On the other side of the battlefield, Levy was confronting Deacon, but to no avail.
Her knees bent low, hands resting on the ground for balance as sweat trickled down her temple. Her breathing was ragged, every inhale sharp, every exhale shaky. Across from her, Deacon stood tall, looking utterly irritated, like he'd been handed a chore beneath him.
"Why do I get a little girl like you as my opponent?" he said, his voice dripping with disdain. "I feel like I'm being underestimated by your friends… and that will be their last mistake."
Levy's chest rose and fell as she panted, her lips pressing together. She hadn't fallen yet, but it was obvious—the opponent before her was too strong.
'I can't win against him. I feel like an idiot now to take on an S-Class mission, I never thought it would be this life-threatening'
Her eyes flicked upward for a moment. From afar, she could see Erza flying, clashing against a towering beast in the sky. A flash of steel. A thunderous roar. Erza's resolve burned like a beacon.
Levy clenched her fists tighter. But I'm not going to give up. Not when my friends are fighting with everything they've got.
Shaking legs forced her upright again. She raised her chin, glaring at Deacon as he began his next attack.
"Snow Garden!" Deacon thrust both palms toward the earth. A burst of icy magic exploded outward, snow erupting in all directions until it blanketed the ground in a blinding white. The freezing storm expanded toward Levy like an avalanche, swallowing the entire area in a chilling prison.
But—
"Solid Script: Stone!" Levy's voice rang out. A giant word, glowing with her magic, materialized before her, the letters thick as walls. The conjured text saying stone rose like a barrier, intercepting the wave of snow crashing down on her.
Deacon only sneered. "The struggle is pointless. No matter how long you delay, you'll be swallowed up by my snow. Just accept your fate."
He didn't even pause before raising his hands again. "Snow Burial!"
From his palms, several serpentine forms of snow twisted into existence, hissing like living creatures. The serpents slithered around Levy's stone shield, curling and striking from every angle to devour her from behind.
"No thanks. Dying buried in snow sounds… painful," Levy snapped back, forcing a grin despite her exhaustion.
"Solid Script: Flare!"
This time, she swept her magic in an arc, carving glowing letters that bent around her from left to right. The word Flare burst into existence, spewing continuous streams of fire. A curtain of blazing heat roared out, incinerating the snow snakes as soon as they drew near, melting them into harmless puddles of water that hissed on the frozen ground.
For a brief moment, Levy bought herself breathing room. But her frown deepened.
I can defend against his attacks, but I don't have anything strong enough to actually finish him. My magic isn't endless. If this keeps up… I'll lose.
Her stone wall flickered and dissolved into nothingness, her reserves running thinner.
Deacon chuckled low as he advanced, boots crunching over the snowy terrain. His movements were calm, deliberate, like a predator stalking prey it already knew it had cornered. His pale eyes narrowed as he looked at her. He could see her trembling, see the magic fading around her body. Although he used a lot of magic too, this girl had it worse than him. He understood that he had the upper hand.
Victory, to him, was only a matter of time. But he did not account for one thing.
"Ash Make: Birds!"
A young voice rang out from behind Levy.
Hundreds of birds, each sculpted from swirling ash, took flight past her shoulders. They spread their wings wide—some small as sparrows, others large as hawks—and soared with unnatural precision, their orange glowing eyes fixed on Deacon. In a synchronized rush, they dove toward Deacon.
Deacon staggered, his legs seemed to remember the pain of being burned by an ash creature like this one. . His teeth clenched. "This magic…" he muttered, eyes narrowing. His instincts screamed at him—this wasn't something to take lightly. Panic cracked his demeanor for the first time.
"Snow Tsunami!"
His voice was almost frantic. Fear of being burned again made his casting sloppy, slower than usual, but he still summoned a monstrous wall of snow. It surged forward like an ocean wave, devouring the ash birds in an instant before rushing straight at Levy.
Just as the crushing tide was about to hit her, a cloaked figure landed in front of her with surprising resolve.
Levy froze, wide-eyed. A boy—barely ten years old, with ash-gray hair peeking out from his hood—stood between her and the storm.
Her heart skipped. She didn't think—her body moved on its own. She grabbed him by the shoulder, trying to pull him behind her. "Get out of here!" she cried. She didn't know where this child had come from, but she couldn't let him be swallowed by Deacon's merciless attack.
But the boy didn't step back. He stepped forward.
Shawn's small hands trembled as he stared at the oncoming torrent of snow. His throat went dry. The roar of the magic was deafening, its sheer size promising certain death. For an instant, he wondered if this was how it felt for his mother, in that final moment—standing between him and danger. If the snow took him now, would he see her again…? Would he finally be able to meet her in heaven?
"Solid Script: Stone Wall!" Levy's desperate cry tore through his thoughts.
She poured nearly everything she had left into the spell, conjuring a massive word that formed into an enormous wall. It rose high, thick and heavy, standing defiantly between them and the white tsunami. But her body buckled, her knees quivering as magic drained from her veins. She could barely remain standing.
The boy's eyes widened at the towering barrier before him. He remembered that moment—the moment his mother stood tall like a wall herself, shielding him from the danger he could never fight against. He had run then. That was all he could do. Run.
But not this time.
His fists tightened until his knuckles turned white, his ash-colored hair falling into his eyes as he glared at the magic in front of him. His voice was low at first, trembling, but steady.
"…I've had enough of running away."
The snow tsunami crashed violently against Levy's stone wall, and though it held for a heartbeat, fractures began to spread across its surface.
Shawn's small frame trembled, his eyes fixed on the wall splintering in front of him.
"I never managed to protect the people I care about…" he whispered, voice breaking as cracks spiderwebbed wider across the stone.
His mind spiraled back—back to the moments that had carved scars into his soul.
The last glimpse of his father, forcing a path open so Shawn and his family could escape.
The memory of his mother, swallowed by the snow, her body buried in snow before his helpless eyes. The red bloods coming from the holes, dying the snow red.
His sister's terrified scream as she was dragged away, vanishing into the void, never to return.
He remembered how everyday after that seemed so silent. The world around him felt completely black and white.
He had failed them all.
He had failed his father's plea to protect the family.
He had failed his mother's dying wish to keep himself and his sister safe.
He had failed the promise he swore to his sister—that he'd always protect her.
"I've had enough of this!" Shawn roared, his voice breaking the moment the stone wall collapsed. The tidal wave of snow surged forward, a crushing white death rushing toward him and the girl behind him—the girl who bore the same Fairy Tail mark on her back shoulder that Astro had as well.
For an instant, he remembered Astro—the stranger who had saved him. The stranger who had listened to his venting about his past, who had trusted him enough to fight together, when things turned dire, told him to run while he himself rushed toward danger, without any fear.
Astro's words echoed in his mind:
"I promise you—I will protect you and your friends on this island."
Shawn's fists clenched, his heart pounding furiously in his chest. His eyes burned with resolve.
"I've had enough of promises I couldn't keep… but you showed me—I just did not have enough resolve. I just wasn't trying hard enough."
Ash erupted around him in a storm, swirling like smoke and flame, drawn to his will. His voice thundered as he put his right fist on the palm of his left hand.
"Ash Make: Phoenix!"
From the torrent of ash, a colossal bird took form—its wings stretching nearly twenty meters wide. Its body radiated blistering heat, every feather glowing faintly as if forged from embers. The air warped around it, oppressive yet breathtaking.
Levy staggered back, eyes wide, her exhaustion forgotten as she felt the intensity of the heat surging from Shawn's creation.
The phoenix beat its wings once—and the world itself seemed to quake. Then, with a piercing cry, it launched forward, colliding with the onrushing snow. Steam hissed violently as the wave melted away, reduced to harmless mist before it could ever touch Shawn or Levy.
Deacon's face twisted with shock, his eyes wide in disbelief. The monstrous phoenix tore through his magic as if it were nothing, soaring directly toward him, an overwhelming force of ash and flame.
His eyes widened in alarm—he knew he couldn't withstand that phoenix head-on. Desperation twisted his face as he pooled every last ounce of magic into his final spell.
"Hailstorm Snow Barrage!"
The air around him froze solid as hundreds of razor-sharp snow spikes formed, swirling like a blizzard of death. With a roar, he unleashed them in a single overwhelming volley. The storms of spikes crashed into the phoenix, shredding its massive form into ash fragments—and yet the barrage didn't end there. Dozens of icy spears still tore forward, racing toward Shawn and Levy.
Shawn stood rooted, his body trembling, his magic nearly gone. He could only stare at the incoming spikes.
"I'm still… a failure," he whispered, shoulders sagging, his legs about to give out.
But before the storm could consume him, a hand yanked him backward. Levy, who is now barely standing herself, dragged him behind her. Her eyes burned with defiance as she forced her body to summon one last spell.
"Solid Script: Scorch!"
Fiery letters blazed into existence, burning brighter than the snowfall around them. Heat surged forward in a wave, and the torrent of snow hissed into harmless mist, stopping just short of skewering them both.
Levy collapsed to one knee, panting, but she still managed a tired grin.
"That makes two of us," she said softly. "But it's okay to be a failure sometimes. If you're bad at something… find friends who can fill the gap you can't. That's what I learned in Fairy Tail."
Shawn blinked at her words, stunned. "It's… okay to be a failure?" he murmured. His eyes flicked to Deacon, who was on his knees as well, gasping from the strain of his own magic. Then back to the phoenix—his phoenix—that was crumbling away.
Levy gave him another weary grin. "Yeah. As long as you learn from it, and keep growing stronger. So when the time comes, you'll be the one filling the gap for someone else."
Shawn's lips trembled, but then he clenched his fists. "Yeah… it's not over yet. Even if my sister isn't alive anymore… I want to make sure no one else has to go through what she did." His voice cracked, but determination flared in his eyes before exhaustion finally pulled them shut.
But as if to answer to his wish, the phoenix that had been dissipating into ashes suddenly stirred. The scattered particles gathered again, reforming into an even larger beast than before—its wingspan stretching across the battlefield, its flames hotter, its presence overwhelming.
Deacon's eyes went wide with terror. "Impossible…! The beast was destroyed—!"
The massive phoenix screamed, its cry rattling the air, then dove upon him. Its blazing body engulfed him completely, fire wrapping around his form like a hungry inferno. His last scream was drowned out in the roar of flames. When the light faded, only a charred skeleton remained.
Levy's breath caught in her throat at the horrifying sight. She turned quickly, shielding Shawn's small, sleeping body in her arms. His face was peaceful now, slack with exhaustion, as if the battle had stolen the last of his strength.
Levy whispered shakily, "Who… who is this kid?"
Before she could dwell on it, the entire island shook violently. The ground cracked, the sky split with a blinding white light, forcing her to cover Shawn with her body.
Her heart pounded in her chest as she held the boy close. "Is this… from Astro's battle?" she whispered into the roar of magic.
"Please… Astro…Erza… be safe."
As she also collapsed from exhaustion.