CHAPTER 607: THE DEVIL’S HEART EXPLODES

"That’s right, it’s a Demon!" Precht brought his sword-like fingers together, then slashed them outward. "Devour those fairies! My creations!"

Dozens of pitch-black monsters surged forward in clusters of three and five. Some were armored with frightening durability, others fired blasts of Magic, and still others stretched their limbs like grotesque whips. Every one of them attacked in strange, unsettling ways.

Erza swung her sword against the tide, but the sensation was suffocating.

Even Laxus and Gildarts wore grim expressions.

It wasn’t that these Demons were particularly powerful, it was the despair and fear condensed into their very being. Their mere presence churned the heart with revulsion.

The only one who moved freely was Mira.

She canceled her Take Over, returning to her usual form in casual clothes, weaving through the Demons like a butterfly gliding through thorns. With every pass she delivered a light strike, a punch here, a slap there.

Precht sneered. "Pretty movements, but such weak attacks."

And then he faltered. Something felt wrong.

Mira had touched every single Demon once before she slipped gracefully back out of the circle, smiling at him.

One Demon swiped its claw at her, only to suddenly explode into dust.

Precht’s eyes widened. "What?!"

One after another, the rest of the Demons detonated in chain reaction, dissolving into nothing.

Mira’s hair and clothes fluttered in the wind as she smiled with quiet confidence.

From the sidelines, Rhodes couldn’t help thinking: ’She looks ridiculously cool right now.’

"What did you do?!" Precht demanded, a rare hint of panic in his voice.

Mira tilted her head. "Take Over."

"Impossible!" Precht spat. Of course he recognized Take Over Magic, but in his vast knowledge, Take Over had never been capable of this.

"It’s simple." Mira’s smile didn’t waver. "I Took Over part of each Demon’s power. Once I had that, their Magic Power, their very lives, were in my hands. Making them self-destruct was easy."

"Easy?" Precht’s face twisted. He knew Take Over better than most. The technique she described, stealing just a fragment of power and then controlling the host, was theoretically possible, but he had never known anyone to achieve it.

The drawback was obvious: you couldn’t gain all of a creature’s abilities. But the advantage was terrifying, you didn’t need to crush its will to dominate it.

Rhodes and Erza, however, looked unsurprised. Mira had shown this exact skill when she dealt with the cursed flute, Lullaby. To them, it was simply Mira being Mira.

But to Precht, who understood the principles of Magic in a way few did, this was astonishing.

Gildarts grinned, laughter booming across the battlefield. "Judging by that face, looks like our little Mira just did something incredible!"

He didn’t need to know the details; Precht’s expression said enough.

The others burst into relieved laughter, while Precht’s frustration only grew darker.

"Don’t flatter yourselves," he snarled. "The basis of Take Over is understanding. Those Demons were the simplest models I could craft. Watch closely, next comes... Chapter Five, Section Seven! Hidden Magic: Heavenly Punishment!"

Dark energy swirled above his head, condensing into a massive vortex of purplish-black power.

Soil, stones, leaves, branches, and other debris were pulled into the vortex, spinning violently. Four more cracks ripped open around Precht, front, back, left, and right, each connecting to the swirling mass above. From them, four massive Demons emerged, larger and taller than the ones before.

The instant their feet touched the ground, spiderweb-like cracks spread outward, shaking the battlefield. Their roars echoed across Tenrou Island, so loud that countless animals hidden in fear scattered in a frenzy.

Mira raised her hand lightly, her palm glowing as four invisible currents of darkness surged outward. In the next moment, the four towering Demons dissolved into the wind, vanishing with anguished roars.

"You’re right, Take Over does require understanding," Mira said calmly, her expression relaxed. "The structure of these four was more than ten times more complex than the earlier ones. But even so... they’re still far from being true Demons."

Precht froze. His triumphant grin, still lingering from having just created them, stiffened into disbelief.

His mind reeled. That was Hidden Magic from Zeref’s book, the ultimate product of his painstaking years of research! The very pinnacle of sorcery he had reached. Since mastering it, no one had ever broken it.

And yet this girl... this child... had shattered it like nothing.

"Die!!" Precht’s composure snapped, and with a crazed expression he hurled a massive black sphere of Magic, taller than a man, directly at Mira.

Mira immediately Took Over Demon Halphas, her fist cloaked in dark power. She charged headlong into the black orb.

The sphere detonated with a thunderous explosion, but out of the smoke Mira burst forth, her fist wreathed in black flames, and struck Precht squarely across the face.

His cheek distorted as he was sent flying. Mira lowered her fist, smirking playfully. "How does it feel? To be struck by your own power?"

Makarov’s eyes softened with memory. He remembered the little girl who once trembled, begging him to exorcise the "Demon" she thought had possessed her. And now, here she was, wielding that same darkness as a shield for her comrades.

The Master’s lips curved into a proud smile. Then his fist swelled to giant size, crashing down and slamming Precht deep into the earth.

The others immediately followed up to pressure him further, hoping to sense the location of his "core" during the assault.

Lightning, crushing force, sword light, all chained together seamlessly.

Precht’s cry of pain reverberated from the pit.

Rhodes closed his eyes briefly, then grasped his pendant. "Summon, Rift Herald!"

A hulking purple monstrosity materialized, stomping the earth as it charged. But it did not head for Precht.

Instead, it thundered toward the direction of Precht’s airship.

Submerged under the storm of attacks, Precht’s heart froze. That was his airship. His last lifeline! The guards stationed there... worthless against such a beast.

"Damn brats!"

Rage twisted his face. With a violent burst of fury, he unleashed two pitch-black chains stronger than before. One tore through Erza’s armor, the other pierced Laxus’s shoulder.

Erza slammed into Mira, both crashing hard. Laxus gritted his teeth, seized the chain with his right hand, and let lightning erupt from his body, racing back along the link toward Precht.

That look resolute and burning even in pain, stabbed at Precht’s heart. For a brief instant, he saw the ghost of an old friend.

Yes... that lightning boy was Yuri’s great-grandson.

"Laxus!!" Makarov cried, desperation surging. He conjured a two-meter-long arrow of light and fired it with a sharp whistle toward Precht’s left side.

At the same time, Gildarts clenched his fist, unwilling to let the younger ones bleed before his eyes. With a furious roar, he unleashed a crushing wave toward Precht’s right side.

The twin attacks closed in, just as a booming explosion erupted in the distance. A column of flames soared into the sky.

Precht’s face twisted into shock and despair. "So fast."

Even Rhodes blinked in surprise. The Rift Herald shouldn’t have reached the airship yet. Then... who had done that?

...

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