"Ha! Hahahahaha!"
Laxus threw his head back and laughed wildly, his voice echoing through the clearing like thunder.
"Interesting! This is too interesting! New kid, you really know how to give me a 'surprise'! This kind of thing... this disgusting pile of bones whose very existence makes one sick, you actually have the ability to summon it?!"
Although his personality was arrogant and extreme, his power was the real deal, and no one in the guild dared to question it.
Even the unwritten rule of "getting weaker after a redemption arc" didn't apply to him in the slightest; in fact, his strength would continue to climb even after he eventually turned good.
If someone had told him in the past that a kid who had been in the guild for less than a year could summon a monster that sent chills down one's spine with a single glance, he would have absolutely scoffed at the idea.
"Come on! Let me see if this pile of bones of yours can even let me warm up a little!"
Laxus uncrossed his arms and took a sudden step forward.
Boom!
He stomped a shallow, scorched crater into the ground as violent lightning burst from every pore of his body, making him look like a thunder god descended upon the mortal realm.
As if thoroughly enraged by Laxus's provocation, SkullGreymon let out an ear-splitting roar.
Its massive skeletal body leaned back slightly, and then its terrifying bone claws—large enough to level buildings—whistled through the air like the hand of a death god, sweeping horizontally toward Laxus's waist.
Faced with this terrifying blow that could have killed a Greymon, Laxus didn't even try to dodge.
A flash of lightning sparked in his eyes as he clenched his right fist.
Without using his signature Dragon Slayer Magic, he merely compressed his violent lightning magic power to an extreme degree at his knuckles and then, with a single punch, brazenly smashed it against the incoming giant bone claw.
"Fist of Lightning Strike."
Bang! Crack!
The moment fist met bone, an incredibly muffled boom erupted, accompanied by a clearly audible cracking sound.
A visible ring-shaped shockwave exploded outward, kicking up a sky full of dust.
Ace's pupils shrank.
Laxus didn't even use Lightning Dragon Slayer Magic, just ordinary lightning magic?
Was he being arrogant, or... in his eyes, was an opponent of SkullGreymon's level not yet worthy of him using his Dragon Slayer power?
What shocked him even more was the result of the collision—the part of SkullGreymon's thick tailbone that had made contact with Laxus's fist was now covered in web-like cracks, and bone fragments flew everywhere.
As for Laxus himself, although the immense force sent him flying back more than ten meters, he performed a graceful backflip in mid-air, landed steadily, and shook his slightly numb fist, an even more excited smile spreading across his face.
"Not a bad strength! Again!"
Pained and even more enraged, SkullGreymon immediately followed up with its giant bone claws, which tore through the air and slammed down on the just-landed Laxus.
The force of the claws was sharp enough to split mountains and shatter stone.
"Hmph." Laxus snorted coldly.
This time, he didn't even bother to block it head-on.
His body transformed into a streak of golden lightning and instantly vanished.
The bone claws hit empty air, smashing a huge crater into the ground.
Lightning flashed at SkullGreymon's side, and Laxus's figure reappeared.
He calmly looked up at the behemoth.
"Big size is a real weakness when it comes to speed." He raised his right hand, pointing his index finger at SkullGreymon's skull, the tip crackling with golden electricity.
"Lightning Strike."
A bolt of lightning, only as thick as an arm but condensed to the extreme and shining with a blindingly bright gold, shot out from his fingertip without a sound.
Like a spear of judgment thrown by a celestial god, it instantly crossed dozens of meters and viciously struck the very center of SkullGreymon's head.
Zzzzzzzzz!
A piercing sound of crackling thunder rang out.
SkullGreymon's massive skull snapped back violently.
The spot on its cranium struck by the lightning turned pitch-black as it let out a roar of pain and fury.
This was just ordinary lightning magic, not Dragon Slayer Magic, but its power, its penetration, and its energy concentration far exceeded the imagination of any ordinary lightning mage.
"Your defense is pretty tough." Laxus raised an eyebrow, seemingly a little surprised that SkullGreymon could withstand a Lightning Strike with only a scorched skull instead of a shattered one.
"Then how about a few more?"
He raised both hands high, palms facing the sky.
The originally clear clouds seemed to answer his call, rapidly gathering and turning a leaden gray.
Laxus swung his arms down violently.
Boom! Crack! Crack!
Dozens of ferocious lightning bolts, each as thick as a bucket, rained down from the clouds, aimed directly at SkullGreymon's massive body.
Each bolt contained destructive energy, covering an extremely wide area, making it impossible to dodge.
SkullGreymon could only bring its massive bone claws together to block the lightning, which was like a natural disaster, while a thin layer of dark red energy spread over its body, trying to negate some of the damage.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
The continuous thunderstorm completely submerged it.
Electric serpents danced wildly, the lightning was dazzling, and the pungent smell of burning and ozone filled the air.
The ground was blasted with deep, scorched pits, and rocks melted.
SkullGreymon let out waves of pained roars amidst the thunderstorm, its massive body staggering back repeatedly as numerous scorch marks and fine cracks appeared on its bones.
Ace's heart sank to the bottom of the valley.
Laxus hadn't even used his Dragon Slayer Magic yet, and he had already suppressed SkullGreymon to this extent with just ordinary lightning attacks?
Was this the power of a top-tier S-Class mage?
Passively taking a beating was clearly not SkullGreymon's style.
After enduring several rounds of lightning strikes, its pain and anger burning to their peak, it suddenly threw back its battered skull and let out its most ferocious roar at Laxus, who was still gathering thunderclouds in the sky.
The menacing spinal joints on its back loosened, suddenly glowing with a blinding dark red light as a destructive energy frantically gathered and compressed within.
'GROUND ZERO!'
The missile, composed entirely of dark-red, almost black, destructive energy, only slightly smaller than SkullGreymon itself and trailing an ominous exhaust flame, shot out with a howl.
It didn't fly in a straight line but, as if alive, carved a bizarre arc through the air, locking onto Laxus from different angles with an aura of all-destroying annihilation before shooting toward him.
Faced with an attack that could actually threaten him, the frivolous look on Laxus's face finally receded, and a hint of seriousness flashed in his eyes.
He no longer floated, but landed back on the ground.
His fur-collared coat was torn, and his muscular body visibly swelled as a frenzy of lightning magic power gathered madly in his mouth, even agitating the lightning elements in the surrounding air, causing them to crackle and pop.