Breaking the Reflection
"Whoosh!"
Qi Yan didn't waste his precious remaining minute. In his terrifying Resurrección form, he instantly conjured a glowing, emerald-green energy blade—a Moonlight Sword (Lanza del Relámpago).
The next second, he was gone, reappearing directly in front of Camille, striking down with the improvised blade.
Boom— — — — —!!
A catastrophic explosion erupted. A searing blue light and a terrifying concussive force spread outward, ripping apart the ground, vaporizing trees, and scouring the landscape.
"Ugh ah ah ah ah!!" Elfman shielded himself with his arms, still blown backward by the raw power. The Mayor's house, shielded by the last vestiges of the magic barrier, shuddered violently but held.
Bang!!
Camille scrambled out of the blast radius, his cloak shredded, his body covered in new injuries. He had activated Full Reflection the moment the attack hit, but the sheer, monstrous destructive power was too great. The larger the attack area, the less concentrated the reflection, and the power of the Moonlight Sword easily exceeded his limits.
"You brat! Are you crazy?!" Camille roared at the figure in the center of the devastation. The madman had detonated his own weapon the instant Camille tried to reflect it! It was an act of magical suicide that relied entirely on the attacker's own impervious defense.
Qi Yan walked out of the smoke, his black wings twitching, his body completely unharmed. Camille remembered the Regenerative Healing.
"Monster!!" Camille gritted his teeth, pure hatred in his eyes.
"So this is all you've got," Qi Yan replied calmly, knowing he had finally pierced the assassin's impenetrable defense.
The Final Minute
Qi Yan flapped his massive black wings and ascended, hovering above the crater.
"Whoosh— — —!"
Another Moonlight Sword materialized in his hand, and he immediately hurled it downward toward Camille.
Camille's expression twisted in horror. He knew the trick now, but he was wounded and desperate.
"Full Reflection!!!" Camille poured his last reserves of magic into the defensive shield.
Sure enough!
The instant Camille was about to reflect the projectile, the Moonlight Sword detonated.
Boom— — — — —!!
The concentrated, high-powered blast completely engulfed Camille.
When the smoke cleared, Camille was a wreck. His mask was shattered, revealing a pale, ordinary-looking man in his forties—the true face of the notorious King of Assassins.
"It's over!" Qi Yan declared, pointing his index finger at the wounded target.
Black energy surged, coiling and compressing into a small, dense sphere at the tip of his finger. This was the ultimate attack in this form—the Black Flash Void (Cero Oscuras).
"Black Flash Void!!"
Whoosh— — — —!!
A continuous, wide-ranging black torrent of destructive energy shot toward Camille.
"Full Reflection!!" Camille screamed, attempting one final, desperate deflection.
But the Black Flash Void was a sustained torrent. Camille reflected the initial impact, but the subsequent power slammed through the broken barrier. Wounded and exhausted, the sheer, crushing power far exceeded his limit.
Boom— — — —!!
"Waaah ah ah ah ah ah!!" Camille's shriek was lost in the roar of the explosion.
The black flash utterly destroyed everything, carving a massive, smoking crater dozens of meters wide. Even the magical spell barrier around the house finally fractured and collapsed under the shockwave.
Camille lay unconscious in the center of the chasm, defeated.
The Reward Awaits
Qi Yan landed softly, the Resurrección dispelling instantly. He returned to his human form, leaning heavily on his knees, gasping for air.
"Hoo~! Hoo~!"
The activation of the first Resurrección had consumed almost all his reserves. The fight had ended in under a minute, but the cost was near-total exhaustion.
"Elfman?!!" Qi Yan called out, suddenly anxious.
Crash— —!
A broken wall was pushed aside. "I'm here!" Elfman shouted, bruised but miraculously safe, still shielding Mayor Koss beneath him.
Seeing them safe, Qi Yan sighed in relief and sat hard on the ground.
Elfman looked at the vast crater, deeply shaken. In that brief minute, Qi Yan's power had been something truly monstrous, something beyond even S-Class.
"Qi Yan, are you alright?"
"I'm fine, just completely drained. I'm going to sleep for a bit." The massive magic consumption hit him like a physical blow. He fell asleep almost immediately, Elfman standing guard protectively beside him.
Soon, the support team of the Ancient Knight Order arrived, only to find the entire area devastated and the infamous Phantom Bandit Gang neutralized by a single Fairy Tail Mage.
The next morning, sunlight woke Qi Yan. He stretched and immediately opened his system panel.
[Ding! S-rank mission: Annihilate the Phantom Bandit Gang, completed!]
[Reward: One ten-pull gacha!]
Indeed! One S-rank mission negated months of tedious, lower-ranked work.
He resisted the urge to pull instantly. He knew the drill: he needed to return to the Fairy Tail Guild and get the Goddess's blessing before pulling. This wasn't superstition; this was quantum mechanics, as he liked to call it.
He nudged the sleeping Elfman. "Get up! The sun's already high in the sky!"
Elfman awoke with a start. "Qi Yan, you're alright!"
"I was never really hurt, just out of magic. Where's the client? Is he alright?"
"He's fine, staying next door."
"Good!" Qi Yan stood up, rubbing his hands together. "We've finished the work. Now it's time to collect our payment."
Qi Yan has a hefty reward and a guaranteed ten-pull waiting for him back at the guild. Will his new strength and the system's rewards be enough to sustain his aggressive approach to power?