Chapter 69: Home Run
"Mon... Monster!"
Erigor's voice was a choked gasp. He hovered in the air, his mind unable to process the sight. This "Tyrant" was lifting the entire multi-ton train engine over his head with his bare hands, the metal groaning under the strain. This wasn't magic. This was something else. This was a violation of physics.
"Oh my goodness!" Ren, in his Toji form, said, his voice a lazy drawl. He adjusted his grip on the massive engine, his muscles bulging. "This thing is heavier than I thought. Good exercise."
He stepped forward with his left foot, his leg muscles tensing, and then, with a primal roar, his entire body exerted its full, non-magical force. He threw the train engine.
The entire locomotive was thrown upwards, not as a clumsy toss, but as a calculated, high-speed projectile.
Whoosh—!
The train engine, like a high-speed train traveling at hundreds of kilometers per hour, shrieked through the air as it crashed directly into Erigor.
"Demonic Wind Palm!!"
Erigor's expression changed from terror to pure, desperate panic. He raised his palm, pouring every ounce of his magic into a single, defensive blast, releasing a powerful, concentrated tornado.
Boom—!
The tornado slammed into the front of the flying train engine, but it was like a breeze hitting a mountain. The wind magic only slightly slowed the engine's terrifying speed.
Erigor, however, used that single, split-second of impact to quickly dodge, throwing his body to the side.
Whoosh—!
The train engine narrowly missed Erigor's head, its terrifying speed and the wind-shear it generated sending a shiver of pure, cold dread down his spine. If he had taken such a hit head-on, he would be crippled... no, he would be a red paste. Even if he didn't die, he'd be nothing more than pulp.
"Monster!" Erigor screamed, his composure completely gone. To be able to lift a train engine, and even throw it so high and so far... what else could he be but a monster?
"Huh, missed again!" Ren's voice drifted up from the ground, his tone one of light, casual contempt. "Your luck is really something!"
This contemptuous tone infuriated Erigor, shattering his fear and replacing it with pure, unadulterated rage. "You damn bastard!! Don't be too arrogant!! Now I'm getting serious!"
Erigor crossed his arms and roared, his magic erupting from his body: "Storm Armor!!"
[Akarin's Note: Storm Armor (嵐の鎧 Arashi no Yoroi) is a type of Wind Magic where the user surrounds themselves in an armor of high-velocity wind, increasing their speed and defensive power.]
A large amount of violent, green-tinged wind began to rotate rapidly around Erigor's body. The air pressure became immense, and soon, a visible, swirling armor made of a storm enveloped Erigor, his scythe now glowing with the same power.
"Wow! That looks a bit interesting," Ren noted, tilting his head.
"Hmph! Take this!!"
Erigor's body, now encased in the armor, became a living drill. He plummeted towards Ren's position, the wind armor shrieking.
Ren, his lazy smile never fading, lightly tapped his toes on the ground, and his body floated backward, seemingly without effort.
Boom!!!
A large, three-meter-wide hole was drilled by Erigor where Ren had just been standing, pulverized rock and dirt flying everywhere.
"Hmph! Trying to escape?" Erigor sneered, rising from the crater. "In my assassination career, no one who has seen this magic of mine has ever survived!!"
"Storm Crush!!"
Erigor raised his hand and released a large number of sharp wind blades. This time, encased in his armor, the wind blades were faster, denser, and far more lethal.
Ren stood still. He calmly bent down and, with one hand, ripped the section of rail he had thrown earlier out of the ground. He held the massive steel beam in one hand.
Clang, clang, clang, clang!!
All the wind blades, each one capable of slicing a man in half, were easily blocked by Ren with the rail. He swatted them away like they were annoying flies.
"Damn it!"
Seeing that Storm Crush had failed to even scratch Ren, Erigor waved his hand again, releasing an even larger, more frantic barrage of wind blades.
Ren still casually blocked all the wind blades with the rail, his expression one of complete, utter boredom. He even began to walk forward, closing the distance with Erigor while still defending, the CLANG-CLANG-CLANG of magic on steel echoing through the valley.
Just as Ren got close to Erigor...
"You fool! Storm Wall!!"
[Akarin's Note: Storm Wall (ストーム・ウォール Sutōmu Wōru) is the official name for Erigor's defensive wind magic, which creates a barrier. The original text's "Storm Waltz" was a mistranslation.]
A sudden, violent gale of strong winds blew outwards from around Erigor's body in a 360-degree blast.
Ren, caught off guard by the defensive pulse, was also blown backward by the wind, sliding ten meters through the dirt.
"Did you see that?!" Erigor gloated, his confidence returning. "This is the true power of Storm Armor! The wind of the armor blows from the inside out! You can't ever get close to me!!"
"What is this?" Ren said, brushing some dust off his T-shirt. He had a look of genuine disappointment. "I thought it would be more impressive, but it's just this?"
Ren's expression once again stung Erigor's pride like a physical blow.
"Damn it! That expression again! You bastard! Since you're looking for death, I'll show you my strongest magic!"
"Take this!!" Erigor roared, his magic power surging to its absolute peak, the wind armor around him turning a dark, ominous green. "The wind-type magic that tears everything to shreds... Emera Baram!"
[Akarin's Note: Emera Baram (翠緑迅 Emera Baram, lit. Jade-Green Swiftness) is the official name of Erigor's most powerful wind attack. "Verdant Swift" was a mistranslation of its Japanese name.]
Erigor brought his index and middle fingers together, his magic power continuously condensing towards the two fingers.
"No matter how strong your body is! Once you are hit by my magic, you will be torn to shreds!!"
"Die!! You damn monster!!"
Erigor crossed his four fingers, and a massive, rapidly spinning storm, mixed with thousands of razor-sharp wind blades, swarmed towards Ren. This wasn't a simple tornado; it was a vortex of pure, shredding magic. Everything in the path of the storm—rocks, trees, the wreckage of the train—was instantly shredded into dust.
"Heh!!"
Faced with this ultimate attack, Ren's face showed a slightly excited smile. Not only did he not dodge, but he quickly spun the massive steel rail in his hand like a baton.
Boom—!
The Emera Baram struck. A violent, green-tinged explosion occurred, destroying everything in a hundred-meter radius, kicking up a cloud of smoke and dust so thick it blotted out the sun.
Erigor panted, his magic reserves low, but a triumphant smile was on his face. "Hmph! What 'Tyrant'? In the end, didn't he still die by the hand of me, the 'Shinigami?'"
He let out a cruel laugh. "Don't worry, 'Tyrant' of Fairy Tail. I'll send all those old men, your Master included, on their way to join you soon... with Lullaby."
"Hey, hey, hey! I'm not dead yet. Don't unilaterally claim credit for yourself!"
At this moment, Ren's lazy, taunting voice suddenly came from the center of the smoke.
"What?!!"
Erigor's eyes widened as he looked into the smoke in disbelief. As the dust settled, he saw a figure standing there, still with that contemptuous expression on his face, completely unharmed. The steel rail he had been holding was gone, likely shredded, but he was fine.
"No! Impossible! No one could withstand my Emera Baram and remain unscathed!! Absolutely impossible!!"
"It seems you only have this much ability," Ren said, cracking his neck. "Never mind. I'm tired of playing. It's time to end this boring battle."
Erigor's face immediately became distorted with fear and rage. "Bastard! Don't think you've won just because you withstood my attack. You still can't... you can't even get close to me! My Storm Wall...!"
Whoosh—!
Before the word "me" had even fully left Erigor's lips, Ren's body vanished from his spot 50 meters away and reappeared directly in front of Erigor, inside his "impenetrable" Storm Wall.
Ren, holding a new section of rail with both hands, was already in a perfect baseball batting stance.
Erigor's mind went blank. 'He's... inside? How?!'
Ren curled his lips and said, "Can't even what?"
Erigor's pupils contracted sharply. Before he could even think to react, a sharp, agonizing pain erupted from his abdomen. Stomach acid instantly rushed up his throat, and his entire body arched like a cooked shrimp. Tears and saliva mixed together, spewing from his eyes and mouth as every bone in his torso felt like it had shattered.
Bang—!
The sound barrier broke. Ren had hit him.
Erigor's body, his Storm Armor shattering like glass, flew backward at an impossible speed.
Boom, boom, boom, boom, boom!!!
Erigor was sent flying like a cannonball, smashing clean through the first wrecked train carriage, then the second, then the third, fourth, and fifth, one by one, before finally coming to a stop, embedded in a large pit in the final carriage. By now, Erigor's eyes had rolled back, and he had completely lost consciousness.
"Home run!!"
Ren, still in his batting stance, was very satisfied with his hit.
"Uh…Oops!" He looked at his hands, which were slightly smoking from the exertion. "I got carried away and forgot the time again."
He dropped the bent rail and looked over at the wreckage where Erigor had fallen.
"Hey! All these guys are down. You should come out now... Lullaby."
Since he recalled this plot, he naturally knew the true identity of Lullaby. This flute was created by Zeref. It was not considered a "demon" from the Book of Zeref, but rather a failed, discarded product.
Yet, even such a failed product brought endless trouble to this continent.
"…"
The air was silent for a moment. Ren just quietly watched the wreckage where Erigor lay.
Suddenly!
A three-eyed skull flute flew out from Erigor's unconscious body, hovering in the air.
"Hehehehe!! You actually found me!" a dark, childish voice cackled from the flute. "What a bunch of useless trash!! I can't stand it anymore. If you want something done right... I'll do it myself."
Ominous, green-purple smoke began to emanate from the mouth and eyes of the three-eyed skull flute. The smoke quickly took shape, gathering and solidifying, growing larger and larger...
A giant, grotesque monster, seemingly made of twisted tree roots and standing dozens of meters tall, appeared before Ren, its three-eyed skull face leering down.
Kageyama, who was just beginning to stir, was terrified by this giant monster, his face full of fear: "What… what is that? I didn't know such a thing existed!!"
"I'm so hungry," the monster, Lullaby, boomed, its voice echoing through the valley. "Let me taste your souls!!"
The monster opened its huge, cavernous mouth, intending to use its mass-curse magic.
Pfft!!
But just as it opened its mouth, a silver blur shot through the air.
A steel rail, thrown with the same force as the one that had hit Erigor, flew directly into the monster's mouth, piercing straight through the back of its head and embedding itself deep in the ground behind it.
"GAKH...?!"
The demon froze, its song silenced before it began.
Ren, still standing on the ground, dusted off his hands. "Sorry! Excuse me for interrupting, but your voice is too unpleasant, so your singing must also be very unpleasant. Of course, there's nothing wrong with you singing... but coming out to annoy people is not right."
[Akarin Note:
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