The moment Lahar gave the order, Mest pitched an Exploding Magic Crystal through the bell tower window.
The high and mid-ranking members gathered inside watched blankly as a round object rolled to a stop in the center of the hall.
It looked familiar. And was it glowing?
"Exploding Magic Crystal! We're under attack!"
A young man with unkempt hair shouted the warning, backpedaled instantly, and threw himself out of a window with a black longsword bouncing on his back. At the same moment, a bald man and a purple-haired girl reacted just as fast, bolting for the main entrance.
The explosion hit.
The window frames rattled from the shockwave and firelight flooded every opening in the tower. Of the several dozen mid-to-lower-ranking members inside, about a dozen were too slow. The blast caught them and knocked them sprawling.
Most of the others had already thrown themselves flat, so the impact was limited. They scrambled upright within seconds, pouring out through doors and windows, shouting warnings as they went.
The members on the second floor had heard the explosion and the shouting. Some took the stairs. Others simply dropped from the second floor directly.
The stream of people exiting the bell tower gave Levy and the others their first clear look at the cult in person. Every one of them wore a black hooded cloak.
Some carried magic staves. Others had sabers or swords at their sides. The three senior cadres had already emerged, and the lower-ranking members had naturally fallen into three groups behind them.
The formation was loose, but the uniform black and the sheer weight of numbers gave the whole scene a considerable presence.
The purple-haired girl, Marly, had a smile on her face despite herself. "The Council again. How tiresome. Let's just kill them all with disease this time."
"Ocha." The bald middle-aged man, Gomon, spoke with an odd verbal tic. The characters for matcha were tattooed across his forehead in a way that raised more questions than it answered. His clothes bore a passing resemblance to Jura's. "The High Priest said not to harm too many Council members. We should avoid drawing further attention for now."
Marly clicked her tongue. "Grandpa is so stubborn. We've already been found. What's the point of hiding? We should make them understand exactly what they're dealing with."
"I'm with Marly on this one," said Jerome, the one with the black sword. "When the Balam Alliance was still around, the Council never dared mount an operation like this against any guild. We've been too scattered, acted too cautious. That's why they keep treating us like easy targets."
Gomon turned that over and found he couldn't disagree. "Ocha. Then let them see our strength. The Goddess of Luck smiles on us."
The three cadres reached their agreement and gave the order to attack.
Close to three hundred cult members surged forward in high spirits. Being completely surrounded did nothing to dampen them. Zeref would protect them. And if something happened, their souls would return to Zeref.
As long as their faith held, they would be reborn into the great magic world.
"Everything for Zeref!"
"Forward!"
"Cut down everyone in our path!"
Lahar's unit had crossed paths with this group before and knew how fanatical Zeref's followers could be. It didn't intimidate them. If they didn't stop these people here, more would follow, and the cult's plans would cost countless innocent lives.
The Custody Enforcement Unit had their own convictions. Maintaining order in the magic world and protecting law-abiding citizens was what they were there for.
"Move in and arrest them!"
"We cannot let Lord Wolfheim down again!"
"For the people we're here to protect!"
Squads One and Two collided head-on with the hundred-strong group under Jerome's command.
From above, the white-robed Enforcement Unit and the black-robed cult members met like two swarms moving in opposite directions, clearly separated at first, pressing against each other in a defined line, and then gradually bleeding together into one churning mass.
The dark cult fought on individual courage and improvisation alone. The Enforcement Unit had trained as a coordinated force. Their individual abilities had grown, and more importantly, they moved together with the kind of instinctive understanding that only comes from drilling together repeatedly.
The Council's side took the upper hand quickly.
Cult members kept going down, until Jerome moved.
He pushed off the shoulders of his own people in a single light bound, crossing to the very front in a handful of steps. He drew the black sword mid-air. By the time his feet touched the ground, two Council soldiers had already collapsed onto their backs, black energy bleeding from the wounds at their chests. Even the weapons they had been holding were cut clean through, the broken edges eaten away by dark corrosion.
"Solid soldiers," Jerome said. "But my blade is the Dark Sword. Everything it touches corrodes."
Several nearby soldiers exchanged a fast look and moved at once. "Together!"
Jerome came up fast from a low stance, the black sword cutting a half-circle at a speed ordinary eyes could barely follow. Four more soldiers. Same result as the first two. Weapons sheared apart at the corroded breaks, blood and black energy erupting from their sides as they went down.
The cult members at the rear roared. "Long live Lord Jerome!"
Jerome's eyes moved to his next target. "We're just getting started."
Both squad leaders from Squads One and Two stepped forward to cut him off. "Don't even think about it."
Jerome looked them over. "Now these two are worth cutting down."
On the opposite side of the field, the group under Marly's command had met Squad Three head-on.
"Some of you look familiar." Marly's smile widened as she scanned the line of soldiers. "What would you like to feel this time? Something new, or a classic? Ahahaha!"
Squad Three's nerves showed, but they held their formation and pushed forward anyway.
"You never learn." Marly raised both palms toward the dozen or so soldiers closest to her. "Enjoy this."
Sharp pain hit every one of them in the abdomen at the same moment. Instinct pulled them forward, wanting to double over and drop.
"Now's our chance!"
"Lady Marly's Disease Magic!"
"Finish them while they're down!"
The cult members raised their weapons and swung. Every blow was blocked.
Wendy's voice carried clear and calm across the chaos. "Abnormal status cleared. Resistance to abnormal status increased. And while I'm here."
She took a breath.
"Strength up. Defense up. Speed up!"
The soldiers blinked.
"The pain is gone!"
"I feel completely different!"
"My whole body feels lighter!"
"Take this!"
Almost every cult member who had lunged in for a finishing blow was knocked off their feet.
Marly stared at the faint shimmer running across her opponents and felt the first thread of genuine alarm. "What is this? My magic. Why didn't it work?"
Levy's voice cut through from somewhere behind the line. "Gajeel, you're too far forward! Wendy is back here!"