The sky suddenly turned gloomy as the massive airship blocked the sun.
Ankh looked up through the vanished ceiling with a peculiar expression.
"Magic Guided Bombing Airship - Christina."
'The actor airship,' Ankh thought, amused.
This airship truly lived up to its name as a dramatic "actor"—having miraculously survived destruction only to be turned against them by the enemy to create more drama...
Sweat began beading on Ichiya's exaggeratedly large face as he stared at the airship in disbelief.
"How is this possible... Outsiders shouldn't be able to activate Christina!"
Brain, the leader of Oración Seis, looked at the demoralized allied forces with an insincere smile while sneering.
"It hjust a mere airship, Hmph. The ones I built back at the Magic Development Bureau were far superior to this toy!"
Cobra laughed mockingly, stroking his snake. "Hahaha... I heard that broken airship of yours the moment it entered the Worthy Woodsea. Did you really think you could ambush us with something like that? We were waiting for you."
Hibiki's face turned pale with anger and embarrassment.
The proud expressions Eve and Ren had worn earlier vanished, replaced by clenched fists and gritted teeth as they stared intently at their opponents.
The overconfident young Mages of Blue Pegasus had been taught a harsh lesson, and the situation instantly turned disadvantageous.
But Ankh paid no attention to this dramatic irony—he only wanted to know one thing.
'Where had Jellal gone?'
Ankh had previously informed Jellal that the Oración Seis would likely capture him.
Since only Jellal knew how to locate Nirvana, Ankh had been counting on seeing him early in this mission to quickly obtain Nirvana and leave.
But he was nowhere to be seen.
"Taste the power of your own weapons, good children of the Light!"
Brain grinned ferociously, violently swinging his skull staff forward.
Click-clack.
The Pegasus-shaped airship extended long cannon barrels from both sides.
Magic power gathered and condensed, glowing ominously.
"Fire!"
In the blink of an eye, magical artillery fell like torrential rain.
"Magic Bomber!"
Jura urgently shouted: "Evade! Those who can't block it, come to me!"
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Dense explosions rang out, tearing up the forest and villa grounds.
The Oración Seis had already retreated to a safe distance, watching the allied forces being bombarded with either mocking or satisfied expressions.
The allies dodged awkwardly amidst the artillery fire.
Mages capable of creating barriers, like Gray, Lyon, and Jura, deployed defenses to protect the others from the blast waves.
After nearly a minute of continuous bombardment, the Magic Guided Bombing Airship finally ceased fire, temporarily entering a recharge phase.
But clearly, the Oración Seis had no intention of letting them recover.
As the artillery stopped, various attacks came raining down again from the members on the ground.
Ankh charged straight toward Brain, who was watching from a distance, while shouting behind him.
"Use our numerical advantage! Spread out the battle! Natsu! Happy! You two take down that annoying airship first!"
"Leave it to me!"
"Aye!"
Natsu, who had been desperately dodging all this time and had long been irritated by the airship, was quickly grabbed by Happy.
They shot straight up into the sky toward Christina.
"Fire Dragon... Dragon Slayer Mage..." Cobra watched Natsu's ascent with meaningful eyes, his voice dripping with disdain.
"I can hear your thoughts."
Then he reached out and patted the head of the giant purple serpent behind him.
The man and snake moved with perfect synergy.
Under Cobra's command, the purple serpent rapidly expanded in size, sprouting a pair of membranous wings from its back before carrying Cobra toward Natsu.
"Damn you! Fire Dragon's—"
"Don't even think about it!"
Cobra extended his hand as a dark red magic circle emitted a mist-like substance.
"Poison Dragon's Scales!"
Numerous scattered poison pellets shot forth like bullets.
The dense barrage of pellets instantly closed in behind Natsu.
"Whoa!"
Fortunately, Happy reacted swiftly, executing a rapid aerial flip to dodge the acid.
Natsu stared warily at the approaching Cobra riding the snake.
"Your... snake can actually fly!!"
Cobra: ...
'Isn't your cat the same?'
Happy urgently urged Natsu, "Forget about him, Natsu! Destroy the airship first, or everyone will be in danger again!"
Cobra steadied the enlarged Cubellios, his eyes fierce as he declared, "Survive my attack first before worrying about that! Let's see whose Dragon Slayer Magic is stronger!"
Natsu tightened his scarf, his gaze equally sharp as he retorted, "That's my line, you bastard!"
As the aerial duel intensified between the two Dragon Slayers in the sky, the ground battle began taking shape as well.
Jura faced Hoteye alone—one using magic to harden earth, the other using magic to soften it.
Their clash remained evenly matched for the time being, turning the terrain into a shifting sea of mud and stone.
Lyon and Gray confronted Racer, who had toyed with them earlier, yet again finding themselves trapped in the same predicament of being unable to see or grasp their opponent due to his speed.
Racer summoned a swarm of magical motorcycles, riding one to charge at the duo.
"Too slow!"
Fortunately, Eve and Ren arrived as reinforcements.
Two motorcycles now carried four people in a chaotic chase, with the two from Blue Pegasus driving while the ice brothers (Gray and Lyon) sat on the vehicles, relentlessly hurling Ice-Make magic at Racer like human turrets.
Meanwhile, in the women's battle, Sherry, Lucy, and Wendy jointly faced Angel, the weakest of their opponents who had just recovered.
"I won't lose this time!" Angel hissed, summoning Gemini again.
Carla carried Wendy through the air as Wendy continuously cast enhancement buffs on the two attackers below.
"Vernier! Arms! Armor!"
Lucy and Sherry, fully utilizing the support, unleashed their magic like seasoned veterans dominating novice opponents.
They forced the female Oración Seis member to temporarily retreat from their onslaught, overwhelmed by the numbers.
As for Erza and Ichiya, the two powerhouses watched with grave concentration the man who had remained asleep before them.
Midnight.
He was the most enigmatic figure in Hibiki's intelligence report, speculated to be the most troublesome member of Oración Seis.
Yet, Midnight seemed completely unawakened, still cross-legged on his floating magic carpet, snoring loudly amidst the chaos.
"If you won't respect this battle, then I apologize—but I must emerge victorious!"
A golden magical light shimmered as Erza donned her Heaven's Wheel Armor.
Raising her sword, she blurred into motion, delivering a fierce slash toward Midnight.
Swish.
But... the expected sensation of cutting through her target never reached her hands.
Erza passed right through him. She paused, staring incredulously at Midnight.
Something was wrong... she had definitely struck him.
Midnight slowly lifted his head as if just roused from sleep.
His crimson eyes narrowed slightly at the battle-ready Erza.
A dissatisfied sigh escaped his throat, "Really... I'm not fully awake yet. So noisy."
Ichiya produced two vials of perfume, shoving them into his nostrils to buff himself.
"Be careful, Miss Erza! Your attack just now seemed to pass right through him!"
Ignoring Erza's tightened grip on her sword, Midnight watched Ichiya's rapidly swelling muscles and stated expressionlessly, .
You're annoying. You smell bad. I'll start by destroying you first."
...…
Battles raged fiercely across various locations, yet the scene on this particular battlefield was distinctly different.
Ankh hovered mid-air, frowning as he watched Brain desperately sprinting ahead through the forest.
"Death Wave."
Black waves of energy continuously shot from Ankh's hands, pursuing the fleeing man like homing missiles.
What disappointed Ankh was how Brain, after just a few exchanges, had clutched his wounds and fled—this felt even easier than his previous fight with Jose Porla.
Brain gritted his teeth in humiliation, feeling utterly disgraced for the first time in his long life.
He had originally been a researcher at the Bureau, after all.
Though his knowledge of magic was as deep as the ocean, his actual combat effectiveness might even pale in comparison to his "children" like Midnight or Cobra.
'But I only need enough power to protect myself and achieve my goals,' Brain thought frantically.
'Being strong and fearsome? That should be that guy's label!'
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