Of Aura and Ethernano (Fairy Tail/ Jaune Arc SI): Chapter 19

X780. Mt. Hakobe.

“There! I see him!”

“Fire!”

Various magical projectiles shot out from the mountain top. Nearly forty Mages who were either wielding Holder-type weapons, such as magic rifles, Lacrima staffs, or other such things, along with the few Caster-Types who shot magic projectiles, fired upon the distant figure that was ascending the mountain. The mark of a black swooping eagle on various parts of their bodies showed their affiliation.

Black Roc. The Dark Guild specialized in assassination missions and espionage.

Despite being relatively new, being only a year old, it was still a powerful Dark Guild that had earned its fame in the underworld thanks to its prowess and its Guild Master, who was a renowned molding mage who used Fire Make magic.

As the shots from the mages saturated the location where the lone figure was approaching, everything disappeared from the area thanks to the brutal power achieved through quantity instead of quality.

For a few seconds, all was silent as the only noise was that of the howling winds and the burning flames at the foot of the mountain.

With no moment detected, the guild members cheered.

“Wohoo! We did it!”

“Another dog of the council dead!”

“Boss! You've got to pay us extra for this achievement!”

As the members cheered, even the Guild Master could not help but grin.

And yet, all of their cheer evaporated like water in a desert as a single sound resounded across the area, silencing them.

The noise of a sword being drawn, and the steady clangs of armored footfalls.

Then, they saw it.

From within the flames, a figure walked out calmly.

His body and face were completely covered by white and gold armor, as a plain-looking arming sword was held in his right arm and a simple shield on his left.

Golden energy surrounded his form, similar to the flames that surrounded the figure, giving him an unearthly look.

Then, they saw a sight that made chills shoot through their spines as some of them recognized the figure.

The knight with Golden Aura took a stance with his sword raised, making the Golden Aura converge on the Sword, just like the various horror stories told about him in the underground.

“B-Boss! That’s-“

“I know! Retreate-“

Before the Guild Master could order the retreat, it happened.

The Knight swung the sword down in a simple strike. Yet, the result was anything but normal.

An arc of golden light erupted from the sword, cleaving through the ground and racing towards the Dark Mages with speeds that they could never hope to match.

The Guild Master tried to stop it by channeling his magic and creating a wall of Fire. And yet, in the face of the simple strike, it was no better than wet paper.

In an instant, a long and wide rift formed on the surface of the mountain, separating the Guild Master's flames into two, along with his arms, which the Guild Master had used to try and take on the strike. Even a few unfortunate Dark Mages were caught in the strike and died instantly as their bodies were cleanly split into two.

The Guild Master himself would have died then and there if not for his last-minute adjustment to his stance, barely avoiding the strike by shifting his body. Although he did end up losing both of his arms.

Then, the Knight ran.

One moment, he was still at the foot of the mountain. The next moment, he appeared in front of the Guild Master.

Eyes wide with terror, the man only managed to speak out two words that struck terror into the hearts of those who had still not figured out who was hunting them.

“D-Dragon Knight-“

As the words died, so did the guild master as the Knight separated his head from his body with another swift strike.

It was pandemonium that moment the Guild Master died, as the Dark Mages tried to flee for their lives or fight back.

Yet, once again, reality made fools of them.

A colossal figure appeared in the sky, crashing down on the Mages.

A majority of them were crushed into paste as the absurdly huge Wyvern that was the size of a large building landed on them. Its emerald scales were surrounded by an ethereal green aura similar to the Knight’s golden aura, while its baleful golden eyes glared down at the mages, daring them to move an inch.

With the appearance of the Wyvern, even those who were questioning the authenticity of the Knight’s identity kneeled on the floor in defeat, knowing that they had no chance against their enemy.

For what they faced was Jaune Arc. The S-Class wizard of Cait Shelter.

The man known as the Golden Knight by the various Legal Guilds, the Magic Council, and people, but called the Dragon Knight by the Dark Guilds and the rest of the Underworld.

For the legal guilds, the common people, and everyone else who lived in the light, he was a renowned figure known for his integrity and morality. Someone who is the very embodiment of what it means to be a Knight. A figure that even the top guilds respect to some extent.

However, for the Dark Guids, he is nightmare incarnate. A man so feared that the very mention of his title was enough to send most of the lower-ranking Dark Guilds running.

The Dragon Knight.

For the past two years, the Dark Guilds in the eastern parts of the Kingdom, those who fall under the territory of Cait Shelter, lived in constant fear.

Because they had long ago realized that the Golden Knight may be the embodiment of nobility and chivalry, but he was not above dirtying his hands.

The best examples would be the various Dark Guilds that disappeared every time a bounty was placed on them and sent to the Cait Shelter Guild.

Sometimes, he would leave the Mages alive, handing them over to the Magic Council. Other times, he would wipe them out to the last man.

The criteria for his judgment seem to be based on the severity of the crimes committed by the Dark Guild in question.

So it was no surprise that the members of Black Roc felt resigned to their fate.

As a guild specialized in assassination, sabotage, and various other severe crimes, it was clear that none of them were going to escape death this day.

For a split second, defiance flared within their hearts. If they were going to die anyway, why not go out trying to take the famed Dragon Knight with them?

Yet, the moment they laid eyes on the figure that was silently staring at them from behind his helm, as if staring at vermin, their hearts once again shook, and what little defiance flared within them faded instantly.

Some of them begged for their lives, others tried to make a run for it. Yet, they all faced the same result.

On that day, the top of Mr. Hakobe was dyed red with blood as corpses littered the top along with the destroyed building of Black Roc.

It would be later on, when the Magic Council’s forces arrive to clean out the area, that they would gather everything of value and bury the Dark Mages in an unmarked mass grave as befitting of monsters like them.

After all, what better fate for people who killed people for money and enslaved their fellow man?

As for Jaune Arc? His fame would once again resound across the kingdom as he escorted the various women and children who had suffered unspeakable torture at the hands of the Dark Guild for more than a year after they were kidnapped from their villages and towns, the very reason a bounty was placed on the Black Roc guild in the first place.

The virtuous Golden Knight, they called him. He who is the bane of all darkness and the one who protects the weak.

Similarly, his infamy in the underworld would also grow, as another Dark Guild’s demise would be attirbuted to the boogeyman that is the Dragon Knight, placing him in the same ranks as the rising stars who gained similar infamy in the underworld, such as Titania of Fairy Tail, the Thunder God Tribe, Jura of Lamia Scale, Ichiya of Blue Pegasus, and Bacchus of Quatro Cerberus, and even Demon Mirajane from his own guild.

No matter the rank, one thing was certain to the various Dark Guilds. If they wanted to live, they needed to stay as far away from the East as possible.

Because, unlike the other mages who exercised restraint and refrained from outright killing most of the time, the Dragon Knight had no qualms about massacring them down to the last man.

As for the Knight in question? He returned home. To the people he had come to call friends. His family.

May the gods help any who dared touch his family, for this Dragon Knight would hold no mercy for any who touched his reverse scale.