Chapter 373: Allied Force vs. Oración Seis
"Hehe, are you shaken? I can hear it, you know." Cobra smirked.
"Hiss, hiss..."
A massive purple snake coiled around Cobra, flicking its tongue and hissing.
"It's better to just finish the job quickly. After all, work is all about speed, and you lot are in the way," the man codenamed Racer said, pointing at the Allied Force with a highly displeased expression.
"Money makes people strong, oh yeah. Let me tell you all something good: in this world, money is everything, and then—"
"Shut up, Hoteye!"
Before the man codenamed Hoteye could finish his sentence, Cobra and Racer angrily cut him off.
"It seems like there's someone sleeping over there..." Lucy commented nervously as she sized up the five enemies. When she suddenly noticed the person sleeping on a floating carpet, she couldn't help but complain, her anxiety lessening considerably.
The Allied Force members all stared at the Oración Seis with grim expressions.
Erza spoke up, "I didn't expect you to show yourselves on your own."
"Brain!" Ultear glared at Brain, who stood directly in the center of the Oración Seis, her eyes filled with cold hatred.
"Oh, do you know me?" Brain glanced at Ultear. Seeing her expression, he knew she recognized him. However, after briefly searching his memories, he drew a blank on who she was. "No impression of you. Not that it matters anyway," he said nonchalantly.
Hearing Brain's callous dismissal, the coldness in Ultear's eyes intensified.
"Hehe, I can hear it, you know. How pitiful," Cobra said, looking at Ultear.
Ultear shot a glare at Cobra, completely unable to mask the fury in her eyes.
"I can hear it, you know. How terrifying." Despite his words, Cobra still wore a mocking smirk; he clearly wasn't the least bit terrified.
"That guy can likely hear our inner thoughts," Ultear bluntly announced to the rest of the Allied Force.
The enemy named Cobra made absolutely no attempt to hide his ability, constantly saying, "I can hear it." She hadn't spoken a single word out loud; earlier, she had merely been thinking about her past experiences, and he had directly called her "pitiful." Just now, she had been thinking about how to violently crush this detestable bastard, and he had immediately said "how terrifying."
Based on his words, it was glaringly obvious that he was listening to the thoughts inside her head.
The expressions on everyone's faces grew even grimmer. An opponent who could read minds was an incredibly troublesome foe to face.
"Hmph, so what if he can hear us?! We just have to beat 'em up! It actually saves us the trouble of looking for them!" Natsu and Gray exchanged a glance, before simultaneously charging directly at the Oración Seis.
"Do it," Brain commanded.
"Got it!" Racer agreed instantly. In a flash, he appeared right in front of Natsu and Gray.
"Motor!"
"Gah!"
Natsu and Gray barely had time to raise their arms to defend themselves before Racer kicked them. They were launched backward, crashing hard into the ground.
"Natsu! Gray!" Lucy cried out in alarm. She hastily pulled out a key and slashed it through the air. "Open, Gate of the Archer! Sagittarius!"
"Did you call for me? Moshi, moshi." Sagittarius, a man dressed in a horse costume, appeared beside Lucy. He raised his left hand, saluting in a direction where Lucy wasn't even standing. The celestial spirit Sagittarius was a master archer who never missed his mark.
"Quick, attack the man who keeps moving!" Lucy ordered Sagittarius, pointing at the constantly shifting Racer.
"Understood!" Sagittarius drew an arrow from his quiver, nocked it to his bow, and fired a rapid volley of sharp arrows directly at Racer.
"So fast. Speed is a wonderful thing, indeed." Racer's figure flickered repeatedly, effortlessly dodging every single arrow Sagittarius fired at him. In the blink of an eye, he materialized right in front of Lucy.
"What?! Wah!"
Before Lucy and Sagittarius could even react, Racer kicked them both. They went flying backwards, crashing to the ground. While still airborne, Sagittarius was forcefully sent back to the Celestial Spirit World.
"Sherry!"
"Right!"
Yuka and Sherry charged at the Oración Seis.
"Wave!"
"Marionette Attack: Mud Doll!"
A sphere of vibrational energy formed in Yuka's right hand. Simultaneously, the ground beside Sherry began to bulge, and a massive monster made of earth erupted from the soil.
"I see it. Oh yeah."
Hoteye, the large man among the Oración Seis, placed his left index and middle fingers beneath his eye bags, then snapped his eyes wide open. He pointed his two fingers directly at the charging Yuka and Sherry.
The ground beneath the pair's feet instantly softened, transforming into a swamp-like quagmire. Their feet sank deeply into the mud in the blink of an eye.
"As long as you have money, you don't need love! Oh yeah!" Hoteye continuously released his magic power. The mud surrounding Yuka and Sherry surged towards them like tidal waves, aiming to bury them alive.
"What?!"
"The ground!"
The two cried out in alarm.
Yuka hastily slammed his magic-infused hand into the earth beneath his feet. A small patch of ground around him instantly lost its softness, returning to a normal, solid state. But a moment later, Hoteye's magic overpowered him, and the earth softened once more. Yuka sank right back into the mud.
Yuka continuously fired off his magic, but the area of effect was shrinking rapidly; Hoteye's magic power was simply vastly superior to his.
The Mud Doll that Sherry had created also sank into the softened earth, rendering it unable to attack.
"Iron Rock Wall!"
Just as the two of them were about to be buried alive by the surrounding mud, Jura's calm, steady voice rang out from behind them.
Two pillars of rock, as hard as steel, erupted from deep underground. They slammed into Yuka and Sherry, launching them out of the deep mud and propelling them out of the range of the collapsing mud waves.
"Thank you so much, Jura-sama," Sherry gasped, her heart pounding with lingering fear. Both she and Yuka were covered in cold sweat. They stared at Hoteye with grim expressions; they had nearly been defeated in an instant.
"Do not let your guard down! Iron Rock Wall!" Jura raised his right hand, shaping his fingers into a sword gesture, and pointed at Hoteye.
The previously softened ground instantly hardened, and massive, solid pillars of rock erupted from within, shooting directly toward Hoteye.
"Truly worthy of being one of the Ten Wizard Saints, oh yeah," Hoteye said, summoning a magical barrier that easily deflected all of the incoming rock pillars. He then unleashed his magic power toward the rock pillars. Instantly, they softened, turning back into mud and splashing harmlessly onto the ground.
"I use magic that softens the earth, while you use magic that hardens the earth, oh yeah. So, which side will prove to be more powerful, oh yeah," Hoteye said, staring down Jura.
"It naturally has nothing to do with the superiority or inferiority of the magic itself. The one with a stronger conviction will be the victor," Jura stated seriously.
"That is not true at all! No matter the era, the ones who win are always the wealthy! Oh yeah!" Hoteye replied with a wide smile.
The Lamia Scale trio and Hoteye fell into a tense stalemate.
On another front, the Blue Pegasus trio and Ichiya charged at the Oración Seis, only for Racer to flicker rapidly toward them.
"He's too fast! I can't track him at all!" Hibiki yelled.
"In that case, Fleet-Foot Parfum!" Ichiya pulled a perfume bottle from his coat, popped the cork, and waves of fragrance immediately spread around them.
"Ohoh! I can catch glimpses of his movements now!"
"You're amazing, big bro!"
Upon inhaling Ichiya's perfume, the Blue Pegasus trio cheered simultaneously. In their eyes, although Racer's movements were still incredibly fast, they could finally track glimpses of his figure, ensuring they weren't completely defenseless.
"Oh, you've sped up." Racer launched several attacks at the four Blue Pegasus mages, but they managed to dodge by tracking the faint afterimages of his movements.
"Speed is a wonderful thing, but can you go even faster?" Racer asked with a smirk. Immediately after, his speed skyrocketed once more, and the four Blue Pegasus mages completely lost sight of him again.
"Fleet-Foot Parfum, Enhance!" Ichiya thrust the perfume bottle forward, rapidly increasing the concentration of the vaporized perfume to boost its effects.
"Too slow!"
Ichiya's perfume did indeed take effect, and glimpses of Racer's figure reappeared in the trio's vision. But Racer had already arrived right in front of them. Before they had any time to react, he kicked them away in rapid succession. They crashed to the ground, completely immobilized.
"Speed is a wonderful thing. It's a shame you're not fast enough." Racer's figure materialized in front of the four fallen Blue Pegasus mages.
The moment Ultear prepared to launch an attack, Cobra, with his giant purple snake, stepped forward and positioned himself directly in front of Brain.
"I can hear it, you know," Cobra smirked.
Ultear instantly realized her thoughts had been read. It seemed she would have to defeat Cobra before she could get to her sworn enemy, Brain.
"Ice-Make: Lances!" With a grim expression, Ultear thrust both hands forward. Dozens of ice lances materialized and shot directly at Cobra, whose irritating smirk never left his face.
"I can hear it, you know," Cobra repeated with a smile. Taking the purple snake with him, he made slight, precise movements left and right, completely evading every single incoming ice lance.
Ultear's expression darkened even further.
"Requip: Heaven's Wheel Armor!" Erza leaped into the air, instantly requipping into the Heaven's Wheel Armor. Dozens of swords materialized and spiraled behind her. "Dance, my blades!"
Erza pointed her right-hand sword forward, and the blades behind her shot out, raining down toward Cobra on the ground. An enemy who could read minds was a massive threat; she needed to help Ultear take him down.
"I can hear it, you know," Cobra laughed. He once again made slight, precise movements, effortlessly dodging the incoming barrage of swords.
"Sunlight Angel!"
Just as Cobra was busy dodging Erza's swords, Sorano summoned her Sunlight Angel beside her. A powerful beam of light blasted straight toward Cobra.
A guy who could read everyone's minds was simply far too dangerous; they had to defeat him as quickly as possible. Sorano's goal was to blast Cobra and the swords simultaneously while he was distracted by dodging Erza's attack.
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