Chapter 663 - 663: Reversal

Mira successfully managed to Requip into the Heaven's Wheel Armor, but using it was nowhere near as natural for her as it was for Erza.

Requip Magic felt completely different from Take Over, leaving her movements awkward and restrictive as she tried to adapt to an unfamiliar fighting style.

Gennai and Kotetsu, meanwhile, unveiled a new combination of their own.

"Smoke Transmutation and Iron Transmutation—Combined Transmutation: Mist-Steel Scythe!"

A vast cloud of white smoke swallowed Mira, now in Erza's body, and Lucy, who had been transformed into Brandish.

Without warning, an enormous scythe tore through the mist and came crashing down toward them.

Lucy hurriedly threw herself aside and narrowly avoided being cleaved in two.

The moment she rolled back to her feet, her hand instinctively reached for the key pouch at her waist.

"Open, Gate of the Golden Bull—oh crap! I DON'T HAVE MY KEYS!!!"

While continuing to dodge the attacks emerging from the mist, Mira calmly analyzed what they were facing.

"So the smoke blocks our vision while an iron scythe attacks from inside it? If the scythe itself is made through Iron Transmutation, then... Requip: Adamantine Armor!"

Her armor changed immediately.

Mira raised the enormous shields on both arms, and a green magic barrier spread out in front of her, protecting Lucy behind it.

The giant scythe smashed into the Adamantine Shield with tremendous force, only to shatter on impact and explode into fragments of metal.

"Lucy, pull yourself together!" Mira called out. "If I can use Erza's Requip Magic, then you should be able to use Brandish's Magic too!"

"Brandish's Magic..." Lucy murmured. "She can enlarge or shrink people and objects."

She remembered how Brandish had enlarged Laxus during the battle against Acnologia and desperately tried to recall how she had performed the spell.

"I think... it went something like this."

Lucy held both palms toward each other, gathering Magic Power between them until a sphere of energy formed.

"Command T: Expansion!"

In the next instant, Lucy—still in Brandish's body—grew to an enormous size.

"AAAAAHHH!!!"

Completely unprepared for the sudden change in perspective, Lucy lost her balance and toppled forward with a scream.

The giant-sized Brandish crashed face-first into the ground, sending dust billowing everywhere.

The impact also dispersed the white smoke surrounding Mira and Lucy, though at Lucy's current size it hardly mattered either way.

The mist barely reached her ankles now; all she had to do was stand up and she would be able to see straight over it.

"What?! How did she suddenly become that huge?!"

Gennai and Kotetsu's offensive came to an abrupt halt.

Their Mist-Steel Scythe had already been shattered against the Adamantine Shield, and now the sight of a gigantic Lucy towering over them left both men momentarily stunned.

Mira did not waste the opening.

"Now's my chance! Heaven's Wheel: Blumenblatt!"

Two rings of magical swords, one large and one small, formed behind her before launching toward Gennai and Kotetsu in a relentless barrage.

Mira might not have Erza's effortless mastery over Requip, but she could at least reproduce some of the armor's established techniques.

"Lucy! They're pinned down—attack!"

"I can't, Mira!"

Lucy remained sprawled across the ground, sweating profusely.

"I'm afraid of heights! I'm too scared to even stand up!"

"You don't have to stand! Just punch straight down!"

Lucy froze.

"Oh! Right!"

She immediately clenched her enormous right hand into a fist.

A vast shadow fell over Gennai, Kotetsu, and Sai as they slowly looked upward.

Then Lucy brought her fist down.

BOOOOM!!!

The ground collapsed beneath the impact, leaving behind a massive crater.

At the bottom, Gennai, Kotetsu, and Sai lay unconscious.

...

Ultear had also been sent into one of the Purgatory worlds created by the Signario Sisters, where she found herself facing a somewhat troublesome opponent.

Brand, the man known within Gold Owl as the "Strongest Shield."

Like Gennai and Kotetsu, Brand was a doll created through the alchemy of Duke—or, more accurately, the Gold Dragon God Viernes.

His specialty was using alchemy directly on his own body, coating himself in an incredibly hard layer of carbon armor that was extremely difficult to break.

He could also reshape his hands into weapons, while his physical strength, close-combat ability, and speed were all quite impressive.

In some ways, his fighting style reminded Ultear of Gajeel.

...

Back at Magia Dragon, Athena had spent some time wrestling with her own thoughts before finally reaching a decision.

She asked Elefseria to send her to Gold Owl.

Athena had decided that she would destroy the false Duke herself.

She refused to allow an impostor to continue tarnishing the reputation of the real Duke, and more importantly, she intended to help seal Viernes once and for all.

...

After defeating Gennai and Kotetsu, Lucy and Mira searched their surroundings but found no obvious way out.

Lucy frowned.

"We beat the enemies, so why are we still stuck here?"

Mira returned to her own body, activated Satan Soul, and flew high into the air to survey the area.

After circling the strange world, she landed again and rested a hand beneath her chin.

"I have an idea... What if defeating the enemies isn't enough? Maybe we can't leave until we defeat the alchemist who created this space."

Their surroundings were certainly unnatural.

The area itself was not particularly large, wild flames burned in scattered patches throughout the landscape, and no matter where they searched, there was no visible exit.

...

Meanwhile, Erza had been struggling badly while trapped in Mira's body.

Then, without warning, the effect of Sai's Rival Bond disappeared.

Erza suddenly returned to normal—and because Mira had Requipped the Heaven's Wheel Armor before the exchange ended, Erza reappeared already wearing it.

The battle immediately changed.

Erza went from struggling to defend herself to launching an all-out counterattack.

Luso had clearly not expected the transformation to reverse so suddenly, and within moments she found herself being driven steadily backward.

...

Natsu and Wendy's battle had become even more intense.

After entering Fire Dragon King Mode, Natsu met Athena II's fist head-on.

The resulting explosion of flames blasted Athena II backward, her metallic body carving a long trench through the ground before finally coming to a stop.

Duke watched with growing interest.

"You're even stronger than I expected. As I thought, Athena II truly does require your power to become complete..."

Then his expression changed.

Without warning, Duke picked up a piece of metal and transmuted it into a sword. He placed the blade directly against the necks of the unconscious Sting and Rogue.

"That's enough."

Natsu and Wendy stared at him in disbelief.

Duke smiled viciously.

"Even in a normal fight, Athena II probably wouldn't be able to defeat you as she is now. So remember this: stay exactly where you are."

His sword pressed even closer against Sting and Rogue's throats.

"If either of you moves... I can't guarantee these two will remain alive."

"That's dirty!" Wendy shouted.

"Yeah! You coward!" Natsu snarled.

Neither of them dared move.

Duke gave a dismissive snort.

"If it allows me to win, whether the method is cowardly is irrelevant. Do it, Athena II."

Athena II immediately became a blur as she closed the distance.

Under normal circumstances, both Natsu and Wendy were more than fast enough to react.

But with Duke's sword resting against Sting and Rogue's necks, neither of them dared defend themselves properly.

They could only take the attacks.

Duke was clearly more interested in Natsu, and most of Athena II's blows were directed at him.

After enduring more than a dozen heavy strikes in succession, Natsu finally collapsed face-first onto the ground and was temporarily unable to move.

Duke looked down at him.

"That's enough. Take his dragon power."

Wendy desperately wanted to help, but Duke's sword was still far too close to Sting and Rogue for her to risk moving.

Athena II approached Natsu and extended one hand toward him. Her palm aimed directly at his body as she prepared to drain away his Dragon Slayer power—

but before she could begin, another hand suddenly knocked hers aside.

Athena had appeared between them.

Duke's furious roar echoed across the battlefield.

"ATHENA!!"