A sharp jolt of pain shot through Gajeel's fist, forcing beads of cold sweat to roll down his forehead. Gritting his teeth, he yanked back the arm he had transformed into an iron pillar and tumbled several times across the ground to put distance between himself and Chase.
Once he had backed off to a safe range, he finally got a good look at who had struck him. His eyes narrowed, then curved into a cocky grin.
"Well, look who showed up… a real heavyweight."
Although Gajeel was surprised that Chase had suddenly appeared out of nowhere and the pressure radiating from him was leagues above those three pushovers he didn't show a hint of fear. Instead, his arrogant demeanor only grew bolder, maybe even excited.
After all, they were both S-Class mages from the strongest guild in Fiore, Fairy Tail. Gajeel had always wanted a shot at squaring off with well-known fighters like Chase and Erza.
He was a Dragon Slayer, just like Natsu. Stubborn, combative, and always itching for a good brawl. If Jose hadn't hammered it into his head to stick to the mission plan, Gajeel might have already stormed Fairy Tail's guildhall just for the thrill of it.
"T-That's Chase! Chase from Fairy Tail!"
Compared to him, the trembling guildmates from Sabertooth who had tagged along for backup were panicking. Their eyes were wide with dread, and their instincts screamed at them to run.
For Sabertooth, a middling guild barely clinging to relevance, a mage like Chase was the stuff of legend. To them, he wasn't just a threat he was a walking natural disaster.
"Pathetic cowards," Gajeel growled, eyes full of disdain. "You're losing it over one guy?"
Without mercy, he swung his Iron Dragon's Club behind him, sending one of his own men flying through the air.
Growing up in Phantom Lord had taught Gajeel one thing: weakness wasn't tolerated not even from your allies. And Sabertooth? They were just disposable pawns anyway.
"Huh? That guy doesn't show up in the original storyline… and that emblem…"
Chase squinted and glanced down at the unconscious man who had been flung aside. Under the moonlight, the symbol on the man's chest became clear.
"Sabertooth… Why are they mixed up with Phantom Lord?" Chase's thoughts swirled.
This timeline shift wasn't supposed to happen. The likeliest cause? The beating he had given Germain at the last Magic Council summit must have thrown things off course.
Before Chase could untangle the details, a shadow lunged toward him out of nowhere.
It was Gajeel unable to hold back any longer charging in with a feral grin on his face.
"Heh heh… You walked in here like you wanted to die. So don't blame me when you're the first to fall, Chase!"
Gajeel sprinted forward, then kicked off the ground and soared into the air. A gleaming blue magic circle pulsed beneath him, and his right arm morphed into a high-speed, spinning blade lined with jagged teeth.
"Iron Dragon's Sword!"
A sharp gleam cut through the air as the blade dropped straight down on Chase like a guillotine.
Boom!
The moment it struck, the ground exploded into shards, sending rubble and dust billowing into the sky like a sandstorm. Cracks webbed through the earth beneath them, and the violent impact echoed like thunder.
When the smoke cleared, two figures slowly emerged from within the swirling haze.
Chase wrapped his arms around Levy's waist and lifted her up like a child, gently placing her safely back on the ground.
"Chase, Jet…"
Droy came running over, worry etched across his face after Jet had suddenly vanished without a trace.
"It's alright. I used card magic to switch places with him. He's with Natsu, Erza, and the others now."
Chase calmly reassured them as he set Levy down with care, briefly explaining what had happened.
Hearing this, both Levy and Droy finally exhaled in relief.
"Step back for a bit. I'm going to have some fun with that scrap heap over there."
Chase turned his gaze forward. On the shattered street stood Gajeel, head tilted upward, cheeks puffed out with breath.
Powerful waves of magic churned violently around him, swirling into a vortex that funneled into the glowing blue magic circle forming near his mouth. The surrounding energy compressed rapidly, trembling with destructive force.
And then Gajeel flung his arms open and unleashed everything in one blast.
"Iron Dragon's Roar!!"
A deafening bellow erupted from his mouth, packed with high-density iron sand. It tore down the street in a violent torrent.
Anything in its path gravel, dust, entire stone bricks was ripped from the ground, pulverized into fine powder, and scattered into the wind like ash.
"He uses the same magic as Natsu?!"
Levy and Droy were frozen in place, wide-eyed and pale from the sheer force of it.
But Chase remained calm. He took a slow, deep breath and stepped forward, right into the roaring hurricane. His hand reached out and gripped his sealed cardcaster's right wrist.
"This is Magnolia. I won't let an outsider destroy it."
The bronze gauntlet on his arm sparked against the rattling of broken chains. And just as the roar of the iron sand was about to swallow him whole
Chase drove his fist forward.
Boom!!
The shockwave burst outward with tremendous force. In an instant, the Iron Dragon's Roar shattered.
What had moments ago seemed like an unstoppable torrent of magic was blown apart, reduced to harmless clouds of iron sand drifting through the air.
"What?! My roar was broken… just like that?!"
Gajeel's breath caught in his throat as he stared in disbelief.
Down the broken street, Chase stood calmly at the epicenter of the destruction, his fist lowering slowly to his side.
Gajeel was no fool. From the moment Phantom Lord declared war, they had been running intelligence operations on all the key members of Fairy Tail. S-Class wizards were the highest-priority targets.
He knew Duelist Chase well known for his unpredictable and powerful card-based magic.
And while the reports had also mentioned Chase's considerable close-combat ability, to break his roar with one punch?
"That's ridiculous!!" Gajeel roared.
Maybe it was the sudden realization of just how wide the gap between them truly was, but Gajeel who had always seen himself as Phantom Lord's ace completely lost his composure. His mental defenses crumbled. Rage surged through him, unable to accept what had just happened.
Buzz. Buzz. Buzz.
Violent blue magic power erupted wildly from his body. With the support of the magic circle beneath his feet, his skin began to change at a visible pace, transforming into metallic plating etched with a grid-like pattern that resembled the scales of an iron dragon.
A heavy, oppressive pressure followed.
"A strong opponent like you… is the most fun to break," Gajeel snarled.
Fully activating his strongest form, he regained a bit of his earlier confidence. With a wicked grin, he raised his arm, now covered in iron dragon scales, and beckoned toward Chase.
"Come on! Let's fight for real, Fairy Tail!"
…Well.
Faced with Gajeel's swelling fighting spirit, Chase let out a small, disappointed sigh.
He had originally hoped this fight might be enough to trigger a new card from his deck. He was ready to engage in a fierce and satisfying duel.
But based on the magic Gajeel was releasing now… it was just as he had guessed.
At this stage, Gajeel's strength was comparable to Natsu's.
And if you didn't count Natsu's explosive burst potential, Gajeel might have been slightly stronger overall.
But either way… it wasn't enough.
Not nearly enough to trigger a card breakthrough.
"You card-flipping bastard!! You're looking down on me?!"
Seeing Chase's clear disinterest, Gajeel exploded with fury.
"I'm Phantom Lord's Iron Dragon Slayer!!"
He roared and stomped hard on the ground, sending cracks spidering outward. The force launched him forward like a cannonball, his speed boosted to the limit his whole body turning into a blur of gleaming steel.
However…
Holy light suddenly flashed across the city street, breaking through the night.
Three radiant lightsabers descended from the sky, streaking past Gajeel and surrounding him in a triangle!
They hovered mid-air and spun gently, releasing waves of suppressive magic that wrapped tightly around his body.
"W-What?! I… I can't move?! What the hell is this?! Damn it, damn it, damn it!!"
Gajeel struggled violently, his magic flaring wildly. But no matter how he thrashed, he couldn't escape the glowing blades.
The gap in magic power between him and Chase… was just too overwhelming.
"H-How is this possible…?! We're both S-Class… how can the difference be this huge?!"
As Chase walked leisurely across the shattered brick road, each step crunching softly beneath his boots, Gajeel stared at him like he was some blood-soaked monster. Those calm, steady eyes sent chills down his spine.
Since leaving his adoptive father, the Iron Dragon Metalicana, there had only ever been one man who gave him this level of suffocating pressure
Jose Porla, the guild master of Phantom Lord and one of the Ten Wizard Saints.
"I'm not looking down on you," Chase said flatly. "You're just so weak right now… I'm not even interested."
With that, Chase came to a stop.
He didn't give Gajeel a chance to respond. Raising his sealed cardcaster's right wrist into the air
Boom!
A heavy explosion thundered out. The ground split open with cracks radiating in every direction as a massive crater was blasted into the earth.
Chunks of iron flew in every direction. Gajeel's transformation shattered in an instant, and he was slammed back into his normal form.
He lay flat in the center of the pit, arms and legs sprawled, body twitching.
Then, his head lolled to the side and he passed out cold.
....
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