Chapter 152: Chapter 152: The Scorched Lake
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Under the burning sky of hellfire, every ghostly soldier was reduced to ashes, vanishing into nothingness.
"Keep going, don't stop! This is the tastiest flame I've ever eaten!"
After unleashing a roar of the fire dragon, Natsu opened his mouth wide, eagerly waiting for George to continue feeding him.
"I'm going to burn that moving fortress to ashes!"
"Don't worry. There's plenty more where that came from."
With a wave of his wand, George unleashed an unending stream of fiendfire, which Natsu devoured voraciously.
Thanks to George's inexhaustible magic power, he could have sprayed fire from morning till night if not for the uncontrollable nature of fiendfire. It could fill the entire world if left unchecked.
As long as Natsu's body could handle it, George could keep feeding him indefinitely, significantly amplifying the power of Natsu's next attack in a short time.
"I can't take it anymore! It's too much magic! I'm losing control!"
Compared to the fiendfire he had just absorbed from the ghost soldiers, this time, the sheer volume was several times greater, and Natsu's body finally reached its limit.
Seeing this, George immediately stopped feeding him.
"Natsu, use the Blazing Flame!"
"Left-hand fire, right-hand fire. Two flames become one. Try my ultimate dragon-slaying magic:
*Blazing Flame of the Fire Dragon!*"
Combining his own red dragon-slaying flames with George's blue fiendfire, Natsu created a massive red-and-blue fireball with a diameter of 30 meters. With all his might, he hurled it at the moving fortress.
"This is impossible!"
Inside the moving fortress, Jose, the Three Elemental Magicians, Gajeel, and all the guild's mages stared at the massive fireball radiating terrifying heat. Their faces filled with shock.
They never imagined that besides Makarov and Erza, Fairy Tail's dragon slayer, with that cat's assistance, could unleash such a devastating attack.
"You think you can destroy my moving fortress? Dream on!"
Switching to full defense, Jose unleashed a terrifying wave of magic power, instantly erecting a powerful dark magic barrier in front of the fortress.
The moving fortress and the magic crystal cannon had cost Phantom Lord decades of wealth. He wouldn't let them be destroyed so easily, not after planning to kidnap the noblewoman from the Heartfilia family to fund his ambitions.
The Three Elemental Magicians and Gajeel abandoned their efforts to charge the crystal cannon temporarily, instead activating their magical circles for full defensive mode.
*Boom!*
The massive fireball collided with the dark magic barrier, sending shockwaves reverberating across the skies of Magnolia City.
The barrier and the array of defensive magic shattered into pieces. The Blazing Flame of the Fire Dragon, tens of times more potent than the magic used to defeat the cursed demon, was also dissipated.
Though the moving fortress and the magic crystal cannon remained unharmed, a quarter of the lake's water evaporated from the magical collision.
"As expected of a Saint-ranked mage, truly troublesome!"
George wasn't overly surprised. After witnessing the battle between Jose and Makarov, he had anticipated that a single attack wouldn't be enough to take them down.
But that didn't matter. If one strike wasn't enough, then he'd try two. If two weren't enough, then three. He would exhaust his opponent to death if necessary!
"Natsu, again!"
With another wave of his wand, George sent a torrent of fiendfire into Natsu's mouth.
Soon, another massive fireball was hurled by Natsu.
Another collision. This time, half the lake evaporated, but the moving fortress and the magic crystal cannon still stood firm.
However, as George fed Natsu yet again, creating a third gigantic fireball, Jose finally began to feel uneasy.
Although they had successfully defended against the attacks and protected the fortress and cannon, their magic reserves couldn't sustain this pace much longer.
"What's with that cat? Does its magic power never run out?"
"George's mana recovery rate is fast, but I never imagined it would be this fast!"
Erza and the other Fairy Tail mages were awestruck, watching George continuously unleash torrents of fiendfire without breaking a sweat.
"This guy's like a walking perpetual magic engine."
Against a mage like George, unless your strength was significantly higher and you could take him down quickly, you'd end up exhausted and defeated in a battle of attrition.
"We can't go on like this. Change tactics—prepare for close combat! Follow me!"
As the fourth giant fireball approached, completely evaporating the lake, Jose realized he couldn't continue the standoff. A few more of those attacks, and even his mana reserves would be drained, leaving him helpless.
Abandoning the magic crystal cannon and the moving fortress, he led his remaining forces down from the castle, charging toward the Fairy Tail guild.
"Finally forced him out."
Seeing Jose give up on the fortress and the crystal cannon, George let out a sigh of relief.
At this point, Natsu had also reached his limit. Absorbing fiendfire repeatedly beyond his mana capacity had left him trembling uncontrollably.
If Jose had chosen to stay entrenched in the fortress, Fairy Tail would have been forced to attack on his turf, a far more challenging scenario.
Now, with Natsu temporarily unable to fight, the situation was still advantageous. Jose had abandoned his fortress and cannon, and his mages had spent a significant amount of mana.
Jose, as the key defensive figure covering the entire fortress, was likely down to less than 30% of his peak strength.
Meanwhile, Erza and the rest of the Fairy Tail team were well-rested and prepared, with traps and offensive magic tools laid out across the battlefield.
In terms of numbers, George was surprised to find that Jose hadn't summoned reinforcements from his branch guilds. Only a small fraction of Phantom Lord's mages, survivors from the earlier battle, had joined him, leaving them outnumbered by Fairy Tail.
"I'll handle Jose—everyone else, take them down quickly!"
Erza, now clad in her Black Wing Armor, went straight for Jose, whose strength had dwindled. Gray, at full power, took on Juvia and Sol together, both of whom were severely drained of magic.
Elfman and Cana, along with Macao, focused their attacks on Sol.
George charged directly at Gajeel, the Iron Dragon Slayer.
The strategy was simple: quickly eliminate the Three Elemental Magicians, Gajeel, and the remaining Phantom Lord mages. Once they were dealt with, everyone would gang up on Jose.
They wanted Jose to experience what it felt like to be overwhelmed by the entirety of Fairy Tail.
*"Not you again!"*
When Gajeel saw George rushing toward him, memories of their humiliating encounter the other night flashed through his mind. Instinctively, he tried to retreat, but his body betrayed him as he began to float uncontrollably.
*"Slumbering Strike +100!"*
With a series of frantic wand movements that looked more like spasms, George took down Gajeel in under two minutes, leaving him sprawled in the dried lakebed.
The moment Gajeel was dealt with, George immediately turned his attention to Sol, who was now being overwhelmed by the Fairy Tail team.
(End of Chapter)