**Chapter 23: You Have Too Much Drama**
Laxus transformed into lightning and kept leaping across the ground, desperately dodging Kaito's attacks. If not for his elemental form granting him resistance to heavy physical impacts, he would have been heavily injured already.
"Damn it!" Laxus's face looked extremely ugly. Right now he appeared like a clown being chased around and running for his life.
"Damn it! How does this guy fire so many attacks without running out of magic power?!" He couldn't keep this up. He had already suffered light injuries from the explosions. If this continued, he would be the first one defeated within a minute.
He had to counterattack. This was a battle for the S-Class qualification. He absolutely could not lose.
"Crackle~!" The lightning form of Laxus shot straight toward Kaito.
Kaito raised his finger and aimed at him. Laxus quickly changed direction in mid-air, circling around to Kaito's back.
"Lightning Punch!"
Golden lightning wrapped around Laxus's fist as he struck toward the back of Kaito's head.
"Whoosh~!" Kaito's body glowed with golden light and vanished from Laxus's sight in an instant.
Laxus's expression changed. He charged forward immediately.
"Buzz~! Swoosh—!"
"BOOM!!!" A golden laser beam struck the spot where Laxus had just been, causing a massive explosion.
Kaito said, "Pretty good reaction speed!"
"Thunderbolt Bombs!!"
From within the smoke of the explosion, Laxus's furious voice rang out. Dozens of lightning orbs shot out rapidly, surrounding Kaito before detonating all at once.
"Boom! Boom! Boom!!"...
"Amazing!" The spectators' blood boiled seeing the two exchange such fierce attacks and counters in such a short time. It had been a long while since they witnessed such an exciting fight.
"Got him!" Laxus thought with relief.
Suddenly, Kaito's voice came from the center of the explosion. "Hmm, you actually didn't need to hold back. You could have gotten a bit closer before detonating them. Of course, even then I would've dodged."
"Whoosh~!" A gust of wind blew the smoke away. Kaito stood completely unharmed in the same spot. Compared to Laxus, who looked slightly disheveled from the blast wave, the difference in their conditions after the short exchange was obvious.
"Bastard! Are you looking down on me?!"
"Looking down on you? That's the biggest taboo in battle. I never look down on anyone." Of course, how much effort he actually put in was another matter.
"Lightning Blast!" While Kaito was speaking, Laxus fired a thick golden bolt of lightning straight at him.
Kaito shifted sideways to dodge, then casually pointed his left hand at Laxus's position.
"Buzz~! Swoosh—!"
"Not good!" Laxus's face changed drastically.
"BOOM!!!"
"Uwaaaaaah!!!" Laxus didn't have time to turn into lightning and was sent flying by the violent explosion, crashing hard onto the ground.
"Laxus!" The Thunder God Tribe cried out in alarm when they saw him blasted away.
Laxus shakily got back to his feet.
"You're not my opponent. If you don't want to get hurt, just surrender now." Sigh… I'm too strong. Ever since I got the Glint-Glint Fruit, I've been lacking the fun of real fights.
"Make me surrender? Never!"
Kaito helplessly spread his hands. "Well, I tried. Then I'll just have to knock you out."
He had seen this kind of stubborn personality many times before—stubborn as a bull. But Kaito wasn't the type to force someone to admit defeat. He usually just beat them unconscious. This showed how kind-hearted he was.
"Buzz~! Swoosh—!" Kaito pointed at the ground beneath Laxus's feet.
"BOOM!!!"
"Uwaaaaaah!"
Laxus was once again blasted into the air.
Kaito's body scattered into golden light particles, then instantly reformed beside Laxus, who was still flying through the air.
Kaito raised his right leg high and brought it down in a powerful axe kick, striking Laxus squarely in the abdomen.
"Waaaaaaaah!!"
"Boom!" Laxus crashed heavily onto the ground and lay completely still.
"Laxus!"
Kaito landed beside him and shouted toward the Guild Master, "Guild Master, your grandson has been knocked out by me. I win, right?"
Makarov was so angry at Kaito's words that he nearly exploded. Watching his own grandson get beaten up wasn't pleasant for any grandfather, but Laxus had brought it on himself, so he couldn't say anything.
But hearing this stinky brat speak so casually after beating his grandson made his blood boil. It sounded like he was showing off. This brat really deserved a good beating.
Suddenly, "Grab!" Kaito's ankles were seized by Laxus.
"…It's not over! I won't lose! The S-Class qualification belongs to me!" He absolutely refused to lose to a mage younger than himself. He had to prove to his grandfather that his decision was wrong.
As Laxus spoke, a massive amount of magic power gathered in his mouth. He was preparing to fire a surprise Lightning Dragon's Roar straight from his mouth to defeat Kaito.
"Not good! Stinky brat, dodge quickly! Don't take it head… on…" Makarov immediately realized what Laxus was about to do and shouted at Kaito.
But before Makarov could finish his sentence, a huge golden fist suddenly appeared right in front of Laxus's face.
"Bang!" The fist smashed squarely into Laxus's face. Laxus didn't even have time to scream. His eyes rolled back and he collapsed unconscious on the ground.
Kaito curled his lips. "You lost, you lost! If you want to sneak attack, don't talk so much. You have way too much drama. Guild Master, what were you shouting just now?"
"..."