"H-he blocked it head-on?!"
Back in the fortress's control hall, Jose stared fixedly at the image on the Magic Crystal before him, his facial muscles twitching violently with sheer shock.
Jupiter was a strategic weapon he had spent more than half the guild's assets to build. Even a Wizard at the level of the Ten Wizard Saints would be gravely wounded, if not killed, by a direct hit.
And yet a wooden figure that brat had casually summoned had actually withstood it?
"N-no, wait!"
Jose's gaze swept over the battered Wooden Human, its arms broken and its chest cracked as it swayed precariously in the wind. The terror in his eyes instantly gave way to twisted delight.
"You didn't block it completely! That Wooden Human has reached its limit! It's about to collapse!!"
"Forest Blanc... you arrogant brat! I'll make you watch as Phantom Lord's Iron Giant grinds that magic you're so proud of into dust!!"
Jose let out a deranged laugh and slammed his palm onto the central control console, pouring his magic power into it like a flood bursting through a dam.
"Phantom Lord, activate the forbidden transformation!!"
Outside the town, the Fairy Tail members had yet to fully recover from that world-shattering cannon blast when a teeth-grating screech of massive metal parts came from the mobile fortress in the distance.
Creeeak-
The six steel spider legs began retracting inward, section by section. Amid roaring steam and gears, the fortress's thick outer walls folded over and reassembled.
The towering spires on either side rotated downward and joined together, forming two thick mechanical arms fitted with gears. The main building's defensive layers slowly rose to form the giant's steel torso, while the round tower at the very top rapidly flipped over, enveloped in magic power, revealing a massive head