Hyberion cast his vampire Magic, draining blood from large swaths of the imperial army.
"Everyone, preserve your Magic Power," he reminded them. "These people are trained. Their Magic Power is not weak, and this is only the tip of the iceberg!"
"Yes!"
"It's been a long time since we acted together, Gray."
"Yeah, Lyon."
Gray and Lyon stood back to back, showing no fear despite being surrounded by the Alvarez Empire's soldiers.
The two turned their heads slightly and exchanged a smile, then threw their coats into the air.
Their passive skill activated.
They stripped at light speed, baring their upper bodies!
"Ice-Make..."
Love-rival radar activated.
"What is this?! Lyon, why are you smiling so happily while talking to a man?!" Sherry complained while fighting.
"Exactly! Gray-sama has never smiled at Juvia like that!" Juvia agreed.
"A real man gives it everything he's got!"
Elfman, who had fully Taken Over Beast Soul, fought with broad, powerful movements.
His fist slammed heavily against another muscular warrior-type Mage.
"Satan Soul: Mirajane Seilah! I command all of you... sleep."
Mira, having Taken Over Seilah, waved one hand. At her command, entire groups of imperial soldiers collapsed.
"As expected of my big sister! So manly!"
"If you're going to fight, then fight! Why do you keep shouting 'manly' every few seconds?"
...
In the west, where Raizel was stationed, a group of reinforcements arrived.
For a war, they were absolutely powerful helpers—Caine Heavyhoof and the minotaur tribe he led.
Compared to before, Caine was even taller now, standing over three meters high.
Several hideous scars had been added to his body, the price he had paid for the sake of his people.
He had already absorbed the Bloodhoof tribe and avenged his clansmen.
Now, he no longer robbed merchant caravans.
Instead, he followed the merchant guild chairman, John, as a bodyguard escorting caravans.
After learning from John that Fairy Tail was in trouble, Caine left part of his people behind to continue escorting the caravan, then brought the remaining nearly one hundred tribesmen and rushed day and night to help Raizel.
Caine wasted no words.
Gripping his new weapon, a five-meter-long double-bladed battleaxe, he roared and joined the battlefield.
"Fight for Ishgar!!!"
"Ooooh!!!"
His tribesmen also roared and entered the battle.
Nearly one hundred minotaurs, each wielding twin axes, fought as if every one of them were worth a hundred men.
Every single one was a meat grinder.
With the support of Caine's tribe, Ajeel's unit that had landed below was dealt with by Richard, Arcadios, and the others.
However, there were still magic cruisers in the sky, some descending and others crash-landing.
Arcadios showed no joy. He raised his sword high and loudly commanded,
"We still cannot let down our guard! We don't know how many more troops there are. Rest while you can!"
In the sky above the west, Kurnugi and Ajeel's battle gradually reached a fever pitch.
Kurnugi had long since gained the upper hand.
He accelerated again and swept past Ajeel's side, his twin swords cutting into Ajeel's chest once more.
Ajeel could no longer say anything arrogant.
No matter who it was, after being suppressed for so long, they would have no face left to talk big.
Ajeel spat out a mouthful of blood.
Kurnugi pressed his advantage without mercy, spun around, and slashed horizontally again with the sword in his right hand.
"Your strength doesn't match that mouth of yours."
After cutting apart the sandstorm with his sword once more, Kurnugi tossed out a mocking remark.
Ajeel narrowed his eyes.
"Then I'll go... all out!"
The moment Ajeel finished speaking, the entire magic cruiser was covered in sand and dust.
And it did not stop there.
A sandstorm swept across the western battlefield where Raizel and the others were stationed, dropping visibility to an extremely low level.
Arcadios covered his mouth and eyes.
"A sandstorm appeared all of a sudden?"
Richard frowned.
"That sand Mage?"
He used earth Magic, so the sandstorm did not have much effect on him.
Caine and his tribal warriors stood in place with their faces covered, finding it difficult to locate targets to attack.
"Sand World."
Inside Sand World, Ajeel would receive a major boost.
At the center of the sandstorm, Kurnugi was actually quite excited.
"Oh! This move isn't bad. No wonder you can be one of those Twelve Shields."
His sense of smell allowed him to locate Ajeel.
With his defensive power, the sand hitting his body could not even count as scratching an itch.
However, being able to create a sandstorm on such a large scale was enough to prove Ajeel's strength.
"Welcome to Sand World. In this world, I am god. Sand Sword!"
Ajeel turned into sand and circled behind Kurnugi.
But... it was useless.
"You do know your smell is really strong, right?"
Kurnugi stood in place and casually reversed his sword behind him, blocking Ajeel's sneak attack.
"How can a human not bathe more often? Your body odor is way too strong!"
Ajeel refused to believe it and once again sank into the sand, preparing to launch another ambush.
But every one of Ajeel's sneak attacks was easily neutralized by Kurnugi, who did not even move from where he stood.
The most infuriating part was that Kurnugi kept muttering and mocking him while fighting.
"Lord Kurnugi bathes every day even though I'm a dragon. How can you not bathe?"
Seeing Ajeel sink into the sand again, Kurnugi shook his head helplessly.
"This sand of yours is too annoying. If I drag this out any longer, Raizel is definitely going to nag me. That guy is really annoying."
Kurnugi's body began to change, returning to his true form as the Sword Saint Dragon.
Roaaaaaaaaar—
Kurnugi raised his head and let out a long roar, his wings flapping violently.
A huge, constantly rotating purple-black Netherworld Hole appeared and devoured Ajeel's sandstorm.
Ajeel, hidden within the sandstorm, slowly revealed himself.
If he did not come out of the sand, he would be sucked into the Netherworld Hole.
"Kihi! Caught you!"
Kurnugi flapped his wings and accelerated.
The blade on his right forelimb directly transformed into a hundred-meter-long black edge, cutting into Ajeel before slashing toward the flagship.
Sand World vanished instantly.
Ajeel flew backward through the air, his jaw hanging open and his eyes vacant, his flagship exploded along with him.
Arcadios raised his sword high again.
"The sandstorm has disappeared! Counterattack!!! Jupiter and Uranus, prepare!"
"A dragon fights beside us. This must be the Magic of love!"
Richard spread his arms, his face full of emotion.
Kurnugi transformed back into human form and slowly descended to the ground.
As for why he was in human form, it was because Kurnugi had received another order from Raizel.
'Stay in human form for now and help clean up the battlefield.'
"That guy really knows how to order people around."
Kurnugi casually complained, but his body was more honest than his mouth.
Carrying his sword, he charged forward.
...
Magnolia—
Fortunately, the one who came was only a Wahl puppet.
Makarov was currently fighting the Wahl puppet.
Precht had not intervened for the moment. He stood not far away and observed.
'A mechanized race? Its strength is not particularly great. A puppet created by the main body?'
The Weakness Soldiers Wahl created through machinery were fighting Lucy, Levy, and the others.
Lisanna's opponent was a Weakness Soldier with an indestructible body.
Even after Lisanna broke her claws trying to scratch him, she could not injure him in the slightest.
Lucy and Levy quickly reacted.
"They seem to have been made specifically to counter us!"
Macao and Wakaba had also fallen into a hard battle.
Macao's opponent used water, and that water seemed especially effective against Macao's purple flames.