A fine mesh of silvery-white light suddenly bloomed, instantly sweeping through the attacking army like a scanner.
Seeing the crushing net of light flying toward them, the main force instinctively slammed on their brakes.
Panic set in as they frantically checked their own bodies for injuries.
A moment later, almost everyone in the sky let out painful wails.
Every soldier's armor shattered and broke apart, leaving their bodies covered in tiny, grid-like cuts.
Over thirty soldiers and their magical beasts began spraying blood.
They fell from the sky like a shower of heavy rain, dropping to the ground one after another.
Then came a series of even louder explosions.
The small aircraft that had not been hit yet began to split apart and break into pieces, followed by the larger ships exploding and crashing down.
"Monster!!"
The people screaming in terror were not just the remaining enemy soldiers.
Many of the newer Fairy Tail members were also terrified after seeing Gildarts in action.
Lucy's forehead was dripping with sweat as she muttered, "As expected... our guild's ace is a monster among monsters."
Wendy covered her eyes, not daring to look at the bloody soldiers.
Her legs trembled as she stammered, "W-Wow... Miss Cana's father is amazing!"
Juvia remained calm and simply stated, "Juvia's body is made of water, so she is not afraid of being crushed."
Gajeel stubbornly argued back, "My iron body cannot be cut by just any magic!"
Ankh overheard them and immediately walked over, "kindly" explaining the truth.
"Gildarts uses Crush Magic, which breaks down atomic bonds from the inside. So, your water body and iron body probably wouldn't help you much."
Juvia and Gajeel fell completely silent, breaking out in a cold sweat...
Laxus watched the two of them and mocked them with his usual sarcasm.
"Don't worry. Gildarts usually fights hand-to-hand because his magic causes way too much bloodshed. You two aren't even worth him going all out."
Ankh nodded and smiled. "Come to think of it, Gildarts probably held back because his daughter is here, so he spared their lives. Otherwise, those soldiers would be in tiny pieces right now..."
The new guild members swallowed nervously, their legs trembling so much they almost cramped.
"Hey, hey, hey, Ankh! I am not as brutal as you are making me out to be!" Gildarts shouted, clearly unhappy with Ankh's teasing.
Ankh shook his head with a smile and ignored him.
He turned his gaze to the few remaining airships in the sky.
'The leader of this unit must be in that largest ship...'
...
"Dammit, is Earthland's Magic this terrifying?!" The cat-man in the airship could not hold back any longer.
He slammed his hand on the table angrily, grabbed his sword and rushed out of the ship.
Originally, they were confident they could use their flying advantage and advanced technology to crush the Earthlanders before they could even react.
Because of this, the human and the cat had chosen not to fight at first.
But who could have expected a scruffy older man to wipe out their entire flying squad in a single instant?!
Erza Knightwalker, this world's version of Erza, sneered coldly. "They are just a bunch of new recruits from the recent expansion—not your First Squad or my Second Squad. Why are you so upset?"
The cat-man turned around, his panther-like face looking icy as he said, "But they are still citizens of the kingdom!"
With that, the cat-man opened the hatch and leaped out.
He suddenly sprouted a pair of pure white wings from his back as he flew down toward the floating island.
"Tch, and he calls himself an Exceed..." Erza watched him coldly as he flew out.
She then stood up, grabbed the spear leaning nearby and quickly followed him.
...
Outside, the guild members also noticed the figure leaping down from the main ship.
"Attention, the enemy commander is flying over. Wait..."
Erza narrowed her eyes, watching the winged figure approach.
She switched into her Heaven's Wheel Armor, raised her swords and prepared for battle.
But as she stared at the... person?
"Is that... a cat?" Erza was taken aback.
The enemy charging at them with a fierce battle cry was covered in black fur, with a face that looked just like a panther's.
He looked very much like Happy and Carla.
But... wasn't he a bit too huge?
Happy also stared blankly at the giant cat-man, shouting in surprise, "Huh? He looks a lot like me!"
"This... this is!"
At that moment, Gajeel stepped forward.
His eyes gleamed as he stared at the powerful, sword-wielding cat soaring through the air.
His breathing grew heavy!
Yes, Gajeel had a major cat obsession!
Gajeel's heart suddenly raced at the sight of this cat.
It was exactly the kind of feline he had been dreaming about finding!
It could fly, it could talk, and most importantly, it looked way stronger than Natsu's cat and Wendy's cat!
'It's mine!'
The aggressive Gajeel rushed ahead of Erza, charging forward excitedly as he roared.
"This cat is mine! Do not let anyone dare try to take him from me!!"
With that, Gajeel leaped into the air, his arm transforming into a massive hardened iron blade.
He jumped above the flying cat-man and swung his blade down hard toward his shoulder!
Startled, the cat-man quickly raised his massive sword to block.
The clash of metal sent sparks flying, and the heavy impact knocked the cat-man backward through the air.
His arm feeling slightly numb, the cat-man's expression turned serious.
He immediately raised his blade, pointed it at Gajeel and spoke in a deep voice.
"Earthlander! State your name!"
Gajeel grinned widely and replied, "Heh—Gajeel Redfox. Black cat, remember this name well. It is the name of the master you will be following from now on!"
"My name is Panther Lily," Lily declared.
He gripped his sword and swung it with immense force toward Gajeel's head.
"You should also remember the name of the one who will kill you!"
"Aren't you just a cat?!" Unfazed, Gajeel covered his body in iron scales and met Lily's attack head-on, engaging in a fierce, sparking clash.
The loud, endless clanging of metal echoed from their battle.
Meanwhile, the rest of the Fairy Tail members suddenly found themselves with nothing to do.
"These guys were so weak. It doesn't even feel like a proper warm-up," Natsu complained.
He stretched his shoulders and glanced around, totally unsatisfied.
Just then, a figure riding a flying monster dropped down from the sky, charging straight toward Natsu.
"Whoa! Another enemy!" Natsu's eyes lit up.
He immediately took a fighting stance, ready to face the newcomer.
But as the figure drew closer, Natsu's expression shifted from excitement to confusion, then to doubt, and finally to complete shock.
"E-Erza?!"
Natsu's voice even cracked a little.
He quickly turned his head to look at his own team, but Earthland's Erza was still standing right there, completely unharmed.
"W-Wait a second!" Faced with the sudden appearance of a second Erza, Natsu hesitated.
He was entirely unsure if he should attack her.
But while Natsu hesitated, the other Erza did not pause at all.
She raised her spear, and a blinding light erupted from its tip.
"Ten Commandments Spear! Sonic Spear!"
A familiar, terrifying voice rang in Natsu's ears.
Erza Knightwalker shot forward like a gust of wind, leaping off her monster.
She thrust her spear mercilessly straight toward Natsu!
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