"I want to stay."
Erza knew she might be a liability in this state, but she couldn't leave. Everything had started because of her, and she needed to witness the end with her own eyes.
"Alright," Kael replied casually. He didn't mind. Besides, since he was about to give Erza's "ex" a proper beating, it was only right that she had a front-row seat.
"Hmph! To think you'd be arrogant enough to try and fight me while protecting a burden," Jellal sneered. "I am no ordinary Mage. Even while relying solely on a Thought Projection, I secured a seat on the Magic Council."
Jellal gestured to the insignia hanging around his neck—the mark of the Magic Council. It was a symbol of prestige, granted only to those who stood at the peak of authority in Ishgar's magical world.
"Big deal," Kael countered. "Erza has never been a burden. With a beautiful woman cheering me on, I'll be fighting at a hundred and twenty percent. As for the 'Ten Wizard Saints'... is that supposed to impress me? I recall beating one not too long ago; his strength was mediocre at best."
Jellal's expression darkened. Kael's contempt felt like a personal insult. "Is that so? Then tell me, what will you do if I decide to target Erza instead?"
"What would I do? Stop you, obviously," Kael said, his voice dropping to a dangerous chill. "But tell me—do you really want to find out what happens after I stop you? Because I'll dismantle this entire tower right under your feet."
Jellal stiffened. It had taken him eight years of meticulous planning and labor to build the Tower of Heaven; he wasn't about to waste another eight starting over.
He knew Kael wasn't bluffing. The sheer power of Kael's previous attack still haunted him—one direct hit had nearly brought his life's work crashing into the sea. For now, Erza was off-limits.
"Fine then. Let's settle this! I'll use my Heavenly Body Magic to turn you into stardust."
Jellal was done talking. He had already forced Kael to expend a massive amount of magic power earlier; if he let the man recover, things would get complicated.
"Meteor!"
Whoosh!
Jellal's body erupted in a brilliant golden aura as he surged toward Kael with blinding speed. Kael didn't flinch, a kunai appearing in his hand as he stabbed forward.
Swish!
Jellal veered sharply, circling around to strike Kael from behind. "Take this!"
Flash!
Kael vanished instantly, leaving nothing behind but a marked kunai spinning in the air.
"What?!"
Jellal blinked, momentarily stunned. He had forgotten that in this form, Kael could utilize high-level teleportation magic. In that split second of hesitation, Kael reappeared at Jellal's flank, the kunai aimed directly at his temple.
Whoosh!
Jellal accelerated just in time to dodge, banking into a tight turn. Kael began systematically throwing kunai at him, one after another.
Using the incredible speed of Meteor, Jellal wove through the projectiles, letting them thud harmlessly into the surrounding masonry.
"It's useless! You can't hit me as long as I have this speed!" Jellal shouted, his voice trailing behind him as he zipped through the air. "But I can hit you. Tell me, how many more times can you afford to teleport? That magic is a notorious drain on one's reserves. Once you run out of magic power, you're a dead man."
"He's so fast!" Erza thought, her face etched with worry. Her eyes could barely track Jellal's movements. If Kael's magic failed him now, the battle would be over in an instant.
"Speed, huh?"
A small, knowing smirk tugged at the corner of Kael's mouth. The man he had "Taken Over"—the Fourth Hokage—was known as 'Konoha's Yellow Flash' for a reason. In his world, if the Fourth claimed to be the second fastest man alive, no one would dare claim to be the first.
"Found you!" Jellal lunged, trying to force another teleportation to drain Kael further.
Flash!
Kael vanished, exactly as Jellal expected. Jellal prepared to pivot, waiting for Kael to reappear at a distance so he could intercept him.
But instead of appearing far away, Kael materialized directly in Jellal's path.
"What—?!"
Before Jellal could even process the move, Kael's fist collided squarely with his jaw.
Bang!
"Ghu—!"
Jellal felt a searing pain as he was sent reeling. Before he could regain his balance, Kael appeared above him, driving a sharp elbow into his back.
Crack!
What followed was a blur of golden light and impact. Kael flashed from one coordinate to the next, treating Jellal like a literal punching bag.
"Aaaargh!" Jellal's screams echoed through the chamber as he was bounced around like a pinball.
Erza watched, breathless. Jellal's speed was already beyond her comprehension, but Kael was operating on a level of spatial displacement that defied the laws of magic.
"Meteor!"
Jellal's aura flared with desperate intensity. He pushed his acceleration to the absolute limit, shooting upward into the sky to create some distance and breaking Kael's combo.
Panting, Jellal wiped a smear of blood from his lip, his face twisted in disbelief. "Impossible! How can you spam teleportation like that?! And that reaction time..."
Space magic wasn't unheard of—even Erza's Requip utilized pocket dimensions—but true instantaneous movement was incredibly rare. It usually required immense focus and a massive magic power cost for every jump. Teleporting once or twice should have been enough to exhaust any mage.
Then, Jellal's eyes fell on the kunai embedded in the walls and floor. The realization hit him like a physical blow.
"I see... those kunai! They aren't just weapons—they're your spatial anchors!"
"Heh. You're sharper than you look," Kael admitted.
"Do you plan to keep hiding behind those toys?" Jellal spat, trying to regain his composure. "As long as you stay in that form, I can't hit you, but you can't finish me either."
Jellal was being cautious now. He knew he could destroy the kunai, but he also knew that if Kael decided to retreat, there was no way to stop him. And the thought of a man like Kael wandering free as an enemy was enough to keep him awake at night.
"Hmm... You have a point," Kael mused. "Fine. I'll switch it up. I won't use this form for the rest of the fight."
Kael let the "Take Over" of the Fourth Hokage dissipate. While Minato's powers were peerless, chasing a flying opponent in a massive open space was indeed becoming a bit tedious.
Seeing Kael drop his most dangerous defense so easily, Jellal felt a surge of predatory joy. What a fool, he thought.
"Now," Kael said, his aura shifting into something much heavier. "Let me show you what true destruction magic looks like."
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