*Magnolia Station, Fiore; October 22, 2019; 5:28 PM*

The group stared in horror at what had transpired before them. Lilith had destroyed their one shot at containing it and ending the battle.

And it seemed there was nobody strong enough to finish Lilith the old fashioned way.

Lilith panted, gasping for air, seemingly traumatized at it's near containment.

"H-H-Heh.. Y-You foolish mortals.. After you've realized there is no hope, you still try to contain me.." Lilith growled.

Alex glared at Lilith, anger beginning to override his sense of terror.

"Don't think this is the end, you narcissistic omnicidal maniac." Alex scowled.

"Alex, don't..!" Yang implored.

"Y'know what? F**k the Grimm, f**k the Apothicons, f**k that useless, golden kinder-surprise.." Alex cursed, transforming to his Evolved Warrior form.

"And F**K YOU!"

"Is he out of his mind?!" Ultimus demanded.

"More importantly, did he just call ze Summoning Key a kinder surprise?" Richtofen asked.

"Let's be honest. He isn't that far off." Vanoss shrugged.

"DON'T START THIS WITH ME, OWL!" Richtofen retorted.

"Do you dare defy me, Alexander? Or has the fear finally driven you as insane as everyone knows you are?" Lilith scoffed.

"That remains to be seen. And don't think for a second that you can threaten my friends, or my family, literal or otherwise." Alex retorted, casting a glance towards Fairy Tail.

All of Fairy Tail cheered in response, and were roused back into the battle.

Kat transformed, and cast a glare at Lilith.

"Hm.. You're a fool, Alexander, but at least you are not a coward."

The two rushed towards the dark god, trading attacks and avoiding Lilith's.

Alex ducked under Kat so she could hack away at Lilith's shields.

As soon as Lilith went to counter Kat's attacks, Alex swept his leg and tripped Lilith, propping himself up and kicking it away.

Lilith shouted in anger, charging towards Alex again.

Only for a silvery-white blur to cut Lilith across the cheek.

"WHO DARES?!" Lilith demanded as the blur returned, slashing Lilith with an 'x' shape and shooting it back.

Ruby glared at Lilith, carrying her upgraded scythe.

"You're pretty smart, Lily. But I found a nice little way to counter you. I can already move really fast, but a really nice guy handed out Perks, so now I can move faster." Ruby grinned.

Kat leaped over Ruby, kicking Lilith in the face, hitting it with her light-tail before scratching Lilith across the side.

Alex slid under Lilith's legs, striking upwards in a wide arc.

Natsu, taking any opportunity, blew himself past Ruby and Kat, and was barreling towards Lilith.

"CRIMSON LOTUS!!! FIRE DRAGON'S FIST!!!!"

Natsu punched Lilith in the face with the force of a dozen cannons, blowing it backwards into what remained of the town.

"YANG! BLOW IT APART!!" Alex shouted.

Yang quickly went Enlightened, and started blasting her Celestial Detonators in Lilith's general direction.

Lilith leaped out towards Yang, blasting her with dark energy.

Auburn herself went Enlightened, countering Lilith's attack and blasting it with a deep guitar riff.

Oreonna ducked behind Lilith while Auburn had it distracted and simply smacked Lilith on the back of it's head.

"WOULD YOU ALL KNOCK IT OFF?!" Lilith demanded angrily.

Suddenly, Lilith was assaulted by a barrage of swords.

"ICE-MAKE UNLIMITED: ONE-SIDED CHAOTIC DANCE!!!"

An innumerable amount of ice-swords were flung at Lilith in a circular motion, having an equal effect as Erza's attack.

Rainbow sped around in a Circle, careening towards Lilith and clocking it in the face.

"Open fire!" Dempsey shouted as every remaining soldier with a gun unloaded everything they had at the monster before they reloaded, giving Applejack and Applebloom a spare moment to buck Lilith to the skies before Scootaloo head-butted Lilith back down.

"Guys... I have a plan.." Vanoss whispered, pulling out an AK-47 like machine gun.

"We're using that shit here?" Terroriser asked, pulling it out himself.

"'Bout time we started using Gmod shit." Delirious figured.

"We should do, like, a firing squad sort of thing." Lui suggested.

"Let's f**k shit up!" Moo added.

Ultimus, Protá, and Alex all charged at Lilith, punching and shocking Lilith all at once.

"Now!" Vanoss shouted.

The remaining 5 members of the Vanossgaming crew looked up and started shooting. Instead of acting like a typical assault rifle, what appeared to be either shotgun projectiles or flechette exploded out at an extremely high rate of fire, breaking through Lilith's shields entirely.

Alex then back-handed Lilith to the ground, glaring down at the fused monstrosity.

"It seems we've reached the end. Surrender, and maybe I'll think about sparing you." Alex scowled.

"DEFIANT LITTLE INSECT!!" Lilith shouted.

"Shock Breaker." Alex deadpanned, raising his hand and releasing a bolt of lightning that blew Lilith back to the ground.

Or it should've, if Lilith hadn't teleported.

Instead, Lilith teleported behind Alex, grabbing him by the neck and crushing his throat, causing him to power down instantly.

Alex struggled to escape, but was instead handed to a tendril and batted against the ground in a rather humiliating fashion.

"Alexander. " Lilith grinned.

"Oh, crap." Alex barely choked out.

Lilith punched Alex in the kidney with the force of a train, causing him to cough blood.

Lilith hit Alex again in the spleen, turning him around and placing a hand in the center of his rib cage.

The next blast of energy assured that Alex probably wouldn't be fighting again for a while.

"YOU'RE GONNA REGRET THAT!!" Yang roared, aiming for Lilith's heart.

Lilith dodged Yang's punch, using a tendril to hack Yang's robotic arm off before slashing it back across her side and finishing her off with a kick to her neck.

Natsu leaped behind Lilith, only to be grabbed by two of her tendrils and slammed into the ground at full force.

Ruby shot Lilith twice before moving in for the kill. Lilith ducked past Ruby's blade, and slashed her across the back, tearing off a large section of her cloak before grabbing her by the leg and flinging her into one of the few remaining buildings.

Auburn and Oreonna leaped into the fray together, before Lilith grabbed them both, slammed them into each other, and flung them below.

Cade fell back in an attempt to strategize while Rainbow, Applejack, and Rarity attacked.

'Odd.. It's as though Lilith's shed that sense of superiority, and is just trying to disable them.. They keep attacking head-on, and they're definitely getting pummeled for it.. I'm gonna have to think this through..' Cade figured.

Makarov ran next to Cade, pulling on his sleeve.

The two ran towards the rest of Fairy Tail, greeting them all with a sense of urgency.

"Listen, children! I need everyone to distract that monster! Cana, Cade, I need you two to stay here while the rest of the guild gets a move on!" Makarov ordered as the rest of the Guild charged out to attack.

"Hic... Whaddya need..?" Cana asked.

"Listen, you two! I'm going to use Fairy Law against that monster. First Master will guide you two on how to use Fairy Glitter." Makarov explained.

"What?!" Cade asked, surprised by Makarov's order.

"Here's the deal. In case Lilith catches on to First Master's plan, she'll go for one of you, but the other can cast it!" Makarov ordered.

"Y-You sure that'll *hic!* work..?" Cana asked, obviously drunk.

"We have to try.. Good luck, children." Makarov sighed, running out while Mavis snuck inside.

Alex rolled over, coughing blood, by the time Wendy caught up to him.

Wendy ducked down next to him and Yang, placed her hands almost directly over them, and a blue light rose from the two.

Alex and Yang quickly perked up, coughing blood as Wendy's healing spell ceased.

"That was the best I could do for now.. We need help!" Wendy explained.

"Thanks, Wendy! Get back to your friends!" Alex waved.

"Alex... I don't think we can hit Lilith dead-on.." Yang decided.

"You think? Listen, I have an idea, but it's gonna take everything we've got. You know how to use the Overcharge technique?" Alex asked.

"Yeah.. Why?" Yang asked.

"We take turns. One distracts Lilith, the other tries to land a hit. Sound good?" Alex asked.

"It could, but those tentacles.. Lilith'd pummel us before we get he chance!" Yang exclaimed.

Alex looked out towards the Guild, watching as they attacked Lilith with everything they had.

"It seems like it's distracted enough.. Full power." Alex urged, transforming all the way to his Enlightened Berserker.

"Hold on, Alex! I need you to do me a favor." Yang asked.

"If it helps. What's your favor?" Alex wondered.

"Hit me as hard as you can." Yang demanded.

"Hit you? Why would I..- Oh." Alex sighed, remembering Yang's Semblance.

"Right. Just do it!" Yang grinned.

Alex pulled his fist back all the way, charging at Yang and practically falcon-punching her in the gut.

Yang was blown out the wall and back about 80 feet, but she was all charged up.

That being said, Yang quickly went to her Inflamed Warrior, charging up more energy and eventually exploding in yellow light.

"ALRIGHT! WHO WANTS A CLASSIC 'XIAO LONG' ASSKICKING?!" Yang roared, leaping towards Lilith.

"YANG! WATCH YOUR LEFT!" Alex warned.

Yang saw Lilith's back tendrils, dodging them and hitting Lilith at the base of it's spine, breaking her shield.

"Yang's broken Lilith's defenses!" Erza shouted.

Gajeel grinned, summoning his Iron Dragon sword and charging at Lilith.

Alex eventually caught up, hacking away at Lilith alongside Gajeel until the moment Lilith's shields went up.

INGRATES!!!" Lilith roared, summoning a large glyph over her head.

"Oh, no." Gray gasped.

Lilith's glyph grew larger, and began glowing dark purple.

"THIS IS MY ULTIMATE ATTACK! THE DARK CRYSTAL ERASER CANNON! GO AHEAD, LITTLE INSECTS, PRAY TO YOUR GOD THAT YOU SURVIVE!!!" Lilith laughed, firing the dangerous spell.

From the glyph, a black and purple beam of energy spewed onto the land below, making a trail of fire and ash as the beam dragged along.

"Oh, shit." Alex gasped, teleporting to the unconscious Natsu, Auburn, Oreonna, and Ruby.

Yang flew next to him and the two quickly carried their friends to safety.

Large amounts of Ryders and Ocelots died instantly, and the beam quickly redirected towards the Origins and Vanoss crews.

"MOVE!!" Nikolai shouted as the nine ran away from the beam.

Vanoss and Delirious quickly started shooting Lilith with their Admin guns, trying to make it stop the death beam.

That is, until Ultimus eventually kicked Lilith in the back of the head when it wasn't looking.

The beam stopped immediately, as Ultimus glared at his enemy.

"I strongly suggest you end this, Lilith." Ultimus scowled.

Lilith merely grinned, instantly skewering Ultimus several times with her tentacles.

"It does pain me to do this, Ultimus. Truly, it does. But the fact is: you chose the wrong side at the worst possible time." Lilith grinned.

Ultimus coughed up blood, and it quickly became apparent that he was going to die.

"H-H-Heh... I t-thought so... It will truly p-pain to do th-this...." Ultimus gagged as a trickle of blood trailed out of his mouth.

"Oh, Ultimus, you're the one who's been skewered. How will that affect me?" Lilith grinned confidently.

"H-How sh-should I know..? M-Makarov put m-me up to th-this.." Ultimus smirked.

"What?!" Lilith gasped, dropping Ultimus and darting it's piercing, red eyes around until she spotted a shining, yellow light.

"MAKAROV!!!" Lilith roared, firing a dark purple beam of energy at the light, unknowingly blowing a hole through a young, brunette-haired Fairy Tail Mage.

"Cana!!" Cade gasped, running to Cana's side, trying to plug her wound.

"C-Cade... T-Tell G-Gildarts... M-my dad.... That I'm sorry..." Cana gasped, taking her last breath.

Cade was stunned. The daughter of one of the strongest members of Fairy Tail, not to mention one of his closer friends, had been ruthlessly killed right in front of him.

"LILITH!!!" Makarov roared in anger, as a shining light formed in his hands.

"That's Makarov?! No matter! I'll kill him too..!!" Lilith raised her finger towards Makarov's direction.

Suddenly, Auburn leaped behind Lilith, pinning her down with her Abadeer's Flame Mk. 2, and glaring at her.

"Don't think you can antagonize, frighten, or slaughter my friends and family anymore." Auburn growled.

HOW DARE YOU!! UNHAND ME THIS INSTANT!!" Lilith shouted.

A shining yellow light rose from from Makarov's hands as he clasped them together, washing the landscape in a golden glow.

Once the glow reached near Auburn, knowing she would be completely unharmed, escaped. And Lilith was left to suffer.

The screams of pain that rose from Lilith were nightmarish as the bonds between the three dark entities started to dissipate.

Taking that as his signal, Cade transformed, all the way to his Evolved Warrior form.

Cade turned his arm over, examining the red symbol that unexpectedly adorned his arm, and rose his fist skyward, gathering as much of his energy as possible.

"OVERCHARGE TIMES THREE!!!" Cade roared, summoning as much power as he could.

Alex and Yang turned and gasped at what they saw.

"That's Cade?!" Alex gasped.

Oreonna woke up, pulling herself to a sitting position and watched Cade summon his spell.

"D-Do it, Cade..!" She cheered, her voice barely above a whisper.

"GATHER! O RIVER OF LIGHT THAT'S GUIDED BY THE FAIRIES!!!"

A large ring of light gathered and shone in the sky. All the surviving warriors watched as large bolts of lightning were added, causing the spell to quickly spark with electric power.

"Woah..! I haven't seen.. anything like this.!!" Yang gasped.

Cade lowered his fist, aiming it at Lilith.

"No you don't!" Gray shouted, freezing Lilith's hand in a block of ice.

"Quick! We need to keep Lilith right there!" Lui urged, causing the Vanoss and Origins crews to raise their wonder weapons and spam them at Lilith.

"DON'T EVEN THINK ABOUT IT!!" Rainbow Dash shouted, as the new nightmare forces grabbed Lilith's right hand and trapped it at Lilith's side.

"HOW DARE YOU!! LET ME GO!!" Lilith roared, trying to force it's way out of everyone's grasp.

"SHINE! IN ORDER TO PERISH THE FANGS OF EVIL!!" Cade yelled. His hand releasing bolts of lightning simultaneously, adding power to the already immensely strong spell.

"STAY RIGHT WHERE YOU ARE, LILITH!!" Auburn shouted, playing several chords in an effort to keep Lilith pinned.

"RYDERS! ATTACK!"

"OCELOTS, ADVANCE!!"

The eight remaining Ryders and Ocelots opened fire, further keeping Lilith in place.

'Father.. Mother.. Neo...Flurry.. All of my friends..All of my family... This is for you.' Cade solemnly thought, before unleashing the spell.

*For dramatic effect, politely skip to 0:53. You'll thank me later. *

https://youtube.com/watch?v=4Wx1z2mPHzo

"FAIRY GOD GLITTER!!!"

The ring descended in a matter of seconds, quickly wrapping around Lilith, causing the demon to scream wildly in pain as the spell constricted, burned, and electrocuted it.

"He did it!" Delirious cheered.

"F**k yeah!!" Terroriser yelled.

"That's how you do it!!" All of Fairy Tail cheered.

"GYAAAAAAAHH!!! HOW CAN THIS BE?!!!!!!" Lilith screamed in agony.

The ring exploded in a brilliant glow of light and an electric shockwave, revealing that the creature was still there, albeit greviously wounded.

"EVERYONE! BLOW LILITH INTO THE SUN!! IT'S OUR LAST CHANCE!!!" Dr. Monty shouted.

"YOU HEARD THE MAN! KAT! NATSU! DASH! YANG! LET'S END THIS!!" Alex shouted as all 5 rushed towards the demon, punching it into the sky one after the other.

Kat swept past Lilith, launching it further with her Light Tail.

"CRIMSON LOTUS!!! FIRE DRAGON'S FIST!!" Natsu roared, launching Lilith further still with a fiery explosion.

Rainbow Dash blew through Lilith with a Sonic Rainboom-fueled punch.

Yang quickly hit Lilith in the stomach, using her Celestial Detonator to blow Lilith further still.

"THE NIGHTMARE IS OVER, LILITH!!! GOD SHOCKER!!!!"

The beam from Alex's attack launched Lilith into the blue Apothicon sun, filling Lilith's last moments with agonizing pain.

"DAMN YOU, WALKEEEERRRR!!!!!!!!" Lilith screamed as the Blue Apothicon sun imploded, immediately disappearing and returning the sky to normal..

Alex, panting heavily, powered down.

"Is it over..?" Alex asked.

"Yeah... Think so.." Natsu nodded.

"W-We did it.." Lucy smiled.

"T-Thank goodness..." Yang grinned, trembling.

Multiple transports and medical helicopters arrived on the scene, investigating the surrounding area.

Walking out one of the vehicles was Yang's father, Taiyang, who rushed towards his children.

"Are you girls okay?!" He asked worriedly.

"W-We're fine, dad.." Ruby smiled tiredly.

"Alex.. Alex did everything to make sure we were safe.." Yang added.

Taiyang looked upwards, towards Master Makarov.

"Is this true?" He asked.

"Alex did defend both of them, but better still, he recognized that they could take care of themselves and stepped in when he had to." Makarov replied.

Taiyang nodded, and turned to face the medics.

"Take care of the wounded." Taiyang instructed.

The sun shined brightly over the coastline, illuminating the sky in a brilliant display. A sunset over the darkening sky.

To the survivors of the Shadow Wars, though, it was a symbol. A symbol of hope.

*Ruined Fairy Tail Guild Hall; October 23, 2019; 6:40 AM*

Dr. Monty looked towards the shining yellow sunrise, thinking through the events that occurred the day before.

"With the evil vanquished, I can start making my universe all nice again. No more undead, no Apothicons, no Grimm, no Salem or Shadowman. All gone, thanks to you and your friends." Dr. Monty said, turning to face Alex.

"I did everything I could, and I can tell everyone did too. Sadly, some of us didn't make it." Alex sighed.

"True, but their sacrifices, their actions, weren't for nothing. I'm absolutely sure that they're cheering you all on, somewhere." Dr. Monty replied.

"I suppose so." Alex figured.

"Speaking of which, how's your family doing?" Dr. Monty asked.

"They're all getting some well-deserved sleep. I'm just up this early by habit." Alex shrugged.

"Ah, well. 'Early to bed, early to rise', as they say." Dr. Monty replied.

"Heh. Right... While you're still here, I still have a number of questions." Alex stated.

Dr. Monty turned to face him.

"Sure, then! I haven't had too many people to make small talk with besides Maxis and the kids." Dr. Monty nodded.

"Thanks. So, I was wondering, y'know how Apothicons were corrupted Keepers, right?" Alex asked.

"Yes?"

"Well, I was given to believe that Keepers were a sort of multi-dimensional society before they split into the Inheritors and Chronicai. Is there some kinda correlation?" Alex asked.

Dr. Monty cleared his throat.

"Well, here's the interesting thing.. There is, actually! Ages and ages ago, a group of humans, ponies, and otherwise, looked to the original Keepers as a sort of guide. They were inspired by these extra-universal guardians, and sought to act like them.

"Problem is, mortals have differing opinions as to what 'guardians' do. One section thought it was preserving the timeline, and passing the mantle of 'Keeper' down the bloodline, a sort of 'Inheritance', hence their name.

"On the other side, another group decided that they wanted to protect the past and future from threats, and sought out highly trained, highly skilled mortals to defend it, basing the title of 'Keeper' on ability rather than whose DNA was mixed with who's. They ended up becoming the Chronicai.

"Cade, for example, is an odd mix of both. Both versions you encountered of the lad traveled back from the future to prevent calamity, whether that meant killing you or Cinder is up to the 'Cade' of the different timelines. And yet, he is the son of two of the most powerful warriors, Inheritors on both sides. You understand?" Dr. Monty explained.

Alex nodded.

"Yeah.. That makes sense." Alex smirked.

"Anything else?" Dr. Monty asked.

"That spell Twilight used.. When I sensed that magic signature, it was definitely a type of high-powered teleport spell. Is it possible that anyone in the blast radius survived?" Alex asked.

"That's a trickier one, but I still have an answer.. See, Twilight's teleport spell, although immensely powerful, was incomplete. When a Unicorn teleports, they have to imagine the exact location, down all the way to the detail, otherwise, they're stuck somewhere between point A and point B. She intended to teleport the horde into a pocket dimension, but she lost control of the spell.

Everything in the explosion, it seems, was teleported to a bunch of other dimensions, some easily survivable, some a land of paradise, or some entirely uninhabitable. That or they were teleported between dimensions. Just kind of floating around.

Fortunately, the type of technology used to transport things from dimension to dimension are basically wormhole generators. Meaning that they'll be picked up by any gateway that forms around them. From there, they can find a way back." Dr. Monty elaborated.

"Huh.. Last question, and.. well.. This is kinda tough to ask.." Alex figured.

"Well go right on ahead then! If it's a favor you want, I certainly owe you that." Dr. Monty grinned.

Alex sighed heavily, before asking his question.

"I know this isn't the end of my adventures and shit.. Somewhere along the line, I'm 100% sure that someone's going to screw me over again. My friends, the strongest people I know, are beginning to drop like flies. I need to know if there's a way to prevent anything bad from happening to my family and friends. I have to get even stronger, or everyone I care about is gonna die." Alex demanded.

Dr. Monty's expression grew a bit more grim as he faced Alex again.

"Your... Father.. He told you about an 'Oracle', yes?" Dr. Monty asked.

Alex nodded.

"When the Inheritors knew the Inquisitors were starting to look shifty, they contacted this 'Oracle'. An ancient being capable of seeing into the future. But even what this Oracle sees is uncertain, so it gives you a 'trick answer', so to speak.

If you want even a chance at saving the people you care for should a threat grow out of hand, go to Kai 0-05. Oracle's lookout is located on a mountain top perch. Oracle's a very selective person, so tell her that oil' Doctor Monty sent you." Dr. Monty grinned.

"Thanks, Doc." Alex smiled.

"In the meantime, if you're looking to get stronger. Protá's father should give you a good lesson on the Enlightened Transformations, as well as some basic Adenienite Physiology lessons. If that's not enough, there are a lot of close friends who could help you! Hell, Katherine is fused with a 5000 year old spirit of war who's been studying the subject since after her creation!" Dr. Monty suggested.

"I understand, Dr. Monty. And.. Thanks." Alex smirked.

"You're welcome, kiddo." Dr. Monty nodded back, standing up.

"Y'know.. I think my wife and kids have the right idea.." Alex yawned.

"You earned it. And Alex..?" Dr. Monty asked, causing Alex to turn back in curiosity.

"Yeah..?" Alex inquired.

"No matter what, stay strong. That's the best life advice I can give to you."

Alex grinned.

"Thanks... I'm gonna need it."

Author's Notes:

And with that, the Shadow Wars Arc has come to a close!

Truthfully, this is the kind of Arc that good authors normally reserve for the end of a series, but y'know what? There's still a lot more coming up.

More unanswered questions, and new villains coming along the way. Some expected, some... Not so much.

Happy reading and "keep 'er goin'!"

-The Destoyer