At this moment, Erza finally understood that Kaien hadn't been exaggerating.
'To someone who knows nothing of the sword, he looks like the moon reflected in a well—distant, beautiful, and unreachable.'
'To someone who knows the sword, he's the endless sky—and you're just an ant staring up in awe.'
She thought her six months of intense training had narrowed the gap between them. But now she realized... she had overestimated herself.
Kaien was still as unfathomable as ever.
"I lost... Thank you."
Erza had seen through it—Kaien could have defeated her in a single strike again. But instead, he deliberately displayed all his sword forms, beginning to end, just to let her study and learn from them.
"I want to know—how many times did you actually hit me?"
"Hmm… eighty-one."
"Eighty-one?!!"
Erza was stunned. She had been struck eighty-one times, and she hadn't noticed a single one.
What she didn't know was that Kaien had deliberately underreported. In truth, he had hit her eight hundred and ten times.
There's a saying in swordsmanship:
"No technique is unbreakable—except speed."
Yoriichi's swordplay wasn't just elegant—it was fast. Blindingly fast.
In the anime, when Muzan Kibutsuji faced Yoriichi, he had no choice but to self-destruct to survive. His body exploded into over 1,800 fragments.
Yoriichi slashed over 1,500 of them in an instant. Muzan survived only because 300 pieces slipped through.
"My sword style has thirteen forms. The thirteenth is created by unleashing the first twelve continuously in a seamless loop. It's a closed combat cycle."
"If you can master the first twelve, you can craft a thirteenth form of your own—tailored to your style."
Erza's pupils trembled. She murmured,
"…Unleashing continuously… a closed cycle of attacks…"
What kind of genius came up with something like that? What kind of swordsmanship turned every individual form into a flowing, unified rhythm?
Maybe true swordplay was never meant to be disjointed techniques. Maybe it was always meant to be one continuous dance.
She looked at Kaien with deep admiration in her eyes.
"OHHHHHHH!!"
"That was incredible! Absolutely insane!!"
"So cool!!"
"A real man's man—!!"
Kaien's dazzling swordwork left everyone speechless. Erza was already insanely strong, but the gap between them was still plain to see when Kaien went all-out.
"He's a total monster…"
Natsu and Gray muttered under their breath.
What they didn't realize was that Kaien had only shown a fraction of his true strength. His strongest attacks were actually the ones that used magic power—slashes powerful enough to break through the scales of dragons.
Soon, the party resumed, louder and livelier than before.
It lasted all the way until 1 a.m. before the crowd reluctantly dispersed. Of course, they cleaned up before leaving.
Kaien showered, collapsed into bed, and didn't wake up until the sun was blazing through his window.
Still groggy, he habitually opened his system panel. No changes. He shut it off and lay in bed a while longer.
Eventually his stomach started growling, and he dragged himself to the guild.
The guild hall was buzzing, with everyone still talking about last night's duel between Kaien and Erza. As soon as he walked in, people greeted him enthusiastically—and he responded to each one.
"Mira! I'm starving—bring me something to eat!"
"On it!"
Mira brought him a full tray, already knowing his favorites by heart.
"Erza! Fight me!!"
Suddenly, Natsu jumped onto a table and challenged Erza.
He'd wanted to fight since watching her battle Kaien last night, but she'd been exhausted. Now that she was rested, he couldn't hold back anymore.
Gray nearly choked. "H-Hey!! Don't be stupid!! Do you have a death wish?!"
Elfman added, "Yeah, cool it! That's Erza! She might've lost to Kaien, but that doesn't mean we can take her lightly!"
Erza shook her head. "Not happening. I'm tired."
"I'm coming for you anyway!"
Natsu's fists ignited with flame as he charged her without warning.
Erza sighed. "Honestly…"
She summoned a massive hammer and swung it.
BOOM—!
Natsu was sent flying across the room, smashing into the wall and passing out cold.
"Guess I've got no choice, huh?"
Happy announced, "It's over already!!"
"Hahaha! Natsu, that was pathetic!"
"Erza still reigns supreme! You've got a long way to go, Natsu!" …
Everyone laughed as Natsu got one-shot KO'd.
Just then, Makarov furrowed his brows.
"Hmm?"
"What's wrong, Master?"
"Nothing. Just a bit drowsy... It's him."
Suddenly—
"What the heck?!"
"So sleepy…!"
One by one, people in the guild began to collapse, dozing off on the spot.
Kaien felt a heavy drowsiness sweep over him. He resisted for a bit, but in the end… he fell asleep too.
At that moment, a figure walked in—completely covered in black cloth.
Without a word, he walked to the request board, took down a mission worth 1,000,000 J, and approached Makarov to show him.
"I'm heading out."
"Undo the sleep spell!!"
The man turned back.
"Five, four, three, two, one…"
As he counted down, his body faded away.
Swish!
The entire guild woke up in an instant.
"That feeling—was it Mystogan?"
"That bastard!"
"His sleep magic is still just as ridiculous."
"Mystogan?"
Lucy looked confused. Another name she hadn't heard.
Gray explained, "He's one of Fairy Tail's strongest. A candidate for the next top mage. For some reason, he never shows his face. Every time he comes to pick up a mission, he puts us all to sleep. Only Master has seen what he really looks like."
"What?! That's so weird…"
Suddenly—
A cocky voice rang out from the second floor.
"Hmph… I know what he looks like."
Everyone turned their heads.
Standing above them was a young man with spiky blond hair, a leopard-print jacket, and headphones around his neck. He radiated defiance.
"Laxus!!"
"You're here?"
"Didn't expect to see you!"
Gray looked annoyed and turned to Lucy. "That's the other top contender for strongest."
Laxus leaned on the railing, cigar in his mouth, eyes scanning the guild below.
"Mystogan's just a shy guy, y'know? Don't go digging into his secrets."
Natsu's ears twitched at the sound of his voice. He jumped onto a table and yelled,
"Laxus! Fight me!!"