Chapter 215: Reverse Cursed Technique
"Place your bets! Place your bets!"
Cana Alberona shouted, her voice cutting through the raucous noise of the guild hall. She stood atop a sturdy wooden table, waving a handful of betting slips like a frantic auctioneer.
"Come on, don't be shy! Who's taking the Ace? Who's betting on the dark horse? Odds are shifting fast!"
Everyone in the Guild surged forward to place their bets, slamming Jewel notes onto the table with feverish excitement.
Lucy Heartfilia, sweat-dropping at the chaos, took a look at the chalkboard Cana had set up. She found that the vast majority of the guild members were betting on Gildarts Clive to win.
The pile of cash on his side of the table was a small mountain, while the pile for Ren was modest, mostly consisting of contributions from the younger generation or the overly optimistic.
The fact that so many people thought Gildarts would win made her look forward to what a spectacular match this would be. It wasn't that they underestimated Ren—everyone knew he was a monster—but Gildarts was a legend, a living calamity who had walked the path of the strongest for decades.
The commotion from the Fairy Tail side attracted the attention of many citizens in Magnolia. News traveled faster than a celestial spirit in this town. Upon hearing that Ren and Gildarts were having a duel for the unofficial title of the Fairy Tail Guild's strongest Mage, the streets began to fill.
Shopkeepers flipped their signs to 'Closed', blacksmiths dropped their hammers, and children dragged their parents by the hand. They all quickly called their siblings, neighbors, and extended family to come and watch the clash of titans.
Makarov Dreyar, the Guild Master, watched the gathering crowd with a vein throbbing on his forehead. He sighed, knowing his wallet was about to suffer, and walked over to the center of the cleared street.
"You two brats, hold back a little!" Makarov warned, shaking his fist. "There are so many citizens here; don't destroy the city! If I see one building collapse, just one, you're both writing apology letters for a month!"
"Don't worry, Master! I know how to hold back!"
Gildarts said carelessly, flashing a grin that was equal parts charming and terrifying. He cracked his neck, the sound like a gunshot in the tense air.
Ren also nodded to Makarov, his expression calm. "I will be extra careful, Master. I like this town too much to flatten it."
"Since you are both ready, then begin!"
Makarov raised his hand and chopped it down, announcing the start.
Ren didn't waste a second. He closed his eyes, centering his focus. The air around him began to warp, a strange, sterile pressure descending upon the cobblestones.
"Full Body Take Over: Gojo Satoru!"
Magic power surged, transforming into something sharper, more precise. Ren's hair bleached into a snowy white, standing up against gravity. His casual clothes shifted into a high-collared, dark uniform that seemed to absorb the light. A black blindfold manifested over his eyes, obscuring his vision but heightening his perception to a god-like degree.
Ren chose to take over Gojo Satoru. While he had forms with more raw destructive power, Gojo Satoru might not be the absolute strongest in terms of pure brute force compared to some world-ending entities, but his mechanics were the most comprehensive. The combination of absolute defense, high-speed movement, and spatial manipulation made him the ultimate duelist. Especially when facing opponents of unknown strength or unparalleled power like Gildarts, even if Gojo Satoru couldn't win, he wouldn't easily lose.
"Oh, oh! Is this your Take Over transformation? Hey, hey! Getting so handsome all of a sudden! Isn't that a bit unfair?"
Gildarts watched Ren's transformation with great interest, his cape fluttering in the rising wind. He could feel the shift in the atmosphere—the air around Ren felt 'untouchable'.
Ren used the Six Eyes—the Rikugan—to carefully observe Gildarts beneath the blindfold. The world transformed into a landscape of flowing energy and mass. Information flooded his brain: the density of magic, the atomic structure of the air, the flow of mana in the earth.
He couldn't help but gasp sharply.
He thought: 'What a guy!'
As expected of the Fairy Tail Guild's strongest Mage, Gildarts' Magic Power was truly immense. It wasn't just a pool; it was an ocean, dense and heavy, pressing down on reality itself. It felt like the man was a walking singularity of destruction.
Based on his comparison to previous foes and allies, Gildarts' Magic Power was at least 7.5 stars on his internal scaling system, and he felt close to eight stars. This was the highest Magic Power he had seen besides the old man, Makarov—and even then, Gildarts felt more volatile, more dangerous in a direct confrontation.
"Come on! Let me see the strength of the Guild's current strongest."
Gildarts beckoned Ren with his hand, his stance relaxed, inviting the attack.
"Then I won't hold back."
Ren flashed forward. He moved not just with speed, but by folding the space between them. He appeared instantly in front of Gildarts, his fist glowing with a menacing blue aura—condensed Cursed Energy mimicking Magic Power—as he struck towards Gildarts' chest.
Clap!
The sound was thunderous. Gildarts raised his palm, and Ren's fist landed on it. The shockwave blew the dust off the street for fifty meters in every direction. Ren's attack was steadily blocked by Gildarts, who didn't budge an inch.
Ren didn't pause. He used the momentum to pivot, quickly raising his foot and kicking towards Gildarts' temple with incredible speed.
Gildarts raised his other hand to block.
Bang!
The impact shook the ground. Gildarts' eyebrows shot up.
The immense force startled Gildarts. He felt the vibration travel down his arm, into his bones.
"Good kid!"
Gildarts' eyes lit up with genuine delight. This kid was certainly not simple. That last kick was fierce and had a tricky angle, targeting his blind spot with surgical precision. He didn't look like a newcomer at all; rather, he seemed like a battle-hardened expert who had lived through a thousand wars.
Whoosh—!
Ren instantly vanished, reappearing above Gildarts' head. He brought his foot down in an axe kick, aiming to drive the Crash Mage into the pavement.
While raising his arm to block, Gildarts stomped his right foot down.
CRACK-BOOM!
The ground beneath Gildarts' feet didn't just crack; it shattered into perfect cubes. The Crush magic dispersed the kinetic energy of Ren's attack into the earth, significantly cushioning the force.
Gildarts took the opportunity. His hand shot out like a viper, trying to grab Ren's ankle to slam him down.
But then, something impossible happened.
When his palm reached the vicinity of Ren's ankle, it stopped. It didn't hit a wall; it just... slowed down infinitely. The closer he got, the slower his hand moved, until it seemed frozen in space, millimeters away from the fabric of Ren's trousers. An invisible barrier appeared, preventing him from touching Ren.
"Huh? What is this?!" Gildarts frowned, pushing harder, but the result was the same. It was like trying to touch a mirage.
Ren floated back, landing gracefully. He smirked beneath the blindfold. "This is my Limitless Cursed Technique—the Mukagen. Simply put, it allows a certain distance to shrink infinitely. The closer you get to me, the slower you become. You can never reach me."
"I see! That truly is incredible Magic!" Gildarts laughed heartily, scratching his stubble. "Spatial manipulation at such a fine level? Scary, scary!"
"Uncle Gildarts, I'm going to get a little serious now. Please be careful!"
Ren spread his fingers. The air around him began to scream.
"Cursed Technique Lapse: Blue!"
Ren aimed his palm at Gildarts. The negative numbers of the Limitless series were brought into reality. A vacuum of impossible gravity formed—a blue singularity. He released the Blue Sphere.
Boom, boom, boom!!
Debris from the street was sucked in instantly. The Blue Sphere rushed towards Gildarts, carrying terrifying gravitational force that twisted the light around it. It tore up the road, creating a trench of destruction as it flew.
"In that case, I'll get serious too!"
Gildarts didn't dodge. He planted his feet, his magical aura flaring into a golden inferno. He raised his palm and pressed it directly towards the oncoming singularity.
"Crush!"
The world turned white for a second.
Swoosh—!
Ren's Blue Sphere, a technique that should have ripped matter apart, was completely stopped. It didn't explode; it disassembled. The gravity, the magic, the space itself—it all broke apart into harmless, glowing cubes of light which then vanished into the ether.
Amazing!
While Ren was astonished by this sight, checking the feedback through his Six Eyes, he also felt extremely excited. As expected of Gildarts! Even Ryomen Sukuna, the King of Curses, wouldn't dare to directly take a Blue head-on with his bare hands, yet Gildarts did it as if he were swatting a fly.
At the same time, he sensed danger. Gildarts' Magic involved interference at the atomic level, similar to his Limitless Cursed Technique. Crush didn't just break rocks; it broke concepts and magic structures. He wondered who was stronger—the man who controlled infinity, or the man who could shatter it.
"Then try this... Cursed Technique Reversal: Red!"
Ren raised his right index finger. He poured positive energy into the Limitless. A small, unstable red sphere the size of a marble condensed above his fingertip. The pressure it emitted was the opposite of Blue—pure, unadulterated repulsion.
He fired it towards Gildarts.
VWOOM!
The red spark expanded into a massive shockwave.
"Crush!!"
Seeing this, Gildarts increased his power slightly. The veins on his forehead bulged. He raised his palm again, a white grid of light appearing in front of him as he activated the Crush Magic.
The Crush Magic collided with the Crimson Sphere.
Two absolute forces clashed—Repulsion vs. Disassembly.
The Crimson Sphere was crushed, turning into a shower of red sparks. But the kinetic force was too great to be completely nullified instantly.
Boom—!
"Whoa!"
Gildarts' body slid backward a long distance. His boots carved deep furrows into the stone street, smoke rising from his heels. He skidded for ten meters before coming to a halt.
"Gildarts was pushed back!!"
"No way!"
"Did you see that?!"
Everyone in the Fairy Tail Guild was stunned to see Gildarts being pushed back. Even Natsu and Gray, who were cheering loudly, fell silent with their jaws on the floor. Gildarts was the immovable object of the guild. Seeing him slide back was like seeing a mountain move.
Gildarts also felt numbness in his palm. He shook his hand, looking at it with a grin. Although he had guessed the Magic just now would be stronger than the Blue one, he hadn't expected the power to double, leaving him momentarily unable to react.
"That was amazing!"
Ren looked at Gildarts and exclaimed, genuinely impressed. As someone who possessed Gojo Satoru's memories, he was perfectly clear on the first-person perspective of Gojo Satoru's battle with Ryomen Sukuna.
Even Ryomen Sukuna wouldn't dare to take that attack from Gojo Satoru lightly without using Domain Amplification or Mahoraga. This meant Gildarts' raw magical output and the conceptual hierarchy of Crush were actually contending with, or perhaps even exceeding, the durability of special grade curses. Gildarts' strength was actually above Ryomen Sukuna's in raw destructive capability.
"You're the amazing one! That last attack was repulsion, right? Since you're so formidable, I don't need to hold back either."
Gildarts was excited at this moment. His aura exploded, turning the air heavy and hard to breathe. The citizens watching from afar felt a chill run down their spines.
Whoosh!
Gildarts vanished.
He didn't use spatial magic; he just moved with sheer physical explosiveness. He appeared in front of Ren, his right hand clenched into a fist, white light concentrating around his knuckles. He struck towards Ren.
Ren didn't dodge. He trusted his Limitless. He raised his palm to block, confident that the infinity between them would stop the fist.
Gildarts' fist hit the invisible barrier. It stopped for a microsecond.
"Crush!"
Gildarts let out a low shout. The magic power in his fist rotated and detonated.
CRACK!
Ren felt a sensation he had never felt in this form. The "Infinity"—the inviolable space between him and the world—shattered. It cracked like a glass window hit by a sledgehammer. Gildarts' Crush magic didn't care about distance or mathematics; it simply broke the rule of the magic itself.
Ren felt his Limitless Cursed Technique instantly being broken through.
"What?!"
Ren was greatly shocked. Compared to Gojo Satoru, who was virtually unbeatable in the Jujutsu Kaisen world because no one understood or could interact with his technique, the Fairy Tail world was different. Here, Magic and Magic Power were king. Sufficiently powerful magic could break through conceptual defenses.
Gildarts' Magic broke through the Limitless Cursed Technique in an instant. No, it shouldn't be called a Breakthrough; it should be called Crush. He shattered the very concept of the technique surrounding Ren's body.
The fist continued its trajectory.
Pfft!!
Blood sprayed into the air.
Ren's arm, which he had raised to block, suddenly burst open. Flesh tore, bones splintered, and blood painted the cobblestones red. The limb hung limp, a mangled mess of muscle and exposed bone.
"Oh no! Suddenly my power..."
Gildarts' expression changed drastically. The excitement vanished, replaced by horror. His Magic was not good at holding back, especially when he got excited. He had just used his Magic, intending to break through Ren's defense, but he hadn't expected Ren's defense to be so strong, causing him to involuntarily increase his force to compensate. The moment the defense shattered, the excess force went straight into the boy.
"Ren!!"
"REN-NIISAN!"
Everyone in the Fairy Tail Guild immediately became worried upon seeing this. Mirajane covered her mouth, and Natsu's flames flared up in panic.
"Ren, I'm sorry, you..." Gildarts stepped forward, his face pale, reaching out to support him.
Ren waved his uninjured hand, his face calm despite the gruesome injury. Sweat beaded on his forehead, but he was smiling. "It's alright, Uncle. I wanted to test how strong your Magic is. I miscalculated the upper limit of Crush."
"Why are you talking about that now? Get treatment immediately..."
Wendy Marvell, the Sky Dragon Slayer, rushed out from the crowd, tears in her eyes. She realized what happened and gathered wind magic in her hands. "Brother Ren, I'll heal you..."
But before Wendy could finish her sentence, she witnessed a miraculous and horrifying sight.
Ren didn't wait for her. He channeled positive energy—multiplying negative cursed energy by negative cursed energy. Smoke began to rise from his mangled arm.
Sizzle...
The sound of flesh knitting together echoed. Bones snapped back into place, muscles wove themselves together like fabric, and skin grew over the raw wound.
Ren's arm began to recover at a visible rate, returning to its original state in the blink of an eye.
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