Fairy Tail: My Magic is a Yu-Gi-Oh! Deck — Chapter 23

Chapter 23: Mirror Force!

Cluny threw his head back, his spine snapping straight with arrogant flair. He thrust both arms toward the stormy sky, his fingers contorting into a bizarre, unnatural mudra.

“Iragudo… Ne… Weru…”

“Mion… Dairusu… Arukontias…”

As the obscure, guttural syllables of the ancient tongue spilled from his lips, the air pressure plummeted. A dark green, chaotic vortex began to tear open the space between his raised palms. The sheer gravitational pull of the gathering magic warped the surrounding atmosphere. The ocean roiled, sending violent swells crashing against the hull, causing the entire pirate galleon to shudder violently.

“Wait, wait, Guild Master! If you use that magic here, we—we won’t have any time to evacuate!”

“Please, at least wait until we’ve broken free before using it!”

“Damn it! What the hell are these three swords of light? Why can’t we break free? Argh!”

The pirates, pinned to the deck by the radiant blades, thrashed in absolute terror. They knew exactly what their Guild Master’s magic could do. Desperation fueled their struggles as they flared their own meager magic, trying to tear themselves loose and dive into the freezing sea.

Unfortunately, all their struggles were entirely useless.

Across the splintering deck, Chase calmly set his porcelain teacup onto a barrel. He rose to his feet, the relaxed amusement fading from his eyes, replaced by a sharp, calculating gravity.

He hadn’t been mistaken earlier. The spatial distortion Cluny used to silently erase the sniper rounds was identical to the signature magic of Sabertooth’s young lady, Minerva.

It was the lost ancient art… Yakuma Eighteen War Gods Magic!

“The plan has reached its final stage. Once Chase is captured, you useless trash will have no further purpose.” Facing the desperate pleas of his underlings, Cluny curled his lips into a hideous, feral grin. He slammed his palms together, aiming the swirling green vortex directly at Chase, who stood casually behind the Celtic Guardian. “Yagudeigula!”

Chase didn’t blink. He simply flicked his wrist, triggering the magic he had planted on the deck moments ago.

Boom!

In a fraction of a second, the highly compressed spatial magic detonated like an erupting volcano. A blinding, thick pillar of destructive energy pierced the heavens, shattering the cloud cover!

A concussive shockwave ripped outward in a perfect ring, churning the ocean into a frenzy of towering waves. The sheer kinetic force slammed into Lambert’s merchant vessel a hundred meters away, sending crates tumbling and shattering across the deck.

Ina and the sailors clung desperately to the masts and railings, their knuckles white. They stared in absolute horror as the towering pillar of light completely swallowed the pirate galleon. Having never witnessed a clash between S-Class monsters, their minds went entirely blank. Ina squeezed her eyes shut, praying to whatever gods would listen for Mr. Chase’s safety.

The apocalyptic eruption lasted only a dozen seconds, but to the terrified crew, it stretched into an agonizing eternity.

Slowly, the blinding light faded. The roaring winds died down, leaving only the sound of churning water.

Ina and the sailors cautiously opened their eyes, peering through the settling steam. The once-fearsome, black-armored pirate galleon was utterly devastated. The hull was sheared in half, the towering masts splintered into kindling, and the heavy magic cannons along the sides were reduced to slag. Only a jagged fragment of the bow remained afloat on the choppy waves.

As for the pirates pinned to the deck? Vaporized. Not a trace of them remained, their ashes already swallowed by the sea.

“Where are Mr. Chase and Cluny?” Ina scanned the wreckage frantically.

Finally, through the thinning smoke, two silhouettes emerged on the ruined bow. The sailors gasped, their eyes widening in disbelief.

Chase stood perfectly upright, his arms casually crossed over his chest. His sleeveless cloak billowed gently in the sea breeze, completely pristine. He didn’t have a single scratch on him.

Opposite him, the man who had actually cast the cataclysmic spell looked like he had been dragged through a meat grinder. Cluny’s arms hung limp at his sides, the flesh torn open in bloody, jagged gashes. His clothes were shredded, exposing a chest that heaved violently with every ragged breath. His previously overwhelming magical aura was shattered, leaking erratically from his battered body!

What exactly happened?

That wasn’t just the question burning in Ina’s mind—it was the terrified, echoing roar inside Cluny’s own head.

In the exact fraction of a second he had unleashed the Yakuma Eighteen War Gods Magic, he had seen a shimmering, glass-like barrier materialize in front of Chase. And then, his own ultimate attack had violently rebounded straight into his face!

“A card? Is it those damn cards again?!” Cluny shrieked, his throat raw and bubbling with blood as he glared at the Fairy Tail mage.

“Congratulations. You guessed right,” Chase said, a dry smile touching his lips.

He snapped his fingers. A massive, ethereal card that had been lying face-down on the deck slowly flipped upright, revealing its artwork.

[Trap Card: Mirror Force]: An incredibly sturdy mirror barrier with the effect of intercepting and completely reflecting enemy attacks. The stronger the enemy’s magic, the more of the user’s own magic power is consumed to maintain the reflection, until it exceeds the limit.

Chase sitting idly and sipping tea earlier hadn’t been a display of arrogance. It was a calculated stall. Everything—from using the Swords of Revealing Light to pin down the crew, to summoning the Celtic Guardian to run interference—was entirely to buy enough time to set this specific trap.

Because Mirror Force carried absurd defensive power, it required a lengthy incantation and setup phase to anchor into reality. The moment Chase saw Cluny erase those bullets with spatial magic, he knew exactly what he was dealing with and formulated his counter.

It was the ‘confirmation’he had muttered about before the fight began. The result was flawless. Cluny had essentially nuked himself.’It’s just a pity about those pirates,’Chase thought, sighing inwardly.’That was a lot of bounty money from the Magic Council just vaporized.’

He shrugged it off. They were murderous scum who preyed on honest merchants like Lambert; they got what was coming to them. Besides… the real prize was still breathing.

Chase shifted his gaze back to the panting, bleeding Guild Master. “Do you want to continue fighting, Guild Master Cluny?”

Golden light coalesced beside Chase, reforming into the immortal, green-clad swordsman. The Celtic Guardian raised his blade, ready for round two.

Cluny spat a mouthful of blood onto the splintered wood and let out a raspy, dark chuckle. “Heh… I can clearly feel your aura fluctuating. That card magic just now must have drained a massive chunk of your magic power to reflect my attack, didn’t it?”

He forced his mangled right arm upward. A dark green, chaotic spatial vortex began to slowly swirl in his palm once more. He still had enough fuel in the tank.

Chase didn’t bother entertaining the villain’s monologue. He gave a subtle nod. The Celtic Guardian lunged forward, his blade slicing through the air toward Cluny’s neck.

“Do you really think I can’t deal with this piece-of-trash swordsman?!” Cluny roared.

He swung his bloody arm in a wide arc. The space immediately surrounding the leaping Celtic Guardian violently distorted, swallowing the warrior in a massive dark green vortex. The swordsman slashed wildly, but his blade only cut through empty air. He was entirely cut off, dragged into an alternate spatial dimension completely isolated from reality!

“If you can’t destroy a monster, you banish it from the field. I didn’t expect you to have such a natural talent for card games,” Chase said, slowly clapping his hands in mock appreciation.

“Instead of wasting time talking nonsense, you’d better worry about yourself!” Cluny snarled, his face twisting with murderous intent.

Bypassing the spatial rift where the Guardian was trapped, the wounded Guild Master stomped across the broken planks, closing the distance to Chase step by step.

In Cluny’s mind, the logic was simple: a Card Mage relied entirely on their summons and traps. Their actual physical combat power was practically zero. Therefore, even heavily injured, as long as that annoying swordsman was out of the picture, he could easily crush this arrogant brat with his bare hands!

At this range, the advantage was entirely his!