Morning in the Fairy Tail guildhall.
Ace wore a neat server's uniform, working behind the counter where Mirajane was humming a tune while mixing drinks.
The sweet languor in her eyes and her warm smile had several of the early-rising male members staring transfixed.
"Ace-nii, we're here to help!" A vibrant voice called out from the entrance.
Lisanna and Levy walked in arm-in-arm, both girls wearing light dresses and radiant smiles.
"Lisanna, Levy. Morning," Ace greeted them with a smile, his gaze lingering on Lisanna's face a moment longer.
The girl seemed to notice, her cheeks tinting pink, but her bright eyes met his without hesitation.
"Morning? It's almost noon!" Lisanna bounced over and naturally plucked the cleaning rag right out of Ace's hands.
"Ace-nii, you go rest. Leave this to me and Levy!"
As she spoke, she secretly winked at Ace, clearly having picked up a few playful habits from her older sister.
Ace rubbed his nose awkwardly.
But seeing Lisanna and Levy's sheer enthusiasm, he went with the flow and sat down at the patron's side of the counter.
Mirajane slid a specially mixed juice toward him with a gentle smile.
"Thanks for your hard work, temporary server."
"At your service, goddess," Ace replied, accepting the glass with feigned seriousness.
The four of them exchanged glances and burst into laughter.
Sunlight streamed through the stained-glass windows into the hall, warm and radiant.
The scars of the civil war were already fading, and the guild seemed to be reuniting in an even closer, warmer bond.
...
The next afternoon.
A deserted island off the coast of Magnolia.
The scorching sun beat down on the white sandy beach, while a salty sea breeze swept through the dense tropical jungle.
It should have been a tranquil, idyllic afternoon, but the peace was completely shattered by a massive, clamorous crowd.
"Ooooh! Is this the place? Our new arena!"
"Aye! It's such a big island!"
"Hmph, not a bad spot. Plenty of space to cut loose."
Natsu, Happy, Gray, Elfman, Gajeel, Erza, Lucy... Nearly all the combat-ready members of Fairy Tail had gathered on the beach, each face brimming with excitement and eagerness.
Across from them, in a clearing on the other side of the island, the atmosphere was starkly different.
It was cold, deathly silent, and overwhelmingly oppressive.
Four figures of varying forms, each radiating an equally terrifying presence, stood silently waiting for them.
On the far left was a massive, serpentine sea dragon hovering several meters above the ground.
Its slender body was entirely encased in golden and silver Chrome Digizoid armor, gleaming with a harsh, cold light under the sun.
A sharp, energy-channeling blade protruded from its metallic snout, capable of piercing the sky.
MetalSeadramon.The ruler of the Deep Savers.
Beside it stood a bizarrely designed wooden puppet wearing a red hat. It had a wooden steering wheel sticking out of its back and strings hanging from its wrists.
In its hands, it held a massive, peculiarly shaped weapon—a hammer forged with the barrel of a literal Gatling gun, its dark muzzles aimed forward and exuding a highly volatile aura.
Puppetmon. The ruler of the Wind Guardians.
To the right of the puppet was a towering, purely mechanical dragon.
Composed entirely of silvery-grey metal, its massive frame resembled a moving, heavily armored steel fortress.
Two colossal artillery cannons were mounted on its back, their thick barrels inspiring absolute awe. Its right arm was a heavy, three-pronged metal claw, and its left was a devastating trident spear.
Its cold, electronic eyes scanned the Fairy Tail mages, completely devoid of any emotion.
Machinedramon. The pinnacle of all Machine Digimon and ruler of the Metal Empire.
Finally, standing at the forefront was the leader.
He wore a flamboyant red-and-white circus jester outfit. One half of his face was deathly pale, the other half pitch black, and his mouth stretched from ear to ear in a grotesque, chilling grin.
Most striking was the "Magic Box" strapped to his back, holding four slender, sinisterly gleaming broadswords.
Piedmon. The ruler of the Nightmare Soldiers and leader of the Dark Masters.
Four figures.
Four towering waves of malevolent energy that practically solidified the air on this side of the island.
Sunlight fell upon them but brought no warmth—only the cold glint of metal and a suffocating sense of pressure.
On Fairy Tail's side, many of the younger mages unconsciously swallowed hard, beads of cold sweat forming on their foreheads.
"Th-These are the 'Dark Masters' Ace mentioned?" Lucy's voice trembled as she tightly gripped her golden celestial keys.
"Such an overwhelming presence..." Juvia murmured, her water-blue eyes wide with shock.
"A real man... can't back down!" Elfman roared to bolster his own courage, but his right arm had already begun to Beastify, clearly entering a state of high alert.
Erza gripped the hilt of her sword, her expression grave.
She could sense that any one of these four summoned beasts emitted a dangerous aura that was absolutely no less formidable than that of the Ten Wizard Saints.
"Hahahahaha! This is it! This is the feeling!" Natsu, however, was trembling with sheer excitement. His fists blazed with fierce flames.
"Fantastic! Ace, you truly didn't let me down! This is more like it!"
Gray tore off his shirt, freezing air condensing around him. "Hmph, Perfect. Let's get this over with in one go!"
Gajeel grinned, baring his stark white, iron-eating teeth as his arms transformed into solid steel pillars.
"Now this is what I'm talking about. The previous fights were hardly satisfying."
Ace stood comfortably between the two sides, watching the eager Natsu and Gray with a helpless sigh.
Lately, he had been in the spotlight constantly. From stopping the civil war to the parade, he had inadvertently stolen all the attention.
These battle enthusiasts had been itching for a real fight, pestering him daily for a "duel."
He hadn't intended to agree at first, but then it occurred to him that he had indeed been neglecting his guildmates' combat training recently.
If they wanted to experience true despair, he might as well indulge them.
Thus, this deserted island "team-building" event was born.
"The rules are simple," Ace said, turning to face his guildmates, his voice amplified clearly by magic.
"The Dark Masters will attack you. Your task is to block, dodge, and counterattack as best you can. Don't worry, they won't go for the kill. I've strictly warned them."
He then turned to the Dark Masters, his gaze stern.
"The same goes for you. No killing. No permanent injuries. Otherwise..."
He left the threat unfinished, but Piedmon giggled, twirling a white-gloved finger.
"We know, we know! Ace-sama, you're so serious. We're very gentle, you know! Right, everyone?"
MetalSeadramon circled ominously in the air, Machinedramon responded with a low, earth-shaking metallic whir, and Puppetmon eagerly fiddled with the trigger of his explosive hammer.
"Then..." Ace retreated to the absolute edge of the battlefield and raised his right hand high.
Everyone's heart tensed.
"Begin!"
His hand swept down.
Almost simultaneously, MetalSeadramon moved.
The particle energy around the massive sea dragon surged violently toward the cannon built into its metallic snout.
It was as if the very light in the air was being distorted and devoured!
A terrifying suction force swirled, pulling ambient energy into the aperture.
Bzzzzzt!!!
A piercing, high-frequency whine of energy convergence rang out. At the tip of MetalSeadramon's snout, a blinding blue light ignited.
It rapidly expanded, compressed, and expanded again!
The terrifying energy contained within the sphere caused the surrounding space to warp and tremble.
"Not good!" Erza's face paled drastically. "Everyone! Scatter! Find cover!"
Even without her warning, everyone sensed the lethal threat.
Close-combat fighters like Natsu, Gray, and Gajeel immediately scattered in all directions.
Erza instantly Requipped into her Flight Armor and shot into the sky, while long-range supporters like Lucy and Levy desperately dove behind the island's massive boulders.
But the sheer scale of MetalSeadramon's attack far exceeded their expectations.
"River of Power!!!" the robotic, booming voice announced.
The next second, the blue light compressed to its absolute limit and erupted with a deafening roar!
KRA-BOOM!!!!!!!!!!
A torrent of devastating blue energy over twenty meters wide surged from MetalSeadramon's cannon, annihilating everything in its path!
The white beach was instantly vaporized, revealing the smoking, charred bedrock beneath.
The jungle trees simply turned to ash the moment the light touched them, completely skipping the process of combustion!
More terrifyingly, MetalSeadramon began to slowly pan its head horizontally.
The devastating blue pillar of light swept across the deserted island like a divine sword of judgment, slicing the landscape in half!
"Jump left!" "Get down!" "Fly upward!"
Screams, roars, and explosions blended into total chaos.
The elite members of Fairy Tail struggled for survival in the destructive light wave like fragile leaves caught in a hurricane.
Natsu's body ignited in flames.
He wove through the gaps left by the sweeping light pillar at astonishing speed, leaving a trail of crimson sparks in his wake.
Gray instantly constructed three thick layers of ice walls before him, but they evaporated into steam the exact moment they made contact with the beam.
He was sent flying by the explosive shockwave, skidding backward over ten meters before digging his heels into the dirt to stabilize himself.
Gajeel hardened his entire body into solid steel to withstand a glancing blow from the edge of the light.
The steel armor on his chest instantly turned white-hot and melted, leaving behind severe, smoking burn marks.
Erza rapidly changed direction mid-air as the light pillar grazed right past the soles of her feet.
The protective edges of her Flight Armor's skirt vaporized instantly.
Lucy hastily summoned Taurus, and the giant minotaur attempted to block the shockwave with his massive labrys axe.
The steel weapon shattered upon contact with the light.
Taurus let out a pained cry before being forcefully banished back to the Celestial Spirit World, while Lucy herself was sent tumbling backward, coughing up dust from the recoil.
Levy, Jet, and Droy raised a combined Solid Script magic shield, but the spell shattered like fragile glass before the light pillar, lasting less than two seconds before collapsing and leaving all three pinned to the ground by the wind pressure.
"Ahahaha! Fun! So much fun!" Puppetmon clapped and laughed from the sidelines, his wooden body twitching eagerly as he hoisted his Bullet Hammer.
The heavy artillery cannons on Machinedramon's back began to automatically rotate, locking onto the fleeing targets with a series of terrifying mechanical clicks.
And Piedmon simply bowed elegantly, the four swords on his back trembling slightly as if ready to be drawn at any moment.
The deserted island trembled, the sea roared, and the prelude to absolute destruction had only just played its very first note.
Under the terrifying, suffocating pressure of the Dark Masters, the mages of Fairy Tail were finally experiencing firsthand the true, unadulterated power of the Mega-level.
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