Crushing Defeat

Erza quickly came to her senses and stopped worrying about Jellal.

She walked beside Riyao, her steps much lighter than before, her shoulders relaxed, as if a heavy stone had been lifted from her shoulders.

His lips were slightly pursed, not in a stubborn tension, but in a relaxed calm.

She glanced at Riyao, her lips twitching as if she wanted to say something, but in the end she just let out a soft breath, expelling all those chaotic emotions.

Riyao glanced at her and his lips immediately curled up. He crossed his arms, raised his chin slightly, and nodded repeatedly with a look of satisfaction.

"She truly is my dear older sister."

Erza stopped in her tracks, her calm expression shattering instantly. Her brows furrowed sharply, and she turned to glare at Riyao with a gaze so sharp it could cut through iron.

"Riyao!!"

Instead of being afraid, Riyao intensified his actions, raising his hand to his chest and feigning deep emotion, his voice filled with affected sadness.

"She's grown up and is too shy to call me 'brother' anymore."

Before he finished speaking, he had already darted three zhang away, his movements as agile as an eel.

Erza flicked her wrist, Requip Magic circle lit up, conjuring a long sword in her hand. She grabbed the sword and gave chase, the blade slicing through the air with a sharp, piercing sound.

(▼ plate▼#)

As Riyao ran, he turned back to make faces at her, dodging left and right on the rough stone slabs of Nirvana, making Erza so angry she wanted to grind her teeth.

The longsword slashed several times, but all its blows missed their mark, leaving white streaks on the stone slab and sending fragments of stone flying.

The two ran a long way, one after the other, until Erza caught up and was panting heavily before she put away her sword, glaring fiercely at the back of Riyao's head, her ear tips still tinged with anger.

Riyao turned around and saw that she had stopped, then stopped walking, chuckled twice, and wisely refrained from making any more sarcastic remarks.

There were no plants on Nirvana, greatly reducing Riyao's perception. He could only sense life in the distance, a few faint ones, like candles flickering in the wind, ready to be extinguished at any moment.

His smile vanished instantly. He raised his hand, gesturing for Erza to follow, and quickened his pace, running towards the direction of those auras.

Erza noticed his change as well, and without saying a word, she sheathed her sword, Requip, and followed closely behind.

The two quickly arrived at the scene.

Upon arriving at the scene, they witnessed Midnight and Lucy fighting.

The Midnight hovered in mid-air, surrounded by distorted phantoms, writhing and tumbling like a living thing.

Lucy, Wendy, Hoteye, Jura, and several others were scattered around. Some were kneeling on the ground, panting, while others were leaning against the broken walls, their bodies covered in wounds and their clothes torn to shreds.

Without a word, Erza charged straight into battle against Midnight. Her Requip Magic circle lit up one after another, instantly changing her armor and weapon, her sword flashing as she aimed straight for Midnight's vitals.

Riyao crouched down beside Lucy and the others, and a turquoise healing magic surged from his palms, enveloping them in a soft light. Their wounds healed at a visible speed.

"Damn, you guys were almost done for if we weren't careful..."

Lucy sighed and looked down at her newly changed Celestial Spirit World attire, which was now tattered again. The hem of her skirt was torn in several places, and the fabric at her shoulders could barely hold on. She tugged at the hem of her clothes, her face filled with utter despair.

"His magic is so strange; the attacks can't hit him at all, they're all distorted and hit us back."

As she spoke, she pointed to a red welt on her arm, clearly from her own whipping, her lips twitching, her expression a mixture of grievance and resentment.

After healing them, Riyao stood up, dusted off his hands, and turned his gaze to Erza, who was locked in combat with Midnight.

Midnight used Reflector Magic and illusion magic, Erza's movements to occasionally falter briefly, and the trajectory of her sword swings to inexplicably deviate, as if she were being pulled by invisible threads.

The twisted magic released by the Midnight entangled her armor, causing eerie ripples to appear on the metal surface. The joints of the armor began to bend unnaturally, as if trying to twist the person wearing it into a pretzel.

Riyao raised his hand, palm facing Erza, and with a surge of magical energy, a series of Enchantment were released.

[Enchantment Magic: Elasticity]

[Enchantment Magic - Mental Resistance]

[Enchantment Magic - Power]

Three golden beams of light shot out from Riyao's palm and landed precisely on Erza.

The first ray of light merged into the armor, and a faint, soft glow appeared on the metal surface. When the twisting magic wrapped around it again, the armor felt like a rubber band, wrapped around it several times without any sense of restraint, and it was no longer twisted and bound by her.

The second beam of light entered the back of her neck. Erza shuddered slightly, and her eyes cleared instantly. The illusions that had been interfering with her judgment were extinguished as if a bucket of cold water had been poured over them.

The third beam of light flowed into her limbs, and the muscles on her arm holding the sword bulged slightly, her fingertips gripping the hilt with increasing force.

"Excellent support!"

Erza felt the power surging within her, a smirk playing on her lips. She stomped her feet and shot into the Midnight like an arrow.

Midnight raised his hand and released twisting magic, attempting to Deflection the greatsword's direction. However, the greatsword, now imbued with elasticity, bounced slightly within the twisting force field, instead using the force of the Deflection to accelerate and crash down with even greater momentum.

Boom!

The greatsword slammed into Midnight head-on, slamming him into the wall behind him from mid-air. The stone wall cracked like a spider web, with rubble falling down and dust billowing everywhere.

Erza smoothly sheathed her sword and slashed again, her movements fluid and without the slightest pause.

Midnight covered his face with one hand, slowly stood up from the pile of rubble, a trickle of blood flowing from the corner of his mouth, but he let out a sinister laugh and opened his eyes.

"Hehehe, you guys really have the nerve to wake me up..."

His voice seemed to echo from the depths of the earth, carrying a chilling coldness that sent shivers down one's spine, making the surrounding air seem to grow colder.

Erza looking for a place to vent her frustrations.

The pent-up frustration from Jellal, the annoyance of being chased by Riyao calling her "sister," and the displeasure from being disturbed by Midnight's illusion magic all coalesced into a pure rage, which was then unleashed upon Midnight.

She gripped the Purgatory Greatsword with both hands and slammed it down again and again, leaving Midnight no chance to retaliate.

Shut up!

The greatsword struck Midnight's shoulder, sending him sprawling and his knees slamming into the ground.

"What are you yelling about? Don't you know you're like a ghost?!"

Another sweeping sword strike sent him flying from the ground, crashing into a stone pillar and tumbling several times among the broken bricks.

It has a distinctly Riyao style.

Midnight couldn't understand why the illusion magic had been cast, yet the woman was completely unaffected.

He struggled to raise his hand, trying to unleash the twisted magic again, but Erza gave him no chance to catch his breath; the greatsword was already at his face.

Finally, Midnight's eyes rolled back, he coughed up blood, and his body went limp on the ground like a puppet with its strings cut, barely alive, unable to even lift a finger.

Erza had had her fill of fighting. She sheathed her sword, Requip her clothes, turned her head, and revealed a bright smile. Her two rows of white teeth were particularly striking in the firelight, and her face was still splattered with blood from the Midnight, all of which complemented her satisfied expression.

This scene looks rather frightening.

Lucy and Wendy huddled together, shivering. They instinctively shrank back against the cold stone wall.

"Miss Erza is so scary."

Wendy mumbled softly, her voice trembling, her face pale.

They were still holding the crystal ball left by Riyao, and asked them to record it.

The crystal ball clearly showed the entire process of Erza brutally beating Midnight; the scene was so gruesome that it would give any normal person nightmares.

Riyao himself came to Natsu's side, and the battle there was completely one-sided.

Natsu had several snake bite marks on his body, the surface of which had turned purple, indicating that he had been poisoned. The purplish-black toxins were spreading outwards along the wounds, and his skin was swollen.

He knelt on the ground, panting heavily, one hand supporting him on the ground, the other clenched into a fist, a trickle of blood escaping from the corner of his mouth, yet he stubbornly glared at Cobra opposite him, muttering, "It's not over yet."

Sure enough, the scene in the anime where Cobra was knocked unconscious by Natsu's roar was fake. In the actual battle, the explosions were louder than the roars, so why didn't he faint? Just look at how loud that Nirvana activation was!

"Natsu! Happy! Come here!"

Riyao's voice came from afar, carrying an undeniable sense of command.

Happy spread his wings and flew down, grabbing Natsu by the back of his collar and dragging him toward Riyao.

Cobra wasn't about to let Natsu get away with this. The Cobra beneath his feet hissed and flicked its tongue, carrying Natsu as it flew over to intercept him, its fangs still dripping with undried purple venom.

[Life Mimicry - Azure Dragon]

Dark green magic erupted from Riyao's body, dragon scales spread up his arms, a pair of winding dragon horns grew from both sides of his forehead, and an ancient sense of oppression surged in his vertical pupils.

He instantly leaped into the air, leaving a trail of afterimages, and grabbed Natsu. At the same time, emerald green healing magic flowed in, seeping into the purplish-black wounds. The toxins subsided rapidly as if they had encountered their natural enemy, and the swollen skin returned to normal at a visible speed.

Healed instantly.

"I'll handle this. You guys go over there and meet up with Erza and the others, then destroy the core."

Riyao pointed in a direction, his tone leaving no room for doubt, while the dragon's tail swayed gently behind him, stirring the air.

Natsu shouted in dissatisfaction, "I'm not convinced! I want to keep fighting him!"

He struggled to break free from Riyao's grasp, but his body, still recovering from poisoning, was limp and powerless; he could only kick his legs in mid-air.

Happy grabbed Natsu and flew in the direction Riyao had pointed, saying, "Riyao isn't afraid of his snake venom, but we can't."

Natsu's shouts faded into the distance, eventually dissipating reluctantly in the night wind.

Riyao turned to Cobra, his dragon-scale-covered arm slowly lowering, his vertical pupils staring straight at him, and his lips slowly parting to reveal a set of white teeth.

"Come and listen to my thoughts! You heard me? Can you dodge my attack?"

His tone was as casual as if he were chatting, but the light surging in his vertical pupils revealed a dangerous undertone.

Cobra grave, and fine beads of cold sweat appeared on his forehead.

He heard it all. He heard every single thing Riyao was going to do next, every detail as clear as if he had seen it with his own eyes. But it was precisely because he heard it that he was even more terrified.

Riyao meticulously considered the next attack method in detail, making it easier for Cobra to understand.

The trajectory of every movement, the force of every strike, and the timing of every change of move unfolded in his mind like a pre-written script, without any concealment, and even with a hint of provocation.

What kind of monster are you?

For the first time, there was a hint of wavering in Cobra's voice. He urged the Cobra beneath his feet to carry him away from the spot. The snake's body twisted wildly, and it flapped its wings desperately, as if it wanted to use every ounce of its strength.

Riyao was faster than him.

His figure drew a dark green arc in the night sky and appeared behind Cobra in an instant, so close that you could smell the stench of Cobra on him.

With a gentle flick of its tail, the resulting wind pressure caused the Cobra beneath Cobra's feet to tilt to one side.

"What makes you think that your speed, like that of a winged Cobra, can match that of Jellal, the youngest Ten Wizard Saints of the contemporary continent?"

Riyao's voice came from behind, tinged with a playful chuckle, and his warm breath brushed against the back of Cobra's neck.