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Laxus, weakened to his limit, was kicked down by the assassin.
Jacob, who had been suppressed and beaten the whole way, was frustrated but had no thought of retaliating against Laxus. He simply subdued him, then used spatial magic to teleport himself away, capturing Gajeel and Gray.
God Serena had his soldiers shackle Makarov with magic-suppressing chains and said with a hint of regret. "Makarov, you really shouldn't have come to the Western Continent. Otherwise, you would have had at least a few more years of freedom and wouldn't have truly become a prisoner so soon."
Makarov did not reply.
Irene's terrifying strength startled him, and he couldn't help but worry about Noah. The Wizard King was an existence on par with Irene. If negotiations broke down, could that boy handle her?
God Serena and Jacob were still relatively polite to their captives. After all, it wasn't them who had rendered Makarov and the others incapable of fighting, and the enemies' strength had earned their respect.
There was no need to humiliate them.
However, Ajeel's thoughts were completely opposite to his two companions. He, who prided himself on being extraordinary, had suffered a major setback at Erza's hands, which made him lose face.
Now that Erza had been afflicted with "Enchantment" and was weakened, it was the perfect opportunity to get his revenge. He would return the humiliation he suffered to this hateful red-haired woman twofold.
Ajeel's mouth curved into a cruel smile, and three writhing miniature sand vortexes hovered behind him. "Fairy Queen, is it? Today, I will peel off your flesh piece by piece, making you regret offending me, the Desert King!"
Erza's red hair was disheveled, and her usually sharp eyes were now filled with exhaustion. However, her physical weakness could not break her inner strength.
Erza managed to force a sarcastic smile. "What kind of methods can a guy like you, who only bullies the weak, possibly have?"
"Still have the strength to mock me? I hope you're still this tough when you beg for mercy later!" Ajeel's face darkened, and he controlled the miniature sand to wrap around Erza's arm, intending to tear off her flesh and blood.
Just then, two young girls, one in black and one in a white dress, suddenly appeared. The girl in the tight black outfit struck out, dispersing Ajeel's magic.
The girl in the white dress tilted her head cutely and said to Ajeel. "No, Lord Ajeel, Lady Irene said she wants to interrogate this girl herself."
Ajeel twitched his mouth in frustration, glaring at Erza through gritted teeth. "You got lucky, Fairy Queen."
With that, Ajeel left without looking back. If he couldn't torment Erza, then no one would stop him from tormenting others, right? Ajeel didn't even glance at Makarov and the other rough men, but walked straight towards Mira.
Nothing was more pleasant than the screams of a young girl in her prime.
Watching Ajeel's sinister smile, Mira gritted her teeth.
In the previous battle, Mira was actually the first to fall.
Her other companions each had their own opponents, leaving only her and Irene. So, Mira proactively confronted Irene. The result was obvious—her Take Over Satan Soul was effortlessly stripped away by Irene's Enchantment, and then she was defeated by Irene's two handmaidens.
Ajeel's voice was hoarse, like grinding sand, and his gaze at Mira was full of mockery. "I remember your title was 'Demon,' wasn't it? I wonder if you can still transform after losing a layer of skin?"
Just as Ajeel was about to inflict cruel torture on Mira, someone interrupted him again.
"This is bad!"
"Sirs, this is bad!"
A soldier ran over in a panic from a distance.
Having his pleasure of torment interrupted twice, Ajeel furiously slapped the soldier to the ground. "You'd better truly have urgent news for us, or I'll make sure you regret it!"
The soldier, covering his swollen right cheek, reported without daring to delay for a moment. "Reporting, sirs, an urgent message from Lord Invel in the capital. He said... he said..."
Ajeel, who had been having a bad day, impatiently grabbed the soldier. "What is it?! If you keep dawdling, do you believe I'll kill you right now?!"
The soldier, whose legs had turned to jelly from fright, immediately stopped stuttering and blurted out the news like spilling beans. "Lord Invel sent word that the Royal Palace was attacked and completely destroyed, and he and Neinhart are severely injured! Lord Wizard King was defeated and captured, his whereabouts unknown!"
The Royal Palace destroyed.
The Winter General and a Spriggan 12 candidate severely injured.
These two major developments, however, were not as shocking as the last half-sentence from the soldier's mouth.
One of the empire's strongest forces, the Wizard King August, who was one of the empire's two pillars alongside Irene, was actually defeated!
Jacob released the soldier from Ajeel's stunned grip, suppressing the turbulent emotions within him, and calmly asked. "Did Invel say who attacked the Royal Palace?"
"It... it was a white-haired young man, a Mage from Fairy Tail. Lord Invel's message said he was so strong that he felt despair, and Lord Wizard King was easily defeated by him."
The soldier's reply made Jacob's eyes widen. He asked again, somewhat disbelievingly, but received the same answer.
At this moment, personnel from the intelligence unit brought a piece of information to Jacob: Makarov's group totaled seven people, but only six were captured on the battlefield.
In other words, the person not present was the white-haired Mage who attacked the Royal Palace, severely injured the Spriggan, and defeated the Wizard King!
The news from Invel was overwhelmingly shocking. Even Irene, who had remained calm throughout, now had a changed expression.
To easily defeat August meant he could easily defeat her, something even their emperor couldn't do.
An unknown white-haired young man... how could such a powerful individual suddenly appear in the world?
Could it be that black dragon transformed?
As Irene's mind wandered, Ajeel, however, became enraged, looking viciously at Mira. "Damn Fairy Tail! Daring to attack the empire, now you will pay the price!"
"Stop! Ajeel!"
Jacob was terrified when he saw Ajeel draw his desert scimitar.
According to their intelligence, Fairy Tail was a guild that valued its comrades immensely, and these captives were important bargaining chips for the exchange of the Wizard King.
However, Ajeel didn't care about any of that. Frightened and angry, he only wanted to vent. Besides, there were six captives. What was wrong with killing one?!
The raging sand forced Jacob to retreat, and Ajeel's sand blade was about to fall on Mira's head, but a gust of wind arrived, freezing his hand, which was wielding the cleaver, in mid-air.
Then, Ajeel felt another presence arrive.
It was the killer whale that swallowed giant waves.
It was the relentless storm that swept everything away.
It was the ferocious dragon of blazing fire.
It was the destructive thunderous storm that shattered the sky... It was "him"!
The terrifying pressure caused blood to spurt from Ajeel's seven orifices, and fragments of his internal organs mixed with blood gushed from his mouth, yet he could only remain fixed in the posture of swinging his blade down.
Despair consumed Ajeel's mind.
Noah, moving with the wind, stood silently behind the Desert King, looking at Ajeel, whose tears, sweat, and blood flowed simultaneously, with utter disdain.
"Clown, what are you stirring up?"