A group of soldiers surrounded the control room door, hesitating to advance or retreat.
However, someone quickly made the choice for them.
"Fire Dragon's Roar!"
A flame tornado erupted from outside the palace, blasting through the outer wall, filling the corridor.
A long-haired man with an electric guitar was pushed in by the flames, crashing among the soldiers.
"Whoa—" The soldiers scattered like bowling pins, also blown back by the tornado of flames.
"Ice Demon's Excitement!"
Following closely was a frost tornado, carrying a pink-haired woman in a kimono flying in.
The corridor, just heated by the flames, dropped in temperature immediately.
If not for the silver-white ice freezing the floor and walls, it might have already collapsed.
Keith's phantom figure drifted into the ice crystal corridor, "I didn't expect the Three-Plumed Crow to be defeated so quickly... truly troublesome people."
He glanced around, not paying much attention to the soldiers' fates, instead locating the blood-spitting, fainted Crawford.
"Still alive?" Keith pointed his magic staff, a purplish-black beam piercing through Crawford's heart.
Crawford's eyes shot open, incredulously looking at the person before him, but the life in his body quickly faded, leaving him with no strength to speak.
And just as he fully died, he stood again, ignoring his wounds, as if never injured.
"Master Keith."
Crawford's state differed from Shilba's, as if all self-awareness was erased.
Keith said with satisfaction, "Very well, Lord of the Underworld orders, activate Feis immediately."
"Yes." Crawford, like when alive, called up a virtual keyboard and screen, quickly pressing confirm after a few taps.
[01:00:00]
A one-hour countdown immediately appeared on the virtual screen.
Simultaneously, the main screen in the control room synchronized Feis's status.
[00:59:59]
[00:59:58]
"Excellent." Keith smiled.
At this moment, Rhode burst through the wall in the control room, first seeing Crawford, then looking towards Keith, "It's you? You actually killed him directly."
Keith replied calmly, "In this situation, the dead are more useful than the living. Now, everything is over, Feis will launch soon, Magic Power will vanish!"
He covered his face with one hand, speaking in a sorrowful, almost lyrical tone:
"Even someone as strong as you humans, without Magic Power will be as powerless as ants, ah~ what a sorrowful, weak race..."
"Ha..." Rhode didn't bother with him, wasn't it normal for mages to weaken without Magic Power? As if demons are unaffected without Curse Power.
"Alchemy Dragon Soul!" Confirming Crawford's state, Rhode decisively changed form, snapping his fingers lightly.
Crawford's body wavered, stabilized again, and then his hands swiftly started tapping the keyboard once more.
"You..." Keith suddenly realized something was wrong, "It's you! Did you also release my control over Shilba?"
Rhode looked at him strangely, "You just knew that?"
Keith felt a pang of distress, thinking that Shilba had been 'killed' in a fierce father-son duel or had broken free through familial emotion.
But it turned out he was forcibly released?
What about the touch and thrill he felt seeing Gray's power?
Damned humans, wasting his scarce emotions and depriving him of rare enjoyment!
After a moment's anger, Keith remembered his mission, "What orders did you give him?"
No need for Rhode to answer, Crawford reported his work progress himself, "Self-Destruction Magic Array has been activated, all Feis will self-destruct in one minute."
Keith, somewhat out of composure, asked, "Self-Destruction Magic Array?! Why would there be such a thing?!"
Crawford robotically replied, "Feis is a more terrifying weapon than Magical Elf Power; Advisory Council had already proposed total destruction, but never decided firmly.
"However, to prevent malicious misuse, both Feis and Magical Elf Power were set with self-destruct systems.
"If there's no reversal in decision within a minute, Feis will completely disappear."
Keith shouted orders, "You bastards! Stop it now!"
However, Crawford was no longer under his control.
He had to raise his magic staff, dark energy spiraling towards Crawford.
"Dream on." Rhode stood in front of Crawford, a thin magic shield easily blocking the attack.
Keith's figure flickered, ghosting to Rhode's back, attempting an attack from another direction.
"Hold on a second!!!"
Gray's figure crashed through the wall, his right fist slamming into Keith's left face.
To be precise, the silver glove on Gray's right hand hit Keith's face.
"Ice Demon: Zero's Shattering Fist!"
The terrifying Ice Magic Power coupled with Gray's own arm strength deformed Keith's face.
Keith spun like a throwing dart, his head leading, as he spun and flew out, his upper body was covered in silver ice mid-flight.
His head drilled through layers of walls, embedding upside-down into the floor before Kuanghua.
"Keith..." Kuanghua just recovered from Rhode's earlier kick, covering her stomach as she stood up, "Even Sella's 'magic' has vanished..."
"Ughhhh!!!" Kuanghua roared in anger.
The demonic parts on her body increased, her devil horn atop her head lengthened and stood upright, puncturing her headpiece.
Her clothes burst due to expanded shoulder width, her claws extending nearly a foot long, making her presence several times stronger, and still growing ever more powerful.
"Hahahaha... humans, go die all of you!"
Kuanghua made her victory declaration, charging out of the wrecked room, discovering a golden ring of light around her...
"What is this..."
Rhode smiled, not interested in experiencing the super amplified pain again, so he decisively chose this magic.
His right hand, opened, clenched abruptly, "Fairy... Luster!"
The golden ring tightened abruptly with Rhode's motion, binding Kuanghua's arms tightly at the waist, no matter how she struggled, they wouldn't budge a bit.
"How can human magic..." Kuanghua finally showed a terrified expression; the power contained within this ring was absolutely beyond her capacity to bear.
She might die!
Simple death didn't frighten her, but if it's before seeing President END, before returning to Zeref's side...
"Ahhhhh!!!"
The next moment, the light outside seemed to dim briefly, contrasting with the golden ring that burst into dazzling brilliance.
"Take him and go!"
Rhode tossed a sentence to Gray, then quickly picked up Mira, following Gray out the window.
Boom!!!