Natsu scrambled up from the scorched metal roof, fuming like a petulant child.
Smoke rose from his scaly skin as he pointed an accusing finger at the lightning mage towering above them.
"Laxus!" Natsu shouted, his voice cracking with desperation. "Back off! He's my opponent! I saw him first!"
Laxus shot him a sidelong glance and he snorted coldly.
"Utterly useless," Laxus spat. "You can't even deal with a piece of trash like this? Don't make me laugh."
The taunt instantly ignited Natsu's fury, but it had a far more volatile effect on Gajeel.
The Iron Dragon Slayer's face darkened in an instant, his teeth grinding together with the sound of scraping metal.
Gajeel wasn't stupid.
He knew, instinctively, that he was no match for this monster bathed in lightning.
But being insulted like this? Being treated as if he were nothing more than an obstacle to be swept aside? His pride as the ace of Phantom Lord wouldn't allow him to slink away like a coward!
'I am Gajeel Redfox the Iron Dragon!'
"Don't look down on me!" Gajeel snarled.
Even if he couldn't win, he would tear a few chunks out of this blonde bastard before he went down.
Enraged by Laxus's provocation, Gajeel shifted his ferocious gaze toward him, unleashing every ounce of his remaining Magic Power without restraint.
The air grew heavy with the scent of rust and ozone.
Clearly... he was ready to fight with his life on the line.
Seeing the two about to clash, Natsu protested irritably, jumping between them.
"Hey! Are you deaf?! I said Gajeel is mine to handle! Get lost, Laxus!"
Laxus grew even more displeased.
Not only was the enemy trash still daring to challenge him, but his own guildmate was yapping like a noisy chihuahua.
"You're in the way," Laxus muttered.
With Natsu shouting beside him, Laxus impatiently extended his hand.
He didn't even look at the Fire Dragon Slayer.
A golden electric halo pulsed from his palm, expanding instantly to bind Natsu in a cage of high-voltage energy.
"Gwahhh!"
With a casual flick of his wrist, as if shooing away a fly, Laxus sent the howling, electrified Natsu flying through the air.
"Aye, sir!"
Fortunately, Happy had anticipated this.
The blue Exceed swooped down with practiced ease and caught Natsu mid-air before he could become a stain on the pavement.
Witnessing Natsu—who had just battled him fiercely for several minutes—being effortlessly tossed aside like a ragdoll, Gajeel felt a surge of genuine dread.
The sheer pressure was suffocating.
To see a formidable warrior, someone Gajeel had acknowledged as a rival, dismissed with a mere gesture... it was a terrifying display of the gap in their power.
"Now that the nuisance is gone," Laxus said, turning his bored gaze back to Gajeel.
"As for you... Phantom Lord trash..."
Laxus's heavy coat billowed dramatically behind him as violent, golden lightning erupted from his body.
The electricity didn't just crackle; it roared, surging outward in all directions and scorching the metal roof black.
His eyes glowed with blinding white electric energy, erasing his pupils.
His powerful physique, amplified by the lightning coursing through his muscles, radiated an explosive intensity that made the air vibrate.
"Prepare to die."
Laxus's casual remark carried the weight of a thunder god solemnly decreeing punishment.
Gajeel pushed his Magic Power to its absolute limit.
His skin rippled and hardened, once again becoming encased in thick iron armor. He clasped his hands together, merging the metal as he prepared his ultimate technique.
"FUCK OFF!" Gajeel roared, trying to shout down his own fear. "Who lives or dies is still undecided!"
His voice trembled slightly.
His arms, coated in layers of enchanted steel, extended and transformed.
In an instant, they became a massive black iron blade that stretched dozens of meters long, casting a dark shadow over the roof.
"Dragon Slayer Secret Art!"
Gajeel screamed with desperate frenzy, his gaze growing wild.
He fixated solely on the man who imposed such overwhelming pressure on him.
The gap in their strength was vast—Gajeel knew this.
His only chance was to gamble everything on a single, devastating strike.
One hit.
He just needed one clean hit.
"... KARMA DEMON IRON GOD SWORD!"
Channeling all his strength, Gajeel swung the colossal blade downward.
He infused the iron with every drop of his Magic Power.
BOOOOOOM!
The resulting shockwave was earth-shattering.
The massive iron blade carved a deep, jagged chasm through the entire structure of the Phantom Lord guild hall.
Metal sheared, wood splintered, and the very foundation groaned under the weight of the attack.
The slash seemed capable of cleaving the earth itself. It was a magnificent display of destruction.
Yet, facing this terrifying assault, Laxus showed not a hint of panic.
He didn't even blink.
Just as the massive blade was about to crush his skull, the lightning around Laxus abruptly stilled.
Zzt.
Then, space itself seemed to ripple.
Laxus's physical body dissolved, transforming into pure electricity.
He moved faster than thought, effortlessly evading Gajeel's full-force attack by weaving through the air as a bolt of lightning.
In the blink of an eye, he rematerialized.
Gajeel's eyes widened.
Laxus was no longer in the distance. He was right there. Inches away from his face.
Seeing Laxus right before him, floating effortlessly in the air, Gajeel felt his stomach drop.
He felt not only the bitterness of his ultimate move being easily dodged but, more profoundly, the terror and despair of staring death in the face.
On Laxus's hardened fist, a dazzling golden light erupted.
The sound of a thousand birds chirping filled the air as he instantly accumulated an immense amount of electrical energy.
"Farewell, trash!"
A mocking, cruel smile curled on Laxus's lips as he abruptly threw a single punch.
The terrifying lightning energy descended upon Gajeel like a divine cataclysm.
CRACK!
Gajeel's vaunted iron armor proved utterly useless.
It didn't even slow the punch down. The metal shattered into dust in less than a second, failing to protect the flesh beneath.
Struck squarely in the chest, Gajeel's ribs pulverized.
His eyes rolled back instantly, and he lost consciousness before his brain could even process the pain.
BANG!
The force of the punch tore through Gajeel's body, violently hurling his broken form outward.
He flew like a missile, crashing through what remained of the guild walls and disappearing beyond the city limits of Magnolia.
His fate was unknown, buried somewhere in the distant forests.
Laxus flicked his wrist, shaking off imaginary dust, and muttered scornfully.
"Someone like this dares to invade Fairy Tail?!" Laxus scoffed, the electricity fading from his skin.
"The weak should know their place!"
That Crushing Fist had far surpassed his usual level of power.
This time, Laxus hadn't held back at all.
Though Gajeel had been blasted away to an unknown location with no clue to his condition, in Laxus's eyes, the guy was likely already dead.
And if he wasn't, he would wish he were.
When dealing with those who insulted the guild, Laxus might not say much about "friendship," but in action, he held grudges fiercely—enough to dig up your grave just to hit you again.
Watching from the ground below, the Fairy Tail members witnessed the flash of gold and the resulting shockwave.
Seeing Laxus defeat the Ace of Phantom Lord in a single move caused their morale to soar.
"YEAHHH!"
Cheers erupted from the battered guild members.
Meanwhile, Mystogan stood calmly on the outskirts of the battle.
He was relentlessly bombarding the Phantom Lord base with high-level magic.
"Sacred Song: Destruction Wave!"
Phantom Lord's mechanical arms, legs, and core structural sections were all blasted repeatedly by Mystogan.
He didn't target the people; he targeted the architecture. He excelled in large-scale magic arrays, dismantling the giant walker piece by piece.
Though the Jupiter Cannon's charging mechanism was technically linked to the Element Four via Body Sense Magic, capable individuals like Mystogan never bothered with rigid rules.
His logic was simple: If the cannon poses a threat, why beat around the bush trying to disable the power source? Just destroy the carrier—the Phantom Lord base itself.
RUMBLE... CRASH!
As Phantom Lord's base splintered, groaned, and began to collapse into the lake, the morale of the remaining Phantom Lord minions finally shattered completely.
Their invincible fortress was falling apart, and their strongest fighter had just been punched into orbit.
Their formation crumbled step by step.
By then, Lucy Heartfilia had arrived on the battlefield, riding astride the massive form of Ophiuchus.
The appearance of this colossal, terrifying serpent creature added further misery to the already struggling Phantom Lord soldiers.
"Hiss!" Ophiuchus hissed, her shadow looming over the retreating enemies.
Juvia Lockser, who had been forced back by Ophiuchus earlier, retreated somewhat disheveled toward the Phantom Lord guild hall.
She was looking for a place to regroup.
But upon returning, the Rain Woman nearly doubted her own eyes.
'Phantom Lord... where was it?'
'Could this massive, dilapidated ruin—this pile of scrap metal sinking into the water—really be the guild's headquarters?'
"What the hell..." Juvia whispered, her heart sinking.
As the war neared its end, Phantom Lord's key Mages—the Element Four—finally made their last stand.
Desperate, each sought out an opponent to block the Fairy Tail advance into the ruins.
They knew that if Master Jose could just defeat Ankh, the battle could still turn in their favor!
Thus, the final matchups were set amidst the wreckage.
Aria, the sorrowful leader of the Element Four, engaged Erza Scarlet in direct combat after a failed sneak attack was parried by the Titania.
Natsu, having recovered from Laxus's "help" and forced to switch opponents, found his path blocked by Totomaru.
The fire-wielder sneered at him, putting Natsu in a foul mood.
"I'm gonna burn you to ash!" Natsu yelled.
As for Gray, whether by luck or fate, he found himself wandering through the ruins until he locked eyes with a woman in blue.
He found himself battling his "true destined admirer," Juvia Lockser.
"Drip, drip, drop..." Juvia murmured, staring at him.
It was the meeting of Ice and Water.
...
Unaware of the ongoing fights between the others and the Element Four outside the ruins, Ankh remained deep inside the wreckage of the Phantom Lord's top floor.
The room was destroyed. The roof was gone, exposing the stormy sky.
Ankh stood casually, leaning on his scythe.
Standing beside him were Laxus Dreyar, crackling with residual electricity, and Mystogan, silent and imposing with his staves.
Across from the three pillars of Fairy Tail, Jose Porla knelt on the ground.
He looked utterly disheveled.
Jose's opulent clothes were tattered rags.
His body was covered in bloodstains and bruises.
The nauseating, dark Magic Power that once saturated him was now chaotic and fragmented, flickering like a dying candle.
Combined with his current appearance, kneeling in the debris of his own ambition, he hardly resembled the renowned Wizard Saint he was known to be.
Ankh alone could have subdued Jose—it was only a matter of time.
The older man had already been losing.
But when Laxus and Mystogan joined the fray, the battle quickly turned from a duel into a one-sided beat down.
After all, while Laxus was officially just an S-Class Mage, his actual combat prowess and innate talent made his chances of defeating a Wizard Saint in a one-on-one duel quite substantial.
As for Mystogan, though Ankh wasn't entirely clear about his true strength, he was confident that even against a weaker Wizard Saint like Jura Neekis, Mystogan would certainly hold his own.
Thus, three Mages who could be considered on par with the Wizard Saints had ganged up on the weakened, exhausted Jose.
They launched a "righteous" group assault.
There was no honor here, only a brutal beatdown.
Jose looked up at the three monsters looming over him with terror in his eyes.
This wasn't a battle.
This fight with Jose was as easy as slaughtering a chicken.