A little earlier, at roughly the same time.
Kicked off Nirvana like a piece of trash, Brain shoved the fallen tree off himself with a scowl and struggled to his feet.
"That bastard! Nirvana is mine, and no one's taking it from me!"
Fury boiling inside him, Brain immediately turned to climb back up to Nirvana and settle the score with Kabe. But suddenly, over a dozen crystal orbs came hurtling toward him from behind. Hearing the whistle of air, Brain abandoned all sense of dignity and threw himself sideways, rolling out of the way.
"Boom! Boom! Boom!"
Each crystal orb struck with the force of a cannon shell, sending dirt and stone flying and leaving half meter craters in the ground. Rising to one knee, Brain looked at the technique, a flicker of shock crossing his face, and whipped around to look in the direction the orbs had come from.
Ultear, Sorano, and Lucy, who was carrying an unconscious Yukino, had appeared and were slowly closing in on him.
"So it really is you, Brain. Seems my luck's holding, running into scum like you first."
Seeing who it was, Brain's expression turned grave as he raised a hand and summoned his skull staff back to it, an ominous feeling settling over him.
"Ultear, one of my proudest creations. Ever since I heard you'd joined Fairy Tail, I knew a day like this would come. I imagine you already know something of the truth. But don't forget who it was that unlocked your potential, who gave you the power you wield today!"
With that, he turned his head and fixed Sorano with a venomous glare.
"And you, Angel! I pulled you out of the Tower of Heaven with my own hands, taught you magic, gave you power and status. And this is how you repay me?! Letting yourself be swayed by a few words from Kabe, betraying the very man who remade your life!"
Watching Brain put on his righteous act, playing the wronged benefactor whose kindness had been thrown back in his face, both Ultear and Sorano's expressions filled with disgust and fury, their anger fully ignited.
"Brain! Not only did you use me and treat me as nothing more than a tool for your ambitions. You even had the nerve to kidnap Yukino and put her through the same pain and mistakes I went through!"
Sorano's eyes blazed, her teeth clenched so hard they nearly ground together. She'd wondered why, even with Fairy Tail and so many other guilds working together for years, they'd never managed to find her sister Yukino. So this was why. This monster Brain had gotten there first, tricking Yukino away and hiding her from the world.
"Heh, why don't you ask Yukino yourself whether I actually lied to her? I told her that if she came with me, I'd let her see the sister she'd lost so long ago. And look, haven't I made good on that promise? Aren't the two of you sisters reunited right now?"
With that, Brain let out a smug, cold laugh, as though mocking the two sisters for both being equally foolish.
"You bastard!!!"
Sorano's fury boiled over completely. She whipped out her Gemini key and summoned it in an instant.
"Gemini, transform and take him down!"
Gemini's main ability was gaining the power to transform into anyone it touched. The ability only lasted five minutes, and it could only store two transformation targets at a time. But no matter how limited that ability was, a Gemini in the right hands remained a genuinely formidable threat.
As the leader of the Six Demon Generals, Brain knew Gemini's capabilities inside and out. The moment the two little spirits appeared, he raised his staff defensively in front of him.
"Heh heh, Angel, I trained you myself. I know your tricks better than anyone. Do you really think I'd let them touch me and copy my form?"
Hearing the wariness lurking beneath Brain's mockery, Sorano smiled.
"What use would there be in copying trash like you? Don't forget which guild I belong to now. Ever since I met that man, one of Gemini's transformation slots has been permanently taken up."
As if on cue with their master's words, the two little spirits, Gemi and Mini, joined hands and transformed together into the form of Kabe. At the sight, the triumphant look on Brain's face vanished instantly, his expression darkening, the corner of his mouth twitching involuntarily.
This was practically cheating. Sure, Gemini's transformation had its limits and likely couldn't bring out the full extent of Kabe's true power. But a God of Destruction was still a God of Destruction, and Brain had already gotten a taste of Kabe's abilities firsthand. Even his carefully planned surprise attack had been dodged effortlessly, followed by a kick that sent him flying straight in front of these women.
Without wasting another moment, Brain spun around and bolted straight for Nirvana. If he could just get back there, he'd have a way to seize control of it and completely reverse Kabe's will. But Ultear wasn't about to give him that chance. She crouched down and slammed both hands against the ground, instantly raising a wall of ice to block his escape route.
"Too busy catching up with Sorano to remember your old friend? I've got quite a large debt to settle with you too. I'm not letting you take one step out of here until I've made sure you're dead."