Fairy Tail: You said you were just acting, are you serious?

"Squeak~!"

Laxus did not expect that his response would be a roar from the Rat King.

After the white smoke dissipated, the head of the scaled rat king that had been hit was completely unharmed, with not a single mark left on its skin.

Laxus's eyes widened in disbelief. How could he be completely unharmed?!

Only when he observed the head of the scaled rat king up close did he realize that its head was completely covered by scales, which he could only see clearly by using blue light.

Once the white smoke dissipated, the Scaled Rat King fixed its gaze on the humans who had just attacked it.

"Thank you!"

Laxus frowned, and seeing that his sneak attack had failed, he quickly turned and slipped away.

"squeak!"

The Scaled Rat King roared and took a few steps back with its front legs, gathering its strength.

It leaped with its hind legs, leaving deep footprints on the ground, and pounced on Laxus with a speed disproportionate to its size!

Boom!

Seeing this, Laxus quickly spurred his legs and dodged to the side, avoiding the Rat King's attack!

Its kick sent dust flying across the mine's surface, and its front paw created a deep crater in the ground!

This blow caused the entire tunnel to shake violently.

It did not give up and continued to charge towards the fleeing Laxus.

Boom!

Laxus narrowly escaped the attack once again.

In this attack, the Scaled Rat King smashed the remains of the Scaled Rat on the ground into a bloody pulp, with blood and flesh mixed with sand and stones splattering all over the ground!

Laxus gasped at the sight of the mangled body and could only continue fleeing without stopping!

"Hey, Laxus, over here!"

Just then, Laxus looked toward the familiar voice and saw a figure running toward him.

Laxus saw Ron's figure and was startled.

Why is Ron here?

"Don't come any closer, get out of here!"

"It's alright, let me take charge here now."

Ron saw that the three-meter-tall scaled rat king behind him was gathering its strength again, so he pointed to the air and then swung it down at the scaled rat king.

Just as the Rat King was gathering its strength again, a small white bird suddenly appeared and swooped down towards the Rat King's head.

Laxus took a closer look and realized that the small white clay creature seemed to be controlled by Ron, which made him feel annoyed.

Ron's expectation that this clay bird could hold off the Rat King's attack was a bit too much...

"drink!"

Boom!

The little bird responded with a burst of white light, and the loud noise interrupted the scaled rat king's charge, making it lose its footing on its front legs.

"Squeak squeak squeak~!"

The Scaled Rat King let out a painful roar, its sharp cry echoing through the tunnel.

Laxus paused slightly, slowing his pace considerably.

"Don't stop, over here!"

Taking advantage of the smoke and dust, Ron approached Laxus, grabbed him, and pulled him into a blind spot for temporary cover.

When the smoke cleared, the scales on the head of the Scaled Rat King were charred black, but the scales' defense was still intact.

The Rat King revealed his fierce, vertical eyes, searching around for the target who might have harmed him, but found no one.

"Squeaky!!!"

Having lost sight of its target, it could only stomp its feet in place, then furiously smash the rock face, kicking up a cloud of sand.

"Wow, this rat is already angry. How can it be the rat king?"

Ron peeked out from the blind spot and watched the Rat King keep kicking up sand and stones in place, shaking his head.

Laxus, standing behind Ron, stared at the person before him in utter shock, his eyes completely changed.

"Isn't this supposed to be clay modeling magic? Why did that little bird suddenly explode?!"

"Oh, it's all thanks to the magic clay, but that's not important for now."

Ron turned around and asked Laxus seriously:

"I only interrupted his actions and didn't cause any serious injury. What's the deal with that rat?"

Laxus lowered his head upon seeing this.

"The Rat King's head has evolved; it's covered in scales, making it very difficult to inflict serious injury."

Ron nodded thoughtfully.

"Scales?"

That's not surprising.

Laxus looked at Ron, abandoning his pretentious demeanor, and subconsciously asked:

"Have you figured out how to defeat him?"

Ron thought for a moment, then turned to Laxus and asked:

"Have you tried attacking its interior, such as its abdomen?"

Laxus paused for a moment, then shook his head.

"No, there wasn't even a chance for him to turn over."

Ron shook his head, then smiled and said:

"No need to turn the tables. I have a plan to kill him from the inside, but I need your cooperation."

Chapter 33 Art is an explosion!

"Are you sure your plan is feasible?"

After hearing Ron's plan, Laxus raised an eyebrow, as if to say, "Is it really that simple?"

“Yes, go outside and drag it for a minute. I’ll message you when I’m done, and then you can lure it over.”

Seeing the confident look in Ron's eyes, Laxus opened his mouth, but ultimately chose not to refute.

He himself didn't realize that after being saved by Ron, he had unknowingly chosen to rely on Ron.

"Don't wait any longer, the Rat King seems to have noticed."

Ron peeked out and saw that the scaled rat was starting to come in their direction, so he quickly urged Laxus on.

"Alright, then I'll use all my magic to drag it along. You'd better hurry!"

As soon as he finished speaking, Laxus's legs erupted with yellow electricity, transforming him into a bolt of lightning that shot out of the blind spot.

"Hey! You blind fool, I'm here!"

After shouting to attract the attention of the Rat King, he ran in the opposite direction from Ron.

"squeak!!!"

As soon as the Rat King saw its target appear, it immediately gathered its strength and charged towards Laxus again.

Boom!

Seeing the Rat King charging headlong at Laxus again, Ron seized the opportunity to use the Eight Gates Formation from his Dimensional Items Vault.

【Eight Gates Formation (B): A one-time active skill that forcibly breaks through the body's energy limits upon activation, instantly restoring mana and doubling the current total mana】

Ron's skin began to heat up and turned red. In that instant, the total amount of magic power he had consumed was fully restored, and he felt that his total magic power had more than doubled.

Ron frowned; his skin felt hotter than his body temperature.

After Ron got used to the feeling, he took out several pieces of unshaped magical clay and infused them with magic.

He poured magic into the clay while continuously adding more magical clay.

The large amount of magical clay, after being infused with magic, flowed onto the ground and gradually rose higher.

Meanwhile, Laxus on the other side was still attracting Rat King's attention.

The Rat King, blinded by rage, was unaware that Laxus had been leading him in attacks nearby, and didn't realize he had already circled around several times.

His expression grew increasingly anxious; it felt like an eternity in just one minute.

Just then, the spider on Laxus's shoulder suddenly jumped up and leaped toward the head of the scaled rat.

Laxus's face lit up with joy; this was Ron's signal.

Boom!

The white spider then precisely jumped onto the mouse's head, emitting a white light!

This explosion stunned the Rat King again, interrupting it once more.

Taking advantage of this time, Laxus headed toward the blind spot where Ron was hiding.

"Squeak squeak squeak!!"

The Rat King roared and charged toward Laxus, gathering its strength once more.

Laxus had become adept at anticipating his attacks and dodged them.

He looked at the target that the Scaled Rat King was pouncing on and suddenly froze.

Just then, Ron stepped out without warning and entered the range of the Rat King's attack.

The Scaled Rat King in mid-air opened its mouth, revealing its sharp front teeth, and bit at Ron.

"Ron! Get out of the way!!"

Ron seemed not to hear Laxus's call, and made a welcoming gesture with his hands, accepting the Rat King's enthusiastic embrace.

Click!

The Rat King showed no mercy and bit Ron in half at the waist!

Upon seeing this bite, Laxus's face turned deathly pale, and his legs went weak, causing him to collapse to the ground.

Strangely, 'Ron' did not bleed. Instead, he was cut in two and turned into two lumps of sticky white clay!

A clump of slime stuck the scaly rat king's chin firmly to the ground, preventing its head from moving, while another clump covered the rat king's mouth and incisors.

The Scaled Rat King kept chewing on the clay, but he couldn't swallow it. Instead, he couldn't open or close his mouth!

"what?!"

Laxus stood there, stunned.

"I won't let your head shrink back, you little rat."

At this moment, Ron emerged from the higher rock face on the other side and watched as the Scaled Rat King tried to retract its head like a turtle, and couldn't help but make a sarcastic remark.

"drink!"

Boom!

The two lumps of white clay around the Rat King's mouth emitted a huge white light magic circle, and then exploded!

The explosion sent the Rat King's two front teeth flying and embedding them in a nearby rock face. The Rat King's jaw was blown to pieces, revealing a huge bloody hole.

Laxus ducked to avoid the tooth, and seeing it embedded in the rock wall, he felt a chill run down his spine.

"Gah!!!!"

The Rat King rolled over and fell to the ground in agony, because its tongue had also been blown apart, and it could no longer make a decent, mournful rat squeak.

"It's not over yet!"