"Fire Dragon's Roar!"
"Ice-Make: Assault Lance!"
Flames and ice collided in the tower corridor. The owl-headed man exhaled dragon fire while Gray answered with sculpted ice, heat and frost tearing at each other in violent bursts.
Nearby, Simon lay injured against the wall, clutching his abdomen. Happy hovered beside him, wings trembling.
"Simon, what happened?" Lucy demanded, barely keeping her balance. "Weren't you chasing Sho and Erza? And Happy… where's Natsu?"
Her gaze snapped back to the owl-headed creature. Fire Dragon magic was Natsu's trademark. The pink hair looked right too. The owl's head absolutely did not.
Happy burst into tears.
"Lucy! Natsu got eaten! That owl thing swallowed him whole!"
Simon forced himself upright and explained through clenched teeth.
"That isn't Natsu. He's Owl, one of the Trinity Ravens. An S-Class mage. He can devour people and steal their magic. Natsu's fire is inside him now."
Owl laughed, flames rolling from his beak.
"In ten minutes, Fire Dragon Natsu will be fully digested. Then his power will be mine."
Rowan was already moving, but Juvia reached Gray first.
"Gray-sama!" she cried, charging forward. "Water Flow: Cutting Wave!"
Blades of water screamed through the air. Owl twisted aside just in time. Those strikes could split stone. A direct hit would have been fatal.
"Nice opening!" Gray shouted.
"Ice-Make: Glacial Cannon!"
A torrent of frozen force erupted, slamming Owl through multiple walls before dumping him in a broken heap. His stomach convulsed, and Natsu was violently expelled onto the floor.
Two S-Class mages, ice and water in perfect sync. The result was decisive.
Rowan watched the attack with interest.
Ice-Make really is worth learning, he noted. With the wand he'd crafted in his other world, ice-based spells would reach terrifying levels.
He snapped back to the situation.
"Etherion fires in ten minutes," Rowan said quickly. "Lucy, take Simon and find the others. Get everyone off the tower and wait on the sea outside the island."
Lucy nodded immediately.
"Happy, grab Natsu. Come with me. We're going to Erza."
Natsu was only dazed, not seriously hurt. Good enough.
Lucy helped Simon retreat. Happy hoisted Natsu. Rowan seized Gray and Juvia, wings flaring as he blasted straight out of the tower again, ascending in a clean vertical line.
Following the tracking charm, they punched through another wall near the top.
"Should be here," Rowan muttered.
He pointed his wand.
"Detonation."
The tower's magically reinforced wall exploded outward. Even a structure built over eight years with enchanted materials couldn't withstand that spell under wand amplification.
They flew through the opening and froze.
"Whoa…"
The floor was vast and open, dominated by a long bridge leading to the final ascent.
At its center stood a woman in a cherry-blossom kimono, holding a crimson blade. The strongest of the Trinity Ravens. Kagura.
But no one was staring at her.
All eyes were on Erza.
They had arrived just in time to see her Hell Armor shattered in a single strike. For one brief, startling instant, the armor was gone.
Then Erza re-equipped.
No armor this time.
Only a simple cloth wrapped across her chest and a pair of swords in her hands.
Rowan landed behind her.
"Need help?"
Erza glanced back and shook her head.
"No. Against someone like this, defense will only slow me down. I have to fight with everything I am."
She stepped forward, resolve sharpening her presence.
"One strike. Everything on it."
She and Kagura lunged simultaneously.
To an observer, they passed each other in a blink.
In truth, hundreds of exchanges happened in that instant.
Kagura landed first. She whispered, almost reverently,
"So this is Fairy Tail's Queen…"
Her blade shattered. She collapsed, defeated by a single decisive blow.
Rowan moved at once.
"Erza, eight minutes until Etherion fires. We have to go."
Erza shook her head again.
"No. You take them and leave. I need answers from Jellal. If I stop him within eight minutes, everything ends here."
Her voice was steady, but her eyes carried years of unanswered pain.
Rowan knew that look. She wouldn't leave.
He raised a hand to stop Natsu's protest. As Erza turned away, he cast a spell.
"Stupefy."
Erza dropped instantly.
...
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