Hades checked the Lacrima, seeing the seriousness in Azuma's eyes. He had made the Devil's Heart reside inside his own body instead of outside, so as to battle the newly born tactician of Fairy Tail. Karna's existence and achievements, in themselves, had pushed him to heights he had never thought about reaching before.
A small part of him was actually excited about the heights that child was rising to.
He activated the Lacrima and began watching the visuals recorded within it. Azuma waited patiently as time passed, until the Lacrima ended with Karna fainting into Cana's arms. Hades put the Lacrima down and let out a small laugh.
He then turned to Azuma and asked,
"What do you think happened on the battlefield when he demolished Nirvana?"
Azuma paused, knowing that the question was asked with the intention of receiving an answer different from the norm. But he was unable to see anything beyond the obvious.
"Karna Vermillion's ethernano levels are higher than we ever thought they would be. The fact that he was able to land strikes surpassing the ultimate attacks of many S-Class wizards continuously for four hours during this battle shows that his magic output surpasses that of your Devil's Heart—at least, the one you've shown me before, Master," Azuma replied.
"Heh, that's where you're wrong, Azuma. Karna's magic level is higher than yours and many others', yes, but it's not enough to sustain that magic for more than an hour—if he's pushing himself completely."
"What do you mean, Master? I don't understand," Azuma asked, confused.
"Use your head, Azuma. I acknowledge your thirst for battles with strong opponents, but if you want to fight stronger ones in the future, your inability to use information will only hold you back. The end result will be a defeat so swift, you won't even get the satisfaction of dying a good death," Hades scolded in a strict tone.
Azuma was startled by the scolding. He then began to think about the intelligence reports they had on Karna. Seeing him struggle for a few minutes, Hades decided to give him a clue.
"You don't need to comb through everything—just look for something recent."
Upon hearing this, Azuma began to think about the recent happenings connected to Karna.
'The lightning he used might have been connected to the absorption of the Thunder Palace created by Laxus. But that doesn't account for the amount of magic he had—he didn't stop to absorb any kind of energy from anywhere else during that fight. So, the incident must be about the R-System Tower. But then—'
Azuma stopped as the information clicked in his head. He remembered reading a report presented by Capricorn—Zoldeo, his real name.
'The mission reported successful extraction of Zeref's keys, but also a failure to extract any of the charged solid Etherion from the tower structure. Zoldeo had escaped after the fight to avoid detection by Karna, but when he returned later, there wasn't even a trace of the earlier tower left.'
Azuma's eyes widened as more realizations came to him.
"But Master, that's impossible! Pure solid ethernano is essentially poison to the human body—whether they're a wizard or not. He would burn up from the inside due to ethernano overload!" Azuma shouted.
"Yes, that's correct—unless the recipient can absorb all kinds of magic."
"Arcane Dragon Slayer…" Azuma muttered.
"Yes, that's correct," Hades said as he looked out the window. "He must have eaten shards of ethernano inside the armor while punching Nirvana. But it had to be done with perfect calculation—if he went overboard and swallowed more than his body could handle, the damage could have been fatal."
"That maniac," Azuma muttered in fear.
"Go. Find more information about every member of Fairy Tail. There's a chance that, with Karna's intellect, he might have hidden a few more trump cards. But be careful and try not to use your magic while investigating.
Many of their members are highly sensitive to magical energy."
"Yes, Master," Azuma bowed and left the room.
Hades then moved toward the Lacrima and picked it up to rewatch the video. He closely examined every move Karna had made. A wide grin formed as he began speaking to himself.
"Azuma was shocked by the little information I had inferred from the Lacrima. What would've happened if I had revealed the truth about this battle of yours—or should I say, training?"
He paused at the moments where Karna's output had grown many times stronger throughout the training. And while watching, a question came to his mind.
"You have a woman you love, a family, accomplishments more than anyone achieves in a lifetime. And with your intellect, you must already know your power surpasses that of many of the strongest on the continent. This is more than enough to satisfy a person like you. If power was your aim, you would not have been content to remain in Fairy Tail" His expression hardened. "Then what is it that pushes you to constantly break your limits like this? What kind of danger do you see that makes you seize every chance to become even stronger?"
Hades remembered the report about Karna taking on the full might of the Thunder Palace. Even he himself could think of many ways to counter that, so he knew Karna's intelligence was more than enough to do the same. But seeing how he had used Nirvana as a punching bag made the reason clear.
"The Thunder Palace tribulation gave you access to dragon-slaying thunder. The present battle pushed your limits. Chances are, after you rest and heal, your physical capabilities and the quantity of your magic will rise to an entirely new level."
Hades began walking toward a table where a list of his guild members was kept.
"I had Bluenote prepare himself to face you when we battle in the future. But it seems like he won't be enough. Chances are, he won't even be able to put a dent in your ethernano level.
Guess I have to do it myself, then."
A/N- hope you like it and every 100 powerstone gets extra chapter of Jason.