The God Seed Aldoron stood with his arms folded, appearing not to move at all, yet Magic Power silently gathered in front of his chest.
"I saw it!"
Natsu threw himself sideways, narrowly avoiding the invisible attack.
His instincts and awareness always sharpened during a real battle, allowing him to observe an opponent's abilities and adjust his fighting style accordingly.
"Hah... hah..."
Natsu dropped to one knee with one hand braced against the ground, breathing heavily.
Although he had finally caught the attack's timing, reaching that point had already cost him dearly.
"I don't really understand it, but your Magic Power dropped a little, didn't it?"
Natsu quickly realized the truth.
He had not suddenly learned to see Aldoron's attacks.
Doom's death had weakened Aldoron's Magic Power, slowing the rate at which his spells formed just enough for Natsu's extraordinary eyesight to pick them up.
"?"
Aldoron had not expected Natsu's magical perception to be so sharp.
...
The city on Aldoron's right hand—
Lucy, still wearing her Taurus Star Dress, drove one of the wooden giants backward with a punch.
"Then I'll try this! Star Dress Mix: Aquarius and Scorpio!"
The symbols of two Zodiac Keys appeared on the back of Lucy's left hand.
Scorpio's armor covered her arms and legs, while a scorpion-tail cannon extended behind her.
The emblems of Aquarius and Scorpio were engraved into the belt around her waist.
"Sand and water combined—Aqua Storm!"
A violent torrent of sand and water erupted from the tail cannon, blasting straight through the wooden giant.
The massive creature crashed to the ground, but Lucy also dropped into a crouch, breathing heavily. Star Dress Mix consumed far too much Magic Power.
"This is never going to end!"
Cana and Black positioned themselves in front of the exhausted Lucy.
"We're here to help! Eight Dragons' Crushing Fang!"
Mira flew overhead while carrying Ultear, allowing her to cast from the air.
Eight elemental dragons formed from the powers of the Eight-Dragon Lacrima and tore through the wooden giants.
After setting Ultear down, Mira raised one hand and used the Underworld King's Curse.
"Underworld Tree!"
A colossal tree descended from above and crushed several wooden giants beneath it.
"Now's your chance!" Cana shouted toward Gray and Juvia. "Take out the main body!"
"Juvia will do it!"
"Right!"
Gray and Juvia prepared to cast a Unison Raid.
Metro extended one hand, pointing his palm toward Juvia.
"I am Aldoron's strength. With the power of this colossal body, I shall trample everything beneath me!"
A wooden giant appeared above Juvia and stomped down with tremendous force.
Stone tiles shattered, and water splashed in every direction.
"I felt nothing?"
Metro could feel everything experienced by his wooden giants. That stomp had passed through Juvia as though the giant had stepped on empty air.
Gray smiled.
"There are some women you can't crush."
"Juvia's body is made of water."
The scattered water gathered in front of Metro and reformed into Juvia's body.
"Water Nebula!"
A powerful column of water erupted beneath Metro's feet, attempting to launch him into the sky.
It had no effect.
Metro remained rooted firmly in place.
"Do you truly believe water can harm a tree? Trees absorb water."
He reached out, and Juvia's liquid body began flowing helplessly toward him.
"Juvia!!!"
Gray immediately lost his earlier composure and rushed forward, reaching for her hand.
Juvia could not resist the pull and cried out in despair,
"Aah! Juvia is being absorbed by another man right in front of Gray-sama... Does this count as NTR?!"
"Juvia!"
"Gray-sama!"
Unfortunately, Gray was one step too late.
His hand closed on empty air as Juvia's watery body was completely absorbed into Metro.
"Become high-quality nourishment for me!"
Metro crossed his arms over his chest.
"Absorption: Power of Water!"
Roots spread across Metro's body and wrapped around Juvia inside him, steadily draining away her Magic Power.
The process was clearly causing her tremendous pain.
"You bastard! Give Juvia back!"
"Water Ray!"
Metro pointed one finger, firing repeated bursts of high-pressure water that forced Gray to keep his distance.
Gray froze.
"Ice-Make... No. I can't attack while he's holding Juvia."
Metro was using her as a shield. Any spell Gray aimed at him would strike Juvia first, leaving him unable to fight properly.
"Gray-sama, don't worry about Juvia... Ah!"
Juvia struggled against the roots, but they were far too strong to break through with physical strength alone.
"Darkness Bullet!"
"Fairy Machine Gun!"
"Babies, Baryon Formation!"
Freed, Evergreen, and Bickslow attacked Metro from behind.
"We're here to help too! Enchant: Separation!"
After defeating Doom, Wendy, Kagura, and Erza had begun making their way toward another battlefield.
Wendy heard Gray and Juvia shouting along the way and quickly guessed that they were in trouble, so the three of them hurried over.
Wendy's Separation Enchantment tore Juvia free from Metro.
"Archenemy: Azure Phoenix Form!"
"Benizakura Flash!"
Kagura and Erza shot past Metro from opposite sides.
Immediately afterward, Gray and Juvia unleashed a combined spell of ice and water—
"Frozen Tsunami!"
A massive wave of water and ice engulfed Metro, freezing his entire body solid.
Inside the ice, his form began slowly disintegrating.
"He's disappearing!"
"Did we defeat him?"
Aldoron's enormous body let out another agonized roar.
Raizel, Selene, Irene, and the others immediately seized the opportunity, bombarding him with roars and energy blasts.
Since Ultear, Erza, and the others were still standing on Aldoron's body, most of their attacks were concentrated on his head, lower body, and rear.
With Metro's death, all the wooden giants that had been attacking Lucy's group vanished as well.
Cana looked toward Aldoron's right shoulder.
"The tree people are gone. That means only Laxus's group is left, right?"
Erza shrugged.
"Don't worry. Laxus seemed to be enjoying himself."
When Wendy, Kagura, and Erza left the left shoulder, they had briefly checked on him.
He certainly looked as though he was having fun.
Ultear added,
"There's also Natsu. Happy said a hole swallowed him and dragged him inside Aldoron. We don't know what's happening to him now."
Gray shook his head.
"He'll be fine. Anyone else might get into serious trouble, but not Natsu."
"In that case, let's head down and regroup with Brandish," Lucy suggested.
"Right!"
...
Aldoron's right shoulder—
"You're pretty strong."
The shirt covering Laxus's upper body had already been torn apart, and he was fully immersed in Lightning Flame Dragon Mode.
Gears smiled at him.
"You're far more capable than I expected as well."