Fairy Tail: Master of Deceit

Aurelius stood amidst the dissipating energy of his attack, the air thick with the lingering heat and scorched earth. The Shades that had overwhelmed the battlefield moments ago were now reduced to nothing. The mages of Fairy Tail stood frozen, their faces a mixture of awe and disbelief.

None of them had ever seen him fight like this. Illusions and tactical precision were his calling cards, but this? This raw, devastating display of power was something else entirely.

"Did you see that?" someone whispered.

"That was… incredible."

"What was that magic? That wasn't an illusion!"

The murmurs grew louder, spreading through the group like wildfire. Aurelius's eyes flicked toward them, his expression unreadable but sharp enough to cut through their distraction.

"Focus," he said, his voice carrying over the battlefield like a command. The murmuring stopped instantly, replaced by uneasy silence.

His gaze landed on Lucy, who was clutching her Celestial Spirit keys tightly, her face pale but determined.

"Lucy," he called, his tone even but firm. "Can you summon Taurus?"

She flinched at being addressed directly but quickly shook her head, her voice tinged with frustration and guilt.

"I… I can't. I lost my keys when Phantom Lord kidnapped me."

Aurelius's expression didn't change, but there was a momentary pause before he nodded.

"Then summon Sagittarius," he said.

Lucy's eyes widened.

"But I haven't formed a contract with him yet! He might not even listen to me!"

Aurelius stared at her, his voice as steady as ever.

"That doesn't matter. You can't afford to hesitate. Summon him now."

Before Lucy could respond or protest further, he turned away, scanning the battlefield. The charred remnants of the Shades were beginning to stir, their forms flickering and regenerating as a dark energy seeped back into them.

"Why won't they stay down?" one of the mages yelled, panic creeping into their voice.

Aurelius's eyes narrowed as he pieced it together. He could feel it—the continuous flow of ethernano feeding into the Shades, regenerating them.

"They're should be bound to Jose," he muttered, his voice low but audible to those nearby.

"Jose's doing this?" another mage asked, disbelief in their tone.

"Yes," Aurelius replied curtly. "He's supplying them with his ethernano. As long as he's feeding them, they'll keep coming back."

The group tensed, their exhaustion from the relentless fight weighing on them. Aurelius turned back to them, his voice cutting through their hesitation.

"Handle the Shades. Don't let them overrun you."

"What about you?" one of the mages asked, worry evident in their tone.

"I'll deal with the source," Aurelius said, already turning toward the ocean.

"But—"

Before the protest could even form fully, Aurelius was moving, his long strides taking him away from the group. He stepped onto the ice path Gray had created earlier, the frozen trail cutting through the waves toward the Phantom Lord forces in the distance.

"Aurelius, wait!" someone called after him, but he didn't stop or even glance back.

His footsteps echoed against the frozen surface, the sound swallowed by the crash of waves and the howl of the wind. His cloak billowed behind him as he moved, his focus razor-sharp. Each step took him further away from the chaos of the battlefield and closer to the storm's eye—the source of the unrelenting Shades.

"They'll keep wasting their strength fighting those things if I don't stop this," he murmured to himself. "Jose's the anchor. Break the anchor, and the Shades fall with him."

He would finish this. At the source. Possibly all alone.

...

Aurelius slipped through the grand entrance of the Phantom Lord headquarters, his every step purposeful. The dim halls were cold and silent, the air thick with tension and the residual energy of dark magic. His mind was set on his target: Jose. He had to end the regenerating phantoms at their source.

As he rounded a corner, he paused, his senses flaring. The faint echo of footsteps reached him just before a voice broke the silence.

"Well, well. Looks like the rats are bolder than I thought."

Aurelius turned to see a towering man step out of the shadows. His fiery red hair framed a smirking face, and he carried a warhammer slung casually over his shoulder. The ornate, gold-trimmed armor he wore gleamed faintly, its pristine surface hinting at a man who enjoyed showing off as much as fighting.

"You're the Nyx guy, aren't you?" the man asked, his smirk widening. "You don't look like much."

Before Aurelius could reply, a second figure appeared behind him. A woman with sleek silver hair and sharp, piercing eyes, her form wrapped in dark leather armor that accentuated her lithe, deadly movements.

"Not much at all," she said, twirling a dagger between her fingers with practiced ease. Her voice was cold, mocking. "Yet here you are, barging into a guild like Phantom Lord's. Either you're stupid, or you've got a death wish."

Aurelius glanced between them, his expression calm and unreadable.

"Am I supposed to be impressed?"

The man's smirk faltered for a moment before he barked out a laugh.

"You've got guts, I'll give you that. The name's Valen Mordrek. The lady here is Selara Veyne. We're not Phantom Lord. We're mercenaries, hired for situations like this."

Selara's lips curled into a smirk. "Specifically, to deal with nuisances like you. Courtesy of Jude Heartfilia. I'm sure you know him."

Aurelius's eyes narrowed slightly at the mention of Lucy's father. He said nothing, but the faintest flicker of irritation passed across his face.

"Silent, huh?" Valen stepped closer, his warhammer hitting the ground with a deafening clang. "That's fine. It'll make crushing you even easier."

Selara moved to the side, blocking any chance of retreat.

"Don't worry," she said, her voice dripping with mock sweetness. "We'll make it quick."

Valen lunged, his warhammer swinging with bone-crushing force. Aurelius sidestepped easily, the weapon smashing into the stone floor and sending cracks spiderwebbing outward. Before Valen could recover, Selara was already attacking, her dagger aimed for Aurelius's throat.

He parried the blade with his sword, twisting gracefully to avoid a follow-up strike. The two mercenaries pressed him hard, their attacks relentless and coordinated.

But Aurelius was calm, his movements precise and calculated.

"If this is the best Jude Heartfilia could afford, I'm almost insulted," he said coolly.

Valen growled, his hammer sweeping in another devastating arc. Aurelius leaped back, letting the weapon crash into the wall. Dust and debris rained down, momentarily obscuring the battlefield.

"Keep him pinned!" Selara shouted, darting forward with lightning speed.

But as the dust cleared, they froze. There were now two Aureliuses standing side by side, identical in every way.

"Which one's the real one?" Valen demanded, his eyes darting between the two.

"Does it matter?" Selara retorted. "We'll kill them both!"

She lunged at one of the figures, her dagger slicing through empty air as the illusion shimmered and vanished.

"Too slow," Aurelius's voice echoed from behind her.

Valen turned, swinging his hammer, only to see another illusion of himself staring back at him.

"What the hell is this?!" he roared, swinging wildly at the fake Valen.

Selara, meanwhile, saw Valen's form shift and blur, transforming into what appeared to be Aurelius. She lashed out instinctively, her dagger aimed for his chest.

"Valen, stop getting in my way!" she snarled.

"Getting in your way? You're the one who's attacking me!" Valen bellowed, his hammer slamming into the ground near her feet.

The illusions twisted their perceptions. Valen swung his hammer in a blind rage, narrowly missing Selara, who retaliated with deadly precision. The two mercenaries turned on each other completely, their strikes growing more desperate and reckless.

"Selara, you traitorous snake!" Valen shouted as her dagger found its mark, slashing across his shoulder.

"You're the traitor!" she screamed back, her voice filled with venom.

The fight escalated until Valen's warhammer connected with Selara's abdomen, sending her crashing into the wall with a sickening thud. She slumped to the ground, unconscious.

"Selara!" Valen roared, but his moment of distraction cost him. Aurelius stepped forward, delivering a precise blow with the hilt of his sword to the back of Valen's neck. The mercenary crumpled to the ground, unconscious beside his partner.

Aurelius surveyed the scene, his expression unreadable.

"Pathetic," he muttered before stepping over their bodies and continuing deeper into the guild.

However, before he could take another step toward his true target, Phantom Lord mages appeared from the shadows, emerging from every corner of the room, surrounding him in a flash.

Without hesitation, the mages launched a coordinated barrage of long-range spells. Arrows of fire, bolts of lightning, sharp ice spears, and dark energy blasts rained down upon him from every direction. Aurelius, however, didn't flinch or break his focus for a moment. Time seemed to stop as his eyes scanned the battlefield.

With a sharp movement, he drew his sword again. He parried the incoming fire with a swift, slash, his silver blade glowing in the dim lighting. The fireball exploded into harmless sparks, fizzling away. In the same fluid motion, he twisted his body, spinning his sword and deflecting a series of ice spikes, sending them crashing into the walls instead of his flesh.

The Phantom Lord mages gaped in shock as Aurelius continued to parry their attacks with ease. He moved faster than they could follow, his sword flashing like lightning as he dismantled their offense one strike at a time. His footwork was perfect, dodging when necessary, but mainly, he let his sword do the work. Every incoming attack, whether fire, lightning, or magic energy, was blocked, countered, or deflected.

"You... you're unbelievable!" one of the mages shouted in disbelief as another blast of dark magic was effortlessly cut through by Aurelius.

Aurelius didn't reply. He was already in motion, his blade cutting through the air as he closed the distance between himself and the closest mage. He could have used his sense alteration, however, that would be overkill and he will be needing all the ethernano he can if he wants to face Jose Porla.

The Phantom Lord mages, still trying to figure out how to land a blow, found themselves disarmed and incapacitated within seconds. Their attacks, so threatening moments before, were now nothing more than an inconvenience to him. His sword moved like an extension of his will. Mages fell one after another, unable to stand against his relentless assault.

Soon enough, Aurelius stood amidst the wreckage of the Phantom Lord mages he had already taken down. Their bodies littered the ground, unconscious and defeated, but still, more of them remained—too many.

However, the Phantom Lord mages, while strong, were nothing compared to Aurelius. His blade moved with fluidity, slashing through fireballs, deflecting chains, and dodging magic beams without breaking a sweat. For each attack they threw at him, he had a counter, a perfect answer to their every move.

But despite his dominance, the Phantom Lord mages kept coming. Their numbers never seemed to dwindle. There were always more, always more spells to dodge, always more magic to parry. But Aurelius didn't mind the challenge—he welcomed it. But then, something unexpected happened.

The building began to tremble.

At first, it was subtle—a slight quiver in the floor beneath his feet, a soft rumble that made the air feel heavier. Aurelius' senses heightened. His eyes narrowed, watching his enemies carefully, analyzing the shift in the environment. The mages around him, however, seemed to take the shaking as a sign of something greater. They grinned as if the earthquake had given them renewed strength.

"Did you feel that?!" one mage yelled, his voice rising over the sound of the building's groaning. "The victory is ours! Fairy Tail's end is upon us!"

The tremors escalated quickly. What had started as a mild vibration now became violent shakes, throwing debris from the ceiling and causing the walls to crack. The very foundation of the Phantom Lord guild shook as if something enormous was moving within its walls. The floor splintered beneath Aurelius' feet, forcing him to keep his balance as the entire building shifted and cracked around him.

For a moment, Aurelius' concentration faltered. The shaking, unpredictable and unrelenting, made it harder to fight. He was used to a stable battlefield, but now, every step he took had to account for the sudden jolts of the floor beneath him, the walls that threatened to crumble. But even so, he didn't let the shaking throw him off course. His focus remained razor-sharp. His sword, which had been his lifeline throughout the battle, never faltered in its grace.

He parried a fireball aimed at his chest, his blade flashing through the air with precision. The mage who cast it didn't even have time to blink before Aurelius had already dashed forward, his sword cutting across the mage's chest in a single, fluid motion. Another down.

But as Aurelius made his way through the remaining mages, the tremors intensified again. This time, the shaking wasn't just in the floor—it was in the walls, the ceiling, the very air around him. It felt as if the entire building were on the verge of collapse, groaning under the strain of whatever was causing the earthquake-like rumblings.

The Phantom Lord mages, now emboldened by the chaos, began to throw everything they had at him. Water arced toward him, and green acids filled the air. Aurelius ducked beneath a barrage of magic bullets, using his sword to deflect the projectiles. But the building's unpredictable shaking made it difficult to dodge with the same fluidity he was accustomed to. The floor beneath him split open as a section of the ceiling crashed down, just barely missing him.

Aurelius grunted as he twisted his body to avoid a massive pillar of stone that fell from above. His foot slipped slightly, the ground beneath him cracking, but he regained his footing just in time to parry another energy blast. His blade hummed as it cut through the air, slashing through magic and steel alike, never slowing. He was calm, focused, as if the shaking of the building didn't affect him at all.

But the tremors were relentless.

Every time Aurelius moved, the building shook violently beneath him. His steps were less sure, his balance tested with every shift of the ground. Even as he cut down one mage after another, the building's structure began to fail. The walls cracked wider, chunks of stone falling down from above. A massive section of the ceiling crumbled, sending debris tumbling toward Aurelius. He rolled to the side, narrowly avoiding the falling rocks, his blade cutting through a falling beam to redirect it from landing on him.

Yet, even as the chaos mounted, Aurelius showed no signs of slowing down. He moved like a storm through the remaining mages. His sword became a blur as he parried their strikes and countered with ruthless precision. Each slash, each strike, took another enemy down. No magic could touch him for long, no weapon could even come close to landing a hit. The mages tried to surround him, but Aurelius was always one step ahead, always moving, always cutting through their defenses.

With every mage that fell, the shaking intensified, but still, Aurelius moved as though the earth itself were not shaking beneath him. He was a force of nature, unstoppable and relentless. A fireball was aimed at his face, but with a flick of his wrist, his sword shimmered and the flame was slashed away, dissipating into nothing but harmless embers.

Another mage tried to rush him with a barrage of sharp ice spears, but Aurelius was already in motion. He side-stepped, his sword coming up to deflect the icy assault, cutting through the spears one by one with surgical precision. He reached the mage, slamming his shoulder into their chest to knock them back before following up with a quick slash that left them unconscious on the ground.

The ground beneath him cracked again, sending more dust into the air, and yet Aurelius didn't break his stride. He didn't hesitate. He moved with the fluidity of someone who had trained for years to fight in the most chaotic of environments. The Phantom Lord mages were getting desperate now, their attacks growing more frantic, but Aurelius was in complete control.

Finally, after what felt like an eternity, the last of the mages crumpled to the ground, defeated and unconscious. The building continued to shake, but now, there were no more obstacles in Aurelius' path.

He stood among the wreckage of the Phantom Lord's mages, breathing steady despite the intensity of the battle. His sword glowed faintly in the dim light, its edge still sharp, its grip steady.

With a single step, he continued deeper into the Phantom Lord guildhall. His footsteps echoed against the walls as he moved forward, his eyes scanning for any more opposition. His sword was still crackling with residual energy, the electric hum that emanated from it barely audible in the stillness.

Aurelius' mind remained sharp, even as he surveyed the wreckage left in his wake. There were no more mages standing in his way. Only the inevitable confrontation that awaited him at the heart of the guild. The weight of it hung in the air, but Aurelius didn't flinch. He had come this far, and nothing would stop him now.

Eventually, he reached the heart of the guildhall. The hall opened up before him, a grand, opulent space, but it was drenched in the smell of fire, smoke, and the remnants of destroyed magic. His eyes locked onto two figures standing at the far end.

As he rounded a corner, his eyes caught the chaotic scene before him—Natsu and Aria, leader of the Elemental Four, locked in an intense battle. Natsu's fiery magic collided with Aria's elemental prowess in a dazzling display of power. Aria stood calmly, his movements smooth and graceful, as though he were conducting a symphony rather than fighting.

But neither of them had noticed Aurelius approach. The air around them was charged, the two mages so absorbed in their fight that they didn't sense his presence until it was too late.

Natsu, panting from his previous attacks, paused for a split second as he glanced over to his side, his eyes widening at the sight of Aurelius. "Wait... you're here too?" he asked, surprised, his voice a mix of confusion and relief.

Aria, on the other hand, seemed to delight in Aurelius' arrival. His lips curled into a twisted grin, and for a brief moment, there was a flicker of amusement in his otherwise sorrowful gaze. "Ah..." he sighed dramatically, his voice like velvet. "It seems fate has truly given me a sorrowful opportunity. I have the chance to face not only the Salamander but also the master of deceit himself. Truly sorrowful..."

Aurelius remained silent, his eyes narrowing as he observed the situation. There was a tension between the two mages, but Aria's words were not lost on him. He knew this would not be an easy confrontation.

Aria, then reached up and untied the blindfold that had covered his eyes. As it fell away, his sorrowful gaze met Aurelius' head-on. "How truly sorrowful," Aria continued, his tone soft yet laced with a dangerous edge. "That both of you will meet your end here. It will be the most tragic of fates, I assure you."

Aurelius didn't flinch. His hand rested on the hilt of his sword, but he didn't draw it yet. The situation was delicate, but he would not be intimidated.

As Aria took a step forward, Natsu shouted, "Hey! This is my fight!" His fiery aura flared up, and he clenched his fists. But despite his bravado, it was clear he was growing weary from the battle.

Before Aria could respond, Aurelius' gaze sharpened. He stepped forward, his eyes fixed on Aria. The tension in the room was palpable. Natsu glanced between the two, his earlier confidence faltering as he realized the gravity of the situation.

Aria, still wearing that dark, amused smile, raised a hand as if beckoning Aurelius to begin. "Let the sorrow unfold."

AN: I would like to thank everyone for their support. I would also want to ask you guys your current thoughts about the story, this will not be a wish fulfillment story, however, I do read all of you comments and thoughts about it. All of your reviews, support, and comments are appreciated and feel free to drop suggestions, your thoughts and some things you want to see in this story. Do note though that I can't guarantee that your suggestions will make it in the final plot.

Bonus Chapter: 

81 more Power stones for a bonus chapter(It reset because it is now a new week)

Chapter Titles:

31: Confronting the Source

32: A New Player

33: Unseen Power