Chapter 158: The Battle of Fairy Tail
The terrifying killing intent, as cold and sharp as arctic ice, bore down on Evergreen. It was a pressure she had never felt before—not a wild, raging aura, but a focused, murderous promise. She immediately felt immense pressure, and a bead of sweat beaded on her forehead, trickling down her temple.
Although Ren's own combat experience wasn't bottomless, every one of the powerful figures whose forms he could Take Over had fought their way through countless life-and-death battles. Their combined killing intent, channeled through Ren's cold fury, was suffocating.
"Oh! This is the first time I've seen you so angry. So you can make that expression, too!"
Laxus stepped calmly in front of Evergreen, his massive frame easily shielding her. The simple act of him standing there, radiating his own powerful ozone-scented magic, broke Ren's focus and alleviated Evergreen's pressure.
"Laxus..." Evergreen breathed, her hand on her chest.
Ren clenched his fist, his knuckles turning white. The air around his hand seemed to twist. If before he only wanted to teach this guy a lesson, now... now he had the urge to cripple him. Taking Mira, his Mira, as a hostage had crossed a line from which there was no peaceful return.
"You scoundrel!! Restore them to normal immediately!!" Makarov, his face puce with rage, yelled furiously at his grandson.
"Don't be so impatient, old man! I told you, it's just an after-party game!" Laxus sneered, his gaze fixed on Ren, clearly enjoying the cold hatred he saw there.
"Stop messing around!! We still have the Fantasia Parade to prepare for. Change everyone back right now!" Makarov demanded.
"The Fantasia Parade is tonight, right? There's plenty of time," Laxus said dismissively. "These women will be our hostages. If you break the rules, my Thunder God Tribe will shatter them one by one. Today, we'll find out who the strongest in Fairy Tail truly is."
He spread his arms, his voice booming to fill the panicked hall. "The rules are simple: the last one standing is the winner. This is the Battle of Fairy Tail! A guild-wide royale!"
"If you want these girls to return to normal, then come and try to defeat us. You have three hours. If you don't defeat my Thunder God Tribe and me within the time limit... these girls will turn to sand."
"The battle zone is the entire city of Magnolia. Find us, and the battle begins."
The guild members' expressions changed drastically upon hearing this.
"What?!"
"He's holding them hostage?!"
"Are you serious, Laxus?! You'd hurt our family?!"
"You don't have to be so extreme..."
Makarov's body, trembling with uncontrollable fury, grew enormous, his giant form filling the hall. "STILL CAUSING TROUBLE HERE!!"
Laxus's fingertips merely emitted a dazzling light. "Battle of Fairy Tail... begin!!"
After the blinding light disappeared, Laxus and Evergreen had vanished from the stage.
"They... they disappeared!!"
"Are you going to play hide-and-seek in the city, Laxus!!" Natsu roared, his fists already on fire.
"Catch Laxus!!" Gray shouted, already pulling his shirt off.
"Gihi... He's gonna pay for that cheap shot," Gajeel growled, rubbing his shoulder where Laxus had struck him earlier in the week.
"No, beat that guy up!! How dare he look down on us!!"
"Save the girls!"
The Fairy Tail members, united in their rage, rushed out in a mighty stream. They were already fed up with Laxus's arrogant attitude, and now he had petrified the guild's girls. They had to teach this guy a good lesson.
"I, this old man... I'll go take care of them!! You brats!!"
Makarov also followed the crowd, intending to run out and personally drag his grandson back by the ear.
But as soon as he reached the main entrance, THWACK. He crashed into an invisible, shimmering wall.
Text, written in ethereal purple light, began to appear in the air above the entrance.
"This is... Freed's magic?! His Jutsu Shiki?!" Makarov stared in disbelief.
[Rules: People over eighty years old and statues are not allowed to enter or exit.]
Makarov knew Freed was skilled in creating magical Runes, but he hadn't expected him to master such a complex, dual-layered Jutsu Shiki with specific age and material restrictions. The age restriction was clearly and personally aimed at him. Laxus intended to trap him here from the very start.
Ren stood unmoving, his cold gaze fixed on the petrified forms of Mira and Erza. His expression was frighteningly calm. The Thunder God Tribe... they didn't appear much in the original anime, and he hadn't encountered them even once since joining the guild. He had almost forgotten about them.
Unable to recall these individuals clearly, he naturally wouldn't remember this specific plotline.
Or perhaps, as his strength grew, as his life became his own, he didn't pay as much attention to the canon plot. That arrogance, that oversight, had led to the current situation. It was his fault for not anticipating this.
Beep beep — — — — !
The magical text at the entrance changed again, the letters rewriting themselves in the air.
[Fairy Tail Battle Royale: Latest Report:]
[Sarusu Kuke VS. Droy VS. Alzack]
[Winner: Alzack]
[Remaining Fairy Tail Members: 82]
Makarov's expression changed to one of horror. "What... what is this? Why are they fighting each other?"
Soon, more and more battle reports began to appear.
[Jet VS. Droy. Winner: Jet]
[Max Aloze VS. Warren Rocko. Winner: Max]
[Laki Olietta VS. Vijeeter Ecor. Winner: Laki]
"Stop!! Stop it, you brats!!" Makarov watched anxiously, slamming his giant fists against the invisible rune barrier, but it wouldn't budge. He wanted to go out and stop them, but he couldn't get out.
"Ren!"
Makarov turned and saw Ren was still there, his back to him, staring at the statues. The Guild Master was immediately flooded with desperate hope. As long as Ren was here, as long as his other S-Class powerhouse was here, he could stop them.
"Ren, you must...!"
"Old man..." Ren's voice cut him off. It was a low, chilling monotone. "This time... I'm really... truly... angry."
"Ren, don't worry, Mira and the others will definitely return to normal..."
"Worry?" Ren turned his head slightly, his eyes shadowed. "Why should I worry? I'm not worried at all."
He turned fully, his face a mask of cold fury. "If anyone should worry, it should be Laxus and his group."
Makarov's heart tightened at the words. He sensed that Ren was truly angry this time—not hot-headed like Natsu, but a deep, dangerous rage. He quickly tried to persuade him: "Ren, Laxus and his group are just messing around! They're still our comrades! They won't truly harm their comrades' lives."
"Don't worry, Master. I won't kill them," Ren said, his voice flat. "But I will absolutely give them a lesson they'll never, ever forget."
A blinding white aura exploded from him. "Full-Body Take Over: Gojo Satoru!"
In an instant, Ren's form shifted. His black hair turned a stark, snowy white, his simple clothes morphing into a high-collared, dark blue uniform. It was the first time Makarov had seen Ren in this form. The sheer, overwhelming magical pressure he exuded was different from Whitebeard's destructive power; it was a pressure that seemed to warp space itself, an aura of absolute, untouchable confidence.
Whoosh!
Ren's figure flashed, vanishing and reappearing on the roof of the Fairy Tail Guild hall.
He stood above the chaos of Magnolia. Below, he could hear the sounds of explosions and shouting. Ren activated his Six Eyes.
His perception of the world exploded.
He didn't just see Magnolia; he saw the intricate, crisscrossing web of Freed's Jutsu Shiki laid over the entire city, a trap designed to force guild members into combat. He saw the individual, panicked-yet-furious flows of magic from his friends as they clashed. He saw Natsu, a raging inferno, crashing through a street, and Gray, a spike of ice, moving quickly through the alleys.
But at this moment, he wasn't in the mood to deal with that. The immediate priority was to find the one who held the key. He filtered the chaos, searching for the specific magical signature of the woman who had petrified Mira.
"Found her."
On a main street in Magnolia.
Elfman ran wildly, roaring as he went, scattering the few remaining festival-goers. "SISTER!! A REAL MAN SAVES HIS SISTER!"
He skidded to a halt, his eyes landing on a figure in a green dress standing idly by a flower shop.
"EVERGREEN!!"
Elfman saw Evergreen's figure ahead and immediately roared, his body tensing as he charged over. "You bastard!! A real man doesn't use hostages!! Quickly change my sister and the others back to normal!!"
Evergreen merely smirked and began to lift her glasses.
Elfman, seeing Evergreen's movement, immediately closed his eyes and lowered his head, a smart move to avoid looking into her eyes and being petrified.
Bang!
"Ugh!"
It was a smart move, but a naive one. Evergreen, no longer needing to aim, took the opportunity to fly next to Elfman and struck him with a palm strike imbued with Fairy Magic, sending him crashing into the flower shop.
"I love flowers, you know," she mused, fixing her hair. "Because they suit my beauty, don't they?"
With a roar, Elfman exploded from the wreckage, his clothes torn. He had now activated Beast Soul, his arm transforming into a clawed, monstrous limb. He kept his eyes tightly shut, relying on his other senses.
"Change my sister and the others back to normal!"
"Hmph. Do you think you can defeat me with your eyes covered? How brutish."
"Woooooah!!"
Elfman charged at Evergreen, continuously throwing wild, powerful punches, relying on his enhanced hearing and smell.
"I see, relying on a beast's sense of smell?" Evergreen gracefully dodged the clumsy attacks. "But unfortunately for you, you've already been surrounded by my Fairy Scales."
Golden, sparkling dust now filled the air around them. "Fairy Bomb: Pixie!!"
The scales all detonated at once.
Boom boom boom boom boom boom!!!
"Ugh ahhhhhh!!"
Elfman let out a painful scream as the explosions ripped through him from all sides. He fell to the ground, his Take Over fading, his body scorched.
"I also like statues, you know," Evergreen said, walking toward his fallen form. "No matter how ugly a beast, once turned into stone, it might receive praise for its beauty. Come, look at me properly. I will turn you into the embodiment of beauty."
She loomed over him, her hand reaching for his face to force his eyes open, intending to petrify Elfman as well.
Suddenly!
A new voice, calm and chillingly casual, sounded directly behind Evergreen: "Since you like statues, why don't you turn yourself into one?"
Evergreen's expression changed. She whirled around, her heart leaping into her throat. Someone had appeared silently behind her. She didn't have time to think; she fanned her arms, scattering a large amount of scales directly in front of her.
"Fairy Bomb: Pixie!!"
A massive explosion erupted at point-blank range, obliterating the section of the street.
Boom boom boom boom boom!
"Did I get him?" she panted, staring into the thick, acrid smoke.
"Unfortunately, no."
A voice came from the smoke of the explosion. As the smoke cleared, Evergreen's eyes widened in shock. A handsome man with stark white hair, dressed in a strange, dark uniform, was standing there completely unharmed.
He was holding one hand up, palm out, and the smoke and fire of the explosion seemed to be stopping a few inches from his skin, held at bay by an invisible, impossible barrier.
"So handsome..." Evergreen's first thought was one of aesthetic appreciation. Her second was pure terror. "No! Who are you?!"
She looked at the man warily. To be completely unharmed after her strongest close-range magic explosion... this guy was definitely no ordinary person.
"What? You forgot me so quickly?" Ren—in his Gojo Satoru form—slowly lowered his hand, the Limitless barrier fading from sight. "I warned you just now. If you don't want to die, change them back. Immediately."
Evergreen's pupils constricted, recognition dawning in her horrified eyes: "Ren?!"
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