The light shattered.
Standing in the center of the ruins was no longer a dragon of flesh and bone, but a moving fortress of destruction.
It stood mountainous in height, a nightmare forged in 100% Chrome Digizoid alloy—the hardest metal in the Digital World.
Its crimson optical sensors flared to life, burning with a cold, calculation-filled malice that held no soul, only directives.
"Machinedramon."
The name itself seemed to carry the weight of a mountain.
Gajeel, who had been preparing to charge, froze mid-step.
His iron magic felt insignificant.
It felt... soft.
"What... the hell is that?" Gajeel whispered, his voice trembling for the first time.
Ace leaped effortlessly, landing on top of Machinedramon's metallic head.
He looked down at Gajeel like a king looking at a peasant. "You take pride in your iron body? Then try to scratch this."
Gajeel's shock was immediately replaced by a surge of humiliation and rage.
He was the Iron Dragon Slayer!
He was the Ace of Phantom Lord!
How could he be intimidated by a pile of scrap metal?
"Don't look down on me!" Gajeel roared, his fear turning into adrenaline. "I don't care how big you are! Big targets just mean I can't miss!"
"Iron Dragon's... Club!"
Gajeel launched himself into the air, his arm transforming into a massive, extendable iron pillar.
He put every ounce of his magic power, his momentum, and his physical strength into this swing.
It was a blow capable of shattering a fortress gate, a strike that had crushed countless mages before.
CLANG!
It wasn't the thunderous crash Gajeel expected.
It..... sounded like a pebble hitting a solid steel wall.
Gajeel's eyes widened in horror.
His Iron Dragon's Club had struck Machinedramon's snout directly.
But... there wasn't even a scratch.
The impact hadn't even made the mechanical giant flinch.
Machinedramon hadn't even bothered to brace itself; it stood completely motionless, treating Gajeel's full-power attack as nothing more than a gentle breeze.
"Is that it?" Ace's voice drifted down, cold and mocking. "Your 'iron' is remarkably fragile."
"Shut up! Iron Dragon's Sword!"
Gajeel, refusing to accept reality, transformed his other arm into a serrated greatsword.
He began to slash wildly, turning into a whirlwind of cutting steel.
He struck Machinedramon's legs, its torso, its tail in a matter of seconds.
Clang, clang, clang, clang!
Sparks flew in a torrential downpour, but they were all coming from Gajeel's weapons chipping away.
The Digizoid armor of Machinedramon remained pristine, gleaming coldly under the moonlight.
The difference in material quality was despairingly vast.
It was like a wooden stick trying to cut through diamond.
Machinedramon slowly lowered its head. Its crimson optical sensors locked onto the tiny silver flea bouncing off its hull.
"Target... Analyzed. Threat Level.... Zero."
Machinedramon didn't even use a named attack.
It simply moved its right arm like it was performing a casual swat.
"Iron Dragon's Scales!" Gajeel screamed, hardening his skin to its absolute limit, layering iron upon iron.
BAM!
The claw connected.
Gajeel felt his bones shatter instantly.
The iron scales he was so proud of—the scales that could block magic and blades—crumpled like wet paper under the sheer kinetic force of the Digimon.
"Guh—!"
He was swatted out of the air, skipping across the ruins at supersonic speeds.
He crashed through three consecutive stone walls, the impacts sounding like gunshots, before finally burying himself in a pile of rubble fifty meters away.
"Gah... hah..." Gajeel lay in the debris, coughing up blood mixed with broken teeth.
His entire left side was numb.
But the madness of the Dragon Slayer took over.
He crawled out of the rubble, dragging his broken leg, his eyes bloodshot and crazed.
"Metal... I need metal..."
He grabbed a twisted steel beam from the ruins—the remains of his own guild's support structure—and began to chew frantically.
He swallowed the iron, forcing his magic to replenish, ignoring the internal bleeding.
"I can't lose..."
Ace watched this struggle with disinterest. "You're eating scrap metal to heal yourself? Pathetic. You really don't understand the difference in power."
Gajeel swallowed the last bolt, his aura flaring up again.
He stared at Machinedramon with greedy, insane eyes.
The desperation had warped his logic.
"That thing... that thing is made of the best metal I've ever smelled..." Gajeel drooled, blood and saliva dripping from his chin.
"If I can just take a bite... if I can eat it... I'll become invincible!"
He charged again, this time aiming for Machinedramon's "Trident Arm."
He opened his mouth wide, his jaws reinforced with Dragon Slayer Magic, capable of crushing diamonds and tearing through fortified gates.
"I'll eat you!!"
Gajeel bit down hard on Machinedramon's arm.
CRACK!
A sickening sound echoed through the night.
It was the sound of Gajeel's jaw snapping.
Every tooth in Gajeel's mouth shattered upon contact with the Chrome Digizoid.
The alloy was simply too hard, too dense, and conceptually superior for his magic to penetrate or consume.
"ARGHHHH!" Gajeel screamed, stumbling back, clutching his mouth.
"Eat me?" Machinedramon's voice boomed, vibrating the ground. "You are not worthy."
The two Infinity Cannons on Machinedramon's back began to hum.
A light, far brighter than the moon, began to gather at the muzzles.
"Giga Cannon."
"Wait—!" Gajeel's eyes widened in pure terror.
He tried to scramble back, but his broken leg failed him.
VWOOM.
Twin beams of energy fired.
They didn't hit Gajeel directly as MachineDramon aimed slightly to the side.
The beams struck the ground next to Gajeel.
The ground, the ruins, the air, and the magic in the atmosphere vanished instantly.
A shockwave of pure force lifted Gajeel and threw him into the air like a ragdoll.
The heat of the passing beams seared his skin black, and the pressure crushed his internal organs.
BOOM!
Gajeel hit the ground hard, bouncing twice before skidding to a halt at Ace's feet.
He was charred, broken, toothless, and completely defeated.
Machinedramon stood in the background, its cannons cooling, the red eyes still glowing in the dust.
It hadn't taken a single step from its original position.
"Ha... ha... ha..." Gajeel lay on his back, staring at the night sky, his vision blurring.
"Monster... you're a... monster..."
Ace looked down at the fallen Dragon Slayer.
He raised his hand, and Machinedramon dissolved into streams of blue data, returning to the Digivice.
"No... you.. are monsters," Ace agreed quietly. "But against a god of machines, you are just a primitive lizard."
Ace crouched down, grabbing Gajeel by his collar and effortlessly lifting the broken man.
"Now," Ace whispered, his voice promising a different kind of pain. "Tell Jose that i will personally go to the Phantom Lord headquarters, drag him down from his position as one of the Ten Wizard Saints, and then nail him to the doors of the Magic Council."
After speaking, Ace turned and walked away, treading over the ruins.
Machinedramon dissolved into a stream of deep blue data and returned to Ace's body.
Gajeel lay at the edge of the crater, gazing at the sky and suddenly laughed again.
"Fairy Tail... Ace... really... damn interesting..."
He struggled to turn over, using his remaining left hand and his intact right leg to crawl, bit by bit, out of the ruins.
A long trail of blood was left behind him.
But the true aftershocks of this battlewere only just beginning to spread!
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