"Raizel, you have really slowed down lately. I thought you would finish that fight a lot faster," Gray teased with a smirk, right after Raizel deactivated his Take Over magic.
Raizel shot him a knowing look that clearly said, you are being far too naive and calmly replied.
"You just do not understand my strategy. By doing it this way, they will be completely crushed and won't even think about resisting us."
"Alright, alright. You are the strong one here, so I guess that means you are always right," Gray conceded, throwing his hands up in defeat.
After casting a brief glance over at Hughes, who was clearly just pretending to be unconscious on the ground, Raizel spoke up.
"Alright, let us move on and continue searching for the king. We still need to figure out exactly where the Anima is located."
"Mystogan has also successfully entered the palace. He is currently heading straight toward the Anima's location."
This was the secret message that Mystogan had just communicated to Raizel through magic.
He had specifically asked Raizel to buy him some extra time later on, so that he would have a good chance to completely reverse the Anima.
"Boom! Boom! Boom!"
Loud explosions echoed through the air.
To an uninformed person listening from far away, it might have sounded exactly like a beautiful display of fireworks going off on the floating island.
High above the ground, Happy was carrying Gajeel by his shirt, fully engaged in an intense aerial battle with Panther Lily.
"Not bad at all," Lily praised. "So, this is the magic of Earthland? It is quite interesting."
Panther Lily truly hadn't expected that someone would be able to turn their own physical body into solid metal and directly clash against his massive greatsword without taking a single scratch.
"I am starting to get all fired up now. Finally, I have found a worthy opponent," Gajeel grinned.
"Now is definitely not the time to be playing around with him! And besides, you are totally stealing Natsu's catchphrase..." Happy couldn't resist complaining loudly, even while he was struggling to hold onto Gajeel's heavy body in the sky.
"And Gajeel, you are just so incredibly heavy... although, I guess you are still not quite as heavy as Lucy."
"How bold of you to say that out loud! Is it really okay for you to say something like that? Aren't you afraid of getting beaten to a pulp by Lucy later?" Gajeel asked with a chuckle.
"I take back what I just said!" Happy cried out in sudden fear.
His ears quickly perked up in alarm, and every single strand of his fur stood straight on end at the terrifying thought.
"Just put me down already. Regardless of how helpful you are, you are still the Fire Dragon's cat. I will just have to wait until I finally find my very own cat before I can properly enjoy the real thrill of aerial combat," Gajeel stated confidently.
"My magic has been fully replenished! Buster Marm, the Mother of Destruction, deploy once more!" Panther Lily shouted as the magical greatsword in his hands suddenly grew to an enormous, intimidating size once again.
"I really have to say, that sword of his is just ridiculously huge," Gajeel noted.
"Well, if you consider Panther Lily to be about the average height of a normal panther, then that huge sword is easily about four panthers tall," Happy pointed out.
He suddenly pulled out a small pointer stick from out of nowhere and started commentating on the fight like a professional.
"Such trivial little details do not matter right now at all!" Gajeel yelled back at the blue cat.
"To be able to chat so casually during a deadly battle... you are really composed and confident," Lily observed.
With one powerful swing of Lily's giant greatsword, another large corner of the floating island was violently severed and fell away.
"Not only is your weapon incredibly huge, but you can also wield it with such amazing skill. That is truly impressive," Gajeel complimented his foe.
"I will let you become the rust covering the blade of this magnificent greatsword, the Mother of Destruction, you Mage of Earthland," Lily threatened deeply.
"Oh, is that so? But I am really not fond of becoming rust," Gajeel smirked in response.
"That is because Gajeel is the mighty Iron Dragon Slayer!" Happy excitedly waved his little paws as he cheered happily from the sidelines.
"Here I come!" Lily announced as he charged forward.
"Bring it on!" Gajeel roared back.
Even Happy, who was still being tightly held by Gajeel, could not help but worry and say, "What exactly are we going to do now, Gajeel? You have been stuck on the defensive since the very beginning of this fight!"
"Hehe, do not worry. The real show is only just starting," Gajeel chuckled darkly.
"I cannot just pretend that I did not hear you say that," Lily responded sharply.
Moving with incredible speed, Lily flew right behind Gajeel and swung his heavy greatsword in a wide, horizontal arc.
"What?!" Gajeel gasped in surprise.
He quickly twisted his body sideways, forcefully turning his arm into solid metal just in time to block the incoming attack.
"Talking to your flying cat while you are fighting against me... it seems you really look down on my skills," Lily remarked.
"You are definitely overthinking things. I simply wanted to gauge your combat capabilities before going all out," Gajeel explained. "Well, the little comedy act ends right here. I am getting completely serious now. Kitty, you need to step aside."
"Bring it on then, Earthland Mage!" Lily shouted.
His deep pride as the respected captain of the Edolas Magic War Unit simply could not tolerate Gajeel's arrogant provocation any longer.
...
Meanwhile, as Raizel's group continued to advance steadily toward the Anima's hidden location, a sudden series of inexplicable, creepy chuckles echoed through the air.
The elderly Byro suddenly appeared, casually leaning his weight on his walking cane while blocking the path right before the large arched gate.
"Halt right there!" Byro commanded strictly as he tapped his wooden cane twice hard against the ground.
Raizel thought to himself, Not bad, the old man definitely has a strong presence...
"Leave this guy to me!" Lucy bravely volunteered, stepping forward.
Having safely watched Raizel battle against Hughes and Sugarboy earlier, she honestly felt that these Edolas commanders were nothing special and could be handled easily.
Understanding her intentions, the others tacitly took a step back, choosing to quietly observe Lucy's combat performance.
"Open, gate of the Golden Bull! Taurus!" Lucy chanted loudly as she swung her celestial key.
"Moooo! Miss Lucy! You are looking as beautiful and radiant as ever today!" Taurus greeted enthusiastically.
The muscular minotaur remained completely unchanged at heart, and his dark eyes instantly sparkled with massive pink hearts at the very sight of his lovely summoner, Lucy.
"What exactly is this bizarre thing? Is it a giant cow?" Byro muttered in confusion.
"So, is this the famous magic of Earthland? But... it just looks kinda perverted..." Coco, who was quietly peeking from the sidelines, murmured softly under her breath.
"There is someone hiding over there," Natsu whispered to his friends.
Even though Coco's murmuring voice was incredibly soft, the naturally sharp hearing of both Natsu and Wendy easily caught the sound.
Wendy gently tugged at Raizel's sleeve, cautiously pointing her finger toward Coco's hiding direction.
"No need for worries," Raizel reassured them gently. "She currently has no magic of her own, and she carries absolutely no magical tools on her."
Since Raizel had firmly confirmed the lack of any real threat, Wendy relaxed and stopped paying attention to the hiding girl.
"Go get him, Taurus!" Lucy ordered.
"Bow before me!" Taurus roared loudly as he forcefully spun his massive, double-bladed axe with the incredible momentum of a super boomerang.
With one final, devastating downward slash, the solid brick path shattered entirely in a direct, crumbling line heading straight toward Byro.
Surprisingly, Byro did not even try to dodge the attack.
Even after stumbling slightly from the intense shockwave, he kept his wide eyes locked firmly on Taurus.
"How is this even possible?" Byro gasped in absolute disbelief. "Creating such a massive physical being entirely from nothing—it is far too chaotic and utterly impossible for me to analyze! Just how did he do it?"
"Now, you will kneel before me!" Taurus bellowed as he leaped high up into the air, fully preparing for a devastating overhead strike with his giant axe.
"That is quite enough out of you!" Byro yelled back in frustration.
With a swift motion, he flung over a dozen glowing red magical orbs right out from his long sleeve.
"Flame Liquid!" Byro chanted.
"Ahhh!!!" Taurus screamed out in sudden pain.
The minotaur's entire large body was violently engulfed in raging, scorching flames, and his agonized roars echoed loudly from within the intense inferno.
As Byro's magical flames finally subsided, Taurus collapsed weakly down to his knees, his body badly scorched.
"Moo... I am totally done for..." Taurus groaned before vanishing back to the Spirit World.
"He almost got completely turned into delicious grilled beef..." Raizel commented dryly, having even caught a sudden whiff of something rather savory in the air.
"What in the world kind of magic was that?" Lucy asked in pure shock.
Kagura quickly warned Lucy, "You must be very careful of those strange liquids he uses. The different colors most likely produce completely different magical effects."
"Storm Liquid!" Byro shouted, tossing out a batch of green orbs.
Instantly buffeted by a violent, howling gust of wind, Lucy tumbled across the ground several times.
She finally managed to catch herself with one hand pressing against the floor, while her other hand tightly gripped another golden celestial key.
"Open, gate of the Maiden! Virgo!" Lucy yelled.
Virgo emerged completely seamlessly from underneath the stone ground, instantly delivering a powerful, surprise uppercut right to Byro's chin.
"Another strange creature appearing directly from the underground?! Is this working on the exact same magical principle as the Anima?!" Byro wondered aloud.
Even while he was forcefully launched airborne from the punch, the Edolas commander simply could not stop analyzing the magic...
"It is now time for your punishment!" Virgo announced blankly. "Spica's Hole!"
Seizing the perfect opportunity while he was still in the air, Virgo skillfully channeled glowing golden light directly into her hands, forming a brilliant, concentrated laser greatsword that she immediately aimed straight at Byro.
Byro was struck head-on by this devastating magical blow.
The intense impact smashed him downward, creating an incredibly deep crater in the ground beneath them, and Byro quickly vanished deep into the darkness of the massive pit.
"Yes, success!" Lucy cheered happily, pumping her fist in the air, glad to have successfully completed her self-assigned fighting quota.
Virgo turned toward her summoner with her usual deadpan expression.
"Are you going to punish me now, Princess?"
"Why would I do that?!" Lucy shouted back in exasperation.
"Wait, so she is actually a real royal princess?" Coco, who was still secretly eavesdropping on the group, found her eyes sparkling brightly with sudden excitement.
Meanwhile, Raizel calmly walked over and glanced down into the seemingly bottomless pit that Byro had fallen into.
"This was already an existing hole in the ground, wasn't it? Otherwise, why would it be so incredibly deep?"
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