"Thank you for your hard work, Black Pheasant Foot mages."
"You've done a great job leave the rest to me."
Even while standing amidst the roaring thunderstorm, Ches's calm and steady voice reached Ina and the others clearly, word for word.
His dark red cloak, fluttering wildly in the storm winds, was like a ray of light rising from the abyss, dispelling the despair that had taken hold of the three injured wizards.
...But wait.
Wasn't Ches wearing a long robe just a moment ago?
Now he was suddenly in a sleek, sleeveless battle cape, looking sharper than ever.
Well, of course he changed at the speed of light before taking action.
In truth, Ches had originally intended to wait a bit longer he wanted to see what the pirates would do next. Though that giant demon claw was terrifying, it still wasn't enough to take the lives of Ina and her two teammates.
And this observation matched his earlier suspicions:
Marshall, the client who issued the S-rank commission, and this group of pirates... they were connected. And more than that they clearly needed a large number of wizards for something.
If the trio had just been arrogant loudmouths, it wouldn't have concerned him.
But Ina's sincere words from earlier "Guilds help each other. We'll protect you" had stuck with him.
He couldn't just stand by and watch these three kind-hearted mages be crushed in hopeless despair.
So even though what he was about to do next might make things messier...
It could still be summed up very simply
Crush everything head-on.
Beat up these pirates right in front of me!
"Mr. Ches, please be careful..."
"I've seen that black claw magic once before. I'm sure of it. That pirate captain…"
With Bukolevin's help, Ina sat up with difficulty and raised her trembling hand, pointing toward the pirate captain who was now frowning at Ches's sudden appearance.
"...He's the leader of the dark guild Deep Swamp Cluny Blood!"
"The dark guild Deep Swamp?" Ches blinked, momentarily surprised.
He had heard of that name before.
Deep Swamp wasn't part of the Balam Alliance, nor did it belong to infamous groups like the Oración Seis, Tartaros, or Grimoire Heart. It was an independent dark guild that suddenly became active in Fiore around two years ago.
That was also when Ches had taken on a ten-year mission and left the public eye.
Back then, Deep Swamp had been besieged by a guild alliance led by Blue Pegasus, and was thought to have been crushed.
But now?
Instead of disbanding they'd just changed strategy and gone to sea.
They had become pirates.
"I see..." Ches muttered. "Well, it's not exactly useful to me… but thanks for the reminder anyway."
With his back to her, he waved casually an easy, confident gesture and looked up at the pirates floating in midair, ready to strike.
Ina's mouth twitched helplessly.
She had only subconsciously blurted out the pirate captain's identity not because she expected it to help much.
But for some reason, Ches's response still made her inexplicably angry.
"That last sentence didn't need to be said at all!"
If the situation weren't so tense, Ina would've really wanted to complain.
"Hey… what's he doing now?"
Bukolevin's quiet exclamation beside her broke through her inner rant.
Looking up, she saw Ches walking slowly across the deck, the one torn apart earlier by the demon claws. He stopped at the edge and stared silently at the surging sea below.
The hurricane had faded.
And now, the pirates hovering in the sky finally reacted, their expressions changing as their eyes landed on the Fairy Tail emblem gleaming on Ches's arm.
"That emblem?! He's a wizard from Fairy Tail?!"
"Maaan, no wonder! I was wondering why there were only three pieces of junk on a ship this big!"
"Haha, wouldn't it be even more satisfying to crush a Fairy Tail wizard underfoot? Just thinking about it gets me fired up!"
Despite their arrogant words and even letting key information slip by accident the pirates weren't foolish.
They quietly activated the magic circles beneath their feet, rising higher into the sky to a safer, more dominant altitude.
The man who had so casually shattered Captain Cluny's magic was clearly no pushover.
Maintaining air superiority was crucial.
Ches noticed every movement.
His right hand, hanging calmly at his side, began to glow faintly light flashing at his fingertips.
A monster card materialized in his palm.
Air superiority?
"Sorry, it doesn't exist here!"
"I don't care what you think of me," Ches said with a smile, spreading his hands, "but there's one thing I need to correct."
He raised his thumb and pointed behind him at Ina and the other two, his eyes sharpening as he spoke:
"They're not trash. They're all outstanding wizards!"
The moment the words left his mouth, Ches dashed forward and leapt off the merchant ship straight into the sea before him!
"Mr. Ches?!" Ina and the others cried out in shock.
Before they could even rush forward to check on him, a sharp, hoarse dragon roar echoed across the sea.
Roooaaarrr!!
The water exploded upward, spraying waves in all directions as a deep yellow shadow surged into the sky.
Its bone wings unfurled in the wind, and its spiked trunk pulsed with crimson light like glowing energy nodes.
The pirates squinted toward the sky and instantly turned pale, their arrogance vanishing in an instant.
What they saw…
Was a monstrous creature with feral eyes and an aura steeped in evil
Bone Dragon!!
[Cursed Dragon]: A five-star monster card. A cursed evil dragon possessing overwhelming dark power.
Seated calmly on the back of the Cursed Dragon, Ches looked down at the pirates, the corner of his mouth lifting into a bright, confident smile.
"Now, just like you said... let's begin the battle that's so fun just thinking about!"
"Cursed Dragon defeat them!"
Upon receiving the command to attack, the Cursed Dragon roared at the sky. Its bony wings vibrated violently, stirring a hurricane as it surged toward the pirate camp at astonishing speed.
In this world, dragons especially legendary ones were overwhelming to behold. Even a lesser creature like a bone dragon was enough to send most people into complete panic. And today was no exception.
The pirates closest to it didn't even have time to react.
Boom boom boom!
They were swatted aside like flies, flung through the air by the dragon's sheer momentum. One by one, they crashed into the sea like cannonballs, sending up towering splashes.
In just a few seconds, more than half of the pirates' aerial formation had been decimated!
"Damn it! I don't care what kind of monster you are!" one pirate howled. "As long as it's summoned with magic, it can still be destroyed!"
"Attack together!" shouted another. "Blast that thing and the Fairy Tail wizard into pieces!"
The remaining pirates bared their teeth in fury, forcing themselves to overcome their instinctive fear. Like they had done earlier when attacking the merchant ship, they quickly activated spinning magic circles and launched their counterattack.
Whoosh whoosh whoosh!
Waves of magic wind, thunder, fire shot toward the Cursed Dragon from all directions, sealing off every possible escape path in the air.
But Ches, seated firmly on the dragon's back, didn't even flinch.
"You're not the only ones who can use magic," he said coolly, patting the dragon's back and flashing a confident grin.
"Cursed Dragon… let these fools who've never seen the world witness your true power!"
Roar!!
The dragon's crimson eyes lit up like molten fire. Deep in its gaping jaws, a blinding orb of roaring flame began to spin, gathering in intensity as the energy built up compressed tighter and tighter like a star about to detonate.
"Hellfire!"
A wave of scorching heat surged outward, warping the very air as the temperature soared.
Flames from the depths of hell erupted from the Cursed Dragon's mouth, and in the instant they collided with the incoming magic, every single pirate spell was incinerated reduced to ash before it could even reach its target.
But it didn't stop there.
The Cursed Dragon beat its skeletal wings, tilted its head, and swept the lingering hellfire across the sky in a wide, burning arc.
Wherever the fire passed, pirates screamed as they were engulfed, falling from the air like smoking meteors into the sea below.
In just one overwhelming exchange, the entire pirate air force was annihilated.
On the deck of the merchant ship, the three mages from Black Pheasant Foot stood frozen in stunned silence.
"Summoning legendary creatures through magic cards to fight..." Ina muttered blankly, her eyes locked on the figure riding atop the bone dragon.
Her breathing quickened.
"I remember now… I finally remember!"
"He's the S-class wizard from Fairy Tail Ches Lyn Edogard!!"
…This silly girl apparently had the strange quirk of only recognizing people after seeing their magic.
"Whoa, that was incredible! Is that what Fairy Tail wizards are like?" Booklevin exclaimed, his eyes wide as they scanned the burning pirate ships now engulfed in chaos.
"This is a little too much, though!"
"Help! Put out the fire! Someone help put out the fire!!"