¡¯t been allowed to prove himself against the greatest foe there ever would be to face. Minerva was a little miffed still at being left out. And Larcade Dragneel would be a problem when he got back to Alvarez.


    Alvarez itself would be a problem. Arthur was its emperor by right of¡­ the emperor declaring him his successor. Arthur had come to a clear decision. Ruling an empire was too much hassle. He didn¡¯t want to be emperor. Normally Ajeel would have become emperor, but he¡¯d have matured as a person as well. Arthur would need to think of who to appoint as his successor. He had no great desire to rule for the few years he had left in this world. Besides ruling for years and disappearing would only leave everything half down and further disordered. There was Ajeel''s grandfather, given his role in Zeref¡¯s administration and his bloodline he was a natural option if Ajeel was deemed too immature. There was August; whoever became the ruler would need his support. There was Irene. There were options. But Arthur truly didn¡¯t know who to choose.


    Still for all the destruction of the day, it would end in a night of celebration. Selene wouldn¡¯t be denied in that. Not that Arthur was inclined to do so.


    The days that followed were somewhat hectic. Arthur had an empire to dispose of. And while Selene wouldn¡¯t mind it. It was ultimately to August that Arthur gave it. He offered it to Irene - she had experience as a queen - but she had hesitated, and obviously was not eager for the responsibility. August wasn¡¯t either, but he resolved more quickly to take it. It was his father¡¯s creation. It was his duty as a filial son to see it through to its end.


    The Magic Council was not pleased by the destruction wrought in Maximus. Arthur wasn¡¯t on the hook for it directly; stopping Tartaros and Cube at just that was recognized as a benefit to all mankind, and they were more concerned with hiding their own hand in it than anything else. Besides, it was obvious they were scared of him. Even though they were unaware of what had transpired since he fought Tartaros beyond that he had unsubstantiated claims of having slain Acnologia, he had powerful backing in the form of Selene and Edolas.


    And there was what to do with Acnologia¡¯s body. Selene had removed it to a dimension even Arthur was uncertain of so as to prevent the other dragons from consuming it. Igneel had seconded her decision that no one should consume the Dragon King¡¯s flesh lest they be infected by his rage and hatred. The fact that Selene had given Arthur Acnologia¡¯s heart with which to make a lacrima was a secret kept from even Igneel. But Arthur had a hard decision before him as to whether he wanted to risk implanting Acnologia¡¯s lacrima into his body. Or find some safer means of utilizing it. Once he made it of course.


    And there was the Cube. He had to destroy it. It was too dangerous of a weapon, and one he couldn¡¯t control long term. Even if it was a shame, because it was such a powerful weapon. He had to destroy it quickly before he tried to keep it. Thankfully he possessed the power to do so.


    There were the repairs of Maximus to consider. And Arthur¡¯s position in Diabolos. And what to do next.


    Diabolos was another celebration in the waiting. He could explain why it took him so long to return after killing Acnologia by the fact that he had needed to get proof he had done so to get the reward for the job, and had had to get the head, and keep it safe enough to deliver to Ishgar¡¯s magic council.


    While Georg and the guild were upset that he refused to share the dragon king¡¯s flesh to increase their power, he had earned their trust enough that when he said it was a festering pile of cursed resentment to make the cursed ghost which hung even now over Kirin¡¯s head look mild and tame, they were willing to accept that it might be dangerous. The fact that the guild¡¯s cut of the reward for the job was a small fortune on its own didn¡¯t hurt.


    Still the return brought up questions as to where his loyalty lay and where his home was. He¡¯d officially ceded Alvarez to August, with Bloodman and Irene as witnesses. He didn¡¯t need to go back there. Not unless he wanted to see if he could become one of August¡¯s Spriggan bodyguards.


    Selene was in Edolas. It was her kingdom. As her consort¡­ he didn¡¯t have to rule. He could enjoy the easy life. At least till she started to ride him about dealing with the dragon gods. But Diabolos was where he¡¯d gotten his start. It was Kiria who had taught him where to strike a dragon to stop it from roaring. Without that knowledge Acnologia might have been a much more deadly foe.


    By the end of the evening he had made his decision. He had grown to like Diabolos, especially now that they showered him with respect. But Selene was beautiful, and the lap of luxury was pleasant. Still there was something he needed to learn from Wraith even now. He¡¯d not be gone permanently.


    But before he talked to Wraith. Before he tried to get Grandeeney to teach him healing magic. Before he hunted the Dragon Gods, he needed a vacation and he was going to take one. He was prepared to tell Selene just that when he returned to Edolas.


    Selene was relaxing in the throne room when Arthur returned. A group of performers were showing off their gymnastic skills flipping and spinning, as she gestured him closer.


    ¡°I thought you were going to stay longer with your little dragon slayers,¡± She said with a teasing smile on her face. ¡°Not that I mind the early return,¡± She placed a hand on his as he sat next to her and his fingers wrapped around it.


    He moved a little closer than propriety really allowed in public, especially with an empress. ¡°I associate the guild too much with work.¡±


    ¡°And here I thought you were going there to relax and hide from your duties to me.¡±


    Arthur made himself shrug. ¡°No, I was going there to deal with my duties to them.¡±


    ¡°Still this means we can go sooner than I thought.¡±


    ¡°I need a break. My nerves are shot. Tartaros, Zeref, Acnologia in one day was too much. I still feel like my heart is pounding, I can¡¯t go hunting the dragon gods till I get some real rest and relaxation.¡±


    ¡°I meant to go and see Ishgar. I was driven forth 400 years ago. I thought we could both enjoy a little vacation down there.¡±

 Gold and Dirt

    The lack of fanfare after Acnologia¡¯s death disappointed Arthur. Oh, he knew to some extent that there was a general lack for Fairy Tail as well. Lucy publishing a book had seemed to get more celebrations than the world being saved. Even so he had hoped for something more. The Magic Council of Ishgar had paid up for the 100 Year Quest to end Acnologia, there was that. He could retire and not be dependent upon Selene for money. For Diabolos it was marred by the fact that he¡¯d had to rely on not just dragons, but one of the dragon gods they were formed to kill; it wasn¡¯t proof that their great purpose was about to be completed. To the world at large Acnologia was considered more of a myth than a creature. He had saved the world, and those closest to him knew it; but somewhere inside he¡¯d hoped for the adoration and acclaim of the masses.


    He did not get it. He did get a multi-month long tour of Ishgar, Alakitasia, and Guiltina. It was hectic in and of itself, but it was a vacation. Mostly. Arthur still lived in interesting times, he couldn¡¯t go a month without stumbling onto some sort of fight, crime, or dark alchemist guild plotting to overthrow the local government.


    He had other things to do, as well, before he was ready to take the fight to the Dragon Gods. Two bounties promised him the chance at training; he had to wonder how much that was affecting his potential to learn and how much it was compelling action from the individuals. The powers of those who had sent him on this journey were outright terrifying.


    Irene was happy enough to teach him more enchantment, and it definitely felt easier than when he had practiced before on the boat. It didn¡¯t take him long to reach the level where he could be called a high enchanter.


    And then came approaching Grandeeney about learning how to devour the sky. He had gale dragon slayer magic. Iron was the most different from the dragon slayer magics he had mastered without recourse to Takeover, but Sky was the one which helped him to understand Healing magic; and Healing was the magic he really was going to Grandeeney to learn. He had helped Wendy when she had needed it most; even without the battle with Acnologia, Grandeeney felt indebted for that. With the fight against Acnologia, Grandeeney was not afraid that he would become a rampaging danger with what she could teach him. One could say it was small potatoes compared to what power he already possessed.


    When he managed to - through the use of Gemini - regrow his arm, he was considered to have graduated from what Grandeeney could teach him of healing magic. And then he had to practice dragon slaying. He still needed to master soul and space dragon slayer magic. His two great works of power. More than any other bounties he wanted to complete them. And they were ones that would help him deal with the coming fights against the dragon gods.


    It had taken help from Wraith and Georg, but as months piled on he was confident he had the power he needed.


    ¡°Arthur, you can¡¯t be serious. This is what you were ¡®training¡¯ with your little dragon hunters for?¡± Selene was hurt. It was audible in her voice.


    Arthur knew it was possible. He¡¯d decided it was better to tell her then just implant a piece of Acnologia¡¯s lacrima into himself without doing so. The Black Lacrima was a massive thing. Larger than any he had encountered from any dragon. Too large to implant directly. He would be taking only a piece of it. And only once he was certain it was purified.


    ¡°You want me to face the other dragon gods,¡± He said. ¡°I needed every ace I could stuff up my sleeve for Acnologia. I don¡¯t see a good reason not to stuff them up my sleeve for the dragon gods too.¡±


    Selene glared at him. ¡°I forbid it. That power is dangerous.¡±


    ¡°I will eat his hate. I will cleanse Acnologia¡¯s will before implanting it. I will be fine.¡± He had eaten Elexion¡¯s soul, granting Kirin peace at last. He could eat Acnologia¡¯s.


    ¡°And if it doesn¡¯t go down easy?¡± She asked, looking at him. ¡°Even if it does. The Dragon King¡¯s power isn¡¯t a power the world was meant to handle.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not planning to stay in this world.¡± Arthur watched her as he spoke. This wasn¡¯t the first time he¡¯d told her about his journey. She knew he was leaving eventually. She knew he only had a few more years here. She knew she was free to join him.


    And she had refused that offer point blank.


    ¡°I do not want that power revived,¡± She stated in a firm tone. She didn¡¯t mind someone with the guts to actually oppose her. Not really. Not normally. Here, though, even dense as he was socially Arthur knew she meant it.


    ¡°I need it. Not for this world. But for others. I didn¡¯t want to do this behind your back, but I¡¯m not asking permission, I am telling you what I am going to do.¡±


    ¡°I could kill you while you¡¯re recovering from the surgery,¡± Selene said.


    ¡°I don¡¯t think you will.¡±


    ¡°I won¡¯t be able to look at you without seeing him,¡± Selene continued.


    That one gave Arthur pause. They¡¯d been together for some time at this point. He enjoyed her company. The honeymoon period had passed¡­ and he knew they¡¯d be breaking it off when he left the world behind because she didn¡¯t want to risk the danger of returning to his world full of whatever post-human god-beings returned to it. But breaking up with a long term girlfriend wasn¡¯t easy. And doing it for power was harder still. He wasn¡¯t the sort who craved power above anything.


    ¡°We always knew it was going to end.¡± He forced the words from his lips. He hid his emotions as much as he could, using his mental link to his Archive to help off-load them from physical responses. ¡°So what if it ends earlier?¡±


    Selene looked at him. She was hurt. ¡°You¡¯re dumping me?¡± She spat out.


    Arthur forced himself to nod. He enjoyed her. But¡­ she wanted the finer things in life, she was flashy, she was¡­ he could think of more reasons it was doomed than not. ¡°It was always something of convenience.¡± And physical lust. She was beautiful. And he didn¡¯t hate her. She just was ultimately never someone who he¡¯d marry. And he¡¯d known it.


    ¡°And it¡¯s no longer convenient to you. But what about me?¡± He could feel her power. The fury of her rage. He was confident he could win. She still held more raw magical power, but he held all the edges. He knew her magic. He had taken it and improved upon it. But she wasn¡¯t actually going to attack. She was just hurt. And scared.


    2 years ago he¡¯d have caved to her. He knew that. He¡¯d have caved to avoid the risk of having to fight her. But he had fought so often now. It¡¯d left him with trouble sleeping. He couldn¡¯t turn off his urge to be on guard. It left him tired but unable to sleep. At the same time it made him just not want to care. If he was good. If he played polite. He still had to fight. People were unreasonable. And at this point he had the power to be unreasonable himself. If it came to a fight he felt confident he wasn¡¯t the one who¡¯d be in danger.


    ¡°I¡¯m still going to deal with the Dragon Gods. Don¡¯t worry about that.¡± He said rather callously.


    She looked aside. ¡°It¡¯s not just that,¡± She said. ¡°I thought we¡¯d have more time together.¡±


    ¡°We could.¡±


    ¡°Will you delay implanting that thing into you?¡±


    Arthur shook his head. ¡°No. I want it before I go for that battle. I want every edge I can get. I¡¯m a coward, we both know that. I am not going to pick a fight without every edge I can get. Besides, if something goes wrong this world gives me the best tool to fix it. I don¡¯t know what the next will bring.¡±


    ¡°Then we can¡¯t,¡± She said.


    ¡°Then we can¡¯t,¡± Arthur seconded.


    Cleansing the black lacrima formed from Acnologia¡¯s heart was no easy task. Arthur had crafted it himself. He could remember the way it had twisted in his hand. The hate and darkness which had leaked from it all the while. Purifying it was infinitely simpler, and much more difficult.


    He cut a piece from it with his magic. A mixture of edge dragon slayer magic and space to create a blade of space. Then he polished it. The lacrima as a whole was larger than his torso. One did not simply implant Acnologia¡¯s lacrima into their body. He had to cut it down to the proper size. It would be his 7th. And then he polished it. Smoothing off the jagged edge where it had been cut with monomolecular closeness. He would need to smooth it out so that it could be implanted.


    His head was filled with his recent argument with Selene. It was dangerous to be distracted here, but¡­ hormones. Ending a relationship had a psychological effect. Being on edge for 6 years had a psychological effect.


    But the task at hand helped somewhat. It was something he knew what he was doing with. He could feel the magic. His magic. The lacrima¡¯s magic. He could feel the magic flowing through the system and he knew instinctively how to shape it. It was a relaxing thing.


    He used his territory magic to polish the lacrima into the proper shape and size. And all the while he was concentrating its power. He wasn¡¯t just cutting off pieces; he¡¯d cut off one, but as he ground the rest away he was kneading the magical energy inside forcing it into a more concentrated form. It¡¯d get smaller inside of his body. But that was because his body would leech it of its magic, and make it part of him. He had no idea how long it would take with this black lacrima. Serena had far from finished with any of his, but they had shrunk. Even Arthur¡¯s own had shrunk, but only slightly.


    Finally he had it small enough and he pushed it into his mouth. It wasn¡¯t easy. It forced his jaws wide. But he forced it in like a giant jawbreaker and then he sucked on it. He could feel the hatred. The anger. The dark living curse which was all that was left of Acnologia. And he drank it down and digested it for power. The taste was bitter.


    Still when he was done, it should be safe. Magical power cleansed of the lingering soul which haunted it.


    Arthur would have preferred to test his new lacrima against someone other than Viernes. The Gold Dragon God had transmuted itself into a concept. And Arthur had asked around about this. Selene had been the most informative, even suggesting he try and find the philosopher¡¯s stone to reverse it, but just like Irene and August she didn¡¯t really know details.  Only that short of the philosopher¡¯s stone there was nothing that could turn Viernes back to flesh and blood.


    Arthur had put together a plan for destroying the concept that Viernes had become. Viernes had become Gold Owl. It was the concept of the guild. And if the guild ceased to exist that would have to hurt it. Destroying the guild had never been an option for Fairy Tail, they were too shonen. The manga was unfinished when he left, they were just facing off against Gold Owl to get to Viernes, so maybe they¡¯d end up destroying the guild, but Natsu and the others were just plain incapable of destroying a non-criminal guild in cold blood, or even deciding to. It¡¯d never make it past the editor.


    But he wasn¡¯t a shonen hero. And if he was, he¡¯d be one from the 80s. He could murder.


    He wasn¡¯t certain he would. Gold Owl hadn¡¯t done anything actually villainous that he knew of. Well in the manga they started abducting Fairy Tail to steal non-tainted dragon slayers. But so far Viernes had done nothing wrong. Gold Owl was a legitimate guild. Viernes could be like Selene and Mercphobia. He¡¯d have to talk to him.


    Arthur just intended to bargain from a position of power for a change.


    ¡°Why do you want to talk to me?¡± Duke Barbaroa stood across from Arthur in the guildhall. The Signario sisters flanked him, and several lower ranking members of Gold Owl. ¡°It¡¯s not often the guild master of the world¡¯s strongest mage¡¯s guild comes asking to talk to his betters.¡±


    ¡°I know you¡¯re Viernes the Gold Dragon God,¡± Arthur said.


    ¡°I assume Selene told you.¡± Arthur nodded. ¡°So what about that brings you here?¡±


    ¡°I killed Acnologia.¡±


    ¡°I am aware. I am insulted that you thought I wouldn¡¯t be.¡±


    Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings.


    ¡°I killed Acnologia. And now it is time to cleanse the world of the Dragon Gods who still present a threat to humanity. So, why are you here? What¡¯s the plan with turning yourself into the concept of a guild? Why are you seeking the weapon Athena?¡±


    Duke Barbaroa looked at Arthur. A muscle in the alchemist¡¯s cheek twitched aggressively. ¡°Just because you managed to get some ancient dragons to help you kill the Dragon King don¡¯t get overconfident. You face no mere king. You face a dragon god and you have walked directly into his domain. You can¡¯t kill me, dragon slayer. Go home and tell your master that I am not scared of her pet dog.¡±


    ¡°No,¡± Arthur said.


    ¡°No?¡±


    ¡°No.¡±


    Duke laughed. ¡°You realize I am no longer a physical being. I have become a concept. You cannot kill me.¡±


    ¡°No,¡± Arthur repeated.


    ¡°Are you dense?¡±


    ¡°Sorry. Yes, I realize you¡¯ve ascended beyond the physical form to become one with the guild. No, that doesn¡¯t mean I can¡¯t kill you. I wonder what would happen to the concept of Gold Owl if I deleted the guild hall and everyone in it.¡±


    Duke looked at Arthur. Some of the guild members were doing something more productive. They were looking out the windows to see why it had suddenly gotten so dark outside. Duke¡¯s face changed as it dawned on him what Arthur had done. The entire guild hall was in a dimension of darkness, completely separated from Earthland. His jaw dropped.


    ¡°Do you know how many innocent souls you¡¯d end, if you deleted this guild hall? Are you the same sort of monster as Acnologia?¡±


    ¡°No. I don¡¯t know how many souls. I only smell three.¡± He¡¯d made a purchase before arriving here. A perk from the document, a new little cheat power. One which would let him detect what sort of magic people used; he imagined it¡¯d be useful in future worlds if he met any magic users. And it would help him avoid unpleasant surprises.


    He didn¡¯t need it. The ability to smell souls as a soul dragon slayer told him enough. There were only 4 individuals in the room. Himself, the two women flanking Duke, and everyone else was Viernes.


    Duke scowled. ¡°Selene tell you that one too?¡±


    Arthur tapped his nose. ¡°Your stink did.¡±


    ¡°Yes, I am the guild. You want to know my grand plan? Fine. I will tell you, Dragon Slayer. I seek to do one better than you did. You killed Acnologia, but with Athena I will wipe out all dragons.¡±


    ¡°And then you¡¯ll be the only one, with a dragon slaying super weapon,¡± Arthur said.


    ¡°I am unsure what you mean. I do not, after all, possess Athena. And if you¡¯re going to kill the Dragon Gods I see no reason to track her down. No, then humanity will have peace with no need to fear dragons.¡±


    Arthur looked at Duke. It didn¡¯t sit right with him. This was just Selene¡¯s motivation all over again. A manga wouldn¡¯t do that twice in a row. It felt wrong. Real life might, but not a manga. It didn¡¯t follow the rules of narrative. And he left in the middle of the Gold Owl arc, but Duke tried to kill Athena for being flawed and not wanting to murder innocents. In the manga Selene had traded her dragon power to create the chance to stop Ignia, because he was a threat to humanity. She¡¯d proven her words despite the villainous way she¡¯d gotten to that point.


    Duke¡¯s actions in the manga¡­ Were still mid arc when Arthur had left. He hated this feeling of not knowing. This lack of confidence in what to do. He¡¯d expected it. It was ultimately why Viernes was first. He didn¡¯t know what would happen one way or another.


    ¡°So you¡¯ve got no ambition to rule over the puny humans?¡± Arthur asked.


    ¡°No more than Selene does. I hear she¡¯s the empress of some otherworldly realm now. I would live as a guild master, and enjoy the prosperity which comes with eternal peace.¡±


    ¡°You do realize that humanity goes to war with humans a fair bit.¡± The need for the Magic Council alone proved that.


    ¡°They won¡¯t in my world,¡± Duke said.


    ¡°And why won¡¯t they?¡± Arthur asked.


    ¡°Because I won¡¯t give them the choice, Gemini,¡± Duke said with a smile. ¡°You had to know I¡¯d have done my research on y¡­¡±


    There was an explosion outside, and a massive section of the guild hall was blown away. Gemini, still wearing Arthur¡¯s face, grinned. ¡°That wasn¡¯t very nice.¡±


    The real Arthur waited outside of the guild hall. He wasn¡¯t really certain he was hidden from Viernes. The link with Gemini would be obvious to a sufficiently skilled mage. He was watching and guiding Gemini¡¯s actions. Well some. Gemini¡¯s responses were sometimes better than his own - the spirit knew infiltration, and Arthur was willing to let it take the lead. He remembered that Duke had White Out Magic. Or maybe that was just Athena? Either way they were dangerous. The alchemists had a lot of options. It was better to let Gemini eat their alpha strike and let him see what they could do and counter it.


    Unfortunately one of the alchemists had slipped away. Sai wasn¡¯t particularly large - actually he leaned on the light and wiry side - but he had something thuggish about his look. It wasn¡¯t the tattoo on his face, on the way he kept the sides of his head shaved closed. It was how he moved and his demeanor.


    Not that Arthur saw either until it was already too late. Sai had approached covertly, and his alchemy might not be capable of a single decisive attack, but he could ruin Arthur¡¯s ability to use magic.


    Sai¡¯s alchemy was Bond Alchemy, allowing him to switch an individual¡¯s body with another¡¯s based on their bonds. Love, Rivalry, belief in a target¡¯s weakness¡­ These were all possible. But not all were as easy as others. Weakness required them to be actively thinking of someone they saw as weak. Given the current situation that was at best one of Sai¡¯s guildmates and the bond alchemy switched their body giving the opposite theirs. Which if his guildmate could instantly master the Dragon Slayer¡¯s magic would be an awesome, epic win. But swapping their bodies wouldn¡¯t instantly dismiss the celestial spirit, and with their magical power they could be a problem. And Sai wasn¡¯t certain he wanted to try facing off against his guildmaster at the moment.


    Rivalry¡­ he didn¡¯t want to face who the Dragon Slayer could consider a rival. The mage had killed Acnologia.


    That left Love as the most available and convenient. What sort of weak chick did they have a thing for?


    Sai worked his transmutation, watching as the man outside of the guild hall became a woman. He had hoped that¡¯d be enough to make the man fall - he¡¯d teleported a sizable chunk of the ground around the guildhall with it, so he¡¯d not fall into the frankly somewhat terrifying darkness outside, but he¡¯d hopefully injure himself. Even better, his spell creating this darkness might end.


    Neither happened. The platform constructed from Arthur¡¯s Territory didn¡¯t need him to be actively sustaining it constantly. Nor did the dimension they were within. Adding to Sai¡¯s mounting worry, Arthur¡¯s magical power had barely changed; it was still enough above Sai¡¯s reasoning that he couldn¡¯t tell if it had gotten lower at all¡­ or a bit higher.


    The buxom, blonde woman standing before him was one he recognized: Selene, the Moon Dragon God. Or Arthur as her. And she was looking at him. Sai couldn¡¯t even comfort himself that Arthur would be confused by her magic. Viernes, as Gold Owl, had known she had taken him as an apprentice, even declared him consort. But the idea that a dragon god and a mortal would actually form a love relationship didn¡¯t occur to Viernes, much less a subordinate illusion with only a fraction of his knowledge. But the fact that she had taught him moon dragon slayer magic to make him her weapon against Acnologia was well known to Viernes, and to Sai.


    As the scything blade of moonlight cut Sai in half and removed a whole wing of the guildhouse, his alchemy would fade, restoring Arthur to himself.


    The battle inside the guild was frenetic and hectic. It was also short. They were playing the magical equivalent of nuclear rocket tag. Gold Owl was a powerful guild. Duke was a powerful mage wielding white out magic which allowed him to steal the magic of other mages; he might not have the experience and skill with it of a white out priestess but he was still dangerous in the extreme.


    And Gemini was copying Arthur, replicating his magic in its entirety. The two women behind Duke began to use their World Alchemy, transforming the world around them into their personal domain. It was too little, and too late.


    Darkness magic flared from Gemini blasting the room. Only Duke - barely - held back the shadows with his own magic. Only the two women remained physically intact as the sheer force of the magic wiped out the illusions forming the others.


    And then Arthur walked into the guildhall¡¯s main chamber. ¡°So I take it that negotiations have failed.¡±


    ¡°Even if you destroy the guild. I won¡¯t be slain. I will return. I can outlast you by eternities,¡± Duke - still acting as the voice of Viernes - said looking between his two identical foes. He was not just talking, but turning his white out magic towards the real Arthur, attempting to blot away his Celestial Spirit Magic.


    Gemini vanished as Arthur¡¯s internal gate did. And in a flash of light Arthur was on Duke, his hand glowing red. Fire erupted and what remained of Duke fell to the ground.


    And then Arthur¡¯s territory armor surrounded him. When he¡¯d transported the guild he¡¯d surrounded it with a territory barrier. It¡¯d been fading since he was temporarily transmuted as the dimension around them ate away at everything within. He did nothing to stop it now. He let it consume. The guild would be gone soon enough. And with nothing left to possess, Viernes would be no more than a wandering soul.


    Arthur stepped from the world, leaving Viernes and Gold Owl behind.


    Hopefully the Guiltina authorities would be unable to ascertain for certain who or what had disappeared Gold Owl. Arthur would hate for Diabolos to be punished for his action. Still with Viernes gone, that left Aldoron, and Dogramag to deal with. And Mercphobia and Ignia but they could both wait.


    Arthur was trying to move quickly. He didn¡¯t want Ignia getting wind of his actions and waking them up. Dogramag was first. And he teleported to the great labyrinth where he laired; he¡¯d already been preparing this, making certain all the pieces were in place to do this quickly. Before Ignia knew he was killing Dragon Gods he¡¯d have killed 3 of them, and talked to Mercphobia. Of course, that still left Ignia, whose location he did not yet know.


    Minerva and Taberius were already waiting at the entrance, along with several of his swords. He¡¯d been studying under Irene; and he¡¯d woven personality enchantments into his blades. They weren¡¯t truly top tier mages, but they might be able to be called S class.


    Dogramag was dead. Slain by the founder of the first Mages¡¯ Guild, the Law Dragon Elefseria, though he had taken the Law Dragon¡¯s heart at the same time, and where he died had become the great labyrinth. Of course, he wasn¡¯t actually dead, merely playing possum while spreading his magic through the continent.


    The labyrinth was Earthland¡¯s great monster-filled dungeon. The four sword and his 2 ex-apprentices speed ran it. They were seeking the spheres which held Dogramag¡¯s divided power, Enif and Altair helping with scout duties, while Arthur went to the center.


    The fact that he was possibly the only human with the combination of dragon slayer magic and magical power needed to cut through the walls of the labyrinth made things simpler.


    The moment Arthur began to crush the spheres that made up his main power the dragon rose, forming a body of stone. The Earth Dragon God. Of all of the Dragon Gods, his heart was the one Arthur wanted most. Though his heart was not the most important dragon¡¯s heart here.


    Dogramag was not the first dragon Arthur had slain. And with his cores destroyed he was no longer the most powerful. He was just¡­ a dragon. Arthur allowed his takeover magic nearly free-reign, his body growing and shifting. The dragon shape he was taking had always been black, but reinforced with the magical energy from the Black Lacrima marks of blue formed across it. It was not the shape of any dragon he had slain. It had elements of Acnologia and the Darkness Dragon but it was not theirs. It was his. It was his dragon slayer art given a physical form: the Space Dragon which ate dimensions.


    The battle was over quickly. With so many cores shattered Dogramag was not able to surmount Arthur¡¯s defense, and Arthur¡¯s teeth sank into Dogramag¡¯s throat crushing stone and ripping it out. Dogramag tried to reform, but a smashing blow to his back shattered him as he reformed.


    To Arthur¡¯s disappointment, however, Dogramag¡¯s reformed body had not had the time to form a heart. And his reformation had used the Law Dragon¡¯s Heart as its fuel. There was no lacrima to be gained from here. And given it was only a half-reformed golem of earth and dirt there was no real dragon meat either.


    Aldoron went better. The Wood Dragon God was a sleeping city. A natural disaster waiting to happen. Evacuation was quite possible with his territory magic. And Aldoron had divided his power into 5 spheres. Destroying them was not easy - he had formed guardian deities for them - but his enchanted swords could match them, and Minerva and Taberius could tip the balance. The fact that Diabolos had volunteered to help made it easier.


    Like Dogramag, with his power divided Aldoron died rather easily, but this time his guild would feast upon a dragon god. It was a rather large celebration for Diabolos. Even if Selene, and most likely Mercphobia, would survive, in 1 day 3 of the Dragon Gods had died. Arthur did not have time to stay at the celebration. Diabolos would eat. He would collect the heart for a lacrima later, but for now he would go meet with Mercphobia.


    The Water Dragon God had settled down to be worshiped as a god and protector, ruling over a human settlement. He was on guard when Arthur arrived, already in full dragon form. Evacuations were visibly progressing when Arthur approached riding on Enif. A massive torrent of water ended Enif¡¯s summon and nearly shattered his territory armor. Mercphobia was ready for a fight.


    Arthur managed to teleport to the ground, shedding his velocity in the process. He didn¡¯t want to kill Mercphobia. The town was evacuating, and the dragon was leaving the shore behind to face him away from it. It was easy to guess that Mercphobia had felt the battles - the sort of magical power Arthur had thrown around against Dogramag had to have been felt across much of the continent - and assumed Arthur was here to kill him. But he wasn¡¯t retreating to the sea. He was buying time for the people to escape.


    It sort of would leave a terrible aftertaste to dine on Mercphobia when he was doing so. But to talk to the dragon god would require something more than just sitting there.


    Arthur teleported himself forward to dodge the next massive blast of water. It scoured away a hill, but Arthur was moving again. Three teleportations later he was on Mercphobia¡¯s head, his black sword at the dragon¡¯s eye. ¡°I come to talk.¡±


    The discussion with Mercphobia did not go extremely well, but it served its purpose. Arthur¡¯s approach had made a bad first impression. He had come off as a violent thug, who was threatening a dragon god. It stung the pride.


    Mercphobia swallowed back that pride for the sake of his people. He had adopted the city as his, and he would protect them. He had grown to value the little, interesting lives of humans. He didn¡¯t want them to die, and he saw no reason to fight Arthur for killing 3 of the Dragon Gods; they were not friends of his, and he¡¯d already known sooner or later he might have to kill them. Arthur had left a bad first impression, and possibly left Mercphobia forever thinking of him as a violent thug, but they were ultimately on the same side, and morally compatible. They did not fight, and parted as much as allies as the dragon gods ever had been.


    Ignia alone remained. And once the Dragon Gods had died, Arthur would be able to leave without regrets. But before he fought Ignia he would implant his new lacrima.

 Clashing Flames

    Arthur was moping for lack of a better word. He¡¯d recovered from the lacrima implantation surgery in¡­ minutes really. He wanted to really internalize and learn something about his powers, and prepare himself before facing Ignia. He was the strongest of the dragon gods in their primes, and unlike the others he wasn¡¯t in a weakened state.


    But that wasn¡¯t really why Arthur hesitated. When he killed Ignia he was done with this world. Oh, he¡¯d have a while longer in it, and hopefully time enough to finally help Minerva find her Yakuma heritage, but it was the last real bounty. The last real mission in this world.


    It wouldn¡¯t change when he left it, but it¡¯d solidify that he was leaving it.


    He¡¯d hoped that burning bridges with Selene would make leaving easier.


    It hadn¡¯t. Instead he just missed her.


    So he delayed fighting Ignia. Just a few days. He made the excuse that he was just starting on his promise to Minerva. But he realized he wasn¡¯t really helping nearly as much as he could be. Researching Yakuma magic was¡­ well he didn¡¯t have a passion for it. Still he¡¯d promised her, and she¡¯d waited a long time. And Ignia could wait for a bit. Wait till he was ready to tell Selene he¡¯d dealt with the Dragon Gods and she¡¯d be safe here, and¡­


    He could do it without kicking himself too much.


    Ignia sat sprawled out upon his throne in the hall of the guild he had built around himself. In many ways it was a twisted mirror of Diabolos. Both were guilds who emulated the powers of dragons, and were warped towards darkness by the madness born from a dragon¡¯s power. But their goals differentiated them. Diabolos sought the power of dragons to slay them, standing as protectors of humanity against the predations of the world¡¯s original apex species. Ignia¡¯s guild, dubbed Fire and Flame in a stark break from the naming conventions of mages¡¯ guilds, would see humanity burned back to the stone age, and ruled by a new race of dragons born from mages who had once been human.


    But Ignia was not looking at a human who had become a dragon. He was looking at a well muscled, battle-scarred man well past the first bloom of youth. The man had to be in his late 50s at least, likely older, but he had kept his body fit and hale. It was a well-maintained form, full of power and while age weighed upon it, it did not yet bend it. An ¡®X¡¯ shaped scar dominated his right cheek. He was mostly bald, a fringe of graying red hair circling his smooth pate.


    This man was not human, despite his appearances. He resembled Ignia enough one might have guessed their relationship at a glance.


    ¡°Father, I¡¯d heard you¡¯d been revived, but since you neglected to do so much as pay a visit to your son, I was beginning to doubt the rumors. It¡¯s been years and you didn¡¯t even come to say hello.¡± Ignia¡¯s tone was nakedly mocking, and jeering, not even trying to hide feelings of contempt.


    ¡°I did not wish to rush into something that would be painful for me,¡± Ignia¡¯s father, Igneel the Fire Dragon King, answered.


    ¡°Painful? Oh, Father, I won¡¯t hurt you. As long as you kneel.¡±


    Igneel¡¯s eyes glanced at the mages around them. Fire mages each trained by Ignia. He doubted they were much of a threat against him. Even so he was too much of an old warhorse not to take them into account as a potential source of danger.


    ¡°Don¡¯t act like a fool,¡± Igneel said. ¡°You know why I have come here.¡±


    ¡°To punish me, right?¡± Ignia¡¯s feet dropped from one side of his throne, as he finally sat up straight and then rose to stand.


    ¡°...¡± Igneel didn¡¯t answer immediately. At that moment he couldn¡¯t meet Ignia¡¯s eyes, his own casting down and to the side. ¡°I failed you. It is my responsibility as much as yours. I was¡­ not a good father in my youth. I was¡­¡± He paused. He¡¯d come here knowing and prepared for confronting his prodigal offspring. Knowing that he had to deal with Ignia. He¡¯d put it off for some time. He had let Selene teach him her magic for taking human form; the currency with which she had bought her initial escape from Acnologia, and the initial foundation of the Dragon Gods. He had reunited with his foster son, and visited Natsu¡¯s new family. He had distracted himself with life among the humans as much as he was able.


    Then Arthur had removed 3 of the Dragon Gods from the board in a matter of days. Igneel knew then he couldn¡¯t continue to piddle about and play around. Ignia was his responsibility. He would convince Ignia to change his ways and save his life, become an individual who could live in the age of humanity, or he would be the one to end his son¡¯s life and repay those whose deaths were on his hands due to his failures in raising Ignia in the first place.


    ¡°A proper dragon,¡± Ignia finished for him. ¡°You taught me how one should be. The merciless king whose pure power ruled over all before him. You were hard then, father, but now you¡¯ve grown soft. Soft of body, and soft of heart. It disgusts me to look at you as you are now.¡± He spat then, hocking a glob of spit and mucus like a projectile against Igneel¡¯s face. ¡°Pathetic and weak!¡±


    A growl rose in his father¡¯s throat. ¡°Not so pathetic I hid from Acnologia behind a female¡¯s wings until someone else killed him for me. Not so weak that I didn¡¯t even rise to the battle. I tasted the dragon king¡¯s flesh and blood. I tested the power of his hate and broke it against my claw and fang. Where were you who possesses such pure power?¡± Fire danced from his body, lines of it scorching across the floor of the guild. It was a guild of fire mages, magically reinforced against all but the most powerful of mystical flames. The stone bubbled and boiled where Igneel¡¯s fire flowed outwards.


    Ignia flinched back, recoiling almost as if struck. He felt a familiar fear. One born in his youth more than half a millennia ago. He had never forgotten the terror of his father, or the way he had been taught the importance of strength and power. Even without that, Igneel¡¯s words stung his pride. He was the strongest of the dragon gods. His magical power was the greatest. It surpassed even the Black Dragon¡¯s. Acnologia had been his to kill, once he had found a way to overcome the Black Dragon¡¯s invulnerability to magic and was certain he could win without being so wounded that the other Dragon Gods would kill him. He had been mere years from victory against Acnologia and any other who would have stood in his way.


    But his father had helped the Dragon Wizard take that from him. And that was just another grievance he had not, and would not, forgive his father for. To Ignia this whole discussion was simply foreplay. He knew how the dance would go. His father would try and convince him to accept the New Way that had been espoused by Belserion, the one his father had grown to accept near the end of his life when he had encountered the etherious-child and had picked a stranger¡¯s child over the product of his own fire and flame. And Ignia would refuse. Because he did not want reconciliation. He did not fear the Dragon Wizard of Diabolos. What he wanted was to finally prove once and for all that he was the strongest fire dragon. He had hated Acnologia for ending the age of dragons and starting a new age of his tyrant-rule. But that hatred had been less than the fact that Acnologia had stolen from him the chance to finally prove to himself and the world that he was stronger than his father.


    Even after his father had renounced most of his territories and gone into hermitage in the western continent, the other fire dragons had never accepted Ignia as anything but a pale shadow of Igneel¡¯s indisputable might. Even in defeat they had refused to admit that he had beat them more soundly than his father could have. Even with his claw against their throats, begging for their lives, he could feel their doubt of his power.


    It was a feeling of inferiority he had harbored for centuries, allowing it to fester and grow. Letting it sour deep inside of him into a rotting core of hatred. It had been born when Igneel had stepped away from the power over other dragons he had spent centuries amassing. The first dragon kingdom collapsed when its king chose to rule no more, and with it the first home Ignia had ever had. And he¡¯d not passed the power onto Ignia. He¡¯d refused him then. Telling him to take it for himself if he could¡­ before resoundingly defeating Ignia when he tried. And then it¡¯d grown by leaps and bounds when he¡¯d given an etherious-child something which he had never given Ignia. He had loved him unconditionally with no demands that he prove himself.


    There was a time when Ignia might have listened to Igneel. But that had been 400 years ago. For centuries Ignia had let his anger and jealousy harden into hatred and resentment.


    ¡°I was not invited. Your little human friends didn¡¯t see fit to tell me about your little dragon slaying party,¡± Ignia stated as fire formed around his body as well. It was not the unconstrained and wild flames of his father. It wreathed only his arms, forming dancing spheres in his hands. ¡°But you always did choose humans over me.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s¡­ not true.¡±


    ¡°I can hear the lie in your voice, father.¡±


    Again Igneel couldn¡¯t meet his son¡¯s eyes. But he forced himself to. He looked Igneel straight on. ¡°I never chose humans over you. I wanted us to choose them together. I left the kingdom behind because I had grown tired by the idea that might made right. I didn¡¯t know it at the time. I didn¡¯t realize it until years later. It wasn¡¯t until I met Zeref and Natsu that I began to realize what it was that had been missing. That bonds were needed. Not mere power. That-¡±


    Ignia cut him off with a cruel, cold laugh. ¡°Bonds? Zeref the Black Wizard had bonds? Have you looked at his life and deeds?¡±


    Igneel swallowed back his rage at the impertinent interruption. He wanted to strike down his wayward son here and now for the backtalk. It was his first instinct after all. ¡°No. He was uniquely without such bonds. I saw the hole in his heart which his brother had left. And in the darkness which filled it I recognized something in my own. Caring for Natsu I began to understand the way I had failed my biological children.¡± Igneel stopped. His draconic pride wasn¡¯t gone. It rebelled against the idea of apologizing. Of taking culpability for failures. But he had grown wise with age. He understood that he needed to take the first step towards reconciliation himself. ¡°I am¡­ sorry that I failed you. I didn¡¯t give you the love that you deserved. That I was not the father that you needed.¡±


    Ignia glanced at his servants. He was growing uncomfortable having them watch. This had been supposed to be his glorious victory against a father come to punish his wayward son. Not an old man apologizing for being a failure of a father. Igneel had been supposed to be the proud and haughty dragon of Ignia¡¯s youth. He¡¯d been supposed to make this easy. To make this a fight for the ages. The last unmitigated clash of power against power, with their conflicting ideas being proven not by words but by claw and flame.


    He hadn¡¯t been supposed to come here penitent and repentant for his failings. He¡¯d not been supposed to apologize. It chipped away at the grudge Ignia had nursed for centuries into a hardened armor. And Ignia could feel something wavering inside of himself. He didn¡¯t want to forgive his father, though. He wanted to stay mad. He wanted his victory. But this wasn¡¯t how he wanted it. He wanted to stay angry. He wanted to feel validated in taking his revenge. And this wasn¡¯t feeling that.


    ¡°It took raising a frail, fragile human, who had no strength or power. That couldn¡¯t survive like a dragon could to teach me how to let myself feel the nurturing love you needed.¡± Igneel hadn¡¯t quit speaking, just because Ignia was weakening. But he had made a mistake. By bringing up Natsu, Igneel had given Ignia the excuse he needed to stay mad. After all, Natsu was the etherious-child that his father had loved instead of him. That had made his father choose humans over dragons. Ignia¡¯s jealousy had never faded there.


    ¡°Needed?¡± Ignia spat out. ¡°I never needed anything from you, father. Are you saying that I was weaker than a human to need love? Are you saying I was less than other dragons?¡±


    ¡°No!¡± Igneel roared back. ¡°You know what I meant! Don¡¯t be difficult!¡±


    ¡°I was always difficult, wasn¡¯t I? Never what you wanted. And that hasn¡¯t changed even now, has it?¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re twisting my words,¡± Igneel growled. It was a familiar anger. No other living being had ever been able to piss him off like Ignia. Not even any of his other biological children.


    ¡°Who needs to twist them? You¡¯re the one who said that humans needed love because they were weak, and that I needed it just like them. I¡¯ll let you know father I was never weak. And the world of your beloved humans, I will end it.¡±


    ¡°Ignia, stop this petulance at once!¡± Igneel puffed himself up as he bellowed at his son, his fire raging once more briefly taking on the shape of a dragon. ¡°I will not permit you to commit wanton destruction any longer.¡±


    Ignia smiled. That was the father he knew. This was the dance they were supposed to dance. Father had been supposed to try and stop him. He and Dogramag had made a plan centuries ago, even before Dogramag had allowed the first mages¡¯ guild master to ¡®kill¡¯ him so that he could act unimpeded. The Dragon Wizard¡¯s killing of Dogramag had been problematic. He had consumed the Earth Dragon God¡¯s soul. It had severely weakened the powers of their plan. It was not the all encompassing power he had hoped for. He wouldn¡¯t be able to force the other dragon gods to become dragons once more. He¡¯d not be able to overwhelm them with their true instincts. He couldn¡¯t reach Tartaros with the power any longer, and even if he could he doubted he could turn them into his soldiers.


    But he had Fire and Flame. Oh, the Dragon Wizard had killed two of his chief lieutenants which Vierres had borrowed. Another crime of the one human mage who saw himself fit to demand terms of dragon gods. Even so, it was an army in the making. And the city around them. He would focus all the power of his magic into this one city, drawing it from all across Guiltina, and he would make an army of dragons. And he would let his father live to watch the Dragon War begin anew. His victory wasn¡¯t certain. But Ignia would rather die fighting than kneel.


    ¡°I am no longer a child, father. I don¡¯t need your permission to commit wanton slaughter, I can do it just fine without it. But don¡¯t worry, I won¡¯t be the only one killing here.¡± He raised his hand in front of him and squeezed it shut into a fist. He was activating the grand magic he had prepared and had in wait.


    Igneel fell to his knees as he felt draconic power surging up through him. It was pushing back against the human form spell. He could feel the enchantment cracking and breaking, as the draconic energy filled him and his body changed into his true, draconic form.


    But it didn¡¯t stop. It continued to fill him. To pour into his body and mind. It was making it hard to think. The same fiery power he had possessed in youth seemed to be filling him. As if it was trying to restore him to full, youthful vigor, power, and unfortunately hot headedness.


    He breathed forth a gout of flames towards Ignia. He was the Fire Dragon King. His fires burned hotter than any other Fire Dragon could consume.


    Or they had more than half a millennia ago when he had stepped away from the position. Ignia scarfed them down even as he resumed his own true form. They could have been twins. Igneel had more scars, and he lacked Ignia¡¯s mane even in his youth, but they were built the same, their features were close to identical. The family resemblance was stunning.


    And around them the human mages of Fire and Flame were beginning to transform, reshaping into dragons. He had to hand it to the Dragon Wizard, his Dragon Manipulation Magic had been a great help at perfecting this magic. It was a shame that Dogramag had possessed the Law Dragon¡¯s Heart from which to draw all the knowledge of the magic that Arthur had painstakingly created, and had delivered it onto Ignia himself.


    ¡°We will burn humanity away,¡± Ignia said, ¡°And rule as the new kingdom of dragons. And father¡­ you may have a place at my feet. If you can reach out and take it. Destroy the humans. Embrace your instinct.¡± A great, glowing red lacrima was rising from the ground, erupting out behind the guild hall like a new born mountain. Dogramag¡¯s power built up throughout the construction of his labyrinth, which was then reinforced by as much power as Ignia could spare during the period.


    ¡°I won¡¯t let you,¡± Igneel shouted as he launched himself at his son, finally acting exactly like Ignia had hoped he would.


    Natsu was watching it all. Igneel didn¡¯t know it. He¡¯d left Natsu and Happy behind in Fiore. But Natsu hadn¡¯t cooperated with that. It¡¯d been an adventure of its own trying to keep up with the dragon, especially unnoticed, and had meant a miserable ride on an airship, but Natsu had had to know what Igneel¡¯s meeting with his son would be like, and he had managed it.


    ¡°This is bad,¡± Jellal whispered beside him, as they saw Igneel forced into his natural form. The former dark mage had earned a full pardon for the deeds he¡¯d committed while manipulated by Grimoire Heart. It¡¯d taken him a little longer to forgive himself, but he had joined Fairy Tail rather recently; it came with his engagement.


    ¡°Very,¡± Erza said, her fingers still interlocked with her fiance¡¯s.


    Natsu rolled his eyes and tried not to look at them. He¡¯d have preferred to avoid them until they were done with this lovey dovey phase, but it was Jellal who had arranged the use of the Thunderbolts¡¯ airship - original Grimoire Heart¡¯s though it had been modified extensively since then.


    Besides, Natsu¡¯s attention was on the battle below. Igneel was not winning. In fact one could say he was losing. Badly even. Natsu was not an expert judge of magical power, but even he could tell Ignia¡¯s was substantially higher than Igneel¡¯s. Enough so that Ignia even dared use his fire against his father, while Igneel was restrained to merely using claws and fangs. Not that Igneel was winning there.


    Neither dragon was intent to go for a finishing blow, but bit by bit Ignia was pushing his father back. Teeth and claws were slowly rending into Igneel¡¯s flesh, and tearing his scales from him. All while Ignia¡¯s forced dragonification spell washed over the city around them.


    Lucy squealed out as it moved over her flesh, though of the group she was the only one to react. The blond haired celestial spirit mage shuddered, but there was no visible effect. Lucy wasn¡¯t the only one he felt it, though. A heady surge of power. It didn¡¯t hit a human like it would a dragon, and even then none of them had to take a focused brunt of it like Igneel did. This was only the backwash off of the magic transforming Igneel and Fire and Flame. Something to make the footsoldiers that Ignia might need for his new army.


    You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.


    Still it was a flow of power designed to fill a human to overflowing. Even Lucy¡¯s magical power, the least of the group¡¯s other than the two exceeds, was sufficient to give her container room to swell and accept it. Wendy and Natsu were furthermore immunized by their dragon antibodies.


    Even had it not been, a strong will would hold back the magic. It would take yielding to the power and the fury that swelled upward with the magic to fall to it.


    Across the neighboring town there were screams of terror. Not everyone had enough magical power that it couldn¡¯t do a thing to them. Not everyone had the will to resist. Dragons were rising up in the nearby town.


    ¡°We have to stop them,¡± Wendy said, looking back at the town.


    ¡°We destroy the lacrima and they might revert to normal,¡± Jellal noted.


    ¡°You guys do it,¡± Natsu said, his own gaze locked on the battle inside of the guild. ¡°That asshole is beating up, dad, and I¡¯ve got to teach him something.¡±


    ¡°Three teams,¡± Erza said.


    Natsu and his team weren¡¯t the only ones watching Igneel¡¯s confrontation with his son. Selene watched as well. She could almost laugh at it. Neither dragon was going for the kill. It was like watching two grown men talk about their need to finally settle their deep held grudge, and then they start having a slap fight. It might impress Ignia¡¯s little band of sycophants, but despite the wounds which they - mostly Igneel - were accruing no true dragon could mistake this for a real fight.


    Igneel might still die in the end, even a dragon could die a death of a thousand cuts and while they might be flesh wounds he was accumulating a lot of them, but they could have killed each other a dozen times over already and neither had. The fight inevitably brought her mind to her children.  Ignia had killed one. He¡¯d sired another when the dragon gods were but refugees in the northern continent, not yet established as gods. Georg had killed the last of them. And while Selene had come to accept that ending the cycle of vengeance was for the best. That killing Georg wouldn¡¯t do anything to bring them back and just destroy those who their spirit lingered and lived on through. She still hated him. She didn¡¯t think she¡¯d ever stop hating him for that.


    Would she have died for Kurnugi if she could have? Would she have taken his place? Would she have held back in a fight against him ensuring he killed her? No. That one she could answer clearly. She wouldn¡¯t go that far. That would be going too far.


    Was there anyone who would die for her?


    Ignia¡¯s fangs clenched into his father¡¯s forelimb. He pulled, ripping the limb off almost at the shoulder. Ingeel fell as Ignia tossed the red dragon¡¯s limb to the side.  His guildmates had left, retreating to deal with some humans attacking the lacrima, and his new soldiers in the town. He didn¡¯t need them for this, though. His father was bleeding heavily, his throat torn, his limbs bloodied, his belly open. And now he had finally brought himself to deal a telling blow.


    ¡°See, father, I don¡¯t need your permission to do as I please,¡± Ignia said looming over him. His fore talon was planted on the base of Igneel¡¯s skull, pinning the older dragon¡¯s head to the ground. ¡°It¡¯s time for a new Fire Dragon King to rise. No. A new Dragon King.¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s more to being a king than power,¡± Igneel said.


    ¡°Spoken like a sore loser. Any last words, father?¡±


    ¡°I made the wrong choice.¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s that? When? H-¡±


    Ignia¡¯s words were interrupted when his a foot suddenly struck his head, and smashed it into the ground.


    ¡°You don¡¯t deserve to call him father,¡± Natsu said, scales formed around his eyes and along his wrists and hands. ¡°That¡¯s not how you treat your father.¡±


    Ignia¡¯s head rose up again, his eyes narrowing on Natsu. ¡°You.¡±


    ¡°Natsu! Leave! This is between me and my other son,¡± Igneel said, rising to his three remaining limbs.


    ¡°No, I think this is a squabble for the entire family. You, me, your replacement for me,¡± Ignia spat back.


    ¡°He was never your replacement,¡± Igneel said. ¡°He never could be. ¡±


    ¡°He never will be again more like,¡± Ignia said before inhaling deeply. Natsu breathed in as well.


    ¡°No!¡± Igneel rose as he screamed, interposing his body between the two dragon roars. He was the fire dragon king. He was supposed to be the strongest fire dragon. The most inflammable being in the world.


    He had caught neither in his mouth, and even a fire dragon could be burned by magic enough stronger than theirs. He crumpled to the ground.


    ¡°Igneel!¡± Natsu screamed.


    ¡°Old fool,¡± Ignia said. ¡°Shall we finish this?¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t,¡± Igneel gasped. ¡°Not you two. Don¡¯t fight¡­¡±


    Ignia planted a claw on Igneel¡¯s head. ¡°Always choosing him over me.¡±


    Natsu rushed him, striking out at the dragon god. Ignia was honestly shocked at how much it hurt. ¡°I said not to treat him like that,¡± Natsu fumed.


    Ignia¡¯s tail lashed out, hitting like a tree trunk and knocking him flying. And then Ignia shrunk down, reverting to his human form. ¡°I think this form is more appropriate. Enjoy watching, father.¡±


    Arthur appeared in the guild hall. He¡¯d missed the battle. It had moved outside in the last few moments. He could feel Jellal fighting. Erza too. Natsu of course. His enhanced magical sensory was¡­ well rather different and while this was not his first experience with it, it was his first group battle.


    He¡¯d felt the dragonification magic, and following fight, from east of Ishgar, where he had been with Minerva helping her investigate the origins of the Yakuma tribe and its magic. He¡¯d stopped by Diabolos to make sure it hadn¡¯t affected them, and picked up some reinforcements.


    Minerva had his staff, and with their guild mates they were helping Wendy, Lucy, and Gray deal with the dragonified townsfolk in a non-lethal way. But Ignia was a problem he had to deal with.


    First though, he wanted to make sure Igneel was alive.


    He placed his hands on the fire dragon. He was still warm at least. Hot even. A bit of healing magic was enough to make the dragon¡¯s eye jolt open.


    ¡°May this old man make a last selfish request?¡± Igneel said.


    ¡°You¡¯re not going to die,¡± Arthur said. ¡°It might be a while before you have all your limbs.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t let them kill each other. I don¡¯t want my sons to die,¡± Igneel gasped out.


    Arthur and Igneel looked at each other. They both knew what Arthur was here to do. Ignia was the last dragon god on his list. He had his black sword at his waist.


    ¡°I won¡¯t let them kill each other,¡± Arthur said breaking the gaze and turning around.


    ¡°Just not with that sword, please,¡± Igneel said. ¡°I should have taught him better. I should have prevented this 400 years ago.¡±


    Arthur sighed, reaching for his sword belt, and unclasping it, throwing it to the side. He didn¡¯t like tying a hand behind his back against a threat like Ignia. But he shouldn¡¯t need the sword. And he didn¡¯t want to make Igneel watch his son¡¯s soul be consumed.


    He was expecting to have to save Natsu. Natsu might have main character power, but Ignia was the final boss of the bonus series, and Natsu had had a lot of his level grinding and power up moments taken from him. To his surprise he was actually holding his own pretty well. Of course he was fighting to avenge his foster-father, and he had Erza and Jellal fighting alongside him. But both were looking rather obviously beaten up.  Jellal¡¯s stomach wound looked mortal.


    Ignia was taking advantage of that fact too. He targeted Jellal to force Erza to defend him. But Ignia was looking beat up too. His hand rose, index and middle fingers together. There used to be a magical tool there to focus it. Now it was just force of habit.


    ¡°Darkness Dragon¡¯s All-Consuming Cannon!¡± He shouted as he fired.  The beam of darkness shot out, Ignia¡¯s arms crossing in front of him. Arthur felt Ignia¡¯s power swell as his human shape was discarded in the sheer attempt to block the attack. When it was done, Ignia rose once more in his full glory and power. Force radiated off of him, holes burned in his wings, and bone showing in his arms. The darkness had dug a hole straight through one and into the other where they¡¯d been crossed.


    ¡°Arthur!¡± Erza hailed him.


    ¡°Yeah,¡± Arthur said, appearing beside her and Jellal. She was still good to go, but Jellal looked messy.


    His hand planted on Jellal¡¯s chest as his Territory rose in a wall between them and the dragon god. He was using his healing magic. Jellal wouldn¡¯t be as good as new, but he¡¯d be able to survive.


    Teleporting Erza and Jellal away from the fight was easy after that. Arthur didn¡¯t want to see them die; he was supposed to be attending their wedding next week. That left Natsu fighting Ignia. He wasn¡¯t certain Natsu was losing, but that didn¡¯t stop him from teleporting the dragon slayer away too. He¡¯d told Ignel he¡¯d not let them kill each other. He intended to keep that promise.


    ¡°The Dragon Wizard. You saved me the trouble of hunting you down,¡± Ignia said. ¡°It¡¯s time for a true Dragon King¡¯s Fes-¡±


    Arthur had raised his fingers up and fired again. This time it was no darkness, and it did not stop at Ignia¡¯s arms. His body imploded around the beam of eyeburning brightness.


    ¡°I¡¯m not here to talk,¡± Arthur said.


    Ignia stumbled. The hole had nearly struck his heart. But that wasn¡¯t the problem. His balance was affected by the way his body had collapsed in to fill the hole. It only got odder when he moved to one side, as if there was a ripple passing through his flesh where it all tried to get out of alignment with itself.


    ¡°Space dragon slayer magic.¡± Ignia hazarded a guess. He knew Arthur possessed it from the information extracted from the Law Dragon¡¯s Heart.


    Arthur nodded, and raised his hand. Ignia breathed deep, ready to roar, and Arthur was suddenly somewhere else. The fire dragon god¡¯s flames tore through the landscape, leaving a deep furrow out towards the horizon, but Arthur¡¯s magic shot through him, severing one of his hind legs completely. The teleportation had fudge his aim and he¡¯d missed the vital spots.


    Ignia collapsed onto his side, and began to struggle to rise. It was hard to support himself on his wounded arms, and the wounds from his battle with Igneel had weakened him.


    ¡°Wait!¡± Igneel shouted. ¡°Please, don¡¯t,¡± the fire dragon king said as he landed in the battle field between Arthur and Ignia.


    ¡°Move aside, old man! This is our fight!¡± Ignia shouted.


    ¡°Why do you even need to fight?¡± Igneel bellowed at them both. ¡°Arthur, he is my son. Give me the chance to teach him why he was wrong first.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry,¡± Arthur said. ¡°He¡¯s a threat to humanity.¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s a fool acting out because of me,¡± Igneel said. ¡°Let me help him and he won¡¯t be a threat to anyone.¡±


    Ignia brooded in a sullen silence. Arthur¡¯s spell had missed anywhere that was immediately fatal to a dragon. But it had still pierced his lungs, and when he¡¯d fallen they¡¯d separated and begun to bleed. He was dying and he knew it.


    ¡°I promised I¡¯d kill him,¡± Arthur said. It wasn¡¯t the real reason. It wasn¡¯t that he¡¯d promised Selene. It was that in the manga Ignia had mortally wounded her. Left her to die. Only Irene¡¯s ghost had managed to save her by enchanting the wound onto herself.


    Arthur hadn¡¯t considered Mercphobia a real threat to Selene. But Ignia would kill her. And Arthur didn¡¯t want to see her hurt. He was regretting his choice to burn that bridge. He could justify it with long term thinking. In the next world he¡¯d want Acnologia¡¯s lacrima, and he couldn¡¯t put it off till the last few weeks because he needed to see if something went wrong with it.


    But¡­


    He missed the way she¡¯d sing to herself in the morning. He missed the scent of her hair. He missed the soft lightness of her touch.


    ¡°Wait,¡± Selene said. He¡¯d felt the opening of the dimensional portal - felt her magical power - before he felt her hand or heard her voice.


    Ignia rose to his feet, blood spilling from his mouth. He tried to say something, but all that came out was a bloody gurgle.


    ¡°Show me that Acnologia¡¯s heart hasn¡¯t tainted yours,¡± Selene said softly.


    ¡°This has nothing to do with Acnologia,¡± Arthur said. ¡°He¡¯ll kill you.¡±


    ¡°Not if you¡¯re there to protect me,¡± Selene said.


    ¡°I won¡¯t be here.¡±


    ¡°Give Igneel his chance,¡± Selene said.


    Arthur looked at her. Ignia knew that right here and now, if he put everything he had left into a spell he could destroy himself, and them. Igneel might survive. He hoped his father would if he was honest with himself.


    But he held back. He was dying. But he wouldn¡¯t die killing people pleading to have him spared.


    ¡°I hate healing injuries I inflicted,¡± Arthur complained, walking towards Ignia.


    ¡°You¡¯re late,¡± Selene said. ¡°I expect promptness when I summon you.¡±


    ¡°I was asleep. I figured I should take the time to make myself presentable before attending,¡± Arthur said. Healing Ignia and Igneel had left him almost completely drained. Wounds a dragon took from dragon slayer magic were not easy to heal. A collapsed dragon lung was harder. Grandeeney would be able to eventually repair their limbs. But both were going to be rather strictly hospitalized for months to come.


    ¡°So you care about that now?¡± Selene said, before raising a hand and looking away from Arthur. ¡°You¡¯re all dismissed. I want to talk to my consort in private.¡±


    The servants filed out, and Arthur looked at Selene. ¡°I thought we were phasing out that title.¡±


    Selene scowled. ¡°Don¡¯t act like that,¡± She said. ¡°You¡¯re the one who just had to implant that thing into yourself.¡±


    Arthur winced and flinched back. He¡¯d deserved that. ¡°Sorry,¡± he said. ¡°I just¡­ it¡¯s awkward.¡±


    ¡°It doesn¡¯t have to be,¡± Selene said.


    ¡°I¡¯m pretty sure it does.¡±


    ¡°Do you always have to contradict me?¡±


    ¡°No. It¡¯s just a human thing. Talking to your ex is awkward.¡± He stopped there.


    ¡°You and Lisanna don¡¯t make it seem too awkward.¡±


    ¡°We parted on better terms, and¡­¡± Arthur cut himself off.


    ¡°And? And what?¡±


    ¡°And I still rather wish we hadn¡¯t had to. Even if it was only for another year or two, I liked being with you.¡± He¡¯d liked being with Lisanna too. In a lot of ways Lisanna was more someone he could imagine himself getting married to, having kids with, having a life with. But he wasn¡¯t allowed a life. He wasn¡¯t sure anyone from his world was. You put a bunch of overpowered godlings in a planet together and you¡¯re going to have chaos. He didn¡¯t even dream of having the power to stop that. To force some sort of morality on practical gods. If he¡¯d started out with a thousand choice points instead of 0¡­ Well it¡¯d not have made as big a difference as he initially thought it would, but it¡¯d have had an impact. But while he never really would have dreamt of having a life with Selene¡­ He¡¯d had one, and in all honesty he¡¯d enjoyed it.


    ¡°You could have not implanted the lacrima in yourself.¡±


    ¡°You know why I did it. I love you, but when you ask me to choose between a few months with you and power which might make the difference between life and death¡­¡±


    ¡°So why not kill me to make my heart into lacrima?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s different!¡±


    Selene laughed at the exasperated and pained face he made. ¡°And if it was not just a few months?¡±


    ¡°You made it very clear that you weren¡¯t coming with me.¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s say I would. Would you have not done it?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯d rip it out of myself now, bounty be damned.¡±


    ¡°I guess I should have told the servants to fetch the towels.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re not¡­¡±


    ¡°Rethinking my decision? That¡¯s my prerogative if I am.¡±


    ¡°I meant messing with me.¡±


    Selene¡¯s nose scrunched up a bit. ¡°Would I mess with you about this?¡±


    Arthur had the answer he believed was true on the tip of his tongue, but thought better of giving it. Since if it wasn¡¯t true, saying it would make it true. Instead, diplomatically, he answered, ¡°No.¡±


    ¡°So what are you waiting for?¡±


    ¡°The towels.¡± Arthur was regretting not tinking more before giving that other answer. He¡¯d rather have it surgically removed than try and rip a magically connected pseudo-organ out of his body.


    ¡°They can clean up the blood.¡± Selene waved her hand dismissively.


    Arthur breathed in. ¡°Let me think of the easiest way to do this. I mean I¡¯d rather not die in the process.¡±


    He pulled out Gemini¡¯s key, and was about to open the gate to summon the spirit, when Selene¡¯s hand planted on his.


    ¡°You don¡¯t have to rip it out. I might not like thinking about where it¡¯s from, but¡­ well if I¡¯m coming with you I expect you to keep getting stronger. I mean I want to be safe.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t think coming with me will be safe,¡± Arthur answered.


    ¡°As safe as possible,¡± Selene said. ¡°I know it will be dangerous, but¡­¡±


    ¡°But what?¡±


    ¡°But seeing Igneel try and save his son from you got me thinking about how you and Minerva are about the only two individuals in this world I really care about. It¡¯d be lonely living forever alone. And traveling through endless world is dangerous even here. So I might as well see what we can together.¡±


    ¡°Minerva isn¡¯t coming with me,¡± Arthur said.


    ¡°What? She refused?¡± Selene spat out. ¡°I¡­ Really?¡±


    ¡°No. She tried to volunteer, and begged to be allowed to help me. It¡¯s just that among the options I¡¯ve had to bring people, one which included her hasn¡¯t lit up.¡±


    ¡°Th-that¡¯s not fair.¡± Selene¡¯s hand reached for his. ¡°I¡¯ll join you. But you have to promise me to be less pigheaded about things.¡±


    Arthur curbed his natural response. And instead, diplomatically, answered her with a kiss, planting a hand on her body and pulling her in close.

 A Fairy Tail Ending

    Arthur had to consider now that the last big bounty had been. Well he couldn¡¯t even call it completed. The bounty was for killing Ignia. He had spared him. It hadn¡¯t triggered the not-redeemed in canon bounty either. Maybe because Ignia hadn¡¯t been not redeemed, and merely hadn¡¯t been dealt with yet. Or maybe he would be redeemed in canon. Arthur didn¡¯t know. Still he didn¡¯t regret sparing him. Even if Igneel was having some trouble hammering him into a proper shape.


    Ultimately the choice was easy. He¡¯d fulfilled his promise to Diabolos. He¡¯d fulfilled his promises to Selene. Now he had to fulfill his promise to Minerva. There were the medium arts that she¡¯d been forced to learn in part due to her father - though he didn¡¯t really deserve such a title - and the lost magic which Hades had imbued him with. And there was her connection to the Yakuma and their 18 Battle Gods magic. It wasn¡¯t a bounty - and it might mean he couldn¡¯t make his own super weapon - but he had promised her. And it¡¯d hurt too badly not to keep his promise to her.


    Besides, she was starting to really notice boys, and that made him uncomfortable. He knew by Earthland¡¯s standards she was a full grown adult. By American standards she was old enough to vote and go to college. But he also knew that there were a lot of would-be wolves who just loved women at the age where they were societally an adult but were still naive and untested by the ways of the world. Best to give her something to keep her focused on something else than them.


    It took them to Pergrand. Not to the damaged capital - a failure which haunted his dreams more even than the face of Brain and the bandits he had drunk with the black sword - but to small hillside settlements and villages. It was not really his field. This was anthropological research. He¡¯d been working as a sales clerk. And now he was¡­ He couldn¡¯t even call himself a warrior. He¡¯d never earned that title. He had power, and he had an instinctive knowledge of magic. He was ultimately a cheater. But a cheater who could help.


    He had Seilah¡¯s memories in his Archives, but he¡¯d already given that information to Minerva, and she¡¯d already been pursuing the research based on that since Acnologia had died. What he had which she didn¡¯t was that instinctive knowledge of magic, and his Archive. It¡¯d reached that level he¡¯d initially hoped for in Diabolos. He merely had to be near the magical knowledge for it to start to incorporate it into the Archive. Coupling that with his ability to intuit gaps in the information and how to complete it, he was a fairly useful assistant in uncovering the secrets that Minerva sought.


    Uncovering a dead culture, their religion, and the magic associated with it still wasn¡¯t easy, but it was only gone for a few generations, and it wasn¡¯t completely gone yet. The search led Arthur and Minerva east of Ishgar, into the eastern continent.


    But in the end it was Minerva¡¯s adventure. Arthur was merely in the role of scribe. And while Minerva¡¯s search was the largest dominating goal it was not the only thing Arthur had left to do before leaving this world.


    Selene shifted awkwardly in the dress. It was more restrictive than she was used to. Things with Arthur had been different since she had agreed to come with him on his journey. It wasn¡¯t surprising when she thought of things as a human would. But it took effort to do that.


    Yet it was effort she needed to put in. She had decided many decades ago that she would live as a human. That she would become a human in all ways but personal prowess. She had delayed it due to Acnologia and the Dragon Gods. She had continued to act with a dragon¡¯s callous disregard for life, and nature as an embodiment of destruction, but that fear which had forced that was gone now.


    So she was trying to think like a human. And for some reason or another humans mated for life. Even if they didn¡¯t, Arthur had warned her that he didn¡¯t know if this was a ride she could get off of if she wanted. The supracosmic beings which guided him might not let her go until they returned to his world and that could be centuries or millennia. He had no idea how long it would be.


    It made today¡¯s ceremony mostly moot. It¡¯d not be legally valid in other worlds. And it was a far more binding agreement than a wedding. But Selene had been growing increasingly irate that it had taken so long to happen. Oh, when Arthur - finally - asked her to marry him, she¡¯d played it off as some sort of quaint human tradition. But it was these sorts of pointless, quaint, human behaviors which made her so fascinated with humans.


    She wanted to see if it would change anything. She found herself somewhat¡­ worried¡­ about that. She¡¯d been reading books that Misaki had lent her. They seemed to imply it destroyed the love in a relationship, if there was any beforehand, and that men cared far more for the chase than anything that came later.


    She was not so stupid as to trust those books implicitly. They were works of fiction, and what she had gathered were called ¡°trashy romances¡± but they were one of the few windows into humanity she had. The fiction humans made revealed so much about them. She didn¡¯t know any dragon which bothered to make such elaborate stories to entertain other dragons. But dragons were not naturally social creatures.


    It was time for her to come out. She could hear the music playing. She hesitated, though. She¡¯d called this a meaningless, quaint, human ceremony, but there was an odd knot in her guts. She¡¯d already agreed to come with him to future worlds, but a public ceremony confirming it as a vow made it more real. She already got annoyed when Arthur clung too tightly around her, hovering and just trying to spend time with her. She could only spend so much time with him at once. Could she handle being with him for possibly the rest of her life?


    Igneel had come up beside her. He looked awkward in the suit they¡¯d forced him into. Her own family was dead. Georg had killed the last parts of it. She never would fully forgive that. There was a reason that while he was here, that he wasn¡¯t attending the ceremony. He was here because of a final bounty her husband-to-be had been given. She had come to terms with letting him live, though. He wasn¡¯t a threat to her. And his power had been broken. What he had recovered since was but a shadow of what it once had been.


    Igneel, though, was the closest thing she had to a father. Not that he was particularly close. He was an older dragon. All of his faction were. But he was the closest thing to a leader of dragons though neither she nor Mercphobia respected his authority. Well that wasn¡¯t true. She respected it. She just didn¡¯t accept that he had any over her. Still he was a friend. His attempts to find humanity made her feel better about her own. She had grown not to mind his company or existence. It was pleasant to have a dragon around who was neither feared liege, fearful subordinate, child, enemy, or prospective mate, but just someone in her life. And it was tradition to have someone give the bride away, and he was the best stand-in she could find.


    She knew everyone outside was waiting, but in that moment her feet felt leaden and heavy. She was safe here. There was nothing in this world that was a threat to her. Or there would be once Arthur left. But it was a different sort of safety than what she felt with Arthur.


    She looked out into the room of people, and she breathed in slowly, thinking of the books that Taberius had lent her. The exceed¡¯s taste ran to romances as well, though they were knightly and courtly ones. Marriages still typically ended badly. People were always drinking love potions to lead them into affairs, or getting amnesia from witch potions, or simply getting married for politics and then finding love later which tore them all asunder.


    Love was supposed to be an all-consuming, fiery feeling that would lead a man to do anything, to fight against any odds, for their woman. Did she love Arthur?


    She was walking forward under the weight of expectation, but she was considering this question as well. Arthur fought Acnologia and the Dragon Gods because he was trying to set right what he felt his presence here had made wrong. He¡¯d confessed that was part of it.


    Because he didn¡¯t want her to be misled. Because he loved her. Or at least that was what he said.


    And how close he¡¯d come to killing Ignia hadn¡¯t been that. Her eyes flickered to the fire dragon god. He¡¯d come to attend. She had a feeling Igneel had made him. Selene still did not like him. He¡¯d been a bogeyman for too long. But she¡¯d asked Arthur to spare him. And if he gave the smallest sign of being a threat to her wellbeing, Arthur was ready to kill him. Arthur had already been ready to execute him when he was defeated because he¡¯d promised to remove such threats to her. Even if they were going to be separated. Even when he¡¯d been willing to roll the dice with the world.


    Selene had to wonder about her own feelings. Would she be happy beside Arthur?


    She didn¡¯t want him to leave her behind. It always hurt her pride when they left first. But this wasn¡¯t that. She could have accepted the blow to her pride, even assuaged it with the fact that it was her ultimatum which had broken things off, or her choice to stay behind. She¡¯d have been the one growing tired of him, not the other way around.


    Except she¡¯d watched his battle with Acnologia with an ache in her chest, worried he¡¯d die. Even once it was obvious that Acnologia was defeated whether he killed some of his hunters or not. Even as she¡¯d hoped that Igneel and his faction might suffer some lasting and permanent loss, she¡¯d been afraid Arthur wouldn¡¯t come back. She¡¯d almost broken off her watch to go and help. She¡¯d watched his fight with Ignia for the same reason.


    She wanted him with her. It¡¯d be ideal if he could stop and stay. But she wanted him with her.


    He looked awkward now. Though the way he was looking at her made her feel beautiful. Selene could hear the officiator going through the conditions of the wedding vow. They were a traditional set. That had been her demand; Arthur had wanted to add something about stepping forth into the unknown to face the future together. It wasn¡¯t really necessary to add.


    She only needed to wait, till her proper time, and say two words. And then there was the kiss. There was something magic about it. Not a mage¡¯s work of ethernano, but a simpler, more basic magic. She¡¯d been a mate. She¡¯d been a mother. She¡¯d experienced romantic love the way a dragon might. But dragons didn¡¯t mate for life. They didn¡¯t form tight pair bonds. Being a wife was not something she¡¯d expected to happen to her.


    It¡¯d be an interesting, and human, experience. If not quite standard given how Arthur was expected to live his life.


    The ceremony went off without a hitch. Arthur was relieved. With Diabolos, Fairy Tail, the Thunderbolts, and the Edolas Royal Court in one place he¡¯d expected someone to do something stupid.


    And then there¡¯d been the long, awkward wait for Selene to come out when it was time for her to walk down the aisle. That had scared him. He¡¯d say more than anything other than staring down Acnologia, but it was comparing apples to oranges. Acnologia he¡¯d been afraid would consume him. The pause had made him feel like his heart was cracking.


    And then she¡¯d been breathtaking. She was always beautiful. She always had an element of refined elegance to her. But this had been on an entirely different level.


    The reception was going well. He¡¯d have to thank Edolas Jellal for that. Though given the wedding doubled as Selene officially stepping down as Queen of Edolas and passing the full reins of government over to him, he suspected Edolas Jellal was happier than anyone else here except maybe himself.


    Arthur didn¡¯t really want to be at the reception. It wasn¡¯t that he minded his friends. Diabolos was family of a sort to him. Fairy Tail were friends. The original Thunderbolts being regathered was a refreshing sight. They were doing well, and moving forward with their lives away from their criminal past. Jellal¡¯s, Earthland Jellal¡¯s, wedding to Erza had spurred Arthur to ask Selene to marry him, and to argue for it being important even if it was just some pointless ceremony. Sorano had married and was expecting her second child. Erik and Kinana were growing closer too. Richard was still single, and still running an orphanage in Ishgar to make sure other children didn¡¯t end up like them. MacBeth was living free, with no one to boss him around. Sawyer was moping after a rather rough break up. Still they were free. Not just under the law, but they seemed to have escaped their past.


    Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation.


    Maybe it still haunted them. But they were free. The bounty for reforming the Ishgar legal system had a bonus mission which was ready to collect, except it was locked behind actually reforming the legal system. Jellal was working on it. Arthur had helped him and started the ball rolling. But legal reform took time, and it didn¡¯t look like it¡¯d be finished by the time Arthur left.


    Maybe Arthur could have ramrodded reforms through himself, but he wasn¡¯t good at court politics. He¡¯d have to just throw around weight and force as the World¡¯s Most Powerful Wizard, and introducing that sort of personal threat into a political system did not leave a stable system behind. Maybe he could have found people to help¡­ but it would have required his time and dedication which he had had to put elsewhere. Still Jellal told him it was going well. Reforms were in progress.


    Looking over his bounties there were some he regretted failing at. Some which he wasn¡¯t sure how he could have completed if he hadn¡¯t. Some he had meant to chase after but never had the chance. Some he¡¯d never even started on. And some he was surprised had finished and completed themselves. Like the one about ensuring God Serena went down in history as a traitor. The increasing mercantile contact with Edolas, and Selene¡¯s decision to put a bit of a propaganda push in that direction, had done it. Serena had fought Arthur at the behest of the Edolas Imperial Forces as a self-avowed traitor to Ishgar. It was a matter of public record. Conquering motion sickness had happened without him even consciously realizing it. He¡¯d not stopped working on improving his takeover magic, after all Selene¡¯s fears about the lacrima inside of him taking him over weren¡¯t unfounded. But as he worked on ensuring he didn¡¯t become a dragon, he learned to harmonize his body more and more. Through takeover he was properly adapting to the dragon senses and motion sickness was no longer a threat to him. The Sword of Promised Victory, requiring him to complete a super weapon, had been completed as well. The Dragon Staff had not quite qualified. But when he had made a new version from Acnologia¡¯s lacrima it had ticked itself right off. He¡¯d be able to leave the original with Diabolos, granting them the ability to go dragon and back again with proper time, training, and experience, and he¡¯d be able to take the new staff along with him; something to help make sure Selene and Minerva were safe. Along with the matching armor set.


    But right now he was happy even with the failed bounties. Selene and Minerva would be joining him. He¡¯d be entering the next world with friends. Taberius had the option, but Tabby had no desire to go. He¡¯d be alone as the only exceed. The fact that there¡¯d potentially be other dragons was a downside if anything to Selene, but Taberius wanted to find a wife, have a family, and make a life for himself. If Arthur had pressed Taberius would have come out of a sense of obligation, but Arthur wouldn¡¯t do that. It was the same reason Diabolos and the Thunderbolts were being left behind. Arthur had no right to drag them into war and danger with him. Selene and Minerva he could assuage his feelings of guilt with the fact that they both came without¡­ Well Selene had hesitated, but other than ¡®I can¡¯t not go so if you want to be with me you¡¯ll have to come¡¯ he¡¯d not pressured either. Both of them had chosen it despite the knowledge that it meant braving unknown dangers.


    It was those dangers which were probably most tempting to Taberius. But Edolas had gotten a lot more dangerous. Altaface had been moved back to Elentear, and the giant magical tool Arthur had constructed to facilitate that movement should allow Altaface to be moved between the two worlds as needed as long as it was maintained. And Edolas seemed to be producing ethernano on its own even without Altaface now. But that had come with other effects. The creatures and beasts of Edolas had been getting a lot more dangerous, like creatures that had only existed in old folktales and legends in Edolas before. Taberius didn¡¯t need to come along to have his monsters to slay, and his adventures to face, and the exceeds did need some strong protectors to keep them safe.


    Still, there was one last bounty he intended to pursue in his time in this world. And while he¡¯d rather spend the rest of the week alone with Selene¡­ well this might be the last time he managed to gather all of Diabolos together in one place. It was the last bounty he¡¯d been given. One he¡¯d only been given months ago.


    A final all out brawl with Diabolos. A sparring match of one against a guild. And for full points he had to avoid using any magic but Darkness Dragon Slayer magic.


    He hoped he didn¡¯t accidentally slip into non-dragon slayer darkness magic. He wasn¡¯t actually sure where the line was other than that there was a twist to the magic to imbue it with dragon slaying properties. It was harder on some spells than others - and pointless on many - but he¡¯d have to make sure to put it into everything. He was confident he could win; part of his initial set of cheats was the power of a Kinslayer. The closer the friend the better he was at fighting and killing them. A close enough friend couldn¡¯t defeat him without overwhelming odds in their favor; and even Minerva and Taberius didn¡¯t have overwhelming odds in their favor. He¡¯d have to change out of his suit first.


    The brawl started well. An overwhelming wave of darkness took out most of the guild. Only 7 remained standing. Arthur hadn¡¯t caught how each of them had overcome it - his Archive link was off right now - but Kirin, Georg, Minerva, Tabby, Suzaku, Madmole, and Kiria had managed to resist it. He could make a decent guess for each. Kirin had the power to blast his way through such a dispersed wave of magic, even from someone on Arthur¡¯s level. Suzaku had almost certainly cut it with his sword; Selene had helped him get a fair bit better at his magic, not that that was strictly necessary. Georg had Black Tortoise Dragon Slayer Magic to block it, and Madmole had his Armor Dragon Slayer Magic. Minerva had enough options that Arthur couldn¡¯t even guess which she had used. Kiria was behind Madmole, which probably explained why he wasn¡¯t as harmed as Arthur would have expected; he¡¯d blocked for her with his body, and she¡¯d cut the power of the attack with her magic before it could hit him. And Tabby¡¯s method was immediately obvious; the cat looked more like a hulking, winged, lizard man than an exceed: Takeover Darkness Dragon Soul.


    As Arthur formed a sword out of shadows, he assessed the threat each represented. The moment he did so he began to flow with the battle which had begun. Perhaps it was his status as Kinslayer, but he found it easy to predict Georg¡¯s rush. His speed was no match for White Tiger Dragon Slayer Magic, but he knew the limits of its maneuverability, and Georg crashed against the blade of darkness, hardening his body with Black Tortoise Dragon Slayer Magic.


    Arthur could have finished Georg right then if this was one on one. It wasn¡¯t though. Minerva¡¯s territory magic exploded around him. It was only a quickly conjured armor of darkness which kept Arthur standing as space around him was pressurized into a myriad of explosions.


    His foot struck the ground, and a dragon of darkness rose up in Suzaku¡¯s path. He knew better than to try it against Minerva. She was already teleporting herself to avoid such an attack. She knew how he fought in sparring matches too well. And Tabby would just eat it for strength. But Suzaku was the next greatest threat. Arthur¡¯s cheat of the Knight had given him anime-grade armed combat skill. But Suzaku could eat his weapons, and Arthur lost a lot of battle skill when he didn¡¯t have a sword in hand.


    Fortunately Suzaku had drunk a fair bit too much at the reception. Normally the swordsman would have dodged with ease. But half-way to blacking out he was caught unaware. Arthur didn¡¯t have time to follow up.


    Minerva¡¯s palm strike nearly hit his face. Her movements weren¡¯t her movements. She was channeling one of the spirits of the Yakuma people. It was an unwanted complication in Arthur¡¯s eyes, but one not entirely unexpected. She¡¯d been working on mastering this magic since she¡¯d first been brought back to Diabolos. The faces of ghosts passed back and forth through hers, and the words of their spells could be heard.


    Arthur roared, a blast of darkness to blow Minerva away. He knew she¡¯d escape it, her territory magic already carrying her away, but it would force her back. She knew he could project the same magic from his back in the form of wings. So he didn¡¯t. He stomped his foot, guessing at the range she¡¯d warp out to and making a dozen dragons of dark energy rise up to strike.


    He was burning power at a rate he¡¯d not done even when fighting God Serena, but if he was to get the bonus he¡¯d have to. He¡¯d trained Minerva and Taberius himself. He knew their powers and just how dangerous they were. He needed to bring Minerva down fast.


    His blade of darkness swept outwards even as he tried to take out his surrogate daughter. Taberius might not be able to match the speed of the White Tiger in his Darkness Dragon Soul form, but the exceed wasn¡¯t slow. He¡¯d closed the distance already.


    Taberius caught the sword in his mouth, chomping through the darkness. Arthur¡¯s leg struck his head though, the mage¡¯s foot hitting the exceed right in the temple with a brain rattling blow. Arthur formed a push dagger of darkness and thrust for Taberius¡¯s gut. It was a concentrated magical blade, more force in it than what he¡¯d struck at Minerva with.


    Its tip hit Taberius¡¯s black scaled belly and Arthur was ready to find out if his magic was more irresistible, than Taberius¡¯s darkness dragon slayer magic could remain unmovable against. Only a four armed creature struck him with a series of blades. They were fast. One of the 18 battle gods summoned by Minerva, and she¡¯d called in more than one.


    Minerva knew she¡¯d be done for if this was a one on one fight. She couldn¡¯t summon all 18 battle gods. Several of them had special conditions, or refused to come for sparring matches. Even if she could, there wasn¡¯t one of them Arthur couldn¡¯t bring down. Channeling spirits she could beat him in sheer rate of magic released, but she¡¯d need more than 2 spells to his one to beat Arthur, and even with a pair of spirits doing the summoning, and another guiding her body so she could focus purely on her territory magic she wasn¡¯t sending out two for every one Arthur did.


    But it was a group fight. Whenever he got close to taking her out with some saturating assault, there was someone to hit him and force him back into close ranged combat. But that could only last so long, and they couldn¡¯t win just by attriting Arthur¡¯s magical power. Minerva knew what sort of reserves Arthur had, and the efficiency at which he used them even without using the magic he was best at. In a stamina fight he would win.


    The melee was hectic and confusing. Georg, Madmole, and Taberius worked together to press Arthur hard, and when Skullion had revealed he¡¯d not actually gone down, but had just been positioning his ash to attack with surprise it had almost looked like Arthur would go down.


    The blast of darkness which followed was both unsurprising and devastating. Madmole barely rose to his feet afterwards, and Georg didn¡¯t rise immediately. Skullion had reformed and lay unconscious. But it was now or never to strike.


    Minerva¡¯s territory formed around Arthur, working to siphon off his magical energy and hold him in place. Arthur broke it in less than a second. But it gave Taberius time to bite onto Arthur¡¯s armoring darkness and begin to consume it. Kiria¡¯s magic cut then, and Minerva couldn¡¯t tell from this distance if it cut Arthur or not. She didn¡¯t wait to find out. Just like Kirin she poured what she could into an attack. She called forth her territory around him to constrain his movements. It didn¡¯t work. She hadn¡¯t really expected it to. Arthur dove into his own shadow, sliding away as a blotch of darkness. But she¡¯d expected this and reacted, invoking the Yakuma god of archery to create a hundred arrows of mystic force to rain down on him.


    Arthur¡¯s magic blasted them from the sky, and Minerva watched Georg take a blow that brought him down. Still the pace couldn¡¯t be let up. She fired off territory explosion after explosion. Portals to form around Arthur¡¯s limbs. Everything she could to hold him still enough for the others to strike.


    As Kiria and Madmole went down one after another, Suzaku, who she¡¯d thought was down for the count, struck. Even drunk, his blows were powerful and precise. And it bought her the chance to summon Yagd Rigola, the explosive battle god of the Yakuma people.


    The blast blew away Suzaku, but it gave Taberius the chance to strike. A space dragon¡¯s roar hammering Arthur from behind.


    Minerva felt a bit of pride as she watched her teacher fall. She knew that the best result was that he won cleanly and efficiently, using only his Darkness Dragon Slayer Magic. But she also knew letting him win would probably disqualify the entire brawl.


    Then she realized that Taberius had fallen too. And that she couldn¡¯t see Arthur anymore. Suspecting another shadow dive, she teleported, moving to avoid the attack from below. Kirin fell instead.


    She reprimanded herself as a fool. Arthur had just been waiting for the moment that Taberius swapped from Darkness Dragon takeover to something else to counter-attack. And with it just being the two of them left, the battle was not long.


    Arthur had never been completely certain what day he¡¯d first arrived in this world was. He had an idea of the range, but he¡¯d arrived in the Celestial Spirit Realm where time flowed significantly slower. Or faster. A day there was three months in normal time. And he had never been precisely certain of how long he¡¯d been there. So he had come back from his honeymoon from Selene a week earlier than he had to.


    He only learned it was the day when an alert came up in his mental HUD for displaying bounties. There was just a little mental button reading: End Jump. It had a countdown of 6 days, 23 hours, 59 minutes, and a continually decreasing number of seconds.


    He hadn¡¯t been certain how it would end. The information hadn¡¯t been accessible till now. By focusing on the idea of the button he could access it though. At the end of the jump he had a week. A week to set any affairs into order and finish anything he intended to finish in the world. Then he had to gather anything he wanted to take with him, because he¡¯d only carry that which was his by bounty or purchase or what he was personally carrying.


    He had a week to gather gold and precious metals. He had a week to say good-bye. And he didn¡¯t actually need to be right there with Minerva and Selene. It was information that would have been useful to have earlier.


    Still he¡¯d already said his goodbyes. He¡¯d already gathered his belongings. And now he had a week.


    It was time for one last job as a mage of diabolos. Just a quest with team Skullion, and Minerva. And then he went from Guiltina to Edolas to Ishgar to Alvarez and said his final good-byes for real this time.


    Minerva and Selene were with him when he pressed the mental button. He¡¯d used requip and his spatial magic to store as many supplies as he could. And when he pressed it he was transported to a dark space, where a floating smiley face waited.


    ¡°Congratulations, on completing your first world. Not everyone did,¡± it said.

 Preparing to Enter the Second World - Nanatsu no Taizai

    Arthur stood before the giant, yellow smiling face. It floated in the blackness of the void, an entity in stark defiance of consistent physics. The creature was a smooth, flat disc, completely 2 dimensional, except that its eyes were a pool of blackness, seeming to have depth, and when it opened the black line of its mouth to reveal the inside it was contoured and rounded. The disc was impossibly thin - Arthur suspected that if viewed straight from the side it wouldn¡¯t be visible at all - but when its mouth was open it had depth, almost as if it was just a two dimensional gateway into another world.


    The space around them wasn¡¯t dark. Arthur could see. But it was all shades of black, and deep, near black blues, purples, and perhaps red. There was a measurable depth around him, though like a thick fog it would move further away from him as he moved.


    ¡°Congratulations, on completing your first world. Not everyone did,¡± the smiling face said, a wide smile on it.


    ¡°Thank you,¡± Arthur said. He was uncertain of the protocol here. How were you supposed to deal with a higher being straight out of some Neoplatonic - or Gnostic - ontological hierarchy. What¡¯s the proper level of deference when dealing with a god-like entity? It had never asked him to drop to his knees and offer up worship. But there was something that surprised him about what it said. ¡°What do you mean not everyone did?¡±


    ¡°One of the others did not. They overestimated their powers and fought with Acnologia. They did not win. We were pleasantly surprised that 9 made it through the first world. It is significantly more dangerous than later worlds would be. We will have to begin the Winnowing immediately.¡±


    ¡°The winnowing?¡±


    ¡°The Winnowing,¡± Arthur could hear the capitalization in the smiley face¡¯s voice, ¡°The Winnowing is how we cut down the number of jumpers. Those who are not sufficiently entertaining will be dropped. So Arthur, do remember to provide entertainment.¡±


    Its black ¡®lips¡¯ spread wide, its eyes dilating and stretching into great, black pools. It was a predatory gaze which sent shivers down Arthur¡¯s spine in a way that Acnologia himself never had. The Dragon King had been powerful enough that he¡¯d not have won one on one and he knew it. But the smiley face was the source of every drop of power he had. What its limits were, or even if it had limits, he didn¡¯t know.


    ¡°And when you cut down these numbers?¡±


    ¡°You already know that. We send them home. Time will resume for all of them when the final jumper ends their chain.¡±


    Arthur swallowed dryly. He should have remembered that, but that smile had unnerved him, and he had had to ask. Being sent home first would be a large disadvantage in the final accounting when all the jumpers were placed back onto Earth together. He still had no idea what sort of people the others were, but power reveals a person¡¯s faults. He didn¡¯t have enough faith in humanity to think that out of 10 god beings the benevolent ones would easily stop the power mad ones.


    ¡°I can show you how they met their end.¡± The smiling face didn¡¯t wait for him to answer. Suddenly the void was changed into blue skies. Minerva and Selene vanished from behind Arthur, even as his awareness of his own body disappeared. He had awareness of a body. But it was not his.


    It was big and the power he could feel from it was familiar but far more intense. He could feel wings, a tail, and clawed limbs. It was a dragon¡¯s body. And it was strong. In raw power at least it was greater than his strength when using Takeover to assume a fully draconic form. It didn¡¯t matter if it was physical strength or raw magical power; it was strong. He wasn¡¯t in control of it, though. He was just a passenger.


    One riding straight towards a familiar sight. Acnologia was in the distance, and the dragon he was riding in was launching a variety of spells in quick succession towards the Dragon King. It wasn¡¯t Dragon Slayer Magic. It was about as effective against Acnologia as splashing him with water. But it got the Dragon King¡¯s attention.


    Arthur could feel the sheer intensity of the magical power they were throwing at Acnologia, firing it hard onto him. And Acnologia met it with a roar. There was a split instant of hesitation. His mouth was beginning to open, readying to consume the blast. They were analyzing the magic of the roar. It was similar to his Archive, but it wasn¡¯t the same. The information received was much less. But he could feel his flows of magic trying to automatically align themselves towards Acnologia¡¯s blast. It was Copy Magic. And it was top end skill with it.


    He felt teleport magic wrap around him and transport him. It was well done. Good. Expert even. But the base magic was inferior to it was not up to the level one needed to face off against Acnologia.


    He felt them roar, a blast of lightning, one which would tear through mountains. It was a danger to Acnologia. If the Dragon King didn¡¯t react fast enough to catch it in his mouth and swallow it down. But Arthur could feel the grin on the lips of the body he was riding in. They¡¯d just learned to eat Magic. Not given elements but magic in general.


    It was a long, dragged out thing. Acnologia flew and weaved around the battlefield. They spent their magical energy in roars and blasts. The landscape was being melted away. But after a third consumption of his roar, Acnologia didn¡¯t roar again. He focused only on closing into melee. A roar hit his back, it hurt him, Arthur could see it. But it didn¡¯t bring down the Dragon King.


    The battle kept going longer and longer. And then Acnologia roared. He did it mid dodge, his roar missing them wildly and hitting the ground beneath, raising up a cloud of dust from what wasn¡¯t vaporized completely by his blast. Arthur could feel the frantic sweeping of the head of the one he was riding in. They were straining their senses - mundane and magical - to find Acnologia. But Acnologia¡¯s magical signature had disappeared.


    And then teeth sank into the spine of the dragon he was riding in. They tried to use healing magic to fix it as they fell and a dragon¡¯s claw pressed onto his head, before a roar severed his neck.


    Arthur snapped from the vision then. The smiley face was still in front of him.


    ¡°What was that,¡± Minerva gasped behind him.


    ¡°A glimpse of failure,¡± the smiley face said, ¡°And a reminder against overconfidence.¡±


    ¡°Arthur beat Acnologia,¡± Selene said in a venomous tone. Arthur knew her well enough to know that she was trying to hide the fear she¡¯d felt. She had spent centuries trying to avoid that fate, working to hide from Acnologia. Showing her that failure hadn¡¯t done anything informative. It had just been sadistic cruelty.


    His arm wrapped around her shoulder. ¡°We beat him,¡± he said looking at her. He wanted to strike the smiling face creature. His free hand had clenched tight into a fist, squeezing till his knuckles were white. She was his wife. You don¡¯t do that to a man¡¯s wife in front of him.


    ¡°And you should do your best to figure out why you did and they didn¡¯t.¡±


    ¡°They tried to do it alone. Arthur brought in help,¡± Minerva said.


    ¡°Maybe. But Arthur, what do you have to say about it?¡±


    ¡°You shouldn¡¯t have shown that to them,¡± Arthur said. He could feel Selene trembling a little in his arms, even as she broke away to stand proud and tall. The fear was still there in the way her body was tensed. But she had her pride and his protective instinct had ruffled it.


    ¡°Because of her trauma related to the dragon king¡­ Oh I guess I shouldn¡¯t have. Still, why did they die there?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m fine,¡± Selene said in a cold, icy, angry tone. ¡°And it¡¯s obvious. I¡¯m certain Arthur understands why they failed.¡±


    The smiley face vibrated side to side, as if it was on a head that was shaking. ¡°No. Your reasoning is incomplete.¡±


    ¡°What do you know about my reasoning?¡± Selene snapped back.


    ¡°You were thinking that she  fought and acted like a human not a dragon, and that she hadn¡¯t bothered learning how to actually fight along with mastering her magic, and that¡¯s not wrong. But it¡¯s not a complete answer.¡± Selene flinched. ¡°I can see your thoughts. It¡¯s as simple as that. My comprehension isn¡¯t complete, but I am improving,¡± the smiling face said.


    Arthur tried to remember the fight. To get his head back to it and not the anger he was feeling. He understood Selene¡¯s reasoning - she hadn¡¯t been wrong with her certainty that he had understood that. The fight had been sloppy. Over reliant on use of magic and raw power. The dragon hadn¡¯t moved right in a fight, and their reflexes had been slow. Their magic had also been second rate. ¡°They weren¡¯t properly prepared,¡± Arthur said.


    ¡°I will let you think about it.¡±


    Arthur groaned as his brows furrowed. And then the lights turned on in his mind. They weren¡¯t using Takeover Magic. They¡¯d really been a dragon. It wasn¡¯t Dragon Slayer Magic. They¡¯d bought being a dragon straight from the purchase document. Because the others had a stipend of points to purchase things at the start. Probably had the sheer magical power too.


    ¡°They just appeared powerful enough to get Acnologia¡¯s immediate attention, not giving themselves a chance to build up power enough to survive him before fighting him.¡±


    ¡°Acceptable answer,¡± the smiley face said. ¡°She chose to drop in, without memories or background in the world like yourself. She ran into one of the troubles. How a world looks from the outside doesn¡¯t always provide a full perspective. And power sufficient to overturn the world may quickly cause changes in it.¡±If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it.


    Arthur nodded. He had to guess it was a warning against making waves too quickly and too overtly. Though then again it might be an attempt to get him to take a background in the world. He¡¯d have to think carefully about what the smiley face and its mysterious employers were actually trying to tell him here.


    ¡°And I believe it¡¯s time to provide you with your information on the next world.¡±


    Arthur winced as he felt information pouring into his mind. The HUD with which he interfaced with his bounties and the ¡®jump document¡¯ was pushed into the forefront of his mind, as a second document loaded side by side with the first.


    ¡°Once you enter the next world it will be impossible to access Fairy Tail¡¯s jump document. Before you enter the next world you will need to select your race and background, as well as if you are importing Selene and Minerva.¡±


    ¡°Importing?¡± Arthur asked, as the option was pulled into focus before him. ¡°What happens to them if I don¡¯t import them?¡±


    ¡°Nothing. Failing bounties which provide them with CP of their own they will be unable to make purchases. Even with those they would lack a race and origin, simply appearing in the world as if they had dropped in, though they would not possess the discounts and free benefits available to a drop in. They will not be harmed by the choice, but I believe you can see it is a cost effective transaction.¡±


    It cost him points to import. But it would give Selene and Minerva each several times the cost of importing them both. It was a trade off between empowering himself, and empowering them. From a resource allotment point of view there was the fact that he went home when he died not when they did, and that concentrating power in himself was almost certainly a valid strategy. Three people who each got half power each world would fall behind 1 person who got full power; though it was not a halving of his own gain. If he gained as much as he had with Fairy Tail it was a drop in the bucket.


    ¡°You are unlikely to gain as much. At least unless they are kind and favorable with granting additional new bounties for you,¡± the smiley face creature said. ¡°I see that did not deter you.¡±


    ¡°They¡¯re my friends.¡± That was the crux of the matter. When things came to an end he didn¡¯t want to leave them vulnerable.


    ¡°In that case I hope all three of you make the most of your potential purchases here.¡±


    Arthur was looking. Like with Fairy Tail races cost points. Unlike with Fairy Tail the backgrounds were not merely thematic. Each one had discounted perks associated with it, and some had costs. What he chose would have more long term effects than just not having background memories. And unlike before he actually had a choice in his species. And it was one which would matter, after all it was Seven Deadly Sins. It¡¯d been a long time since he read that manga. He¡¯d never even read the start of its sequel series, but it¡¯d had humans, fairies, giants, demons, and angels. And each one had different powers and capabilities. And each one had a cost associated with it.


    Minerva flinched when suddenly an overlay ran across her vision. No. It was across her mind¡¯s eye. It was still sinking into her head what she¡¯d really agreed to when she had decided to follow Arthur to another world. She¡¯d been warned. He¡¯d used his Archive to illustrate his ¡®heads up display¡¯ for her previously. She recognized it for what it was. But that had been less real than this.


    She was a spatial mage. She was good at recognizing spatial magic. She¡¯d been completely unable to use her Territory magic here. It wasn¡¯t like there was no ethernano. It wasn¡¯t like there was some spell blocking it. It was like there wasn¡¯t space. It was weird. And it had left her for the most part silent and unnerved throughout.


    But now she was beginning to get information to make decisions about her future.


    ¡°What exactly does it mean if we ¡®drop in¡¯ or not?¡± She asked.


    ¡°If you drop-in you will appear in the world in question without any past within it. If you do not you will be merged into it, with a proper history and memories of your life in the world.¡±


    ¡°Memories?¡± She asked.


    ¡°Similar to when you channel the dead,¡± the yellow and black face-creature said. ¡°It is not as strong of an effect. They are another you instead of another life entirely. But it would be similar to keeping a spirit channeled for a decade.¡±


    Minerva¡¯s hands tightened a little. There were advantages to the memories she could call up from the dead - ever since her father¡¯s little experiment with lost magic - but it was dangerous. She had learned to maintain the balance of her being when doing so, though. The question was how well it would work over the course of a decade.


    ¡°As I said it would not be nearly as strong of an effect.The intention would not be to make you not be you. While some of the backgrounds may influence you in certain ways, you will still remember who you are, and what you desired. You may however find yourself possessing connections new to your new life in this world. Friends, family, even loved ones.¡±


    Minerva scowled a little. The idea of being made to live an alternative life was still unsettling. But she had spent much of the last few years training and learning to handle spirit channeling. She looked along the list of options, and then she raised her head. ¡°What about these races? How will they change me? What is this world like?¡±


    ¡°If you select one you will be given an altered body to fit the race. You will be able to return to being human, or in Selene¡¯s case, a dragon. Once this world is finished you will be able to enter that race¡¯s form, return to the one of the current world, as well as human. Or in Selene¡¯s case a dragon. So if you select demon you will gain the powers of a demon, similarly fairy will allow you to transform back into a fairy, and vampire will let you become a vampire in the future. The process is slower than say Takeover Magic but you won¡¯t have to worry about overlapping enchantments and direct magic interactions. As for the last question, I am not allowed to say. Arthur however should have some familiarity.¡± The smiling creature answered calmly.


    Arthur breathed deeply. ¡°It¡¯s been a while,¡± He said. ¡°It was a manga. A sort of picture book¡­¡±


    Minerva rolled her eyes. ¡°I know what a manga is.¡±


    ¡°Sorry. It was pretty similar to Fairy Tail, I found and read it as Fairy Tail was winding down, but it wasn¡¯t as good and I was sort of aging out of the demographic so I don¡¯t remember it as well. And while both had sequels, I only ever read Fairy Tail¡¯s, and I don¡¯t remember how FT went in the manga too well now, and it¡¯s been like 15 years now since I read it or something like that so my memory of it is limited.¡± Arthur breathed in and out. ¡°Still it takes place in Lyonesse? Or¡­ Was that the Jack Vance novels I never read? Logres? No¡­ Logres was Arthur¡¯s kingdom in some old versions of Arthurian legend, this was one of the neighboring ones.¡± He shook his head. ¡°It takes place in Britain, a little before the era of Camelot. The characters included some of the parents of the knights of the round, like Ban was Lancelot¡¯s dad, and the muscular sun guy was a giant who fought Gawaine once and shared the same super power as Gawaine.¡±


    ¡°Your kingdom?¡± Minerva asked with a confused look on her face.


    ¡°No, King Arthur¡­¡± Arthur¡¯s hand moved to his face, and he lowered his head. ¡°In my home world there¡¯s an old legend about a king named Arthur. He¡¯s your basic legendary Good King¡± Minerva nodded. ¡°The manga took place in a version of the legend. And¡­ this is really a tangent. Sorry. As for the world itself it falls in the genre of shonen action.¡±


    ¡°Shonen action?¡±


    ¡°It was a manga intended for about 13 year old boys, and lots of fighting. You have knights with magical power, pretty much mages. The Seven Deadly Sins are an elite group of knights who have been framed and exiled for¡­ reasons. The initial villains are a pair of knights trying to take over the country but actually they¡¯re working to release the Ten Commandments who are a group of ancient demons. Who are pretty much the same as knights but with a lot more power. Well they also each had a gimmick power.¡±


    ¡°Gimmick power?¡±


    ¡°Each of them had an absolute effect. Like lie in front of them and you turn to stone, immunity to any blows made in anger, or turn your back on them and they get to control your mind. All regardless of relative power levels.¡±


    ¡°Power levels?¡±


    ¡°How much magical power people had. Or magical power, physical fitness, and spirit or willpower I forget. It mattered early on where if someone was a thousand stronger - or well about double - than the other they didn¡¯t have a chance against them, but later on being 50,000 or 100,000 stronger and several times more powerful didn¡¯t mean anything, so I can¡¯t say how much that really mattered other than theoretically it overcomes magical defenses and stuff.¡±


    Minerva nodded slowly. ¡°What about fairies, vampires, giants, and goddesses?¡±


    ¡°Fairies are smaller than people, they have wings and can fly¡­ or was that only the kings? They¡¯re small, and gifted with magical stealth. Attuned to forests. I think they have illusion magic too. Giants are big, several times taller than humans and have earth/stone manipulation magic. Vampires are near extinct. They drink blood, and are more powerful at night. Goddesses like demons are a lot stronger than humans, but they fly and have holy powers instead of dark powers.¡±


    Minerva nodded along still listening. ¡°And a holy knight?¡±


    ¡°Mage. More sword focused but combat mage.¡±


    ¡°I see,¡± She said and for a moment things went silent.


    ¡°So what happens in this world? What are the events going on?¡±


    Arthur breathed deep. ¡°The Seven Deadly Sins are a group of elite knights in exile due to I think they were framed by a coup for attempting a coup. The coup leaders are tyrannically ruling. That only lasts a little while before the Seven Deadly Sins stop them. But really they¡¯re trying to release the Ten Commandments and allow the demons which were sealed in their own realm out to normal reality to terrorize things. They¡¯re stopped, but it doesn¡¯t matter because the seal was already broken anyway. The 10 commandments get out. They fight a bit. Then the seal is completely broken. The demons invade. There¡¯s a war, the angels get involved but they¡¯re bad guys too, but it really followed ¡­ Dang it, I can''t remember the main character¡¯s name. It followed the leader of the Sins, and prince of the demons, and his love story with the reincarnated angel princess. Stuff happens. There¡¯s brother drama in the Ten Commandments with his 2 brothers, but one is actually an archangel who was imbued with demonic power. Stuff happens, many of the ten commandments betray, and then there¡¯s a big battle between the two demon princes, and that leads to a battle with the demon king, who is beaten and then they have to fight and defeat the goddess too, I think¡­ See the leader of the Sins and his love interest are both cursed by the demon king and goddess because they wanted peace and not to enslave humanity. Then the battles result in the revival of Chaos the primordial goddess, who gives her power to Arthur. That¡¯s king Arthur. Who goes on to recreate Camelot that was destroyed, and voila a new golden age. Except the sequel takes place in the next generation and I think he¡¯s the bad guy; sort of like in Thomas Mallory¡¯s La Morte d¡¯Arthur. Or well Arthur is ostensibly the good guy in that but¡­ I¡¯m getting tangential again. From what I heard in the sequel he was the bad guy, but I never read it to say for certain.¡±


    There was a moment of silence then, and the smiley face grinned wider. ¡°Now, if you¡¯d look at the bounties, and please fill in your origin and any last purchases from the prior world.¡±


    Arthur looked at the document. Immortality was on offer. Merlin¡¯s magical talent of Infinity - the one that was so powerful that it had scared the Demon King and Supreme Goddess - was available. His emergency reserve held enough to purchase it flat out if he wanted.


    Looking back at Fairy Tail there was one thing he¡¯d like to get. If he took For My Friends his abilities alongside Minerva and Selene would skyrocket. But it would mean less for new abilities. He turned his mind¡¯s eye to the bounty board, looking over the options and the rewards. How likely was he to make up what he spent?

 A New Name For You

    Arthur could see there were a good number of bounties. Most were not particularly valuable - perhaps fighting and killing the Demon Lord or Supreme Goddess weren¡¯t that big after Acnologia - but there were some big ones. Having demons and angels from settings and worlds he was absolutely not familiar with was potentially quite lucrative, but he had no idea what the effects would be or how dangerous it would be. Creating a species was worth 400 points; 1000 if he was literally the father of the species. That one would require Selene¡¯s cooperation.


    And then there was ¡®This is My Sin.¡¯ It was simple enough: choose one of the 7 Deadly Sins and you exemplify it at a level to match Escanor at his worst. It was that ¡®worst¡¯ which was troublesome. Escanor¡¯s pride ebbed and flowed throughout the series, but his worst¡­


    Arthur breathed deeply and considered. Pride would lead to overconfidence which could change a battle against the demon king from winnable to deadly; and it would push such a battle. If he was as proud as Escanor at his worst, he¡¯d actually try and fight Chaos itself, and he had no idea how well that would go but he was pretty certain he needed his wits about him if he did so.


    Wrath was right out. Greed too. Envy as well. Sloth he¡¯d do little or nothing. It¡¯d be giving up on all the other bounties, and on being interesting. Lust was¡­ unlikely to make Selene happy and¡­ His thoughts wandered to Minerva. She was like a daughter to him, but he didn¡¯t trust lust to equal Escanor¡¯s pride at its worst around anyone. That left Gluttony. The number of points provided was impressive. He could simply grab another high end power. But what would that level of gluttony even look like? The word worst kept sticking in his mind. It wasn¡¯t as gluttonous as Escanor was proud, it was as he was at his worst. And that was a huge difference; Escanor¡¯s worse wasn¡¯t common, and his very worst moments were¡­ Arthur couldn¡¯t remember them only that they were bad.


    And while the effects would be gone after this world, it would still be 10 years. Oh, the amount of time where it was probably critically influential was only maybe 2 years, but even if the enforced gluttony was removed at the end of the decade, experiences changed people. He wasn¡¯t the same person he was a decade ago. Living out a decade with his mind twisted by hunger would influence how he acted in the future and he couldn¡¯t tell you how it would do so.


    No. He¡¯d not take that bounty. Though that brought up another one. One he¡¯d refused 10 years ago: ¡®A New Name for You.¡¯ It was simple enough. Take a new name. And a name was an important part of yourself. But¡­ this was Arthurian Britain. He was named after the mythical king. Walking around as a second Arthur was going to be confusing, especially if he became a king. He didn¡¯t want to be named the same thing as a major character, especially one who he knew was going to become a villain for some reason; even if he didn¡¯t know how or why.


    Selene looked over the document. She had plenty of points, but things were expensive. There was the question of whether she wanted to risk background memories. It¡¯d give her a new life, but if she was choosing to be a human it would be a mayfly life, miniscule compared to the centuries she had lived as a dragon. And simultaneously it¡¯d give her a much clearer understanding of humanity.


    She¡¯d be able to resume her dragon nature. It¡¯d take a few moments, and wouldn¡¯t be effective in a fight, but it¡¯d still be possible for her. And it would give her a true idea of humanity.


    She was going to make that choice. She would be part of this human world and human age. And if she felt the need she could always reclaim her full strength. At that point it made her choice of background clear. Royalty would give her a pampered life. Holy knight would make her a warrior. Fugitive would mean being an outlaw. But what mattered more might be the powers associated with each one.


    Selene¡¯s fingers intertwined with Arthur¡¯s as she squeezed his hand. And she turned her head towards the smiley face creature. ¡°What happens if Arthur dies?¡±


    ¡°He is disqualified and sent home.¡± The smiley face answered.


    ¡°And Minerva and I will be sent with him, but what if we have magic to revive him?¡±


    ¡°It does not change things. There are powers and abilities which can be obtained to get around this, but your ability to revive him will not prevent his disqualification.¡±


    Selene could feel Arthur¡¯s eyes on her. She leaned towards him, planting a kiss on his cheeks. She turned her mind¡¯s eye towards the document again.


    ¡°What if Minerva or Selene die?¡± Arthur asked. His hand was squeezing back tightly around hers.


    ¡°They will be revived and restored at the end of the jump. It will only be temporary for them. At least till the chain is over and you are returned to your home world. At that point death will be death for you or them.¡±


    Selene smiled a bit as she felt the light, relaxation of Arthur¡¯s hand on hers. She needed to consider what she would take. Royalty had been an easy choice for its healing powers when it had given her the ability to potentially resurrect Arthur - if only once - it was potentially invaluable. As it was, it was rather unnecessary. Drop-in had tempting powers. Kin of the Faith would allow her to use her full power without threatening Arthur or Minerva. Vengeful Souls would allow her to cause disruptions and distortions, and that chaos could cause rise to some power which would be useful in future worlds.


    But she wanted to experience humanity, and while Drop-In would allow her to unleash without endangering her friends, it wasn¡¯t enough to tip the scales. Besides another path had what might be even more promising; it didn¡¯t give her ways to create distortions, but it would give her ways to survive them.


    She made her choices.


    Minerva considered what path to take. It was obviously Holy Knight or Fugitive. If she wanted to select a magic power - and she did - those gave her back more than they cost, and while she was somewhat wary of accepting another¡¯s life into her own, she had done so before and she knew she could handle it. That left the decision of which. And what race.


    The races all had their strengths. Still she quickly had it down to three. They each provided strengths and would push her into very different positions and paths. Still after some consideration she had come to her decision.


    Selene¡¯s question to the smiley face had given her more to think about. Death was something she - and Selene - had second chances to get past. It didn¡¯t matter if she could survive the battles ahead as much as if she could prove useful in them.


    Her train of thought was disrupted when Arthur suddenly announced: ¡°I¡¯m taking the A New Name For You bounty.¡±


    ¡°Why?¡± She asked. It was worth 50 points, but as there didn¡¯t seem to be any options to take that were worth that, why to take it now and not later was a question she couldn¡¯t help but wonder about.


    ¡°Because King Arthur is a significant character, and I think the main villain in like a decade, and given I¡¯m named after him, things could get confusing. So I¡¯m going to choose another,¡± Arthur explained.


    ¡°Ok, I guess.¡± It was reasonable enough.


    ¡°I¡¯m debating one of 4 names. Ambrosius, Weland, Hrolf, or Bodvar Bjarki.¡±


    ¡°Why those?¡± Selene asked.


    ¡°Ambrosius is a name from the very start of Arthurian legend. It predates the sources that the manga drew on, and I don¡¯t think an Ambrosius shows up. Ambrosius, known as Ambrosius the Wise, was a Roman official or pre-Christian pagan god, who was granted with magical powers and the gift of prophecy. They were the original version of Merlin,¡± Arthur began to explain.


    ¡°Merlin?¡± Minerva had seen the name in the purchase options. She was apparently a powerful witch or wizard.


    ¡°The wizard Merlin is King Arthur¡¯s mentor. ¡­¡± Arthur began. It was a long aside, bringing up things such as post-Chretien, post-vulgate, the History of the Britons, and something called the Matter of England. She didn¡¯t really follow it all. It seemed that Arthurian legend had a long history, a lot of changes, was mostly something called fan fiction, and the world they were going to was based on a manga based on the fan fiction that was based on the fan fiction of this other person which was based on pre-existing folk lore. She wasn¡¯t completely sure how this was altogether relevant to why name himself after Ambrosius. However Arthur eventually returned to something meaningful.¡° ¡­ the world draws more from the post-vulgate, or at least post-Chretien de Troyes Arthurian legends, than the early English sources, and¡­ actually where is Escanor and his sun power from?¡±


    ¡°Sunshine?¡± Minerva queried.


    ¡°Yeah. Escanor¡¯s power. In Arthurian legend he was a giant who fought Gawaine and they both had the same sun-based power. I didn¡¯t read that story. I think it¡¯s probably post-Chretien, most are.¡±


    Minerva repressed a groan at Arthur¡¯s continued tangent away from what was impactful. ¡°But that¡¯d be the Sunshine power? It¡¯s rather expensive. How powerful is it? Actually how powerful are power levels in general?¡±


    ¡°I¡­ Don¡¯t really remember,¡± Arthur confessed.


    The smiley face made the sound of clearing its non-existent throat. ¡°I can provide a partial answer to that. Power levels are increasingly inconsistent throughout the series, and as they increase in a field above 1000 they should be taken with increasing levels of doubt and understanding that those values shown are estimates only. Still at 600 Strength with a proper weapon to serve as a focus and power multiplier one it is possible to cut down smaller trees with the air pressure of your attacks, throw large objects great distances, and embed them into the ground. At 20,000 strength one becomes a true threat to the landscape, able to cut through stone outcroppings and hills with the air pressure of your attacks - more easily with a proper weapon. Higher levels of specified strength do not show clear higher results, though Escanor¡¯s physical power is enough to make lakes from the craters of his attacks. Magical power and spirit are more vague in their showings. In her true form exerting her full power Selene¡¯s magical power and physical strength both reach the level at which the numbers become vague and rapidly expanding, seemingly showing a diminishing return. Arthur¡¯s magical power also reaches those levels. Arthur¡¯s strength without using specific magic to augment it is beneath 10,000. Yours,¡± the smiley face stared straight towards Minerva, ¡°Your Magical Power would be somewhat above 10,000. With the arrangement you were considering your Physical Strength would be increased to over 11,000, while your magical power would end up situated at approximately 20,000. With proper magical skill, or power your raw output would be higher than Arthur¡¯s when you first encountered him. Of course most who demonstrate such a level of magical power use ancillary abilities which are secondary to their main magical talent.¡±


    Minerva wasn¡¯t exactly certain of what the smiley face meant, but she had a basic idea. There were the powers of a witch, and then there were the special powers that you purchased separately. ¡°And sunshine¡­?¡±


    ¡°With your base, in raw power, near noon, you would surpass Selene or Arthur as they are now.¡± Minerva nodded. She had always lagged behind them. Selene was a dragon god, her raw power was insane. Arthur was the strongest mage in the world. But that was in raw power. There was the problem of skills and abilities.


    ¡°Could I defeat Arthur with that power?¡± Minerva felt Arthur¡¯s and Selene¡¯s eyes on her. Minerva wanted to roll her eyes at the shock and displeasure on their face. Arthur was the most meaningful reference point for power she had.


    The smiley face paused. ¡°It would not grant you enough raw power to overcome his pure spatial magic with your territory magic. As for actual victory, I am not allowed to answer that.¡±


    Minerva sighed. ¡°What about¡­¡± She started to ask about one of the other main options she was considering.


    ¡°Flash is similar to movement capabilities of White Dragon Slayer Magic. It is superior, though it lacks some of the versatility around it and would not work in conjunction with those elements of your magic.¡±


    That was what Minerva was worried about with the Flash option. ¡°And what about¡­¡±


    ¡°Its power is highly reliant on the foes you face. Magical power would increase your speed, effectiveness, and range with it, but physical strength would increase how much you could actually contain and carry in yourself.¡±


    Minerva nodded. ¡°How would¡­¡±


    ¡°It would not directly merge or interact with your Territory or Space Dragon Slayer Magic. Like with Flash there is some direct overlap between Space Dragon Slayer Magic and its effects, though where Flash is more focused and powerful in its direct effect, this is much broader than your slayer magic. Of course it is only a small part of the perk.¡±


    Minerva nodded. ¡°And¡­¡±


    ¡°The Sacred Spear is a highly powerful and versatile weapon. Each sacred spear is unique and different, but they do share the base form of a spear that is animate and capable of projecting energy blasts, and the form of an autonomous guardian creation. Traditionally Disaster is used to improve its performance.¡±


    That was problematic. While getting it along with Disaster was possible, she hadn¡¯t been heavily considering that power. ¡°How about¡­¡±


    ¡°Neither canon wielder overcame the power of sunshine, though it potentially could. It would scale with your increasing base better than sunshine, but it would take time and a prolonged dance.¡±Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road.


    ¡°I think I have the information I need to make my choice,¡± Minerva said. She wasn¡¯t sure which it would be. She was still considering 3 options, but she had a better idea now.


    ¡°So, what about the other three names?¡± Selen asked now that Minerva¡¯s discussion with the face was finished.


    ¡°Well they¡¯re all from Norse mythology,¡± Arthur stated.


    ¡°Norse mythology?¡± Selene¡¯s question launched Arthur into a spiel which moved from explaining what mythology was to Nordic culture, to viking raids, the Danelaw, and Normand conquest of Britain and following proliferation of Arthurian legend.


    ¡°So Hrolf is from Norse sagas. He¡¯s a mythical king of Denmark.¡±


    ¡°Those would be the Danes who conquered England?¡±


    ¡°Well the Danes who conquered England were more the Norwegians, like Cnut was king of Norway, but he also ruled Denmark, and they were a linked people¡­ and yeah. But while he didn¡¯t have the sword in the stone like Sigurd the Volsung and King Arthur he did form the court of the golden age like Camelot and gather his knights of honor and glory around him like King Arthur. So he¡¯s the charismatic king.¡±


    ¡°And you want to name yourself that.¡± Selene¡¯s voice was teasing there, causing Arthur to blush.


    ¡°You disapprove?¡±


    ¡°No. It¡¯s an aspiration I spent most of the last decade trying to foster in you. I just thought I¡¯d failed.¡±


    Arthur looked down and away. ¡°I don¡¯t really intend to try and rule anywhere in this world.¡±


    ¡°And the other two names?¡±


    ¡°Bodvar Bjarki is the Norse version of Beowulf.¡±


    ¡°Beowulf?¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s from an Old English work. The oldest surviving complete¡­ English epic? Poem? Story? It¡¯s not older than Arthurian legend - those start showing up in the 7th and 8th centuries, though they don¡¯t reach their final forms till much later than that, where Beowulf is¡­ well if I recall correctly the manuscript is from like the 10th century, but the story might be older, and it takes place contemporaneously with or possibly before Arthurian legend.¡±


    ¡°Ok¡­ So why would you want to name yourself after the Norse version?¡±


    ¡°Because he¡¯s got a cooler sounding name than Beowulf, and he¡¯s the biggest badass in Hrolf¡¯s court, and Beowulf is the badass of Old English literature.


    ¡°What makes him such a ¡®badass¡¯?¡±


    ¡°He ripped the arm off of a monster, swam down to the bottom of a lake, fought the monster¡¯s mom who destroyed a legendary sword, and then he killed the first dragon in literature that hits all of the key notes of a dragon as you¡¯d kno¡­¡± Arthur stopped, and flushed. ¡°Sorry.¡±


    ¡°I know you¡¯re a dragon slayer, dear,¡± Selene said. ¡°But I don¡¯t want you naming yourself after someone whose claim to fame is killing a dragon.¡±


    ¡°Sorry.¡±


    ¡°I had you slay dragons for me. It¡¯s alright.¡±


    ¡°And that brings us to Weland.¡±


    ¡°So who is this Wayland?¡±


    ¡°Weland the Smith is one of the few confirmed elves.¡±


    ¡°Elves?¡±


    Arthur breathed in and began to explain what an elf was, finally ending with, ¡°And I was thinking about going as a Fairy, so Weland, as the English name for the elf, felt like it¡¯d fit into Britain and the world, while I don¡¯t think he showed up since his role in Arthurian legend was older English sources only, and while he forged Caliburn the Sword in the Stone, this world if I recall correctly goes with the later source that it came from Nimue the Lady of the Lake and is Excalibur the post-Norman name for the blade.¡±


    ¡°So¡­¡±


    ¡°I think I¡¯ll go with Weland,¡± Arthur said.


    Selene nodded. ¡°I think I can get used to that.¡±


    Arthur breathed deeply and mentally addressed the bounty. A moment later Weland was looking at his companions. ¡°So, looking over things, we will be arriving about a year before the events of the manga. Most of the bounties require the first part of the manga to play out as is. That means we don¡¯t want to stop the holy knights of Lyonesse, Liones, from releasing the 10 Commandments, or the Seven Deadly Sins from opposing them. We can¡¯t help, we can¡¯t get in the way. But there are two bounties which force us to get involved. We need to get the Holy Knights ready to be meaningful players in the war, though it doesn¡¯t specify which kingdom¡¯s holy knights, and we need to make it so they can safely use and control demon blood.¡±


    The three began to converse and speak about strategy and plans. After some time Weland looked at the smiley face. ¡°So with these bounties to have chaos create forces and outside ones come when do I need to select them?¡±


    ¡°Please wait a moment¡­¡± The smiley face said. A few minutes passed, before it cleared its throat. ¡°... If either is selected at the beginning it will be possible to select the other later.¡±


    Weland nodded softly. ¡°And with the one that has things come from the outside, do I select what exactly comes?¡±


    ¡°No.¡±


    ¡°Do I select the number and tier?¡±


    ¡°Please wait a moment¡­¡± The smiley face answered. A few minutes passed again, ¡°...I am unable to answer that at this time. Higher authorities are undecided.¡±


    ¡°So I guess I can¡¯t take that at the beginning.¡±


    ¡°... That is so. It will remain open even if you do not elect to have chaos create potential new threats and foes.¡±


    Weland nodded, and he looked at Selene and Minerva before breathing deeply. He was about to speak when Selene pre-empted him. ¡°You should take it.¡± Weland¡¯s quizzical look got her to continue. ¡°It¡¯s not worth much, but it will be generating things that fit this world, and almost certainly do not match the Demon Lord or Supreme Goddess in power. You intend to try and fight - and defeat - them both, so they won¡¯t be much of a threat to you.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, but they could be a threat to other people.¡±


    ¡°Correct me if I¡¯m wrong, but ones that must be selected before entering the world are at least in part because they affect which version of the world you will be entering. Even if it doesn¡¯t, they¡¯ll be coming for you not for others, and it¡¯s not like the world won¡¯t respond to your existence. If this Chaos can create things in response to you, don¡¯t you think they will regardless due to your power?¡±


    Weland prepared to counter that he was pretty sure Chaos was sealed or something normally. But he realized he wasn¡¯t certain about that. There were pieces of it out and about already. He thought. It¡¯d been a long time since he¡¯d read the manga. ¡°I¡­ I don¡¯t know.¡±


    ¡°Besides, you intend to fight the very strongest of the world. Don¡¯t you think you should get as much experience as possible in fighting what it can throw at you before that?¡± Weland hesitated, and Selene pressed on. ¡°Plus we¡¯re expected to be interesting. Turning it down would be much more boring than accepting it, wouldn¡¯t it?¡±


    ¡°Are the points worth that much to you?¡±


    ¡°No. Making certain we get powerful enough to survive, and prosper is. The points help with that, but we¡¯ll need more than them to do that.¡±


    Weland looked at Selene. He could see the determination and confidence in her beliefs on her face. There was something in it that felt too much the ends justify the means. People could get hurt. But she was right. He would get stronger a lot faster with foes to face. And his existence was going to change things. His mere attempt to empower the Holy Knights could disrupt canon events. He intended to save Camelot. And he was pretty sure the Ten Commandments used it as their main base for a time. Not saving it would mean the most prosperous, rising hope for the world was snuffed out. Saving it would mean that the happy ending was no longer guaranteed regardless. And this was similar. It could hurt people. But it could give him the abilities needed to help people too. Even if not in this world it might ensure the worst case didn¡¯t happen. But it meant choosing to risk innocents.


    But failing to be interesting or entertaining meant going home, and finding someone else had made those choices. If they wanted the person who would choose such fights they¡¯d have them. And there was no guarantee it¡¯d be someone who hesitated to make such choices.


    His mind glanced at the bounty ¡®My Frankenstein¡¯s Monster.¡¯ It¡¯d not necessarily just be the person who¡¯d face such dangers, but who would make them.


    Though really this was largely excuses. He wanted Selene with him. She was going to make distortions to get the power needed. Whatever sugar coating he put over it, the truth was he couldn¡¯t both bring her along and hold to some refusal to do so. Which meant he might as well embrace it.


    ¡°Fine,¡± Weland answered. ¡°We¡¯ll face such distortions. But are you sure of this?¡±


    ¡°Of course. Don¡¯t worry. I intend to be able to handle myself here,¡± Selene said.


    They both looked at Minerva then. The dark haired mage nodded. ¡°I can handle it,¡± She said. ¡°If I can¡¯t that¡¯s all the more reason I need to.¡±


    Weland selected the bounty, and the smiley face cleared its throat once again. ¡°It is time to finalize choices before we begin.¡±


    Weland¡¯s eyes opened. He was in the streets of a city. It was a medieval city, maybe a mere town, he wasn¡¯t a medievalist to properly define which. But he knew the name of it. It was Camelot.


    And it was gigantic. It took him a few moments to come to terms with why it was so massive. It wasn¡¯t that it was large. It was that he was tiny. He had chosen to be a fairy, and he was not a fairy king. Even the fairy kings and holy maidens were small compared to human average, but normal fairies were the size of young children. He was tiny.


    And people were noticing him. He¡¯d appeared from nowhere in the city streets. It was enough to get them gasping, and pointing. He no longer had the distinctive blue-white hair of the last world, but he was a member of the fairy clan, and most humans of Camelot would never have seen his like.


    The fact that his clothes were ill-fitting, still sized for a human, wasn¡¯t exactly helping much either. He wrapped himself in his territory and disappeared, appearing instead on the rooftop of one of the buildings, hidden behind a chimney.


    He considered the clothing problem. He re-quipped a suit of armor, allowing the magic to resize the armor. It took a touch of improvisation to prevent it from constraining his wings, slits forming so that the armor appeared with them already pushed out. The Sea King¡¯s Regalia wasn¡¯t necessarily the most appropriate outfit for the region but it would do until he found another option. Already a use of this world¡¯s magic was popping into his head - one which would allow him to resize his clothes if he felt the need for such.


    Still that came second. First was finding Minerva and Selene. He hadn¡¯t seen them around him, and he didn¡¯t feel their magic power. He was about to open his archive to try and find them through its link when he realized he did feel Selene¡¯s magic power. It was different, so much less than it had been before, and without the feeling of a dragon which she¡¯d always had before, but he could feel it. And she was using it. It took him only a moment to be on the rooftops nearby her, it was better to observe an instant and figure out how he could help, than to teleport directly into the situation and risk getting in her way.


    Selene found the experience of inserting into the world disorienting. It wasn¡¯t the changes to her body - she¡¯d used enough self-transformation magic to have gotten used to shifts in her body proportions - but the fact that she could suddenly remember two lives. A moment before she¡¯d been selecting her being and nature in this world, but she¡¯d also been in the middle of stealing herself some supper from a bread merchant in Camelot.


    It left her confused for a moment. But that moment was enough for someone to notice her awkward fumbling and give a call to the holy knights to stop the thief. Instead of responding quickly, Selene found herself freezing. She had two conflicting sets of instincts and reactions. On one side there was that of the immortal thief, one who had lived in this world of knights and fairies for about 40 years - though she had stopped aging when barely an adult - and whose first reaction was to run. On the other side there was the proud, dragon god-queen, who had ruled with power and authority, and did not run from common mages, and whose first reaction was to use her power.


    And not knowing which to listen to, her reaction and reflexes were slowed. By the time she decided to hide it was already too late. She darted for an alley, but one knight was firmly behind her, and his screams of thief and halt were almost certain to draw another.


    She was moving faster than she was used to, but slower as well. As a thief she had had little in the way of power, being merely the equal of the least of holy knights. As a dragon god she could blow away the entirety of Camelot with little more than a flap of her wings if she resumed her true form. But now the two were merged, and in this truly human form she held only a fraction of the power she had held in her fake one. She was a far cry from the power of a dragon god, but even that small portion of its power was magnitudes more than she was used to possessing. Her body moved at a rate unfamiliar to either the dragon or the thief. Meaning she couldn¡¯t make the most of her new speed.


    A second Holy Knight moved to cut her off, and Selene¡¯s hand rose. Creamy, off-white flames erupted from beneath the knight and when they passed the man was gone. Selene hadn¡¯t killed him. She¡¯d merely teleported him away.


    But Selene had momentarily stopped to do so, and the man behind her raised his sword and charging it with energy fired a blast of electricity straight into her back. She fell to the ground, and then the same flames erupted around the knight. She rose, her cloak, and clothes, in charred tatters on her back, but her body already fully healed from the attack.


    And then she heard a voice calling her name. The voice had a high pitch, but as she turned she recognized the armor they wore. It was one of Weland¡¯s suits of armor. His underwater gear. She recognized the bronze breastplate, the scaled swimsuit of the bottom, the gloves, the boots, and the trident. She did not recognize the one wearing it. If he was a human he was deformed, his head too large for his body, his body too large for his limbs, and yet all too small to be human. The wings from his back, merely reinforced what the disfigured proportions of his body had begun to tell her. He was a fairy. He didn¡¯t look too much like Weland. His face might be similar, but it was hard to tell as it practically appeared swollen, and it wasn¡¯t proportioned right for a human face, but his hair was brown and straight instead of the blue and white spikes she was used to. Still he was wearing Weland¡¯s armor and he¡¯d recognized her. Which coupled with Weland¡¯s intent to be a fairy made it rather likely that Weland was the fairy.


    ¡°Weland?¡± She asked.


    The kiss that followed was definitely Weland¡¯s, even if she found it less pleasing than usual. As a dragon, her requirements for human attractiveness had been low. All humans looked rather interchangeably human after all; they lacked the tell-tale signs of biological fitness that she¡¯d recognize in dragons on an instinctive level. This life she had just entered into had a more refined sense of how humans, especially human males, should look. Weland¡¯s new fairy form didn¡¯t meet either criteria. It was small, disproportionate, practically deformed, like some cartoonish exaggeration; the sort of shape that made one remember goblins were British fairies.


    Even in her memories, Weland didn¡¯t stand up to the dashing and charming knight of her dreams of this world, but looks weren¡¯t everything. He didn¡¯t repulse or disgust her like the stout, big headed, chibi-esque fairy form. Still she could tell from the look on his face after the kiss she¡¯d made a face of her own.


    ¡°We should get going before more knights come,¡± Selene said hastily, hands rising and her magic reaching out. A moment later they were outside of Camelot, the city barely visible on a hill in the distance.


    Weland sighed lightly, doing his best to hide it. ¡°We should probably decide on how to proceed from here,¡± He said.


    ¡°Stop pouting. I still love you,¡± Selene told him. She wanted to cut off this self-pity before it became insufferable. ¡°Just your fairy shape is¡­¡±


    ¡°Ugly?¡±


    ¡°Have you looked in a mirror?¡±


    ¡°Haven¡¯t had time,¡± Weland confessed.


    Selene¡¯s hand waved, and a disc of magical energy formed, becoming a reflective pane. She laughed when Weland flinched away from his own reflection. ¡°See?¡±


    ¡°Quite ugly.¡±


    ¡°Precisely,¡± Selene said and then she began to blush as she felt the chill air on her back, her hand reaching behind herself to feel her bare skin. It was an odd feeling. She¡¯d never had much in the way of shame or embarrassment at her body as a dragon. She¡¯d never understood the reason humans felt such; but now she had a second self who had grown up under that cultural conditioning. ¡°I think step one is I should find some new clothes.¡±

 Camelot...

    Selene sat in the grass wrapped in a kimono. She looked like her own sister. There were traits that were very similar, her lips, her hair color, the shape of her face. But she was different too. Her hair was in a short page cut, so different than what Weland was used to seeing from her. Her clothes - before they¡¯d been torn - were masculine, and bulky enough to hide her feminine figure. Yet even that was totally different. Her chest was definitely a good bit smaller. Ten years in Earthland had ruined his ability to judge normal there. While he¡¯d grown used to it, he still remembered that the exaggeration of feminine figures had struck him early on.


    He didn¡¯t really have time for such carnal thoughts and he knew it. His Archive hadn¡¯t managed to establish a connection with Minerva yet, but that wasn¡¯t too surprising. It would have to work out in expanding rings until it did, and he had no idea how far she was from him. It¡¯d be easiest if they stayed still while waiting, but it wasn¡¯t really necessary.


    He needed to be considering what to do next though. He didn¡¯t have money. He didn¡¯t have a place in this world. Selene was a pickpocket and thief wanted in several kingdoms by her own admission. She didn¡¯t have any particularly useful connections or contacts, and he didn¡¯t have any at all useless or otherwise.


    He had power. If he just wanted to live it¡¯d not be too hard. He could walk into some kingdom and declare himself king, and beat anyone who said otherwise. He could play bandit lord and demand tribute far and wide. But that would be counterproductive. He could emulate Percival, walk into Camelot and swear himself Arthur¡¯s knight and when called out as a bumpkin beat the ass of Arthur¡¯s foster brother so hard it becomes a problem. But he had no idea what the actual duties of a holy knight would be, how they actually lived, and whether that would put him in a position to complete many bounties.


    He could live up to his name and play Weland the Smith. Or¡­ Weland the Enchanter. He could try and make Sacred Treasures all his own. He just didn¡¯t know.


    Selene¡¯s head rose. He didn¡¯t like the page cut with her face. She was looking at him, though. ¡°So what are you doing?¡± She asked.


    ¡°Experimenting,¡± he said. He¡¯d used his territory magic to enclose a small cylinder - about 100-ft tall and 20-ft diameter. He¡¯d teleported everything he could out of it, and then teleported a rock into it before connecting the top and bottom with portals. The rock was falling, reappearing at the top, and falling further. It wasn¡¯t a true vacuum, but it was close to one, no air resistance to create a terminal velocity. So the rock kept falling faster and faster and faster.


    He¡¯d tried using his enchantment magic to enchant a rock with magic to accelerate it, using Infinity to make the enchantment keep reinforcing itself.


    The rock had exploded.


    ¡°With what?¡± Selen asked.


    ¡°Relativistic kill vehicles.¡±


    ¡°With what?¡±


    ¡°Relativistic kill-¡± Weland broke off at her angry glare. ¡°An emergency option in case I find myself in a fight I can¡¯t otherwise win.¡±


    ¡°With a falling rock?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s accelerating at a constant rate of 1 g. No air means it won¡¯t slow down or break apart due to friction.¡±


    ¡°So?¡±


    ¡°Force equals mass times acceleration. Wait no that¡¯s not right.¡±


    ¡°What?¡±


    ¡°Newton¡¯s second law. Force equals mass times acceleration, but that¡¯s not the right one here. That¡¯d tell you how much force is acting on the rock, not how much it will impart when it hits.¡±


    ¡°What are you talking about?¡±


    ¡°The faster something goes the harder it hits.¡±


    ¡°Well yeah, that¡¯s obvious.¡±


    ¡°And this rock will keep going faster and faster.¡±


    ¡°So what? It''ll still just be a rock.¡±


    ¡°Even a rock can hit harder than my strongest spell if it¡¯s going fast enough. And there are people here who can reflect magic but not physical attacks. And even if it comes through a teleportation portal, a falling rock still isn¡¯t magic.¡±


    Selene¡¯s eyes widened a bit, and she looked at the rock and then back at Weland. ¡°And just how fast can it go?¡±


    Weland shrugged. ¡°I don¡¯t remember too much of physics. Still its momentum should be mass times velocity. And that should tell you about how hard it hits. And its velocity is constantly increasing by 1g.¡±


    ¡°A g?¡±


    ¡°The force of gravity. Normally something will reach terminal velocity, where the air resistance becomes so great it neutralizes acceleration from gravity. But in that little pocket it has none. When it¡¯s exposed to air it should be hitting it hard enough to make the air explode.¡±


    ¡°Air can explode?¡±


    Weland grinned. ¡°I think. It¡¯s been a long time since I touched anything involving physics. I just remember relativistic kill vehicles were a thing.¡±


    ¡°What kind of wars did your world have?¡±


    ¡°Theoretical ones in this case. Still Infinity gives me an infinity of possibilities. It¡¯s just a matter of figuring out how to reach them.¡±


    ¡°Oh?¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s say I hadn¡¯t sealed off the sides. But I instead put a waterwheel in the path. The rock would hit it and turn the wheel. It¡¯d be able to do work from there.¡±


    ¡°Just like a river would.¡±


    ¡°But I could make thousands of them. I could make it a thousand times the size. I could use water instead of a rock and I could hook those wheels up to a generator and make a perpetual supply of electrical energy.¡±


    ¡°Electrical energy?¡±


    ¡°My world didn¡¯t have magic. It relied on discovering how lightning worked and controlling it to make devices to match those of Edolas. Just like we brought magic back to Edolas, this would let me remove all the energy woes of my world. No fossil fuels. No wind turbines that devastate the ecosystem. No solar panels reliant on rare earth metals which pollute the world. No nuclear fallout and waste. Nothing toxic. Just enough metal to run the dynamos.¡±


    ¡°Sounds like something that will do your world a lot of good when we return to it.¡±


    ¡°And it¡¯s really nothing compared to what can be done with infinity. I mean I could simplify it so much just by using Infinity with a touch of lightning magic. No need to turn the force of gravity into electricity when I can just provide an endless source of electricity.¡± Weland picked a rock off of the ground. ¡°I could turn this into a battery that could run forever.¡± A touch of electricity ran through it as he tossed it upwards. It was a tiny electricity spell, and a touch of enchantment magic, but with Infinity compounding the enchantment over and over again, by the time gravity had stopped the rock¡¯s ascent and was pulling it down, the stone exploded from the building electrical force within it.


    ¡°I sense a but coming sometime soon.¡±


    ¡°But I don¡¯t know how to make use of this power. Not how it will be useful to me here and now.¡±


    Selene¡¯s hand touched his shoulder. ¡°Well I¡¯m glad you started by making yourself look more like you usually do,¡± She said. ¡°And I¡¯ll be more than happy to help you figure out how to make the most of this power.¡±


    Weland smiled. He was glad to have her by his side. ¡°Let¡¯s look at the bounties¡±


    There was one that obviously took priority as the first step, though. ¡°What do you say we give your patrons a show?¡±


    ¡°We talk to Minerva first, and you tell me the plan before that. The look in your face scares me.¡±


    Selene grinned a vulpine grin. ¡°I just think it¡¯s time to create a distortion. It¡¯s how one creates power. Just like your relative killing vehicle.¡±


    ¡°Relativistic kill vehicle, because it moves at relativistic speeds¡­ at least it will if it gets to charge up long enough.¡± He was still glad to have her by his side. Even if it was going to be a headache.


    Camelot went quiet as the moon began to shine down upon its castle, a noon-time night. Perhaps more breathtaking than that stellar abnormality was the silver-white creature which hung between the oversized orange moon and the castle itself. It was a strange and horrible mix of a many tailed fox and a dragon, its ¡®wings¡¯ a mass of tails spreading out through the air. Scales and fur competed to cover its body and a great pair of crescent horns rose from the back of its head.


    Weland had ceased to voice his objections. He still had his doubts and concerns about this line of approach. It was too overt and too large of a splash. The repercussions were impossible to predict. But Selene had a taste for the grandiose.


    Camelot¡¯s eyes were upon them. A dragon appearing over the castle with a noontime night was a quick way to draw the attention and interest of an entire town. Weland could see the holy knights of Camelot beginning to gather.


    Selene was coming down to the ground. Settling onto it and allowing Weland to gently hop off. And then she was changing, resuming a human shape if not her truly human form. She was still the Moon Dragon God, merely using magic to take human shape. Weland could feel the difference between it and the human form she¡¯d been in when he found her in this world, even more stark than the sheer physical difference. This was the form of Selene he was used to seeing.This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.


    ¡°We come from afar to speak with your noble king,¡± Selene declared. ¡°We bring him grim tidings and dark portents.¡±


    There was a murmur which passed through the crowd, and one man stepped forward, hand drawing his sword from its sheath. Weland could feel his magic power. It was insignificant, though he couldn¡¯t guess at his physical strength.


    He¡¯s got 18 Magic Power, 903 Physical Strength, and 190 Spirit. He¡¯s pathetic. Selene¡¯s thoughts came in through his Archive. She was wearing the magic earring she had been given as a cheat on entering this world. A copy of Balor¡¯s magical eye which could read the combat power of foes.


    ¡°How dare you scare the people of Camelot!¡± The bravado filled knight declared. ¡°Must I show you your place?¡±


    ¡°Do not point a sword at my lady,¡± Weland said in a warning tone, stepping forward and placing his hand on the great shaft of his warhammer. He wore his Brontes plate, the yellow and blue scales of the thunder dragon showing in the gaps of the metal plates of its outer level. ¡°We come here in peace, but if you demand we prove our puissance, point your blade at me, and not my wife.¡± Weland knew the man couldn¡¯t really threaten or harm Selene with a power like that. But there was a visceral and bodily reaction to seeing someone threaten her even if they couldn¡¯t meaningfully harm her. Besides, it was rude.


    ¡°Prove your what?¡±


    ¡°Puissance. Personal power and strength, especially that of battle,¡± Weland said, the roll in his eyes audible in his voice.


    ¡°Then prove it,¡± The knight said, rushing forward with his sword. He was fast, moving forward in a single springing lunge, his sword swinging towards Weland¡¯s gorget. The blade was a hand¡¯s breadth from Weland¡¯s armor when the man hit the ground, the electricity that had risen up around him, pulling him to the dirt as it shot through his body. The ground crackled angrily in a ring around Weland, a little more than an arm¡¯s length from him.


    ¡°Proof?¡± Weland asked, glancing down at the man who was still struggling to rise, as electricity continued to surge up through him.


    ¡°This is nothing,¡± the man said. He was slowly fighting up to his feet. And Weland increased the power of the electricity surging through him casually.


    ¡°We are here to bring a warning to your king,¡± Weland announced. ¡°Do any others seek to stop that?¡±


    The knight had ceased to try and rise. His arms and legs would not support him. He was laying on the ground, no longer able to struggle against the force of the current running through him. Weland shut it off with a dismissive wave of his hand, he had no desire to kill the knight.


    ¡°What is the warning you have for me?¡± Weland¡¯s head turned towards the sound of the newcomer. They were a child, 16 at most, a youth far below the age of leading a country.


    Weland spun to face the king directly, and dropped to one knee. ¡°I bring you a grim and dark tiding, oh king of men. A new holy war looms in under 2 years time, and if nothing is done it will mean the destruction of Camelot.¡±


    Arthur was visibly taken aback at that statement. Despite that the orange haired youth carried himself well. He was not particularly tall - no taller than Weland¡¯s human form and Weland was on the shorter side himself - but he had a presence which Weland had to admit was definitely beyond his obviously short years. ¡°What do you mean by this? How, why, will Camelot be destroyed?¡±


    Weland didn¡¯t remember the exact details. ¡°The Demon Clan will be freed, and it will resume its war with the Goddess Clan and those who serve the Goddess Clan. The Demon Clan will take Camelot as their personal fortress and capital and it will be obliterated in the battles to follow.¡±


    A heavily robed and cloaked individual who had been standing behind and to one side of Arthur stepped forward. ¡°And what source do you claim for this information?¡±


    ¡°A message from the Demiurge,¡± Selene said stepping up beside Weland. ¡°She who crafted the world tree, as well as the Supreme Goddess and the Demon King. She gave me this warning.¡±


    The cloaked figure took a half step back, and Weland could see the little glance from King Arthur. He was fairly certain the heavy robes hid Merlin the magician from sight, and even after all these years he remembered that she had only joined the Sins to manipulate for Chaos¡¯s release and to make Arthur the King of Chaos. Weland had changed the name in their story, from Chaos to Demiurge, to set her off-balance, but at the same time he knew she¡¯d recognize who it was that created those things. He wasn¡¯t certain if she could contact Chaos for more information - he didn¡¯t think she could but his memories of her connection with Chaos were minimal - he had to hope she couldn¡¯t. Because he knew she was plotting, scheming, and planning, and he was fairly certain their goals were incompatible. And between her innate magic power of Infinity and her immense knowledge and skill of magic she was the most dangerous person in all of Britannia for him to count as an enemy. Making himself known to her now was dangerous in the extreme. But it would stir the pot, and create distortions he might need to maximize the power he gained in this world, by bounties and otherwise.


    ¡°The Demiurge?¡± Arthur asked.


    ¡°That is what the philosopher Plato named that being which created all the world, revealed to him by his intimate relationship with Sophia.¡± Weland said.


    Weland could see the uncertain glance from the young king to the robed mage. Arthur was still unready in his place as king, and leaned too heavily on the magician. Of course there was wisdom in seeking information from those who were better informed.


    ¡°And what is it you want for delivering this message,¡± a mustached man, somewhat taller than Arthur. ¡°I assume if Arthur gives you a position and authority over the men of Camelot, one with a steady stream of revenue and income, you¡¯ll be able to prevent this destruction. It¡¯s a scam, isn¡¯t it? That dragon was nothing but an illusion!¡±


    ¡°Selene don¡¯t!¡± Weland¡¯s scream came almost too late, even before he had finished her name Selene was in her true, draconic form, her claw pinning the man to the ground.


    ¡°Does this feel like an illusion to you?¡± Selene asked, her vulpine head lowered towards the man¡¯s face. The holy knights had moved for their weapons, even the king beginning to draw his. ¡°I can assure you I am quite real, and we have traveled far to bring you this warning.¡±


    ¡°I need no great revenue or income,¡± Weland said, stepping forward. ¡°If I must live a peasant¡¯s life I will abide by it. I need but the aid of a smith, and the tools to work as one, and Arthur¡¯s trust and help. I am an enchanter, one who creates tools of magic - sacred treasures - to be wielded by others as tools and weapons. My enchantments will not be enough to protect Camelot on their own, but I would endeavour to equip your knights with them, and if you would have me aid in its protection.¡±


    The man beneath Selene¡¯s claw kicked and thrash. ¡°Unhand me, beast! I am the king¡¯s seneschal, and brother! He will not accept this dishonor done to his family!¡±


    Arthur¡¯s gauntleted hand reached for the back of his head, scratching somewhat awkwardly at it. ¡°Great dragon, could you release my brother? His words were rude, and brash, but his heart was simply in the protection of Camelot.¡± As Selene¡¯s claw rose from the body of Sir Kay seneschal of the king, Arthur¡¯s eyes turned towards Weland. ¡°If you can truly craft sacred treasures you would be quite honored in any court, without need for such grave warnings.¡±


    Selene, muttering about how she did not want some lowly peasant¡¯s life, aquiesced to the king¡¯s request.


    ¡°Judge me not by words, and with no ifs, but perhaps by the gift I bring,¡± Weland¡¯s armor flickered and vanished, leaving him in a fine garment of silks. The armor re-appeared in a heap in front of Arthur. ¡°My Brontes Plate, forged from the body of a dragon I slew. While I did not fashion the steel and scales alone, it was my magic which wove its enchantment and gave it its power of magic. If our skills as a smith are merely those of an apprentice, I would hope you find my skills as an enchanter satisfactory, and accept this gift for you, oh king, and see for yourself what power my crafts bring with them.¡±


    ¡°It would seem a most worthy gift,¡± Arthur said, reaching towards the armor, ¡°And I would be happy to¡­¡±


    The robed sorcerer¡¯s arm reached for his and caught it. They stepped forward. ¡°Wouldn¡¯t it be better to allow one of your knights to don it first and make certain that there is no perilous enchantment upon it?¡±


    Arthur frowned. He looked Weland in the eyes, and then looked at Merlin, and looked again at Weland. ¡°No. I will try it on myself. And if it is a worthy sacred treasure and you can make more, there is not a person in the kingdom who would ask you to live a peasant¡¯s life, or question you having a place in the king¡¯s hall.¡±


    Weland could smell the meat of the feast when they were brought into the royal feasting hall. Ale flowed freely, and roast meat adorned the tables. Selene stayed by his side, even as he was seated near the king. He was a newcomer to the court, and one that the king took some interest in.


    Merlin¡¯s interest was more cautious and distrusting than Arthur¡¯s. The armor had been true to Weland¡¯s words. It had done no harm to King Arthur, merely provided him with a conduit for his magical power to release in the form of lightning magic. Weland had proven true to his word. He had provided a Sacred Treasure that would be worthy of legends. Arthur took that as a reason to trust his why. Merlin, Weland felt, did not.


    The meal and show were, compared to what Weland had gotten used to in Selene¡¯s court in Edolas quaint. A mere provincial backwater compared to the eternal city of Rome. It was not horrible. There was plenty to eat. The ale was watery and weak, but the meat was well cooked, moist, and delightful. But there was nothing to make it impressive to one who had long dined on royal feasts.


    Weland¡¯s attention was instead on the figures about the table. He couldn¡¯t have told you if any appeared in the manga ever, but one caught Selene¡¯s eye. Out of all of the men there, his Spirit was highest, second only to Arthur¡¯s own. His physical strength was low, and his magic only middling, but his spirit alone put his power higher than the vast majority of the court.


    And when Weland¡¯s eyes fell on him, Weland noticed something else. The man was missing one hand. Weland pointed to him. ¡°Lord Arthur, who is that knight with but a single hand?¡±


    ¡°He is Bedivere, he was among the first knights to swear his allegiance to me. Why?¡±


    ¡°Could you request he come here?¡± Weland still didn¡¯t know what level of obeisance was appropriate around the king.


    Arthur called the knight over and they approached. He was young, in his early 20s, and while taller than Weland or Arthur he was not tall. His Strength was only 20. Even Merlin¡¯s was 70, and the other Holy Knights of Camelot all were at least above hers. And it showed in his physique, he wasn¡¯t rippling with muscles, or bulging with power. He was lank, and almost scrawny, the sort who one might expect to be picked on in a court of warriors, though to Camelot¡¯s credit Weland saw none of that. His spirit was nearly 1500, according to Selene¡¯s magical eye.


    ¡°What is it you need of me, my liege?¡± He asked, dropping to one knee.


    Arthur showed a small hint of embarrassment at the display. ¡°My guest wished to have a word with you.¡±


    Bedivere looked at Weland. ¡°How may I be of service?¡±


    ¡°Could you rise and show me your arm?¡± Weland¡¯s gaze told clearly which arm he spoke of, and Bedivere¡¯s sour face told even more clearly that it was a sore spot for him even now.


    Even so he rose and extended it outwards, obeying the request of his king¡¯s guest without hesitation and his best attempt to hide his displeasure.


    Weland¡¯s hands moved to Bedivere¡¯s stump and his requip magic began to work. Bedivere¡¯s missing hand was the opposite of his own, but a small twist and tweak to the requip magic that helped smooth over sizing could reflect it on a chiral level. Infinity could lock that change in permanently. And the hand would fit over Bedivere¡¯s stump as easily as it had his own.


    Bedivere¡¯s eyes were wide with shock as he jumped back and half fell, his hand touching the ground making him jump again. The hand was black metal, the tips of its fingers claws, but he could feel through the gauntlet as if it was his own flesh and blood. He stared in amazement at it moving his fingers almost dumbfounded.


    ¡°I faced a similar injury once, and I know what it is like to be incomplete,¡± Weland said. He might could have healed the arm, but that would require cutting away the scar tissue, and he wasn¡¯t completely sure it would have worked. Besides, Weland had put off restoring his own hand because he might need one of the magic tools that replaced it. He was not above deciding the same for another. ¡°That hand was made to turn magic that moves through it into a weapon against demons. It is a relic of battle and of great power, I hope you will put it to proper use.¡±


    ¡°Th-th-thank you so much, sir. This gift¡­ I do not have words for my gratitude,¡± He said, a touch of tears in his eye.


    ¡°I look forward to seeing how you grow in strength to wield it properly.¡±


    ¡°I will do all in my power to be worthy of this gift,¡± Bedivere said with a deep, heartfelt bow.


    ¡°If you keep giving gifts like this, you might find yourself swarmed with those who wish for them,¡± Kay warned sourly.


    ¡°Our guest is rather giving for one who came to beg for wealth,¡± King Arthur chimed in.

 A Royal Hunting Trip

    Even when it came to forging, Infinity helped. Weland heated the steel with an everburning, magical fire. Infinity allowed him to keep his stamina perpetually being restored and topped off by Healing magic. He wasn¡¯t tiring, even as he worked the hammer for hours on end. It did not, however, help with the boredom. Which wasn¡¯t completely fair. The work required attention to detail and creative thought. Magic was as much art as science, and timing was important in this craft.


    His first sword exploded. And his second. He didn¡¯t have the materials that he¡¯d have liked. But it was easier too. He could weave Infinity into the weapons. There was no need for lacrima or power sources, even in weapons designed to be wielded by others. His Sage Dragon Slayer Magic could fortify the material, and weave into it a means of fortifying and channeling the magic of others.


    His third try though he had learned how much magic he could imbue into a steel sword. When he had properly affixed the tang into the hilt and held the blade against the sharpening wheel, he held it up. It was the first sword he had made on this world. The materials were basic which limited the enchantment, but it was still a good sword. He could feel that, but he would need to test it. He walked out the smithy he had been given access to. His hand rose, cutting the air with the sword, and the wave of light from the blade cut a tree¡¯s branch, scaring the crow sitting on it. His sense for magic had told him that the crow was not exactly natural.


    Merlin had been attempting to observe him in his smithy. He¡¯d shielded it against anything like scrying, but that hadn¡¯t stopped her from attempting it. It¡¯d seem that his and Selene¡¯s answers on where they had come from, who they were, and how they¡¯d come upon the prophecy. He wondered if she¡¯d gone to the moon to see if there really was a moon kingdom, or the portal to such a dimension.


    Weland couldn¡¯t blame her for being suspicious. He and Selene were suspicious. A powerful mage and a dragon whose magical power was absolutely absurd, talking about preparing the Holy Knights for a new Holy War. They had come from nowhere, and wielded powers that demanded caution. He¡¯d be suspicious himself. But with the sword in his hand he was about to prove his value.


    But first he needed to test the sword. He wandered into the hills outside of Camelot, and raising the sword he lashed forward, letting three waves of light rush out from the sword. The ground erupted in front of him, light shooting out to tear apart the surface of the ground. He raised the sword, and the shining energy waves rose and twisted. He was directing them, making them move and dance to his will. He didn¡¯t know if Demon Slayer Magic would be effective against this world¡¯s demons. There were some definite questions due to how he had learned it as opposed to purchasing it. But hopefully his Shine Demon Slayer Magic would still prove an effective weapon in the hands of whoever ended up holding it.


    He directed the light back at him, body turning to the side as the energy blades rushed past him to dig into the ground on either side of him. And then he channeled a small amount of Darkness Dragon Slayer Magic through the sword, relieved to see that the small sliver he put in was made a dozen times as strong. He didn¡¯t dare try to channel his full power, but it would amplify magic he channeled through it.


    If he could make a few dozen of these would that be enough to uplift the Holy Knights? Would it even count at all?


    As Weland went to deliver his newly forged sword to the king, he passed by Selene at the training grounds. She had assumed her human form, not merely the shape she could take as a dragon, but the new truly human form she had been given in this world. Her perspective on things was different since coming to this world. She had a feeling for true weakness she had lacked before, and a greater determination to get stronger.


    She¡¯d rejected his enchantments being used to make her stronger. It¡¯d limit her ability to improve on her own if she relied on his spells to boost her strength. She was right there. He had magic which should be able to uplift someone¡¯s power substantially. His Enchantment magic could increase strength or speed or even magical power. But he had no idea how far he could increase it.


    Selene was not up to the level of a holy knight as a warrior. Oh, in raw physical strength she was extremely strong, not as strong as he was, at least not in human shape, but still stronger than the strongest of Arthur¡¯s knights. But her weapon skill meant she fell far behind the better fighters among them. She didn¡¯t know how to fight as well. But she was determined to get better.


    He made himself watch for a few moments. He¡¯d learned what she¡¯d picked up from the Jump document for this world. She was as immortal as Ban now. She could fight and survive with raw power. But if she was going to make sure he survived as well she needed to know how to fight for real. And that meant fighting in her weakest form, against people who weren¡¯t holding back, and knew full well how immortal she was.


    The fight down below made him wince. Despite everything he knew, he barely managed to hold himself back from acting as he saw a sword plunge through Selene¡¯s chest lifting her from her feet. Or wanting to rip apart the knight who callously tossed her from his sword with a swing of it.


    Selene rose to her feet from where her limp body had been tossed, and lifted up her sword once more. They were preparing for another round, when Weland turned his head away and continued to the castle. He only paused to throw a rock at a crow being used as a spy by Merlin.


    Which could be the reason Merlin had a scowl on her face when he entered the throne room. Arthur was talking to merchants, dealing with some dispute or trade negotiation. The young king was very active in taking care of the affairs of the country, from the heights of statecraft to military matters to even the lives of the small folk such as farmers and even merchants.


    Weland found himself waiting till the king could make room for him. Weland lifted up the sword - still in its scabbard - and, laying it across his hands, knelt, and presented the weapon to the king. ¡°I call it Chrysaor.¡±


    The coppery taste of blood filled Selene¡¯s mouth. It was her own. She¡¯d taken a rather nasty blow from the morningstar that Galerides wielded. He was the knight who had attempted to attack Weland on their arrival. In raw strength he was the closest to her of those who served Arthur at Camelot. And she hated to admit that he knew how to use it with the way he made that morningstar dance.


    ¡°My point,¡± He grinned. It was a blow that¡¯d have been potentially fatal if she didn¡¯t heal how she did. And it was the most she could do not to turn her magic on him. It¡¯d be so easy to destroy him. Even without turning into her dragon-self, even as truly just a human her moon dragon magic was still enough to deal with him with ease. But she would learn nothing from fighting him with it.


    She wasn¡¯t learning much from fighting him without it either. Her sword rose to block his next blow. But that wasn¡¯t the same as learning nothing. She was on the defensive, seeking for a means to disarm him. She was immortal, and he knew it, so Galerides would hold nothing back. But he was very much mortal, and she knew it, so Selene had to defeat him without causing serious harm. It made things significantly harder.


    But not so hard as to be impossible. Even as one of his blows sent up a torrent of dirt she managed to slip past his spinning weapon and place her sword to his throat. ¡°My point.¡± She did her best not to sound disdainful or contemptuous. She¡¯d asked him to help her train. But he¡¯d also cracked her head open twice, broken her ribs, and made her arm stick out of the flesh. Training hurt, and it hurt badly.


    ¡°Still five to three,¡± He said. ¡°Why don¡¯t we take a break, and get to know each other better.¡± His eyes didn¡¯t hide how he¡¯d like to get to know her. ¡°I mean you could use someone with real strength. Not just someone who relies on little t-¡±


    His hand had touched Selene¡¯s hip, gripping her body. And hers had opened a ball of cream-colored energy bursting into his chest to send him flying through a tree. ¡°You¡¯re right, I only have use for someone with real strength. And,¡± She paused. She¡¯d been prepared to verbally destroy him. He¡¯d dared to touch her, and he emphatically lacked that right. But¡­ He might be a useful tool to challenge Weland to become stronger, or to create a distortion.


    She looked at him, her eyes narrowing. No. He wasn¡¯t. He had no magic power. He merely possessed strength. And she didn¡¯t believe for a moment that brute strength was enough to challenge Weland. And he could be several times stronger and he¡¯d not match Weland in mere brute force. Even in his fairy form, Weland could overpower the brute.


    ¡°And? That¡¯s me,¡± He said with an unbeaten smile, splinters of the tree in his hair, and his mail still smoking. ¡°Look baby, I know that guy has some neat little playthings but he¡¯s ignoring you to go play with his forge. You deserve someone who will give you a good tim-¡±


    Butterflies of energy burst from the ground around him, spinning about him and strafing him with explosive assault. ¡°You¡¯re an idiot,¡± Selene said, no attempt to hide her contempt and disdain now. ¡°I thought my last no was clear enough. You know nothing about what you speak and if you say another word on the subject I¡­ WILL¡­ END¡­ You.¡± As she spoke the butterflies of energy began to fly around him faster and faster, hitting and exploding against his body. He fell to the ground, only to rise in silence a minute later, and skulk away.


    Selene was still irritated when she walked into the hovel she was sharing with Weland. Even Camelot¡¯s most impressive structures lacked the flare and fineness she was used to. It was cramped, and dirty, and there were no servants. It wasn¡¯t up to the quality of life she preferred to keep.


    Weland¡¯s head rose when she walked in. She saw the way he winced when he looked at her. It made her more irritated.


    ¡°The bath is hot,¡± He said only to flinch a bit at the glance of annoyance she gave him. ¡°I know you enjoy a bath after training, and since I wasn¡¯t busy in the forge, I figured I¡¯d have one ready for you when you got back.¡±


    She was taken aback a bit. He¡¯d been busying himself in the forge far too much for her tastes of late. ¡°Thank you,¡± She said.


    ¡°I mean it wasn¡¯t just for you.¡± He grinned at her, and then flinched again when her expression must have soured - or he used his new fairy powers to read the annoyance in her heart. ¡°Well I mean¡­ I hoped we could spend the evening together. And I didn¡¯t want getting the bathwater hot to eat at that time.¡±


    She softened a bit as she looked at her idiot. ¡°And what did you want to do this evening?¡±


    Weland started to say something and cut himself off. ¡°Spend it with you. I finished the first successful sword. It¡¯s proof of concept, and I know I¡¯ll need a lot more to ¡®uplift the holy knights¡¯ and get the points but¡­¡±


    She poked his forehead even as she leaned in for a kiss, light sparking from it. It was her new magic from this world, one which allowed her to invade the mind. The hypocrisy that she¡¯d be pissed at him reading her mind, but was doing it to him right now wasn¡¯t lost on her, nor did it deter her.


    He¡¯d finished his first sword for the king, and then been waiting for her to finish training. Because he¡¯d been feeling guilty about neglecting her. She couldn¡¯t help but smirk at the feelings he had when he saw her. He really didn¡¯t like the idea of her being caused pain. But he loved her.


    She felt him hold her tight as they kissed, and she couldn¡¯t help but smile when she broke the kiss with her idiot. ¡°Let¡¯s take a bath,¡± Selene said. She had allowed Galerides to get under her skin. Weland would choose her in a heartbeat over the forge. ¡°The tub might be small, but it¡¯ll be intimate. And sorry for invading your mind, I just¡­¡±This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.


    ¡°Wanted me to cut to the chase instead of being anxious about your response?¡±


    ¡°No. I let an idiot get under my skin and was being stupid.¡± She squeezed his hand.


    ¡°Weland, leave the bird alone,¡± Selene said, as she watched the sunset from the mountain peak. Weland had sent Enif and Altair flying out seeking the most scenic views in Britannia. He¡¯d prepared a supper of cold cuts, cheese, bread, and wine, and it was just a chance to be with his wife somewhere wonderful and beautiful.


    ¡°I don¡¯t like her spying on us,¡± he grouched, but he didn¡¯t throw yet another stone at the bird.


    ¡°Let her watch, it¡¯s not like we have anything to hide,¡± Selene said.


    ¡°Still don¡¯t like her spying on us.¡±


    ¡°Let it go, and focus on me instead.¡± Her tone and the roll of her eyes got Weland to heed her words. This was about showing her he cared, if Merlin¡¯s stalker tendency wasn¡¯t bothering her, he could stop it from bothering him.


    It was a pleasant meal, a warm enough evening, and a lovely sunset, watched from a towering pillar that rose above the clouds. And Weland was ready to just enjoy Selene¡¯s presence when she pressed against him to watch it. She was cuddlier since she¡¯d accepted that human past; he was a bit afraid to press her for why, and she hadn¡¯t broached it herself. He worried about what sort of trauma in her past could have caused it, but she didn¡¯t seem too hurt, or more scared of things than she had been before. Less if anything; Selene had never engaged in brutal training previously.


    ¡°You know, there was something about Frankenstein we should work on,¡± She said with a smile.


    Weland¡¯s heart skipped a beat and then he kissed her. A few moments of friendly grappling later. ¡°That bird is still watching.¡±


    ¡°If she wants to watch this, she can. But no matter how envious she gets you¡¯re still mine.¡±


    The bird soon left.


    ¡°The moon is beautiful tonight,¡± Weland said, a smile on his face, and worries for now something forgotten.


    ¡°No talking,¡± Selene muttered snuggling in closer.


    He was happy enough to be quiet and let her drift off to sleep in his arms. There was nothing at the moment which would make him happier.


    The roar that shook the sky said that wasn¡¯t going to happen. The color of the beast was hard to determine in the moonlight, but it was a great, winged biped. Like a theropod dinosaur but many times even the size of the tyrant lizard king. It had the distinctive shape, though, with the stubby forelimbs, the massive, bone crushing jaws, and the great counterbalancing tail. It was fatter and thicker, though, and it possessed a pair of wings that looked tiny on its great bulk, but given it was flying towards them were evidently quite functional.


    It was breathing in, light blossoming in its mouth, before it breathed out a torrent of flame to burn Weland and his wife and everything nearby.


    Weland¡¯s mouth opened wide and he inhaled the flames flowing into his mouth, even as Selene raised her hand and formed a bow of magic power before launching a spike of it into the dragon¡¯s head.


    A moment later she growled. ¡°It¡¯s nothing but a feral beast. Is this what dragons of this world are?¡±


    As it landed, tail smashing down towards them, Weland clapped his hand and time slowed to a crawl. Moving Selene from the field of slow magic was easy and quick enough. And the dragon could remain within until he decided what to do with it. Given its speed and the slowed time it¡¯d be months before it had left the field.


    The next morning saw people getting up bright and early. A great white stag had been seen of late around Camelot, and a royal hunt had been called. Weland found himself on a horse accompanying the king. A dozen holy knights, Selene, and Merlin rode with him, and there was an assortment of others riding out. It was meant to be a day of gaiety and frivolity, though the hunt itself was not without its aspect of training in both the riding of steeds and the art of the bow and spear.


    The great white stag proved to be elusive, and by the time noon had risen the hunting party had largely splintered. Merlin and Selene had stuck close to the king, while Weland had found himself with Bedivere, and a few other Holy Knights, who ran into the cave of a bear. It was a large creature, at least the size of a polar bear and with claws that tore through one knight¡¯s armor and shattered rocks with ease. Weland wrapped himself in an armor of warped space which resisted its blows so that they hurt him less than an unkind word, and a sphere of the same created an explosive force which brought low the bear with a single blast. To the knights of Camelot this was a feat and one that left them in awe. To Weland it was very little.


    Still of the three groups that had splintered off there was hope that they would be the ones who returned with the most impressive catch. Not that Weland was joining in their jubilation too much. His magics allowed him to maintain a telepathic link with Selene which told him that Arthur had spotted the stag and was in fast pursuit.


    It also told him that something had gone wrong before the roaring crash of the attack. Selene hadn¡¯t seen what it was, except for a terrifying blur, but it had brought her down. When she¡¯d healed enough to raise her head, Arthur was already on the ground and the blur was attacking Merlin.


    Weland was there in an instant his magic warping space around him to bring him to the site of the attack. Arthur was bleeding onto the ground, and the air was screaming with sonic booms. One of the magics he had mastered in the prior world, his Archive magic, allowed him to ¡®overclock¡¯ his brain by running it through the magical super computer, but on a peaceful day he hadn¡¯t been doing due to the dissociative effects - and how it made everything feel like it was being played in annoying slow motion - and even if it had been active he doubted he could really have followed what was happening.


    Merlin was off her horse, the short haired sorceress floating and teleporting - more the latter than the former - forced to avoid attacks too rapidly to perform a more effective maneuver.


    Weland hadn¡¯t figured out the situation when an attack hit him. His Territory Armor held, but the blow knocked him flying from his feet and the sonic boom deafened him. Dirt sprayed up where the assailant landed, and two more sprays bloomed as it launched itself again. The hit knocked him off his feet just as he was getting onto them, and before he could fully right himself he was being struck again.


    And then he was hit from another direction before he¡¯d landed from the first blow. He was being juggled in the air like he was on the losing end of a fighting game combo. His Territory Armor was holding, but the blows were hard and they were coming fast.


    He couldn¡¯t make the hand sign for his time slowing magic, but even without it if he put enough magical energy into it it could be done, and with the way it was hitting him he had to do it.


    As the world slowed down around him he finally got a good look at the creature attacking him. It was an albino rabbit, red eyes and white fur. Its ears were long, reaching back over its entire body, its teeth were vicious fangs, and its four feet each ended in multi-inch long claws.


    And there were about half a dozen of them. And despite the world having slow to where the blood spurting from Merlin¡¯s throat seemed to be absolutely frozen, the rabbits launching themselves at him were still moving faster than a man would charge.


    He teleported, barely dodging an attack, only to see the rabbit split in two, jumping in two different directions when it landed. Where there had been one rabbit there were now two.


    The rabbits were pouncing towards Weland. There were more than half a dozen, and they all looked identical. If he had to guess the killer rabbit had some power to xerox itself.


    He was too slow to teleport away as one of the supersonic rabbits hit him in the back. He warped space, a ball of darkness forming and exploding, but the rabbit was moving fast, and his aim was sloppy as he was forced to rapidly teleport. Where there had been 8 rabbits there were now 9, the white bunny replicating itself again. He didn¡¯t want to blast Arthur, Selene, or Merlin, and their wounds were a problem.


    ¡°Monty Frickin¡¯ Python shit,¡± he complained as he spread his Territory magic to create warped space around Arthur and Merlin to shield them against the sonic booms. He wasn¡¯t certain how long it¡¯d hold up, his Territory Armor was a firmer shield and it was being chipped away.


    He summoned a silver key into his hand. He wasn¡¯t fast enough to deal with half a dozen of these rabbits, but he wasn¡¯t without options to remedy that. It was a twist of summoning magic, invoking the power of his summon as magical garments. In this case it was the bronze pegasus Enif, whose speed he hoped would be sufficient to match that of the rabbits. It wrapped around him as bronze armor, gauntlets covering his hands, breastplate his chest, wings like those of a hussar stretching from his back. And the speed was something amazing.


    In his slowed time field the rabbits had no chance. Normally he¡¯d never have been able to fully invoke both, especially while maintaining his territory armor, but with Infinity stretching their durations to eternity, he only needed to use the power to invoke them for an instant. The prime rabbit split again as he went to town, and a second time the first time he struck it. But it wasn¡¯t getting away. He pushed onward, landing blow after blow, until suddenly it exploded in a burst of speed.


    Weland realized what his mistake was a moment later. He¡¯d pushed the rabbit outside of the field of temporal magic, and it¡¯d resumed its full speed. His territory magic flared as he teleported the sword Chrysaor from Arthur¡¯s body to his hand. He wasn¡¯t skilled in unarmed combat. He was a swordsman.


    A lash of light from the blade caught the rabbit and cut it in two. It screamed. It wasn¡¯t a monster¡¯s scream. It was the scream of a rabbit as a cat tore into it still alive. It was a natural, animalistic scream. And that was worse. It was a poor, animal in pain, and Weland felt his stomach twist with unwarranted guilt. Until he noticed that the scream was pulling in the replicant rabbits, or the bodies of those he¡¯d broken. They were merging together, flesh joining back with flesh, taking the form of a terrible, eight-legged rabbit the size of a large boar. Its teeth jutted out in great, dagger-like fangs, and its eight feet each ended in terrible claws.


    The shockwave of its attack leveled the clearing around him, and Weland found his territory armor shorn through, one of the bronze bracers of his summoned ¡®star dress¡¯ deformed by the attack. His right arm was in agony, a bone broken beneath it. And the rabbit was turning and roaring at him like some monstrous beast.


    Weland wanted to give a witty one-liner, but there wasn¡¯t time. He cut with Chrysaor knowing the rabbit would dodge the blades of light, but even as he did he created several explosive spheres of warped space. They bombarded the rabbit from all sides, one catching in the side of its cheek and blowing it apart. The rabbit landed, new, twisted limbs starting to sprout from its wounds, a half-dozen miniature arms forming from its cheek, eyes opening along them to replace the eye he¡¯d blasted out.


    ¡°One, two, five,¡± Weland thought he said. His ears were ringing and he was fairly certain he was deaf. And fairly certain that he wasn¡¯t speaking comprehensibly even if you could hear at the speed his body was moving. But his Nihility Explosion blossomed inside of it, and the rabbit burst into pieces.


    What the hell was that Monty Python bullshit?


    Arthur was alright. Concussed, but nothing that Healing Magic couldn¡¯t cure. Merlin¡¯s throat had been cut, but Weland¡¯s Slow Magic had kept her from bleeding out till he could heal her properly. Selene was¡­ immortal. She¡¯d not resisted his slow magic, so that it could affect the rabbit, and wouldn¡¯t risk Arthur and Merlin, but she was fine.


    And then there was the rabbit. Merlin looked at him, and pointed at its carcass. He¡¯d blown its head off of its body. ¡°I will be taking this beast back to my lab to study,¡± She said in a somewhat imperious tone. ¡°There¡¯s a lot that does not sit right with me about it, and Arthur, I would like you to have your holy knights investigate the region to see if there¡¯s any sign of what made a mutilator rabbit into that thing.¡±


    ¡°Wait,¡± Weland said, raising a hand. ¡°It¡¯s my kill so it¡¯s my prize. And I do want something from it.¡±


    ¡°What?¡± Merlin said, turning to face him directly, arms crossing in a way that brought attention to her torso. The mage¡¯s outfit was oddly modern for the world of Britannia; and rather close to indecent for any world. Hot pants, boots, and a jacket which barely covered her nipples and didn¡¯t close across her chest. It was¡­ Anime.


    ¡°I want you to extract iron from its blood. Extract materials from it so that I can use them in the forging of a weapon,¡± He said. ¡°It was a powerful magical beast and I think I can make something powerful from it.¡± It was a spawn of chaos, his bounty board confirmed that. This was something that had only existed because he¡¯d accepted a challenge. It hadn¡¯t pushed him to his limits, but it had apparently qualified as a ¡®difficult battle¡¯ as he had finally completed another bounty which gave him the power to use his Fairy Tail magic without need for the hand signs and motions, because he¡¯d been too rushed in the fight to use them until he was relying on Territory alone which he¡¯d long since stopped using them for.


    Merlin nodded. ¡°That should be doable. I¡¯ll get you something you can use and in exchange the rest of it will be mine.¡±


    ¡°I also want enough of its hide to use as a cloak, or at least a cape.¡±


    ¡°Fine,¡± Merlin said.


    Bedivere¡¯s black metal hand clasped his shoulder once she was gone. ¡°Your slaying of the Beast of Caerbannog and saving the king shall be remembered in song.¡±


    ¡°What did you call it?¡±


    ¡°The Beast of Caerbannog. That¡¯s the name of the hill, because it looks sort of like a castle.¡±


    ¡°What the hell is this Monty Python bullshit!?¡± Weland screamed.


    ¡°Monty Python?¡± Bedivere asked.


    ¡°A¡­ troupe of comedy actors from the Lunar Realm,¡± Weland fibbed a bit. ¡°Their most famous show was about a group of holy knights seeking for the holy grail.¡±


    ¡°And where does bovine crap come into it?¡±


    ¡°Well, you can tell who the king is because he doesn¡¯t have any dung on him, but¡­¡±

 Vampire Princess Minerva

    Minerva walked through the halls of the border fortress. She had been seeking an audience with the Great Holy Knights of Liones for some time. After all, the enemy of her enemy was a useful ally. Her stumble as she suddenly felt the second mind from another world opening into her will caused the holy knights who were escorting her to stop and give her harsh, suspicious gazes.


    She continued the rest of the way in a haze of confusion. She could remember two lives, and their intentions towards the Seven Deadly Sins were quite different. The Seven Deadly Sins had killed her kin. She knew the justifications. She knew in their place she¡¯d have done the same. But she couldn¡¯t forget that night from a little over a decade ago. Her father¡¯s grand plans, and desire to take the top place in the world now that the world had lost its two great powers. If the Sins hadn¡¯t stopped him, he¡¯d have begun a mission of conquest which would have wiped out Liones just like it had already destroyed a human kingdom. One could claim justice had been on the side of the Sins. But it had still been her father. It had still been her kin. It had still seen the end of her clan save for one. She¡¯d been still considered a child then, if on the cusp of adulthood. Too young to be expected to fight.


    Now though she was an adult and her power vastly exceeded that of her father¡¯s. Regardless of what Gelda said, she had been prepared to take her vengeance. It had never been a matter of justice, but of doing right by her kin.


    Her other life added considerations to things though. Weland - that name felt so wrong for him - had been something like a father to her. He¡¯d killed her biological father. But he¡¯d done it for her. And it was easy to see the comparison between Jiemma and Izraf. The hate-filled souls of the dead Yakumo clan was another stark warning about the path she was taking, as was old Georg. She had seen how hatred and vengeance ate away at the one who gave their heart to it. And here she was walking straight towards doing just that.


    She almost bolted. It¡¯d be so easy to call up her territory and teleport away. But that wasn¡¯t what she should do here. She had waited a long time for this chance, and even if she was having second thoughts about hunting the Seven Deadly Sins she should move forward with it. She remembered some of the tasks ahead of them - uplifting the Holy Knights, purifying the New Generation, and ensuring that the Great Holy Knights opened the seal on the 10 Commandments. Whether she wanted to seek vengeance or help Weland, her duty lay ahead.


    Only one of the great holy knights was waiting to meet with her. His white hair seemed prematurely gray given the vigor and vitality of his frame; he wasn¡¯t young, he¡¯d been an established knight even when her clan was wiped out by the Deadly Sins, but he wasn¡¯t old to the point of infirmity. He held himself even now like a warrior and one who had great experience in battle.


    Minerva met the great holy knight¡¯s gaze behind her helmet. He was judging her. That much was certain. ¡°So you¡¯re the Black Knight of Edinburgh I¡¯ve heard of?¡±


    Minerva answered with a mere nod. She¡¯d made a name for herself staying in the destroyed kingdom of Edinburgh and challenging holy knights from other kingdoms who passed to close to duels. She had been seeking enough power to stand up against the Seven Sins, especially that man who was among them. Her strength had in truth blossomed, she had broken through to her true power, and in the last 3 years no duel had truly challenged her. Maybe this great holy knight would.


    She had heard he was from the druid clan, a subsect of humans who had devoted themselves to the teachings of the goddess clan and possessed powers designed to combat her clan and its allies from the Great Holy War.


    ¡°We will need to hide your true identity for the time being,¡± he said. ¡°While the king has supported outlawing the Seven Deadly Sins, your own reputation is not much better, and the rumors say that you are a not a human, but the last survivor of the clan that destroyed Edinburgh. I am certain you understand why that would make things problematic.¡±


    Minerva nodded. It was a simple fact. Her clan had destroyed a kingdom overnight. And she was stronger now than the entire clan put together was then.


    ¡°And I will want some proof of your abilities.¡± He raised a hand and snapped metal clad fingers together, causing a knight to emerge from a shadowed alcove stepping forward and looking towards her. ¡°Show that you can defeat him. Well outside. We wouldn¡¯t want to damage the fort.¡±


    ¡°Wouldn¡¯t fighting you be a better proof of my abilities?¡±


    The great holy knight turned towards her. ¡°It almost sounds like you¡¯re an assassin.¡±


    ¡°If you¡¯re scared of the Sins, then won¡¯t it take someone who can make you scared to defeat them?¡±


    The great holy knight scowled, his face twisting in a grimace. ¡°Big words. Perhaps we should see if you can live up to them.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll look forward to it,¡± Minerva¡¯s hand moved to rest on the great, curved axe on her back.


    ¡°Let¡¯s take this outside. If you can handle him maybe I¡¯ll let you try me.¡±


    Minerva hadn¡¯t needed anything more than raw, physical power to deal with the holy knight. His innate magic power had allowed him to project the force of his blows in powerful destructive waves, enough to fell a forest. By the standards of Earthland they were dangerous blows - not up to the level of Diabolos but still dangerous - but this just made him a rather average holy knight.


    Her armor had been sufficient to withstand a blow, and she had managed to close the gap and bring him down. Once he was on the ground he was done for. Her helmet fell in two pieces, freeing her long black hair, and showing the slight cut on her forehead from his attack already healed, as she looked at the great holy knight. ¡°Care to try now yourself?¡±


    She could feel the sunlight on her bare skin. It was an uncomfortable ache. It wasn¡¯t unfamiliar, she had lived with it often in this life, and yet it was. In her other life she¡¯d never felt it before and the two halves were still integrating in ways.


    ¡°You didn¡¯t even draw your ax,¡± the great holy knight noted.


    ¡°Didn¡¯t need it.¡±


    ¡°You might want to get it ready if you want me to show you just what sort of power you can expect.¡±


    ¡°Still confident? Let¡¯s see how you do.¡±


    It was daytime. Her power was half under the cruel reign of the sun. It wouldn¡¯t matter. The great holy knight was fast. He just wasn¡¯t fast enough. Her ax came up to block his sword, and she launched a powerful kick. He flew back, his own leap leading him to avoid the main force of the kick, but she could see on his face that he¡¯d realized the force of her attack. He¡¯d dodged the blow but the wind force had torn his cloak.


    The white haired man¡¯s cheek twitched, and Minerva pounced. He was on the defensive now, parrying and blocking with his sword as her sword came sweeping towards him. The smug, arrogance on his face wasn¡¯t breaking. He was fighting a fight that seemed to be pushing him to his limits¡­ but he didn¡¯t use his magic power. Nor did he show signs of true worry. He was holding back.


    He finally found a space to lunge with his sword. Minerva dodged, the blade scraping against the chest of her fullplate, and her free hand gripped his arm. He fell to the ground in an instant.


    ¡°So this is your magical power,¡± He noted, unable to rise from his knees. His strength had disappeared in an instant, and with it his ability to fight her. But she could feel something still lurking and hiding within him. A dangerous power which she couldn¡¯t be certain to defeat.


    ¡°But you didn¡¯t show me yours,¡± She noted.


    ¡°I doubt it would have worked on you,¡± he said through gritted teeth. ¡°I have heard of the regenerative capabilities of the vampire princess.¡± He didn¡¯t have the strength to support his own body, his head hanging down from his shoulders, where her hand lifted his upper body from the ground by one hand.


    ¡°Tell me, do you believe I can defeat that man?¡±


    ¡°... No. Not really.¡± Minerva clenched her teeth. ¡°But perhaps you can become strong enough.¡±


    Minerva had displayed her power to the Great Holy Knight, but that wasn¡¯t enough to fully win his trust. While he¡¯d made some oblique references to something which might give her the power to defeat that man he was not yet willing to provide it to her. For that she needed to earn his trust. And to earn his trust she needed to obey.


    Weland hadn¡¯t charged her with doing anything she was uncomfortable with. He¡¯d told her to bolt for Camelot if she ever felt the need, and that he could find a way to deal with the demon blood himself whenever the time for it came. But she also knew that Weland wasn¡¯t confident in his ability to control Selene¡¯s little distortion-creating policy, and that the story of the world might already be winding out of control. Having someone who could keep an eye on the Great Holy Knights of Liones was going to be useful. And she was already positioned to do that.


    If she could just earn their trust. She did not quite know how to do that. She was fairly certain that the Great Holy Knight Hendrickson didn¡¯t even know what he wanted to do with her. She had met with him weeks ago, and in the more than a month since he¡¯d merely sent her here and there to look for signs of the Seven Deadly Sins.


    This time it was the Forest of White Dreams. It was a large expanse of woods dominated by white fog. Even experienced hunters avoided it as the woods seemed to lead those inside of them astray, and the so-called sixth sense of experienced Holy Knights failed them. There were rumors of dangerous monsters roaming it as well.


    It was the perfect place for someone to hide out, and while Holy Knights had sought the Seven Sins within it before, it was entirely possible they had missed them. So Hendrickson had sent her there, to recheck the forest just in case one of the 5 unaccounted for Sins was hiding within it.


    She had taken with her a set of iron spikes, which she had been driving into the ground to keep track of her movements. Her first day and a half of wandering hadn¡¯t seen her come back upon them. But she had doubled back across her path. She was certain of that. A dragonslayer¡¯snose was acute, and she could smell it when she passed over her own tracks.


    Something, or someone, was removing the trail she was leaving behind herself. She just needed to catch them in the act. Her nose guided her back through the forest, even as the fog and its strange aura would have led others astray. There was a herd of boars in the act of covering up a hole they had dug where the stake had been, one boar wearing a harness of sorts with a bag full of the iron spikes.


    She hefted her ax then and threw it, sending the great, heavy blade sailing through the air like a buzzsaw. One of the boars let out a cry and they began to run, but it hit across the bag on the one¡¯s back, making the iron spikes spill out, even as Minerva rushed after it. The boar was running fast, but it wasn¡¯t as fast as the - rather angry - holy knight. She grabbed her axe still running, and she tossed it again, blocking the boar¡¯s retreat.


    White smoke burst around it, and an armored fist lashed out from the cloud to strike at her. She dodged quickly, and found herself face to face with herself. The doppelganger threw its axe at her, and Minerva sidestepped casually. Another axe came flying and another, a whole host of her mirror images surrounding her.


    Minerva lashed out. Her duplicates looked like her, and even moved similarly to her. But she quickly realized that, while they could copy the general flow of her movements, they could not copy the brutal strength or speed of them. Her fist struck a doppelganger, and it flew backwards, cracking a tree as it turned into what she assumed was its true form. It was a fat nosed, short, blue creature, reminiscent of a goblin.


    The others changed in unison, reverting to their own natural shapes, as they scattered and ran. She managed to catch two, and rammed them so that their long, flowing, almost robe-like shirts were hanging on bare, dead branches of trees, holding them suspended below. It¡¯d not hold them too long, but as she picked up her axe she trusted it¡¯d be long enough.Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.


    ¡°You were trying to interfere with my search. I want to know why,¡± She said, placing her axe against one¡¯s face.


    ¡°I won¡¯t tell you!¡± The creature screamed.


    ¡°You won¡¯t? And what if I said I¡¯d split your friend in two with my axe if you don¡¯t?¡± Minerva¡¯s axe cut the air next to the other goblin-like creature.


    The creatures both squirmed, and trembled. ¡°Don¡¯t tell her!¡± The second said, leading to the first starting to nod its head.


    ¡°If you won¡¯t I¡¯ll kill you both, and then go about killing the rest of your kin until one of you does,¡± Minerva said in a cold blooded tone.


    The imp swallowed. ¡°She¡¯ll hurt us if we tell you¡­¡± He claimed, and then he began to talk about the giant girl who they had sworn to hide and protect.


    ¡°Lead me to her.¡±


    ¡°Please forgive us, Lord Diane! She made us do it!¡± One of the two trickster imps screamed as they entered the clearing where the giant girl was lying.


    The girl looked young. It wasn¡¯t just her pigtails. She had a softness to her face and features reminiscent of a young teenager. She awoke in an instant at the scream, her bursting open as she rose. From the vision of an innocent child asleep without worries in the forest, was instead a terrifying image of a 30 ft tall giantess bellowing in anger, ¡°What?¡±


    The imps were obviously terrified, and Minerva could see why, as the giantess noticed her and lunged. Minerva leapt backwards, the wind force from the giant¡¯s fist snapping branches from trees around her.


    There wasn¡¯t time for small talk, though, as the giant followed up the blow, forcing Minerva to dance backwards. She had been putting in work. Even if it was just shadow boxing she had begun to incorporate her skills from Earthland, with her simply faster and stronger body from Britannia. She was fairly certain Hendrickson was spying on her somehow, so she hadn¡¯t dared attempt to incorporate her magic from Earthland. She didn¡¯t want to give him any information about that which she could avoid. Even without it, though, her skills were not without their uses.


    ¡°Get out of here and don¡¯t come back!¡± The giant¡¯s scream was of secondary concern to her sweeping kick. There was no side stepping this, or hopping back.


    Minerva bent over, her body folding 90 degrees backwards at the waist as the foot swept over her face. And then she was pulling up and lunging forward. As the giant¡¯s foot came down, Minerva¡¯s hand was striking the giant¡¯s knee in an open palm thrust.


    It was a blow to make the giantess¡¯s knee buckle, and bring her down. Even on one knee she was still taller than Minerva herself, and still able to fight. Minerva¡¯s finger nails extended from her hand, punching their way through the seems of her gauntlet as they stabbed into the giant¡¯s flesh, and began to drain her blood.


    Minerva¡¯s magic was working with her vampiric feasting, draining the giant of her strength and power and sending it straight to Minerva. The giant¡¯s hand came down, slamming from above, but Minerva caught it with her own, one arm raised towards heaven like an immovable rod, holding the giant¡¯s massive fist up even as the transferred force cracked the ground beneath her.


    Soon she was simply supporting the weight of the giantess, no more strength behind the blow. ¡°Diane, the Serpent Sin o-¡± Minerva began to speak, only for the ground to erupt beneath her. A stone pillar had burst forth, launching her back. She spun in the air, moving with surprising grace given her full body armor, and landed on the upper limb of one of the trees of the forest.


    The giant was forcing herself to her feet. She was unsteady. Between blood loss and the magical theft of her strength it was impressive that she could stand at all. Her dark brown hair framed her girlish face, her orange leotard not showing any damage from her rural lifestyle. Heavy arm bracers doubled as partial gauntlets. The look on her face and in her eyes was fierce and unsubdued, and she seemed a powerful foe, especially as she began to fire off her magical power in rapid succession. Sharp pillars of stone burst from the ground, forcing Minerva to jump from tree to tree till eventually she reached the ground.


    The vampire princess was calm as she moved, though. She showed not a sign of doubt or concern. She had tasted the giant¡¯s strength, and she knew how much of it was left. ¡°Diane, Serpent¡¯s Sin of Envy, you and your fellows slaughtered my clan,¡± She said, undeterred this time even as the ground began to swirl and spin around her, sucking her down into the dirt.


    The giantess¡¯s face twinged slightly with a look of question, and then possible recollection. ¡°Yes. I am a vampire,¡± Minerva said, sinking unafraid into the sand. She tensed, moved, and leapt, launching out of it. ¡°And I am here for my revenge.¡±


    The giantess¡¯s first response was to grab a fallen tree, but drained of her strength she could hardly lift it up much less throw it. As Minerva throw her great, broad headed axe down towards her, Diane¡¯s arm rose. The axe hit the bracer and both shattered in a rain of metal fragments. But Diane¡¯s arm and body had hardened into a solid metal of their own.


    ¡°The vampires killed the kingdom of Edinburgh and declared war on Liones!¡± The giantess seemed to think that was enough reason to justify the destruction of Minerva¡¯s clan.


    ¡°They were still my family, and you killed them. This isn¡¯t¡­¡± Minerva was approaching as she spoke, moving slowly and deliberately. Even when the ground rose up around her, hardening into a rocky coffin, she barely changed her pace, shattering the stone with sheer, brute strength. ¡°...  about justice. This is about¡­¡± A pillar of stone rose up behind her, hitting her in the back, and merely propelling her half a step forward before she jumped upwards, fist balled for a strike. ¡°Vengeance.¡±


    Diane¡¯s other bracer cracked and shattered, as her arm blocked the blow, the giant hardening to steel again. Minerva had been aiming for her diaphragm, not a lethal blow, but hopefully one that would fell the giant. She had to commend her for still standing after her strength had been drained from her. The giantess should have gone down just from the feeding. She shouldn¡¯t have been conscious any more. Minerva had tasted - and stolen - her strength. She knew the giantess¡¯s physical limits. She should be down.


    ¡°Not yet. Captain still might need me,¡± Diane spoke as if by sheer force of will she could win the battle, her iron fist a flash.


    Minerva moved fast, dodging a flurry of blows, before finding an opportunity and hitting the giant¡¯s ankle and sweeping it out from under her. ¡°Weak as you are? I doubt it.¡± She finished with a kick to the falling giant¡¯s chin. The metal of the giant¡¯s form hurt to hit, sending a numbing shock up through Minerva¡¯s body, and Diane wasn¡¯t going down easily, struggling and fighting to rise. But each blow had stolen a portion of her strength, and now Minerva unleashed, blow after blow knocking the giantess and pushing her back until finally one left her on the ground unable to rise for the time being, her strength completely drained, and her spirit no longer enough to force herself to remain conscious.


    Then she looked about her. The forest was still standing, though it looked like a tornado had touched down on it with the way they had cleared a portion of it. As far as the mist allowed her to see - and further still - there was not a tree standing.


    This was a problem. She¡¯d hoped she could report she hadn¡¯t seen anything. She hadn¡¯t intended to bring back a captured Sin. One was already captured in Liones¡¯s elite prison of Baste. She¡¯d seen how they were treating the Fox¡¯s Sin of Greed. It wasn¡¯t a fate she¡¯d wish on her enemies. And she¡¯d seen the way some of the guards had looked at her. She¡¯d not want to put a woman in their clutches even if that woman was a giant. She¡¯d told Diane it was vengeance, and Minerva couldn¡¯t lie to herself that she didn¡¯t want vengeance, she¡¯d not have fought like she did if she hadn¡¯t wanted to thrash the woman for what she¡¯d done all those years ago. But it was one thing to want to beat a woman. It was another to be willing to lock her in a hell hole where she¡¯d be starved, and kept impaled to the wall. Even if she was willing to do that, she was pretty sure it would throw a wrench in Weland¡¯s plans.


    She looked around at the fog and mist. Was Hendrickson watching? Could he even observe her here? It mattered how he was watching her.


    She took a chance and reached out through the Archive link she held with Weland. It was something to allow her mind to touch his across a distance and communicate. She needed to ask his advice on what to do with the unconscious Sin at her feet.


    Just in case she was being watched she made a show of looking around the area as if she couldn¡¯t remember - in the destruction of the battle - which way she had come. She hoped they couldn¡¯t somehow detect or tap the Archive link, but Weland was more than good with his magic and Archive was at its heart magic to control the flow of information. She trusted that he could keep it safe from spying.


    After a minute or so she walked over to Diane. It was just as she was leaning down to lift the giantess that she felt the impact against the side of her ribs. The force of the blow sent her flying into, and further shattering as she passed through, multiple of the fallen trees.


    She managed to catch herself with a hand, fingers digging into a rock as she stopped her flight. She could see the blonde haired woman who had attacked her. She was holding a bizarrely long flail. It had a bone handle made for one hand to hold it, before a long, whip-like length of chain, ending in a large metal head covered with spikes.


    Minerva¡¯s vampiric regeneration was fixing the wound to the side of her chest within moments, but her eyes were on the woman. She recognized them, but she could hope that any spies wouldn¡¯t recognize Selene. She intended to make this look good. And given the way that flail-whip was moving, Selene did too.


    It crashed towards her, forcing her to bend at an inhuman angle to dodge its sweep, before it showered her in dirt. It came sweeping again, hitting her leg and sweeping it out from under her. And then it came down onto her, hitting into her chest. It was on the third, rib shattering, blow that she managed to catch it.


    The flail-whip recognized her. She could feel it. Weland¡¯s magic at work. It was made for her. Even holding it backwards she could feel it channeling and strengthening her magic as it passed through it, and feel Selene¡¯s strength flowing into her. She spun, swinging the dragon god through the air, and she felt the length of the chain grow at her command, even while Selene began to crash through the tree at the edge of the field of destruction from her battle with Diane.


    Eventually Selene let go, and Minerva pulled the flail-whip, Rabbit Killer as Weland had called it, to her. She took it in hand properly just in time to see Selene rise up in her full draconic power, the Moon Dragon God having shed her guise of humanity and revelling in her dragon form in full.


    Minerva knew she needed to lose here¡­ But she wanted to see how far she could go first. There was only one way it would end, though. Eventually, Selene¡¯s moon-yellow flames surrounded her and she fell amidst them, and when she rose Diane and Selene were gone.


    When Minerva emerged from the forest she saw both of Liones¡¯s Great Holy Knights, and many other Holy Knights, mustering outside of it. Even Liones¡¯s court mage was there. Selene¡¯s power had been felt and noticed across the kingdom, causing stirrings and mutterings about how this might be the start of the prophesied Holy War. And Minerva was certain that fact was going to cause some distortions.


    <hr>


    Weland looked at the unconscious giantess. Things had begun going well. Merlin had warmed up to him somewhat after the killer rabbit incident. She¡¯d helped him make Rabbit Killer; he¡¯d even picked up some magic from her, and books to help him self-study. He was still cautious of her; long-term he was fairly certain their plans conflicted, and he couldn¡¯t actually remember how noble vs villainous her intentions were with Arthur and Chaos; of course the truth of that probably was in the sequel but he had - unfortunately - never read it.


    As the second month had approached its end things had looked pretty good. Minerva was spying on Hendrickson. Selene wasn¡¯t attempting to cause chaos. Merlin was trying to spy on him less. The random enemies that seemed to be popping up like flies hadn¡¯t pushed him again like the killer rabbit. He hadn¡¯t figured out for sure how to uplift the Holy Knights, and he didn¡¯t have access to the demon blood making the new generation to fix that, but things seemed to be on track.


    And then Minerva let him know that Hendrickson had sent her on a Sin hunt which had borne fruit and she thought he was spying on her. And now the giant girl¡­ Diane if he recalled correctly¡­ was unconscious in front of him a few miles away from Camelot where Selene had delivered her.


    If he remembered right Diane was the first Sin to meet up with Meliodas before Ban, King, the androgynous doll, Merlin, and last but not least the best one. Most likely she had met Meliodas in the forest that Minerva had found her in. And now Holy Knights were likely crawling over it. Even if they weren¡¯t if he just delivered Diane back without talking to her first, she¡¯d bolt because it is obviously compromised as a hide out.


    Which meant he¡¯d need to talk to her. He did not want to talk to an angry giantess waking up from being beaten unconscious.


    Selene was looking at her. ¡°So, I can replace her memory of Minerva with a terrible tornado touching down, and we put her back in the forest. Maybe give it a day or two to let any searches die down? Though how do we hide her from Merlin if we go that route?¡± She wasn¡¯t speaking out loud but communicating through his Archive link. It was a reminder of just how utterly terrifying the magic she¡¯d picked up here really was. It was a magic that could hijack minds and bodies, or modify memory. It was possibly the most scary magic available, even if lacking in a fast paced combat due to its nature as a ¡®long ranged¡¯ magic, and one which made him consider purchasing the giant perk Elephantine Memory just to make certain Selene wasn¡¯t using it on him.


    Though that was a thought that always left him feeling guilty. They needed to be able to trust each other, and she did deserve his trust.


    Weland stared at her, jaw a little agape. It felt wrong to mess with someone¡¯s memories like this, but it kept things on track and undistorted. ¡°... Wait¡­ but that will help prevent distortions,¡± He said.


    ¡°If we create a distortion now don¡¯t we just risk the demons remaining sealed? You don¡¯t plant new crops before you harvest your old¡­¡± She wrinkled her nose at that. Weland was getting better with his fairy ability to hear the heart and while it wasn¡¯t full fledged mind reading he could tell the gist of the feeling - that was something her human life from this world would say more than who she had been. It worried her. Weland didn¡¯t know what to say that would help her there. He just took her hand and gave a soft squeeze.


    ¡°I mean if you think we can create a more favorable situation by keeping her here and showing her to Merlin I am listening,¡± Selene continued.


    Weland paused. There was the safe route. Put her back, and let events continue unchanged. It¡¯d make certain that all the pieces fell into proper place. Then there was the dangerous route. He could take Diane to Merlin, confess to having saved her from one of Hendrickson¡¯s holy knights, and use her to help galvanize Camelot, and take an active hand himself in recruiting the Sins. It¡¯d let him ingratiate himself with them.


    He¡¯d played it safe for the last decade. Or had he? He¡¯d messed up the timeline immediately on encountering the Oracion Seis. And then he¡¯d dealt with Hades. He¡¯d changed it heavily.


    But it had produced results. Edolas had been prospering when he¡¯d left, entering a magical renaissance. Alvarez had been on a good track. And from a selfish point of view the amount of points that he¡¯d gotten, Minerva¡¯s growth, and Selene¡¯s presence beside him. It was all because he upset the apple cart of the world.


    Selene couldn¡¯t hear the voice of his heart, but the smile on her face told him she knew his answer.


    ¡°If worst comes to worst, I¡¯m sure we can find a way to unseal the Demon Clan ourselves,¡± She stated through the Archive link. They were going to roll the dice of distortion and see what they forged from it.


    ¡°In that case I¡¯d like you to enter her memories. It¡¯s been a long time since I read the manga, but¡­¡±

 Views from Afar

    Hendrickson considered the vampire princess. Liones¡¯s foremost mage, Vivian, had been observing her from afar with a scrying spell. Until the woman that had come to fight the vampire had become a monster and the sheer power of her aura had destroyed Vivian¡¯s spell.


    Truthfully Hendrickson was surprised the vampire had come out alive. Her battle armor was gone, the undersuit she wore burned and tattered from the attack that had done it. Still the sheer magical power of the dragon had been felt all across Liones; it had been enough to cause the king - weak-hearted pacifist that he was - to call all the knights of Liones to arms beginning with the Great Holy Knights.


    The flower of Liones¡¯s knighthood was gathered here, ready not for battle but to begin to search the forest for any clue. The dragon¡¯s power had vanished as quickly as it had appeared, and only Hendrickson and Vivian knew what the power had truly been. Only they had been watching Minerva¡¯s battle and the change that had shattered Vivian¡¯s spying spell.


    He had thought that Minerva¡¯s power was terrifying. The vampire princess had defeated him with one touch, draining the strength from him entirely. He could have tried his Acid, but he doubted it would work on a vampire, at least not one of her strength and power. They were potent regenerators. With her substantially superior strength and speed, he had little doubt that even if he hadn¡¯t been holding back she could have defeated him. And that was during the day. A vampire only grew stronger by night.


    Hendrickson could see the king¡¯s gaze falling on Minerva, and the great holy knight began to consider his options. The vampire¡¯s existence was potentially dangerous. She was powerful; powerful enough to have easily defeated one of the Seven Deadly Sins. Even though Diane had lacked the Sacred Treasure King Barta had given her, that was an impressive feat. She hadn¡¯t taken any injury in her battle against the Sin, even though she¡¯d fought them unarmed. That didn¡¯t truly change his estimation; Diane was far from the strongest member of the Seven Deadly Sins, but Hendrickson would have been forced to show his hand and use forbidden powers to do the same. The Vampire Princess was strong enough to be a dangerous card if she chose not to play the role he desired.


    And any dealings between her and king Barta were dangerous. Still he couldn¡¯t publicly object to her interaction with the king. It¡¯d require actively moving to a coup, and he was not yet assured that his faction of holy knights held enough power for that, or that Dreyfus would support it.


    He moved close enough to overhear the king talking to Minerva. Barta was visibly saddened when she said she was looking hunting the Sins. He had upheld their outlaw status, but he did not truly hold them malice. It was one reason King had been able to come back in a limited capacity.


    Still he seemed to accept that she was a foreign holy knight who had a personal grievance against one of the Sins for their past actions which Hendrickson - in his role as one of the two Great Holy Knights - had accepted as a knight of Liones.


    And then he stared out over the forest for several moments, before tears began to run down the king¡¯s aged and wise face. ¡°The Dragon of Calamity has spread its wings. The Lord of Distortion has risen, and the land of Britannia itself rebels against him, spawning destruction which will range far and wide. He has cut the skeins of fate and the weaving of future times lays in disarray. What would have been now will not be. By his will old seals will break, and darkness will rise to descend upon the land. By his word 3 horrible lights will spawn, and a darkness greater than all others. With his great searing gaze he has burned away all Visions I once had. Naught will be the same as it would have been. And as long as he lives danger will descend upon Britannia.¡±


    Barta nearly fell then, leaning heavily on the princess Veronica for support. His magic power of Vision normally did not weaken him so much, or drain him so far, but he now seemed unsteady and weak. It left Hendrickson wondering just how expansive it had been as well. Besides, elements of it seemed to impact upon his own plans and designs. He would have to learn more about what the king had seen.


    ¡°Why do you have a giant?¡± Galerides barked as he looked at Weland and Selene. They had appeared in the city square in front of Arthur¡¯s castle with a massive woman.


    He swaggered towards them. Selene was flawless and beautiful as always. It made his heart ache to see the dismissive way that she rolled her eyes as he came close. And then there was Weland. The little cretin did not deserve such a woman. What use did a smith have for such a warrior maiden? And how did a smith tame the heart of a dragon? Galerides knew in his heart that he hated Weland because he had Selene¡¯s love more than for any other reason.


    Galerides¡¯s hand moved to his sword, his hand shaking a bit. There was just a feeling of naked hostility in the air. Weland was little, more than a foot shorter than Galerides, but his magic power was immense, and Galerides had never been as aware of that as he was now when Weland suddenly gave him a death glare. In a way he preferred it to the barely hidden contempt that Weland usually looked at him with, but it left him shaking to his core.


    ¡°I rescued her from a less-than-holy knight who was going to drag her away to a hellhole dungeon and use her as bait for the other members of the Seven Deadly Sins,¡± Selene said, stepping between the two men.


    ¡°I should have known, you were the one who went and fought, not him,¡± Galerides said. He knew it was something he shouldn¡¯t say. Even if Weland had only defeated him by cheating with a magic tool, he didn¡¯t have the justification to insult a man who had come to offer his service to the king and had given it. Galerides himself had been bestowed one of Weland¡¯s swords. It looked like an apprentice¡¯s work, but he had to admit he¡¯d never touched a finer sword, and the light that it brought was impressive.


    The sword had only made Galerides hate him more. He had trained and dedicated his entire life to becoming a Holy Knight. The sword would have let any man fight a Holy Knight and win. Oh, it might depend upon the quality of the knight, but Galerides had no doubt that it was enough to defeat him. It was a slap in the face, like Weland had been saying, ¡°Here. This sword is worth more than your entire being.¡± And receiving it had felt like another. Galerides hated him. Galerides knew Weland knew. And yet he¡¯d done nothing when Arthur had given him the sword. Galerides hated Weland. But Weland didn¡¯t even see him as sufficient to hate.


    It made that flare of hostility all the more valuable to the knight. It was recognition from his nemesis and love rival that he was worthy of being an adversary. Better to be hated than looked upon like the dung on one¡¯s shoe.


    ¡°Out of the way, Galerides, I don¡¯t want to have to wipe you off of my shoe,¡± Weland said, pushing him aside with a surprising force. Galerides was strong. Powerful enough to tear through stone walls, and to bring low a fort. Weland sent him tumbling backwards casually. ¡°We need to deliver news of the giant, Diane, to the King.¡±


    ¡°Did you just shove me aside? I am a holy knight, you can¡¯t just¡­¡±


    ¡°Treat you like you¡¯re worth?¡± Weland asked.


    Galerides froze. Weland turned away and began to walk towards the castle, and Galerides breathed deeply. ¡°Those are fighting words,¡± He said. ¡°And my honor will not be satisfied till we make good on them.¡±


    ¡°How about here and now,¡± Weland said with an aggravated sigh, pulling a small sword from his waist.


    Galerides didn¡¯t draw the blade he¡¯d been given by Arthur. Weland had forged it. He drew his older sword instead. It didn¡¯t grant its wielder strength and speed. It didn¡¯t pour light from its blade to cut through armies. But it was all he¡¯d need against the smith.


    ¡°Here and now is good,¡± He said and rushed. His sword was larger and longer, and his reach was much greater than Weland¡¯s. It should be easy. That was the last thing he thought before Weland blurred and disappeared and he lost count of the number of blows from the flat of a sword all across his body which preceded his loss of consciousness.


    Merlin was struck, once again, with how much it was a shame that Weland had killed that mutilator rabbit. She could understand why - if it had not been for Weland¡¯s timely arrival her soul would be stuck in her sacred treasure, and Arthur would be dead - but there was so much knowledge lost from the act. And then more from the process of extracting its blood and bones so that Weland could use them to make a chain.


    Still she believed the rabbit had somehow been touched by the power of Mother Chaos. Merlin sought to release Chaos from where she had been imprisoned by the Demon King and Supreme Goddess. Her previous attempt had seen the Demon and Goddess clans sealed away for 3000 years. She had learned that that had been counterproductive. To break the seal on Chaos the balance of the Demon King and Supreme Goddess needed to be broken forever. One of them needed to die. And for that the seal needed to be broken.


    Or so she had thought. There had been no beast such as that rabbit at the hill of Caerbannog before. It was new. And it was touched by Chaos to make it into the monster that it had been.


    Of course as much as the rabbit could tell her she really wanted to experiment on its slayer. He was an enigma. She had heard of Selene before. An immortal thief similar to Ban. Whispers and stories had existed for years about her. She wasn¡¯t certain how the woman had become immortal, and her origin before it; still nothing talked about the vast power the dragon-woman had. She claimed to have been the princess of the moon realm, another world there was no return to now that she had left, but one she had left to ensure humanity - and especially Camelot - survived the oncoming Holy War. Merlin had no way of verifying this. She had learned to trust King Barta¡¯s visions, and he had foreseen the 7 Deadly Sins being necessary to fight the Ten Commandments, so it wasn¡¯t too outlandish. The Coffin of Eternal Darkness would break and a new Holy War would come - that was part of Merlin¡¯s own plans - but that didn¡¯t make the talk of some Lunar Realm that she had never heard of or found evidence for something she would accept uncritically. But Selene¡¯s power was real, and so was Weland¡¯s magic, so close to that of a sorcerer and yet so far away at the same time. She could be sure of that.


    The two had also been consistent with their story. Selene had been training with the knights, trying to extort them to greater power and skill through giving them a goal to chase - forcing her to fight them in her unsealed form - and Weland have been forging weapons for Camelot¡¯s knights and she could find no hidden curse or venom in them. What she did find was interesting. It was so very similar to her own magical gift of Infinity. Unlike the so-called ¡®Brontes Plate¡¯ he had given Arthur, which required its wearer to fuel its power, each blade he had made was a source of magical power on its own, an eternal and unfailing source of power. Chrysaor sat in her laboratory even now, its blades of light firing continuously, albeit at a low setting. It¡¯d taken some work to keep it active without a wielder¡¯s will, but it was like a working of Infinity, able to maintain itself indefinitely.


    And there was the battle against that rabbit. He had slowed time to a standstill. And he had kept it slowed till he had completed his tasks; including healing her and Arthur. He hadn¡¯t shown the raw power of his wife, but he had shown more than enough to destroy Camelot and everyone in it. Truth was Melin wasn¡¯t confident she could beat him if she tried, much less stop him from destroying Camelot and Arthur in the process.


    It made her hesitant to share knowledge of magic with him. He hungered for it. And he had good use for it. He wanted to improve his enchantments, and make better weapons for the court. It was a sound justification. But if he was lying it might make him something that could not be stopped. Her last apprentice had been a mistake. And honestly teaching Weland might be a much bigger one. Especially as he showed a dangerous talent for learning magic. She suspected it had to do with one of the spells he kept active about himself. It was hard to get a feel for. It connected him to Selene, and to another further afield. It was a sort of mental magic. Merlin didn¡¯t think he was controlling Selene, but she suspected they used it to communicate without words, and it buzzed around him. It was involved in blocking her ability to view him with her sacred treasure, Aldan.


    She had already made the mistake of lending him some basic books. She¡¯d thought that they were obviously too low level to actually be useful to him given what he¡¯d already shown. But in observing his work on the chain whip he had called Rabbit Killer, she noticed that he had altered his workings based on the books. They had become more like magic she knew, and unlike the alien sorcery he had been working in it before. It was


    The fact that he went to lengths to stop her observing him, was perhaps the reason she still couldn¡¯t put down the idea that he had something to hide. If you didn¡¯t have something to hide you didn¡¯t go to lengths to prevent observation. She¡¯d gotten - partially - around it by using birds as eyes. But he had magic not quite like she was used to, and it made her wonder if he had found a way around her own wards to prevent him from observing her laboratory.


    He was a problematic enigma, and one which might prove to be far too dangerous. She¡¯d considered stealing a portion of his power and memory, but she was uncomfortable attempting that. Even if she managed it, Selene would likely notice and her power was even more troublesomely vast. She had felt it again mere minutes ago. She¡¯d tried to use her sacred treasure to observe; it had been in Liones which had raised many questions. But the sheer power involved had disrupted her Sacred Treasure¡¯s ability to view what was happening. She might could overcome it with time and effort, but the time had not been there as whatever had caused her to reveal that form had ended too quickly. Were they working with the Great Holy Knights of Liones? It seemed unlikely; Weland and his lady were on a level closer to Escanor and Meliodas. She didn¡¯t expect either of them to need to ally themselves with the likes of Hendrickson.


    Merlin¡¯s ponderings were shattered by a heavy rapping on her chamber door. ¡°Lady Merlin! I hate to disturb you, but there¡¯s a giant in the castle!¡±


    Arthur had known that Merlin was a member of the Seven Deadly Sins and wanted in Liones. He had not expected one of her compatriots to be brought here out of the blue.


    The giant looked to be a young maiden, except vastly larger than usual. He¡¯d have estimated her as being between the height of 4 or 5 tall knights, from where she lay sprawled upon the city¡¯s square. She¡¯d obviously been beaten pretty badly, bruises and contusions showing across her body. It looked like the blows were from a mixture of hands, elbows, and legs, armored, and Arthur would guess a woman¡¯s. Liones must have rather terrifying lady knights if one could bring down a giantess, all the more so a giantess whose power Lady Merlin respected.If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it.


    Knights were dispersing the crowds around them. There were going to be enough strangers about her when she woke without making it a public spectacle.


    Merlin appeared in the square beside him and she looked at the giant. ¡°Do you know who she is?¡± She didn¡¯t make clear who she was asking, but the king chose to wait to answer.


    ¡°Diane, the Serpent¡¯s Sin of Envy,¡± Weland said. ¡°I thought she could use a friendly face when she woke up.¡±


    ¡°What happened to her?¡± Merlin was direct, calm, and cool. Even seeing her friend in this state she was unperturbed and cutting directly to the heart of the matter.


    ¡°A holy knight of Liones, but perhaps she can tell more details once she¡¯s healed,¡± Weland responded.


    ¡°How did you find her?¡± Merlin asked, her eyes on Weland. King Arthur could feel the distrust she had for Weland.


    Weland didn¡¯t immediately answer, but his lady stepped forward. ¡°I felt the battle,¡± she said.


    ¡°From so far?¡± Merlin asked.


    ¡°Didn¡¯t you?¡± Selene smiled back.


    For Arthur it was like watching two predatory animals, both uncertain who was truly the apex predator. Like a mountain lion and a dire wolf glaring at each other as they argued over territory. Still it dawned on Arthur that he had. Or at least he had felt a surge of power from far to the north.


    ¡°Not until you became a dragon, I assume that was to deal with the knight who was attacking her?¡±


    ¡°Can we talk after I heal Diane?¡± Weland snapped. ¡°Merlin, you¡¯re her friend, right? Be ready to give her a friendly face and some words so she doesn¡¯t think she¡¯s been captured by the people who attacked her. I¡¯d prefer not to have a giant rampage in the city.¡±


    Diane ached all over. She¡¯d been in a fight in the forest. And it had not been an easy fight. It¡¯d felt like dealing with Ban stealing her strength again, her body had gotten so heavy she could barely move. And then there¡¯d been the blows. They¡¯d hurt her through her heavy metal. Ban had never hit like that. Even the Troll Queen hadn¡¯t.


    She saw a man crouching over her, his hands on her body. He was tiny by comparison - a human - but she knew better than to dismiss the threat humans could present; she remembered what happened to Matrona and the power that her captain had displayed in the past.


    Before she could decide how to react to her captor, she saw a face she recognized.


    ¡°Diane, it¡¯s alright. We rescued you,¡± the black haired sorceress said. Merlin. Another member of the Seven Deadly Sins in the past, and once Liones¡¯s greatest mage.


    ¡°You what? What¡¯s he doing?¡± But she had a feeling of it already, there was light flowing around the man¡¯s hands and as it washed over her she could feel her exhaustion and pain fading. ¡°A druid?¡±


    ¡°He calls himself a smith,¡± Merlin said with an enigmatic shrug. ¡°But let me welcome you to Camelot.¡±


    ¡°Camelot?¡± Diane asked as she sat up. She was looking about, her eyes taking in the place she found herself. She didn¡¯t recognize anyone here but Merlin, nor did she recognize the place. But Merlin would begin introducing her to it, and its inhabitants.


    Galerides dismounted from his horse. There¡¯d been reports of a dark rider attacking the edges of Camelot¡¯s kingdom. He, Bedivere, and Eric had volunteered to ride out.


    What they found was far worse than the reports. The reports had just been that a strange, black knight had been seen in the evenings near the farming village. What they found instead was a thick, greenish fog that had fallen over the town.


    Galerides had nearly walked into it when Bedivere grabbed his shoulder and pointed into the fog. A horse lay on the ground, a man beside him, neither moving. The very grass around them was yellow and dead.


    ¡°It¡¯s probably poison,¡± Bedivere said. ¡°Let me go first with my magic.¡±


    Purifier; Galerides knew it well enough. It was a magic that cleansed curses and poisons; at least those weak enough. He huffed. He was strong, strong enough that he¡¯d venture that a poison that killed a town of normal men wouldn¡¯t kill him. Still, he let Bedivere walk forward, his white light shining out from him. The fog dissipated where it touched the light, creating a small area, barely large enough for the three knights, where the poison fog did not reach.


    Galerides¡¯s stomach sank as they walked into the town. Trees were bare of their leaves, the plants sickened and dead, and livestock and people lay unmoving on the ground. The green mist gave the entire village a haunted appearance, making Galerides feel a touch of an unfamiliar emotion.


    He was scared, and he didn¡¯t like that.


    ¡°What could have made this fog?¡± Erec asked, his head turning side to side. ¡°Do you think it¡¯s the black knight we¡¯re seeking?¡±


    ¡°It could be,¡± Bedivere said.


    Galerides shook his head. It felt unlikely. He stayed quiet, but he wondered¡­ if the black knight had had such power why did it wait to use it? Why show yourself first and not just strike?


    ¡°But what worries me is that they were seen. If all they wanted to do was destroy the village and they had this power they could have. Do you wonder if they were trying to bait forth Camelot¡¯s knights? Or worse our king?¡± Bedivere asked, his glow shining through the fog like a lantern.


    ¡°Maybe I was just looking for a head,¡± A woman¡¯s voice came from one side and Galerides turned to face the sound like his fellows.


    She was plain of face and feature, the rest of her body hidden under her black armor. She rode a black horse. The green fog made it hard to guess accurately the color of her hair as it tinted things with its green hue, but he¡¯d guess at red.


    ¡°A head?¡± Erec said. ¡°Tell me, lady knight, whose head did you seek?¡±


    ¡°Mine,¡± She said. ¡°Or one that could be mine. This one is too plain¡­ too weak¡­ yours might do better.¡±


    Galerides moved then. He drew his sword - not the one the King had bestowed him, but the sword he had trusted for years - and he was barely in time to interpose it between Erec and the blade coming for him.


    The lady-knight had spurred her horse, a great black scythe forming in her hands. His sword caught its blade and for a moment he could see how the scythe seemed to be composed of moving darkness as it cut through his sword, and slashed through Erec¡¯s helmet and his armor. And then Erec fell.


    ¡°Erec!¡± Bedivere shouted, his sword flying from his sheath. Galerides could see the fear on his face, even as the shining energy of Weland¡¯s sword in Bedivere¡¯s hand cut out and forced the lady-knight back. It cut through her scythe, and cut her head from her body in a single smooth blow.


    Damn his pride. If he¡¯d just used the sword the king had given him, he could have saved Erec. But because it was made by a man he hated he had not.


    ¡°Bedivere, take Erec back to the horses. Ride out of here with him. I¡¯ll hold her back,¡± Galerides said, drawing the sword forged by the man who had thrice dishonored him.


    ¡°The poison!¡± Bedivere said, even as he lifted Erec to his shoulders.


    ¡°I¡¯m strong enough. I can hold it off long enough to escape,¡± Galerides said, his immense strength had always been his best quality. ¡°Erec is wounded badly. He can¡¯t survive the poison without your Purifier.¡± He cut with the sword, the light cutting through the neck of the woman¡¯s horse, only failing to sever her legs because she leapt. ¡°Don¡¯t hesitate, or we all die!¡± He shouted to Bedivere, the other knight finally beginning to run.


    ¡°Don¡¯t wait too long to follow, Galerides!¡±


    Galerides huffed. ¡°I¡¯ll kill her quickly enough,¡± He said. ¡°Normally I¡¯d go easy on you, you being a lady and all,¡± he said to the headless woman. ¡°If you are a lady. But¡­ there¡¯s this poison in the air.¡± He could already feel it eating away at him. It was sapping the life from his body, eating away at his strength. He could probably last longer than most people. But it would kill him. He had to make this quick.


    He cut with his sword, and the shining blade of energy that shot from the sword created a short lived void in the fog. The woman¡¯s darkness gathered into a shield, both her arms crossing over her chest. It was enough to block the blade of light, but barely. Her left arm was left bare, and it was an arm fit for a princess, skin smooth as silk to look at it, and with a woman¡¯s fingers.


    They clashed again and again and again, each time the sword given him by the king sent out its blade of light, and each time the black knight was the worse for the exchange. But Galerides could feel the poison eating away at him, as his body weakened.


    His blow cracked her armor, the light barely cutting into her flesh. Red blood flowed from her neck down to her crotch, her breasts and body bared by his blow. Galerides hesitated to follow up. She was beautiful. Even without a head she was shaped like an almost ideal woman.


    Had there not been another who occupied his heart, Galerides might not have had the strength to make himself cut her down. But next to Lady Selene she was plain. Even if her heart belonged to the smith, Galerides would not be unfaithful to his love for her. The sword flashed with light as he brought it down in what would be a final finishing blow¡­


    Only for her horse to crash into him, knocking him through the wall of a building. Its head had either reattached or regrown, the horse fine as ever before. The woman was rising to her feet as well, darkness forming around her into a long chain of black, a sickle head on one side.


    Galerides¡¯s body ached. The poison was still eating away at his life force. He could feel it. Still his light cut through her chain sickle, and it sliced again and again, forcing her and her horse apart. He¡¯d pursue the latter when he¡¯d dealt with her, his sword sweeping only for her to fall to the ground and beneath the light. His vision was blurring and with it his aim was faltering. It wasn¡¯t a good situation.


    And then the corpse of a farmer grabbed his leg. The farmer¡¯s child grabbed his other foot. Galerides looked down into the eyes of the dead, watching them pull themselves to their feet on his body. He cut down the farmer in a single, quick motion, but he hesitated to cut down a child, even one that his head told him was already dead.


    And then an arrow of shadow shot through his chest. The woman had shaped her darkness into a bow, and she was shooting it at him. The dead child grasped him with more than human strength, and she was firing. He cut the air, crescent blades of light cutting as many of her arrows as he could from the air, and he threw the child from his body, but he only took one more step before he sank to his knee.


    Punctured thrice by bolts of darkness, it was the poison that was killing him. He threw all he had left into a final thrust, the light exploding from the sword in a beam towards the woman. He only hoped his aim was true as his head swam with growing darkness. If he¡¯d just drawn the damn sword in the first place, he and Erec could have defeated her with ease from within Bedivere¡¯s Purifier.


    And then he felt the cool edge of her darkness against his neck.


    Bedivere¡¯s horse tumbled beneath him. He did his best to shield Erec from the fall - the wounded knight held against his chest - but he knew immediately what it had to mean.


    He rose to his feet, leaving Erec on the ground, and he faced the black knight. Her armor was gone, her naked body bared to the sunlight, and her head missing. She held Galerides¡¯s head under one arm, a bow made of darkness in the other.


    Galerides was a far better swordsman than he was. Galerides¡¯s fighting power greatly surpassed his. And she had beaten Galerides. That only made it more important that he won here.


    She couldn¡¯t be allowed to kill more of his friends.


    And she placed Galerides¡¯s head on her own shoulders. Darkness reached up from her shoulders and touched round the stump of his throat, and then Galerides¡¯s eyes closed and opened again, looking at Bedivere.


    ¡°A man¡¯s head. Disgusting,¡± Galerides¡¯s lips shaped the words, and they were in his voice, but they were not Galerides¡¯s words. No. His would have been a crude joke about how he truly was the Goddess¡¯s gift to women or the like. ¡°Still against those swords of distortion, I need a stronger head than some farmer¡¯s.¡±


    ¡°Swords of distortion?¡± Bedivere asked.


    ¡°They¡¯re swords gifted by the King of Distortion,¡± she said with Galerides¡¯s voice. The disconnect between a body fit for a lady chosen by a court for her beauty, and Galerides¡¯s head was disconcerting.


    ¡°Who is the King of Distortion?¡±


    ¡°The one who gave you that sword,¡± the knight said, Galerides¡¯s lips twisting into a cruel smile.


    ¡°His existence has brought disarray and distortion to the world. And if it should continue the amount of imbalance and disorder that he will bring is untold. There will be chaos from one side of Britannia to the other.¡±


    ¡°And you want to prevent this?¡±


    ¡°Some chaos is good. But to cast the entire world into distortion is too much. Surrender the king of distortion and no one else in Camelot will need to die. The Horned King will turn his forces north, and they shall face his conquest while your realm remains safe.¡±


    ¡°And you would turn your fog of death away and to these other lands?¡±


    ¡°Just so.¡±


    Bedivere¡¯s sword cut, the light blasting out, but the woman leapt over it, spinning through the air, to land behind him, one foot lashing out to send him flying.


    ¡°I do hate men¡¯s heads, but there was at least some power in this one. So much better than that farmer¡¯s slut.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s how you talk about the innocents you have slain? Can¡¯t you at least show some respect for the dead?¡± Bedivere asked while rising to his feet. This was bad. Galerides was the better warrior between them. And she was faster and stronger now than Galerides.


    ¡°They deserve no better,¡± She said with a sneer, her bow of darkness reshaping into a sword.


    Bedivere did his best, his sword¡¯s light shooting and flashing out again and again, but she was faster and better. The sword¡¯s light could shatter her darkness, but it was a close thing, and she was closing the distance bit by bit. He did his best, staying agile and mobile, moving from place to place in the battle. But she was closing in against him, and he knew he could only hold her off for so long.


    When she¡¯d neared she caught his sword arm with her hand, and brought her blade down. His free hand rose and it caught her blade. It was the hand that Weland had given him, the hand of black metal, he had called the demon king¡¯s claw.


    And when the darkness touched it the hand hissed out and the darkness flowed into it. And Bedivere could feel its power being fed to him. So much magical power flowing into him. He¡¯d never held that much magical power inside of himself before. His body felt rejuvenated and restored, his arms light as a feather, his exhaustion from the battle washed away as if it had never been. And then his Purifier was pushing out. Its power had changed though. It was a light that washed away curses and poison, but now it was eating away at her dark blade, and as the sphere of light expanded past her she screamed out, her flesh beginning to bubble and burn like wax in a fire.


    His body burned with the great excess of magical power that was filling him. It made him feel powerful beyond any level he had been before. But he was still facing someone who was faster and stronger than he was. But he couldn¡¯t run. He had to fight. So he fought.


    But she was on the run. His Purifier pushed out further and further, and it burned her when it touched her.


    He was winning. The magical power inside of him still burned. But he couldn¡¯t sustain it. The woman¡¯s hand rose. ¡°They¡¯ll tear apart your friend,¡± She said.


    Bedivere looked. The corpses of the village had risen and were marching towards Erec. Bedivere had to make a choice. Fight her, block her escape, and hopefully finish her or save Erec.


    The choice was easy.


    Erec was shame faced as he and Bedivere delivered their report to the king. Arthur¡¯s own face was dark. Galerides had been proud and a braggart. He¡¯d been a fool in many ways. But he had been loyal and he had been strong. His death hurt the young king.


    Merlin, Arthur could tell, was taking it better and more analytically. ¡°What did this head-stealing knight say about the king of distortion exactly?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t remember her exact words, Lady Merlin,¡± Bedivere said. ¡°Just that he was the one who gave me this sword, and would cast the world into chaos.¡±


    The sword. Arthur had given it to Bedivere. But Weland had forged it specifically for Arthur¡¯s knights. Either one could be said to have given the sword. Arthur was the king, though. And they had killed his village.


    ¡°We must deal with this woman and her Horned King,¡± Arthur said solemnly. He had come to a decision, even if Merlin¡¯s face was dark as she considered the events around them.

 Against the Horned King

    Weland looked at the fog. It had expanded from where Bedivere and Erec had encountered it. It wasn¡¯t expanding fast enough to be immediately visible, but it was still growing.


    ¡°Careful, we don¡¯t know how dangerous it is,¡± Merlin said. Weland had to agree there.


    ¡°Think you can dispel it?¡± Weland asked.


    ¡°Can you?¡± Merlin shot back.


    ¡°Definitely not,¡± Weland confessed. ¡°I don¡¯t have the sort of magic to do that without knowing what it is and how it works.¡±


    Merlin¡¯s hand rose. And then Weland¡¯s head wailed with agony. His Archive had just been rather forcibly shut down. He must have winced given the way Merlin smirked. ¡°Sorry, my aim was a little wide,¡± She said. ¡°¡±Let me try and focus just on the fog. Absolute Cancel.¡±


    The fog vanished for several hundred feet in front of Merlin. But it didn¡¯t dispel the entire bank. It stretched still as far as the eye could see left to right. ¡°I can dispel it, but even I¡¯d tire before getting to the heart of it like that,¡± Merlin confessed.


    ¡°Perhaps you should teach Weland that spell, and see how he does with it,¡± Selene suggested.


    Merlin¡¯s face soured a bit, and Selene smirked. It was a spell he wanted to learn, but Weland didn¡¯t expect much to come of the comment here and now. He didn¡¯t think that Merlin knew about his Archive per se, but she had included him in the effect intentionally because she didn¡¯t want him observing more than she had to allow.


    ¡°It would make this Horned King easier to deal with,¡± Weland noted with a shrug. He could see the look passing between Arthur and Merlin. He had saved both of their lives, it had obviously won him some trust with Arthur, but Merlin still seemed unwilling to trust him.


    ¡°Fine. I¡¯ll do my best, though it¡¯s not something one can just learn by seeing it once,¡± Merlin said. ¡°But I¡¯ll cast it again slowly, and give you what instructions I can during.¡±


    ¡°Wait, one moment,¡± Weland said. ¡°I have something that should help me learn.¡± If she was willing to display trust¡­ he¡¯d show a bit of his own hand. Trust should be reciprocated.


    Besides he was going to have to call his Archive anyway to analyze the fog, and if he made a show of it maybe she¡¯d not realize it was able to run through the link she¡¯d dispelled, and that she¡¯d missed the main body of the magic.


    It was all flash, pomp, and useless motion and a waste of magical energy on light and darkness magic to hide the real sorcery being worked. A bit of misdirection and sleight of hand of magical forces, which Weland hoped would work to mislead Merlin. And then his Archive appeared. It wasn¡¯t the full system, but it was a large, ¡®computer bank¡¯ from it; a hard-light machine easily twice as tall and more times as broad as a man. ¡°I was going to need to create a magical-observation archive for the fog anyway. It can observe your spell as well, and it should be able to provide me a much more detailed set of instructions for how to copy it.¡±


    Merlin looked at the construct. ¡°You¡¯re going to have to tell me more about how you made this sometime¡­ fair is fair after all.¡±


    ¡°Of course. I¡¯ll try. It¡¯s not something that¡¯s too easy to create, but you¡¯ve got a talent for magic.¡±


    Still, of all the spells in this world, Absolute Cancel was the one Weland coveted the most. It was the spell that could remove so many obstacles from his path. It might not match the Disjunction of Mordenkainen, but until he went to the world of Gygax he¡¯d have to settle for it. His Archive recorded everything as Merlin repeated the feat of washing away part of the fog.


    And then he turned his Archive to studying the fog, before looking back at Selene. ¡°Darling, could you give me a roar to eat?¡± He said with a shit-eating grin.


    He had to wait a bit for her to change from her truly human form to her form from her birth world, and then she roared. And he swallowed the destructive lunar light, absorbing its power and using it to supercharge his Absolute Cancel.


    The fog vanished for miles on end. And even at the far edges it could be seen breaking apart. For a moment Weland was congratulating himself, looking about and seeing the dissipated fog. Then he noticed that Merlin was looking at something else.


    ¡°That castle should be just ruins,¡± She said, pointing forward to a castle in the distance.


    Arthur blinked looking at it. ¡°I remember those ruins, but what were their importance?¡±


    ¡°It was the castle of Vortigern. He was the king over the lands surrounding Camelot, and more, before Uther. Vortigern the Tyrant.¡±


    ¡°And if his castle is back, does that mean he is the Horned King?¡± Arthur asked.


    ¡°It¡¯s possible. He wasn¡¯t associated with horns before. It was his red wyrm which he was associated with previously.¡±


    ¡°The bodies are gone,¡± Bedivere said, looking in the cleared village. Not a single corpse in sight. And for a moment everyone went quiet.


    Weland was feeling guilty. The village before them - maybe a hundred people - were all dead because he¡¯d chosen this challenge. Of course they¡¯d have died when the Coffin of Eternal Darkness was opened. So really all he did was kill them a year, maybe 2 early. But he doubted they¡¯d forgive that. And it was only 100 points. What would he do with that 100 points worth their lives?


    But it wasn¡¯t just 100 points. He had been tasked to be entertaining. Playing by the existing script and just rolling over things wouldn¡¯t be entertaining. There¡¯s a reason that Superman vs the Joker - or Batman - always involves either massive amounts of plot induced stupidity, out of character decisions by Superman, and sheer dumb luck, or massively powering them up. Millar¡¯s the Dark Knight Returns had to do all four, and depower Superman too. Because watching Superman steamroll them in an instant wasn¡¯t entertaining.


    Weland reminded himself that he wasn¡¯t making these choices for 100 points, but for all of them. And that all of them might be the fate of his world.


    He was stirred from his considerations by Selene¡¯s hand on his shoulders. Merlin and the others were discussing the meaning of it, though they had seemingly come to a consensus that given the dead from the village had attacked Bedivere, the dead had risen and were walking.


    ¡°It sounds like the vampire clan,¡± Merlin mused. ¡°First one attacked Diane, and now the dead are walking. We have to be careful, and we should make our move at dawn.¡±


    ¡°If they¡¯re killing my people out of that castle, shouldn¡¯t we deal with it now?¡± Arthur asked, looking at Merlin.


    ¡°I¡¯ll deal with it,¡± Weland said. ¡°I should be able to find a spell to protect me from the poison and then¡­¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m doing it,¡± Selene said. ¡°I¡¯m immortal, you¡¯re not. I can handle it.¡±


    ¡°My magic power can disperse the poisonous power of the fog, I will go. Alone or with you,¡± Bedivere declared.


    ¡°It¡¯s my kingdom under threat,¡± Arthur said. ¡°Place a spell to protect me from the fog and I will go with you.¡±


    ¡°No,¡± Weland said. ¡°You¡¯re the king. The kingdom needs you. I can handle this on my own.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m the king,¡± Arthur said. ¡°And that means it is my business and my duty to handle. They want the King of Distortion, and I will make sure they learn that he will protect his people.¡±


    ¡°If you¡¯re the king of distortion, that¡¯s all the more reason not to give you to them. If you¡¯re the target let me handle them first, your majesty,¡± Weland said.


    ¡°If you can combat the fog, I can go,¡± Arthur said.


    ¡°It¡¯s a battle. If I need to go all out I can¡¯t be assured I can keep you safe, my liege,¡± Weland answered.


    ¡°I need to face real challenges if I am to ever unlock my magical power,¡± Arthur said.


    Weland grimaced. He didn¡¯t like this. Keeping Arthur alive was on his to do list. Bringing him into battle against some Chaos spawned distortion with unknown powers was not. But if it could help awaken Arthur¡¯s full power so he was able to use Excalibur safely, or just strong enough to deal with the demons alone¡­


    ¡°Arthur, you don¡¯t know how dangerous Vortigern was,¡± Merlin said.


    ¡°All the more reason to go. If he ruled Camelot before Uther, I should face him king to king,¡± Arthur stated.


    There was a moment of uncomfortable silence. And then Merlin caved, and Weland knew he would have to as well. Merlin could bring herself and the others unless he put some heavy effort into stopping her. Better to have them close where he could watch over them, than to not know where they were when they circumvented his attempts to keep them from following.


    ¡°We need a plan, and intelligence,¡± Weland said, lifting up a silver key. ¡°Selene, willing to test your resistance to the fog, and if my magic does anything to help mitigate it?¡±


    Weland would have preferred some old school, D&D, Scry and Die tactics. Appear in the midst of the enemy¡¯s fortress, and loose an immediate, overwhelming assault.


    Arthur vetoed it to talk. He wanted to know how, why, and how to prevent further such disasters. Weland¡¯s territory was spread about them, creating a barrier even as they appeared. There were 4 major presences in the room.


    The first Bedivere was familiar with. The woman was - once again - clad in black armor, Galerides¡¯s head on her shoulders. The other three were less familiar figures. One was a goateed man in red armor, a widow¡¯s peak, and hair greying at the temples. A large sword sat on his waist, his gauntleted hand having instantly moved to it. One was perhaps the horned king, for he alone among them had a pair of horns rising from his forehead, and he alone among them sat on a throne. He bore no flesh on his body, but was a skeleton; his bones connected not by physical bonds but by some sorcerous power. He wore fine and rich robes, blue light shining from the eye sockets of his skull. Coupled with the large, black cauldron that sat in the room, billowing the fog of death, Weland could identify him. Arawn the Horned King of¡­ ¡­ He couldn¡¯t remember the Disney film. But he was in Welsh legend as the lord of the Otherworld. Arawn, king of the land of the dead.Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more.


    Weland recognized the fourth as well. Only one hand was covered with a gauntlet, the only armor he wore. He had a 12-gauge double barreled Remington in a shoulder holster. S-Mart''s top-of-the-line. And he had a chin that couldn¡¯t be denied. Bruce Campbell¡­ No¡­ Ashley ¡°the King¡± Williams. The Chosen One of the Prophecy, foretold in the Necronomicon.


    ¡°Not fair,¡± Weland spat out before he could stop himself. A dullahan, a Disney villain, and Ash Williams. They didn¡¯t even make sense as a group. And what was the connection and who was in charge? Bedivere¡¯s story implied the Horned King, and it looked that way.


    There were looks being directed towards Weland, but Arthur was stepping forward, his hand resting on Chrysoar, the sword Weland had forged for him. ¡°You requested an audience with the king of Camelot, well he is here, state your petition.¡±


    The man in the red armor glared at Arthur, while the other three looked at each other.


    ¡°I requested the head of the king of distortion. If you are not here to give it to me, then I will take it off of his shoulders, and I care nothing else for you, child-king,¡± the skeleton hissed, as he rose to his feet, and pointed towards Weland. ¡°If you intend to give me my prize, I would have expected chains. Not that I think any of you could chain my foe.¡±


    ¡°You promised me the head of Uther¡¯s heir,¡± the man in the red armor.


    ¡°Calm, Vortigern, you shall have it,¡± the skeleton said. ¡°Kill him at your leisure, and Ash, Crom, kill the king of distortion so that nothing can stand in our w¡­¡±


    The Horned King¡¯s head fell from his neck as Weland appeared one foot on his throne. ¡°Whatever you choose to call me, I¡¯m not that easy to kill.¡± Even as he did it he realized that he was acting suspiciously like he was trying to hide something. But he had done it from reflex. When someone started ordering your deaths, you didn¡¯t let him finish.


    There was a moment of stunned silence, before Vortigern stepped casually over the Horned King¡¯s head and moved towards King Arthur. ¡°The usurper is mine, I don¡¯t care about the rest.¡±


    ¡°Make sure not to damage the heads of the girls, they might just be the one I¡¯m looking for,¡± the dullahan said from Gallerides¡¯s mouth.


    Weland was somewhat distracted. He could feel energy seeping through his Territory Armor, a pain growing in his leg, as the hand of the Horned King grasped around his ankle. Decapitation apparently meant little to the skeletal lord. It made him howl in pain, the flesh on his decaying as the magic wormed its way through his barrier.


    ¡°Someone get my head back on my body already,¡± the skeleton hissed out.


    The strong chinned, individual Weland had identified as Ash, looked at him. ¡°Not till you start talking with some respect.¡±


    And then the walking dead entered the throne room en masse.


    Selene sighed. There wasn¡¯t a plan here, at all. Weland had jumped the gun on the attack, just because the Horned King was ordering their deaths, and his attempt at ending things decisively had managed to end nothing at all.


    The woman with a man¡¯s head was striking at her. In her truly human form Galerides was a threat. But as a dragon using a spell to appear human, he had been nothing to her. And this scythe wielder was little more.


    But Weland¡¯s scream of pain had her more worried. She knew how good his protective barrier was. If the Horned King had casually penetrated it then he was a deadly danger. And Selene did not feel she had the time to play with this girl before her.


    Her hand rose and yellow-cream fire burst from it towards the dullahan. Darkness was wrapping around the dullahan protectively, but Selene was more powerful than her. The lunar flames burst through the darkness, and as the dullahan attempted to retreat - leaping, flipping, and moving with superhuman speed and agility - the flames followed incessantly.


    Selene took note of the battlefield quickly. Weland and the giantess were fighting the Horned King, but a shot in the back from the gun of the blue shirted man had just brought the giant to her knees. Bedivere was fighting him, but his aura had faded and the poison was evidently affecting him. Merlin was holding back the undead that were rushing towards the center of the room. And King Arthur was fighting the man in red armor, and seemed to have the upper hand in their sword fight.


    Her magic wrapped around Bedivere in an instant and removed him from the area. If the magic that had been protecting him from the poison was dispelled he was worse than useless to them. The question was how it had been.


    And then she created an explosion of energy against the horned king, blasting him back and away. She was about to step into that conflict when she felt a scythe strike at her neck. The darkness cut, but it did not cut deep. Even in this form and this world she was a dragon, and she was resistant to such magic.


    Still it seemed she hadn¡¯t dealt with her dance partner yet.


    Weland didn¡¯t like this melee. He wasn¡¯t worried about Selene, or even Merlin. Selene could handle herself here. Merlin was a big girl. Diane, Bedivere, and Arthur, however, were people who he needed to concern himself with.


    Bedivere had vanished, even as Diane had fallen from a shot by Ash. Ash scared him. The Horned King was a death god and a big bad evil guy, the villain of the story. He lost in the end to the power of friendship, love, and self-sacrifice. The dullahan was a death god, and a fairy. Vortigern was a minor figure of Arthurian lore who had ballooned in popularity recently as a villain before Arthur¡¯s rise to rule Camelot.


    Ash was the hero of his story, and a man with more plot armor than you could shake a stick at. He survived Marvel Zombies by being a dumb ass, and pulled one over on Doctor Doom. Unless it was his evil clone, but even then he was someone made to fight a hero and push him to the limits of his plot armor, and he just kept coming back to do it again and again. Bad Ash would be a relief, but he still triggered a sense of worry in Weland that even the skeleton before him didn¡¯t.


    And if he was here the Necronomicon Ex Mortis might be and that book was bad news.


    And with Bedivere gone, there was no one keeping Ash occupied. His healing magic had Diane back on her feet after the shot from behind. ¡°Keep the king occupied, I¡¯ll deal with Ash,¡± Weland said, disappearing and appearing mid sword thrust towards Ash. The man was lucky, and his dimwits worked miraculously well under pressure, but he shouldn¡¯t be able to keep up with Weland¡¯s level of swordsmanship or speed.


    Ash¡¯s metal hand grasped his sword before it could skewer his stomach. ¡°Sneaky,¡± Ash said and squeezed, crumbling the blade of the sword. ¡°Guess you¡¯re my new dance partner.¡±


    Weland¡¯s territory wrapped around Ash¡¯s body, only to shatter at the moment of contact. It was a disorienting feeling for a half instant, and then a metal fist hit his jaw and Weland could feel it break as he spat out a broken tooth, and a mouthful of blood. He¡¯d not had a punch hurt like that since he¡¯d bought up his magic power. He felt brought down to mortal.


    ¡°Why do you fight with them?¡± He asked, eying Ash warily from a distance. That punch had dispelled his territory armor, and scrambled his connection to his Archive. It¡¯d even forced him from his faux human form into the shape of a fairy. It meant more magical power, and an easier flow, but he¡¯d hoped not to need it.


    ¡°Why not? They know how to treat a hero right, and the babes are pretty good.¡±


    ¡°So you¡¯re Evil Ash right?¡±


    Ash quirked an eyebrow. And then he lifted his shotgun and fired from the hip. It was a single fast motion, not hesitating to quip until after. ¡°Good, bad, I¡¯m the guy with the gun¡±


    A fairy might have dodged with ease, as they could hear human hearts. But Ash¡¯s heart was absolutely silent; perhaps due to the same force which unmade Weland¡¯s Territory the moment it came in contact with him. And with his Archive dismantled, recovering from a blow to the head, Weland¡¯s reaction was slowed just a fraction too much.


    Horologium shattered as the buckshot struck him. The Celestial Spirit had appeared - as per his contract - when Weland needed protection most. But the timespace magic which formed the protective field of the clock, shattered and broke at the shot, and his body took the impact only for Weland to feel the magic opening his gate forced closed.


    He floated, naked after the Horologium¡¯s emergency teleportation, and Ash looked at him and then looked away. ¡°Oh god my eyes, I don¡¯t want to see that!¡±


    Weland teleported, and breathed, a roar of light shooting out towards Ash¡¯s back. Only to break against it. ¡°None of your magic will work, sorcerer,¡± Ash said with a grin. ¡°You see the Necronomicon foretold your coming and knew just what I¡¯d need to deal with it.¡±


    Weland wanted to curse. Instead he teleported. It was a cowardly decision but he had to leave the battlefield for a moment. Just long enough to do two things. He needed his Archive, and he needed Enif¡¯s Celestial Spirit Dress. Without them he wasn¡¯t keeping up with this Ash¡¯s reflexes and avoiding being shot no matter how fast he teleported. He restored his status cleansing healing magic as well; the poison in the mist was eating at him and had been since Ash had punched him. It¡¯d cancelled all his magic every bit as thoroughly as Merlin had.


    When he returned Diane was missing, Selene was fighting the Horned King, and Merlin was bleeding where buckshot had torn through her stomach, her voluptuous body reduced to that of a child, and Evil Ash was standing over her, his gun pointed towards her head. ¡°Shame, I was hoping to leave you alive. But kids don¡¯t do it for me. Got to live unencumbered.¡±


    She disappeared from his grasp, and he spun. He didn¡¯t fire at where she¡¯d appeared, though, but at Weland, forcing him to teleport at speed. Already another shot was firing at his new location. And another. And another. Weland couldn¡¯t do more than teleport, moving constantly to stay one instant ahead of a deadly shot; if his magically reinforced toughness didn¡¯t stop a punch he didn¡¯t expect it to stop a bullet.


    And then he was gone. Far further this time. Completely gone from the castle. He was back on the hill overlooking Camelot he¡¯d first appeared on when he entered the world, and he smiled.


    The explosion shocked everyone. Evil Ash had been taking shots at Weland, attempting to kill the King of Distortion with one. He knew he just needed one good shot, but the fat-headed, ugly fairy-chibi had been appearing and disappearing with a speed that was quite frankly disgusting. Holes were forming in the walls of the throne room from the spray of fire.


    The Horned King was dealing with Selene. She¡¯d defeated Crona it seemed, and now she was pushing him hard. His death magic was slowly weakening the immortal life within her, but there was just so much of it. And her own power was something else. She¡¯d completely destroyed his right humerus, his left fibula and tibia, shattered his pelvis, reduced four ribs to dust, and he was missing 3 vertebrae. At this rate he¡¯d need Ash to bail him out.


    Merlin was bleeding badly from a wound to her stomach. She¡¯d tried rapid teleportation and magic to assault the blue-shirted man with the boomstick. He¡¯d shot her as she¡¯d appeared and her magic had failed. It¡¯d taken a moment for the pain and disorientation to clear, and for her to teleport away. She needed a good opening to teleport Arthur away and then she could flee. They could regroup with Diane where she¡¯d moved her after it became clear the poison was eating into her.


    And Arthur and Vortigern continued their duel, swords clashing as they fought. Arthur was slowly but surely gaining the upper hand.


    And then there was a flash of light. Immediately after a shockwave hit them all, sending them flying into the walls of the castle. Except Evil Ash. The shockwave came from directly over his head. Then there was an explosion of flesh and blood and finally rock as something passed through him already ionizing, only to hit the ground like an asteroid.


    And then Weland, still in his fairy shape appeared amidst the devastation. ¡°Hail to the king.¡±


    Weland¡¯s eyes quickly took in what was happening. Merlin was dying. That was problem one. Everyone else - and the black cauldron - had been blasted apart for the moment. He didn¡¯t see Diane, and the dullahan was in multiple pieces. Merlin came first, the poison was obviously affecting her, and she was bleeding profusely.


    It would take too long to get her back to full fighting strength, or even conscious, but Weland could keep her from dying and get her back to Camelot quickly.


    The others were rising to their feet. Or foot in the case of the Horned King, who awkwardly rose on one leg. He didn¡¯t do more than that, as Selene¡¯s hand rose and with it a swirl of magical energy which crushed him.


    The Horned King was dealt with, and that left only Vortigern. The red-clad knight looked about himself, his eyes shifting from one foe to another. And then he scowled and raised his hand. ¡°Come to me my wurm,¡± He said, intoning the words in a regal, authoritative manner.


    And the ground exploded, the castle crumbling as a massive, red serpentine dragon rose up. The wurm hadn¡¯t been directly beneath the castle, but as it rose the ground rose with it, and one of the castle¡¯s walls simply fell away. Even there in the center and the throne room, with the damage from before, the shaking of the ground made portions of the roof and the wall collapse towards them. Each of them had their own way to avoid it, but by the time it had finished they were no longer fighting inside of a castle, but amidst its ruins, and a great, red, snake was rising over them. Its head alone was the size of the entire castle and its body stretched for what looked like hundreds of meters if not more than a thousand.


    Dirt streamed from its body, and it opened its mouth, breathing in and unleashing a blazing fire towards Arthur, Selene, and Weland.


    Weland stepped forward and inhaled. He couldn¡¯t consume all of the flames, there was simply too great a mass of them, but he breathed deep and the dragon¡¯s fires did not touch the trio. Instead he felt his power restoring and resurging, as he roared back a surge of water striking through the dragon¡¯s mouth and head.


    It fell, and Vortigern froze, before Weland¡¯s magic pulled him in, teleporting him, locked in a block of Weland¡¯s territory, in front of Arthur. The battle had been won. The only thing left to do was to put a lid on the cauldron.

 Black Cauldrons and Red Dragons

    Weland sat on a block of his territory. The dimension around them was a place of darkness and shadow, lit only by his shine dragon slayer magic. The woman before him had an ageless look about her. Physically she could have been in her late teens or early twenties, her pale skin, black hair, and black wardrobe giving her an almost goth appearance, but there was a timeless look to her face, and something elfin about her beauty. She carried herself with a stately elegance that spoke of otherworldly nobility.


    She was the Horned King¡¯s cauldron. Weland¡¯s territory armor, and as many status ailment negating spells as he could stack on himself, were wrapped tightly about him. He¡¯d done all he could to seal its power before placing the Personality Enchantment on it, and done all he could to program the resultant personality for loyalty, but he still did not trust the cauldron. Its magic was not his magic, and he could feel it twisting and rejecting his enchantment even as he had placed it upon the cauldron.


    ¡°What can you tell me about yourself?¡± Weland asked.


    ¡°Isn¡¯t what I will tell, more important than what I could?¡± the girl smiled, her lips the same black as her hair, her eyes red as she looked at him with a vulpine grin.


    ¡°What is your purpose?¡± Weland ventured.


    ¡°I believe you could tell me that better than I could tell you. After all, your enchantment created me.¡± Weland¡¯s eyes rolled at the deflection.


    ¡°What do you desire?¡±


    That one got her to pause. ¡°I¡­ don¡¯t think I¡¯m sure of that.¡±


    ¡°What is the king of distortion?¡±


    ¡°... I don¡¯t know what you¡¯re talking about.¡±


    ¡°What did the Horned King want?¡±


    ¡°To bring death to all of Britannia.¡±


    ¡°Why?¡±


    Again the elfin woman paused. A pointed ear twitched beneath her long black hair, and long, slender fingers reached to brush her hair behind it. ¡°I cannot say. The cauldron exists to help him bring death to all of Britannia.¡±


    ¡°So you can tell me its purpose?¡±


    ¡°Can? Yes. Will?¡±


    ¡°What do you want to answer my questions clearly?¡±


    ¡°Freedom.¡±


    Weland¡¯s eye twitched. He¡¯d made her. He¡¯d made her specifically to get information about the cauldron. Her purpose was to tell him everything she could. And now she was trying to barter freedom.


    ¡°I can¡¯t give you freedom without releasing the cauldron onto the world, and I can¡¯t even begin to consider that until you give me the answers I need,¡± He said.


    ¡°You won¡¯t. So I see no reason to.¡±


    ¡°Why won¡¯t I?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯d be telling, wouldn¡¯t it?¡±


    ¡°Well I definitely won¡¯t if you don¡¯t give me information.¡±


    ¡°And I have no reason to give you information if you won¡¯t.¡±


    ¡°Then I guess I¡¯ll have to figure out things about the cauldron experimentally. Maybe I¡¯ll start by making stew.¡±


    Her cheek and eye twitched. Weland recognized it from his own expression of frustration a moment ago, but it was more exaggerated.


    ¡°I mean got to see if the cauldron is any good as a cauldron.¡±


    ¡°I am the brewer of death and destruction, of life eternal clawed from the grave. I am not a common cookpot.¡± She had risen to her feet, towering over Weland in his fairy form. She was lithe, airy, and elfin, with a sense of ethereal beauty. She was not small. She stood over 6 ft tall, albeit somewhat willow thin.


    ¡°You seem to take pride in your destructive aspect,¡± Weland said. He tried not to show the smug, superior smirk forming on his face, but he needed to play more poker.


    ¡°Don¡¯t you? I mean you made me.¡±


    ¡°I didn¡¯t make you as the brewer of death and destruction. I made you as the answerer of questions.¡±


    She laughed then, a laugh that spoke of pleasure taken at others¡¯ expense. ¡°You did poor work then. For I bring death and destruction, I don¡¯t answer questions.¡±


    Weland¡¯s territory armor down air permeability at a thought as his Archive warned of a shift in magical energy within the eidolon he had created. Poison issued forth from her being, filling the area, and washing over his armoring forcefield. He was in a space all his own, but still there was the feeling of the poison all around his armor.


    And then the dimension shifted subtly, and the energies within began to be desired. He reinforced his territory armor, and he drew in energies from that which the dimension had absorbed to reinforce his territory armor. It lost something efficiency-wise but consuming her poisons the energy was a net gain for him. Not that he really needed it unless she stubbornly tried to kill him longer.


    It was with a look of petulance across her face that she flopped down to sit on the ground - the bench of territory he had provided her with consumed by the dimension - and stopped her assault.


    She crossed her arms before her, and Weland sighed. ¡°Ready to talk to me now without trying to kill me?¡±


    ¡°No,¡± She huffed. ¡°Not really. I mean¡­ can¡¯t I try and kill you a little while we talk?¡±


    ¡°Why do you want to kill me?¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re the King of Distortion.¡±


    ¡°Why do you want to kill the King of Distortion?¡±


    ¡°Because you can stop the Horned King.¡±


    ¡°Little late to kill me now,¡± Weland said. And then he looked at her. Her eyes turned away from him, as she suddenly seemed afraid to make eye contact with him.


    ¡°The Horned King is dead, right?¡± He pressed.


    ¡°Of course,¡± She said.


    ¡°And not coming back?¡±


    He¡¯d made the personality enchanted onto the cauldron. It shouldn¡¯t be able to lie to him. Of course it shouldn¡¯t have been able to try and kill him either.


    ¡°And not coming back, right?¡± He repeated.


    ¡°How would I know?¡±


    ¡°Do you have reason to believe he is?¡±


    ¡°Well¡­ He¡¯s the Lord of Death.¡±


    ¡°What gives him that title?¡±


    ¡°He commands the Black Cauldron.¡±


    ¡°So if I get you to listen to me I¡¯ll be the Lord of Death?¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re the King of Distortion.¡±


    ¡°Why couldn¡¯t I be both?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t like you.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s not how you get ice cream.¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s ice cream?¡±


    ¡°A sweet treat.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t like sweets.¡±


    ¡°How do you know that?¡±


    She gave a noncommittal wave of her hand. ¡°I just do.¡±


    ¡°What do you like?¡±


    ¡°Bringing death to the living.¡±


    That was it. If she was going to answer like that he wasn¡¯t going to play nice. His features and figure shifted, as he allowed his takeover magic to change his body, Seilah¡¯s curse of macro beginning to fill him. ¡°In that case I think I had best make you talk.¡±


    Weland stepped back into the dimension that included Britannia with an exhausted sigh. Arthur sat watching over Merlin¡¯s unconscious, wounded form. Weland had healed her some. But he had been careful not to heal her completely. He didn¡¯t want her waking up until he had decided what to do with the black cauldron.


    And after that interrogation he had decided that sealing it away as tightly as he could was the only option.


    ¡°Did you learn what you set out to learn?¡± Arthur asked, looking at him.


    Weland¡¯s hand reached to his head, fingers running through his hair. ¡°Your majesty, I learned that the cauldron is an artifact of death with but one purpose to bring death to this entire world. I learned that it can and will resurrect the Horned King, that as long as it exists he can be reborn through it. I learned that it can resist my magic, and that it will not be simple to destroy if we decide to go that route.¡± He didn¡¯t know enough about this world¡¯s magic to be certain whether he could contain it and put it to his purposes or not. He wasn¡¯t certain what his purposes with it would even be.


    ¡°And what of Vortigern?¡±


    ¡°I haven¡¯t interrogated him yet,¡± Weland admitted. ¡°I was busy with the Cauldron.¡±


    ¡°I have,¡± Selene said walking forward, magical energy crackling between her finger tips. Her magic power from this world was Invasion, the power to invade minds. Given Merlin might have already guessed it, it was a better card to reveal than his Macro curse. ¡°The Horned King resurrected him. Offered to make him the vassal king over his old lands once the Horned King had conquered Britannia. He never trusted the Horned King, but the King could kill him with a whim, and he¡¯d die if the Horned King was ever truly vanquished.¡±


    ¡°So the Horned King is coming back,¡± Arthur noted.


    Weland resisted the urge to point out to the king he¡¯d already reported that.


    ¡°It seems like it,¡± Selene said. ¡°Or he lied to Vortigern and Vortigern swallowed it hook, line, and sinker. Really, though, Vortigern just wanted to see you dead. He knew that there would be no rule under the Horned King, but he wanted to destroy Uther for overthrowing him and everything that Uther had loved and built. You were first on the list.¡±


    ¡°And what were they seeking with the King of Distortion?¡± Arthur asked the question that Weland knew had been coming. And hated that it inevitably would. He didn¡¯t want to have to answer it, because¡­ well he wanted to bury the fact that he had been the main target.


    ¡°Vortigern believed that the King of Distortion was a threat to the Horned King, and under the Horned King¡¯s belief the only thing in Britannia which could and would stop him from complete conquest, and that the Horned King was convinced that he needed to kill them now before they could grow stronger and reach new heights of power.¡± That got Weland a look from Arthur. He had destroyed a castle with an explosion which had killed a man who dissolved magic as it touched him. And then he had killed a dragon which men would call a living mountain - though closer to a castle - with a single spell. What greater heights of power was the Horned King fearing that Weland would reach. ¡°Vortigern didn¡¯t care because he got to pursue his vengeance. And once it was done he¡¯d see about gaining dominion over the King of Distortion.¡±The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.


    Arthur nodded and looked at Weland. ¡°Did you learn anything from the Cauldron about the King of Distortion?¡±


    ¡°Much the same,¡± Weland said. It was partially true. He just wasn¡¯t including certain aspects the Cauldron had told him when forced.


    ¡°What does it mean to be the King of Distortion?¡± Arthur pressed.


    ¡°Vortigern couldn¡¯t tell beyond that he was seen by the Horned King as a threat,¡± Selene said.


    ¡°I was talking to a cookpot of death and destruction. It wasn¡¯t exactly the chattiest source, or freely giving out details on such things,¡± Weland spun the truth. It was technically true. He just wasn¡¯t including how it had told him that the King of Distortion would warp the world, that their very presence and existence warped the world, and that the Cauldron like the Horned King had been born to destroy them; and thus control how the world would be warped and distorted in Chaos¡¯s favor.


    Hendrickson was on edge. The king¡¯s new movements threatened to upturn his plans. Since killing the former Great Holy Knight and removing the King¡¯s personal loyalists the Seven Deadly Sins, he and Dreyfus had vied against each other for power. He had nearly been ready to usurp the king¡¯s power and proceed in his plan to open the Coffin of Eternal Darkness with or without Dreyfus. The king¡¯s growing talk of peace, and the lack of need for Holy Knights had been a tool Hendrickson could use to secure the loyalty of enough knights to make it a possibility. And with his research into demon blood showing promise he could create a new generation of knights to bolster his numbers and ranks.


    But now the king had begun rallying the knights of Liones to him with talk of a Holy War. The King of Distortion must be stopped before he brought great destruction to Britannia. And for that King Bartra had called the strongest knights of the kingdom together.


    It had taken Hendrickson a year of work and scheming to remove Denzel Liones to a distant post. And now he had been recalled immediately, before Hendrickson was ready to move against Bartra. He could try, but his loyalist cadre, even including those he could push into service under him, was too small unless Dreyfus threw his support behind Hendrickson. Even with Gilthunder¡¯s forced loyalty. Even with his undead fairy. Even if he could get the Sin who had returned to mope by the City of the Dead and who now served as a personal executor to aid directly against the king which was unlikely given his oaths of personal loyalty.


    Well¡­


    There was the vampire. Hendrickson might be able to use her. She had power. She had enough power she might be able to tip things in his favor, even if King of the Seven Deadly Sins sided with King Bartra. But he couldn¡¯t be certain of her loyalty, even if she seemed to have no desire for this crusade against the so-called King of Distortion.


    And then there was Bartra¡¯s prophecy about this King of Distortion. He would open the Coffin of Eternal Darkness. He would bring the new Great Holy War and its destruction. He would bring forth darkness greater than the world had ever seen.


    Hendrickson had spent the last decade seeking nothing else but opening the Coffin of Eternal Darkness. It was an obsession with him. A monomaniacal desire to which all else was subservient.


    If the King of Distortion was destined to cause it to open, he did not want to stop him. It would seem that they were on the same side. But the how was the question. For now, though, he had to talk with the king of Liones about the force being assembled to move south.


    The Horned King had been defeated. The force that had threatened Camelot had been vanquished. Weland had slain the dragon and captured the resurrected Crimson King who had commanded the great serpent¡¯s loyalty. Alongside the king he had returned a hero of Camelot.


    But not all was well with Weland in Camelot. He knew Merlin had even more suspicions about him than she had before. Oh, he¡¯d saved hers and Arthur¡¯s life, she was evidently thankful about that. But he had been named the King of Distortion whose presence brought Chaos and destruction.


    There was also the Horned King¡¯s black cauldron. Weland had locked it away, sealed behind a treacherous personality enchantment, bound by his Macro Curse, kept in eternal slumber, and all while trapped within a prison dimension. He still didn¡¯t trust it to remain contained. There were energies which even now moved within it.


    Keeping the exact extent of his abilities secret from Merlin was difficult. He had in the end been forced to reveal his Dark Dominion magic, the power to create pocket dimensions of darkness to use as all consuming traps. He¡¯d dismissed the personality enchantment before showing up, letting her only see a cauldron. She had - quite rightfully - then chewed him out for the lack of proper containment for the cauldron.


    Not that her spells had held it better than his. Even her Perfect Cube wouldn¡¯t survive its energies that could eat away at the underlying magic. At least he¡¯d gotten a magic lesson out of his Archives observing her. He¡¯d even learned how to craft a Perfect Cube of his own.


    Merlin had actually warmed to him after the castle. There was the question hanging in the air about his status as King of Distortion, but she accepted that twice he¡¯d saved Arthur¡¯s life, and had acted to keep her from dying in two battles against surprisingly dangerous foes. That debt had earned him some consideration at least. And the consideration had come in the form of grimoires from her personal library, and the golden key he had taken an interest in when he had been allowed in her personal lab.


    The golden key of Taurus the bull. He wondered how far his collection might extend while he was in this world. As much as Weland couldn¡¯t slip the feeling that Merlin was still suspicious of him, things had actually gotten easier there.


    That didn¡¯t mean he¡¯d been allowed to rest, though. Besides dealing with the cauldron, containing the resurrected former tyrant-king, and attempting to read the grimoires from Merlin there was still the looming task of preparing Camelot¡¯s knights for the Holy War. And then there was the threat of an attack from Liones which Minerva had warned him about.


    He had thought that Liones¡¯s king was a pacifist. Was this more of Chaos¡¯s OCs? Had Bartra been replaced by some shapeshifting doppelganger? Or was it that his acceptance of the 7 Virtues and true Estarossa had been that bad?


    Whatever it was, he could use the prediction that he would open the Coffin. It might be enough to get Hendrickson to let him near the red demon to fix the flaw of the New Generation. That would help uplift the Holy Knights of Liones to be relevant in the Holy War. But helping Hendrickson without burning bridges with Camelot might require him to find some means of squaring the circle.


    For now his focus had been on uplifting the knights of Camelot. With Galerides dead they had lost not their best warrior, but the one with the greatest raw physical prowess and mastery of the sword.


    That was where Ddraig Goch came in. Forged from a fang of Vortigern¡¯s dragon - the red worm which over time became the Welsh Dragon - the sword had been more receptive to enchantment than any weapon he had made as Weland the Smith. Three pieces of the lacrima made from the dragon¡¯s heart had been implanted into the hilt. It had taken more than a month to craft. And Weland was not going to offer the sword not to Arthur directly, but to whoever could tame the blade.


    His enchantments had been laid. Painstaking and difficult work, but the sword should be the equal of any S-Ranked Mage of Earthland. And now Ddraig Goch stood beside him, the personality enchantment taught to him by Irene having given her shape and form. She looked a fair bit like Erza Scarlet, not that that was his intention. Her figure though was similar. Her hair too was a scarlet hue, distinct and eye catching as it ran down from her head, too red for the world he had been born into, more like one of the inhuman hues found in anime or manga¡­ or the worlds he found himself in. Her eyes were also red, not quite the same shade, but still a crimson color. She was about 5¡¯6¡±, and she carried herself with the stride of a natural born warrior.


    He¡¯d used his Archive in her enchantment, uploading all he could about the various fighting styles it had observed. Her mastery of the sword wasn¡¯t truly complete, he had fed her data, but without direct comparisons in battle the full why and how wasn¡¯t there. But she was optimized for figuring it out. She was a warrior-trainer. It was her purpose.


    And she walked beside him to the throne room, carrying her true body in its sheath. It was there that he drew forth Ddraig Goch from its scabbard and presented it before the knights of Camelot.


    ¡°Hark O knights! I present to you Ddraig Goch, the Dragon Slayer! The most powerful blade I have ever enchanted. I present it to whosoever she shall accept as the wielder,¡± He gestured the sword at the human avatar of the blade, not explaining her true connection. ¡°If you think you can master the blade, face her in battle as many times as it takes for her to recognize that you possess the heart, spirit, skill, and power necessary to be worthy of the Red Dragon!¡±


    There were glances passing from knight to knight as they looked at the sword. His blades of light were well known. They made even the least Holy Knight a match for greats, capable of toppling entire strongholds in a single blow; or so they said. He could tell that they were wondering how powerful this sword must be if it was his greatest enchantment.


    And then Ddraig smiled beside him, reaching for the hand-and-a-half sword¡¯s hilt and taking the blade from him. ¡°You heard him. Win me and I am yours.¡±


    Some part of Weland cringed at the fact that she had put it that way. But she was the sword, and the sword was the prize. Still there was a murmuring then, as the question rose if the blade came with a bride.


    ¡°She is the sword,¡± Weland finally said to silence the questioning cacophony. ¡°The sword and the maiden are one. If you wish to have either you must be worthy of both.¡±


    Ddraig tilted her head and winked. ¡°Do you think you can beat me?¡±


    It had taken time, but Liones¡¯s holy knights were ready to move south. There was only one thing left before they did so.


    Minerva faced the Great Holy Knight Dreyfus. She had petitioned to join the king¡¯s entourage. All the biggest names among holy knights were there except Denzel and Hendrickson who would guard Liones in Dreyfus¡¯s absence. But the king¡¯s personal squadron or as it was called Dawn Roar, Dreyfus himself, his nephew Gilthunder and his son Griamor, their fellow Howzer, Vivian the court mage, and many more had been selected for his retinue as they went to see what could be done about the King of Distortion. Even one of the outlawed Seven Deadly Sins - the fairy king known as King - was included in the party.


    Minerva sat astride a very special line. She was both a powerful knight. She had fought and defeated one of the Seven Deadly Sins - at least she claimed to have - and she had encountered and fought the dragon that had heralded Bartra¡¯s vision. Hendrickson claimed she was the strongest knight in his faction.


    But she had no long past in Liones. She was just a knight seeking to fight one of its criminals for personal vengeance. And this was an unrelated quest of kingdom shaking import.


    If she was to join, she would have to prove her strength, and the proof that King Bartra had requested was simple enough: fight the Great Holy Knight Dreyfus and win.


    The long haired Great Holy Knight had a small beard, really more of a mustache that connected to his goatee. He was a tall, powerfully built man with an air of confidence and pride. He looked like he knew what he wanted, he knew how he was going to get it, and he was going to do it.


    Minerva knew to be on guard as she took her position opposite him. The Rabbit Killer whip was in her hand, its head trailing on the ground. There was no restriction against using one¡¯s magic power in the fight, and she had every reason to expect he¡¯d lead with his.


    The sun was high overhead, enough to bother her as a vampire. But it didn¡¯t matter. She was the vampire princess. She held the power to stand above her race as its strongest member day or night.


    ¡°Pierce.¡± The word erupted from Dreyfus¡¯s mouth and a beam shot from his sword. It struck through Minerva¡¯s stomach leaving a clean, almost perfectly round hole in its wake. Dreyfus¡¯s face said it all, a look of abject disappointment. Not in her. She wasn¡¯t even worth his contempt. But that he¡¯d hit off center, and the hole¡¯s edge was in her navel with a fair portion of its radius outside of her body.


    Minerva was the princess of the vampire clan. Their regeneration was not perhaps the equal to the demon clan¡¯s but it was immense. A wound like that might slow her down, but it¡¯d not finish her off.


    The Rabbit Killer shot forth, the chain whip stretching out to wrap around his neck. And then she twisted her body and spun, slamming him down behind her, digging up the ground with his body as she completed a 360 degree turn, lifting him back up into the air before her whip released him, with some added velocity from her white tiger dragon slayer magic. He shot out, landing well past the hills in the distance.


    To her surprise he¡¯d resisted her attempt to drain his strength in the process. She wasn¡¯t certain why he had proven immune, but it was worth noting. The battle might not be over. So she began to run. She dove as she crested the hill, dodging a blast of the same energy this time aimed for her head and she snapped her whip, letting it stretch out to many times its length, the magic multiplying the chain links even as if animated them to her will. The spiked ball that served as the head of her whip smashed into Dreyfus¡¯s elbow before the length spasmed and wrapped around his arm. The battle was over. This time she didn¡¯t throw him, but let the whip stay wrapped around his arm as she slammed him again and again into the ground and demanded he yield.


    Even if she was a stranger her ability in battle had been proven.


    Ddraig Goch smiled at her suitors. She wasn¡¯t sure why father told her not to call them that. Then again he told her not to call him father. But he was her father. He had made her. Her mind was his enchantment. Her human form was his enchantment. Even the powers and form of her true body were his making. He was as far as she could discern his father. And these men before her wanted to wield her. If that was not a suitor what was?


    Five of them had banded together to fight her today. She wasn¡¯t sure if they honestly expected it to make her recognize them as worthy of her. But she was willing to give them a lesson and bruises as a group just as she was if they were alone.


    They were getting better. But that didn¡¯t mean she needed to so much as use her blade. She parried one with her sheath and turned him into the way of the next¡¯s attack, her leg rising up to strike a third in the groin. ¡°I am a sword. You¡¯ll never beat me without resorting to your magic powers,¡± She commented. ¡°So use them, weave them into battle with me. Let me see the strength of your souls not just your muscles.¡±


    She saw new determination forming on the faces of the knights, but whatever plans they were formulating was not to be. The exercise grounds that she had been given to take on challenges went hushed as the watching peasantry began to kneel and bow. The king had come, Arthur striding towards the exercise field with the look of awkwardness he often had when obsequience was shown in his presence.


    ¡°I would like to test the validity of those words, lady Ddraig,¡± Arthur said, his hand going to Chrysaor at his hip.


    ¡°I am not some stepping stone to some other sword,¡± Ddraig answered with an unfeminine bluntness which would be questionably appropriate to anyone and the lack of respect and politeness was especially inappropriate when talking to a king.


    Arthur was stunned for a moment. ¡°What do you mean by that?¡±


    ¡°You have sword you took from the stone, the sword that must not be wielded. I am not some stepping stone towards another sword.¡±


    Arthur paused. ¡°I did not say I sought to claim you. I only want to test your assertion and see if you can push me to my limits so that I finally have cause to discover my magical power. I had hoped it would rise against the Horned King and Vortigern but it did not and now I beseech you to please allow me to test my skill against yours.¡±


    Ddraig looked at him. ¡°Well, I¡¯d not mind seeing how I compare to my big sister. If she¡¯ll fight with you, I¡¯ll fight you.¡±


    Arthur looked at her for a moment, and then put his hand on Chrysaor. ¡°I don¡¯t have any reason to think she won¡¯t.¡±


    Ddraig began to object. If her sister was remaining as a blade she wasn¡¯t really fighting with Arthur. But she did want to see what the king could do with her sister in his hand. ¡°Let¡¯s do this.¡±


    Weland winced as he saw Arthur¡¯s wound, his arm cut to the bone in several places, ligaments barely attached. ¡°What happened?¡±


    ¡°I fought your sword, and ordered her to stop holding back.¡± The king was wan from the loss of blood, even with his arm tied off.


    ¡°Someone, amputate the arm. It¡¯s gonna be easier to just regrow a whole new one.¡± Weland barked out, only to then sigh at the looks he received. The stunned, dumbstruck silence all around him was absolutely no help. So he took his knife from his belt and he cut the last few scraps of flesh holding Arthur¡¯s arm to his shoulder. He was going to have to talk to Ddraig about not putting the king¡¯s life in danger. Regardless of his orders. Still she¡¯d evidently disobeyed somewhat as the king was not burnt.