However, just before they could touch him, they stopped.
"I am right, ain't I?" Kazu asked while looking at the beams of lightning in front of him. He hadn't stopped them. It was all Laxus.
"I know what you are trying to do. If you are trying to stop me with that, then it won't work." Laxus calmly said, but the expression on his face was anything but calm.
He was pissed.
"I have a hidden card. It can turn the tides." Kazu said with a serious face.
"A hidden card? What— actually don't tell me." He glanced at Eris, who was looking at them.
Lightning beams appeared in front of Laxus, which rushed at Eris.
"Just tell me about that card's strength." Laxus believed that Kazu wasn't lying. Even if the latter was lying, he could only stall Laxus for a bit of time before the latter ran away.
"I am not confident in beating Eris directly, but I can beat the current you with that."
Laxus raised a brow. Half of him was intrigued, and half of him didn't like the comparison.
"Just buy me some time. I need to get into the zone."
"Fine." Laxus agreed. He wanted to see the card that Kazu had prepared. Though Laxus had undergone rigorous training since the last time they fought, he didn't believe Kazu had not improved significantly in that time. This was the same man who came with a ridiculous spell in less than a year.
Currently, Kazu could still his stall Laxus for a decent amount of time without getting injured significantly. It's just that against Eris, not only is the latter S-rank, outmatching him in all things, but also the fact that he is a natural counter to Kazu's barrier, which is one of the important components in such fights.
"That's pretty interesting. I am also curious, but do you think I would let you leave, let alone power up? You never had an option of leaving." Eris smirked before joining both of his palms together.
Kazu's instincts suddenly started blaring like an alarm.
"Laxus!" He tried warning the other man, but it was too late.
"Domain: Soundless Death"
---
"What...what is that?" Levy instinctively took a step back.
What stood in front of her was a 6-foot black creature. It had 6 eyes, 4 arms and 3 legs. It didn't move — yet the air around it bent inward, like it was breathing without lungs.
It was looking at them with curiosity, like a baby seeing the world first time.
"I don't know what that is, but one thing is sure. We need to kill that thing instantly. Otherwise, it's going to be bad." Mira grimaced.
'That old man was saying something about becoming the greatest creation or worthless. Which outcome is this?'
"But what about the kids?" It was Happy who asked that.
Mira shook her head. "I thought there was still a possibility before they were those creatures, but not now. That thing is something else. We can't save them anymore."
Her words felt like a gut punch to both Natsu and Levy. Not only had they failed their first mission outside, but it also led to the deaths of several innocent lives.
A purple sphere materialised in front of Mira, as she hurled it at the foreign creature.
To her surprise, the creature didn't move. Just stayed still.
'Does it not have a survival instinct?' Mira's thoughts were soon answered.
The creature opened its mouth and gulped the sphere in one motion.
"What!?" Mira looked at it for a few seconds, expecting any second that an explosion would occur from inside its body, like a water balloon bursting.
However, the explosion she anticipated didn't happen.
To her shock and horror, a similar purple sphere materialised above the creature's hand, and it threw it at her.
Mira instinctively swatted it away, causing the sphere to hit the wall and demolish it.
"It can copy our moves!?" If somebody told Levy that she is in a novel now, she wouldn't deny it. The scene was just that out of the ordinary to her.
'I don't want to die just for the protagonist's character development.' Levy chuckled at the joke, but the smile didn't reach her face.
"Fire Dragon's Roar!" Natsu suddenly spewed out a concentrated beam of fire at the creature.
Just like what happened before, it opened its mouth wide to swallow it.
"Not on my watch." Multiple spheres of destruction were hurled at the creature as it ate Natsu's fire.
Multiple similar spheres appeared around the creature to intercept, but its reaction was too late, causing the spheres to clash on it.
BOOOM
Smoke rose due to the clash.
"Solid Script: Gust!" A wave of wind cleared the smoke.
There stood the creature.
Unharmed.
Next second, it gulped a large amount of air and released a beam of fire right at Natsu.
"Natsu!" Levy watched as Natsu got hit by the flames before crashing into the cave's wall.
The fire beam continued its attack for a few seconds before stopping.
However, much to the other two's shock, Natsu appeared unharm, his stomach bloated.
"Wow! I can eat its flames. I thought for a second that I won't be since he took my flames." His stomach returned to normal as he blew out smoke from his body.
Levy blinked. Mira blinked. Happy nodded.
"...Wow, Natsu is just like that guy."
Mira was quick to regain her composure. "This is perfect. Natsu, you would be primarily engaging with him, while Levy will support you. Just buy me time. I will end this with my next spell." She didn't wait for their reply as she immediately moved all of her Ethernano in front of her.
The creature stood at the same spot, its all 6 eyes on Natsu.
"Leave it to me!" Natsu brought his fist together.
A magic circle appeared in front of them, as his fists got engulfed in fire.
"Here!" A magic circle appeared in front of Levy. Natsu immediately understood her intention as it was one of the combo moves they had previously discussed.
He jumped up in front of the magic circle.
"Solid Script: Wind Rush!" Winds appeared from behind, as he was hurled directly at the creature at lightning speed.
"Take this! Fire Dragon's Iron Fist!" Natsu punched the creature right in the chest. The fire infiltrated its inside, causing it to burn fully.
The creature shot back like a rocket. It crashed against the wall.
"It's absorbing the fire!" Levy yelled after noticing the fire rapidly disappearing from its body.
"Natsu, send all your magic in the next attack!" Mira suddenly yelled.
Natsu didn't question and moved all of his Ethernano above him to both of his hands. "Take this!"
A large amount of fire was generated from both of his hands before he joined them, creating a unique, larger flame, which soon became a large fireball. The air vibrated due to the heat.
"Fire Dragon's Brilliant Flames"
He threw it at the creature, which was still trying to absorb the flame on its body.
"Solid Script: Speed UP!"
The large fireball increased in speed several-fold.
Just before the attack was going to make contact with the creature, Mira finally made her move.
"Darkness Magic: Evil Explosion!"
A dark coloured sphere appeared in front of her, but unlike her normal Evil orb or her Soul Extinctor, this was way more powerful.
The sphere spun into a spiral and fired — a beam that erased everything in its path.
It made contact with the creature just as Natsu's attack made contact.
BOOOOOOOOOOM
The result was catastrophic. All the remaining walls of the cave were torn off.
"Fuck!" Levy cursed as she was blown away due to the wind pressure.
Natsu thrust his hand on the ground, preventing himself from getting blown.
Only Mira remained still in her spot. Her eyes did not leave where the creature stood.
It was only after a few seconds, did that things calmed down.
The dust clouded their vision. Levy used her magic to blow it off.
"Did we get him?" Natsu was the first one to ask.
'You raised a flag!' Levy's eyes widened at his words. She snapped her head at the spot where the creature was.
Much to her horror, there lay a black heart on the ground.
"We need to destroy that! Quick!"
Though Mira said it, her body was still recoiling from the attack she had released. She was still in no state to move. Moreover, her magic was almost depleted.
Natsu was no different, and Levy was too far away to reach in time.
Mira watched with wide eyes as a familiar scene played out in front of her.
The heart wiggled before flesh started coming out of the heart, as it started taking on human appendages.
"No..."
'At this rate, we are all going to die. If that thing starts counterattack, especially with my move, then it's over.' Mira bit her lips. Kazu's words before the mission started came to her mind.
"...It would have been much better if Erza were here. But, I think you should be able to overcome it too."
Mira clenched both her fists tightly, ignoring the wounds on them. 'Kazu was right... Erza would have been able to deal with this easily...I have failed you Kazu.' The realisation made her stomach twist.
"Die!"
The sudden cry broke her out of her thoughts.
She snapped her head towards the source.
There stood a blue cat with a magic artefact in its hand.
"Happy?"
***
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