The word 'brother-in-law' has quite a strong impact on Ibarglin; mainly because it's so scary.
Although Rhode later said he was just pretending at the time, she always felt it wasn't so.
Ibarglin stood behind Elfman, blankly thinking about various things.
Fortunately, when Elfman mentioned the word 'disruption,' Fried and Biguslo both looked somewhat embarrassed.
It was equivalent to the Thunder God Tribe collectively disconnecting for half a second.
Elfman charged forward and punched Biguslo.
The three puppets beside Fried couldn't keep up, leaving only two attempting to block.
Naturally, the result was both puppets and humans being knocked away by Elfman together.
"Biguslo!" Fried's eyes flashed red, and he wrote with his sword on his body, "Dark Ecriture: Absolute Shadow!"
Purple-black light flashed, and Fried's upper body seemed to be clad in black metal armor. His cheeks became like those of a fierce ghost, and his eyes glowed red.
"Absolute Shadow? Be careful!" Ibarglin warned.
However, the warning was just a bit late. Fried's figure, like a dark lightning bolt, rushed diagonally forward, punching Elfman away.
He flashed to the side, dodged Ibarglin's attack, and then returned to collide with her.
"Wow!"
"Ah!"
The two collided with the mountain wall, one after the other, while Fried ghost-like rushed once more towards Ibarglin.
——His teammates knew him best; to increase the odds of victory, he had to settle them in one go.
"Receive: Beast King's Soul!"
Elfman's hulking figure stood before Ibarglin, his left hand catching Fried's fist, and his right hand formed a fist aimed at Fried's face.
Fried was struck sliding back, his feet kicking up clouds of dust.
"Elfman, dodge!"
"Fried, dodge!"
Ibarglin and Biguslo spoke almost simultaneously, and Elfman and Fried cooperatively moved to the side.
Ibarglin pushed up her glasses and activated her Petrifying Eye, while Biguslo pushed up his helmet to activate his Styling Eye.
Two magics activated through eyes collided... simultaneously taking effect!
Biguslo's body was petrified by Ibarglin's magic, and Ibarglin's body was controlled by Biguslo's Styling Eye.
However, Biguslo, having controlled Ibarglin, didn't have time to issue commands before turning into a statue, rendering the Styling Eye ineffective.
Ibarglin regained her freedom.
"That was dangerous..." She let out a long sigh, then stood with the transformed Beast King Elfman, facing Fried.
A few seconds later, Fried suddenly reverted to normal: "I concede."
Ibarglin asked, puzzled: "You concede just like that? I think I saw you had already written a technique, right? Why didn't you activate it?"
"Because I only had time to set up one technique, 'Those who enter cannot use magic'." Fried said helplessly, "It's fine if it's against others, but with you two..."
He looked appreciatively at Elfman's muscular upper body, excited at the prospect of a hearty close combat with such a man, but...
Going one against two, with that technique, especially when Ibarglin can provide remote support from outside, would only be asking for trouble.
When the words fell, the closed entrance below the banner of duel opened, making it impossible to go back on their decision.
Elfman reverted to normal, and Ibarglin lifted Biguslo's petrification. The two laughed, high-fived, and walked toward the entrance.
Before leaving, Ibarglin proudly raised her chin at Fried, as if saying, 'That's what happens when you choose him as a partner instead of me.'
Fried smiled gently: "Ibarglin still minds such things."
Biguslo wasn't aware of what happened during petrification, but it seemed they lost: "Sorry, Fried."
"It's okay. Ibarglin knows us too well, and that man is indeed strong."
"But you still want to inherit Laxus's will."
"Will is will; level doesn't matter." Fried looked up at the cave, "I think as long as you hold a desire to protect the guild, Laxus is very, very close to us."
Being told this by Fried, Biguslo vaguely felt the same way.
"Thanks a lot this time, Ibarglin."
"Hmph~ Who was unwilling at first..." Ibarglin paused, akimbo, and asked, "Hey, who allowed you to call me Ibarglin? That's a nickname reserved for Laxus and the Thunder God Tribe!"
"Um... sorry?"
When he apologized, Ibarglin instead felt unhappy, awkwardly saying, "Fine, considering you were just like a man earlier, I'll specially allow you to call me that."
Whoosh—Ibarglin closed her folding fan, pointed at Elfman with it, proudly saying, "Gratefully accept."
"Hmm... Ah." What a troublesome woman. Elfman sighed, "I wonder how Lisana is doing; hopefully she won't have the misfortune of encountering my sister or Erza."
Elfman felt Lisana was better off encountering Kildas or Rhode than the two most terrifying women in the guild.
At least Kildas treats Lisana like a daughter and Rhode like a sister and won't handle her too harshly.
This guy, worrying about his family, looks pretty agreeable.
Ibarglin thought for a moment and seriously comforted him: "Her partner is the Rain Woman, right? That woman is strong; there should be no problem."
...
"No problem, right, Lisana?"
Jubia transformed into a stream of water and returned to her original position, protecting the just-retreated Lisana.
"Mm, I'm fine." Lisana touched the hilt of the sword behind her; if this fight goes on, she'll draw the sword.
Gajeel also paused briefly, asking, "How are you, little one?"
Reby said, "No problem, but... properly call my name!"
Gajeel didn't listen, pointed at Jubia, and complained, "Damn it, I came to take the exam to beat those bastards; why did I have to run into you of all people? Why did you two choose the connected passage to us!"
"Jubia didn't want to meet Gajeel either, but we arrived first, so we should be the ones asking why Gajeel chose this path."
Jubia always liked using honorifics, even when speaking with someone as familiar as Gajeel.
Having the question thrown back at him made Gajeel feel a bit awkward; should he confess that they were the last to arrive and had no choice?
Gajeel avoided answering directly, stiffly saying, "No help for it, I still want to go to beat up other people, so I can only knock you down here."
"Jubia also needs to defeat you here, and then..." Suddenly, Jubia blushed, "Then I can continue to help Gray by clearing obstacles, letting him care for Jubia..."
Lisana helplessly held her forehead; although this side of Jubia is cute, she was a bit worried that life might be tough for her in the future.