The scorched earth of the Black Bone Mountain Range still smelled of sulfur from the explosions. The valley floor, originally covered in jagged rocks and low shrubs, had long been blasted into a crater over three meters deep, with not a single intact stone to be found.
Riyao stood in the very center of the pit. His clothes had long been shredded into rags, and the golden Fairy Tail emblem revealed on his left chest flickered intermittently, its edges still stained with some scorched blackness that hadn't yet faded.
He looked up at Nildo Longla, who was floating fifty meters in the air, flapping his dark purple bone wings. He almost ground his molars to dust, and after holding it in for a long time, he could only let out a long sigh: "Damn it, I can't reach him to fight, and I can't run away. So, I'm basically just a particularly durable mobile target now."
Riyao suddenly noticed something.
His eyes darted, and a bad idea immediately popped into his head. He decisively cut off the magic supply to [Hundred Battles]. The golden patterns that had covered his body receded into the guild emblem on his left chest like an ebbing tide. The emblem, which had been glowing hot, instantly dimmed to a pale gold. Along with it, his face turned eight shades paler in an instant, and a dense layer of cold sweat broke out on his forehead. His back slumped and his waist bent as if his bones had been removed, acting even more like a case of magic depletion than the real thing.
He simply sat down on the gravel-covered ground, stretched his legs out, and slumped like a piece of melted taffy, waving his hand feebly: "I'm tired, I'm tired. Do whatever you want."
As he spoke, he glanced up at Nildo in mid-air, deliberately curling his lip to provoke him: "I say, you mutt-bird, come on, tie me up and take me away. I'm not even resisting anymore, yet you still don't dare come down to bind me. You definitely have some 'feather' issues—hmm, indeed, the feathers on your wings are all scorched. It's so ugly it hurts my eyes."
Nirdo Longla indeed stopped flapping his wings, hanging forty meters up in the air, neither rising nor falling. His metallic face was wrinkled enough to crush a fly. He had been wearing this kid down for nearly three hours, consuming thirty percent of his own magic in the process. The opponent had been lively just a moment ago; why had he suddenly given up?
A trap? Definitely a trap!
He frowned and didn't dare move a single step down, his mind racing as he guessed whether Riyao was cooking up some other nasty trick to drag him down.
Riyao casually picked up a fist-sized rock from the ground and tossed it lightly toward him. The rock was limp, without a hint of magic attached. It lost its momentum before flying even twenty meters and fell, grazing the tip of Nildo's wing.
Nildo Longla instinctively raised a wing to block, and the rock shattered into dust with a "crack," without even knocking off a single feather from his wing.
Oh? Is his magic really drained? His heart leaped with joy, and the weight on his mind instantly vanished. He had been wary of the opponent pulling some root or vine trick again, but now it seemed he truly couldn't hold on anymore. After all, no matter how strong the Healing Magic was, it should be hitting rock bottom after three hours.
He immediately gave a sinister laugh. With a flap of his bone wings, he dropped over a dozen meters. A binding seal had already condensed at his fingertips, as he prepared to go down, tie up this perfect vessel, and offer him to Lord Zeref.
Just as he was less than twenty meters from the ground and his mind was already beginning to fantasize about fulfilling his long-held wish, a sudden roar erupted from behind the mountain rocks on the side:
"Roar of the Thunder Dragon!"
A golden lightning roar, carrying a violent force capable of splitting boulders, came crashing down on Nildo! The speed was like a flash of lightning. Nildo's attention was entirely on Riyao below, so he had no time to react. He only managed to turn his body slightly, and his entire left wing took the hit full force.
"Crack—"
The dark purple bone wing was instantly blasted to pieces by the lightning. Scorched feathers fell like rain along with sparks. Nildo let out a scream of agony, his magic instantly went into chaos, and he plummeted straight toward the ground like a kite with its string cut.
Having waited for this moment, how could Riyao let the opportunity slip?
The youth who had been slumped on the ground like a wet noodle just moments ago instantly sprang up. The rock beneath his feet was kicked into powder, and he shot upward over twenty meters like a cannonball, accurately grabbing Nildo's metal-modified ankle.
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Riyao laughed wildly as he swung him: "You had a lot of fun throwing those exploding feathers earlier, didn't you?"
He swung harder and harder, his grip strength increasing with every turn: "Fly! Why don't you keep flying? Didn't you want to capture me as a vessel? Come on, your grandpa is standing right here for you to catch!"
Dull thuds rang out repeatedly, echoing through the valley like a pile driver. Nildo had already had one wing crippled by the blast, and now he was being swung around so much he was completely disoriented, unable to even let out a scream.
"Trash. Spending three hours fighting a half-human, half-ghost mutt-bird, how embarrassing."
A punchable voice came from the side. Laxus walked out from behind the mountain rocks, munching on half an apple. His short golden hair still crackled with lingering lightning. He held a leather bag containing the mission reward in one arm, while his other hand was shoved in his pocket, wearing a "I was just passing by and saved you" look.
Riyao didn't stop his movements, swinging Nildo around a few more times before finding the time to snap back: "You have the nerve to say that? I've been getting blasted here for three hours, and you were just squatting nearby watching the show for three hours, weren't you? I saw that you deliberately aimed that roar off-center! Were you just waiting for me to be almost worn out before coming out to steal the kill?"
"Hmph." Laxus took a bite of the apple with a crisp crunch.
"This request involves a Dark Guild, and the Council just raised it to S-Class."
"Laxus, you're not an S-Class Mage either."
"The old man called nearby members to help."
As he spoke, he tilted his chin, gesturing toward the nearly pulped Nildo in Riyao's hand. "That's enough. Any more smashing and he'll be meat paste. The Council wants him alive for questioning; they said they want to interrogate him about things related to Zeref."
Riyao gave an 'oh' and casually tossed Nildo Longla onto the ground, stepping on him. He unfolded a jade-green magic circle and cast Healing Magic, healing him about thirty percent—just enough so he wouldn't die.
After waking him up and ensuring Nildo Longla stayed conscious, he tied him up with a rope and dragged him toward the Council's temporary camp. Along the way, he'd give the rope a jerk whenever he was unhappy, and another jerk to celebrate when he was happy.
"Ah, I really need to find a way to improve my long-range attacks when I get back. Otherwise, next time I run into a flying mutt-bird like this, I'll have to squat on the ground and get blasted for half the day again." Riyao grumbled as he walked, gesturing as if throwing energy bolts. "If all else fails, learning to fly would work too. Relying on jumping isn't a long-term solution; last time I jumped my highest, I almost threw out my back."
Laxus walked beside him, munching on a freshly picked sour wild fruit. Hearing this, he scoffed and coldly spat out two words: "Trash."
"Hmph Trash" Riyao immediately mimicked his usual arrogant manner, tilting his chin and crossing his arms. He pinched his throat to imitate Laxus's cold, drawn-out tone, deliberately wobbling his head to mimic Laxus's frowning expression—the very picture of a punchable tsundere clone.
"Hey, you bastard, do you want a beating?"
Laxus looked over.
"Tch, I can't be bothered with you."
Riyao swung Nildo Longla with one hand while holding up his pants with the other.
Beside him, Laxus's peripheral vision caught sight of the Sunflower Long Johns he was revealing. He froze for two seconds before erupting into a merciless fit of laughter, even spitting the pit of the sour fruit a great distance. "That's so childish! How old are you, and you're still wearing flowery long johns? How embarrassing."