Night had fallen over Veronica's capital.
The city felt dead.
Every now and then, only the faint shuffle of footsteps broke the silence.
At the gates, a group of soldiers stood with weapons in hand, their eyes dull and vacant. Their stiff necks turned toward the distance.
Then came the roar of engines.
A pack of mages barreled toward the capital like bandits on a raid, their magic motorcycles tearing across the road with overwhelming momentum.
The dead-eyed soldiers saw them coming and charged in perfect unison, without the slightest hesitation for their own lives.
"We're Fairy Tail! Everybody move!"
As usual, Natsu and Happy took the lead.
Happy carried Natsu through the sky, and Natsu roared from above before unleashing a blazing storm of fire.
In an instant, the soldiers blocking the road were blasted aside, opening a path straight through.
"Break the gate, Cana!"
Ankh looked at the tightly sealed city gate and shouted toward her.
Cana sprang off her motorcycle.
Silver-white light gathered in her hand in an instant, and she faced the wall with a cold shout.
"Crash!"
A web of white light spread silently across the surface of the wall.
The fortress wall, which should have been able to withstand an army, split apart like neatly sliced tofu and collapsed.
After the Grand Magic Games, Cana's control over Crash Magic had improved again.
At the very least, the casting time and backlash on her own body were no longer as ridiculous as they had been at the start.
"Go!"
The group surged into the city like a blade through paper.
Then they abandoned their motorcycles and split up with clear purpose, attacking toward the royal palace from multiple directions.
...
At the same time, inside the palace, Seilah's closed eyes suddenly opened.
"They're here," she said.
Jackal glanced at her from the side.
Seilah added, "Though it doesn't look like they're interested in negotiating."
Silver, who had gone off somewhere and only just returned, said coldly, "I'll stop them."
Jackal licked his lips with a cruel grin. "I'm going too."
"Don't clash with the Fairy Reaper head-on," Seilah said. "Let him enter the palace."
Her gaze shifted toward the cultivation tank, where a hideous monster was gradually taking shape.
"Let this half-finished Phoenix deal with him."
Out in the city, enemies were everywhere, but the assault team's speed did not slow at all.
Every member sent to Veronica this time was an elite attacker.
These soldiers would not have stood a chance even if they were fully conscious, much less in their current mind-controlled state.
...
On the eastern side of the palace, a dark mass of troops pressed toward the group.
Natsu rushed ahead excitedly and blasted out flames from his mouth.
A roaring orange-red inferno swallowed the street.
Lucy could not help saying worriedly, "I hope those soldiers will be okay."
"You should worry about yourself first, human!"
Lucy suddenly felt a chill race across her scalp.
Wendy, who was beside her, immediately shouted, "Look out!"
"Sky Dragon's Roar!"
A fierce storm blasted out, knocking away the figure that had been lunging at Lucy.
Gajeel reacted just as quickly, drawing his Iron Dragon Sword and slashing toward the attacker.
But Jackal, who had specifically come to stop them, only gave a disdainful smile.
He raised a hand and caught Gajeel's blade tightly.
"Stupid human!"
Gajeel's eyes narrowed, and his voice turned cold. "It's you. The demon who got his arm ripped off."
Before Jackal could get angry, Natsu's roar erupted from the side first.
"Fire Dragon's Iron Fist!"
Jackal hurriedly released the blade and raised his arm to block Natsu's punch, but he was still caught off guard and sent flying.
Natsu snorted white smoke from his nose and said confidently, "Demons aren't so tough after all!"
"Idiot."
Jackal shook his head and slowly climbed back to his feet, looking at the arrogant twin dragons with teasing eyes.
Then he softly spat out one word.
"Explode."
In the next instant, Gajeel's Iron Dragon Sword and Natsu's fist lit up with golden light, growing brighter and brighter like bombs about to go off.
Boom! Boom!
Two massive explosions rang out one after another.
Hot, violent shockwaves burst across the street, sending Natsu and Gajeel flying back, covered in black smoke.
Lucy, Wendy, and Éclair immediately rushed forward, wanting to cover them.
But the two stubborn idiots were already standing again.
Gajeel brushed the black soot off his iron body.
Natsu forced himself up despite the soreness running through him, looking ready to fight Jackal to the bitter end.
This was the default formula in the twin dragons' minds.
Ankh plus barely trying equaled Jackal crippled.
But if Jackal plus barely trying equaled the twin dragons getting embarrassed…
Didn't that mean Ankh plus not even trying equaled the twin dragons instantly dying?
That might very well be true, but Natsu and Gajeel obviously refused to admit it.
Then Natsu decided his body should be able to counter Jackal, while Gajeel believed his steel body could absolutely endure the explosions.
And so, with the worst timing imaginable, the two of them started arguing and fighting again, leaving Jackal staring at them in disbelief.
At one palace entrance, Jackal faced the twin dragons.
At another entrance, however, a proper one-on-one fight was underway.
Cana used Crash to tear through the surrounding troops, then looked over at Gray with a speechless expression.
"You sure you don't need help?"
"No!"
Gray gritted his teeth and shouted. A second later, Silver drove a knee into him and launched him into the air.
Juvia looked worried and tried to rush over to help, but after Gray rolled across the ground, he immediately raised a hand to stop her.
"You two keep an eye on the soldiers around us and cover the area. That's enough. This guy—I'm taking him down myself!"
A carefree smile hung on Silver's face as he looked at the battered Gray.
"My magic counters yours. Being that stubborn on a battlefield isn't a good habit, you know."
"Shut up!"
Gray growled irritably, forcing down the chaotic thoughts tearing through his mind and resisting the temptation of the powerful force inside his body.
Then he pressed his hands together and cast his magic.
Black cold air spilled out.
In the blink of an eye, it formed an Ice Demon Sword in Gray's hands.
Gray hoisted the sword and charged at Silver with a roar.
Silver casually shaped pale purple ice into a greatsword and met Gray head-on, showing no intention of backing down.
Silver's Ice Devil Slayer Magic was a direct-output magic. When it came to shaping ice, it was nowhere near the Ice-Make Magic Gray had inherited from Ur.
But with the terrifying hardness of his purple ice, Silver still displayed extremely powerful close-combat skill.
Their brutal melee looked like a dance on the edge of life and death.
Silver blocked Gray's frantic slashes with ease, his gaze flicking toward Juvia not far away.
"Is that your girlfriend? She looks pretty worried about you."
"Shut up!"
Gray's eyes trembled.
His grip on the Ice Demon Sword tightened, and with a roar, he slammed into Silver at close range, knocking him back hard.
At the same time, black markings began appearing on Gray's arm again, spreading from his hand toward his shoulder.
"Looks like the progress is going well," Silver said with a smile, watching Gray's body slowly begin to demonize.
A faint light flashed deep in his eyes.
"So it really was you!"
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