"Die!"
Mard Geer pointed a finger at Makarov, and a thorn shot out from the ground, aiming straight for Makarov's heart.
Just then—
Boom!
An axe fell from the sky, striking the thorn and shattering it.
Then, a figure landed in front of Mard Geer.
It was Takeshi, transformed into Escanor.
"Takeshi!"
Seeing Takeshi arrive, the members of Fairy Tail couldn't help but sigh in relief.
"Everyone, I won't be able to control my power well in the upcoming fight. To avoid getting caught in the crossfire, you'd better stay far away from here." Takeshi said, looking at the members of Fairy Tail.
Makarov's body quickly shrank back to normal. "Takeshi, be careful. Everyone, retreat immediately!"
Makarov immediately led the Fairy Tail members in retreat. Most of them had sustained some level of injury in the previous battles. Staying now wouldn't help and would only be a burden to Takeshi, so leaving was the best option.
Mard Geer chuckled. "Retreating anywhere is useless. As long as you are on this continent, Face will eliminate all magic, and eventually, everyone will die."
"Takeshi, is it? You're quite impressive. In all these years, I've never seen a human as powerful as you. Since magic is about to vanish and humans will die, I can transform you into a demon and grant you eternal life and power—if you join Tartaros."
"Power? From someone like you?" Takeshi's voice was filled with disdain.
"Do you even know what power is? For someone of your level to say you'll grant me power... it's laughable. Hahaha." Takeshi looked at Mard Geer, his eyes filled with arrogance.
Mard Geer was familiar with that look—it was the look one gave to vermin. He used to look at humans that way. He never expected to be looked at like that himself one day. It made him feel extremely uncomfortable.
Mard Geer's expression darkened. "Human, you are a bit too arrogant. For a mere human, me granting you power is a blessing."
"Oh? Is that so? I don't want such a 'blessing'—to be given power by such a weakling."
Mard Geer's eyes narrowed slightly. "In that case, I'll show you the vast gap between humans and demons."
Mard Geer waved his hand, and a snake-like white light blasted toward Takeshi.
Boom!
The white light struck Takeshi's body, erupting in a violent explosion.
After the explosion dissipated, Takeshi looked down at his body, his clothes were shredded, revealing firm, powerful muscles.
Takeshi touched his abdominal muscles and said, "As expected of me, my physique and muscles are perfect."
"What?!"
Mard Geer was somewhat surprised. He hadn't expected the opponent to take his hit head-on and remain completely unscathed, this was far beyond his expectations.
Thorns!
Mard Geer flicked his finger, and a large number of thorns stabbed at Takeshi, who neither dodged nor avoided them.
Mard Geer's Thorns couldn't pierce Takeshi's skin at all.
"What?! He actually blocked my Thorns with just his physical body?!" Mard Geer was greatly shocked.
Takeshi asked, "Are you just tickling me? Or is this the power you intend to bestow upon me?"
"You fellow... you really are arrogant."
Takeshi smiled upon hearing this. "Indeed. The title of the character I've taken on is the 'Sin of Pride.' But compared to me, you're the truly arrogant one. To face me without even using your Etherious Form, are you looking down on me?"
Mard Geer released a large number of white blades. He wasn't affected by Takeshi's words. Emotions hinder thinking, and he had long since successfully controlled them.
A large number of white blades cut through the thorns, but the attack caused no damage when it landed on Takeshi's body, only completely shredding his already tattered clothes.
"This... is actually a bit embarrassing."
"You guy..."
Mard Geer's eyes narrowed slightly. He finally felt something was wrong, the opponent's strength was somewhat beyond his predictions.
Takeshi said, "It seems you're still looking down on me. Strange, do I look that kind? I always seem to make others underestimate me. It looks like I'll have to show a bit of strength, or I'll really be completely looked down upon."
Takeshi raised his right hand, and the one-handed axe that had been stuck in the ground quickly flew into his hand.
Seeing this, Mard Geer also became serious.
Takeshi casually swung the one-handed axe, hacking down at Mard Geer.
Dea Yggdrasil!
Mard Geer immediately created a huge spinning sphere to attack Takeshi and also to block the axe strike.
Swish!
The collision between the spinning sphere and Rhitta didn't go as Mard Geer had expected, where the wooden beam fired from the orb would block the axe.
Instead, his attack was like tofu, easily sliced in half by Rhitta.
The moment Dea Yggdrasil was broken by Rhitta, Mard Geer's pupils shrank, and his body instinctively dodged to the side.
A massive shockwave from the slash split the orb and continued into the distance.
Rumble—
A distant mountain was easily split in half by this single axe strike, the massive slash extending for untold kilometers.
Seeing that terrifying slash in the distance, everyone was frightened.
"Waaaaah!"
"What was that?!!"
"Takeshi's attacks are too strong every time!"
The members of Fairy Tail couldn't help but complain.
In the future, they should stay far away from Takeshi during battles. Takeshi's attacks, even if not aimed at them, would be a disaster if they were accidentally caught in them.
"Tartaros-sama!"
Seeing Takeshi's mountain-splitting attack, Kyoka was instantly worried.
Thump!
Erza took the opportunity to kick Kyoka in the face, sending her flying.
Erza looked at Kyoka and said, "You should worry about yourself instead."
As for Takeshi, Erza wasn't worried at all. Takeshi's current transformation was unfathomable, and he also had the Minato transformation. No matter how strong Mard Geer was, he wouldn't be a match for Takeshi.