"Receive the Soul of Satan!"
As the dark magic circle appeared beneath Mirajane, demonic power surged, and she instantly transformed into Satan.
The minions, who had originally coveted her beauty and rushed forward to launch magic attacks, were stunned by the completely transformed Mirajane.
"You call this a half-wasted magician?"
"Dark Stream!"
Mirajane raised her hand. Countless pitch-black claws appeared and swept through the room. To the minions, it was like seeing a ghost. By the time they turned around to try and escape, it was too late.
Screams echoed throughout the entire Evil Spirit Temple guild hall.
The remaining magicians all turned pale, looking at Mirajane with nothing but endless fear.
In the past, they had only engaged in petty crimes like robbing homes and bullying ordinary people. But now, they were facing an S-class wizard, and it was clear they were out of their league.
A trace of horror flashed across the fat man's face.
However, he noticed Ken, who had not yet taken action.
A sinister idea sprang to his mind.
"Seize that kid! Use him as a hostage to threaten Mirajane into submission!"
Following the order, the other magical minions around him surrounded Ken, their looks ferocious.
"You're in bad luck, kid..."
They were best at bullying ordinary people who didn't know magic.
The fat man muttered under his breath as a magic circle appeared in his left hand. Dozens of iron swords, spears, and halberds appeared from the circle, enlarging as they did.
The weapons were no different from those carried by the minions.
Ken was intrigued.
"Iron shape magic?"
"You're quite knowledgeable, kid. But this sword doesn't have eyes. Be careful it doesn't chop you into pieces..."
With a shout, more than a dozen iron weapons were launched at Ken, each threatening to pierce him.
Mirajane glanced over, worried, even though she knew Ken's strength.
Ken, however, stood there, calm and collected.
The minions thought he was only pretending to be calm until, in a flash, a bolt of lightning sparked in front of Ken. He quickly shielded his eyes from the sudden light.
A few seconds later, when his vision cleared, the minions were shocked to see that all the iron weapons had been collected by Ken.
Ken was unscathed.
What shocked them even more was that the solid iron, which had been enchanted, was bent like soft metal in Ken's hands.
Ken then stuffed the iron into his mouth as though nothing had happened.
"He... ate up all my magic?"
"I know, brother... this person... this person is the strongest Dragon Slayer besides the president—Iron Dragon Gajeel!"
"Dragon Slayer Gajeel!?"
Ken thought to himself: "Ah, yes, yes."
It seemed the minions had never heard of him, even though he was a member of Fairy Tail.
"Well, since you told me I'm Gajeel, then I'll just be Gajeel."
Ken took a deep breath, transformed the iron he'd just ingested into magic power, and gathered it in his throat.
"The Roar of the Iron Dragon!!"
The next moment, violent energy erupted in a silver-gray whirlwind, mixing with the previously swallowed iron blades. It was like thousands of steel needles stabbing into the air, tearing it apart, and sucking all the minions into the storm.
The fat man's eyes widened as he looked around.
The magicians who had filled the room just moments ago had barely had a chance to act before they were all wiped out by Ken and Mirajane.
Only three minions were still standing in the hall.
The fat man trembled, sweating profusely.
Ken turned to him with a bright, almost innocent smile.
"Let's talk. You should have noticed that I deliberately saved your life until now."
The fat man's mouth felt dry, his tongue frozen, but he couldn't get a single word out.
Ken, however, wasn't interested in talking to him any longer.
"The roots of the wooden dragon!"
Massive vines erupted from beneath the fat man, quickly growing to the ceiling.
Before the fat man could react, he was tightly bound, almost crushed.
He instinctively tried to resist and summon an iron sword, but Ken had already anticipated it. He clenched his fist, and the vines tightened even more.
"AHH!" the fat man screamed.
"You have one last chance. Tell me, where is the devil?"
"I'll say it, I'll say it!"
The fat man, now terrified by Ken's overwhelming power, nodded vigorously, his voice a frantic whisper: "The devil's name is Ares Dreadfall, and he is the president of the Evil Spirit Temple..."
Ken scowled coldly.
"Go on! Tell me everything you know about him and your guild."
"Yes, yes, Lord Gajeel! We came from the Southern Kingdom, but we were all captured by Ares Dreadfall and forced to loot the villages we passed."
"Ares Dreadfall uses an extremely evil magic that absorbs human spiritual power as a source of energy."
"When the magic in his body reaches its peak, he can summon meteors from the sky to destroy everything in an instant..."
"There's a small town nearby called Gluk Village. The people there were all cursed by Ares Dreadfall, who drained their spiritual power, and they died..."
The fat man's voice trailed off.
Ken raised his eyes and saw the man's still-widened eyes. His body showed no sign of life.
"Is this death?" Ken muttered, frowning.
Judging by the appearance of his death, it didn't look like he was killed by trauma.
It looked more like a mental breakdown... Could he have been scared to death?
Ken was briefly confused.
"Ken, look at them!" Mirajane suddenly exclaimed.
Ken followed her voice and looked around, but he found it strange that none of the magicians on the ground were moving.
Mirajane's face showed confusion as well.
Although her attack had been violent, it wouldn't have killed them. She had only incapacitated them.
"Something's strange..."
Ken noticed an unusual presence wafting through the air.
He quickly looked up toward the second-floor corridor.
At some point, a middle-aged man with a dog-like appearance, wearing a suit and leather shoes, was standing there, observing everything.
His face was as withered as long-dead wood, and his presence exuded an unpleasant aura.
"Ares Dreadfall..."
"The fat man just told me that Ares Dreadfall leaves curse marks on living bodies, draining their spiritual power to increase his own curse power. It seems he just killed them..."
Ares Dreadfall licked the corners of his dry mouth and raised his chin, looking at Ken and Mirajane with a grin.
It was clear he had guessed their thoughts.
"They were just humble slaves... their only purpose was to provide the best 'meat supplement' for me."
"Since their combat abilities are so weak, it's better to use them for their final value and contribute to the Evil Spirit Temple..."
(Next Chapter: The Devil's Last Stand)