Erza (the Aslant one) narrowed her eyes. White light flashed across her right hand, and a massive, ancient-looking longsword appeared, nearly as tall as she was.
She dropped into a low stance, muscles rippling under her armor, took a deep breath, and roared, swinging the blade upward to meet the gigantic crimson greatsword crashing down!
CLAAAAANG!!!!!!
The collision rang out like a cathedral bell. A visible shockwave rippled outward, forcing everyone nearby to slap their hands over their ears in pain.
"Not bad!" Erza grinned, feeling the insane pressure vibrating up her arms. She flexed harder and flicked her wrists.
BOOM!
The red greatsword shot backward even faster than it came, spinning like a runaway wrecking ball and carving a mile-long trench straight through half the city behind it!
Only then did the attacker reveal himself.
A sleek, panther-like humanoid covered in rippling black muscle hovered in the air, four pure-white wings sprouting from his back. Sharp golden eyes glared down at them.
"Damn, she's strong!" Panther-Lily shook out his tingling wrist, brows furrowed. "So that's the other world's Erza?"
"I was at a total disadvantage in that clash—and she's still holding back?!"
Punk-Lucy instantly slipped into commentator mode:
"That's Panther Lily, captain of the Royal Army's 1st Magical Combat Unit!"
"He's an Exceed, but for some unknown reason he joined the kingdom. His close-quarters fighting is insane!"
"Exceed?!" Gajeel's eyes lit up like fireworks. He pointed straight at Lily, voice cracking with excitement:
"You're telling me that's a CAT?!"
"Uh… yeah?" Punk-Lucy blinked, thrown off by his enthusiasm. "Same race as Happy and Carla—"
"HELL YEAH!" Gajeel slammed his fist into his palm, grinning like a kid on Christmas. "Perfect! That one's gonna be MY cat!"
Lucy facepalmed so hard she nearly knocked herself out.
"Gajeel… if he was Happy-sized, sure, I'd get it. But look at him! Dude's built like a tank! You don't see anything wrong with that picture?!"
She didn't even finish her sentence—Gajeel had already blasted off like a rocket to "introduce himself" to Lily.
"…That guy never listens."
While Gajeel and Lily started trading blows that cracked the sky, another wave of royal soldiers poured in from the front, raising their spear-like magic rifles. Blue-white energy gathered at the tips.
Pew-pew-pew-pew-pew!
A storm of magic bullets rained down on the group.
Kana flicked her hair, tossed an empty bottle aside, and pulled out a glowing card.
"Guess it's big-sis's turn to shine."
[Card Magic – Thorn Armor: Reflect!]
A massive emerald-energy suit of armor covered in spikes materialized in front of everyone, swallowing the entire barrage.
Then it flexed—like a giant rubber ball—compressed all that energy…
And BOOM! Fired it right back as one single glowing wrecking ball the size of a house!
"W-WHAT?! IT'S COMING BACK?!"
"SCATTER!!"
Too late. The reflected blast exploded in the middle of the soldier formation like a bowling ball hitting pins—strike!
Screams everywhere, soldiers dropping like flies.
"Full pins! Ten points!" Kana whooped, already chugging from a new bottle she'd pulled out of nowhere.
On the right flank, Wendy took a deep breath, tiny face dead serious.
[Sky Dragon's Crushing Fang – Arms!]
Crimson light wrapped around her like flames.
A blue magic circle popped up over her fist.
[Heavenly Dragon's Iron Fist – Super Strength!]
She slammed her adorable little knuckles into the ground.
KABOOOOOM!!!!
The earth split open like a meteor hit it. A gigantic crater formed, cracks spider-webbing forward faster than the soldiers could run.
The front line tried to stop—got bulldozed by the guys behind them—and they all tumbled into the pit like dumplings into a pot.
Punk-Lucy rubbed her eyes, jaw on the floor.
"No way… that tiny, super-cute girl just did THAT?!"
Wendy spun around, beaming, fists clenched in front of her chest.
"Charle, look! I did it! I really got stronger!!"
"Mmm~" Carla crossed her arms, proud-mama smile on full blast. "After all that brutal training, this is just your baseline now."
"Keep it up! One day you'll stand shoulder-to-shoulder with Erza and Mira!"
"R-Really? I can get as strong as Miss Erza?!" Wendy's eyes turned into sparkling stars.
Meanwhile, the rest of the crew turned the plaza into a fireworks show:
Natsu's flames, Erza's swords, Levy's script magic, Gray's ice, Juvia's water, Elfman's beast arms, Cana's exploding cards, Lucy's spirits—pure chaos.
The soldiers who hadn't charged yet stared at the carnage, legs shaking.
"M-MONSTERS!!"
"RUN! THEY'RE DEMONS IN HUMAN SKIN!!"
Someone dropped their weapon—CLANG!
That was all it took. The rest threw down their guns and bolted.
Three steps later they started stumbling, tripping, face-planting—out cold.
"Poison's kicking in," Roger said, raising an eyebrow. "Rain delivery was a bit slow. Next time I'll just crank the dosage."
He stepped over the snoring bodies like they were speed bumps.
"Small fry cleaned up. Only the king left. Time to end this."
"NONE OF YOU ARE GOING ANYWHERE!!!!!"
A voice like grinding metal mixed with a feral roar exploded from every direction, rattling eardrums.
"Ugh—my ears!" Lisanna whimpered, covering them. "It's like a demon crawled out of hell!"
RUMBLE RUMBLE RUMBLE!
The entire capital shook. Buildings sank, streets slid apart—everything rearranged itself into one massive open arena.
Happy tilted his head. "Kinda like Kira' crash magic, huh?"
"Didn't expect to see that here."
Lucy blinked. "Kira… crash… what?"
Before anyone could explain, the ground in the center split open.
A mountain-sized black egg wrapped in thick chains rose from below, gears screaming.
Mira frowned. "It's sucking in all the ambient magic… Is that thing a magic item too?"
"That's Dorma Anim," Mystogan said, suddenly appearing beside them. His expression was grim.
"In Aslant terms, you'd call it… Dragon Knight."
"Dragon-powered armor. Its shell is made of anti-magic crystals—it nullifies any magical attack from the outside."
"Nullifies magic?!" Lucy gasped. "This world has something that broken?!"
CRACK!
One chain snapped.
Then another. And another. All of them shattered in seconds.
White steam erupted like a volcano as the egg cracked open.
KRRRRRRRRK—
Scales of blinding white light unfolded.
When the light faded, a nightmarish fusion of machine and dragon towered over them—Dorma Anim, fully awakened.
Mystogan stepped forward.
"The Anima plan is dead."
"Dorma Anim burns magic like rocket fuel. It'll drain Edolas dry and kill our world."
"There's no point fighting anymore."
"Stand down… Father."
Lucy's eyes nearly popped out.
"F-FATHER?! I thought the king was the final boss?!"
"Mystogan's the prince of this world?!"
"SHUT YOUR MOUTH! I HAVE NO SON WHO BETRAYS HIS COUNTRY AND HIS OWN BLOOD!"
The king's voice boomed from inside the mech, amplified and distorted into something inhuman.
"You stopped Anima over and over! Now you bring these thieves from another world to stand against me?!"
"YOU DESERVE DEATH!"
"And once you're all dead, no one can stop Anima ever again!"
The dragon's eyes glowed red. Its jaw opened, revealing a cannon that charged with terrifying blue-white energy.
VMMMM—BOOM!!!!
A two-meter-wide beam shot straight at Mystogan.
He raised his staff to reflect it—but someone was faster.
A golden blur flashed in front of the beam.
An intricate golden magic circle bloomed on contact.
The light crawled over the beam like living vines, swallowing it whole.
Pop!
Instead of an explosion… cherry blossoms filled the sky.
Thousands of pink petals drifted down, turning the battlefield into a dream.
Lisanna caught a few, eyes wide. "It… turned the attack into flowers?!"
Wendy sniffed one and squealed. "They even smell real!"
Inside the cockpit, the king stared at his screens in total disbelief.
"Aslant magic… can transmute pure energy into matter?!"
Roger ignored him, casually strolling forward.
He raised his right hand.
A five-meter-wide column of water blasted out like a firehose on steroids, slamming into Dorma Anim.
The king smirked—zero damage.
(That's it? Pathetic!)
Then he glanced down.
A crimson magic circle ignited under Roger's feet.
Two massive pure-white mechanical wings unfolded with a metallic clang.
Then the head—sleek medieval knight helmet with glowing blue circuits.
Then the torso, arms, legs…
A towering white mech with golden accents and glowing blue energy lines stood complete—easily twenty meters tall, radiating raw power.
V-shaped visor, dragon-horn antennas, shoulder-mounted blades, inverted-triangle silhouette built like a Greek god.
Every girl (and every cat) in the plaza lost their minds.
"SO COOLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL!!!!!"
Natsu literally breathed fire from excitement.
"ROGER WHERE DID YOU GET THAT?! I WANT ONE!! GIMME GIMME GIMME!!"