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"Pantherlily! Be my companion!"
"I refuse!"
On the floating island carrying the Lacrima Tower, Pantherlily once again rejected Gajeel, who bothered him eight times a day, giving him a headache.
"I may not be human, but you are truly a dog."
"By the way, why is this guy so insistent on me being his cat?"
Gajeel didn't know Pantherlily's thoughts, only repeatedly inviting him to be his companion, but this time he changed his approach.
"How about this, let's have a battle befitting of tough guys."
"If I lose, I'll never bring it up again, but if you, Pantherlily, lose... then you'll obediently become my cat."
Pantherlily nodded. Although he felt there was something off about Gajeel's proposal, if a fight could make him give up his stubborn idea, it wasn't impossible.
After all, he was a general.
Seeing the big black cat's confident expression, Gajeel secretly revealed a sinister smile, his plan having succeeded.
Undeniably, Pantherlily was strong, but that was in Edolas, a world that relied on magic tools to cast "magic."
Gajeel, however, was a true Mage from Earth Land, a Dragon Slayer who could unleash power surpassing most magic tools on his own.
After arriving in Edolas, Gajeel had not actively displayed his strength, so Pantherlily was unaware of his power. With this information asymmetry, he could easily take down this big black cat.
This was an idea given to him by the Edolas reporter Gajeel. Although it was a bit dishonorable, it worked.
"As expected of me!"
After thanking his counterpart in his heart, Gajeel and Pantherlily found an open space on the floating island and took their stances.
On one side was the Kingdom Army's Grand Commander holding the Musica Sword, and on the other was a Mage whose hands transformed into iron swords. The surrounding soldiers couldn't help but hold their breath.
The atmosphere was set, and both tough guys tacitly stomped their feet, charging forward with swords raised.
As soon as they clashed, the man and the cat fought dozens of rounds, the clanging of metal weaving into an inspiring symphony, making the surrounding soldiers sweat.
Aside from Prince Noah and General Erza, they had never heard of anyone else being able to exchange so many blows with Pantherlily.
"Isn't Earth Land rich in Magic Power? How come the Mages there are also so good at physical combat?"
And this was the question Pantherlily wanted to ask.
After dozens of fierce attacks, Pantherlily's hands, holding the Musica Sword, were already trembling. This was from the force transmitted from Gajeel's iron sword during their clashes.
"What does this human eat to grow so strong!"
The iron swords formed by magic had chipped several gaps into the Musica Sword. While Pantherlily felt distressed, he also knew that if this continued, he would likely lose.
Keeping his promise to become Gajeel's cat wasn't a big deal, but the fact that he couldn't even make him go all out made Pantherlily feel a bit self-doubt.
Just then, a loud noise came from the sky.
The big black cat looked up at the sky above, his pupils reflecting a sight that almost suffocated him.
His homeland, the sacred kingdom suspended above the clouds, was plummeting straight down from its thousand-year-unchanging sky throne.
The clouds were torn apart, and endless gales formed a storm with Extalia at its core, the friction of the airflow emitting a terrifying tearing sound.
"Extalia is falling?!"
Pantherlily's cat eyes widened, a chill ran up his spine, and his Aera unconsciously spread behind him. "This... this is impossible... impossible."
Seeing Pantherlily about to fly into the sky, Gajeel decisively stopped him. "Calm down! What good will it do for you to go up there now? The top priority is to evacuate the people!"
Pantherlily, of course, knew his power couldn't stop Extalia from falling, but he couldn't just watch his homeland be destroyed.
Although he disliked that hypocritical Exceed Kingdom, he was still an Exceed.
Just as the man and the cat were pulling each other, Extalia's descent speed suddenly accelerated, so fast that neither Gajeel nor Pantherlily had time to do anything!
Such a terrifying descent speed would bring unimaginable disaster to the island where the human kingdom was located.
A desperate sense of powerlessness filled the heart of everyone on the floating island.
But just as Extalia passed over the floating island carrying the Lacrima Tower, about to crash onto the human kingdom, it abruptly stopped.
Then, a bizarre scene unfolded.
Extalia actually made a turn and headed straight for the edge of the human floating island.
This strange sight left everyone dumbfounded.
Especially Pantherlily, who had a somewhat deep understanding of the Exceed Kingdom but had never heard any news of Extalia being modified.
"Commander, look at the sky! So many angels!"
A soldier's exclamation brought Pantherlily back to his senses. He looked up and saw hundreds of cats flying down from the sky.
Among them was a human little girl. If he remembered correctly, she was the adopted sister of the two princes. Thinking of this, Pantherlily immediately flew up, and Gajeel also took the opportunity to grab his leg and follow him.
Upon meeting, before Pantherlily could even speak, Gajeel asked first. "Wendy, what exactly happened? How could such a large floating island suddenly fall?"
Wendy replied somewhat awkwardly. "Uh... actually, Noah did it..."
"Prince Noah?!"
Pantherlily was shocked, his face full of disbelief. "You mean, the person who made Extalia fall straight down and then turn ninety degrees is that lazy, gluttonous Prince Noah?"
Why does Prince Noah have such an image in the eyes of people here?
After finishing his internal monologue, Wendy told Pantherlily and Gajeel what had happened in Extalia.
When he heard Shagotte's actions explained as being for the Exceed race, Pantherlily, knowing the truth, fell silent. And Noah's astonishing actions made his emotions even more complex, leaving him speechless.
"If all the floating islands are put together, Magic Power can be revived."
The idea made sense, but there was no need to experiment with Extalia...
As the Exceed gradually arrived, everyone and every cat discussed for a while and then headed toward Extalia's location.
At this time, Extalia, under Noah's control, had also been joined to the edge of the human island.
Changing the magic attribute, Noah used Earth Magic to completely merge the land of the two floating islands.
When the largest floating island in Edolas and the island inhabited by the sole magical creatures combined, Noah's Magic Power, which had penetrated deep underground, detected a trace of Magic Power that did not belong to him.
That trace of Magic Power was very weak, so weak that it was shattered into pieces as soon as it encountered Noah's power.
That trace of Magic Power was also very strong, so strong that even Noah felt joyful at its appearance.
Because it was a trace of nascent Magic Power.