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Returning to his normal size and spreading his wings, George flew up into the air, cutting off Erigor's words as he cast an amplification spell and announced, "We are mages from Fairy Tail! Listen up, everyone—these are Dark Guild mages from Iron Forest, and they plan to use the cursed dark magic item, the Curse Flute, to assassinate the guild masters meeting nearby. This place is extremely dangerous. Please evacuate immediately, and alert the army and any guild masters nearby to come and assist!"
The priority now wasn't to launch an attack but to evacuate the civilians and prevent them from getting caught up in the fight. This would also buy time for the nearby police to report the situation. George believed that, given the strength of the guild masters, they would be able to resist the curse as long as they weren't caught off-guard.
Most guild masters possessed S-class mage strength, extensive experience, and mastery of multiple types of magic. In fact, George suspected that such a wide-reaching curse might not be as deadly as Erigor intended. Otherwise, it would never have been sealed away so easily in the past.
George's amplified voice echoed through the city, sending the curious onlookers fleeing in terror. Within seconds, the streets were completely empty. In the eyes of ordinary people, Dark Guild mages were terrifying figures, often featured in the news for battles that led to civilian deaths.
"Foolishness!" Erigor snarled as he swung his scythe, unleashing a razor-sharp gust that hurtled towards George.
He couldn't allow the cat's warnings to stir up too much trouble.
Seeing the green blade of wind coming his way, George was about to dodge when Erza leaped in front of him. With a swift motion, she shattered the wind blade effortlessly with her sword.
"Annoying pests, daring to ruin my plans. Hold them off!" Erigor commanded his guild's dozens of mages as he soared into the sky, Curse Flute in hand, riding the wind towards the northern villa. His goal was clear: reach the guild masters and play the cursed melody before they could react.
"Attack!"
At Erigor's command, the Iron Forest mages erupted into a frenzy, launching their magic at Erza and her allies, momentarily overwhelming them.
"This isn't good!" Erza muttered. None of them had expected Erigor to abandon the fight and escape so quickly.
Fortunately, George had been waiting for this.
"Turning your back on me? Big mistake," he murmured as he darted after Erigor, his wand raised.
"Expelliarmus!"
A red spell shot toward Erigor, hitting its mark. The Curse Flute and his scythe flew from his hands, just out of his reach. Before he could grab them again, George cast another spell.
"Accio!"
The Curse Flute hurtled into George's grasp.
"Damn it! I let my guard down!" Erigor retrieved his scythe, his eyes blazing with fury. He couldn't believe he'd been outmaneuvered by a mere cat.
"You filthy cat, hand over the Curse Flute!" Enraged, Erigor unleashed several wind blades and charged toward George.
Relying on his smaller size and agility, George easily dodged all the wind blades without attempting to engage. His earlier spell had hit Erigor mainly because the latter hadn't considered him a threat and had let his guard down. Otherwise, with Erigor's wind-based mobility, he would have easily avoided the attack.
The only way to reliably take him down would be to use the Sectumsempra spell.
But Sectumsempra was George's trump card; if he failed to defeat Erigor in a single strike, his opponent would be on high alert, making it harder to catch him off-guard again.
Rashly revealing one's trump card without understanding the opponent's abilities is unwise.
Although the Sectumsempra spell is stealthy and difficult to detect or evade, it's not entirely flawless. An opponent who watches his wand's movement could potentially dodge in time. Only when he can cast Sectumsempra silently and without a wand will it truly be a flawless move.
"Well done, George! Get behind me—I'll handle him!" Erza called out joyfully when she saw George had snatched the Curse Flute. She swung her magic sword, transforming it into a long magic spear, and with a single sweep knocked away over a dozen of the enemy mages blocking their path.
George didn't hesitate. With an S-Class mage like Erza in the lead, he gladly fell back, supporting from behind with spells and taking advantage of surprise attacks whenever he could.
"Stupefy!" A blue beam of magic shot towards Erigor, forcing him to dodge and slow down. Taking this opportunity, George darted back behind Erza, joining Lucy and Happy.
"Well then, let me personally face the so-called Fairy Queen today!" Erigor sneered, realizing he'd need to defeat Erza to reclaim the Curse Flute. Finally, he began to unleash his full strength. As an S-Class mage and leader of Iron Forest, he wasn't truly afraid of her.
"Tempest Wave!" A purple magic circle materialized in Erigor's right hand, summoning a miniature tornado that barreled towards Erza.
"A wind mage, is it?" Erza didn't flinch at the oncoming whirlwind. She activated her Requip magic, and a red magic circle flashed around her.
"Armor of the God of Wind!"
In an instant, her current armor and spear vanished, replaced by a whole new look. She now wore a tribal robe adorned with intricate wind and cloud symbols, her hair tied back with a small winged headdress. Her spear had transformed into a long sword shaped like a swirling cloud.
"So this is Erza's Requip Knight Magic? It really is something different from ordinary Requip spells," George observed from behind, his interest piqued by the transformation.
Unlike regular Requip magic, which simply summons pre-prepared weapons from a personal space for close combat, Erza's magic allows her to instantly summon both magical weapons and armor, which even adapts her hairstyle.
For George, standard Requip magic wasn't all that different from him pulling out items from his magically extended backpack—it was merely faster. But with Erza's Requip, the armor appeared instantly and was perfectly fitted, with even her hairstyle shifting accordingly.
If he were to pull armor out of his bag and then remove his current clothes to put it on, it would take a minute or two, especially since armor was usually cumbersome.
(End of Chapter)