Fairy Tail: I Don't Want to Be the Guild Master-Chapter 245: Magic Fades

Rhodes gritted his teeth and managed to yank one arm free, clawing his way out of the cracked tower wall.

All around him, the once-majestic structure, glowing with radiant light and now laced with deep fractures, began to hum ominously. Rustyrose's grand spell was reaching its final stage.

"Ugh..." Rhodes winced. His entire body was beginning to sting. The intense magic was scorching through his clothes, burning his skin with raw, arcane heat.

He fought to free the rest of himself, all while urging the Rift Herald to move faster.

Bang. Bang.

The Rift Herald's massive claws slammed repeatedly into the base of the tower. Each strike caused more cracks to splinter across its surface like a spiderweb.

With a final yank, Rhodes broke free just as the entire tower began to collapse.

The ornate structure shattered, dissolving into radiant fragments before the debris could even hit the ground.

"No... impossible. My Dingir Tower..." Rustyrose screamed.

His proudest and most powerful creation was shattered before completion.

Rhodes tumbled through the air, his magic power nearly depleted. He had no energy left to summon the Raptor for flight.

Just then, the Rift Herald unfurled its mighty wings and caught him mid-fall.

He landed atop the creature's massive violet carapace, specifically the glowing orb embedded at its back.

In the game, this orb was a weak point. But here, it functioned more like a cockpit.

As Rhodes touched down, the surface softened beneath him like a springy trampoline. Rather than bouncing off, his body gently sank inside.

Technically, it was still a vulnerable point. If Rhodes died, the Rift Herald would vanish. But it also granted him control.

Once inside, his vision shifted.

Before him were two large translucent screens and countless smaller ones surrounding him in a wide arc.

They were the Herald's vision, like compound insect eyes, granting a panoramic, multi-angled view of the battlefield.

Though not as sharp as the Scuttle Crab's, it still gave him an impressive battlefield vantage point.

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Rhodes briefly wondered if the Rift Herald was somehow related to the Scuttle Crab. They certainly shared traits.

Meanwhile, Rustyrose was collapsing emotionally.

"My tower... it was perfect..." he muttered, trembling. "A masterpiece, destroyed. Unforgivable."

But Rhodes had no interest in the melodrama of a dark wizard.

He was nearly out of magic. He had no strength left for drawn-out speeches.

There was only one command left to give:

"Kill him."

The Rift Herald lowered its horn, gathering momentum.

Its wings flared with violet energy. Then it launched forward like a living missile, a blur of amethyst power streaking across the battlefield.

"Guardian Beasts, manifest.!" Rustyrose screamed.

Four magical creatures appeared in an instant, summoned in panic to intercept the charge.

Before Rhodes could even identify what they were, the Rift Herald smashed through them like a giant purple bowling ball.

Four? It could have been forty. It wouldn't have mattered.

The Herald didn't stop.

"No..." Rustyrose's face contorted in disbelief. Desperate, he began to materialize a shield.

Even he knew it was pointless.

Boom.

The Rift Herald slammed into Rustyrose with all the force of a meteor.

There was a sickening crack, the kind that made your stomach turn.

Rustyrose coughed up a large mouthful of blood as he was sent flying like a ragdoll, tumbling through the air before crashing into the distant underbrush and vanishing from sight.

Rhodes' magic power had finally hit its limit. The Rift Herald's form flickered, growing more transparent by the second until it vanished entirely.

As the protective shell of the Herald faded, Rhodes dropped from its back and slammed into the ground below.

"Ow..."

It wasn't the fall that hurt the most, but the accumulation of serious injuries he'd endured throughout the fight. The searing pain in his shoulder, the slash on his palm, it was all catching up now.

What he wanted more than anything was to summon the Brambleback and Blue Sentinel to heal and recover. And, ideally, go over and finish off Rustyrose just in case.

But he didn't have the energy to do either.

"It's all gone."

With his magic drained to the last drop, Rhodes could feel every single wild creature he'd summoned, Krugs, Murk Wolves, Raptors, all returning to the Summoner's Rift. That included the summons he'd dispatched with Elfman.

The worst part was that he lost his shared vision along with them.

Right before his vision was cut, he had seen Elfman. He'd found the siblings they were tasked to rescue, Mal and Vina, but they appeared to be surrounded.

Rhodes gritted his teeth and sat cross-legged, forcing himself into meditation. He had to recover his mana, and fast.

...

After splitting up with Rhodes, Elfman had ridden the crab north, deeper into the forest.

With support from Rhodes' summoned beasts, he'd managed to defeat one of the enemy scout squads and, with the help of the Murk Wolves' keen sense of smell, finally located the hidden siblings.

Mal stood tall and broad-shouldered, not one bit less intimidating than Elfman himself. His outfit was a tribal mix, leather armor layered over a battle skirt, sturdy boots, and a toga-style sash. A round shield was strapped to his left arm, and a long spear was gripped firmly in his right.

Vina, his sister, had an equally commanding presence. Her beauty was striking, but it didn't take away from her warrior's poise. Like her brother, she wore a battle-ready outfit and carried a shield, though her weapon of choice was a longsword.

Elfman flashed the Fairy Tail guild mark and handed over their letter of authorization, earning a wary but eventual trust.

He quickly explained the situation, the attack on their village, the devastation, and the death of their father, Chief Peter.

But Mal was having none of it.

"What kind of joke is that?!" he barked, his voice full of disbelief. "Our village is full of warriors, three hundred strong! Trained fighters who would never go down that easily!"

He clenched his jaw. "My father... he's the strongest warrior of our tribe's older generation. He's never lost a fight. Not even to a wizard!"

Elfman didn't say anything. Instead, he quietly pulled a bloodstained scrap of cloth from his bag.

He knew it might seem disrespectful, but this piece had been torn directly from the tattered remains of Peter's clothing. Rhodes had thought ahead, knowing they'd need something solid to convince the siblings quickly.

Mal and Vina instantly recognized the pattern on the blood-stained cloth. It was an emblem worn only by the village chief and the mightiest warriors of their tribe.

"Brother..." Vina's voice trembled as she brought a hand to her mouth, tears welling in her eyes. "That's Father's tunic... What he said... it's true..."

"No! I'm going back to the village right now!" Mal growled, fury erupting in his eyes.

Elfman stepped in front of him, blocking his path. "We're getting out of here, but we can't go back to the village. Not yet."

"The forest is crawling with enemies. Some of them are strong. Really strong," he added gravely. "My teammate is holding them off to buy us time. We have to reach somewhere safe first."

Mal's jaw tightened. "Move."

Elfman didn't budge. "Chief Peter's final words were clear. He asked us to find you, and take you away."

Mal froze. The mention of his father's dying wish sent a jolt through him, and though he was trembling with frustration, his rage wavered.

"Brother," Vina said softly, placing a hand on his arm. "We need to listen."

"Damn it!" Mal roared, slamming his spear into the ground as if to vent his helplessness. "If I hadn't left on my own... if I'd stayed in the village..."

Elfman held back what he wanted to say, that if the siblings had been there, they might not have made it out alive.

"There they are!" a shout rang out from the trees.

"But... why are there three of them?"

"Doesn't matter. Lord Zancrow said to bring back the two. Move!"

Mal's eyes snapped toward the intruders. "It's them! Those shady people we spotted near the village days ago!"

Vina gripped her sword and shield tightly. The same enemies they had once hunted were now hunting them.

"No time to argue! Follow me!" Elfman shouted, surging ahead. "Partial Take Over—Beast Arm!

His muscled arm transformed with roaring energy and sent three sword-wielding assailants flying with a single strike.

A few more enemies raised their staves to cast magic, but a squad of Raptors swooped down and launched a barrage of razor-sharp feathers, knocking them to the ground.

"Incredible!" Mal gasped.

"Let's move!" Vina added. The siblings followed Elfman into battle, fighting their way through.

Enemy reinforcements kept pouring in, drawn by the noise. The three warriors could only press forward through the onslaught, fighting and retreating in formation with the summoned beasts covering their flanks.

But then, just as the Raptors and Murk Wolves unleashed a sudden burst of fury, their forms began to shimmer... and disappear.

Elfman's eyes widened. "No... Rhodes!"

The three fighters regrouped, standing back to back as enemy forces began to close in.

"What happened to the summoned beasts?" Vina asked quickly.

Elfman clenched his fists. "They're gone. That magic comes from my companion. Either he summoned them all to help... or—"

He didn't finish the thought. He didn't have to.

Either Rhodes was desperately calling every last beast to hold off something overwhelming.

Or his mana had run out, and worse, something had happened.

No matter what the case, Elfman knew one thing for certain:

He had to finish this and reach Rhodes as fast as possible.

...

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