"What?!"
"You're going to end it with one strike?!"
"You damn brat! Just because you managed to land a hit, now you're acting cocky?"
"You seriously think you can finish me off with a single blow?! Let's see you try!! I dare you!!"
Jose flew into a rage again, dark energy surging in both his hands.
Kaien stomped down hard with both feet.
SWOOSH————!!
His whole body shot into the air, his right hand tightening into a fist as it gathered power.
HUMMMMM—!
The power of the Gura Gura no Mi condensed into a glowing white sphere of compressed vibrations around his fist.
The force was so intense that even the space around it visibly distorted.
Kaien began to descend.
RUMBLE RUMBLE RUMBLE————!!
The atmosphere trembled.
Everyone could feel the terrifying energy building up—it made their hearts leap into their throats.
"This is bad!!"
They all sensed that this was no ordinary attack.
"Ice-Make: Ice Shield!!"
Gray summoned an ice shield in front of the group.
"Requip: Adamantine Armor!!"
"Adamantine Barrier!!"
Erza switched to her most defensive armor, combining two shields to create a massive green magical barrier.
"Disappear!!"
"Death Storm!!!"
A massive blast of dark energy shot upward toward Kaien.
Kaien swung his vibration-imbued fist straight into the oncoming attack.
BOOM—————!!
The two powers collided midair. Everything around them exploded as the shockwave spread in all directions, annihilating whatever it touched.
"Die, die, DIE!!"
Jose shouted in manic excitement.
CRACK————!!
The quake-punch shattered the dark wave, blasting it apart as Kaien continued closing the distance.
"What?!"
"This can't be happening!!"
Jose couldn't believe that his spell had been overpowered by a brat in a direct clash.
"No!! Absolutely not!!"
"When I say one strike will finish you... it will."
Kaien appeared directly above Jose, his fist still wrapped in vibrating force.
"——————!!"
CRACK CRACK—!!
The space in front of his punch split open.
"GUAAAHHHHH!!"
BOOM BOOM BOOM————!!
The quake hit Jose dead-on, ravaging his internal organs. Blood sprayed from his mouth and nose.
The ground of the entire city of Oshibana shook violently, like an earthquake had struck.
After a long moment, the tremors subsided.
Everyone looked toward the center of the arena.
And froze.
In the center was a massive crater, as if a giant meteor had struck.
Kaien stood at the heart of it.
Lying at his feet was Jose, the guild master of Phantom Lord.
Jose looked completely wrecked—his clothes in tatters, hair disheveled, blood leaking from every orifice, his body trembling uncontrollably.
"Kaien… Kaien actually…"
"…won…"
"Kaien defeated… a Ten Wizard Saint…" …
Everyone in Fairy Tail felt like they were dreaming.
The Ten Wizard Saints were acknowledged by the Magic Council as the ten most powerful mages on the Ishgar continent—absolute monsters.
Defeating one of them? That was unthinkable.
But it had just happened right in front of their eyes.
"OOOOOOOOOHHHH!!"
"This is amazing!!"
"Kaien is incredible!!"
"He even beat a Ten Wizard Saint!!"
"We won!! We crushed Phantom Lord!! WOOHOO!!" …
The moment reality set in, Fairy Tail erupted in cheers.
Kaien's victory meant that Fairy Tail had officially defeated Phantom Lord in this confrontation.
They'd finally vented all the humiliation and rage that had been building up.
Phantom Lord had been completely crushed—and would never be able to act smug in front of Fairy Tail again.
"Ma… Master Jose…"
"He actually… lost…"
The members of Phantom Lord were equally stunned.
It would have been one thing to lose to Makarov—he was a Ten Wizard Saint too, and an old one at that.
But to lose to some young, unknown mage from Fairy Tail?
They couldn't believe it.
At that moment, Chapati popped out from behind the Fairy Tail members.
[The match is decided!!!]
[The winner: Fairy Tail's Kaien!!!]
[Unbelievable!! Jose, the master of Phantom Lord and one of the Ten Wizard Saints, has been defeated by a young Fairy Tail wizard!!]
[Absolutely incredible!!]
[The strongest mage guild in Fiore is—Fairy Tail!!!]
"You're still here?!!"
The Fairy Tail members couldn't help but roast Chapati. They thought the announcer had run away long ago—but apparently, he'd just been hiding behind them the whole time.
"This is your last warning. If you dare mess with Fairy Tail again, I won't hesitate to kill you myself."
Kaien's voice was cold as he spoke to Jose.
In the year since joining Fairy Tail, he had become ruthless when it counted.
In the anime, Jose wasn't just someone who trashed a guild—he had orchestrated a sneak attack on Makarov, drained his magic, nearly killed him, and had even tried to murder all of Fairy Tail. Mirajane had almost been crushed to death.
Remembering all that made Kaien want to end him right here.
But this was a public setting—killing him outright would trigger a major mess with the Magic Council.
Kaien turned and began walking toward the Fairy Tail crowd.
"Kaien!!"
Everyone in Fairy Tail ran up, beaming with joy.
"Kaien! That was amazing!"
"You actually took down a Ten Wizard Saint! You're insane!!"
"Let's see if those Phantom Lord bastards dare mess with us again!"
"Next time they see us, they'll be the ones running with their tails between their legs! Hahaha!"
Kaien scratched the back of his head as he reached Makarov and said,
"Sorry, Master. I think I might've caused some trouble again…"
The fight had completely destroyed Oshibana's arena.
Even though Kaien had restrained the force, the city probably still experienced something like a magnitude 5 earthquake. That was no small mess.
The old man was definitely going to get an earful from the Magic Council.
But Makarov just smiled and said,
"I told you—walk your own path. You did great."
He was more pleased with Kaien than ever.
Powerful, humble, and though he got into trouble sometimes, those flaws were trivial.
What mattered was that he stepped up when the guild was in danger—and defeated a monster of an enemy.
He could be trusted.
"Let's go home."