Devil's Word Magic In Fairy Tail

(Arthur POV)

A black sphere had formed in the place Gifernes had been standing in.

"W-what's going on here…?" I asked myself as I stared into the abyssal sphere.

Mere moments later the black sphere shattered into pieces revealing a battered Erza standing seemingly triumphant while holding a sword like none I had ever seen before!

I couldn't even hope to hide my shock in this situation!

With my mouth agape I looked at Erza who just suddenly collapsed all of a sudden.

"E-Erza!" I shouted with what strength I had left, moving to her to see if she was alright.

Other than bruises and the obvious exhaustion she seemed fine…

That's good… But I still have so many questions…

"What the hell happened just now…?" I couldn't help but mutter.

-"I believe I could explain that to you."- A voice suddenly rang inside of my head.

"What!?" I yelled out as I checked my surroundings, not being able to find anyone.

-"Down here."- The voice once again spoke and I turned back to Erza who was still unconscious, however her new shiny sword had started hovering in the air.

"… You?" I pointed towards the sword like the dumbass that I am

-"Yes. Me, do you see any other talking shiny swords in the vicinity?"- It replied.

"… I'm not even gonna question it…" I said with a sigh.

First there's a dark guild on this island, then there's two participants at their base, a demon of the books of Zeref showed up out of seemingly nowhere and now there's a talking sword!

… I'm soo lost!

-"That's fine, I'm sure allot has happened in a short span of time. You must be confused."- The sword said

"You bet your shiny edges I am… What the hell happened to Gifernes?" I asked the sword

-"Erza took care of him."- The sword replied with a short straight answer like it answered everything.

Which in all honesty…

It kinda did.

"… As expected of Erza…" I could only mutter under my breath, hiding my amazement.

So she's already achieving impossible victories!

Did the universe just give her plot armor at birth or something?

All things considered I might not be far off…

"So, you'll spare me the details I assume?" I asked

-"We'd be here for a while if I started from the very beginning… Let's just say Erza and I worked together to 'remove' him."- The sword replied.

"Haaaa… Well, that being the case, is Erza going to be alright?" I asked.

-"She's very exhausted after that battle, not to mention that in order to wield me she had to drain her own soul's energy."- The sword replied

SHE WHAT?!

"Wait, wait, wait! Isn't that bad?!" I asked worriedly

-"Normally yes, but due to the special circ.u.mstances and the fact she was in a sort of half spiritual state herself the worst that could happen is that she won't wake up for a day or two, most likely it will take her less."- It replied

"In that case there's no need to worry. Sweet!" Feeling relieved I sat down next to the collapsed Erza.

"What's your name by the way?" I asked the sword while casting {Regeneration} with the last reserves of magic I had left.

My wounds started slowly healing and over time I should be mostly end up being alright…

-"My name is Lazarus, also known as the Etherbane."- Lazarus replied.

"Oh, sweet, nice to meet'cha I'm Arthur!" I smiled as I introduced myself.

The two of us then chatted for a while. Lazarus explained to me about his past and how Zeref had corrupted him to create Gifernes in an attempt to use his powers and end his own life.

Apparently Lazarus was known for his ability to be able to kill anything. However to use his powers he needed a wielder, and he refused Zeref's many candidates each time…

Gifernes was the result of Zeref losing his patience and creating an artificial wielder for Lazarus.

Obviously that didn't work out and after leaving the demon to do whatever, it was eventually sealed.

Only to be found by these douchebags…

I'm looking at Rowl here, the guy standing nearly 50 feet away behind a pile of rubble, pretending to be all sneaky as he peeks out the side...

Haaaaa… Should I just leave him there or what…?

Anyway, apparently Lazarus and Erza formed a contract between each other, binding their souls or whatever.

As she is currently, Erza won't be able to wield him in the normal world, not until she grows stronger at least…

Which we all know she will…

"Hey Rowl!" I decided I'd call the idiot over.

"W-a-a-a-aaaaaaaahhhhhh!!! W-what?!" He let out a shriek before asking.

W-what the hell?

"Mind coming over for a bit?" I asked while inwardly thinking I should have just let him be.

"S-sure…" He muttered and walked slowly towards us.

"Wh-what do you need, sir Arthur?" He asked while shaking uncontrollably.

So I'm a sir huh? Oh, well whatever…

"Mind explaining what happened after I left you with Erza? If you know anything that is…" Both times I checked with Clairvoyance the two of them had been moving, obviously something was happening behind the scenes while I was unaware…

After briefly recapping everything that happened, I was honestly thankful to this Rowl person! He helped Erza allot.

Honestly I kinda feel bad for him at this point…

Lost his entire guild, his master was killed, now he has nowhere to go and most likely will end up in prison…

Feels bad man…

"Lemme ask you a question Rowl, have you been assisting with the sacrifices?" I asked him in order to confirm before giving my verdict.

"No, not r-really… I've mostly spent my time here training with master Wolt… The one exception was today when you two jewelry beansprouts came tootling along…" He said while murmuring the last part.

"Ah, so you were just about to start committing murders huh…" I said and pondered for a moment as my regeneration spell continued its work.

Can I still pin all of this on him…? Should I let him go perhaps? Everyone makes mistakes after all, maybe he can learn from this and become a better person afterwards.

"Well I have murdered plenty in my day!" He said as he placed his hand on his c.h.e.s.t, looking all proud about it.

Right…

Andddddd it's off to jail with you…

-"You don't know when to keep your mouth shut do you?"- Lazarus said as he connected to both of our minds.

"W-WHAT?! Who are you and how did you get inside of my head?! I know what every single one of the eleven voices in my head sounds like! You're different from them!" Rowl bellowed as he searched every nook and cranny for the place the voice had come from

Did… Did he just say he has eleven voices in his head?

What the actual f*ck?!

-"I am Lazarus. Nice to meet you and your eleven voices Rowl."- Lazarus said and floated in front of him

"Ah yes, the p.l.e.a.s.u.r.e's all mine mister Lazurus sir." Rowl said as he bowed to the sword in a gentlemanly manner.

"I don't even know what to do with you anymore…" I said and sighed deeply…

Honestly this nut job probably deserves going to prison… But I have a debt to pay for the help he ended up providing…

I guess I'll pay it after he's served his sentence…

"Well Rowl, I think you know what happens next right?" I asked him not knowing how to start this conversation.

"We go have barbecue at some fancy noble's backyard?" He asked with an extremely serious face.

"Ugh… No that's not wha-" I was cut off

"Then is it a fancy restaurant? I'm starving! I really would like to eat something soon, so an after battle party would be great! Hahhah!" He said and started laughing.

"I'm… Just gonna give you this so shut up for a second… {Storage}." I opened my storage and took out a lunch box that I had filled up with a bunch of BBQ stuff…

Was keeping it for later but it should do the job in making him shut up.

"Oh! Thank you Arthur my dear friend!" Rowl said as he started drooling over the barbecue… it didn't take long before he started chowing down…

This is a man who just lost all of his 'friends' if he had any, as well as his master…

Why does he seem so okay with everything?!

Oh right he's nuts…

"Anyway… So Rowl, in all seriousness, what the hell is your plan from now on?" I asked as he stuffed two chicken wings, three sausages and a beef steak in his mouth…

Must have done it by some miracle.

After gulping everything down he entered a thinking pose for a few moments and simply replied.

"I'm going to jail!!" after basically yelled that line out, he simply took another piece of meat from the box.

Hahaha… Wait what?

"First off… was that a meme? Second… Why would you want that?!" I asked him with a weird look on my face…

I officially am confusion…

"Tis my way of atoning for my sins." He said with a hand on his c.h.e.s.t.

"I must go serve my sentence! Hopefully avoid the execution and survive in jail for a few years… Afterwards I do hope that our paths cross and we meet again my dear friend Arthur!" Rowl finished and stuck out his fist towards me.

"Haaaa… Yeah, I guess we'll meet again someday!" I sighed before replying and giving him a fist bump.

…

Wait a second…

When did we become friends?

I TORTURED YOU!?!

.

.

.

After a few hours of resting I had mostly recovered.

Well if by mostly you mean just enough to not be in a critical condition…

I still haven't regained my leg or arm, stomach is fine though, so that's a plus…

With how limited my magic power supply was when I cast the spell this was the best result I could have hoped for…

…

I put the still unconscious Erza on my back and walked towards the shore together with Rowl and Lazarus who was floating next to us.

After we reached the shore, I simply opened my storage and took out a small boat that could fit the 3 of us plus a sword with an ego of its own.

We sat into it and just kinda stared at each other for a moment.

"Rowl, could you row the boat?" I asked him

"Eh? Why does it have to be me?!" He asked, seemingly outraged at the idea

"Well my dear friend… You see one of us is unconscious, the other pretty much crippled and the third is a bloody sword! Also your name Rowl." I replied

"… What does my name have to do with anyth- … OH! Right, I get it! That's quite clever, yes." He said and started rowing the boat towards the main land.

It wasn't until we were half there that he suddenly stopped.

"Wait… my name being Rowl doesn't necessarily mean I need to row this damn pineapple of a boat!" he yelled out

-"Just row the damn boat already!"- Lazarus shouted in Rowl's mind, promptly forcing him to continue rowing the boat at a speed that should have exhausted him very quickly, yet he somehow managed to reach the main land by maintaining it the entire way…

Needless to say, the man collapsed to the ground after such an arduous task.

It was then that I binded him with a rope and dragged him to the village called Daisyfield where our employer was.

I used {Concealment Area} so no one has to give us any weird looks as we walk through the streets.

Finally we reached the mayor's house and went inside.

Once inside, I removed the concealment spell and soon the same maid from before saw us.

"Oh my goodness! Are you alright?!" She ran to us and checked us up.

She realized that Erza was only unconscious but that seemed like the least of her worries as she was staring at what was left of my arm.

"Y-young man… You've.. you've lost your…" She stuttered while looking at the base of my shoulder, even her eyes teared up.

Probably couldn't see that I had a prosthetic leg on though…

"I'm fine, just take us to the mayor." I said to her and she complied.

Soon we met with the mayor again, he stood up and walked up to me.

"Y-you're back! There was so such a big commotion on the island that I was worried you were-" He stopped after taking a good look at me, just starring at us while being speechless.

After putting Erza on a couch that was in the room I stood in front of the mayor.

"So, as for this job…" I said looking him dead in the eyes.

"…Yes… I… Is my son…?" He asked with sweat tripping down his forehead.

"I'm sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but your son is most likely not with us anymore." I simply replied.

"Oh… my…" He barely uttered out as he held his forehead with one arm and nearly fell down to the floor.

"I'm sorry… This isn't the news I hoped to hear… Not to mention the condition you're in…" He said

"It's fine, take your time…" I replied.

"Is your friend…?" The mayor started to utter a sentence but stopped midway.

"She's alright, simply tired." I said, assuming he was asking about her well being

"I see… Well then, what about that man over there?" The mayor asked.

"… Me…?" Rowl apparently finally woke up, but he was still barely able to move after tiring himself out like that.

"He is the last of the culprits responsible for this incident. The rest died in an explosion and were evaporated…" Mixing a truth with a lie often works best.

"This man… Is the one who…!?" The mayor's veins bulged, his eyes were bloodshot and he started at Rowl as if he was ready to kill him!

Which he most likely was.

"Ehhh!? Wait wait wait! I'm not at fault hereee!!!" Rowl bellowed, seemingly afraid of the old mayor.

"He isn't the one responsible for your son's death, I can guarantee that much. Rest assured that the one at fault for it is in fact dead." I said trying to save Rowl from getting an early execution.

"Bloody hell…" The mayor said and sat down in his chair.

"…" we stayed silent for a moment.

Somehow even Rowl did…

"I'll double your reward." The mayor suddenly blurted out.

"W-What?!" That caught me off guard

"If you want a higher compensation I'm sorry but I can't afford it…" He said with both of his hands massaging his forehead.

He must be having a terrible headache after all of that news he just got.

"No, that's not what I meant… We failed to bring your son back, usually I'd expect you to not even want to pay us with such a result." I said

"Haaaa… Even so, you stopped the menace and saved many future victims. One of the culprits will be brought to justice thanks to your efforts too. The biggest reason for this reward change is the hardsh.i.p.s you've had to go through…" He said as he looked at my mostly healed injuries.

But injuries, they still were.

"Alright then. I'll accept the new reward, as for him I'll-" I started talking about Rowl when the mayor cut me off.

"I'll call the rune knights to take him in, don't you worry about it. You and your friend can go in one of the guest rooms to get some much deserved rest! If you need anything just ask one of the maids."

"Eh? Take me in? Wait am I going to jail now?!" Rowl asked, seemingly surprised at the outcome.

I… I thought you said…

Damn it Rowl…

"Thank you. I appreciate it." I replied with a tired expression on my face and took Erza with me to the exit of the room.

"Wait! You little spineless belly crabs! Don't leave me here! I can't go to jail! I have so much to live foooor!!!"

"Serve your sentence and continue your life after that then, don't regret your decision already damn it…" I said to the idiot.

"… I REGRET NOTHING!" was the last thing I heard him say before I closed the door and walked to another room for guests.

There were two beds, a coffee table and some chairs, two wardrobes and a big window in it.

"This is a nice room…" I muttered under my breath.

-"Indeed… Why don't you get some shut eye? Like that mayor person said, you deserve it."- Lazarus said as I put Erza in one of the beds.

"Yeah, I'll go ahead and do that…" After saying so I plopped right in bed and shut my eyes.

I couldn't even use my sleep spell before my consciousness faded and I entered dream land…