As Chloe launched her attack on Kira, he was already making his move.
"Earth Flow Wall!"
A circular stone barrier shot up from the ground, encircling Kira 360 degrees with no blind spots, effortlessly blocking hundreds of exploding cloud orbs.
The air outside the wall roared with relentless booms, but not a single blast touched Kira.
"Earth magic?" Chloe barely had time to process before she swung her cloud-forged sword and whip again, slashing and stabbing toward the trapped Kira. "You boxed yourself in? Talk about cocooning yourself for defeat!"
But before her iron cloud weapons could reach their target, two stone pillars pierced through them, shattering her control over the sword and whip.
"Stone Spear!"
"What?!" Caught off guard, Chloe froze for a split second. Before she could regain control of her weapons, a crushing force slammed down on her.
"Gravity!"
The Word Magic unleashed a powerful gravity field, instantly disrupting the magical balance in Chloe's clouds. Her cloud orbs, ropes, and iron constructs collapsed into water, splashing to the ground. Even the cloud she stood on crumbled, no longer able to hold her up.
Caught by surprise and off-balance, Chloe plummeted from the sky, her weapons dissolving in her hands.
"Damn it! Healing, rock magic, and now gravity magic this strong?!" she cursed.
With her stretchy weapons out of the picture, Kira manipulated the stone spears that had pierced her cloud sword, breaking them into dozens of rock projectiles that hurtled toward Chloe like cannonballs.
"Rock Cannon!"
Against an ordinary mage, this would've ended the fight. But Chloe, a demon who'd lived for centuries, reacted fast. Her body turned into light clouds, and the rock projectiles passed harmlessly through her elemental form, crashing into each other and scattering debris across the ground.
The falling rubble didn't stop there. Under Kira's control, the fragments reformed into jagged stone spikes on the ground, waiting for Chloe to land.
Too bad for him—her elemental body was still immune to the spikes!
Landing smoothly, Chloe let out a relieved breath as the stone spikes passed through her. "Impressive acting, meticulous planning, precise control, and powerful magic," she said. "Compared to that other guy, you're way stronger."
"But!" she declared with a smug grin, every bit the haughty noble. "My magic and physiology are special. I'm immune to physical attacks. No matter how strong your rock magic is, it can't touch me!"
Her triumphant smirk faltered the next second as her face twisted in panic. "W-What is this?!"
Even in her elemental form, Chloe realized she couldn't move!
The ground had turned sticky, trapping her in place. No matter how hard she struggled, she was stuck.
Before she could react, the stone spikes piercing her delicate, half-formed body seemed to come alive, wrapping tightly around her. From her feet to her legs, thighs to chest, arms to head, the stone coiled upward, layer after layer, until Chloe, unable to budge, was completely sealed inside.
In the last flicker of light before her vision was blocked, one thought raced through her mind: Who is this guy?! How did he do this?!
As if reading her confusion, Kira spoke slowly, "Stone Seal!"
Grinning to himself, Kira couldn't help but feel smug. This feint was perfection.
Step one: Use gravity to disrupt her magic, forcing her into his battlefield.
Step two: While she was midair and too frazzled to think, hit her with rock cannonballs. In a pinch, her elemental magic—whether passive or active—would kick in, making her dodge by turning to clouds.
Step three: When she landed, smug about shrugging off the aerial attack, spring the real trap. Her confidence in being immune to physical attacks would make her ignore the ground spikes.
Step four: The spikes were laced with magic to disrupt her magical flow and paralyze her. Even in her elemental form, she'd be immobilized the moment they pierced her.
Step five: Easy. With her magic disrupted and body frozen, she was helpless, trapped in a stone prison with no escape.
It was all about chaining relentless, precise attacks to throw off her thinking, exploiting her overconfidence to lure her into his trap.
Kira strolled over to the stone statue, tapping the prison. Solid. Perfect.
Even if she could stay elemental, she wasn't breaking out of this airtight stone cage—especially with magic-disrupting spikes embedded in her. Whether she'd run out of magic and revert to a physical form (getting skewered) or suffocate from lack of air? Not his problem.
Hearing muffled banging from inside, Chloe's voice dripped with rage and humiliation. She was furious at losing so quickly—and to a human, no less. Her elemental magic, her pride, was useless against this guy. Worse, if her rival Snoa found out, she'd never hear the end of it. And Snoa would definitely badmouth her to Ice Uncle.
"Damn it! Let me out! We're fighting again!" she yelled.
"Jerk! Why can't I move?!"
"My magic… why can't I control it?!"
"Stupid human…!"
Her shouts echoed from the stone prison, but Kira wasn't having it. "Time for some peace and quiet," he said. "Word Magic: Silence!"
Instantly, the world went quiet.
Kira turned and headed toward the snowy pit where Natsu and Lucy were. Natsu had recovered enough to climb out, but the moment he did, he bumped right into Kira.
Looking around, Natsu noticed Chloe and her clouds were gone. "Where's that chick?" he asked.
Kira jerked a thumb toward the stone prison. "Trapped in there."
"WHAT?!" Natsu's jaw hit the ground. "That fast?!"
Damn it! He'd struggled against an enemy he couldn't touch, and Kira took her out in under a minute? Was the gap between them that big?!
Happy zipped over, circling the stone prison before flying back. "That girl's stuck in Kira's stone cage. She can't move!"
"SO COOL!" Happy chirped.
Lucy, climbing out of the pit, overheard and gained a new appreciation for Kira's strength. During the Lullaby incident, she hadn't fully grasped how Kira beat Eisenwald's leader. This time, she didn't see the fight either, but Natsu was her benchmark. She knew Natsu was strong—crazy strong. Yet an enemy Natsu couldn't handle didn't last a minute against Kira. That meant Kira was leagues above him.
"Are all Fairy Tail's S-Class mages this insane?" Lucy whispered.
She'd only seen S-Class mages fight three times: Kira vs. Erigor, Erza vs. Natsu, and now this. Each time was unreal.
Happy piped up, "Of course! Kira might act goofy sometimes, but his strength is no joke!"
His voice was quiet, but not quiet enough to escape Kira's ears. "Goofy? Goofy?!" Kira spun around, glaring. "Happy, get over here. We're gonna have a little chat about that!"
Sensing danger, Happy went full cute-cat mode, looking around innocently before darting behind Natsu.
"Don't play dumb!" Kira marched over, grabbing Happy by the tail with a wicked grin. "Talking smack to my face? I can only imagine what you say behind my back!"
Kira gave Happy's chubby belly a playful poke. "Looks like Natsu's been feeding you too much fish. You needed him to shield you from that attack! If I hadn't shown up, you guys would've been toast. When we get back, you're training with me!"
Truth be told, Happy's soft, fuzzy, warm belly was weirdly satisfying to poke.
"Noooo!" Happy wailed, flailing in the air, his tail firmly in Kira's grip. "Natsu, save me!"
"Calling for Natsu won't help," Kira said. "He took an S-Class job without permission. He's getting punished too! And honestly, failing to beat an enemy like that and failing to protect his team? He's joining you in training!"
Natsu went quiet, brooding.
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