As Mirajane fought against Azuma, who was draining the Island and the Fairy Tail mages of magic power, the battles occurring throughout the Island were swayed in one clear direction.
Bickslow and Fried, who had been working together against Rustyrose and held the advantage throughout the fight, were now forced onto the defensive as their strength sapped away.
"Watch out!" Yelling from a distance, Bickslow warned Fried, who quickly raised his sword, blocking an attack from Rustyrose, whose arm had transformed into a monster claw, forcing him back. Reorienting himself mid-air, Fried landed beside Bickslow, wincing slightly as he glanced down at his arms.
"You also feel that?" Breathing heavily, Fried briefly glanced at Bickslow, who was struggling to keep Belcusas at bay with his dolls, which he controlled the five to stack atop each other, allowing them to fire a sharp blade of magic, forcing Belcusas to defend by crossing his arms.
"Tsk, yeah. I can barely even scratch that thing anymore." Mirroring Fried's exhaustion, he waved his hand, controlling the dolls to return to him as the two mages eyed Rustyrose, who slicked his hair back, smiling. "Ho, it looks like Azuma finally succeeded. I was beginning to worry, you two are pretty strong together, but now…"
While smirking, Rustyrose raised his arms to his side, summoning his Tower of Dingir, which erupted from the ground where the two mages stood, taking them high into the sky as it continued to rise. "... You two aren't even half as strong as you previously were."
Snapping his figure, the tower suddenly exploded violently, causing part of the Island to tremble as the two mages fell through the sky, crashing into the ground, smoke rising from their bodies as they slowly stood.
"Tch, t-this isn't good; we barely blocked that." Wiping blood, Bickslow eyed Rustyrose while Fried stood up beside him. "We can't beat him like this, you got any idea, brainiac?" As he glanced at Fried, he raised his head, looking in the direction of a different battle, one even more destructive than their own.
"Yes. Lisanna said Mirajane was fighting Azuma, right? We just bide our time until she defeats him… Mirajane won't lose." Wiping his own blood, Fried shifted his gaze, pointing his sword at Rustyrose while Bickslow chuckled before smiling. "Hehehe, when you put it like, everything sounds so simple."
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While Fried and Bickslow opted to bide their time and focus on survival against Rustyrose until Mirajane could defeat Azuma, having full trust in their fellow guildmate, off in the distance, Gildarts, who was fighting Bluenote, didn't have such thoughts.
Dashing through the clearing, which the two mages created from the clash of their overwhelming magic power, the two darted toward each other, clenching their fist as they punched each other with full force. As their fists collided, their magic, Crush magic and Gravity magic, violently ravaged each other, creating a localized field of pure destruction as they sought to overwhelm the other.
However, it didn't take long for one to emerge victorious; Gildarts, now weakened because of Azuma, lost the power struggle. "Tsk, dammit." As his crush magic was overwhelmed, his arm was forced back, causing him to click his tongue as he quickly retracted his arm and crossed his arms, blocking Bluenote's fist, which sent him flying back.
Digging his feet into the ground, Gildarts slowed his momentum to a halt while shaking his non-prosthetic arm. "That freaking hurts… The hell did you do? Why do I feel so weak now?" Rubbing his arm, Gildarts glanced at Bluenote, who slowly approached him, his gaze on Azuma and Mirajane's battle in the distance, his expression one of annoyance.
"Annoying. I was enjoying myself." Frowning, Bluenote eventually shifted his gaze back to Gildarts, who raised an eyebrow, awaiting a response. "Not going to tell me?" "There is no point in my telling you." "Tsk, of course you'd say that. Don't know what the hell I was thinking."
Muttering under his breath while rubbing his head, he suddenly clenched his fist before punching the ground, causing it to aggressively tremble as the earth crumbled into perfectly sized cubes, effectively destroying the mountain they were fighting atop. "Since you want to keep your secrets, go ahead. I'll just beat them out of you." Clicking his tongue, he folded his arm, looking at Bluenote as the two fell.
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Cooper POV
Narrowly evading Jiemma's punch by a hair's breadth, I raised my arm, deflecting another fist, wincing slightly as even deflecting his attacks was painful. As he pulled his fist back, my eyes tracked his movement, watching as he pivoted, causing me to narrow my eyes. 'He's going to kick me. I can't dodge.'
Thanks to the poison Jiemma seeped into my body, and my strength being sapped by something else, I was too weak to be his opponent. Before, when it was just his poison that weakened me, I could make up the difference with my experience, technique, and skill, but now? It was impossible.
Even when I knew what he was about to do, I could no longer dodge all of it, and blocking was a last resort; his raw strength was already problematic enough, but his explosion magic was what truly threatened me. One good hit from his explosion, and I might be out for the count.
As I watched him slowly raise his leg, I gritted my teeth and lashed my arm at him; since I couldn't dodge, leaping back to disperse the initial force wouldn't work either, as I'd end up being engulfed in his explosion, which was a no-no.
Just as his foot neared my solar plexus, I grabbed his collar, even going so far as to inject my magic into it to reinforce it. His foot hit squarely against my chest, causing my eyes to bulge as I coughed blood; the force itself threatened to send me flying, but by holding onto his collar, I grounded myself.
In one smooth motion, I pulled myself to the side, just in time as an aggressive explosion erupted from the base of his foot, engulfing everything that previously stood behind me. It was akin to a rocket thruster.
"Look at you, unable to take even a single one of my attacks now. This is what it means to be the king of the jungle! This is what true strength is like!" Glaring at me, Jiemma shouted fiercely, causing me to snort as I punched his face, which he hardly registered; I would've thought my attack was pointless if some blood didn't leak from his nose.
"True strength? All I see is someone picking on someone weaker than them. There's nothing impressive about that." Spitting blood, I wiped my mouth, taking a few deep breaths while grinning at Jiemma, who furrowed his brows. "You admit to being weaker than me, yet you're smiling? Does this amuse you? Have you turned mad after realizing you're going to die?"
Tilting my head at his question, I raised my head, laughing. "Hahaha, amusing? No, not amusing. But I am quite happy. Even if I'm being weakened, I can't help but be happy that I get to fight someone stronger. You see, that's the difference between you and I…" Flashing a ferocious smile, I fearlessly met his gaze.
"... If you're a predator that hunts prey, I'm a predator that hunts other predators!"
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3rd POV
"Hey, guys!" With Cana in his arms, Natsu left the forest, stepping out onto the beach, where he saw the others who had managed to regroup. "Natsu, why are you back? Oh, I see you found Wendy-Eh, is Cana okay!?" Levy, wiping sweat from her head, I waved my hand, smiling as she looked between the four, only worried when she saw Cana.
"Yeah, Cana's okay, she fell asleep during the trek back." Flashing a smirk, Natsu nodded while setting Cana down. "Anyway, I'm just here to return, Cana. Wendy and I are heading to the airship to defeat the guild master!" Just as Natsu turned around, because he was weakened, he ended up tripping.
"Mhm, oh, these are soft. Smells like strawberries!" Natsu proceeded to squeeze the soft objects, sniffing them while Wendy stared at him in dread. Natsu, who was enjoying himself, was suddenly smacked, not by Erza, whose breasts he had been fondling, but by Lisanna. "Natsu! The hell!" Gritting her teeth, Lisanna grabbed Natsu by the collar, repeatedly slapping his face while aggressively shaking him.
"No! touching! Other! Women!" While everyone quietly watched the punishment Lisanna was giving out, Erza, who had been the subject of fondling, tilted her head, clearly curious and confused about their relationship. "Hmph, stop it for now, Lisanna. I think he's learned his lesson. Also, until this weakness is dealt with, we'll stay together. We're too vulnerable alone; we should stay together."
Considering no one was of higher authority than Erza, everyone nodded, even Natsu, who had just been freed by Lisana, who was still glaring at him in annoyance.