Chapter 33: Like Killing a Chicken
"This... how... how is this possible?! That's a 9-Star Demonic Beast!!!"
The exclamation, shouted by a 7-Star Swordsman in the stands, echoed the terrified, silent question in everyone's mind. The sight of the massive, charred, and smoking heads of the Three-Headed Cold Bird crashing to the ground was too much to comprehend.
9-Star Demonic Beasts were known as the strongest Demonic Beasts in the Demon Beast Great Forest. Each one was a regional overlord, a walking natural disaster. Although there had been legends of 9-Star Swordsmen who had killed 9-Star Demonic Beasts, those were epic, desperate battles where the hero barely survived, often at the cost of their own lives. They were not... executions.
"Who is he?!"
Clay, who was still locked in a brutal, swirling fight with the Nine-Headed Serpent, was incredibly shocked to see Ren kill the Three-Headed Cold Bird with a single, contemptuously easy move. It was one thing to have a monster like "Yoriichi Tsugikuni" appear, but now there seemed to be another one. How could there be so many monsters in this world? Was Fairy Tail just a guild of inhuman freaks?
"I don't know!"
Many people present didn't know who Ren was; they had never seen him before.
"I know! I know!" The person speaking was the very guard who had questioned Ren and Erza at the city gate. "He is Mr. Ren, Erza's companion!"
After witnessing Erza kill a 5-Star Blazing Boar with one strike, he was very impressed by the two of them. Today, he saw Erza's splendid performance in the Swordsman Tournament and had now completely become Erza's fanboy. He even remembered Ren, Erza's companion.
"Erza's companion?! Then he must be a Mage from Fairy Tail."
Now that Erza had gained fame in the Swordsman Tournament, some information about her had become known to everyone: she was a Mage from the Mage Guild Fairy Tail in the Fiore Kingdom.
"This is great!!!"
The King was incredibly excited at this moment, his fear replaced by a manic surge of hope. Nine 9-Star Demonic Beasts, now only eight remained. There was a chance of victory.
The remaining 9-Star Demonic Beasts on the battlefield—the Chimera Lion, the Nine-Headed Serpent, and the Silver Moon Wolf—all looked at Ren warily. The higher the level of the Demonic Beast, the higher its intelligence. They recognized a new, apex predator had just joined the field.
Ren's body, still in his Resurrección, fell freely towards the bottom of the city wall, his black wings snapping open to slow his descent. He surveyed the remaining unengaged monsters. The Mammoth Elephant King, the Dark Panther King, the Hellfire Tiger, and the Earth Tyrant Bear.
His eyes, cold and green, landed on the Hellfire Tiger.
He spread his wings and, with a powerful flap, rapidly charged towards the Hellfire Tiger closest to him.
Seeing this white-and-black demon flying towards him, the Hellfire Tiger roared in anger. Its entire body ignited, and violent flames, hotter than any normal fire, rose around it.
Ren, unfazed by the heat, conjured a new Luz de la Luna in his hand and thrust it towards the Hellfire Tiger.
The Hellfire Tiger opened its massive, burning maw and spewed a violent pillar of fire at Ren, expecting to melt this new foe. The pillar of fire engulfed Ren's body completely.
"Ren!!!"
Erza, who had just parried a claw-strike from the Silver Moon Wolf, became anxious at this sight. Everyone else on the wall also thought Ren was finished; the Hellfire Tiger's flames were legendary, said to be able to easily melt steel.
Bang!
Ren burst out of the flames, his white robes completely unsinged, his pale skin untouched. Ulquiorra's Hierro was more than a match for mere, unholy fire.
Pfft!
The Luz de la Luna, still held in his hand, pierced deep into the Hellfire Tiger's eye.
A pained, guttural shriek tore from the tiger's throat. Enduring the unimaginable pain, it swung its massive, flaming claws at Ren, intending to swat him to death.
Pfft!
Ren, with impossible speed, swung the Luz de la Luna in his hand.
Bang!
The Hellfire Tiger's massive arm, severed cleanly at the shoulder, fell to the ground with a wet, heavy thud.
Another agonizing shriek.
"Sonído!"
Ren's body instantly shifted, disappearing from the beast's sight and reappearing at the back of its head.
"You're too noisy."
Ren said indifferently.
Pfft!
The Luz de la Luna pierced through the back of the Hellfire Tiger's head. The Hellfire Tiger's shriek came to an abrupt, gurgling halt.
Bang!
Its massive, flaming body fell to the ground, motionless.
"Dead... dead... the 9-Star Demonic Beast Hellfire Tiger... is also dead?!"
Everyone was stunned by Ren's performance. How much time had passed? Ten seconds? Fifteen seconds? In any case, it definitely hadn't exceeded twenty seconds.
From Ren's appearance on the wall until now, in just twenty seconds, two 9-Star Demonic Beasts had been slain.
If they hadn't seen it with their own eyes, they would truly think they were dreaming. Since when could 9-Star Demonic Beasts be slaughtered as easily as chickens? No, killing a chicken might not even be this fast.
"This is amazing!!!"
Although many people were shocked, they all cheered. When the other five 9-Star Demonic Beasts appeared earlier, they had felt a bit of despair. Fortunately, Ren displayed his divine power, slaying two in a short amount of time.
A deep, earth-shaking roar. Ren's easy slaying of two 9-Star Demonic Beasts instantly made the remaining 9-Star Demonic Beasts—the Earth Tyrant Bear, the Dark Panther King, and the Mammoth Elephant King—feel a fatal danger. They all abandoned their opponents (who in this case was the city wall) and charged towards Ren.
They knew that if they didn't deal with this flying, black-winged demon, they might all be in mortal danger.
"Oh no!!!"
Everyone's expressions changed drastically when they saw these three remaining monsters abandon the wall and attack Ren together.
Ren's expression, however, remained unchanged. He flapped his wings and actively met them.
The Earth Tyrant Bear slammed its massive paws on the ground.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
The ground shook violently, and numerous earth spikes, each the size of a tree, rose from the ground, stabbing towards Ren in mid-air.
Boom!
A Luz de la Luna shot out from Ren's hand, shattering all the spikes blocking its path.
Pfft!
The javelin pierced the Earth Tyrant Bear's chest. It tore through the Earth Tyrant Bear's thick hide, which was just a superficial wound. However, when the Earth Tyrant Bear saw the green javelin lodged in its chest, a look of animal terror immediately appeared on its bear face. It knew what had happened to the Cold Bird.
"Explode."
Accompanied by Ren's indifferent voice.
Boom!
A terrifying internal explosion engulfed the Earth Tyrant Bear.
"Owoo—!"
The Earth Tyrant Bear let out a final, painful shriek as its massive body collapsed, a smoking crater where its chest had been.
"Swish!"
At the same instant, a blur of black motion appeared behind Ren. The Dark Panther King, moving like a ghost, silent as an assassin, opened its bloody maw and bit down on Ren.
"Careful!!!"
Ren quickly turned, but not fast enough. The Dark Panther King's fangs bit down on his arm.
"It's over!"
Seeing Ren's arm bitten, everyone on the wall thought his arm was definitely crippled.
Ren, however, simply looked at the beast, his voice indifferent. "Has no one ever told you not to eat things casually?"
Buzz!
Everyone saw a dazzling, terrifying black light begin to appear, shining from between the Dark Panther King's fangs.
The Dark Panther King also felt something was wrong—an immense, terrifying power building within its mouth—and immediately tried to release its bite and flee.
"Too late."
"Cero Oscuras."
Whoosh!
A black flash, a beam of pure annihilation, shot out from Ren's hand, through the panther's mouth, and out the back of its head.
Boom!
The Cero Oscuras landed in the demonic beast horde behind, erupting in a violent explosion that vaporized thousands of lesser beasts. A wide, smoking path was cleared in the Demon Beast horde, a tunnel of death carved straight through the crowd.
A round, cauterized hole appeared in the back of the Dark Panther King's head; it was deader than dead. Its body fell, limp, from Ren's arm.
At this moment, the last of the group, the 9-Star Demonic Beast Mammoth Elephant King, also charged in front of Ren. The Mammoth Elephant King swung its massive, house-sized trunk at Ren, an attack with the force of a mountain.
Ren raised his free arm to block.
Ren felt a terrifying, unstoppable force coming from his arm.
Boom!
The ground beneath Ren's feet exploded, and the impact rapidly spread outwards, continuously tearing up the earth.
A moment later, the smoke dissipated. Just as everyone thought Ren had been flattened into a meat paste, the smoke cleared.
Ren still stood in place, his single, slender arm steadily blocking the Mammoth Elephant King's attack.
Everyone's eyes widened in disbelief.
"He... he actually held it off?!"
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