Stone spikes continuously emerged from the ground, and Rhode and Natsu kept jumping and dodging their punctures and impacts.
Erza also leaped swiftly, occasionally cutting off one to step on, but new spikes grew from the old ones, forcing her to keep moving.
The vibrating ground made dodging quite difficult, and a slight negligence could lead to a fall.
"Receive · Deep Red Beaked Bird!"
Rhode jumped with force, his arms transformed into wings, and he ascended into the air.
He agilely changed direction in midair, flew to Erza's side, and grabbed her shoulder with bird claws, lifting her into the air.
Once they hovered with Natsu and Hapi, Rhode miserably realized he seemed to have become another Hapi.
He asked, "How's your Magic Power?"
"No problem at all!" said Natsu, sounding confident after eating flames.
"Consumed severely, but still manageable." Despite saying it was fine, Erza's armor returned to its usual form, resembling a power-saving mode.
"I can hold on too!" Hapi, having not participated much in the battle and avoided high-speed flight, had no problem carrying Natsu a while longer.
Thus, Rhode knew who deserved the blue buff.
He also needed to recover a bit himself.
"Roar!!!" Canopus's onslaught hadn't ended yet.
Seeing the ground full of stone spikes and unable to attack his targets, Canopus simply grabbed one stone spike with each hand, snapped them off with a crack, spun his body around, and launched them.
The two massive stone spikes flew with a whistling sound, their length and size akin to two pickup trucks smashing head-on.
Rhode and Hapi each carried someone away, the gusts blowing their clothes and feathers, highlighting the opponent's terrifying power.
Amazing that Natsu could still be lively after being hit by such a thing.
Unrelenting, Canopus snapped off two more stone spikes and hurled them again.
It seemed he gradually mastered some technique, continuously breaking off the tips of stone spikes while moving.
Regardless of accuracy, he recklessly flung the giant stones skyward, creating a reverse meteor shower from the ground to the sky.
Rhode flapped his wings, trying hard to evade with Erza, while she simultaneously wielded two swords to occasionally slash away unavoidable stones.
Hapi also agilely changed directions in air with Natsu, his flying posture more graceful than Rhode's.
As Canopus's attacks intensified, the boots on Erza's feet vanished, and she wielded two additional swords with her feet, moving all four limbs, showcasing advanced four-sword fighting to Rhode.
"Leave the defense to me; get over his head!"
"Okay." Rhode placed full trust in Erza, charging straight toward the sky above Canopus without hesitation.
Rocks flew in, only for Erza to slash them one by one, preventing any from disrupting Rhode's flight.
She habitually did not let down her companions' trust.
"It's right here!" Erza called for Rhode to stop. "Requip · Giant Armor, Evil-breaking Spear!"
This time, instead of throwing, she reversed the grip and thrust the Evil-breaking Spear at Canopus's head.
Canopus raised his right fist for a strike, right when a fireball radiating red light crashed in:
"No way! Top speed MAX SPE~E~D!"
"Fire Dragon's Sword Horn!"
Canopus lifted his left hand to block, just as a stone figure with a glowing blue chest fell from above:
"Die, you beast!"
I must have been insane to charge up there myself.
Rhode muttered to himself, realizing he should have summoned a golem mid-air instead.
But worried about free-fall speed being insufficient and the golem too dull to adapt, he chose to charge, receiving in the middle, crashing into Canopus's large hand.
Since I'm here, Rhode pointed at Erza: "Crown of Insight."
Then he slapped the remaining stone armor on Canopus, and the armor deformed, two small stone figures emerged: "Azure Floating Cannon!"
Rhode ignored the effect of Erza's attack, only focusing on guiding the two "drones" to bombard Canopus's wrist.
Damaging every finger isn't as effective as breaking one; if this fails, at least disable a hand first.
Erza's figure soared like a meteor, the spear tip of the Evil-breaking Spear shining with magic light, slashing through the night sky and fiercely stabbing into the back of Canopus's head.
There was a muffled sound, and an invisible shockwave spread from the spear tip, creating a violent impact, even blowing Erza herself away from the spear tip.
The red glow in Canopus's eyes dimmed, and his movements paused. The massive body swayed and slowly fell backward.
Natsu, holding an exhausted Hapi, ran a few steps along Canopus's body and leapt down.
Rhode, disregarding everything else, clung to Canopus's wrist, continuing his mischief, as the two floating cannons furiously fired blue lasers around the sleeve.
Anyway, a fall wouldn't kill me; better rack up more damage.
Bang!
The giant fell like a colliding skyscraper, the ground trembled, and dust flew upwards.
Rhode crawled up, covered in dust, continued to ravage Canopus's elbow, and instructed the floating cannons to attack Canopus's throat.
"Roar~~~~"
The fallen Canopus's eyes glowed red again, spitting purple light and destroying the two floating cannons, swinging his right hand to hit Rhode at the left arm.
"Ugh..." Rhode was slapped away, cracks appeared on him, and he almost couldn't maintain Receiving Magic.
After crashing into the ground with a thud, he continued rolling several times, finally relaxing the Receiving Magic when he saw Erza's figure.
Erza caught Rhode, the mighty force forcing her to take a few steps back: "How are you?"
"Erza, Rhode!" Natsu, carrying Hapi, ran over, "How are you guys?"
Rhode grimaced in pain: "Feels like I'm about to fall apart."
And his mind was a bit hazy.
But there was no time for that now, as Canopus had already gotten back up.
"Roar!!!" Placing all four limbs on the ground, it opened its maw, unleashing a deafening roar.
It was like the very air in the valley quaked for it.
The group standing before it felt formidable pressure, making even breathing difficult.
Beads of cold sweat trickled down Erza's forehead: "It's like the President's anger..."
Rhode placed his hand on his chest, his heart couldn't stop pounding forcefully, breaths came in rapid gasps, and his hand, clutching his chest, trembled uncontrollably.
It was a feeling of fear.
The last time he felt this was just upon crossing, facing the man-eating bear.
It was the first opponent since then whose potential to defeat him instilled genuine fear.
— Erza, Mystogan, and Laxus weren't counted, because Rhode knew they were friends, and even in defeat, nothing dire would happen.
During the last S-Class exam, he didn't feel fear against the Unicorn Demon Beast because he knew the President and Erza had his back.
But this time, even Erza might not defeat the opponent. This time, losing could mean death!
Rhode unconsciously swallowed, mind filled with notions of fleeing.
Use the River Crab? Stone Beetle? Or the Beaked Bird?
At this pace, escaping with the crew shouldn't be an issue...
Two hands were placed on Rhode's shoulders, Erza and Natsu stood beside him.
Erza smiled and said, "Magic Power's almost restored, let's prepare to fight again."
Natsu shoved Hapi into Rhode's arms, fists clashing: "Got any plans this time? I'm all fired up!"
They both looked at him: "Don't worry, Rhode, we'll be the last ones standing! Because..."
The trembling stopped.
Rhode took a deep breath, exhaled deeply: "We are..."
"Fairy Tail!" *3