Chapter 104.2 : Racer Defeated!!

"Has Gray not finished it yet?"

Everit glanced towards Gray once more.

Gray lost to Racer in a motorcycle race, but the battle was far from over—someone had to fall.

Fortunately, Lyon happened to be nearby. When he witnessed Gray being chased and overwhelmed, he intervened to rescue him. Surprisingly, the two prideful men actually worked together quite effectively, resulting in a stalemate.

By chance, Lyon eventually uncovered the secret behind Racer's magic. He signaled Gray to look up at the sky.

Gray obeyed and saw a bird soaring swiftly overhead.

He immediately grasped that his opponent's magic wasn't about sheer speed but rather involved sensory manipulation, akin to Everit's abilities! 

This was the way wizards clashed.

It was akin to two warriors dueling with weapons.

One wielded a spear, relying on solid fundamentals and stability without any tricks.

The other wielded a peculiar weapon, often gaining an initial advantage due to the opponent's unfamiliarity with the weapon's capabilities.

But once the weakness was exposed, the truth emerged: "the stranger the weapon, the quicker the downfall."

Without exchanging words, Gray and Lyon had already divided their roles.

*Boom!*

Lyon suddenly froze Gray and disdainfully remarked, "I no longer require your assistance."

"Oh? Internal conflict?" Racer delighted in this spectacle, thus he pursued Lyon and engaged him in combat.

Lyon proved to be formidable as well, managing to draw Racer's attention away from Gray until Gray sensed from the environment's speed that he had escaped the grip of Racer's magic.

Gray promptly shattered the ice and used his own ice magic to ascend a lofty watchtower. He aimed an ice cannon at Racer.

"Ice Cannon!"

*Boom!*

The blast caught Racer off guard, causing him to crash to the ground severely injured.

"Huh..." Lyon sighed in relief.

"Are you alright?"

Gray approached Lyon and extended his hand.

"Hmph, I'm stronger after all. Handling situations like this is child's play for me," Lyon boasted arrogantly, yet he reached out and allowed Gray to pull him up.

"Good job," Sherry, who had been observing from the sidelines, breathed a sigh of relief. "I was afraid you two would end up fighting each other again."

In the guild hall, Wendy served Everit a bowl of tripe she had prepared, finding that he enjoyed it.

"Thank you," Everit smiled warmly.

"Mr. Everit seems distracted lately. Are you thinking about escape plans?" Wendy asked curiously.

"Oh, it's nothing like that. Just trivial thoughts," he replied vaguely.

It was a brush-off, but Wendy didn't press further. If he didn't elaborate, he must have his reasons.

Everit, however, kept watch over all the ongoing battles.

Angel and Racer posed no challenge.

Cobra was just that. He quickly realized he couldn't match Natsu's stamina, resorting to underhanded tactics.

Jellal was also okay. Erza was victorious but he refused to admit defeat—he was thoroughly beaten by Everit, and if defeated and unmasked by Erza, he'd be doomed.

Jellal had other plans, aiming to prolong the fight, hoping Oración Seis could defeat Natsu and his allies so he could escape under a pretense.

As for concerns about Erza and the others?

Oración Seis were restrained by Everit and dared not harm anyone.

Only Midnight and Hoteye faced real trouble.

This isn't to say Ichiya and Jura weren't strong, but now Brain, their leader, headed toward the fray between the two.

Barring surprises, Jura and Ichiya would be defeated.

This would lead to a standoff: Oración Seis besiege Fairy Tail.

This was exactly what Everit anticipated—after gaining such experience, Natsu and his comrades would grow stronger.

"Boom, boom, boom!"

Natsu and Cobra continued their bout, but it was clear Natsu's limits surpassed Cobra's by far.

Cobra couldn't bear the pressure any longer and finally resorted to cheating.

*Boom!*

Suddenly, Cubellios appeared from behind and knocked Natsu aside.

Cobra stood atop Cubellios' back as the serpent spread its wings and soared into the sky.

"Damn it!" Natsu felt helpless as he watched Cobra fly above.

"Natsu!"

Just then, Lucy arrived swiftly.

More precisely, Happy and Carla were with her.

The two Exceeds helped Lucy up.

"Go help Natsu!" Lucy urged urgently.

"I'm low on magic power, Natsu, let's finish this fast!" Happy grabbed Natsu and ascended.

"Got it. I already know how to counter his magic." Natsu wasn't naive. His combat IQ and battlefield intuition were exceptional.

"Can you hear everything I'm thinking?"

Natsu charged towards Cobra.

"That's right." Cobra read Natsu's intentions.

If he aims left?

Then I'll dodge right.

*Boom!*

Unexpectedly, Natsu kicked Cobra aside with a powerful kick.

"What?!" Cobra was shocked. He had misread Natsu's move!

"A fight without overthinking it, I can handle something like this, it's just like facing off against Everit," Natsu remarked.

When confronted with Everit's deception magic, Natsu often found himself unable to figure things out, so he resorted to relying purely on his intuition.

Many times, acting solely on intuition and instinct, rather than overthinking, actually gets closest to the truth.

This time, Natsu employed this approach against Cobra.

In terms of effectiveness, it was quite significant.

Cobra's primary advantage lies in his hearing, but now it seemed ineffective against Natsu.

'Boom boom boom'

The battle between them escalated into a lightning-fast exchange of blows.

The pressure on Cobra was mounting.

But at one point, he suddenly chuckled, "Hey, don't you feel your strength dwindling?"

"I've noticed, so what?" Natsu replied with determination. "As long as I defeat you before I run out of power, that's all that matters!"

Despite knowing he was poisoned and that Happy's magic power was nearly depleted, Natsu remained confident he could defeat Cobra before succumbing to the poison or running out of magic.

"Hahaha, how shameless! Where does that confidence come from? Just because you're a Dragon Slayer?" Cobra laughed, his arms transforming into dragon-like claws.

"Natsu, he's also a Dragon Slayer!" Happy exclaimed, shocked.