"That voice..."
A flicker of hope and surprise washed over Lucy's face as she recognized the tone.
In the center of the room, a stray card lying on the floor began to vibrate. It was one of Sho's prison-cards, and the distortion in the surrounding space kept building. The card hovered inches above the ground before the space around it warped. With a sharp crack, the card shattered into a thousand fragments, and two figures materialized from the ripple in space.
Kael and Mira stood side-by-side, surveying the chaos.
"Mira! ...Kael?"
Lucy recognized Mira instantly, but she froze when her eyes landed on Kael. His usual appearance was gone, replaced by a man with white hair and sharp features. Most striking of all were his eyes—clear, sky-blue pupils with a faint swirl of white mist within them.
She knew Kael had various transformations, but she had only seen a few. This one, however, was on an entirely different level. It wasn't just power; it was a sheer, overwhelming presence.
Mira also looked at him with a hint of surprise. Even though this form was new to her, the undeniable bond they shared allowed her to sense his soul immediately. No matter the face he wore, she knew it was him.
"Honestly... I finally managed to get a decent hand, and you guys show up to ruin the fun."
Kael sounded genuinely annoyed. He had been on a losing streak since he set foot in the casino, making him wonder if the Goddess of Luck had abandoned him—or if he had burned through his lifetime supply of luck just getting his transformation cards.
He had finally felt his luck turning, only for this interruption to occur. It was safe to say he was not in a good mood.
"Kael! They're trying to take Erza!" Lucy shouted, snapping back to the reality of the situation.
"Mhm... I heard the whole thing," Kael replied calmly.
Taking in the group's appearance and the fragments of their conversation, Kael easily identified them: the friends Erza had grown up with during her time as a slave at the Tower of Heaven.
"Hey, you lot," Kael said, his posture relaxed, as if he had all the time in the world. "If you don't want to get hauled out of here in pieces, hand Erza over. Do that, and I might just promise not to beat you to death."
Infinity
Bang!
Without a word, Wally raised his Polygon Rifle and pulled the trigger.
"Kael, look out!" Lucy screamed.
She knew that while mages could wield world-shaking magic, their bodies were still vulnerable. In the world of magic, a well-placed bullet could be just as lethal as a high-level attack.
Kael didn't move. He didn't even flinch.
As the bullet reached a point just inches from Kael's face, it simply... stopped. It hung there, suspended in mid-air, spinning uselessly against an invisible barrier.
"What?! How?!" Wally's eyes bulged in shock.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
He fired three more times in rapid succession. The result was identical. Each bullet halted abruptly as if hitting a wall of solidified time, unable to bridge the final gap to Kael's skin.
Kael let out a long, bored yawn.
Clink, clink, clink.
He tilted his head slightly, and the bullets lost their momentum, falling to the floor with a series of metallic taps.
"Nekosoku Tube!" Millianna shouted, launching her magical rope.
The rope was designed to suppress the magic of anyone it touched, making it a nightmare for mages. Yet, just like the bullets, the rope froze in mid-air the moment it entered Kael's personal space. No matter how much magic Millianna poured into it, the rope couldn't close the distance.
"How is this possible?!" she gasped.
"It's simple, really," Kael said, his voice cold and clinical. "This is my Limitless technique. The closer an object gets to me, the slower it becomes. It's an infinite division of space. You can see me, but you can never actually touch me."
That was the simple explanation.
The Limitless was the crown jewel of the Gojo lineage. It allowed the user to interfere with reality at the atomic level, dominating space itself. It required the extreme precision of the Six Eyes to manage the complex flow of energy; without them, the technique was impossible to control.
Essentially, Kael had brought a mathematical paradox to life: the closer you get to the destination, the more the remaining distance is divided, ensuring you never truly arrive. In Gojo's form, this "Infinity" was a passive barrier that automatically filtered threats based on mass, speed, and malicious intent.
"What kind of monster is he...?" Sho whispered, his face pale.
"Bullets might be useless against you," Wally snarled, redirecting his aim, "but let's see how you feel about your friend!"
He pointed the gun straight at Lucy.
"Wait, why is it always me?!" Lucy shrieked, ducking her head.
But before Wally's finger could squeeze the trigger, the gun was gone.
"Looking for this?"
Wally blinked. Kael was suddenly standing right in front of him, casually spinning the Polygon Rifle on his finger.
For a split second, he let Infinity drop.
Bang!
Kael fired without hesitation, catching Wally in the leg.
"Aaargh!!"
"Wally!" the others cried out in horror.
Kael calmly shifted his aim to Wally's other leg and pulled the trigger again.
Click. Click.
"Empty? Figures." Kael tossed the Polygon Rifle aside like it was trash.
Before Wally could even process the pain, Kael's fist buried itself deep into Wally's abdomen. The impact was like a cannonball.
BOOM!
Wally doubled over like a cooked shrimp, his face contorting in agony as he was sent hurtling backward. He crashed through several heavy gambling tables, leaving a trail of splinters and debris in his wake.
"Wally! You bastard!" Sho screamed, his temper finally snapping.
Simon tried to grab him. "Sho! Don't! Stay back!"
But Sho was beyond listening. He unleashed a barrage of magical cards at Kael, only for them to join the graveyard of frozen objects floating in the air around the white-haired man.
"I told you," Kael said, his voice appearing right behind Sho's ear. "You can't touch me."
Before Sho could turn, Kael delivered a devastating kick to his ribs.
CRACK.
Sho was launched across the room, smashing into a row of slot machines that erupted in a shower of sparks and coins.
In the blink of an eye, Kael appeared in front of Millianna. His hand shot out, gripping her by the throat and lifting her off the ground with terrifying ease.
"St... Stop... Kael..."
A faint, strained voice echoed through the wreckage.
"Erza!"
The voice belonged to Erza, who was barely clinging to consciousness. Simon, realizing the sheer gap in power, had desperately worked to wake her. Unlike his younger companions, Simon had recognized the name "Kael." He knew the reputation of Fairy Tail's rising powerhouse, and he knew that if he didn't intervene, none of them would leave this casino alive.
Kael's icy blue eyes shifted toward Erza. The killing intent radiating from him slowed, then dissipated.
With a shrug, he released his grip, letting Millianna slump to the floor.
"Cough! Cough...!"
Millianna clutched her throat, gasping for air as she looked up at Kael with pure, unadulterated terror. In that moment, she had felt it—she was nothing more than a fragile bird in his hands. He could have ended her life as easily as snapping a dry twig.
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There are 50 advanced chapters on Patreon, which I'm currently rewriting and polishing for a better reading experience. Thank you for your support and patience.
https://www.patreon.com/c/LEYI396