"Code ETD! It stands for the Exceed Total Destruction plan!"
"Now, let's begin the operation to annihilate all those damn angels!"
"Ohhhh!!!"
Faust's declaration was undeniably effective, as the soldiers immediately raised their weapons high in response.
The Magic Crystals of the fallen Exceeds on the ground likely played a massive role as well, making the soldiers finally realize that the Exceeds weren't so formidable after all—they weren't invincible gods.
How could humans ever willingly accept being enslaved?
"This development is truly astonishing," Hughes couldn't help but exclaim.
Panther Lily gritted his teeth hard, glaring at Faust with visible, seething anger.
"So this was the real purpose behind continuously strengthening the military."
"As long as we seize the Exceeds' magical power, we can obtain permanent magical power without any limitations," Faust continued.
"But Your Majesty, won't the Queen just bring her army to attack us?" Coco raised a timid question.
"The military strength of Extalia is incredibly powerful."
"Exactly. That's exactly why we need the magical power of the Dragon Slayer Mages. This is our one and only chance to bring down those so-called gods."
"Now, it all completely depends on whether Knightwalker and the others can actually capture the Dragon Slayer Mages."
Although the Exceeds' military might was terrifyingly strong, the Edolas kingdom wasn't made of clay.
As long as they took up arms and actively resisted, the Exceeds wouldn't be able to win easily—it would undoubtedly turn into a bloody, protracted war.
"Things seem to be completely spiraling out of control. I never expected the humans to actually go to full-scale war with the Exceeds," Lucy muttered.
"This has absolutely nothing to do with us. Neither side is any good anyway—let them fight however the hell they want," Carla said irritably as she kept running.
Suddenly, a sharp spear embedded itself violently into the brick road ahead, totally blocking Erza and the others' path.
"I won't let you take a single step forward."
Knightwalker slowly descended the stone steps ahead, closely followed by a massive squad of royal soldiers.
"Leave her to me. You all go on ahead without me," Erza ordered, confidently stepping forward.
Knightwalker leaped high off the nearby wall, her expression fiercely twisted, and violently thrust her Ten Absolute Guns directly at Erza.
Erza tightly gripped her magic sword with both hands, perfectly parrying the strike.
The raw magical power surrounding Erza and the colliding weapons surged intensely into the air.
"I already found the secret documents earlier; I just need a little time to read through them," Lucy, who was currently being carried by Kagura, quickly explained.
Kagura swiftly pulled Lucy far away from the area, knowing well that the residual shockwaves from the two Erzas' battle posed a massive danger to Lucy.
"I never thought I'd actually be stopped by my own self," Knightwalker narrowed her eyes dangerously.
"It definitely feels strange, but I won't back down," Erza firmly assumed her battle stance.
"I am Erza Knightwalker, Captain of the Second Magic War Unit of the Edolas Kingdom."
"And I am Erza Belserion, a Mage of the Fairy Tail guild."
"Let me see what kind of abilities the Earth Land version of me actually possesses."
The sharp tip of Knightwalker's Ten Absolute Guns suddenly transformed in shape.
"Sonic Gun!"
"So fast! In that case! Flight Armor!" Erza shouted.
After just two brutal exchanges, Erza could barely track Knightwalker's blindingly fast movements, relying purely on ingrained muscle memory to parry the strikes.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
"She just changed her armor and her speed immediately increased?" Knightwalker cursed inwardly.
After a heavy clash between Erza's longsword and the Sonic Gun, the Ten Absolute Guns transformed once more.
"Vacuum Gun!"
An incredibly swift, cutting gust of wind surged directly toward Erza.
"Adamantine Armor!"
Seeing absolutely no way to dodge the blast, Erza quickly switched to her heavy Adamantine Armor to tank the hit.
After separating her massive twin shields, Erza carefully observed the strange changes in the Ten Absolute Guns.
"Is that Re-quip magic? No, is it the weapon itself changing?"
Knightwalker leaped high into the air, gripping the end of the gun tightly with both hands and raising the Ten Absolute Guns overhead as the metal glowed a furious red.
"Burst Gun!"
Boom—!
As the thick dust finally settled, Erza had already changed into her fierce Flame Emperor Armor.
This time, it was Knightwalker's turn to look completely puzzled.
"The shape of the armor changed yet again?" she muttered. "Is this a type of magic that alters both your armor and your sword simultaneously?"
"You're the one constantly changing your weapon, right?" Erza didn't answer her question, but instead confidently countered with one of her own.
"Hmph, when the gun transforms, I can also boost my own combat power at the exact same time!" Knightwalker boasted.
"Though the core principles differ, the actual effects don't seem much different from my Knight magic," Erza noted.
"Oh? The true, destructive power of the Ten Absolute Guns is only just now being unleashed!"
"Then bring it on!" Erza challenged.
'[Everyone! I've finally found the exact location of the massive Magic Crystal! It's not in the royal capital at all, but on a floating island high in the sky, right between the capital and Extalia!]' Raizel's urgent telepathic message echoed clearly in the minds of all the guild members.
'[Everyone! There's even more bad news.]' Mystogan's grim message also reached the members' minds.
'[The royal army plans to completely destroy Extalia by crashing the giant Magic Crystal containing our guild members directly into it. In other words, they intend to use our friends, who are transformed into the Magic Crystal, as a giant bomb.]'
'[As long as the Magic Crystal violently collides and merges with the Exceeds' magical power, an immense amount of magical energy will permanently flood the entire royal capital.]'
Lucy frantically explained while gripping the obtained documents: '[In Edolas, there are many floating islands up in the sky, as you've all already seen, right? I've read they're actively maintained by the magical power of the Exceeds. The book mentions this is strictly to preserve the world's delicate magical balance.]'
Raizel remained completely noncommittal about this textbook explanation.
Raizel personally thought it might just be that the floating islands themselves contained innate magical power, rather than it being solely due to the Exceeds—possibly the residual magical energy of ancient Gravity Magic, which would easily explain their continuous floating state.
However, this was just Raizel's own speculation.
"So, the guild members who were turned into that giant Magic Crystal are all up on one of those floating islands too, right?" Gray asked, looking sharply at Raizel.
"Right. Their position directly above is set specifically for crashing down into Extalia," Raizel nodded gravely.
"In that case, you guys should go up there and stop the Magic Crystal! Natsu, Gajeel!" Gray urged.
"Hell no way! I have to go punch that bastard king right in the face!" Natsu angrily shook his head vigorously.
"Fine, I'll go do it," Gajeel volunteered with a smirk.
'[Then I'll take Gajeel up there,]' Happy's determined voice came through the telepathy link.
'[Good, let's regroup first! Tell me your exact location!]' Raizel commanded.
After quickly learning exactly where Lucy and the others were hiding, Raizel instantly used his Teleportation Magic to reach their position in a flash.
"Then we're off!" Happy grabbed hold of Gajeel and flew rapidly up into the sky, leaving the palace grounds behind.
Meanwhile, the fierce battle between Erza and Knightwalker continued completely unabated.
Though Erza could receive the urgent messages from Raizel and the others in her head, she simply couldn't spare the focus to actively listen or reply at the moment.
"Using Dragon Slayer Magic to completely shatter the Magic Crystal... are we absolutely sure this method is correct?" Happy asked over the wind, still feeling somewhat worried.
"Just trust your damn comrades, cat. Isn't that what you guys always do?" Gajeel tightly clenched his fist and grinned wildly.
Thanks to Happy's incredible super speed, Gajeel and Happy very quickly arrived at the massive floating island where the guild's Magic Crystal was firmly located.
"It's... it's completely huge!!" Happy gasped.
"Yeah... much larger than I originally imagined," Gajeel agreed, staring up at the crystal.
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