Earth Land, Ishgar, Bosco, Unnamed Mountain range

August 17, x791.

After all the falling stars were dealt with by Laxus, Fried, Alzack, Gray, Erza, Mirajane, Natsu, and Gajeel, everyone gathered together, low on magic power, below the barrier Alfonzo erected just as Acnologia unleashed his breath attack, [Giga Flare].

An instant after Acnologia breathed out, an extremely concentrated beam of incandescent blue magic power was fired from the jaws of history's most powerful dragon/Dragon Slayer. Then, in what seemed like the blink of an eye, that beam slammed into the barrier Alfonzo put up with everything he had.

Now, this barrier was not like any other barrier Alfonzo had ever raised. Built from more than a dozen overlapping sheets of Vibranium/adamantite alloy with [Reflection] sigils etched into each layer, it was possibly the most powerful barrier ever created on Ishgar, if not the entirety of Earth Land.

Yet...

*Boom~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~!*

Acnologia's [Giga Flare] hit the barrier with such force that gale force winds were blown in all directions, even causing great destruction to the nearest villages, which were more than a mile and a half away, at the closest. But that was not all. The initial impact also treated the first few layers of the barrier like they did not even exist, tearing through them with unsettling ease.

However...

After ripping through the seventh layer of the barrier, it seemed that the [Giga Flare's] rate of progress was showing signs of slowing down. In fact, it took an entire second before the seventh layer was destroyed. And when it moved on to the eight, that time tripled.

By the time the [Giga Flare] reached the eighteenth layer of the barrier, the barrier's final layer, it was clear that a lot of the power behind the breath attack had been spent. And that was exactly what Alfonzo was expecting.

Because there were two things built into each layer of the barrier that would raise his chance of surviving this assault. However, it also weakened each barrier slightly as a consequence.

"This better fucking work!" Alfonzo shouted as he struggled through the strain of pushing every ounce of his magic power into the final layer of the barrier.

"What the hell are you talking about?" Laxus shouted as he braced himself behind Erza's [Adamantine Barrier] with the other seven Fairy Tail wizards.

"Unless we survive this, that won't matter!" Alfonzo shouted back. "So, just shut the fuck up, brace yourself, and pray that it actually works!"

With that, Laxus gritted his teeth. However, he stayed silent. As for the others, they were just watching Alfonzo struggle to save all of their lives. At the same time, they also gritted their teeth while clenching their fists, vowing to train even harder if Alfonzo was able to succeed.

Meanwhile, Acnologia, still hovering in the air, was looking down at the barrier that he thought would have been crushed instantly before the insects who opposed him were vaporized, opened his eyes a little wider with every second that passed. Also, with the passage of time, he could feel the breath that filled his lungs was running out. Meaning, his [Giga Flare] was reaching its limit.

And Alfonzo could feel the same.

"Argh~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~!" Alfonzo shouted as he pushed the last drops of his magic power into the barrier. "Fuck off you big, black mother fucker!"

With Alfonzo's roar, Acnologia's [Giga Flare] finally ended. Yet, the gathered energy remained pressed against the barrier. And for a moment, the world seemingly fell silent.

Finally, as the world's sound returned, it became clear that Alfonzo's gamble was correct when the remaining energy from Acnologia's [Giga Flare], compressed into a giant, glowing sphere, shot back along the path from which it came and slammed into the enormous black dragon with Earth-shattering force.

*Boom~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~!*

"*Roar~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~!" Acnologia's roar echoed for miles. "This isn't over! I will kill all of you! Especially those damned Dragon Slayers~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~!"

A thunderous explosion, accompanied by a blinding flash of bluish-white light, sent Acnologia, the Black Dragon of the Apocalypse, flying towards the horizon as he roared, completely outraged by the wizards who opposed it from completing its mission to rid the world of all dragons and Dragon Slayers.

Meanwhile, with their ears ringing and their visions blurred by the explosion, Laxus, Fried, Alzack, Gray, Erza, Mirajane, Natsu, and Gajeel watched Acnologia disappear after becoming just a spot on the horizon with awe written all over their faces.

*Thud!*

A moment later, the sound of something falling to the ground drew their attention away from Acnologia. When they followed the sound to its source, they found Alfonzo, reverted to his base state, lying face down while breathing shallowly as his body convulsed violent with Riot and Bedlam on the ground beside him.

Seeing Alfonzo, arguably the strongest member of the guild, in such a state after narrowly surviving an attack from Acnologia made the eight Fairy Tail wizards simultaneously suck in a breath of air while watching him with expressions of incomprehension on their faces.

"Alfonzo~~~~~~~~~~!" Mirajane screamed, breaking the others out of their states of stupor.

After screaming, Mirajane rushed forward to check Alfonzo's condition, with the others following a beat later.

"Laxus, you're the fastest one here." Erza said solemnly. "Hurry back to the Blackbird and bring Wendy here. Hurry."

Though he did not like taking orders, Laxus did not argue, taking on his [Lightning Form] immediately before disappearing in a flash of golden light. As for the others, no one really had any first aid skills. So, all they could do was crowd around Alfonzo with worried expressions.

"I'll do what I can to keep him stable until Wendy arrives." Erza said after noticing that no one seemed to know what to do. "[Requip]."

*Flash!*

A moment later, Erza, no longer wearing her [Adamantine Armor], was standing in front of Alfonzo wearing a short-skirted, white nurse uniform with the top few buttons undone to reveal a bit of cleavage, a pair of thigh-high white socks, and a pair of black high heels while carrying a clipboard with a medical chart clipped to it in one hand and a large roll of bandages in the other.

Undoubtedly, with Erza's explosive figure, her in this uniform was quite the stimulating sight for most men. However, when the men on scene saw her dressed like that, they all paled immediately. Having been in the same guild as Erza for so long, they were all well-aware of how terrible Erza's bedside manner was.

"Stop her!" Fried ordered sternly. "We can't let her get near Alfonzo while he's in this state."

Immediately following Fried's orders, Gray, Natsu, and Gajeel leapt forward and grabbed Erza with Natsu holding her left arm, Gajeel holding her right arm, and Gray wrapping his arms around her ankles.

"What... are you doing?" Erza asked in a confused, yet irritated, tone as she struggled to approach Alfonzo. "I'm trying to treat my husband's injuries. Why are you stopping me?"

"We're saving both of you, you crazy woman!" Gajeel shouted while being jerked around by Erza's inhuman-level of physical strength.

"Nonsense!" Erza shouted, her irritation growing.

"He's right!" Gray shouted as he was dragged across the ground with each step Erza managed to take forward. "If we let you go, there's a good chance you might kill him. Then, you'll get kicked out of the guild!"

"Yeah, just wait until Laxus brings Wendy back, Erza!" Natsu shouted as well. "She's the best at helping people get better, right!?"

"Let. Me. Go!" Erza roared as she continued to struggle.

Meanwhile, Fried and Alzack wiped sweat from their foreheads. Alzack then turned to look at Fried with relief.

"It's a good thing you reacted so quickly, Fried." Alzack said with a small smile. "Otherwise, things could have gotten bad.

"We're guild mates." Fried replied calmly. "We have to look out for each other."

Meanwhile, Mirajane had knelt down next to Alfonzo and carefully lifted his head before laying it on her lap. She then looked at the others and shook her head in exasperation.

"I know she means well." Mirajane said quietly. "But Erza really should think things through more."

Like that, the commotion around Alfonzo continued for another minute, or so before Laxus returned with Wendy, the three Exceeds accompanying them.

"Look, Wendy's here!" Natsu shouted. "Just leave it to her, Erza."

Hearing that, Erza stopped struggling. Then, she turned to look at Wendy, who was making her way towards Alfonzo. After that, although the tension did not completely leave her body, she nodded her head, accepting that her help was not needed.

Seeing that, Gray, Natsu, and Gajeel finally let go of Erza. Meanwhile, Laxus looked in the direction of the struggle just before it ended. And like the others, he immediately paled upon seeing ERza dressed in her nurse uniform.

"Damn... I don't know if that bastard, Alfonzo, is lucky or unlucky." Laxus muttered.

"I don't think Chico and Saya would be happy if they heard you say something like that." Fried said quietly after appearing behind Laxus without a sound.

Laxus only rolled his eyes as he turned away from Erza, who [Requipped] back into her [Heart Kreuz Armor]. His eyes then landed on Wendy, who was examining Alfonzo.

"So, how is he?" Laxus asked.

"He's uninjured." Wendy replied in a serious tone with a solemn expression on her face. "But he used up all of his magic power."

"That's good." Mirajane said in a relieved tone.

Mirajane was not the only one to show relief after hearing Wendy's assessment. However, Laxus noticed that Wendy's expression was still just serious as before.

"Is there something else?" Laxus asked. "I mean, Alfonzo should only have to wait until his magic power restores naturally before he's fine, right?"

"That would be the case if he was out of magic power in the sense that we're all used to." Wendy said as a pair of small, metallic dragon wings spread out from under her long, blue hair. "But when I said he was out of magic power, I mean completely. Like, there's no magic power in his body, at all. And with his magic power completely empty, if we don't do something, he won't be able to draw in ethernano from the atmosphere to refill it on his own. And that will lead to..."

"Magic Deficiency Syndrome..." Erza muttered, her tone low and filled with worry.

*Gasp!* x 10

No one present was unfamiliar with what Magic Deficiency Syndrome meant for a wizard. So, they could not help but show worry in their expression once again as they looked at Alfonzo and Wendy.

"Wendy, is there anything you can do?" Alzack asked in a shaky tone.

"In theory, yes." Wendy replied. "But I've never tried this before. So, I don't know if it will work."

"Just do what you can." Erza, having approached Wendy, said as she placed a hand on the younger girl's shoulder. "That's all anyone can ask."

Though she was a bundle of nerves at this point, Wendy nodded her head in response. Then, she flared her magic power as the wings on her backspread as wide as they could.

"[Let the Winds of Healing Spread, Grandeeney]." Wendy chanted solemnly.

With Wendy's chant, the wings on her back grew, their wingspan nearly three times Wendy's height while sprouting soft, white feathers that made them resemble Grandeeney's.

"[Heal]." Wendy chanted once her [Soul Armament's] transformation was complete.

As she chanted, Wendy shut her eyes and spread her arms. At the same time, the wind began to blow before swirling together and gathering in her hands.

"Ethernano is everywhere in the atmosphere." Wendy said as sweat began to form on her forehead from the strain. "As a result, it moves with the wind just like everything else in the air. Meaning, with enough control, I should be able to gather it. Then, with my [Healing Magic], I should be able to inject it into a patient. And with all that I learned from Master Tsunade, I have enough knowledge about a wizard's body to find their magic container and inject the gathered Ethernano directly into it. I'm just not sure if I have good enough control to make this work. And if I mess this up..."

Though her sentence was left unfinished, Wendy's meaning was evident. If she was unable to control her magic perfectly, Alfonzo would die.

With the meaning of Wendy's words hanging in the air, Wendy remained still with her eyes closed. Meanwhile, the others exchanged nervous glances, not knowing what the right thing to do was in this situation.

"Just... do... it..." A weak, raspy voice said, breaking through the silence. "I... believe... in... you... Wendy..."

Hearing that voice, everyone turned to its source, Alfonzo, who was still unmoving with his head lying in Mirajane's lap.

"But..." Wendy replied, her voice shaking nervously with the fear of failure.

"No... buts..." Alfonzo replied. "If you don't do it... I'll die anyway... So, it's better to regret doing your best... than not doing anything at all..."

Hearing that, everyone remained silent while Wendy gritted her teeth. A moment later, however, Wendy opened her eyes, the flames of resolve burning brightly within.

"You're right, Alfonzo." Wendy said, the nervous tremble nowhere to be heard. "I'll do it. And I won't fail."

When Alfonzo heard that, the corners of his lips curled slightly.

"I know you won't." Alfonzo whispered weakly.

Alfonzo then fell silent, waiting for Wendy to get started. Meanwhile, Wendy took a deep breath before bringing her hands to Alfonzo's chest and starting to slowly inject the ethernano saturated winds into his body through his pores while delicately controlling the wind to move towards his magic power container, all her concentration focused on healing Alfonzo.

"Fried, go call the guild." Laxus said quietly. "Even if Wendy pulls him back from the brink, Alfonzo won't be in any condition to fly us back home. So, we're gonna need someone to bring the Fairy's Tail out here. We'll need someone who can fly the Blackbird, too."

"Understood." Fried relpied quietly before turning around and walking out of earshot to not disturb Wendy before taking out his lPhone and calling Mavis to report the situation.