Meanwhile, the battle outside was in full swing.
Erza, holding the Star-Shatterer katana and operating a special breathing technique, moved vigorously through the battlefield with ease.
Mere ordinary members of the black magic cult were like clay chickens and pottery dogs in front of the current Erza; they couldn't withstand a single blow. With every swing of the katana, she could easily sever their bodies.
All of this was witnessed by Lahar, who was fighting alongside them.
(This red-haired girl's strength is already comparable to those battle-hardened squad leaders in the Council, perhaps even surpassing them!)
And Ur's evaluation of Erza was much higher than Lahar's.
(Even if Gray and Lyon joined forces, they might not perform this well. Has she really only been in contact with magic for a short month?)
While marveling inwardly, Ur wasn't idle either. Her hands formed seals, and the surrounding air instantly became bone-chillingly cold. In the blink of an eye, a large swath of charging cult members were frozen into crystal-clear ice sculptures, losing their ability to move.
Watching this shocking scene, Lahar couldn't help but sigh inwardly: (With these two here, it doesn't matter if the Council sends anyone or not.)
Under the powerful offensive of Ur and Erza, the coalition forces swept through like splitting bamboo, quickly breaching the interior of the stronghold.
Guided by Alice, Erza prepared to head to the cell area where Tike was to meet up with him.
Just then, a dark-skinned, white-haired man suddenly appeared in front of Erza, blocking her path.
"Dark Rondo!"
The white-haired man shouted in a low voice. His skull staff swung forward fiercely, firing a beam of black magic that spiraled toward Erza.
Facing this sudden attack, Erza gripped her katana tightly and swung it with all her might.
Clang!
The dark magic collided violently with the katana, erupting in a violent shockwave that cracked the surrounding ground. Erza was pushed back several steps by this powerful force before barely stabilizing her figure, her breathing becoming somewhat rapid.
Seeing Erza block his attack, the white-haired man wasn't annoyed but instead revealed a look of appreciation.
"Very impressive, brat, to block my 'Dark Rondo.' With your aptitude, you might be qualified to become my kin."
Erza calmed her breathing, looked at the white-haired man with determined eyes, and said decisively, "I don't want to associate with someone like you!"
"Oh? Looks like you need some proper discipline." The white-haired man smiled playfully, seemingly already regarding Erza as his possession.
"Brain!"
A cold voice came from not far away, filled with intense hatred and killing intent, making the surrounding air seem to solidify a bit.
In the next moment, Ur appeared on the battlefield, blocking in front of Erza. Her beautiful eyes burned with raging fury, staring fixedly at the white-haired man before her as if she wanted to devour him alive.
He was once the Director of the Magic Development Bureau, the culprit who deceived her into thinking Ultear was dead, her irreconcilable enemy!
It was precisely because of Brain's lies and conspiracies that her daughter Ultear suffered such miserable treatment.
If Brain hadn't suddenly disappeared more than two years ago, Ur would have sought him out long ago to avenge her daughter.
Meeting her enemy today, with new grudges and old hates, it was time to settle everything at once!
"Ur, the woman reputed to possess strength close to the Ten Wizard Saints, the S-class wizard of the 'Fairy Tail' guild."
Facing the furious Ur, Brain showed no panic on his face; instead, he revealed a smile of interest.
"Even you, plus that little girl, can't possibly be my match."
Just as the two sides were at daggers drawn, a crisp childish voice suddenly rang out.
"I'm here to help!"
Brain looked toward the sound, his pupils contracting sharply, and his back was instantly soaked with cold sweat.
He had personally witnessed Tike's torrent of death in the Magic Development Bureau and nearly lost his life because of it.
Therefore, he knew better than anyone that this seemingly young little boy was actually a monster in human skin!
Almost without hesitation, Brain raised his hand and fired a massive magic spell.
Boom!
The dark magic exploded on the ground, kicking up huge amounts of dust that obscured everyone's vision, shrouding the entire battlefield in chaos.
When the dust settled and vision gradually cleared, there was no trace of Brain anywhere on the scene.
Unwilling to let him go like this, Ur turned to Tike and asked urgently, "Tike, can you smell his scent? Which direction did he flee?"
Tike closed his eyes, carefully sniffing the lingering scent in the air. The unique stench on Brain was obvious even in this place, so Tike could barely track him.
A few seconds later, Tike snapped his eyes open and pointed toward the top of the tower: "He went this way, hasn't run far yet!"
The three people and one cat immediately set off, chasing toward the top of the tower.
On the way, Erza asked Tike somewhat puzzledly, "Why did you run over here? Shouldn't you be protecting the captured hostages at the cells?"
Tike answered while running, "I've already taken out the guards over at the hostages and used magic to plant tree sentinels to guard them. There won't be any danger for now. I came here because a guy named Jellal was locked in the confinement room at the top of the tower; I have to go check."
As they spoke, they arrived at the top of the tower, just in time to see Brain dragging an unconscious blue-haired boy into a slowly rotating black vortex.
In the next second, the vortex shrank abruptly, vanishing without a trace along with Brain and the blue-haired boy.
"This is... space teleportation magic."
Tike recognized the nature of this magic at a glance. He immediately tried to track where Brain had teleported via scent, wanting to open a portal at the same location to chase after him, but found he couldn't do it.
The power of this space magic was somewhat similar to the private space Erza used to store weapons. Both belonged to the user's private spatial channel, making forcible interference by external forces difficult.
Unless he used brute force, breaking through the spatial restrictions directly with massive magic power.
But in Tike's current state, he couldn't achieve that yet.
Tike hesitated for a moment, turned to look at Ur, and just as he was about to ask her if she could stab him to temporarily boost his magic power, a familiar scent suddenly intruded into his nose.
(This is Big Sis's scent!)
Tike's attention was instantly drawn by this scent. Disregarding everything else, he shouted in the direction the scent came from: "Big Sis Ultear!"
Hearing Tike's shout, Ur looked in the direction of Tike's gaze, asking with a trembling voice, "Ultear... is Ultear really here?!"
"..."
Under Tike and Ur's gaze, a girl with black twin-tails slowly walked out from the shadows.