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

The enormous black shadow slowly approached Laxus, gradually growing larger.

Laxus, seeing the massive black shadow, decided against a direct confrontation and looked around. He then noticed a naturally formed hill.

He nimbly made his way to the top of the hill, stepping over the rugged, protruding rocks, and hid there.

Only after the dark figure emerged from around the corner was its full form revealed to Laxus's eyes.

It was a scaled rat that was over three meters tall, but its appearance was already different from that of an ordinary scaled rat.

Its body became increasingly wide and thick, and its entire back formed a flat, scaly shell.

Its back was no longer covered with small scales, but with large scales like magic crystals, each with a spike that emitted a blue light.

Each time it exhales, it produces a visible white wave of air.

Laxus broke out in a cold sweat the moment he saw the whole picture.

This doesn't look like a rat at all.

How did it become the King of Beasts? It looks more like a turtle now.

"squeak!"

The scaled rat king continued to drag its heavy steps toward the cave entrance.

Seeing this, Laxus could no longer let it crawl toward the exit.

He had promised Ron that he would personally eliminate all the magical beasts, so he couldn't just back down like this.

Laxus took a few deep breaths, steadied himself, and began to charge his hands with electricity, several currents gathering in his palms.

Eventually, the electricity in his hand condensed into a light gun.

Laxus seized the opportunity, charged up, and leaped into the air, his feet crackling with electricity as he charged toward the head of the Rat King.

Only then did the Rat King realize something was wrong. He raised his head slightly, but he couldn't stop Laxus from firing his shot.

"Lightning Strike Spear!"

Laxus gripped the lightning gun and stabbed it hard into its head, activating an electric magic circle.

Sizzle sizzle sizzle!

The Rat King's head emitted a bright yellow light, absorbing all the magic power from Laxus's shot.

As soon as Laxus finished unleashing his lightning spear, he used his feet to push off, creating some distance between himself and the Rat King.

Thick white smoke billowed from the Rat King's head, but Laxus didn't have time to investigate.

"Did it work?"

"Squeak!"

Laxus didn't 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, and he could only see these scales by the blue light.

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

"This is troublesome!"

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

"squeak!"

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

With a leap of its hind legs, it left 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 up from the mine's surface, and its front foot smashed a deep crater in the ground!

The impact caused the entire tunnel to shake violently.

It persisted, continuing its charge towards the fleeing Laxus.

boom!!

Laxus narrowly avoided the impact once again.

In this attack, the Scaled Rat King smashed the remains of the Scaled Rats on the ground into a bloody pulp, with blood, flesh, and sand 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 was startled when he saw Ron.

Why is Ron here?

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

"It's alright, let me take charge of this place now."

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

Just as the Scaled Rat King was gathering its strength again, a small white bird suddenly appeared and swooped down toward the Scaled 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 burst into white light in response, and the loud noise interrupted the scaled rat king's charge, making it unable to stand steadily on its front legs.

"Squeak squeak squeak~!"

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

Laxus paused slightly, slowing his pace considerably as he fled.

"Don't stop, over here!"

Taking advantage of the dust and smoke, 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 its fierce vertical pupils, searching around for the target that had harmed it, but found no trace of it.

"Squeak squeak squeak!!!"

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 a rat king?"

Ron peeked out from the blind spot, watched the rat king kick up sand and stones, and shook his head.

Laxus, standing behind Ron, stared at the person in front of him in shock, his expression completely changed.

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

"Oh, that'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 movements; I didn't cause any serious injury. What happened to that rat?"

Laxus lowered his head upon seeing this.

"The Rat King's head has evolved; it's covered in scales, making it 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, he didn't even have a chance to turn over."

Ron shook his head, then smiled:

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