They moved for a while and finally stumbled on something moving.
'So, it was a human after all.' Kazu's expression fell when he saw a boy lying on the ground.
The boy's body lay half-swallowed by the sand.
From the waist up, there was a face. From the waist down, nothing but a streak of ash that ended in the air.
The wind moved his hair like he was still breathing.
Mira froze mid-step. In her mind, the boy's figure overlapped with another familiar figure. Her voice left her before thought did. "Elf—"
A hand gripped her shoulder. Another pulled Cana's arm back.
Kazu didn't even look at them. His gaze stayed fixed on the horizon.
"Don't move," he said quietly.
The tone wasn't loud or harsh. Just absolute. Enough that both girls stopped before realising they'd obeyed.
Above them, the air rippled. A sound—too low to be thunder, too high to be wind—vibrated through the bones.
Mira followed his stare upward and saw her.
Halphas.
The demon's shape was wrong. Limbs too long. Wings stretched like torn veils, half-solid, half-ether. The faint purple glow at her core pulsed like a dying star, each beat eating the sky a little more.
Despite its inhumane features, it was still an overall humanoid. A female humanoid figure.
Mira's throat dried. "That's—"
"Target confirmed," Kazu muttered. "Its ethernano capacity is higher than my expectations."
His eyes moved like a scanner. Every flicker measured, every breath timed.
The sand around his feet trembled—thin blue light tracing geometric lines outward.
Cana swallowed, half-whispering, "She's charging something, right?"
Kazu's reply came flat. "Yes. Big."
He didn't finish the sentence, because above, Halphas' chest opened like an iris. A purple sphere condensed in the hollow—before being thrust towards the ground.
Mira's instincts screamed. She lurched forward again.
"She's—she's still a person, isn't she? We can—"
"No time." Kazu yanked both of them close, one under each arm, and moved.
The world blurred.
For an instant, time stretched.
Mira's eyes stayed locked on the shore they were leaving behind. The boy's body—half buried, half gone—was lifting from the sand.
The shockwave hadn't reached yet, but the air was already peeling him apart, grain by grain. Skin turned to dust. Hair scattered like ash caught in sunlight.
No scream. No sound. Just a slow unravelling, until there was nothing.
Then light swallowed everything.
They landed dozens of kilometres away, on a barrier above water. The shockwave hit an instant later—air that felt heavy, heat that carried weight. When the light faded, where the island had been, there was only water and steam.
No coast. No trees.
Nobody.
Just a hollow cavity in the sea, which, in the next second, was rapidly being filled by the rest of the sea water.
Mira clenched her fist so tightly that veins were visible. Her heartbeat drowned out everything else.
She'd thought she knew what "destruction" meant.
Fairy Tail had plenty of strong people. She'd seen towns levelled in fights, craters carved by Erza's sword, even Kazu's fists creating earthquakes.
But this was different.
It was pure destruction. It was darkness magic, the same one she used. Yet, why was it so different? Why was it so terrifying?
For a second, she thought of her brother. His grin. His voice was calling her name.
Then the image of that boy's half-gone face overlaid it—like her mind couldn't tell them apart anymore.
'We came to help people. But there's no one left to help.'
A thin laugh left her, broken mid-breath. "I… thought I'd get used to seeing things like this."
Kazu said nothing. He crouched beside her, and a transparent platform lay beneath them, held in the air.
Cana broke the silence first. "So… that's the thing you are supposed to stall until help arrives?"
Kazu's reply came dry. "We, not just me."
The sky dimmed again.
Halphas had moved—her shadow spread over the clouds, wings arching backwards, gathering another orb.
'So, this is the potential of Darkness magic. Truly fitting to be called one of the most destructive magics.'
Kazu's head tilted slightly. "She's preparing a second one. Shorter charge time. She's adapting."
He straightened, eyes narrowing. "Mira."
She blinked, trying to find focus. "Y-yeah?"
"What's the condition for your takeover?"
"Huh?"
"On demons," he said. "You said you could use Satan Soul if the soul's magic pattern isn't completely corrupted or something. What do you need?"
Mira tried to remember the words she'd said to Lisanna years ago. "I… need contact. And a clear reading of their ethernano pattern. If it's stable and compatible, I can sync—if not, I would have to defeat the consciousness forcibly."
"Very well," Kazu said flatly. "We will first tire her out, then you go with your takeover."
Above them, the glow turned blinding.
Cana grimaced. "We're running again, right?" If not for the barriers protecting her, she would already be dead due to the shockwaves.
"No." Kazu's tone stayed calm.
He exhaled once, the air around him turning faintly blue. "Hold on."
Cana blinked. "Wait, wh—" He moved before she could complete.
The wind cracked behind him—the earlier barrier fracturing from pressure as he kicked off.
The magic circle in front of Halphas shone brightly, almost forming a sphere of destruction.
Kazu appeared right beneath the demon, still holding both girls by the waist like luggage.
Cana yelled, "Why are we rushing at her instead of running away?"
"Just watch."
The air around them buzzed, translucent shapes blooming and collapsing in quick succession. Every pulse of purple light from Halphas met its opposite—blue flares that cancelled it out.
The spell in front of Halphas collapsed into nothing.
The demon blinked before forming another magic circle instantly.
Blink.
Just as it formed, it was gone.
Kazu's eyes flicked between patterns, calculating faster than breath. Each flicker of his hand rewrote the air, dismantling spell matrices mid-formation.
'It was worth it to help Mira with darkness magic. Halphas is pretty strong, but what's the use of such power when she can not use it?' Kazu smiled. Destructive Interference proved its worth again and again.
'If not for the range limitation, I would be unparalleled beneath the heaven. ' Kazu snorted at his own joke.
Halphas shrieked—no sound, just a vibration that made the world distort. The purple core at her chest flared brighter, chaotic ethernano flooding outward.
He released the two girls like sacks.
Mira instinctively flared her arms before transforming herself into Satan Soul, which could fly.
Cana just groaned. "Could've warned us before turning us into meteorites." A card transformed into a barrier beneath her foot, giving her a footing.
"Noted."
He looked up again.
Halphas was twitching. She appeared confused, like an angry beast, but she didn't give up. She tried a different spell.
"You guys, I will prevent her from attacking. I will leave the attack to both of you."
Cana blinked. "You serious? Against that thing?"
Kazu finally looked at her, eyes steady. "You have the range. Mira has her transformation. Use that."
A pause.
Then, reluctantly, Cana drew her cards, flicking one forward.
"Fine. But if we die, I'm haunting you."
"Unlikely," Kazu said. "Your luck's annoying."
A soft smile appeared on Cana's face. "Indeed, it is."
The next exchange was chaos, but contained.
Kazu's interference layered the air in translucent nets. Every attempt by the demon was squashed.
Each time Halphas tried to move away, Kazu followed her like a ghost.
Cana's cards burst around her like golden comets, chaining spells of different types along the demon's flank. Mira dove through smoke, partial Satan Soul spreading across her arm—claws of black energy striking like a hammer.
The first hit broke through, splattering black fluid that hissed as it touched the sea.
Kazu called out, "Don't touch her blood. It's poisonous."
His barriers shimmered tighter, compressing around Halphas' form, forcing her toward the sea.
Mira darted forward again, her fist slamming into the demon's chest. The impact scattered purple fragments—each fragment dissolving into ash midair.
But the motion cost her balance. One wing of Halphas whipped sideways, smashing through the air like a blade.
Kazu's hand flicked. The barrier shimmered up just in time, the strike glancing off and fracturing the rock beneath.
He frowned slightly. "Her Ethernano is still increasing. Is this not her final form?"
Cana exhaled. "Wait...What does this mean?"
"Meaning we have minutes before breaks my barrier that's keeping her in one place."
"That's comforting."
Mira turned toward Kazu. "If I could reach her—if I could touch that magic—"
"Not yet," he said. "She's still volatile."
Mira didn't argue. But she didn't look away either.
Minutes passed. The two of them continued their attacks. Even Kazu had joined in attacks at some point.
"We are getting nowhere. Despite the continuous attacks, she doesn't seem seriously injured." Cana frowned. She had already burned through half of her reserves.
"Reinforcements should arrive soon."
Cana gave a weak laugh. "Good. Because if she's firing that sphere again, I'm retiring."
"You're thirteen," he said.
"Early retirement."
Mira didn't join in. She just stared at the fragments of what used to be an island—the water still bubbling, air faintly glowing purple.
In her head, the image of the boy's half-body wouldn't leave.
Nor the feeling that maybe, if they'd arrived earlier, the island might still exist.
She whispered, almost to herself, "They always make it sound heroic, you know? Being a mage. Helping people."
Kazu glanced at her. She kept her eyes down. "But sometimes… helping just means being alive long enough to tell the story."
He didn't respond immediately. His gaze drifted to the horizon where Halphas floated—silent, trapped, but watching them.
His tone was calm when he finally spoke. "Then make sure you're alive to tell it."
'Telling a story...Huh.' Kazu didn't know what to think about that.
The sea wind blew through the silence that followed.
Far above, the demon twitched again, her chest flickering faintly purple.
CRACK
Halphas broke Kazu's strongest barrier, freeing herself.
A chill crawled up Mira's spine as she looked Mira right in the eye.
***
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