Erigor, Iron Forest's guild master, had already laid out a detailed plan several months earlier. He'd arranged with his subordinates to gather in Oshibana Town once they'd tracked down the legendary cursed flute, Lullaby. But months had passed with the operation going nowhere.
With the regional guild council's meeting about to wrap up, and its aging attendees on the verge of leaving, Erigor grew increasingly desperate, unwilling to let such a perfect opportunity slip through his fingers. He'd taken to venting his frustration on his own guild members with growing frequency over the past few days, when three days ago, Kageyama finally delivered the good news he'd been waiting for.
Erigor immediately pushed Kageyama to finish breaking the seal as quickly as possible while simultaneously sending word to summon every member of Iron Forest. By now, nearly all of Iron Forest's members had arrived, waiting only for Kageyama to show up with Lullaby in hand. Once he did, they'd head straight for Clover Town and wipe out every last one of those old guild masters still gathered there in one clean sweep.
In an abandoned church on the outskirts of the city, over thirty members lounged about, playing cards and drinking with high spirits. At the front of the church, beneath a crumbling statue of a saint coated in dust and cobwebs, Erigor sat cross armed atop the pulpit, head bowed, eyes closed as if dozing off.
Though he appeared fast asleep, Erigor's ears suddenly twitched, catching several threads of hostility drifting in on the wind. He slowly opened his eyes and picked up the massive scythe leaning against the pulpit, taller than a full grown man, resting it against his shoulder.
"Quiet down, you worthless lot. Kageyama's brought guests with him."
The moment he spoke, the entire church fell utterly silent. It didn't take the underlings long to catch his meaning, and they swiftly grabbed their weapons and turned to face the church doors, on full alert. With the church now dead silent, the footsteps that had been drowned out by the earlier noise suddenly became unmistakably clear.
Tap, tap, tap.
The sound grew louder as it approached, clearly coming from several different people. Since Kageyama was the only member still unaccounted for, the identity of whoever was approaching became obvious at once.
'Enemies!!!'
Every face in the room twisted with hostility, eyes gleaming with violence and bloodlust as they fixed on the door. Their plan was on the verge of success, a new era practically within reach. Whether the approaching figures turned out to be lost travelers or overly curious kids, they'd tear them apart without hesitation, refusing to let a single flaw ruin the plan now.
But just as they stood there, fully braced and ready, the church's ceiling suddenly exploded outward, and a dark silhouette came plummeting straight down from above. Caught off guard, several members instinctively hurled the spells they'd already been charging up.
Boom, boom!
A series of explosions sent the falling figure tumbling several times through the air before it slammed hard into the wall and slid down slowly, like a sack of mud.
One underling standing closer than the rest squinted at the figure, then his eyes went wide with shock.
"Ka, Kageyama?!"
"What?!"
A wave of alarm swept through the room, and everyone's gaze snapped toward the fallen attacker. Though his head had swollen to nearly twice its size, his mouth was sealed shut with a block of ice, and his body was covered in scorched burns, everyone still recognized him instantly by his build and his signature ponytail.
"This is bad, we've been set up!"
The quicker thinkers among them immediately caught on and spun toward the entrance.
At that very same moment, the door was kicked open from outside with tremendous force, and a pair of cold, dark eyes locked onto them without mercy.
"Surprise, scum."
With that, a massive, ice blue magic circle bloomed beneath the feet of the assembled underlings.
"Ice Make: Ice Geyser."
Instantly, a torrent of ice spikes erupted upward from the ground like an underground spring bursting free. In the blink of an eye, countless members were skewered and sent flying into the air, clearing out most of the rabble on the spot.
Crash!
The old, decrepit church couldn't withstand a spell of that magnitude and began collapsing amid a chorus of groaning, splintering wood, kicking up a massive cloud of dust into the air.
Gray hauled Natsu, whom he'd set down on the ground, back a safe distance to avoid the falling debris. Watching the church crumble around them, he didn't let his guard down for a moment, and once the swirling dust finally settled in the sudden gust of wind, he narrowed his eyes at the figure floating cross legged above the wreckage: Erigor.
"Erigor. Iron Forest's guild master, known as the Reaper for exclusively taking on dark natured jobs."
Gray recited the man's background almost to himself, then curled his lip in open disdain.
"Guess these days, even a stray alley cat like you gets to call himself a 'Reaper.' I should probably remind Kabe to pick out a new nickname once I'm back."
Neither Gray's mockery nor the collapsed ruins beneath him seemed to stir much of a reaction out of Erigor. He glanced first at the small blue cat circling overhead, then at the black haired kid taunting him, and finally let his gaze settle on Natsu, tossed carelessly on the ground once more by Gray, or more specifically, on the fiery red Fairy Tail emblem stamped on Natsu's right shoulder.
"Fairy Tail. Seems that useless piece of trash Kageyama brought some real trouble to my doorstep."
"What, scared enough to wet yourself hearing our guild's name? Sorry, but scum as vile as you doesn't get to earn my mercy just by surrendering."
The two of them locked eyes, tension crackling in the air between them. Without warning, Erigor struck first, raising his hand and unleashing a barrage of wind blades sharp enough to slice through solid stone, cutting through the air in a dense wave straight toward Gray.
But Gray, as if he'd anticipated it, threw up a wall of ice in front of himself just in time. The wind blades tore into the ice, carving deep gouges into its surface, sending chips and shards flying in every direction, but never managing to break through his defense.
At that, Erigor's expression shifted for the first time, taking on a hint of genuine seriousness.
"Guess not every mage from a proper guild is entirely useless after all. You managed to survive that hit, at least, more or less."
"Should I thank you for the compliment?"
The two of them traded another round of barbed remarks before falling silent, immediately launching into their next exchange.
"Storm Mail!"
"Ice Make: Lancer!"
Storm and ice collided, two elements with no clear advantage over one another, both pushed to their absolute limits in the hands of their respective wielders. From the very first exchange, both fighters committed fully, throwing themselves into a raw, elemental clash of magic and power.
-------------------------
Patreon Advance Chapters: patreon .com / ElvenKing20