Not far from Mr. Yopa's residence, Wendy was engrossed in reading a thick book.
"Why all of a sudden?" Carla didn't understand her actions, "They told us to stay at the inn before."
"I'm sorry, Carla, there's something I absolutely must verify... It's this!"
Wendy found the section she was looking for and carefully noted it down.
She looked around, then picked up a branch and began drawing a magic array on an open field.
"Isn't this the Milky Way magic array?" Carla had seen Wendy draw it more than once, "At this time, learning the Dragon Slayer's Secret Art?"
"No, because I treated the Milky Way as an attack magic, I've been making mistakes in several parts, which is why I never succeeded."
Wendy earnestly explained her understanding: "The meaning of the Milky Way is 'listening to the voice of the dragon soul that stretches to the Milky Way', it's magic for conversing with the dragon's soul."
"Even so, why here... is there a dragon's soul here?"
"No, though it's for listening to the voice of the dragon soul, it might also help me sense human souls."
Wendy finished drawing the magic array and wiped the sweat from her forehead, "I suspect that Miss Liss's symptoms might be due to a problem with her soul. If I use the Milky Way, maybe I can find a solution."
Carla was worried: "Even so, it's a Dragon Slayer's Secret Art, can your magic power support it?"
Wendy smiled at her: "I'll have to rely on you then, Carla."
Carla turned her head, "Hmph, this isn't even your task... always trying to be strong."
Wendy sat in a 'duck sitting' position in the center of the magic array, closed her eyes, and put her hands together in a prayer-like gesture:
"Oh wandering soul in this place, allow me to hear your voice—Dragon Slayer Secret Art: Milky Way!"
The array on the ground emitted a green light that shot up into the sky, illuminating a small part of the night sky.
The magic power's light surrounded Wendy like fireflies, gathering into a magnificent Milky Way around her, brilliant and dazzling.
Carla admired the scene for a while, thinking that such a remarkable display would surely alert many people: "We'll need to get Wendy out of here quickly."
Wendy seemed to be influenced by Fairy Tail, always causing a huge commotion whenever she did something.
After a while, Wendy suddenly opened her eyes with a look of terror and collapsed weakly.
"Wendy!" Carla hurriedly supported Wendy, this didn't seem like mere exhaustion of magic power, "What happened? What did you hear?"
"Carla... Quick, we need to find Mr. Rhode and the others..."
"What are you saying? You should rest now!"
Wendy shook her head with difficulty: "I'm okay, we must hurry..."
"Is it here?"
"Seems like it's glowing here."
"Who exactly was it?"
Even though the magic light had disappeared, nearby residents came to investigate.
"Anyway, let's leave this place first." Carla hurriedly wiped away the remnants of the magic array and flew away with Wendy.
...
"This guy is just too strong." Rhode stood up, clutching his shoulder.
It was rare for him to get injured during a mission, especially after taking on the Crimson Marked Tree Monster.
Although he was slowly recovering thanks to the Crown of Embers, the feeling of being beaten was unpleasant indeed.
The terrain at the scene had undergone a massive change; the small hills on both sides were almost leveled, and the valley between was rugged with large boulders.
It wasn't just because of the fierce battle; it was also due to this demon's exaggerated use of earth magic!
Who in the Advisory Council thought it was a good idea to seal an earth demon with earth magic?
Or did they not know this demon was of the earth element?
"Waa!" Natsu flew over.
"Vines!" Rhode tapped the ground, and several vines grew out, weaving into a net to catch Natsu and prevent him from crashing into the rocks.
Natsu's clothes were somewhat damaged, and there was a trickle of blood at the corner of his mouth, but he simply wiped it off and energetically bounced up: "Damn, this guy is so tough!"
Erza's Star Armor had shattered, and now she was wearing Black Feather Armor, nimbly dodging and leaping over Canopus's arms and shoulders.
Whenever she had the chance, she would strike the large creature with her sword.
The first Crimson Marked Tree Monster had been defeated, and now the Crown of Embers on Erza was maintained by Rhode's tree monster form.
Natsu's had already disappeared; to restore it would require Rhode to stop healing himself or summon a second tree monster.
But there had been some success; they managed to knock this demon down once with their initial fierce attack.
Unfortunately, it used its powerful earth magic to defend against their second wave and even launched a counterattack.
Now, Canopus was covered in wounds, both from the scorching flames and the sharp blades, along with the hideous claw marks of the beast.
However, as its appearance suggested, it had thick skin and high defenses; no matter how long they fought, they couldn't deliver a fatal blow.
"3D Text·FIRE, FLAME, BLAZE!"
Rhode quickly wrote down three words representing flame, which transformed into yellow, orange-red, and orange flames.
"Thanks for the meal!" Natsu opened his mouth wide and swallowed them, flames bursting from his hands, "Hapi, take me up!"
"Aye Sir!" Hapi grabbed Natsu and flew high into the air, hovering above the demon, "Erza, get out of the way!"
Erza knew what move Natsu wanted to use, so she pushed off Canopus's shoulder with her feet and flapped her wings to retreat swiftly.
"Merge the flame from the left hand with the flame from the right hand..."
Natsu lifted both hands above his head, and the two flames merged into a gigantic fireball.
Rhode thought this pose really resembled Kakarot throwing a Genki Dama, and he gritted his teeth, transferring the next Crown of Embers to Natsu.
"Fire Dragon's Brilliant Flame!"
"Roar~~~" Canopus bent over and hammered the ground forcefully, raising two slabs of stone that arched over his head to defend against the flames.
But the massive stone slabs shattered instantly, and the fireball engulfed Canopus's head and then its entire body.
A cry of agony echoed, so loud it hurt their ears.
Natsu's voice came from the sky: "How do you like that, jerk!"
The answer was not so good; Canopus's body was covered with hideous burns, but when it hammered the ground fiercely again, a layer of stone armor formed over its body.
The stone armor scorched and shattered due to the flames' heat, but it also extinguished the flames.
Canopus opened its huge mouth and spat out a beam of purple energy.
Hapi reacted quickly, carrying Natsu to dodge it swiftly.
Erza was about to launch another attack when she saw Canopus hammering the ground with both fists, and a purple magic array spread from his fists, almost covering the entire valley.
The ground began to shake, and stone spikes continuously emerged from the ground, targeting Erza and Rhode. Even if they dodged them, the spikes grew to heights of five to six meters.
—Another large-scale earth magic!
The mana of this big guy was ridiculously high.