Unlike Erza's commanding, battle-hardened presence, Misaki—the strongest female mage on the continent of Guiltina—carried herself more like an elegant older sister.
Watching Erza charge toward her, Misaki made no effort to hide her faint smile. She raised one hand and released an extremely unusual form of Magic Power.
The magic itself possessed no offensive force.
The chain reaction it triggered within the surrounding space, however, was terrifying.
The air before Erza suddenly warped as though the space itself were being compressed. The resulting impact slammed directly into her body.
"Gah!"
Erza grunted as her armor shattered without the slightest resistance.
Defensive equipment was practically useless against Misaki, who wielded space itself as a weapon.
Erza endured the pain as she was sent flying, quickly understanding what had happened.
She immediately Requipped into her peerless Clear Heart Clothing, then extended one arm to stop Ankh from stepping forward.
"Brother, protect Mira. I'll handle her."
Ankh paused.
After a moment of thought, he decided not to interfere.
Erza was stubborn, and she possessed pride of her own.
More importantly, watching Ankh dispose of Kyoka so quickly had clearly left the Fairy Queen somewhat frustrated.
Finding an evenly matched opponent was difficult, especially for someone who had already reached Erza's level.
Now that the strongest female mage on another continent stood before her, Erza wanted to discover just how great the distance between them truly was.
"Be careful. She's the Azure Dragon and uses spatial magic," Ankh warned. "Don't let her control the pace of the battle."
Azure Dragon: Misaki.
Ankh had inherited the power of the God of Space himself, so he understood exactly how dangerous such abilities could be.
Spatial mages were most terrifying because of their control over the battlefield and their unpredictable methods of attack.
There were generally only two ways to deal with one.
The first was to avoid the confrontation entirely and never enter the space under their control, preventing them from striking through some unknown spatial trick.
The second was to enter their prepared territory and break through it with overwhelming force before their magic slowly tore you apart.
Naturally, Erza's pride made her choose the latter.
Misaki calmly manipulated her magic, enveloping both herself and Erza within a magic circle.
In the next instant, Erza's body began disappearing from that space one piece at a time, like water slowly evaporating.
Misaki vanished in the same way.
She had dragged Erza into her personal dimension.
Whether Erza could escape would now depend entirely on whether she possessed enough power to break it apart.
...
Three members of the Dark Dragon Slayer Knights had already found their opponents.
The fourth was still wandering around in confusion.
Kirin casually punched away a soldier attempting to ambush him, then frowned as he muttered,
"Where did that man go? His route makes no sense. What is he trying to accomplish?"
Yellow Dragon: Kirin.
As a Fifth-Generation Dragon Slayer, Kirin's sense of smell was not nearly as absurdly sharp as Natsu's.
He could only rely on a mysterious reaction coming from the coffin on his back as he searched for the opponent he wanted.
Kirin was a lightning-based Dragon Slayer known as the Yellow Dragon.
The dragon whose flesh he had devoured was Elexion, the Yellow Dragon—who also carried the imposing title of Lightning Dragon King.
Kirin had eaten Elexion's flesh, but the dragon's heart had been removed and made into a Dragon Slayer Lacrima. It was later sold to Ishgar and purchased by a mage named Ivan.
After consuming the Lightning Dragon King, Kirin was tormented day and night by the dragon's lingering soul.
The spirit seemed unable to disappear because of its obsession with its missing heart.
Kirin had once suffered terribly beneath that constant presence. Fortunately, his companion Wraith helped seal Elexion's soul inside the coffin, granting Kirin some peace.
Even then, he still occasionally heard the dragon's whispers.
To finally release Elexion's spirit—and himself from that burden—Kirin had come to reclaim the Lightning Dragon King's heart and resolve its final attachment.
His target was obvious.
Laxus, who had been implanted with Elexion's Dragon Slayer Lacrima by Ivan and now carried the Lightning Dragon King's heart.
Unfortunately...
Something had gone wrong.
Where the hell was Laxus?
While Kirin searched across the entire battlefield, Laxus had somehow ended up near its outer edge and was now hurrying back.
"Strange. I somehow lost my way in the middle of the fight."
Laxus climbed calmly onto the ice covering the main battlefield, muttering in confusion.
Earlier, he had rampaged through Guiltina's army like a tiger among sheep.
He charged wherever he saw enemies, smashing through formation after formation until he somehow fought his way completely out of the battlefield and fell into the distant sea.
To put it simply, Laxus had beaten himself so far off course that he got lost.
After swimming back, he showed absolutely no awareness that the mistake had been his own. He remained perfectly composed, as though the battlefield itself had been poorly arranged.
The unfortunate Kirin was still searching for him, while Laxus was heading back from the opposite direction.
No one knew how long it would take before the two finally met.
Fortunately, traveling as lightning made Laxus extremely fast.
...
At the edge of the battlefield, Lucy was suffering terribly against Kiria.
"Hahaha! You've got a pretty good figure, Blondie!"
"Shut up!"
Kiria, a depraved woman who loved cutting apart other people's clothes, laughed loudly.
Lucy covered herself in mortified anger and hurriedly activated another Star Dress.
The power of Cancer enveloped her.
Lucy appeared in a practical combat outfit with an enormous pair of scissors in her hands. She pulled the weapon apart, separating it into two blades.
Two-Sword Style Lucy had arrived!
Cancer Form: Lucy.
Kiria licked her lips and shouted excitedly,
"Useless! No matter how many outfits you put on, I'll just keep cutting them apart!"
'Fight slashes with slashes...'
Lucy had learned several sword techniques from Erza before. Feeling Cancer's power flowing through her body, she regained her confidence and charged directly into Kiria's attacks.
Surprisingly, Lucy handled the twin blades rather well.
She cut through the flying blades, closed the distance rapidly, and spun both weapons into a nearly impenetrable screen.
Kiria grew nervous and retreated several steps.
Then she realized that not a single one of Lucy's attacks had struck her.
"That's it?!" she laughed.
Lucy calmly lowered both blades with the composure of a true sword master, a slight smile curling across her lips.
"Oh? You might want to look down."
Kiria froze.
Then she lowered her gaze.
Her already revealing, wild-looking outfit had been sliced into countless scraps, leaving her bare skin exposed to the wind.
Now it was Lucy's turn to laugh.
"How does it feel? Need me to lend you something to wear? It doesn't look like you know Requip Magic~"
"Hmph."
Kiria covered herself and glanced around.
Then she planted her feet apart, straightened her back, and answered arrogantly,
"Childish! We're practically outside the main battlefield, and we're both women. Do you honestly think I'd be embarrassed?"
Lucy paused.
'She... actually has a point.'
Though it felt more like Kiria had simply decided to abandon all dignity.
Kiria strode forward, forcing down the strange embarrassment rising inside her as she charged Lucy again.
'If I strip her too, then there won't be a problem!'
Blade Dragon: Kiria.
Her steps suddenly stopped.
Her face stiffened as she looked toward the nearby shore.
A man wearing a coat was climbing out of the sea, staring strangely at the naked woman charging across the battlefield without the slightest restraint.
Laxus frowned at the petrified Kiria.
Then he looked toward the equally stunned Lucy.
After several seconds of hesitation, he asked uncertainly,
"Is she under too much stress?"
Lucy stared at him in silence.
"KYAAAAAAAH!!"
A piercing scream erupted across the battlefield.
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