"Old man, shouldn't you stop hiding?" Mira growled.
Erza had paired up with her, and they were currently fighting against Makarov.
The old man had created a barrier using multiple seals around him and the flag.
"Oh? Do you really want me to attack?" Makarov's smile stretched.
Next instant, multiple spheres of light appeared around him, before they were converted to a beam and rushed at the duo.
"Fuck." Mira didn't have time to react, as she barely moved Ethernano in front of her to increase defence. She shot back like a broken kite flying through the air.
'Too fast. I can't dodge that.' She stabilised herself before glancing at Erza.
"What the fuck!?" Her eyes widened when she noticed Erza using her sword to cut all the beams coming at her.
"Wow." She was not the only one surprised. Even Makarov was taken aback. 'Though those beams are far from light speed, it's almost impossible to dodge them unless you have some speed or space-related magic. She's deflecting them by predicting where those attacks would come.' Makarov was impressed.
"How about we make them a bit unpredictable?" The beams started following a curvy pattern, contrary to the direct shortest path.
To respond to that, multiple swords floated around Erza, swiping and rotating in all directions, deflecting any light beam that came.
"Not bad." Makarov turned to the right and saw Mira throwing a large Ethernano composed attack, which she had charged with the time Erza bought.
"Evil Explosion!" A dark-coloured sphere formed in front of her, before it turned into a spiral, as it rushed at Makarov.
"Erza now!" Mira shouted. She didn't need to, as Erza was already on the move.
'I didn't think I would be using this against master. I had prepared this to beat Kazu.' A sword appeared in her hand, which was followed by it glowing with red colour.
Erza's usual armour disappeared as she poured all her Ethernano into the sword.
"Demon Blade Benizakura"
CRACK
Mira's attack broke the barrier around Makarov, giving Erza the much-needed opening as she swung the sword at Makarov, who was caught off guard. He barely stretched out his hand, which enlarged.
BOOOOOOOOOM
The sword met a bare fist, creating a loud sound. Smoke rose from the point of impact. Erza jumped back.
'Did we get him?' Erza swung the sword without any Ethernano, yet despite that, a wind pressure was created, enough to blow the dust away.
"Not bad, not bad at all. Despite you two bickering, you two have quite good teamwork." Makarov stood with his right arm enlarged. His palm had a big cut, with blood visible.
"So, we failed." Mira frowned. Both of them were out of Ethernano, and despite that, Makarov barely looked hurt.
A green glow covered his palm as the injury started healing, and a few seconds later, it disappeared along with the injury.
"You guys did well. Though you both are still far from S-rank, it should still be visible. You should spar more with Laxus or Kazu to get an idea." Makarov's hand returned to normal.
Suddenly, all three of them looked in the same direction.
CRACK
The sound of lightning could be heard along with a large amount of Ethernano being moved.
"It seems that the battle there is also coming to an end," Makarov commented, a smile creeping up his face.
---
"Dragon Slayer's Secret Art: Roaring Thunder!"
Laxus's fist connected directly with Gildarts. The crush magic, covering Gildarts, wasn't able to stop the lightning, leading to Gildarts being electrocuted.
WHOOSH
The force sent Gildarts flying away, breaking any tree that came in his path. He was sent miles away.
'My lightning clearly hit him. Though he has crush magic, it's useless if lightning hits his normal body. He would become unconscious.' A smirk crept up Laxus's face.
"Finally got him. I didn't think that old man could be defeated." Laxus was still shocked that he was able to defeat Gildarts. It was understandable. After all, not only was Gildarts considered to have strength comparable to a Wizard Saint, but Makarov also mentioned that he is the strongest in the guild.
Laxus didn't have more time to think as he felt a surge of Ethernano from his side. He snapped his head and saw Kazu standing there, his Ethernano still increasing.
Kazu was staring at him now.
"Fuck." The smirk was wiped from Laxus's face. 'I don't have much Ethernano left. In a confrontation, I will lose. So...' Laxus had already foreseen this possibility. He turned into lightning before rushing at the flag.
He successfully grabbed it before rushing in a different direction. 'I would lead him to Gramps. Kazu should get distracted by him, and I will take the flag away to the destination.' The only thing Laxus was confident about was speed.
Despite being less on Ethernano, nobody in the guild was faster than him.
BOOM
Kazu axe-kicked at the spot, inches away from where Laxus's lightning form was moving.
A magic circle appeared in front of Laxus, and before he knew it, Laxus's body converted back to physical form from his lightning.
"Shit." Laxus barely twisted his body as he dodged Kazu's punch.
'Though his speed is not that high, he still can predict my movement. It's an issue if I am near him, so...' Laxus moved most of the Ethernano left towards his mouth.
"Lightning Dragon's Roar!" A point-blank beam of lightning hit Kazu, sending the latter flying.
Laxus didn't miss the chance and turned back to lightning, escaping.
He tried to escape.
"Where are you running away, kid?"
Gildarts appeared in Laxus's path, causing the latter to change his path last moment and rush in a different direction.
"How are you still standing?" Laxus turned back to human form and asked with a shocked look.
"You roughed me up a bit. That attack was pretty good." Gildarts dusted off his clothes, which had turned black due to the lightning.
'I electrocuted him. A normal human shouldn't be able to dodge that. Does he have some form of enhancement magic, or does he have a defensive spell beforehand inside his body?' Laxus frowned. The situation had just gotten worse.
Not only had his best attack failed to stop Gildarts, but he was also running out of Ethernano.
"Why don't you all die?" Big black spheres appeared around Kazu before rushing at both Laxus and Gildarts.
Laxus's expression brightened. 'Right. I will use Gildarts as bait.' "Be careful, old man. He becomes pretty crazy when he is like that." With that, Laxus turned into lightning and disappeared behind.
It was opposite to the destination, but Laxus didn't mind. He would take a longer path, as long as he could escape.
"Coward! Where is your pride in such situations?" Gildarts cursed as he punched the incoming magic bullets. It was already difficult to stop Laxus, but with Kazu present, it was impossible.
"Even a magic bullet is concentrated enough to become deadly, the Ethernano is really high." He commented after neutralising all the bullets.
Whoosh
Kazu's ethernano surged again. This caused a grin to creep up Gildart's face.
"Actually, I am really curious what the upper limit of that form is? I don't think your Ethernano can endlessly increase. After one point, the backlash would be enough to kill you. Let's see, if you reach that point, or you will stop naturally before that." Gildarts motioned him to come at him.
Kazu's body had been completely hidden by black Ethernano. The only thing visible was his eyes, from which tears flowed.
"Die!" Kazu appeared before Gildarts, punching at the latter.
Gildarts punched back.
BOOM
Kazu was thrown back. However, the next second, he appeared behind Gildarts, punching again.
BOOM
Gildarts again countered him.
BOOM
BOOM
Each of Kazu's strikes was stronger than before, yet the result remained the same. He was the one who was getting pushed back.
"Why are you not dying?" Kazu muttered.
A barrier formed around Gildarts, locking his movements.
CRACK
It cracked as soon as it was formed.
Kazu tried sending magic bullets from all directions while punching at him.
Yet, Gidarts dealt with them with relative ease.
Various barriers were put with different effects, yet all of them were dispelled before they could take effect.
To a third person, it would look like Gildarts hadn't been serious when he was fighting Laxus. Even now, he had a relaxed expression.
"This reminds me. Can you dispel my crush magic? You have created a technique for that, no?" Gildarts got no response.
Kazu stretched his hand, a magic circle forming in front of him.
Next second, the red hue of Crush magic disappeared from Gildart's hand.
Kazu didn't miss the opportunity and punched the latter. Without Crush magic, Gildarts had no way to stop the punch.
***
A/n: Double release 'coz we reached the 10 review mark.
If you want another double release, then let's try aiming for 50 Power Stones before Sunday.
Also, just to mention, but my normal schdule is 5 ch/week, with generally Wednesday and Sunday off.
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