Just as Clooney strode past with murderous momentum, the elven swordsman trapped in the otherworldly space suddenly paused mid-swing.
For the briefest moment, a smile tugged at the corners of his usually stoic face.
Fighting alongside the master again?
Now that's interesting. Like a knife to the backside it really opened my eyes!
Clooney, too focused on his target, didn't notice the swordsman's faint change in expression. With one hand wrapped in swirling chaotic space and the other shaped into a deadly claw, he stepped confidently toward Chase.
When he saw that Chase wasn't reaching for a single card, he became even more convinced.
That reflection spell from earlier must have burned through the last of his magic power.
There's no way he can play another card now!
"All this effort… and the sacrifice of my entire crew… finally, it's my moment!"
Clooney's eyes gleamed with excitement. In his mind, he had already envisioned the glory to come delivering Chase as a trophy to Lord Marshall and claiming his place in a new era of power.
Overwhelmed with anticipation, Clooney slowly took his stance, flashing a cocky grin as he waved at Chase with mockery.
"Come on, let's get this over with," his gesture seemed to say.
Watching this guy parade around like he'd already popped the champagne at halftime, Chase let out a quiet chuckle and shook his head.
Under Clooney's bewildered gaze, Chase reached up and pulled off his sleeveless cloak, letting it drift to the deck with a flutter.
The setting sun bathed the battlefield in warm amber light, casting golden highlights across his exposed upper body.
His muscles rippled with quiet strength, and across his chest and arms were scars old, deep, and proudly worn. Each one was a story, a memory carved by life-or-death combat.
They glowed faintly in the light, radiating an overwhelming aura of power.
They were proof.
Proof of his countless battles against terrifying foes.
His glory.
"Wait... something's wrong." Clooney's eyes narrowed in confusion.
The card mage should have looked desperate by now.
Why wasn't he panicking?
Why did he look... thrilled?
And those scars those brutal, weathered marks what kind of card wizard had a body like that?!
A chill crept up Clooney's spine. A single drop of cold sweat rolled down his already bloodied forehead.
He started to feel it.
Dread.
"You're really something, President Clooney," Chase said casually, cracking his knuckles with a loud pop.
"If this is how you want it... then I'll give you exactly what you asked for."
He raised his fists with a big, boyish grin.
"Let's have a passionate fight!"
Truth be told, Chase still had more than enough magic power left. If he wanted to, he could summon any of his ace monsters even the Dark Magician.
But that kind of firepower was better saved for Marshall.
The real mastermind.
The true threat lurking behind the curtain.
There was no reason to waste his heavy hitters on a warm-up act.
Besides, the Clooney standing in front of him was barely even a challenge at this point.
And to be honest, Chase was a little curious.
Would this guy drop a new card if he beat him?
But more importantly than any of that...
Fighting was just plain fun!
Boom!!
Clooney blinked.
The sky had appeared out of nowhere clear and blue, with a few startled crows flapping away from the noise.
His mind went blank.
What… just happened?
Why was the sky suddenly upside down?
Wait no!
A sharp, searing pain tore through his chest, dragging him back to reality.
With a groan, Clooney turned his head and realized, to his horror, that he was now sprawled in the shattered wreckage of the ship's bow.
Sawdust and splinters floated through the air like snow.
Through the debris, he caught sight of Chase, standing tall at the other end of the deck.
Calm. Composed.
Retracting his right fist slowly, as if he'd only just finished throwing a casual punch.
The same fist that had launched Clooney clean across the deck.
I didn't even see him move!
Clooney's heart pounded with disbelief.
"Impossible! This is impossible!!"
He forced himself to his feet, roaring like a beast driven to the brink.
The humiliation was too much to bear.
He had survived countless battles, carved out a name for himself in blood and fire.
And now now he was losing to a card wizard?!
Buzz!
The swirling vortex of chaotic magic twisted violently in Clooney's hand, then morphed into a shockwave that blasted forward like a cannon.
Boom!
The impact exploded across the deck, sending waves crashing and tearing through what little remained of the pirate ship's structure. The already-damaged half of the bow shattered into splinters, fragments flying in every direction.
Chase was gone vanished into the smoke and debris.
But only for a moment.
Without warning, he reappeared high in the air, one leg lifted.
Above Clooney!
Boom!!
Clooney's pupils shrank in alarm.
With barely any time to think, he threw himself into a series of desperate somersaults, narrowly avoiding the devastating kick that came crashing down like a meteor.
The force of the blow crushed what remained of the bow beneath it, leaving behind two massive footprints embedded deep into the timber.
Before Clooney could even draw a breath, a sudden gust of wind slammed into his face.
Chase was already in front of him again his fist driving forward in a clean, brutal line, growing larger and larger in Clooney's wide, terrified eyes.
With nothing but instinct and reflexes from years of combat, Clooney crossed his arms in front of his chest just in time to block.
Thud.
A dull, explosive sound echoed through the air.
Even in a defensive stance, Clooney was blasted backward like a ragdoll, his boots grinding against the wood as he slid across the deck. He barely managed to stop himself right at the edge.
One more step, and he would have plunged into the endless sea behind him.
Panting, Clooney looked down at his trembling arms.
Pain radiated through his limbs like fire. The bones had cracked maybe even broken.
His nerves screamed with every twitch.
It wasn't until this moment that Clooney once so confident in his own close-combat skills finally realized how utterly foolish it had been to bypass the elven swordsman and try fighting Chase head-on.
He had underestimated him.
Severely.
This wasn't just some card mage.
This was a Fairy Tail wizard.
And the man standing before him… was an unstoppable monster.
The fear in Clooney's eyes flickered for a moment, but then it faded. He forced himself to calm down, suppressing the panic boiling in his chest.
He still had one last trump card.
A condition.
A rule.
A loophole in this nightmare of a fight.
Capture alive.
That was the specific clause Lord Marshall had insisted on when assigning this commission.
As long as that requirement stood, Chase couldn't kill him. If he wanted to finish the job properly, he'd have to hold back.
Clooney's expression twisted into a grin.
That was his golden ticket. His immunity.
Armed with this knowledge, he could throw away all pretense of defense. No need to block, no need to retreat. Just pure, reckless assault.
"I am the pirate Clooney Blood! You brat you're a hundred years too early to take me down!"
Afraid Chase might somehow have forgotten, Clooney even yelled out his own name again loud and proud as if reminding him of the terms of the contract would make him invincible.
With a furious roar, he clenched his fists, compressing space into a swirling vortex, and charged forward.
To Ina and the others watching from afar, it looked like a completely suicidal move.
"Bring it on!" Clooney screamed.
Even knowing exactly what Clooney was trying to do, Chase made no attempt to dodge.
He just smiled and slowly raised a finger.
Clooney's charging face twitched in terror.
Not another card?!
That familiar motion the simple act of lifting a finger sent chills down Clooney's spine.
Clooney was, by this point, completely traumatized by Chase's cards.
Every time that man lifted a finger, a new nightmare followed.
And just as he feared, Chase was preparing to summon something.
But not a card.
"I summon… my fists!" Chase declared with a grin. "And I take attacking stance!"
With a confident step forward, Chase raised both fists, facing the oncoming Clooney without a shred of fear.
The two men collided like thunder.
Fists swung through the air so fast they left streaks of motion behind them. They didn't hold back each blow was heavy, direct, and filled with unrelenting force.
Ola Ola Ola Ola!!
The sound of fists slamming into flesh echoed across the wrecked ship like a rhythmic drumbeat. With every impact, a shockwave rippled outward, sending vibrations across the waves.
Over on the opposite merchant ship, Ina and the others clung tightly to the railings, their eyes wide in disbelief.
Was this really a battle between two wizards?
Even Dasha, who prided herself on being a hand-to-hand combat specialist, stood frozen with her mouth hanging open.
She imagined herself in that clash.
Result: Two words.
Instant knockout.
The brutal exchange of punches raged on for nearly a full minute, with neither man giving an inch.
In the end, Chase limited by the mission parameters and painfully reluctant to part with the promised reward of 9.9 million J decided not to finish Clooney off with a single, devastating punch.
Instead, he dragged the fight out, gradually wearing Clooney down until the battered pirate finally collapsed, drained and defeated, onto the splintered remains of the deck.
"You... you're on a whole different level compared to those so-called S-Class wizards..."
Clooney lay flat in a pool of his own blood, eyes dazed as he stared up at the sky. Despite the pain, there was a trace of genuine admiration in his voice.
"I... lost..."
Breathing heavily but satisfied, Chase took a deep breath and wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth with the back of his hand.
He didn't bother rushing to restrain Clooney.
Instead, he closed his eyes, shifting his attention inward into the deep card space within his mind.
And there it was.
Floating gently in the void...
A new card.
A reward born from battle.
Chase's lips curved into a satisfied smile as the card flipped over, revealing the image of a small, elegant blue dragon soaring through the clouds.
A new summon.
A new ally.
He had been lucky enough to draw a card from Clooney after all.