Chapter 176: A Disgraceful Escape
Angel and Brain both frowned deeply upon hearing the words spilling from the mouth of the celestial spirit, Gemini. The tension in the clearing was palpable, a suffocating mixture of confusion and rising dread.
"What nonsense are you spouting?" Angel snapped, her voice laced with incredulity. She crossed her arms, her white feather-trimmed dress rustling with her agitation. "Most of the Allied Forces have been wiped out by our ambush! They're scattered like rats. Now is the perfect time to hunt them down and eliminate them one by one! Retreat? Retreat from what? A broken army?"
Brain, the leader of the Oración Seis, stroked his chin, his face etched with irritation. The markings on his face seemed to pulse slightly with his annoyance. "Indeed. When did it become the place of a little Celestial Spirit like you to make strategic decisions for the Oración Seis? Know your place. Just tell us all the information you've gathered from that Stellar Spirit Mage's memories, and be done with it."
Gemini, currently transformed into a perfect copy of Gray Fullbuster to access his memories regarding the target, looked at them with a hollow, mechanical expression. The spirit's voice was flat, reciting facts devoid of emotion but heavy with terrifying implication.
"Ren... S-Class Mage of the Fairy Tail Guild... Magic: Take Over. He is capable of overwriting his existence with 'Heroic Spirits' summoned from other worlds, thereby transforming his physiology and gaining complete mastery over their distinct abilities..."
The spirit paused for a microsecond before listing the entities, each name carrying a weight that seemed to drop the temperature in the forest.
"He can summon a total of seven known forms. First, the 'Murcielago'. Second, the 'Sword God'. Third, the 'Tyrant'. Fourth, the 'Whitebeard'. Fifth, the 'Flame Emperor'. And the one currently standing before us makes six. Plus, there is one unknown form. According to Lucy Heartfilia's speculation and deep subconscious fear... that unknown form is the strongest of them all."
Brain's eyes narrowed into slits. "Tell me about this current transformation. The white-haired one."
Much of the information about Ren's previous battles—the destruction of Phantom Lord, the Galuna Island incident—was public knowledge. Brain didn't care about history; he needed to understand the threat standing in the Worth Woodsea right now. He needed to know the mechanics of the monster that had just swatted aside his subordinates.
Gemini continued, the monotone voice cutting through the air like a cold wind. "This form is Ren's latest revealed transformation. His main ability is derived from the manipulation of space at the atomic level, called the 'Limitless Cursed Technique'. The ability primarily manifests as an absolute, inviolable defense. In simple terms... all magic, physical attacks, or objects approaching him will slow down incrementally. The closer they get, the slower they move, until they appear to stop completely. They can never reach him."
"Infinity..." Brain muttered, a bead of sweat forming on his temple. "He manipulates the concept of infinity?"
"Suddenly!"
Before Brain could process the strategic nightmare of fighting a man who couldn't be touched, a playful, relaxed voice drifted into their ears from directly behind them.
"Are you curious about my abilities? You could have just asked."
The color drained from Angel's face. Brain's eyes widened in shock.
They whipped around with a speed born of pure instinct and fear. There, leaning casually against a tree trunk as if he had been standing there for hours, was Ren. He was wearing the dark blindfold, his spiky white hair swaying gently in the breeze, a smirk playing on his lips.
"How...?" Angel gasped, taking a step back.
"Teleportation..." Gemini finished its explanation belatedly, the words serving as a grim punctuation to Ren's arrival.
Brain and Angel's pupils contracted. Teleportation was high-level magic, usually requiring complex circles or specific conditions. For him to do it so silently, bypassing their sensory detection entirely, was a testament to a magical power that far outstripped their own.
Ren pushed himself off the tree, sliding his hands into his pockets. "If you're curious, I can tell you! I'm an open book, really."
Although the man before her was objectively handsome—possessing an ethereal, almost divine aesthetic that usually appealed to her—Angel felt nothing but a chill crawling up her spine. She hated his attitude. She hated the way he looked down on them, not with arrogance, but with the casual indifference of a god looking at ants.
"Hmph!" Angel sneered, masking her fear with bravado. "Don't get cocky! All your companions are about to be defeated. They're crying out in pain right now, and you're still so calm? What kind of comrade are you?"
Ren tilted his head, his smile unwavering. "They always rush into things without thinking. Natsu especially. They need to learn a lesson about the world. Besides..."
His voice dropped an octave, the playfulness vanishing.
"I'm here now."
"RACER!" Brain roared the command.
Whoosh!
From the shadows of the canopy, a blur of yellow and black shot out. It was Racer. He had been lurking, waiting for an opening. Moving at speeds that the human eye couldn't track, he closed the distance to Ren in a fraction of a second.
"Too slow!" Racer screamed, his leg whipping around in a devastating high kick aimed squarely at Ren's temple. The kinetic energy behind the kick was enough to shatter a boulder.
But as Racer's boot came within inches of Ren's skin, physics seemed to break.
The foot didn't hit. It didn't bounce off a shield. It just... stopped. It was as if the air itself had solidified into an infinite jelly. Racer strained, his muscles bulging, his face contorted with effort, but he couldn't push his leg forward another millimeter.
"Now, Cobra!"
From the opposite side, the poison dragon slayer, Cobra, launched his ambush. He rode atop his massive purple serpent, Cuberios. The snake lunged, its maw gaping wide, fangs dripping with a neurotoxin potent enough to kill an elephant in seconds.
"Bite him to dust!" Cobra yelled.
The giant snake snapped its jaws shut—or tried to. Just like Racer, Cuberios froze inches from Ren's shoulder. The snake hissed, thrashing its body, but an invisible wall of distorted space held it firmly in check.
"What?!" Racer gasped, his eyes bulging.
"What is going on?!" Cobra shouted, hearing the confused thoughts of his snake echoing his own panic. "I can't... I can't touch him!"
Brain and Angel watched in horror, the words of Gemini echoing in their minds: Things would slow down more and more the closer they got to Ren. It wasn't a barrier. It was the manifestation of "Infinity" brought into reality.
Ren stood calmly between the two lethal attacks, not even flinching. He raised a finger, tapping the air between him and Racer's frozen foot.
"The principle of my technique is actually very simple," Ren explained, sounding like a university professor giving a lecture to toddlers. "It involves the convergence of an infinite series. It infinitely divides the space between you and me. That is to say, this distance appears very close to your eyes, but in reality, mathematically speaking? It is infinite. You can keep running for eternity, but you will never reach me."
The explanation went over their heads, but the result was undeniable.
Slap!
Ren's hand moved. It wasn't a blur like Racer; it was just a casual motion, yet Racer couldn't react. Ren grabbed Racer's ankle with a grip like a vice.
"Now, permit me to return the favor."
Ren swung his arm. He treated Racer's body not like a human being, but like a lightweight baseball bat.
Boom!!
"Ugh!"
With a sickening crunch, Ren slammed Racer explicitly into the head of the giant snake, Cuberios. The impact was devastating. Racer spat out a mouthful of bile, and the snake's eyes rolled back in its head as the two collided with the force of a car crash.
"Cuberios!!" Cobra screamed, watching his partner reel from the blow. His face twisted in rage. "You bastard! How dare you hurt her!"
Cobra leaped off the dazed snake, his claws coated in poison, aiming for Ren's throat. "I can hear your every move! I know where you're going to—"
Ren didn't bother dodging. He simply tossed the limp body of Racer through the air, hurling him directly at Cobra like a projectile.
"Catch," Ren said dryly.
"Dammit!" Cobra instinctively broke his attack stance to catch his comrade, his arms wrapping around Racer's torso to stop the momentum.
It was a fatal mistake.
In the nanosecond Cobra was distracted, space warped. Ren vanished from his spot and reappeared directly in front of Cobra, his fist already buried deep into the Dragon Slayer's solar plexus.
"I doubt you heard that one," Ren whispered.
BAM!
"Guh-hah!!"
Cobra's eyes almost popped out of his sockets. He coughed up blood, his body folding in half around Ren's fist like a wet towel. The force of the punch lifted him off his feet, sending both him and Racer flying backward into the treeline, crashing through three thick oaks before skidding to a halt.
"Racer! Cobra!"
Brain's composure shattered. His face was a mask of disbelief. "Impossible... He neutralized two of the Oración Seis in seconds? Without even using magic circles?"
He hadn't expected Ren to be this overwhelming. This wasn't a fight; it was bullying.
Ren turned his gaze toward the remaining leaders. He raised his right hand, pointing his palm directly at Brain and Angel.
"Don't look away," Ren commanded softly.
Magic power began to condense at his fingertips—but it wasn't normal magic. It felt heavy, oppressive, and fundamentally wrong to the natural order. A small, crimson sphere manifested, glowing with an ominous, unstable light. The air around the orb shrieked as space twisted violently.
"Cursed Technique Reversal: Red."
Vworp!
The red orb fired. It didn't travel like a normal magic bullet; it tore a vacuum through the atmosphere, a repelling force of pure destruction.
"Dark Magic: Eternal Darkness Guard!"
Brain screamed the incantation, his staff glowing wild green. He threw up his strongest defensive barrier, a wall of layered darkness meant to withstand S-Class spells.
BOOM—!
The Red orb collided with the Green shield.
Crack... Crack!!
There was no contest. The moment they touched, spiderweb fractures exploded across Brain's barrier. The "Red" technique, being a repulsive force generated by reversing the flow of cursed energy, possessed twice the output of the normal "Blue." A mere magic barrier stood no chance.
"Not good!" Brain shrieked, realizing his defense was about to fail. "Move!"
He grabbed Angel, and the two of them dove to the side just as the barrier shattered into motes of light.
KA-BOOM!
The Red orb slammed into the ground where they had been standing a fraction of a second ago. The earth erupted. A shockwave of dust and debris blasted outward, creating a massive crater five meters deep.
"Ugh!"
Brain and Angel were caught in the periphery of the blast. They tumbled across the ground, dirt and stones tearing at their clothes. They groaned, struggling to stand, coughing in the dust cloud. Fortunately, neither of them was directly hit by the technique; if they had been, there wouldn't be bodies left to recover.
Brain looked up, fear finally overriding his pride. His plans, his calculations—they were useless against this anomaly.
"Retreat!! Retreat now!!" Brain shouted, his voice cracking.
Hoteye, who had been engaging Jura, and Midnight, who was sleeping on his carpet nearby, immediately disengaged. The conscious members scrambled to Brain's side.
Brain slammed his staff into the ground, activating a pre-prepared contingency. A dark green teleportation magic circle lit up beneath their feet, humming with energy.
"Trying to run?"
Ren's voice cut through the chaos, cold and sharp. "Did you ask for my permission?"
He raised his index finger again. Another small red orb, pulsating with violent energy, condensed at the tip.
"Cursed Technique Reversal: Red."
He fired.
The orb shot toward the gathering Oración Seis. It moved faster than the first one. Brain watched it come, his eyes wide with despair. The teleportation spell needed two more seconds. The orb would hit them in one. They were going to die.
The intense danger screamed at their senses. Even the sleeping Midnight seemed to stir.
But just as the orb was about to annihilate the Dark Guild, something strange happened.
The space directly in front of the Oración Seis seemed to warp like a funhouse mirror. The trajectory of the Red orb, which should have been a straight line of destruction, suddenly twisted. It curved unnaturally, sharply banking upward and to the left, passing mere inches over Brain's head.
"Huh?"
Ren couldn't help but exclaim in surprise, his eyebrow twitching. Reflector magic?
The orb sailed past them and landed deep in the forest behind the group.
BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM!!
The sound of apocalypse followed. Where the small orb passed, ancient trees were obliterated, turned into sawdust instantly. The explosion carved a trench through the Worth Woodsea, felling timber for hundreds of meters and sending a mushroom cloud of dust into the sky. The sheer destructive power was awe-inspiring.
But it had missed.
Taking advantage of that split-second reprieve, the green light intensified.
Zing!
The teleportation magic activated, and the Oración Seis vanished into thin air, leaving only the smell of ozone and fear behind.
"They... ran away..."
Silence reclaimed the clearing.
The dust began to settle, revealing the state of the battlefield. In that instant, the disparity in power was laid bare.
Except for Erza Scarlet, Jura Neekis, and Ren, the entire Allied Force was on the ground.
The Trimens of Blue Pegasus—Hibiki, Eve, and Ren Akatsuki—were groaning in the dirt, bruised and battered. Even Ichiya was face-down, his sparkle extinguished. Lucy and Gray were catching their breath, looking shaken.
Erza stood tall, having been holding back Cobra and Racer simultaneously with her armor changes. Jura, the Iron Rock, stood unmoving, having been locked in a stalemate with Hoteye.
But Ren...
Ren had made his move, and the dynamic of the war had shifted instantly. In a blink of an eye, he had physically dominated Racer and Cobra, shattered Brain's defense, and nearly wiped out the entire enemy guild with two attacks. All of this had happened in a matter of seconds.
"A complete defeat!" Eve whispered, punching the ground in frustration.
"Those guys... they were too strong!" Hibiki admitted, clutching his injured arm.
The Blue Pegasus members were deeply frustrated. They had entered this forest full of confidence, preening and posing, believing the Oración Seis were just another dark guild. But in the actual fight, they realized the gap. Just one person from the Oración Seis had them running in circles.
If not for Ren, they might have been completely wiped out right there.
However, as they looked at the white-haired mage standing amidst the destruction he had caused, a different kind of fear took root. They understood just how terrifying Ren's strength truly was. He had treated the monsters that defeated them like children. He had suppressed four of the Oración Seis single-handedly and forced a retreat.
He wasn't just strong. He was a calamity.
"Those bastards! They hit and run! Cowards!"
A roar broke the silence. Natsu Dragneel, battered and bruised but burning with spirit, scrambled to his feet. Fire ignited around his fists.
"Get back here!!"
Natsu shouted, turning to rush into the endless, darkened forest to chase them down.
Grab.
Ren reached out and caught Natsu by the back of his scaly scarf, lifting him into the air like a misbehaving kitten.
"Let me go, Ren! I'm gonna torch them!" Natsu flailed.
"Calm down, Natsu," Ren said, his voice steady. He set the Dragon Slayer down but kept a hand on his shoulder. "Alright, you got beaten so badly just now. It's time to cool your head and learn a lesson. Charging in blindly is what got us here."
Natsu gritted his teeth, but the fire in his hands dimmed. He knew Ren was right.
Jura walked over, his heavy steps crunching on the disturbed earth. He bowed his head slightly toward Ren.
"Your Excellency Ren," Jura said, using a title of high respect. "Thanks to your intervention just now... otherwise, the situation would have been dire. That Magic Cannon attack was threatening to wipe out the younger ones."
Jura was humble, but he was also a realist. He knew that without Ren's sudden appearance and overwhelming firepower, the alliance would have suffered casualties in the opening skirmish.
Ren waved his hand dismissively. "No need to be polite, Jura-san. I am part of the Allied Forces, so it's only right that I act. It's just a pity they got away."
Ren looked toward the path of destruction his 'Red' had carved into the forest, his eyes narrowing slightly behind the blindfold.
Actually, the most efficient method just now would have been to directly activate my Domain Expansion: Unlimited Void, Ren thought to himself, analyzing the battle.
If I had trapped them in the Domain, the battle would have ended instantly. Their brains would have been fried by the infinite information.
He sighed internally. However, with so many people around—Natsu, Lucy, the Blue Pegasus guys—if I had opened my Domain, everyone would have been caught in the range. I'm not sure what kind of side effects Unlimited Void would have on Mages of this world. It might leave them comatose.
Plus, Ren reasoned, feeling his magic reserves, activating a Domain consumes a massive amount of magic power. Unless absolutely necessary, I shouldn't use it lightly. We have a long battle ahead.
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