Chapter 74: Laxus
At this moment, standing disarmed and exposed in her simple under-armor, Erza once again understood that Ren's words from their first duel were not an exaggeration at all.
Those without swordsmanship saw him as a master, like a frog in a well gazing at the moon. But those with swordsmanship, like her, saw him as an ephemeral insect gazing at the vast, infinite sky.
She thought that half a year of diligent, non-stop training had already narrowed the gap between her and Ren. But now, it seemed she had completely overestimated herself.
Looking at him now, Ren—in his "Sword God" form—was still as unfathomable, as distant, and as terrifyingly perfect as ever.
"I lost," Erza said, her voice clear, without a trace of shame. She looked at the shattered fragments of her sword and armor, then back at him. "… Thank you. That was an invaluable lesson."
Ren, in his Yoriichi form, gave a slight, serene nod. The heavy, oppressive, sun-like aura vanished as his Take Over receded, and he returned to his normal self, the red haori and ponytail dissolving into his simple clothes.
"You're getting faster, Erza," he said with a genuine smile. "You actually blocked a few of them this time."
Erza's eyes widened slightly. "I... I want to know, how many times was I attacked in total?"
"Hmm..." Ren pretended to think. "Eighty-one times."
"Eighty-one times?!!!"
Erza couldn't believe it. She had been attacked eighty-one times, and the most crucial thing was that she hadn't even realized it. She thought she had been parrying his blade, not being struck by it.
Erza didn't know that Ren had understated it—to be precise, Ren, in that split second of the Flame Dance, had attacked Erza a full eight hundred and ten times. As an old saying goes, among all sword techniques in the world, nothing is unbreakable, only speed is unbreakable.
Besides its exquisite precision, Yoriichi Tsugikuni's swordsmanship was also, at its core, incredibly fast.
In the Demon Slayer anime, when Muzan Kibutsuji encountered Yoriichi Tsugikuni's fatal attack, he had to choose self-destruction to save his life, and his body exploded into over 1800 fragments. Yoriichi Tsugikuni cut over 1500 of those fragments in an instant, and Muzan only barely survived with the remaining 300 fragments.
"My sword techniques have thirteen forms in total," Ren explained, his voice taking on the quiet authority of the man he'd just channeled. "The Thirteenth Form is not a 'move'—it's created by continuously releasing the previous twelve sword forms, one after another, to create a closed, perfect, and endless attack loop."
"If you can comprehend the previous twelve forms, then you can create your own Thirteenth Form."
Erza's pupils dilated, and she murmured, "…continuous release… a closed attack loop…"
What a brilliant idea. What profound swordsmanship! Those seemingly independent sword forms, which he had just demonstrated, were suddenly linked by a single, perfect bond. Perhaps true swordsmanship was never meant to be independent; it should be continuous, flowing, and endless, like this.
Erza looked at Ren, her eyes now full of a new, burning admiration. He hadn't just defeated her; he had given her a new mountain to climb.
"OH OH OH OH OH OH!!!"
The second the duel was over, the party erupted.
"SO AMAZING! TRULY AMAZING!"
"SO HANDSOME!!"
"MANLY—!! THAT'S A MAN'S SWORD DUEL!" Elfman roared, tears streaming down his face.
Ren's magnificent sword forms had left everyone in awe. Erza was already an icon, their unbeatable Queen, but there was still a significant, almost terrifying gap between her and Ren when he displayed his true power.
"He really is a monster!" Natsu and Gray muttered in unison, their usual rivalry forgotten for a moment in shared shock.
What they didn't know was that the strength Ren had just displayed was only the tip of his iceberg. That was just swordsmanship. Ren's strongest attacks were still the slashes he unleashed when he combined his magic with his Take Over forms—attacks capable of breaking even a dragon's scale defense.
Soon, the banquet continued, and the atmosphere became even livelier, fueled by the adrenaline of the duel.
The banquet lasted until one in the morning before everyone finally, and reluctantly, dispersed. In a surprising show of responsibility, they all made sure to clean everything up before leaving, returning Ren's house to its original state.
Ren also took a shower and went to bed, not waking up until the sun was high at noon.
He habitually opened his system panel, saw that the data hadn't changed—no new draws available—and then closed it with a sigh.
After lying in bed for a while longer, feeling a bit hungry, he finally got up and headed to the guild.
The guild was still bustling, with many people discussing the duel between Ren and Erza the previous night. It was the talk of the town. Seeing Ren arrive, everyone enthusiastically greeted him.
"Hey, Ren!"
"That was amazing last night, man!"
Ren responded to each of them with a nod and a smile.
"Mira! I'm hungry, get me something to eat!"
"Coming!" Mira chirped, sliding a full platter in front of him. She knew exactly what Ren liked to eat. "You slept in late. Tired from the 'party'?"
"Something like that," Ren chuckled.
"Erza! Let's have a showdown!!"
At that moment, Natsu, who had been vibrating with energy all morning, jumped onto a table and challenged Erza, who was quietly eating her strawberry cake. He had seen Ren and Erza duel yesterday and also wanted to fight, but Erza had just finished fighting Ren, so he didn't make a move then. Now that she was rested, he challenged her.
Gray, who was sitting at the bar, was startled by Natsu's words: "Hey… hey!! Are you an idiot?! Don't be reckless!! Do you want to die?!"
Elfman also advised, "Yeah! Don't be rash! That's Erza! Even if she lost to Ren, she's not someone we can casually challenge! That's not manly, that's just stupid!"
Erza, not even looking up from her cake, shook her head: "No. I'm tired."
"Here I come, take this!!"
Natsu, ignoring everyone, his fists wreathed in flames, rushed towards Erza recklessly.
Erza sighed, her fork stopping halfway to her mouth. "Honestly. You children."
A large, comical, iron-studded hammer appeared in Erza's hand, and she swung it forcefully in a lazy, horizontal arc.
Boom—!
Natsu, his attack extinguished, was sent flying by the hammer. He crashed into the far wall, leaving a Natsu-shaped crater, before falling unconscious.
"Can't do anything with you," Erza said, taking a bite of her cake as her hammer vanished.
Happy, flying over the scene, shouted, "It's already over!!"
"Hahahaha, Natsu, you're so unlucky!"
"As expected, Erza is amazing!! Natsu, you still need to practice!"
Seeing Natsu defeated by Erza in one move, everyone in the guild couldn't help but burst into laughter.
Just then, Makarov, who was sitting on the bar counter, sensed something: "Hmm?"
"What's wrong, Master?" Mira asked.
"Nothing, just a bit sleepy. It's... oh, it's that guy."
"This is!"
"So... sleepy..."
One by one, everyone in the guild started slumping over.
"What's... happening..." Lucy yawned, her head suddenly feeling like it weighed a thousand pounds. She collapsed onto the table.
Ren also felt a strong, magical wave of drowsiness. He resisted for a moment, his S-Class level magic power fighting it, but ultimately he couldn't hold on and fell asleep, his head resting on the bar.
At this moment, a person completely wrapped in black cloth, his face hidden by a mask and hood, walked in. He headed directly to the S-Class request board on the second floor. He took down a subjugation mission with a reward of 1 million J from the board, then went to Makarov and showed it to him.
"I'm leaving now."
"You always do this, brat," Makarov grumbled. "Undo your sleep magic!!"
Mystogan turned around. "Five... four... three... two... one…"
Mystogan finished counting the last number, and he vanished in a blur from the guild entrance.
Swish!
As if a switch had been flipped, everyone in the guild suddenly woke up.
"Ugh... my head... what happened?"
"This feeling... is it Mystogan?"
"That scoundrel! He did it again!"
"This sleep magic is as powerful as ever."
"Mystogan?" Lucy said, rubbing her eyes. She was a bit confused; it was another new name she had heard.
Gray, who was now shirtless, said, "He's one of Fairy Tail's strongest S-Class Mage candidates. For some reason, he doesn't want people to see his face, so every time he comes to take a mission, he makes everyone fall asleep like this. So, besides the Master, no one has ever seen Mystogan."
"What? That's too strange, isn't it?"
Suddenly!
An arrogant, crackling voice came from the second floor: "Hmph… I know, you know."
Everyone heard the voice and looked up, seeing a tall, muscular young man with spiky golden hair, wearing a leopard-print top and a pair of magic headphones. He was looking down on them with a rebellious, arrogant sneer.
"Laxus!!"
"You're here?"
"You were actually here this whole time?"
Gray, looking annoyed, introduced Laxus to Lucy: "This is another candidate for the strongest. Laxus Dreyar. He's also... the Master's grandson."
Laxus propped his chin on his hand, a plume of smoke escaping his lips from a cigar. He looked down, his eyes filled with contempt.
"Mystogan is a very shy person. You shouldn't dig too deep, or he might cry." His voice was a mocking drawl. "Look at you all. A bunch of weaklings. Panicking over Erza, put to sleep by Mystogan... what a pathetic guild."
Natsu's ears immediately twitched upon hearing Laxus's voice. He, having just been knocked out by Erza, was already in a bad mood.
He jumped onto a table, his flames erupting, and shouted at the second floor: "Laxus! Let's have a showdown!!"
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