As if confirming Shagotte's words, the once-stable Floating Island began to teeter precariously, losing its original buoyancy in mere breaths.
The sky darkened, islands began to fall, and the evil dragon spread its wings to ravage the heavens—a sight akin to the apocalypse descending.
Everyone held onto their magical tools, which were rapidly losing power, a heavy shadow of gloom settling in their hearts.
The members of Edolas's Fairy Tail had long been prepared for this situation, but the current circumstances were far less optimistic than they had anticipated.
"What should we do now?!"
As everyone remained stranded on the rapidly falling Extalia, Edolas Lucy couldn't help but cry out anxiously.
"Our magic is starting to fade too! If this continues, we'll all be smashed to a pulp!"
Ankh turned his head and shouted toward Shagotte's group: "Exceeds, carry everyone and fly up! Hurry!"
Ankh's sudden shout, combined with the intimidating glare from Laxus beside him, prompted all the cats to immediately spread their wings.
Soon after, pairs of pure white wings unfurled as all the cats of Extalia each grabbed a Mage from Fairy Tail, desperately seeking refuge in the sky.
"What's happening?"
"Over there! There's a huge dragon over there!"
"Natsu!"
By then, Ankh and the others had flown into the air and immediately spotted several figures approaching them—it was Mystogan and the others who had gone separately to rescue Marl and Lucky.
Happy, having overcome his psychological barrier at some point, was flying through the air holding onto Mystogan, while Carla and Lily were carrying Wendy and Gajeel respectively.
Hearing Happy's call, Natsu was overjoyed and greeted him loudly.
"Happy! It's great that you're safe!"
After their brief separation, the reunion between the boy and the cat was exhilarating, causing Marl and Lucky to have highly complicated expressions.
"Destroy! Destroy! I will establish a magical empire that belongs exclusively to me!"
A Dragon's Roar as loud as thunder echoed across the sky.
Watching the completely deranged evil dragon Faust hovering in the air, a cold glint flashed in Ankh's eyes before he turned to look beside him.
As if sharing the exact same thought, Laxus also turned to look at him at that moment.
The two exchanged a glance, then nodded simultaneously.
Natsu, still incredibly excited, spoke to Happy: "Come on, Happy! It's time for the Dragon Slayer Mages to shine again. Let's go take him down!"
"Aye!"
Happy handed Mystogan over to a nearby Exceed and swiftly flew upward.
Seeing this, Natsu immediately tried to get the Exceed carrying him to let go so he could charge into battle alongside his partner.
But it was too late.
Laxus appeared out of nowhere, grabbed Happy and had the cat carry him as they flew away.
Natsu stared dumbfounded as the two figures grew increasingly distant.
'Hey!'
'That's my partner!'
'Damn you, Laxus!!'
Gajeel immediately mocked him. "Hmph, can't even keep hold of your own cat, you idiot."
"Um..."
Hearing a deep voice from behind, Gajeel stiffened in shock.
Turning around in disbelief, he saw an unfamiliar random cat holding him up.
"Hey! Lily!!"
The two voices of utter discontent carried far into the distance.
Panther Lily, who was carrying Ankh high in the sky, couldn't help but sigh and look down.
'Sorry, Gajeel, but compared to you, this man seems much more capable of deciding the overall situation.'
Ankh and Laxus swiftly flew toward the half-mad Faust in the sky, leaving Gildarts to protect the remaining members.
Among them, Natsu and Gajeel were still eager for action, loudly insisting on joining the fight to slay the dragon.
In the end, Gildarts quelled both their arguments with a single iron fist to each of their heads.
Gildarts blew on his fist and said irritably, "Stay put quietly. Opponents of this level are far beyond your capabilities right now. Leave it to the S-Class."
Gajeel clenched his fist unwillingly and said, "I'm a Dragon Slayer Mage, this kind of specialized matter..."
Gildarts interrupted, "So is Laxus."
Gajeel was left completely speechless, while Natsu muttered, "That dragon is my opponent, I was almost winning originally..."
"To be precise, your opponent was that armor," Gildarts shot him down again. "And just now, with merely the armor, you were already being overwhelmed."
The two completely shut their mouths.
Edolas Cana looked at the two men who were so determined without hesitation and asked worriedly, "But Father, is it really alright to leave such a terrifying monster to them?"
Gildarts grinned and laughed proudly. "Don't worry. If anything, for Faust to force the two fourth-Guild Master candidates of Fairy Tail to join forces in battle, it could be considered... a highly worthy death."
...
The evil dragon Faust, seeing only two people daring to charge at him, felt his chaotic brain become even more violent.
He roared ferociously, "Persistent pests! Get lost!"
While roaring, Faust raised his hard sharp dragon claw and swung it down at the two mages.
Laxus didn't evade at all.
With a cold snort, his entire body was enveloped in violent lightning, which gathered and fused entirely into his right arm.
He faced the massive dragon claw head-on and threw a punch without hesitation.
"Lightning Dragon's... Crushing Fist!!"
A flash of lightning that illuminated the entire sky passed by, and as their fists collided, the pouring lightning seemed to turn the very heavens into a pool of thunder.
"What?!"
Faust felt the immense Magic Power transmitted from Laxus's fist—which was no less than his own—and instinctively felt a wave of irritation.
Meanwhile, Ankh took advantage of their clash and had already flown directly above Faust.
At the same time, the death energy between his hands began to spread out wildly.
"Death God's: Scythe of Transmigration."
The death energy gathered in his hands, forming a giant war scythe that radiated a terrifying aura of destruction.
It was truly enormous.
The Scythe of Transmigration Ankh created this time was dozens of meters long, almost matching the entire length of Faust's dragon body.
Ankh swung the scythe and, without hesitation, chopped heavily down at Faust below.
The ever-victorious scythe blade almost seamlessly penetrated the thick Dragon Knight armor on Faust's body.
"ROAR——!!"
A dragon's roar so wretched it could be heard throughout the entire kingdom erupted violently as Faust struggled desperately to break free from beneath the massive scythe.
At that moment, Laxus showed no mercy.
As Faust retracted his dragon claw in pain, Laxus chanted an incantation, and the rolling dark clouds above began to rumble furiously.
The thunderclouds enveloped Faust and Laxus growled, "Roaring Thunder!"
Faust, who had been desperately struggling mere moments before, was instantly wrapped in an apocalyptic torrent of lightning.
His Dragon Knight armor turned charred black and began to violently crack and fall apart.
Indeed, this very thing that had given Natsu such a hard fight earlier was now on the verge of being completely destroyed after just one single move each from Laxus and Ankh.
Natsu: "..."
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