Chapter 363: The Invasion Begins
(Third Person POV)
"Is the child still asleep?" Makarov asked Mavis
Mavis nodded, "Yes..."
They were inside the guild hall, all of the Fairy Tail members. It was around an hour or two after Erion's arrival to Magnolia.
They had received word from the Magic Council to get ready to evacuate the city but Makarov was much ahead on that. They had successfully evacuated the city several hours prior to Erion's arrival. Since Jason hadn't returned the Code Red Level had been raised to 5 and now the entire country was on high-alert.
Makarov sighed, "I suppose its another thing to stress about..." He said
"Fried had deployed a rune barrier around the bed he's sleeping on.." Erza said, "He should be safe, or we're safe from him transforming at least."
Mavis nodded, "Good." She said, "There's a lot of questions that still need answering but for now, we're to follow the protocol that Jason's Warmind had given us."
"Hm...." Makarov said, "Indeed."
"I still don't understand that." Laxus said
Mavis stood up from her seat, "I'll explain." she started, "Basically, over the last few months, Jason had built several bunkers and vaults that are heavily fortified and stocked with supplies for the civilians to be hidden away during the time of war. He had said he didn't want meaningless casualties to happen."
Laxus nodded, "I see...." He said
"Another thing is that he's deployed several devices around the border of Fiore." Mavis continued, "From what his Warmind said, these devices are sensors of sorts. They'll alert us of any sort of breaches from any direction. That said, the entry points where an army would cross have been fortified and it'll prevent any easy passage for them."
"So he had everything planned for a conflict.." Makarov said, "He definitely invested a lot of time in protecting the country."
Mavis nodded, "Yes." She said, "Which is why I found it hard to believe that Jason would even join Alvarez."
Lucy stepped up, "Have you heard from him?" She asked, "The Code Red Level had been raised, did something happen to him?"
"I don't know.." Mavis said, "The Warmind hasn't given any updates to-"
Suddenly, a massive screen appeared behind them, revealing a map of magnolia with several red dots approaching.
"Attention: Enemy Airships approaching. I repeat, Enemy Airships approaching!" Felicity's voice could be heard from the screen, "Activate defensive barriers and prepare for battle!"
Everyone widened their eyes in shock as they looked at the screen.
"What the hell?!" Makarov exclaimed, "How'd they get here so quick!?"
Mavis looked at the screen, "F-Felicity!" She said, "How is this possible?!"
"I'm investigating it at the moment!" Felicity responded, "I sense no issues with the border sensors! Prepare for battle, I have deployed several turret towers throughout the city. There is a fleet approaching and 2 extremely high magic signatures."
"This is bad..." Erza said as she looked at the other members, "Everyone! To your positions!"
Makarov stood up, "This is it!" He said, "We must defend the city!"
Mavis nodded, "Yes!" She said, "We must waste no time!"
Without saying a word, all the Fairy Tail members began to run out of the guild hall, leaving a handful of them behind.
In the air outside Magnolia, on one of the airships, a lone man stood as he looked down with a smirk.
This was Ajeel, The Desert King. One of the Spriggan 12, he had taken part of the vanguard.
"Hehe!" He said, "Good thing we the Vanguard came ahead of the others! This will be easy!"
As the fleet of Airships approached the city, they were met with magical cannon fire. Some of the shots were hitting ships and causing some explosions, but not much damage.
Ajeel narrowed his eyes to see the shots were coming from some peculiar towers that were scattered around the city.
"Oh?" He said, "Seems they had prepared beforehand, that's interesting.....Well, no matter!!"
He raised his hands as he gathered sand above him, forming a massive swirl.
"Great Sand Spears!!!"
He then swung his arms forward, sending several massive sand projectiles flying down. The sand projectiles would then fly straight towards multiple towers, hitting them and exploding them with sand.
"Hahaha!!" Ajeel yelled in excitement, "Take that, you fodder!"
He then looked to his left, noticing that the ship next to him didn't have his fellow Shield. He was a bit perplexed by this, he had just seen her on top of the deck a couple of minutes prior.
"Hm?" He said, "Where'd Brandish go?"
As he said this, he was then hit by a massive slash attack from the side. The attack came from his right, above in the air. It caught him off-guard, sending him reeling to the side.
"Ajeel-sama!" Several soldiers that were on the deck yelled
"Oh!" He said as his body exploded with sand, "What's this?!"
He then watched as Erza landed on the deck of the ship, her sword readied in her hand. She gave Ajeel a serious glare as his soldiers attacked her.
In an instant, Titania cut them down, not even trying that much.
Ajeel raised an eyebrow, giving Erza a maniacal smirk.
"You got decent magic power, eh?" He said, "I'll gladly play with you!"
Erza pointed her blade at Ajeel, "You'll regret making enemies of Fairy Tail." she growled,
"Come!"
**********************************************
In front of the Fairy Tail Guild Hall, Lucy and Natsu stood guard as they faced off against another Shield of Spriggan.
"What a pain..." Brandish said as she looked at her foes
Lucy was slightly sweating, "This magic power..." She said, "She's...."
Natsu smirked nervously, "I think I'm fired up...?" He said
Brandish looked around her, seeing the ships above the city as they were being hit by cannon-fire.
"Seems you guys are actually gonna put up a decent fight..." She said, "I'm impressed.."
Natsu nodded, "Oh yea?" He said, "We'll show you what we're about?"
"I don't have time for this." Brandish said as she waved her hand
The Guild Hall began to shrink as Mavis and Makarov were still inside with a couple of other members.
"Oh!" Makarov said, "What's this?!"
"Is this magic?" Mavis exclaimed, "The guild hall is shrinking!"
Back outside, Brandish was boringly looking at the hall slowly shrinking. She was feeling some sort of resistance but other than that, she didn't seem fazed.
Lucy looked back at this, "What?!" She exclaimed, "What kind of magic is this?"
"Well..." Brandish said, "With this, I can cap-"
Suddenly, the Guild Hall reverted back to normal as the ground began to shake and a dark magic power began to be released.
Natsu widened his eyes, "This feeling!" He said, "No way! Is he..."
Lucy began to sweat, "Oh no!" He said, "He's awake!"
Inside the building, Mavis and Makarov were frantically running towards the infirmary where they had Erion sleeping.
"No!" Makarov said, "This is the last thing we need!!"
Suddenly, a loud roar bellowed and shook the entire building and ground.
Brandish covered her ears, "What's that?!" She said, "It's so loud!"
Suddenly, from the back part of the building, Erion's massive dragon body crashed through the roof and flew towards the sky.
Natsu looked up at him, "Shit!!" He said, "Didn't he just go to sleep?! He didn't last long for shit!!"
Brandish widened her eyes in shock, "What is that thing?!" She exclaimed
Erion extended his wings outwards and released a dark aura while roaring, shaking the air itself.
"This is bad..." Lucy said as they looked at the dragon
"Yea..." Natsu said,
"She pissed him off I think."