Chapter 287: The Elegant Long-Range Mage
"George! George! George!"
As soon as Mirajane finished speaking, the guild's mages all shouted George's name in unison.
It was clear that in their hearts, George was the most favored candidate to succeed, even though George had been in the guild for less than a year, while Laxus had grown up in the guild since he was a child.
"Laxus! Laxus! Laxus!"
Having just woken up from unconsciousness, Freed immediately began shouting along with Bickslow and Evergreen. Their voices cracked from shouting so much, barely managing to stand out against the overwhelming shouts for George.
Mainly, everyone saw how hysterically Freed and the others were shouting, and couldn't help but soften their own voices a little out of sympathy.
After all, they were comrades.
"Looks like you're the one the people want."
Listening to the chorus of George's name, Laxus sounded a little disappointed, but quickly regained his spirit.
"No problem. As long as I defeat you and show them who the strongest mage in the guild really is, they'll naturally support me.
In this world, strength always reigns supreme!"
"Well then, beat me first if you can," George replied.
George knew that no matter what was said now, a fight was inevitable, so he didn't bother to lecture.
Deep down, he actually agreed somewhat with Laxus's view.
Strength does reign supreme in any world; without enough power, things like emotions and bonds alone cannot rewrite tragedy.
"Let's do this!"
Laxus pointed at George:
"Lightning Induction!"
A bolt of lightning struck down from the sky, aiming straight for George's head.
George, his body covered in electric light, raised a cat paw and swiped to the right, diverting the lightning off course.
At the same time, he retrieved a coin from his Requip Space and flicked it toward Laxus.
"Railgun!"
Under the drive of electric energy, the coin shot toward Laxus at supersonic speed.
Laxus, however, remained calm. He opened his mouth and inhaled sharply, absorbing all the electricity from the approaching coin into his body.
At the same time, he reached out and grabbed the coin, which had already been worn down to half its original size from the friction.
The first round of probing ended: George confirmed that, like Natsu, Laxus could devour energy of the same attribute, while Laxus confirmed George's mastery over lightning control.
"I can't use electrical magic and abilities anymore," George concluded quickly.
Railgun, Plasma Railgun, Thunder Giant, and Ancient Magic: Thunderstorm Descent — none would work against Laxus and would instead be absorbed to enhance his power.
Thus, he would have to use his electricity-controlling abilities only to weaken Laxus's lightning attacks.
But it didn't matter, since lightning was just one of the many types of magic and abilities he possessed.
The wand he wielded in this world was one of the best among many worlds and could fully unleash the power of magic from the Harry Potter world. Even without electrical magic and abilities, it was enough to defeat Laxus.
"Lightning Battle Armor!"
On the other side, after a round of probing, Laxus immediately abandoned long-range lightning magic attacks and instead concentrated all his magic and lightning into himself, greatly stimulating and enhancing his body, preparing for close-quarters combat.
Elemental-controlling mages were not unheard of in this world, like Sol from the Element Four, who could control fire and had once given Natsu a hard time.
But Laxus was no weakling Dragon Slayer mage like Natsu, and his lightning wasn't so easily controlled.
Still, against such types of mages, direct lightning attacks — even if forcibly seized and hit — would be significantly weakened.
The best approach was to consolidate magic and lightning within oneself and engage in close-range physical combat using magic attacks that were hard to control.
Moreover, as a Dragon Slayer mage, his physical body was already strong, and after amplification by lightning, it became even more powerful.
Though George had learned the old man's Giant Magic and managed to knock out Freed with one blow, showing that his close-quarters combat capability wasn't weak, Laxus had greater confidence in himself. He believed that he would be the last one standing on the battlefield.
"Thunder Strike Fist!"
Turning into a flash of lightning, Laxus punched toward George.
George, however, waved his wand:
"Impedimenta!"
Blue-green sparks flashed at the tip of his wand, and Laxus, who had entered elemental form with lightning-fast speed, was immediately slowed and forced out of his elemental state.
The Impediment Jinx — a highly practical high-level spell George had only recently discovered.
Originally, he thought Impedimenta was just a spell that raised physical barriers from the ground and seemed rather useless, so he never bothered to learn it.
It wasn't until he was researching time magic that he discovered Impedimenta, like the Freezing Spell and the Repairing Spell, was actually part of the time magic system's extended branch.
In other words, the real effect of Impedimenta was to slow down the opponent's time, thus indirectly reducing their speed.
When used on small beings like bees or pixies, it could even suspend them mid-air, similar to the Freezing Spell.
According to Dumbledore's description, at the highest mastery, the Impediment Jinx could even cause an enemy's time to rewind, reversing their actions by several seconds.
It was a spell with great potential.
But at his current level, George could only slow opponents' speed.
"Disillusionment!"
After slowing Laxus, George waved his wand again, casting the Disillusionment Charm to vanish on the spot.
He had no intention of engaging Laxus in close combat.
He fought Freed at close range because he was confident he could take him down within a few moves, making the risk almost zero.
But in close combat with Laxus, he wasn't so confident.
Given the risk, he preferred to play the role of an elegant long-range mage. After all, he wasn't bound to only use lightning magic, and he had plenty of long-range spells at his disposal.
Thanks to Dumbledore's recent guidance, George's magic from the Harry Potter world had improved significantly, making this a perfect opportunity to test it against Laxus.
Additionally, unlike the mages of this world, his magic power was infinite.
Unless his opponent's overall strength was vastly superior, George could easily wear them down with ranged magic.
And Laxus was clearly not as strong overall.
Thus, in this battle, George would show Laxus the true meaning of a gap in strength — he would defeat him without even giving him a chance to engage in close-quarters combat.
"He can even use invisibility magic!"
Realizing his speed had dropped significantly and that George had disappeared from sight, Laxus's expression changed instantly. He immediately halted his steps, took a defensive stance, and began searching for George's whereabouts.
(End of Chapter)