The divine officer was so cold that it made Briar somewhat disheartened.
But the purification plan had already started, and she had no thoughts of betrayal, thinking such a thing wouldn't happen to her.
Therefore, Briar stopped dwelling on it and instead reminded, "It seems the plan has really been exposed. Do we need to change the timing?"
"No need, they are also excellent sacrifices." The divine officer commanded, "Continue forward, kill anyone who stands in our way!"
"Yes!"
...
"We failed," Lucy said dejectedly, "Gemini was discovered as soon as it got close to that divine officer."
"Is there some special method of identification..." Rhode didn't understand how Gemini was exposed and said regretfully,
"Forget it, I brought you here for a chance to shine, now we can only compete with them."
Lucy asked puzzled, "Compete?"
Rhode pointed to the middle of the road.
Lucy looked over in confusion, only to see their companions almost all squeezed over.
"Move over! Let me in front!"
"Don't even think about it!"
"A real man should lead the charge!"
Led by Natsu, Gray, Elfman, and Gajeel, these belligerent members were pushing and complaining, all vying to be at the front of the line.
If it weren't for the approaching enemies and Erza watching over them, these people might have fought each other over who gets to go first.
Lucy asked dumbfounded, "Weren't we supposed to ambush?"
Rhode laughed and said, "Someone clever suggested stepping out first to draw the enemy's attention so the others could ambush.
"And then... everyone volunteered to draw the enemy's attention."
"That's so like them..." Lucy was surprised, but not completely taken aback.
"You can join them too if you want."
Rhode no longer cared about the plan, they could fight however they wanted, they had backup anyway.
Lucy said meekly, "I'll just stick to ambushing... Why is Wendy there too?"
"Wendy was forced." Rhode watched as Wendy was caught up in the crowd.
But seeing that Wendy was only worried about disrupting the operation and had no major objections, he let it be.
After all, in terms of combat power, Wendy was already stronger than most in the guild, she didn't need his constant protection.
The noise in the middle of the road temporarily subsided after the sound of two gunshots.
But soon erupted with even louder noise:
"The enemy is here!"
"It's Alzack and Bisca!"
"Attacking from so far away, they're so cunning!"
"Are they going to just take out the divine officer directly?"
Everyone watched wide-eyed as two flashes of light streaked across the sky at high speed, heading towards the crowd that had just appeared in sight.
Judging from the trajectory just now, it was clearly aimed at important figures in the group.
Now everyone couldn't hold back, charging out in strides.
Through her sight, Bisca saw the result of the sniping, "It's a pity, they were blocked."
Alzack comforted, "After all, they're leading thousands, it won't be so easy for us to succeed."
Bisca lamented, "Should've quietly used Jupiter."
Alzack sighed, "Jupiter can't be used quietly..."
This time they were cooperating with the Council's operations, focusing on capturing.
So it's okay to beat them up a bit, but using Jupiter... is likely to cause casualties, quite a few at that.
...
The blue magic barrier in front of the divine officer disappeared, and he calmly lowered his magic staff, looking forward.
As one of the targeted individuals, Briar wasn't panicked, but instead spoke with interest, "There are snipers, and this power doesn't seem like an ordinary small guild."
D-6 said, "But very foolish, just a few dozen people dare to charge at us."
Nearby ordinary members, belatedly, shouted:
"It's nothing impressive! The divine officer can easily block it!"
"That's right, but we can't always let the divine officer do everything!"
"Charge ahead, take them down!"
The front line seemed to hear their companions' shouts, decisively launching an assault.
The rear received orders, equally bypassing the divine officer's location, rushing forward quickly.
The self-assigned scout team, the flight cat squad, looked down from above, and over a thousand uniformly dressed black-robed figures moved, forming an oppressive sight.
While their side was colorful, appearing very loose.
Having once served as a military captain, Li Li commented, "Theoretically, if troops used this chaotic attack formation, it shouldn't have much combat power."
Carla said, "But you seem not the least bit nervous."
Li Li smiled, "Because they're not ordinary troops."
"Yay! Fairy Tail won't lose!" Hapi shouted loudly, "Go Natsu!"
The two groups were only about a hundred meters apart, more than half of the Black Magic Sect's side suddenly stopped, raising their magic wands and chanting.
Hundreds of magical lights shot over the heads of the Fairy Tail side, firing like colorful projectiles toward them.
Yet the Fairy Tail side's charge didn't stop; they seemed intent on running through the projectiles.
Just before the enemy's attack landed, Gray suddenly acted, "Ice-Make: Wall!"
A towering ice wall rose from the ground, shielding all his companions behind it.
The enemy's magic bullets struck the wall, exploding into dazzling ice flowers.
A loud noise echoed, the surface of the wall was pitted, but it remained unmoved.
Members of the Black Magic Sect approaching the wall's base hesitated:
"It's shaping magic!"
"Such massive shaping, how can it be so fast!"
"And it's incredibly sturdy!"
"No matter how sturdy, it's just ice, charge ahead!"
They psyched themselves up, preparing to use various methods to break down the wall.
But before they could act, the wall itself crumbled, and along with its appearance were several striking figures and defiant voices:
"You're such a hassle, Gray!"
"Ice Block Man, stop meddling!"
"A real man!"
Natsu, Gajeel, and Elfman practically crashed through the wall side by side, shards flying everywhere.
These three hulking guys didn't care about any of this, charging boldly into the crowd;
"Fire Dragon's Wing Strike!"
"Iron Dragon Staff!"
"Partial Takeover·Rock Soul Arm!"
Just these three managed to instantly cause dozens of casualties within the Black Magic Sect's ranks.
And from behind the wall, more mages continued to pour out.
"What a headache." Gray dismissed the magic amid his companions' complaints.
The two groups officially collided.
Members of the Black Magic Sect exclaimed in surprise, "I know them—they're Fairy Tail!"
"What? It's actually them!"
"How could Fairy Tail be here?"
"Never mind that, we have over a thousand people! They don't even have a hundred!"
"Um... we're down to just over nine hundred now..."