"Roooaar!"
A shrill scream tore through the sky.
The Phoenix that had grabbed Cream as a shield trembled violently.
Cream's eyes bulged wide, filled with hatred and disbelief.
Who could have guessed that the reinforcements sent by the Magic Council would arrive and skewer him first?
Not that Cream had the luxury of thinking about that anymore.
His body was rapidly collapsing and rotting away. He did not have long left.
A wound pierced through by death aura left Cream with no chance of survival.
As for the wailing Phoenix, its body gradually turned to ash and scattered into the air.
The true Phoenix on the other side seemed to flinch, even though its twisted face had no clear features.
Then it turned around, spread its wings, and fled toward the city outskirts.
The Phoenix had lost its nerve.
Even if it possessed the ability to revive after death, who knew how many years it would take before it could return?
"I don't know who made you," Ankh said, exhaling slowly, "but your life ends here."
The spear in his hand gradually transformed into a greatbow.
Ankh set the Evil-Breaking Arrow against the string and drew it back into a full arc.
The arrow, gathering a terrifying amount of Magic Power, shone brilliantly in the night. Even the star-filled sky seemed to tremble like a painted canvas disturbed by the wind.
Ankh's gaze darkened.
His fingers released the bowstring.
The arrow became a shooting star tearing through the night, its dazzling tail of light streaking after the Phoenix.
In the center of the royal capital, Erza and Mirajane, who were still fighting Seilah, saw it too.
Erza immediately Requipped into her Giant Armor and used its enhanced strength to hurl the other half of the Phoenix Stone into the sky.
It landed directly in front of that streaking star.
In the next moment, the light of the Evil-Breaking Arrow shattered the Phoenix Stone.
The Phoenix let out one final terrified cry that echoed across the sky before the arrow struck it dead-on.
A burst of destructive Magic Power erupted in the heavens.
The warped Phoenix and the Phoenix Stone were swallowed completely by the raging torrent of magic.
A few breaths later, the blast cleared the murky sky, leaving it bright and clean.
When everyone looked up again, there was no trace of the Phoenix left.
"The Phoenix… has truly been destroyed."
Éclair stared up at the clear sky. It felt as if a nightmare that had clung to her for years had finally been swept away.
Joy rose in her heart, but with it came a deep uncertainty.
"Éclair…"
Momon held her hand worriedly.
Éclair smiled gently and looked at Momon, whose body had begun to glow softly.
"We're going to disappear, Momon. Are you scared?"
Momon's big, adorable eyes filled with tears, but his voice was incredibly firm.
"As long as I'm with you, Éclair, I'm not afraid of going anywhere!"
"Thank you…"
Éclair gently stroked Momon's large head.
Then her eyes, soft as water, turned toward Lucy, who was ahead helping drive away the soldiers.
That girl was the first ray of light Éclair had seen in four hundred years.
And the brightest one.
Lucy seemed to possess a strange kind of magic.
People naturally trusted her, naturally liked her, and she could always sense the sadness and regret hidden in someone else's eyes.
Just like when they first met.
Lucy had seen the sorrow in Éclair's heart at a single glance.
'This is where we say goodbye, Lucy.'
Éclair tried to raise her hand, wanting to say farewell one last time. But when she imagined how hard that girl would cry, she lowered it again.
She took one last lingering look at Lucy's back, and at everything around her.
Then she silently said goodbye.
'Farewell, world.'
'Farewell, Lucy. May you always be happy.'
Éclair and Momon's bodies turned into particles of light, slowly fading into the air.
At that moment, Lucy seemed to sense something and turned around.
But the two figures were already gone.
Ankh stood on a high platform and quietly watched Éclair and Momon disappear. He did not try to stop it.
For someone who had lived for over four hundred years, this was not death.
It was a new beginning.
Ankh reached out and released divine power.
The light left behind by Éclair and Momon was gently drawn by that power, gradually flowing toward the far north.
"You'll be born into a happy family," Ankh said softly. "May we meet again someday, Éclair."
...
With the Phoenix completely destroyed, Fairy Tail had already completed half of its purpose in raiding Veronica.
As for the other half, things were also going quite well.
Under Erza and Mirajane's combined assault, even Seilah at full strength could not win.
The demon lifted her monstrous face toward the sky and let out an irritated snort.
Tartaros's next plan was to break through the war-torn border between Ishgar and Guiltina, enter the northern continent of Guiltina, and turn that place into a new paradise for demons.
But right now, as the only remaining force of the Balam Alliance, Tartaros was being watched constantly by both the Magic Council and the guild alliance.
So in order to achieve their goal, Tartaros needed to create a major incident.
Even if it failed, it would still exhaust the Magic Council and the troublesome guild alliance, giving Tartaros the chance to move.
The Phoenix revival incident had been a test before their true operation.
What Seilah had not expected was that the Phoenix, a creature so troublesome that even ancient historical records barely mentioned its origin, would be destroyed this easily.
Forget the Magic Council and the guild alliance.
Ishgar had not even needed to send anyone except Fairy Tail.
How were they supposed to play this game?
Because of this failed test, Seilah no longer had any desire to keep fighting.
A vicious light flashed in her eyes as she quickly tore the ground apart, sending dust flying everywhere.
Taking advantage of the chaos, she withdrew from the battlefield at once.
"Stop!"
Naturally, Erza and Mira were not willing to let such an elusive and mysterious demon officer escape.
The two of them were about to chase her down, only to be blocked by the many innocent citizens Seilah had prepared in advance.
With their personalities, neither of them could possibly attack unarmed civilians.
And Mirajane also knew that even if they killed this demon, she would eventually revive again.
In the end, they had no choice but to stop and focus on restoring order in the city.
Fortunately, before long, the people in the capital regained their senses. The walking corpses also collapsed and stopped moving.
The riot that had consumed the entire city finally came to an end.
On the other side, Jackal was still missing an arm.
Before long, he could no longer withstand Natsu and Gajeel's combined assault, and in a fit of rage, he triggered a self-destruction.
If his body had been whole, and if he had activated his true demon form, that explosion probably could have blown away the entire city.
But now?
The crippled Jackal could not activate his demon body.
He basically pulled the pin on himself right where he stood, and the effect was…
Underwhelming.
Natsu and Gajeel, both ridiculously tough, endured the blast head-on.
Wendy and Lucy evacuated the civilians, and somehow, not a single person died.
Aside from Jackal's laughably embarrassing exit, Gray's side of things was going… much less smoothly.
After another fierce battle, Gray, still unable to resolve the problem within his own body, was once again defeated by Silver.
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