"Interesting."
Jehfrit leaned back in his chair, crossing one leg over the other. He extended his hand, and Miko placed a coffee cup into his palm.
He rarely drank coffee, but today was an exception—he had stayed up late last night.
"Aren't you worried about your companions?" Roya couldn't help but ask.
"Not at all," Jehfrit took a sip of coffee and continued, "First, they create demons, then compress them into humanoid forms, suppressing their power daily. At critical moments, they unleash all that accumulated strength—a clever concept."
"Just a minor trick," Roya said without arrogance.
"The first match is about to conclude," Jehfrit remarked.
Roya glanced over and nodded. "Not surprising. That man is strong."
Both their gazes fixed on Mr.3's battle.
Mr.3 had been arrogant earlier, ambushing Natsu only to be injured by Master Makarov. Seeking an easier target, he set his sights on a limping old man.
Unfortunately for him, that limping old man was Gildarts.
From the moment they clashed, Mr.3 felt immense pressure and was forced to release his true form—the Crocodile King state.
His true form boasted incredible defense and a jaw powerful enough to crush rocks.
But alas, Gildarts slapped him into a cripple with just a few strikes.
"Damn it!"
Mr.3 thought of retreating—continuing the fight would mean his death!
Pretending to go all out, he spat a massive jet of water and turned to flee.
He could manipulate water magic with skill rivaling Juvia's.
His body dissolved into water vapor, attempting to escape invisibly.
"What a troublesome ability," Gildarts frowned.
Just then, he heard Emily's telepathic voice: "Uncle Gildarts, right ahead!"
"Thanks," Gildarts immediately gave chase and unleashed a palm strike. "Stay put."
"No!"
Mr.3 was terrified, never expecting to be caught.
Gildarts' palm struck Mr.3 squarely on the forehead.
Boom
Instantly reducing him to dust!
"Mr.3!" The others were shocked.
Gildarts scratched his head and looked around. "Do you need my help?"
"No!" Everyone declined.
"Alright, then I'll go rescue Jehfrit," Gildarts said.
"Hold it!"
Mages from the Roya organization surrounded him.
"Are you really going to do this?"
Gildarts looked at them indifferently.
Boom
The overwhelming presence of a top-tier mage mixed with killing intent and battle aura froze all enemies in place.
Their faces turned pale, sweat poured down their bodies, legs went limp, and they collapsed, completely losing the will to fight.
Even Natsu struggled under such pressure—let alone these minor foes.
"Strong," Roya's expression grew serious.
"Are you going to intervene?" Jehfrit asked.
"No, someone can stop him," Roya replied.
"One?"
"Yes."
"We'll see," Jehfrit said.
Roya regarded One as his trump card, and Miss.1 admitted she couldn't match One.
One was indeed powerful, but how he'd fare against Uncle Gildarts remained to be seen.
Jehfrit believed either outcome was plausible.
"Your companions are quite strong," Roya remarked.
"Of course," Jehfrit nodded.
Both turned their attention to Mr.6's battle.
Mr.6's demonic true form was the Eagle King, modeled after an eagle. However, demons weren't pure animal transformations like spirits—they were hybrid monsters.
Though resembling an eagle, Mr.6's body was exceptionally tough; ordinary mages struggled to break through his defenses.
Unfortunately for him, he faced Mirajane, whose anger was at its peak.
Mr.6 primarily used wind magic, which lacked significant lethality.
After several probing exchanges, Mirajane paused.
She glanced at Jehfrit and closed her eyes slightly.
"Closing your eyes mid-battle? Are you asking to die?" Mr.6 initially felt pressured, but seeing his opponent close her eyes seemed like an opportunity too good to miss.
"Haha!"
Mr.6, wrapped in swirling blades of wind, flew toward Mirajane and swung his claws.
Smack
But Mirajane caught his claw.
"Full-body Take Over—"
Mirajane's eyes snapped open.
"Demon God Halphas!"
Boom
A drastically different magical energy erupted as Mirajane shifted forms—from her balanced Satan Soul mode to Halphas mode!
In this form, she possessed absurd speed!
"Not good!" Mr.6 exclaimed, trying to retreat.
Boom boom boom
In an instant, he took three punches, flying backward and smashing through several buildings.
So fast!
No trace of the punches could be seen!
Mr.6's pupils dilated. Just as he climbed out of the rubble, he saw Mirajane already upon him.
"Damn it, how can you be so fast!" Mr.6 punched Mirajane's face, but it only made her head sway slightly.
In that brief moment, he took five more punches!
Boom
The ground collapsed beneath him.
In the massive crater, Mr.6 struggled to get up.
Mirajane gathered magic in one hand and said, "Because I want to save Jehfrit quickly."
Boom
A nearly ten-meter-wide rainbow-colored pillar of light enveloped Mr.6.
Three seconds later, the light vanished, leaving behind a bottomless black hole!
"...," Roya fell silent.
"Relax," Jehfrit consoled him. "If you can't handle this, how will you endure when all your people fall?"
Roya: "..."
After a moment, he said, "This won't decide the outcome. Besides, your companion is about to be killed."
Jehfrit looked over.
Roya referred to Tiffany and Ikuto battling Miss.1.
Ikuto was slightly weaker than Erza, and Tiffany started the fight with less than half her health.
Miss.1 was exceedingly powerful; their defeat was expected.
Boom
A red orb flew hundreds of meters and crashed into the ground.
As the orb unraveled, Ikuto was revealed, gripping the hilt of her sword and kneeling. She tried to stand using the sword as support but failed, collapsing face-first.
Clatter
The sword fell to the ground, its blade reduced to less than ten centimeters.
Ikuto—defeated.
Slash
To save Ikuto, Tiffany had expended a great deal of blood and was momentarily dizzy. Miss.1 seized the opportunity, slashing toward her chest. Fortunately, Tiffany reacted in time, stepping back to avoid a fatal blow.
However, her chest was still slashed open horizontally.
Already weakened and now severely injured, Tiffany finally collapsed, falling backward onto the ground.
"I win," Miss.1 smiled, raising her long blade to pierce Tiffany's heart.
Boom
At that moment, a massive pillar of light descended from the sky, driving Miss.1 into the ground!
"Finally!" Levy wiped her sweat.
"Master, your magic array has too much delay!" Emily complained.
"Haha, I'll improve it later," Jehfrit chuckled.
Buzz
An overwhelming surge of demonic energy blanketed the entire city.
"What a powerful demon!" Roya exclaimed.
"Ansa?!" Tomon shouted.
"You mean the demon Ansa?" Roya clearly recognized Ansa as well.
"That's right, his magic... what's he doing here instead of playing god?" Tomon was baffled.
He and Ansa had always kept their distance, wary of each other. Why did Ansa come today?
To stir trouble? Or as an enemy?
"Unfortunately," Jehfrit smiled, "the original Ansa is dead. He's now just a puppet."
"You—" Roya stared at Jehfrit in shock.
"How... how could a mere human kill Ansa?" Tomon found it hard to believe.
As a fellow demon, he knew Ansa's strength was formidable. Their mutual avoidance stemmed from neither having a sure chance of victory against the other.
But how was Ansa killed?
And why had he become a puppet?
Tomon couldn't figure it out.
On the battlefield,
Though it was Ansa's magic, it wasn't his appearance.
This was now Jehfrit's property, naturally influenced by him.
The newly formed demon entity resembled Jehfrit but with waist-length straight black hair and far more defined muscles, akin to Edolas' version of Chad-frit in his shirtless state.
Boom
Ansa pursued Miss.1, his overwhelming power suppressing her.
"All this magic belongs to me—it's given by Master!"
Meanwhile, Aza, currently parasitizing a humanoid beast, coveted Ansa's magic.
Jehfrit had promised Aza a body and Ansa's magic, allowing him to grow freely.
Boom
Ansa's magic suddenly dropped, absorbed entirely by Aza.
This left Mr.5, already struggling against Aza, at an even greater disadvantage!
"Damn it!"
Mr.5 wanted to flee.
They weren't like Miss.1, who openly declared betrayal, but nor were they particularly loyal to Roya.
They were lifeforms created by Roya, tortured as children in experiments, harboring little loyalty.
They stayed because they had nowhere else to go, and leadership wasn't bad.
Now with the situation dire, they wanted to escape.
Regardless of future consequences, staying meant certain death!
"You can't escape."
Who knew, Mr.5 barely conceived the idea of fleeing—pretending to attack while running.
But Aza saw through it.
Who was Aza?
A demon with unparalleled calculation abilities!
With Ansa's magic amplifying his powers and his host body's high potential, Aza expanded the mirror world several times over instantly.
His strength and computational power skyrocketed!
"You're mine now. Hand over your past, present, and future!"
Aza grabbed Mr.5 and pulled him into the mirror world.
Everything about Mr.5—intelligence, physical matter, magic, memories, and experiences—was absorbed and converted by Aza to build the mirror world!
"This demon isn't mentioned in your notebook," Roya's expression darkened.
"You didn't mention One either," Jehfrit countered.
"One is a half-finished product."
"He is too."
"..."
The exchanged notes summarized their achievements.
Yet, both One and Aza, their strongest demons, were unfinished products.
"Miss Emily, I am Aza," Aza approached Emily, noticing her pale face from exhaustion.
"Aza," Emily looked at him quizzically.
"Connect to my mirror world to reduce magic consumption," Aza instructed.
"Thank you," Emily nodded, then added, "By the way, have you become a bit smarter?"
"Have I?" Aza looked puzzled.
"...," Emily fell silent.
She thought to mention to her master later—Aza was a highly potent and terrifying demon. Unlike Lami, whose limits were capped, Aza seemed to possess genuine intelligence!
For now, though, Aza appeared fine.
Under Aza's guidance, Emily began utilizing the mirror world.
Emily had been using Deception Magic for support—following Jehfrit's example. This meant dispersing her magic to monitor everyone's status on the battlefield.
Naturally, this consumed magic excessively.
But connected to the mirror world, monitoring became unnecessary. Aza possessed superior surveillance capabilities. Moreover, Emily no longer needed to expend magic covering the entire field. She simply entered Aza's mirror world and spread her influence via mirror pathways—like switching from wired to wireless headphones.
Then she felt exasperated.
Upon entering, the upper-lane carry Ansa had over half his magic drained by Aza.
This caused a significant drop in strength.
Still—
Ansa remained immensely powerful.
He brutally beat Miss.1.
Just not with that overwhelming sense of despair.
"Mira has already defeated her opponent. I can't fall behind."
Erza wiped the blood from her lips.
"You don't have much magic left, yet you dare boast!" Mr.4 couldn't help but say.
"Fighting us demons in prolonged battles, comparing mana reserves, is suicide!"
"Ho ho," Erza sneered. "Victory in battle doesn't depend on the amount of magic."
"But on unyielding willpower!"
Erza took a deep breath. Indeed, her magic was almost depleted.
However,
She had already identified the enemy's weakness!
"Haa—"
Erza exhaled, her attire changing.
Dressed extremely lightly, she abandoned all defense.
"Pure Heart's Garb!"
Holding a long blade, she declared, "Channeling magic and willpower into the weapon."
"Mr.4, brace yourself. Don't blink for this strike!"
"Roar—" Mr.4 let out a deafening roar, swinging his massive fists to create intense vibrations.
Swish
A crescent moon-like blade of light swept across.
Erza swung her blade, her expression confident and resolute.
"How is this possible…"
Thud
Mr.4 collapsed in a pool of blood.
"Damn it!"
Seeing this, Mr.2 became enraged.
"You killed my younger brother! You'll pay with blood!"
Though Mr.2 appeared indifferent, he deeply valued brotherhood.
When Mr.3 was injured earlier, though he mocked him, he still hoped Mr.3 wouldn't seek out stronger opponents in his weakened state and risk his life.
Yet, Mr.3, lacking discretion, picked the enemy's strongest fighter.
After some fighting,
Suddenly, several of his younger brothers were dead.
This filled him with rage.
"Roar—"
Mr.2, the elephant demon, possessed formidable defense and strength.
He also wielded "Gravity" magic.
Boom
He targeted Wendy and unleashed his magic.
Unprepared, Wendy had been providing support from the sidelines while Mr.2 had been attacking Natsu and the others. She hadn't anticipated him suddenly shifting targets.
Crash
A large crater formed, pinning Wendy in place.
"Fire Dragon's—Roar!" Natsu intervened, attempting to distract the enemy and rescue Wendy.
Mr.2 swung his trunk, activating his magic, pressing the flames to the ground and extinguishing them with sheer weight!