"Receive the Soul of Satan!"
As Mirajane's power surged, her appearance changed drastically. She was no longer the gentle, smiling waitress of Fairy Tail; now, she resembled a true demon, radiating overwhelming magic pressure.
Freed Justine's hand, clutching his rune-inscribed sword, trembled uncontrollably.
A fierce glint flashed in Mirajane's eyes. She charged forward with blinding speed, arriving before Freed in an instant.
"Dark Écriture: Wings!"
Panicked, Freed hastily inscribed the dark runes for flight and launched himself into the air, barely evading Mirajane's devastating assault.
The broken bridge he had been standing on wasn't as fortunate. It crumbled to pieces under the full force of Mirajane's Satan Soul attack.
Beads of cold sweat rolled down Freed's forehead.
Only now did he understand the look Ken had given him earlier—an expression as if he were already looking at a corpse.
The smoke cleared.
Mirajane took to the sky, her dark, sinister Satanic wings sprouting from her back. She locked onto Freed with deadly precision.
With demonic claws slashing like a ravenous beast, her attacks came in a relentless, overwhelming flurry.
Freed, ill-suited for close combat, could only parry clumsily with his Western sword, but his defense was full of openings.
Mirajane seized the moment, striking a heavy palm into Freed's chest and sending him plummeting from the air.
As he tumbled downward toward the shattered bridge, Freed hastily reactivated his flight runes and narrowly avoided crashing.
"S-Class Mage, Demon Mirajane... Her strength far exceeds the original calculations," Freed muttered grimly.
Freed's magic, Dark Écriture, relied on creating written rules to control and restrict his enemies.But this rigid, methodical style made him inflexible when faced with overwhelming force—and Mirajane had shattered his careful plan without hesitation.
"Dark Madness."
Mirajane had already closed the distance again.
A large purple-black magic circle spun into existence in her palm. From it, dozens of dark arms burst forth, surging toward Freed like a raging torrent.
If he didn't unleash his strongest magic now, it would all be over.
"Dark Écriture: Light Pillar!"
Freed gritted his teeth, tossing aside his sword into the river. Forming a rapid seal with his hands, he summoned a brilliant orb of light infused with enormous magical power.
As the shadowy arms reached for him, the light orb detonated, blasting away the incoming darkness in a dazzling explosion.
"Did I... succeed?" Freed gasped, his heart flickering with a fragile hope.
But as the smoke lifted, his heart sank once more.
Mirajane stood there, utterly unfazed.
Between her palms, small black holes condensed ominously, and an even darker aura spread around her.
"Soul Extinction."
Freed tried to move, tried to muster strength—but the light bomb he had just unleashed had drained nearly all his remaining magic.
Despair clawed at him.
"So... that was just a test?"
"There was a fundamental flaw in the plan. I can't beat her... Not in speed, not in power, not in the frequency of her attacks..."
"BOOM!!"
A colossal surge of purple energy erupted from the black hole in Mirajane's palms.
A terrifying demonic wind roared outward. The skies above even began to darken faintly.
Although the battle was taking place on the outskirts of Magnolia, the fierce shockwaves traveled all the way into the city itself, stirring the townspeople.
"It's getting dark all of a sudden?"
"Could it be the Fairy Tail mages again? I just fixed my house from the last time..."
Faced with such overwhelming force, resistance was futile.
The devastating wave swallowed Freed whole. His magic—the runes that formed his wings—shattered. His vision blurred into darkness.
It felt like thousands of steel needles piercing his nerves at once.Oddly, the extreme pain cleared his mind.
"So... this is the same pain I made Elfman suffer earlier... Guess it's my turn now," Freed thought bitterly.
With a weak laugh, Freed lost all strength and collapsed.
But Mirajane, seething with fury, didn't intend to stop.
She descended rapidly, grabbing Freed by the neck and slamming him into the ground with brutal force.
Flat on his back, Freed looked up at her—at the demon she had become.
Magic crackled around her, her claws poised to strike and end it all.
"Is it over...?" Freed thought numbly, closing his eyes, resigned to his fate.
Seconds ticked by.
The killing blow never came.
When Freed dared to open his eyes again, he saw Mirajane still looming over him.Her magic-dripping claws were frozen mid-air—and in her eyes, the hatred had begun to fade.
Half a minute later, her arms slowly dropped to her sides.
Confused, Freed wondered, "What is this? Mockery from the victor?"
Mirajane said nothing.
There was a flash of light.
The demonic visage of Satan Soul vanished.
Before Freed now knelt the familiar figure of Mirajane Strauss—the smiling, kind-hearted waitress of Fairy Tail, wearing her soft pink dress.
Mirajane sat heavily on the ground, drained by the battle.
Tears welled up in her eyes.
After a long pause, her voice, soft and trembling, finally broke the silence:
"After all... we're still comrades of the same guild. I just... I just want to live happily in Fairy Tail. I don't want to fight anymore..."
Not far away, Ken, who was supporting a limping Elfman, had witnessed everything.
Ken clenched his fists.
He could admit that, even if it went against his better judgment, he wouldn't have killed another Fairy Tail wizard either.
But if someone he loved had been hurt like Elfman was, he would have given Freed a good, hard beating to relieve the anger.
"Mira's too kind..." Ken sighed under his breath.
At that moment, Elfman suddenly roared with what little strength he had left:
"Sister's a real man!!"
Ken's face twitched, black lines appearing.
"Shut up... just shut up," he muttered.
If Elfman weren't already battered half to death, Ken would've been tempted to smack him like during one of their usual guild brawls.
...
After what felt like an eternity, Mirajane's magic finally calmed.
Looking up, she saw Elfman hobbling toward her with Ken's support.
Relief flooded her heart, and a weak, pale smile broke across her lips.
"Thank you, Ken..." she whispered.
Ken simply waved it off.
His attention shifted to Freed, who was lying nearby.
At that moment, Freed, using the last reserves of his strength, retrieved a small magical device from his belt and hurled it into the sky.
With a sharp crackle, brilliant fireworks exploded overhead.
It was the same signal Bickslow had used earlier.
Ken immediately understood.
"A defeat signal," he muttered. "Now only Evergreen remains among the Thunder God Tribe... We'll leave her to the others."
"As for Laxus..." Ken's eyes narrowed.
"Don't keep him waiting any longer. There's still a little over two hours left... and plenty of time to settle everything."
(Next Chapter: Clash of Lightning and Will)