Buzz!
A blinding burst of magic light exploded forth. In the next instant, two enormous molten claws surged into view before Mirajane's eyes. The gigantic claws slammed downward, triggering a violent shockwave. The ferocious gale alone was enough to force Mirajane's charging body to stagger backward.
With just that single strike, the magical beasts that had gathered at the castle entrance were wiped out once again.
Mirajane's eyes flew wide open, her heart filled with shock.
Back when she had fought the Beast Apostles, she had already guessed that Ur wasn't weak. But she had never imagined his magic power would be this overwhelming.
"Is he a monster or something? Just a few months ago, he was weak as hell. How did he get this strong in such a short time?"
When Ur had been training obsessively in the guild, practically everyone in Fairy Tail had seen it. Mirajane was no exception.
Even if it wasn't quite appropriate to put it this way, at that time, in Mirajane's eyes, Ur's combat ability was basically nonexistent. Yet, only a few months had passed. Not only had his magic power skyrocketed, he had also mastered composite magic. She genuinely didn't know what to say anymore.
It was… honestly inhuman.
"Move!"
Ur had no idea how much Mirajane's thoughts had spiraled in that brief moment. Casting two Lava Claws at once was an absurd drain on his magic reserves.
The instant the beasts blocking the way were cleared, Ur barked a command and rushed straight into the castle.
Gildarts and Mirajane followed closely behind. As soon as the three entered the castle, Gildarts and Mirajane slammed the doors shut, while Ur immediately cast three layers of rock walls behind the gate as a barrier. Only then did they finally gain a brief moment to catch their breath.
"This is really bad." Gildarts plopped down on the floor without a shred of dignity, gasping heavily.
"With this many magical beasts attacking us, if we can't find a chance to break out, we'll eventually be trapped here until we die."
None of them looked optimistic.
Unless they had no other choice, the three of them didn't want to retreat into the castle at all. This crumbling ruin wouldn't hold off the beast horde for long, and once the encirclement was complete, even their last chance to escape would disappear.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Outside the castle, the sounds of magical beasts slamming into the walls and gates echoed nonstop. The dull impacts made Gildarts' and Mirajane's expressions grow darker by the second.
Ur's face was pale as well. Releasing so many powerful spells in succession had taken a severe toll on him.
But, after catching his breath for only a moment, Ur dragged his heavy steps forward and began slowly climbing toward the top floor of the castle.
"Hey, what are you doing?" Mirajane called out, her gaze complicated as she looked at Ur's back.
Watching Ur's retreating figure, her expression was conflicted. Part of it was shock at the power he had just displayed; the other part stemmed from what he had done earlier. Mirajane could clearly feel that Ur was fundamentally different from the other guild members she knew.
She couldn't sense even a trace of the "love and justice" that defined Fairy Tail from him. On the contrary, in some ways, Ur felt disturbingly similar to the mages of dark guilds.
"I'm going to see if there's another way out."
Ur spoke without turning around, waving his hand at Mirajane and Gildarts as he disappeared around the bend of the staircase.
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Ur quickly reached the top floor.
The moment he entered, he headed straight for the pitch-black gate. He circled it several times, then suddenly spoke to the system.
"System, can this door be used for charging?"
The idea had struck him mid-battle. When he had first backed away from the gate, he had vaguely noticed what looked like traces of gold embedded in it.
Ding!
[To examine an object's material, please place your hand on the target.]
A line of text slowly appeared on the system interface. The font hadn't changed at all, yet for some reason, Ur felt a hint of eager anticipation coming from it.
"Heh, figures. You're a money-grubbing system." Ur scoffed, then promptly placed his hand on the pitch-black gate.
[Scan initiated. Please do not remove your hand.]
The message appeared on the system panel, and Ur immediately felt an unfamiliar wave of energy begin sweeping across the surface of the gate.
A dozen seconds later, with a crisp ding, Ur's heart jumped.
[Scan complete!]
[System analysis confirms the object contains a large quantity of rare gold elements. Top-up is possible. Would you like to proceed?]
"Top it, top it, top it!" Ur's eyes lit up instantly as he answered without hesitation.
He had only been testing his luck this time. Who would've thought it would actually work? There was no way he wasn't using it for a top-up!
If you don't use it for top-up, you're just throwing away free money!
Ding!
[System is refining gold. Please wait…]
[Top-up successful!]
[Total amount charged this time: ...]
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Next Chapter: Money Makes All the Difference
Next Next Chapter: Level Up
Next Next Next Chapter: Talent