User blog comment:Miskos3/Fairy Tail Episode 246: Tartaros arc: Underworld King, Review/@comment-24102956-20150815083614/@comment-7418318-20150815160558

He did only take out some small-fry, so we don't know if the imagined friends are anywhere near the strength of the originals.

The beast he summoned against Elfman could probably have done the same thing too.