"Don't be so damn arrogant—!!!"
"Kael! The match between us isn't over yet!! Don't think for a second that you've won already, AAAH!"
Laxus's entire body was cloaked in a violent aura of golden magic and lightning. He was pushing his physical reinforcement to the limit, pushing his body past its limits to drastically boost his attack power, defense, and speed.
In a flicker of gold, Laxus appeared right in Kael's face. His fist, dripping with crackling lightning, swung toward Kael's jaw.
The punch was blindingly fast—fast enough to breach the outer layer of the Limitless—but it was still delayed for that crucial, final microsecond by the infinity between them.
And in a fight between top-tier mages, a single moment is the difference between life and death.
Kael stepped forward with his left foot, dipping his head to dodge the strike by a hair's breadth. Laxus's fist whistled over Kael's neck, the fine arcs of golden electricity harmlessly deflected by the invisible barrier of his technique.
Kael tightened his right fist, drawing back and unloading a heavy, reinforced blow straight into Laxus's face.
"GUH!"
Laxus was knocked back, but he managed to dig his heels into the dirt and stabilize himself.
He gathered lightning in both hands and yanked them apart, forming a massive, golden-charged polearm. He hurled it at Kael with everything he had.
"Lightning Dragon's Heavenward Halberd!!!"
Kael didn't flinch. He simply raised his palm.
"Cursed Technique Lapse: Blue."
A swirling blue orb formed in front of his hand. The moment the Halberd touched the Blue sphere, the golden lightning was violently decomposed and swallowed whole. It vanished into it in the blink of an eye.
"Cursed Technique Reversal: Red."
Kael raised his other hand, firing a crimson shockwave of pure repulsion directly at Laxus.
BOOM—!!!
"GAAAAAAH!!"
Laxus took the hit head-on.
The ground was pulverized by the massive repulsive force of Red, grinding the stone into dust until the blast finally dissipated.
Laxus lay at the bottom of a massive crater, his eyes rolled back, completely unconscious. He had already been pushed to the brink by the sustained combat, and taking two direct hits from Red was the final nail in the coffin. Even with Kael holding back slightly, Laxus's body simply couldn't handle the output.
Freed watched Laxus's fallen form from the sidelines. From the moment Kael had effortlessly dismantled his Script Magic, he had suspected this would happen.
But even then, he hadn't expected such an overwhelming, one-sided victory. Is this... Kael's true strength?
Kael grabbed Laxus by one arm and dragged him toward the exit. He looked back at Mirajane. "Mira, I'm taking Laxus back first."
Mirajane nodded, her expression a mix of relief and sorrow.
SHING—!
Kael used a high-speed movement and with Laxus, appearing in front of the guild hall in a flash.
The guild was already a mess of people. Most of the members had gathered there, bruised and battered from the "Battle of Fairy Tail." Because of Freed's Script Magic, they had been forced into infighting. Though no one had gone for the kill, they were all covered in wounds.
"Kael!"
The crowd surged forward. With the Master incapacitated, Kael was now their backbone—their "main pillar." Everyone knew by now that the Master had designated Kael as his chosen successor.
No one had any objections. Though Kael had only been with them for a year, his strength and character were beyond reproach. They trusted him.
"Laxus!!"
The members spotted the man Kael was dragging. This was the guy who had caused all this chaos. Normally, they would have been shouting for his head, but seeing Laxus now—looking half-dead and clearly in worse shape than any of them—the curses died in their throats.
Kael dragged Laxus up to the second-floor infirmary.
"Porlyusica, how's the old man?"
Kael had met Porlyusica once before. She was a woman who despised humans, so they hadn't exactly shared a pleasant conversation.
"You're... Kael?!"
Porlyusica looked at him, her gaze uncertain.
Kael nodded. "That's me."
Porlyusica's expression darkened with grief. "He hasn't passed the critical stage yet. Whether he pulls through depends entirely on his own will."
Kael looked over at Makarov. "The old man's a survivor. He'll be fine."
"And this is... Laxus?! You really put him through the wringer, didn't you?"
Porlyusica's eye twitched as she looked at the bruised, unrecognizable mess that was Laxus.
"I didn't have much choice. The guy's thick-headed and doesn't listen to reason. I had to hit him hard enough to make a point."
Hit him hard? It looks like you tried to erase him from existence, she thought.
"Porlyusica, I'm leaving this jerk in your hands too."
Kael tossed Laxus onto a nearby bed and walked out of the room.
Porlyusica sighed, looking between the grandfather and grandson. "The two of you are nothing but trouble."
"Kael, Laxus might be down, but the Thunder Palace is still active. The crisis isn't over yet."
Erza met Kael as he exited the infirmary, her face set in a grim line. The Thunder Palace consisted of hundreds of magic lacrimas filled with lightning magic. If they weren't destroyed simultaneously before they discharged, the resulting blast would level the entire city.
"If I go all out, I can take down maybe two hundred at once..."
"No need. I'll handle the whole thing."
"All of them?! Kael, there are three hundred lacrimas, and they're all linked by Organic Link Magic. They'll reflect the damage back to the attacker. Even with your Limitless defense, taking three hundred feedback hits is too much."
Having watched Kael's fight with Jellal, Erza understood his defense well. Taking ten or twenty hits was one thing, but three hundred was a different story.
"Mhm. Watch me."
Kael walked out onto the guild's second-floor balcony. The rest of the guild members followed him, desperate to see how he would solve the impossible threat hanging over their heads.
SHING!!
Kael teleported into the sky, hovering directly over the center of Magnolia.
"He can teleport?!"
"He can fly?!"
For many of them, this was the first time seeing Kael in this state. The sheer versatility of his power was staggering.
Kael brought his hands together, focusing his Cursed Energy.
"Cursed Technique Lapse... Maximum Output: Blue!!"
A massive sphere of intense blue light formed in the center of the town. Kael manipulated it, sending it hurtling toward the first cluster of lacrimas.
The moment the lacrimas touched the Blue sphere, they weren't shattered—they were erased.
Kael extended his arm and opened his palm. As he spun his body in mid-air, the Blue orb followed his movement with precision. Like a giant game of Snake, the orb coiled through the sky, "eating" every single lightning lacrima one by one.
Within moments, the Thunder Palace—the threat that could have wiped Magnolia off the map—simply ceased to exist.
The crisis was over.
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