A magic merchant infiltrating Fairy Tail

What? Kira? He's not an enemy!

What? Acnologia? It's not human!

"At least let us help her, right? Her magic..."

Laxus said with a serious expression, "No! They are the 'Shield of the Twelve,' powerful mages whose strength far surpasses that of the 'Ten Wizard Saints.' They are not opponents you can handle!"

"The Twelve Shields of the Holy Land... are they them?"

The group murmured softly, clearly surprised that among the people Laxus and Erza mentioned who stood at the pinnacle of the Western Continent, there was one who was about their age.

Gray gritted his teeth and shouted unwillingly, "Since the opponent is so strong, then we should stay and help even more!"

How much better do you think you are than Natsu?

Gray fell silent.

Laxus's meaning was clear: Gray's strength had always been comparable to Natsu's. Since Gray could make Natsu disappear instantly, he could also make him disappear instantly, so going up there would be suicide.

"Have you said enough? If you're done, I'm going to make my move." Brandish announced the start of the battle in a calm and casual tone.

"We won't let you succeed so easily!!"

Laxus roared, channeling his magic into lightning, and instantly covered a distance of more than ten meters, appearing beside Brandish.

He was incredibly fast, faster than real lightning!

Brandish intended to use the same trick again, so she silently cast a shape magic while Laxus was speaking. But this time she miscalculated, because Laxus's magic power far exceeded Natsu's and hers by a large margin. With her abilities, she couldn't budge him in the slightest.

After Laxus made her move, she discovered a fatal weakness: her senses and reflexes were completely unable to keep up with Laxus's speed, and she couldn't lock onto the target's location, so she was naturally unable to cast magic.

"Oops!"

Upon sensing the frenzied, sharp magic appearing beside him, Brandish's expression changed drastically, his pupils contracted, and he was completely unable to react.

However, the next moment...

Bang! ! !

A violent explosion of air echoed throughout the street.

Laxus, who was about to succeed, suddenly seemed to be hit by a powerful attack. He was sent flying backward and crashed hard into a stall on the other side of the street!

Laxus wasn't the only one attacked; Erza, Gray, Wendy, and the Thors were also attacked. Seven figures, seven attacks, all hit by the same attack in an instant, powerless to resist!

Under the immense force, the people either crashed onto empty stalls, buried under fruit and debris, or smashed into roadside trees, snapping them in half, or fell headfirst to the ground, unconscious.

But what's most eye-catching is that Erza, Albagrim, and Wendy's clothes were torn to shreds, and even their armor was damaged!

The towering peaks reach into the clouds, the vast blue waves surge and the grasslands stretch as far as the eye can see—these are the inexhaustible treasures of the Creator.

Fortunately, there were no other passersby, and the men were all lying on the ground, unable to witness this rare scene.

"Cough—! How could this be?!"

"It happened in an instant..."

"What kind of speed is this?!"

"Ahhhhh!!"

"What's wrong... I'm sorry!!"

"Waaaaah..."

"No one is allowed to look!!"

"Damn it!! Those two guys..."

Timalia slowly walked to Brandish's side and whistled casually: "You can still stand up? Looks like I really underestimated you..."

After saying that, he grabbed Brandish's arm and affectionately stroked her short, emerald-green hair. "I can't let you hurt my Randy..."

Brandish glanced at her with dead fish eyes: "I appreciate your help, but could you be a little faster next time? Fighting them is very troublesome."

"Okay, okay..."

Feeling the pain radiating from his body, and glancing out of the corner of his eye at Laxus and Erza, who had been sent flying, Gray stared in horror at the two who appeared perfectly normal, cold sweat pouring down his face.

"Is this the power of the Twelve Shields?"

Chapter 496 Capture

On the calm sea, a ship slowly departs from Galakrond Island.

In the small room, various out-of-season flowers bloomed in the sunlight, and the salty sea breeze blew in through the half-open window, filling the room with a faint fragrance of flowers and plants. With a glass table, a set of sofa chairs, and a crystal chandelier as decorations, it had a leisurely and elegant atmosphere.

Brandish slumped lazily on the sofa, eating the mangoes he had taken away and munching on spicy potato chips, making a crunching sound.

If you ignore the location, she looks exactly like a typical otaku girl from the Reiwa era.

"What are your plans to do with those people?"

"Take it back first, and we'll hand it over to the old man to deal with later..."

Timalia sat casually across from Brantish, completely lacking any ladylike demeanor. Her expression was calm, and her tone indifferent, as if she were talking about something trivial.

Upon hearing this, Brandish nodded silently, then fell silent and continued to eat.

This ice cream will melt if we don't eat it soon!

The battle ended half a day ago. The entire process, which was only visible for a few minutes, did not cause much damage except for half a street and a few stalls.

In the entire history of battles related to 'Fairy Tail', this was the least damaging one.

With the combined power of shape magic and time-stop magic, even powerful figures like Erza and Laxus were no match for them, and were repeatedly beaten to a pulp by the opponent during time-stop spells.

Not to mention Gray, Wendy, and the Thors, who are still somewhat inferior to them. Brandish could crush them with a single move without even Timaria having to lift a finger.

Therefore, the situation can be described as almost one-sided.

During this time, Laxus and Erza did sit-ups several times, but they were helpless against the time-stop magic and were eventually defeated. They were captured along with Natsu and Lucy, who had been shrunk earlier.

At this moment, all the members and cats from both Fairy Tail teams were bound by handcuffs made of sealing stones and imprisoned in cages on the ship.

The ship wasn't designed with any means to prevent Dragon Slayers from getting seasick, so even though Laxus, Natsu, and Wendy recovered their strength, they still had to endure the next four or five days of seasickness.

"You seem to care a lot about them?"

Timaria's eyes darted around slyly as she glanced at the Protoss keychain on the table, then asked with a hint of doubt, "Especially that blonde woman, do you really know her mother?"

Brantish didn't answer, focusing intently on her food as if nothing could disturb her enjoyment of the meal.

Although the two have known each other for many years and have a good relationship, she does not want to talk to others about her past with her mother.

After several seconds of silence, Timalia realized that the other party had no intention of answering, and could only shake her head helplessly: "If you don't want to say, then forget it."

After saying that, she turned and left the room to attend to other matters.

The so-called other matters were naturally not about doing any messy or indescribable things with Erza, Abbagrim, Lucy, and Wendy, who had become prisoners, but a very serious matter, which was also the reason they were here—to have the Alvarez Empire station troops on Galakron Island!

This was arranged by Consul Inber.

Without Zeref's permission, they cannot easily start a war against Ishgar. But not fighting now does not mean they won't fight later. After conquering Ishgar, they still need to consider the procedures for travel between the two continents, as well as some other miscellaneous matters.

To expand the territory of the Alvarez Empire, to prevent spies from infiltrating the empire, and to better manage the movement of people between the two continents in the future, it is necessary to occupy the island group in between.

These islands are numerous, with large populations and diverse cultures. Some are independent states, while others are considered lawless zones. It will take a considerable amount of time to incorporate them into the Alvarez Empire and govern them uniformly.

So he sent politicians to the various islands to negotiate, and also sent Brandish, who did nothing but eat and drink all day, with an army to accompany them as a means of deterrence—of course, she didn't need to be involved in the negotiations.

(This is the reason why Precito mentioned that the Alvarez Empire has been making moves in the past six months.)

Brandish was a lazy person and originally intended to refuse Imber, but Imber used the excuse of "thinking of His Majesty and the Empire" to invite Auguste, so she had no choice but to obey the old man's orders. In addition, there were delicacies like "Starry Dessert" on the various islands, so she agreed to go. Timalia, on the other hand, volunteered to get involved after hearing about it.

Otherwise, if it were just to eat mangoes, they wouldn't have traveled so far, even by warship and with an army.

It can only be said that Laxus and his group were just lucky.

……

Inside the prison, the Fairy Tail crew looked dejected and listless.

The three Dragon Slayer Mages were even more unable to bear the torment of seasickness. They were so nauseous that they staggered around, their mouths bulging, trying to vomit but unable to.

"Seasickness is so awful..."

"Happy, take me flying..."

Natsu and Wendy lay helplessly on the ground, their heads touching, barely breathing.

"Sorry, Natsu! I'm locked up and can't use wing magic!" Happy felt both sorry for Natsu and helpless, and could only rub his paw against Natsu's face to comfort him.

Laxus was equally miserable. His Dragon Slayer Magic was stronger, so the dizziness was naturally more severe. However, he had a strong will and a proud personality that made him determined not to show Natsu such an ugly side in front of his companions.

Believe it or not, it's actually quite effective!

He leaned against the darkest, outermost corner of the cage, covering his disheveled appearance with his large, black woolen coat, silently enduring the nausea and vomiting that came from his body, like a lone wolf licking its wounds, without making a sound, only cold sweat streaming down his face, gradually soaking his coat.

The Thors sat in a row, blocking Laxus's way as if guarding against a thief—as Laxus's loyal followers, they would not allow anyone to see him in such a disheveled state, not even his guildmates.

"Enough, Gray! How many times have you peeked?"

Freed clenched his fists, tears streaming down his face. "Laxus... Laxus... he was the last person who wanted his comrades to see him in such a vulnerable state!!"

Gray: "..."

I just haven't seen it before, and I'm curious, so I wanted to take a look... I really didn't mean any harm...

"This is the first time I've ever seen Laxus in this state..."

Erza watched with great interest, but soon she withdrew her teasing gaze and turned to look at another sullen person. "Are you alright, Lucy?"

"Um...I'm fine..." Lucy replied softly, "Don't worry!"

She forced an awkward smile to comfort Erza, but everyone could see that she was putting on a brave face. Everyone also knew what she was worried about; her empty waistline spoke volumes.

"Believe me, we will definitely get out of here!"

Lucy nodded silently. She didn't care about whether she could get out or not, and even if she did, she wouldn't leave easily. The theft of the Celestial Key was like a bolt from the blue for her.

'What exactly is the relationship between that woman and Mom?'

This question had been bothering Lucy for hours, but she still had no answer.