Sunflowers

The smell of sulfur from the explosions still lingered over the scorched earth of the Black Bone Mountain Range. The valley floor, once covered in jagged rocks and low shrubs, had been blasted more than three meters deep, and not a single intact stone remained.

Riyao stood in the very center of the crater, his clothes blasted into tattered strips.

The golden Fairy Tail emblem exposed on the left side of his chest flickered, its edges still stained with soot that had yet to fade.

He looked up at Nildo Longra, who hovered fifty meters above him, flapping his black-purple bone wings. Riyao nearly ground his back teeth to dust, but after holding it in for a long time, all he managed was a deep sigh.

"Fuck. I can't hit him, and I can't run. So I'm just an extra-durable moving target now."

Riyao suddenly noticed something.

His eyes shifted, and a wicked idea immediately sprang to mind. Without hesitation, he cut off the magic power he was supplying to Hundred Battles.

The golden patterns that had covered his body swept back into the guild emblem on his left chest like a receding tide.

The golden emblem, which had glowed hot and bright, instantly dimmed to a pale gold. His face turned several shades paler in an instant, a dense layer of cold sweat broke out on his forehead, and he hunched his back and bent at the waist.

He looked as if someone had pulled out his bones, putting on a performance more convincing than actual magic power exhaustion.

He plopped down on the rubble-strewn ground and stretched both legs out in front of him, slumping like a milk candy melted in the sun. Then he waved weakly.

"I'm tired, I'm tired. Do whatever you want."

As he spoke, he glanced up at Nildo in midair and deliberately curled his lip to provoke him.

"Hey, you mangy bird, come on! Tie me up and take me away. I'm not even fighting back, and you still don't dare come down and tie me up. There's definitely something wrong with your feathers—emmm, definitely something wrong with them. The feathers on your wings are burnt to a crisp. You're so ugly you hurt my eyes."

Sure enough, Nildo Longra stopped flapping his wings and hovered forty meters up, neither rising nor descending. His metal face was wrinkled enough to trap a fly.

He had spent nearly three hours on this brat, using up thirty percent of his own magic power on explosions. His opponent had still been bouncing around just before, so why had he suddenly given up?

A trick? It's definitely a trick!

He frowned, unwilling to move down even a single step. His mind raced as he wondered whether Riyao was plotting another dirty trick to drag him down.

Riyao casually picked up a fist-sized stone from the ground and tossed it lightly toward him.

The feebly thrown stone carried no trace of magic power. It lost momentum after flying less than twenty meters and fell, grazing the tip of Nildo's wing.

Nildo Longra instinctively raised a wing to block it. The stone shattered with a smack, without knocking so much as a feather off his wing.

Oh? Has he really run out of magic power? Delighted, he felt the weight lift from his heart.

He had still been on guard against his opponent pulling another trick with roots and vines, but now it seemed Riyao really couldn't keep going. After all, no matter how powerful his self-healing magic was, it should have been nearly depleted after three hours.

He gave a vicious laugh and beat his bone wings, descending more than ten meters. A binding spell seal had already formed at his fingertips as he prepared to go down, tie up this perfect vessel, and take him back as an offering to Lord Zeref.

Just as he was less than twenty meters from the ground, already imagining the fulfillment of his long-held wish, a shout suddenly erupted from behind the rocks to one side.

"Lightning Dragon's Roar!"

A golden roar of lightning came crashing down on Nildo with enough savage force to split rock!

It was as fast as a flash. Nildo's attention was entirely on Riyao below, and he had no time to react. He only managed to turn sideways before the attack struck his entire left wing squarely.

Crack!

The black-purple bone wing was instantly blasted apart by the lightning. Charred feathers showered down with sparks, and Nildo let out a howl of pain.

His magic power fell into chaos on the spot, and he plunged straight toward the ground like a kite with its string cut.

How could Riyao, who had been waiting for this very moment, pass up the chance?

The young man who had just been slumped on the ground like a weakling sprang up instantly, crushing the rock beneath his feet into powder.

He shot more than twenty meters upward like a cannonball and grabbed Nildo's mechanically altered ankle with perfect precision.

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Riyao laughed wildly as he swung him around. "You had a great time throwing those explosive feathers just now, didn't you?"

He swung with growing enthusiasm, using more force each time. "Fly! Go on, keep flying! Weren't you going to make me your vessel? Come on, Grandpa's standing right here. Come and get me!"

The dull impacts overlapped in rapid succession, echoing through the valley like a pile driver. One of Nildo's wings had already been blasted to pieces, and now he was so dazed from being swung around that he couldn't even scream.

"Useless. Taking three hours to fight some mangy bird that's neither human nor ghost. Aren't you ashamed?"

The punchable voice came from the side. Laxus walked out from behind the rocks with half an apple between his teeth, lightning still crackling around his short blond hair. He carried a leather pouch containing the commission reward under one arm and had his other hand in his pocket, wearing an arrogant expression that said, "I was just passing by and happened to save you."

Riyao didn't stop. He swung Nildo into the ground twice more before taking a moment to look back and snap at him.

"You've got the nerve to talk? I spent three hours getting blown up here while you crouched nearby and watched the show for three hours, didn't you? I saw you deliberately aim that roar off target! Were you waiting until I'd worn him down so you could swoop in and steal the kill?"

"Hmph." Laxus took a bite of his apple with a crisp crunch.

"This commission involves a dark guild. The Magic Council just upgraded it to S-Class."

"Laxus, you're not an S-Class Mage either."

"The old man called in nearby members to help."

As he spoke, he raised his chin toward Nildo, who was nearly reduced to mush in Riyao's grip.

"That's enough. Any more and he'll be meat paste. The Magic Council still needs him alive for questioning. They said they want to interrogate him about his connection to Zeref."

"Oh," Riyao said. He casually tossed Nildo Longra to the ground and planted a foot on him, then formed a jade-green magic circle and cast Healing Magic. He healed him about thirty percent; keeping him from dying was enough.

He woke Nildo Longra and kept him conscious, then tied him up with rope and dragged him toward the Magic Council's temporary camp. Whenever he felt unhappy along the way, he gave him a swing; whenever he felt happy, he gave him a swing to celebrate.

"Ah, when I get back, I really need to find a way to improve my ranged attacks. Otherwise, the next time I run into a flying mangy bird like this, I'll have to crouch on the ground and get bombed for ages again."

Riyao sighed as he walked, raising a hand to mime throwing an energy blast.

"If nothing else works, I could learn to fly. I can't keep relying on jumping around. The last time I jumped as high as I could, I nearly threw out my back."

Laxus walked beside him with a sour wild fruit he'd just picked between his teeth. Hearing that, he scoffed and coolly tossed out one word: "Useless."

" Hmph~ useless~"

Riyao immediately raised his chin and folded his arms, copying Laxus's usual arrogant pose. He pinched his voice and drew out the words in imitation of Laxus's cool tone, deliberately shaking his head and mimicking Laxus's frown as he spoke. He was the spitting image of a punchable, prickly copy.

"Hey, bastard, are you asking for a beating?"

Laxus looked over.

"Tch, can't be bothered with you."

Riyao swung Nildo Longra with one hand and held up his pants with the other.

Beside him, Laxus caught sight of the exposed sunflower-patterned long johns out of the corner of his eye. He froze for two seconds, then burst into merciless laughter, spitting the sour wild fruit pit in his mouth a long way out.

"How childish. You're that old and you still wear floral long johns? Aren't you ashamed?"