Bluenote Stinger's fervor for battle was no less than Azuma's, but it was slightly different. One simply enjoyed the process of fighting strong opponents, regardless of winning or losing—a complete battle maniac. The other purely reveled in the thrill of defeating an opponent. Perhaps the term "homicidal" suited him better than "battle maniac."
Gravity Magic is formless and intangible; Age-Apotheosis Magic harms instantly upon contact. Just as the two were about to erupt into a new battle, another slightly rushed set of footsteps sounded, accompanied by a young voice.
"The destruction around here is intense! What could have possibly—Whoa, seriously?!"
The scene before him brought Kira's steps to a halt: ruined buildings, a massive fallen tree, a shadowy figure wreathed in chilling dark magic, a man missing a right leg, and a confident, gorilla-faced man with his arms crossed...
Kira's arrival surprised Cornas slightly. "Little Kira? Why are you—never mind. Since you're here, help me clean up the academy while I deal with the enemy in front of me."
"Sorry, but who are you?" Kira raised his hands, looking at the shadowy figure and asking a bit sheepishly. "I feel like I know that voice, though..."
"It's me! CORNAS!!"
Cornas suppressed her internal fury, dispelled the black mist, revealing her mature, intellectual face, and shouted at Kira, "Who else would be fighting these two enemies at the academy but me?!"
Kira took a genuine gasp upon seeing Cornas's face. "What?! It's the Headmistress Cornas?!"
He had been prepared, but he hadn't realized her magic was this terrifying!
Then, Kira turned to look at the two enemies. "These two are from Grimoire Heart... The Vice-Commander, Bluenote, and one of the Seven Kin of Purgatory, Azuma?! Huh... old man, why does it look like you chopped off your own leg?"
Bluenote: "..."
Azuma: "..."
Cornas was immediately livid. "So you recognize them, but you don't recognize me?!"
"Don't say that! With how you looked just now, who could recognize you?"
Kira's appearance caused the tense, serious atmosphere to shift in a strange way. It was as if he possessed a special ability to unconsciously draw those around him into becoming sarcastic commentators just like him.
After a pause, Cornas gave Kira a peculiar look, suspicion in her eyes. "Wait a minute! How do you know who they are?!"
Kira hesitated awkwardly for a moment, then replied, "Well... I have my own dedicated intelligence network!"
Azuma and Bluenote exchanged glances, realizing this was more complicated than they thought: Our identities are always kept secret. How did he investigate them? Is there a spy in the guild? Speaking of which, we still haven't heard from Ultear... Could it be...
To keep Kira out of the fight, Cornas decided to send him away. She spoke up, "Forget it, you leave first. I'll take care of this enemy quickly. You go check on the surrounding area."
But Kira held up a hand and firmly blocked her, refusing. "No! Protecting the academy should be your responsibility as Headmistress, right? As for this enemy, you can leave him to me."
Cornas frowned, feeling uneasy. She tried to persuade him, "Leave him to you? His strength is no joke. He's at least on the level of the Wizard Saints. You—"
Kira smiled confidently and said, "Tch! It's just a Wizard Saint. They're all old—"
"Hmm?!"
"Ahem. What I mean is, there are strong and weak Wizard Saints! Besides, how many Saints have I already beaten?"
"But..."
Cornas still looked uncertain. Kira took two steps forward and continued, "Gravity Magic has no shape and doesn't require you to get close to the enemy to attack. Because of that, your Age-Apotheosis Magic will have trouble dealing with it effectively! Even if you eventually win, it will take a lot of time. So, leave this guy to me!"
"You know the academy grounds better than I do. Go check for damage and start rescuing the students and teachers! It's an important exam time right now. Our cute juniors are likely rushing over here!"
Cornas was tempted. "Are you really going to be okay?"
Kira smiled confidently. "Just trust me with this!"
Seeing his absolute confidence, Cornas thought it over and reluctantly agreed. "Alright, then. I'll go check the situation. You be careful."
She withdrew her magic, picked up the gloves from the ground, and put them back on, instantly returning to her original appearance—golden hair flowing, white dress graceful, and cape fluttering. "If you can't beat him, remember to call for help!"
"Don't worry about it!"
Cornas nodded, stepped past Bluenote, and walked away.
Bluenote didn't stop her. Instead, he fixed his gaze on Kira. "Kira Hopley, I've heard of you. A famous rising star in Fairy Tail these past few years. I hear you recently defeated two Wizard Saints in a row."
(One of them was actually defeated by Despel, but Kira didn't mind the rumor.) Kira simply waved it off, chuckling. "Mere reputation... reputation... it's all just smoke!"
"An enemy like you—can you fly?"
The deep voice continued, but the words sounded like something a total shut-in would say.
Fly? What do you mean by that?
Kira mulled it over and tentatively responded in the same strange way the Vice-Commander spoke, "Do you want to fly?"
Bluenote seemed utterly fixated, repeating the same question over and over. "Can fly... or cannot fly..."
"That is the question!" Kira smoothly and naturally finished the line, momentarily stunning Bluenote.
Kira didn't pay attention to his opponent's distraction. He simply stated, "Whether I can or not... you'll find out once I beat you!"
Magic Power, ignite!
BOOM! CRASH!
Two overwhelmingly powerful forces confronted each other.
Bluenote's gravity pulled from above, pushing downward. Even Azuma, lying nearby, almost couldn't breathe under the pressure. Kira's magic was the complete opposite, creating a massive upward buoyancy. It dragged the scattered dust, gravel, stones, and wood chips from the ground and held them suspended in the air, ready to strike.
Seeing this, Bluenote looked slightly surprised. "You can use Gravity Magic too?"
Kira gave a slight smile. "Of course. It's not exclusive to you, you know."
The older man and the younger man exchanged sharp, unconvinced looks. It was the perfect moment to see who was superior. In the very next instant, continuous streams of gravity began to rage across the battlefield.
The three-dimensional space between them filled with gravity fields oriented in every direction—thick or thin, wide or narrow, long or short—chaotic and disorganized. There was no unified pattern or discernible law; they simply started and stopped at random.
Gravity is typically invisible and intangible, but by enveloping the dust and sand from the ground, it formed streams of quicksand. They appeared hazy like thin mist and soft like silk, but in reality, their intensity was comparable to an aquatic whirlpool, and their turbulence was worse than a tornado. If a mage with slightly weaker defenses stood in the middle, they would be lightly spun dizzy and knocked off balance, or worse, their body would be directly torn apart by the force fields and explode.
The Gravity Magic from both men churned up earth-yellow and dark-gray dust within a hundred-meter radius, darkening the sky and covering the brief peek of sunlight. Azuma watched, his heart pounding. He didn't have much ability to protect himself right now and could only hope his luck held out through this exchange.
"Honestly, Bluenote is one thing, but it seems this young man from Fairy Tail is just as reckless once a fight starts... Are young people today really this strong?"
After the fierce, chaotic battle of force fields lasted for over ten minutes, the yellow sand and gray dust that had been freely flowing within the gravity fields suddenly stopped. They neither rose nor fell, neither advanced nor retreated, frozen in the air as if time itself had paused.
The next second, two powerful streams of Magic Power simultaneously shot down from the sky, slamming directly into the ground in front of the two mages. They carved out two enormous craters. The ground cracked, the earth shattered, and fissures spread for dozens of meters, plunging deep into the soil. Stones flew up and sand exploded everywhere!