"My body..."
Erza and Kagura both realized the pain had become unbearably clear.
Even after switching into Lightning Empress Armor, Erza still felt the electric current cutting through her with sharp, agonizing pain.
Kyouka smiled with confidence.
"It hurts, doesn't it? I have amplified your sense of pain. Even a breeze brushing against you will make your entire body feel unbearable agony!"
Just as Kyouka was about to gloat further, Mira, in her Satan Soul: Sitri form, suddenly appeared behind her and grabbed the back of Kyouka's head with her right claw.
Ultear and Mira had waited a long time for Erza and Kagura to return.
But after seeing the destructive power of the six dragons, the idea of using Kyouka as a whetstone for training was thrown straight out of their minds.
Better to deal with Kyouka quickly and bring Erza and Kagura away.
Mira seized the opening while Kyouka was brimming with confidence and slammed her to the ground.
"Take Over!"
"Don't you dare!"
Kyouka was clearly shocked by Mira's sudden appearance, but she immediately sent electric currents surging into Mira.
Even though the pain was intense, Mira gritted her teeth and endured it.
A blue glow continued to shine from her right claw as she kept her grip locked firmly around the back of Kyouka's head.
"Your Enhancement is impressive."
"But in the next second, it's mine..."
After successfully taking over Enhancement, Mira pulled back from Kyouka and moved between Erza and Kagura.
Curse Power flowed from Mira's body, slowly entering Erza and Kagura, who were still struggling in pain.
Mira canceled out the Pain Amplification Kyouka had placed on them.
Meanwhile, Ultear used Arc of Time to block Kyouka's attack.
"It's actually real?!"
Seeing Erza and Kagura's expressions ease, Kyouka's pupils contracted violently.
A human had taken over her ability right in front of her eyes—and then broken through her Enhancement!
"I refuse to believe this!!! Sensory Deprivation!"
Kyouka roared as if she had truly gone mad.
Her Sensory Deprivation could rob an opponent of all five senses.
Unfortunately for her, Mira, who had taken over Kyouka's Enhancement Curse, could also restore the senses she had taken away.
Curse Power surged from both Mira and Kyouka.
Enhancement against Enhancement.
"Radiance of All Gods!"
Dozens of Magic crystal spheres appeared around Kyouka before detonating all at once.
"Pain, enhance!"
"Vision, enhance!"
"Hearing, enhance!"
Mira aimed her palm at Kyouka.
Boom, boom, boom!
Kyouka screamed in agony within the explosions.
Even with her eyes shut, the white light stabbed through them so fiercely that she could not open them at all.
Her ears rang with violent, endless thunder.
She clutched both ears with her claws, but blood was already pouring from them.
Kagura held Archenemy in a reverse grip.
Green Magic covered the blade, and her sword pressure continued to climb.
Feeling that rising sword force, Kyouka forced her eyes open and a roaring azure dragon appeared in her vision.
In the blink of an eye, Kagura had already appeared behind her.
Kyouka, wracked with so much pain that she no longer had the strength to defend herself, was split cleanly in two and transformed into a book.
"Take Over..."
While it was still fresh, Mira absorbed the book and all of Kyouka's abilities were taken into Mira.
"Are you two all right?" Ultear asked, looking at Erza and Kagura.
"I'm fine," Kagura replied expressionlessly, short and direct.
It hurt, but she was not the type to say so out loud.
Erza smiled faintly and shook her head. "I'm fine too. I'll just have a lot of armor to repair afterward."
"Next is the Underworld King, then?" After confirming that they were mostly all right, Ultear looked toward Mira.
Ultear and the others also knew about Mira's plan to take over the Nine Demon Gates.
And besides, Mard Geer's Thorn Curse and White Light Curse were both quite useful.
By now, Mira had taken over several of them—all Nine Demon Gates members who had turned into books after death.
But in terms of actual use, the better ones were probably Franmalth's Absorption, Seilah's Macro, and Kyouka's Enhancement.
Jackal was not a good match for her. Getting hit just to place bomb marks on people?
No, thank you.
Tempester, on the other hand, was quite useful.
Keyes had indeed been absorbed by Mira too, but asking her to control corpses was still something she could not quite accept for now.
Mira nodded. "Yes. It seems Natsu is fighting the Underworld King right now. Let's go take a look."
...
Acnologia raised his head, then fired a massive blue-white energy wave from his mouth.
Igneel, Grandeeney, and Metalicana all flapped their wings and dodged, but Acnologia continued sweeping the battlefield with his roar.
The surroundings shook violently.
A deep, bottomless rift split open across the plains.
After creating a massive ice wall to block the flames and flying stones, Ur immediately made a decision.
"We can't stay here any longer. We need to fall back farther!"
The guild members nodded at once.
They knew staying here would not help.
If anything, it would only force Raizel and Igneel's side to hold back.
"I'll give you another punch!"
Igneel's right fist burned with flames as he clashed against Acnologia, who was preparing to fire another roar.
Red and blue flames confronted each other in midair.
BOOM!!!
A gigantic mushroom cloud exploded between the two dragons.
Raizel and the four dragons were scattered by the shockwave.
Even Makarov and the others far away could feel the impact.
The guild members hid in low terrain while fierce winds roared overhead and huge stones flew through the air.
Cana shattered massive rocks with her arrows while directing the members to dodge.
Even while hiding in the low ground and clinging to a rock, Lisanna felt as if the wind was about to blow her away.
"This is terrifying..." Cana could not help sucking in a cold breath.
As the shockwave gradually dispersed, the five dragons and Raizel were still facing Acnologia.
All four dragons bore wounds now, especially the White Dragon and the Shadow Dragon, whose abdomens were drenched in blood.
They had been injured by Acnologia's claws while trying to restrain him.
The Iron Dragon had taken a blast from the Black Dragon's roar while protecting the Sky Dragon, who had failed to dodge in time.
Fortunately, Raizel had raised the Garuru Cannon on his right arm and fired 'Double Torrent' twice in a row into Acnologia's neck, interrupting the attack.
Otherwise, the Iron Dragon might have died on the spot.
Igneel accelerated toward Acnologia as the two dragons locked together and crashed into the plain like a seismic throw.
The four dragons and Raizel stared down from above.
The ground trembled faintly.
Acnologia and Igneel were fighting underground!
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Pillars of fire burst from beneath the earth like volcanic eruptions.
Just as Raizel was about to shrink his body and join in, Acnologia and Igneel flew out of the fire pillars one after another.
...
"So you possess the same flames as that Fire Dragon."
"Because we're father and son."
As he spoke, Natsu accelerated forward.
A flaming left hook.
A right hook.
A whip kick.
Mard Geer dodged them all.
But Natsu was not in a hurry since the Book of E.N.D. was already in Raizel's hands.
All he had to do now was enjoy a proper fight with the Underworld King!