Fairy Tail: Perfect Projection, Part 49

Bickslow let out a pained grunt and collapsed to the ground. Gray pressed his advantage, a massive ice hammer instantly appearing in his hands.

"Ice Make-Great Ice Hammer!!"

"X Make!!"

Although Gray had frozen Bickslow's four little wooden dolls, the shopping mall had plenty of mannequins. Bickslow's magic, the star-chart spell Doll Possession, let him place souls inside dolls and control them. The instant Gray attacked, he commanded four mannequins to block the blow.

"Ahahahaha, goodbye!!" Having blocked Gray's attack, Bickslow ran off, laughing.

"Damn it!! Don't run!" Seeing Bickslow flee, Gray hurried after him, eventually following him into an alley.

"Bastard!!"

Gray cursed under his breath as he entered the alley, hurriedly searching for Bickslow.

"Gray, I'm up here!!"

Hearing Bickslow's voice, Gray looked up and saw him wedged between the two walls with his legs spread in a split.

"What exactly are you trying to do?" Gray demanded, staring at Bickslow.

"Nothing... just finding somewhere else to play."

Just as Bickslow finished speaking, Gray sensed a surge of magic. Moments later, a line of text appeared at both exits of the alley.

[Until the battle here ends, the use of magic is forbidden.]

"A trap!!"

Gray stared at the Magic Formula that had suddenly appeared, his face filled with shock.

"Game over, Gray!!"

Bickslow grinned wickedly as several mannequins appeared at the alley's entrance and fired beams at Gray.

"Aah!!"

Unable to use magic and with no room to dodge in the narrow alley, Gray could only endure the mannequins' attacks.

His body was still human, after all. No matter how much he had trained, there were only so many hits he could take, and he cried out in pain.

"Hahahaha! Without your magic, you're useless after all!" Bickslow laughed as he listened to Gray's agonized screams from within the dust. Then he suddenly started, seeing a figure burst out of the cloud.

"How is that possible!!"

Bickslow was shocked to see Gray charging out, but he immediately reacted and dodged his attack.

Having missed his strike and sustained too many injuries, Gray fell to the ground and passed out.

"What a tough bastard. He could still move after taking all those attacks? Is he a monster?" Bickslow sighed in relief as he looked at Gray lying on the ground.

"But that settles things."

"Honestly, Gray is still far too reckless."

"Who's there?" The sudden voice startled Bickslow, and he looked around.

"Up here!"

Bickslow immediately looked up at the voice and saw a woman with short black hair wearing a waist-length jacket.

"Ur!!"

The sight of Ur terrified Bickslow. He knew he was no match for her. She was a candidate for the Ten Wizard Saints, while he was only a peak A-Class Mage. Without a second thought, he turned and ran.

"Trying to run? Infinity Blade Leaf!!"

Watching Bickslow flee, Ur brought her hands together around a blue magic circle. A torrent of leaf-shaped ice blades flew straight toward him.

"Damn it!! Defensive formation!!"

Seeing the ice blades flying toward him, Bickslow hurriedly placed his dolls behind him to block them. It was useless, however. The difference in their strength was overwhelming. Ur's ice blades destroyed his dolls and struck him directly.

"Aah!"

Bickslow cried out in pain, his eyes filled with terror as he became an ice statue.

Ur sighed as she looked at Bickslow's frozen figure. She had not wanted to do this either, since they belonged to the same guild, but they were on opposing sides now. In the end, she hoisted Gray onto her back and left.

Meanwhile, on another street, Mira was facing off against Evergreen.

"You did this!!" Looking at Elfman's stone statue, Mira turned a cold gaze on Evergreen.

"Who else could it have been?"

Evergreen covered her mouth with her fan and gave Mira a little smile. "You're always the one featured in the weekly magazine. Why can't I get in when I'm so beautiful? It's infuriating."

As she spoke, Evergreen leaped into the air and scattered powder toward Mira.

"Powder?" Mira paused at the drifting powder. A violent explosion followed, sending thick smoke billowing into the air.

Whoosh! Just then, a purple figure burst out of the smoke and shot straight toward Evergreen in the air.

"As expected of Mira the Demon." Seeing that Mira had taken on Satan Soul, Evergreen could not help praising her.

"If you surrender now and undo Elfman's petrification, I can consider letting you go!!" Mira urged, looking at Evergreen.

"Let's see if you have what it takes."

Evergreen revealed her Petrifying Eye and looked at Mira.

"That won't work!!"

Closing her eyes, Mira charged straight at Evergreen.

"You really are siblings. Both of you closed your eyes." Evergreen smiled slightly, then waved her fan, sending countless particles of fairy dust hurtling toward Mira.

"Fairy Machine Gun, Little Fairy!"

With Satan Soul active, Mira was extremely sensitive to magic. Even with her eyes closed, she easily dodged Evergreen's attacks and accelerated in an instant, rushing right up to her.

"What!!"

Evergreen panicked at the sight of Mira charging toward her. Despite her earlier boasting, she was still deeply afraid of Mira, one of the guild's strongest female Mages. Without another word, she sped away.

But Mira was an S-Class Mage, after all. She caught up with Evergreen easily, reached out to grab her, and hurled her against a wall.

"Ugh..."

Evergreen grunted in pain as she struck the wall. By the time she regained her senses, Mira was already standing before her, gathering a great deal of magic in her right hand. "Are you ready to surrender now?!" she asked coldly.

"I..." Evergreen hesitated as she looked at Mira. But as the gathered magic drew closer and closer, she panicked and hurriedly cried, "I surrender!!!"

Chapter 69: Erza vs. Freed

"Damn it, where is Laxus?!"

Running through the streets, Erza kept glancing up at the Magic Crystals in the sky. She was truly worried that Thunder Palace would activate.

"Laxus is gathering magic. He really intends to settle things with Xi Feng and the master."

A calm male voice came from above her. Erza looked up and saw a man with long green hair.

"Freed!"

Looking at Freed, Erza felt an anger she could hardly put into words. "Why are you hurting our comrades?!" she shouted at him.

"Comrades?" Freed paused briefly, then said indifferently, "We were before, but not in this game. Laxus's enemies are my enemies."

"It seems we have nothing left to say."

Erza narrowed her eyes at Freed above her, an iron sword already in her hand.

"Dark Ecriture-Pain!"

Seeing Erza's movements, Freed wasted no more words. He drew the rapier at his waist and thrust straight at her.

Having sparred with Freed before, Erza was fairly familiar with his magic. His Dark Ecriture was similar to Levy's Letter Magic, but far more powerful.

Erza swung her sword and blocked Freed's rapier, then twisted her wrist and thrust straight at him.

"!!!"

Alarmed, Freed hurriedly jerked his head aside. Though he dodged the thrust, it left a cut across his cheek.

"..."

Ignoring the wound on his face, Freed merely wiped away the blood and charged at Erza again. Even though he knew he was no match for her, he still had to clear every obstacle from Laxus's path.

"Requip-Black Wing Armor!"

As Freed charged toward her, magic surged around Erza. Her armor instantly turned black, and a pair of batlike wings appeared on her back. Her Requip complete, she accelerated and vanished before Freed's eyes.

"Uwaaagh!"

She reappeared right in front of Freed in an instant and punched him in the abdomen, drawing a pained groan from him.

"Dark Ecriture-Explosion!"

Freed hurriedly swung his rapier, producing a line of small letters. The instant Erza touched them, they erupted in a violent explosion. But it only slowed her slightly and did little damage.

So this is Erza? Her strength has grown so quickly!! Watching Erza charge toward him, Freed's eyes filled with seriousness, and he wrote a line of text directly across his chest.