Kagura's expression was razor-sharp, and she showed none of the vacant stiffness one might expect from someone under hypnosis.
If anything, the killing intent in her eyes looked completely genuine as she repeatedly slashed toward Erza's neck, as though the woman in front of her were a mortal enemy.
Erza, however, couldn't bring herself to seriously hurt someone she regarded almost like a younger sister.
She sidestepped Kagura's thrust, turned her blade, and forced Archenemy downward before driving her shoulder into Kagura's body to pin her in place.
"Kagura! What's wrong with you? It's me—Erza!"
Erza called to her anxiously, but Kagura didn't hesitate for even a second.
"Fairy Tail has violated the White Doctrine. All of you are targets of Whiteout!"
Whiteout.
Ankh's brow furrowed.
He had heard that word before, but hearing it come from Kagura's mouth made it far more unsettling.
"She's being controlled. Restrain her first!"
Ankh shouted to Erza and reached toward Kagura himself.
"You deserve to be subjected to Whiteout as well!"
Another man in white robes suddenly charged from the side with an almost ridiculous battle cry, bringing a vicious palm strike down toward Ankh's head.
Ankh didn't bother dodging.
He caught the attacker's hand, casually used his momentum against him, and flipped the man over like a toy before planting one foot on him hard enough to drive him into the ground.
Only after subduing him almost on instinct did Ankh actually look down at his face.
"Bacchus?"
He quickly lifted his foot, staring in surprise as Bacchus coughed up blood.
Kagura, Mermaid Heel's strongest mage, appearing here and attacking them could perhaps have been dismissed as one person falling into a trap.
But Bacchus—the Drunken Falcon of Quatro Cerberus—had come after them for exactly the same reason.
That made the situation much more serious.
There could easily be mages from other guilds under the same mysterious influence.
Erza drew on the divine power fused into her body and overwhelmed Kagura's resistance with layer after layer of sword strikes.
The instant Kagura became too occupied defending herself to use magic, Ankh flashed behind her and struck the back of her neck with a clean chop.
Kagura collapsed.
Erza caught her before she hit the ground and frowned deeply.
"If Mermaid Heel's and Quatro Cerberus's strongest mages are both like this, their guilds may already have been attacked."
"I'm more worried it isn't limited to those two."
A lazy voice came from behind them.
Brandish finally caught up, dragging someone by the collar.
The moment Ankh and Erza recognized the man's face, both felt the same instinctive discomfort.
There was no mistaking him.
The battered, swollen-faced creature in Brandish's hand was none other than Blue Pegasus's Ichiya.
"Meeen…"
Ichiya let out one of his usual disturbingly seductive groans.
Brandish immediately punched him in the stomach.
He passed out again.
She stared down at him with open irritation.
"Even while being controlled, this idiot still tried to flirt with me. He really doesn't know when to quit."
Ankh and Erza thought about Ichiya's personality for approximately one second.
Yeah.
That absolutely sounded like him.
No wonder Brandish was irritated.
Even someone as lazy and easygoing as she was had limits when confronted with a creature like Ichiya.
Ankh glanced back toward the Fairy Tail guildhall they had only just left, then immediately started after Natsu and the others.
"Catch that so-called leader of the White Magic Cult. She has to know what's happening."
After Touka's personality switched, they had gotten a glimpse of her real combat ability.
It was certainly impressive, but nowhere remotely close to matching Zeref.
Her Magic Power was enormous, and the nature of her magic was unusually foreign compared with the systems commonly seen in Earth Land, but raw strength alone didn't explain the legends surrounding the White Wizard.
Which meant Touka and the White Magic Cult almost certainly answered to someone more powerful.
...
By then, Natsu, Gray, and the others had already caught up with Touka.
Or more accurately, Touka had stopped running as a handsome young man stood directly in her path.
Touka stared at him and gave a bitter smile.
Jellal.
Within Ishgar, his position and combat strength were comparable to Laxus's—one of the rare mages strong enough to be measured against the Spriggan 12.
Touka immediately understood that she was trapped.
She had barely started considering whether she could launch a surprise attack and slip past him when several more figures emerged nearby.
Macbeth.
Ultear.
Erik.
Sorano.
Sawyer.
Meredy.
Every member of Crime Sorcière was here.
Touka abandoned the idea of resisting entirely.
Behind her, Lucy immediately brightened when she recognized them.
"Sorano! You're all here!"
"Perfect, help us stop—"
Gray's shout cut off halfway through.
His pupils contracted.
Ice instantly formed over one arm, shaping itself into a blade just in time to intercept a crystal orb hurtling toward him from the distance.
"Ultear?!"
Gray stared at his senior disciple in disbelief.
Ultear didn't hesitate.
Her crystal orb flew from her hand again, splitting into countless possible temporal trajectories until an entire rainstorm of orbs descended toward Gray.
"Gray!"
Lucy saw him being attacked without warning and immediately reached for her keys, only for Sorano to charge straight at her with an expression that made it clear she had no intention of holding back.
"Meredy-san!"
Wendy frantically dodged another attack while trying to reason with the cold-faced Meredy.
Surely one little girl didn't need to beat up another little girl.
Sawyer and Macbeth joined the chaos immediately afterward.
Natsu angrily tried to break through and help everyone, only for Erik to activate Dragon Force and charge directly at him.
Flame and poison collided.
Natsu's fire vaporized the poison covering the street, only for clouds of purple toxic mist to spread rapidly through the area.
"Sky Dragon King Mode!"
Wendy was the least suited to fighting in such an enclosed, populated area, so she was the first to stop holding back.
White wings flared from behind her, and one small fist swung forward with enough force to generate a massive gale.
The wind gathered up the spreading poison and hurled it high into the sky before it could engulf the street.
Touka stood frozen, staring at the battlefield that had suddenly descended into complete chaos.
Jellal remained in front of her like a motionless pine tree, his expression unreadable.
Then he spoke quietly.
"Go."
Touka blinked.
A second later, understanding hit her.
She immediately turned and ran.
"Damn it! Don't run!"
Natsu roared.
Dragon scales spread across his body as he erupted forward, dispersing the remaining poison with sheer heat before driving a flame-covered fist toward Touka.
Jellal jumped into his path without hesitation.
Starlight burst from his palm and wrapped tightly around Natsu's fiery punch, stopping it cold.
"Jellal…"
Natsu ground his teeth.
"What the hell is wrong with all of you? She's with the White Magic Cult!"
"The doctrine of the cult no longer permits your existence, Natsu."
Jellal's voice remained calm.
A massive Celestial Spirit Magic array lit up beneath his feet.
Countless streaks of light rained down like falling stars, bombarding Natsu without mercy.
Natsu immediately leaped backward to evade them.
Then he steadied himself.
The impatience in his eyes gradually disappeared.
His flames condensed.
Dragon scales, wings, and horns spread over his body once again as he entered Fire Dragon King Mode.
This time, there was no confusion left in his expression.
Only pure excitement.
"Well…"
A grin slowly appeared on Natsu's face.
"Whatever's going on, this works out."
He clenched one fist.
"Ever since we became allies, I haven't gotten to fight you seriously."
His grin widened.
"I'm all fired up!"
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