Natsu Dragneel, Gray Fullbuster & Lucy Heartfilia vs. Drake, Hiroshi & Rala

Natsu Dragneel, Gray Fullbuster & Lucy Heartfilia vs. Drake, Hiroshi & Rala is a fight fought between Fairy Tail Mages Natsu Dragneel, Gray Fullbuster and Lucy Heartfilia, and Treasure Hunters of the Sylph Labyrinth Guild, Drake, Hiroshi and Rala.
==Prologue==
Having accepted the request of Wizard Saint Warrod Sequen to save the Village of the Sun and its residents from their frozen state of being, Natsu, Gray, Erza, Lucy, Wendy, Happy and Carla inspect the village upon arriving by Warrod's transportation. Seeing giants frozen in the village, the Mages are shocked at their colossal size as even their pets are similarly huge and also frozen in the ice. Seeing this, Gray is reminded of his past with his teacher Ur and her daughter Ultear.Fairy Tail Manga: Chapter 343, Pages 2-8 Gearing up to do the job, Natsu attempts to melt the ice with his Magic but despite his attempts and Happy's cheering, he comes up short and is unable to melt it. Gray inspects the ice and states that it is Magic he's never sensed before. He too is unable to melt the ice, but states that it feels somewhat familiar to someone's.Fairy Tail Manga: Chapter 343, Pages 9-10
From the nearby cliffs, three different men make themselves known. Revealing themselves as members of the Treasure Hunter Guild known as Sylph Labyrinth. Stating that the treasure of the village is theirs, the hunters tell the Mages not to get involved, but are told in return that they aren't after any treasure, but are on a mission to melt the ice and save the villagers. Hearing this, the hunters believe their goals to be in conflict with one another and reiterate their intentions of taking the treasure, that treasure being the Eternal Flame. As they run off to put distance between themselves and the Fairy Tail Mages, Gray calls out to the them, stating that the flame is frozen and they won't be able to take it. Stopping in their tracks, the treasure hunters reveal that they have a vial of Moon Drip, with which the ice can be melted. Seeing this, Natsu realizes that they can use the Moon Drip to save the village, and give the call for everyone to go after it, ensuing a chase.Fairy Tail Manga: Chapter 344, Pages 11-16
As the Mages give chase, the treasure hunters adamantly claim that they will not hand over their vial of Moon Drip, having gone through hardship to obtain it for their own use. During the course of the chase, Erza returns to he village to look for other clues. Eventually, the treasure hunters get tired of the pursuit and decide to fight back. While Drake gets into position, his comrades prepare to fight directly. Seeing that they are about to get serious, the Fairy Tail Mages too prepare for a fight.Fairy Tail Manga: Chapter 344, Pages 2-4
==Battle==
Just as Natsu is about to attack first, he is quickly forced to move back in order to avoid being smashed by Rala's gigantic fist-shaped hammer. Lucy is surprised by his use of a hand-shaped weapon but Natsu is undeterred and attacks with his Fire Dragon's Iron Fist. However, this technique is blocked by the now-open fist acting like a shield to parry the blow. With Natsu off guard, Rala is able to clench the hammer into a fist once again and attack, sending the Fire Dragon Slayer flying back and crashing into a rock.Fairy Tail Manga: Chapter 344, Pages 5-6
Gray unleashes his Ice-Make: Freeze Lancer at Treasure Hunter Hiroshi, who destroys the ice with his Super Slash, much to Gray's surprise. Hiroshi then changes his blade into a chainsaw and directs its stab attack at Gray, who narrowly dodges. Lucy and Wendy avoid the attack as well, which destroys a tree behind the two of them. Suddenly, Wendy senses danger and pushes Lucy to the ground. Lucy is shocked as she realizes the two of them narrowly avoided a bullet fired by a sniper. Up above the battlefield, Drake comments on their quick dodge but tells them he'll put the next bullet in their head. The echo of the area prevents his location from being ascertained but using her keen sense of smell, Wendy points out his location to Lucy, following which the Celestial Spirit Mage summons Sagittarius, who states he will take care of the sniper. The two projectile users fire their weapons at one another but wind up in a stalemate as Drake's bullet destroys Sagittarius' arrow and is destroyed in the process. Seeing that they are surprised that he hit the arrow, Drake tells the Mages not to underestimate a genius sniper.Fairy Tail Manga: Chapter 344, Pages 7-12
As the battles rage on, the Fairy Tail Mages are forced to admit that their opponents are more skilled than they had thought.Fairy Tail Manga: Chapter 344, Page 13 Natsu expresses this to them, stating that they're quite good considering that they can't use Magic. Hiroshi tells him not to think of Sylph Labyrinth as any simple Treasure Hunter Guild, stating that they were the winners of the Daihihou Enbu and are recognized as the strongest of Treasure Hunter Guilds. The Fairy Tail Mages are amazed that such a competition exists in the world of Treasure Hunters, following which Drake tells them that random Mages cannot compete with them. Gray retorts that they are not random Mages and reveals the vial of Moon Drip in his hand, showing that he used his Ice-Make: Thieving Hand to take it off them when they weren't looking. Seeing this, Hiroshi and Rala call for Drake to shoot him, while Lucy calls out to Sagittarius.Fairy Tail Manga: Chapter 345, Pages 5-7 Following this, the bullet fired by Drake is blocked by Sagittarius' arrow. Hiroshi attempts to take back the vial from Gray by force and attacks. Gray, stating that they will be keeping the vial to save the giants, jumps into the air to avoid the attack and throws the vial to Natsu, who catches it just as Rala attacks him with his hammer once again. Natsu tosses the vial to Lucy, who manages to catch it. As the fighting goes on, Wendy tosses the vial to Carla, who is fired upon by Hiroshi as he turns his chainsaw sword into a gun. As she struggles to escape, Carla tosses the vial to Happy, who fails to catch it and allows it to shatter upon hitting the ground, much to everyone's utter shock.Fairy Tail Manga: Chapter 345, Pages 8-11
==Aftermath==
As Happy begins crying and apologizing for having broken the bottle, the Treasure Hunters angrily berate the Mages for their actions. However, Lucy points out that the bottle broke but only melted the ice where it landed, causing Gray to firmly state that such a small amount of Moon Drip was never enough to save the village. Hearing this, Hiroshi and Rala fret over their doomed-to-fail plan of obtaining the Eternal Flame. While Happy asks to be punished for his failure, Natsu ignores him and puts his ear to the ground after clearing it. Concentrating, Natsu states that he can hear someone's voice as if someone were calling out. Happy does the same but is unable to hear anything at all. Suspecting that they are in a certain direction, Natsu takes off while his friends follow him from behind. Realizing that they've been left behind, the Treasure Hunters decide to follow as well and take Lucy's Golden Key for themselves, not wanting to go back to their guild empty-handed.Fairy Tail Manga: Chapter 345, Pages 12-16
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