High in the sky, fierce winds whipped their clothes. Four figures stood atop Christina, leaping off as Natsu and the others watched with delighted surprise.
"AAAAHHHH! Why do I have to jump down too?!"
The girl's piercing scream arrived before her feet touched the ground. Then came a loud BOOM as the falling objects crashed between the two battling forces.
A gentle breeze swept away the dust, revealing two tall figures standing firm.
"Jura, how was that? Pretty cool entrance, right?" Chase grinned.
"Acceptable. It was certainly the fastest and most effective way to provide support," Jura said with a slight nod.
Jura, ever the pragmatist, cared more about efficiency than looking cool.
"Chase, promise me. Next time you do something so reckless, at least give me some warning before we jump..." Lucy, still cradled in his arms, was in tears. She reached out to grab her wandering soul floating in the air and stuffed it back into her body before shouting, "I could have died! I really could have died!!"
"Ahahaha! Chase, you're too slow. I got here first!" Natsu ran over immediately, looking quite pleased with himself.
"Is that the only thing on your mind?!" Lucy, now back on solid ground, shot back.
"Help me, man!"
A muffled voice suddenly came from the side. Natsu, who had been wearing a smug expression, turned to look and jumped in surprise. "The-the ground grew two hairy legs that can talk!"
Lucy: "..."
Chase grabbed Ichiya's left leg and yanked him out of the ground like a radish.
"Oh, it's Ichiya!" Natsu exclaimed, finally recognizing him.
"Master Ichiya!" Blue Pegasus's three handsome men protested loudly, crowding around to check if he was hurt.
Ichiya used the dirt on his head as hair gel, slicking it back into a fashionable pompadour. He brushed off his clothes and said it was nothing, just a little wear and tear.
Erza and the others stared at the large bump on his head, lost in thought.
Thanks to Chase and his group's "interruption," the tense atmosphere among the allied forces had greatly eased. Everyone looked much more relaxed.
In contrast, Oración Seis, who had been preparing for a quick decisive battle, looked grim.
"Chase of Fairy Tail... and Jura of Lamia Scale..." Brain fixed his eyes on the two men at the front of the group. His voice cold, he asked, "Did you kill Angel?"
"Don't lump us kind-hearted people together with you villains."
Chase stepped forward to meet his vicious glare. He pointed at Lucy beside him and said with a smile, "Actually, the one who defeated that woman is our guild's Celestial Spirit mage."
"Nani?!" multiple voices exclaimed.
This statement not only shocked Oración Seis but also left the allied forces in disbelief, especially Natsu and Gray.
Lucy had defeated one of the Oración Seis, Angel?
For these two who had just experienced firsthand how powerful Oración Seis was, this was even more shocking than hearing that Cana had decided to quit drinking!
"I can confirm that Mr. Chase is not lying," Jura said, noticing their doubt.
"Hehe. Is someone still struggling against Oración Seis? Who could that be, I wonder~"
Having her achievement confirmed, Lucy immediately became smug. She ran over to Natsu and Gray, showing off like crazy.
The sight of her petty triumph made Natsu and Gray grind their teeth.
"I never expected Lucy to become this strong..." Erza said, genuinely impressed.
"Hey, Lucy. You're suddenly so different. Hurry up and turn back into the weakening you used to be," Happy muttered with a hint of resentment.
As the two weakest members of the Strongest Team, Lucy's rise made the blue cat feel a sense of crisis. It was like that old saying: "You don't want your brother to suffer, but you also don't want your brother to drive a Land Rover."
Minerva and Wendy stood at the back of the group. They tilted their little heads up, their faces full of admiration as they watched Lucy shine among the crowd.
Across the battlefield, Brain, who had somehow been ignored, stood in silence.
"KILL THEM ALL!!" The leader had finally lost his temper.
A vicious storm of magic power swept toward them again. But this time, the oppressive pressure it carried was nowhere near as strong as before.
"Hey, Natsu. Back when the old man announced this subjugation mission, you said something..."
The wind whipped up a blinding cloud of yellow dust, but Chase turned back calmly. "You said you alone would be enough. Remember?"
The moment his words left his mouth, before Natsu could even answer, light flickered and a yellow mohawk appeared before his eyes.
Racer Sawyer, wearing his racing suit, had already closed the distance to Chase!
Chase twisted his body and swung a heavy punch.
The wind-packed fist passed straight through Sawyer's chest, but there was no impact. He had only struck the man's afterimage.
"I'm faster than the so-called Fairy Queen. But still... not fast enough!"
Sawyer's figure reappeared behind Chase, his right leg raised high, aimed right at Chase's back.
He was so fast that by the time everyone registered what was happening, there was no chance to shout a warning.
"He's mine, Fairy Tail S-Class mage!"
Just as Sawyer was about to kick out with his right leg for a fatal blow, his movement abruptly halted. He froze like a statue under a paralysis spell.
"A slow-down spell that reduces a target's perception of speed. Too bad my Trap Card is instant," Chase said without even looking back.
Realizing what had happened, Sawyer's expression changed dramatically. His eyes shifted downward slightly and caught sight of a Hexagram Curse magic circle outlined in golden light.
So fast. Too fast. When did he...
And how does he know about my magic?!
"Hiss!"
While Sawyer was still in shock, a wave of freezing cold air washed over Chase.
Purple wings flapped. The snake Cubellios opened her fanged mouth wide and lunged.
A golden magic circle spun as Chase calmly raised his arm, equipped with the Right Arm of the Forbidden One, to block.
A dull thud followed, then Cubellios's pained hiss. She had broken her fangs on his arm!
"Just as I heard, you really would take a defensive posture like that!"
Poison Dragon Slayer Erik leaped out from behind Cubellios. His five fingers, wrapped in poison, curled into claws aimed at Chase's chest.
But chains rattled. The floating bronze arm moved faster. Before the attack could land, it had already grabbed his neck.
"Sorry to disappoint, but the Forbidden One's arm doesn't have a heartbeat."
Chase raised his left arm, controlling the Left Arm of the Forbidden One to slam Erik hard into the ground.
The heavy impact forced Erik to spit out a mouthful of blood.
WHIR, WHIR, WHIR!
At the same time, the ground shook violently. Hard earth rose up like surging waves and roared forward, swallowing Chase in the blink of an eye!
Hoteye Richard had made his move, using his devastating earth magic: "Active Plaza!"
CRACKLE!
Dazzling lightning flashed. The magic was easily torn apart.
Wearing white bone armor, a demon leaped out. Its palms, raised above its head, crackled with furious thunder.
Without any unnecessary moves, Summoned Demon fired off a Demon Descending Thunder!
Richard, still holding his Bible, was frozen in shock at the gap in their magic power. The lightning bolt crashed down from above, electrocuting him until smoke rose from his body. He let out pained screams.
"Big guy, that square face of yours looks kind of familiar."
Chase walked casually through the falling chunks of earth and stone. Just as he was about to hint at the news about Richard's younger brother Wally, the space around him suddenly twisted.
Under the influence of the distortion, his clothes tightened, squeezing until his bones cracked.
"Hehe, writhe in agony as the distortion—GLRK!"
Midnight did not get to finish his dramatic speech. He was hit square in the face by a giant snake sent flying his way, leaving him bruised and swollen.
"Spatial magic is indeed rare. Too bad it can't affect living beings," Chase said, retracting the arms of the Forbidden One.
"Don't get too cocky, you damn bastard!"
Erik, now free, pushed himself up with both hands. Dragon scales appeared on his skin. He crouched like a dragon about to roar. "Poison Dragon's— "
A raging wind scattered the still-forming crimson poison mist. Chase appeared before Erik in an instant and clamped a hand over his open mouth.
The Poison Dragon's bad breath was forced back down Erik's throat. Even if his own poison couldn't hurt him, the backlash still dazed him.
Still holding Racer Sawyer, who was trapped in the Hexagram Curse, Chase grabbed both men by their collars and hurled them at Richard and Midnight, who were just getting back to their feet.
BOOM!!
The shockwave exploded. When the dust settled, the four beaten, disheveled members of Oración Seis scrambled to their feet. Their earlier arrogance was completely gone.
"Oración Seis? That's all you've got," Chase said with a smile, brushing dust from his clothes.
From Sawyer's sneak attack to the four collapsing, the entire battle might have looked slow, but less than a minute had actually passed.
"F-facing those four monsters... so easily..."
Blue Pegasus's three handsome men stared in disbelief. A sense of utter unreality made their breathing quicken.
"Hey, are you serious? We knew he was strong, but this is ridiculous..."
Lyon and Sherry were equally stunned. They could hardly accept that the same Oración Seis members who had completely overwhelmed them couldn't even last a single exchange against Chase.
"Wendy! Do you see?! That's my idol!"
Minerva's big eyes sparkled as she pointed excitedly at Chase's back.
"Mr. Chase is... truly amazing!" Wendy and Charlene were naturally in awe.
The only ones who remained calm were the members of Fairy Tail. To them, this was just par for the course for Chase.
"So, like Angel, you have the ability to gather intelligence on your opponents?"
Brain shot a glance at Chase, his expression darkening. "An unexpected complication..."
If it were just Chase, even with his magic being known, Brain was confident he could still take down the arrogant young man.
But the problem was, Chase was not alone. Across from him stood Ur and Jura, both at the level of the Ten Wizard Saints.
With that thought, a ruthless look appeared on Brain's face.
To ensure nothing would interfere with his acquisition of Nirvana, Brain had prepared plenty of cannon fodder ahead of time to wear down his enemies.
And now, it was time for this trash to earn their keep.
BOOM!!
A dark magic signal exploded in the air. Deep in the forest, something stirred. Hundreds of armed mages emerged.
New Eisenwald. Dark Unicorn. Naked Bandage Men.
All of them members of the dark guilds under Oración Seis.
***
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