Chapter 209: The Thunder Giant That Absorbs the Thunderstorm
"It really is Celestial Magic!"
George looked at the massive meteor descending from the sky, and the corner of his mouth twitched.
"Everyone, come over here."
A meteor that large—there was no need to think about it. Even if they joined forces to defend, they probably wouldn't be able to block it.
Since they couldn't block it, their only option was to evade.
Hearing George's telepathic message, everyone, including Lucy and the others, immediately gathered around him.
"Natsu, use the Radiant Flame!"
"The flame in your left hand and the flame in your right hand, merge the two flames into one—Radiant Flame of the Fire Dragon!"
Merging his own flames with the fierce flames he had absorbed, an enormous Radiant Flame surged upward from below to meet the incoming meteor.
Taking advantage of the moment, George pointed his finger at the icy surface below.
"Mirror World!"
Ripples immediately spread across the solid ice surface, and everyone fell simultaneously into the mirrored world, which was the opposite of reality.
"What's going on?"
Seeing the meteor outside shatter the Radiant Flame and continue crashing toward them, and then witnessing the massive tsunami that followed without experiencing any impact, Lucy and the others all looked puzzled.
"This is my Mirror Magic. We can temporarily hide in an alternate mirrored world where the outside world can't affect us."
George offered a brief explanation.
Hugh then said:
"It's a type of spatial magic, very similar to my own."
Hugh's magic allows him to create a space within playing cards and trap enemies inside it.
The card space was similar to the mirror space, except it wasn't as vast as the Mirror World.
"Jellal is proficient in various forms of magic and extremely sensitive to space. He'll discover this place very soon."
Simon looked at the still-raging tsunami outside.
"We should leave now. We're no match for Jellal."
"No. If Jellal revives Zeref, it would be a catastrophe for the entire world."
Erza looked at George:
"George, take them and leave first. I'll stay behind and look for an opportunity to ambush and try to kill Jellal."
"I'm not leaving."
"Me neither."
"If Master Gray isn't going, then I'm not going either."
Natsu and Gray clearly weren't willing to let Erza take the risk alone. They decided to stay and fight Jellal to the end.
After thinking for a moment, George reorganized the battle plan.
"That kind of high-level magic just now must have consumed a lot of his magical power.
I have a very powerful spell that might defeat him, but it needs time to prepare."
He wasn't ready to give up on that massive magic crystal so easily either.
"How long do you need?"
Erza asked.
"At least seven minutes."
George did the math.
His ultimate move was, of course, that ancient spell that took a long time to cast.
With the support of this world's magic staff, the Thunderstorm he could unleash was far stronger than the one he used in Asgard in the Marvel world.
Of course, relying solely on the Thunderstorm spell probably wouldn't be enough to defeat Jellal, so he had a new idea.
If it worked, they'd likely win.
If it failed, he wouldn't cling to the magic crystal—he'd teleport everyone away using Phantom Shift. Their lives came first.
"Don't worry, we'll definitely buy you enough time."
Erza changed into her chest-wrap armor again, holding two magical swords, determined that even if she died, she would hold out for seven minutes.
"To the island. With the magic crystal there, it'll make him hesitate."
George led everyone swiftly toward the island in the Mirror World.
Fighting on that island meant that Jellal couldn't unleash high-level spells like Abyss Break, or he'd risk destroying the magic crystal along with it.
Outside, Jellal stood on the Celestial Magic Circle. As he watched the tsunami settle and felt the magical auras vanish, he couldn't help but frown.
"They shouldn't all be dead."
This Celestial Magic spell was indeed powerful—he could understand if ordinary weaklings were vaporized into air.
But someone like Erza, an S-Class mage with the highly defensive Adamantine Armor, would at most be gravely wounded.
As a member of the Magic Council, he had full intel on the recent Fairy Tail guild war and knew the strength of the people below. There was no way they were that easy to kill.
"Looks like they're hiding. Let's see where you've run off to."
Two magic circles lit up in his eyes as Jellal began scanning the surrounding space.
His magical mentor was named Brian, a former director at the Magic Development Bureau, skilled in all kinds of magic.
And Jellal himself was a prodigy in magic, capable of mastering almost any spell immediately.
So in addition to high-powered Celestial Magic, he had learned many other support-type spells.
This detection spell was one of them.
"Found you. So you entered another space to hide."
In less than two minutes, Jellal found the weak point of the Mirror World's space. He raised his hand and cast a spatial magic spell, forcibly opening the connection point to the Mirror World and diving in headfirst.
Inside the Mirror World, he quickly sensed the presence of Erza and the others and flew toward the island.
"He really did come in."
On the island, sensing Jellal's presence entering the Mirror World, George led everyone back to the real world through the magic crystal's reflective surface.
He wasn't surprised when Simon said Jellal could enter the Mirror World.
Although the magical systems came from different worlds, the essence of magic was similar.
Ikaruga could slash open space and attack Erza trapped in the card space. Erza could also cut through space to escape the card's seal. This showed that in this world, spatial magic wasn't unbreakable.
For someone as powerful and skilled in multiple magics as Jellal, being able to pierce the Mirror World and force his way in wasn't anything extraordinary.
Magic like the Mirror World was most effective against straightforward mages like Natsu. But for mages who studied a variety of magic, it was relatively easy to crack.
"Let's see where you run now!"
Shortly after George and the others exited the Mirror World, Jellal returned to the real world as well.
"Jellal, I will be the one to end you!"
Erza charged in with her dual magic swords. Natsu, Gray, Juvia, Lucy, and the somewhat recovered Simon, Hugh, Wally, and Millianna all joined in the group assault.
George quietly retreated and resumed chanting the long ancient spell.
Jellal's strength remained formidable. Even without using large-scale spells, he easily suppressed everyone on his own.
Fortunately, Erza, Natsu, and the others were incredibly tenacious and held on with gritted teeth.
"Thunderstorm Descent! Thunder Giant!"
Just as they were reaching their limit, George finally finished his chant.
At that moment, he also activated his superpower, using the iron sand and rocks on the island to slowly form a massive Thunder Giant.
Indeed, his idea was to see if the Thunder Giant could absorb the lightning from the Thunderstorm spell and gain further enhancement.
—Everything at home is settled today. Starting tomorrow: rapid updates!
(End of chapter)