A sudden punch struck the birdman's jaw from below, the powerful impact forcing the owl's wide-open beak to close.
Flames roared, and the explosive magic instantly engulfed the owl.
By the time Talos reacted, the enemy who had just attacked was already lying on the ground, covered in black smoke, with his eyes rolled back, having lost consciousness from the impact of the extreme fire explosion.
The battle ended with a single blow.
Humans are truly terrifying.
Talos looked at the white-haired boy who had suddenly appeared and felt a little ashamed.
As the strongest of the twelve Gold Saints, Taurus, I almost suffered a crushing defeat in my battle against Owl. It was truly a disgrace to Taurus.
Noah took the magical wings and magical rocket off the owl's body without a second thought. The wings had the ability to fly, and Noah couldn't possibly let that go.
As for the magic rocket, although its power is not satisfactory, it would be quite nice to set off as a firework.
"Thank you, Noah. If you hadn't intervened in time, Talos would definitely have been eaten by the owl." Lucy landed with the cheese and looked at Noah gratefully.
Noah waved his hand, "That birdman's magician isn't that powerful. As long as you react quickly, you can easily dodge it."
"Lucy, on the other hand, you should really focus on your training."
Legend has it that each of the twelve zodiac spirits possesses strength comparable to an S-class mage.
However, since they are summoned from the Celestial Spirit Realm to the human world, the Celestial Spirits' power is limited by the magic power of the Celestial Spirit Mages with whom they have a contract.
This resulted in the Golden Celestials, despite their power, almost never appearing in their full glory.
Lucy was in a similar situation. The Taurus Talos that she summoned was unable to unleash its original power. Otherwise, when Owl was struck by Talos's axe, even if he didn't suffer a broken body, his fighting ability should have been greatly reduced.
Lucy gave an awkward smile. After joining Fairy Tail, she focused all her energy on commissioned missions and adventures. The thrill-seeking girl completely forgot that mages also need to improve their strength.
Noah thought Lucy was very talented.
The descendants of the Heartfilia family are born Celestial Spirit Mages. Lucy's mother, Leila, once possessed three Golden Celestial Spirit Keys and was a powerful Celestial Spirit Mage who could open three Golden Celestial Gates at the same time.
According to Jiude, Lucy could summon a golden celestial spirit on her own when she was a child, but she didn't improve much as she grew up.
Of course, this is also thanks to the terrible relationship between the father and daughter.
However, Lucy is only 16 years old now, which is a great time for her to grow. As long as she is willing to work hard, she still has a lot of room for growth.
After a brief chat, Noah had Talos carry the owl and, along with Lucy and the cats, reunited with Natsu and Gray.
Uldardas had already been defeated by Gray and imprisoned in an ice cell.
With a bruised and swollen face, Natsu retorted angrily to Gray, "You naked bastard! Why are you only hitting my face!"
"Hmph, what right do you have to question me when you're controlled by the enemy? Aren't you going to thank me?"
Despite his stern face, Gray was secretly thrilled. Under the guise of rescuing his comrades, he took the opportunity to beat up his nemesis. Nothing could be more enjoyable than this.
Natsu's face twitched with pain. He suspected that Gray was taking revenge, but he had no evidence.
Even without evidence, I still have to thank him.
What kind of nonsense is this...?
Despite his displeasure, Natsu wasn't one to back down. Saying thank you to his comrade who saved him wouldn't hurt him, so he honestly thanked Gray anyway.
Gray tacitly refrained from continuing to mock Natsu; he simply wanted to beat Natsu, not trample on his friend.
Have you seen Erza?
When Natsu asked the question, Lucy and Happy shook their heads. They were already behind Natsu and Gray, so how could they possibly catch up with Erza?
"Cheese knows!"
The snow cat perched on Noah's shoulder raised its cute little paw and pointed to a spot on the upper level of the Tower of Paradise, sensing the malice emanating from there.
However, that malice was anything but pure.
——————————————————
The red-haired girl hurried toward the top of the tower.
Seven years have passed since I left this nightmare place. The building that was just a rudimentary structure back then is now a strange tower that is completely different from what I remember.
Suddenly, the girl stopped in her tracks. Four figures blocked her way; they were her companions who had fought alongside her against the park's guards seven years ago.
Among the four, the burly man in the lead had a headscarf wrapped around his head, a black eye patch over his left eye, and his jaw was encased in iron.
Looking at the invaders of the Tower of Paradise, the man never expected that he would see her again one day, and his tone was full of complicated emotions.
"Erza...it's been a long time."
"Long time no see, Simon."
Erza gave a wry smile. She remembered that Simon's face was disfigured in a battle with the Paradise Guardians, and he had to wear iron armor to cover it up.
Simon wanted to catch up with Erza, but the other three clearly didn't share the same sentiment.
"Simon! Don't waste your breath on this traitor!"
The blocky man, dressed as a mafia member, used "block" magic to transform his right hand into a square-shaped gun, pointing it angrily at Erza.
Facing the guns of her former comrades, Erza calmly said, "I have never betrayed you, Wally."
"Then why did you get on the ship and run away in the first place? And why did you destroy all the other ships?"
Dressed in a bartender's uniform, the dark-skinned boy named Hugh looked at the older sister who had cared for him when he was enslaved by the Tower of Paradise, his face full of pleading, "Answer me... Erza... sister..."
"You still call her 'sister'? Did she care about you when you ran away?" The last of the four finally spoke up; it was Miliana, who used the 'cat' magic.
Miriam glared at Hugh, looking at him with exasperation, before turning to Erza, "Since you've escaped the Tower of Paradise for so many years, what are you doing back today?"
"I have returned…to liberate this tower of evil and let you leave this place."
Erza looked at her former comrades with a firm tone, but this only drew laughter from Miriam Anna.
"Stop with the nice talk. If you hadn't destroyed the rest of the ships, we would have left long ago!"
Wally and Miriam wanted to make a move, but Simon blocked them from Erza with his body. "Erza isn't that kind of person. At least let her explain before you make a move."
Upon hearing this, Miriam bit her lower lip. She knew that Erza wasn't the type to abandon her companions, but seven years ago she had indeed abandoned everyone and fled alone.
But Wally's anger only grew stronger. "Explain what? How could Gerald's words be false? Are those damaged ships also fake?!"
"What if Gerald is lying to us!"
Simon stood firmly between the two sides, saying, "Don't tell me you haven't noticed that Gerald's personality has changed drastically since he overthrew the guards seven years ago. He's like a completely different person."
Upon hearing this, Wally, who was furious, Miriam, who was agitated, and Hugh, who was wavering in his heart, all fell silent.
How could their once close companions not notice Gerald's change...?
Simon turned around. "Elsa, I believe you won't betray us, but we also need an explanation."
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