The black tidal wave slammed down like a collapsing sky.
Belno's house didn't so much break as it was erased, walls torn apart, furniture crushed into splinters, the roof ripped free and devoured by the rushing torrent. In an instant, everything was swallowed by the surging black water.
The river stretched dozens of meters wide, churning violently as it surged forward, carrying debris, dust, and destruction with it. Where it flowed, nothing was left standing.
Belno and the four Fairy Tail mages vanished into the flood.
Torafuzar sank into the water with a cruel smile curling across his face.
'Arrogant humans. This ends here.'
But the moment he dove deeper, his pupils shrank.
The five of them were still standing.
Perfectly still.
The raging black water parted around them, unable to advance even an inch further. Not a single drop splashed their clothes.
At the center of it all, Lisanna stood with both arms extended, teeth clenched, veins standing out faintly on her temples. A translucent, shimmering barrier surrounded them, a dry, pressurized sphere holding back the curse-filled flood.
"Water Dome!"
"Oi, isn't that the stupid rain woman's..."
"I've been training with Juvia," Lisanna interrupted, her voice tight with strain. "And now I'm sure of it. My brother-in-law once said that a guild affiliated with Tartaros was wiped out by black poisonous water."
Her gaze sharpened.
"This is him."
"So we can't touch the water at all," Panther Lily muttered. "Figures."
Torafuzar's voice echoed through the river, disbelief creeping in.
"A Water Mage…? A human's water magic can block my Curse?"
The black water vibrated faintly as he spoke.
Lisanna swallowed the urge to retort. She remembered the warning clearly: In a real fight, words get you killed.
"I can hold the dome," she said instead, breath shaky, "but I can't attack while doing it."
"That's enough."
Laxus stepped forward.
Lightning snapped around his arm as he raised his hand, golden arcs crawling across his fingers like living things.
"Thunder Dragon's Halberd!"
The condensed lightning weapon formed instantly, dense, violent, roaring with power, before Laxus hurled it forward.
The halberd tore into the black water.
For a split second, its glow flickered as the conductive liquid tried to bleed its energy away.
But it was already too late.
Torafuzar's eyes widened as the weapon burst through the current and slammed into him.
"—!?"
He crossed his arms just in time.
Lightning detonated across his body, crawling over his scales, bursting outward in blinding flashes. The water around him boiled violently as electricity surged in all directions.
Torafuzar was flung backward, smoke rising from his body as he skidded through the current.
"Tch!" His jaw clenched. 'That punch earlier was nothing, so why is this lightning?!'
Laxus clicked his tongue, clearly unimpressed. "It dispersed more than I expected."
"This water conducts electricity," Gajeel said, narrowing his eyes. "Your power's getting eaten alive in there."
"Doesn't matter," Laxus replied coldly. "This isn't the time for duels."
"End it fast."
Belno nodded immediately. "Exactly. Gajeel, you're thinking too much."
"Oi!" Gajeel barked back.
In that instant, the black water exploded outward.
Torafuzar vanished.
Ripples tore through the river as his form blurred, circling the dome at terrifying speed. His shark-like body cut through the water effortlessly, leaving afterimages in his wake.
'He's fast!' Lisanna's heart lurched. The pressure against her dome surged violently as the water slammed into it from every direction.
Cracks of strain rippled through the barrier.
"He's looking for a gap!" Lily shouted.
"Too slow."
Laxus inhaled deeply.
His chest expanded as lightning gathered in his throat, the air itself trembling. His eyes locked onto a single point in the churning black water.
And he unleashed it.
"THUNDER DRAGON'S ROAR!"
A massive bolt of lightning erupted outward, tearing through the river like a divine judgment. The water split violently, vaporized in a deafening explosion as the roar tore straight toward Torafuzar's path.
"What?!" Torafuzar's eyes widened. 'He read my movement?!'
Before he could adjust.
"I ain't letting you dodge!"
Gajeel planted his feet, iron scales spreading across his arms as he leaned forward.
"IRON DRAGON'S ROAR!"
A spiraling blast of compressed iron shot forward, following the lightning strike.
Golden lightning roared first.
A blazing breath of thunder tore through the air, plunging straight into the black river. Almost simultaneously, a grayish-black storm of iron blades followed, spinning violently as it surged forward like a grinding maelstrom.
The two Dragon Slayer breaths collided with the cursed water.
And completely swallowed Torafuzar.
A deafening explosion shook the battlefield.
Because Torafuzar was positioned directly upstream, the overwhelming force didn't just strike him, it split the river itself. The black water was torn cleanly apart, forced violently to both sides as if an invisible dam had been erected in its path.
The torrent rushed past the group on either side, raging and foaming, but the space directly ahead of them was suddenly calm.
Within the collapsing storm of lightning and iron, Torafuzar was blasted backward like a broken doll. His body spun through the air, consciousness already gone long before he struck the ground.
With his defeat, the Tenchi Kaimei Curse shattered.
The remaining black water drained away, flowing downstream without resistance, no longer replenished, no longer controlled.
Silence fell.
"Stay here," Laxus said after a brief pause. "Watch your surroundings."
He glanced at Gajeel and jerked his chin forward.
Lisanna and Panther Lily nodded, remaining behind to shield Belno as Laxus and Gajeel advanced.
They approached cautiously, crossing several hundred meters of ruined ground.
Torafuzar lay motionless.
His demonic form had reverted to its original appearance. Charred wounds covered his body, smoke still curling faintly from scorched flesh. Tiny iron blades were embedded across his torso and limbs, dark red blood dripping steadily onto the cracked earth beneath him.
He looked utterly defeated.
But he was still breathing.
Laxus stopped a short distance away.
"Anything you want to say?"
His voice was calm, but it wasn't mercy. A deliberate opening, in case the demon intended to drag them all down with him.
Torafuzar didn't.
He slowly closed his eyes.
"You are strong," he said hoarsely. "But the final victory will belong to Tartaros…"
After a brief pause, he added, "Finish it."
Laxus frowned slightly.
No self-destruct?
He glanced sideways. "Gajeel. Restrain him."
"Got it."
Gajeel stepped forward and extended his hand.
Iron surged from the ground.
Leg irons snapped shut around Torafuzar's ankles. Shackles clamped his wrists. An iron yoke locked around his neck. A gag sealed his mouth before he could utter another word.
Every joint, every possible point of leverage, sealed.
The restraints weren't just to stop him from attacking.
They were to stop him from killing himself and returning to Tartaros.
"Mmph! Mmph!"
Realizing too late what was happening, Torafuzar struggled violently, rolling across the ground in a desperate attempt to break free.
Laxus watched for a moment. "Not enough."
"What a pain," Gajeel muttered, scratching the back of his head.
A half-foot-thick, man-sized iron barrel formed instantly around Torafuzar, sealing him inside with no room to move. Gajeel followed it up with a solid iron helmet, leaving only a small breathing hole, just enough air, no opportunity for suicide.
Once the massive iron barrel was hauled onto the guild's ship, Gajeel wasn't finished.
Iron bars rose again, assembling into a full containment cage around it, layer after layer, leaving absolutely no chance of escape.
Laxus stared.
"You've gotten thorough."
Had the guild's work style been influenced by a certain someone?
Still… in this situation, caution wasn't a flaw.
Lisanna retrieved an old-model communication Lacrima from the ship and activated it.
Moments later, a familiar image appeared within the crystal.
"Lisanna?" Makarov's voice came through. "How's the situation over there?"
"We arrived just in time," Lisanna replied. "A demon named Torafuzar was attempting to assassinate Lady Belno, but Laxus stopped him."
She glanced at the ruins behind her.
"Unfortunately, Lady Belno's house was destroyed during the battle. We're preparing to escort her back to the guild."
Makarov's face lit up with relief.
"Well done! Be extremely careful on your way back!"
...
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