Skullion lowered his head, a sinister smile curling across his mouth.
"I heard your conversation. I see, I see. Then all we have to do is eat the one who stole his power. The White Wizard."
Raizel narrowed his eyes.
"Eat?"
Natsu and Wendy spoke at the same time.
"They're Dragon Slayer Mages!"
Raizel nodded in understanding.
"So you're the so-called members of the Dragon Eater guild."
Natsu felt genuine sympathy for the Water Dragon God's situation, and his anger flared at once.
"There's no way we're giving that power to you! It has to go back to the Water Dragon God!"
"You mortals have defiled my temple. Leave at once."
Mercphobia raised a hand, and four columns of water shot toward the three standing on the pillars.
But Skullion Raider, who stood at the front, merely waved a hand and turned Mercphobia's water pillars into dust.
'He's not a simple opponent...'
After seeing Skullion's ash, Kagura and Erza immediately reached the same conclusion.
"You are no longer the Water Dragon God. There is no value in devouring you."
More than a dozen whips made of dust suddenly burst from the ground and surrounded Mercphobia.
"If it's sand and dust... leave it to me!"
Erza instantly Requipped the Sea King Sword and solidified Skullion's ash before charging toward him.
"What?!"
Skullion's expression changed sharply.
"I'll take that woman."
Kagura held her katana in her left hand and her sword in her right, then used anti-gravity to leap upward.
Her eyes locked onto Kiria, the Blade Dragon.
"The big heavy-looking one is mine!"
Natsu rushed toward Madmole, the Armor Dragon.
Erza swung the Sea King Sword at Skullion, but his body instantly turned into ash, letting him avoid the horizontal slash.
"Turn to ash and disappear!"
The surrounding sand and dust surged as if to completely engulf Erza.
But in the next second, time reversed around the dust, returning it to its original brick and stone form.
Skullion's pupils shrank violently.
"Time Magic?!"
Ultear held her magic crystal ball in her palm, four white magic circles appearing behind her.
Under the power of Arc of Time, the temple that had been turned to ash by Skullion's power began restoring itself.
And as long as Ultear kept Arc of Time active, Skullion could not use the Corpse Dragon's Ash on the temple.
"Solidify!"
Erza used the Sea King Sword's solidification again and struck Skullion with one slash.
Skullion had not guarded against it at all. He was sent flying and crashed into the temple wall.
Mira, having Taken Over Satan Soul, also joined the group beating.
Mercphobia and Karameel froze in place for a moment.
'So all of you were this strong?'
Natsu's fight, however, was not going nearly as smoothly.
Madmole, who claimed to possess absolute defense, really did have impressive defenses.
He blocked Natsu's attacks with ease.
When Natsu leaped up and came down with Fire Dragon's Sword Horn, Madmole stopped it with one hand without even taking a step back.
"Then how about Fire Dragon King's Demolition Fist!"
Natsu entered Fire Dragon King Mode and punched Madmole's arm guard.
Flame and dust clashed, and a violent explosion erupted between Natsu and Madmole.
When the smoke cleared, Madmole's armor was still as polished as new, and his expression had not changed at all.
Natsu, on the other hand, grimaced from the recoil of his own full-powered punch.
"It didn't work?! What's with this guy?"
Madmole was kind enough to explain.
"The scales of the Armor Dragon will never be damaged."
After saying that, Madmole grabbed Natsu's arm and prepared to throw him onto the ship Skullion had created.
But Lucy and Wendy moved.
"Sky Dragon's Roar!"
Wendy first used her roar to separate Natsu from Madmole.
"Cancer Star Dress!"
Lucy followed up by equipping Cancer's twin blades and slashing rapidly at Madmole.
Clang, clang, clang—
Lucy's twin swords struck Madmole's armor again and again, but all they produced were sparks.
"What is going on? Why is he so hard?!"
Kagura and Kiria had begun their clash, sword and katana against Kiria's bare hands.
For Kiria, her hands were her weapons.
"Blade Dragon's Double Slash!"
As the name suggested, two consecutive blades of force flew toward Kagura.
"Swords and swords! The sound of blades clashing together... it's so exciting!"
Kiria suddenly stuck out her tongue and licked her lips. Her cheeks flushed slightly, and she looked almost intoxicated.
Against ordinary weapons, Kiria's attack might have been a sure kill.
But against Archenemy, which had been upgraded several times by absorbing resentment, and the dragon-slaying sword Astron...
Kiria's hand was actually wounded by Astron.
"What kind of weapon is that?!"
Seeing the sword wound on her arm, Kiria's expression turned vicious.
Until now, it had always been her blade aura cutting others.
Kagura raised her sword expressionlessly and did not answer Kiria's question.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
Kagura's sword and katana clashed with Kiria's hands in a dense flurry, the sound of weapons colliding echoing throughout the temple.
"Amazing!"
Blood ran down Kiria's arm, but her expression had become... rather hard to describe.
Kagura used Archenemy in a reverse grip to block Kiria's slash, then swept Astron across.
"That was close! That move just now was dangerous! You're strong!"
Kiria licked her upper lip again, her face full of anticipation.
"I don't dislike crossing blades with someone this strong, but I'm feeling a little wicked. I want to see another side of that cold face of yours."
After saying that, Kiria slashed out two waves of force.
The energy passed straight through Kagura without leaving any injuries, but her expression suddenly changed.
The firm look in Kagura's eyes disappeared, replaced by something timid.
She looked at the sword and katana in her hands, then suddenly threw them away.
"Why am I holding swords?! A girl shouldn't be holding swords! That's far too dangerous!"
"Kagura! What happened to you?"
"She looks kind of strange."
Happy and Carla both noticed something was wrong with Kagura.
Naturally, Raizel noticed it too. Kagura usually never let her sword leave her side.
Kiria looked extremely excited and licked her lips.
"Now then, shall we continue?"
[Take Over: Jesmon.]
After his full-body Take Over, Raizel turned into a streak of white light and appeared in front of Kagura.
"Carla, Happy, take care of Kagura."
"Aye!"
"No problem!"
Carla and Happy lifted Kagura together, while another cat picked up Archenemy and Astron.
'Atho, René, Por—go.'
At Raizel's command, the three sword spirits began surrounding and attacking Kiria.
While Kiria was busy defending against them, Raizel accelerated and appeared behind her.
"Weltgeist!"
The blades on both his arms flashed coldly as he carved a cross slash into Kiria's back.
Blood sprayed from Kiria's back as she was sent flying.
Raizel did not strike to kill, because he still needed to ask her exactly what she had done to Kagura.
"Retreat!"
Seeing that the situation had turned bad, Skullion turned himself, Madmole, and Kiria into ash and fled at once.
All three of them were living beings, so Ultear's Arc of Time could not be used on them.
But Raizel was not about to simply let them run.
"Un Pour Tous!"
Using the power of the three sword spirits, Raizel formed a triangular green prism.
Magic Power poured into it, then fired straight toward the three fleeing Dragon Eaters.