Fairy Tail: I Really Don't Want to Be the Guild Master-Chapter 6: Which side are you on

"Aaaaahhh!!!"

Jackal roared in fury, thrashing wildly, but Rhodes’ hand remained pressed to the back of his head, unyielding.

"Tch, so you’re not talking?" Rhodes felt a headache coming on. He wanted information. Preferably, he wanted to drag this demon back alive.

But between the constant self-detonations and the fact that he couldn’t suppress this so-called Curse, capture was clearly impossible.

Then, knock him out.

Rhodes focused.

Concentric violet magic circles bloomed into existence, around Jackal.

And around himself.

The next instant;

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

Amaterasu Formula 28.

When Rhodes got serious, he didn’t mind blowing himself up too.

"Ngh!"

Jackal let out a muffled grunt amid the smoke. The blast hurt, but it was still within his tolerance.

So... this explosion freak couldn’t nullify other people’s detonations.

Rhodes grinned.

His left hand traced through the air again, faster this time. Denser. Sharper. The arrays stacked in overlapping layers.

Amaterasu Formula 54.

BOOOOM—!!!

A pillar of fire erupted straight into the sky.

Even back at the Council ruins, the ground trembled. Loose rubble rattled and shed dust once more.

"GYAAH!!" Jackal screamed. "What the hell are you?!"

He couldn’t understand it.

He was a demon who lived by explosions, and even he never stayed at ground zero.

Yet this man detonated himself without hesitation.

What was he?

Was he even human?!

"Still not enough," Rhodes muttered. "Any stronger and I’ll start taking real damage. And..."

His eyes flicked toward the ruined Council building.

"More blasts will only interfere with rescue efforts."

Decision made.

Rhodes grabbed Jackal by the head and hurled him straight into the sky.

Jackal felt his neck scream as the rest of his body was yanked upward, air resistance tearing at him like claws.

He barely had time to struggle.

Before a size-44 boot stamped squarely into his face.

His mind went blank.

His body snapped into a sharp sixty-degree turn and went screaming diagonally downward.

The only constant, he was still going to land headfirst.

"Gah—!!"

Blood sprayed from Jackal’s mouth.

After the explosions and beatings, his clothes were barely holding together. The fur on his head and tail was singed black.

His cheekbones were likely shattered. His skull was cracked. Even breathing sent agony lancing through his head and face.

"Damn it, cough...you... I’ll kill you, KILL YOU AAAAAH!!"

As he roared, his body expanded violently.

His chest bulged. Limbs elongated. Claws burst from his fingers.

His neck stretched, muzzle forcing its way forward as coarse yellow-black fur erupted across his body.

In an instant, Jackal towered upright, a massive yellow werewolf.

He threw back his head to howl.

Only to realize he was already surrounded.

Violet magic arrays, layer upon layer, had formed around him once more.

More complex. More oppressive.

Far stronger than before.

"A human spell?" Jackal sneered through bared fangs.

"Don’t think that can beat my Curse!"

BOOM! BOOM-BOOM!!

Explosions tore through the arrays.

Fire surged skyward, and even a kilometer away, Lahar and the others felt a shockwave far greater than any before.

Rhodes raised an eyebrow.

"Second form, huh?" he said calmly. "And you’re using explosions to cancel mine."

Before the smoke could clear, Void Vision swept outward.

A image formed instantly in his mind.

Jackal’s newly grown fur was scorched black again. His arms sagged. His head drooped as he panted heavily.

He hadn’t fully blocked it.

The "human magic" he mocked had still carved its way through.

Rhodes didn’t give him time to recover.

He inhaled, and exhaled a Purgatory Dragon’s breath.

Crimson lava and flame tore across half the sky, a molten cascade crashing straight toward Jackal.

Whether he sensed the descending heat or glimpsed the glow through the thinning smoke, he didn’t try to flee.

Instead, he raised both arms, and detonated everything he had.

The roar was deafening. The shockwave blasted outward, momentarily halting the onslaught, but only for a heartbeat.

The endless magma surged on, swallowing him whole.

Explosions thundered within the inferno as molten rock collapsed into the ground below. When the light faded, a fresh crater yawned open, its depths filled with seething red lava like a boiling pond.

Gradually, the surface stilled.

The bubbles subsided.

Rhodes dove in.

He fished Jackal out of the cooling magma and flicked away the clinging slag with a shake of his hand.

Jackal was still breathing.

But his massive form had already reverted to human, limbs limp, body slack, half-lidded eyes rolled white.

"That should do it," Rhodes muttered, eyeing him with interest. A rare specimen like this wasn’t something he wanted to waste.

He slung Jackal over his shoulder.

"First time..." Jackal croaked weakly. "First time I’ve been beaten this badly, no chance, to fight back..."

Rhode blinked. "You’re awake already?"

He hadn’t intended to kill him, but recovering this fast was absurd.

Even now, barely conscious, Jackal bared his teeth in a feral grin."Dragging me in alive?" he rasped. "Dream on, come to hell with me! Hahaha..."

"Crap!"

Rhode saw the glow.

He hurled Jackal away instantly.

But it was already too late.

Jackal had flown only a few meters when the explosion tore through his manic laughter.

A blistering heat wave and shock front erupted outward.

And slammed straight into a thin, pale-gold barrier.

The fireball that should have ballooned outward for hundreds of meters was cleanly bisected.

On the Council side, people saw something like a crescent moon carve through the air.

They felt a faint tremor.

And then, nothing.

Lahar stared, dumbfounded.

"What in the world, is happening over there?"

Unaware that it was an ally, Mest gasped, "So this is, a Ten Wizard Saint..."

Org, still lying amid the rubble but slowly recovering, exhaled.

"So this is Rhodes’ true strength. A terrifying lad."

He said terrifying, yet unmistakable pride rang in his voice.

Makarov knew this wasn’t the time to laugh. He kept a straight face and barked at the stunned soldiers,

"Quit gawking, move it!"

Mest snapped to attention instantly.

"Yes, sir, Mister Makarov!"

His sharp response jolted the others awake.

"Yes, sir!"

"Yes, sir!"

The troops surged back into action.

But Lahar glanced sideways at Mest, brow creasing.

Why had Doranbalt responded to Master Makarov so naturally.

Even more smoothly than the regular troops?

Must be nerves, he decided.

Lahar shook the thought away.

In a crisis like this, there was no room for distractions.

...

Stones PLz