"We're almost at the White Team's crystal tower!"
The thought of making Kira eat defeat just once sent a thrill through Gray's veins.
Whoosh—Bang!
A sudden green laser shot from the shadows of the narrow path ahead, scattering Gray and Juvia. Then came the sound of baby-like chatter, followed by a tall, dark-purple figure stepping into view. It was Bickslow, flanked by his puppet pets: Pippi, Poppo, Pappa, Bebe, and Bubu.
At 22, Bickslow was one of the older members of the younger generation. His helmet and dark purple outfit added a layer of mystery to his already imposing presence, making him stand out whenever he was with his teammates.
His magic, Seith Magic: Human Possession, let him infuse souls into puppets, arranging them into formations to unleash attacks. The puppets were interchangeable, but when Kira once tried to sell him flashier ones from his shop—like figurines of guildmates—Bickslow turned him down flat, saying he didn't care for "fancy stuff," leaving Kira baffled.
["As a member of the Thunder God Tribe, can't you at least get a life-sized figure like Freed's Laxus model?"]
["Nah, I'm good with my babies~"]
Kira figured Bickslow stuck with his simple puppets because they were easier to carry and use in battle. No figurine collector in their right mind would pick crude wooden dolls over a life-sized model otherwise.
"After Marcus, it's you, huh, Bickslow…" Gray muttered.
Juvia didn't know the Thunder God Tribe well, but Gray was familiar with Bickslow's abilities, though not the full extent of them.
"Hehe… Go get 'em, babies!" Bickslow grinned, sending his puppets flying toward them.
"Let's go, let's go!"
"Woo-hoo!"
At their master's command, the five sentient puppets chirped in unison, shooting green magical lasers from their mouths at Gray and Juvia.
Whoosh—Boom!
The puppets moved with seamless coordination, darting nimbly and sticking close to Gray. Their lasers were fast and precise, each hit triggering a fierce explosion. In this narrow path, surrounded by rocks and bushes, even Gray struggled to counter head-on, forced to focus on dodging.
Luckily, the puppets' attack speed wasn't too fast. Gray sidestepped a "Line Formation" attack and backflipped to avoid a "Five Elements Formation." Then, an idea hit him.
"Ice-Make: Hammer!"
Clasping his hands, Gray conjured a massive ice hammer that crashed down from above, aimed straight at Bickslow.
Bickslow, one of the tallest in the guild, wasn't just all limbs and a long tongue—he was flexible, too. He easily leaped out of the hammer's path. But then he heard the sound of something falling and felt his connection to his babies cut off.
Thud… Thud…
"You fell for it!" Gray smirked.
The ice hammer wasn't his real plan. His true goal was to freeze the five puppets in place—and it worked. Bickslow was now out of puppets to fight with…
Wait. What's that?
["If that's the case, how about giving your babies a new skin?"]
["A new skin?"]
["Yeah, you don't want anything bad happening to your babies, right?"]
"What the heck is that?!" Gray gaped.
To his shock, the puppets seemed to come alive, breaking free of the ice encasing them. Floating in the air, they shed their crude wooden shells, revealing their true forms.
The puppets were still Bickslow's beloved models, shaped much the same—barrel-like bodies with eyes, mouths, and wing-like appendages. But the material was completely different!
These new puppets gleamed with a silvery sheen under the sunlight, clearly made of some special metal.
"That's… Sage Metal!" Gray recognized it instantly.
"Sage… Metal?" Juvia asked, curious. "What's that, Gray-sama?"
For some reason, the embarrassingly chuuni name screamed Kira' influence to her.
Gray explained, "A few years back, Kira' Hope Workshop came out with a metal named after his nickname. He said it was an accidental byproduct of some experiment. It's great for engraving magic circles."
One thing was certain: Bickslow's puppets were bought from Kira. That special metal was only available at his shop in all of Magnolia.
But the material wasn't the biggest difference. The real kicker was that Pippi, Poppo, Pappa, Bebe, and Bubu weren't just puppets anymore. Gray could tell they had magic circles engraved inside them, making them genuine magical artifacts—straight from Kira' shop, complete with special effects.
Earlier, when Bickslow's puppets were frozen, they'd taken enough damage to be considered "destroyed," triggering the magic circles inside. With a burst of power, they broke free of the ice.
Gray was not happy. He felt like he was being mocked by both Bickslow and Kira.
"Even when he's not here, that guy still finds a way to mess with other people's fights!" Gray grumbled. "Kira is such a pain!"
'Guess I need to reassess Bickslow's strength,' Gray thought. 'High attack, decent speed, low defense. His Figure Eyes need eye contact to work, so he doesn't use them lightly. Normally, he relies on those five puppets. Kira' upgrades fixed their fragility, indirectly boosting his power…'
In the original Fairy Tail timeline, Gray and Bickslow had clashed briefly during the guild's civil war. Back then, Bickslow had the "newbie glow" and got the upper hand. But things were different now.
This wasn't a puppet shop, and Freed's runes weren't here to back him up. Unfortunately, Bickslow's Seith Magic was still a pain to deal with, and he hadn't even used his Figure Eyes, which could control people's souls.
"What the heck was that magic?" Gray demanded.
Asking an opponent about their magic mid-fight was bold, and Gray knew it. "You're hopelessly naive, Gray!" Bickslow said, sticking out his long tongue to flash the guild tattoo on it, grinning. "But I don't mind naive people."
Maybe it was guild camaraderie, or maybe Bickslow was just feeling cocky and wanted to show off his babies. Either way, he proudly spilled the beans.
"My babies only have one kind of magic: Repair Magic! When they take enough damage, the magic circle activates, fixing them up or freeing them from status effects. In other words, you can't destroy or freeze them!"
Repair Magic, tied to time and space, could restore objects to their original state. Normally, it would only trigger if the puppets were destroyed, but Gray's ice had apparently counted as a trigger—likely thanks to extra conditions Kira had added.
Unbreakable. Unfreezable. What was left?
Bickslow's voice was loud, so Gray heard every word—and he wasn't thrilled. "Ugh, why's everything tied to Kira so damn unfair?" he muttered.
"Pretty impressive for a kid younger than me, huh, Gray?" Bickslow teased.
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