The mages of both guilds fought fiercely. Dazzling magic exploded continuously around the dark castle and the Nirvana.
However, both sides tacitly avoided the central area between the dark castle and the Nirvana, choosing to take detours instead.
Because that was where the two masters were fighting. One careless misstep, and they would be sucked into the erupting magical vortex and ground to pieces!
Light magic and dark magic clashed, sending energy sweeping in all directions. Amidst the thick smoke, a small figure was sent flying backward. It took several clean backflips to barely shed the momentum.
Makarov stomped his foot, shattering the ground to steady himself. His aged face was etched with gravity.
He could no longer maintain his giant form and had reverted to his little old man appearance. His chest heaved violently, and his breath was quite disordered.
His Ten Wizard Saints cloak was torn to shreds, revealing multiple wounds on his body.
What's going on? Haven't Chase and the others found the Heart yet?
Makarov struggled to regulate his breathing rhythm. Concern and confusion inevitably surfaced in his mind.
Although he had mentally prepared himself, the power of Hades, whom he hadn't seen in years, still far exceeded his expectations.
Not only could Hades casually construct Amaterasu-series Ultra-Magic arrays, but he could also use enhanced versions Chase had never seen before. He was truly unfathomable.
Worse yet, his heart condition felt like it was on the verge of acting up in the midst of the fierce battle!
It was only thanks to his sufficiently determined willpower that he had managed to hold out this long under Hades's sharp onslaught!
"That rash little brat from back then has become so frail and pathetic..." Hades walked out from the thick smoke with a leisurely pace, a look of three parts pity and seven parts sighing on his face. "Give up, Makarov. You're no match for me."
Panting heavily, Makarov looked up hard, his expression unwavering.
"You should know that the word 'give up' doesn't exist in Fairy Tail's spirit."
He had never forgotten his responsibility: to stall Hades for as long as possible, no matter what unexpected situations arose.
If his legs couldn't move, he would use his fists. If his fists had no strength, he would use his body. And if his body failed him, he still had his head!
"You've been deliberately maintaining a safe distance from me this whole time. I don't sense any fighting spirit from you at all."
"If I'm not mistaken, you're simply procrastinating for time, aren't you?"
Hades seemed to have seen through Makarov's thoughts. After a brief pause, he stopped walking and said expresslessly, "Your goal is to have those brats destroy my magic core."
Caught off guard by having his true intentions exposed, Makarov's pupils contracted.
"You're still too naive, little brat. Why would I expose my weakness to Ultear, who was highly likely to betray me?"
"However, I must admit I'm a bit surprised that you willingly brought Fairy Tail here to die."
Hades was very satisfied with Makarov's reaction. He crossed his arms, looking down with a calm, condescending gesture. "As I said from the beginning, it still pains me a little to personally destroy Fairy Tail and the comrades I once spent every day with. That's why I played along with you, an old man suffering a relapse, for so long."
"And now... it's time to end this boring farce!"
Hades slowly raised his right hand, condensing a vast amount of magic power at his fingertip.
A dangerous aura rushed toward him. Sensing impending doom, Makarov had just begun to move, preparing to dodge the incoming attack, when his expression suddenly changed dramatically. He clutched his chest in pain.
"Dammit... of all times... now!"
Excruciating pain instantly spread throughout his body. What he had feared most had finally happened: his heart condition had relapsed!
Seeing this, Hades's expression turned vicious. He showed no intention of holding back and struck decisively.
"The era of Fairy Tail begins its curtain call now, Makarov!"
A despair-inducing magical beam shot out like a spear or blade, appearing before Makarov, who was kneeling on one knee, in the blink of an eye!
At this critical moment, the sound of clinking chains rang out abruptly.
The next second, a strong, powerful, ancient-gold arm reached out and precisely swatted the magical beam aside. It landed on the distant wasteland, exploding in a patch of flames.
"A curtain call as gorgeous as that... keep it for yourself, Second Generation Master."
A deep blue cape swayed gently in the explosion's aftermath. Chase stood before Makarov, his gaze fixed on Hades.
The limbs of the Forbidden One glowed with golden light under the setting sun, radiating a thick, ancient aura.
"Chase, didn't you—" Makarov's pupils slightly contracted. Just as he was about to ask why Chase, who was supposed to be destroying the Heart, was here, several blue pills were forcefully stuffed into his mouth.
They were special medicine for relieving his heart condition.
"Old man, even if he's our guild's second-generation master, it's stil okay to beat him up if we want to, right?"
Chase cracked his wrists. His strong fighting spirit transformed into a dark golden magical storm that surged wildly, shaking the shattered battlefield.
Makarov's throat moved. After a few seconds of thought, he didn't try to be a hero. He stepped back, handing the fight against Hades over to Chase. "Of course you can. That fool who fell into darkness stopped being a member of this guild's family a long time ago!"
Since Chase was here, it meant Hades hadn't been lying. The plan to destroy the Heart couldn't be successfully completed. It would take more time to search.
In this unexpected situation, the only one in the entire guild who could take his place—having reached his limit—and hold off Hades, aside from Gildarts who wasn't participating in the battle, was Chase!
"Then you should go back to the Nirvana and rest," Chase said with a smile, pulling out a card.
"W-wait, Chase! I can go back on my own—WOOOOAH~!"
Just as Makarov's intuition told him something was wrong, he was swept up by a gust of wind. A Guardian of the Fortress flew out from the magical array, grabbed his shoulders with its claws, and flew toward the Nirvana behind them.
Throughout the entire process, Hades, confident of victory, simply watched silently, not interfering.
Only after Makarov, barely clinging to life, had landed safely did Hades look up at Chase, standing at the center of the magical storm. He didn't hold back his praise. "To have such magic power at such a young age... that damned Makarov was hiding quite a trump card."
With that, he erupted with equally powerful purple magic power from within.
The two opposing energies stirred up fierce winds, clashing and producing dancing arcs of electricity. The entire space trembled, and countless rocks broke free from gravity, suspended in midair.
"Nice to meet you, Master Precht. Interested in picking out a nice plot of land in Magnolia?" Chase said with a smile.
At the same time, he was secretly shocked. As expected of Hades, wielder of the Grimoire Heart. This endless stream of magic power far surpasses any enemy I've faced before (except Ignia)!
"Hmph. A brat who doesn't know his place just because he has a little power. Let me teach you, in Makarov's stead, that there's always someone better."
Hades snorted coldly. With two fingers of his right hand together, he waved them twice in the air.
BOOM!
Three magical arrays inscribed with special runes formed instantly. They overlapped and contracted in Hades's palm, condensing into a rapidly spinning magical vortex.
"Amaterasu Formula 28!"
An energy beam comparable to a small magical cluster cannon blasted out, streaking across the void and heading straight for Chase's location, erupting in a skyward pillar of dark purple light!
"Magic Card: Cyclone."
Deep within the light pillar, a card's magical array forcibly opened the violent energy field. Amidst the lightning and thunder, a pitch-black tornado erupted from Chase as its center, completely annihilating the Amaterasu magic's power, crushing it into countless specks of light scattered through the air.
"A card that can nullify magic?" Hades was slightly surprised.
Although caught off guard, his extensive combat experience allowed him to almost instantly formulate a counter. "Dark Chains!"
Two chains condensed from magic power flew out, swaying as Hades waved his hand. Their sharp, flexible tips stirred deep within the tornado, quickly finding a tricky angle to attack, shooting toward Chase at the eye of the wind.
Chase's reaction was equally fast. He clenched his Forbidden One fists and swung them left and right, using brute force to shatter the incoming Dark Chains.
"Having this kind of physical ability as a Card Mage isn't bad. But... I can dance with magic as I please!"
With just a slight injection of magic power, the shattered chains immediately reformed and shot toward Chase's neck and heart at even greater speed.
Seeing that destroying them was futile, Chase's gaze sharpened. He bent his knees slightly and leaped backward using the reaction force.
BAM! BAM!
His timing was extremely precise. Hades had no time to change the chains' attack trajectory and could only let them pierce deep into the ground.
Seizing this fleeting opening, Chase raised his right arm and threw a heavy punch through the air.
WHOOSH!
The Right Arm of the Forbidden One shot out like a heavy cannon, weaving through the Dark Chains and appearing before Hades in the blink of an eye!
"Counterattacking while evading... strong offensive instincts. But your movements are too obvious—" Hades stood as steady as an old dog, calmly tilting his head slightly.
The Right Arm of the Forbidden One immediately missed, grazing past his steel helmet and smashing a crater into the ground behind him.
"Is that so?" Chase landed steadily, revealing the magic card pinched between his fingers.
"A feint?!" Hades's pupils contracted.
The next second, three sacred swords radiating a holy aura descended from the sky, hovering around him and releasing a binding force.
"A spell that restricts movement? Useless. Eternal Darkness Shadow! "
As expected of an old-timer with extremely deep magical knowledge, Hades didn't try to break free with brute force. Instead, he expanded a dark barrier that absorbed the sacred swords, converting their power to launch back at Chase.
CRASH!!
The magical energy sphere exploded instantly. The surging flames completely engulfed Chase.
Hades knew that such an attack couldn't critically wound Chase. So, he mobilized all his magic power, raised his hand, and quickly traced sharp trajectories in the air.
The moment Chase emerged from the explosion, circles of magical arrays containing terrifying energy surrounded him, sealing off all escape routes!
This was Amaterasu Formula 100—an Amaterasu Ultra-Magic that even Makarov's strongest defensive spell, Three Pillar Gods, couldn't completely block. If it hit, it would completely incapacitate the target!
Hades crossed his hands, completed the final magical incantation.
The magical arrays emitted an extremely dangerous purple glow. Despite having the absolute advantage, Hades suddenly felt an ominous sense of crisis.
He has nowhere left to run... so why doesn't that brat's face show the slightest hint of panic?
"An attack that can be seen with the naked eye can hardly be called a 'feint,' Second Generation Master."
Enveloped in purple light, Chase took a deep breath. His chest swelled. Dragon markings appeared on his exposed cheeks and arms.
"God Slayer Magic—"
A sacred, majestic aura spread out. Even Hades, who had taught Zancrow Fire God Slayer Magic, stared in disbelief.
Even I feel a chill from this... Is this the kind of fluctuation that mere God Slayer Magic should have?
"No matter what, you can't possibly escape unscathed. Die, brat! Amaterasu Formula 100! "
Sensing the danger, Hades hesitated no longer and decisively detonated Amaterasu Formula 100.
At that very moment, beneath Chase, who had assumed an attacking stance, a Trap Card's magical array lit up with a soft hum.
Trap Card: Swap! Activate!
CRASH!!
Amaterasu Formula 100 exploded with a thunderous roar that echoed across the entire battlefield. But what it destroyed was merely the Right Arm of the Forbidden One, which had been used to complete the swap and had been subconsciously ignored by Hades!
"Spatial magic?! Damn!"
The moment Hades realized what had happened and spun around, what greeted his eyes was the phantom of a dragon-shaped god, its jaws wide open as if to roar.
"Slifer's Thunderforce Breath!!"
***
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