Kael's magic sensing scanned the Thunder Palace hovering ominously in the sky. Each Lacrima orb was gorged with a staggering, volatile amount of lightning magic. If they were to detonate simultaneously, the resulting blast would reduce the entire city of Magnolia to a smoking crater.
Should I take them down now? Kael pondered.
With his magic, he could easily drag those orbs from the sky and crush them into nothingness. However, he hesitated. He couldn't be certain what kind of failsafe Laxus might have installed. If destroying them triggered an immediate discharge, it would be a catastrophe. It was more tactical to eliminate the source first; the Lacrima could wait until Laxus was dealt with.
Kael's gaze shifted, his supernatural perception locking onto his next target. "Found you."
With a single, effortless step, Kael materialized directly in front of Bickslow.
The ground in the area was already littered with Fairy Tail mages who had fallen victim to Bickslow's "babies."
"Kael!!"
Bickslow recoiled, his heart hammering violently against his ribs. Much like Evergreen, he had seen the reports of Kael's previous exploits. Whether it was the man in the sharp black suit or the towering giant with the white mustache, both of those Take Over forms were nothing short of monstrous.
Before the rebellion began, Laxus had given them a clear warning: If you run into Kael, get out of there. You aren't a match for him. Leave him to me.
Bickslow narrowed his eyes at Kael's current appearance. This was something entirely new—a blindfolded, white-haired figure that radiated an eerie sense of calm.
According to his intelligence, the "white-bearded" form was Kael's peak, but that power was far too destructive for urban combat. Bickslow convinced himself that as long as Kael didn't transform into that titan, he might actually stand a chance. If he could take down the guild's rising star right here, he'd not only clear the path for Laxus but secure his own place in history.
Bickslow licked his lips, the allure of fame and victory clouding his common sense.
"Get him, my BABIES!!"
Bickslow commanded his wooden dolls to unleash a barrage of magic light orbs. The projectiles hissed through the air, only to come to a sudden, dead stop inches away from Kael's body, as if they had hit an invisible wall of gel.
"What?!" Bickslow's eyes widened behind his visor.
"Line Formation!"
The five dolls snapped into a vertical line, their mouths glowing with intense heat as they fired a concentrated, combined magic beam.
Kael simply raised a single hand. The beam struck the invisible space in front of his palm and stalled. With a casual, almost bored swipe to the side, Kael redirected the massive magic discharge as if he were batting away an annoying fly.
CRACK!
A nearby house was sliced clean in half by the deflected blast, the structure collapsing in a cloud of dust.
"Guh..."
Realizing that even his most potent attacks were utterly useless, Bickslow's bravado evaporated in an instant. He spun around, his only thought now being a desperate need to escape.
Flash!
Kael appeared instantly in Bickslow's path, blocking his exit.
"That speed?! Oh, crap!!"
The hair on the back of Bickslow's neck stood on end. He hadn't expected Kael to possess such flawless, instantaneous movement.
BOOM!
Kael's foot connected squarely with Bickslow's midsection.
"Gwaaaah!!"
Bickslow felt a wave of agonizing pain ripple through his core. The sheer force of the kick launched him through the air like a cannonball.
Crash! Crash! Boom!
His body smashed through a brick wall and disappeared into the rubble of a collapsing building.
"Two down," Kael muttered, casually adjusting his blindfold. "Two to go."
Flash!
A second later, Kael stood before the Kardia Cathedral.
Freed Justine was already waiting, standing composed in front of the massive doors as if he had been anticipating Kael's arrival since the beginning.
"Freed."
This was Kael's first time seeing Freed in person. In the original records of this world, Freed was known as a handsome, reliable, and deeply disciplined mage. His Jutsu Shiki (Script Magic) was particularly formidable, a logical type of magic capable of trapping even a Wizard Saint like Makarov.
"Kael."
Freed studied him with a cold, calculating gaze. This was the man who had been rewriting the guild's legends since the day he arrived. Unlike the impulsive Bickslow or the arrogant Evergreen, Freed was a strategist.
Kael scanned the perimeter. With his magic sensing, he could see the intricate, glowing web of runes Freed had woven around the cathedral—a dense, invisible minefield of logic and rules. "You've certainly done your homework."
"You are the opponent," Freed replied evenly. "No amount of preparation would be considered excessive."
"Mhm. Tell me, do you really want Laxus to 'win' this badly?"
"I do. I am a member of the Thunder God Tribe, a sworn follower of Laxus. Our mission is to help him realize his vision for this guild."
"Even if that vision involves hurting your own comrades?"
"..."
Freed fell silent, his gaze hardening into steel. "It doesn't matter. I am Laxus's personal guard. I am his brother-in-arms. I will carry out his orders, whatever they may be."
"I see. Then I suppose there's nothing left to discuss."
Kael took a deliberate step forward.
Vroom!
A runic barrier flared into existence around him, the purple script glowing with malevolent intent.
Rule: Anyone inside this script who uses magic will suffer from acute oxygen deprivation.
Kael raised a hand, a small, swirling sphere of magic manifesting in his palm. He pressed it casually against the barrier.
Crrrk—Shatter!
The barrier was instantly devoured and collapsed into nothingness.
"What?!"
Freed's eyes widened in disbelief. He knew his runes might not hold Kael forever, but seeing them dismantled so effortlessly was incomprehensible. Under normal circumstances, the rules of a script were absolute. Since Kael was currently in a Take Over form—which is a continuous use of magic—he should have collapsed from a lack of oxygen the moment he crossed the threshold.
"Shocked?"
"How are you still standing? It's impossible," Freed snapped, his composure finally cracking. "The rules of the Jutsu Shiki are absolute. Anyone who uses magic must be bound by them. Why are you unaffected?"
"You have your scripts, and I have mine," Kael explained calmly. "Yours are written on the ground or in the air. Mine is engraved into the very fabric of my being."
"You use Script Magic too?!"
"Not exactly. What I possess is a barrier. To put it simply, I take the concept of 'distance' and divide it into an infinite series. Think of a centimeter—it can be divided again and again into smaller parts. It goes on forever."
"From the moment I stepped into your barrier, your 'rules' have been trying to reach me. But they have to cross my barrier first. Unfortunately for you, before your rules could even touch my body, I had already dismantled the barrier itself."
Freed's expression became incredibly grim. He had never encountered a concept so abstract and overwhelming. If the boy's explanation was true, it meant all of Freed's carefully crafted logic was essentially being ignored by reality itself.
But Freed wasn't ready to abandon years of disciplined study just yet.
Flash!
As Kael took another step, a second, more powerful barrier erupted.
Rule: No magic is allowed within this script.
Freed watched Kael with bated breath, but Kael remained firmly in that Take Over form. The transformation didn't flicker, and Kael didn't revert to his human self. The rule had failed to take hold.
"You monster!!" Freed shouted, his voice laced with both fear and awe.
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