Wendy swept her attack around the area, destroying every carousel horse in one go.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
The carousel exploded one section after another.
Luso looked mildly surprised.
"Eh? You two are actually pretty capable."
Enny added expressionlessly,
"Hmph. Maybe they're somewhat famous Mages after all..."
"..."
Raizel and Wendy both had the sudden urge to ask why their opponents had started giving live power-scaling commentary in the middle of a fight.
Luso spread her hands dismissively.
"Eh?! But at most, they're probably only around the level of that guy who calls himself the strongest on the continent—God Serena, right?"
'The problem is... you're not even as strong as Serena.'
Raizel genuinely had no idea where Luso's confidence came from.
Enny frowned and shot her younger sister an irritated look.
"Our guild master and Athena are both Mages as well. Don't underestimate your opponents too much, Luso."
"Your sister has the right idea."
Raizel's voice remained calm.
"And I've had enough of playing around."
The V-Bracelet on UlforceVeedramon's right arm released a blade of light.
Magic Power surged violently around Raizel as a brilliant azure sword arc stretched across the distorted world like a line drawn through the heavens.
One slash—
and Luso's entire transmuted space was cleaved apart.
"W-Wha...?"
Luso stared upward in shock as the warped surroundings began returning to normal.
Her composure completely collapsed.
Even Enny could no longer maintain her earlier cold, expressionless attitude. Surprise and unease filled her eyes.
Hovering above them, Raizel pointed the light blade toward the Signario Sisters.
"All right."
"Now it's my turn to play, isn't it?"
...
Gold Owl Guild Hall—
"I want Athena to become complete, while Athena wishes to become human. To fulfill both her dream and mine, I require your cooperation."
Ultear's expression darkened.
"Cooperation? Is that what you call sending people to attack us?"
Mira narrowed her eyes as well.
"Yes. We're not the sort to quietly swallow an insult after being treated like that."
Although the conversation might have looked like simple verbal sparring, Mira had never stopped using Kyoka's enhancement Curse on herself.
The longer this dragged on, the stronger she became—provided she had enough Magic Power to sustain it.
Duke stood with his hands behind his back, radiating complete confidence.
"I'm the only one capable of controlling Athena in her current state. Are you certain you want to make an enemy of her?"
Neither Ultear nor Mira was remotely intimidated.
No matter how dangerous Athena might be, could she really be worse than Acnologia?
Wanting more information, Ultear suppressed the obvious retort.
"So completing Athena requires the Magic Power of Mages?"
"I already told you. I never possessed much talent for Magic myself. Naturally, if I want to collect Magic Power, I need Mages."
Ultear's brows drew together.
"Isn't God Serena part of your guild? Ridiculous as he acts, he was once considered the strongest Mage on the continent."
"Did somebody call for me?"
A spotlight suddenly shone down.
"GOD! My friends!"
God Serena appeared beneath it and immediately struck several poses.
"Don't let appearances fool you—I'm a doll too!"
Ultear and Mira instantly went on guard at his arrival.
God Serena, however, had no interest in ambushing them.
He was too busy posing.
Mira looked genuinely surprised.
"A doll? Does that mean... you died?"
Ultear could no longer restrain herself.
"Every single thing you do is irritating."
Duke calmly explained,
"That's right. When I found him, he was already dead. I used his corpse to create a doll."
"He still possesses tremendous Magic Power, but the Magic Power of a dead man cannot be used to complete Athena."
Not long after leaving the northern encampment, God Serena had been attacked by a magical beast.
With his fighting spirit shattered and barely able to muster any Magic Power, he had been killed by a single swipe from an Ice Wyvern.
Fortunately—or unfortunately—the creature happened to be herbivorous.
It had no interest in eating him, leaving behind a largely intact corpse for Duke to find.
Gennai added, "Oro, oro. We originally intended to retrieve the Dogramag Cores as a more efficient way of collecting Magic Power."
God Serena struck another pose.
"GOD! Unfortunately, you people interfered."
Ultear frowned.
"Magic Power? But Lacrima containing Magic Power can be found everywhere."
Duke shook his head.
"No. Not just anyone's Magic Power will do."
"What I need is the Magic Power of dragons."
That was also why Duke had spent so much time talking to Ultear and Mira.
Neither of them appeared to possess Dragon Slayer Magic.
Ultear's crystal ball did contain such power, but she had yet to reveal it.
...
Outside the Deltara Mountains—
Natsu, Erza, and Kagura all saw the enormous azure sword arc stretching across the sky.
Natsu raised one hand to shield his eyes.
"That's Raizel, right?"
Erza nodded.
"Yes. That's his Magic Power."
Athena hovered in the air and analyzed the sword light for several moments.
When she failed to identify it, she turned her attention back to Natsu.
"Fire Dragon Slayer."
"Son of Igneel."
"The most famous Dragon Slayer in Ishgar."
Thanks to the destructive reputation of the Fire Dragon, Natsu's name had spread across the continent. Calling him Ishgar's most famous Dragon Slayer was hardly an exaggeration.
"Who cares about any of that?" Natsu replied.
"Whiteout."
Athena raised her right hand and pressed her index and middle fingers together.
Natsu suddenly went limp.
All strength drained from his body as he collapsed to the ground, unable to rise.
And that was exactly what had happened.
Athena had stripped every trace of Dragon Slayer Magic from him, leaving him completely drained of Magic Power.
"Natsu!"
Neither Erza nor Kagura had expected Athena to possess an ability like that.
"Isn't that the same power Faris used—the Whiteout ability from the White Magic cult?"
There was no time to search for an answer.
Athena smiled.
"I'll be taking this dragon power."
"Lucy, Kagura—we're going in!"
Erza immediately Requipped the Heaven's Wheel Armor and took to the air.
"Right!"
Kagura drew Archenemy without hesitation.
"So this is the power of a dragon... If I absorb it into myself..."
The Dragon Slayer Magic stolen from Natsu condensed into a white sphere.
Athena calmly examined the crystal of dragon power floating in her hand.
"Not happening!"
Lucy switched into her Cancer Star Dress and leaped high into the air.
She and Erza attacked Athena from opposite sides.
Erza maneuvered through the air, weaving around the laser beams fired from Athena's eyes, while Lucy seized the opening and slashed both swords directly across the hand holding Natsu's dragon power.
"Gravity Suppression—maximum output!"
Kagura unleashed her Gravity Magic.
Under the crushing pressure, the crystal slipped from Athena's grasp.
"Aye!"
Happy caught the sphere below.
"Cat."
Athena immediately moved to pursue him.
"Your opponent is me."
Erza intercepted her with a magical sword in hand.
"Petty tricks."
Athena extended two fingers toward Happy.
"Whiteout."
Happy's Magic Power vanished instantly.
His body went limp, and he fell helplessly to the ground.
"Happy!"
Athena looked completely confident of victory.
"Do you understand now?"
"I can erase the Magic Power within any of you in an instant, just like that."
She smiled faintly.
"But first... I think I'll let you suffer a little."
---------
Read 40 chapters ahead and support me on patreon.
patreon (.)com/Newbietranslator