Once the Sky Reaches the Flames

Chapter 45: Power of the Mark

The Fairy Tail wizards dashed to the elevator and headed for the resort's ground floor.

"Those tentacles... we faced them on the way here, didn't we?" Juvia asked.

"No doubt about it." Erza nodded, folding her arms. "It must be the same kraken creature we fought."

"I thought our unison raid finished it off." Gray added. "It couldn't have survived such an attack."

"We may have dealt a serious blow, but it must not have been wounded enough to the point it couldn't regenerate." Erza guessed.

"Do you think it followed us here?" Wendy asked. "That's scary to think about..."

"It might have..." Erza placed her hands on her hips. "Otherwise, it wouldn't have any reason to come this far and target the resort."

The creature is more intelligent than I thought... Jellal stroked his chin.

"I can't wait to get my hands on this tentacle thing!" Natsu clenched his fists with excitement. "They sound really tough!"

"It's not going to be easy." Erza warned. "Even with the six of us here, it could still prove to be a tough battle."

"It may also have knowledge of each of our combat abilities from the previous encounter." Jellal added. "We should proceed with caution."

"That gets me all fired up!" Natsu slammed his fist and palm together. This sounds like an awesome challenge!

"We can learn from last time, too." Gray smirked. "We took them down once. We can do it a second time." And Natsu's our secret weapon here... they haven't seen him fight.

I hope everyone will be alright... Wendy thought. If Carla was here, would she gain a premonition of the battle to come? She was especially worried about Natsu. He's a capable fighter, but... I can't stop worrying.

TING!

The elevator reached its destination and slid open its door, allowing the wizards to step out. They all rushed out of the elevator, moving onto the beach where the invasion took place.

Erza's attention was drawn to Natsu. She noticed something different about him, but she couldn't pinpoint what it was. What is this odd feeling...? It was something out of the ordinary, but what was it?

"Natsu." She called out.

"Hmmm?" Natsu turned to her.

She scanned him from top to bottom. He looks the same... I can't get rid of this feeling. "... It's nothing." She quickly dropped it, as the situation at hand was far more important.

After reaching the beach, the wizards could see debris and destruction scattered around. Many civilians were running away, seeking shelter from the attack. Turrets were firing at the tentacles but were swiftly destroyed into bits and pieces.

"TAKE NO PRISONERS!"

Siren creatures emerged from the oceans and engaged with the wizard enforcers. Unfortunately, the wizard enforcers couldn't put up a good defense as they were quickly outnumbered. There were too many of the sirens to deal with.

"Those sirens look awfully familiar..." Gray mentioned, looking around. "They've gotta be the same ones we fought before."

"We need to put a stop to them quickly." Erza said, summoning her iron sword. "We can't let them bring more harm to the resort and the civilians!"

"I don't think they noticed us yet." Jellal scanned his surroundings. We could gain a preemptive strike...

"What's the plan?" Gray shifted into his casting stance. "Do we want to­–"