Chapter 79 - Revenge Counter

---3rd Person POV---

Watching the engineers do their work, Azuma and Bluenote sat there sipping on cold beers. Being in one of the Big 3 Dark Guilds meant times like these were hard to come by as they were almost always busy running Black Market operations, quelling smaller Guild issues, and dealing with the Kingdom/Magic Council. Both men weren't the least bit worried about attacks as the canyonlands were full of dangerous monsters.

The area they currently were in was one of only a small number of safe zones in the region. No one was certain why the monsters never came here though Hades insisted it had something to due with ancient runes carved all around the canyon they were in. According to him, an ancient people made the safe zone to make a city but they never completed it.

"It must be nice to have the luxury of sitting back with a beer.", Hades said as he walked out of the control room.

"If you want one, no one is stopping you.", Bluenote stated, "No one is coming out here. They wouldn't waste their time searching this area."

Shaking his head, Hades approached the railing to get a better view of the workers. Seeing the progress they had already made, he was certain they would be done in the three day timeline they were given. Turning back to the two men, Hades felt the air around them start to heat up rapidly. Hearing the workers scream and evacuate from the ship, Hades looked into the air to see a massive fireball flying at them.

"No one would come looking, would they?", Hades remarked with an annoyed tone, "Stop that attack before it strikes the ship!"

Hearing the workers fleeing for their lives from inside the ship, the other executive members of the Grimoire Heart Guild came running out to see what was going on. Grinning like a fiend, Zancrow told them to let him handle this as fire was his specialty. Using one of his spells, Fire God Destructive Sphere, Zancrow launched it at the incoming attack. Watching in disbelief as his attack was burned away, he backed away in shock from it.

"That isn't normal fire!", Zancrow shouted.

"Abandon ship!!", Hades ordered.

Jumping off the edge of the ship, the attack they were fleeing slammed into the control room and sank into the ship. Before they hit the ground, the fireball exploded blowing the entire ship to pieces. Thrown in every direction Hades and the executive members were slammed into the canyon walls hard enough to fracture several bones and daze them.

Slowly rising to their feet, they looked back to see the remains of the ship burning away along with the crew of the ship. Hearing their screams for help, a few of the executives realized how close they had been to dying. Had they not heard the commotion, they'd be one of those people burning alive in the debris.

"Who the hell attacked us!?", Rustyrose spat in anger, "That was our fucking home!! How dare they pull a sneak attack on us, the bloody cowards!"

Seeing a man with two sets of blue flamed wings descending towards them, Hades recognized him immediately. Telling the executive members to stay on their guard, he told them the man was the 1st Ranked Wizard Saint Mael. Hades wasn't quite sure why he was here, but he knew this wasn't going to be an easy fight.

"You lot are a hard group to find, using special plating to hide your magic signature was a smart move.", Mael conceded, "If it weren't for one of your subordinate guilds, I would have never thought to look here."

"Looks like they will need a reminder of what happens to those who betray us.", Azuma stated.

"No need, they died shortly afterwards...I killed them personally.", Mael told them, "It wasn't that big of a stretch to know you'd make a move soon after the Church and Mage Hunters fell. Tartaros and you are the only two guilds I have left on my list. As for the third guild in the Balam Alliance, tracking them down individually will be the only way to eliminate them. They never gather in a single spot, and use cryptic messages to communicate with one another."

By now Kingdom's agents were in position above the canyon, and were ready to start relaying information back to Arcadios. Starting the broadcast once they confirmed everything was working, they made sure to show what Mael had already done thus far. Showing them the destroyed airship, many of the Guildmasters and Magic Council Members were in shock to see it in a burning heap. Even Arcadios was in shock, but he hid it well behind his poker face.

'He took it down...we have tried on many occasions to do that but we couldn't ever get through the armor plating.', Arcadios thought.

As the initial shock settled, they listened in to what was being said.

"The Magic Council finally decided to deal with us.", Hades stated with annoyance.

"I am not here on the Kingdom's Orders nor the Magic Councils, I am here because I decided to finish what I started.", Mael replied calmly, "I will give you one chance to surrender peacefully to the Kingdom's Agents watching us now. This is the only form of mercy you will get from me, and it's only because I know who you really are."

Looking at each other, most of the people present in the Council Room weren't sure what he meant. Makarov, Goldmine, and Bob all knew why he was offering Grimoire Heart this chance as they all recognized Guildmaster Hades as someone from their past. He was, in short, the man they all once looked up to in their youth.

'Why...why Precht...', Makarov thought seeing Fairy Tails Second Guildmaster on the screen, 'Where did we go wrong?'

"Who I was in that life died years ago.", Hades stated, "I don't need your courtesy!"

Nodding his head, Mael acknowledged his decision as he touched down on the ground. The moment his feet touched the ground, he vanished from their view like he hadn't ever been there. Before they could even blink they watched Kawazu and Yomazu's heads sail past their faces. Hearing the corpses hit the ground a moment later, the realization hit them like a freight train. Unlike the previous people they had fought, this man had no intention of leaving anyone alive.

Their survival instincts immediately kicked into overdrive as they moved simply on battle tested instinct alone. Creating several trees to create some space for his teammates, Azuma quickly merged with the trees before encircling Mael with more trees. Using Gravity Magic as well on Mael, Bluenote brought down all the force he could muster to hold him in place.

"I got him!!", Bluenote shouted, "Kill him!!"

Wrapping hundreds of tree roots around Mael, Azuma said that now was the time to strike while he couldn't move.

"This is for ruining my doll collection!!", Kain yelled, "Shining Dodoskoi!!"

"Die you bastard!", Zancrow howled, "Fire God's Kagutsuchi."

Opting to sit this out, Rustyrose readied himself in case this didn't work. Knowing full well that no one had ever destroyed their airship, he felt that Mael was still holding back. In case he was right, he would protect Hades from Mael the best he could.

"Terra Clamare!", Azuma shouted as the other two attacks hit Mael head on.

Instantly the area exploded violently as their attacks hit their mark. Shaking the entire canyon, Hades readied himself in case the canyon started to collapse on them. When the shaking subsided, the Grimoire Heart Members stood there waiting for the dust to clear.

"Did we kill him?", Rustyrose asked.

"Of course we did, no one could have survived that!", Bluenote said.

"I will have to get more Sorcerer Weekly Magazines because of him!", Kain howled in sadness, "I had dolls for all of the models I like. Now I will have to make another Mirajane and Lucy doll."

A split second later, I bright white fireball shot out of the dust cloud and shot towards Kain. Reduced to ash even before it hit him, Kain couldn't even scream in pain before dying. Jumping away from the fireball, Zancrow's instinct told him getting close to it meant death for him.

"I know my girlfriends likely have fans all over that do the same thing, but seeing that creepy look on his face triggered me.", Mael said as the dust burnt away, "Anyways, that was a pretty good blow fellas. That almost tickled me, congratulations."

Seeing that he didn't even have a scratch on him, the mages started backing away from him. The heat was getting so intense that they couldn't even use their magic as it was burning away the moment they tried.

"Make your peace, you all are going to die in this place.", Mael said as he held his axe back.

Every fiber of their bodies told them to run away as he did so, even those watching the broadcast felt the pressure Mael was exuding. Jumping in front of Hades Rustyrose used his spell Golden Shield to protect the two of them from whatever was about to happen.

"Revenge Counter!", Mael shouted as everything suddenly vanished from sight.

For a few moments after there wasn't a sound to be heard, but after that...an ungodly loud roar punched through the broadcast screen shattering every window in the Magic Council building. Flung from their seats all of those who been nearby were left gasping for air as the shockwave had knocked the wind out of them.

"What the hell was that!?", Jose spat in anger having bit his tongue, "What did he do!?"

Unable to hear what Jose had said, Arcadios staggered back to his feet as his ears continued ringing. Grabbing the broadcasting unit, he demanded answers from the field agents.

"What's happening out there!?", Arcadios shouted through the broadcasting unit, "We lost the image!"

"Hang on...unit is...damaged...HOLY SHIT!!!", the agents shouted in horror, "He's...monster!!"

Waiting several moment for the feed to return, all those present were left speechless as what they saw was terrifying. What had once been Canyonland was now nothing more than a barren wasteland. All the canyon walls were gone, reduced to nothing but dust on the wind. Seeing Mael standing over an unrecognizable Hades, they didn't see a trace of anyone else.

"Hopefully you have a better life next time.", Mael told him.

"Haha...Makarov...you certainly have...a monster in your...closet...", Hades wheezed as his body started turning to dust, "Boy...you are...a devil in human...flesh..."

"No, I am a Seraphim.", Mael chuckled.

Seeing Hades eye's open wide for the last few seconds of his life, no one was sure what he saw. If they had been in his place, they would have seen Mael's True Angelic Form standing there. Seeing a peaceful smile creep onto his face before his body completely vanished, Goldmine, Bob, and Makarov all smiled knowing he met his match.

"Yo Arcadios, I don't see why the Kingdom couldn't have taken care of them. These people were a cakewalk.", Mael harassed him as he checked his magic detector, "If you want to do something knightly, tell the people of Magnolia to get inside their homes. Tartaros appears to be heading that way now. I can handle it, I just don't want civilians getting caught up in a potential fight."

Disappearing from the screen, Mael left without another word. Standing there with rage in his eyes, Arcadios was on the verge of blowing a gasket but managed to maintain his thoughts. Taking what Mael told him seriously, he immediately contacting the team in charge of spying on Tartaros for updates.

"Sir, their Guild Hall turned into some sort of monstrous looking cube and took off.", the field agents told him.

"Did it fly in the direction of Magnolia?", Arcadios asked.

"Yes sir, at their current rate they will be there in ten minutes.", the field agents replied.

Sending out an alert to Magnolia, Arcadios wanted to make sure they kept the civilian causalities to a minimum.