"What?! Aren't these Ishgar mages supposed to be trash?!"
The soldiers of the Alvarez Empire stared in disbelief. To them, Ishgar was a land forsaken by the gods—a continent abandoned by Emperor Zeref himself.
They believed Alvarez were the chosen people, destined to rule.
The strongest mages Ishgar had to offer barely amounted to a single seat among the Twelve Shields, and that only deepened their arrogance. To them, the Ishgar guilds were weak, nothing more than prey.
And yet…
"Trash fish? You've got some nerve."
Bickslow sneered as he and Evergreen stood their ground.
"We're the Thunder God Tribe—Laxus' Guard. Don't underestimate us!"
The Alvarez soldiers charged, but it wasn't long before they were all scattered across the floor. Freed's team were Fairy Tail elites—far stronger than the rank-and-file mages Alvarez fielded in the millions.
Evergreen adjusted her glasses and smirked. "Looks like it's just you left, Inquisitor Wall. Once you're down, this ends."
Clap clap clap!
Wall applauded, smiling like he was enjoying a show.
"Not bad. For mages from Ishgar, you're… acceptable."
"You bastard!!" Bickslow's teeth clenched. He could feel the condescension dripping from Wall's tone.
"No, no, don't misunderstand me." Wall's eyes glowed as gears shifted within his body. "I've simply seen through you. Your strengths, your weaknesses… I've already calculated everything."
Two mechanical soldiers materialized at his sides.
"Go."
"Trying to humiliate us with toys?! Linear Formation!!"
Bickslow's dolls fired beams of light—but before they could even hit, they fizzled and dropped to the ground.
"Eh—?!"
"Purification." the puppet-like soldiers intoned, white light radiating from their bodies.
"White Magic?!"
Bickslow's face twisted. His Seith Magic—doll possession—was rooted in dark arts, and White Magic was its natural counter.
The puppet soldier slammed a fist into him, sending him crashing to the floor.
"Fairy Bomb!!" Evergreen released her dust, but a mist spread from the mechanical soldiers, neutralizing her magic before it could detonate.
"What?!" she gasped, only to be punched down a moment later.
"Damn it… my Dark Magic's completely restrained…" Bickslow groaned.
"Use your eyes!!" Freed shouted.
The two reacted immediately. Bickslow removed his mask, Evergreen took off her glasses—
"Useless," Wall interrupted coldly.
Evergreen's Petrification Eye flashed at him—yet he stood smiling, completely unaffected.
"Why—why doesn't it work?!"
"The reason's simple." Wall unbuttoned his coat, revealing a gleaming mechanical body beneath.
"I'm not human. I'm a machine that wields magic."
A low voice interrupted from behind.
"Huh. So you're just a machine. Zeref really does churn out all kinds of bizarre junk, doesn't he?"
"Laxus!!"
Freed, Evergreen, and Bickslow's eyes widened in relief. To them, Su Yan was Fairy Tail's strongest, but as guildmaster he stood apart now. In their hearts, the next name on that pedestal had always been Laxus.
Wall smirked. "So another Fairy Tail mage arrives. No matter how many of you come, your weaknesses are plain as day to me."
Data began scrolling across his vision, charting Laxus' strength, speed, magical power, durability. A hexagonal graph filled itself in… nearly maxed out. Higher than most of the Twelve Shields. Comparable to August, the Magic King himself.
Wall's smile froze. "Impossible. A wizard from Ishgar… with power on this level?! No—my sensors must be malfunctioning!!"
Laxus cracked his neck, sparks crawling along his skin.
"Data? That's all you've got? Numbers on a chart don't win battles. Strength isn't just power—it's belief. Faith." His eyes narrowed. "But you're a machine. You've got no faith. And that's why you'll lose."
Wall's smile twisted into a snarl.
"Just an Ishgar mage. Don't get too arrogant!!"