Feeling the intense pain transmitted through his fist, Gajeel's forehead couldn't help but break out in cold sweat. He quickly withdrew his arm, which had turned into an iron pillar, and distanced himself from Ches with several backflips.
After ensuring he was safe and recognizing who had arrived, he shook his hand and sneered: "Heheh, looks like someone serious has shown up."
Although he was surprised by Ches suddenly appearing here, although the oppressive presence he gave off was incomparable to those three nobodies—
Gajeel still maintained an extremely arrogant posture. Or rather, he was excited.
As S-Class Mages from the strongest guild in Fiore, he had long wanted to test himself against established figures like Ches and Erza.
After all, he was a Dragon Slayer just as stubborn and battle-hungry as Natsu. If Jose hadn't repeatedly stressed sticking to the plan, he might have actually gone to attack Ches's apartment!
"In-in that man... it's Ches! Ches from Fairy Tail!"
In contrast, the accompanying Sabertooth extras were far more panicked. The depths of their eyes were filled with fear, and they felt a strong urge to retreat.
For Sabertooth, still a third-rate guild at this time, a mage like Ches was practically a "legendary figure"!
"Useless trash. It's just Ches—look at you all cowering!"
Gajeel's expression darkened. Without a second thought, he sent one flying with an Iron Dragon Club.
Influenced by Phantom Lord's culture, he had no qualms about attacking his own guild members, let alone these Sabertooth cannon fodder.
A character who didn't appear in the original? That emblem is...
Ches narrowed his eyes, carefully examining the unconscious extra lying heavily on the ground.
By the faint moonlight, he recognized the emblem shape branded on their chests.
Sabertooth... what are they doing with Phantom Lord? Ches mused silently.
Clearly, the reason for this deviation from the original plot was most likely his beating of Jiemma at the last Guild Master Meeting.
Before Ches could deduce the specifics, a black shadow attacked—Gajeel, unable to contain himself any longer, charged forward laughing wildly.
"Hehehehe! Since you came out looking for death, I'll take you down first, Ches!"
In mid-sprint, Gajeel leaped into the air. A blue magic circle lit up as his right arm instantly transformed into a high-speed rotating serrated greatsword.
"Iron Dragon Sword!"
A flash of cold light plummeted from the sky, cleaving straight toward Ches.
Boom!
The vicious slash and impact erupted simultaneously, shattering the ground into countless fragments, which then crumbled into fine powder.
Two figures emerged from the depths of the kicked-up dust.
Ches, holding Levy's waist like a child, landed steadily.
"Ches, Jet is..."
Troy rushed over, concerned about Jet's sudden disappearance.
"Don't worry. I used Card Magic to swap positions with him. He's with Natsu and Erza now."
Ches gently set Levy down and explained briefly.
Hearing this, the two, who had been worried, let out heavy sighs of relief.
"You two hang back a bit. I'll play with this scrap metal a little."
Ches looked up to see Gajeel standing in the middle of the ruined street, head tilted back, cheeks puffed up.
Raging magical energy swirled around him, gathering and compressing toward the blue magic circle forming at his mouth.
Just as the magical energy reached its peak, Gajeel threw his arms wide and unleashed everything without restraint.
"Iron Dragon's... ROAR!!"
A blast mixed with high-density iron sand erupted.
Everything in its path was ripped apart—the paving stones were torn up and ground to dust!
"Th-that's the same magic as Natsu?!"
Levy and Troy froze in place, petrified.
Ches, unfazed, took a deep breath. Stepping forward against the fierce gale that arrived first, he clenched the Right Arm of the Sealed One.
"Magnolia... doesn't belong to you outsiders to destroy..."
His bronze arm moved, causing chains to clink. In the instant before the iron sand blast swallowed him, Ches threw a simple punch.
BOOM!!
In that moment, the shockwave rippled, sending impact in all directions.
The seemingly unstoppable Iron Dragon's Roar was shattered by a single punch, scattering into a storm of iron sand!
"Impossible?! You broke my roar that easily..."
Gajeel's breath caught as he stared at Ches, who was slowly withdrawing his fist at the end of the ruined street.
After all, they had been provoking Fairy Tail with the goal of all-out war from the start. Phantom Lord had been gathering intelligence on Fairy Tail's main members early on, with the S-Class mages as priority targets.
So Gajeel knew very well that Ches the Duelist's specialty was versatile and devastating Card Magic.
Although the intelligence indicated he had considerable physical combat ability too—shattering his roar with one punch was a different matter entirely...
"Are you kidding me?!"
Perhaps realizing the vast gap in their abilities, Gajeel, wh
o had always prided himself as "Phantom Lord's Ace," completely snapped. He couldn't accept this outcome.
Hum, hum, hum—
Turbulent blue magical energy surged out wildly. Empowered by the magic circle beneath his feet, his skin rapidly turned to iron—forming a grid-like pattern resembling Iron Dragon scales.
With it came a heavy, oppressive aura.
"Strong opponents like you... are more worth crushing."
Having activated his strongest mode, Gajeel regained some confidence. He extended his iron-scaled arm and beckoned Ches with a sneer. "Come on, let's fight to the death, Fairy Tail!"
Sigh...
Facing his surging battle spirit, Ches let out a slightly disappointed sigh.
He had come hoping to test whether he could draw a new card, planning to have a "fierce battle" with Gajeel.
But now, judging by the magical energy he released—just as expected—Gajeel's level at this time was about the same as Natsu's.
Without considering power-ups, maybe he was a little stronger than Natsu.
But at this level, getting a card was probably hopeless.
"Card bastard! How dare you underestimate me..."
Gajeel caught Ches's unenthusiastic expression and instantly exploded with rage. "I'm Phantom Lord's Iron Dragon Slayer!!"
With a roar, he stomped, shattering the ground to gain explosive power and maximize his speed, becoming a blur of steel.
However...
Holy Light blazed, illuminating the dark city streets.
Three radiant Light Swords were faster than Gajeel, descending from the sky to float around him!
The swords flickered, continuously emitting restraining power.
"Damn it—why can't I move?! Damn, damn, DAMN IT!!"
Gajeel panicked, thrashing wildly, trying to break free of the strange binding.
But no matter how hard he struggled, he couldn't budge the Light Swords—the gap in magical power was too vast!
"How can this be?! We're both S-Class—how can the difference be this huge?!"
Ches approached at a leisurely pace, stepping over rubble and broken bricks. In Gajeel's eyes, he had become a terrifying monster with blood-red eyes.
He had only felt this kind of oppressive presence once before—after leaving his foster father, the Iron Dragon Metalicana.
That was Phantom Lord's master, one of the Ten Great Mages of the Holy Council—Jose Porla...
"I'm not underestimating you. It's just that you're so weak right now you don't interest me, Gajeel."
With that, Ches stopped. He gave Gajeel no chance to respond, slowly raising the Right Arm of the Forbidden One.
BOOM!
A dull explosion rang out as the ground was smashed into a deep crater, filled with cracks.
Iron filings scattered everywhere. Gajeel reverted to normal, lying spread-eagled in the crater. He twitched twice, then went limp—unconscious.
***
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