As soon as Azuma finished speaking, tiny points of light suddenly appeared in the air around Gray and Gajeel.
Immediately after, the area where Gray and Gajeel were standing exploded.
Boom-
For a moment, the figures of Gray and Gajeel were engulfed by the explosion's flames.
However, the moment the explosion occurred, Gray and Gajeel retreated backwards from within it.
"This guy..."
Gray's legs scraped a long mark on the ground. He crouched, one hand on the ground to steady himself, then looked at Azuma in front of him with a shocked expression.
Meanwhile, Gajeel had already launched an attack against Azuma.
"Destroy Fairy Tail?"
Gajeel moved his feet, and his figure instantly shot to a position above Azuma's head.
He let out an irritated grunt, then formed a fist and punched down towards Azuma.
The moment Gajeel threw the punch, his arm stretched out like rubber.
Facing Gajeel's attack, Azuma remained unmoved.
Just as the extending iron arm was about to hit him, he simply tilted his head slightly, easily dodging Gajeel's strike.
However, as Gajeel's stretched arm retracted, Azuma opened his palm towards Gajeel.
Bzzzt-
A light flashed in the air, and then numerous thick, green tree trunks burst forth from the ground, coiling around Gajeel like vines and firmly binding him.
"Damn it..."
Gajeel, bound by the branch-vines, struggled violently, but no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't break free from their grasp.
"Chain Explosion!"
Azuma looked at Gajeel in front of him and snapped his fingers.
Snap-
At that moment, the branch-vines binding Gajeel began exploding continuously from the roots, spreading upwards towards Gajeel in the sky.
"Ice-Make: Battle Axe!"
Just as the explosions were about to reach Gajeel, Gray over there swung his arms fiercely.
Whoosh-
A huge, crescent-shaped ice blade instantly severed the branch-vines beneath Gajeel.
The moment the branch-vines were cut, those binding Gajeel all turned into light and ultimately dissipated.
Freed from his restraints, Gajeel instantly shot backwards the moment he landed.
Once airborne, Gajeel took a deep breath.
"Iron Dragon's Roar!"
As Gajeel exhaled, a silver-colored horizontal shockwave shot directly towards Azuma.
In just an instant, the shockwave struck Azuma.
Boom-
A violent explosion sound echoed through the air.
For a moment, dust billowed and shockwaves rolled.
Azuma's figure was also engulfed by the dust cloud.
After landing, Gajeel, together with Gray, fixed their gazes intently on the spot where Azuma had been.
Soon, under their watchful eyes, the spreading dust cleared.
They saw Azuma with his arms crossed in front of him, and all around him were tentacle-like branch-vines.
Azuma himself was unharmed.
Seeing this scene, the faces of both Gajeel and Gray changed.
"He's completely unscathed?!"
Gajeel knew very well how powerful his Iron Dragon's Roar was.
Ordinary mages would be severely injured or killed if hit by this move.
But now, this guy from Grimoire Heart had taken the [Iron Dragon's Roar] head-on and was completely unharmed.
Naturally, Gajeel was extremely shocked.
While Gajeel and Gray were reeling from shock, Azuma slowly lowered his protective arms and looked up at Gray and Gajeel not far away.
"A Dragon Slayer and an Ice-Make mage? Let's call it a day for now."
As he spoke, Azuma opened both palms towards Gajeel and Gray.
Seeing Azuma's raising motion, both Gajeel and Gray were startled.
After their brief exchange, Gajeel and Gray already knew Azuma's magic could cause explosions.
Although they didn't know what Azuma planned to do next, at this moment, Gajeel and Gray had only one thought: get away from this spot.
Without any hesitation, Gajeel and Gray immediately shot backwards.
And at that very instant, Azuma's magic activated.
"Blazing Tower Explosion!"
Boom!
Accompanied by a terrifyingly loud explosion, a violent shockwave spread out in all directions.
Simultaneously, terrifying flames shot up into the sky like a tower.
This terrifying explosion resounded across the entire Tenrou Island.
Natsu, Erza, and the others on the island heard it clearly.
And when they saw the tower-like flames, their faces all changed dramatically.
At this moment, Kenichi and Wendy were only a few hundred meters away from the terrifying explosion.
The moment the explosion sounded, the violent shockwave swept towards Kenichi and Wendy like a ripple.
Wendy, caught by the shockwave, immediately raised her arms to resist the terrifying force.
Fortunately, the shockwave lasted only a moment, vanishing in an instant.
Just as Wendy was about to say something, Kenichi had already charged towards the site of the explosion.
When Wendy followed Kenichi to the explosion site, they saw both Gajeel and Gray lying on the ground, heavily injured.
"Gray, Gajeel..."
Seeing this scene, Wendy's small face immediately changed.
By now, Kenichi had shifted his gaze from Gajeel and Gray onto Azuma.
'So it is Azuma.'
Looking at Azuma before him, Kenichi raised an eyebrow.
"Oh? Two more came?"
Looking at Kenichi and Wendy who had suddenly barged in, Azuma casually said this.
'Was it this person who injured Gray and Gajeel?'
Wendy looked at Azuma, her eyes flickering.
In Wendy's view, Gajeel and Gray were among the stronger members of the guild.
But the person in front of her had easily severely injured both Gray and Gajeel.
"Wendy, step back to where Gray is. Leave this person to me."
Kenichi walked in front of Azuma, shielding Wendy behind him, then spoke.
Wendy responded to Kenichi and immediately ran to where Gray and Gajeel were.
At the same time, the gazes of Kenichi and Azuma met.