Gray and Juvia were still caught up in their tense standoff within one of the spacious inner chambers of the Magic Giant.
Boom!
A scorching burst of flames exploded nearby, sending waves of heat rippling through the air. The ceiling above cracked, and rubble crashed down in chunks.
"I see. You're Natsu, the Fire Dragon Slayer?" A voice echoed from above.
Standing atop a crumbling stone pillar, the fire-elemental of Phantom Lord's Element Four, Usagimaru, looked down on the pink-haired mage below with a twisted grin.
"Should I say you're unlucky… or really unlucky to have met me?"
"Oi, are you an idiot?" Natsu snapped, pointing a finger at him. "I just ate all your flames! Didn't your parents teach you anything about fire and Dragon Slayers?"
"No matter what kind of fire it is, I'll just eat it! So come down here already so I can knock your flaming head off!"
Usagimaru's grin widened.
"Oh? What about this, then?"
With a flick of his wrist, a magic circle lit up behind him. A dense orange fireball formed, radiating a thick, rolling heatwave as it shot toward Natsu with a high-pitched whine.
Without hesitation, Natsu raised both arms and caught the fireball then gulped it down like all the others.
But the moment it went down…
"Blarghh!"
Natsu's face contorted in agony as he dropped to the ground, retching like he'd just swallowed a hundred-year-old Durian.
"W-What the hell did you put in that fire?!"
"Ahahaha!" Usagimaru laughed so hard he nearly fell off the pillar. "How's that taste, huh? Expired milk mixed with sewer fumes! Fire-flavored garbage!"
The flames had been rigged with magic based on disgusting materials, a prank he'd whipped up on a whim. As a fellow slayer, he'd heard Gajeel complain about rusty scrap metal before so he figured, why not go one step lower?
The attack wasn't lethal, but it was deeply humiliating.
Still, in an odd way, it was a valuable lesson: never blindly eat strange fire.
Maybe that's why, after the Phantom incident, Usagimaru was scouted to teach at a Magic Academy and somehow earned a decent teaching rep.
"There's actually fire that tastes that nasty? Are you seriously a fire mage or a trash burner?!"
Recovering quickly, Natsu forced himself upright, flames bursting from his fists again.
A sharp glare cut through the smoke as he charged toward the laughing fire mage.
"Oh yeah, by the way " Natsu's teeth bared in a feral grin.
"Didn't you just say no fire works on me?"
Usagimaru watched the charging Natsu without flinching. His voice was calm cold, even.
"So, what if it's your own flame?"
Buzz.
A dark red magic circle flared to life beneath his feet. With a casual flick of his fingers, the fire Natsu had just conjured twisted unnaturally and turned on its master.
Before Natsu could react, his flaming fist was yanked off course and slammed squarely into his own cheek.
Wham!
The blow sent him staggering backward, completely caught off guard.
"That's why I said you're unlucky to have met me," Usagimaru smirked, hands now stuffed arrogantly into his coat pockets. "Because "
"I can control all flames."
Elsewhere in the Magic Giant, Elfman was sprinting down a vast corridor, his heavy footsteps echoing through the metal halls as he scanned left and right.
They had a clear mission: locate and destroy the Magic Giant's core to prevent it from firing the forbidden spell Purgatory Shattering.
Elfman's chest rose with determination.
"Since this is what Sister Mira wants, then no matter what we can't lose to Natsu and the others! We've gotta destroy the core first! That's what a real man would do!"
His voice echoed with pride.
"This is the first time I'm on a mission with Sister Mira since she unlocked her Take Over again. I won't let her down! Manly man!"
BOOM!
Just as he shouted, a section of the corridor ahead suddenly crumbled. Stone and metal cracked open violently, collapsing inward and kicking up a thick cloud of dust.
From within the smoke, a figure slowly emerged heavy steps crunching on debris.
Gajeel Redfox stepped out from the haze, arms crossed and mouth twisted into a cruel grin.
"Well, well… I finally found you. Fairy Tail."
Elfman halted, blinking at the newcomer. He didn't recognize him.
When Jose had arrived earlier with his Four Elements, Gajeel had stayed back, chewing iron in a corner. Elfman had never seen his face.
Still… this guy's magic pressure was no joke.
He must be strong. Real strong.
Elfman narrowed his eyes. "Who are you?"
Gajeel puffed out his chest and spread his arms wide, proudly declaring, "Listen up! I'm Phantom Lord's ace the Iron Dragon Slayer, Gajeel Redfox!"
Elfman froze for half a second then relaxed, eyes lighting up in recognition.
"Ohhh! You're that guy!"
"The one Chase, Natsu, and the others stripped naked and hung on the clock tower! Right?!"
Gajeel:
.
.
.
Buzz…
A wave of dark blue magic suddenly exploded from his body like a wrathful ghost's scream. The air shook. The ground groaned. The metal walls of the corridor trembled under the pressure.
His face twisted with fury.
"YOU DAMN BASTARD!! I'M GONNA RIP YOU TO PIECES!!"
Gajeel's iron-plated foot slammed down, crushing the floor beneath him into gravel and sending cracks spiderwebbing across the ground.
His magic surged like a beast unleashed violent, unrestrained, and explosive.
But facing this overwhelming pressure, Elfman didn't flinch.
Instead, he drew a deep breath, then stepped forward calmly meeting Gajeel's killing intent head-on.
Sizzle...
Black lightning arced through the air as a dark purple magic circle formed above him. With a flash, a regal and primal pressure poured down like thunder: the wrath of the Beast King's Soul.
Elfman grinned, raising a fist.
"Hey, that graffiti on your butt? I bet it's rubbed off by now." He cracked his knuckles. "I can help redraw it for free."
Boom!
Gajeel's eyes turned bloodshot. His fury ignited like oil on fire.
Without another word, he charged forward, the Iron Dragon Sword forming in his arm and cleaving through the air with a metallic shriek.
Steel met muscle.
Dragon met beast.
Their clash triggered an explosion of raw power that cracked the walls and collapsed the ceiling above them. The shockwaves alone leveled everything around them.
Meanwhile, at the shoreline where Chase had been battling, the atmosphere was utterly different.
Now, with every stat enhanced to the maximum, Chase completed his final summoning sequence.
By linking the Dark Magician Girl's Chain with the Sage's Gem, a pillar of black light burst from the field.
With it
The Dark Magician stepped forth.
A sorcerer clad in indigo robes, eyes glowing beneath his pointed helm, emerged from the void with a commanding presence.
"Finally!" the Dark Magician Girl exclaimed, twirling her pink wand with excitement. "I've been waiting forever to beat up that bastard Joseph!"
She still hadn't forgiven him for what he did last night.
But the Dark Magician folded his arms, his voice serious and steady.
"Don't get reckless. He's one of the Ten Wizard Saints on par with Makarov himself."
"Y-Yes!" the Dark Magician Girl straightened up immediately, saluting so sharply it was almost comical. "Understood, sir!"
"Let's move," said Chase, his expression calm and focused.
A golden-black aura surged around him. With all his power gathered, he soared into the sky, now able to fly through magic he'd learned from his apprentice none other than the Dark Magician himself.
Dark and pink halos flared behind him.
The trio master and two loyal spellcasters rose toward the head of the Magic Giant.
The Phantom Guild soldiers stationed near the command center barely had time to scream before being blown apart.
BOOM!
The front door to the command chamber detonated inward.
Shattered stone and steel sprayed like shrapnel, turning the pristine room into a disaster zone.
Furniture was tossed. The walls cracked. Monitors fizzled and flickered.
At the center of it all, still seated lazily on his crystal throne, was Jose Porla.
Legs crossed, cheek propped on one hand, he didn't even blink.
"You don't know how to knock, do you?" he sneered.
"Makarov must've raised you brats without manners."
Chase stepped through the rubble and stopped exactly ten meters away.
He smiled.
"I did knock," he said politely.
"But, President Jose your door's quality is just way too poor."
....
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