บท 31: 29. She-Devil vs. Devil Slayer
A/N: Not Proofread
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(POV: Makarov Dreyar)
"Are you sure this is wise, Macky dear?"
"I have no other option, Bob. You were a member of Fairy Tail once, too. You know I can't just let Jose insult my children. Inebriated or not, this is a better outcome than the alternative of a guild war or a confrontation between myself and Jose."
"Still, there must be another option than bringing the youngsters into this, no?"
"You know there isn't, Bob," said Goldmine, "A show of strength is necessary to stop the Phantoms, and if Makarov backed out now then they would use it to drag Fairy Tail's name through the mud. And if word got back to the guild hall at Fairy Tail they would probably do something stupid and fight them head-on, inciting a guild war anyway. You know how hot-blooded young wizards can get, we were no better."
"Enough. Jose is arriving."
The Phantom Lord guild master's silhouette appeared on the horizon, blocking out the evening sun. I had already filled Mirajane in on all she needed and was waiting for her opponent in the fielding behind the meeting hall.
She seemed eager for the fight, which calmed me down a little bit, and the bets some of the other guild masters had started to make only made her more excited. I had confidence in the girl. I had been training her and her siblings myself since they showed up a few months ago.
She surprised me, honestly. Her affinity for darkness magic in her Satan Soul form is actually higher than mine for light magic, and her physical strength increase isn't anything to scoff at either.
But this Devil Slayer girl was a complete unknown to me and even seemed to be a perfect counter to Mirajane. Especially after that strange event a few weeks ago. The captain of their guard was the only survivor of those who participated in whatever battle turned the city to ash and he was completely uncooperative. The mages who investigated the site only discovered traces of demonic magic in the traces of aftermath, but couldn't draw much from it.
The devastation was blamed on one of the demons from the Books of Zeref, but meeting a Devil Slayer so soon after the event is causing me to draw suspicions. The magic power of the battle could be felt across half of the country, and I hoped that I wasn't sending one of my children to fight one of the sources of it.
As Jose approached us in the field, the Slayer in question appeared from behind him.
The similarities between her and Mirajane were high. White hair tied backwards in a braid, a black tank top and pants, and leather bracers that covered her elbows. The ends of her pants were held close to her legs by a pair of shin guards and she left herself barefoot after kicking off her sandals to the side of the field. But what drew my attention was the ornament tied to a rope she wore as a necklace.
'Don't tell me…'
I immediately recognized it as a magic cuff and the warped steel showcased that it had been through the wringer. And her eyes lacked that usual light a kid her age should have. Instead, they had a steeled look, not too different from an experienced soldier. It reminded me all too much of how Erza was when she first showed up on Fairy Tail's doorstep.
Even if she wasn't one of my own, I couldn't help but worry about the girl and wonder what she could have gone through.
The girl reached into her pocket and pulled out a small pouch, throwing a white powder across the field. She didn't even seem to be giving Mira any recognition at all, something that seemed to irk her a little.
"What in the world are you doing?"
"Salt is used to ward off evil spirits. I wondered if I could use to get rid of you before we even fought," said the girl as she paid Mira the first bit of attention since she arrived on the field. "Doesn't seem to be doing much, it seems. Or maybe I'm just applying it wrong since you're already here."
She threw salt into Mira's face, causing her to sneeze as she looked at her with an aggravated expression.
"You're certainly pissing me off, at least!"
The girl laughed at Mira, seemingly enjoying the reaction she got. Walking in front of Mirajane she stuck her hand out as her expression turned friendly.
"Lyssa Wysteria, let's enjoy ourselves with this."
Mira hesitated because of the sudden personality shift but shook her hand and introduced herself. I had a different reaction, however.
Lyssa was the name of one of the people Erza told me about, the ones she was enslaved with. I had brought it up with Yajima and the rest of the Magic Council, but it doesn't seem like anything has been done about it. The usually calm Yajima even seemed enraged about it, especially after hearing about Rob.
I had even planned to raid the place myself, but considering the fact that they had discovered evidence of a more powerful organisation backing the previous Towers it wouldn't be surprising if they gave this one even more resources, even after the slaves freed themselves. The fact that they were able to hide themselves for years even after the destruction of the other Towers solidified this opinion. And from the sound of it, this Jellal kiddo ended up under the enthrallment of someone as well.
Several fingers pointed at Grimoire Heart being the ones supporting the construction of the Towers, so acting to free the ones trapped at the last remaining Tower would be even more dangerous to the ones inside than it would be to our own mages.
So if this girl is the same Lyssa Erza mentioned, then there is a possibility that others had escaped as well. But the only part of her that matches the description Erza gave me is her purple eyes which were currently locked with Mira's own blue ones.
I could tell Erza, to give her a bit of hope, but if the assumption proves to be wrong then I would only end up giving her more to despair over. It seems my hands are still tied…
My attention was brought over to the newly named girl as she began to stomp her feet into a lowered position, even putting her right hand on the ground below her.
"What are you, a sumo wrestler?" Mira quipped with crossed arms, earning a smirk from her opponent.
"I just want to make sure I win this bout of ours. The reward at the end of this is too high to pass up."
"Tsk. So this is just about the reward? Do you not even care about the fact that your master was disrespecting my guild? My family?"
Seemingly confirming my suspicions, Mira's choice of words seemed to anger her.
"Don't call him my master. I serve no one but myself, and his actions are his own. Phantom Lord is just a means to an end for me, they have not earned my allegiance." As she spoke the girl began to exude magic power, its aura tainting the field with a feeling that could only be described as unfiltered rage. Sensing the magic pressure, Mira began to release her own causing both girls to be enwreathed in a purple glow.
"Serve no master, huh? Then maybe I'll get you to submit to me, then."
"I invite you to try."
Goldmine stepped up to the field, taking up the role of referee. "A few rules before the match. One, no killing. I shouldn't have to explain this one but we're wizards, not murderers, so something like this has no reason to end in death. Two, the fighting stops if one of you surrenders-"
""Won't happen.""
"-or if one of you is incapable of continuing. Three, if you're going to carry the fight beyond the field take it into the mountains beside us. Keep the destruction away from the city, we don't want them to start complaining about us. Are both of you ready?"
"Yes."
"She doesn't stand a chance," Mira said as she took up her Satan Soul form. Her arms grew longer as beige scales covered them. Her hair began to float upwards as black veins began to grow around her face. Her clothes had changed, turning into a form-fitting red and yellow bodysuit that left a long lizard-like tail to sweep across the ground.
"Alright then. Let the fight begin on my mark," Goldmine raised his hand towards the sky as a green orb of energy appeared in his palm. It shot into the air and exploded into emerald sparks, but the boom that followed wasn't by the firework but instead from one of the girls on the field.
The ground caved underneath Mirajane as she appeared in front of Lyssa in a flash, her fist aiming towards her face. Many were shocked by her speed, already surpassing many of us here.
It was something that gave Take Over mages an advantage over most other wizards, a powerful body. My Giant magic gave me the same thing and one of the Four Gods of Ishgar, the strongest of the Ten Wizard Saints, Wolfheim, is also a Take Over mage. Satan Soul has an advantage over other forms of Take Over as it gives the strength of Beast Soul without increasing the wizard's size, giving them both strength and manoeuvrability.
The strength of the punch wasn't able to be showcased, however. The second it seemed that she had made contact with Lyssa, the girl's body dissipated into violet flames that seemed to scorch Mira's skin as she passed through them.
"Physical attacks are useless against me, so you might want to come up with a different strategy."
"Is that so?" Mirajane slid to a halt as she turned around, the slight burns on her skin already starting to heal. She pointed her palm towards the flaming girl, creating a black magic glyph that hovered in front of it. "Darkness Stream."
Dozens of shadow-like streams stretched out of the glyph, the ends of which turned into hands that the Devil Slayer deftly dodged. Mirajane used the distraction to attack her while she was distracted, her hands covered in pitch-black orbs of darkness magic. While the girl was in the air mid-flip, Mira delivered a sharp punch to her back, causing the girl's body to be forced against the inertia she was travelling with. Her body bent backwards, but there was no look of pain on her face even as the shockwave of the impact sounded across the field.
Mira didn't let up from the assault, juggling the girl in the air with a barrage of punches before kicking her away. Her body limply fell onto the ground a few metres away, her face pointing toward the treeline as the bruises on her body left by the punches became obvious to us all.
"Ha! Not much of a fight are you?"
"Sorry," the girl said as she lazily sat back up into a cross-legged position. Her bruises began to emit smoke, healing at a visible rate in front of our eyes. Yawning, she stood back up to her feet and stretched with a bored smile. "Honestly, I was trying too hard not to laugh. How did you figure out I was ticklish?"
"Tsk. Are you trying to call my punches weak?"
"Nah. You broke my ribs, I'll admit that freely. It's just…hurting me? It isn't a very effective strategy, darlin'. My turn!" The Devil Slayer's arms change shape at the elbow, turning into pikes made of purple fire. "Fire Devil's Parade!"
Once again the girl's body turned into flame as she charged towards Mira, the grass underneath her turning into ash before she could even approach it. Appearing before Mira faster than she appeared in front of her, she slashed down with her flaming arm just as Mira blocked it.
Before the attack could even be completed, the girl blew up in a large explosion of fire that sent Mira flying into the woods and out of sight.
"Great, now how are we supposed to see the fight."
"Hang on, I got a viewing lacrima just for this!"
One of the guild leaders ran into the field and quickly placed a lacrima on the ground. The orb produced a giant projection that gave us a view forest around us before zooming in on Mirajane just as she skidded to a halt.
Without even being able to catch her breath she had to take the full brunt of another explosion caused by a condensed ball of magic that whistled through the air towards her at a high speed. Deciding to use the explosion and hot air to her advantage she revealed a pair of large bat-like wings from her back, the explosion blasting her into the air as she hovered over the forest.
Three more condensed orbs of fire were shot towards her from various angles across the mountain, but a purple flash from her eyes signaled the use of the Dark Deflection spell causing each of them to warp around her and crash either into the ground or vanish into the sky. The several purple detonations set the environment on fire and caused craters to form in the mountainside.
Looking at the forest below she saw a rising violet ring of fire surrounding her and the forest.
"Trying to remove the oxygen from the air? Pointless." Mirajane pointed both hands towards the ring's edge, a glyph forming in front of them as a mass of darkness pooled before her. "Evil Explosion!"
The attack sped towards the ring of fire, causing the one who had created it to stop before it could hit her and instead charge into the air enwreathed in flame. The darkness spell still hit the forest floor, causing a devastating eruption that shook the forest floor.
"Found you!"
"Found me!"
The two girls flicked their hands towards one another, magic power being shot towards each other.
""Evil Shower/Disappear!""
Lavender blasts battled with dark explosions as the girls rushed towards one another in the air, limbs bathed in magic as they collided.
""Explosion Punch/Fire Devil's Stomp!""
The collision of the two attacks briefly lit up the late afternoon sky, covering it in a purple film of light. If it weren't for the word about this match spreading around Clover Town like wildfire many would think a magic storm was brewing, the explosions and impacts echoing over the valley like deadly thunder.
"Those two girls are impressive…"
"Making some of us old bastards look weak. Maybe it's time I hit the books again…"
I shared similar opinions with the rest, but I wasn't blinded by the display of power. I could see the blood dripping down their arms and legs as the two exerted their bodies more than they should physically be able to, each time they attacked each other head on they had to feel the shockwave tear through their bodies, Mirajane using her Suppression Art and Lyssa covering her body with explosive fire.
Mirajane looked like she was struggling through the pain, while Lyssa seemed to be revelling in it. Insane. That's the only way to describe her. She was having too much fun in the violence, and that made me worry more and more fun Mirajane.
"Are you planning on forcing your wizard to withdraw early, Makarov?"
"No, Jose. I firmly believe that Mira will get through this."
"Hmm, we will see."
The stalemate of their midair close-quarters brawl ended when Mira snuck her tail from around her and grabbed Lyssa by the leg. She ripped her underneath her, blasting her further down the skies with a stream of dark energy.
"Time to fini-GAH!"
Just as she was getting ready to attack the woman on the ground, another series of purple explosions hit her from above with the body on the ground disappearing into thin wisps of fire. The flaming body of the real Lyssa crashed into Mira as she started plummeting into the ground below.
Dust rose from their impact on the ground, briefly obscuring them from view. When it settled, we saw the two of them standing on opposite ends of the crater they created.
Mira was holding her left arm as blood dripped down both it and her leg, her breath was haggard but her eyes still held determination. Lyssa was standing there perfectly fine with an amused smile and crossed arms, despite her own body being covered in more blood than her opponent. Pops and cracks were audible as whatever healing magic rearranged her body back into fighting condition.
"H-How did you…?"
"Even a Thought Projection can use magic. My magic enables me to turn my body into fire, so my Thought Projection could do the same thing, removing the intangibility from their spectral bod-"
Before she could even finish speaking, Mirajane sent a dark blast towards her, only for Lyssa to deflect it with the back of her hand.
"Rude."
"It was…worth a shot…"
Lyssa looked at the spot where the attack was deflected, and the sinister smirk on her face caused a chill to go down my spine.
"You know, I was planning on learning Darkness Magic in my free time. But I think I might have found a shortcut."
As she spoke, a copy of her emerged from thin air. Another Thought Projection. And what she did next reminded me that my position as a Wizard Saint means nothing in the larger magic world.
""Separate Enchant.""
The twin visages of the Devil Slayer moved their hands in opposite directions, causing Mira to scream in agony at the same moment. Mira and her Satan Soul transformation were forcibly separated, leaving the demon separated from the human.
The stray demon form's eyes had turned completely red, a sign that there was nothing that was fighting the violent nature it possessed. Almost immediately the demon tried to attack the woman it was a manifestation of, before the Thought Projection vanished and the demon calmed down.
Mirajane and all of us present watched in trepidation, and a chill ran down my spine as the Satan Soul began to clap. Both the demon and the Devil Slayer began to laugh in sync as the Satan Soul quickly turned to the forest and began to level the trees down one by one as its injuries began to heal.
""Ah, so this is how Darkness Magic feels! How interesting, but I highly doubted I could Enchant my Thought Projection into another body! This feels weird and hurts my head a little, but I could easily get used to thi-!""
The two bodies both stopped talking as the injured Mirajane grasped the ankle of the Satan Soul.
"Take…Take Over!"
""Y-you little…!""
"Heh…I said…that I'd…get you to submit…to me!""
""Remind me. W-Why…are you trying to…put in so much effort…""
"Because…Phantom Lord…tried to disrespect…Fairy Tail. I hate to admit it…but I care about them…even that stubborn bitch Erza! I can't let them down!"
Bob's hand landed on my shoulder as he handed me a handkerchief. I guess it seems I had started crying without even realizing it.
'These stubborn kids…'
The two of them seemed to continue in a silent battle for control over the Satan Soul with all of us sitting on the edge of our seats to see the outcome. For some reason, Lyssa's main body wasn't attacking Mira while she was on the ground, leading me to assume that the psyche in the Satan Soul was affecting the psyche in her actual body.
""Fine then…""
The Satan Soul glowed violet before seemingly being absorbed back into Mirajane. When the light vanished we could see plain and clearly that Mirajane had regained control of the Satan Soul transformation and was looking at Lyssa in confusion, her body noticeably devoid of the wounds she had previously.
In response, Lyssa began to cast more enchantments on herself, seemingly to strengthen her body. Then, she raised her hands above her head in a clasped position as magic power began to build in between her palms.
"One last attack to decide this. So give me your all. Show me what a "she-devil" can do."
Nodding, Mira straightened her posture and raised her hands together at chest level as she turned slightly sideways, darkness magic building up into a concentrated orb in her grasp.
"She-Devil, huh? I like that."
The two girls released their concentrated magic at each other at the same time, both of them holding some sense of an entertained smile.
""Soul Extinctor/Fire Devil's Morning Star!""
The mountain range was engulfed almost entirely by the two spells, violet flames and pure darkness struggling together in a contest for dominance over the other. The shockwave was powerful enough to disrupt the connection to the viewing lacrima and force us to raise defences so that it wouldn't bleed into the town behind us.
The second the two spells settled down, we all ran into the now-decimated forest to look for the two girls.
When we did, they were on opposite sides of a crater dozens of meters wide, both of them unconscious.
"Makarov."
Jose's voice met my ears from the opposite of the crater, and when my eyes met his they were a sea made of false calmness. It wouldn't take an expert to recognize the myriad of dangerous predators underneath the surface of those waters, and it made me worry slightly for the girl he had slung over his shoulder.
"It seems this fight has concluded in a draw."
"That it has, Jose."
"But it was quite clear who had control in this fight. This girl only joined Phantom Lord a month ago and is already this capable. Unless your Fairies can compete with this type of talent, I think we can firmly settle which of our guilds is better."
"You were the only one who cared about superiority, Jose. I don't care about which of our guilds is better, and seemingly neither does that girl. What did she call Phantom Lord? A means to an end? Sounds to me like she'll drop you the moment you're deemed useless to her."
"So be it then. There are more people just as talented as her that would eventually show up at Phantom Lord's doorstep."
As Jose and I turned our backs towards each other, I called out one last time.
"Your arrogance will be your downfall, Jose. Remember that there are powers out there beyond either of our comprehension."
"Those powers will mean nothing to me in time, Makarov. Just wait and see."
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Side Note: Since I've already revealed Rob and this chapter will have Makarov, Bob, and Goldmine, the only members of Team Makarov I haven't shown yet would be Porlyusica and Yajima. I just wanted to ask y'all who your favourite of the team is or was because personally Bob has a soft spot in my heart and I will always love him. Him threatening Karen into trying to make her treat Aries with kindness? Mwah! Chef's kiss!
Also, another thing. Lyssa is only a Fire Devil Slayer on paper, when in reality she's just a Fire Devil. It's just like how while the Dragon Slayers use magic equal to dragons and designed to harm them, really it's just the Dragon's Magic itself. It's why they eventually would become dragons, first-generation slayers at least. In my mind, I sort the Slayer archetypes like this…
Dragon Slayers = Adaptability and Durability
Devil Slayers = Curse Nullification and Power
God Slayers = Selfishness (Can't be consumed by other slayers) and Elemental Focus
Dragon Slayers and God Slayers have more general utility, with God Slayers even being able to potentially last longer by eating their opponent's element if it matches their own, with the other Slayers not being able to eat their magic and combine it with their own. As demonstrated by Sherria and Wendy, Sky God and Dragon Slayers, they also have a more selfish approach to magic as well. Both have the same element and powerset, but Sherria is able to heal herself with magic while Wendy can't.
Dragon Slayers also have the ability to enter Dragon Force, combine their element with another Dragon Slayer, and scale up their magic level depending on their potential ranking within an invisible dragon hierarchy as seen when Natsu learned to use Fire Dragon King spells freely even after losing the mark Igneel left him with after the war with Tartaros. They also have higher senses which allow them to track down prey much more easily than ordinary people.
Devil Slayers are almost singularly focused on killing demons. Just looking at one lets them learn what type of Curses they use, seemingly without even having to see it. Their magic is also the only type of magic that can directly counteract Curses, with them even having a natural resistance to Curses, even one as powerful as Memento Mori. The only thing that doesn't focus on killing demons is the strength boost they get from becoming one themselves, and their magic power is also boosted when using Devil Slayer magic at the cost of magic control.
In the 100YQ manga, it seems that Gray mostly uses his standard Ice-Make magic instead of Ice Devil Slayer magic, although the Devil Slayer magic is more powerful he only uses spells we've seen him use before. Zeroth Longsword and Zeroth Destruction Bow are spells that give the ice form instead of letting it run rampant like how Silver used it. His limited usage of it gives the idea that either the magic is hard to control or hard to give form in the controlled way Ice-Make usually allows. Lyssa herself will usually use stakes made of fire in the same way he created swords, as well as using her body as the focal point for larger attacks, otherwise, she'll try and create a controlled medium for the fire to move before it explodes on impact. Think of Toothless' plasma shots from How To Train Your Dragon.
Anyway, I just wanted to clarify that this is the basis that I'll usually be operating under as I continue forward. Lyssa's "controlled" style spells will usually be anything other than her fire magic. If she uses it, it's either extremely controlled like her Fire Stakes or has the singular goal of destruction.
Also, Lyssa's loss was voluntary. She only cared about the reward and met the conditions needed to get into the personal library of a Wizard Saint, even learning a bit of Darkness Magic in the process.
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