The Ouroboros Potioneer - Book 2: Chapter 21: The Ace Of Blue Pegasus (Patreon)

AN: 2nd chapter of November for Tier 1!

Beta'd by Plum

Book 2: My Life With An S&M Maid Teacher

Chapter 21: The Ace Of Blue Pegasus

"I knew it was you, Virgo!" Leo exploded out of the earthen debris, his helm vanishing as he laughed loudly. "It had to be you. What the hell is this job turning into?"

“It is quite a rare event indeed.” Virgo bowed her head in greeting.

“I can’t believe you of all spirits showed up.” Leo looked over at Dante with a bright grin. “You’ve been teaching this one, then?”

“I am following the wording of my contract.” Was all Virgo admitted.

“Ha!” Leo laughed again, fully understanding her meaning as his heart swelled with joy. “You finally landed an ideal summoner then.” He was genuinely excited for her. “Congrats, Virgo.”

“Thank you, Leo.” Virgo smiled softly in reply.

“We’ve been worried, you know?” Leo scratched his head. “I really did protest your punishment, but the Celestial King wouldn’t budge on the length of time."

“It is of no matter.” Virgo shook her head, gesturing for them to move locations. “I do not regret my actions.”

She vanished into the earth, leaving a clear trail to follow as walls were demolished until she stopped in a large basement storage room.

“You really are a glutton for punishment, aren’t you? To be cut off from the Celestial Realm is suffocating.” Leo appeared in a flash of light, following behind while he stroked his chin with a surprisingly deep, thoughtful expression. “How can you stand it?”

The leader of the Zodiacs made no mention of Virgo choosing her preferred battleground.

“I wasn’t sure I would at first.” Virgo admitted as she popped out of the ground, her eyes glancing back the way they came. “But it became quite rewarding soon after.”

“Yes, your summoner is quite the rare diamond.” Leo nodded in approval. “Where did you find such potential?”

“He found me.” Virgo’s lips curved up in a smile that simply couldn’t be hidden. “I never expected to see him again.”

"Again?" Leo asked in confusion before his eyes widened in shock. "Wait, he's the one you were punished for?!"

"Yes." Virgo had no need to hide it as she stomped her foot, the storage room exits slamming shut with stone slabs. "And I would do it a thousand more times."

Leo tapped his vambrace, not at all bothered by her actions; in fact, he was slowly smiling like a teasing older brother. “Virgo, are you smitten with him?”

Virgo said nothing, but the flush in her cheeks gave her away.

"Oh, that's gold!" Leo laughed loudly in a warm tone. "The maiden finally found a man, eh? I've been trying to pair you up for centuries!"

"Hush." Virgo flicked a stone at his head, which he easily dodged. "Shall we fight?"

“Always so to the point.” Leo huffed as his smile slowly dimmed, outshone by the growing light leaving his body. His eyes lost their humor as he gazed seriously at his fellow Zodiac. “Does your summoner know?”

His words were not mere curiosity, but carried commanding authority.

"I have not broken my oaths." Virgo settled into a stance as the stone throughout the room rumbled, her cold sapphire-blue eyes locking with his intense golden-yellow. "There is nothing more he needs to know."

The two stared off as Celestial Energy bled into the world around them.

“Virgo.” Leo began. “If he is the one you saved, he’s no mortal.” His eyes narrowed. “You know the risks.”

The energy around them grew heavy, the gaze of something greater than either of them piercing the dimensional veil to witness what was said.

“Leo.” Virgo’s pink hair shadowed her eyes as the room.

The building.

The city.

Vibrated ever so slightly.

Between one blink and the next, the petite maid appeared before the Zodiac leader, eyes glacial cold and cocked fist covered in stone. “Clench your teeth.”

Leo’s face twisted in panic.

000

Dante frowned at the vibrations beneath his feet.

‘Who pissed her off?’ He wondered in confusion.

Dante could feel Virgo across the bond, and within a moment she went from calm to the way she did when something other than him tarnished her maid uniform.

In other words, apoplectic.

'Well, as long as she's alright.' Dante shrugged it off, sending her calming thoughts before he focused on his own situation. 'The more she can make Leo work, the easier my job will be.'

The weight of Karen's mana pressure had eased since he'd been surprised at the office, but it still eclipsed what Dante had.

Dante moved as fast as he could, nailing wires and spikes across the ballroom until he heard sharp heels clacking on concrete.

He looked up at the gaping hole Leo had punched him through and found Karen Lilica appearing from the hallway to the main office, her second Zodiac, Aries, at her back.

And she didn’t look happy.

The woman looked down at Dante matching her gaze, and scoffed in disgust. "You should be dead, snake."

Dante finished planting the last stake with his foot and held her stare. “I’m durable.”

Karen's face scrunched up, black lines forming on her forehead.

The mana pressure spiked, pressing down on Dante’s shoulders as the woman grabbed Aries and jumped.

The Zodiac squeaked in surprise and quickly launched a pink cloud at the ground for Karen to land on before the woman dropped her like a used item.

“Where is my Leo?” Karen looked around and didn’t see the man. “And who is he fighting?”

She could sense he was in intense combat, intense enough that he was draining her mana heavily while being too focused to send back any information.

“My maid.” The green lines running along Dante’s skin flared as he bent his knees, ready to react. “She’s a handful.”

“Another spirit?” Karen locked onto the golden key hanging from his neck. “Well, well, perhaps this detour will have some extra rewards.”

The fallen Aries picked herself up and spoke up in a timid voice. “M-Mistress, you cannot handle two Zodiacs at one time-.”

"I'm aware of that!" Karen cut off the pink-haired spirit, her whip lashing out and scoring a red line across the spirit’s shoulder. “Maybe I’ll replace you!”

"I'm sorry!" Aries covered her head and dipped down, as if she were used to such treatment.

Dante narrowed his eyes, making no move to act, yet his gaze grew cold. "Weak."

Karen’s hand froze, her voice like nails on a chalkboard. “Excuse me?”

“You are weak.” Dante tilted his head, the gaze of nature itself flowing through his eyes as he studied the woman.

Her designer clothing, too tight for quick movement.

Heavy makeup trying to make her look younger than she was.

Shoes that were unfit for combat, better for magazine shots.

A woman who reeked of regression long after reaching her peak and drowning in luxury.

“The weak who feed on the strong.” Dante noticed each red mark from the whip fading in seconds on Aries’ skin, the spirit far more durable than her meek act showed.

“You…” Karen’s voice caught in her throat as veins began bulging along her neck. “YOU DARE?!”

Her arm shifted direction, and Dante's instincts saved him as he sprang left, narrowly avoiding the tip of a mana-charged whip that broke the sound barrier.

The strike was nothing like what she hit Aries with, as it cut through the concrete like butter.

“Weak? Me?” Karen bit out and swung her arm back. “I AM KAREN LILICA, YOU WORM!”

This time, not only the sound barrier but the room itself shook from her raw mana, and Dante had only a moment to process that her mana-enhanced whip was actually tearing out the wires and traps he'd laid around before his hand closed around a snapped wire.

The broken trap reeled itself in, giving Dante the leverage to avoid the whip.

‘Even a regressed S-Class is still an S-Class.’ He calmly noted as his feet hit the ceiling, cracking the stone as he launched away from another whip strike, only his instincts keeping him ahead of the weapon moving faster than his eyes could track. ‘Well, you’ve pissed her off, Dante. Now what?’

His options weren't high against an overpowered opponent. Even without her main arsenal while Leo was draining her.

Virgo was draining him too, but they both knew they were playing to sustain while Leo wasn't shy about using big attacks.

Dante cycled through his potions and brews, considered his skillset and remaining trap materials, and came to a quick conclusion.

He pulled a vial and held it ready.

The ballroom was quickly torn to shreds as Karen let loose; her whip technique nothing to scoff at as she attempted to eviscerate Dante without a single thought for his survival.

Each second felt like a minute as Dante trusted his instincts to guide him.

"Stay still!" Karen ground out, not moving from her starting point as her whip stretched through the room.

Dante landed on a brittle wall before kipping up, grabbing onto a broken lamppost just as the tip of the whip shattered the wall.

The vial in his palm cracked, releasing a burst of pink poisonous mist that obscured his position as he launched into the opening.

‘I can’t face her directly, but I can stall for time.’ Dante moved quickly, grabbing whatever he could to form makeshift traps while he retreated. ‘But will she be mad enough to follow and give up the ideal battleground for her whip?’

His mental question was answered a moment later as a pink, cloud-like substance scattered the poison mist from a coughing Aries, before Karen's voice echoed down the hall. "Get back here!"

‘It worked.’ Dante hummed and kept moving, not forgetting to throw out a taunt. “Make me, bitch.”

By the roar of aggravation behind him, he knew it worked.

000

“Ya not looking so good there.” Bacchus cackled even as he panted, taking a breather from the workout. “I hear older dudes got issues with stamina.”

“First the brewer and now you.” Shell growled, down on a knee with cracked armor plates he couldn't afford to repair, surrounded by remnants of the shell he was known for. "Fiore is a frightening kingdom."

The two were exhausted from their rapid battle, an unstoppable force meeting an immovable object and tiring quickly.

“Ya shouldn’t have come here, pal.” Bacchus rolled his shoulders to regain feeling in his arms, his fingers flexing despite the numerous cuts and bruises lining his forearms. “Fiore’s for the wild.”

“Trust me, I am realizing my mistake.” Shell huffed, then grunted as he pushed himself to his feet. “Caelum is where I am meant to be. Why the HQ valued this kingdom so much is beyond me.”

“Then Caelum’s got some shitty ale.” Bacchus glanced around at all the destroyed machinery. “If this is how ya all get by.”

“You think we drink this slop?” Shell scoffed. “Mercenary organization we may be, but we have standards.”

“More like criminals to sell this shit.” Bacchus saw his reflection in a broken Blackvein ale bottle, recalling the taste of the stuff before Dante came around. “And then you go after the only decent brewer to come around.”

The martial artist narrowed his eyes and squared up with the defensive mage.

“Is it a crime if others buy it?” Shell asked a question he often asked himself, breathing deep for their next round. “I do what I must for those I follow.” He slammed his hands together, the flare of mana reinforcing his shields and creating new ones. “You shall not overcome me, young man.”

"At least ya got a pair." Bacchus's hand glowed white, excitement bleeding into his veins as his senses stretched for the next assault. "The name's Bacchus Groh."

“Shell, Cask #10 of Blackvein Brewery.” The agent stated.

A moment of silence passed before Bacchus charged, smashing through a shield with a brutal palm strike. “I don’t got no fancy title!”

"Why does that upset you?!" Shell sweated under the rapid blows, his feet digging trenches in the floor as the momentum of his shields breaking hit him.

The man pushed forward, a trio of shields lashing out to bash Bacchus, who danced between them with outstretched arms.

"Cuz it sounds cool, ya bastard!" Bacchus sped up, his hands little more than blurs as he focused every strike on the narrowest cracks.

Shell started to say more, but both fighters paused as one of the room's walls caved in, a dust-covered figure flying through and landing in a scrap pile.

Their reactions were almost identical in joy, if for different reasons, as they shouted.

“Dante!”

“The brewer!”

Dante coughed out some blood as he picked himself up, wiping his chin with his wrist as he took in the room. "Back here?" He frowned as he took in the fighters. "You're still not done?"

Bacchus's eye twitched. “Bitch, I’m working here.”

"Work faster." Dante coughed up another speck of blood and downed some healing brew. "Catch up when you're done."

“What do you-.” Bacchus was cut off when the wall exploded a second time, almost missing Dante bolting for the far door. “Oh, shit.”

Karen stepped through the dust cloud, mana pressure weighing down the room as her chest heaved with her face set in a firm scowl.

“Lady Karen!” Shell yelled out. “The brewer is getting away. Help me finish this one and I shall-.”

His response was a whip strike that shattered half his shields, slamming Shell into the far wall with a wheeze.

Bacchus nervously gulped at the disgusted look she sent Shell’s way before focusing on him. “Uh…”

“Which way?” She ground out.

Bacchus pointed like a hound at the nearest door, seemingly throwing Dante under the bus with zero hesitation.

Karen made no other comment and launched herself after Dante.

‘Ya sure like them wild, bro.’ Bacchus wiped the sweat from his brow and lifted his gourd in a salute; glad he bought Dante a minute by pointing at the wrong door. “How the hell did that crazy flower bitch show up here?”

“She volunteered.” Shell coughed harshly as he pushed himself up, armor pieces falling off his body from where her whip had shattered them. "Now I know why."

“Heh, my guy is pretty good at attracting dangerous chicks." Bacchus didn't stop Shell from recovering. "Real buzzkill on letting me enjoy a good fight, though."

“The brewer is the real deal, isn’t he?” Shell asked, completely ignoring what Bacchus said as he wobbled a few steps and set his stance.

“And if he is?” Bacchus set himself once more.

"Then you're lucky Blackvein hasn't confirmed it." Shell glowed as the dregs of his shields reappeared around him. "If they had, they'd have sent a single-digit agent." The man looked up through his cracked helm. "You'd have more monsters to deal with in that case."

“Sounds like a fun party.” Bacchus nodded his head at the warning, tossing over his gourd. “Ready, man?”

Shell caught it in surprise, considered it for a moment, then took a drink. “Not bad ale.”

“I had that jackass refill it with the good shit.” Bacchus cackled and grabbed the gourd as it was tossed back to him.

“A good brewer, indeed.” Shell shook his head. “Shame I couldn’t meet him under better circumstances.”

“Not like ya can’t give up.” Bacchus offered, settling into his martial stance.

“Young you may be, but you are a true warrior.” Shell spoke with respect and focused all he had in front of him, forming six rotating shields. “Come, Bacchus Groh, the Drunken Falcon.”

Bacchus’s brows rose a fraction before he smirked. “Woulda preferred something canine-related."

Shell said nothing, only smirking back behind his half-shattered helm.

“Heh.” Bacchus’s palms glowed white before he exploded forth directly at the man from the front, not even considering cheating by circling around.

His palm met a shield and shattered it in a single blow.

The second and third shot forward at chest and knee height, forcing Bacchus to butterfly-twist between them as Shell combined the last three shields into a single massive wall that pushed ahead with the armored man's roar.

But Bacchus only grinned, the tip of his foot touching the ground as a lifetime of training condensed into a single full-body movement, hundreds of muscles working in concert as his mana condensed to a single point in his palm and rushed forward to meet the wall.

His skin gently rested against the shield as a whisper left his lips. "Drunken-Chop Hanging Palm."

Flesh met shield, and flesh prevailed. 

Shell’s eyes widened in shock as he felt his shield implode from a single point of contact; the martial artist piercing right through and spun as his second palm reached his body.

 “Good match.” Bacchus grinned right before Shell hit the wall, his eyes rolling up as his armor fell away in pieces. “The Falcon, eh?”

Bacchus cackled and raised his gourd to his lips in acceptance.

“Now then.” The martial artist turned to see the two different doors Dante and Karen went through. “Which way?”

He paused to scratch his head, only for a distant crash to echo from the right. “That way it is.”

000

"You are the single most annoying woman I've met." Laxus's eye twitched violently as he punched the copper-skinned woman for the umpteenth time. "And that's a long list."

“Well, I like you!” #13 laughed, unbothered by the raw mana pressure pushing off of Laxus’s body. “You’re the first big shot I can fight at an advantage.”

"Is that supposed to be a good thing?!" Laxus shot out a massive bolt of electricity, more out of frustration than intent to be useful, as it connected with the woman's body, flowed over her copper skin, and grounded itself through her feet. "How many fights have you lost?"

“A ton!” #13’s bright grin was unhidden despite the copper covering her face. “But you can’t even run from me. This is hilarious.”

"Who the fuck said I was running?" Laxus growled and tried to flash past her, but the lightning he turned his body into was pulled back by the lightning rod #13 had turned her body into. “Stop doing that!”

“No!” #13 swung her fist at the approaching lightning bolt, only for it to turn back into Laxus, who met her fist with his own. "My job is to keep you here, so I'll keep you here."

"I'm fucking sick of this saint's damn brewery." Laxus growled and opened his fist, catching the woman's wrist and judo-flipping her over his head before slamming her into the earth hard enough to crater the cafeteria. "Why are you so durable?"

“Cuz I’m good at getting hit on!” #13 bellowed out her laugh despite the blows, the physical impact doing little to get through her defenses. “And wrestling is fun.”

Laxus huffed, more mentally drained than physically, as he lifted the enemy mage by her wrist, where she dangled before him, fully content to know how much she was frustrating him. "Woman, I swear to-."

Laxus began, only to be cut off as the ceiling cracked and Dante’s figure dropped down with some kind of leather rope wrapped around his neck.

“Sparky!” Dante yelled, a broken arm stuck between the rope and his neck while his other hand grasped a metallic wire in his offhand, stretching back up to where he fell from. “HIT ME!”

Laxus didn't need more prompting; he roared, unleashing a mountain of frustration on something at least more conductive than his current opponent, with more power than #13 could rightfully redirect.

#13's eyes widened in awe at the ruthless lack of hesitation. Yet, her jaw dropped as, in the next moment, a feminine scream of pain rang out from somewhere above, connected to the wire Dante held.

Dante hit the ground hard, skidding as he broke the hold on his neck.

Laxus attempted to flash to his side, but he was pulled right back to #13. “Cut that shit out!”

"I'm not doing it on purpose!" #13 yelled back. "I'm a copper woman; what do you expect is going to happen if you turn into lightning?!"

“You bitch…” Laxus ground his teeth and slammed her into the earth. “Orobo! You need help?”

Dante was downing Bonemend Draught as he rose, his fur cloak in tatters as he coughed. "Finish your fight." He picked himself up on shaky legs and forcefully snapped his arm back into place, grunting as the brew took hold. "Follow after."

Laxus went to say more, but the ceiling cracked further as Karen shot down, her hair a puffed-up mess, and yelled at Dante. "STAY FUCKING STILL, SNAKE!"

Dante dodged by the narrowest of maneuvers, and Laxus had a moment to gape at the sheer destruction the whip caused to the surroundings.

“Is that?” He lifted a brow in recognition, yet still charged up a lightning bolt to strike out, only for #13’s hand to clamp onto his arm.

Electric yellow eyes glared fiercely, yet the copper woman wasn’t even trying to hurt him. “Don’t.” She shivered at the twisted mana pulsing off the woman chasing after Dante. “She’s a monster.”

“And who the fuck do you think I am?” Laxus shook her off and shot out an overcharged bolt, buying Dante precious seconds.

He turned his head to meet Laxus's gaze, mouthed something, then lunged through another wall.

Karen shot him a death glare, then ignored Laxus and followed, refusing to let Dante gain a lead again.

#13 shivered beside him. “I can’t imagine what pissed her off to that extent.”

“I have a pretty good idea.” Laxus lowered his hand, the arrogant aggravation having fallen off his face as he turned to her. “Sorry, but I’ve got to go.”

#13 raised a brow. “I like you, but I’m not going to let you go just because you ask nicely.”

“I wasn’t asking.” Laxus blinked, his yellow eyes turning white as a pulse of extreme mana spread from his chest.

#13 froze like a deer in the headlights as Laxus bulked up to twice his size, scales of yellow lightning adorning his cheeks as mana pressed down on her, similar to that woman who had just passed. “Ahaha…” She laughed awkwardly, sweating heavily. “I didn’t know you had a second form.”

Lightning sparked violently from Laxus’s body, each bolt scorching the building wherever it landed.

“I’m still getting used to using it.” Laxus growled and clenched his fist. “If you make it out of this, come to Fairy Tail.”

#13 blinked. “For a date?”

Laxus’s eye twitched for the umpteenth time as an enlarged fist came down on her head, burying the woman in a crater hard enough to put her hard head to sleep. ‘Annoying woman.’

He exhaled a puff of white mist, his body shrinking as he reined in the rampaging lightning with a level of skill he hadn't had a month before.

"Stop playing around, huh?" Laxus scoffed at Dante's words. "Jackass, you think I want to use my dragon lacrima for everything? Why does everything you bring me to involve lightning-resistant people?"

The guy cast the unconscious #13 a final look before he flashed toward the hole Dante vanished into.

000

"You are running out of mana, young lady." Yomi's voice rang through the warehouse, the area looking like a war had been fought within as shadows danced behind every corner. "Soon you will fall."

The whirl of a machine gun silenced the man, coming ever closer to hitting the hidden mage.

"I said you talk too much." Jenny panted as half her machine parts shifted back into human flesh while she tried to home in on the man.

All the Malts were down, leaving just the two to trade attacks, but both knew Jenny was losing the battle of attrition.

'Damn reserves!' Jenny gritted her teeth and shot out a grapple to avoid another shadow from ensnaring her leg. 'If I could just find him, this would be over in a second.'

Her sensors were working overtime to lock onto Yomi, but the man kept shifting position through his shadows.

“You are a feisty one, I’ll give you that.” Yomi’s voice echoed through the room, the manic tint only growing as he closed in on Jenny like a beast playing with its food. "That just makes the climax all that much sweeter."

Shadows swung, pierced, strangled.

An ocean of grasping limbs under the shadow mage’s control gave Jenny no time to rest as she boosted out of what she could, fighting to gain a moment to breathe. 

“What a creep.” Jenny huffed, her arm shifting into a high-powered rifle with a single bullet in the chamber, one she had been specially making since Yomi became a problem. “Why don’t you poke your head out and face me like a man?”

“I’m no fool, girl.” Yomi chuckled eerily. “You are strong, but even the strong fall to a patient predator.”

The shadows undulated, a wide net twisting to block off her escape routes.

Jenny frowned. ‘Do I really need to use it?’

Dante's potion was still sitting in her Requip space. The Temperflesh Potion would smooth her transformations and increase her durability, according to what she'd been told, but it was meant as a training tool to improve her magic.

If she took it now, it might boost her durability for a time, but it would be wasted as she was running low on fuel regardless.

‘Still, not like I’ll be able to use it if I’m dead.’ Jenny grunted as she spun out of a grasping shadow tendril. ‘I should have asked Dante for some of his brews.’

Just as she thought it, the wall caved in, and the very person she was thinking of appeared in an explosion of dust and debris.

“Dante!” Jenny smiled brightly in relief, only for her relief to turn to horror a moment later as she took in her friend. “Dante!”

Rocket thrusters grew out of her shoulders, mana be damned, as she shot over and caught the falling hunter, his body covered in deep flesh wounds that bled openly, staining her limbs.

“Dante! Stay with me!” Jenny’s limb was already shifting into an emergency electric prod to cauterize his wounds.

Dante’s eyes were foggy, yet he didn’t need his mind to react to his instincts as he grabbed Jenny and spun around her body, keeping a hold of her leg as his mana-covered knife cut through a shadow tendril about to spear them both from behind.

The movement opened his wounds further, but Dante was already reaching for a nearly empty flask of Heartknit brew, the liquid flowing down his throat and causing his wounds to steam as they rapidly began to knit together.

“Don’t drop your guard, Jenny.” Dante retained his hold, eyes blinking back to clarity as the enchanted alcohol pumped through his veins. “Throw me toward an exit.”

“Are you fucking kidding me?” Jenny refused, grabbing his arm as she boosted around the warehouse to dodge more shadows. “You were almost dead! Which dead bitch is getting shanked?”

The wall Dante was smashed through cratered further as a wildly panting Karen appeared, bloodshot eyes locking onto the floating Dante as her whip cracked out. “WHY WON’T YOU DIE!”

It was only Dante’s reaction that saved the two from being eviscerated, pressing down on Jenny’s head to dodge the whip that passed over where their heads had been.

"That's the bitch." Dante answered Jenny's previous question, rising from their crouch and slashing out as an approaching shadow. "Finish up here and follow; she's running low on mana."

"And we're any better?" Jenny snapped back, but her eyes stayed locked on the heaving woman in shock.

She had felt the familiar mana pressure earlier, but seeing it in person was another story.

Veins pulsed on Jenny’s neck as her anger pushed past well-honed emotional control. “KAREN!”

The wrathful S-Class mage paused at the call, turning to actually look at who stood beside Dante, her eyes widening at the sight of Jenny.

“Why are you here, girl?” Karen barked.

“That’s my question, hag!” Jenny fired back.

"For the last time, I'm 32!" Karen swung her whip, not at Jenny, but at Dante, who was trying to cover Jenny's back from the shadows. "I'm still in my prime, upstart!"

"Upstart?" Jenny felt slapped across the face. "Why the hell would I show you up?! We're guildmates!"

She knew things had been rough for the senior mage over the months, but Blue Pegasus was growing closer than ever.

They were supposed to be supporting each other to shine.

"You know damn well what I mean!" Karen ignored her presence and tried to attack Dante again, but Jenny shifted into her line of sight. "Move!"

“No!” Jenny raised her rifle, pointing at the woman regardless of only having one shot. “Stand down, Karen, you’re making a mistake! Dante has nothing to do with our guild!”

“Nothing?!” Karen’s arm froze, her face twisting into an ugly expression. “He started everything! If it weren’t for him, I’d still be on top!”  

Dante clicked his tongue in disgust as he danced with the shadows, his blade cutting through anything that tried to take him off guard or sneak past to reach Jenny. "She seems to believe my visit to your guild started everything bad that happened to her."

He shared what Leo had told him before taking off into the warehouse, tracking down Yomi and making the shadow mage sweat as he felt Dante somehow close in on his body.

"You're doing this for that?" Jenny asked incredulously, her face furrowing in dumbfounded wrath. "You almost killed my friend for something like that?!"

“Something like that…” Karen muttered like a broken top as she frothed in entitled arrogance. “Is everything to me!”

 Karen slammed down her heel and shot forward toward Dante, only for Jenny to boost into her path, a gauntlet fist connecting with Karen’s face and sending her off course. “Who the hell cares about status? Blue Pegasus is about making diamonds shine!” 

Karen's body almost hit a wall before a pink cloud appeared and cushioned the impact, a pale-faced Aries following silently in Karen's shadow, yet unable to do anything more.

The Spirit’s expression had shifted to concern as she watched Karen snap further.

“Even my own guildmates now." Karen dropped to her feet, eyes shadowed. "Why does everyone keep getting in my way?"

"Karen, I'm not trying to-." Jenny began, but Karen pulsed with even more mana, making Aries beside her pale further with worry.

"Shut it, upstart." Karen grabbed a silver key from her belt, and in a flash of light, a wave of frost spread out, flash-freezing Jenny's legs and cutting off her thrusters. "I have a snake to skin."

Her whip lashed out, and Jenny’s eyes shut to brace, but when the blow connected with the ground beside her, she reopened them to see Karen jumping past her, a brief glance that seemed to pause time, letting her see a flare of hidden emotions behind Karen's eyes before they were reined in to dark pools.

“Karen!” Jenny called after her, the ice cracking as the silver spirit was unsummoned as quickly as it appeared.

"Please stop her." Aries rushed after Karen with a whispered plea. The horned Zodiac spirit sent Jenny a mournful look. "My master is overdrawing her mana."

Jenny didn’t get a chance to respond as Aries took off at a speed that would have surprised any Blue Pegasus mage who knew her.

“Why are you doing this?” Jenny looked behind her and saw a deep trench dug into the ground where a shadow was cut in two, the tendril having attempted to take her from behind. “Karen.”

Grapples shot out of her shoulders as Jenny regained her vantage point just in time to see Dante escape through a hole Karen's whip made; the woman hot on his heels without a backward glance.

She moved to follow, but a wall of shadow rose to block her.

“Well, that was unexpected.” Yomi’s voice rang out for the first time since Karen appeared. “Those two were quite frightening.”

The shadow mage looked down at a cut on his arm, where Dante had reached him just before Karen showed up and sent him running.

Jenny scowled at the voice, having nearly forgotten about her opponent.

And worse, she was even worse off on mana now than before.

A scream of frustration left her lips as Jenny prepared to use the potion, only for a flash of lightning to appear through the hole Dante had entered through.

Laxus blinked, taking in the ravaged warehouse full of twisting shadows, electricity sparking from his shoulders as he prepared to unleash hell.

“Laxus!” Jenny yelled, her arm transforming into a massive lightning rod. “Juice me!”

Laxus nearly choked on his spit. “Why the fuck does everyone keep asking me that?”

Regardless of his complaint, the blond still flashed toward her and grabbed onto the rod, funneling electricity into the mecha mage, the energy funneling into Jenny’s headpiece where her sensor was located.

Yomi seemed to sense something was wrong as he condensed all the shadows he had been growing through their fight into the center of the room, rising like a grasping octopus to catch the two mages.

Laxus scoffed at the display, readying a lightning bolt in his offhand to show who the superior elemental mage was, but he didn't get the chance as Jenny's sensor finally pinged, locking onto her target.

Jenny's arm spun, pistons firing as her rifle auto-corrected and fired; a yellow bullet shot from the chamber, spinning through the air as it began glowing with bright light.

All at once, the shadows around them froze, and Laxus huffed as he reabsorbed the lightning attack he was about to launch. “Not bad.”

His comment came as the shadows collapsed in on themselves, a short, cowled body dropping out with blank eyes as he fell.

“Thank you.” Jenny panted, her machines rapidly converting Laxus’s electricity into energy to refill her mana pool. “I’ve been waiting to use that bullet since our fight began.”

“What was it?” Laxus noticed she was recharging and wrapped an arm around her waist, lowering them onto a grate.

“If I can analyze my opponent enough, I can make an opposing elemental bullet to target their weakness.” Jenny breathed out tiredly and leaned on him. "Takes a lot of effort, though, and I only have one shot, or it's wasted."

Laxus whistled, knowing just how convenient that magic could be in the right circumstances.

Like when he faced opponents resistant or immune to lightning. He grimaced at the memories.

“I really think I hate this fucking company.” Laxus grumbled and turned to the woman. “You see Dante? I was following his trail.”

"Dante!" Jenny snapped back to awareness as another impact smashed a hole in the warehouse wall.

The two mages turned toward the fresh dust cloud, only for a swaggering martial artist to walk through it.

“Yo.” Bacchus waved his hand, as casual as can be among the carnage, smirking at all the damage around the place. “Did I miss the party or what? And where’s that jackass? Little shit told me to hurry up.”

“Funny, he said the same thing to me.” Laxus scratched his chin.

“He went that way.” Jenny pointed at where she saw them go, a trace of urgency in her voice. “And he was barely holding on.”

The two males nodded; nothing more needed to be said as they prepared to rush after him.

“Wait!” Jenny stopped them. “Please, I have a request.”

Laxus and Bacchus raised their brows, but both silently listened as Jenny spoke.

000

‘She’s more stubborn than I thought.’ Dante grumbled, using another portion of his brew to heal his wounds. ‘I would have expected her to run out of fuel a while ago.’

Compared to his training in Aurora's Throat, Dante knew most mages weren't nearly as adaptable or as capable of bouncing back as he was.

Yet, regressed or not, Karen Lilica had been an S-Class mage for over a decade, and her willpower was proving it.

"You can't run from me forever, snake!" Karen had damn near torn through the entire building as she burst back out into the ballroom, where she found Dante panting on one knee. "Finally lost your stamina, brat?”

“That should be my line, woman.” Dante puffed, giving the woman who had forsaken all attempts at etiquette to chase him like a madwoman. “How the hell do you still have mana?”

Even now, he knew Virgo was forcing Leo to drain her mana, and from the shaking beneath their feet, he could tell the battle must have been intense.

“Because I’m better than you.” Karen growled, her heels having broken off in the chase as she stepped forward on the flats. “Once I have your head, I’ll claim the bounty and fix the mess you caused me.”

“You made your own bed.” Dante stood, glancing at the silent Aries standing in the back. “It’s time to lie in it.”

"I'll lay down when I'm dead." Karen flicked out her weapon, and Dante barely dodged it as it cut a line through the ballroom. "Or when you are."

She snapped her fingers, and despite Aries wanting to protest, the spirit launched pink clouds at every exit in the room.

"You've got issues!" Dante sprang backward toward one of his leftover traps, cut the wire, and launched himself up toward the hole Leo had punched him through. "Money won't fix your delusions!”

“Money makes the world go round!” Karen argued back as she snapped her fingers again, and a reluctant Aries shot out pink clouds for the woman to step on, climbing rapidly after the retreating Dante. “With power comes fame, all for the sake of fortune!”

She arced her weapon, tearing apart Dante’s wire and landing a glancing blow that cracked a bone in his shoulder.

"Go make your own fortune." Dante calmly suggested as he hit part of the open ceiling, his fingers grasping a rebar before he swung himself upward toward the upper floors. "S-Class missions pay more than my bounty."

“I’ll get to them after I’m done with you.” Karen kept rising after him. “I’ll build my new tower on the ashes of your fall!”

'Stubborn bitch.' Dante clicked his tongue, reached the fifth floor, where Leo punched him, and climbed further into a crack in the ceiling leading to the roof.

It was the same clear area he had landed on at the start of the raid, the knocked-out Blackvein agents already retrieved by the watching King's Agents.

A half moon shone through the clouds, and Dante quickly raised a flask to his lips to heal his injury as he gazed at a distant clock tower, narrowing his eyes at the time.

‘Forty-eight minutes have passed.’

He had twelve minutes left until the deadline he was given, far less time than he planned on having left when all was said and done.

‘I didn’t plan on fighting an S-Class mage.’

A crash heralded Karen's arrival, the silent Aries at her back.

He had done all he could to buy time, running a circuit through the building with every spare trap he could deploy, draining her stamina and mana to dregs at the cost of his own.

She looked thoroughly disheveled now, red veins visible through her skin.

"Nowhere to run now." Karen heaved, her face pale as snow, with Aries already turning translucent, the horned spirit clearly afraid as she tried to speak up.

“M-master, please rest, you are-.”

“Be silent, Aries!” Karen snapped at her. “A tool is only supposed to follow my commands!”

Aries bit her lip, bowing her head with a hurt look.

Karen faltered at the expression for a bare moment before rounding on Dante as if it were his fault. “You bastard.”

“Dude…” Dante’s shoulders slumped as he deadpanned at the irrational woman, not even sure what to say at this point. “You know what? I don’t care anymore.”

Windows shattered on the fifth floor as Laxus flashed up and landed at his side, while Jenny grappled and landed on his other side.

Each glared at Karen, but the woman only glared back.

Dante did a quick head count and tilted his head just before the roof door dented and shot off its hinges as Bacchus arrived.

On the wrong side of the roof.

Everyone turned and stared at him.

"Ah, fuck." Bacchus scratched his head, realizing he'd accidentally ended up behind Karen. "I'm on that team."

Karen scoffed. “Like I care how many of you there are.” She reached for her key chain. “I’ve had enough of this farce.”

“Master, no!” Aries tried to stop her, but Karen only sent her a complicated look.

"Gate close." Karen sent her back, likewise cutting Leo's connection, regardless of what monster he had been fighting. "I didn't build my name on the backs of Zodiacs."

A trio of Silver Keys glowed in her palm as dimensional gates opened.

A twelve-foot-tall ice golem landed at her side, a crackling slim fire golem on her other side, and a rumbling pile of twisting stones at her back.

“The Queen’s Guard.” Jenny whispered, a trace of shock in her voice. “They haven’t been seen since she contracted Leo.”

Karen’s lips twitched up at the corner in the first trace of amusement she had shown since the fight began, hiding the burn that was spreading out from her chest.

“I am Karen Lilica, the Ace of Blue Pegasus.” She flicked her whip and the golems rumbled as they stepped forward, flaring their respective elements. “Give me the snake and the rest of you may go.”

Dante narrowed his eyes, but in the next moment his own lips curled up as a resounding scoff echoed from each of his friends.

Laxus’s mana sparked dangerously.

Bacchus’s hands glowed harshly.

Jenny’s body whirled wildly.

Dante looked around and nodded as his grip tightened around the handle of his knife, raising it slowly and pointing the blade at the woman.

“Let’s jump this crazy bitch.”

Chapter End.

AN: Hope you enjoyed!

Lot's of moving pieces on the board.

Dante trying to kite the final boss.

Bacchus gaining his canonical title.

Laxus drowning while others die of thirst.

Jenny showing she is not into sketchy men.

And Karen reveals that her reputation rests on more than just her golden keys.

One quick note from me: We don't know too much about Karen from Canon, but it's clearly implied that Leo was draining her mana for days, if not weeks, before she took on the job that got her killed. So she must have had an immense mana pool, even if she lacked the dimensional affinity to have two zodiac spirits running at the same time. I like to believe that Lucy in comparison had a very high dimensional affinity, but a smaller mana pool and combat experience. That's just my take using my own story mechanics.