"Did Jellal send you to stop us?!" Natsu roared, flames instantly engulfing his fists.
"Perfect, I'll just send all of you flying!"
He shot out like a cannonball, aiming for the loudest rock n roll guy.
"Fire Dragon's—"
"Your opponent is me! Ooh-ooh-ooh!"
The owl-like monster, Fukuro, suddenly accelerated, turning into an afterimage and instantly blocking Natsu. He opened his huge mouth and actually swallowed Natsu whole.
"Natsu!" Gray exclaimed in shock.
"Don't look around!"
Vidaldus strummed his guitar, and piercing sound waves transformed into a tangible attack sweeping towards Gray.
Ice-Make: Shield!
Gray hastily created an ice shield to block, but the sound waves seemed to penetrate everything, making him feel dizzy.
In the blink of an eye, Natsu and Gray were entangled by their opponents.
Only Erza and Ryoma were left facing Ikaruga, the strongest of the Trinity Raven.
"Fairy queen, Erza Scarlet." Ikaruga's gaze locked onto Erza. "I've heard legends of you. Let me see if your sword lives up to your name."
Requip: Heaven's Wheel Armor!
Erza wasted no words. A flash of light, and metal wings extended from her back. A hundred longswords floated behind her, their tips all aimed at Ikaruga.
Blumenblatt!
Hundreds of swords rained down like a storm.
Facing such a dense attack, Ikaruga didn't even move, merely slowly placing her hand on the hilt of the sword at her waist.
Just as the sword rain was about to hit her body—
Clang!
An extremely fast silver light flashed and disappeared.
So fast that no one even saw her draw her sword.
The next second.
Clink... Clatter—
A continuous series of crisp sounds filled the air. The hundred longswords that had come whistling down were all neatly snapped in half in mid-air and fell to the ground.
Erza's pupils suddenly contracted.
"My swordsmanship is called Mugetsu-Ryu." Ikaruga slowly sheathed her sword, her voice devoid of emotion.
"Its true essence lies not in cutting objects, but in cutting space."
"Your magic is ineffective against me."
Cutting space?
Erza's heart tightened. Her opponent's ability was far more troublesome than she had imagined.
This was not just powerful swordsmanship, it involved a magical domain she had never encountered before.
Requip: Flame Empress Armor!
Erza instantly switched armors. Armor specifically designed to counter flames covered her entire body, and in her hand was a greatsword imbued with fire magic.
"If slashes are ineffective, then try this!"
She stomped the ground, her figure transforming into a crimson stream of light, rushing towards Ikaruga with a scorching aura.
Mugetsu-Ryu: Yasha's Empty Flash!
Ikaruga's figure instantly vanished from her spot, reappearing beside Erza.
Another extremely fast slash appeared.
Clang!
Sparks flew.
Erza, relying on her years of battle-honed intuition, narrowly blocked the slash with the flat of her sword.
But an irresistible force came from the blade, and a clear crack actually appeared on the armguard of the Flame Empress Armor.
On the other side, Natsu and Gray's situation was equally grim.
Natsu, swallowed by Fukuro, found that no matter how much fire he released, it would be rapidly absorbed and digested by his stomach lining, becoming Fukuro's magic supply instead.
"Ooh-ooh-ooh! Fire tastes good! Burp!"
Fukuro burped, his belly distended, and his magic power grew even stronger.
Gray, meanwhile, was suffering terribly from Vidaldus's rock music.
The music not only transformed into physical attacks but also acted as mental pollution, preventing him from concentrating on complex Ice-Make spells. He could only passively create ice walls for defense, steadily retreating.
"Come on! Embrace rock 'n' roll! Become my slave!"
Vidaldus frantically strummed his guitar, his long hair coiling around Gray like living tendrils.
The battle had reached a stalemate, or rather, a disadvantageous position.
Ryoma looked at the three battlefields, his brows slightly furrowed.
Jellal sent these three not expecting them to win, but to stall.
To stall for time at all costs.
An ominous premonition surged in Ryoma's heart.
The Council...
Etherion!
Jellal, that madman, couldn't have already made the Council use Etherion, could he?
He hadn't even captured Erza yet. Was he that confident, or did he have another substitute?
Thinking this, Ryoma's eyes instantly turned cold. He couldn't drag this out any longer.
—
Meanwhile, at the Magic Council.
With the final vote cast, the number of councilors in favor of activating Etherion exceeded half.
"Voting concluded!"
The Council Chairman solemnly announced the result.
"Activate Etherion..."
Siegrain's face revealed a victorious smile, and he exchanged a look with Ultear, everything understood without words.
"Execute immediately!" He urged loudly, feigning extreme urgency on his face. "We have no time!"
As the order was given, the entire Council headquarters sprang into action.
The magical satellite array above began receiving commands from the ground. A massive magic circle slowly unfolded on the satellite's surface, and terrifying magic power began to converge towards its center.
A huge magic circle locked onto the island where the Tower of Heaven was located.
At the center of the magic circle, a destructive orb of light was forming at a visible rate.
"Etherion, launch preparation!"
"Energy filling... 10%..."
"Target: Tower of Heaven!"
"Launch countdown... commencing!"
A cold, mechanical voice echoed in the command center, and a huge number appeared before everyone.
[30:00]
The countdown to destruction officially began.
—
Inside the Tower of Heaven, Ryoma no longer observed. His figure flashed, appearing beside Gray.
"Who's there?!"
Vidaldus was playing enthusiastically when he suddenly felt the surrounding air temperature plummet.
Ryoma didn't even glance at him, simply snapping his fingers softly.
Frost Domain!
Just like that, a domain of absolute zero silently spread out centered on Ryoma, and the piercing guitar sound abruptly stopped.
Vidaldus's frantic expression instantly froze. He was horrified to find his fingers, which were strumming the strings, were frozen, and his hair, which had been like living tendrils, had turned into stiff ice sculptures.
The cold air spread from the soles of his feet, instantly covering his entire body.
He didn't even have time to let out a scream before he turned into an ice sculpture, maintaining his guitar-playing posture.
"This..." Gray stared dumbfounded at the scene before him. "Is the difference really this big?"
Ryoma didn't linger. His figure vanished again, reappearing next to the owl-like monster, Fukuro.
"Ooh-ooh-ooh?" Fukuro seemed to sense danger and was about to fly away.
"Too late."
Ryoma extended a hand, aiming it at Fukuro's distended belly.
Eternal Ice Coffin!
An extreme cold instantly surged into Fukuro's body.
"Ugh... so... so cold..."
Natsu, who was frantically attacking inside Fukuro's belly, suddenly felt the surrounding temperature was off.
"What's going on? It's suddenly so cold!"
The next second, he felt himself being encased in something hard.
Crack—Crack—
Fukuro's body began to rapidly crystallize from the inside out.
His screams were choked in his throat, and his body transformed into a huge block of ice in mid-air, then crashed heavily to the ground, shattering into pieces.
A humanoid block of ice rolled out from the shattered ice.
"Hey! Who froze me?!" Natsu's voice came from inside the ice block.
Ryoma stepped on the ice block, and with a crack, the ice shattered, and Natsu was finally freed.
"You did that, Ryoma!"
Natsu was about to get angry but then saw the ice sculpture not far away and instantly reeled it back in.
Ryoma ignored him, his gaze turning to the last battlefield.
Erza and Ikaruga's battle had entered a white-hot phase.
Mugetsu-Ryu: Garuda Flame!
Ikaruga finally unleashed her strongest technique.
The longsword, the moment it was unsheathed, erupted with raging flames that merged with the sword, slashing towards Erza.
This move was so powerful that even the Flame Empress Armor, specifically designed to defend against flames, couldn't withstand it.
Boom!
Erza, armor and all, was blasted away by the immense force, crashing heavily into a distant wall. The Flame Empress Armor was covered in cracks, already half-destroyed.
"It's over."
Ikaruga looked at the fallen Erza, preparing to deliver the final blow.
However, a figure blocked her path.
"Your opponent is me now."
"Another one coming to die?" Ikaruga's eyes turned cold.
She could feel the immense magic power contained within the man before her, but she had absolute confidence in her sword.
"No matter who you are, before my Mugetsu-ryu, there is only one outcome."
She once again assumed her drawing stance.
"Is that so?"
Ryoma gently raised his hand, and a crystal-clear ice lotus slowly bloomed in his palm.
Thousand Petal Ice Lotus!
"Die!"
Yasha's Empty Flash!
Ikaruga's figure transformed into a stream of light. A slash too fast for the eye to catch went straight for Ryoma's neck.
What she intended to cut was Ryoma and the space around him.