"Hey! Gajeel, we do not have time to play around with you!"
Laxus shouted toward Gajeel, releasing crackling lightning that surged around his body.
"W-Wait a minute!"
Seeing Laxus about to strike, Gajeel, who dearly loved cats, hurriedly tried to stop him.
But Laxus had already swung his hand down.
Thunder exploded across the sky like divine punishment as it struck toward Lily.
Lily, who had been exceptionally brave just a moment ago, turned pale upon hearing the roaring thunder overhead.
Then, almost completely by reflex, Lily's hand trembled and he dropped his sword.
His paws tightly covered his ears, failing to manage even a basic defense.
The thunderclap accompanied by golden lightning, struck Lily heavily.
The unfortunate cat took a direct hit from the lightning bolt.
His fur stood on end and turned charred black as his entire body flipped several times in midair before he finally managed to stabilize himself.
Seeing how unexpectedly tough the cat was, Laxus immediately prepared to finish him off.
But this time, a hand suddenly pressed down hard on his arm.
"Wait, Laxus! Lily is not our enemy!"
"Mystogan?" Laxus looked at Mystogan, who was urgently trying to restrain him.
Laxus thought for a moment, then lowered his hand and said, "Fine, let's just capture him for now then."
The dazed Lily, weakened from the lightning strike and with his wings having disappeared, was quickly caught by Gajeel, who leaped up to bring him down.
Seeing himself "captured" by the enemy, Lily felt both shame and anger.
As rage surged in his heart, he immediately fainted.
"Huh? Why did he faint already?"
Gajeel looked at Lily's grief-stricken expression with growing satisfaction.
Muttering in a sympathetic tone, he said, "Lily... that lightning guy is indeed troublesome. We are in the same boat now. I will take you to Earthland later and we will train hard together!"
While Gajeel was bonding with the sleeping brawny cat, the battle between the two Erzas was gradually reaching a stalemate.
...
Seeing Lily captured, Knightwalker's heart sank.
Lily had been defeated.
The overall strength of these people from Earthland was far superior to her army's.
The strength of several of their Mages, in particular, far exceeded her imagination.
Currently, they were maintaining a fair duel only because she was fighting another Erza.
But once they grew tired of waiting, she would ultimately be surrounded.
In this magic-less world, Knightwalker, as captain of the Second Magic War Unit, represented the absolute peak of individual human combat capability.
Her capability was unmatched—even the other unit captains of the kingdom could not compare to Knightwalker's strength.
That was why Knightwalker had been so confident in challenging Earthland's guild.
But now, not only was the other Erza evenly matched with her, but the man who crushed her unit and the youth who took down Lily with one lightning strike... just these few individuals were already beyond Knightwalker's ability to handle.
They were completely different from this world's Fairy Tail!
Looking at her nearly destroyed unit, Knightwalker gritted her teeth hard—they had to retreat!
Her spear transformed again.
Seeing this, Earthland Erza immediately and warily gathered her Magic Power.
Knightwalker raised her spear, revealing a glittering lance gathering countless particles of light.
She then stabbed it hard into the ground.
In an instant, a surge of golden light erupted, forcing Erza to quickly shut her eyes and rely on her other senses to guard against Knightwalker's sudden attack.
Yet, just as this blinding flash lit up the entire battlefield, Knightwalker decisively turned and fled.
Taking advantage of the distance she had created from Erza in their earlier clash, she swiftly reached the edge of the island and leaped off.
Soon after, a giant winged beast soared upward, catching Knightwalker as it carried her away into the distance.
At this moment, the others who had been blinded by the flash recovered their senses.
Natsu immediately shouted angrily toward the sky, "COWARDS! The real Erza would never run away! You are just an imposter!"
"Enough!" Gray slapped the back of Natsu's head and said irritably, "You didn't say anything when she was standing right here."
Ankh watched Erza, who was staring into the distance at Knightwalker's fleeing figure.
He then looked at the remaining troops fleeing in a panic and could not help but fall into deep thought.
Laxus gathered electricity in his palm and said expressionlessly, "So, should we capture that Erza?"
Ankh shook his head and replied, "That Erza and Lily are clearly on a different level as enemies. Even if they cannot defeat us, if they get desperate and jump off the cliff below the Floating Island, there is nothing we can do about it."
"But what about these remaining troops? If we let them go, won't they reveal our whereabouts?" Laxus was still somewhat uneasy, pointing at the escaping airships that the guild members could not stop.
Mystogan interjected at this point, "It doesn't matter. The place controlling Anima is in the royal capital, so we were probably exposed the moment we entered this world."
"It is just that they didn't expect that we wouldn't turn into Magic Crystals, and that we would still retain a considerable amount of our combat power. That is why they only sent a small force."
Gildarts, having completed his task of protecting his daughter, switched from his usual playful attitude to a serious one as he joined the discussion.
"I have to admit, the Magic Tools in this world are truly impressive. If the kingdom gets serious, everyone in the guild might really suffer."
Ankh nodded.
The situation was much more difficult than he had anticipated.
However, he turned to look at Lily and smiled.
"Fortunately, before that happens, we can gather as much information as possible."
"Gajeel! Take him to the guild. We need to ask him some things."
"Freed, take everyone and rewrite the Magic Formula. See if we can move this island to another location."
Sweat began to bead on Freed's forehead.
Using a Magic Formula to create a flying island?
The principle was similar to using formula text to create "wings" for his body... but modifying an entire island... the scale of the work was just too massive, wasn't it?
Bickslow could not help but snicker, while Evergreen looked at Freed with sympathy.
This guy had not had a break since before they came to this world!
'What a poor fellow.'
Laxus smiled and patted Freed's shoulder, comforting him.
"Sorry to trouble you, but since the guild is our headquarters here, we cannot just abandon it. We do not know when the enemy will attack again, so we have to rely on you."
Freed: !
With those words, Freed immediately became as energized as if he had been injected with adrenaline.
He thumped his chest loudly, his face flushed with excitement as he spoke.
"Don't worry, Laxus! I will take responsibility for your safety and everyone else's!"
Evergreen: (?_?)
Bickslow: (︶︿︶)=凸
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