The End of the Invasion

Earth Land, Ishgar, Kingdom of Fiore, Tenrou Island.

December 15, x784.

While battles were waged on different parts of Tenrou Island, Erza, with her [Soul Weapon] stabbed into the ground in front of her, and her hands resting on its pommel, waited in front of the giant tree at the center of Tenrou Island.

Though it seemed as if she was simply standing in place, if one were to look closely, they would be able to see her eyes darting from one tree to another.

"I think this waiting game has gone on for long enough." Erza said in her uniquely authoritative tone. "But if you would rather hide and see if my patience will give out, I have no problem cutting down all the trees in this stretch of the forest to take away all your hiding spots."

After Erza's speech, silence ensued for a few seconds. Then just as Erza pulled her sword from the ground, the tree closest to her began to distort as a tall, heavily muscled, tan-skinned man with messy, thick, dark brown hair that jutted out in all directions emerged from its trunk.

With his form now completely visible, it could be seen that he had brown eyes and long sideburns that connected his hair and goatee, which looked like three triangles hanging from his chin as well as an upward pointing triangle that grew upwards. On top of that, he had a long, straight scar that ran over his left eye reaching from the top of his forehead to the bottom of his cheek bone. He also wore an earring on each ear in the shape of a crescent moon.

As for attire, He wore what appeared to be an orange bodysuit with a tribal motif. On top of that, covering his upper body, he wore a light green leather armor that highlighted his muscular abs and pecs. There were also a pair of dark gray shoulder pads that extended down to his elbows with lighter accents.

"It would seem you truly could detect me, woman." The man said in a stoic tone. "It would seem I've underestimated you. Though, I would rather not fight a woman. The lack of strength inherent to the gender does not interest me…"

*Swish!*

Before the man could speak any further, however, he was forced to take a step back, merging into the tree he had just emerged from, when Erza appeared in front of him with her sword slashing at his neck.

"Underestimating me simply because I am a woman is a mistake you may not survive long enough to regret." Erza said as she looked towards another tree.

"I see." The man said as he emerged from the tree at the end of Erza's line of sight. "It seems I've found exactly what I'm looking for. A battle that I will remember for the rest of my life."

As the man finished speaking, the tree that he had just merged into to escape Erza's slash began sliding apart diagonally, as Erza had cleaved it in two with one slash.

"I am Azuma of Grimoire Heart's Seven Kin of Purgatory." The man, Azuma, said, introducing himself with a battle thirsty grin. "May I ask your name, Warrior?"

"You may refer to me as Erza Scarlet." Erza replied while pointing her sword at Azuma with a stern expression on her face. "Now tell me, why have you come here?"

"That's quite simple." Azuma replied. "Our master made it clear that the wizards of Fairy Tail would be weakened significantly if I were to topple the tree at the center of this island. But now, none of that matters. As I have found something much more interesting. Now, fight me, Erza Scarlet. Let me feel the exhilaration of a good fight."

With that, Azuma raised his right hand in Erza's direction. At the same time, he reached his left hand back and placed it on the tree behind him.

"[Bleve]." Azuma chanted.

*Boom!*

In the next instant, the area surrounding Erza exploded, engulfing her in flames. However, before too much time could pass, Erza burst out of the explosion clad in her [Flame Empress Armor] with her [Soul Weapon] engulfed in [Fire Magic].

"Excellent!" Azuma exclaimed in excitement. "Now, don't disappoint me. [Burst Claw]."

Before Erza could get too close, she was forced to a stop when a tree root swiped at her from underground.

*Shing!*

"So, you have control over trees." Erza said as she cut through the root, and it caught fire due to the [Fire magic] on her sword. "I suspected as much---"

*Boom!*

While she spoke, the root she cut through exploded, cutting of what she had to say. Still, just like before, Erza simply charged through the explosion and shortened the distance between herself and Azuma.

And Erza's deductions were correct, despite being interrupted. Azuma used a type of Lost Magic] known as [The Great Tree Arc]. This magic allowed Azuma to grow and manipulate trees not to mention creating explosions from the fruit that grew on those trees. But the most powerful ability of this magic was the ability to control the energy in the earth. Which was what he used to create the first Explosion he used in the fight.

"Even if you can somehow make the trees you control explode, you won't break through my [Flame Empress Armor]." Erza declared as she slashed her sword at Azuma once again.

This time, however, instead of merging into the tree behind him, Azuma evaded the slash with minimal movement. Then, with his magic power concentrated on his right fist, he threw a punch at Erza's abdomen.

Reacting quickly, Erza raised her left leg. Using her grieve, she knocked Azuma's fist to her left. Then, she slashed her sword upward along the previous trajectory.

In response, Azuma, following the momentum of his deflected punch, swung his body and threw his right foot at the tree behind him. Then, as soon as his foot made contact with the tree's trunk, a root burst from the ground and pushed Erza's sword off course.

*Boom!*

In the next instant, the root exploded. And although Erza took little damage from the explosion, due to her unstable posture, she was blown backwards from the explosion's force. At the same time, Azuma escaped the explosion by merging into the tree, once again, just before it was destroyed in the explosion.

Then, before Erza could regain her balance, Azuma's upper body extended from the bottom of a tree branch with his right hand extended towards Erza.

"[Linear Explosion]." Azuma chanted as he used the earth's energy to create a linear shockwave from his outstretched hand to the ground directly below Erza.

*Boom!*

Yet another explosion was triggered when the shockwave impacted the ground. And when the dust settled, Erza was revealed laying in the bottom of a crater. Surprisingly, her [Flame Empress Armor] had been shattered by the force of the shockwave. Though, it would appear that she had not suffered much damage from the explosion, despite the fact that her hair was disheveled, and she was covered in soot.

"[Chain Burst]." Azuma chanted before Erza can regain her bearings.

Immediately, roots, one for each of Erza's limbs, burst through the ground and wrap themselves around the scarlet-haired wizard's arms and legs. Then, from their bases, they begin exploding.

"Enough." Erza muttered. "[Requip: Heaven's Wheel Armor]."

In the next instant, Erza was covered in the light of her magic. Then, she reappeared in the [Heaven's Wheel Armor] with two dozen swords floating around her.

Controlling four of the swords telekinetically, Erza cut the roots wrapped around her limbs and quickly flew upward, avoiding the ensuing explosion. At the same time, she sent another four swords in Azuma's direction.

Reacting quickly, Azuma merged back into the tree just before the branch he had emerged from was severed.

Like that, Erza and Azuma engage in a game of cat and mouse for the next fifteen, or so, minutes, with Azuma trying to emerge from a tree and send an attack Erza's way, only for a group of at least four swords to swarm his location. Then, before he can launch his attack, he retreats into the tree he was using to hide.

As a result of this game, many of the trees in the area were heavily damaged with most of them being cut down. Still, neither combatant was able to land a powerful attack on the other.

There were only a few exceptions to the destruction Erza's swords have brought to this part of the forest. And that would be the three trees closest to Erza. As Azuma felt that they were too close to the sword wielding wizard to chance emerging from them. Until now, that is.

Understanding that Erza had a way to track him while he moved through the trees. Though not knowing to what extent. Azuma sent a pulse of his magic power into several trees in the distance. Meanwhile, he slowly emerged from the tree behind Erza.

Then, once he had fully emerged, Azuma spread his arms in grandiose fashion.

"[Tower Burst]." Azuma chanted.

"Finally." Erza said at the same time. Then, she spun on her heels and summoned another dozen swords around her. "[Blumenblatt]."

As the two chanted simultaneously, a number of things happened in short order. First, Erza, along with her swords sped towards Azuma at speeds neither she nor her swords had reached since the battle started. Second, the area in Azuma's immediate surroundings erupted into a pillar of flames that reached above the crown of the tallest tree in the forest, not including the Great Tenrou Tree. Third, Erza sped out of the flames before she was engulfed for too long. And lastly, Erza continued speeding forward as the pillar of flames turned into a huge explosion.

A few moments later, the explosion died down, and Erza returned to the spot where the last confrontation took place. And when she arrived, she saw that there were no longer any trees standing in that section of the forest. On top of that, she found Azuma lying in the middle of the crater created by that giant explosion.

Saying that Azuma had seen better days would be a vast understatement. Though he was unaffected by the explosion caused by his magic, he was still covered in burns. Or rather, burned wounds that were cauterized after Erza's swords sailed past him. Plus, there was a large X-shaped wound that covered his entire torso. And lastly, the light in his eyes had diminished, though his corpse was wearing a satisfied grin.

"*Sigh* It would seem that the only thing you desired was a good battle." Erza said, regret in her tone. "I wonder how things would have turned out if there was a platform for you to test your skills and strength against others at a similar level"

With that said, Erza could not help but shake her head. Still, she had no pity for the man as he had attacked her guild. And those who attack Fairy Tail would rarely receive mercy.

Meanwhile, back on the island's shore, Makarov was watching Alfonzo battle Hades with relative ease. Despite Hades vast array of magic spells, Alfonzo seemed to have a counter for them all.

If Hades used his [Chain Magic], Alfonzo would deflect the chains with his tonfa while occasionally sending electric shocks through the chains to keep Hades on his toes. If he used his [Amaterasu Formulas], Alfonzo would simply create a blob of Techno Organic Metal, and have it throw off the formulas. And if Hades used his [Bullet Magic], Alfonzo would simply create small chunks of metal and hurl them to intercept.

Alfonzo even managed to negate [Grimoire Law] by creating an adamantine dome whose inside was lined with anti-magic sigils. around Hades. While he did the same for a spell Hades called [Katsu]. Except the adamantine dome was placed around himself and the anti-magic sigils were on the outside of the dome.

All the while, seeming just to get under Hades skin, Alfonzo did not forget to call out the outcome of a fight every time the wizards from Fairy Tail defeated their opponents.

"Has that boy really grown so much?" Makarov asked as he remembered everything he had seen Alfonzo do over the last hour, or so. Then, he shook his head as he continued. "I really am getting old. I think it's time that I stepped down as the guild master. The only question is who is suitable to take my place."

Meanwhile, as Alfonzo casually avoided Hades' attacks, he was starting to get bored of the repetition.

'Seriously, Lici finished like forty minutes ago.' Alfonzo thought to himself. 'Why's she taking so long to get here?'

"Hey, Fonzie, did you miss me?" Alfonzo heard Elicia's voice as a thin thread wrapped around his waist. "Sorry I took so long. I've already checked the inside of the ship and found the [Demon's Heart]. Now that you're connected to me with my [Hiding in Plain Sight] spell, you should be able to feel my threads that were wrapped around the pedestal it was sitting on, right?"

Checking the scan from [Magic Power Detection] once again, Alfonzo could, indeed, feel Elicia's threads wrapped around a metal pedestal aboard the Grimoire Heart airship.

"Good work, Lici." Alfonzo whispered with a smile. "And did you manage to get any other goodies from the ship?"

"Yeah." Elicia replied with a smile of her own. Then, Alfonzo heard the sound of Elicia patting something vigorously. "I took every magic book I could find. I didn't have the time to see what they were, though. So, we have no idea if they'll be useful or not. I don't know if I missed anything, either. I mean, I was running on a time crunch, after all."

"Well, since I plan on taking the airship for myself, I think we can take our time to look for any hidden compartments later." Alfonzo whispered as his smile widened. "And what about Bluenote?"

"Choked him out, wrapped him up with my threads, and slapped a pair of anti-magic cuffs on him for good measure." Elicia replied.

"Nice." Alfonzo whispered, his smile growing as wide as it could.

At that moment, Alfonzo felt Erza's opponent's, Azuma's, magic power signature disappear completely.

"Oh, and that's seven, Old Man." Alfonzo said in a mocking tone. "I guess those Seven Kin of Purgatory of yours weren't all that great, huh?"

"I grow tired of your mockery, Boy!" Hades shouted angrily.

"Really?" Alfonzo asked disdainfully. "Then, why don't you stop holding back and use that shitty little eye you've got hidden under that fucking patch? Since, it seems like you're the one mocking me if you won't even use everything you have in our little fight."

"You should be careful what you ask for, Boy." Hades said angrily as he reached for the patch covering his right eye. "But since you've, indeed, asked for it, I will let you see your demise."

With that, Hades ripped the patch off of his right eye. At the same time, Alfonzo used his [Metal Magic] to control the pedestal where the [Demon's Heart] sat. Then, he controlled the same metal to pierce the [Demon's Heart] before ripping it to pieces.

"Now, behold the beginning of your end… Urgh." Hade said in an imposing manner before he grabbed at his heart. Then, when he noticed that his heart was no longer connected to the [Demon's Heart] on the airship, he looked at Alfonzo with fury. "What have you done?"

"You shouldn't worry about what I've done and focus on what I'm about to do." Alfonzo said with a grin as he lowered his stance. "And that's…"

Before he finished, however, Alfonzo vanished from where he stood in a burst of speed. Then, he reappeared in front of Hades and used his tonfa to knock him into the sky.

"[Electromagnetism Magic: Flash Point]." Alfonz chanted as a pair of electrically charged rails appeared on either side of him.

Alfonzo was then shot into the sky, smashing his tonfa into Hades' head and torso as he passed by. Then, before his momentum could die out, another pair of rails appeared around him and shot him back towards Hades as he once again struck the elderly mage with his tonfa.

The process repeated itself nearly twenty times before Alfonzo ceased his attack and allowed the heavily injured Hades to fall to the ground again.

"… kick your ass." Alfonzo said, finishing his earlier sentence as he landed next to the unconscious Hades.