Phantom Lord

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Around 4-10 chapters are available if you want to read them ahead. Chapter 56 should be available by the time this chapter was uploaded.

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...

[x784, Magnolia, Three days later]

— Levy McGarden —

"I can't believe that Phantom Lord is doing this." Levy said as she balanced a bag of groceries in hand. "Interguild conflict is very frowned upon by the council."

Lisanna adopted a thinking pose. "I mean, they didn't really accomplish much with this though. They only came in the middle of the night and barely destroyed anything. It's not like that would even dent our resources. We have enough in the treasury to fix the building five times over and still be able to keep our day-to-day operations functional."

"Right. I heard you've been helping Mira manage the guild's finances." Levy nodded. 

Lisanna grinned. "Mira told me that all S-Class mages have extra responsibilities within the guild once they take the title. Gildarts is the Ace, obviously. Erza is basically the guild's disciplinarian, while Mira helps the Master with managerial duties." She paused, tilting her head. "I wonder what Mystogan, Laxus, and Dannis' duties are, though."

Levy shrugged. "Probably something important, but right now, I'm more concerned about how Phantom Lord knew where we live. They must have planned this for a while."

Lisanna sighed. "I mean, I really don't mind spending girls' night in Fairy Hills, but I do miss my own bed sometimes."

"Levy! Lisanna!"

The familiar voice made both girls turn as Jet and Droy jogged toward them from the opposite side of the street. The two were slightly out of breath, but their faces lit up with relief.

"Glad we caught you," Jet said, hands on his hips. "Come on, we'll walk you back to Fairy Hills."

Levy raised a brow. "I thought you guys were staying at Macao's place?"

"We were," Droy confirmed. "But it's our turn to patrol tonight. We already covered the east side near Cardia Cathedral. Figured we'd escort you while we're at it."

Levy just smiled wryly. To her side, Lisanna just smiled appreciatively at the boys. 

She's known since a long time ago that her two best friends had massive crushes on her. She didn't really know what to do to deal with it, to be honest. What they were doing was sweet, but the obvious way they were doing it was a little bit off putting.

"Gihihihi… well, well, what do we have here?" A rough voice suddenly called out as he appeared from the darkness of the alleyway.

"Who's there?!" Jet snapped, his stance shifting in an instant. A faint glow shimmered around him as his magic flared. Beside him, Droy clenched his fists, seeds slipping between his fingers, ready to sprout at a moment's notice.

"Seems like some Fairies are out and about. I heard all about your master's new forms. Aren't you all supposed to be hiding inside your homes like cowards?" The man walked below a streetlight as all four Fairy Tail mages' eyes went wide.

He was a tall and muscular young man with long, spiky black hair, which was slicked back, revealing his forehead. He has red eyes with slitted dark pupils, and no visible eyebrows. Most of his exposed body is covered in sets of simple, round studs. The most visible studs are on his face, with three of them above each of his eyes , two on each side of his nose, and two on his chin, just below his mouth. His ears are adorned by two sets of five earrings each. He wore a black sleeveless tunic, with loose beige pants tucked inside studded black boots.

"Black Steel Gajeel…" Droy gulped.

"The hell do you want?" Jet demanded of the rival guild mage, though there was a noticeable tremor in his voice.

"Heh…Master Jose told me to send a message. Sounds like you'd fit the bill." Gajeel smirked as he took a whiff into the air. "You three weaklings can leave. I have no interest in low-ranks." Gajeel waved Jet, Droy, and Lisanna off. "But you though, you're pretty strong. You'll do."

Gajeel's crimson eyes zeroed in on Levy as she met the stare without flinching. She subtly poured her magic into her index finger.

"Like hell we'd abandon one of our own!" Jet roared, vanishing in a blur.

"We ain't like you Phantom Lord chumps!" Droy shouted, hurling a cluster of seeds to the ground.

Jet's high-speed kick shot toward Gajeel, only to be blocked with a single forearm. At the same time, Droy's spear-like vines lunged forward, striking true—only for Gajeel to remain unmoved. Above him, Lisanna, in her Cat Takeover form, swiped at his face with razor-sharp claws.

Levy clenched her jaw. 'None of it's working. He's barely flinching.'

"Solid Script: Pull!" Levy cast instantly. Magical hooks formed from the glowing word 'pull' yanked Jet and Lisanna away before Gajeel could counterattack.

"Gihihihi… pretty good reflexes there." Gajeel grinned. "Not bad."

"He's really strong." Lisanna muttered as she crouched on the ground like a cat. Two cat ears sprout from her head as the base and tip of her tail curved, forming a hook. 

"As if! Come on Droy, let's show this guy what we can do!" Jet growled.

Without even waiting for confirmation, he blurred forward once more, circling behind Gajeel as he matched the timing with Droy, who threw down his seeds and sent Knuckle Plants from the other side.

"No, wait!" Levy exclaimed.

"Heh." Gajeel's grin widened as magic power flared from his body. He turned around and extended his arms, simultaneously backhanding Jet in the cheek and smashing apart the knuckle plants. In one fluid motion, he turned into a semi crouching position, his arm turning into a steel rod that slammed Droy in the stomach.

Both of the Fairy Tail mages were launched back from the impact. Jet's body crashed through a wooden cart as Droy bounced across the cobblestones. Both were unconscious before they hit the ground.

"Solid Script: Chains!" Levy cast, conjuring glowing metal chains that were literally made of the word 'chains' linked together over and over again. They wrapped tightly around Gajeel, pinning him to the ground.

"Nice one, Levy!" Lisanna cheered, preparing to attack.

"No, Lisanna, stop!" Levy yelled and Lisanna stumbled at her words. "We can't win this fight, get Jet and Droy out of here and find some help. I'll keep him restrained until then."

"Levy, no! There's no way I'll leave you alone with him!" Lisanna shook her head.

"I'd do what she says if I were you." Gajeel sneered as he tested the strength of the chains holding him, the words straining as a result. "She's a good deal stronger than any of you three. And besides, I'm pretty sure I cracked that guy's sternum with that attack. The other one should have a pretty big concussion when he wakes up. Better get on that quick." He laughed once more as he flexed his muscles and magic. The chains didn't last another second as they snapped, Gajeel picking up the broken chains in his hand.

"Go!" Levy demanded, her tone leaving no room for argument. Lisanna definitely wanted to object, but one look at the prone forms of Jet and Droy had her shutting up.

"Animal Soul: Bird!" Lisanna's form grew as she now resembled a large bird with green and pinkish feathers. She picked up both Jet and Droy in her talons before flying off. "I'll go find Erza! Hold on as long as you can, Levy!"

"Hmm, pretty good." Gajeel mentioned as he ate through the remnants of the metal chains. "I've eaten plenty of magic-made metal, but yours definitely takes the top spot for flavour." He tossed the last few links into his mouth and chewed them up before swallowing. "Now, where were we?"

'Slayer 'type mages power up after eating their element. Natsu eats fire while Dannis eats darkness. He must be the Iron or Steel Dragon Slayer.' Levy thought. 'Better not use any words that are metal in nature.'

"If you think Fairy Tail mages are pushovers, then you have another thing coming, I'm not going to just roll over and die." Levy claimed as her magic began to flow. "You wanna kill me, you'll have to work for it."

Gajeel merely grinned at her defiance. "We'll see about that." With a lunge, he struck forward towards Levy.

She stepped back, her fingers creating words in the air. "Solid Script: Guard!" A solid wall of magic was formed in front of her. However, Gajeel merely pulled back a metal fist and shattered it with one blow.

Levy was unperturbed however, it served well enough as a distraction. Her left hand was already writing new words behind her back, hidden from Gajeel's eyes.

"Don't even bother hiding that, I can smell the magic on you!" Gajeel remarked as he swiped his arm, sending small blades of iron in her direction. 

Levy angled her body enough that the blades only gave her glancing blows, thin lines of red appearing on her body. She grit her teeth through the pain. 

'Using two words is hard enough, but he also has more magic than me.' Levy thought as she invoked a two word spell. 'While this wouldn't take him very far, it should buy enough time for me to escape.' 

"Solid Script Combination: Teleport Away!" Levy immediately felt the huge drop in her magic reserves, she hoped it was worth it.

The words flew from her fingers as it coiled around Gajeel. "What the–" He widened his eyes as the words glowed bright. "Damn it—!" 

Levy was forced to look away at the intense light. When she looked back, Gajeel was nowhere to be found. She let out a sigh of relief as she fell to her knees, exhausted. 

"Levy!" Mystogan appeared beside her as his head swivelled around. "Are you alright?!"

"Mystogan?" Levy said through gasps. "What are you doing here? Lisanna said you were sent on a mission by the Master."

Once he made sure the coast was clear, he kneeled down to inspect Levy's injuries. "I was. Master sent me to Oak Town to investigate Phantom's movements. It seems Jose kept the more rank-and-file mages out of the loop however. When I heard what Black Steel attempted to do, I tried warning the Master, but the communication lacrima couldn't work. I believe Jose had precautions in place to make sure his plans weren't leaked, so I flew here as fast as I could."

It was then did she notice Mystogan's dishevelled appearance. 'Oak Town is two hundred miles away. He made that journey in only a couple of hours? S-Class mages sure are something.' Levy thought.

"What happened to Black Steel?" He asked as he began applying some first aid on her visible wounds.

"I teleported him away." She began to say to Mystogan who froze at her words. "What?"

The man just shook his head amusedly. "Nothing. It's just perhaps I might have underestimated you a little. My apologies."

She let out a small laugh. "It's quite alright."

"Levy!" That was when Erza, Natsu, Gray, Lucy, and Happy appeared. "Are you alright?!"

"Where's that metal bastard?! I'll pound him!" Natsu exclaimed. 

"Not if I freeze his ass off first." Gray said, coolly.

"Don't worry, the situation is handled." Mystogan replied to them as he helped her up. "Levy managed to drive him off."

"Woah, you beat Gajeel? You're awesome, Levy!" Natsu took a complete 180 and cheered.

"Heh, way to show them." Gray smirked as well.

Lucy stepped forward and gave Levy a hug. "I'm so glad you're okay." 

Erza nodded with a smile. "Well done, Levy. Mystogan, can I leave escorting Levy back to the guild to you? We'll do one last sweep in the area to make sure everything's clear."

"Very well." Mystogan nodded. 

"I'll see you back at Fairy Hills." Lucy said. "Lisanna already brought Jet and Droy to Porlyusica. They'll be okay."

Levy breathed a sigh of relief. The blows they took were no joke, she was really worried for them. "Thanks Lucy."

…

AN: And Levy takes the stage. Man, Solid Script is such a fun magic. She'll definitely have more appearances in the future.

Hope you enjoyed the chapter

Cheers lads.