Fairy Tail: I Don't Want to Be the Guild Master-Chapter 309: The Iron Wall of the Mountain Dragon!

"He summoned four monsters at once!" Lucy gasped, stunned.

Considering how massive and powerful those monsters were, she couldn't imagine how anyone could maintain that many summons at the same time.

Happy pointed at the battlefield. "You're so slow, Lucy. It's six, not four. Can't you count the crabs?"

Lucy didn't even bother replying. She just looked away.

Natsu, feeling his magic surge back from the buff, clenched his fists. "Oh yeah! This feels awesome... Wait, why do Mira and Rhodes get double buffs, and Gray and I only get one each?"

"There aren't enough to go around," said Rhodes, stretching his neck. "You guys can deal with it. Mira and I are taking the lead."

"Take over: Mountain Dragon Soul!"

With a nod to each other, Rhodes and Mira launched forward. Earthy brown dragon wings and jet-black demon wings cut through the air as the two soared together like twin projectiles.

"Die!" Lullaby roared, firing a barrage of dark magic bullets. Dozens of glowing orbs came raining down like machine-gun fire.

Rhodes and Mira weaved through the storm with expert precision, gliding and spinning in tandem. Occasionally, they even bumped into each other midair to help redirect or dodge, working in perfect sync.

"Uhh, are those things coming toward us?!" some of the guild masters panicked. Not all of them were used to frontline combat.

Lucy looked just as terrified. "Happy! Fly me out of here!"

"We're out of magic, and besides, there's no need," Happy said with a calm shrug. "We'll be fine."

He was right. Between Erza, Gray, the summoned beasts, and the buffs, they had solid defense.

Just as the bullets rained down, a Blue Sentinel stepped forward and raised its arms to shield Lucy and Happy, tanking every hit with ease.

The other Blue Sentinel and both Bramblebacks formed a protective line around the guild leaders, covering both the panicked and the calm.

The golems were barely scratched, and while the tree beasts were slightly damaged, they quickly regenerated.

Gray cast ice shields rapidly, each one thick and seamless. Erza, in her armor, adjusted mid-formation with incredible timing, protecting the others between slashes.

The guild leaders looked on with awe.

"Such control..."

"What speed!"

"They're still kids!"

And then came the real hit.

Rhodes and Mira reached Lullaby, fists blazing with magical energy. Together, they smashed the demon right in the jaw.

Lullaby's head snapped back, and the two magic bullets still lodged in its mouth exploded, sending smoke billowing from its ears and nose.

Then its entire colossal body lifted off the ground and slammed into the forest with a tremendous crash. Trees shattered, dirt flew, and the earth shook as if an earthquake had hit.

"That thing was sent flying!"

"They knocked it down with just one punch each?!"

"Wait, aren't they mages? What kind of wizard fights like that?!"

"This is Mirajane the Demon and Rhodes the Fairy Strategist!"

"Okay, sure, Demon Mirajane makes sense... but what kind of strategist runs straight into the frontlines throwing punches?!"

Makarov beamed with pride as his old friends praised the young generation.

'Ah, nothing better than listening to others brag about your kids.'

Lullaby groaned and tried to lift itself back up.

But before it could even fully rise, Natsu rocketed toward it, twisting in midair and slamming a flaming kick into its face.

"Fire Dragon's Claw!"

Lullaby's massive body began to lean and stagger under the barrage.

Across from him, Gray cracked his knuckles and readied his stance.

"Ice-Make: Lancer!"

Dozens of razor-sharp ice spears surged forth, all aimed at the opposite side of Lullaby's face. Oddly, each icy spear shimmered with a faint red flame.

"Wooaagh!" The spears struck with explosive force, shaking Lullaby and ironically keeping him upright, propping his head up in the most brutal way possible.

"Requip: Purgatory Armor!"

Erza called out, feeling her magic power restored thanks to Rod's support. She switched into her fearsome black-and-scarlet armor, her dual jagged swords blazing with fire.

"Purgatory Shatter!"

She leapt behind Lullaby and slashed both swords downward in a brutal arc. The back of the demon's skull dented under the strike, reverberating with a crunch that made even the spectators wince.

Lullaby's head was practically yanked forward by the blow, like Erza had forced the giant monster to do a sit-up against its will.

And right in front of that perfectly exposed position—

"Roar of the Mountain Dragon!" Rhodes unleashed a furious storm of swirling, jagged earth from his mouth.

"Soul Extinction!" Mira roared alongside him, her palms launching a devastating wave of dark purple and black energy.

The two attacks, raw, destructive, and overwhelming, collided as they struck, merging mid-air into a devastating fusion of mountain magic and demon energy. Lullaby's upper body was consumed in the blast, engulfed in light and force.

"AAAAARGH!" Lullaby's scream echoed across the mountain. The ground beneath him shattered from the force, caving in and forming a massive circular crater with jagged fissures reaching outward from the epicenter.

"Whoa..." Lucy stood frozen, eyes wide with awe. "That was incredible... the coordination, the power... I've never seen anything like it."

She had fought alongside them briefly but seeing them cut loose in sync like this? It was on another level.

Rhodes, though, didn't look satisfied.

He glanced at Mira beside him. In his mind, he knew they could go further. He had read about Unison Raid, the ultimate combination of magic where two wizards' hearts and auras synchronized to create a single, merged spell. This wasn't that... but it was getting close.

At least their magic didn't cancel each other out. That was a start.

"It's not over yet!" Natsu yelled from below. "Gray! Hit me!"

Gray didn't question it. He instantly threw a punch, because whether or not Natsu had a plan, punching him was always satisfying.

But then, to everyone's shock, Natsu leaned forward and bit down on Gray's fist.

"Hey! Let go already! That's gross!" Gray shouted, trying to yank his hand back.

"Heh, thanks for the snack!" Natsu grinned.

He wasn't interested in Gray's punch, he had bitten down just to devour the flame still clinging to it.

Flames of slightly different colors ignited in both of Natsu's hands. Raising them overhead, he declared,

"Left flame, right flame, merge and become one!"

"Wait, you moron! That's the venue for the regular meeting!" Rhodes shouted in alarm. He recognized this move. Its power wasn't something to take lightly.

Flipping midair, Rhodes shouted back, "Mira, launch me down!"

"Got it!" Mira curled her legs and, with both feet, kicked Rhode's soles downward like a rocket.

Rhodes plummeted like a meteor. The moment he hit the ground, Natsu unleashed his magic.

"Fire Dragon's... Brilliant Flame!"

"Mountain Dragon's... Iron Wall!"

A torrent of fire surged from between Natsu's hands, engulfing Lullaby in a blazing inferno. The intense heat rushed outwards, threatening to scorch everything in its path.

But at the same moment, a circle of towering stone walls burst up from the earth, summoned by Rhodes. The walls rose quickly and firmly, enclosing Lullaby and leaving only a single open gap—facing Natsu's direction.

"Did... did Rhodes just pull that off?" Even Makarov was astonished. "When did he master such a technique?"

"What incredible earth magic!" one of the guildmasters exclaimed.

"Is he related to Jura of the Rock Iron tribe or something?"

Though Natsu's flames couldn't breach the walls, they were captured and redirected inward by the stone circle, concentrating the heat at the center.

In other words, Rhodes hadn't just saved the regular meeting's venue. He'd turned the battlefield into a giant oven with Lullaby trapped inside.

...

Bonus @400 💎💎