Clutched in Brandish's massive hand like a fragile doll, Lucy froze when she heard Brandish mention Layla's name.
"You... knew my mother?"
A flame seemed to ignite deep in Brandish's eyes.
Gnashing her teeth, she roared and hurled Lucy violently toward the ground.
At that speed, Lucy would surely have been smashed to pulp by the Giant's throw.
"Lucy!"
Natsu, who had noticed Lucy's capture immediately, gritted his teeth and sprinted desperately toward Brandish's feet.
Lucy felt the world falling away, the wind whistling past her ears like scythes tearing through her flesh.
Her heart was filled with total despair.
A moment later, just when Lucy was certain she was headed for heaven, she felt absolutely no pain.
Slowly opening her eyes, she saw a handsome, pompadour-haired guy lying flat beneath her, having rushed over using high-speed magic to break her fall.
"Get off my back!"
Racer shouted through gritted teeth at Lucy.
This rescue mission, playing both father and mother to these Light Guild Mages, had nearly exhausted him...
Racer had thought he could catch Lucy smoothly, but he ended up being completely flattened by her landing.
That green-haired girl had quite the grip...
Lucy quickly scrambled off Racer's back, incredibly grateful.
"Thank you."
Racer waved his hand impatiently and said, "Take your companions and leave quickly. Jellal is waiting at the airship. You'll only hinder our battle here."
With no S-Class Mage currently present from the guild, Racer and Midnight, enhanced by Ankh's training, were indeed the strongest fighters in this specific zone...
"You go first! I need to take down this guy!"
However, Natsu, fueled by blazing rage, didn't retreat.
Covered in flames with his dragon scales fully manifested, he activated Dragon Force and charged straight at Brandish.
Lucy watched Brandish, whose killing intent was overwhelming.
Though her heart pounded with fear, she tremblingly said, "I want to know why she hates my mother so much!"
The Celestial Spirit Team had mostly broken through the encirclement.
Seeing Natsu and Lucy still deep in the combat zone, Freed hesitated about turning back to rescue them.
But Gajeel didn't even look back as he said, "This is the Salamander's own choice. He'll protect Lucy. Delaying further will only trap more of our people here."
Freed gritted his teeth and immediately turned around. "Let's go!"
Watching the Celestial Spirit Team retreat, Jacob stood with his hands behind his back, looking at Midnight and sneering, "My companions are up ahead. They can't escape."
Midnight responded with equal disdain, curling his lips confidently.
"Who isn't?"
Natsu had now transformed into a human-shaped dragon, throwing punch after punch of scorching flames at Brandish.
Brandish, her arms burned, gritted her teeth and returned to normal size.
With another wave of her hand, the raging flames instantly vanished.
As the two exchanged blows, Lucy simultaneously opened two gates nearby, summoning Virgo and Loke to assist Natsu in battle.
While these two one-on-two battles took shape, the Fairy Tail members who had successfully broken through the encirclement raced madly toward the coast and finally spotted the airship docked by the shore.
People on the airship were manipulating starlight, fighting against Alvarez soldiers constantly trying to board.
"It's Jellal-san!" Wendy was the first to recognize him, quickly pointing at the fighting figure on the deck to her companions.
"Let's help them!"
The group, having just escaped combat, plunged right back into the enemy forces, beginning a brutal melee.
Seeing everyone arriving, Jellal sighed in deep relief and shouted to the members below the airship.
"Everyone aboard! We are preparing to escape!"
Gray formed ice crystals in his hands and slammed them onto the ground.
Ice-Make: Lance surged like frozen waves, sending a large group of enemies flying.
Seizing this opportunity, the others quickly covered their companions as they climbed aboard the airship.
As the main force rushed onto the deck, Jellal's Heavenly Body Magic continuously summoned powerful meteor attacks against the advancing army.
But suddenly, a massive sandstorm emerged ahead, sweeping directly toward them.
"Again..." Jellal's face showed a trace of intense irritation.
"Pleiades!"
Jellal raised a single hand to the sky, and six magical starlights instantly appeared, blooming like deadly flowers before crashing into the sandstorm.
Starlight and sand mixed in explosive fury, shattering the sand tornado to reveal a wild-eyed young man.
This youth had spiral brown hair, dark skin with a white turban, large red Buddhist bead-like earrings on his earlobes, a bare upper body, bracelets on both wrists, and loose trousers, appearing like an ascetic monk.
But his expression was much more like that of a brutal executioner.
"Ishgar's Ten Wizard Saints... not bad at all..."
Ajeel Ramal.
Another Spriggan 12 supernova from the Alvarez Empire on par with Dimaria and Brandish.
Long before the Fairy Tail members had arrived, this guy had been locked in high-speed combat with Jellal.
Ajeel's Sand Magic could easily summon massive sandstorms, repeatedly attempting to bury Jellal along with the airship, only to be thwarted each time by Jellal's Heavenly Body Magic.
"Dammit! If I let you escape like this, how am I supposed to face His Majesty?!"
Though Ajeel was belligerent and highly arrogant, after so many exchanges, he wasn't blind to Jellal's incredibly formidable strength.
To put it nicely... he'd be hard to defeat, and stopping their escape would be extremely difficult.
To put it bluntly... he might end up being killed if he kept chasing carelessly.
In contrast to Ajeel, Jellal cautiously protected the retreating group.
He carefully controlled his magic power output while exchanging blows with Ajeel, showing no intention of prolonging the fight.
"Gray, Freed, hurry aboard!"
As the retreat neared its end, only two Mages remained unboarded.
Gray and Freed exchanged glances before turning and leaping toward the airship's deck.
Just then, a heart-freezing chill struck from directly behind!
Freed's leg was instantly frozen, forcing a muffled grunt from his throat.
Gray's pupils contracted at the sight.
He quickly reached out to support Freed, sending him upward while becoming completely enveloped by the terrifying, chilling cold himself.
Gray fell back to the ground with half his body completely frozen, his mind reeling with pure shock.
He was an Ice-Make Mage, yet he'd been frozen solid and could physically feel the bone-piercing cold.
This was something he hadn't experienced since mastering Ice-Make magic years ago.
"So cold... feels like my heart is about to freeze..." Gray trembled as he gasped for breath, his vision beginning to blur.
"My Ice Magic isn't about creating everything through forms—it is the true winter that freezes everything."
From within the white mist of cold air, the blue-haired, glasses-wearing youth who had once faced the Council members slowly approached.
The youth casually touched the Ice Geyser Gray had created.
The cyan-blue ice crystals seemed to frost over from within, gradually turning deep blue.
"My Winter Magic can easily freeze even your creations."
"Give up. Creation Magic is merely derivative—it can never resist my pure Ice Magic."