At this moment, Erza once again understood that Takeshi's words were not an exaggeration at all.
She didn't know swordsmanship at all.
She thought that half a year of diligent training had narrowed the gap between her and Takeshi, but now it seemed she had overestimated herself.
Looking at him now, Takeshi was still as unfathomable as ever.
"I lost… Thank you."
Erza could tell that with Takeshi's strength, she would probably still be defeated in one move, but he had displayed all his sword techniques from beginning to end, clearly wanting her to learn.
She asked, "I want to know, how many times was I attacked in total?"
Takeshi thought for a moment and said, "Hmm… eighty-one times."
"Eighty-one times?!!"
Erza couldn't believe it. She had actually been attacked eighty-one times, and the most crucial thing was that she hadn't even realized it.
She didn't know that Takeshi had understated it. To be precise, Takeshi had attacked her a full eight hundred and ten times.
Among all techniques in the world, nothing is unsolvable, only speed is unbreakable.
Besides its exquisite precision, Yoriichi's swordsmanship was also incredibly swift.
In the anime, when Muzan encountered Yoriichi's fatal attack, he had to choose self-destruction to save his life, and his body exploded into over 1800 fragments.
Yoriichi cut over 1500 fragments in an instant, and Muzan survived with the remaining 300 fragments.
"My sword techniques have thirteen forms in total. The Thirteenth Form is created by continuously unleashing the previous twelve sword forms to create a closed attack loop."
"If you can understand the previous twelve forms, then you can create your own Thirteenth Form."
Erza's pupils dilated, and she murmured, "Cntinuous release… closed attack loop…"
What a brilliant idea, what profound swordsmanship!
Those seemingly independent sword forms were suddenly linked by a bond. Perhaps true swordsmanship was never meant to be independent, it should be continuous like this.
Erza looked at Takeshi with eyes full of admiration.
"Ohhhhhh!"
"Amazing!"
"Manly!"
Takeshi's magnificent sword forms left everyone in awe. Erza was already incredibly strong, but there was still a significant gap between her and Takeshi when he displayed his true power.
"He really is a monster." Natsu and Gray muttered softly.
What they didn't know was that the strength Takeshi had displayed was only the tip of the iceberg. His strongest attacks were still the slashes he unleashed with magic power, attacks capable of breaking even a dragon's scales.
—
Soon, the banquet continued, and the atmosphere became even livelier.
The banquet lasted until one in the morning before everyone reluctantly dispersed, making sure to clean everything up before leaving.
Takeshi took a shower and went to bed, not waking up until the sun was high at noon.
He habitually opened his system panel, saw that the data hadn't changed, and then closed it.
After lying in bed for a while longer, feeling a bit hungry, he got up and headed to the guild.
The guild was still bustling, with many people discussing the duel between Takeshi and Erza the previous night.
Seeing Takeshi arrive, everyone enthusiastically greeted him, and Takeshi responded to each of them.
"Mira! I'm hungry, get me something to eat."
"Coming!"
Mirajane brought the food and placed it in front of Takeshi. She knew exactly what Takeshi liked to eat.
"Erza! Let's have a showdown!"
At this moment, Natsu jumped onto a table and challenged Erza. He had seen Takeshi and Erza duel yesterday and also wanted to fight, but Erza had just finished fighting Takeshi, so he didn't make a move then. Now that she was rested, he challenged her.
Gray was startled by Natsu's words. "Hey! Don't be reckless. Do you want to die?!"
Elfman also advised, "Yeah. Don't be rash. That's Erza. Even if she lost to Takeshi, she's not someone we can casually challenge."
Erza shook her head. "No, I'm tired."
"Here I come, take this."
Natsu, his fists wreathed in flames, rushed towards Erza recklessly.
Erza sighed helplessly. "Honestly."
A large hammer appeared in Erza's hand, and she swung it forcefully.
Boom!
Natsu was sent flying by the hammer, crashing into the wall and falling unconscious.
"Can't do anything with you. Let's begin then."
Happy shouted, "It's already over!"
"Hahahaha, Natsu, you're so unlucky!"
"As expected, Erza is amazing. Natsu, you still need to practice."
Seeing Natsu lose to Erza in one move, everyone in the guild couldn't help but burst into laughter.
Just then, Makarov sensed something. "Hmm?"
"What's wrong, Master?"
"Nothing, just a bit sleepy. It's that guy."
"This is..."
"So sleepy."
Everyone in the guild started falling asleep one after another.
Takeshi also felt a strong wave of drowsiness. He resisted for a moment, but ultimately couldn't hold on and fell asleep.
At this moment, a person completely wrapped in black cloth walked in, heading to the request board. He took down a subjugation mission with a reward of 1 million from the board, then went to Makarov and showed it to him.
"I'm leaving now."
"Undo your sleep magic."
Mystogan turned around. "Five, four, three, two, one…"
Mystogan finished counting the last number, and vanished from the guild entrance.
Swish!
Everyone in the guild suddenly woke up.
"This feeling... Is it Mystogan?"
"That scoundrel!"
"This sleep magic is as powerful as ever."
"Mystogan?"
Lucy was a bit confused, it was another new name.
Gray said, "He's one of Fairy Tail's strongest Mages. For some reason, he doesn't want people to see his face, so every time he comes to take a mission, he makes everyone fall asleep like this. So, besides Master, no one has ever seen Mystogan."
"What?! That's too strange, isn't it?"
Suddenly—
An arrogant voice sounded from the second floor.
"Hmph… I know, you know."
Everyone heard the voice and looked up, seeing a young man with blonde hair, wearing a leopard print top, headphones, and looking very rebellious, standing on the second floor.
"Laxus!"
"You're here?"
"You were actually here?"
Gray, looking annoyed, introduced Laxus to Lucy, "This is another candidate for the strongest."
Laxus propped his chin, smoking a cigar, and looked down, saying, "Mystogan is a very shy person, so you shouldn't dig too deep."
Natsu's ears immediately twitched upon hearing Laxus's voice. He jumped onto a table and shouted at Laxus, "Laxus, let's have a showdown!"
***
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