As Precht was blasted onto the shores of Tenrou Island, a trace of genuine solemnity appeared in his lone eye for the first time in decades.
He hadn't been bested or pushed back in a very long time.
As an unparalleled magical genius, he rarely encountered opponents on the path of magic who could even make him flinch.
With his profound, century-long understanding of various magics, he naturally knew all about the elementalization techniques of Lightning Magic.
However, he hadn't anticipated that Laxus had honed it to such a masterful, god-like level—his elementalization and physical recovery were astonishingly swift.
"Laxus Dreyar... so, this is your grandson? Makarov, the pupil has indeed surpassed the master!" Precht suddenly burst into loud, echoing laughter.
"How would you like to join Grimoire Heart, boy? I believe you have the raw potential to eventually succeed me as its Master!"
"You already know my surname is Dreyar, and yet you still have the nerve to ask me to join Grimoire Heart?" Laxus retorted with a scornful sneer, glaring at Precht as if he were looking at a complete fool.
"And what of it? Makarov's own son, your father Ivan—did he not betray Fairy Tail as well? Hahaha!"
It had to be said that Precht was exceptionally adept at provoking others.
Laxus narrowed his eyes dangerously, golden lightning sparking fiercely from his teeth.
"That is a fine glare. Shall I tell you exactly why your father defected? The greatest, darkest secret of Fairy Tail!" Precht goaded, watching Laxus with keen, manipulative interest.
"No!" Makarov shouted sharply, coughing up a spatter of blood.
Although Laxus was his own flesh and blood, the ultimate secret of Fairy Heart was something only the officially recognized Master of Fairy Tail was permitted to know.
For the sake of protecting this very secret, he and his son Ivan had already become bitter, irreconcilable enemies.
He absolutely did not wish for himself and Laxus to end up in that same tragic situation.
"Not interested," Laxus stated flatly.
Laxus was indeed somewhat curious about the dark secret, but since Makarov reacted so strongly to it, there had to be a damn good reason for it to stay buried.
"I am growing fonder of you by the minute..." Precht smirked, suddenly feeling a deep sense of appreciation for Laxus's ruthless talent.
"Chain Magic!" Despite his casual words, Precht was the first to launch an attack.
With a swift sweep of his hand, four sturdy, magically spiked chains shot out of the shadows.
As if guided by advanced navigation, they darted directly toward Laxus's hands and feet.
"Lightning Pressure Torrent!" Laxus roared.
A massive, glowing magic circle instantly appeared above Laxus's head. It summoned a continuous, deafening barrage of thick lightning bolts that violently shattered the magical chains the second they entered his range, blowing them into over a dozen segments.
The severed chains slowly dissipated into purple magical power and vanished on the spot.
Without a moment's pause, Precht raised his left hand, his fingers pressed tightly together, completing several complex gestures in a fraction of a second.
Multiple Amaterasu: Formula 100 magic circles materialized, forming a deadly, towering triangular formation.
They trapped Laxus perfectly in the center, leaving him with absolutely no room to advance or retreat.
"Lightning Fire Dragon Mode... activate!" Laxus's purple shirt violently tore apart from the sheer pressure as his upper body swelled to nearly twice its normal, muscular size.
Thick, crimson and gold dragon scales aggressively manifested across his face and arms.
His already imposing stature now exuded an even more intense, suffocating draconic pressure.
"Lightning Fire Spin!" Laxus rapidly spun his body, now entirely wreathed in roaring flames and crackling electric arcs, creating a devastating whirlwind of fire and lightning that enveloped him completely.
A colossal, golden pillar of fire expanded outward.
The infernal flames and chaotic lightning violently incinerated the surrounding Amaterasu: Formula 100 magic circles, burning them to absolute nothingness.
"Dragon Slayer Magic... a perfect fusion of two different types of elemental magical power? It can actually destroy my Amaterasu seals..." Precht couldn't help but feel genuinely surprised, increasingly realizing he had severely underestimated Laxus.
But soon, a dark, thrilled smile crept across his face.
"Good! This will prevent the battle between us from becoming too dull!"
As soon as he finished speaking, the magical power around Precht surged violently.
A purplish-black aura shot straight into the sky, carrying an immense, demonic pressure that bore down heavily on both Laxus and Makarov.
Laxus gritted his teeth, sensing it instantly—the purplish-black magical power felt viscerally nauseating.
Under Precht's overwhelming influence, the air itself grew thick and Laxus's lightning-fast movements became slightly sluggish.
...
Meanwhile, deep in the jungle, the intense battle between Raizel and Azuma raged on.
Azuma paused for a fraction of a second, having also sensed Precht's massive magical flare from the coast.
While Raizel was fully engaged in combat, Mest had already quietly slipped away from Tenrou Island, teleporting to safety.
Both Raizel and Azuma had clearly noticed the Council rat fleeing, but neither could be bothered to intervene.
Azuma had absolutely no interest in weak opponents who could be defeated so easily, no matter how many times they fought, the outcome would always be a one-sided slaughter.
"As expected, Jellal was right—Fairy Tail truly has many powerful mages..." Azuma murmured.
He touched the deep, bleeding wound on his chest, which had just been slashed open by Raizel's razor-sharp arm blades.
Although Azuma had been pushed to a disadvantage from the very beginning of the fight and had sustained heavy injuries, his eyes were filled with nothing but pure, unadulterated battle lust.
He admired strong opponents above all else.
Initially, he had worried that following Master Hades' orders to destroy Tenrou Island would be a tedious, boring chore, but he never expected to encounter an absolute monster like Raizel the moment he set foot on the shore.
To be able to fight a genuinely strong opponent like this... he would die without a single regret!
"Foliage Blade!" With a sweeping wave of Azuma's hand, the surrounding ancient trees rustled violently without any wind.
They aggressively shed countless leaves that swarmed and surged toward Raizel like a green tidal wave.
Infused heavily with Azuma's magical power, each fragile leaf was now as sharp and lethal as a forged steel sword.
Standing perfectly still, the Three Sword Spirits hovering around Raizel—At, René, and Pol—instantly moved to protect him.
They formed a flawless, glowing triangular defensive formation in front of Raizel, their metallic bodies blazing with intense flames that completely incinerated the incoming swarm of leaves into harmless ash.
"In that case... Branch Blade!" Azuma roared.
The surrounding thick tree branches violently snapped off their trunks and shot toward Raizel like a thousand heavy wooden arrows from all directions.
Raizel's arm blades gleamed with a cold silver light as he plunged his heavy, metallic tail blade directly into the earth to anchor himself.
He began spinning rapidly, releasing continuous, devastating crescent sword beams from his arm blades.
The high-speed rotation formed a literal tornado of cutting silver light, completely shredding the wooden branches before they could even touch his armor.
'This move is highly effective for omnidirectional defense,' Raizel thought, having been directly inspired by observing Laxus's fiery spin earlier.
Failing to pierce the defense with his first two attempts, Azuma pressed the assault, forming his left hand into a tight, claw-like grip.
"Tower Burst!"
Highly concentrated magical power from the earth violently condensed into glowing, explosive magical fruits.
They materialized in a tight circle directly around Raizel, immediately triggering a chain of devastating, point-blank explosions.
Azuma's Great Tree Arc was a terrifying Lost Magic.
By condensing the earth's natural magical power into these fruits, he could create massive explosions at will.
The true, terrifying power of this magic lay in his connection to the roots deep within the earth, allowing him to endlessly control the accumulated magical power of the island itself.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
Dozens of deafening explosions rang out in rapid succession, completely engulfing the knight in fire and smoke.
As the thick smoke and dust slowly cleared from the massive crater, the silver-white Jesmon stood absolutely pristine and untouched in the center.
In the microsecond during the explosions, Raizel had instantly utilized the X-Antibody to switch his Take Over form to Magnamon, flawlessly tanking all the blasts with the Golden Digimental of Miracles.
Once the explosive aftermath fully subsided, he had swiftly and seamlessly transformed right back into Jesmon.
"How is this even possible?!" Azuma's pupils contracted sharply.
He had been utterly, absolutely confident that his point-blank attack had struck Raizel.
After all, his explosive magical power was drawn directly from the earth right at Raizel's feet.
At such a dangerously short distance, even if Raizel could evade the center of the blast, he should have at least sustained some heavy armor damage or internal injuries, shouldn't he?
But the result left Azuma deeply frustrated and bewildered.
It looked as if Raizel hadn't even been standing at the explosion's epicenter at all.
...
"Fire Dragon's Iron Fist!"
Wham!
A Grimoire Heart grunt was sent flying through the canopy, crashing into a tree.
"Over here... over here!" Happy cheered, flying rapidly mid-air while being pursued closely by several masked mages.
"You darn flying cat! Wait right there!" one of the grunts yelled, panting heavily as they chased the blue Exceed through the thick brush.
"Ah! They're catching up to me!" Happy shrieked dramatically.
He paused, then a cheeky grin spreading across his furry face.
"Just kidding."
The furious mages chasing Happy were moving far too fast to notice the sudden, sheer cliff drop-off right in front of them.
Flailing their limbs helplessly in the air, the group of Grimoire Heart grunts plunged powerlessly off the edge, sending multiple massive, comical splashes skyward as they hit the ocean below.
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