The Fairy Tail guildhall was louder than usual .
Right in the middle of the air, a massive, glowing magic screen was floating above the tables. Merlin had set up this projection magic before he left for the mountains, and right now, every single wizard was crowded around the bar, screaming at the top of their lungs.
On the screen, Erza was right in the middle of her crazy canyon battle. The phantom soldiers were screaming behind their shields, and Erza's silver sword was locked tight against the giant fangs of that massive alpha beast.
"Punch it, Erza!" Natsu roared, aggressively biting down on a cloth napkin as he jumped up onto a table. "Don't let that stupid overgrown lizard push you around!"
"Shut up, matchstick, she's trying to think!" Gray yelled back, slamming his bare fists onto the wood. "Look at the high ridge! More of them are dropping down! She's completely surrounded!"
Right as the alpha beast bared its teeth right in Erza's face, the glowing magic screen suddenly flickered. The image of the burning canyon violently blurred, twisting into a spiral of light before fading out into a blank grey mist.
"Hey! What gives?!" Natsu screamed, tossing his crumpled napkin at the ceiling. "Put it back! I want to see her finish it!"
The senior mages down at the tables groaned, slamming their empty mugs down in pure suspense.
"Look!" eleven-year-old Lisanna shouted, pointing her small finger straight up at the center bar counter. "The screen is changing! The mist is clearing out! It's Mira-nee's turn!"
The entire tavern instantly went quiet. Every single eye turned back to the floating projection as the grey mist solidified into a completely different cavern.
On the screen, fifteen-year-old Mirajane Strauss dropped straight out of a dark ceiling void, landing heavily on her boots inside a cold, dark stone chamber.
She shook her white hair out of her face, adjusting her tight black dress as she looked ahead. Blocking the only exit door was a Canyon Behemoth—a hulking, terrifying monster caked in thick, white bone armor that actively crackled with dark magic. Floating on six separate stone pedestals around the walls were six glowing, transparent beast soul containers.
Mira didn't want to waste time thinking. She gave her front ponytail a cocky tug and let out a smug smirk.
"I don't need your stupid mind games, Merlin," Mirajane muttered to herself.
She opened her container, forcing her raw magic power to surge outward as she tried to force her full Satan Soul transformation to just punch the beast out of her way.
PING!
The ceiling of her stone chamber violently flashed with a harsh purple light. A sudden, crushing magic drain yanked straight on her container, making her gasp as her power completely snuffed out. Before she could even move, the Behemoth casually swung its massive, bone-plated tail.
BANG!
The heavy impact hit her ribs, sending her flying sideways across the room until she crashed hard against the solid stone wall. Mirajane slid down into the dirt, coughing up a streak of red as she clutched her side.
What the hell... my magic just vanished.
Suddenly, Merlin's recorded voice dropped straight out of the sky, sounding perfectly clear, loud, and entirely relaxed.
"No shortcuts, goth demon," Merlin's voice echoed off the walls and through the guild's screen. "Your full transformation is locked down. You can only use one specific soul from those altars at a time. Figure out the sequence, or the big guy eats you for breakfast."
Down in the guildhall, Elfman slammed his fists together, tears streaming down his face as he screamed at the screen. "Get up, big sister! Don't let that giant ugly mutt beat you! You're tougher than that!"
Inside the chamber, Mirajane scrambled back up to her feet, wiping the blood from her lip with the back of her hand. Her blue eyes were burning with frustration. She looked at the six glowing souls on the pedestals. None of them had labels. She had no clue what any of them did.
The Behemoth roared, charging straight at her with its massive claws raised.
Panicking, Mira lunged toward the closest pedestal, her hand slapping against the first glowing orb. She didn't choose it tactically; she just grabbed it because she needed a weapon.
In a sudden flash of light, her right hand violently shifted. It didn't turn into her usual demonic claw. Instead, her fingers elongated into a row of sharp, insect-like venomous carapace needles.
"Alright, let's see what you got!" Mira yelled, thrusting her new needle-hand straight at the beast's thick chest armor.
CLACK!
The sharp needles hit the solid, impenetrable white bone plates and completely bounced off. The armor didn't even get a scratch. The Behemoth didn't even flinch. It opened its massive jaws and barked a blast of concussive wind straight into her face, throwing her backward into the dirt.
Mira rolled over, her new needle-hand melting back into normal skin. Her whole upper body was bruising.
Great. The needles can't pierce that bone armor. That form is useless unless the hide is already open.
She scrambled sideways as the beast's giant foot stomped right where her head had been, smashing the stone floorboards into dust. She lunged for the second pedestal, desperate, her hand slamming into the next glowing orb.
FLASH!
Her legs instantly transformed into powerful, coiled beast limbs covered in thick dark fur.
The Behemoth lunged again. Mira tried to punch it, but her upper body was completely normal and weak. The monster's heavy shoulder slammed straight into her chest, knocking the wind out of her as she rolled across the gravel, hacking up more spit and blood.
Ugh... okay, the legs just give me jumping power. I can't fight with just legs.
Down in the tavern, Lisanna was gripping the edge of the bar counter, her face pale. "Mira-nee... please stop trying to punch it. Look at the other orbs!"
"She's getting completely wrecked," Gray muttered, his face serious. "She has to figure out what those things do before the monster corners her."
Inside the room, Mirajane was panting heavily, her dress torn and covered in trail mud. She was cornered against the back wall. The Behemoth was slow, but its defense was absolute. Every time she tried a random form, she took a brutal beating.
She ducked under a wild claw strike, her shoulder scraping against the rough rock as she reached out and slapped the third orb.
Instantly, her eyes turned completely white.
Mira froze. Her entire body went totally stiff and heavy, her physical strength dropping to absolute zero. She couldn't even lift her arm to defend herself. The Behemoth was raising its giant claw right above her head, ready to flatten her.
"Move!" Elfman screamed at the screen, his knuckles turning white. "MIRA!"
But inside her head, Mira's vision had completely changed. Through the white glare, she wasn't seeing the room anymore. She was seeing the invisible lines of magic moving under the monster's hide. Right in the center of its thick chest armor, she spotted a tiny, hairline structural crack that was glowing faintly.
A weak point. Right there in the middle.
But she couldn't move. The giant claw was coming down.
Desperate, she broke the connection, her mind frantically reaching out to slam her hand into the fourth orb on the wall next to her.
WOOSH!
Her entire body instantly turned into a light, smoky grey mist. The Behemoth's massive bone claw SWISHED straight through her torso, hitting nothing but empty air. The attack crashed into the stone floor, leaving a massive crater, but Mira just drifted effortlessly through the strike, completely unharmed.
Reforming a few meters away, she took a ragged breath, her heart hammering.
Okay. White eyes let me see the weakness. The smoke form lets me dodge. I need to break that armor crack.
She ran toward the fifth pedestal, the Behemoth turning its massive bulk around to track her. She slapped the orb.
Her right hand violently shifted into a bubbling, bright green slime claw that dripped with boiling magic. She used her beast-leg form for a split second to launch herself high into the air, flying straight over the monster's head, and mid-flight she switched back to the green slime claw, splashing the hot acid directly into the tiny hairline crack she had spotted in the chest armor.
HISSS!
The acid violently ate through the heavy bone, dissolving the outer protective layer and leaving the raw, red muscle exposed beneath the shell.
The Behemoth screamed in agony, blindly thrashing its massive tail around in a wild circle to smash her. Mira hit the dirt, her magic container rapidly running low from the constant, messy soul-shifting. She didn't have time to dodge the swinging tail. Her hand slapped the final orb.
Her torso and arms instantly turned into heavy, thick metal plates.
BOOM!
The bone tail slammed into her iron shield, creating a loud, concussive blast that rang through the entire cavern. The impact sent her skidding ten meters across the dirt floorboards, her metal armor sparking against the stone before she violently shifted back into her human form.
She stood up, her breath completely ragged. Her container was running on empty. She had exactly one shot left. She knew the sequence now.
"This is it!" Mirajane screamed, using the last drop of her power to sprint forward.
She jumped straight toward the monster's exposed neck, her fingers transforming back into those sharp carapace needles she had tried at the very beginning. She drove the needles straight toward the exposed nerve joint behind the dissolved armor.
The Behemoth's giant jaws snapped open, its fangs inches away from her bare shoulder.
Down in the tavern, Natsu, Gray, and the Master all leaned over the counter, their eyes wide as the screen flashed with a sudden, violent surge of blue magical energy.
SNAP!
The projection magic violently blurred into grey mist right at the millisecond of impact, cutting the feed completely and leaving the entire guildhall screaming in absolute, raging suspense.