"Found it!" Gray's eyes narrowed, and he clasped his hands together forcefully, cold magic rapidly gathering in his palms. "Shape Magic: Ice Hammer!"
Just as he was about to smash down the door.
"Wait a minute! Gray!"
A familiar female voice came from the passage behind.
Gray and Laxus turned around at the same time and saw Lucy and Carla running towards them, panting.
" Lucy? What brings you here?" Gray put down the ice hammer in his hand, looking at them with some surprise. "Weren't we supposed to split up?"
Lucy braced herself on her knees, panting heavily.
"We... we've found the Magic Crystal that everyone in the guild has turned into!"
"What?!" Gray's face lit up with joy. "Where?"
Carla flew forward, her tone serious.
"On that enormous Floating Island directly above the royal capital! Happy has already Gajeel. Gajeel says he has a way to restore the Magic Crystal to its original state using Dragon Slayer Magic!"
Laxus's furrowed brows relaxed slightly upon hearing this.
"Now that Gajeel has gone, we don't need to worry about the Magic Crystal anymore."
He turned to look at the solid steel door, his body erupting with violent lightning magic. "The most important task now is to rescue those two idiots, Natsu and Wendy!"
Laxus didn't use any fancy magic at all. He simply stepped forward, clenched his right fist, and golden lightning illuminated the entire passage as bright as day.
"Boom--!!!"
A violent punch slammed into the solid steel gate.
The door, which was said to be impenetrable even by magic cannons, caved in like paper under Laxus's punch, then flew backward dramatically, crashing heavily against the dungeon wall.
The group immediately rushed into the dungeon.
In the center of the dungeon, Natsu and Wendy were tied to two enormous metal pillars.
Their eyes were closed, their faces were pale, and they had fallen into a deep coma.
Several thick tubes were connected to their bodies, continuously drawing out the dragon-slaying magic power from their bodies.
" Natsu! Wendy!"
Lucy was so anxious she almost cried, and she rushed over.
Gray swiftly cut the pipes and ropes with his ice blade and lowered the two men down.
Laxus stepped forward, pulled two Ex-Ball Pill from his pocket, and roughly shoved them into the mouths of the two men.
"Hey! Wake up! Get up and get to work!" Laxus patted Natsu's face.
A few seconds after swallowing the pill, Natsu's body convulsed violently.
"Whoosh!"
Natsu gasped dramatically, his eyes snapping open, and he sprang to his feet like a spring.
"My blood is boiling!"
The moment Natsu woke up, his eyes blazed with fierce fighting spirit. Without even noticing who was around him, he began shouting and yelling.
" Dragon Lock Cannon! We must stop that Dragon Lock Cannon!"
After saying that, he didn't even say goodbye, and turned into a blur, rushing out along the passage.
"Hey! Natsu! You're going the wrong way!" Gray yelled angrily from behind.
As expected, it took less than ten seconds.
"Da da da da!"
With the sound of hurried footsteps, Natsu came running back, looking disheveled, and shouted with a self-righteous expression.
"Damn it! This place is like a maze! I can't find my way out!"
Everyone looked at this impulsive idiot and sighed in unison.
This guy hasn't changed at all.
At this moment, Wendy slowly woke up.
She rubbed her eyes, and when she saw Carla and Lucy clearly, her eyes immediately welled up with tears.
" Carla... Sister Lucy..."
" Wendy, are you alright? Is anything bothering you?" Carla quickly flew to her side and checked her over with concern.
Wendy shook her head, then her face turned deathly pale as if she had remembered something terrifying.
"Everyone, stop the king! It's too late!" Wendy gripped Carla's hand tightly, her voice filled with extreme panic.
"What exactly happened?" Laxus frowned.
Wendy calmed her breathing and recounted the entire plan she had overheard.
"The King extracted our Natsu Slayer Magic in order to activate the kingdom's ultimate weapon— the Dragon Lock Cannon!"
"They're going to use the Dragon Lock Cannon to fire a traction beam, forcibly pulling the Floating Island carrying the guild's Magic Crystal towards it, causing it to collide with Extalia in the sky!"
"What?!" Gray exclaimed in shock.
"The king said that if two massive sources of magic collide, they can fuse to create an inexhaustible supply of infinite magic! But... if they really collide, everyone in the guild, and all the Exceed of Extalia, will disappear!"
The air seemed to freeze completely at that moment.
Laxus, Gray, Lucy, and everyone else were speechless with shock at this insane plan.
"That old madman..."
Laxus gritted his teeth, his fists clenched so tightly they cracked, his eyes filled with intense killing intent.
"He actually wanted to drag two races down with him!"
"We can't let him succeed!" Golden flames erupted from Natsu's fists, his eyes fierce. "I'm going to burn that old man to ashes!"
"We must split up!" Gray quickly regained his composure and made a decision. " Natsu, Laxus, we'll sabotage the Dragon Lock Cannon's firing mechanism!"
Wendy stood up and looked resolutely at Carla.
" Carla, take me to Extalia! We must persuade those Exceed to seek refuge!"
Carla was stunned, and she subconsciously took a step back.
"No... I'm not going! The people there don't welcome us at all. They treat us like Fallen. Going there would be suicide!"
"But if we don't go, they'll all die!"
Wendy grabbed Carla's hand, her clear eyes filled with pleading and determination.
" Carla, please! We can't just stand by and watch her die!"
Seeing Wendy's resolute gaze, Carla's inner defenses finally crumbled.
She gritted her teeth and forcefully spread the white wings on her back.
"You're really giving up! Hold on to me!"
Carla grabbed Wendy and shot straight up through the ventilation duct, flying towards Extalia in the sky.
Meanwhile, above the capital city.
Lu Chongwei's battle is nearing its end.
The once formidable Legion Squadron of hundreds has now been reduced to a single survivor by Lu Chongwei.
A strong smell of burning filled the air as the remains of the Legion and the corpses of soldiers fell like dumplings.
The last surviving Legion was completely stunned.
He gripped the reins tightly with both hands, his whole body trembling like a leaf in the autumn wind, his eyes filled with extreme terror.
He never imagined that the Kingdom's proud and invincible Legion Squadron would be wiped out by a single man!