Laxus braced both hands and forced the flames apart, blasting them away before turning into arcs of lightning. In the blink of an eye, he appeared in front of Tempester again.
"Lightning Flame Dragon's Fist!"
Laxus stepped back with his right foot, driving power through his waist as he threw a heavy, crushing punch straight into Tempester's abdomen and sent him flying.
"Raging Bolt!"
A golden sphere of lightning appeared in the air and crashed down toward the spot where Tempester landed.
The golden sphere swallowed Tempester just as he crawled out of the rubble.
But Tempester was called the immortal Tempester for a reason.
His body was ridiculously tough, and even after taking Raging Bolt head-on, he still managed to remain standing.
Whoosh!
Several horizontal tornadoes rushed toward Laxus once more.
"Lightning Flame Dragon's Roar!"
Laxus released a stream of golden lightning from his mouth, sweeping the tornadoes away.
Through the smoke from the explosion, Tempester came flying toward him like a fireball, his whole body wrapped in flames.
But Laxus had already expected it.
He turned into lightning and vanished from where he stood.
Taking advantage of the opening after Tempester's attack, Laxus reappeared behind him.
"Lightning Dragon's Jaw!"
He clasped both hands together and smashed them into the back of Tempester's head.
Then Laxus turned into lightning again, and before Tempester could even hit the ground, he appeared in front of him in an instant.
"Lightning Flame Dragon's Fist!"
One punch slammed directly into Tempester's jaw.
Tempester spat out a mouthful of dark blood and collapsed, unable to rise.
But just as Gajeel was about to celebrate, Tempester stood up again.
"Is this bastard unkillable or what?" Gajeel frowned deeply.
Tempester answered with complete calm.
"I am the immortal Tempester. So long as the Underworld King lives, I can continuously receive traces of his Curse Power, allowing me to restore my stamina and Curse Power—even revive."
"What?!"
"The Hell's Core allows demons to revive, but I alone was granted the name of immortality. Do you know why?"
Tempester answered his own question.
"My physical body was powerful to begin with. Combined with the Curse Power supplied by the Underworld King, my recovery surpasses that of ordinary demons several times over."
"Doesn't matter. We'll just keep hitting you." Laxus rolled his neck. "Perfect timing. My warm-up just ended."
"Besides, you probably won't be able to keep it up much longer."
Laxus looked at Tempester and grinned.
"I told you. So long as the Underworld King—"
Tempester's pupils suddenly shrank.
The man who had been standing calmly a moment ago dropped to one knee, barely supporting himself with one hand.
His connection to Mard Geer had weakened drastically.
That meant the Underworld King had fallen into a difficult fight.
Perhaps even life-threatening danger.
"Lightning Dragon's Roar!"
Laxus understood very well how important it was to finish an enemy off, so he gave Tempester another blast.
"Looks like... I won't be able to stand again."
"The Hell's Core is already gone, and the Underworld King's Curse Power can no longer reach me in time. Before long, I will die."
"But I still must complete my final mission."
"Die with these Magic Barrier Particles!"
As he spoke, Tempester's body exploded and Magic Barrier Particles spread through the air.
Raizel had already warned them to be careful of Tempester's self-destruction, but Laxus and Gajeel still failed to stop it.
The Magic Barrier Particles had already scattered after Tempester blew himself up.
"Damn it!" Gajeel shouted angrily, punching the ground.
Then a sudden chill made Gajeel shiver.
He looked around blankly.
"Huh?"
All of the Magic Barrier Particles had been frozen into ice!
The entire area had become a world of frost!
Gray and Ultear appeared before Laxus and Gajeel, supporting Juvia from both sides.
"He froze that many Magic Barrier Particles instantly?!" Gajeel's pupils shrank slightly as he stared at Gray in shock.
Ultear looked at Laxus and Gajeel. "Are you two all right? You didn't inhale the particles, did you?"
Laxus shook his head. "A little, but it's nothing serious."
Even if the others had inhaled some, Tempester's blood was on Laxus's coat.
They could use it to make an antidote.
"Your arm... and your Magic?" Laxus looked curiously at the markings on Gray's arm.
"My old man passed it on to me. Ice Devil Slayer Magic. The Magic meant for me to kill E.N.D."
Gray looked at the black markings on his arm as he answered.
"Take care of Juvia for me. E.N.D. is mine."
After saying that, Gray turned and walked toward the battlefield where Raizel and Mard Geer were fighting.
Jackal had been sealed in ice by Ur, then blasted into pieces by Makarov's light-attribute Magic.
Among the Nine Demon Gates, only Kyouka remained.
But Kyouka had absorbed the scattered Curse Power of the other Nine Demon Gates, causing her strength to skyrocket.
Even facing both Erza and Kagura, she was not at a disadvantage.
In fact, she was faintly suppressing them.
Erza had changed into her Fairy Armor, and Kagura had already unsheathed Archenemy.
Curse Power wrapped around Kyouka's metallic claws, extending them into huge sweeping talons. Erza and Kagura could only dodge in haste.
Erza used her sword to launch a massive rock, then followed closely behind it, intending to attack.
But Kyouka's giant claws were too long.
They shattered the rock while also blocking Erza's assault, even sending Erza flying backward with a counterstrike.
Kagura seized the opening from the side and tried to cut Kyouka down with one slash, but Kyouka reacted in time and blocked the strike with her metallic claws.
Erza, who had been sent flying, kicked off a wall and used the rebound to appear in front of Kyouka in an instant, landing a kick directly on Kyouka's face and sending her flying.
As Kyouka rolled across the ground, Kagura and Erza stomped down with their right feet and charged in again from left and right.
Kyouka stabbed her metallic claws into the grass to stop herself, then immediately tore them upward.
A sand throw.
A shameless move, but a useful one.
It directly blocked Erza and Kagura's vision.
Erza and Kagura attacked Kyouka from front and back, slightly offset from one another so Kyouka's position between them would not block their view.
Kyouka gritted her teeth, feeling faintly helpless.
Erza and Kagura's teamwork was far too seamless.
Their offense was coordinated, and even when defending, they could help each other resolve danger.
Even after absorbing so much Curse Power, Kyouka still could not defeat them.
Worse, there were still plenty of others watching from the sidelines.
It was not that those people were too exhausted to help.
It was that Erza and Kagura were using her as a whetstone for training.
'Damn it all!'
In only a single day, Kyouka felt as though the end of the world had arrived.
Not long ago, she had still been the exalted leader of the Nine Demon Gates.
Now, she was the only one left.
Cube had been killed almost immediately and the Hell's Core had been destroyed.
Crawford had hit the ground and turned into paste.
There had not even been a chance to control his corpse!
They had set out with such confidence, intending to activate the F.A.C.E. plan, yet they had not even managed to touch a hair on Jellal's head.
It was suffocating.
Tartaros had dominated Ishgar for so long, and this was the first time they had suffered such a crushing loss.
And she could sense it too.
The Underworld King's Curse Power was dropping rapidly.
Just as Tempester and Kyouka expected, Mard Geer had truly fallen into mortal danger.
The Underworld King had already entered his Etherious Form.
The Book of E.N.D. in his hand had been snatched away by the three sword spirits amid the chaos.
And now, it was in Raizel's hands.
---------
Read 40 chapters ahead and support me on patreon.
patreon (.)com/Newbietranslator