Fairy Tail: I Don't Want to Be the Guild Master-Chapter 345: Four elements, all destroyed

Aria's palms pressed together above Rhodes' shoulders, and in an instant, a specialized Airspace field snapped into existence.

"Take over—" Rhodes froze. His magic wouldn't activate!

The pressure around him felt crushing, like the very air was wringing the magic from his body, draining it outward.

"Rhodes!" he heard Erza and Mira shout in alarm. Their panic was clear in their faces as a sharp, stinging pain began to crawl across Rhodes' skin.

There was no time to think.

His right index finger twitched, just enough to hook the edge of his pocket.

Boom!

A small explosive magic crystal, hidden there for emergencies, detonated with a sharp bang at point-blank range.

Pain erupted across his hip and the right side of his backside, launching him out of Aria's air trap in a smoking arc to the left.

Originally meant to interrupt an enemy's spell... and now used like this.

A perfectly good pair of pants ruined.

But in mid-air, Rhodes completed the take over and transformed. His body shifted, cloaked in thick black fur, his form becoming a towering wolf. The dense coat covered every inch, both where it should, and where it shouldn't.

Aria's tall frame staggered, just briefly but it was enough.

Sensing its master had been harmed, the nearby Brambleback turned with a hiss and lunged, swiping its massive claw.

Aria, still recovering from the sudden explosion, barely had time to raise his arm in defense.

What looked like a simple claw swipe carved four bloody gashes down his forearm, shredding through his sleeve and searing with pain. The blow wasn't deep, but it felt like his whole arm was about to split apart.

"Airspace: Absolute!"

Aria retaliated, unleashing a shockwave that blasted Brambleback backward, flipping the massive beast onto its back. The floor trembled under the force.

He'd barely turned when Mira appeared beside him, her presence like a pressure wave of holy fury.

She no longer wore her red, revealing outfit. Instead, she had transformed, cloaked in Demon Halphas form. Her new robes were flowing and white with blue trim, lined with a black cape, and hellfire licked at her boots.

Aria's senses flared. She was overflowing with overwhelming power. He started to raise his hands, preparing to scatter again with Airspace: Dispersion—

But Mira's fist was already in his face.

"WUGH—AAAGHH!"

Aria reeled, sent flying backward. Before he could land, another blow slammed into his shoulder blades.

Then another into his spine.

Then another into his ribs.

Mira's fists pounded into his body, one after the other like a storm. She struck his back, his side, his lower back, every blow ringing out with a sickening crunch.

He was like a living sandbag. Every hit left a dent, every bone screamed under the impact. His uniform shredded, flames spreading across his cloak.

Then, with a final scream of fury, Mira launched him upward with a blazing kick, straight through the ceiling.

BOOM.

He hit the upper floor, crashing through it like a meteor, then plummeted back down.

Thanks to the overwhelming strength of Demon Halphas and the effect of the red buff, Aria's fingers only twitched once after hitting the ground and then stopped moving entirely.

Mira hadn't spoken a single word during the entire battle, but anyone could see she had been furious.

Erza's instinctive move to stand protectively in front of others ended up being unnecessary. Her armor shimmered and faded as she returned to her standard attire.

Mira walked toward Rhodes in small, deliberate steps. Rhodes met her halfway, gently holding her hand with one clawed paw and using the other to pat her on the head.

"I'm alright. Really. I'm not mad," Rhodes said softly. He nodded to the Sentinel, which promptly refreshed Mira's buff.

"Okay." Mira's tension eased as her worry melted away. "Why haven't you changed back?"

"I'm waiting to find somewhere I can change my pants," Rhodes replied, one hand now protectively holding his side. "Ow... my hip."

Gray stepped forward, his hand frosted over with cool mist. "Want an ice compress?"

Rhodes blinked in disbelief. "Are you serious?"

Gray gave a solemn nod. Rhodes shook his head. "Get lost."

Natsu pulled Happy closer and muttered, "Remind me never to make Mira angry."

"Aye," Happy nodded, ears lowered. He briefly considered dropping a cheeky comment about secret relationships, but thought better of it. Maybe later, with Lucy.

The ground lurched violently, followed by an intense tremor.

Loose debris from earlier fights fell from ceilings and cracked walls.

"What now?" Natsu barked, catching his balance.

Gray and Happy looked equally baffled.

But Rhodes, Mira, and Erza knew exactly what was happening.

The voidmites that hadn't participated in the battle had likely chewed away at the foundations. Once the damage reached a tipping point, the whole structure began to collapse.

And it was worse than expected.

Throughout the entire fortress, walls were caving in, ceilings crashing down, and floors crumbling. The towering mechanical castle was suffering a chain-reaction collapse from the inside out.

In one hidden corridor, Virgo, who had just finished drilling a tunnel, was struck on the head by a small piece of debris. She blinked and stared at the stone now rolling across the ground.

"What a shame. It's not the princess punishing me."

Unfazed by the growing tremors, Virgo simply went back to digging. As long as the ground didn't throw her off balance, she wasn't stopping. Lucy's magic wouldn't last forever. Time was short.

...

Back in the control center, Josep was beginning to lose his composure.

He had deployed countless Phantom Soldiers to wipe out the intruders. Yet not only had they failed to neutralize Fairy Tail, they were now being overrun by a swarm of bizarre, unstoppable creatures.

For a while, the two sides seemed evenly matched?

If a swarm of mere worms could hold the line, what did that say about the soldiers he had painstakingly created?

"All soldiers, amplify your power!" Jose roared. A sinister wave of dark magic pulsed from him, channeling through his living-link enchantment and surging into every ghost soldier on the field.

The Phantom Soldiers, locked in fierce combat suddenly glowed with crimson light. Their eyes burned red, and they launched into motion, blurring with newfound speed.

No, it wasn't true flight. But with how swiftly they moved and how long they stayed airborne with each leap, it looked like low-altitude gliding. freёweɓnovel.com

And now, as they swept through the swarm mid-glide, they slashed down wave after wave of void worms. The tide of battle on the ground was beginning to shift as more and more worms were shredded and cast aside.

Worse yet, the Phantom Soldiers had begun bypassing the worms entirely, lunging directly toward the mages behind the front lines.

Elfman stepped forward without hesitation. With a powerful roar, he met the attackers head-on, punching through their blades. Even enhanced, they couldn't overpower him, but their sheer numbers were a problem.

Cana moved with confident ease. Her experience in battle showed through with each well-timed card strike, and she even managed to glance sideways at Loke to make sure he was holding up.

But Lucy... Lucy was struggling.

Startled, she instinctively swung her whip, but it barely made the soldier flinch. He raised his blade to strike.

In a blur, Loke appeared and shoved her out of the way. The blade slashed his arm, and blood dripped down from a shallow wound.

"Loke!" Lucy cried, her voice trembling.

Loke kicked the enemy back, gritting his teeth through the pain.

"Don't worry. This is nothing."

Cana pressed a hand to her ear crystal. "Rhodes. Something's changed. The Phantom Soldiers are stronger. Loke's hurt. And the worm swarm's having a tough time."

Rhode's voice answered calmly through the shared channel. "Don't worry. A super reliable team just arrived."

"We're here!" came a confident shout.

"Everyone, move in!"

"Let's show those Phantoms what real Fairy Tail mages can do!"

Reinforcements. Their comrades had arrived.

A wave of relief swept through the group. Cana, Lucy, Elfman, even Loke smiled. Rhodes had been right, there was no need to panic when Fairy Tail moved as one.

But in the Phantom Guild's control room, Jose's expression had soured.

A green-glowing magic crystal on the console flickered, and then went out completely.

It was one of the four conduits that transferred magic from the Four Elements. This one had been linked to Aria.

Next to it, three more crystals, red, yellow, and blue flickered ominously.

These four were crucial. They were supposed to serve as fuel for the ultimate spell. Losing even one source would prevent its activation.

Joseph's hand trembled.

"Aria... is defeated too?"

He gritted his teeth, eyes blazing in disbelief. "The Four Elements, and Gajeel, all taken down by those Fairy Tail brats?! Impossible!"