Fairy Tail: Perfect Projection, Part 48

"Rule Breaker, just as its name suggests, can dispel the magic and Magic Formulas affecting anything it pierces, restoring it to its state before the transformation." As he spoke, Xi Feng walked straight over to the petrified Erza and the others, lightly touching each of them with Rule Breaker. Under Makarov's and Ur's astonished gazes, the stone statues cracked open, and the women returned to normal.

"Huh?"

"What just happened?"

"We...?"

The restored women stared around in bewilderment. Seeing them back to normal, Makarov was overjoyed. With the hostages freed, all they had to do now was stop everyone from fighting one another.

"Lord Xi Feng, what happened?"

Juvia walked up to Xi Feng with a puzzled look and asked, "Juvia seems to have looked into someone's eyes, then forgotten everything after that."

"Here's what happened..." Seeing the confusion in the women's eyes, Xi Feng began explaining what had just taken place.

"Damn him!"

"That's despicable!"

"How could Laxus do this?!"

Once they learned what had happened, all the women were furious.

"!"

Meanwhile, over at the cathedral, Evergreen suddenly froze. Then she grew nervous and turned to Laxus.

"Laxus..."

"Hm? What is it?" Hearing Evergreen speak, Laxus gave her a casual glance.

"Well..." Evergreen hesitated for a moment, then averted her eyes. "My magic seems... seems to have been broken."

"What did you say?!"

Evergreen's words left Laxus utterly shocked!

"I... I don't know either! Just now, I stopped sensing the stone statues!" Terrified, Evergreen dropped to her knees.

"Damn it!"

Laxus vented his anger by punching a stone pillar.

"How is that possible? Someone actually broke Evergreen's petrification!"

"It must be Xi Feng. If I'm right, he's probably broken my Magic Formula by now, too." Freed walked over and sighed as he looked at Laxus. "Xi Feng is still too strong! Laxus, let's stop."

"!" At Freed's words, Laxus glared at him furiously, and a bolt of lightning grazed past him.

"I'm the strongest in the guild! There's no way I'm stopping. If I can't use the guild members as hostages, I'll find others!" Laxus gave a sinister smile.

"Laxus, don't tell me you're going to...!" Freed's face filled with shock. He already knew what Laxus intended to do next. "Are you really going to do this? There's still time to stop."

"If you're not coming, then get the hell out. The Fairy Tail I want has no need for you!" Laxus stared coldly at Freed, his voice devoid of emotion.

"..." Freed fell silent for a moment, then nodded. "I understand. I'll help you, but I hope you won't regret this."

With that, Freed left with Evergreen.

"Laxus!"

Back at Fairy Tail, Natsu finally woke from his unconscious state. Flames spilling from his mouth, he charged outside without even looking around.

"Natsu!"

Seeing Natsu run out, Happy called after him and hurried to follow.

But just as Natsu ran outside, Laxus's Thought Body appeared in the middle of the stage.

"Laxus!"

The women watched the suddenly appeared Laxus warily.

"So it really was broken..."

Looking at the women, Laxus frowned, then turned to Xi Feng. "You certainly have a lot of abilities, Xi Feng."

"Laxus, you don't have any hostages left! This game is over!" Makarov glared at Laxus furiously.

"Over?" Laxus paused, then smiled. "You're far too naive, old man. Time isn't up yet. Since Xi Feng broke the rules, I'm adding a new one. I've activated the Thunder Palace."

"The Thunder Palace?!" Makarov's face filled with shock. Then, glaring at Laxus in fury, he let his magic power surge out. "What are you trying to do?! Why drag innocent people into this?! Argh!"

But as soon as Makarov finished speaking, pain stabbed through his chest. Cold sweat covered his forehead as he sank to his knees.

"Master!"

Seeing Makarov in pain, the women immediately gathered around him, worried sick.

"Master, hang in there!"

"Oh dear, getting old, are you? You should get less angry at your age." A flicker of concern crossed Laxus's eyes at the sight of Makarov's suffering, but he quickly sneered again. "When you get old, you should step aside. Just hand Fairy Tail over to me."

"Laxus!"

Mira glared at him furiously. "The master is already in this state, and you're still acting like this!"

"It's his fault for pushing himself! At his age, too! Hahahaha!" Laughing loudly, Laxus vanished.

"Something's wrong! Everyone, hurry outside and look!"

Levy ran downstairs, her face full of panic.

"What are those?!"

"Lightning Magic Crystals?"

"There are so many floating over the city."

(Wang Nuozhao)

"So this is the Thunder Palace?"

Everyone stared in astonishment at the lightning Magic Crystals suspended in the sky.

"If all those Magic Crystals activate at once, countless bolts of lightning will rain down over all of Magnolia."

Erza looked up at the Magic Crystals, cold sweat beading on her forehead. She was deeply worried that the Thunder Palace would activate.

"Isn't that simple? We just have to destroy them. Requip: Sniper Rifle!"

A sniper rifle appeared in Bisca's hands, and she raised it to aim at a Magic Crystal.

"Wait!"

But just as Bisca was about to fire, Xi Feng stopped her.

"Hm? What's wrong?"

Bisca looked at Xi Feng in confusion, unsure why he had stopped her.

"These Magic Crystals probably have a living-link spell cast on them. If you attack them, the damage will be reflected back onto you."

"Then what do we do?!"

"All we can do now is find Laxus."

As he spoke, Xi Feng looked toward the nearby cathedral.

Chapter 68: The Thunder God Tribe Defeated (Please Send Flowers)

Inside a shopping mall, Gray and Bickslow had already encountered each other and begun fighting.

"Hiya!" Bickslow suddenly swept a leg at Gray, but Gray was no slouch in hand-to-hand combat. He instantly jumped up, easily avoiding the attack.

"My babies!" Seeing Gray leap into the air, Bickslow called out to his four little wooden puppets.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" After crying out, the four little wooden puppets turned toward Gray and each fired a laser from its mouth, sending them hurtling toward Xi Feng.

Seeing this, Gray immediately rolled sideways to dodge. But Bickslow's little wooden puppets were relentless, constantly hounding Gray and attacking him, leaving him struggling.

"Line Formation!"

Without giving Gray a chance to rest, Bickslow had his four little wooden puppets stack into a vertical line and fire a crescent-shaped beam at him.

Gray was hardly weak. He immediately grabbed a model and vaulted into the air, using his magic power amid the chaos to freeze the four little wooden puppets.

"You're younger than me, but you're pretty good, Gray! Next up, Victory Formation!"

Although Bickslow admired Gray, they were enemies right now, and he couldn't afford to show mercy. He gave his four little wooden puppets another command.

"..."

But after a while, his puppets still hadn't appeared. Puzzled, Bickslow turned to look and froze. His puppets had all been frozen solid, lying stiff on the ground.

"What?! When did that happen?!"

While Bickslow's attention was focused on his puppets, Gray instantly rushed up to him and drove his knee hard into Bickslow's chin.

"Argh!"