The repeated clashes of storm and ice finished off what was left of the half-collapsed church, reducing it to nothing but rubble. Amid the wreckage, Kageyama shoved aside the timber and stone pinning him down and spat out a half-melted ball of ice. He glared with loathing at Gray, who was trading blow for blow with the Guild Master, his hand instinctively drifting to the flute tucked against his chest.
No. I can't play it here. If Erigor and everyone else in the guild dies along with them, I won't be able to bring about the new era on my own.
Thinking this, Kageyama forced down the hatred he felt for Gray and the others and began searching through the ruins for his companions.
"Hey. Wake up. Get it together, all of you," he called out. "I've already got what we came for. The moment the Guild Master finishes off this Fairy Tail trash, the new era begins!"
Through his effort and shouting, he managed to gather up the four survivors left from Eisenwald's "180" squad. Kageyama surveyed the battlefield. There was no way the five of them could wade into Erigor's fight with Gray, and that annoying little cat flitting around overhead wasn't easy to catch either. But one of the enemy's own companions was lying off to the side like a dead dog, left there all alone, and that he could use.
...
On the other side of the battlefield, Erigor, pressed hard by Gray, had been forced to fall back on his signature technique: Storm Mail. The principle was simple, wrapping himself in a shell of outward-blowing wind to blunt an enemy's attacks and keep them from ever closing the distance. But for Gray, not needing to get close was hardly a problem. He had no shortage of ways to strike from range.
"Ice-Make: Giant Hammer!"
A hammer of ice weighing several tons crashed down from above. Whatever wind storm you wrapped yourself in, it counted for nothing against sheer, absolute weight. Erigor felt his scalp crawl with alarm and threw himself backward, barely managing to scrape clear of the blow. The composure that had colored his face until now was gone, replaced by the grim look of a man finally facing someone dangerous.
Down below, Gray had shed his shirt at some point without anyone noticing, standing bare-armed as he looked up at Erigor in the sky. But confusion, more than anything, was what filled his mind right now.
What is this? The target of an S-Class quest, and he's only at this level? He's a lot weaker than I expected.
He had no idea the quest's rank had been bumped up on short notice, or that none of them had actually been qualified for an S-Class job to begin with, a fact Laki certainly hadn't been in any hurry to share with them. Once the confusion passed, what rose up in its place was pure elation. If he could clear an S-Class quest this easily, didn't that prove he already had the strength of an S-Class Mage? Once he finished this job, even if the Guild Master chewed him out for it afterward, he would have proven himself. Maybe this year he'd finally beat out the competition and become the new S-Class Mage.
The thought lit a fire under him. Gray dropped straight into his Ice-Make stance, ready to end things with Erigor quickly.
But before he could move, Happy's startled shriek and Kageyama's smug voice rang out nearby.
"Watch out, Natsu!"
That idiot, what's he gone and done now?
Gray spun around anxiously and saw Kageyama and several Eisenwald members had already seized Natsu, standing in a tense standoff with a Happy who didn't know what to do. Kageyama wore the look of a man whose scheme had gone off perfectly, a dagger pressed straight to Natsu's throat.
"Quit your yowling, you mangy cat. Your friend's already mine. You don't want him dead, you come down here and surrender."
With that, Kageyama looked up at Erigor in the sky and drew a skull-topped flute from inside his coat.
"Guild Master, there's no more time to waste. Leave these ones to us. Go on ahead and finish the plan!"
He hurled the flute upward with all his strength. Erigor caught it out of the air in one motion, running his thumb gently over the skull a few times before a satisfied smile finally spread across his face.
"Well done, Kageyama. Since it's thanks to you that Lullaby's back in hand, I'll let your failure slide. Finish them off, and once the age of darkness dawns, the credit is yours."
With Kageyama's spirits sufficiently pumped, Erigor spared one glance for Gray, caught between two urgent choices, then let out a cold laugh, turned his back, and shot off into the distance.
"Bastard, get back here! We haven't settled who's stronger. Where do you think you're running off to, you coward?"
Gray tried to needle him with words, hoping to throw a wrench into whatever he was planning. But a chance to wipe out a room full of Guild Masters in one stroke didn't come around often, and Erigor had no time to waste on a small fry like him. Watching him shrink into the distance, Gray's face darkened at once. He had no idea what the man was up to, but it certainly wasn't anything good.
A job that had been going perfectly smoothly had suddenly taken this turn, and just thinking about it made Gray's blood boil. He rounded on Natsu, still unconscious and held fast by the group surrounding him, glare burning with irritation.
"Natsu, you idiot! How much longer are you going to be dead weight? Wake up already!"
His furious shout reached Kageyama and the others, and it set all five of them howling with laughter.
"Hah, would you look at that. Mr. Ice is starting to panic."
"And even if this washout does wake up, so what? Don't forget, my knife's still sitting right here on his throat."
"Tsk, tsk. You poor guy, saddled with a useless friend like that. Not being able to pull his weight is one thing, but dragging you down on top of it?"
"Guess that's just how it is, though. This is exactly what's so pathetic about you 'proper guild' types. The guy's dead weight, plain and simple, and you still stick around like idiots for his sake, letting us walk all over you."
Once he'd had his fill of mockery, Kageyama smirked and waved Gray over.
"Come on then, Mister Justice. Do us a favor and behave. Hands up, nice and quiet."
Watching the five of them look at him like they already had him beat, Gray's temper snapped, veins standing out across his forehead. He ground his teeth and bit out an ultimatum, word by word, straight at Natsu.
"Natsu. You don't wake up right now, I'm taking full credit for this S-Class job myself. And when I'm the one who ends up an S-Class Mage because of it, don't you dare come crying to me."
Kageyama's brow twisted in irritation. "Watch it. You hear me? Get on your knees and surrender, or I slit your friend's throat right now."
He pressed the dagger in harder against Natsu's neck as he spoke. Just as he was sure he had the whole situation locked down tight, he suddenly felt another force push back against the blade in his hand.
"Gray... the hell are you talking about, you bastard? This year's S-Class Mage is going to be me!"