The three Beast Apostles were nearly scared out of their wits!
It wasn't that they had never seen powerful mages before, but mages who fought this recklessly, this outrageously… they had truly never encountered anything like it.
"As expected."
"Are crazy teammates always surrounded by other crazies?"
That stray thought flashed through their minds, but before they could dwell on it, yet another large group of magical beasts gathered around them, plunging the three once again into a bitter struggle.
The situation began to change after more than a hundred beasts had been slain.
This wasn't just because the surviving beasts were stronger. Instead of charging mindlessly, the beasts attacked in coordinated formations. Once that happened, even someone like Gildarts found it difficult to wipe out large numbers in a single blow.
As time dragged on, everyone except Ur, Mirajane included, began to show clear signs of exhaustion. After all, unleashing such overwhelmingly powerful magic came at a terrifying cost in magical energy.
The first to collapse, however, was not Mirajane or Gildarts.
It was the three Beast Apostles.
They had already suffered massive losses in their earlier battle with Mirajane. On top of that, Ur had thrown them directly into the very center of the beast horde. Surrounded, the rate at which their magic power drained was self-evident.
"Ahhh!" A scream rang out.
At last, the first of the three was seriously injured, the mage who specialized in close-combat martial arts. Fighting magical beasts at point-blank range was inherently dangerous. In just a split second of carelessness, a horned beast nearly impaled his chest straight through.
"Watch out!"
"Get out of the way!"
The three had been maintaining a tight formation, but once one of them fell, the formation collapsed instantly. Before long, the other two were swallowed by the beast tide as well, their bodies quickly covered in wounds.
"Save us!" Their desperate cries echoed across the battlefield.
Seeing this, a flicker of hesitation and pity flickered in Mirajane's eyes. Just as she was about to take the risk and rush in to rescue them, Ur moved before her.
Compared to Mirajane, Ur was much closer to the three.
"ROOOAAR!!"
A beast howled.
Thud.
The beast fell dead.
Magic Power +9.
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Ur advanced slowly toward the location of the three Beast Apostles.
Seeing someone coming to save them, their eyes lit up with desperate hope. They fought with everything they had left, struggling toward Ur, trying to regroup with him as quickly as possible.
Finally!
When Ur severed the head of a beast that had lunged at them, the four of them at last stood together.
"Thank you!" The three were visibly emotional. After all, if survival were possible, no one wanted to die.
"You're welcome." Ur replied flatly.
Then, without the slightest hesitation, he reversed his grip and slashed, cleanly severing one man's head. Blood sprayed across the other two. The victim never even understood what had happened before his life ended.
The sudden turn of events stunned everyone in shock. The two surviving Apostles froze in disbelief. Even Mirajane and Gildarts, watching from afar, felt their pupils contract sharply.
"Bastard! What the hell are you doing?!"
Thud!
One of the Beast Apostles roared at Ur, his eyes bloodshot, but before he could finish his sentence, a katana pierced straight through his heart. Filled with resentment and disbelief, he collapsed to the ground.
The last remaining man saw this and immediately went limp, collapsing onto the ground in terror. Staring at the man before him, who looked like a demon incarnate, fear flooded his eyes.
He begged frantically, "Don't… don't kill me… please… don't—!"
Slash!
Ur cut off his head in a single stroke. Blood sprayed outward.
To Ur, such pleading was utterly meaningless.
From the moment he had killed the first two members of the Beast Apostles, there had never been any path left between them other than mutual annihilation. The only reason Ur hadn't killed them back on the castle rooftop was simple—he wanted to squeeze out whatever remaining use they had.
After all, with so many magical beasts around, one more fighter meant one more bit of strength. But once the three had exhausted their usefulness, their remaining worth lay in only one thing: the magic power numbers they could still provide.
Ur was nothing like the naïve brats of Fairy Tail.
He didn't believe in talking enemies into repentance. Even if he did possess such a skill, he would never use it. To him, persuading someone to "turn over a new leaf" was far more troublesome than ending things with a single strike.
Of course, not everyone could understand Ur's way of thinking.
When Gildarts witnessed Ur's actions, he too was shocked by Ur's apparent cold-blooded ruthlessness. However, he did not comment. Having lived as long as he had, Gildarts understood very well that while Ur's methods were extreme, they were not wrong.
The real issue lay only in Ur's age.
Ur was just fifteen. At that age, being this emotionally detached, this ruthless, could easily send someone down a dangerous path.
'Looks like I'll need to have a proper talk with the master once we're back.' Gildarts thought silently.
Gildarts said nothing, but Mirajane, standing nearby, was visibly furious. Unable to hold back any longer, she shouted at Ur.
"Ur, what the hell are you doing?! They could not clearly fight back anymore, and you still—!"
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Next Chapter: A Bitter Struggle
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Next Next Next Chapter: Money Makes All the Difference