Rumble. Inside the Magic Giant, Erza, clad in her Heavenly Wheel Armor, cut down every ghost soldier that dared rush her. Sparks flew with each slash as her blades danced through the collapsing corridor.
"Has it started yet, Chase " she muttered. Watching rubble fall from the ceiling and feeling the tremors grow stronger, a flicker of worry appeared in her eyes. "We have to stop the shattering of Purgatory quickly..."
As she sighed, the floor before her began to twist unnaturally.
"Powerful and beautiful Fairy Queen, it's an honor to meet you here. At this time, I should say good afternoon to you in the tune of 372, NoNoNo~"
The voice slithered through the air. From the quivering floor rose Thor, the Earth Element of Phantom Lord, his smooth, clay-like body shifting like molten wax. With a monocle perched over one eye and a vile smirk on his lips, he eyed Erza like a collector admiring a prized exhibit.
"You're one of the Element Four," Erza said, her brow furrowing in disgust.
"Yes, yes, Fairy Queen. I admit it's terribly impolite to behave this way toward a lady, but you, my dear, are no ordinary lady. You're strong, elegant, divine!" Thor's tongue practically slithered with his words.
Erza didn't waste another breath. Her patience for creeps was nonexistent.
"Requip Black Feather Armor!"
A gust of dark wind blasted through the hallway as obsidian wings unfurled behind her. Her form blurred, and in the blink of an eye, she charged, sword flashing with deadly intent.
But Thor, ever grotesque, only smirked and caressed his green mustache. "I'm sorry. I've already seen it your deepest vulnerability."
Gurgle. Gurgle.
The ground bubbled like boiling tar. From its depths emerged a group of eerily familiar figures small, spectral children with clay-like forms, their arms outstretched like lost spirits. Jellal, Wally, Xiu, Simon, Milliana...
They were all her childhood friends from the Tower of Heaven.
"Erza, why don't you want to stay with me?"
"Sister Erza, it hurts... It hurts so much! Why didn't you come back for all these years?"
"Erza, you betrayed us... Why should you be the only one who gets to be free?!"
Last came Rob. His body was hunched, his face a shredded, bloodstained mess, eyes full of pain. "Erza... why didn't you protect them... like I protected you...?"
Though Erza knew it was an illusion created by Thor's magic, her steps faltered. Her vision blurred. Her hands trembled.
Clang.
The sword slipped from her grip and hit the floor.
She couldn't move.
Those voices. Those eyes. Those memories. They were the chains that still shackled her heart.
Thor chuckled with glee. "Haha... I succeeded."
Just as Erza was stunned by the haunting illusions of Jellal and her childhood companions, a swirling mist silently coiled behind her. From within it emerged Aria, the Wind Element of Phantom Lord, her sinister smile glinting as her pale hands extended slowly toward Erza, forming an eerie field of distortion in the air. "The Fairy Queen, dancing so valiantly in the wind, destined in the end to have her wings broken and fall… how tragic," she whispered mockingly, feigning sympathy as if reciting a sorrowful ballad. In a heartbeat, her expression turned ruthless. "Airspace: Destroy!" she declared, clapping her hands together as a vortex of wind-infused magic surged outward. Erza, barely recovered from the emotional ambush of her memories, had no time to react before she was caught in the full force of the spell. A searing pulse of agony exploded through her body as her magic was violently drained, the pressure threatening to crush her spirit. But before the spell could drain her completely, the ceiling above exploded with a rumble, and from the debris descended a demonic shadow Mira, in her Satan Soul form, crashed down like divine retribution. Her claw tore through the rock and slashed at Aria with brutal speed, forcing the wind sorceress to dissolve into mist and retreat in panic. Mira caught Erza before she could collapse, her demon wings unfurling protectively around her. "I sensed your magic waver and came as fast as I could," she said coldly, glaring at the regrouping Phantom duo. "But to think you'd get ambushed by trash like that… that's not like you, Erza." "I'm sorry," Erza murmured, shame flickering in her eyes. But it didn't last long she closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and when they reopened, her gaze was sharp and unyielding. In a flash of light, she Requipped into her Purgatory Armor, her aura erupting with blazing fury. "That scum who twisted my memories… I'll show him what hell feels like!" Mira's frown melted into a fiery smile, one only a devil could wear. "So this is our first real battle together, huh? What a fitting moment." Erza gave a firm nod, her voice like steel. "Anyone who hurts our guild, who dares touch our friends, we'll make them pay." With that, the two women one clad in demonic flame, the other in purgatorial wrath stood side by side, releasing a terrifying surge of magic that shook the very walls around them. Thor, now drenched in cold sweat, instinctively stepped back. Though an S-class mage himself, something primal inside him screamed that he was in the presence of overwhelming destruction. "Hey, hey… this isn't looking good…" he muttered, feeling true fear for the first time. Beside him, Aria's expression remained unnervingly calm, though her narrowed eyes betrayed a trace of wariness.
He struggled to smile as he untied the bandages on his face that were used to restrain his immense magical power, revealing a pair of strange eyes.
"Now you should enjoy the battle to the fullest and bring endless sorrow and despair to your opponent, Thor!"
Time moves forward a few minutes, to the battlefield on the other side.
Natsu, who was fighting hard with Usagimaru, trembled on his feet, and hurriedly steadied his body and kept a safe distance from the opponent.
"Wait, this magic power "
Lucy was held in the arms of Happy and suspended in the air, staring at the trembling Magic Giant with a look of shock on her face.
The next one she set out on was Natsu, who she found following the blazing flames.
"There's no mistake, it must be that guy Chase who was fighting with Joseph!" Natsu said with a smile, raising the corners of his mouth.
"Haha, I really don't know where you get the confidence to show such an expression."
Usagimaru also felt the fluctuations of his own guildmaster's magic power and said coldly, "The guildmaster's terror is far beyond your imagination. If you dare to challenge him, it will be too late for your companions to regret it now."
"You are the ones who don't know how powerful Chase is!" Natsu retorted without thinking.
"For a guy who can't even control his own fire, what he says is not credible at all." Usagi Maru started to taunt.
"Oh really? Then do you want to try again?"
Natsu bumped his fists together, his smile growing wider.
After a battle, he had figured out the opponent's magical properties and had great confidence in his own flames.
As if to give strong proof, Natsu cast the dragon-slaying magic right in front of Usagimaru.
....
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