The magic circle shattered with a thunderous noise.
The dark chains in Hades's hand surged forward once again.
Feeling a slight resistance, then...
*Pffft—*
The sound of flesh being pierced echoed.
An extreme burst of ice power erupted, engulfing everything around and causing the temperature to plummet instantly.
The sound of cracking ice spread outward.
Half of Hades's body was frozen, but it had no effect; his brow furrowed as his expression darkened:
"Such a nuisance."
What should have been an effortless kill was delayed for just a moment, allowing him to react and add magic to his internal body.
The dark chains that were intended to pierce his heart slid down to his abdomen against Ur's magical resistance, failing to deliver a fatal blow.
Looking at Ur, who had retreated several dozen meters away, Hades spoke in a low voice:
"That's a good magical tool. But it ends here."
The dark magic surrounding Hades surged, directly dissolving the ice on his body. He raised his hand, aiming at Ur.
What was meant to be an assassination attempt had failed, and he needed to deal with it quickly to have time to erase the traces.
Ur, now filled with shock and anger, pressed one hand against his abdomen while the other protected Lyon, gasping for breath as if just escaping death.
Lyon had yet to fully comprehend what was happening and was about to turn around.
Meanwhile, Hades had already initiated his magic:
"Amaterasu Formula 100!"
Dark magic poured out from Hades, and black chains shot forth rapidly, swirling around Ur.
A dark magic circle appeared beneath Ur and Lyon, enveloping them, while six additional vertical dark magic circles emerged to block all of Ur's escape routes, illuminating the sevenfold dark magic circles.
Without any hesitation, Ur raised his hand to cast magic:
"Ice Make: Rose Garden!"
Immediately, the ground coalesced into rose-shaped ice, curling upwards in circles around Ur and Lyon.
However, compared to the massive ice Rose Garden that once spread across Deliora's entire body in the Northern Snow Mountain, this time it could barely cover a radius of ten meters around him, illustrating just how suppressed his magic had become.
The dark magic circles of Amaterasu Formula 100 glowed fiercely, gathering violent power at the center of the array.
*Crack, crack, crack, crack—*
The ice Rose Garden enveloping the two could no longer withstand the violent magical impact, beginning to shatter inch by inch.
High-energy dark magic converged at the center, seemingly on the verge of exploding.
The sense of impending death sharply stimulated Ur's nerves; he raised both hands towards Hades, gritting his teeth, ready to fight to the death against that guy.
Suddenly.
A silver-white magic circle rose from beneath Ur's feet.
The next second.
*Swish!*
Gaal and Gildarts appeared.
Seeing the figures of the two, Ur breathed a sigh of relief.
At this moment, Gaal looked somewhat pale; crossing half of Ishgar was no easy task, and the moment he appeared, his mental power radiated out, promptly detecting the magic circle enveloping them.
Amaterasu Formula 100.
In the original story, it was a spell used by Hades that immediately suppressed Makarov's magic.
Even Makarov's strongest defensive magic, the Three Pillars God, had failed to block this attack.
Without time to think further, Gaal shouted immediately:
"Gildarts!"
Gildarts felt a headache; it was the first time he had been teleported, and the sensation was quite uncomfortable.
Hearing Gaal's voice, Gildarts replied irritably:
"I know!"
Then, both of them unleashed their magic.
Rising power surged, sweeping chaotically across the surroundings.
The suppressive magic array began to crumble as Gildarts and Gaal's high-intensity crush magic hammered upon it.
Hades's eyes glimmered with cold light; without a moment of hesitation, he clenched his raised fist.
A dazzling light erupted from the center of Amaterasu Formula 100.
*Boom————!!!!!!*
A deafening sound reverberated across the land, startling countless animals and causing the ground to shake uncontrollably.
The floating ships suspended over a thousand meters high shook violently, unable to maintain their position as they began to tilt backward.
A bottomless pit appeared at the explosion's center.
The full force of Amaterasu Formula 100 had left no trace behind.
Floating at a great distance, Hades's expression showed no trace of humor; the energy in the ships above stirred as endless dark magic began to radiate from Hades's body, sweeping outward to search for the whereabouts of Ur and the others.
On the other side of the Great Snow Mountain.
Even at a distance of four or five mountains apart, they could still see the massive mushroom cloud produced by the explosion, feeling the scorching wave of heat approach. Gildarts couldn't help but feel his scalp tingle:
"This level of magic is a bit outrageous, isn't it? Ur, what did you do to provoke someone like this?"
Ur chuckled bitterly and replied:
"How would I know? Must be from the Dark Guild. Earlier, when I was positioned closer to Ultear in the East, she soon moved away. I followed that direction, and just as I entered this place, I was ambushed. If it weren't for the items Gaal sent earlier, I would be dead by now."
Ur couldn't help but feel shaken as she recounted this. The Dark Guild members were truly shameless.
Incomparable to any S-Class Mage, they not only ambushed but used suppressive arrays; had it not been for the activation of that time magic charm, she might not have even had time to react before meeting her end.
Gaal raised his hand, casting a healing spell on Ur's abdomen; the wound began to heal rapidly:
"That should be Hades, the leader of the Grimoire Heart."
Afterward, he produced three recovery potions, giving one to both Ur and Gildarts, drinking one himself to begin restoring his magic.
Ur did not hesitate and downed the potion.
Gildarts, having not used much magic, simply stored the potion in his pocket, frowning slightly:
"The strongest Dark Guild in the Baram Alliance? No wonder..."
If it was that guild, it made sense.
The competition in the Dark Guilds was far more brutal than in legitimate guilds; the Baram Alliance dominated the Dark Guilds across the Ishgar Continent, overpowering Oración Seis and Tartaros, making them the strongest Dark Guild, which had close ties to Hades.
However, it had never been heard before that the Grimoire Heart had engaged in such activities, or perhaps... they did, but those involved were silenced?
Lyon couldn't understand what the others were discussing, yet he sensed the severity of the situation, his tension preventing him from relaxing as he anxiously scanned the surroundings.
Ur's expression tightened as he spoke:
"Grimoire Heart, huh... It appears they're the ones who abducted Ultear. They discovered I was searching for Ultear. Thus, they want to eliminate me?"
Gaal stood up and looked into the distance:
"They're coming."
Gildarts felt that dark magical presence too, and it was not just dark magic.
People...
Had already arrived.