Edolas Royal Palace.
Inside the majestic palace, two figures were present.
Zooming in, an old man wearing a tall hat with pale white hair and a beard sat on the throne at the head.
This old man was none other than Faust, the King of Edolas, and also the mastermind behind absorbing everyone from Magnolia Town.
Below King Faust, a petite young girl was reporting something.
"So, in four days, we can begin fusing the Lacrima from Earthland!"
Hearing the girl's words, a look of fanaticism appeared on Faust's old face.
"Just four more days?"
"In four days, our Edolas will possess eternal magical power!"
Not long after Faust finished speaking, a royal soldier rushed in anxiously: "Your Majesty! The Lacrima from Earthland has been stolen!"
"What?"
Hearing the soldier's words, the old king instantly stood up from his throne and roared furiously: "Stolen? How could such a huge Lacrima be stolen?"
The soldier, terrified by the old king's roar, didn't know how to respond for a moment.
The Lacrima was indeed massive, like a mountain, and under normal circumstances, it couldn't be stolen.
But the fact was that the Lacrima had been stolen.
"Your Majesty, the Lacrima has already disappeared."
While the soldier remained silent, the petite young girl walked to the window, looked at the sky outside, and spoke to the old king.
'Disappeared?'
'How could such a huge Lacrima disappear?'
"Order Erza and the others to retrieve the Lacrima! If they can't retrieve it, they can atone with their deaths!"
The furious old king commanded the royal soldier.
"Your Majesty, Erza-sama and Hughes-sama went to Sycca City earlier to capture the Fairy Tail's members!"
"Sugarboy-sama is missing, and Lily-sama has been defeated by the thieves who stole the Lacrima!"
As soon as the soldier said this, the old king's face twisted with anger.
He had planned for so many years to turn the Earthland's mages into Lacrima.
Just as the plan was about to be completed, a problem had arisen at this critical moment.
The old king felt the urge to vomit blood.
Boom-
Just then, the sound of a thunderclap echoed through the air.
"What's going on?"
"Your Majesty, the Magic War Divisions are going all out to stop the two who stole the Lacrima!"
The old king's eyes narrowed, and he spoke in a tone filled with killing intent: "Go prepare Dorma Anim immediately!"
Dorma Anim!
The moment he heard this name, the royal soldier's expression changed.
"Your Majesty, that violates the charter treaty..."
Before the soldier could finish, the old king's sinister and terrifying gaze fell upon him.
Under the old king's stare, the soldier felt a chill down his spine, then answered in a trembling voice: "Yes!"
With that, the soldier left the palace.
And the old king also walked out of the palace.
"No matter who it is, I absolutely will not allow anyone to hinder my plan!"
…
The thunderclap didn't just startle the king inside the palace… Gajeel, currently in the royal capital, also heard the huge noise.
"Thunder?!"
Gajeel, clad in a gray robe, looked up at the sky upon hearing the thunderclap.
"This magical power... there's no mistake, it's that guy!"
At that moment, an image appeared in Gajeel's mind.
The person in that image was none other than Kenichi, who had once defeated him.
Knowing it was Kenichi, Gajeel grinned.
Though his grin looked somewhat unsettling.
Gajeel didn't hesitate at all and immediately rushed towards the direction of the thunderclap.
A few minutes later, Gajeel arrived in front of the royal palace.
He saw the ground of the plaza nearby littered with royal soldiers lying in disarray.
Those soldiers were smoking, as if struck by lightning.
Whoosh-
While Gajeel was looking at the plaza, a black shadow flew towards him from the sky.
In just an instant, the black shadow crashed onto the ground in front of Gajeel.
Bang-
A loud sound echoed through the air.
For a moment, rock fragments flew in all directions.
Gajeel raised his arm to block the flying rock fragments and soon discovered the true identity of the object that fell from the sky.
"A cat?!"
Gajeel looked at the huge black cat lying on the ground, slightly surprised.
Then he looked up at the sky again.
He saw a huge beast circling continuously in the sky.
And on that beast stood two people.
When he clearly saw those two people, Gajeel grinned: "Gihi, it really is that guy Kenichi!"
Just as Gajeel took a step forward, the ground began to shake.
"The ground... something is coming out?"
Gajeel stabilized his posture and looked at the ground.
Bang-
In the next second, a massive robot burst out from underground.
'A dragon?'
Gajeel looked at the mechanical dragon that had emerged from underground, his eyes narrowing sharply.
In the sky, Kenichi, who was with Mirajane, saw the mechanical dragon on the ground below, and his expression also shifted slightly.
"Finally appeared, huh?"
This mechanical dragon was precisely the Dorma Anim mentioned earlier by the old king.
At the same time, the old king was inside the mechanical dragon's body.
"Hand over the Lacrima!"
The old king roared angrily, then manipulated the mechanical dragon to launch an attack against Kenichi and Mirajane in the sky.
Whoosh-
The mechanical dragon opened its mouth, and a beam of magical energy shot towards Kenichi and Mirajane with astonishing force.
Watching the magical beam sweep towards them, Kenichi stepped forward and casually waved his hand.
[Reflector Magic]
In the next second, the huge magical beam was directly deflected.
"He actually deflected Dorma Anim's attack?!"
Inside the mechanical dragon, the old king's eyes widened, his face full of disbelief.
Boom-
As the old king spoke, the deflected magical beam landed on a building.
With an explosion, the building was instantly destroyed.
"In that case!"
The old king ignored the explosion and manipulated the mechanical dragon to attack Kenichi again.
This time, four magical beams, in a pincer formation, shot towards Kenichi.
If Kenichi were alone, he could stand still without moving, and the magical beams wouldn't affect him at all.
After all, the effect of Reflector Magic was there.
But Mirajane was still beside him.
Seeing the four magical beams converging, Kenichi didn't hesitate and immediately manipulated the flying beast to veer to one side.
Boom-
Soon, the four magical beams converged where the beast had been, producing a violent explosion.
"Kenichi, looks like you need some help!"
Gajeel shifted his gaze from Kenichi in the sky to the mechanical dragon before him.
He grinned and said this, then directly launched an attack against the mechanical dragon.
"Iron Dragon's Roar!"
Bzzzt-
A silver whirlwind shot towards the mechanical dragon with astonishing force.
Soon, the silver whirlwind struck the mechanical dragon.
Boom-
A loud sound echoed through the air.
And Gajeel grinned.
But in the next second, Gajeel discovered that the mechanical dragon was completely unscathed under his [Iron Dragon's Roar].
"It actually had no effect?!"