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Outnumbered and not in his best state, Jellal still felt confident he could escape the Fairy Tail encirclement, despite the pressure.
In his opinion, the only ones truly worth noting were Noah and the two S-Class Mages, Erza and Mirajane—the others were merely bothersome cannon fodder.
This was a world of Magic.
The strength of Magic represented everything.
A single spell unleashed with full power by a strong Mage was a terrifying force that even a dozen or twenty weaker Mages attacking together would struggle to resist.
As long as he cleared away the annoying small fry and relied on the meteor-like speed granted by Heavenly Body Magic, Jellal was confident he could retreat unscathed.
Kicking away Natsu, who had once again charged at him, Jellal pointed a hand to the sky. A brilliant Magic circle unfolded beneath his feet, and nine streams of starlight spiraled upward, converging into a magical formation.
Heavenly Body Magic: Nine Lightning Stars!
In an instant, a powerful, wide-range magical attack, centered on Jellal, encompassed all enemies except himself.
Trying to clear the field?
It wouldn't be that simple!
Mirajane twisted dark Magic with both hands, solidifying it into two dark storms rotating in opposite directions. The tearing vortexes greedily swallowed the Heavenly Body starlight.
Even so, the Heavenly Body starlight still broke through the confined dark storms. Although some of its power was diminished, it was still able to knock down many weaker "Fairies."
This man had some tricks up his sleeve.
Mirajane's fighting spirit soared, and she was about to counterattack when she saw dozens of blue lights uniformly pass by her side, heading straight for Jellal.
Heaven's Wheel: Blumenblatt.
Erza, in her Requip Heaven's Wheel Armor, held two swords, like a sacred sword-winged angel, standing atop a sea of hundreds of swords.
A faint glow appeared on Jellal's body, and his movements immediately became agile. His figure moved with graceful ease through the formidable circulating sword formation, as if strolling through a garden.
Relaxed and at ease, he even found the time to tease Erza.
"To go for the kill the moment we meet—it truly pains this old friend of yours."
"Indeed, after gaining 'freedom,' you no longer care about the friendship we shared in resisting the Black Magic Cult's enslavement."
Jellal's words deeply stimulated the red-haired girl's nerves, and the circulating sword formation she controlled became even more frantic in its attacks, yet it couldn't even touch Jellal's clothes.
This scene was not unexpected by Erza. In her last memory of Jellal, the power he displayed completely overwhelmed her.
But the past was the past, and now was now.
Erza took a deep breath, her twin swords poised and ready.
"The one who trampled our friendship... is you, Jellal!"
"Heaven's Wheel: Pentagram Sword!"
The sword-winged angel instantly closed in on the blue-haired young man, her twin swords instantly unleashing five powerful sword beams in the shape of a giant pentagram, attacking him.
Jellal merely smiled faintly, stood up, and leaped, perfectly dodging the Pentagram Sword. Then, he countered with a six-star attack, blasting toward Erza.
The two constantly shifted between offense and defense. Amidst the crisscrossing sword shadows and starlight, Jellal still held the upper hand, precisely seizing Erza's weak point.
A lightning-fast magical thrust shot out from his finger, aimed at Erza's right arm.
If this blow connected, the girl's right arm would likely be half-crippled on the spot, and her fighting strength would be greatly reduced. At that point, Jellal's fight would only become easier.
Unfortunately, things did not go as planned. The sudden pitch-black glow that covered the girl's right arm absorbed the attack without injury, shattering Jellal's illusion.
Erza's gaze sharpened, and in an instant, a wisp of pitch-blackness entwined around the Heaven's Wheel Sword in her right hand.
A cold gleam flashed.
The blade drew a speck of blood from the ground.
Stepping back a few paces, Jellal had a shallow wound on his chest. He looked at the longsword in Erza's hand, where the black glow had receded, and a rare look of surprise appeared on his face.
The sharpness of that instant had startled Jellal. If he hadn't reacted in time, he feared he would have been severely wounded by the sword entwined with black light.
"Greatly enhancing physical defense and weapon strength—a Magic I've never seen before."
"If you had this Magic seven years ago, Rob might not have died saving you."
The surprise on his face didn't last long. Jellal quickly returned to his previous demeanor, deliberately provoking Erza's painful past.
"Jellal, in your current fallen state, you are not worthy of speaking Rob's name!"
Her painful memory was poked, and Erza was somewhat enraged.
Requip: Purgatory Armor.
The Magic circle passed through her body. The silver-white steel sword armor vanished, and a deep black, spiky steel armor tightly enveloped the girl's body.
A Purgatory serrated blade, as tall as a person, was gripped by the girl and diagonally plunged into the ground, emitting a terrifying aura.
The Purgatory Armor and its supporting weapon, the masterpiece of Master Doran, the Magic blacksmith, was also Erza's strongest magical armor currently.
The constantly oppressive Purgatory Magic greatly increased Jellal's pressure.
He should have known not to be so sharp-tongued just now. Now look—he'd angered her, and she was starting to go all out on him.
When he saw Erza entwine the pitch-black glow around the Purgatory serrated blade, Jellal secretly thought, This is bad.
If such a large blade were to strike him, "Jellal" would turn into "Jella-l."
However, to maintain his outward composure, he continued to speak stubbornly. "Hmph, while this enhancement Magic that boosts offense and defense is powerful, ultimately only you can use it. Even changing armor won't do anything to me."
Erza chuckled softly.
"First, this isn't Magic—it's Haki."
"Second, what makes you think I'm the only one who can use Haki?"
Erza's calm tone made Jellal break out in a cold sweat.
Could it be!!!
"Those who can use Haki stay. Everyone else retreat and be on guard."
"We should give our guest a proper welcome."
At Erza's command, the "Fairies" who couldn't use Haki understood that the upcoming battle was not something they could interfere with. So they immediately retreated in an orderly fashion, leaving the battlefield to those who were capable.
Jellal quickly scanned the area, his face instantly turning ugly. There were surprisingly ten people left.
How could it be... that Haki, so many people can use it?!!!
Damn it! These people weren't fighting me with their full strength before!
Looking at Natsu, who had been sent flying several times but was still lively and bouncing around, Jellal vaguely felt that he was going to fall into Fairy Tail's hands today.
"Everyone! There's no need to reason with evil cultists!"
"Go beat him up!"
With someone's shout from the spectator stands, the battlefield became uncontrollable.
This time, someone charged before Natsu—it was Elfman, who had used Beast Soul Take Over.
Natsu and Gray followed closely behind.
Mirajane, covered in Haki, looked even more fitting for her title of "Demon."
Nab, with his Bear Spirit activated, let out a deep roar.
Macao ignited his Purple Flame and casually lit a cigarette for his good brother Wakaba.
Cana yawned. As a Card Mage, after learning Armament Haki, she finally had the ability to fight on the front lines in direct combat. She had wanted to do this for a long time.
Warren, who used Telepathy Magic—this unassuming but powerful support Mage—actually also had a heart for close combat.
The last "Fairy" on the battlefield was Erza.
"The Fairy Ten, each of them possesses unique skills, and their fighting spirit and endurance are astonishing. Their secret weapon, Armament Haki, will give you an unexpected surprise!"
"Jellal, how do you feel now?!"
"Hehehehe..."
"..."
On the rooftops of buildings near the battlefield, a tall and a short figure—a blue-haired young man in white and a short, balding old man—observed the battle from above.
Siegrain still had that gentle smile, as if he didn't care about the other person being ganged up on.
Makarov, however, couldn't keep his expression straight. He looked down at the white-haired young man in the spectator stands, who was loudly making villainous noises.
Noah, that kid—it's one thing for him not to fight, but what's he doing acting crazy over there? Didn't he see that his companions nearby had all been scared away by him...?