Chapter 40: Erza and Gray Vs. Lullaby
Erza and Gray got ready to battle the monster in front of them. Lullaby smirked with a creepy chuckle watching this. He was used to looking down on pathetic humans.
"Kukukuku… You humans amuse me sometimes, do you really think you can defeat me? I'm one of the etherious made by Zeref-sama himself, and I'll show you how superior I am compared to you!" Lullaby shouted with a hair-raising laugh. It then got into combat position.
*TCHU*
It fired a small beam toward the duo. Both of them easily dodged the attack, but there was a small crater at their previous location.
*TCHU* *TCHU"*
Lullaby kept firing more and more beams toward the duo. Erza and Gray headed opposite of each other and dodged the lasers once again. Lullaby was pretty pissed, watching all of his beams getting avoided so easily.
"Stop running, you worthless humans! Let me consume your pitiful souls and end your pathetic lives! I'll show you why I'm called 'Mass Murder Curse Magic'!" Lullaby shouted angrily. He then started playing a creepy melody, which sent chills down everyone's spine. The music was a soul-based attack, which would be impossible to dodge for the duo currently.
Erza and Gray both started feeling weak while listening to the music. It was like a part of their soul was being consumed by the melody. They had a pale look on their faces watching the demon. They were unsure how to continue, but Natsu suddenly shouted out loud, gaining their attention.
"Erza! Gray! Don't let that demon continue playing the sound. It's a soul-based attack. You must stop him from playing the music, or else you'll keep losing your strength until your death." Natsu called out in a severe tone. He wasn't affected by the cursed melody in the slightest due to the goddess Amaterasu's protection on his soul. Such a pathetic demon could never harm him no matter what it does.
Both Erza and Gray nodded their heads after listening to Natsu and stood up, albeit a bit unsteadily.
"It's time to return the favour! Let's show this demon why nobody messes with our guild." Erza said, standing up and looking at the demon sternly. Gray also nodded and removed his upper wears to get into fighting position. Both of them had a determined expression.
"Re-Equip: Heaven's Wheel Armor," Erza shouted, casting her magic. Then, plated armour covered her chest with a large metal flower over it. She wore a large billowing skirt that had metal plating in the upper area. Her stomach and neck were uncovered, and she had large metal wings that appeared to be made of individual blades, as well as a wing-like headpiece.
"It's time to end this demon. Circle Sword! Dance, my blades!" Erza roared while re-equipping swords, causing them to revolve around her. The swords then began spinning rapidly around Erza before she sent them flying towards the demon in a disc formation. At first and upon impact, the swords separated and flew in different directions, dealing significant damage to the demon.
"So, it's finally time for the counterattack, huh. I was getting tired of dodging. Let's show this demon the power of fairy tail! Ice-Make: Multiple Lancers!" Gray bellowed while extending his arms forward, creating multiple long, curved ice lances that he threw toward the demon, impaling it. This was a powerful ranged attack with deep penetration capacity.
Multiple ice lancers and swords skewered Lullaby. The music had long since distorted, since its body was full of holes now, making a laughable sound. Natsu cracked up after hearing such comedic music, further enraging the demon.
"ARGHHH!!! How dare you pathetic humans ruin my melody! I will kill you for your insolence! Cursed Beam!" Lullaby screamed painfully before charging up a massive beam attack. A large glowing sphere of green appeared in its mouth before shooting towards their direction.
*fwoosh*
The glowing beam headed toward their location at high speed, looking extremely dangerous.
"Flight!" Erza shouted, flying away from the incoming beam. She didn't want to get hit by such a dangerous-looking beam when she could easily dodge it.
"Ice-Make: Floor," Gray yelled out, freezing the floor and skating away from the site. He wasn't foolish enough to take the attack head-on. He quickly got away from the site.
*BOOOOM*
A loud explosion occurred at their previous location. They were surprised to see the sheer intensity of the blast. It covered everything around a ten-meter radius.
"Kukukuku… It seems I haven't become rusty after all. My beam is still as powerful as I remember. Get ready for the end of your pathetic lives, humans! Be honoured to become my sacrifice kuhahaha…" Lullaby cackled with a blood-curdling laugh, making the duo tense.
*FWOOSH* *FWOOSH*
It kept firing more beams toward them, forcing them to keep on dodging without any chance to retaliate.
"Why are you running?! Let me kill you already!" Lullaby shouted in an irritated voice, stopping the attack. It was incensed at being unable to kill these pathetic humans. It was a powerful magic flute made by the legendary mage himself. So, it hurt its pride to be unable to kill these two mages.
"I'm tired of running away as well. Let me show you my magic! Trinity Sword!" Erza yelled before slashing at the demon in delta formation. The attack headed toward it at high speed.
"Don't forget about me, you filthy demon! I'll exterminate all your kind from the face of Fiore! Ice-Make: Ice Cannon!" Gray shouted hatefully, creating a giant bazooka-like hand-held cannon. Then, he fired a cannonball made of ice towards the demon. He hates all demon-kind with a burning passion. This repulsive, hateful race killed his whole family and his master.
"Cursed humans! I'll show you not to underestimate a demon! Death Beam!" Lullaby snarled, firing a colossal beam toward the incoming attack. The beam was even bigger than before.
*BOOOOOOOOOM*
Both attacks collided, causing an enormous explosion to occur on the site, engulfing everything around 20 meters in dust and flames. When the dust cleared, it revealed an injured demon with half of its body missing. Erza and Gray's combined attack obviously overpowered the demon.
Erza and Gray looked tired after the collision. They poured the majority of their magic into the attack, draining them thoroughly.
"H-How could this be? How can I - one of the etherious created by Zeref-sama get defeated by human mages?!" The demon shouted in disbelief, reverting into its flute form. The light in its eyes and mouth had faded away, and its face cracked. The flute was eternally broken.
"Of course, you will be defeated. You're facing the strongest guild in Fiore, after all. We fairy tail mages will never be beaten by evil." Erza spoke seriously. Gray also nodded tiredly after hearing her.
Natsu steadily approached the broken flute and put it inside his inventory. He looked at the tired duo and said with a smile. "That was a great battle. I'm so proud of you."
Erza smiled in return. She was delighted to hear his praise.
"Humph! This was too easy. I would have skewered him all over the body if it wasn't for those annoying beams." Gray said with a frustrated expression. He was annoyed at having to dodge those beams.
"Let's head back to the guild. I'm sure both you need some rest after this battle." Natsu suggested, to which both of them nodded.
Then all of them headed toward the train station to board a train to Magnolia. They made some small-talk during the train ride. Erza started opening up and felt more relaxed when talking to Natsu than she did before. It might have been due to Gray's presence in the group, but she didn't feel uncomfortable anymore.
Gray looked at both of them conversing and had a brilliant idea. He knew about their strained relationship, so he planned to ditch them to make them uncomfortable.
'This is payback for all your harassment, Erza!' Gray thought while looking at them with a vengeful smirk. He planned to make her anxious as payback.
(E/N: Edits by Nyanodesu)
(A/N: I've written two more chapters for today. Please wait ten minutes for it. I'll upload it shortly. Also, leave me all your power stones. I worked really hard today xDD)