Earth Land, Ishgar, Kingdom of Fiore, Hargeon.
June 1, x792.
"So, we're gonna be the ones handling this town, huh?" Natsu said excitedly as he looked towards the horizon at Hargeon's port.
Like the rest of Fairy Tail, Team Natsu, minus Wendy and Carla, had been assigned to different towns and cities throughout Fiore. And right now, Gray, Natsu, Happy, and Lucy were standing together on the Hargeon pier, waiting for Alvarez to arrive. {Pic}
"Yeah." Gray said while standing next to Natsu, shirtless. Then, his lips curled into a predatory grin as he continued. "On top of that, Alfonzo said we don't need to worry about collateral damage this time. So, that means we won't be holding back."
"Gray, you look like you should be on a neighborhood watch list when you smile like that while not wearing a shirt and starting to take off your pants." Lucy pointed out in a deadpan.
Hearing that, Gray froze. Then, he looked down at his hands, which were in the process of lowering his pants. After that, he looked at his torso, which, as Lucy said, was completely bare, showing off his Demon Slayer Mark and his guild stamp.
"Huh? When did I?" Gray asked absent-mindedly.
"Just pull up your pants, Streaker." Natsu said while continuing to stare at the horizon. "I don't need a nudist getting in my way during the fight. Oh, man, I'm fired up!"
"What did you say you retarded pyro?" Gray asked while quickly pulling up his pants with a hint of embarrassment on his face. "We'll see who gets in whose way. I bet I'll take out more guys than you do."
As soon as Gray said that, for some reason he thought he could hear Alfonzo's voice shouting "pause." But since Alfonzo was stationed at another part of Fiore's border, he knew it had to be his imagination.
"By the way, where is Erza?" Gray asked while buttoning his pants.
"She's starting the barrier around the town." Lucy said.
*Flash!*
As if Lucy's voice was a signal, the entire town of Hargeon was lit up with a bright white light originating from the eight pillars around the town. A moment later, when the light faded, a barely visible translucent dome could be seen surrounding the town. Though, like the flash, it eventually faded, as well.
"Ha! That means we can go all-out now, right?" Natsu asked.
"Indeed." Erza said, causing everyone to look upwards, as she was flying towards them from the mayor's residence. "And it would seem I activated the barrier just in time. The enemies are here."
Yet, when Natsu, Happy, Gray, and Lucy looked towards the horizon, they could not see a single ship. Then, Lucy remembered what was said during the briefing for this war and looked upwards.
"The sky!" Lucy shouted while pointing towards the sky in the distance. "They're coming on airships."
Hearing that, Natsu, Happy, and Gray also looked up. And when they did, they saw the Alvarez Empire airships approaching at high speed.
However, the airships from Alvarez did not look anything like those in Ishgar. Instead, they looked like normal wooden sailing vessels... Just wooden sailing vessels that soared through the sky.
"Get ready for battle.' Erza ordered as she drew Astraia from her hip. "I'll strike the first blow. You three follow me."
*Swish!*
In the next instant, Erza vanished from where she floated above the pier. A moment later, she appeared above the frontmost Alvarez airship with the wings of her [Black Wing Armor] spread, and Astraia raised above her head.
"[Black Wing: Moon Flash]." Erza chanted as she rushed downwards.
*Shing!*
*Splash!* *Splash!* *Splash!* *Splash!* *Splash!*
An instant later, Erza appeared below the vessel. However, that did not remain the case for long, as the entire airship was split into four pieces and fell around her. And before any of the other airships crews could react, the sounds of soldiers and pieces of the ship falling into the water echoed around the sea area.
"What... just happened?" A soldier on a neighboring ship asked while staring blankly at Erza, who was still floating in the same place.
"Did she just...?" Another soldier asked dumbfoundedly.
"Cut through an entire ship with a... sword?" A third soldier asked, finishing the second's question.
"Stop gawking!" An officer shouted, snapping the soldiers out of their dazes. "We're under attack! It seems like they knew we were coming! Men, prepare for battle immediately!"
Officers' roars sounded from the other airships, as well. And as they did, all the Alvarez soldiers, tempered from battles with the guilds of Alakitasia for decades, snapped back to the here and now. Then, without the need for another order, they chanted their spells and aimed their magic at Erza.
However, the forces of the Alvarez empire were not the only ones to start moving.
"Hey, come on, Happy!' Natsu shouted as he ran towards the edge of the pier. "We can't let Erza have all the fun!"
"Aye, Sir!" Happy shouted in return as he followed Natsu.
Just as Natsu reached the edge of the pier, he leapt into the air. Then, just before he fell into the sea, Happy, with his [Aera Magic] wings spread, swooped in from behind, grabbed Natsu by the back of his vest, and zoomed off into the sky, heading towards the nearest airship.
"[Ice-Make: Floor]." Gray chanted as he, too, had leapt from the pier.
Yet, there was no one to catch Gray as he fell. Instead, just before hitting the water's surface, he slammed his hands down. And when they came in contact with the water, the surface, from the pier to underneath the airships, was frozen solid enough that Gray and Lucy could run towards the battlefield.
"Don't forget about me!" Lucy shouted as she leapt down to the ice. "[Star Dress: Taurus]"
On the way down, Lucy drew Taurus' Celestial key from her pouch before pushing it into her chest. A moment later, she was blanketed by the light of her [Celestial Spirit Magic] before reappearing in a new outfit just as her feet touched the ice.
*Crack!* *Crack!* *Crack!* *Crack!* *Crack!*
Now dressed in a cow-patterned bikini top, a pair of black, form-fitting pants with the right pant leg missing from just below the base of her thigh, a pair of brown cowboy boots, and a pair of black, fingerless gloves, Lucy sprinted after Gray, each step cracking the thick layer of ice beneath her.
Naturally, Natsu, with Happy's assistance, was the first to arrive.
"[Fire Dragon's Roar]." Natsu chanted as he drew in a deep breath.
Then, just as Happy stopped above a ship full of soldiers attacking Erza, Natsu expelled the breath he had just taken. However, instead of a gust of air, nearly half the ship was engulfed in a torrent of flames,
The waling of soldiers, the crackling of burning wood, and the sound of explosions intermingled as the burning airship fell from the sky. And when it landed on the ice, the heavy warship broke right through it, sending up a geyser of sea water and broken ice fragments.
"Oh, that's perfect." Lucy said as she and Gray arrived near the crash site. "Open! Gate of the Water Bearer! Aquarius]."
*Crack!* *Shatter!*
As she chanted the spell to summon Aquarius, Lucy also stomped her foot near the hole in the ice. Then, using the counter force from her stomp, Lucy leapt backwards.
At the same time, Lucy's stomp shattered another chunk of the ice as Aquarius gate opened and the blue mermaid made her appearance.
"Aquarius!" Lucy shouted while pointing up at the flying warships. "Bring those ships down."
"Tch!" Aquarius clicked her tongue. "You think you've grown enough to order me around now? What? Just because you found yourself a sexy husband, you think you're my superior now?"
"Now is not the time for this, Aquarius." Lucy said in an exasperated toen. "We're at war right now. We can have this conversation later, when the war is over."
"Tch!" Aquarius' response was to click her tongue again. But at the same time, she produced a large urn and pointed its mouth at the airships above. "Whatever, we have nothing to talk about. [Torrent]."
With Aquarius' chant, water was drawn up from the hole in the ice before flowing into the urn in her hands. Yet, no matter how much water flowed into the urn, it never overflowed. Then, after a few seconds, Aquarius fired the gathered water up towards the nearest airship in the form of a fiercely spinning drill of pressurized water. {Pic}
At the same time, Gray, after gathering magic power, made his casting gesture before slamming his palms onto the surface of the ice.
"[Ice-Make: Volcano]." Gray chanted.
*Boom!* *Bang!* *Boom!* *Bang!* *Crack!* *Bang!* *Boom!*
Over the next few seconds, Aquarius' [Torrent], Gray's [Volcano], Natsu's [Fire Dragon slayer] spells, and Erza's swords tore through the ranks of the Alvarez Empire's airborne navy, causing soldiers and ships to fall from the sky like rain.
However, not everyone on the airships was unable to resist.
"[Sand World]!" A male voice shouted from the fleet's flagship.
In the next instant, a massive volume of sand appeared around the flagship. And with great force, the mass of sand spread outwards, engulfing all the ships. Yet, the sand did not damage any of the Alvarez ships in the slightest. Unfortunately, the members of Team Natsu were not afforded the same protection.
"What the hell?" Natsu shouted as Happy, still holding the back of his vest, quickly flew backwards to avoid the swirling mass of sand.
On top of avoiding the sand, Happy was also forced to evade the spells flying at him from the undamaged ships while Natsu either devoured the incoming [Fire Magic] spells or, with his fists coated in flames, parried any spells Happy was unable to evade.
Meanwhile, Erza, still donning her [Black Wing Armor], had summoned a second sword and was, with great speed and precision, cutting down every grain of sand around her. Gray and Lucy, on the other hand, were too far below the sandstorm to be caught up in the spell. Still, they could not help looking up with worry as they watched Erza get engulfed by the incoming sands. {Pic}
As Erza, Natsu, and Happy struggled to defend themselves from the sandstorm, a young man stood on the flagship and watched them with cold eyes.
"Daring to oppose the will of Emperor Spriggan, you deserve nothing less than death." The young man said coldly while controlling the sandstorm created with his [Sand Magic] spell, [Sand World].
This young man, standing about 5'9" tall with thick, spiky brown hair jutting out in all directions, black eyes, and a relatively muscular physique was Ajeel Raml, a member of the Spriggan 12. His attire consisted of a light gold cloth wrapped around his neck and shoulders, leaving his chest and abdomen exposed, a baggy pair of brown trousers, a white cloth wrapped around his waist, and a pair of gold-colored sandals.
When Ajeel saw Erza engulfed by his [Sand World] and Natsu and Happy forced to run away, his lips curled into a cold sneer. However, his sneer froze on his face not even a second after it formed when he felt two immense surges of magic power accompanied by two chants coming from the directions of his foes.
"[Burn Everything to Ash, Igneel]."
"[Deliver Justice as Swiftly as the Wind, Astraia]."
In the next instant, a soaring conflagration of reddish-orange flames rose from just outside the range of the [Sand World]. At the same time, a cyclone formed where the red-haired swordswoman floated, the powerful winds dispersing the wind around her.
"[Fire Dragon King's Roar]." Natsu chanted after inhaling a large amount of air.
*Swoosh!*
Then, Natsu exhaled a torrent of flames, incomparable in both amount and heat to the first pillar of flames he breathed at the airships.
*Crash!* *Crash!* *Crash!*
The flames immediately turned all the sand it flowed over into glass. And with its composition changed, Ajeel lost control over the glass. As a result, large chunks of glass fell from the sky, smashing through the layer of ice on the sea surface.
"Oh, come on!" Lucy shouted as she ran away with her arms covering her head. "Couldn't he wait until we weren't standing right under the sandstorm to do that?"
"Of course, he couldn't." Gray replied while making his casting gesture. "Without a brain, there's no way he thought that far ahead. [Ice-Make: Ceiling]."
With Gray's chant, a large sheet of ice appeared over Gray's and Lucy's heads. And it was just in time to block a falling chunk of glass. Though, the [Ice Ceiling] was shattered, it lasted long enough for the two to get out of the range of the falling glass.
At the same time, Erza swung her sword, creating even more space for herself. Then, with the use of [Magic Power Detection], she pinpointed Ajeel's location and swung Astraia in his direction.
"[Wind Cutter]." Erza chanted as she swung her sword.
*Swish!*
Along the trajectory of Erza's swing, a highly compressed wind blade was sent flying towards the fleet's flagship. And when the wind blade made contact with the flagship, with no suspense, it cleaved through the flying warship with little effort.
Meanwhile, Ajeel, whose eyes had gone wide when he saw the incoming wind blade, channeled his magic. Then, his body turned into sand before it was sucked into the sandstorm, just before the airship was cleaved in two.
"Oh my god!" Lucy shouted as she started running faster. "Erza is even worse than Natsu! Just how much of the ice is going to be destroyed when that big ship falls?"
"Instead of worrying about that, worry about getting back to shore!" Gray shouted back as he, too, increased his speed. "If we're on solid land, I can do something about the tidal wave that's definitely coming. But if we get caught on the sea, we're in real trouble."
"I hate this~~~!" Lucy shouted while nearly in tears. "Why did Alfonzo have to tell everyone they can go all-out without consequences?"
Luckily, Erza did not cut through any of the airships flotation devices. Meaning, despite the fact that it had been cut in two, the ship did not crash into the sea immediately. Instead, it fell slowly, the flotation devices going completely offline just before it impacted the sea.
*Splash~~~~~~~~!*
Even so, the large flagship kicked up a huge tidal wave, just as Gray predicted. And that wave was headed straight for the port at Hargeon. And judging by the size of the wave, it would cause significant damage when it hit.
To make things worse, while the barrier surrounding the town would restore any damage to the town back to the way it was before the barrier was activated, any injuries the citizens suffered would not be reverted. So, this was quite the dangerous situation for the people of Hargeon.
"[Ice Devil's Rage]." Gray chanted as the Devil Slayer Mark on his chest expanded and covered his upper body in black marks.
After chanting, Gray, like Natsu had done previously, inhaled a massive amount of air. Then, he expelled it in one go. However, instead of breathing fire, Gray spewed a beam of ice surrounded by sharp ice shards at the incoming tidal wave.
*Freeze!*
Upon contact, the [Ice Devil's Rage] froze the tidal wave in its entirety. On top of that, a passage was drilled straight through the wave at the point of impact. {Pic}
At the same time, Ajeel reconstituted his body on the deck of another airship before once again glaring at Erza, Natsu, and Happy.
"You're stronger than I expected." Ajeel said coldly. "Even so, I'll show you all the power of the Spriggan 12. And that I, Ajeel Raml, am on a completely different level than anything you've ever seen before."