The air was thick with anticipation, the chilling wind silenced by the sheer, crushing pressure emanating from Gildarts Clive. The S-Class mage watched from the high platform, and down below, Laxus stood rigid, his jaw clenched, watching his rival prepare to face the impossible.
Macao and Wakaba stood off to the side, already looking like relics next to the two titans about to clash.
Blake drew Tensa Zangetsu slowly. The black blade hissed as it left the sheath, a void against the light. His mind was calm. He had long since learned the art of cutting—it wasn't about the sharpness of the steel, but the will of the wielder. He knew that if he didn't want to cut something, his sword would not cut it.
The control over his Armament Haki was absolute, allowing him to focus its destructive force internally without worrying about inflicting lasting damage on Gildarts. This fight was not about injuring the Ace; it was about elevating his own spirit.
Gildarts, towering and imposing, spread his arms wide, a dangerous smile cracking his serious facade. The ground trembled beneath his power. "Come at me, Blake! Show me why a kid who can take down a demon is worth the S-Class title! Come at me with all you've got!"
Blake moved. He channeled a dense layer of Advanced Armament Haki into Tensa Zangetsu, making the black blade shimmer with an inner obsidian light. He used Soru to vanish, reappearing in a silent flash directly in front of Gildarts.
Lion Song
He executed a technique, a one-handed horizontal slash, boosted by impossible speed and aimed not to cut, but to slam Gildarts with raw kinetic, Haki-infused force.
The attack, which would have crippled any other mage, was laughably simple for Gildarts. The Ace didn't even shift his feet. He merely leaned his massive body back an inch, the blast of Haki whipping harmlessly past his chest. The speed of the attack made a sonic boom in the air, but the blade never connected.
"Too slow!" Gildarts boomed, a challenge in his voice. "Your speed is impressive, boy, but predictable! My senses are sharp!"
Blake landed, his expression thoughtful, not frustrated. He knew that even his Observation Haki, seeing two seconds into the future, couldn't give him an edge against a veteran of Gildarts's caliber who fought using pure, instinctual flow.
Blake needed a power that transcended prediction.
He renewed his assault, trading the finesse of speed for the raw power of his Armament Haki, slamming the blade down again and again. Each strike was effortlessly blocked by Gildarts's palm, coated in a shimmering layer of his own magic-infused defense.
I need it, Blake thought desperately, his mind screaming at the edge of his power. The final coating. The ultimate will.
He tried to force his Conqueror's Haki—the sheer, dominating will he used to knock out weaklings—into the blade, willing it to explode outward with that black lightning effect. He strained, pushing his spirit against his physical limits, but nothing happened. The power remained trapped within his soul. He was trying to pour water through a solid wall.
"You're holding back!" Gildarts shouted, deflecting a blow that shook the entire arena. "You're fighting like a brute! Show me the magic that makes you special, Blake!"
Blake finally stopped, panting, Tensa Zangetsu held steady. He looked directly at Gildarts, his eyes burning with frantic desperation.
"Gildarts," Blake's voice was low, but carried the weight of his resolve. "I am trying to figure out one of the ultimate moves of my power. I need you to put enough pressure on me so that I will make or break it. I need the highest mountain for the final climb."
Gildarts's playful smile vanished. His eyes narrowed, and his posture shifted from casual defense to utter seriousness. He understood the desperate plea. This was not a test of strength; it was a test of evolution.
He gave a curt, sharp nod. "As you wish, kid. Don't blame me for what happens next."
Gildarts drew a deep, shuddering breath. He released all his restraint on his Crush magic.
The effect was cataclysmic.
It wasn't a visible blast or a focused attack; it was a pure, overwhelming aura of destructive power. The air turned viscous, heavy, and toxic. The ground beneath Blake's feet instantly crumbled to dust, not from an explosion, but simply from the presence of Gildarts's power. The sound of distant stone walls cracking under the unseen pressure filled the void.
Blake felt the pressure trying to physically make him buckle. It was a force trying to liquefy his bones, crush his spirit, and nullify his very existence. Every instinct screamed at him to run, to use Soru and evade the oppressive force. But he stood rooted, leaning into the storm.
If I buckle now, I'm just a strong A-Ranker. I will break this wall!
With a guttural roar, Blake unleashed his own power. It was the terrifying, intangible energy of Conqueror's Haki—the will of the supreme king.
A dome of invisible, dominating will exploded outward from Blake's body. It didn't destroy matter; it destroyed intent. It was a silent, pure wave of dominance that sought to negate the external pressure.
The two powers collided, an invisible, soundless impact that caused the ground between them to violently distort. The remnants of the arena's architecture that survived the initial Crush magic were immediately cracked by the sheer concussive force of the spiritual impact.
Laxus watched from the edge, his eyes wide in disbelief. His own lightning magic, potent as it was, paled in comparison to this raw, elemental clash of wills. Laxus felt a primal fear, a chill that had nothing to do with the temperature. "That's the power of the Ace... and Blake is pushing back?!"
The realization that his past ambition to remove the "weaklings" was being demonstrated as pathetic by the two strongest people in the guild was a sickening slap of humility.
Macao and Wakaba, tough veterans who thought they had seen it all, shielded their eyes from the chaotic magical discharge. Macao felt his body vibrating painfully. "They're not even touching!" he shouted over the grinding of stone. "That's not magic, Wakaba! That's... that's pure force of will!"
Urged on by the unbearable pressure, Blake focused on his sword. He needed a conduit. He channeled the raw, unbound Conqueror's Haki into Tensa Zangetsu. His Armament Haki was the solid foundation, but the Conqueror's Haki was the volatile lightning he needed to harness.
As he fought Gildarts's omnipresent Crush with his own raw will, he began swinging the blade. Gildarts parried each blow, not with force, but with tiny, focused applications of Crush that dispersed the Haki just before contact.
But Blake was getting closer.
As the two wills wrestled for dominance, the air around Tensa Zangetsu began to fizz and crackle. We could see a few black lightning sparks dancing wildly along the blade's edge, but they were unstable, brief, and not yet fully developed into the persistent coating he sought. He was so close to figuring out how to let his will flow past the blade, past the point of contact.
Gildarts saw the unstable lightning. He saw the desperation and the sheer, unfathomable potential in the boy's eyes. The time for subtlety was over. He needed to push Blake over the abyss.
"You're stalling, boy! You need to let go of yourself, direct it, do not command it," Gildarts roared, channeling all his incredible power, all his mastery of destruction, into his right fist. The fist itself didn't change size, but the space around it distorted, shimmering like liquid glass. The crushing power was now focused, lethal, and inevitable.
"BRACE YOURSELF, BLAKE! THIS IS IT!"
Blake knew this was the end. His reserves were almost gone, his body screaming under the twin pressures of Gildarts's Crush and his own unrestrained Haki. He channeled his whole remaining Haki reserve into Tensa Zangetsu.
He lifted the blade high above his head, drawing a breath that felt like it would tear his lungs apart. His eyes glowed with a feral intensity.
Gildarts charged, moving with a speed that belied his size, his fist a beacon of concentrated, crushing force.
"PURIFYING TRUTH: ABSOLUTE HEAVEN!"
Blake met him instantly, swinging his blade to the side in a wide, sweeping arc, unleashing all his latent power.
"DIVINE DEPARTURE!"
Sword and fist met.
But they did not touch each other.
A massive, silent shockwave erupted from the point of contact. It was not a magical explosion, but a pure, unadulterated release of spiritual energy. The Conqueror's Haki coating, finally stabilized by the pressure, formed an invisible, impenetrable layer of will around both the fist and the blade.
The two forces violently repelled each other, a collision of non-existence that created an overabundance of existence.
The resulting blast of power was atmospheric. In the sky above, the clouds instantly parted, revealing a clear, silent ring of blue amidst the raging storm, as if a hole had been punched in the sky itself. The very weather changed due to the impossible exertion of will.
The residual energy dissipated quickly, leaving Blake exhausted but standing.
Gildarts stood there, his fist hanging in the air.
Blake was leaning heavily on his sword, panting, the black lightning finally settling into a stable, constant aura around the edge of Tensa Zangetsu.
After a long, breathless moment of silence, Gildarts slowly lowered his fist. He looked at the cracked ground, then at the hole in the clouds, and finally, he looked at Blake.
A massive, genuine, proud smile spread across Gildarts's face.
"I'm impressed, kid," Gildarts boomed, his voice returning to his usual cheerful tone. He dispelled the remaining aura of Crush magic. "You found it. You've proven your worth."
He extended his massive hand, a gesture of respect.
"Blake Corvus... you have passed the S-Class Exam."
The crowd of mages rushed forward, screaming in celebration and awe.
Makarov, watching from the high platform with pride, was barely able to contain himself. He threw his head back and laughed, a booming, triumphant sound. "That is Fairy Tail! That is my boy!"
Macao and Wakaba rushed to Blake. "You madman!" Macao cried, slapping Blake on the back (a gesture that made Blake wince). "The clouds! You ripped a hole in the sky! I knew you had it!"
Laxus also went and congratulated Blake for becoming a S-Class Mage.
Blake, utterly depleted but spiritually fulfilled, leaned on Macao. He had gotten his answer. The only way to the peak was through the constant, punishing pressure of a worthy rival.