Astro and Laxus had no idea what Mystogan and Porlyusica were doing.
Their entire focus was only on each other.
In the middle of the storm, the trees around them shook every time they exchanged their moves, rain hammering the leaves like thousands of tiny war drums.
Astro sprinted forward, sword glowing purple in the downpour. Laxus simply watched him with hard, unblinking eyes. Lightning gathered in Laxus's clenched right fist—yellow sparks dancing wildly across his arm.
But instead of striking Astro, he slammed that fist straight into the ground.
"Lightning Dragon's Iron Hammer!"
The impact tore open the forest floor in a huge circle around him, dirt and roots exploding upward. Astro staggered as the ground cracked beneath his feet, losing his footing. Laxus, however, was not done yet. From the crater Laxus created, a massive lightning bolt erupted and curved toward Astro like a snake.
Astro tightened his grip on the sword and swung it,
"Sky Devil's Tempest Wall!"
A thick wall of swirling purple wind burst out in front of his sword, clashing against the oncoming lightning. The strike rattled through the forest, flashes of yellow and purple lighting up the raindrops around them. Astro dug his right foot into the ground so hard that it created a crack as he forced more power into the wall.
The lightning finally weakened and sputtered out.
Astro let out an exhale—
Only to realize Laxus was nowhere to be seen.
A yellow streak reappeared right in front of his wind wall.
"Lightning Dragon's Breakdown Fist!"
Lightning exploded from Laxus's fist as it punched through the wall and detonated it. The purple barrier burst like shattering glass. Astro was blown backward through the air.
"Don't tell me this is your limit," Laxus mocked with a crooked grin.
Astro twisted mid-air, flipped, and landed on a thick tree trunk sideways. Rain poured down his face as he crouched on the bark, his purple eyes glowed through the rain..
He blurred forward, with wind bursting from under his feet.
"Sky Devil's Hunt!"
Astro flashed past Laxus in a single stroke and skidded across the wet ground, carving a trail in the mud. Behind him, hundreds of tiny purple wind slashes erupted around Laxus in the air.
"Gh—" Laxus groaned as dozens of shallow cuts ripped across his body.
But that was not enough to stop him. As lightning flared violently from his eyes, his entire form turned into crackling yellow electricity that zig-zagged through the rain and reappeared on the right side of Astro in an instant.
Astro's pupils widened as the lightning engulfed his vision—
But Laxus's hand passed through him, or passed through a purple smoke to be exact.
Laxus's instincts screamed as he subconsiously looked up.
Astro hovered above him, right arm wrapped in violently swirling purple wind.
"Sky Devil's Serpent Gale."
A calm voice echoed through the forest as a serpentine wind gale burst from Astro's fist, curving unnaturally through the storm toward Laxus.
Although it was moving too fast for a normal human to track with their eye, Laxus was able to keep track of it easily. Laxus leapt back as the attack slammed into the ground under him from above, tearing a tunnel straight into the ground before vanishing.
He smirked. "It was too slow. Are you even trying?"
Astro smirked back with the same grin as Laxus.
"I'm not done yet."
The forest floor beneath Laxus cracked as he finished his sentence.
Laxus managed to jump up just in time as the same purple wind gale burst back out from underground, narrowly missing his torso.
Hovering in the air, Laxus glared at Astro.
Astro, who was still in the air, also looked down at Laxus, who was a little below him. Rain slid down Astro's face as he placed both hands together near his chest.
"Sky Devil's Serpent Hunt."
A rotating purple wind cylinder formed between his palms.
Then several thin wind gales launched upward—curving, sharpening, and multiplying in the air.
They twisted around Laxus from every direction like snakes as they prepared to strike.
Laxus's vision was now filled with purple wind gales.
But he didn't flinch.
Astro saw his expression and narrowed his eyes—Laxus was gathering an enormous amount of magic.
"Aren't you full of surprises," Laxus muttered. "But don't take this attack lightly… or there won't be enough ashes left of you to collect."
The serpent gales closed in on Laxus as he spread his arms wide, yellow lightning exploding off him from every side.
"Lightning Dragon's… Thunder Calamity!"
A massive electric shockwave tore through the air. Lightning erupted in all directions—not only incinerating Astro's attack completely but also ripping through trees, and racing toward Astro himself with insane speed.
Astro's pupils were now fully yellow as the lighting shockwave reflected in his eyes.
He wasn't afraid.
He was exhilarated.
His sword disappeared from his right hand as he sprinted through the air, forming purple wind platforms under each step. Trails of purple wind followed his feet as he ran toward the incoming lightning explosion.
A purple sphere began forming in his right hand, wind spiraling violently around his wrist.
"Sky Devil's… Aero Dominion!"
With a wild grin, he thrust the rotating sphere straight into Laxus's massive lightning explosion—
without a hint of fear.
The instant the attacks collided, the world turned white.
A blinding flash swallowed the entire forest; the rain itself seemed to evaporate for a heartbeat. When the light finally faded, the scene inside the dome of destruction came back into focus.
A gigantic purple, rotating wind sphere had formed—Astro stood inside it, pushing forward.
Its size matched Laxus's lightning sphere, but the winds spun in the opposite direction, grinding against the lightning like two storms battling for dominance.
After a few brutal seconds, both forces unraveled and died out at the same time.
The forest fell silent again except for the heavy rain.
Astro and Laxus both dropped to the soaked earth, landing several meters apart.
Astro exhaled and finally asked the question that had been bothering him.
"Why do you care so much about testing my strength, Laxus?"
Fairy Tail members fighting each other wasn't new—but Laxus was treating it way differently than others
Although both of them were still holding back, this battle was becoming too intense.
Laxus, for the first time, looked at Astro with a serious stare
"It's because there are too many weaklings in the guild. In other words, our guild has too many weaknesses."
Astro's eyes twitched at the word our. But he still spoke what was on his mind.
"That's… stupid. You're stupid."
He didn't doubt Laxus's intelligence; S-Class wizards needed more than brute force.
But Laxus's worldview felt too narrow to him.
"What did you just say?" Laxus snapped, anger flaring again in his voice.
"I admit your strength," Laxus growled, "but a newbie like you is still a hundred years too early to question me. I've dedicated my entire life to this guild. I've seen its weaknesses, and I'm the only one willing to fix them. Gramps infested Fairy Tail with weak, useless insects—"
"Shut up."
The ground under Astro's right foot cracked as he launched forward.
His fist smashed straight into Laxus's face.
Laxus, completely caught off guard, was sent flying, bouncing across the torn battlefield, shattering trees one after another until the eighth tree stopped him.
Astro blurred forward again, aiming a kick toward Laxus's chest—
"You sneaky bastard…" Laxus growled.
He caught Astro's incoming leg with one hand and swung him to the side as if Astro weighed nothing. Astro crashed through a tree, splintering it clean in half before hitting the ground.
Laxus landed on the ground and stalked toward him.
Astro coughed, pushing himself up slowly through the mud and rain. He looked up at Laxus's towering figure as he forced himself to stand straight.
"If you want to create a strong guild, then go start your own. Nobody's stopping you."
Astro's voice stayed calm despite the pain. Laxus stopped hearing him speak.
"But Fairy Tail is home for a lot of people. Not just you. You don't get to take it for yourself."
"So you don't understand it either…" Laxus muttered.
Lightning coated his right arm as he swung his arm downward toward Astro's head.
Astro barely dodged, stepping back as the lightning fist crashed into the ground. Laxus didn't pause. He swung again, this time vertically.
"Lightning Dragon's Thunder Wave!"
A crescent arc of yellow lightning sliced through the rain toward Astro.
Astro gathered a purple wind sphere in his hand and rotated his body mid-jump, the lightning arc passing right under him.
"Sky Devil's Tempest Cannon!"
Astro hurled the purple sphere at Laxus while still twisting in the air.
Laxus already saw Astro prepare the attack, but the sphere came at him way too fast.
He realized he couldn't transform into lightning in time.
So he raised both hands with open palms and caught Astro's attack head-on.
As for Astro, he landed on the ground looking at Laxus. The Thunder Wave detonated through the trees behind him.
Laxus slid backward across the ground, channeling lightning into the purple sphere. Yellow sparks flew wildly around his palms as the combination of forces overloaded the spell. The wind ball exploded in his hands.
His palms were a little damaged from the explosion
But Laxus didn't even care about the pain.
"Do you think I'm trying to restructure the guild for myself?" he said in a chilling voice. The rain sizzled on his sparking skin.
"I'm doing it so Fairy Tail can survive forever. If we have too many weaklings, they'll drag us down the moment a real crisis arrives."
His eyes narrowed as raindrops dropped on his face, but he did not look away from Astro.
"You're still new. You don't know how many problems they cause outside. Fairy Tail has to take responsibility for their stupidity every time. If this continues, then they'll be the reason for our downfall someday. Gramps is too lenient with these fools."
Astro fell silent.
He remembered questioning Master Makarov himself about why he was too lenient… just a week ago… right in this same forest.
He sighed, thinking about it.
"So I guess we can stop the fight here. You tested my strength, and I had fun. Let's leave it at that."
"What? You're finally agreeing with me?"
"No," Astro whispered.
"My ideal guild… is a place where feelings are nurtured. Where everyone feels safe, where I feel safe. Where nobody fears being kicked out for some dumb reason. Not a place where you only let strong people in and hope everything magically works out."
Laxus blinked.
"…What?"
"We just have different visions of what Fairy Tail should be. Fighting won't solve that. Especially since both of us want the best for the guild—just in our own way. So, let's end the fight now."
Even through the heavy rain, Laxus could hear him perfectly.
Astro turned, ready to walk back.
"Stop right there!" Laxus roared.
Lightning surged around him violently, illuminating the forest in blinding yellow veins.
"We're not done yet!"
Astro turned back toward him, rain dripping from his chin as his eyes narrowed.
"I said it already, didn't I?" Laxus growled, lightning crackling across his whole body.
"I recognize your strength — but that doesn't mean you get to decide anything for me. We're fighting until a winner is decided. Don't talk like we're equals."
"Are you actually—"
Astro's eyes widened a little.
Laxus hadn't understood him at all.
'This guy really has anger issues, serious anger issues'
Astro thought — right before Laxus's lightning-clad body blurred and magnified in his vision.
Astro dissolved into purple smoke and reappeared on a nearby tree branch.
"Your moves are getting predictable," Laxus said coldly as he appeared right beside Astro and threw a punch toward Astro's face.
Astro lifted his right arm, blocking it — but he knew he couldn't match Laxus in a pure fistfight. So he countered immediately with his left fist, aiming straight for Laxus's nose.
Laxus tilted his head, dodging effortlessly.
Lightning and wind sparked violently as the two exchanged several rapid strikes on each other, their blows shook the tree they were standing on.
Astro was the first to retreat — leaping back toward another tree's branch.
"Lightning Dragon's Thunderbolt!"
Several thunderbolt-shaped lightning spears materialized beside Laxus. Without hesitation, Laxus grabbed one and hurled it at Astro like a spear.
Astro barely managed to jump away as another thunderbolt sailed past his face, blasting the branch behind him.
Then another.
And another.
Astro moved from tree to tree, dodging bolts that exploded the forest around him.
He gained some distance from Laxus as the attacks finally stopped.
Astro exhaled lightly, looking at Laxus through the heavy rain. "I really didn't want to go this far…"
In his right hand, the aether formed into a sword once more — glowing a menacing purple.
Laxus grinned widely. "Bring it on, Astro!"
Both were now separated by several trees, and rain was obscuring their vision, but due to their physique, it did not bother them at all.,
Astro narrowed his eyes, then whispered:
"Sky Devil's Tempest Severance."
He swung his sword down vertically, facing Laxus.
A massive wall of purple wind blades — tiny squares forming a huge grid — erupted from Astro's swing.
It tore through every tree between them, slicing them cleanly into perfect small squares as the attack rushed forward.
Laxus's grin widened, seeing the incoming attack.
"Lightning Dragon's Thunderclap Impact!"
He clasped his palms together in front of him with incredible force.
A massive lightning shockwave blasted forward, annihilating every tree in front of him before crashing into Astro's attack.
The two spells collided —
and a blinding flash swallowed the entire forest.
Astro and Laxus shielded their eyes as the world erupted in white light.
Even the rain halted for a second, vaporized near the collision's center.
Only after several moments did the rain return, falling softly again.
Astro lowered his arm — just in time to see a flash of yellow.
Laxus appeared in front of him instantly and punched him in the face.
"Lightning Dragon's Iron Fist!"
Astro was thrown back, bouncing across the torn ground before slamming into a tree.
The tree cracked and toppled behind him.
"...cough… cough…"
"Okay, I probably deserved that one after sneaking one attack before….But…"
Astro pushed himself up slowly, shaking the impact from his head.
Laxus landed in front of him, looking down at him with a smirk before gathering an incredible amount of magic.
Astro crouched for balance, then stood fully.
"Looks like this won't end unless one of us goes down," he whispered as purple wind surged violently around him
"Lightning Dragon's Roar!"
"Sky Devil's Rage!"
A gigantic purple tornado burst from Astro's mouth.
At the same time, Laxus unleashed a massive lightning beam.
Both attacks tore through the rain in straight lines toward each other.
Just before they collided—
"Three-Layered Magic Circle: Mirror Water."
Both Astro and Laxus heard an echo coming from somewhere near them.
Three wooden stuffs embedded themselves into the ground between their attacks.
Three magic circles instantly expanded outward from them — each glowing with a different color..
The two destructive spells struck the circles —
and bounced back, splitting into dozens of smaller fragments.
Astro and Laxus both were unprepared for this sudden turn of events and, as a result, were hit by their own redirected attacks.
They didn't take damage — their own elements couldn't harm them — but the shock of being hit by their own attack still stunned them for a moment.
"If you two want to have a married couple's argument," the voice again echoed through the forest, "I suggest keeping it a little more civil. You've already destroyed enough of the forest."
Astro and Laxus both blinked and turned toward the source of a sound as they heard footsteps approaching them through the heavy rain.
The three magic stuff levitated a bit above ground and then floated behind toward the source of the sound as well.
As the silhouette became clearer through the downpour—
"Mystogan…" Both Laxus and Astro's eyes narrowed as they looked at their guest.