"They disappeared?"
Gajeel blinked, utterly confused.
"Erza!!!"
Kagura shouted her name, but no answer came.
...
Blue Dimension.
It resembled an endless ocean of blue.
Misaki could draw others into a space entirely defined and controlled by her. Within that dimension, a single second was equivalent to an hour in the outside world.
Hovering in midair, Misaki looked down imperiously at Erza, who had Requipped her Purgatory Armor.
"This is a world where only you and I exist."
"My world."
"My body's floating? I can't put any strength into my feet!"
Erza tried to close the distance, only to discover that her body could not keep up with her thoughts at all.
'A spatial world?'
Once Erza understood what she was facing, she already knew how to respond.
"In this world, I am absolute!"
"Blue Vortex!"
At Misaki's command, a vortex of distorted space tore through the Blue Dimension toward Erza.
"Requip: Nakagami Armor!"
Now clad in the Nakagami Armor, Erza swung the halberd-like blade in her hands.
The strike cleaved through both the Blue Vortex and the Blue Dimension itself.
A radiant slash that seemed capable of splitting heaven and earth tore the entire dimension apart, throwing Misaki back into the real world.
Erza descended slowly behind her.
A delicate flowered crown rested upon her head, while locks of hair at her temples were bound neatly in place.
Her shoulder guards were shaped like three-dimensional lion heads, and a long ribbon flowed from her back like a celestial robe, reaching all the way to her ankles.
Cloth armor protected her hands, chest, and waist, while steel knight's boots covered her legs. In her grasp was the Nakagami Armor's enormous bladed halberd.
"What kind of weapon is that?!"
Misaki's earlier composure had completely vanished.
"It can tear through space itself! Are you trying to deny the existence of my world?!"
Mages such as the War God Dimaria and the Azure Dragon Misaki, who normally used distortions in space and time to toy with their opponents, tended to share a particular weakness.
They despised anyone defiling their personal domain.
It was as if the authority of a creator had been challenged—or as though someone obsessed with cleanliness had been smeared with filth.
Erza's gaze remained cold as she leveled the weapon at Misaki.
"You're welcome to try again."
Misaki stubbornly refused to accept what had happened and dragged Erza back into the Blue Dimension.
Unfortunately for her, once Erza donned the Nakagami Armor, she became an unparalleled blade capable of severing Magic itself.
Holding the bladed halberd low, Erza swept it upward in a diagonal arc.
The resulting slash ripped through space once again.
Misaki immediately poured Magic Power into the tear, forcing the dimension to repair itself.
"I am Misaki, the Azure Dragon of Diabolos's Black Dragon Slayer Knights!"
"The only person who ever forced me to use this power before was Kirin. You should feel honored!"
Attacks came at Erza from every direction within the Blue Dimension.
The greatest danger was that she had no way of knowing where any of them originated.
"However... I don't need to know."
Erza stilled her breathing and focused.
Then, with the motion of a draw slash, she unleashed a dazzling blade of light.
It swept forward with unstoppable momentum, like a sword stroke meant to cleave open the heavens.
Misaki's Blue Dimension was torn apart once more.
This time, she no longer possessed enough Magic Power to repair it.
The slash divided the entire dimension cleanly in two.
"Enchant: Dragon Slayer!"
The dragon-slaying sword Altron appeared in Erza's left hand, while Dragon Slayer Magic enveloped the Nakagami Armor's bladed halberd.
Two intersecting slashes formed a brilliant cross across Misaki's body—
then exploded.
Misaki flew from the cloud of dust, covered in wounds. She struck the ground with her mouth slightly open and lost consciousness.
Erza calmly Requipped her usual armor before turning toward Gajeel.
"That's settled. Now that we've reunited, we shouldn't separate again. Let's continue exploring."
"Yes, ma'am!"
Gajeel and Lily snapped to attention and saluted her respectfully.
...
Elsewhere, Lucy and Laxus had recovered enough Magic Power to leave the chamber where they had fought.
Lucy had fallen asleep while resting, and Virgo summoned herself without permission to carry her.
She had also tied Lucy tightly to her back with several lengths of rope.
"Is that really how you're supposed to carry someone?" Laxus asked helplessly.
Virgo answered with perfect calm.
"No. I simply thought the Princess would enjoy being restrained this way."
Laxus sighed.
"I'm starting to feel sorry for Lucy. Being a Celestial Spirit Mage can't be easy when all your Spirits have such weird personalities..."
...
Raizel and Suzaku continued descending through the labyrinth.
Whenever they found a staircase leading to a lower floor, they took it.
The farther down they traveled, the denser the Magic Power in the air became.
"It's Ignia's scent."
Natsu and Wendy were also hurrying toward the lower levels.
...
At the deepest point of the Dogramag Labyrinth, a heart encased in crystal rested upon an altar.
A pillar of Magic Power shone down over it.
Ignia stood before the heart.
"Looks like the preparations are complete, Dogramag..."
He examined it for a moment.
"I see. So this heart was the key to carrying out the plan."
"You were once my only friend. The only one who shared the same vision as me..."
"Come. Let's begin."
Still speaking to himself, Ignia reached out to take the heart.
A spatial passage opened in midair behind him.
Selene flew out first, one hand shaped like a claw as she struck at Ignia's back and interrupted him.
"Selene."
"Ignia."
Irene emerged from the spatial passage next, walking slowly with her antlered staff in hand before taking her place beside Selene.
With Ignia, Selene, and the lingering presence of the Earth Dragon God Dogramag, three Dragon Gods were now connected to this place.
Add Irene, one of the continent's two great pillars, and the scene had become remarkably crowded.
"You're not taking that."
Selene surged forward again, slashing with her clawed hand.
"What an enthusiastic welcome!"
Ignia bared his teeth in a grin and blocked her with his right arm.
He held the heart aloft in his left hand.
"The heart of Elefseria, the Law Dragon. Though in the end, it's still nothing more than the heart of a human."
"This thing contains records of every weapon humanity has ever created and where they can be found. You planned to use that knowledge to kill either me or Viernes, didn't you?"
"That's right," Selene replied. "I simply didn't expect you to seek the power of humans as well."
"No. I have no interest in weapons made by humans."
"And this heart is no longer necessary."
Flames erupted from Ignia's hand.
The "heart" burned away completely.
Neither Irene nor Selene tried to stop him.
It was already too late.
Dogramag had long since absorbed all the power contained within the heart.
What remained had been nothing more than an empty shell preserving its original shape.
"Dogramag intended to use this heart to carry out a certain plan."
Ignia smiled.
"But it also happens to be my plan."
"Judging from your expression, you've already figured it out..."
He raised an eyebrow.
Selene frowned slightly and pressed her lips together.
"I won't allow you to succeed."
In truth, Selene had no idea what Dogramag's plan actually was.
She had assumed it involved nothing more complicated than resurrection.
Before seeing the heart wrapped in the Earth Dragon God's Magic Power, the possibility had never even occurred to her.
Now that she had seen it, however, she had begun to suspect the truth.