Gray snapped out of his deep thoughts, stood up, and followed Erza away from the camp. The demon would be coming out soon, so Gray, Erza, Natsu, Lucy, and Happy needed to prepare. They had set up a series of traps around their campsite earlier in the day, in case the monster attacked them and caught them off guard, but once night fell, the wizards disabled the traps to prevent one of them from accidentally setting one off.
"I'm bored!" complained Natsu, impatient as usual. "When's this demon thing gonna come out so we can fight it?"
"Soon, Natsu, be patient. It's already dark out so it shouldn't be long now," replied Erza.
No sooner had the words left her mouth than a loud roar echoed through the town. The roar was one of anger and pain, fear and sadness, a cry for mercy yet a scream for revenge. It was a haunted roar, and it was no wonder the poor people of Poppy Village were scared out of their minds. It was the kind of roar that would creep into dreams, turning even the sweetest ones into the darkest nightmares. A fitting roar for the demon it came from.
The demon was a creature of pure evil, and you could see its dark aura pulsing out in waves. The monster was blacker than midnight, and it seemed to corrupt everything around it--the plants were dying, the animals shaking, the people crying out in terror. Even the stones that lay on the ground seemed to tremble at the sheer deadly power the creature was wielding. Dark magic. Magic used to harm and kill, to hurt and cause pain. Magic used to drive away the light, much as good magic was for driving away the darkness.
The wizards saw the demon and knew that it had to be stopped--at all costs. The demon could not be allowed to leave the village. Natsu let his flames dance around his body. Gray moved into his fighting stance as the air grew cold around him. Erza requipped into her Black Wing Armor. And Lucy opened the Gate of the Lion: Leo. Happy's job was to stay above the demon and observe the fight, in case a team member needed to be evacuated.
"This creature cannot be allowed to live, and on my life I swear that I will not leave this town until its people are safe and this monster is dead. I will fight alongside you, comrades, until I die, for mark my words, I will fight until the end," declared Erza.
"Aye!" shouted everyone else.
And with that, they all faced the demon and ran into battle. Natsu attacked the demon first, starting off with his strongest attack.
"Fire Dragon Roar!" he yelled.
The demon turned to look at him. Gray attacked next.
"Ice Make: Lance!" he shouted as a huge beam of ice shot towards the monster.
It should have gone through the demon, but instead it simply glanced off without a scratch.
"What the hell?!" cried Gray. "Our attacks aren't even affecting it!"
Loki (Leo) made the next move. He threw ball after ball of energy at the creature, but to no avail. Erza then tried her luck. She hit the monster, harder than she had ever hit anything before, but, as with Gray's lance, her sword simply glanced off the demon's thick hide. That was when she requipped into her Purgatory Armor. Before any of the others could react, she lifted the massive sword above her head, and struck the demon with everything she had. This time, her sword went into the demon, and as it screamed there was a flash of light amongst the shadows that made up its heart, and the creature turned to dust, dying, once and for all.
The wizards were about to celebrate when Erza collapsed to the ground.
"ERZA!" they all cried as they ran to her.
She had used up all of her magic power, channeling everything into that one attack, and even then the demon was too strong, so she had used some of her life force as substitute for the magic power she didn't have. She had collapsed from exhaustion, and also because she was too weak to even stay alive for much longer. Unfortunately, Wendy was not there to replenish her magic power.
Natsu, Gray, and Lucy ran to find the town healer as Happy followed them, carrying the unconscious Erza.
YOU ARE READING
If Only You Knew
FanfictionGray is in love with Erza; he has been ever since he saw her crying by the river when they were children, but Erza is in love with Jellal, and Gray cares about her too much to burden her with his feelings. Then one day, a mission gone wrong leaves h...
