A Ghost Soldier lunged at Loki, but was suddenly struck by a Magic Bullet mid-air, sent flying sideways, and landed on the ground, swarmed by worms.
"Is that... Bisca?"
Bisca's soft laughter came through the 'Public Channel':
"If the same thing happens again, the sniper group will lose face. From now on, we'll provide cover, everyone, please fight freely!"
"Oh!!!"
The companions were strong, able to entrust their backs to each other in battle, a trust forged through countless fights.
"Thanks for taking care of our little ones, take this, Purple-Red Heaven Net!"
Macao spread his five fingers, purple flames flew forward in a spiral, weaving a large net that trapped several Ghost Soldiers together.
"This is our return gift! Smoke Assault!"
Wakaba's pipe spewed out a large amount of gray-white smoke, forming fists in the air that struck the Ghost Soldiers jumping mid-air into the swarm of worms.
"Wood-Make: Passionate Love Storm!"
Laki pressed her hands on the ground, many bizarre wooden 'weapons' flew out, shackles and whips were just child's play, wooden Blood Drippers and Iron Maidens were also mixed in.
Though mostly used for bashing, their strange appearances were enough to send shivers down one's spine.
"I'll mimic Rhode's Summoned Beast."
Lidas swung his brush, quickly drawing two groups of Shadow Wolves on his belly, six giant wolves suddenly flew from his body, pouncing at the Ghost Soldiers.
"Celestial Spirit Magic: Tiger Spirit!"
Nabu appeared surrounded by the phantom of a fierce tiger, roaring with his attack movements, swiping its claws with impressive momentum.
...
The newly joined companions one by one eagerly showcased their magic, venting out the previous frustration in one go.
The Ghost Soldiers were continuously knocked down, each one falling into the swarm of worms, quickly submerged with no chance to jump back up.
Some adept at close combat but unable to squeeze to the front gritted their teeth and fiercely threw Magic Crystals into the distance.
Amidst the rumbling explosions, Ghost's buildings suffered repeated damage and crumbling.
Moreover, with the efforts of the worms, half of the castle had completely collapsed.
At this moment, Rhode was running out with his companions, and successfully used Requip Magic to change into another pair of pants.
Crisis moments were great opportunities for magic progress, Rhode's Requip Magic had slightly improved.
Natsu excitedly asked, "Are we going to take down Joseph?"
Rhode said, "No, let's go step by step, first destroy the critical parts here, then deal with the small fry."
Rhode treated Joseph as the big boss in an online game, hoping to tackle him only after eliminating all possible distractions.
But sometimes things don't go as planned, before they could leave, a sudden discomfort arose.
Everyone halted, a sense of oppression grew clearer, the magic power in the air converged into ghost-like forms drifting around.
Everyone could easily sense the evil aura.
Gray, in disbelief, said, "Is this... magic power?"
Erza, with a serious expression: "Magic power of this level, it can only be that person."
A middle-aged man in blue and purple robes slowly approached.
His eyebrows slanted upward, forming exaggerated sharp angles, black eyeliner encircled his eyes, black-purple lipstick painted on his lips, two slender mustaches connected and bent down at the ends, like a doorframe.
He seemed to have countless vengeful spirits around him, just one glance made people feel nauseous.
This was an evil man, upon sensing the cold, sticky, nauseating magic power emanating from him, everyone quickly concluded.
Erza gritted her teeth and pronounced his name, "Joseph!"
"Quite capable, aren't you, brats." Joseph applauded them, "I didn't expect you to entertain me to this extent."
Previously shocked beyond measure at the defeat of the Four Elements, now he claimed to be 'entertained'.
Resisting the discomfort brought by Joseph, Rhode took a deep breath: "This situation was also considered, although I didn't want to face him so quickly, it's better than the worst-case scenario."
The worst scenario would be Joseph acting together with the Wind Element and Fire Element, leading a large force in a frontal assault.
It was fortunate he endured until the end to appear.
However, this also showed Joseph's absolute confidence, believing he could singlehandedly deal with the Fairy Tail without Makarov.
Rhode clutched his pendant, ready to apply buffs, "No choice, we'll have to fight."
Natsu touched his fist to his palm, excitedly saying, "That's the way it should be!"
Gray also flexed his wrist, smiling, "After all, we'll have to battle him in the end."
Conversely, Mira and Erza appeared more serious, "Don't be careless, this is someone with power equal to the President's."
"Hahaha... you really intend to fight me? I'll kill each one of you! Then capture Lucy, drain the Hartfilia family's entire fortune! Make Ghost the true 'number one'!"
Joseph raised his hand, ghost-like magic power coiled around his wrist, each fingertip showing a purple sphere.
"Retreat!" In urgency, Rhode tried to pull a teammate but only caught a cat tail.
Mira and Erza each grabbed Natsu's collar and Gray's arm, dragging them a significant distance back.
The spot where they had just stood was suddenly struck by five gray-purple beams, explosions roared.
The thick stone slabs on the ground shattered, scattered stones flew up half and fell downstairs half.
Five nearly two-meter-diameter holes intersected and joined, directly dividing the entire corridor, the floor below visible through the middle chasm.
With a casual strike, Joseph made the whole building tremble.
Just then, a pink-haired girl in a maid outfit suddenly broke through a wall, poking out her upper body:
"Everyone, I've destroyed many load-bearing parts of this floor and the one below. Along with the cute little worms' effort below and the recent shock, this building is about to collapse, please evacuate quickly."
"Balrog?" Natsu was surprised to see her, then suddenly got angry, "So it was you digging holes upstairs! No wonder the familiar smell, you bastard!"
Balrog tilted her head: "Punishment, Natsu-sama?"
Natsu rubbed his fists, eager to fight Balrog.
Gray grabbed him, "Idiot, this is not the time to care about these, we should escape quickly, right?"
"Escape? Where do you think you can run now?" Joseph stretched his hand towards them, "Dark... what?"
He suddenly felt a gap under his feet, falling with the floor, looking up, he found the ceiling also collapsing!
The walls cracked excessively, the ground shattered piece by piece, amid the persistent cracking noise, Ghost's main building... collapsed!