Chapter 560: 560
"Not just his defense, his speed and strength are both beyond expectations."
Erza slowly stood up, one hand pressed against her stomach, still slightly dazed by the impact.
Her thoughts drifted back to the very first time she fought Rhodes. Back then, she had knocked him out with a single punch, and feeling a bit guilty afterward, she gifted him a whole box of healing ointments.
But he never stopped improving. Rhodes kept training, challenging himself again and again. In what felt like no time at all, he was strong enough to accompany her on high-difficulty missions, even helping her defeat Bacchus, someone she’d always considered evenly matched with.
Eventually, Rhodes grew into one of the top-tier mages in the guild, someone no member could afford to ignore. And just recently, he was even nominated for the Ten Wizard Saints.
His progress had been lightning-fast.
A smile touched Erza’s lips. She truly felt lucky to have someone like him in Fairy Tail.
Ever since Laxus was expelled from the guild and Mystogan remained in Edolas, Erza had often worried that the guild lacked the strength it once boasted.
Sure, Mira was still around... but things had changed. They didn’t feel quite as stable as before.
Rhodes’ rise brought her peace of mind.
Still, since she had such high hopes for him, it was her responsibility as an examiner to properly assess just how strong he’d become!
And... she herself had no intention of falling behind.
Noticing the spark in Erza’s eyes, Rhodes sighed. "Didn’t we agree that the examiner was supposed to go easy on the test-taker?"
"The only thing I’ve never been good at," Erza said with a smirk, "is going easy. Besides, do you really want me to hold back?"
With that, the shining plates of her Heaven’s Wheel Armor vanished in a swirl of magic.
"Requip: Flight Armor!"
Now clad in a sleek, light armor with a leopard-print design, Erza barely tapped the ground, and her figure shot forward like a phantom. Twin blades flashed in rapid succession as she launched a flurry of slashes at Rhodes.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
Her strikes sparked against the thick dragon scales covering Rhodes’ forearms. They failed to break through, no matter how fierce the blows.
Realizing she wouldn’t win head-on, Erza changed tactics. She darted to his flanks, attempting sneak attacks from the side and behind.
But Rhodes’ broad, stony wings acted like shields, dense and immovable. They restricted her angles and absorbed much of her offense.
Rhodes quickly gauged the force behind her attacks and made a choice: he’d stop defending and focus purely on offense.
Unfortunately for him, Erza’s agility in the Flight Armor was nothing short of dazzling. She danced through the confined space of the ruins, weaving in and out of reach like a blur. Every time Rhodes went in for a strike, she’d already vanished, leaving behind only the swish of her blade.
Though her armor lacked durability and many of Rhodes’ vital points were still unarmored, Erza knew one thing for sure, trading blows directly with him was a losing game.
His punches were devastating.
Rather than gamble on a risky exchange, it was better to keep skirmishing, probing, dodging, wearing him down.
And if she stayed patient, she was confident she’d find the opening she needed.
Even though Rhodes had few visible weaknesses, Erza’s sharp gaze swept over the shimmering lights surrounding him, each representing a spell buff, and then shifted to Wendy, who was timidly peeking from behind a dirt wall with a hole carved into it.
If she wanted to turn the tide, she had to weaken Rhodes first.
"Sorry, Wendy!" Erza called out as she abruptly turned and lunged toward the Sky Dragon Slayer, moving like a swift and silent leopard.
Wendy was startled, but still took a deep breath and puffed out her cheeks. "Sky Dragon’s Roar!"
A swirling gust of wind erupted from her small mouth, tearing forward like a tornado, but Erza twisted her body midair, narrowly dodging the attack. The blast smashed a massive pit into the wall behind her.
In her nervousness and soft-heartedness, Wendy had forgotten the offensive techniques taught to her by the Cloud Dragon. Had she used them, the power of her spell might’ve been far more formidable.
Erza flipped her right sword mid-grip, clearly aiming to strike Wendy with the flat of her blade, just hard enough to knock her out.
But her blow was intercepted.
A flash of blue-white burst between them. A dragon claw, coated in cloudy light, stopped the strike cold.
"Take Over: Cloud Dragon Soul."
Rhode wasn’t afraid to match speed with Erza.
The golem took the cue. It gently picked Wendy up with both hands and, like a clumsy bodyguard, lumbered away from the battle zone.
Erza’s left sword came slashing down in the next instant, while her right blade dragged a thin line of blood across Rhode’s palm.
But he responded with a single beat of his mighty wings.
WHUMP
An explosive gale burst from behind him.
Erza was blown backward with overwhelming force, her boots dragging across the stone floor as she struggled to slow down. Wind blades tore through the air, lashing at her arms, waist, and other unarmored parts of her body.
Crimson droplets bloomed across her skin.
Rhodes frowned slightly, wondering if he had gone overboard. The shallow cut across her cheek in particular made him wince with guilt.
Then he remembered, Wendy was here. She could heal everything. No scars, no problem.
He didn’t hesitate.
While Erza was still regaining her footing, he took a deep breath and unleashed his own wind-based attack, far stronger than Wendy’s earlier effort.
"Sky Breath!"
A vortex roared out of his mouth, engulfing Erza and sweeping her off her feet.
BOOM!
She slammed into the far wall with a tremendous crash. Debris tumbled down. Dust clouded the chamber.
Rhodes narrowed his eyes, spotting movement in the dust. He flapped his wings once more, summoning a gust of wind to blow it away.
CLANG!
The unmistakable sound of metal meeting wind rang out.
The dust scattered, revealing Erza charging forward through the storm. She was now clad in black, her body encased in fearsome spiked armor. A massive jagged greatsword was clutched in her hands.
"Requip: Purgatory Armor!"
The sheer magical pressure rolling off her made Wendy’s heart skip a beat.
Worried for Rhodes, Wendy gathered her courage. "I’m not that skilled yet... but, God’s Crown!"
A radiant light shone above Rhode’s head as Wendy activated an advanced support spell that enhanced elemental resistance. She gasped a little from the strain, this kind of spell still pushed her limits.
Following Rhode’s earlier advice, she quickly shouted to the golem, "Retreat!"
The golem lumbered farther back, cradling her protectively.
CRACK!
Erza brought her massive greatsword down in a heavy arc, and Rhode raised his arm to block it.
The floor beneath his feet shattered. Tiles sank half a foot into the earth, spiderweb cracks spreading across the ground.
The jagged blade bit into the soft, feather-like blue-white scales on Rhode’s forearm, but it didn’t go any deeper.
That terrifying magic power and brute strength Erza had just unleashed... didn’t deliver the expected damage.
As Erza tried to pull her sword back for another strike, Rhode’s dragon tail whipped out from behind him and struck her squarely in the waist.
WHAM!
The blow forced her down to one knee. But the Purgatory Armor, with its heavy plating and near-total body coverage, absorbed the brunt of the impact. It was one of her most defensively powerful armors.
She steadied herself and swept her jagged greatsword horizontally in a wide arc, but Rhodes had already vanished from in front of her.
CRACK...CRASH!
The blade tore through the air, smashing four thick stone pillars near the wall and carving a deep, brutal scar into the masonry behind them. Cracks spidered outward in all directions from the impact point, running like lightning across the wall’s surface. The entire palace groaned from the force of the blow, dust and debris raining down from the ceiling above.
This was the overwhelming destructive power of Erza’s Purgatory Armor at full swing.
And yet... Rhodes had taken a direct blow earlier without even flinching.
For the first time, Erza fully realized just how terrifying his defense had become when combined with Wendy’s supportive enchantments.
If she didn’t eliminate Wendy soon, she might never be able to land a meaningful hit on Rhodes.
She pivoted slightly, preparing to launch toward the Sky Dragon Slayer again, but before she could move, a powerful blow landed between her shoulder blades.
THUD!
She staggered forward, and a split second later, she felt a sharp kick slam into her right side.
Before she could recover, a heavy fist was already swinging toward her face.
SWOOSH!
Reacting on instinct, Erza brought her greatsword up in a wide arc.
CLANG!
The blade caught Rhodes mid-charge and finally forced him back a few steps.
But that wasn’t enough.
Now it was Rhode’s turn to adopt her earlier strategy, using swift movement to evade and harass. He darted in and out of range, exploiting every small opening, weaving around her defenses just as she had once done in her Flight Armor.
But unlike Flight Armor, which focused on speed and agility, Rhode’s current form, Cloud Dragon Soul, retained all of that agility while also packing tremendous physical power.
Each strike from him was like being hit by a thunderclap wrapped in wind.
Erza, despite wearing one of her most durable armors, was finding it harder and harder to keep up.