Chapter 207: Feel the Fear
"Ren, I'm here!"
The shout tore through the chaotic noise of the battlefield, carrying the roar of a waking dragon. With his magic power finally restored by the X-Balls, Natsu Dragneel could no longer hold back the fire burning in his gut. The suppression he had felt since arriving in this magic-less world vanished, replaced by an explosive surge of Ethernano.
"Someone else is coming! It's the Earth Landers!"
"Stop them! Don't let them near the palace!"
The Royal Army soldiers, clad in their uniform armor and wielding magic-infused spears, noticed the pink-haired intruder and immediately shifted their formation.
"Get out of my way!"
Natsu grinned, his fists igniting with intense flames that distorted the air around him. He leaped high into the air, spinning his body like a fiery wheel.
"Fire Dragon's... Wing Attack!"
Twin streams of fire erupted from his arms, taking the shape of dragon wings. He slammed into the ranks of the soldiers, the impact sending a shockwave of heat and force rippling through the plaza.
"Waaahhhhh!"
"Hot, hot, hot!!"
Dozens of Royal Army soldiers were sent flying, their armor scorched, their formation shattered in a single blow.
"Gihi. Don't think you're the only one having fun, Salamander."
From the flank, a metallic rasp echoed. Gajeel Redfox, his skin already covered in shimmering iron scales, charged forward like a runaway train.
"Iron Dragon's Club!"
He extended his arm, transforming it into a massive, extendable steel pillar. With a savage swing, he swept across the battlefield, the heavy iron club smashing into shields and helmets with the sound of ringing bells. Soldiers were swatted away like flies, crashing into the stone walls of the surrounding buildings.
Ren stood amidst the chaos, his hands in his pockets, watching the spectacle with a faint smirk.
"Oh? It seems the batteries are fully charged," Ren commented, his voice cutting through the din. "You two be careful, don't drag me down with your sloppy fighting."
Gajeel grunted, retracting his iron arm with a metallic clank. "I wouldn't be that embarrassing. The Fire Dragon, on the other hand, barely knows left from right."
"What did you say, Metal Head?!" Natsu shouted, blowing a plume of fire from his mouth in irritation. "Then let's compete! Whoever takes down more of these tin soldiers wins!"
"Compete then! Who's afraid of whom!"
"I'm all fired up now!"
Without waiting for a signal, Natsu and Gajeel roared and charged deeper into the sea of enemies, competing to see who could cause more destruction.
"Let's go too, Wendy!"
Lucy Heartfilia pulled a golden key from her belt ring. Her expression was determined. As a member of Earth Land's Fairy Tail, she refused to be a burden. She had taken down Royal Guard captains before; mere foot soldiers wouldn't stop her.
"Okay!" Wendy Marvell nodded, her small fists clenched. She had felt helpless against the Oración Seis, and helpless again when they first arrived in Edolas. But now, with her magic back, she wanted to protect her friends.
Lucy swung the key in a graceful arc. "Open! Gate of the Lion! Leo!"
A magic circle, bright and golden, manifested in the air. From the light stepped a handsome man in a sharp suit, adjusting his glasses with a confident smile.
"Long time no see, Lucy," Loke—the spirit Leo—said smoothly. "Though, to me, your love feels like it's been calling out for an eternity."
"I just summoned you recently! And cut the chatter, you know the situation, right?" Lucy pointed at the encroaching army.
Loke's playful expression vanished, replaced by the seriousness of the King of the Zodiac. "Of course. I am a spirit, but I am also a member of Fairy Tail. I will not allow anyone to harm my guildmates."
"Oh, Lion King! Grant me strength!"
"Regulus Impact!"
Blinding golden light erupted from Loke's fist, enhancing his physical strikes with the power of a lion's claw. He blurred into motion, weaving through the soldiers and striking with precision, each punch carrying the force of a cannonball.
"Sky Dragon's... Roar!"
Wendy took a deep breath, gathering the atmosphere around her, and unleashed a powerful hurricane from her mouth. The compressed air blast struck a phalanx of soldiers, lifting them off their feet and scattering them like bowling pins.
The tide of battle seemed to be turning in Fairy Tail's favor.
"Take this, intruders!"
Suddenly, a piercing cry rang out from the sky. A figure plummeted from the clouds like a meteor, creating a sonic boom as they descended. A massive spear, crackling with volatile magical energy, was aimed directly at Ren's head.
Ren didn't move. He simply raised one hand lazily above his head.
"Explosion!"
BOOM—!
The tip of the spear struck... nothing. It hit an invisible barrier inches from Ren's palm, triggering a massive detonation. A cloud of smoke and fire engulfed Ren completely, the shockwave cracking the cobblestones beneath his feet.
"It's the Second Magic Warfare Unit Captain! Captain Erza!"
"Great! Captain Erza is here!"
"The Fairy Hunter has arrived!"
The morale of the Royal Army skyrocketed instantly. They cheered for their strongest warrior, the woman who had hunted down countless guilds.
"Erza?!"
Lucy froze, staring at the silhouette emerging from the smoke.
Standing atop a pile of rubble was a woman with scarlet hair. But unlike the Erza they knew, this woman wore revealing, barbaric armor and carried a cold, ruthless demeanor that sent shivers down their spines. Her eyes were sharp, devoid of the warmth Earth Erza held for her friends.
"It's... Erza?" Lucy whispered, confused. "But her hair... her clothes..."
"Be careful, Lucy-san!" Wendy warned, stepping back. "In the Edolas world, Miss Erza is the enemy of Fairy Tail. She hunts mages!"
The smoke cleared completely. Ren stood in his original spot, not a speck of dust on his clothes. The Limitless technique—the infinity between him and the attack—had completely nullified the explosion.
Erza Knightwalker narrowed her eyes. She pulled her spear back, landing gracefully a few meters away. She wasn't surprised; she had observed Ren's earlier skirmishes. She knew he possessed a strange, invisible defense.
"Erza, huh?" Ren looked at her, tilting his head. "That's a familiar face. Though you look a bit wilder than the one I know."
"You know me?" Knightwalker asked coldly, her grip tightening on her weapon.
"No, I don't know you," Ren corrected. "I know the Erza from our world. She's my friend. You're just a cheap copy."
Knightwalker's expression didn't change, but her aura darkened. "Is that so? I am not her. I am Erza Knightwalker, and I am your executioner."
She spun her spear—the Magic Spear: Ten Commandments.
"Change Form: Blue Crimson!"
The spear split into two separate lances. One burned with intense fire, the other radiated freezing cold.
"Ice Flame Spear!"
Knightwalker launched a dual assault. She was fast—much faster than the average soldier. She unleashed a barrage of fire and ice, aiming to overwhelm Ren's barrier with contrasting elemental extremes.
Ren stood still, yawning. The flames washed over him but couldn't touch his skin. The ice spikes shattered against the invisible wall of infinity.
"Boring," Ren muttered.
"This guy..." Knightwalker gritted her teeth. Physical attacks, explosions, and elements were all failing. "He's troublesome."
Ren raised his palm. "My turn."
"Cursed Technique Lapse: Blue."
A small sphere of blue energy formed—a point of absolute attraction. He flicked it towards her.
Knightwalker's instincts screamed danger. She reacted instantly, slamming the two spears back together into one.
"Change Form: Rune Save!"
The tip of her spear transformed into a translucent, crystalline blade. This was her Sealing Form, capable of cutting through magic itself.
"Seal Sword!"
She swung the spear with all her might, striking the incoming Blue sphere.
CRACK—!
To Ren's slight surprise, the Blue sphere didn't absorb the spear. Instead, the spear's blade sliced through the gravitational structure of the technique, dissipating the gathered cursed energy into harmless motes of light.
"Oh?" Ren raised an eyebrow, genuinely impressed for the first time. "Interesting. You actually cut the technique? A weapon that nullifies magic... not bad."
"Don't underestimate the Royal Kingdom!" Knightwalker shouted.
"Change Form: Gravity Core!"
The spear grew heavy, emitting a dark, oppressive aura. She leaped into the air, the sheer weight of the weapon crushing the ground beneath her launch.
"Gravity Spear!"
She brought the weapon down, unleashing a crushing sphere of high-gravity magic.
Ren smirked. "Playing with gravity in front of me?"
"Cursed Technique Reversal: Blue!"
He didn't bother dodging. He amplified the attractive force of Blue to its maximum output.
Two massive gravitational forces collided.
"Not good!" Knightwalker's eyes widened. Her artificial gravity magic was being overpowered by the sheer density of Ren's singularity.
BOOM—!
The collision created a vacuum implosion. A massive shockwave of black and blue light erupted, engulfing the street. Buildings on both sides were sheared in half by the gravitational distortion.
Knightwalker was forced to backflip away, shielding her face as debris rained down.
"Did I get him?" she panted, staring into the dust cloud.
The dust settled. Ren stood there, brushing off his shoulder. "A bit better. But still not enough."
"Monster!" Knightwalker hissed.
"Change Form: Silfarion!"
The spear head changed again, becoming streamlined and green. This was the Sonic Spear. Her speed increased exponentially, boosting her agility and velocity to supersonic levels.
"Sonic Sword!"
She vanished from sight, reappearing instantly in front of Ren, the spear tip thrusting toward his throat at the speed of sound.
Ren didn't need speed. He had the Six Eyes. He saw her trajectory before she even moved.
He raised his palm, fingers splayed. The spear stopped dead in the air, halted by the infinity.
"Get lost."
"Cursed Technique Reversal: Red."
A small, red orb manifested at his fingertips. Unlike the attractive force of Blue, this was the power of absolute repulsion.
BANG—!
"Waaah!"
The repulsive blast hit Knightwalker point-blank. It was like being hit by a speeding train. Her armor groaned under the stress as she was launched backward like a cannonball.
She smashed through one building, then another, finally embedding herself into the rubble of a third structure hundreds of meters away.
"Captain Erza!"
"I can't believe it... even Captain Erza is no match for that man!"
The Royal Army soldiers froze in terror. Their invincible captain had been swatted away like a fly.
However, the despair of the army didn't last long. A deep, vibrating hum began to resonate from the sky above. Shadows stretched across the battlefield, blotting out the sun.
"Look up!"
"Reinforcements!"
At this moment, a massive swarm of black figures flew across the sky. There were hundreds of them—giant, Wyvern-like beasts ridden by elite soldiers.
"It's the Legion Corps!"
"Great! The Fourth Magic War Division is here!"
The Legion Corps was the pride of the Edolas Kingdom. Each Legion beast was a towering monster capable of crushing houses, and a hundred of them gathered together was a force capable of wiping out entire cities.
"What is that?!" Lucy looked up, her face paling.
"It's the monster we saw back then!" Wendy gasped. It was the same creature that had chased them when they first arrived, but multiplied by a hundred.
"There are so many of them..." Carla's voice trembled with fear. "This... this is an entire army of monsters. We can't fight this many!"
The sheer scale of the enemy force was suffocating. Even with magic returned, fighting an aerial bombardment from hundreds of beasts while dealing with the ground troops seemed impossible.
Ren looked up at the darkened sky.
"Tch. Flies," he muttered, his expression shifting from amusement to cold irritation.
He looked at the swarming monsters, then back at the terrified faces of the Fairy Tail members.
"It seems I've been playing around a bit too much," Ren said, his voice low but carrying a terrifying resonance. "It's time to let these guys experience what true fear is."
He slowly raised his hands. He crossed his arms, fingers extending.
The atmosphere in the Royal Capital suddenly changed. The air grew heavy, static electricity dancing across the ground.
"Cursed Technique Lapse: Blue."
A swirling sphere of azure darkness appeared to Ren's left, warping the space around it with intense attraction.
"Cursed Technique Reversal: Red."
A burning sphere of crimson light appeared to Ren's right, radiating unstable, repulsive energy.
The soldiers stopped cheering. The beasts in the sky began to screech in panic, sensing a predator far deadlier than themselves.
Ren's eyes glowed with an ethereal light as he began to merge the two opposing infinities.
"Nine Ropes... Polarized Light... Crow and Declaration... Between Front and Back..."
He intertwined his fingers, bringing the two spheres together. The fabric of reality groaned under the stress.
"Hollow Technique: Purple!"
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