"How are you?" Mira and Erza were concerned about Mystogan's condition.
"I'm fine." Mystogan tugged at his face mask, turning his head away from Erza, not wanting her to see him.
He was thinking that with these three here, perhaps he could leave now?
Rhode was answering Laxus's question: "The strongest? Don't be mistaken, we're just here to take you back.
But are you really causing all this chaos in the guild and the town over such a trivial matter?"
Among the five present, the only one interested in the so-called title of 'strongest' was Laxus.
The other four couldn't understand what was going on in his mind.
Rhode straightforwardly gave his assessment: "That's utterly foolish."
Laxus was instantly enraged, a lightning bolt as thick as a barrel shot towards Rhode.
"Requip: Thunder Emperor's Armor!"
Aqua armor materialized on Erza's body as she wielded her spear to stand in front of Rhode.
The golden lightning was blocked and dissolved by the translucent barrier that suddenly appeared on the spear, leaving Erza unharmed.
"Takeover: Satan's Soul!" Although Mira could have defended, she knew Rhode could handle it himself, so she chose to attack Laxus directly.
Mira stood sideways, extending her right hand straight as she pushed out three black magic balls, each brimming with powerful energy, in succession.
Laxus extended his arm in response, using the golden lightning in his hand to detonate the magic balls mid-air.
Explosions echoed through the room, shattering and sending the stone tiles of the cathedral's hall flying.
"Summon, Cyan Engraved Golem, Crimson Marked Tree Monster! Crown of Insight, Crown of Embers."
Rhode followed the standard battle protocol, summoning two golems and two treant monsters, applying dual red and blue buffs to each of the four allies.
Once their task was complete, the four hefty beings lined up and ran outside with booms echoing behind them.
Their next task was to survive while continually replenishing their allies' auras.
"You really do like to hide behind others, especially women, just as the rumors say." Laxus sneered at Rhode, "Or should I commend you for living up to the 'Military Advisor' title?"
Rhode was curious about where Laxus had gotten this outdated information. In the recent Ghost War and Tower of Paradise War, it seemed he always charged at the front, and also...
"Your taunts need more practice before they're effective." Rhode just laughed when an enemy spouted outdated information.
He waved his hand: "Alright, let's wrap this up quickly; we still have the Magical Parade to attend tonight, and that's exhausting."
"You..." Laxus was surrounded by lightning, "Quick resolution? Who gave you the guts to underestimate me?"
Rhode nodded, thinking this was a more competent taunt.
Fried said an important cause of this incident was the embarrassing stories about the guild published in last week's Wizard Weekly, leading many to laugh loudly while reading, making Laxus feel disrespected…
In other words, this guy hates being looked down upon the most.
And although his actions were peculiar, he must care about the guild, at least its reputation.
But of course, this did not change the fact that he hurt his companions, and a severe punishment was necessary, perhaps even expulsion from the guild.
But before that, he certainly needed to be taken down a notch.
"You've caused enough trouble, Laxus!" Erza charged forward, thrusting the Thunder Emperor's Spear at Laxus.
Laxus grabbed the tip of the Thunder Strike Spear with one hand.
Erza pushed forward, and the cyan lightning flowing from the spear surged toward Laxus's body, seemingly not causing him any harm.
"Such weak lightning, how could it possibly..."
Laxus's words were cut off as he frowned, for the red light streaming down the spear turned into flames, causing some burning pain in his palm.
"This is..." Laxus released a powerful lightning surge that traveled down the spear to Erza.
"Ahhh!" Even clad in the Thunder Emperor's Armor, which could weaken lightning attacks, Erza still felt stinging pain.
"Erza!" Mira's wings flapped behind her as she shot forward like an arrow, aiming her right fist at Laxus's face.
Laxus released the spear tip and raised his arm to defend himself.
But as he blocked the right punch, Mira's left punch quickly followed, forcing Laxus to defend once more while also sending a punch back at Mira.
The two engaged in a dizzying exchange of punches, moving so swiftly that although they had only two pairs of arms between them, it seemed like dozens were attacking simultaneously.
In a flash, they exchanged dozens of blows before Mira finished with a high kick.
Laxus raised his arm to block.
He noticed something was off; like Erza's earlier attack, even when he blocked Mira's attacks, they still left a burning sensation.
Up to this point, both of his sleeves were torn. Despite not losing in battle, from his clothes, it looked like he was defeated.
Was it those strange red glows?
Laxus quickly assessed the situation; then what effect did the blue light have?
After blocking Mira's kick, before he could counterattack, Rhode was already above him.
At this moment, behind Rhode was a pair of crimson dragon wings, a dragon tail, with hands and feet turned into dragon claws. His face was overlaid with flame-like dragon scales from his forehead to the sides of his nose, resembling a mask that left his mouth and nose exposed.
It was Laxus's first time seeing Rhode in this form, not only for him but also for Erza. Although it looked similar to the Receiving Magic of the Mountain Dragon Soul, it was clearly a different Receiving Magic.
Purgatory Dragon Soul!
Rhode never imagined that the Purgatory Dragon Soul's first real battle, as opposed to a simulation, would be against someone from his own guild.
Thinking of this, Rhode felt a bit uncomfortable, so he added two more measures of force to his attack: "Purgatory Dragon's Beng Fist!"
Rhode formed a fist with his dragon claw, which seemed to enlarge significantly upon impact, as if enveloped in scorching magma from wrist to elbow.
The fiery red light and intense heat made it impossible to underestimate this punch.
And furthermore, there was a feeling...
"Interesting, is this your true power?" Perhaps intending to gauge Rhode's strength, Laxus did not attempt to dodge; instead, he was engulfed in golden lightning, raising his arms to withstand the blow.
Boom!
The descending heavy punch struck Laxus's arms, causing magma to erupt like a blooming trumpet flower.
"Ugh..." The floor beneath Laxus cracked, following which a small section of the ground sunk a few inches.
Soon after, more lava along with purgatory fire spewed from Rhode's fist, resembling a torrential lava waterfall, enveloping Laxus's figure from above.
Indeed, there were also three unobtrusive red streaks mixed within, falling on Laxus's arms along with the punch.
Rhode was not one to show mercy; given a good opportunity, he would call on allies to continue the assault: "Mira, Erza!"
"Takeover: Demon Hutley!"
Mira transformed into the Hutley form, her cloak billowing, hellfire circling around her.
"Requip: Flame Emperor's Armor!"
Erza switched into the fiery red Flame Emperor's Armor, yet she wielded the serrated saber that paired with the Purgatory Armor.
The two moved simultaneously; before the lava and purgatory fire fully dissipated, one with Demon Claw Heart Stealer and the other slicing horizontally with the saber, both attacked through the crimson waterfall to hit Laxus inside.
"Waaah!"
Laxus was knocked flying, his coat nearly burned away by the flames, with visible wounds on his arms.
His chest and abdomen showed signs of damage, one with thin claw marks and another with a horizontal sword wound.
Rhode took a deep breath, a surge of lava mixed with purgatory fire spewing from his mouth: "Purgatory Dragon's Roar!"
"Is this your trump card?!" Laxus, however, smiled, adjusting his stance mid-air as one hand gripped the ground to halt his retreat.
He too took a deep breath, unleashing a golden lightning storm from his mouth: "Thunder Dragon's... Roar!"
"What?"
Mira, Erza, and Mystogan all displayed expressions of disbelief.
Laxus was also a Dragon Slayer Mage?!
They had certainly never heard of such a thing!