Astro jumped from one tree branch to another. The ground below was far too muddy because of the rain, so he chose this route instead. He was planning to see if he could meet Mystogan at Porlyusica's place. That guy had piqued his interest, and it was not only due to his strength.
He remembered how Porlyusica also did not have any magic inside her, a lot like Mystogan. But Mystogan had trained hard to use that aspect as his strength and trained until his presence and breath could not be detected easily by others.
And Astro remembered how Porlyusica always looked a bit happy when talking about Earthland. If Astro's theory was correct, they were not—
"Come out." Astro suddenly stopped on a tree branch. He turned his head slightly to look behind him.
There was no sound anywhere. It almost felt like Astro was talking to no one.
"I sensed you following me before I even entered the forest. What do you want?" Astro fully turned around just as lightning flashed across the sky. A person wearing a long, black, heavy coat appeared in an instant on a branch in front of him, and Astro narrowed his eyes, trying to see through the heavy rain.
The most noticeable thing about this stranger was his huge body frame and his wild, spiky yellow hair. And upon a closer look, Astro could even see a lightning-shaped scar on his right eye.
The stranger was also examining Astro. He glanced at Astro, who was wearing a long black windbreaker and the purple shirt underneath. Astro casually had both hands in the pockets of his windbreaker while standing on a tree branch, and his purple eyes glowed faintly in the dark. Another bolt of lightning flashed with a loud crack as they stared each other down.
The stranger finally spoke as he crossed his arms and leaned on the tree he was standing on.
"I have heard about your strength and your devil slayer magic. I have never met someone like you, Astro Blackmist."
"Sorry, I am into women, but I believe you will find someone else," Astro replied instantly, causing the stranger to freeze..
"What? No… I do not care about that…" Laxus said in an annoyed tone.
"Oh. You are into that stuff, then. I have read about it. I am sorry, I am also not into forced stu—"
"Shut up. I saw in the newspaper that you were strong enough to defeat even a wizard saint candidate. So now I want to test if all of this was a hoax or not."
"Oh, you should have started with that, but anyway…"
Astro also crossed his arms and leaned against the branch beneath him, staring at Laxus with a bored expression.
"...Why would I have to cater to your wish? I do not even know you. Just think of it as a rumor. I do not care," Astro said through the heavy rain.
"Oh? Did nobody in Fairy Tail tell you? I am the next master of Fairy Tail, Laxus Dreyar. Do you think I am allowed to question you now?"
Astro blinked as if he had misheard the sentence, but after a moment of looking at Laxus's serious face, he realized he had heard it correctly, and Laxus in front of him was not joking. Astro suddenly looked at the figure with pity as he remembered what Master Makarov had to deal with daily.
Even through the rain, Laxus's vision was good enough to catch Astro's expression, and he became confused. People either feared him or hated him when they heard his name. Why was this guy looking at him with those eyes? Was his brain okay?
Astro studied Laxus for a moment before sighing. "Good for you, I guess. Just give me early notice before you become guild master, please. I would like to hand in my resignation before that."
"What?"
Laxus blinked. This was the first time in a long time someone had spoken to him like this. And Astro was not finished.
"Also, my apologies, but you seem to be around forty years old from your looks. Are you sure you are the master's grandson? I thought you would be—oops."
Astro suddenly jumped away and landed on another branch nearby. He crouched as he looked at the branch he had been standing on moments ago. It was now completely destroyed, blown apart by a lightning attack from Laxus.
Astro blinked. "Oh, anger issues. Quite common in middle-aged people."
Laxus growled. "I wanted to meet you because there was finally someone strong in the guild. Gramps has been hiring nobodies these days, one after another…making everyone point finger and laugh at our guild… But right now it seems like I need to teach you some manners and teach you how to respect your seniors."
"Okay? Can we postpone the lesson for another day? I have somewhere I need to be now," Astro said with his hands raised in surrender, looking in the direction of Porlyusica's house. It seemed like he could not go there today after all, and Mystogan was probably not even there anyway. He sighed while looking at Laxus, whose body was now surrounded by yellow lightning. Astro realized from the very beginning that this guy wanted to fight, and it was completely inevitable now.
"You will go when I allow you to go," Laxus said with a grin as his entire body transformed into a lightning bolt. In Astro's purple eyes, that lightning bolt appeared right in front of him in an instant. Astro leaned all the way back while still standing on the tree branch and fell toward the ground. As he flipped backward in the air, he landed on his feet.
He looked up to see Laxus now standing on the same branch he had been on moments ago, looking down at him arrogantly.
"You are quite nimble, but if you want to get my approval, then you have to fight back."
Astro looked at him with a deadpan expression. "Um, I do not need your approval, though."
Laxus smirked as he looked down on him and turned into lightning again. Astro's eye followed the lightning, zigzagging and bouncing between the trees around him.
"Damn, he is fast, but…" Astro narrowed his eyes.
"Thunder Stomp." Astro heard Laxus's menacing voice, and suddenly the lightning in front of him disappeared. He felt a presence behind him. He looked back to see Laxus in the air, aiming to stomp down on him with his right leg.
"Did he accelerate his movement at the last moment?" That was the only thought in Astro's mind as Laxus's foot nearly landed on his head.
Laxus's stomp hit the ground, cracking the earth around him in a massive circle.
"Oh?" Laxus did not look at the ground. Instead, he looked up. Astro had turned his body into purple smoke right before his attack landed and drifted to a tree branch.
Laxus did not attack immediately. He stepped forward as Astro's body materialized from left to right on a branch in front of him..
"Stop running and fight me seriously. Do not worry, I promise not to kill you," Laxus said with a cocky grin as he stepped forward slowly in the rain. Lightning flashed across the sky. Astro, whose body, clothes, and hair were all soaked, looked down at Laxus.
"That was dangerous. I would be in bed for weeks if that attack landed, you know," Astro said as he took a deep breath, looking at Laxus's figure.
"Are you scared already? I expected better from you," Laxus mocked as he continued approaching the tree where Astro was standing.
"No," Astro said as his purple eyes glowed.
" I decided to take it seriously. Laxus, was it? Do not hold back. I do not want to hear any excuse after you lose," Astro grinned.
Laxus paused, looking bewildered for a moment, then returned to his cocky grin.
"Now you are talking my language. I am almost starting to like you," Laxus said as both of them stared at each other with matching grins. A lightning strike fell somewhere near them, brightening the area, and as if on cue, both Astro and Laxus moved.
Astro used the branch as a platform to boost his speed as he jumped down toward Laxus. Laxus jumped upward toward Astro; the ground beneath his right foot cracked from the force.
Astro coated his right fist with purple wind. Laxus coated his right fist with yellow lightning. Their figures rushed toward one another, fists extended.
"Tempest Fist."
"Thunder Fist."
When their fists collided in midair, wind and lightning clashed violently. The impact alone uprooted several trees in a radius of hundreds of meters, while a few managed to stand firm somehow.
Astro and Laxus were both thrown backward by the force. They landed on the ground and slid behind for several feet before balancing themselves again. As soon as they stabilized, they both looked up at each other.
Astro's purple eyes glowed as he made the first move. The ground behind him cracked and raised slightly from the sheer force of his push off the earth.
Yellow lightning flashed from Laxus's eyes as he charged too. The ground behind him was destroyed in the same way Astro's was. Both coated their right hands with magic again, rushing toward the center, fists raised.
They punched directly into each other's fists again, unwilling to step back. There was a strange sense of understanding between them, as if neither of them accepted being pushed back earlier, and both decided that the previous result had been pure dumb luck.
"Tempest Fist."
"Thunder Fist."
This time, when their fists met, a white light exploded outward, blinding the area. As it faded, both of them were still locked in a fist clash, neither able to overpower the other anymore at first.
But the exchange was not without consequences. Astro's hand was going numb from the lightning wrapped around Laxus's fist. Laxus's arm, meanwhile, was being cut again and again by Astro's wind, leaving small but constant slashes.
Neither cared about the pain. Both focused entirely on understanding the other's physical strength through the impact. And to his surprise, Astro realized that in pure physical strength, he was weaker. Even with his devil slayer body.
Astro noticed his fist being pushed back slightly by Laxus's strength. He gritted his teeth and spun his body, aiming a roundhouse kick toward Laxus's neck. Laxus had a victorious smile on his face as he used the same arm he had been punching with to block the kick. As Astro's leg connected with Laxus's arm, he again felt that numbing lightning creeping into his limb, while Laxus received even more wind cuts from Astro's air blades.
Astro jumped back a little to create some room, but Laxus was not willing to give him any chance. He appeared in front of Astro again instantly, his right arm covered in lightning as he attacked where Astro's head had been.
"Thunder Claw."
Astro looked at the lightning claw tearing toward him through the heavy raindrops. As the yellow lightning magnified in his eyes, he ducked instantly. The lightning claw barely managed to miss his hair. Astro looked at Laxus's stance and realized this was his chance. He coated his hand with purple wind again and punched Laxus's chin very hard.
"Tempest Impact."
As Astro's fist connected with Laxus's chin, a purple flash erupted, blinding everything around them. The ground around them cracked in a perfect circle as Laxus was launched straight up into the sky by the punch.
But Astro was not happy about this.
"Why did he let it conne—" Astro's thought stopped as a terrible feeling surged through him. His instincts screamed. He subconsciously looked down where he felt a strange magic surging. In his widened eyes, a yellow circle suddenly appeared beneath his feet.
"Thunderbolt Blast."
Astro was a speed-type wizard with great reaction speed, but even he was not fast enough to avoid it. Yellow lightning erupted from the ground in a massive explosion right under his feet.
As for Laxus, his body turned into lightning in midair. The yellow bolt traveled through the air before descending to the ground again, where Laxus's form materialized as he took a calm step forward.
He looked at the explosion zone covered in thick smoke. Astro's figure could not be seen at all. Laxus stroked his chin casually.
"That hurt a bit. I forgot the last time I got injured like this," Laxus commented, although he did not seem bothered at all except for a tiny twitch at the corner of his mouth.
He stared into the smoke. "You are not done yet, are you, Astro?" Laxus said slowly, a smirk forming on his lips.
As if to answer his question, all the smoke and air around the explosion began creating a vortex. Through the heavy rain, Laxus watched as the smoke did not clear, but instead was being absorbed. He narrowed his eyes to focus. As the smoke disappeared completely, Astro's figure was revealed. He was consuming all the smoke and air around him in one long motion, and after a moment, he stopped.
Laxus looked at Astro's leg, where the lightning blast had struck him. The lower part of his trousers was torn, and Laxus narrowed his eyes as he watched the wound visibly heal. Within moments, the injury disappeared completely.
Astro kept his head lowered as he finished absorbing the air. He wiped his lips with the back of his right hand. Then he looked up, his glowing purple eyes locking onto Laxus.
"Not only were you able to damage a devil slayer's body like that, but you also tanked an attack from me with only minor injury. You are pretty good," Astro commented as he stepped forward, removing his soaked black windbreaker and throwing it aside, revealing the purple shirt he was wearing underneath.
Laxus smirked. "Oh, your attack was pretty good."
Laxus took another look at Astro, who was walking toward him slowly.
"It seems I cannot fight with half-hearted strength anymore. Let's both stop playing around, Astro." He smirked again as he threw away his black, long, heavy coat, revealing a purple shirt of his own.
Astro's steps paused as he felt Laxus gathering an insane amount of magic around himself.
"What impressive magic. He does have the right to be overconfident."
" Compared to Erza's magic, this is on another level." Astro looked up—and saw a huge bolt of lightning strike down from the sky and hit Laxus directly.
Astro's eyes widened. "Laxus, are y—" He took a step forward but froze. His eyes widened even further as another lightning bolt struck Laxus. Then another. And another.
In Astro's bewildered eyes, all the lightning was being sucked into a vortex around Laxus's mouth. Astro did not move. He simply watched, stunned, as more and more lightning was devoured.
"You are a slayer magic user, too. That explains why your physical strength is so overwhelming and your body is so durable," Astro said, narrowing his eyes. He raised his hand in front of him.
"Sky Devil's Aether."
A sword manifested before his hand, purple smoke coiling around its forming shape. Astro clenched his fist, gripping the handle tightly as the area flashed with purple light. When the light faded, Astro stood holding the Aether sword in his right hand.
The sword had a black hilt and a glowing purple blade. Its aura pulsed menacingly in the rainy night. Laxus had finished devouring the lightning as well. Yellow lightning leaked from his eyes and mouth, and his body frame had grown slightly larger.
"Lightning Dragon Slayer Magic. It is a secret that almost nobody in Fairy Tail knows. Be grateful I am letting you learn it. Although after today, I will make sure that count goes back to almost nobody again," Laxus grinned menacingly, and his body turned into yellow lightning.
In Astro's glowing purple pupils, the incoming lightning magnified.
"Then let's see who is stronger. Sky Devil or Lightning Dragon." He tightened his grip on the Aether sword and swung it vertically without hesitation toward the incoming lightning.
A massive explosion erupted where their attacks collided, illuminating the forest in brilliant purple and blazing yellow light.
Somewhere inside the forest…
An old figure was reading a book beside a window. From time to time, she looked outside to watch the heavy rain. As she glanced out again and went back to her book, she suddenly paused. She turned her head toward the window once more, narrowed her eyes, and closed the book before stepping outside with an umbrella.
Porlyusica walked through the heavy rain, the umbrella shielding her from the rain as she approached a large tree near her hut and looked up. "Mystogan. Did you finish your mission already?"
A cloaked figure was sitting on a high branch, his entire body covered in layers of cloth and various magical stuffs were strapped to his back as usual. He was reading a stack of mission papers in his hand. Surprisingly, not a single sheet was getting wet despite the downpour. Mystogan looked down at her.
"Yes. Thankfully, it was not related to Anima. I took several missions at the same time this time. Maybe one of them is connected to it."
"You should take a break, your highne—" Porlyusica stopped as Mystogan cut her off sharply.
"Do not address me as that, Porlyusica. Just call me Mystogan." He continued scanning the mission posters for a moment before vanishing from the branch. A heartbeat later, he appeared in front of her.
"Also, it is strange to hear advice about getting along with others from you."
Porlyusica could hear the sarcasm in his voice, but she ignored it and sighed.
"You are still young. Young people should work hard, but they should also enjoy life." She turned toward her hut. "Do you want some din—"
An explosion suddenly shook the earth, stopping their conversation.
Mystogan spun around, his dark eyes narrowed as purple and yellow lights flashed repeatedly through the dark clouds above the forest.
"I do not think you have any monsters nearby, do you, Porlyusica?" he said in a slightly teasing tone. But when he looked back at her, he only saw her eyes filled with horror.
"Laxus… Astro…," she murmured, watching the constant flashes of clashing colors.
She turned to Mystogan, but he had already begun walking into the forest. Before she could say anything, he spoke without looking back.
"I will stop them. They are both from Fairy Tail after all. They will not stop unless someone forces them to."
Porlyusica looked a little bit conflicted but nodded at the end. "Be careful, Mystogan. Don't underestimate either of them."
Mystogan smiled faintly under his mask. "I know how capable both of them are. I will take the dinner as payment. No one here can make good Edolas' food except you."
As soon as he said those words, his figure vanished completely from her sight.
Porlyusica stared at the space where Mystogan had been, then looked toward the forest. She again looked at the place where Mystogan was just now,
"Wait, did he ever meet Astro? Or was he talking about…." Her murmur got lost in the heavy rain as she dropped her umbrella and rushed toward where the fight was happening.