Fairy Tail: Threads of Infinity

The heavy, ancient seal shattered with a resounding crack, sending out a pulse of magic like a ripple through still water. The floor rumbled under their feet as a pillar of energy hissed upward toward the Tower's highest point.

Shinra stepped back, brushing invisible dust off his coat as the last vestige of magical resistance faded from the chamber.

"It's done," he said coolly.

But just as he turned to regroup with the others—

**Clap... clap... clap.**

Three figures walked out from the darkened corridor behind them. Their presence immediately stilled the air, and the pressure in the room doubled like a storm closing in.

Erza turned swiftly, her eyes narrowing.

"No..." Simon's breath hitched.

They stepped into the light one by one.

First came a tall, elegant woman with icy pink hair cascading to her waist. She moved like a shadow, her sheathed sword at her hip. A single step from her seemed to slice the air. **Ikaruga.**

Behind her, a wild-looking man with a punk rocker's sneer let his massive hair sway behind him. The heavy metal buckles on his coat clanked as he rolled his neck. "It's time for the concert to begin\~!" he cackled. **Vidaldus Taka.**

And finally, stomping forth on thick boots, came a hulking man with the head of a monstrous owl and a rocket pack attached to his back. **Fukuro**, the magic predator.

"Jellal sends his regards," Ikaruga said coldly, drawing her sword in one smooth motion. "You may have broken the seal. But you'll go no further."

Erza and Simon instinctively moved forward to firght, but Shinra simply raised one hand, stepping forward.

"I'll handle them."

"Shinra—" Erza began, her brow furrowed.

"Trust me," he said with a small, confident smile. "You have a bigger fight waiting ahead. Go to Jellal."

Simon hesitated, but Erza nodded after a brief pause. "Don't die."

Shinra chuckled under his breath as they ran past him toward the tower's core.

Then he turned to face the Trinity Raven.

Three S-Class level mages. One Shinra.

His white coat fluttered as the wind shifted.

"Well?" he asked, eyes glowing faintly. "Who's first?"

---

Vidaldus howled with laughter, "You got balls, punk. But you're outta your league!"

He raised his hand and snapped his fingers. A wave of hair—yes, actual hair—burst from his scalp and shot toward Shinra like whips. At the same time, his sound magic blasted through the chamber, disorienting and pounding the eardrums with thunderous vibrations.

"Sonic Reverb Slash!"

Shinra didn't flinch.

The hair surged toward him—and then stopped.

*Stopped mid-air.*

A faint, electric blue shimmer surrounded Shinra in a perfect dome. His Infinity shield activated.

Time itself crawled around him.

He took a single step forward, the ground gently cracking beneath his foot.

"You're too loud," he said calmly, almost bored. "And your hair is disgusting."

Vidaldus didn't even have time to react before Shinra vanished.

**Boom!**

A shockwave exploded behind him—Shinra reappeared with his foot planted in Vidaldus's back, sending him crashing into the far wall like a meteor. Dust filled the chamber.

"Ikaruga," Fukuro said flatly. "He's using a speed-augmentation magic. Or time."

"No," Ikaruga whispered, gripping her sword tighter. "He's bending space."

Her eyes gleamed. "A challenge worth my blade."

She moved.

Faster than sound, her sword drew in a flash. The arc of the blade shimmered like a crescent moon as she used her *Mugetsu-Ryū: Silent Moon Cut*—a slash so sharp, it could slice through magic itself.

But Shinra simply raised his hand.

"Cursed Technique: Blue."

A miniature implosion sucked the slash inward and dispelled it like mist.

Ikaruga gasped.

"Impossible—!"

She lunged again, her feet barely touching the ground as she weaved a web of phantom blades, each swing aiming for a vital point.

Shinra closed his eyes.

Then he opened them.

Six eyes – An ethereal glow burst from within his pupils.

And with a flick of his wrist—

"Hollow Purple."

A sphere of compressed space and cursed energy detonated between them. Ikaruga tried to leap away, but the explosion tore through the chamber, the walls behind her vaporizing in a split second. She was blown backward from shockwave, her sword cracked and clothes scorched.

"Ghh... damn you..." she hissed, coughing blood.

*Fukuro's boosters roared.*

He activated his *Devour Protocol magic*, mouth expanding in a grotesque way.

Shinra looked up calmly.

"Not very polite to eat people, bird-brain."

Fukuro soared toward him in a blur, jaws wide—

And in the next instant, Shinra appeared above him.

His fingers formed a sign mid-air.

**"Domain Expansion—Infinite Void."**

The space around them warped.

Suddenly, the chamber became an endless twilight plane. Stars blinked in the void. All three of the Trinity Raven were now inside Shinra's domain.

"Wh-What is this...?" Vidaldus looked around, trembling.

"This... is my territory," Shinra's voice echoed all around them. "Here, I decide what moves. I decide what lives."

Fukuro charged again, unleashing a barrage of missile-like punches—

None connected.

His fists passed harmlessly through afterimages. Shinra stood there, untouchable.

Then came the counter.

"Reversal Red."

A burst of repelling force struck Fukuro in the gut, tearing through and sending him tumbling backward in mid-air like a sack of potatoes.

He slammed against the ground with a crater-sized impact. Dead.

---

Ikaruga tried to stab Shinra from behind.

Her sword touched his neck—and simply froze in place.

"I warned you," Shinra whispered, suddenly behind her. "In here... you can't reach me."

He tapped her forehead gently with two fingers.

**"Cursed Technique: Lapse."**

Her vision blurred—and she collapsed unconscious.

---

Now only Vidaldus remained.

Shaking, bruised, and wide-eyed.

"Y-You freak! Who even are you?!"

Shinra walked toward him, every step echoing like thunder.

"I'm...Batman."

Vidaldus screamed and released his strongest spell:

**"Sonic Execution: Hair Symphony!"**

Magic surged. The very walls trembled. Sound, hair, pressure—it all came together into a chaotic assault that would annihilate most foes.

But Shinra was done playing.

"Overload"

Time, space, motion—all froze.

Vidaldus was caught mid-scream, eyes bulging in terror.

Shinra touched the space between them, then twisted his wrist.

**Crack.**

Reality cracked like glass—and Vidaldus fell unconscious, his magic neutralized.

---

As the domain faded and the real world returned, Shinra stood alone amidst the wreckage of the chamber.

Trinity Raven, a trio known for assassinating S-Class wizards across Fiore, now lay broken and unconscious.

With barely a scratch on him, Shinra turned toward the tower's core.

He adjusted his collar and muttered, "Time to catch up."

---

Meanwhile...

In the Lacrima chamber, Erza stood before a throne of twisted obsidian.

Jellal was sitting on it with amused smile on his face.

And the battle that would decide the fate of the Tower of Heaven had begun.

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