After two days of sailing, the ship finally arrived near Galak Island.
Caesar, Mirajane, and the captain exchanged a few words before leaving. With a teleportation spell, Caesar and Mirajane arrived at Galak Island first.
As soon as they stepped onto the island, they saw tropical-style cabins, wooden streets, and all kinds of vendors.
"I heard from Erza that the star mangoes on this island are the most delicious dessert in the world," Mirajane said, her eyes sparkling. "I plan to bring some back."
"Alright," Caesar nodded.
A gaming backpack could hold plenty of items, so a few desserts should be no problem… right?
At first, Caesar was confident. But after following Mirajane around the snack stalls, that confidence began to fade.
"Mmm! Delicious! Caesar, try it!"
"Boss, give me fifty freshly made takeaways!"
"This Star Mango Milkshake is amazing too! Caesar, taste it! Boss, pack fifty servings of the milkshake!"
"Huh? Not enough ingredients? Only forty portions? That's fine, I'll take them all!"
Caesar wiped the sweat from his forehead. He hadn't expected Mirajane's definition of "a few" to start at fifty!
After visiting several stalls, the two of them had basically bought out every snack vendor.
Caesar, who had started out full of confidence, began to worry about whether his gaming backpack could even hold all of it.
...
After their shopping spree, Caesar's backpack was completely full.
If it had been full of magical items, he would've been thrilled — but it was all desserts, and that made him a little bitter.
"Gone! Gone! Where's my Star Mango Ice Cream?!"
Just as Mirajane was feeling satisfied, a loud and angry voice echoed nearby.
Caesar froze. He looked at the two large bowls of star mango ice cream in his and Mirajane's hands — and then at the nearly eighty portions stored in his backpack — and suddenly felt very awkward.
"Stop!"
As expected, after hearing from the vendor that someone had bought all the ice cream, the voice caught up and shouted behind them.
Caesar turned around and saw two women.
One had emerald-green bangs, a blue-purple cross-shaped mark on her forehead, white cross earrings, and a yellow chain necklace. She had an impressive figure.
The other had short, uneven blond hair, wore a bikini, and had a golden armguard on her right arm.
Caesar's eyes narrowed slightly. He hadn't expected to encounter two members of the Spriggan Twelve before even reaching the Western Continent.
Brandish and Dimaria.
One known as the Nation Destroyer. The other, the War Concubine.
Between the two, Caesar was more intrigued by Dimaria — not for romantic reasons, but because of her identity as a descendant of Chronos, the God of Time.
The God Slayer who eventually became a God… Caesar wondered if her father had conceived her while still mortal, or after becoming divine.
Caesar's intense gaze made Dimaria uncomfortable. She glared coldly. "What are you staring at, filthy man?"
"Caesar."
Mirajane also sensed his lingering stare. She smiled sweetly — but a dangerous aura radiated from her.
Brandish and Dimaria both turned to look at Mirajane. The white-haired woman's magical power wasn't much weaker than theirs.
"Excuse me."
Caesar raised the ice cream in his hand and said calmly, "As you can see, we bought all the ice cream. But if you want, I can give you some."
"No, too much trouble," Brandish replied immediately.
She hated anything troublesome. Missing out on ice cream wasn't worth a fight.
"Wait. I'd like to hear your conditions," Dimaria said with a mocking smile. She was still irritated by Caesar's earlier look. Her sadistic side itched to humiliate him.
"As you wish," Caesar said, meeting her sharp gaze with a grin.
"Oh, this is such a pain," Brandish sighed, rubbing her temple.
"Now?" Dimaria asked coldly.
"Now," Caesar confirmed.
The next moment, an overwhelming magical pressure froze the air itself. Time stopped.
Dimaria smirked and swung her arm. A whip of pure magic lashed toward Caesar.
Trace of Time.
A spell that forced the opponent to relive every moment of pain they had ever experienced.
But just as the whip was about to strike, Caesar — who should have been frozen in time — suddenly moved.
He raised his hand and caught the whip effortlessly.
"What?!" Dimaria's eyes widened.
"The ability to stop time?" Caesar said, gripping the whip tightly. "Looks like I have that too."
Before Dimaria could react, Caesar's fists came crashing down like a storm.
"Damn it, what the rift—!"
She crossed her arms to block, but the relentless blows overwhelmed her. She was blasted backward with a roar.
Time began to flow again.
Brandish's eyes widened in shock. Mirajane also froze, unable to immediately process what she had just seen.
Dimaria landed hard, teeth gritted, staring at Caesar's calm expression.
"Looks like I'll have to get serious," she growled.
"Wait, Dimaria! Are you sure you want to do this here?!" Brandish's face paled.
But it was too late. Light flared from Dimaria's body.
Mirajane's eyes widened. "Take Over magic?!"
The next instant, a surge of terrifying magic erupted, the air trembling from the pressure.
With power like that, only the Four Heavenly Kings of Ishgar could compare.
How unlucky — they'd just come here for a vacation.
"Oh, this is really annoying," Brandish muttered.
As black lines and white marks spread across Dimaria's skin, Brandish sighed and finally released her own magic.
In an instant, the ground expanded outward.
The nearby buildings didn't move — the land beneath their feet did.
To create such an effect so casually, Brandish's power was truly on another level.