"Demon God Halphas..."
Erza wasn't as easily startled as Lucy and the others. She looked up at Mira in the air and asked Makarov beside her, "Master, didn't you forbid Mira from using this highly destructive Take Over?"
In this form, Mira had been unpredictably unstable. Once, just to intimidate an opponent, she had accidentally destroyed an entire city.
"Well, she should be able to control that power now. And besides, it's rare to see that brat Chase get hit. Consider this a special exception~!" Makarov said with a chuckle.
"If I remember correctly, Master, didn't you just bet on Mira-nee?" Lucy asked suspiciously, leaning in.
"Ahem, ahem."
Caught red-handed, Makarov's old face turned red. He turned his head away in embarrassment and coughed lightly twice. "Th-that's not the point..."
Seeing this, the disdain in Lucy's eyes grew even thicker. This horrible old man wants to win money from his own guild's kids!
In the ring, Chase leaped out of the crater and stood on the slowly repairing platform.
A size forty shoe print was clearly visible on his right cheek.
"Haha, what a powerful kick! I'm starting to get a little fired up!"
He cracked his neck and tore off his tattered shirt, revealing chiseled pectoral and abdominal muscles.
"I'm glad I could get Chase fired up too~" Demon God Mira said, the corners of her mouth turning up slightly.
Knowing that Chase was about to get serious, she couldn't bring herself to do something as embarrassing as stripping in public. So, in response—
FWOOSH!
Mira's deep, terrifying demonic power was released without restraint, transforming into a blazing, surging, fervent fighting spirit!
"Continue?"
"But of course!"
Chase and Mira disappeared from their spots simultaneously. When they reappeared, their fists, abandoning all dodging and defending, slammed into each other like a raging storm!
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
In an instant, magical shockwaves exploded wildly, and sonic booms echoed across the entire sky, sending chills down everyone's spines and making their hearts race!
The intense hand-to-hand combat didn't last very long. Mira, whose magical reserves were ultimately limited, soon found herself losing ground. She was punched down by Chase and reverted to her normal state in her wine-red dress.
"Even Demon God Halphas couldn't win..."
Mira stood in the shattered crater, gasping for breath. After that exchange, her hair was already a disheveled mess, and a trace of blood hung from the corner of her mouth. She looked rather pitiful.
Although she knew very well that she was no match for him, only through personal fighting did Mira deeply understand just how terrifying and powerful Chase had become.
After all, he hadn't even used his specialties—his cards or his God Slayer Magic!
But Mira wiped the blood from her mouth, took a deep breath, and her eyes grew sharp once more.
Her magic power was nearly exhausted. If this were before, she would have had to wave the white flag and surrender. But now, she still had the ability to keep fighting!
"Take Over: Demon King Soul!"
An ancient, profound aura surged forth wildly. A pitch-black magical array blossomed in the air, raining down streams of black light that enveloped Mira.
When the black light dissipated, dark combat boots stepped heavily out of it. The majestic Demon King Mira made her entrance!
"Well then, everyone, please lend me a bit of your magic power to help me give that idiot Chase a good thrashing~"
Demon King Mira smiled and raised her hand to snap her fingers. An invisible energy field immediately expanded, enveloping Lucy and the other spectators, along with Happy, who was commentating from the air.
The ability to absorb the power of other living beings for her own use was one of the Demon King's abilities!
"Oohh!!"
Makarov, who had already witnessed the Demon King Take Over, led the charge, shouting and raising his arms high as if offering himself to be harvested.
Wakaba and the others followed closely, their faces full of perverted expressions as if saying, "It's fine if you drain me dry."
Macao and the others who had bet on Chase, despite looking reluctant, couldn't resist the suction force and could only grit their teeth and bear it in silence.
"You guys are way too pragmatic! And ugly to boot!" Lucy couldn't bear to watch.
Then, she realized that her own magic power was also being drained. Along with it, demonic scales gradually began to appear on her fair arms.
"Huh? Huh?!!"
Whether they wanted to or not, a torrent of magic power, barely visible to the naked eye, drifted out from the spectator stands and continuously poured into Demon King Mira's body.
Just then, Chase suddenly flashed in front of Mira and threw a powerful punch, forcibly cutting off the flow of magic power.
"I'd like to wait for you to recover to your peak, but Mira, in an actual fight, the enemy isn't going to just stand there and wait for you..."
Aside from testing the card drop mechanic, another purpose of this battle was to awaken Mira's combat instincts, which had lain dormant for two and a half years.
So Chase wasn't going to go easy on her!
"That's true. But still, I am an S-Class mage of the guild. Chase, aren't you underestimating me just a little?" Demon King Mira said with a slight smile, raising a finger. "Of course I know not to let my guard down against a strong opponent. So while I was replenishing my magic power, another of the Demon King's abilities was also happening simultaneously~"
Hearing this, Chase's expression changed slightly.
The next second, a cold gleam flashed behind him. A heavy axe engraved with the Taurus emblem came swinging down!
CRASH!!
The ground exploded, sending fragments of rock flying and kicking up a thick cloud of dust.
"Huh? Huh?! Did I just chop Chase-nii to death?!!"
Lucy, wearing a jet-black version of the Taurus Celestial Spirit Dress, remained in her axe-swinging pose, her beautiful eyes wide with panic. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, Chase-nii! I didn't mean to! My body suddenly moved on its own!"
"Chop me to death? With you in a bewitched state like that?" Chase's calm voice came from deep within the thick smoke. "Tch. Don't talk big."
He was crouched low, arm bent upward, using his arm, hardened by the Summoned Demon Armor, to firmly block the blade of the heavy axe.
The corner of Taurus Lucy's mouth twitched. Seeing Chase acting so smug, the concern she had felt just moments ago was immediately replaced by a surge of inexplicable anger.
Her demonized hands, now under the influence of her own will, secretly increased their force just a little.
Meanwhile, a huge commotion erupted from the spectator stands.
"Ooh! I'm fired up!"
"Everyone attack! Let's beat that bastard Chase and grind his face into the dirt!"
"You manly man! How dare you bully Mira-nee! Prepare to die, Chase!!"
"Don't worry about weird card drops, everyone! Chase can only use demonic power right now! This is a golden opportunity! Kill him, ahhh!!"
Natsu, along with the demonized Gray, Elfman, Gajeel, and even Wakaba and the others who had bet on Chase to win, all eagerly jumped down from the stands, conjuring various spells as they charged in to attack.
Compared to beating Chase black and blue, what was a few tens of thousands of Jewels?
Shouts, curses, and cheers blended together. From a distance, the momentum was terrifying and the scene was quite spectacular.
In reality, although Demon King Mira could control demonized people and creatures through her ability, with her current level of magic power, she clearly couldn't perfectly control everyone present.
But so what?
The people being controlled were mages of Fairy Tail?
And the enemy was Chase?
Then it was fine!
"In an actual fight, it's perfectly fine to make use of the battlefield and 'enemies,' isn't it?" Demon King Mira said with a smile, crossing her arms and watching Chase, who was still "holding up" the heavy axe.
Even Chase, faced with this unexpected situation, couldn't quite keep his composure. The corner of his mouth twitched wildly, and a few drops of cold sweat seeped out on his forehead.
You can play like this?
Do these guys look like they're being controlled at all, you bastards?!
Hey! Where's the referee? Where's the referee? Shouldn't you be stepping in to stop this?
Chase looked up at the sky, and his expression froze.
There was that demonized damn cat, who had accepted a bribe of one fish from him, now gleefully doing chest expansions, waist twists, leg stretches, and other warm-up exercises.
The goddamn referee is warming up?!
***
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