Swish!
A pale Green Sword instantly formed in Kaien's hand.
In the blink of an eye, Kaien appeared in front of Camille and swung the Sword down at him.
BOOOOM———!!
A terrifying shockwave exploded outward. The Greenish light radiated in all directions, demolishing everything in its path—trees, ground, all obliterated.
"Uwaaaaah!!"
Elfman braced himself with all his strength, but still got blown away by the impact. Had the mayor's house not been protected by a magic barrier, it would've been completely destroyed.
Bang!
Camille shot out of the explosion in a ragged state, new wounds all over his body. Even though he had activated Full Reflection Magic just in time, the destructive power of that blast was beyond terrifying. His reflection spell hadn't completely held up. After all, the larger the area it covers, the weaker the effect becomes.
"You little brat! Are you out of your mind?!"
Camille shouted furiously at the figure in the center of the explosion.
That lunatic had deliberately detonated his weapon the moment it was reflected back—completely unexpected. Wasn't that basically suicide?
Just then, Kaien walked out of the smoke, completely unscathed. That's when Camille remembered—this guy was a monster with absurd durability.
"Freak…!!" Camille snarled through clenched teeth.
"So that's all it took, huh."
Seeing that Camille was injured, Kaien knew he had broken through his defense. That was all he needed.
Kaien flapped his wings and flew into the air, hovering above.
Swish—!
A new Moonlight Sword formed in his hand, and he hurled it at Camille.
Camille's eyes went wide in alarm.
"Full Reflection!!"
Pouring all his magic into the spell, he knew from the last explosion—just bouncing the weapon back wasn't enough.
And he was right.
Just as he was about to reflect the sword—
BOOOOM———!!
The sword exploded.
The massive blast swallowed Camille whole.
As the smoke cleared, Camille was left severely wounded. His mask shattered, revealing an utterly unremarkable man in his forties—so plain that he'd vanish in a crowd.
"It's over," Kaien said coldly.
He pointed his index finger at Camille.
Black energy gathered at the tip of his finger, compressing into a small dark sphere.
Cero Oscuras.
In the Bleach anime, only Espada-class Arrancar in Resurrección form could use this technique—and even then, only Ulquiorra was ever shown using it.
"Cero Oscuras!!"
Fwoosh——!!
A massive wave of black energy fired down at Camille.
"Full Reflection!!"
Camille threw every last ounce of his magic into reflecting the black beam back.
But it was no use.
Black Cero was continuous—Camille could reflect the first part, but the next wave immediately crashed into him. Already injured, and with the power far beyond what his magic could reflect, he couldn't hold on.
BOOOOM——!!
"UAAAAHHHH!!"
The blast engulfed Camille. Everything around him was reduced to rubble.
Craaaack——!!
Even the protective barrier couldn't withstand the force and finally shattered.
It took a long while for the explosion to die down. When it finally did, a massive crater—dozens of meters wide—was left in the ground. Camille lay unconscious at the center, completely out cold.
Kaien landed and dropped his transformation, reverting to his normal form.
"Haah… Haah…"
He gasped for breath. His magic power was completely drained. Activating even a short period of Resurrección consumed far more mana than he had expected. Just one minute had drained more than half his total reserves.
"Elfman?!"
Kaien looked around and panicked when he didn't see Elfman. 'Don't tell me that big oaf got caught in the blast…'
Clatter—!
A shattered wall was pushed aside.
"I'm over here!"
Elfman's voice rang out. He was crouched over this mission's client—Mayor Kos—shielding him.
Seeing that Elfman was unharmed, Kaien let out a breath of relief and plopped down on the ground.
Elfman stared at the massive crater with awe. Even though it had only lasted a short while, Kaien's power in that form had completely outclassed his S-Class sister, Mirajane.
"Kaien, are you okay?"
"I'm fine. Just... drained. Gonna nap a bit."
The intense mana drain brought on a deep drowsiness. No sooner had Kaien finished speaking than he passed out. Elfman quickly stood guard beside him.
Not long after, the Rune Knights dispatched by the Magic Council finally arrived—slowly. Seeing the devastation, they were all shaken.
Once they heard the battle recap from the few conscious Rune Knight members, they were stunned. Not a single squad of theirs had been able to stop the enemy.
Yet one man from Fairy Tail had wiped out the entire Phantom Thief Guild.
Unbelievable.
Still, no matter how unbelievable, the Rune Knights wasted no time in arresting the defeated members of the Phantom Thief Guild.
The next morning, sunlight streamed through the window, falling across Kaien's face.
Kaien slowly opened his eyes and stretched comfortably.
He opened his system panel with practiced ease.
[Ding! S-Class Mission: Eliminate the Phantom Thief Guild – Complete!]
[Reward Received: 10x Draw!]
'As expected—greater risk, greater reward.'
If it were a normal A-Class mission, he'd have to complete ten of them to get the same reward.
One mission usually took at least a week. Even working nonstop, it'd take two to three months just to earn a 10x draw.
And now he'd cleared it all with one S-Class mission.
His eyes lingered on the "10x Draw" button, itching to click. After all, no one could resist the thrill of gacha.
But in the end, he held back with iron will.
'Better to wait until I'm back at Fairy Tail and get the Goddess Blessing before I draw.'
He knew from his gaming days—gacha was mysterious. If you wanted to pull an SSR, you needed time, luck, and vibes to align.
That wasn't superstition. It was quantum mechanics.
His eyes swept the room, spotting Elfman snoring on a couch not far away.
Kaien walked over and patted him. "Wake up! The sun's already roasting your ass!"
Elfman groggily opened his eyes. When he saw Kaien, he sat up in joy. "Kaien, you're okay!"
"I've always been okay. Just used up too much magic, that's all. What about the client? Is he alright?"
"No problem. He's staying in the room next door."
"Good!"
Kaien sighed in relief. 'Man, that would've sucked. Imagine finally finishing a job, only for the guy who pays you to die. What a disaster that'd be.'
"Come on, we're done with the job. Time to get paid."