Juvia had long since secretly decided that Lucy was her greatest love rival, and she clearly had no intention of letting the matter go.
Surrounded by swirling water, she slowly stepped forward with a gloomy expression, ready for battle.
"W-Wait, Juvia! Do you know what those things with the lightning symbols floating in the sky are?"
Lucy hurriedly stepped back and raised a hand, pointing toward the circle of lightning Lacrima suspended high above Magnolia.
"You don't know?"
Juvia's attention was indeed drawn away. She raised her head and looked toward the sky with a solemn expression.
"That's the Thunder Palace created by Laxus. Once the time limit is reached, it will unleash indiscriminate lightning strikes across the entire town."
Now that Evergreen's petrification had been undone, Juvia had naturally learned about the situation.
"You mean... the entire town?"
Although Lucy had already guessed that those dangerous Lacrima were Laxus's doing, she still covered her mouth in disbelief.
"Has Laxus gone mad?!"
"That's not all."
Juvia's expression became even more serious.
"Anyone who destroys one of those Lacrima will suffer the same damage from its high-voltage lightning."
She briefly explained what had happened to Bisca when she attempted to destroy one of the Thunder Palace Lacrima.
Lucy's pupils contracted.
However, instead of becoming frightened, her expression gradually grew firm.
If destroying the Thunder Palace could stop Laxus from hurting her guildmates and the people of Magnolia, then what did it matter if she got injured?
But there was still one problem.
Happy wasn't here.
How was she supposed to reach something floating that high in the sky?
"The question you should be worrying about right now is which one of us gets to leave this Enchantment!"
As if sensing Lucy's determination, the currents surrounding Juvia began swirling faster.
"The thought of Gray-sama lying badly injured somewhere right now, all alone... Juvia is worried to death!"
"Lucy, I'm sorry!"
The moment those words left her mouth, Juvia's entire body transformed into rushing water.
Splash!
The powerful current surged directly toward Lucy before she could react.
"W-Wait!"
Lucy instinctively raised her arms to defend herself.
However, just as the torrent was about to strike her...
It suddenly changed direction.
The stream of water made a sharp ninety-degree turn and shot straight upward!
"What?!"
Lucy's eyes widened.
Juvia wasn't attacking her at all.
She was heading directly toward one of the Thunder Palace Lacrima!
Droplets of water splashed across Lucy's face.
Then Juvia's voice echoed down from above as she rose farther and farther away.
"Juvia loves Fairy Tail so, so much!"
"Everyone smiled and accepted Juvia, even though Juvia used to be their enemy!"
Lucy stared upward in shock.
"So even though Lucy is a love rival who must someday be permanently eliminated..."
"Lucy is still Juvia's comrade!"
"Juvia would never kill one of her own comrades!!"
Crack!
The raging torrent smashed directly into the lightning Lacrima.
The crystal shattered.
And in the very next instant...
Zap!
A tremendous bolt of golden lightning erupted from the Thunder Palace and struck Juvia head-on!
"JUVIA!"
Lucy could only stare at the scene in stunned silence.
For a moment, her mind went completely blank.
Then a heavily injured Juvia emerged from the dissipating lightning and plummeted from the sky, smoke trailing from her body.
Lucy finally snapped back to her senses.
"Juvia!"
She rushed forward and leaped into the air, catching her just before she hit the ground.
Bang!
The force of Juvia's fall dragged them both backward.
The two girls slid several meters across the street before finally crashing into a roadside stall.
"Ugh..."
Lucy gritted her teeth against the pain.
Ignoring the scrapes and bruises covering her own body, she immediately sat up and checked Juvia's injuries.
"Juvia! Are you okay?"
Juvia slowly opened her eyes.
Her breathing was weak, and even speaking seemed difficult.
"Lucy..."
"In that case..."
A faint smile appeared on her exhausted face.
"Can Juvia officially be considered... a member of Fairy Tail now?"
Juvia's voice sounded incredibly weak.
Although everyone in Fairy Tail had already accepted her without holding her past against her, Juvia herself had never been able to completely let go of what she had done while she was a member of Phantom Lord.
Deep down, a trace of guilt and uncertainty had always remained in her heart.
"Weren't you already one of us a long time ago?!"
Lucy shouted, tears glistening in her eyes.
"Thank you... Lucy."
A faint smile appeared on Juvia's face.
"Juvia is... so happy."
After saying those words, Juvia finally lost consciousness completely.
Meanwhile, on the western side of Magnolia, explosions continued to thunder through the sky.
Boom!
The light of chaos collided violently with blazing steel.
Black Luster Soldier and Nagiru were simultaneously thrown backward by the recoil of their attacks, streaking through the air in opposite directions.
"The flames in my left hand..."
Nagiru grinned fiercely.
"And the steel in my right..."
"Mix them together and turn them into molten iron capable of melting everything!"
Just as Black Luster Soldier stabilized himself in midair, an intense wave of heat suddenly surged from behind him.
Nagiru had already leaped high into the sky.
His arms were raised above his head, holding an enormous crimson ball of molten metal and flame.
Drops of molten iron continuously dripped from the blazing sphere.
Every falling droplet radiated such intense heat that the moisture in the surrounding air instantly evaporated, leaving long trails of fire as they fell toward the ground.
"Take this!"
Nagiru swung his arms down with all his strength.
"Steel-Flame Dragon's Demonic Cinder Flame Flash!!"
Boom!
The enormous molten fireball descended with an overwhelming heat wave.
Black Luster Soldier remained completely calm.
He raised his shield.
Endless darkness surged across its surface, forming an unyielding barrier before him.
Bang!!
The instant the molten fireball collided with the dark shield, a massive explosion erupted across the sky.
Flames blossomed outward like enormous fireworks.
The deafening blast echoed throughout the western outskirts of Magnolia.
Black Luster Soldier successfully resisted the terrifying heat of the molten iron.
However, the sheer impact behind Nagiru's attack was another matter entirely.
Boom!
Black Luster Soldier was blasted backward.
His body transformed into a streak of light as he plummeted from the sky and crashed heavily into the foot of a mountain outside Magnolia.
Rumble!
Dust and smoke surged high into the air.
But in the very next second...
Slash!
A chaotic sword aura tore straight through the billowing cloud of dust.
The slash ripped through the air and flew directly toward Nagiru.
"Hahaha!"
Nagiru's grin widened.
"That's how a battle is supposed to be!"
Magic circles flashed around both of his arms.
His arms instantly transformed into two enormous flaming steel swords.
Clang!
Nagiru swung both blades with tremendous force and accurately cleaved through the incoming chaotic sword aura.
"Agreed."
A deep voice suddenly sounded behind him.
Nagiru's pupils contracted.
Black Luster Soldier had already appeared at his back.
Chaotic starlight shimmered around his armor.
"And this is payback."
Taking advantage of that extremely brief opening, Black Luster Soldier swung his heavy shield without hesitation.
Bang!!
The shield smashed directly into Nagiru's face.
"Gah!"
Nagiru was sent hurtling downward like a meteor.
Rumble!!
He crashed directly into the ruins of the abandoned factory below.
The already devastated battlefield suffered another heavy blow.
The earth split apart.
Thick clouds of dust rose into the sky.
Dense, spiderweb-like cracks spread rapidly across the surrounding ground.
Standing not far away, Chases pulled his cloak up in front of himself, blocking the violent wind and pieces of debris rushing toward him.
Whoosh.
Black Luster Soldier slowly descended and landed beside him.
His condition was no longer perfect.
Several sections of his blue-and-gold armor had been damaged, and even the shield in his hand now bore a visible crack.
"Not bad at all."
Chases carefully examined Black Luster Soldier's condition before looking toward the smoking crater.
"To actually fight you to this extent... that guy has exceeded my expectations."
After all, Nagiru was the perfect fusion of two Dragon Slayer Mages.
Judging from everything Chases had witnessed during the battle, Nagiru was far superior to the previous fusion of Natsu and Gray in terms of speed, raw power, and the application of his combined Magic.
More importantly, there was another major advantage.
Chases suddenly raised his eyes and looked deep into the thick smoke.
Crunch!
Clang!
The sound of metal being torn apart and devoured continuously echoed from within.
Nagiru, whose Magic Power had been heavily depleted during the battle, was frantically eating the scrap steel scattered across the ruined factory grounds to replenish himself.
As the fusion of a Fire Dragon Slayer and an Iron Dragon Slayer, Nagiru could consume a wider variety of elements than either of them individually!
"Ugh..."
Nagiru grimaced while swallowing another piece of scrap metal.
"It tastes terrible, but..."
He slammed his fists together.
Boom!
A powerful storm of Magic Power erupted from his body, instantly blowing away the thick smoke surrounding him.
Nagiru stood upright once more, his aura rapidly recovering.
"Eating this stuff makes the power come surging right back!"
Black Luster Soldier stared at him for several seconds.
Then he turned slightly toward Chases.
"Master."
His deep voice remained calm and serious.
"Can you give me a little more power?"
"According to the information Kuriboh sent back, the battles on the other fronts are basically over. All that's left is the cleanup, so..."
Chases took a deep breath.
Then, without holding anything back, he transferred every last bit of his remaining Magic Power into Black Luster Soldier.
"This is my final Ripple!"
Hum!
The moment Chases's Magic Power poured into him, the damage covering Black Luster Soldier's equipment began repairing itself at a speed visible to the naked eye.
The cracks disappeared.
His damaged armor recovered.
Even the shield in his hand returned to its original state.
At the same time, Black Luster Soldier's aura rapidly climbed until it once again reached its peak.
"Proposal."
Black Luster Soldier stepped forward.
His sharp eyes burned with intense fighting spirit as he crossed his longsword and shield before him, pointing them directly toward Nagiru.
"Let us determine the victor with our strongest attacks!"
"Hahaha!"
Nagiru immediately burst into laughter.
"That's exactly what I was thinking!"
Bang!
He slammed his fists together, releasing a tremendous surge of Magic Power.
The two sides began gathering their strength at the same time.
After a brief moment of accumulation, a brilliant magic circle appeared where Black Luster Soldier's sword and shield overlapped.
Light and darkness intertwined.
Two opposing forces gradually merged into the power of chaos.
Across from him, Nagiru puffed out his cheeks.
A crimson-and-steel-colored magic circle rotated rapidly before his mouth as terrifying heat gathered within it.
The surrounding air distorted.
Then both sides attacked simultaneously.
"Heaven-Splitting Chaos Annihilation!!"
"Steel-Flame Dragon's Blazing Breath!!"
Rumble!!!
Two overwhelming forces erupted and collided head-on.
The resulting roar shook heaven and earth.
Boom!
The remains of the abandoned factory vanished almost instantly.
The entire battlefield was razed to the ground beneath the terrifying collision.
Fortunately, both Black Luster Soldier and Nagiru had tacitly restricted the range of their attacks, preventing the destructive energy from spreading toward Magnolia.
Otherwise, the consequences would have been unimaginable.
But concentrating so much destructive force into such a limited area came with a price.
Neither side escaped the backlash from the violent explosion.
Black Luster Soldier's body gradually broke apart into countless fragments of light.
At the same time, Nagiru's fused body reached its limit.
Flash!
The Fusion was forcibly released.
Natsu and Gajeel separated and crashed onto the ruined ground.
Before completely disappearing, Black Luster Soldier gave the two exhausted Dragon Slayers one final look.
A satisfied smile appeared on the usually stern swordsman's face.
"If the opportunity arises..."
"Let us battle again."
His body then completely dissolved into particles of light and returned to Chases's deck.
"What an absurdly strong bastard..."
Gajeel lay flat on his back with his arms and legs spread wide.
His chest rose and fell violently as he stared blankly at the sky.
Even he couldn't help voicing his admiration.
"Damn it!"
Natsu was lying nearby in almost exactly the same exhausted state.
"Right up until the end, I didn't even get to land a single hit on that bastard Chases!"
He clicked his tongue unhappily.
After grumbling for a moment, Natsu slowly turned his head and glanced sideways at Gajeel.
"Hey, Scrap Metal."
"Huh?"
"You're actually not half bad."
A bright smile spread across Natsu's face.
"As a comrade, I acknowledge you!"
Gajeel's eyes widened slightly.
During their physical Fusion, Natsu had been able to clearly sense what Gajeel kept buried deep inside his heart.
His desire to truly become part of Fairy Tail.
His gratitude toward the old man who had accepted him.
And the feelings he had gradually developed toward his new companions.
At that moment, the last traces of wariness Natsu still held toward the former Phantom Lord Mage disappeared like smoke.
"W-What kind of bullshit are you spouting, bastard?!"
Gajeel's face instantly turned bright red after having his hidden feelings exposed.
He glared fiercely at Natsu and roared.
"In my eyes, this annoying guild is nothing more than a place to work!"
Then his expression became even fiercer.
"And another thing!"
"We still haven't settled the score between us!!"
"Of course we haven't!"
Natsu immediately roared back.
"If I could move right now, I'd beat your face until it swelled up just like Gray's!"
"You wanna try, Salamander?!"
The two exhausted Dragon Slayers continued glaring at each other despite being unable to even get off the ground.
Chases stood quietly nearby.
For once, he didn't step forward to tease or ridicule them.
Instead, an irrepressible excitement flashed deep within his otherwise calm eyes.
Because something unexpected had appeared within his consciousness.
A brand-new card slowly rotated before him.
Chases had never expected that the Fusion of two Dragon Slayers, combined with Black Luster Soldier's participation in the battle, would actually cause a new card to drop.
What surprised him even more was the identity of the card.
It possessed a special advantage against Dragons.
In the world of Fairy Tail, where powerful Dragons and Dragon-related enemies stood near the very peak of existence, such an effect was terrifyingly valuable.
This was practically a super-powered card tailor-made for this world!
The rotating card slowly turned over.
A seven-star Monster Card came into view.
A heavily armored warrior wielding an enormous sword appeared on its artwork.
Its name was...
[Buster Blader]!
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