Rob's Death, Erza's Awakening!

"Ahahaha! We won! We won again!!!" United as one, they had once again driven back the invading enemies. At last, the people could no longer restrain their excitement and raised their arms in jubilant cries! They shouted at the top of their lungs, venting the resentment and frustration that had built up from years of exploitation and oppression!

"Everyone, don't let your guard down! And don't relax for even a moment! The enemy could launch another attack at any time!" Wiping the sweat from her brow, Erza raised the short sword she had seized from an enemy and shouted again in barely contained excitement, "Now, let's press forward and take the next area in one go! Find Brother Nameless, and rescue Gerard—"

"Yeah—" At her words, everyone raised their voices in a thunderous cry.

Without further hesitation, they grabbed their weapons and howled as they prepared to charge toward the next area!

But at that moment—

"Boom—" With a deafening blast, countless magic shells exploded amid the densely packed crowd! Smoke and dust filled the air as people were thrown into chaos! The shockwaves from the explosions swept many of them away! Even more were blasted flying by the rampaging force!!!

"Everyone, look! That's—" Millianna suddenly widened her eyes and pointed fearfully toward the air in the distance.

"Magic Soldiers!!!" Following Millianna's finger, everyone cried out in horror! Near the dissipating smoke, ugly "monsters" floated silently in midair with their mechanical mouths agape. Led by squads of mages below, they slowly advanced toward them step by step!

As they stood stunned, rings of scarlet magic circles suddenly appeared in the Magic Soldiers' open mechanical mouths. They spun rapidly, desperately radiating an increasingly dangerous red glow!

"Boom! Boom! Boom—" Amid a barrage of detonations, the Magic Soldiers fired one ferocious magic shell after another. Accompanied by shrieking gusts, the shells reached the crowd in the blink of an eye, blasting countless people away.

"Ah! Run—"

"We're no match for them at all!!!"

Struck by this powerful magical assault, the people knew they could not fight back. They screamed and fled in every direction, utterly stripped of the momentum and order they had shown before!

"D-Don't run, everyone—" In the chaos, Erza fell to the ground. Looking at the crowd scattering behind her, she stretched out her right hand and called helplessly, "P-Please, please save Gerard! And Brother Nameless—he can't be dead! He must still be waiting for us to rescue him somewhere dangerous! Please don't give up! Please, go save him—"

Yet no matter how she cried out, not a single person stopped to acknowledge her.

Then, the Magic Soldiers, having charged for some time, fired another round of magic shells. Their target was unmistakably Erza, still down on the ground!

"Erza—"

"Big Sister—"

Wally and Shou finally noticed Erza's perilous situation and immediately cried out to the still-dazed Erza! Their shouts jolted her awake. She turned around and looked at the barrage of magic shells whistling toward her. By then, it was clearly too late to dodge...

"Boom—" With an earth-shaking explosion, Erza's figure was swallowed by billowing dust. Everyone who witnessed the scene could not help covering their eyes, as if unwilling to see Erza die so miserably.

"Bang—" A tremendous gust suddenly blew all the smoke and dust away. Erza sat unharmed on the ground, while before her stood an elderly figure with white hair and long brows drifting in the wind. With both arms spread wide, he stood silently in front of Erza.

"That person is—" Everyone stared in extreme shock. There was only one reason: that elderly figure was—

"Grandpa Rob—" Erza could not help crying out. She knew that aged figure far too well! It was clearly Grandpa Rob, the kind and gentle old man everyone respected! Yet Erza could scarcely believe it, because she had seen with her own eyes that Grandpa Rob, who had always seemed too weak to hurt a fly, had blocked the magic shells for her with his bare hands!!!

"Even if my magic power has run dry, these useless old bones can still protect my friends!" Opening his tightly shut eyes, Rob declared in an aged yet unwavering voice, "I will never let such young lives wither here! Ah!!!" As he spoke, a terrifying gleam flashed through Rob's eyes. He stirred up the last trace of magic power in his body, along with the immense power gained at the cost of burning his life, gathering it all into his fully outstretched hands.

Another wave of magic shells had already been launched. The sky-filling barrage surged toward Rob like a swarm of locusts! The violent magic power even scraped the air into sharp, ear-piercing shrieks!

"Ha—" Rob remained calm and gave another deep roar. His hands slowly moved before him with visible difficulty, and the countless magic shells were immediately halted by an invisible force! But that was not the end. After stopping the incoming shells, Rob shoved both hands heavily forward. All the magic shells abruptly rebounded, flying back at more than twice their original speed! Yes! They rebounded!!!

"Boom—" A heaven-shaking blast stirred up an enormous cloud of dust. After a long while, the dust finally dispersed. The Magic Soldiers that had been arrogantly hovering in the air were all gone, leaving only mangled remains scattered across the ground.

"S-So powerful—" Wally stared in astonishment.

"He actually reflected... reflected the magic?" Shou muttered.

"Meow—" Millianna also wore an expression of utter disbelief.

"Grandpa Rob!" Erza reacted first. Seeing Rob collapse weakly to his knees, she cried out and rushed forward to support his aged arm.

"For an old bag of bones like me, I never expected I could still be useful at the moment of death. Hehe..." Rob's face looked terribly pale. With his magic power and life force nearly exhausted, his complexion was frighteningly white, but he still smiled weakly at Erza beside him. "For a mage, magic power is the source of life. And for Grandpa, whose magic power has been exhausted... this fate was inevitable..."

"But Erza, you still have limitless possibilities!" Remembering the boundless longing for magic and the angelically innocent, brilliant smile Erza had shown whenever they discussed magic, Rob laughed aloud to himself in a weak but incomparably resolute voice. "Hehehehe... I never thought I would get to see that smile in a place like this..."

At that moment, more mages holding staffs slowly approached. Led by the fat and thin mages, the entire mage force raised their magic staffs from afar. A fierce flash of magical light erupted, and another sky-filling torrent of magic shot toward them! The targets were unmistakably Rob and Erza!!!

"Erza..." Looking at the rapidly approaching magical assault, Rob's face carried a satisfied smile, as though he had completed a great mission. He gave his final lesson: "Freedom exists within your own heart..."

"Your dream, Erza, will definitely come true—"

"Boom—" The moment his words fell, the tidal wave of magic completely engulfed Rob's figure.

"Grandpa—" Erza let out a piercing cry of grief. The red emblem on Rob's back before he vanished was deeply seared into her young heart.

"Clink—" A magic restraint fell slowly from the air and landed on the ground with a crisp, soft sound.

"Grandpa Rob..." Erza stared blankly at that lone magic restraint, sinking into deep memories. She did not react at all to the cries of others. Recalling the happy times she had spent with Grandpa Rob, Erza silently lowered her head, and two streams of tears slowly rolled down her cheeks. "Ah—" A heart-rending scream suddenly burst from Erza's mouth!

"Clang—" As Erza wailed in overwhelming agony, a huge pink magic circle suddenly spread out from around her body! It instantly covered a radius of three full meters around her!

"Ah—" As Erza cried out, the magic circle began spinning rapidly on its own. Terrifyingly immense magic power suddenly erupted from Erza's young body! Her entire body now rippled with enormous crimson magic power!

The magical troops were dumbfounded by the sight. Every evil mage, including the fat and thin mages, stared blankly at the scene before them. They simply could not imagine that such vast and terrifying magic power could come from the young girl before them, who appeared so ordinary! It was utterly shocking!!! Before they could think further, the fat and thin mages sensed something was wrong and quietly slipped away while everyone else was still stunned.

At that moment, iron weapons and tools slowly rose into the air under Erza's magic power. Then, with another furious roar from Erza, those weapons suspended in midair shot toward the evil mages still standing there in shock like arrows released from a bow!!!

"Ahhh—" Miserable cries instantly rang out one after another. Nearly all those mages lost their ability to fight under that attack!

"Big Sister—" Shou looked at Erza, who was displaying such overwhelming might, with shock and excitement. "You can use magic?!!"

"I want freedom—" The magic circle vanished, and the magic power settled once more. Erza pulled the short sword from the ground, raised it high, and shouted, "Everyone, follow me—"

"Roar—" At her words, the people finally snapped back to their senses and erupted into cheers again. Erza's awakening of magic had undoubtedly brought incomparable hope to everyone who had already lost faith in victory!!

The scene shifted back to Chen Wuming facing the Magic Soldiers alone.

"Ha—" The thin sword in his left hand severed the head of the last Magic Soldier before him. Chen Wuming finally leaned heavily on his blade, panting in exhaustion.

"Whew—They're finally all taken care of!" Wiping the sweat from his brow, Chen Wuming looked back and muttered to himself, "Gerard should have taken Erza far away by now. It's time for me to leave too. If I delay too long and draw other enemy reinforcements here, that'll be troublesome..."

With that thought, Chen Wuming no longer hesitated. He put the magic thin sword back into his dimensional storage, tossed aside the half-broken broadsword in his hand, and prepared to slip away.

"Oh? You destroyed so many of my Magic Soldiers, and now you think you can just leave?" A mocking laugh suddenly sounded beside his ear. Chen Wuming's heart jolted violently! Before he had time to think, he immediately spun around and leaped backward!

"Pfft—" At the instant he turned and retreated, a massive spiked club slammed heavily into his abdomen. The violent blow made Chen Wuming grunt as blood burst uncontrollably from his mouth. His body was immediately sent flying backward like a kite with its string cut!

"Boom—" He crashed heavily into a wall, then was flung hard onto the solid ground by the tremendous rebound! Chen Wuming struggled to raise his head and looked toward the one who had ambushed him!

"You?!!" The moment he saw him, a towering rage surged in Chen Wuming's heart!

"Oh? I didn't expect you to still recognize me." Tucker slung the massive spiked club over his shoulder and watched Chen Wuming lying on the ground with the teasing gaze of a cat toying with a mouse. He mocked, "How does it feel to be suddenly crushed after being so happy? You seemed pretty pleased just now, after taking care of my Magic Soldiers..."

That was right! The one who had ambushed Chen Wuming was none other than the crude man who had given him a harsh welcome with magic when he first arrived on the island—Tucker!!!

"Ah, you came at just the right time. This saves me the trouble of hunting you down later..." Chen Wuming swayed as he climbed to his feet. His expression was calm as he looked at Tucker playing with his spiked club, and he said flatly, "Then I'll settle things with you right here!!!" As he finished speaking, a terrifying gleam suddenly erupted in his eyes!