Haruka & The Fairy Tail Guild
Half a dozen blades shot from Erza's fingertips, glowing with light as they burst through the air. The demonspawn tried to dodge, but the Magical blades twisted in direction and cut them down. Erza wore her Heaven's Wheel Armour, the silver plated armour flashing through the night as the demons fell quickly under her ferocious onslaught. Metal wings of blades plumed from her back, cutting down anyone that dared to come near.
Still, they just kept on coming. The demonspawn attacked with crazed fury, even as Erza slashed through by the dozens.
The redhead scowled in displeasure as she tried to get her bearings. The guild was in ruins and the town was burning. There were just so many that needed her help, but she couldn't be everywhere. A flicker of indecision passed by her as she tried to focus on the most urgent situations.
Mages were falling like flies. The master was out cold, and Cana was trying to organise a defence around the wreckage of the Guild Hall. Laxus had been squashed by Makarov, and Gildarts and Mystogan were out on missions. Mirajane had been lost in the debris, but she couldn't fight anymore anyways. Erza was the only S-Class Mage fighting. It was all up to her.
But this is just chaos, Erza realised angrily. Fairy Tail was confused and disorientated, but the townspeople needed them. Too many Mages had rushed off by on their own, only to be ambushed by superior numbers. The demonspawn fought with an unnerving coordination, sacrificing their own members ruthlessly for maximum devastation.
Somebody must be controlling them, Erza thought coldly, tightening her grip on her swords.
There was a scream from a nearby street, followed by a pulse of Magic. Erza moved quickly, using her wings to glide through the air at blurring speeds. She got their just in time to see Gray struggling against a crowd of demonspawn. One of them wore a striped pharaoh hood and attacked mercilessly with black cables whipping from his fingertips. The other had stripes like whiskers across his face and he launch blasts of Light Magic from his hands.
Gray's Ice-Make was flawlessly fast. The Mage's hands span as he generated shields and weapons of solid ice, but even despite his speed he was still being pushed onto the defensive by the suicidal ferocity of the onslaught. Erza's eyes widened in shock as one of them finally managed to get in a solid strike, stabbing Gray in the shoulder with a black cable as hard as iron.
"Black Wing Armour!" Erza cried, as the plate mail stripped from her body in a glowing light. The air shimmered as new armour Requiped on to her smoothly. Black armour with silver trimmings coated her body, with a breastplate flanking down to her hips and heavy plating over her shoulders and legs, leaving her cleavage and chest bare.
She didn't even pause as two large wings burst from her shoulders, shooting through the air with furious speed. Her hair was as crimson as blood as her blade shot through the crowd.
They never stood a chance. Erza didn't spare the demonspawn a second glance as she stepped over their bodies to tend to the injured Gray.
"You got them…" He muttered, wincing at his wound. "They just wouldn't stay down whenever I hit them."
"They don't feel pain," Erza explained with a shrug as she wiped the blood from her sword. "Brute force isn't so good. You've got to cut through muscles and ligaments if you want to stop them."
Gray bit his lip as he slammed his hand over the wound to freeze it shut. His body trembled in pain, but his eyes were determined. "We've got to stop them," he said firmly. "We can't let them overrun the town."
"No," Erza ordered sternly. Gray's eyes widened in anger, and Erza's gaze softened. "They're after us. They're trying to spilt us up," she explained. "We've got to stick together and stay calm. You're injured, let's get back to the others."
He shook his head. "It's not that simple. These are guys are Eisenwald," he said coldly. Alarms flared in Erza's mind at the words.
"Eisenwald…" she muttered in shock. "You think they managed to get a hold of Lullaby?"
"I think Lullaby got a hold of them," Gray said coolly, pulling himself to his feet. "They're not human anymore, that's for sure."
"If Lullaby is here, then everyone in this town is in grave danger," Erza murmured, frowning as her mind whirred back to everything she knew about Lullaby.
Gray nodded. The screams still echoed through the air. "We've got to stop Lullaby right now," he said, staggering forward.
Erza hesitated for a moment, before holding out her hand. "No, I'll handle it." Gray looked like he was about to argue, but then he saw the dangerous glint in Erza's eyes. "You're injured. If you want to help, gather up survivors and start evacuating. Lullaby is all mine."
His hands clenched for half a second, but then he relented. "Fine," Gray spat, cast a dark look at the burning town. "But just make sure the bastard responsible suffers for what they've done to the guild."
She cracked her knuckles. The killing intent could have cut through glass. "Oh, I will," Erza promised coldly, and for a moment Gray almost felt sorry for the bastard. Almost, but not quite.
Eraza gathered up her strength as she shot into the air, soaring with Magic as she hovered over the town. The wind nearly tore her apart as she surveyed the burning town from above.
If Eisenwald is responsible, then this wind must be Erigor's doing, she thought darkly. And that means he's in the town somewhere.
Makarov's words rushed back to her. Trains had been disappearing. Realisation struck. Eisenwald would have had to arrive somehow.
"The train station…" she muttered, digging her heels in as she shot downwards. The wings helped keep her steady, but she used Magic to power her through the air as she dropped into the ground. Her swords were singing for blood.
The sound of screaming was delicious. Erigor sat lazily on the steps of station, laughing at the music of suffering. He could feel Lullaby inside him, like someone whispering at the front of his mind. The demon wanted to feed. The demon wanted to play its tune and be done with it.
Erigor personally preferred to torture his victims first. His hatred refused to let the damned legal Guilds get away with a quiet murder. They had to suffer pain and misery first. In the end, the demon and the murderer had compromised and agreed to play with the food a bit before mealtime. The two of them were getting along quite well, really.
Erigor still couldn't tell if the demon was possessing or if he was possessing Lullaby, but it didn't really matter. So long as their enemies died they were both happy.
It was a glorious feeling to be completely and utterly free from all emotion, empathy, and compassion. It felt like being unchained. Erigor had never felt so bloodthirsty in his life, and that was really saying something.
He felt like a monster. It was brilliant.
There was a crash from a nearby house. Erigor turned with mild amusement just to see a pink haired brat climb from the wreckage, casually dropping one of his demonspawn behind. Natsu glared at the gargoyle shape of Erigor furiously.
"You!" Natsu roared, showing no sign of fear at Erigor's monstrous appearance. "Are you responsible for this?!"
Erigor shrugged. "Yes, I suppose I a-"
Natsu had no need to hear anything after the first syllable. His body glowed with an aura of flames as he burst towards Erigor. A scream of utter fury burst from his lips as the fireball lit up the sky. Nearby trees caught flames. Erigor just smirked.
The demon's hand moved at impossible speeds. Natsu couldn't even react as the wooden fingernails wrapped around his neck and squeezed tightly. His eyes bulged. The fire was extinguished from lack of oxygen.
"Pathetic little fly," Erigor sneered smugly, raising his scythe hand. "I am beyond mortal now."
The wooden blade slashed downwards. In an instant, there was a huge shape in front of Natsu, grunting as the figure blocked the scythe with a large axe. Natsu collapsed out of Erigor's grip.
"Natsu!" Haruka screamed, shaking Natsu from his shock. The Celestial Dragon Slayer charged towards him with concern, while Taurus was busy trying to hold back Erigor. Taurus' muscles were bulging from effort. Erigor didn't even look like he was exerting himself.
"I'm sorry, Haruka," Taurus grunted sorrowfully, just as Erigor's scythe hand cut through the metal axe and slashed into Taurus. The Celestial Spirit returned to the Spirit World in a flash of light.
"Fools," Erigor said arrogantly, approaching with slow, casual strides. He only managed three steps before suddenly a blade stabbed itself through his back, protruding out of his shoulder. Erigor just looked mildly annoyed.
"And what was that meant to do?" He muttered, just as his neck twisted around a hundred and eighty degrees with a creepy creak. He smirked at Erza, standing behind him and looking shocked. He barely appeared to notice the sword sticking out of his body.
Haruka, Natsu and Erza glanced at each other in alarm, surrounding Erigor cautiously. No one moved.
"What is that thing?" Haruka muttered in breathless horror, eyes wide. "Is it monster?"
"Why, yes," Erigor grinned. "Yes, I am."
Around them, the screams roared through the air. The wind howled like a beast. There was insanity in Erigor's three eyes. Lullaby demanded souls. His grin was maniacal.
"You flies don't seem understand," he sneered. "I could have killed you all whenever I wanted. I was just playing around a bit first. But now… Now it's time see how tasty your souls are."
Erigor took a deep breath. From the holes in his body, a faint melody slowly started to ring through the air. The sound distorted everything with darkness. Erigor laughed with bloodlust as Lullaby started to resonate.
"Now it's time to sing!"