As Aria unleashed his ultimate move...
"Defend!"
Two bursts of magic erupted around Makarov.
At the critical moment, Kira sprang into action, narrowly blocking the sneak attack! Aside from Kira himself, the other three were stunned.
"Hmph! Knew you'd be lurking around here!" Kira smirked, retracting his hand as he eyed the flustered Jose and Aria. "Nice plan, but once it's seen through, it's nothing special!"
Makarov snapped back to his senses, stretching out his right arm and landing a solid punch on Aria's face, sending him flying.
"Man, I'm getting old. Almost got caught off guard there. Good thing you reacted in time, Kira!"
"Yup!"
"But the guild..."
Kira reassured him, "No need to worry about the guild. I left a special magic item with Lucy and Mirajane. They'll be fine!"
Hearing Kira had prepared for this, Makarov relaxed. Sure, Kira could be a bit of a goof sometimes, but when it mattered, he was rock-solid. "Alright, good!"
Still, to be safe, Makarov decided to pull back for now. After all, Jose wasn't even here.
"So, got any more tricks up your sleeve?" Kira asked, stepping on the fallen Aria and glaring at the rattled Jose. "If not, it's my turn to play!"
"Ha… hahaha!" Jose let out a maniacal laugh before snarling, "I underestimated you, 'Sage' Kira! If I was only relying on those two, I'd be done for. But luckily..."
"Luckily?" Kira tensed. Does this old creep have another ace up his sleeve?
"That's right, luckily! Lucky for me, I went there myself. You think that little magic item of yours can take on two of my S-Class wizards? How about one of the Ten Wizard Saints, like me?"
Damn it! Kira cursed inwardly. He hadn't expected Jose to throw away his pride and personally join the fight!
This just proved you couldn't fully trust the plot from memory—things could go off the rails with one small change! Kira sighed. "Really, an old geezer like you, sneaking around and pulling cheap shots while we're distracted? That's low, even for you."
Makarov realized something was wrong and shouted to Kira, "Get word to everyone to head back now!"
"Too late, Master!" Kira shook his head.
"What?"
"Phantom Lord's headquarters is a castle with teleportation magic. Which means… Jose's probably already riding that thing straight to Magnolia!"
"You're kidding!"
...
"What… is that thing?"
Lucy and Mirajane, just arriving at the guild's entrance, felt a shadow fall over them, as if something massive was blocking out the sky. Turning around, they saw a colossal mechanical castle.
Mirajane instantly recognized the emblem etched on it. "That crest… it's Phantom Lord!"
Jose stepped forward, standing atop the castle and looking down at Mirajane, Lucy, and the other Fairy Tail members who'd stayed behind at the guild's tavern, lacking the strength to fight.
Mirajane's body trembled. She'd already burned through most of her magic in the last battle. "That's… Jose Porla, Phantom Lord's master! Why is he here?"
Lucy gasped. "That's Jose? The Wizard Saint on par with Master Makarov?"
"Phantom Lord's master?!"
"Damn it, why now of all times?!"
"What do we do? We can't possibly take them on!"
Hearing the panicked chatter of her guildmates, Lucy broke out in a cold sweat, gripping Mirajane's hand even tighter.
"Well, well, well… 'Demon' Mirajane," Jose sneered, his creepy grin gleaming in the sunlight. "It's been a while since I heard about you. I'm impressed you managed to take down two of my S-Class wizards!"
"But this is where it ends!"
Mirajane shouted with all her strength, "Jose! What are you planning? Breaking guild treaties and attacking another guild? Neither the Magic Council nor Master Makarov will let you get away with this!"
"Then let them come! If Fairy Tail is still standing by then!"
"What did you say?"
Before anyone could react, the castle let out a mechanical whir, and a massive cannon barrel rose up, its pitch-black muzzle aimed directly at Fairy Tail's guildhall.
Someone shouted in recognition, "That's a Magic Cluster Cannon!"
Phantom Lord's cannon, Jupiter, drew power from four massive magic crystals, channeling their immense energy through conduits into the main cannon. After compression, it unleashed devastating force. The same principle powered the "Moon Shatter Cannon" card Kira had used on Galuna Island to break the Moon Drip's barrier.
Staring at the Magic Cluster Cannon, Lucy froze. How do we stop something like that?
From atop the castle, Jose's expression turned crazed as he flipped the cannon's switch. "Fire, Jupiter Cannon!!!"
"Mirajane, watch out!!!"
"Lucy, it's dangerous!!"
"Get out of the way!!"
Mirajane reacted quickly, pulling Lucy to dodge, but it was too late!
BOOM! The Jupiter Cannon roared to life!
The deafening blast shook the earth, and a terrifying beam surged toward Fairy Tail, about to level the guildhall. But then—
As if sensing the danger, dozens of golden pillars of light shot up about ten meters from the guild.
To everyone's astonishment, each pillar formed a golden magic circle. The circles linked together, creating a massive defensive barrier that enveloped the guildhall.
The dazzling barrier was inscribed with countless ancient, cryptic magical runes—symbols so complex and obscure that, in Fairy Tail, only Master Makarov could wield them.
"That's… the Amaterasu Defense Array?!" Mirajane gasped. "No… wait, it's a little different…"
The Amaterasu series was an advanced form of magic, only permitted to be studied with the master's approval. Even Kira didn't know it, and Mirajane had only heard Makarov mention it once, never seeing it in action.
"We're saved!"
"Thank goodness!"
The Fairy Tail members cheered, overwhelmed with relief at their narrow escape.
"Damn it!" Jose roared, furious. "A triggered defensive magic array? I didn't think Makarov had tricks like this up his sleeve!"
"But how long can a magic array with no one fueling it last?"
Jose waved his hand, and countless dark projectiles shot toward the golden barrier like bullets. "Dark Barrage!!"
The magic kicked up clouds of dust, but the defensive array didn't show a single crack.
What Jose didn't know was that Kira had no shortage of magic crystals to power his magical devices.
"This won't hold forever!" Mirajane rushed back into the guild. "Master and the others didn't bring communication crystals. We have to try contacting someone else!"
...
"Damn it!" Jose's thought-form glared with hatred, his breath reeking as he fumed.
Kira, unfazed, taunted, "What's wrong, old man? Big cannon didn't work, huh?"
"You did this, didn't you? I underestimated you!"
Makarov, confused, asked, "Kira, what's going on?"
"No big deal!" Kira shot his master a confident 'I've got this' look. "A while back, I set up triggered defensive magic arrays around the guild. That guy thought he could pull a fast one, but his cannon's no match for them!"
"A Magic Cluster Cannon?!" Makarov's blood pressure spiked. "That's no ordinary attack. Your magic…"
Kira tilted his head, thinking. "It's my upgraded version of the Amaterasu Defense Array! With the reserve magic crystals I set up, it should hold for a bit. Speaking of, I didn't even get to use the crystals I collected in Zonia last time because this fight came up so fast…"
"Crystals? Wait—you said Amaterasu magic? When did you learn that?"
"Saw it in the library… Doesn't matter! We should head back now, right?"
"Not so fast!" Jose's thought-form bellowed, blocking their path with a wild laugh. "Jupiter's recharge only takes an hour, and it's half a day's train ride to Magnolia. Think you'll make it in time?"
Unlike the original story, Jose hadn't used living-link magic on Jupiter, so its recharge was slower—but it also wouldn't stop even if the Element 4 were defeated.
"By the time you get to Magnolia, Fairy Tail will be rubble!"
All he had to do was stall Makarov until his real body broke the barrier, destroyed Fairy Tail, took Lucy, and wiped out the remaining members.
"Want to get back? You'll have to get through me first!"
"Bring it on!"
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