At this critical moment—
A black figure appeared in front of Erza.
"Ace?!" Erza was stunned.
Ace didn't look back.
He simply raised his right hand, palm facing the mobile fortress that was about to unleash destruction.
"The Adamantine Armor's defense is strong, but taking a Jupiter Cannon blast head-on will still leave you severely injured," Ace's voice was terrifyingly calm. "Besides... protecting the guild isn't your responsibility alone."
He took a deep breath.
Inside him, his Digital Soul erupted like a volcano!
"Machinedramon—"
A torrent of dark blue data surged from his palm!
The torrent rapidly condensed, expanded, and reconfigured in mid-air.
"—Descend!"
A sixty-meter-tall steel body crashed to the ground!
Its Chrome Digizoid armor glinted with a cold metallic sheen under the morning sun.
The colossal body loomed like a great mountain, casting a heavy, oppressive shadow that blotted out a patch of the sky.
Two massive Infinity Cannons rose from its back, their muzzles quickly locking onto the fortress's main cannon.
Machinedramon let out a heaven-shaking roar, its draconic aura sweeping forward as a tangible shockwave!
The fortress's magic cannon fired at the last second.
A pure white energy beam, over five meters in diameter, tore through the air, hurtling toward the Fairy Tail guild with the power to destroy everything!
Almost simultaneously—
Machinedramon's two Infinity Cannons roared to life!
A grayish-white energy beam shot out to meet it head-on!
Two world-destroying energies collided in mid-air.
VWOOOOM—!!!
There was no sound of an explosion.
The sound was drowned out by a more terrifying energy resonance.
At the point of impact, space itself began to distort, crack, and collapse. A spiderweb of dark, void-like fissures spread out, devouring the surrounding light and heat.
One second.
Two seconds.
Three seconds—
"ROOOOAR—!!!"
Machinedramon's roar shook the world!
Its massive body shuddered as more data flowed into the cannons!
The power of the grayish-white beam surged! It began to push back the white Jupiter Cannon beam, inch by inch!
Those inside the fortress seemed to realize something was wrong, but instead of stopping, they accelerated the energy gathering, causing the giant cannon to emit an ever-brighter light.
As time went on, this powerful energy roared and raged like an enraged beast, threatening to tear the entire world apart.
But Ace wouldn't give it the chance.
He raised his left hand again, aiming at the giant fortress.
"MetalSeadramon Descend!"
The sea dragon leaped from a nearby body of water, its massive form arcing through the air as it opened its great maw.
"Ultimate Stream!"
The signature cannon on its snout began to charge, deep blue energy compressing madly at the muzzle!
"Fire!"
A high-pressure water cannon erupted from the snout!
This was no ordinary stream of water, but liquid energy compressed to its absolute limit, its impact force capable of piercing the strongest alloys.
The Ultimate Stream struck the joint connecting the fortress's right tread with pinpoint accuracy!
BOOM—!!!
The fortress's tread structure was forcibly snapped.
The entire fortress tilted violently, and the angle of its cannon shifted with it!
It was this slight shift that broke the balance!
At that moment, Machinedramon's mountain-sized Infinity Cannons finally found their opening!
With a deafening roar, they began to madly absorb all surrounding energy, concentrating it within their muzzles.
In an instant, the entire space was enveloped in a blinding light, as terrifying as the apocalypse itself.
Then, a world-destroying force erupted from the Infinity Cannons, streaking toward its target like a meteor crossing the sky.
The power of this force was beyond the comprehension and endurance of ordinary people; anything that dared to stand in its way would be instantly annihilated, leaving not even dust behind!
"ROOOOAR—!!!"
The white magic cannon beam was utterly crushed.
The terrifying beam of destruction continued unimpeded, slamming viciously into the fortress's frontal armor.
Wherever the beam passed, steel, rock, magical barriers—all matter was disintegrated into its most basic data particles.
A giant hole, thirty meters in diameter, was torn through the front of the fortress.
The edges of the hole were as smooth as a mirror, revealing the intricate magic circuits and mechanical structures within as they disintegrated in the data stream.
The fortress's rumbling ceased as the light in the cannon muzzle died.
"Retreat! Retreat—" Jose Porla's shout died in his throat.
Because the fortress no longer obeyed his commands.
The entire hundred-meter-tall steel fortress froze in place, tilted to the right, like a giant beast flash-frozen in an instant.
Silence.
The members of Fairy Tail in the ruins stared, dumbfounded, at the scene.
Erza dismissed her Adamantine Armor, gazing blankly at Ace's back. Mirajane wiped away her tears, the light of hope rekindling in her eyes.
And in the sky, MetalSeadramon let out a low growl and slowly sank back into the water, leaving only the gradually calming waves behind.
Smoke drifted from the muzzles of the giant cannons on Machinedramon's back.
It lowered its head to look at Ace, awaiting his next command.
He clasped his hands in front of his chest, and a tide of dark blue Digital Soul poured into Machinedramon's body!
The fortress began to tremble violently.
The Phantom Lord emblems on its armor plates shattered and vanished one by one.
The structural frame groaned as if under an unbearable load.
In the fortress's central control room, Jose Porla stared at the garbled mess on his control console, finally realizing what had happened.
He had lost control.
Ace slowly lowered his hands.
Machinedramon let out a low growl, shrank in size, and returned to his body as a stream of dark blue light.
And the mobile fortress, now converted by data, stood quietly five hundred meters away, like a tamed steel behemoth.
Ace turned to face his family behind him.
"Now," he said, his voice calm yet filled with an unquestionable power.
"It's our turn to counterattack."
The morning sun rose completely.
Golden light spilled over the ruins, and over the determined face of every single person!
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