"You've come."
Seeing Moen step forward, Laxus spoke.
Looking at Moen, Laxus felt the irritation in his heart from earlier completely swept away. Even his expression turned excited. At last, he had dealt with all those guys finally, it was Moen's turn to step up!
"I've come."
Hearing Laxus's words, Moen replied almost reflexively, then looked at Laxus with a strange expression.
"Good, you came! Let's begin!"
Fortunately, the excited Laxus didn't say something like "you shouldn't have come." Thinking about it, that made sense, Laxus had been waiting for Moen to come, so there was no way he would say such a thing.
"Then let's do it!"
Moen silently let out a sigh of relief, and his fighting spirit began to rise as well.
Laxus was a good opponent, not as unfathomable as Gildarts or Makarov, and not someone he vastly outclassed like the other kids. He was a perfect opponent to test his strength.
"Crackle!!!"
Laxus unleashed his magic power. Lightning surged wildly, the crackling thunder painfully loud to the ears. Golden magic shot into the sky as if it would cover the heavens.
Electric currents continuously flowed and coiled around Laxus. Standing there, he looked like a thunder god descending to the world. Even his eyes were filled with lightning, meeting his gaze alone could make one's eyes ache.
"As expected, you've grown much stronger, Laxus."
Seeing this scene, Moen narrowed his eyes. Compared to when Laxus fought Jose, he had become far stronger. This display truly carried the presence of an S-Class Mage—ordinary people would probably fall to their knees and worship him as a god.
At this moment, the reactions of the guild members watching from the side said everything, they had no choice but to retreat further back.
The battle hadn't even begun yet. Just the aftershock of Laxus releasing his magic power so freely was already almost unbearable for them.
"Did Laxus even try when fighting us…?"
Gray widened his mouth, feeling his head go blank.
"Could that even be called a fight with us?"
Elfman wore the same expression as Gray, delivering a blunt comment, but no one could refute it.
Compared to now, the earlier Laxus had been like playing house with them.
"Moen…"
Cana, who had just woken up, looked worried. Seeing Moen standing before the raging storm of lightning, it was hard not to be concerned, the power Laxus displayed was simply overwhelming.
"It'll definitely work!"
Erza clenched her teeth. She refused to believe that even Moen couldn't exchange blows with Laxus!
Although there was a four-year age gap between them, this was Moen the one who had repeatedly shocked the world!
"The fact that Laxus is using this level of strength means he thinks Moen is worthy of it!"
Mirajane spoke with certainty. Her reasoning made sense, and it calmed everyone who had been worried.
Everyone's gaze turned toward Moen. For some reason, Laxus had inexplicably become the common enemy in everyone's eyes, perhaps because they were all examinees, perhaps because they were more familiar with Moen, or perhaps because Laxus's expression had become so excited it looked almost maniacal, making him seem like a villain.
At least compared to Moen, who had slightly narrowed eyes and a smile on his face, Laxus indeed looked more like a villain
but what they didn't know was that those with narrowed eyes were the most terrifying!
"Buzz!!!"
Moen stood there, directly facing the surging lightning, allowing the faint blue starlight flickering across his body to spread freely.
He raised one hand and reached toward the sky. In an instant, starlight began to shimmer across the heavens. Several constellations appeared, their star maps spreading across the sky. Radiant starlight filled the air, converging toward Tenrou Island, converging toward Moen standing there. Behind him, the star maps also began to shine.
"Aries Gold Cloth!"
With just a thought from Moen, pieces of golden armor shining with light flew out one after another, then quickly merged onto his body. His aura immediately surged upward, starlight flickering as it pressed directly against the surging golden lightning.
The moment this radiant golden Cloth appeared, it almost completely overwhelmed the glow of Laxus Dreyar's golden lightning, making people want to look away, yet unable to bring themselves to do so.
'That is a style I've never seen before. Is this the power Moen gained from that incident? Truly extraordinary.'
Seeing this scene, Laxus immediately thought of the previous disturbance of the stars and made the correct judgment.
And the people watching from around were already stunned, because the presence Moen displayed was not inferior to Laxus in the slightest. After the golden armor appeared, it even directly suppressed Laxus—how could they not be shocked?
This scene left even those who had great confidence in Moen—Erza, Mirajane, Cana, Gray, and Elfman, completely dumbfounded.
They believed Moen could exchange blows with Laxus, but they never expected that Moen could directly overpower Laxus in terms of presence!
Both were exceptionally talented, yet with a full four-year gap in growth was Moen going to once again defeat someone stronger than himself in an unreasonable way?!
"Crackle!"
Facing the imposing Moen, Laxus did not hesitate at all. He rushed straight toward Moen, his entire body wrapped in lightning, as if he himself had transformed into lightning. In Moen's eyes, it was like a bolt of lightning rapidly closing in.
In the blink of an eye, Laxus had already arrived in front of Moen.
Then he transformed from lightning into a physical form and threw a punch at Moen. Lightning magic power clung to his body, continuously stimulating his flesh, activating it and comprehensively increasing his strength, speed, and durability.
"Buzz!"
Moen's figure flickered. Laxus's punch struck Moen's face but hit nothing but air. His body lurched forward, while Moen's figure had already appeared behind him in an instant.
"Instant Transmission!"
Laxus reacted almost immediately. His body once again turned into lightning, darting into the sky and then descending to the side, successfully widening the distance from Moen, narrowly avoiding Moen's finger that shimmered with crimson light.
The reason Laxus handled it so skillfully was naturally thanks to Jose Porla. After all, this "Instant Transmission" ability was also one of Jose specialties.
However, although he wasn't injured, that moment just now had already made Laxus break out in a cold sweat. He had never expected Moen to have such a move—Moen had never used it before!
Clearly, this was likely another new ability that came along with that "golden armor with ram horns on the shoulders." If he remembered correctly, Moen seemed to call these armors "Cloths."
From "Bronze" to "Silver," and now to this "Gold."
"So this is the power of the Gold Cloth?"
Laxus asked with a serious expression. He had a fair understanding of his younger brother's power system at least more than most outsiders who didn't understand it at all.
He knew that abilities like the previous "Scarlet Needle" and the roses that made Moen famous in a single battle were both of the "Gold" level, and this Gold Cloth brought an enhancement far beyond those two abilities.
"That's right, this is the power of the Aries Gold Cloth but this is only just the beginning. Don't be surprised too early, my brother. The real show is yet to come. Let's continue."
Moen spoke slowly with a smile on his face. He extended that finger shimmering with crimson light toward Laxus and curled it, as if Laxus were the challenger instead.
However, what surprised Moen was that Laxus did not charge forward again in anger and slam into his "Crystal Wall." Instead, Laxus stood there frozen.
'He actually called me brother?'
At this moment, this was the only thought in Laxus's mind.
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