The leader of the dark guild, Vane, revealed himself once he saw the enemy cornered. "You should surrender. That way, you'll have a less painful death."
With Bargas as the primary attack wizard, Viper hidden to strike lethal blows, Silas acting as support with the fog to disorient her, and himself as a dark guild leader Vane believed it was only a matter of time before they killed the woman in front of him.
Little did he know, Erza was not one to give up so easily.
If she hadn't fought to her full potential, it was only because she was worried about Alex. With his magic, he should have already recovered.
Erza took a deep breath. First, she needed to calm down; being agitated wasn't going to help her get out of this situation.
After steadying herself, she re-equipped her armor once more, needing something with high defense and heavy attack power.
She decided to use her Purgatory Armor, one of the strongest she currently possessed (the very same armor she used against Ikaruga in Jellal's Tower of Heaven).
Erza now wore dark, ominous armor. Her body, arms, and legs were encased in heavy steel plates, and her sword was larger than she was a massive, heavy blade that sank into the ground where it rested.
Seeing that the wizard before him had no intention of surrendering, Bargas attacked instantly. "Since words won't work on you, you leave me no choice but to crush you!"
This time, Erza was fully prepared to fight. There were no surprise explosions, nor attacks when her guard was down.
Watching the nearly two-meter-tall wizard charge straight at her with the intent to slap her down with his right hand, Erza stepped forward to meet him. She leaned her body to the left, slipping right under the palm that swung over her head.
Using the momentum from leaning left, she gripped the massive sword with both hands and spun on her heel, executing a heavy slash straight across Bargas's chest.
Connecting squarely with his chest, the blow sent Bargas flying. He crashed heavily into several trees.
"As expected of Fairy Tail's strongest female wizard, you certainly live up to your name," Vane said, summoning two humanoid puppets.
Seeing Erza's resilience, he had no choice but to make a move himself. "Silas, make the fog thicker!"
"…"
There was no reply.
Seeing that his support wizard didn't answer, Vane looked in the direction where Silas had been hiding.
"Silas!"
Silas, the wizard responsible for creating the fog, was unconscious with his eyes rolled back it was impossible to tell if he was alive or dead.
After all, a pair of giant screws had him crucified against the tree where he was hiding.
Standing beside Silas was the silhouette of a person someone the dark wizards believed they had killed just moments ago.
"What? Did you guys think I was dead?"
Vane, Bargas, and the hidden Viper were completely stunned. After all, they had clearly seen Viper stab Alex from behind and kill him.
The katana had run him all the way through, and combined with Viper's deadly poison, no one should have been able to survive being impaled and poisoned.
Alex smiled, and that smile sent a chilling shudder through the dark guild wizards. They were witnessing something they couldn't comprehend at all.
With the support wizard out of commission, the fog began to clear. Viper, who specialized in surprise attacks, would no longer be able to strike from the shadows as before.
"Alex!" Erza shouted, relief washing over her upon seeing that he was okay. Deep down, she knew he couldn't die that easily with his magic.
What Erza didn't realize was that Alex had actually been overwhelmed by the relentless chain of ambushes. He had dodged the initial explosion easily enough.
He had barely managed to evade Bargas's attack, and even though he took a hit that damaged him, he reacted just in time to negate it using All Fiction.
Alex hadn't expected that after two surprise attacks, a third, far more lethal strike awaited him. The stabbing and the poison had nearly taken him out of the fight.
'Fighting a dark guild is completely different from normal monster-hunting missions. Every attack is meant to kill one wrong step and your life ends right then and there,' Alex thought to himself.
Closing the distance, Alex appeared right beside Erza. "Can you still fight?"
Erza nodded. "Don't worry, this is nothing for me. Just watch out for the stealth attacker and the dark guild leader. The big guy isn't much of a threat."
"Then the brute is yours, Erza. Leave the guild leader and the stealth one to me. I have a debt to settle for that stab in the back."
Erza agreed. The faster she defeated Bargas, the sooner she could back him up.
Erza re-equipped once again, this time donning her Black Wing Armor. As the name implied, dark wings spread from the armor's back.
Determined to finish her opponent quickly, Erza sacrificed all defensive capabilities to maximize her offensive speed and power.
The armor only covered her arms and legs with steel, while the rest of her body was clad in a simple black bikini.
Bargas had already pushed himself up from the previous blow. Seeing the woman charging toward him, he didn't hesitate to attack. He lunged at Erza, but before he could close the distance for hand-to-hand combat, Erza swung her sword, sending a wave of magical slashes flying toward him.
Caught completely off guard, the first two slashes struck his chest, carving two bloody wounds on the spot.
Splat!
The sound of flesh being torn open by blade cuts echoed through the air.
Bargas reacted just in time after those two hits, reinforcing his arms to guard against the rest of Erza's incoming slashes.
Now possessing higher mobility and long-range attacks, Erza took complete control of the fight.
Seeing his comrade being pushed back, Vane grew irritated. "That useless fool can't do anything right," he muttered in annoyance.
Wanting to end his battle quickly, Vane rushed to attack Alex using his two puppets. Blades extended from the puppets' arms, both dripping with venom so potent that as it dripped onto the ground, it sizzled and melted the stone below.
"So you're finally making a move. Come on then! Don't think for a second you can beat me!" Alex declared.