A New Life in Fairy Tail

”Hah!”

Gray shouted, channeling his magic power.

The ground around him began to freeze, and a mist of ice particles filled the air.

”HO—HOO! Excellent magic power! I planned to capture the Salamander, but capturing you first isn’t bad either!”

Fukuro laughed loudly and stomped the ground, rushing at Gray even faster than before.

”Gray! Dodge!”

Happy, watching the fight, shouted a warning.

Gray saw Fukuro charging and tried to dodge, but the opponent’s speed had increased significantly. He couldn’t evade in time.

Fukuro opened his mouth. His seemingly small mouth unhinged like a python’s, stretching wide enough to swallow Gray’s head and half of his upper body whole.

”Gah...!”

Gray’s muffled voice echoed from inside, clearly in distress.

”Gray!” Happy looked on in panic.

”HAAAA!”

Suddenly, Gray’s shout rang out from inside Fukuro’s mouth. His free hand clamped onto Fukuro’s arm, and layers of ice began to spread rapidly from the point of contact, encasing Fukuro’s body.

At the same time, freezing air billowed from Fukuro’s mouth. The owl-man let out a muffled scream.

”HOOO!”

Attacked from both the inside and outside, Fukuro couldn’t withstand the assault. He spat Gray out.

”So cold!”

After spitting Gray out, Fukuro stood frozen in place, his movements sluggish due to the internal and external freezing.

”I don’t have time to waste here!”

Gray glanced up at Natsu, who was still spinning in the air. Natsu’s face had turned a sickly green. Gray had no doubt he was on the verge of vomiting.

”RAAAHH!”

Gray roared, extending ice blades from his right palm and left elbow. He kicked off the ground, charging straight at Fukuro.

”HO!”

Fukuro hadn’t fully shaken off the stiffness from the cold, but seeing Gray charge, he knew he couldn’t dodge in his current state. He raised his fists to block.

”Ice Blade: Seven Slice Dance!”

Gray reached Fukuro in an instant, spinning his body. The ice blades extending from his palm and elbow slashed rapidly at Fukuro, whose movements were too slow to keep up.

Fukuro managed to block the first two strikes, but his stiff body couldn’t react to the rest.

”GAAH!”

The remaining slashes connected, sending Fukuro flying.

He crashed into the ground far away and immediately fell into a deep, peaceful sleep.

With Fukuro unconscious, the magic fueling the missile cut off. The flames extinguished, and the missile, along with the captured Natsu, plummeted from the sky.

THUD!

They hit the ground together. Happy checked for danger, then rushed to Natsu’s side.

”Natsu! Wake up!”

”I... am... so... dizzy...”

Natsu lay on the ground, groaning in agony. Not only had he suffered from motion sickness, but he had also been spun countless times. Every part of his body felt terrible, and his face was deathly pale.

”Hah... hah... hah...”

Gray panted heavily, recovering from the intense fight. He then turned his attention to the other battles nearby.

The long-haired man continued to headbang furiously while shredding on his terrible guitar.

Suddenly, he stopped, struck a powerful chord, and shouted at Ultear and Sorano, ”This is a concert from hell! DEATH ROCK AWAY!”

”Wow, his hair is so long!” Sorano commented, surprised to see his hair trailing on the ground.

”Assassination Guild, Death’s Head Caucus! Heh! Skull! What a cool name, right?!” the man sneered.

”Is this one of the Trinity Raven?” Ultear observed the somewhat unhinged man calmly. As an expert assassin, he wasn’t to be underestimated.

”One of the Trinity Raven, Vidaldus Taka! That is ME!”

As he spoke, Vidaldus struck his guitar again, producing a piercing screech.

”ROCK YOU!”

He shouted, and his long hair suddenly floated up, splitting into tendrils that lashed out at Ultear and Sorano.

CRASH!

Both women jumped aside, dodging the hair attack. The tendrils struck the ground, shattering stone and sending debris flying.

”Ice-Make: Eagle!”

”Sunlight Angel!”

After dodging, Ultear and Sorano immediately counterattacked. They were in a hurry and had no intention of fighting one-on-one.

Countless ice eagles flew from Ultear’s magic circle, diving at Vidaldus. Simultaneously, the angel beside Sorano gathered a sphere of light in front of its mouth and fired a barrage of light bullets.

Vidaldus dodged left and right, weaving through the attacks. When he couldn’t dodge, he extended his hair to block the projectiles.

BANG! BANG! BANG!

After a dense barrage, Vidaldus stood amidst a cratered floor. Though he still wore a sneer, his eyes were serious.

Both Ultear and Sorano had powerful, fast attacks that were hard to evade. Facing both simultaneously put immense pressure on him.

”By the way, you two are quite good-looking! Hehe!” Vidaldus leered at them.

”What is this? Sexual harassment?” Sorano looked at him with disgust.

”Truly unpleasant,” Ultear agreed.

”Which. One. Should. I. Choose? The. Demon. Of. Hell. Commands. It. To. Be... YOU!”

Vidaldus pointed his finger back and forth between them as he chanted.

”Sunlight Angel!”

Sorano didn’t wait for him to finish; she launched another attack.

Light bullets flew toward him. Vidaldus dodged while finishing his chant, pointing his finger finally at Ultear.

”Decided! You are today’s Succubus!”

Vidaldus laughed maniacally.

”Succubus?” Ultear looked confused.

”ROCK SUCCUBUS! HIIIIYAAAA!”

Vidaldus strummed his guitar violently, sending out a piercing sound wave in all directions.

Hearing the sound, Ultear’s expression twisted in pain.

She felt waves of foreign magic accompanying the music, attempting to invade her body.

”Gah! Damn it!”

Ultear stomped the ground. Her immense innate magic power surged, freezing the ground around her and filling the air with ice mist.

”GET—OUT!”

She detonated her magic power, instantly turning the area into a frozen wasteland. Thick ice coated the floor and walls, and the mist thickened.

The invading magic was forcefully expelled from her body by the sheer force of her magical outburst.

Seeing Ultear’s reaction, Sorano realized the enemy was casting a spell.

”Muscle Angel!”

She attacked to interrupt him. A giant angel appeared beside Vidaldus, swinging a fist larger than a human body down at him.

”Hmph!”

His spell had failed, and an attack was imminent. Vidaldus canceled his magic and jumped aside, dodging the massive fist.

BOOM!

The Muscle Angel’s punch smashed into the floor, creating a huge crater that punched through to the level below.

Vidaldus landed in the distance, his sinister smile fading slightly.

His magic, if successful, would have turned his target into a slave who obeyed only his commands. Originally, he had considered controlling both women, or even more people. But after the initial exchange, he abandoned that thought.

Both were strong. He didn’t have the confidence to control both at once.

So he chose one target. But the result was unexpected.

She resisted his magic through sheer magical power alone. Just how strong was her magic?

”Hah... hah... hah...”

Ultear panted. Explosively releasing her magic like that took a toll.

But she was satisfied with the result. Whatever spell he was using, preventing it was the best outcome.

”He casts magic through the guitar sound. Be careful,” Ultear warned Sorano.

”Hmph. Then we just don’t give him time to play!”

Sorano snorted and waved her hand. The Muscle Angel charged at Vidaldus again.

”Ice-Make: Eagle!”

Ultear extended her hands, sending another flock of ice eagles to support Sorano’s angel.

BANG! BANG! BANG!

The Muscle Angel pursued Vidaldus relentlessly while ice eagles swarmed him from all directions.

Vidaldus dodged the angel’s fists desperately—one hit would likely incapacitate him. He whipped his hair around to intercept the eagles.

But soon, he was overwhelmed. He dodged the angel’s punch but failed to completely block the eagles.

THUD!

Two ice eagles struck him directly, followed instantly by a punch from the Muscle Angel. Vidaldus was smashed into the wall.

~~~

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