Nighttime, inside a building in Magnolia Town, there were three people.
These three were none other than the so-called [Shadow Gear] trio from the Fairy Tail Guild: Levy, Droy, and Jet.
"Damn Phantom Lord, attacking our guild like that! And Master, really, acting like nothing happened!"
Droy, sitting on a chair, spoke with a face full of indignation.
"Master is considering the bigger picture. A fight between guilds would definitely leave both sides wounded!"
Levy, with her ocean-blue hair, handed a cup of coffee to Droy and spoke.
"Don't worry, Levy, if Phantom Lord shows up, I'll protect you!"
Droy took the coffee and said earnestly.
"And me!"
Jet beside him quickly added.
"I'm not as weak as you think!"
Hearing Droy and Jet's words, Levy said with a smile.
However, just as Levy turned around, an unfamiliar voice suddenly came through the air.
"Found them, Fairy Tail's members!"
Hearing this eerie voice, Levy immediately turned to look.
She saw a black-haired man crouching on the windowsill, eating iron, making crunching sounds with his mouth, looking quite terrifying.
Seeing this, Levy's face changed dramatically.
Droy and Jet, sitting at the table, also immediately stood up, looking at the man who had suddenly intruded as if facing a great enemy.
"You're Phantom Lord's Iron Dragon Slayer!"
Although Droy and the others hadn't seen Gajeel before, they had heard rumors about Phantom Lord's Iron Dragon Slayer.
Seeing Gajeel eating iron now, they recognized him at a glance.
"Correct!"
Gajeel stared at the three and said with a mocking tone.
After confirmation, Droy and Jet immediately shielded Levy behind them.
"Levy, go quickly and notify Erza and the others! We'll hold him off here!"
Droy urgently said to Levy behind him, then launched an attack at Gajeel in front of them.
"Plant Magic!"
Droy threw a plant seed from his hand onto the ground.
The next second, a thick branch-like vine, as if alive, swept towards Gajeel on the windowsill.
Seeing Droy had already attacked Gajeel, a grave-looking Levy also immediately moved, planning to notify the people at the guild.
But before Levy could get out the door, two loud thuds came from inside the room.
Levy instinctively turned her head to look and saw that Droy and Jet had already collapsed on the ground.
"Levy, quick, quickly...!"
The severely injured Droy lifted his head with difficulty and shouted to Levy.
But before Droy could finish his sentence, the mocking Gajeel lifted his foot and stomped heavily on Droy's body.
"Gugh-"
Droy vomited a mouthful of blood and then lost consciousness.
"Droy!"
Seeing Droy severely injured, Levy's pretty face turned pale.
Gajeel then stepped over the bodies of Droy and Jet and directly approached Levy.
"Solid Script: Stone!"
Bearing her fear, Levy wrote the English word [STONE] in the air.
Then, under Levy's control, the stone-like English word shot directly towards Gajeel.
"Gihi!"
Facing Levy's attack, Gajeel didn't care at all.
He grinned, a creepy smile appearing on his face.
When the stone word got close, Gajeel raised his arm and threw a punch.
Gajeel's punch wasn't an ordinary one.
The moment his fist shot out, his entire arm stretched out like rubber.
In just an instant, Levy's word stone was smashed to pieces.
That wasn't all… Gajeel's stretched-out arm continued without pause towards Levy.
Watching Gajeel's iron-like fist rapidly enlarge in her vision, Levy immediately swung her arm, preparing to use Solid Script to block.
But Gajeel's attack was too fast, and Levy simply didn't have time to cast her Word Magic.
Just as Gajeel's arm was about to hit Levy, a figure suddenly appeared out of thin air and, with a raised hand, firmly caught Gajeel's stretched iron arm.
"Hmm?"
This sudden change made Gajeel's expression turn serious.
Levy, frightened, fell to the ground.
Levy supported herself with her hands on the ground and looked up at the person who had saved her.
But this person had his back to her, so she couldn't see his face at all.
Although Levy couldn't see the person's face, Gajeel could.
"Are you from Fairy Tail too?"
Gajeel retracted his stretched iron arm, stood straight, and asked seriously.
The person who had appeared before Gajeel was, naturally, Kenichi.
Kenichi didn't answer Gajeel's question.
He just slightly turned his head and glanced at Levy behind him.
Startled by Kenichi's cold glance, the terrified Levy immediately reacted.
Without any hesitation, she got up from the ground and retreated to the side.
After putting some distance between herself and Kenichi, she finally got a clear look at Kenichi's face.
Seeing that Kenichi remained silent, Gajeel spat out the iron fragments in his mouth and said with a grin, "Whatever, whether you're from Fairy Tail or not, since you dare to get in the way, I'll take care of you too!"
With that, Gajeel launched an attack on Kenichi.
Gajeel moved his feet, creating a deep dent in the floor, and his body shot towards Kenichi like an arrow from a bow.
When Gajeel reached the air above Kenichi, he grinned, then his iron-clad fist, with a slam-dunk-like force, blasted down towards Kenichi beneath him.
'Before obtaining the Iron Dragon Slayer Magic attribute, I'll play with you a bit!'
Seeing Gajeel blasting towards him, Kenichi thought to himself, then activated the Fire Dragon Slayer Magic he had previously obtained from Natsu.
Bzzzt-
As Kenichi clenched his fist, a cluster of crimson flames instantly erupted on his fist.
When Gajeel's iron fist got close, Kenichi's flame-engulfed fist met Gajeel's attack head-on.