Chapter 674: Dragons
Rhodes stood perfectly still. He had not moved an inch. The two strands of crimson hair snapped back, and Flare was slammed into the ground dozens of meters away.
Nullpudding did not even have time to react before he was sent flying just as far and pinned to the earth.
Kurohebi had been using Mimic Magic to blend in beside a blue stone, lining up a technique he called "Angel’s Salute" at Rhodes. In the blink of an eye, the stone shattered, the spell collapsed, and Kurohebi himself was driven into the riverbank.
"This is..." Ivan’s eyes widened. Before he could finish, an overwhelming force pressed him flat.
Obra lay beside him, unmoving.
"Rooaaar!" ×4
Four dragon roars boomed from four directions, snapping the dazed five back to awareness.
They probably wished they had not woken up.
Four colossal shapes materialized in the secluded mountain valley by the stream, and the sight alone cracked the worldviews of Ivan and his crew.
"Dragons? Four of them? Why...?"
Their minds spun. Why would dragons appear here?
Right. That Rhodes had once been famous for his mastery of Summoning Magic, even earning the title of Beast Tamer.
So this was what that mastery meant. He could summon dragons.
Pinned beneath the Ocean Dragon, Flare came to and thrashed in panic. Heat shimmered along her long red hair, flames licking across it until it glowed with the kind of scalding temperature that could sear a person in an instant.
The Ocean Dragon did not so much as flinch. Not a single scale showed a burn. She sneaked a glance at Rhodes, saw his attention fixed elsewhere, then lowered her head and spoke in an exceedingly gentle whisper.
"Little one, I can loosen my grip a little, but please do not cause trouble, all right?"
Her tone was soft and the words were kind, but Flare did not hear it that way.
The dragon’s vast maw sliding closer nearly scared her into fainting. She took the whisper as a blatant threat and dared not move at all.
The Ocean Dragon assumed Flare had agreed to behave, so she quietly eased her claw, letting Flare breathe more easily.
The others were not so fortunate.
"Stinger Breakthrough!"
Nullpudding roared and swung his spiked arm twice against the Purgatory Dragon’s claw.
The next moment, a crushing blow struck his chest, and he spat blood violently.
The Purgatory Dragon’s temper was short. Even while holding back, a single kick shattered seven or eight of his ribs. The ground around him liquefied into a pool of molten lava, leaving only a fragile patch of solid earth where Nullpudding collapsed.
"Quiet down, got it? Make another sound and I’ll roast you like a sweet potato."
"Y-Yes..." Nullpudding stammered. He could feel the heat pressing in from all sides. Even if he tried to burrow, the only thing waiting for him was molten death. Clutching his chest, he dared not breathe too loudly.
Pinning Kurohebi was the Cloud Wyvern. When she sensed him struggling, she released a flurry of razor-thin wind blades. They shaved the hair clean off his scalp, pinning the strands into the ground.
Then, at a blistering speed, she fired off a stream of threats, speaking so fast it was like twenty words a second. Kurohebi caught none of it, but he understood the intent well enough. He didn’t move, and he didn’t dare to ask.
When he realized she wasn’t expecting an answer, he exhaled quietly in relief.
The Mountain Dragon had both Ivan and Obra pinned beneath his massive claws, one foot each. Ivan’s teeth ground together as he strained, both hands pushing against the dragon, but it didn’t budge an inch. Obra, by contrast, lay silent and limp, so still it was unclear if he was even conscious.
The Mountain Dragon almost wanted to grumble about why "Chemtech and Hextech" weren’t the ones sent on this mission, but considering the need to maintain the Summoner’s dignity in such an atmosphere, he didn’t open his mouth.
"To think... such magic exists!" Ivan growled through clenched teeth. "Damn it! If only I could seize Fairy Tail’s Light!"
Rhodes ignored the captives for the moment and stepped toward the magic crystal, now shielded under the Mountain Dragon’s protection.
Up close, he could see it clearly. The crystal bore the outline of a person. Could it be they really had been ambushed?
Rhodes turned his gaze across the enemies pinned to the earth. His voice dropped to a low growl. "I’ll give you one chance. Where are my companions?"
Nullpudding’s eyes lit up. Right, this was Fairy Tail. As long as they still had hostages, no matter how strong Rhodes was, he wouldn’t dare go too far.
"If we die here, you’ll never see your friends again! So..."
"Is that so..." Rhodes’s voice dropped even lower.
BOOM!
"AAAHHH!!!"
The Purgatory Dragon shifted its claw. The fragile platform beneath Nullpudding detonated, and his body was driven straight into the lava pool.
A fountain of molten rock splashed onto the bank, hissing and sizzling as it scorched the ground.
Nullpudding’s screams tore through the air, then cut off abruptly.
"N-N-Nullpudding..." Flare’s eyes widened in horror, her face going pale. The sight of the glowing red pit where her comrade had been left her frozen, too terrified to speak.
Kurohebi swallowed hard. ’This guy... he’s even more ruthless than me.’
Ivan’s eyes bulged. He struggled against the dragon’s claw, shouting hoarsely. "Are you really from Fairy Tail?! You... you’re a Dark Guild, aren’t you?!"
"I thought you understood Fairy Tail." Rhodes’s gaze bored into Ivan, his tone calm but merciless. "For my comrades, I’ll do anything... including crushing you one by one."
"You..!" Ivan choked, his face twisted with fury.
"You now have four chances left," Rhodes continued, his voice steady as stone. "Tell me where my companions are. You have three seconds. One."
Ivan panicked, shouting desperately. "It’s just Summoning Magic! Destroy the caster! Obra, erase his magic power!"
Obra didn’t appear to move, but suddenly a black mass shot toward Rhodes like an arrow.
Rhodes didn’t even flinch. "You can’t even manage a sneak attack properly."
With a single tap of his fingertip, a golden sphere of light, basketball-sized, flared into existence and caught the object midair. The orb shimmered, the Fairy Tail emblem glowing proudly across its surface.
Inside, Rhodes saw a strange little creature about the size of Happy. Its body was pitch black, its head topped with a green leaf hat, and a tail curled behind it like a demon’s.
Rhodes tilted his head, studying it. ’So... was Obra also a type of Summoner Mage?’
He raised his voice slightly. "Mountain."
The Mountain Dragon’s massive left claw clenched without hesitation. Obra was crushed beneath its weight, his entire body sealed inside a thick sphere of stone.
"Obra!" Ivan screamed. For the first time, he saw Obra’s magic fail. His eyes went wide with disbelief. "How...how could this be?!"
Flare and Kurohebi stared in shock. To them, Obra’s nullification magic had always been absolute, an ability even capable of challenging a Wizard Saint. That power had been Raven Tail’s trump card.
And now, Obra was gone without resistance, snuffed out like a candle flame.
But Rhodes’s attention was elsewhere. His eyes lingered on the small black creature still trapped within the golden orb.
"The Magician is dead," Rhodes murmured, almost amused. "But you haven’t disappeared."
His lips curved into a dangerous smile. "You... you’re not that man’s magic at all, are you?"