Contrary to Eris's expectations, the lightning didn't touch Kazu despite being so close to him.
Eris quickly used his magic to protect himself.
'Fuck!' Due to the momentary distraction, Eris wasn't able to dodge and suffered a blow from Kazu.
The first blow in the entire fight.
BOOOM
Despite using vibrations as a shield, he felt his entire body shake.
Splurt
He spewed out blood as the world started shaking.
Kazu's figure became a blur as he felt himself and everything in his vision vibrating, like a mirage.
Eris was losing consciousness.
BOOM
He suffered another blow to his chest.
However, this time, Eris wasn't in a state to block it.
Pain.
Eris felt pain he had never felt before in his chest.
He turned his vision to his chest.
"My—chest! My chest! NO" To Eris's horror, he found a gaping hole in his chest.
Before he could do anything, he saw Kazu's fist move towards him for the third time.
This time, it was not aimed at his chest but rather at his head.
'If I am going to die, I am taking everyone here with me!' Eris concentrated all his remaining Ethernano and concentrated in front of him.
Kazu's fist paused.
Eris hasn't used this spell until now because of the danger of this move. It could kill him.
The air molecules in front of him started vibrating intensely. They were so fast that light began to be emitted in front of him.
A screeching sound filled the surroundings, increasing with each passing moment.
The magnitude of the attack was higher than any move this terrain had faced today.
"Shit!" Laxus started getting converted into lightning. However, it was too late.
"Vibration Magic: Last Star"
The world paused as if somebody had pressed a pause button.
The screeching sound peaked along with the light, before—
Nothing.
The ground buckled… then stilled.
Nothing happened.
Laxus transformed into lightning and left the area.
Eris stood there with a shocked expression on his face.
"What...just happened?" He had lost all his strength to stand, so he started falling backwards.
Everyone around him was supposed to be demolished. Obliterated.
Yet his spell disappeared as if it had never been cast.
"I told you. Just fucking die."
The last thing he saw was Kazu's fist inching closer to his head.
Splurt
Eris's head burst like a balloon. The blood and flesh were scattered everywhere, especially on Kazu's fist, which was now dyed red.
Kazu stood there for a few seconds, looking at the headless body.
Crackle
"Impressive! When were you done with analysing his spells? It was the first time he showed that spell, yet you broke it with that spell of yours." Laxus appeared beside Kazu, looking impressed.
He had thought that Kazu wouldn't be able to use Destructive Interference this quickly on Eris. If he could have used it before, then there was a definite chance that both of them would have been able to stall Eris without using Kazu's new technique.
Kazu remained still for a few seconds before finally moving. His fist cocked back, before—
slamming right into the headless corpse.
THUMP
Laxus flinched, instinctively taking a step back.
THUMP
Kazu punched the corpse again.
Then again.
And again.
Each hit was slower than the last, but heavier. As if he wasn't hitting Eris anymore — but something else entirely
Blood and flesh splattered everywhere. Eris's corpse started becoming unrecognisable.
"What the fuck are you doing!?" To say that Laxus was astonished would be an understatement.
His shout caused Kazu to pause slightly.
Then he slowly turned his head towards Laxus.
Laxus flinched again.
White Tears were streaming down Kazu's face, disappearing down, hidden by the black Ethernano surrounding him.
CRACKLE
Before Laxus knew it, his body instinctively turned into lightning, moving in a completely different direction.
Less than a fraction of a second later, Kazu's blood-covered fist passed through the place where he was standing.
"Have you gone insane?" Laxus appeared at a different place.
He suddenly remembered what Kazu had said before going into this mode.
"Fine. Just remember that I would lose my sanity. I will be counting on you to pull me back."
Laxus gulped as he looked at the creature who was staring at him.
'How am I supposed to stop him?'
Previously, Laxus wasn't the target of Kazu's killing intent, so he didn't experience what Eris felt.
Until now.
Fear.
Fear tried settling in Laxus's mind, but his pride refused to accept it.
"Haha. Would this make it 4th? Our fourth fight? Not that it matters. I guess, stopping would make me qualify to be S-rank." A Lightning halberd appeared in his hand, before he threw it at Kazu at full speed.
'Lightning Dragon's Heavenward—'
CLANK
Even before the halberd could leave his hand, the spell was destroyed.
Destructive Interference.
Suddenly, Kazu was in front of him.
'Fuck. I shouldn't have shown him that move in our last fight. Obviously, he analysed it.' Laxus cursed at the situation.
"Why are you not dying?"
Kazu looked Laxus right in the eye. The distance between them was a few inches.
"Because I won't die to somebody like you." Lightning covered his fist as he punched at Kazu.
"Lightning Dragon's Iron Fist!"
BOOOM
The wind pressure caused by the punch was enough to uproot trees hundreds of meters away. It was enough to deform the terrain. Why would it not do that? After all, it came from a Dragon Slayer on the brink of reaching S-rank.
"Please just die. I hate you." Kazu grabbed Laxus's fist with his palm.
The attack had not even budged him back by inches.
Normally, Laxus would have gotten insecure, but it was anything but a normal situation.
Just as Kazu was going to increase the pressure on Laxus's fist—
"Got you," Laxus smirked.
CRACK
A tendril of lightning arose from the clouds, raining directly on Kazu.
However, just before touching him, they all converged, aiming at one point—an insignificant portion of his arm.
Kazu instinctively put multiple barriers on that spot in an attempt to stop it.
"Where are you paying attention to?"
Lightning flowed from Laxus's arm to Kazu's body through the connection of Kazu's fist, which was holding Laxus's fist from the earlier attack.
Due to having his attention on stopping the lightning from above, Kazu had decreased his guards on the other part, which was Laxus's plan.
The barrier shattered, and the lightning reached Kazu's bare body.
He twitched for a few seconds before going limp
His eyes rolled back as he started falling on the ground.
However, Laxus stopped him from falling through their hand connection.
The black ethernano around Kazu began dissipating.
Laxus continued looking at Kazu for the next few seconds.
It was only when the black Ethernano completely disappeared, he relaxed his guard.
"That was...close." Laxus sighed.
The plan was to break Kazu's barrier and reach his main body to knock him out.
So, he decided to use a bluff to bait Kazu, who was clearly on autopilot.
'But...It was a bit too easy. Compared to how Eris tried to break his defence, I broke it pretty easily.'
Though lightning had more penetrative power than Eris's magic, the difference in the quality of the attacks easily covered the gap.
Laxus looked around, taking in the sight of the aftermath.
A disfigured body, which seemed pretty hard to distinguish from pulp.
Broken trees, along with the uneven shape of the ground, with multiple craters.
"I need to train seriously," Laxus muttered.
He recalled the move Eris had used.
"Domain, huh...I think I have an idea of what I need to do next."
---
Pain.
Kazu felt that his entire body had gone through a mixture grinder.
All the muscles in his body screamed in pain.
'Why does this always happen to me?' He cursed as he slowly opened his eyes.
He blinked for a few seconds, adjusting to the light.
Blue
The first thing he saw was Levy's face.
'Unharmed. Not seemed to be confined... We are currently moving, so train.' Kazu's mind immediately connected dots. He internally sighed in relief that Eris had not taken them hostage.
He moved his eyes around, but from his position, he realised that he could only see people's feet.
However, that was enough. 'Natsu, Mira...Hmm, those shoes are Laxus's, I think. The seating arrangement makes sense. I can also hear Happy saying something, so everyone is fine.'
He internally nodded to himself. Everything was alright.
Kazu finally decided to become aware of himself.
'Oh, I am technically having a lap pillow... It's a shame that it's not from a hot onee-chan.' Kazu clicked his tongue.
"Ahhh..." The sudden noise startled Levy, who screamed as she dropped the cards she was holding.
Kazu resisted the urge to facepalm. 'How is she going to go on an investigation mission, if this is enough to startle her?' He wondered what would have happened if Levy had gone on the mission to investigate Veyren.
Veyren would have toyed with her the moment she arrived in the first village.
"Kazu! Are you hurt?"
"How was the fight against the S-rank?"
"Do you want a fish?"
Kazu was suddenly assaulted with multiple questions.
"I am fine, guys." He tried moving his body, but felt intense pain.
Kazu did his best not to show the pain on his face as he got up.
Now sitting upright, he could see everybody's face.
"I would tell you all about the fight later. And no Happy. I don't eat raw fish." After saying that, Kazu turned his head towards Laxus.
Laxus was also facing him.
"Just let me ask you one thing. Did you attack the woman who was with Eris?" Kazu's face turned serious.
Laxus raised a brow, clearly not expecting this as the first question.
"Yes."
BOOM
***
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