As a bolt of lightning headed right for Mirajane, who wasn't able to react in time, Erza suddenly appeared between the two, holding her spear defensively, though when the attack hit her, she was forced back, slamming into Mirajane while the two crashed through several buildings.
With two of the three mages being temporarily out of commission, Mystogan was forced to face Laxus on his own, though it went just about how the two expected; Laxus, having stood in the exact same spot throughout the battle, fired several bolts of lightning at Mystogan.
Quickly reacting, Mystogan unholstered several of his staffs, slamming them down in a certain formation before grabbing his main staff and pointing it at the formation, firing a beam of mana directly into the middle, causing the other staffs to come to life as they formed an ethereal barrier, protecting him from the attacks.
"Heh, interesting. I wonder, how many can it stop?" With a faint smirk, Laxus pointed his finger at the ethereal barrier with a curious expression. Unlike before, where his attacks were merely bolts of lightning, this time, Laxus fired a concentrated lightning beam, focusing on its penetration power; when it collided with the barrier, a faint crack appeared, while Mystogan was forced back.
He was given no time to recover as Laxus rained down attack after attack without pause; eventually, the barrier, which was now full of cracks, was broken, causing Mystogan to collapse to his knees while coughing blood into his mask from the backlash.
"I'm impressed, you managed to withstand six attacks." The compliment was laced with arrogance, while Mystogan slowly stood up, regaining his bearing just in time for Mirajane and Erza to return. "Couldn't have returned sooner?" Side-eyeing Erza and Mirajane, Mystogan picked up his staff.
"Sorry, but I needed a break; when someone as heavy as Erza slams into you, you're bound to crack a rib or two." Faintly smirking, Mirajane wiped the flood from her mouth and flew towards Laxus while raising her palm at him, condensing a large amount of magic power before releasing it in a powerful blast.
However, Mirajanes' attack, which would be capable of wiping out a smaller city, was met with a casual bolt of lightning from Laxus, smashing right through it while she was forced to cross her arms, defending herself from its residual strength; however, the force was still enough to send her skipping across the ground like a thrown stone.
"Tch, I'm not heavy!" Erza clicked her tongue in annoyance at her friend's comment while dashing towards Laxus, dodging a few of the attacks before condensing a significant amount of magic power into her spear, which transformed into lightning before thrusting it at Laxus.
Laxus, seeing the lightning attack, didn't bother to eat it, treating it beneath him to do so, and merely yawned before outstretching his hand, grabbing the bolt of lightning before spinning on his heel while channeling his own magic power into it, massively strengthening it. Once he finished turning around, he released it back at Erza, who thrust her spear again, intending to intercept the attack, only to be knocked out of the air and fall to the ground, spitting out blood while she struggled to stand back up.
Following Erza, Mystogan grabbed another staff and pointed it at each other, releasing two beams of magic, which hit each other before they spiralled around each other while heading directly for Laxus, who pointed his finger at him, launching another concentrated bolt of lightning.
When the two attacks collided, Laxus's bolt of lightning penetrated through his attack before slamming into Mystogan's body, sending him tumbling back into a building.
Seeing Mystogan, Mirajane, and Erza defeated, Laxus faintly chuckled. "That wasn't bad. For a warm-up. Hehe." Stuffing his hands into his pockets, Laxus walked forward; having had his fun with the guild's strongest mages, he intended to head to the guild to finish everything with Makarov.
However, he was forced to stop as Erza, Mirajane, and Mystogan blocked his path, causing him to lightly frown as he stared at them. "Tch, bunch of weaklings, get out of the way before I kill you; have some dignity and stay defeated." However, his voice was met with laughter from Erza.
"Haha, t-that is our dignity. Fairy Tails' dignity. We don't accept defeat." Erza, despite her injuries and the explicit knowledge that victory was an impossibility, tightly gripped her spear and pointed it at Laxus. "H-Heh, said it perfectly, Sis." Grinning, Mirajane's spirit matched Erza's own, as she flared her magic power, showing no signs of giving up.
As for Mystogan, he didn't say anything; just the intense look of defiance within his gaze and how he tightly clenched his staff said more than words could ever.
Seeing them stand before him, refusing to lie down and admit defeat, Laxus scoffed in annoyance before raising his fist, causing lightning to spark around it. "Then die." Just as Laxus reeled his arm back, three waves of attacks from opposite directions suddenly hit him.
Ice lances, water slices, several magic bullets, painted vulcans, and a massive wooden spiked ball came from the left. From the right were purple flames, several cards, a large, smoky fist, and golden light. Finally, from behind was a wave of sand, plants emerging from the ground sprouting fists, a telepathic buzzing noise in Laxus's head, an aggressive roar of compressed air, and sharp blades of wind from a flap of wings.
To finish it all off, two attacks came from above: one was a massive spiraling vortex of tiny bits of metal, and the other was a spiraling vortex of intense flames.
As the attacks hit Laxus simultaneously, he was engulfed in an explosion, followed by a thick cloud of smoke that obscured everyone's vision.
"Haha, we've got him!" Grinning, Natsu landed on the ground. "Dammit, Natsu, you're not supposed to say stuff like that!" Yelling at Natsu, Lucy shot him a glare, while he gave a thumbs up, causing Cana, Macao, and Wakaba to wryly chuckle.
Before any further light-hearted words could be exchanged, a powerful burst of magic power instantly dispelled the thick smoke, causing everyone's expression to turn grim as they stared at Laxus, who remained uninjured from their combined attacks.
"Tch, this has grown tedious. Doesn't matter how many ants there are, they won't kill a tiger." Clicking his tongue, Laxus eyed his fellow guild members, his annoyance having reached its limit. "Heh, we'll at least take a chunk out of you." Confidently smirking, Gajeel stared down Laxus, who narrowed his eyes. "Then try it."
Following his words, there was a brief bout of absolute stillness, only for Natsu and Gajeel to be the ones to break it as they released a fire and iron dragon's roar, prompting everyone else to attack as they lunged at Laxus.
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Cooper POV
Arriving just outside Magnolia, I retracted my magic power and looked up at the city, eyeing the thick smoke rising from its center; however, it was the silence that unnerved me.
Frowning, I entered Magnolia, dashing through the city as I headed to the heart of the smoke. However, as I did, I came across several instances of damage: walls were broken, the ground was cracked, light posts were bent, and parts of buildings were crumbling. Worst of all, the closer I got to the smoke, the destruction would only grow.
Eventually, I slowed down to a walk as I took a deep breath before exhaling, dispersing the thick smoke, only to freeze when at what I saw. My siblings, bloody, injured, and unconscious, were sprawled on the ground; stepping closer, I kneeled, placing a hand atop Warren's chest, heaving a sigh of relief at his beating heart.
As I headed deeper, I would stop at each one, kneeling and briefly checking their injuries to ensure nothing was life-threatening. Thankfully, none were, but none of them were lightly injured either.
Starting with Warren, I checked Laki, Reedus, Nab, Max, Droy, Jet, Bisca, Alzack, Wakaba, Macao, Levy, Juvia, Cana, and Lucy.
As I headed even further in, turning a corner, I saw even more of my siblings, as well as the person who is to blame for all of this; he was just standing there, eyeing the only other person who hadn't been beaten unconscious. When Laxus saw me, his face broke into a wicked grin, though I paid him no heed, concerned more about my siblings than the beating I intended to give him.
Approaching the two, I checked Elfman, then Gray, Natsu, Mystogan, whose face had been revealed, Mirajane, and finally Erza. They were all alive, thankfully, but their injuries were the worst; they at least had several broken bones.
Rising to my feet, I left Erza and approached the last person, the only person who was still standing. Even without looking, he was worse off than the others; a leg and an arm were bent in the wrong way, one of his arms was badly scorched, his blood was still dripping onto the ground; the fact that he was still standing right now was a testament to the immense resilience of an Iron Dragon.
Stopping beside him, I touched his shoulder and leaned forward, only to widen my eyes slightly when I saw the white of his eyes. Softly sighing, I gently rubbed his head; for the first time, since Gramps allowed Gajeel to join Fairy Tail, I genuinely saw him as my little brother.
"Good job, Gajeel. I'll handle the rest." Carefully, I laid him on the ground before standing up and glaring at Laxus, who continued to grin.