Ikusa-Tsunagi. The Yakuma Eighteen Battle Gods Magic. Rhodes turned those two things over in his mind.
Among divine entities there were War Gods, Gods of Life, Gods of Time, all placed alongside one another. Was this particular War God connected to those others?
He had heard of this magic before, used under the same name by someone else entirely. Because of everything tied to the curse on the First Master, Rhodes had always paid closer attention than most to anything involving divine artifacts or entities.
He wondered if this War God had any connection to those other gods. Though a being of that standing probably wouldn't allow itself to be called up by someone this far beneath it.
"We should go take a look," Makarov said. "Rhodes, with me. Warrod and the Thunder God Tribe stay here."
"Understood."
"Stop! Why are you killing your own people?!"
Natsu had Arlock by the collar and was roaring into his face.
He had watched with his own eyes as Ikusa-Tsunagi came down from the clouds and planted its feet, crushing the cult members one by one with each step. Wherever the crowd was densest, it moved toward them deliberately. This wasn't a failure to distinguish friend from foe. It was treating its own people as enemies on purpose.
For Natsu, villains made him angry. Villains killing their own companions made something inside him snap entirely.
Arlock didn't care in the slightest. "Comrades? No. They are offerings."
"What did you say?!"
"This is the Purification Plan." Despite being badly injured, Arlock wore the expression of someone who had already won. "I always intended the sacrifice to include them. Only those whose faith is absolute are high-quality offerings. As for the people inside the city, they are low-quality souls at best. Unimportant."
He kept talking. "As for you people, I originally thought the ones who deliberately let themselves be tracked were Council members. They would have made fine offerings too, enough to compensate for our shortfall in numbers. But you will do just as well. Ikusa-Tsunagi will collect the lives of everyone here. Let Zeref appear! Even if you kill me, you cannot stop him.
Despair. Accept your fate. Accept the purification."
"I will never forgive you."
Natsu threw him to the ground.
"Idiot." Gajeel glanced at Natsu, cracking his knuckles. "Did you really expect a man like that to value his people? Keep being angry. I'll handle the big one."
He was already moving before Natsu could respond.
As Ikusa-Tsunagi's foot came down, Gajeel pushed forward into the wall of displaced air and tilted his head back toward the base of its toes.
"Iron Dragon's Roar!"
It wasn't a choice made out of preference. Ikusa-Tsunagi was simply so vast that even a single toe stood taller than he did. The god probably hadn't registered the small figure at its feet at all, until a sharp pain cracked through the gap at the base of its toenail as though something was trying to peel it back.
It looked down, stepped back half a pace, and swung the greatsword.
The blade caught the light, a white streak cutting through the air. It hadn't reached the ground yet and Gajeel already felt the pressure bearing down on him. He threw himself sideways, caught a glimpse of his companions scattered among the cult members ahead.
"Damn it."
He planted both feet and raised his arms.
"Dragon Slayer's Secret Art: Karma Demon: Iron God Sword!"
A pitch-black blade extended from his arm. Before anyone could measure its length it was already swinging to meet Ikusa-Tsunagi's greatsword. The two massive blades connected, one black, one white. The impact rang out like a thunderclap, sparks spraying between the edges.
Gajeel's teeth locked together. The ground beneath him fractured outward in every direction.
Then the shockwave drove him into the earth.
Ikusa-Tsunagi's greatsword deflected, the massive blade landing roughly twenty meters away.
The ground groaned.
A fissure tore open, ten meters wide, running outward from the point of impact into a rising wall of dust that made it impossible to see how far it went.
"Gajeel!"
Levy burst out from the crowd. Panther Lily dropped from the air and landed at the edge of the crater, peering down.
"That blasted giant..." Gajeel hauled himself out of the hole, hair in disarray.
Levy grabbed his head and pulled him close, eyes brimming. "You absolute idiot, you nearly gave me a heart attack!"
"Hey, let go first, it's still dangerous out here."
Levy's grip couldn't actually cut off anyone's air, but Gajeel gently pushed her back anyway and looked up to check on Ikusa-Tsunagi.
What he saw made him stop. "Who is that?"
Levy and Panther Lily looked up.
A powerfully built figure was scaling Ikusa-Tsunagi's sword, moving along its length toward the giant's body. The figure was enormous, moving at striking speed, and had already cleared the gap torn open by the sword's earlier impact.
Levy squinted at the thick, wild mane of hair. "That looks like a Beast King form. Is that Elfman?"
Elfman appeared directly behind them. "I haven't had my turn yet. And the color is wrong."
"You were standing right there?" Levy registered that her earlier moment had been witnessed and felt her face go red.
Panther Lily said thoughtfully, "If it isn't Elfman, then who? I think I can see glasses."
A Beast King form wearing glasses. That was unusual.
"Hey, don't you dare get there first!" Natsu dropped Arlock where he lay and shouted upward. "Happy!"
"Aye!" Happy's clear voice answered and he dove, scooping Natsu up and carrying him skyward.
Gajeel was already moving. "Sneaky fire lizard. Lily, we're going!"
"No problem." Panther Lily caught Gajeel under the arms and launched toward the giant's head.
"Be careful!" Levy called after them, decided she was done contributing complications, and pressed toward Erza's position.
Behind her, Elfman grew a pair of wings directly from his back and took to the air without ceremony. "A real man cannot sit this one out!"
The figure who had climbed highest noticed the others rising toward him and called out quickly.
"I am Wolfheim! Leave this to me and fall back to safety!"
Wolfheim who? Natsu didn't recognize the name. "Nobody told me to listen to you! I'm the one knocking this thing down!"
Gajeel was right behind him. "I had my eyes on it first!"
Elfman silently increased his speed. "Man!"
Wolfheim tried again. "I am a member of the Magic Council! This operation falls under my jurisdiction!"
Nobody was listening. All three of them were already committed to going up.
The vein at Wolfheim's temple pulsed visibly.
These Fairy Tail people did absolutely whatever they wanted. How did that Rhodes kid manage to direct any of them in a fight?
While he was thinking it, Wolfheim reached Ikusa-Tsunagi's arm.
Ikusa-Tsunagi noticed the figures swarming it. It drove its greatsword into the earth, brought one hand down on Wolfheim, and swept the other across the sky to brush away the small annoyances converging on it from above.
Everyone moved fast. Natsu and Gajeel pulled level with Ikusa-Tsunagi's eyes. Elfman drew level with its nose.
All three opened their mouths at once.
"Fire Dragon's Roar!"
"Iron Dragon's Roar!"
"Stone Dragon's Roar!"