"I won't let you lay a hand on the old man!"
Natsu let out a furious roar, forcibly igniting what little magic remained in his body. He physically resisted the crushing weight of the gravity magic and charged toward Bluenote.
"Fire Dragon's... Iron Fist!"
"Weak ant."
Bluenote raised his other hand. Natsu, still mid-charge, was sent flying back like a cannonball. He slammed into the cliffside and was once again pinned to the ground by an even more powerful gravitational force.
"Master!"
Seeing Makarov about to fall into Bluenote's grasp, despair and helplessness washed over Lucy, Natsu, and Happy.
However, in that exact moment, Bluenote's expression shifted abruptly. He released his hold on Makarov and the suppression on Natsu's group, rapidly conjuring a magic circle behind himself.
"Gravity Grip!"
BOOM!
A massive explosion rang out as Bluenote was hammered off the cliff, landing on the ground below with a ragged stumble.
Another figure had been repelled by his gravity magic, spinning several times in mid-air before landing gracefully on the very spot where Bluenote had just stood.
"Goku!"
As Lucy, Natsu, and Happy recognized the silhouette, their faces lit up with joy.
"Lucy! Natsu! Happy!" Goku waved at them with a cheerful grin.
"I'll take them for treatment first," Dumbledore said, cradling the unconscious and gravely injured Makarov.
He gestured for Lucy, Natsu, and Happy to grab onto his arm, and with a soft pop, they vanished via Apparition.
Bluenote didn't attempt to stop them. His focus was entirely on the boy in front of him.
"You're the wizard who defeated Jose, aren't you? You do have some skill."
Grimoire Heart was well aware that Fairy Tail had gained a member with power rivaling the Ten Wizard Saints.
However, Bluenote didn't believe he would lose. He also possessed the strength of a Saint, and in his own mind, he was far superior to Jose. If it hadn't been for that surprise attack just now, he wouldn't have looked so disheveled.
"I'm Son Goku! Please guide me!"
Goku leaped down to face Bluenote, clasping his hands in a formal martial arts salute before dropping into the Turtle School starting stance.
"You want to fight me? First, see if you can even walk to my face!"
Bluenote snorted coldly as a massive magic circle appeared in the sky.
"Gravity Magic: Pressurization!"
A colossal weight instantly slammed down onto Goku, making his body feel suddenly, incredibly heavy.
"Whoa, there's even magic like this?" Goku moved his weighed-down limbs, a look of genuine curiosity on his face.
"You're still standing?" Bluenote's eyebrows shot up. Seeing that Goku wasn't pinned to the ground like Natsu and the others, he immediately ramped up his output of Magic Power.
Goku's body sank further; he could clearly feel the burden on his muscles and bones intensifying. But after a moment of adaptation, he started to feel a bit better.
"Impossible!"
Bluenote's expression finally crumbled as Goku remained upright—and even gave a small experimental hop. Gritting his teeth, the Dark Wizard unleashed his full reservoir of magic, pushing the gravity suppression to its absolute limit.
"Wow, my body is getting really heavy now."
The pressure surged again. Even Goku found it difficult this time; he could no longer jump, and simply walking became an arduous task.
"Gravity Magic: Gravity Strike!"
Seeing Goku beginning to adapt even to this level of pressure, Bluenote hesitated no longer.
He leaped into the air, his fist glowing with a magic circle as he descended upon Goku. If a passive field couldn't crush the boy, he would concentrate that force into a single, devastating point.
Before the blow even landed, the surrounding boulders were pulverized into dust by the sheer atmospheric pressure.
If the previous move was a stable hyper-gravity environment, this was that same force condensed into a single fist. It wasn't as sustained, but its destructive power was exponentially higher.
"Total Concentration: Ki Breathing, 4th Form—Thunder Tiger Flash Strike!"
Goku took a deep breath. Instead of dodging, his right hand erupted with golden lightning and tiger-shaped Ki. He swung upward to meet Bluenote head-on. He loved these tests of direct strength.
KABOOM!
A terrifying shockwave erupted, leveling the waterfall and the surrounding cliffs. Bluenote was sent spiraling through the air, coughing up blood before crashing into the dirt. In that clash of raw power, he had clearly lost.
"How can you be this strong? I don't believe it!"
Bluenote could not accept that he, the Vice-Commander of Grimoire Heart and a master of Lost Magic, had lost to a mere child.
"Gravity Magic: Hyper-Gravity Ball!"
Struggling to his feet, he ignited every last drop of his magic for his ultimate killing move. This technique concentrated gravity into an infinitesimal point, creating a gravitational collapse that simulated a black hole, capable of swallowing all matter.
"This move can even swallow light! I refuse to believe you can stop this!"
"Dodon Ray!"
Goku wasn't intimidated by the black sphere. He had seen something similar before—the ultimate move of Aria, leader of the Element 4 from Phantom Lord, which also claimed to swallow everything. He had blown that one away with a Kamehameha.
This version was significantly more powerful than Aria's, but Goku's own strength had grown even more. He didn't even need a Kamehameha; a Dodon Ray would suffice.
The beam of light did not get swallowed by the "black hole." Instead, it pierced right through the center, shattering the gravitational singularity before slamming into Bluenote's chest. The wizard was sent flying again, hitting the ground unconscious and severely wounded.
Goku walked over and picked up the fallen man, disappearing from the spot with Apparition.
He didn't kill Bluenote.
For one, Bluenote wasn't strong enough to make Goku lose control of his strength.
More importantly, Goku had developed an intense interest in Gravity Magic—an interest that surpassed any magic he had learned so far.
He wanted to learn this Lost Magic from Bluenote.
The reason was simple: the moment the gravity suppression vanished, Goku felt his body and Ki tingling.
He could sense a slight improvement in his physical threshold—a gain that would usually take several days of intense training to achieve.
If I could train in an environment with high gravity all the time, Goku thought, even basic exercises would make me way stronger!
He was determined to master this magic for the sake of his future training.
"Mirajane-san, keep an eye on him for me."
After handing the unconscious Bluenote to Mirajane, Goku grabbed Dumbledore—who had just finished stabilizing Makarov and the others—and vanished once more to find the next "Master.