Kirin's expression brightened when he felt the surge of Magic Power erupting from Laxus.
"Oh? A composite Dragon Slayer attribute. Interesting."
The coffin chained to the Yellow Dragon's back also served as his weapon.
He swung the chain, sending the massive coffin sweeping toward Laxus.
Laxus planted his feet and punched it head-on.
He had expected to shatter the coffin or at least knock it backward, but neither happened. Instead, the coffin seemed to cling to his fist.
Until now, Laxus had assumed it was merely an unusual weapon. T
he moment his punch connected, however, something resembling a spiritual attack slammed into his chest.
He staggered back several steps and clutched his chest with a frown.
"Did that coffin just hit me back?"
Kirin offered no explanation. He simply manipulated the chain and swung the coffin at him again.
Until Laxus understood what he was dealing with, he had no intention of blocking it with his body.
He retreated several times, opening up the distance between them.
Kirin chuckled and placed the coffin upright in front of himself.
"I was only joking when I said I'd put you inside this coffin. There's already a soul resting within it."
"The soul of a king..."
...
"?"
As Raizel made his way through the labyrinth, he suddenly sensed an eerie burst of Magic Power.
The Dogramag Labyrinth began to shake around him.
"Something feels strange."
Selene and Irene sensed it as well.
They had encountered mechanical beasts of their own, but the creatures were little more than insects before them.
Irene had even seized control of several and made them destroy one another.
Elsewhere, Lily was lecturing Gajeel.
"I told you not to touch anything, Gajeel..."
"I didn't mess with anything!" Gajeel protested shamelessly. "I only took out a stone that was already sitting there."
In his hand was a round stone sphere he had removed from the mouth of a dragon-beast statue.
"How is that not messing with it?!"
Before Lily could continue complaining, the layout of the labyrinth suddenly began to change.
Some sections rose while others descended.
The shifting floor nearly separated Gajeel and Lily, but Gajeel leaped down and managed to grab him before the gap widened.
Kirin and Laxus's battle was also forced to stop when the ground beneath Kirin began sinking.
"The floor?"
"Is the labyrinth rearranging itself?"
Kirin looked up at Laxus, who remained on the higher ledge, and smiled.
"Looks like you escaped with your life, Lightning Brother."
Laxus looked down at him.
"I was about to stuff you into that coffin. What a shame."
"I already told you, didn't I? There's a soul inside it."
Laxus laughed.
"Looking forward to our next meeting, Coffin Brother."
...
Raizel did not move.
He leaned against the wall and waited for the labyrinth to finish rearranging itself.
Selene and Irene made the same decision.
The people who suffered most were Mira and Erza, who had worked so hard on their maps.
Mira had been sketching one as she and Ultear explored, while Erza had done the same during her journey with Kagura.
Erza pressed her lips together, looking close to tears.
"I was almost finished with the map..."
Kagura glanced at the drawing.
After seeing the incomprehensible mess of lines, she wisely remained silent.
Mira's map belonged to a similarly abstract school of art.
Ultear had also been recording their route through her crystal ball, but now that the entire labyrinth had changed, her record was probably useless too.
Once the transformation ended, Gajeel and Lily found themselves reunited with Erza and Kagura.
Lucy, meanwhile, had been separated from Natsu and Wendy.
The stone blocks around them had broken apart and shifted like an enormous set of building blocks.
The movement immediately triggered Natsu and Wendy's motion sickness, while Lucy lost her footing and fell to a lower level.
"Oh, this is perfect. I finally found you."
Kiria stood above her with one hand on her hip, looking down with open hostility.
"Kiria!"
Lucy quickly scrambled to her feet and took a defensive stance.
...
"Do you know why the labyrinth suddenly changed?" Erza asked Gajeel and Lily, one hand planted on her hip.
"Yes."
Lily nodded awkwardly and pointed at Gajeel beside him.
"..."
Under the unfriendly gazes of Erza and Kagura, Gajeel quietly took several steps backward.
"Wait!"
Erza and Kagura suddenly went on guard.
A powerful source of Magic Power was approaching.
Misaki appeared before them, twirling one of her braids around a finger while resting her other hand lightly against her waist.
"My, there are so many targets here."
"I'm Misaki, the Azure Dragon. Have any of you seen my little sister Kiria?"
Without waiting for an answer, she continued,
"We became separated. That girl is always forgetting things whenever I'm not around."
"Who is she?" Gajeel asked.
Even from a distance, he could tell that Misaki was no ordinary opponent.
"She's strong."
Kagura had already placed her hand on Archenemy.
"Oh? At least you have some self-awareness."
As Misaki spoke, she raised a hand and aimed it at Erza.
"Look out!"
Kagura suddenly sensed danger and tackled Erza to the floor.
Misaki's Magic continued past them and struck Gajeel behind them.
The clothing covering his upper body was instantly torn apart.
"That was close..."
Gajeel had crossed his arms in front of himself, transforming his entire body into metal scales.
Had he reacted even a moment later and taken that spatial blade with ordinary flesh, he might have been incapacitated immediately.
"Oh?"
Misaki looked briefly surprised.
"Impressive defense. I expected to tear your body apart along with your clothes."
"And your reaction was quick as well."
Her gaze shifted back toward Kagura.
Kagura had only recognized traces of Spatial Magic within Misaki's Magic Power.
Ever since Ultear began learning Spatial Magic from Selene, Kagura had regularly sparred with her.
"It's probably Spatial Magic," Kagura warned Erza and Gajeel.
She drew both the unsealed Archenemy and the dragon-slaying sword Astron.
Erza Requipped the Ink Dragon Armor and gripped her Fangtian Halberd.
She had noticed it too.
That first attack had been aimed at her.
"I'm going in! Heh!"
Gajeel entered Iron Shadow Dragon Mode and sank into the shadows, rushing toward Misaki.
...
Once the labyrinth stopped shifting, Raizel continued forward.
As he entered a dark, narrow corridor, the sound of wooden sandals striking stone reached his ears.
Before long, a young man in samurai robes appeared ahead of him, a sword hanging at his waist.
It was Suzaku, the Vermilion Dragon of the Black Dragon Slayer Knights.
Suzaku stared at Raizel with visible tension.
"Who are you?"
Raizel carried no obvious weapon, yet the pressure coming from him was overwhelming.
He answered with a question of his own.
"And who are you? Shouldn't you introduce yourself before asking someone else's name?"
"Besides, you look younger than me."
Suzaku paused before answering politely,
"My apologies. I am Suzaku of the Black Dragon Slayer Knights."