Balrog's reminder came a bit late; perhaps she didn't expect Joseph to be so willing to exert himself in demolishing his own guild.
The building, which needed just one more straw to collapse, Joseph directly placed a whole bundle on it.
As a result, the entire building rapidly collapsed.
It wasn't just under Joseph's feet; Rhode and others also found themselves falling as the floor beneath them vanished.
Flying was out of the question, as they were only on the second floor, falling wouldn't kill them, but flying up would mean crashing into most of the castle.
Balrog, who had originally emerged from the wall, fell with the crumbling wall, but before she hit the ground, she turned into a beam of golden light and disappeared.
Obviously, she directly returned to the Star Spirit Realm.
"Waaaah!" Natsu shouted, "That gorilla maid is so unreliable!"
Hapi, falling like an ordinary cat: "What should we do? We're going to be buried alive!"
Gray thought about creating an ice house to see if it could hold up, or should he just freeze everything falling from above with one breath?
Erza and Mira considered breaking apart or blasting away all the stones above their heads once they landed.
The only concern was that their allies were fighting in front of the castle, and such a large building collapsing could make it nearly impossible for them to stand, and blowing too many things away could cause accidental injuries.
Rhode's idea was simpler; if they couldn't fly up, they'd burrow down.
Releasing a dragon was possible, but he didn't dare.
This fight had a very peculiar aspect — the reinforcements from Ghost, which Rhode was always wary of, had not arrived.
Master of Ghosts and Fairy Tail were different; Ghost had at least thirty branch guilds, each with twenty members, which meant about six hundred mages.
Six hundred living bodies standing there would form a significant obstacle, even if they were all just small fry.
Yet not a single reinforcement had been seen, which was truly odd.
If he released the Mountain Sub-Dragon now, Rhode wouldn't be able to participate in the battle later.
He still wasn't very clear about the true strength of the Ten Wizard Saints, and if the dragon was summoned and Joseph wasn't taken care of, the Nest Insect wouldn't have enough magic power to sustain it.
The worms would also soon disappear.
So, if five or six hundred Ghost reinforcements arrived, things would get bad.
Therefore, they needed to solve this in a way that was economical and practical.
Just as everyone landed, two groups of Stone Beetles appeared out of nowhere, with two Ancient Stone Beetles splitting into four.
Six Stone Beetles dragged five people and a cat underground, quickly moving away from the area amidst the rumbling from above.
As Erza and Mira feared, the people fighting were indeed affected.
Ghost buildings were made of solid materials; besides quality stone, special metals were also used.
The sound of an entire castle-like building collapsing was indeed considerable.
Moreover, there were many devices and magic crystals inside for guild movement and transformation, which collided and compressed, causing a series of explosions.
In an instant, flames burst forth, rubble flew, and the ground trembled repeatedly.
A once imposing castle turned into a heap of ruins in the blink of an eye.
A considerable number of worms involved in demolishing the building disappeared due to the impact, with a small remaining part continuing to work.
The disappearance of their kind didn't affect their enthusiasm and appetite; they leaped and dispersed, gnawing wherever the debris was higher.
Both Fairy Tail members and Ghost members, the normal humans, had their attention drawn and found it difficult to stand firm.
Only the Ghost Soldiers, though slightly hindered in movement, continued to attack without hesitation.
Just as a few people were about to get seriously injured, two magic bullets with smoky trails came through the air.
One of them split into seven, hitting seven Ghost Soldiers, while the other penetrated one Ghost Soldier and continued flying, changing paths repeatedly and piercing through six other Ghost Soldiers.
It was Alzack's Gun Bullet Magic 'Split Bullet' and Bisca's Gunman Magic, 'Automatic Navigation Shooting'.
Bisca's voice echoed in everyone's minds: "The assault group and the mobile group have succeeded, rally up and show some main force spirit!"
Macao raised his arm and shouted: "Bisca's right, let's quickly deal with these small fry!"
"Oh!!!"
Occasionally, someone worried about the people inside the building, but quickly dismissed such worries. With those people together, how could anything happen to them?
Fairy Tail's offensive intensified; the number of Ghost Soldiers dwindled, and Ghost's side seemed on the verge of collapse.
Bang!
A loud explosion came from the rubble; various building materials were blown away, mixed with a few blue-purple worms.
Joseph stood atop the ruins, his face full of anger.
Though uninjured, the situation was utterly disgraceful to him.
One of the esteemed Ten Wizard Saints, yet he was trapped in rubble by a bunch of little brats.
The humiliation was even more intense than when the guild was destroyed.
The guild's destruction was no problem; with the Heartfilia family's wealth, he could build an even grander one.
But losing face was troublesome.
Joseph believed that only by defeating these little brats in one fell swoop and rooting out Makarov, who was hiding somewhere, could he restore his reputation.
The terrifying magic power of the Ten Wizard Saints erupted, sending a chill through those fighting, drawing their glances.
Macao recognized the man: "That is, the President of Ghost… Joseph!"
"Where are Erza and Mira?" Wakaba, concerned about his fellows, instantly mentioned the two beauties.
"Such terrifying magic power, and..." Lucy covered her mouth, "such a nauseating feeling."
Only the worms were fearless; seeing Joseph knocking away the nearby ones, they charged at him one after another.
Joseph casually flicked his hand, sending dark purple arrows shooting out, piercing the worms' bodies and blasting many stones on the ruins to dust.
What looked like a mere flick of a hand had a momentum akin to a machine gun.
Everyone couldn't help but marvel: "This is the power of the Ten Wizard Saints!"
"Power?" Joseph looked at the 'Fairies', who were encircling the remaining Ghost members.
"President Joseph, save us!" The Ghost members saw their last hope.
But Joseph only gave them a cold stare: "Useless trash, go die with the Fairies, a president is not here to save you."
He stretched his hand downward, dark ghostly magic gathering in his palm, and soon a purple magic array formed. A spiral energy wave shot forward, expanding the range.
The ruins' stones were ground to dust, and the earth paved with stone slabs was torn, gouging spiral grooves, with dirt and debris flying everywhere.
Even before the attack hit, the wind whipped so fiercely that everyone could barely open their eyes.
Ghost's members turned pale, knowing this move included them in the attack range.
The sniping group in the distance attempted to shoot magic bullets at Joseph, but they were consumed by the expanding dark spiral.
In a crisis, Erza emerged from the underground, shielding everyone: "Reequip: Vajra Armor!"
Black and white heavy armor covered her body, Erza merged the two large shields on her arm armor tightly, activating the defense magic array!
"Erza!"