"Oh? You don't look surprised at all."
Laxus narrowed his eyes. Seeing Kael's lack of a reaction to his transformation actually made him uneasy.
"My eyes are a little... different. From the moment I saw you, I could see the Dragon Slayer Lacrima buried inside your chest."
Kael's words were half-truth, half-bluff. He already knew about the Lacrima from his knowledge of this world's history, but with the Six Eyes, he could literally see the dense mass of magic power lodged near Laxus's heart.
Having tapped into the Lacrima's power, Laxus felt a surge of raw, primal strength. That power brought back his iron-clad confidence.
"Come on! Round two starts now!"
BOOM!!
Laxus kicked off the ground, appearing in front of Kael in a flash of gold.
"Lightning Dragon's Breakdown Fist!!"
His fist, wreathed in dense, crackling golden lightning, roared toward Kael.
Kael raised a palm. The moment Laxus's fist entered the space in front of Kael, its speed plummeted. Kael didn't just stand there; he snapped a kick into Laxus's side.
CRASH!!
Laxus skidded across the stone floor, his boots carving deep furrows into the masonry. Despite taking the hit, a twisted, predatory grin spread across his face.
Laxus realized that even though he hadn't bypassed the defense yet, Kael was no longer just standing still. He was actively defending and countering. This meant Kael had to focus.
If I keep up the pressure, I'll drain his magic. One slip in his concentration, and he's mine.
"This guy... he's getting tougher to hurt."
Kael noticed it too. The speed at which Laxus was "breaching" the Limitless was much faster than before. Moreover, his physical durability had skyrocketed. A standard strike reinforced with Cursed Energy was no longer enough to put him down.
"Looks like I have to get a little serious."
BOOM!!
Laxus lunged again.
SHING!
Kael blurred, dodging the strike. Looking cool was one thing, but maintaining the Limitless against this level of output was a drain on his reserves. Dodging was more cost-effective.
"Cursed Technique Lapse: Blue."
Kael fired a concentrated sphere of Blue toward Laxus.
"Lightning Dragon's Heavenward Halberd!!"
Laxus countered with a jagged lance of electricity.
BOOM!!
The attraction of the Blue sphere collided with the raw magic of the spear, triggering a violent explosion that rocked the cathedral.
Under the cover of the smoke, Laxus turned into a lightning bolt, surging behind Kael. He swung a punch aimed straight for the back of Kael's head.
Kael dropped into a low crouch, letting the fist whistle over him, before launching a rising kick toward Laxus's jaw.
CLANG!
Laxus blocked the kick with his forearm, baring his teeth in a savage smirk.
"Is that all this transformation is good for? Maybe I should have called the old man instead!" Kael taunted.
"Don't be in such a rush! The fight's just starting!"
"Then don't blame me when you end up dead!"
"Give me a break! I've been beating you senseless this whole time, yet you're acting like you've got the upper hand. There's a limit to how brazen you can be."
"Cursed Technique Lapse: Blue!"
Kael fired another sphere. Laxus dodged it mid-air, his movements a blur of gold. He was fast—fast enough to outpace the attraction's center.
CRUNCH!!
The Blue sphere impacted a stone pillar, "eating" a perfect circular chunk out of the solid rock.
Laxus's pupils dilated. He realized then how dangerous those spheres were. If that thing touched his body, it wouldn't just bruise—it would erase.
Kael waved his hand. SHING! SHING! SHING!
Eight spheres of Blue manifested, hovering around him like a deadly constellation. Kael pointed a finger, and all eight swarmed Laxus at once.
CRACKLE!
Laxus transformed into pure lightning, zig-zagging through the cathedral rafters.
CRUNCH! CRUNCH! CRUNCH!
The spheres followed him like heat-seeking missiles, disintegrating everything they touched. Realizing he couldn't outrun them forever, Laxus solidified and unhinged his jaw.
ROAR!!
A massive blast of lightning erupted from his mouth, vaporizing the Blue spheres in a blinding flash.
But the moment Laxus solidified, Kael was already there, appearing behind him and driving a heavy boot into his spine.
"GAAH!!"
Laxus was sent reeling forward, but he instantly recovered, turning back into lightning to reappear behind Kael, his fist glowing with golden fury.
"Lightning Dragon's Iron Hammer!!"
Kael didn't dodge. He focused his Cursed Energy, condensing it into a single point on his fist.
"Black Flash!!"
The golden lightning collided with a burst of black and red spatial distortion.
KABOOM!!!
A massive shockwave shattered every remaining stained-glass window in the cathedral. Laxus was sent skidding back, his arm trembling from the impact.
"That felt good!!"
Kael exhaled, a sense of pure euphoria washing over him.
Usually, a Black Flash was nearly impossible to trigger at will. It required the application of Cursed Energy to land within 0.000001 seconds of the physical strike, creating a distortion in space that amplified the power to the 2.5th power.
To put it simply: if a normal punch was a 10, a Black Flash was over 300.
It was a state of "the zone" that no sorcerer could enter on command. And yet, Kael felt the spark. He had done it at the Tower of Heaven, and he felt he could do it again right now.
"Lightning Dragon's Iron Hammer!!"
Laxus, enraged that his strike had been neutralized, lunged again with a thunderous roar.
"Black Flash!!"
Again, the black and red sparks erupted.
BOOM!!
The entire cathedral groaned. The floor beneath them shattered, and the remaining pillars cracked under the pressure.
"GUAAAGH!!"
This time, Laxus was blown backward with terrifying force.
CRASH! CRASH! CRASH!
He smashed through several support pillars, his body finally coming to a halt in a pile of rubble.
Kael felt invincible. The "zone" provided by the Black Flash made his control over the Limitless feel absolute. He felt omnipotent.
Above, the roof had been partially torn away. A single beam of sunlight pierced through the dust and smoke, illuminating Kael and the massive statue of the divine behind him.
Kael began to float, his feet leaving the ground until he landed lightly on the head of the statue. He raised one finger toward the sky and pointed the other toward the earth. A serene, almost terrifyingly calm smile played on his lips.
"Watch closely..." he whispered, his voice echoing through the silent hall. "...this is my limit."
-----------------
On Patreon—there are 70 early-access chapters available.
My Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/c/LEYI396
If you're enjoying it, could you leave a review? It truly helps a lot. It doesn't have to be long—anything is enough. And the more reviews we get, the more early-access chapters I'll release as a thank-you.