"You think you can take this pile of rotten flesh?"
Laxus snorted coldly, spread his legs, and assumed a horse stance.
A burst of violent golden lightning erupted from his body, illuminating the entire control room as bright as day.
He took a deep breath, his chest bulging exaggeratedly high.
"Thunder Dragon's..."
Laxus opened its mouth, aiming at the giant octopus monster that was lunging at it.
" The Roar!!!"
"BOOM--!!!"
A thick, golden pillar of lightning, several meters in diameter, burst forth from Laxus's mouth with earth-shattering power!
Wherever the lightning bolt passed, the air was instantly ionized, producing a piercing sonic boom.
Those black tentacles that had just touched the lightning couldn't even last half a second. They were completely vaporized by the terrifying heat and the lightning strike, leaving not even a trace of ash.
"Aaaaaah!"
Byro let out a piercing scream.
The bolt of lightning pierced through his massive body without any doubt.
The violent power of lightning raged wildly within his body, shattering his supposedly magically immune black skin into pieces.
"Bang!"
Just one strike.
The once arrogant and enormous octopus monster deflated like a punctured balloon.
Byro was instantly forced back into human form, his body charred black and emitting acrid black smoke. He fell heavily to the ground like a tattered rag, motionless.
Coco, sitting in the corner, was completely dumbfounded.
She stared wide-eyed at Byro, who lay lifeless on the ground, then at Laxus, who wasn't even breathing, her mind completely blank.
"This... this is it?"
Coco stammered to herself.
This guy was making such a lot of threats, acting like he was going to destroy the world, but... he couldn't even withstand a single move and just collapsed like that? That's outrageous!
Just then, a series of hurried footsteps came from outside the control room.
" Laxus! How are you doing over there?!"
Natsu charged in first, his fists still burning with flames.
Immediately after, Gray, Lucy, and the others came running in, panting.
They immediately spotted Byro lying on the ground, smoking, and the console that had been smashed to pieces.
"Well done, Laxus!" Natsu pumped his fist. "With this guy down, that Dragon Lock Cannon thing must have been stopped too!"
Gray also breathed a sigh of relief and wiped the sweat from his forehead.
"We made it in time. As long as the Dragon Lock Cannon doesn't fire, the Floating Island and Extalia will be safe."
However, just when everyone thought the crisis was over...
Byro, who had been lying weakly on the ground, slowly twitched his fingers.
He opened his bloodshot eyes and, with the last of his strength, lunged forward.
He gripped the golden start key tightly in his hand.
"For... the kingdom's... Eternal Magic..."
With blood and foam escaping his mouth, Byro inserted the key into the only intact hole on the edge of the control panel.
"Click."
The sound of the key turning was crisp and clear at that moment.
"Not good!" Laxus's expression changed, and he transformed into a bolt of lightning and rushed over.
But it was too late.
"Boom--!!!"
The entire palace, no, the entire capital city, trembled violently at that moment.
A blinding red light shone on the walls of the control room, and a piercing din of machinery roared wildly from the depths of the earth.
" Dragon Lock Cannon... activated!" Coco screamed in despair.
At this moment, in the square outside the royal palace.
Inside a huge, deep pit.
Lu Chongwei gripped the Ryujin Jakka hand, the blade firmly planted against the massive metal fist of the dragon-shaped mech— the Dragon Knight.
"Click click click!"
The ground beneath Lu Chongwei's feet was constantly cracking under the terrifying pressure, but his back remained ramrod straight, and he did not take a single step back.
"Hahahaha! Earth-land's rat! You actually managed to withstand a blow from Troma Anim!"
Faust's arrogant voice echoed throughout the entire square through the mecha's loudspeaker.
He sat in the sturdy cockpit of the Dragon Knight, looking down at Lu Chongwei, who looked like an ant, his face filled with fanatical smugness.
"But this is just the appetizer! This ultimate weapon is made of the finest anti-magic metal! It can deflect all magical attacks! And..."
Faust piloted the Dragon Knight, the complex patterns on the mech's body gleaming with a blinding blue light.
"It continues to drain the world's magic power! You Earth-land Mage are utterly useless here!"
Upon hearing this, Nancy, who was perched on Lu Chongwei's shoulder, became so anxious that her golden cat fur stood on end.
" Lu Chongwei! This huge iron block is forcibly draining the magic from the surrounding environment! If it continues, it will accelerate the extinction of magic in this world! The entire Edolas will become a dead land!"
Nancy's voice was clearly choked with sobs.
"A dead zone? So what!"
Faust had completely lost his mind. His eyes were bloodshot, and he was frantically pounding his fists on the control panel.
"As long as the Floating Island collide with Extalia! As long as I obtain Eternal Magic! Even if the rest of the world turns into a wasteland, as long as the capital remains, as long as I remain, it's worth it! What I want is Eternal Magic! Eternity!!!"
"Have you finished talking nonsense?"
Lu Chongwei's cold voice directly interrupted Faust's frantic the Roar.
He slowly raised his head, and terrifying golden flames ignited in his eyes.
"You keep talking about Eternal Magic? You're trash who doesn't even care about the fate of your own world. How dare you talk about eternity?"
Lu Chongwei exerted force with his right hand, Ryujin Jakka slashed upwards with domineering force.
"Bang!"
A terrifying burst of power actually pushed the Dragon Knight's mountain-sized metal fist several meters away.
"Court death!"
Faust was furious and pulled down the lever.
The Dragon Knight opened its ferocious metal maw, and a beam of blue magical energy, compressed to its limit and carrying an aura of annihilation, violently shot out towards Lu Chongwei!
"Go to hell!"
Faced with this magical pillar of light, powerful enough to level a mountain, Lu Chongwei didn't even try to dodge.
He gripped the hilt of the Ryujin Jakka with both hands, and the blazing golden-red flames on the blade surged forth.
"Cut!"
Lu Chongwei swiftly and decisively unleashed a slash.
A fiery slash, as easy as cutting tofu, struck the very center of the blue pillar of magical light.
"Sizzle--!"
A chilling tearing sound rang out.
That thick pillar of magical light was actually cleaved in two by Lu Chongwei's blade!
Two violent Lu Chongwei's sides and slammed into the city wall behind him, blasting the two towers to Crush.