Chapter 108: The Strongest Guild
"What?!"
Jose Porla, his body hovering in the air amidst a swirl of dark, malevolent energy, felt his mind snap.
"Finish me in one hit?!" he shrieked, his voice no longer smooth or condescending, but a high-pitched, furious screech. "You brat! Just because you landed a slight hit, you're boasting! You think you've won?!"
"You... you actually said you'd finish me in one hit!!"
Jose, the Wizard Saint, the master of Phantom Lord, was completely enraged. Dark energy, blacker than a moonless night, began to condense in his hands. "I'd like to see it! How exactly will you finish me in one hit, you filthy fairy?!"
Ren, in his towering Whitebeard form, merely looked up, his expression one of profound disappointment. He stomped his feet, cracking the stone beneath him.
Whoosh—!
His massive, six-meter-tall body shot into the sky, his white coat billowing like the sails of a warship. He drew back his right fist, clenching it to gather power.
Buzz—!
The power of the Gura Gura no Mi condensed into that iconic, white, transparent spherical light shield, enveloping his giant fist. The power within it was so great, so dense, that it was continuously compressed, and the very space around his fist began to warp and crackle.
As Ren's body reached the apex of his jump, he began to fall, his fist aimed, not at Jose, but at the empty space just in front of him.
Rumble—!
The atmosphere itself began to tremble in anticipation.
Everyone on the ground—Fairy Tail and Phantom Lord alike—felt a terrifying, world-ending power building up. Their hearts involuntarily jumped into their throats, and they were paralyzed by a primal fear.
"This is bad!!" Gray yelled, his eyes wide.
"He's going to do it again!" Lucy shrieked.
Everyone sensed that the upcoming attack was extraordinary.
"Ice-Make: Ice Shield!!" Gray, acting on instinct, conjured the largest, thickest ice shield he could, bracing himself in front of the Fairy Tail lounge.
"Re-Equip: Adamantine Armor!!"
"Adamantine Barrier!!"
Erza also re-equipped in a flash, donning her strongest defensive armor. She combined its two massive shields to create a giant, green magic barrier in front of Gray's, protecting her guild.
"VANISH!!" Jose roared, his rage and magic power reaching their peak. He thrust both hands forward.
"Dead Wave!!!"
A super-strong, dark shockwave, a beam of pure, concentrated death magic, shot towards Ren in the sky.
Ren, his eyes cold, simply swung his fist, which was still imbued with the world-breaking tremor power, down towards the dark shockwave.
Boom—!
The two powerful forces—one of pure, dark magic, the other of pure, physical vibration—collided head-on.
The resulting explosion was silent.
For one, agonizing second, all sound in the world was gone, consumed by the clash. Then, the energy erupted outwards, destroying everything in its path.
"Die, die, die!!" Jose shouted, pouring all of his magic into his ultimate attack.
Crack—!
The dark shockwave... faltered.
The tremor, a force that breaks anything, shattered and destroyed Jose's dark magic.
And Ren's body, his fist leading the way, continued through the explosion, his form unharmed, his trajectory unchanged, closing the distance to Jose.
"What?!"
Jose's eyes widened in disbelief. "This is impossible!!"
He couldn't believe it. In a pure duel of magic power, his magic, the magic of a Wizard Saint, had ultimately lost to this... this brat.
"No!! This is absolutely impossible!!"
"I said I'd finish you in one hit," Ren's voice boomed, his body now appearing directly above Jose. "And I will."
His fist, still enveloped in the white tremor shield, descended.
"—!!"
Crack, crack—!
The space in front of his fist shattered.
The punch struck Jose Porla.
"Ugh ah ah ah ah ah!!"
Boom, boom, boom—!
Jose was hit by the tremor wave. His internal organs, his bones, his very soul, suffered a violent, unstoppable impact. Blood spurted from his nose, his mouth, his eyes.
He was sent flying, not backward, but downward, a black meteor crashing into the arena floor.
The ground of the entire city of Onibus vibrated violently, as if it had been struck by a massive earthquake.
After a long, trembling while, the tremors finally subsided.
The arena... was gone.
Everyone—the spectators still fleeing, the guild members on both sides—looked towards the center of where the arena used to be.
But upon seeing it, everyone was stunned by the sight: a super-massive, smoking crater, hundreds of meters wide, had appeared in the center of the arena, as if a huge meteor had fallen from the sky and created it.
In the very center of that crater, Ren, in his Whitebeard form, stood, his white coat the only thing moving in the wind.
And at his feet, half-buried in the rubble... lay Jose, the Master of the Phantom Lord Guild.
At this moment, Jose was in a very, very sorry state. His elegant clothes were torn and burnt. His hair was disheveled and caked in blood. He was bleeding from all seven orifices, and his body was trembling, twitching uncontrollably. He was severely, catastrophically, injured.
"R-Ren... actually..."
"...won..."
"Ren... defeated... a Ten Wizard Saint..."
The Fairy Tail members, from behind Makarov's giant, protective form, all felt as if they were dreaming. The Ten Wizard Saints... recognized by the Magic Council as the ten strongest individuals on the Ishgar continent... were all formidable, god-like monsters.
They had never imagined defeating a Ten Wizard Saint. Yet, it had truly, and brutally, happened right before their very eyes.
A moment of stunned silence...
And then...
"OH OH OH OH OH OH OH!!"
"AMAZING!!"
"AS EXPECTED OF REN!!"
"HE EVEN DEFEATED A TEN WIZARD SAINT!!"
"WE WON!! WE DEFEATED PHANTOM LORD!! YAY YAY YAY!!"
After realizing what had happened, all the Fairy Tail members cheered, their voices raw with emotion, tears streaming down their faces. Ren's victory also meant that Fairy Tail had won this confrontation against Phantom Lord.
This time, they had truly gotten their revenge. Phantom Lord was completely, utterly, and publicly crushed by Fairy Tail. Now, Phantom Lord would never be able to act arrogantly in front of Fairy Tail again.
"Master... Jo... Jose..."
"He actually... actually lost..."
Equally disbelieving were the members of Phantom Lord, who were climbing from the rubble of their stands. If Master Jose had been defeated by Makarov, that would have been one thing. Makarov was also a Ten Wizard Saint, and an old-timer at that.
But now, Jose had actually been defeated by an unknown, young Mage from Fairy Tail. How could they believe it? Their god... had fallen.
Just then, the commentator, Chapati Lola, who had been hiding behind Makarov's giant leg with a lacrima microphone, peeked out, his body shaking.
"The... the victor has been decided!!!" he shrieked, his voice cracking.
"Winner... FAIRY TAIL'S REN!!!"
"It's... It's truly unbelievable!! COOOOOOL!! Jose Porla, the Master of the Phantom Lord Guild, known as a Ten Wizard Saint, was actually defeated by a young Mage from Fairy Tail!!"
"He's truly amazing!!"
"Fiore's strongest Mage Guild... is—FAIRY TAIL!!!"
"You're still here?!" Natsu, who had been cheering, complained when he saw Chapati appear. They had thought the commentator had already run off.
Ren, his Whitebeard form dissipating, leaving him in his normal, now-6-Star magic form, walked over to the broken, twitching body of Jose.
"This is a lesson for you," Ren said coldly, his voice now his own. "If you ever dare to provoke Fairy Tail again... I won't hesitate to kill you myself."
He had been in Fairy Tail for a year. He had already become a decisive person. He remembered the anime. He knew what Jose would have done. Jose didn't just destroy the guild. He had Aria ambush the old man, draining his magic, almost killing him. He had driven the guild on its giant legs, attempting to kill everyone in Fairy Tail. Mira... Mira was almost crushed to death.
Thinking of this, Ren couldn't help but want to finish this guy off right here.
However, this was a public place. And truly killing a Wizard Saint would make things very, very troublesome with the Magic Council. This "spar" was already pushing the limits.
Ren turned and stepped towards where the Fairy Tail members were.
"Ren!!"
All the Fairy Tail members, who were now running onto the field, happily welcomed him, lifting him onto their shoulders.
"Ren! Well done!"
"You even defeated a Ten Wizard Saint! You're incredible!"
"Now let's see if those Phantom Lord bastards dare to provoke us again!"
"They'll surely run away with their tails between their legs when they see us! Hahahaha!"
Ren, laughing, was carried over to Makarov, who had shrunk back to his normal size. Ren scratched the back of his head, his usual, calm demeanor returning.
"Sorry, Master," he said. "It seems I've caused trouble for you again."
This duel... it hadn't just destroyed the arena in Onibus. Even though he had tried to control the power... Onibus City would still be experiencing an earthquake of at least magnitude four or five. This was no small trouble. The old man would surely be scolded by the Council again.
Makarov, however, just smiled. He looked at Ren, his eyes shining with tears of pride.
"I've said it before, brat. You forge your own path. And you did wonderfully."
Makarov looked at Ren, and his satisfaction was immeasurable. He was powerful, yes, but he was also humble. And although he occasionally caused trouble... those were minor flaws.
He would step forward in times of guild crisis. He would defeat powerful enemies. He was trustworthy. He was... a true son of Fairy Tail.
Makarov placed a hand on Ren's shoulder, and then turned to all his cheering, crying, and laughing children.
"Let's go!" he shouted, his voice full of joy. "We're going home!"
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