7

Part 1 of The

A tense silence permeated the cabin that Natsu and his team had taken on the train bound for Oshibana. The seriousness of the situation at hand had the whole group preparing for what would undoubtedly be a rough battle, knowing the way that the Dark Guilds often operated.

Natsu remained in the corner of the cabin, a glass of whiskey in hand, as he gazed out at the countryside. Unlike the others, he knew exactly what was going to happen, he'd seen it all too often back in Scarlione. He knew that a lot of blood would need to be spilled to contain the threat of the Demonic Flute Lullaby, just like any other Demon crafted by Zeref.

"You seriously drinking at a time like this," Gray asked curiously, breaking the silence. "You trying to take Cana's spot as the Guild drunk?"

"Leave Natsu be, Gray," Erza responded as Natsu lazily looked over at the Ice-Make Mage, a small smirk on his face.

"Last I checked, I don't have any national titles for my drinking habit, so she's probably got me beat. Besides, it's not worth stressing over what's ahead of us. Take a page from your Magic, and chill out."

"You can't be serious? You realize what we're walking into, right," Gray replied, clearly shocked at Natsu's calm demeanor. "If Eisenwald manages to unleash that Demon, we're probably all gonna die!"

"Thinking like that, you've already lost."

"What the hell do you mean by that!?"

"It's rather self-explanatory," Natsu replied evenly. "If you think that there's a condition for losing, and you decide to hyper focus on it, then you'll lose when the time comes to face such a threat."

"Natsu's right. Half of a battle is physical, the other half is mental," Elise chimed in knowingly. "The Art Of War is fought on many fronts, and it could be argued that the mental battle is more important than the physical one."

"I couldn't have said it better myself," Erza nodded before looking over at Gray. "Over thinking leads to stress, stress leads to mistakes, and mistakes can lead to defeat or death."

Gray seemed thoughtful of what the group had said. Over thinking things certainly led to stress, and they were right that stress would lead to him making mistakes at pivotal moments. It was sound advice he most certainly planned to take on-board.

"Don't mistake what we're saying as advice to ignore your feelings Gray," Natsu added as he took a sip of his drink. "When I was with Gildarts, I often found myself facing things that scared me half to death. But I knew that Gildarts and my other friends were there for me. I knew that, even if I might be alone for that moment, I had people out there who had faith in my ability to get the job done. It's a kind of mental resolve you can only build upon by doing missions like this, if you get what I mean?"

"I … Yeah, honestly, I think I do get what you mean," Gray replied slowly as he thought about it. "It's not really something that can be put into words very well … but it's something we all have to work on?"

"Something like that," Natsu chuckled lightly in response.

"You ever gonna tell us about your little road trip in detail? Every time we talk to you, you drop some weird lines about having done stuff in Scarlione, but without context?"

"I might tell you guys about it one day, Gray," Natsu smirked in reply as he took another sip of his drink. "You're talking about a decade's worth of stories, and I don't really seem to have that kind of time at the moment."

"Well then, how about you tell us one thing," Erza suggested, with Gray and Elise perking up, clearly interested. "It can be anything, not just something flashy?"

"One thing," Natsu hummed as he pondered what to talk about. "You girls remember our conversation about MPF's and comparisons between the Fioran and Scarlione military structures?"

"Yeah? What about it," Elise asked in response.

"You remember how I mentioned that Scarlione has Knights instead of Squad Captains?"

"We remember," Erza nodded. "I assume it uses the Five Class Monarchical Structure, similar to every other Kingdom on Ishgar?"

"Correct," Natsu nodded as he drained his glass. "Promise me none of you will go telling the others in the Guild about this … but I'm actually a Knight myself."

"WHAT," Erza practically screeched as she grabbed him by the collar. "Since when!? Wait, is that how you have connections with Jessabelle Kreuz!?"

"It would be one of the many reasons I know her, yes."

"No way you're actually a freaking Knight," Gray added, clearly in disbelief.

"Believe it, because I am, as is Gildarts," Natsu replied as he smirked at his three friends who all could only gape at his latest revelation.

"How the hell did you become a Knight?"

"It is a long and fascinating tale, full of heroics and other crazy nonsense," Natsu began as he poured himself another drink. "Unfortunately, I said I'd tell you guys one thing, and I did."

"Come on man! You can't just drop something like that then not tell us anything else," Gray huffed, clearly put out by his answer. "Tell us something at least!?"

"I can tell you that I have to get permission to tell you, because its currently classified."

"Oh…"

"Yeah. Though, I probably wouldn't have talked about it right now anyway," Natsu continued. "It isn't really a story I think should be told without a lot of alcohol and a nice cozy atmosphere. Its not very nice, but it is my story to tell. And Gildarts' too, I suppose."

"Well damn, that got depressing really quick," Gray said after several moments of silence. "Uh…we should be there soon, right?"

"Yeah. We've been on the train for a good hour or so by now," Natsu replied as he made his way to the door. "I'll go check with one of the staff."

Leaving the compartment, Natsu made his way up toward the front of the train. Reaching the halfway point, he was surprised to not see many people about, despite the front usually being more densely packed than the rear of the train.

It was then that he picked up a familiar scent. It was the same scent from the last time he'd detected Dark Mages on the train, before this entire mess began. Cautiously, he continued making his way up to the front of the train, reaching the open bar carriage. Upon sliding the door open, his eyes widened in surprise.

Before him were over a dozen people, all dressed in black and purple robes. On the floor around them was blood, as well as multiple dead bodies. The robed figures immediately looked over in his direction, seemingly shocked by his presence.

"What the fuck!?"

"Where'd this guy come from!?"

"We should've swept the entire damn train," a third one hissed as the only non-robed member of the group stepped forward.

"Who cares. He's just another nobody, just like the rest of these fools, and is destined to be a sacrifice for Lord Zeref!"

"Really," Natsu sighed. "More Zeref worshipers? You guys are like roaches…"

"All of you…kill this idiot," the man huffed as he stepped back toward the door on the opposite side of the carriage.

Almost immediately, several of them fired Dark Magic from their staves, attempting to kill him quickly. Knowing that he was alone against the whole group, Natsu's eyes narrowed as he advanced into the room, Crash Barrier easily shattering the attacks as he pressed two fingers to the nearest Dark Mage's neck.

"Crash Arts: Crash Incision."

The man screamed as his neck was shattered into cubes, killing him instantly as he dropped to the floor, head rolling back toward his comrades. All of them immediately took a step back, not having anticipated that the person would fight back.

"Boss Kageyama," one of the Dark Mages cried as the man across the room took another step back in shock.

"All of you, hold this bastard back! It is the will of Lord Zeref that I get our cargo to Oshibana!"

"So, you've got the Demon Flute Lullaby," Natsu asked as Kageyama began to sweat lightly. "Hand it over…"

"Boys…KILL HIM! IN THE NAME OF LORD ZEREF!"

Kageyama bolted as all the Dark Mages in the room immediately rushed Natsu. What they didn't expect, however, was for Natsu to get annoyed as orange lightning ripped through the carriage they were on.

"Get out of my way," Natsu snarled as all the Mages froze in place. "Crash Arts: Crash Repulse!"

An explosion tore through the carriage as Natsu waved his right arm, firing off a powerful wave of Crash Magic that tore everything within a five meter radius apart, including the carriage itself.

This had the consequence of detaching the carriages behind the one he was in from the train, but he wasn't really too concerned with that for the moment. Knowing that these Dark Mages had just killed basically everyone else on board, Natsu was pissed.

Dropping into a slight crouch, he shot forward at blinding speed, his Crash Barrier easily allowing him to rip through every piece of metal in his path as he cleared fifteen carriages in a matter of seconds. As he moved, he cocked his fist back as it ignited with crimson flame, ready to strike his fleeing target.

He easily caught Kageyama, punching him in the back of the head and knocking him through to the next compartment as Natsu skidded to a stop. Noticing he'd dropped something; he picked up a small bag right as the carriage he was in shook slightly.

Looking upward, he saw Kageyama had detached the carriage he was in, the rest of the train speeding away as his carriage slowed to a crawl. He wasn't too concerned however, even as he smelt the approaching scents of his friends.

Turning around, he hopped out of the trashed carriage to see his handiwork. Every carriage he'd smashed through had been derailed and split clean in half, some even having ignited at some point.

"Natsu!"

Looking upward, he saw Erza in her Heaven's Wheel Armor flying toward him. As she landed, Elise skidded to a stop, carrying Gray, all three of them stunned at what he'd just done.

"You literally just went to check on how close we were to Oshibana," Erza snapped. "What the hell happened!?"

"Eisenwald happened. Turns out they killed everyone on the front half of the train and, when I tried to find one of the staff, I ran into them. They attacked me, I fought back, then tried to take out their leader.

"Tried?"

"He detached the train car behind me as I was picking up something he dropped," Natsu replied with an amused smirk. "And fortunately, it's our lucky day."

The trio could only gape as a flute fell out of the small bag Natsu held. Elise's nose wrinkled as she leaned forward to examine it further.

"Oh yeah, this thing reeks of Dark Magic. This has to be Lullaby."

"We still need to get to Oshibana, even though we have the flute," Natsu continued as he placed it back in the sack. "I highly doubt that the guy I decked is the Guild Master, which means Oshibana might be in trouble?"

"Agreed. "We'll have to hoof it," Erza nodded as she slowly took flight. "Elise, can you carry Gray?"

"Easily," the God Slayer replied as she picked up the Ice-Make Mage again. "No offense man, but you're slow as hell."

"Let's move out guys, and hope to hell Eisenwald haven't done anything to Oshibana by the time we get there…"

***POTD***

It didn't take the quartet long to find Oshibana, the black smoke in the distance was a rather telling clue as to where it was. Following the tracks, they arrived at Oshibana Station and immediately knew they had arrived too late.

"They killed them," Elise growled as she crouched down and ran her fingers through the blood coating the station steps. "There's so much blood…"

"Holy shit, look at that," Gray muttered as he nudged Natsu and pointed to the main terminal itself.

Lining the walls were the corpses of various station workers, Rune Knights, as well as civilians. All of them had been strung up, their blood drained and their bodies badly damaged.

Outwardly, Natsu showed no visible sign of reaction, merely marching toward the station as he sniffed their air.

"I can smell the guy from the train…"

"Which means Eisenwald is most likely inside," Erza muttered as she shared a look with Elise and Gray. "We have to make them pay for what they've done to the people of Oshibana…"

"Agreed," Natsu nodded as they made their way inside the building.

The deeper they went, the more bodies they passed, and, the more blood they found themselves walking through until they reached the main interior terminal of the station. Peering around the corner, Natsu inwardly cursed.

"They have hostages…"

"Damn it," Gray hissed. "We can't just charge in there then…"

"Not necessarily," Natsu replied slowly as he seemed to be pondering something. "If you three can district them, I can quickly get in behind the Dark Mages in there and shield them from any attacks?"

"Using your Crash Barrier, right?"

"Right you are Erza."

"Considering the fact that these may be the only survivors of Oshibana, we owe it to them to see them out of this alive!"

"Let's do this then," Natsu muttered as he vanished in a burst of speed.

The trio stepped out into the main terminal, Gray immediately bringing both of his fists out to his right as a Dark Blue colored Magic Circle appeared before him.

"Ice Make – Lance," Gray shouted as several long, razor-sharp lances made from sturdy blue ice burst from the Magic Circle, striking several of the Dark Mages as the rest began to scatter.

Erza, who was still in her Heaven's Wheel Armor, merely had to start attacking, as she manifested twelve blades around her floating form. The blades orbited slowly around her, slowly picking up speed until it appeared like there was a ring of white light behind her.

"Dance, my blades," she cried as the blades all suddenly shot toward the fleeing crowd. "Heaven's Wheel – Circle Sword!"

Some of the Dark Mages almost reached one of the exits, however, Elise suddenly appeared in front of them, wielding a sizeable lance at her back. The lance was alight with a reddish-purple flame as she twirled it loosely behind her.

"War God's Prometheus Lance," Elise snapped as she suddenly spun the blade horizontally, firing off a powerful wave of dark fire that ripped the fleeing Dark Mages apart.

As the trio quickly got to work dismantling the Dark Mages, Natsu had already snuck in and untied the hostages. His Crash Barrier easily kept any stray attacks away as he quickly directed the civilians to safety.

Smiling, he watched as his friends tore apart the Eisenwald Guild. However, a sudden and violent gust of wind tore through the station, and it was far stronger than what an average Dark Mage could produce.

Natsu skidded backward, not being able to utilize his Crash Barrier as it was already in use for the civilians. The attack did little to him, however, it quickly became apparent that it wasn't supposed to.

"So… THIS is Lullaby? For a Demon Of Zeref, I expected something … bigger?"

Natsu's attention snapped up toward a nearby window where a man floated in the air, sat atop the hilt of a scythe, smirking down at them. The man was shirtless, bore several tattoos and had a rather psychotic look about him, his eyes gleefully alight at the Flute currently within his grasp.

Guild Master Of The Eisenwald Guild

An Assassin For The Oracion Seis

S Class Dark Mage

The Gale Clad Reaper

Erigor

"Nice trick there with the Wind Magic," Natsu said as he took several steps forward. "You must be the Guild Master of these useless clowns, I presume?"

"So arrogant, just like all Legal Scum," Erigor replied with an amused tone. "Still, you aren't totally wrong. The majority of them are as useless as pesky flies, but I simply have to work with what I'm given, now don't I?"

"Not to worry, all that hard work can come to an end now," Natsu replied neutrally. "Because, you'll be handing back that flute, and not doing something stupid, won't you?"

"Fool! I already have all I need now to unleash the power of Lullaby from these pathetic flies," Erigor cackled as the wind around them picked up. "Legal trash like you won't stop the nightmare to come! Kageyama, deal with them!"

Erigor vanished, seemingly into thin air as Kageyama emerged from a nearby hallway, ready to fight. But, before he even had a chance to speak, let alone lift a finger, Natsu had smashed his head into the concrete, knocking him unconscious.

"Ouch," Elise snorted as the quartet formed up.

"We have to catch that guy before he can deploy Lullaby," Natsu cursed, clearly not happy he'd actually been momentarily caught off guard and lost the flute.

"It isn't your fault Natsu. You had to keep your Crash Barrier over the hostages," Erza pointed out as the others nodded in agreement.

"Yeah. It sucks that you lost the flute, but you helped the hostages get away," Gray agreed as he placed a hand on Natsu's shoulder. "He can't have gotten far anyway, right?"

"Right," Natsu replied, a small smile on his face. "Let's get him."

The quartet exited the station, only to find a powerful wall of wind blocking their path. Natsu snorted at it, simply walking right through it as the spell quickly tore itself apart.

"Damn… Crash Magic is so damn useful," Gray muttered. "Maybe I should learn it?"

"Good luck with that if you do choose to try and learn it," Natsu smirked in reply. "Took me years to not accidentally destroy stuff with it."

Gray was about to respond, but was cut off by the sound of someone cackling. Natsu's attention immediately shot toward a nearby rooftop where two figures could be seen, both looking directly at them.

The Mage on the left was the one cackling. He had long, bright yellow hair that reached down to his lower back and piercing red-colored eyes. He wore a yellow and black yukata that had some armor around the waist area, and left his right chest and shoulder exposed. Upon his right chest, was a Guild Mark that all four of them immediately recognized.

"Kehahahaha! I like that look in your eyes … I can almost taste the fear! Kehahahahaha!"

"What the hell are they doing here," Elise asked, clearly shocked at the appearance of the men as the blonde leapt down onto a lower rooftop, smirking at them evilly.

"How fortunate for me to have four more Legal Scum to add to my ash collection! Kehahahahaha! Hope you're ready, because Grimoire Heart has come knocking, chumps!"

Member Of Grimoire Heart

One Of The Seven Kin Of Purgatory

SS Class Dark Mage

Fire God Slayer

Zancrow

"Settle down Zancrow. You should know better than to simply rush down there before being given the order."

The other man was built like a wall. Extremely tall, muscular and stoic, even as he sat aloofly on a vine that had seemingly sprouted from the roof itself. He wore what appeared to be light green tribal-like Armor, covered in strange markings that were all connected, even to his bright orange leather pants.

"You're not the boss here," Zancrow spat back toward his comrade. "Besides, just look at them, they're so damn weak!"

"If you truly believe that, then you are a fool," the dark-skinned man sniffed as he held a small, palm sized Lacrima out in front of him. "The MPF says otherwise."

Member Of Grimoire Heart

One Of The Seven Kin Of Purgatory

SS Class Dark Mage

Vanguard Of The Great Tree

Azuma

"Two of the Seven Kin of Purgatory," Elise muttered darkly. "This could be bad…"

"Bad doesn't even begin to cover it," Azuma replied calmly as he was slowly lowered down to Zancrow's level by the vine he currently sat upon. "We are indeed of the Seven Kin, and we are here today with purpose."

"And just what is that purpose," Natsu asked slowly, still sensing something was off. "Are you here to assist Eisenwald?"

"Assisting Eisenwald … is not why we have come," Azuma replied plainly. "We have come here for one, singular, reason."

"And that would be," Natsu asked, only for the sound of approaching footsteps to cut his questioning short.

All eyes went back to the rooftop as a monstrous Magical Signature descended upon the entire town of Oshibana. Elise and Erza actually shuddered as it washed over them, eyes widening at the sheer, overwhelming force of it.

Gray fared even worse, shaking as he took several steps backward. Erza and Elise both placed a hand on each of his shoulders, which did little to alleviate what all three felt.

Fear

Standing atop where Azuma and Zancrow had been, was a single man. He appeared to be in his mid-forties and wore a battle kimono with the emblem of Grimoire Heart emblazoned across it.

His gaze was piercing, unblinking, as his dark blue eyes bored into all four of them. His facial expression, stance, mannerisms … all honed to a fault. This was a man built for battle, clearly ready to fight at a moment's notice.

"The reason we have come," the man spoke, continuing from where Azuma had left off. "Is to find the one responsible for the defeat of The Cortex, and the destruction of Valtheim's Razor."

"Gray," Natsu muttered quietly as the clearly terrified Ice-Make Mage's gaze shot up to meet Natsu's own. "Go. Find Erigor, and defeat him."

"A-Are you s-sure," Gray stuttered, clearly frustrated that he couldn't pull himself together. "D-Damn it…"

"I believe in you, Gray. Go and defeat Erigor, and leave these three to us."

Gray shakily nodded and slowly backed away before running as fast as he could. Partly to begin catching up to Erigor, and, partly due to the sheer terror he felt when looking upon the intimidating man.

Once Gray was gone, Natsu turned his attention back toward the three Dark Mages ahead of him. It seemed that none of them cared about Gray, allowing him to escape.

"Azuma."

"Yes?"

"Scan them."

Azuma nodded as he directed the MPF toward the trio, letting it focus upon Erza first as a faint light washed over her. She was about to react, only for Natsu to place a hand on her shoulder and shake his head.

"Don't," was all he said as she shot him a questioning glance.

"It isn't an attack," Elise muttered in response to her clear confusion. "Remember, like we talked about yesterday…?"

Erza realized what Elise meant and, reluctantly, refrained from moving to attack, as the MPF finished scanning her.

A projection shot out of the MPF in the form of numbers. Starting at zero, it quickly shot up as the scan entered its final phase. After another minute, the numbers ceased rising.

Erza Scarlett – 12,447 MPI

Erza was shocked at the number. Remembering her conversation with Natsu and Elise the previous day regarding the scores required for certain troops in Fiore and Scarlione, hers utterly demolished the requirements.

"It seems that your moniker as the legendary Titania is well deserved," Azuma cut in, bringing her back to reality. "Such a reading might indicate that you possess extraordinary raw Magical Power … but, can it be harnessed and utilized? Or, is it wasted upon you?"

She certainly didn't need an explanation of what the man was asking. It made perfect sense, after all. She might have a Magical Power Index rating that high, but it was worthless if she couldn't utilize it all.

"Scan the other one now," the intimidating man interjected, prompting Azuma to nod as the MPF began to scan Elise.

It took roughly around the same amount of time for it to scan Elise, the projection popping out like before as the numbers began to spin.

Elise Faulkner – 12,452 MPI

Erza was genuinely surprised that Elise had a reading almost identical to her own. In fact, it was just barely higher than her own. Looking over to Natsu, wondering what his opinion was, she was surprised to see that he hadn't even been looking at the scan at all. His eyes hadn't once left the now obvious leader of the two Grimoire Heart Mages.

"Scan that man there, Azuma."

Natsu didn't even react as the device scanned him. Erza and Elise, despite knowing they should really be focusing on the enemy, couldn't help but wonder what Natsu's reading was going to be.

Sure enough, after the same length of time, the projection shot out and the numbers began to spin. Once they finally stopped however, everyone's eyes widened in shock.

Natsu Dragneel – 1 MPI

"One," Elise muttered, clearly confused. "Is it broken?"

"Foolish girl," the intimidating man scoffed in response. "Just by this reading alone, I know Dragneel is the one we are looking for."

"WHAT!? Come on, you're kidding," Zancrow spat. "This guy looks weak as shit!"

"If you truly believe that to be the case, Zancrow, then by all means, attempt to face him," the man replied as he took one step and appeared at ground level before the trio. "He'd kill you in seconds."

Zancrow seemed torn. On one hand, he clearly wanted to retort and insult the man. On the other, however, he seemed to grudgingly agree. So, he wisely kept his mouth shut as the man walked right up to Natsu, getting into his face.

The two men were almost equal in height, their faces mere inches away as they glared unblinkingly at one another.

"The ability to suppress your Magical Power, rendering it nigh undetectable, is a skill only powerful Mages can accomplish. I can tell … you are the one we've been searching for."

Deputy Commander Of Grimoire Heart

Grand Wizard Class Mage

SSS Rank Dark Mage

The Master Of Many Magics

Bluenote Stinger

As soon as Bluenote finished speaking, the sudden pressure he'd been exerting increased a hundredfold as buildings began groaning under the sheer weight of his Magical Power. The ground beneath himself and Natsu cracked, as Erza, Elise, Azuma and Zancrow immediately fell to their knees.

"What is-!?"

"Such…power," Elise snarled as she tried to stand, but failed.

Azuma and Zancrow didn't even try to resist, knowing it was futile to do so. Both of them knew Bluenote's power was far beyond theirs, but they both couldn't contain their surprise at seeing Natsu remain standing before him.

"His strength is indeed beyond us," Azuma noted as Zancrow begrudgingly snarled in agreement.

The pressure finally let up, allowing the four to stand.

"Take your fights elsewhere, or be destroyed," Bluenote commanded as Azuma and Zancrow stepped back.

"I'll take Scarlett," Azuma spoke as he motioned off to the left whilst slowly sinking into the ground.

"Then I'll take this little bitch," Zancrow laughed as he motioned for her to follow him off to the right. "Come this way, you soon to be piece of ash! Kehahahahaha!"

Reluctantly, the girls went the ways they had been directed. Both, however, were extremely concerned for Natsu. Neither of them had seen an opponent as powerful as Bluenote. His Magic alone made The Cortex's look like a joke by comparison.

Once they were out of sight, both men slowly began to take steps backward, as Bluenote began to speak.

"Nothing will interfere with my battle," the man muttered darkly as he expelled even more Magical Power. "You are young, yet already possess incredible strength. I will learn your secrets by any means necessary."

"On the contrary," Natsu replied, his own tone darkening as Bluenote's eyes widened ever so slightly. "By sending those two away…I can face you properly."

Bluenote had to admit, the young man was certainly something else. Not only was he a master at suppressing his power, he was also operating under some sort of facade. His face was now not too dissimilar to his own, the clear intent to fight and kill obvious.

"I'm surprised to see a Legal Mage that's blooded," the Grand Wizard noted as he slid into a basic stance. "I wonder… will you fly, or fall?"

"Only one way to find out," came the cold response as Natsu began to unleash his own Magic Power.

Bluenote tensed for a moment, before the pair closed the distance between one another, as their fists clashed. The buildings around them were blasted apart as the ground was quickly turned into a large crater, the two powerful Mages causing widespread destruction just from their opening clash.

***POTD***

Erza followed the trail of vines left in Azuma's wake, eventually arriving on the outskirts of Oshibana. The Dark Mage was sitting atop a vine that jutted out from a nearby farmhouse, seemingly intrigued at the explosions behind her.

"It seems like that one is giving Bluenote a genuine fight? Such a feat for one so young, as Bluenote is far beyond the reach of ordinary Mages. Even we would stand no chance against him, even if we combined our strength."

"Natsu won't lose to someone like him," Erza growled in reply as her body was enveloped in a bright white light. "Requip – Flight Armor!"

"Words mean nothing in the face of overwhelming force, Erza Scarlett. All that matters is who wins, and who loses. But I wonder, what will be your fate," Azuma replied as various vines shot up from the ground around him. "Show me your power, Erza Scarlett!"

Erza dashed forward right as the vines shot in her general direction. With precise strikes, she easily sliced through them as she advanced toward Azuma's position. The man didn't seem bothered by this, instead merely allowing the vine he was seated on to rapidly shoot backward, several thick offshoots erupted from the stem and attempting to catch Erza.

"Oh no you don't! Flight Armor – Sonic Strike!"

Erza's speed increased as she sliced apart the vines in a flurry of precise slash attacks. Azuma seemed amused, finally standing as the vine continued to travel backward.

"Your speed is commendable; I'll give you that. However, you really should learn not to rush into the fray without knowing your foe…"

Erza's eyes widened in surprise as the ground behind her rumbled violently, a thick wall of vines erupting from the ground, as well as dozens more from the main vine stem as well. She easily evaded several, but quickly found herself ensnared as hundreds quickly descended upon her.

"So many," Erza hissed as the ground rumbled before splitting open.

To her shock, a massive tree burst forth from the earth, with Azuma sinking into its trunk and reappearing atop one of he taller, thicker branches high above as he motioned for the vines to drag her higher.

"It was foolish of you to challenge one of the Seven Kin. Legal Mages such as yourself might possess power, but you fail to utilize it properly. Attempting to subdue a Dark Mage of my caliber is foolishness, plain and simple."

"Tch-! You think you've won just because of this!?"

"It is foolish to resist," Azuma replied calmly as he held out his right hand in her direction. "Great Tree Arc – Chain Burst!"

Erza watched in shock as explosions rapidly began going off at the base of the vines holding her in place. Said explosions rapidly traveled up the vines, and she knew she would have to act quickly to get out alive.

As the last of the explosions went off, and Erza's form was blanketed by smoke, Azuma sighed. Returning to a seated position, he gently stroked the branch he was sitting on.

"It's over…"

Suddenly performing a flip from his seated position, an aerial slash attack formed of crimson flame sliced the branch clean in half as the Dark Mage landed on the side of the tree. Eyes narrowed, he sunk partway into the tree as Erza emerged from the smoke, clad in a new Armor.

"Requip – Armor of the Brilliant Flame!"

"It seems I may have underestimated you Scarlett, if only slightly. I'm surprised you made it out of that without so much as a scratch?"

"You talk about strength being the only thing that matters, and that words are meaningless. Yet, you sit around, barely doing a thing and assuming your superiority against your opponent!? I might be a Legal Mage, but I'm no less capable than you!"

"Let's test that, shall we," Azuma replied bluntly as he extended his arms out before him. "Great Tree Arc – Ramus Sica!"

From either side of the tree where Azuma was partially submerged, razor-sharp branches shot out toward Erza's position at high speed. Erza sliced apart the first two as she spun around, her sword becoming coated in crimson fire as she raised it above her head.

"Draconian Knight's Heat Wave!"

Swinging the blade in a horizontal motion, Erza fired off a powerful blast of fiery wind that instantly charred all the branches headed for her. Azuma noticed what was happening and began sinking fully into the trunk of the tree.

"I'll leave you with this parting gift, Erza Scarlett, as we shall have to settle this another time," the Dark Mage muttered, vanishing into the tree. "Great Tree Arc – Chain Burst!"

The entire tree began to rapidly expand, a monstrous amount of Magical Power being funneled into it as Erza quickly fled in the opposite direction. She only managed to move for about five seconds before the entire tree detonated. The result was a massive explosion that instantly engulfed the entire farm they'd fought in, along with the surrounding properties in the area.

Managing to escape by the skin of her teeth, Erza landed, rolling once before crashing into a building as the shock-wave from the explosion caught up with her. The area shook for another few seconds before she was confident in getting back to her feet. Upon doing so, and looking through the hole she'd come in through, she was shocked to see the plume of smoke generated by Azuma's attack.

"That could destroy a city if he wanted it to…"

Shaking her head, she changed back into her regular Armor and started running back to where she knew Natsu had started fighting Bluenote earlier, hoping he was alright. After all, if Azuma was that powerful, just how strong was Bluenote?

***POTD***

Elise frowned as she stalked through what appeared to be the Residential District of Oshibana. She'd been chasing Zancrow for twenty minutes and the man kept on running. It was really starting to grate on her patience.

"Kehahahahaha! What's wrong!? You seem to be having trouble keeping up," the Dark Mage taunted as he landed atop a nearby building. "Want me to slow down for you!?"

"Couldn't care less if you keep running, because it only proves what a little bitch you are!"

"WHAT!? Oh, now it's on," Zancrow sneered as he launched himself off of the building, not noticing Elise's smug grin at baiting the man. "I'm gonna fucking melt you! Fire God's Bellow!"

Elise was shocked at Zancrow's attack, but only for the briefest of moments, as she quickly inhaled deeply, puffing up her chest.

"War God's Bellow!"

Though not ceasing his attack, a muffled 'What the fuck' could be heard from Zancrow, his eyes widening in shock as Elise fired back an equally large breath attack. It was a solid pillar of black, appearing similar to a beam of energy, that smashed into the chaotic black flames of Zancrow's attack.

The two attacks were dead even as they failed to even budge one another so much as an inch. Eventually, a sizeable explosion was set off as the attacks reached their conclusion, blanketing the area in a thick fog of black smoke.

"What kinda fuckery is this," Zancrow spat as he waved an arm, sending the smoke off to the right to reveal the entire area was now on fire. "Just where do you get off being a fucking God Slayer!?"

"You aren't the only one genius, get with the times," Elise scoffed in response. "Though let's be real, you're probably just some loser who learnt your Magic from a damn book instead of a real God like me, aren't you?"

"Fuck off you learned from a real God," the Fire God Slayer spat as both his arms ignited in pitch black flame. "I'll put your worthless ass into the fucking dirt for stealing my shtick!"

Elise slid back into a basic offensive stance as Zancrow shot toward her, the fire around his arms forming into scythes.

"Fire God's Shinsei Scythes!"

Elise sprung into action, her crimson eyes gaining a faint Galaxy Blue hue to them as she flipped at the moment before the first scythe would have struck her in the left side. Both her legs became coated in a blackish Aura as her left foot kicked away Zancrow's follow up scythe, as her right was directed at his face.

"War God's Armageddon Kick!"

The moment her kick made contact with the side of his face, every building in the direction of the kick's trajectory in a two hundred meter radius, instantly was blasted apart. Zancrow was sent flying, smashing through buildings beyond the two hundred meter radius as a large and visible cloud of dust was kicked up.

Crouching down, Elise shot off in his direction, summoning an Ebony Straight Sword to her right hand. Ahead of her, she could see Zancrow had flipped back onto his feet, wounds regenerating as he continued to skid backward through the streets whilst forming an attack between his hands.

"YOU FUCKING BITCH! LET'S SEE HOW YOU LIKE THIS," the Fire God Slayer snapped. "Fire God's Explosive Flame!"

Thrusting his hands out before him, a sea of black flame was unleashed in Elise's direction, instantly rendering everything in its path into molten slag and ash. Zancrow cackled with glee as he watched his attack destroy everything, laughing as Elise continued to charge toward it.

Gripping her blade with both hands, it became coated in a blackish Aura as she held it out to her right, the blade itself now visibly shaking. And then, suddenly, Elise stopped sprinting, now skidding along the ground toward the attack as she narrowed her gaze.

"War God's Arcanum!"

Slashing upward, a momentary gap was created within Zancrow's attack, with Elise sliding right into said gap. This was then followed by another slash that, again, opened up another gap ahead of her that she slid into, right as the first one closed up.

Faster and faster Elise slashed, her attacks opening her a path as she skidded right through Zancrow's attack. The Fire God Slayer was completely floored, having never seen someone perform such a technique against his Explosive Flame before.

It was a risky play, as she was just barely managing to get through before the path behind her filled in with the Fire God Slayer's flames. Yet, despite it all, Elise was cutting her way through by the skin of her teeth until finally…

"IMPOSSIBLE," Zancrow screeched as Elise emerged from the deployment point of his attack, launching herself high into the air as she cocks back her sword arm. "YOU WANT TO PLAY GOD SLAYER!? FINE! LET'S DO THIS!"

Zancrow was about to launch another attack at Elise, however, she threw her sword at him with such precision, it sliced open his left cheek, spilling blood and throwing off Zancrow's attack as it shot off into the distance, generating a sizeable explosion.

Stumbling backward, Zancrow snarled as his cheek immediately began regenerating, looking up only to freeze as Elise had closed the distance, her right fist and forearm coated in a blackish Aura.

"War God's Armageddon Fist!"

Zancrow was smacked square in the face, the sound of bones crunching being audible as the God Slayer was belted away at high speed. He flew across Oshibana, smashing through dozens of buildings before smashing through Oshibana Station itself.

Elise immediately pursued his trajectory, and, upon reaching the station, couldn't find a trace of the Fire God Slayer. Her eyes narrowed as she remained still, trying to sense if he was still in the area.

"Looks like he ran," Elise sighed after being unable to determine his location. "Guess I should see if Natsu needs my help with that Bluenote guy…"

With one last look at Zancrow's obvious impact crater, Elise turned and took off toward the obvious location of Natsu's fight. She knew full well she hadn't seen the last of Zancrow, and that the Fire God would most certainly be pissed the next time they crossed paths.

***POTD***

Natsu's eyes were wide, veins bulging across his head as he poured his complete, undivided attention into facing Bluenote.

The man was definitely no joke. Regular blows did absolutely nothing to him, the older man's body shrugging off even his basic Fire Dragon Slayer attacks, something not even S Class Mages can do.

However, it appeared that Bluenote was facing a similar issue with Natsu, as his basic attacks also failed to yield any noticeable battle damage. The two men had since moved up a tier, now slugging one another with advanced Magic and reinforced blows.

"Fire Dragon King's Wing Attack!"

Shooting toward Bluenote, his right arm became coated in crimson fire, forming the shape of a razor-sharp Dragon wing. Bluenote immediately adopted a defensive stance, raising his right arm up to block the attack and reinforcing it with his left as Natsu smashed into him.

Bluenote didn't make a sound, even as he was sent skidding backward, his feet digging into the concrete. As he skidded backward, he dropped into a crouch and suddenly was propelled high into the air, extending his right arm back as a multi-layered cyan and bright yellow Magic Circle appeared around his wrist.

"Two Layered Magic Circle – Lightning Shower!"

The sound of a thunderclap was heard as thunderbolts were unleashed from the Magic Circle around Bluenote's wrist with the frequency of an automatic weapon. Natsu immediately took evasive action, sprinting further into the densely packed town as Bluenote raised his right leg above his head, preparing to perform a dropkick.

"There's nowhere to run," the Grand Wizard's voice boomed as his leg became coated with a dark brown colored Magic Circle. "Earth Magic – Great Rapture!"

Bringing his leg down with full force, the entire town shook violently as the entire place was split clean in half. A forty-meter-wide fissure was torn into the town, from the point of impact by Bluenote's leg, all the way out of toward and toward the nearby mountain overlooking the town.

Narrowly avoiding being hit directly by the attack, Natsu skidded to a stop, noticing that Bluenote was on the opposite side of the newly formed fissure. Both men stared each other down for several moments before Bluenote suddenly started stomping along the edge of his side, breaking off large chunks of earth and catching them with Gravity Magic.

"Let's see how you handle this," the Dark Mage muttered as he brought the pieces of earth before him.

The Magic Circles for Fire and Gravity appeared, the former being placed behind the latter in a rather impressive display of control. As he did this, Bluenote slid his left leg backward, cocking back his left fist as his right moved the first rock to hover just inside the Gravity Magic Circle.

Two Layered Magic Circle – Molten Meteor!"

Drawing his right fist back, the piece of earth that was suspended inside the Gravity Magic Circle was slowly pulled back and turned into a sphere of pure, molten rock. The Gravity Magic Circle had visibly been bent backward by this action, as Bluenote's actions became obvious.

Thrusting forward with his right fist, the molten rock was fired directly at Natsu at astonishingly high speed. Avoiding the attack at the last moment, he was shocked to see the attack didn't just rip through everything in its path, it completely obliterated everything alongside its path as well.

'This is bad… He's positioned across the fissure, which means that I'd have to launch myself across to stop him. But, if I did that, then I'd be exposed, and he'd take me out for sure,' Natsu growled internally. 'But I can't risk testing my Crash Barrier against an attack with an attack potency of that size. He's essentially firing meteor tier attacks at me, which could potentially punch through my barrier and kill me in one blow…'

Diving out of the way of another shot, Natsu watched as it tore apart Oshibana just as badly as the first one did. He didn't dare begin to start worrying about Erza or Elise's safety, knowing it would break his concentration, something he sorely needed for this battle.

"Is that the best you can do," Bluenote taunted as he prepared another shot. "I have plenty of earth to use here, and you only have a limited amount of town left to save!"

Natsu wasn't under any delusion that Oshibana was completely screwed. It was lucky that those civilians had a head start to flee from Oshibana Station, or they'd have most certainly been killed by Bluenote.

No, that taunt wouldn't work on Natsu. The destruction of a town wasn't an unusual thing for him to witness, he'd seen plenty of those firsthand.

There was only one option left, and, it was risky. He couldn't risk going all out against Bluenote, not when the threat of a Demon from the Books of Zeref loomed on the horizon, should Gray be unable to stop Erigor from deploying it.

"Right then," he sighed as he avoided another shot from Bluenote. "Let's do this!"

Bluenote had expected Natsu to eventually respond, but not in the form of a retreat. The Grand Wizard momentarily broke his usually stoic demeanor, his mouth open slightly in shock before he quickly recomposed himself, eyes narrowing to slits.

'Let's see if he takes the bait,' Natsu thought to himself as he fell back into the devastated ruins of Oshibana, quickly moving out of the older man's field of view.

"Think you can run, Dragneel," he heard the Grand Wizard's voice boom. "THINK AGAIN!"

Bluenote cancelled his attack as he slid his right leg back to join his left, remaining in a semi squatting position as he brought his two enclosed fists together. Opening them into palms, he made an upward motion with both of them, the ground beneath him suddenly bursting upward.

"Earth Magic – Propulsion Pillar!"

Jumping slightly, Bluenote angled his feet backward as a second pillar shot out of the ground behind him, launching him into Oshibana at high speed. With his aerial advantage, Bluenote could see Natsu easily, and began spinning on the spot with his leg raised above his head.

"Wind Magic – Reaper's Gale!"

As he spun around on the spot, Bluenote began firing out countless wind-based attacks that cleaved apart the buildings below, ripping apart roads and slicing through just about anything else that was unfortunate enough to be in its path.

"You cannot run from me," the Grand Wizard roared as he ripped apart the town below, clearly becoming frustrated at Natsu's ability to evade him.

As for Natsu himself, he was used to navigating towns and cities under siege like this, his mind basically having regressed back to the one he held in Scarlione. He moved like avoiding the attacks was second nature, knowing the best times to move and the times to halt in place.

His goal was to reach the Oshibana Town Square. It was one of the few areas not completely destroyed yet, plus, it possessed a perfectly wide, open area within the city for him to enact his plan.

Reaching the square and coming to a stop before the Town Hall, Natsu turned and faced Bluenote, who landed across the large, open courtyard, the entire area shaking from the force of his landing.

"Nowhere left to run boy," the Grand Wizard growled. "You fought better than most, but you are no match for the likes of me! Surrender now, and reveal your Magics to me, and I shall ensure the Bharam Alliance makes your death quick."

"I'll admit that you've surprised me with how strong you are," Natsu began as he paced along the top step. "I suppose that, in hindsight, it was going to be inevitable that I draw this much attention to myself. I just didn't expect the focus of the Bharam Alliance to be so swift and … well, I suppose I should be flattered."

"Your point?"

"That my time is finite, and I have other things to do," Natsu replied, his sudden shift in tone immediately putting Bluenote on the defensive. "If it were any other time, I'd actually have stayed and fought you to the death. However, lives are at stake, and I can't afford to waste time fighting you."

"You think I'm just going to let you go," Bluenote countered as he stomped his foot, four earthy walls erupting around the edges of the square, boxing them in. "Like it or not, we're fighting."

"I'll give you one last attack," Natsu replied as he suddenly leapt up onto the roof of the town hall, both his arms igniting with crimson fire. "Savor it!"

Bluenote's eyes widened as he felt Natsu fully open up his reserves, the flames around him exploding as he held both arms out to either side.

"With the flames of my right hand, and the flames of my left-!"

Natsu leapt up onto the tallest point of the Town Hall, bringing his two hands together to form a monstrous sphere of raw, chaotic fire as orange sparks started shooting out all over the place.

"-and mix it together with Crash Magic, and you get-!"

From the front of the sphere, fire slowly moved outward, the sphere slimming down as the attack seemed to mold itself into a massive sword of raw fire and Crash Magic that was at least ten meters in length and two in width as he launched himself high into the air above the square.

"Dragon Slayer's Secret Art: Quaking Crimson Lotus – Exploding Flame Blade!"

Bluenote immediately moved to defend himself, summoning a Five Layered Magic Circle out in front of him right as the attack struck his position. Within moments, the entire square was enveloped in a fiery dome filled to the brim with chaotic Magic, which quickly expanded to cover a sizeable portion of the already trashed town.

Spinning around in midair, Natsu fired a low powered breath attack, which propelled him outside the blast radius. After several seconds of watching the explosion, he eventually came to land on the outskirts of Oshibana. He hit the dirt on his side, before immediately flipping back to his feet as he skidded to a stop.

"Hopefully everyone alive got out of Oshibana before I did that," Natsu panted, slightly out of breath from his last attack. "Would rather not have their deaths on my conscience, along with the others…"

"That's a rather morbid thing for a Legal Mage to say…"

Natsu froze, the sound of footsteps audible ahead of him, as Bluenote emerged from the fire, tossing aside his destroyed battle kimono, leaving him dressed only in tattered pants.

"I see now how you defeated Valthiem," Bluenote continued, coming to a stop several meters before Natsu's position, clearly not having been damaged by the attack. "The Cortex would have stood no chance against the likes of you. In fact, I dare say that, with the exception of the three heads of the Bharam Alliance, you would best around ninety eight percent of the Bharam Alliance in one-on-one combat."

"I don't know if I should be impressed you walked out of that without a scratch, or annoyed," Natsu replied tensely as Bluenote shrugged in response.

"You fought well. I haven't had a fight that has actually interested me in over a decade," the Grand Wizard continued. "In truth, you were actually my secondary objective, and so, I have come to a decision. Out of respect for your skill, I shall let you return to whatever you were doing, as I return to my primary mission."

"If that's what you want to do…"

"Do not mistake this as my surrender, or an admission of inferiority in any respect. The Bharam Alliance gave me a task ahead of confronting you. I merely stumbled across you by chance, and decided to test if you were indeed the one responsible for the Valtheim incident. I shall be reporting your identity to the Alliance, and next time…I shall show no mercy."

With that, Bluenote turned on his heel, and departed.

Natsu didn't let go of the breath he'd been holding until the man was out of sight. Looking out at the completely annihilated town before him, he couldn't help but sigh and shake his head.

"Everywhere I go, its always the damn same…"

"Natsu!"

Looking to his right, he saw Erza and Elise rushing toward him. Both girls seemed shocked by what they had seen, yet also slightly tired, most likely from their own fights.

"You two alright?"

"As best as we can be, given the circumstances," Erza sighed. "My opponent fled after a brief battle."

"I beat up mine and he ran away," Elise replied. "Seems I got the weakest of the three?"

"Any guess who got the strongest," Natsu asked, half smiling as the girls both weakly shoved him.

"Still cracking jokes, despite blowing up a damn town," Elise giggled lightly. "That was damn impressive work, even if you didn't beat Bluenote."

"Honestly, that guy was really damn strong. I think Gildarts would have enjoyed fighting him."

"You'll have to tell us about your battle once we get back home," Erza replied as she gently placed a hand on his shoulder. "I can't believe you could stand up to someone like that Bluenote guy without fear…"

"Yeah. You didn't even flinch in front of him, even Erza and I had trouble staying composed."

"Threats like him are the reason why I trained," Natsu sighed as he ran a hand through his hair. "All that aside though, we need to get moving. Gray might need our help?"

"Agreed."

"I dunno? I don't know Gray too well yet, but he seemed about as strong as that Erigor guy who took the flute?"

"Even so, I still want to give him backup. I think our best bet is to head directly to Clover and head them off?"

"I agree. Hopefully we can run into them along the way," Erza agreed as the trio moved out, leaving the destroyed town behind.

***POTD***

"I still don't see why the fuck we had to pull out so damn soon!?"

"Shut up Zancrow. If I hadn't brought you into the earth when I did, that girl would've killed you," Azuma replied, half submerged in the ground.

"Enough," Bluenote ordered as both Dark Mages fell silent. "We got what we needed from them. Azuma?"

"Right," the Dark Mage replied as a vine emerged from the ground next to him, holding the MPF.

Bluenote took the MPF from the vine and activated it, the last scanned individual being projected out of it as the numbers began to spin. Bluenote watched unblinkingly as the numbers slowly began to stop.

"Well shit," Zancrow huffed. "Guess you guys weren't fucking with me."

"Neither of us has the patience for that," Azuma replied neutrally. "Still, its good Bluenote was here with us for this."

"Indeed," the Grand Wizard replied as he stared unblinkingly at the results before him. "This is vital information for the Alliance. Azuma, make sure to store this securely."

"Of course," the man replied as a vine gently took the MPF back and stowed it into the earth.

"Now then, it is time to complete our primary objective."

The trio all looked at a signpost at the centre of a crossroads, their gazes locked on one specific location in particular.

Era

"Let's move out," Bluenote ordered as the two Dark Mages walked at his back. "We strike at midnight