A pale green blade condensed instantly in Kael Vane's hand—spiritual pressure forged into a razor-edged weapon.
In the blink of an eye, Kael appeared in front of Kamil and brought the blade down.
A violent eruption of emerald light detonated outward, tearing up the ground and splintering trees along its path.
"Aaargh!!"
Elfman tried to brace himself and block, but the shockwave still hurled him away. If the mayor's house hadn't been protected by the barrier, it would have been obliterated by the blast.
Kamil burst out of the explosion, staggering and covered in fresh wounds. He had activated Full Reflection, but the destructive power was too overwhelming—his magic couldn't negate all of it. The wider his barrier spread, the weaker the reflection became.
"You brat! Are you crazy?!" Kamil roared at the figure still half-hidden in the smoke.
That lunatic had detonated the weapon the instant it was reflected back. He hadn't expected that at all. It was practically a suicide attack—except this kid was a monster with terrifying defense and regeneration.
Just then, Kael Vane stepped out of the smoke completely uninjured.
"Monster!!" Kamil snarled through clenched teeth.
"So that's all it is."
Seeing Kamil bleeding and shaken, Kael knew he had finally cracked the defense. That was all he needed.
Kael Vane spread his wings and rose into the air, hovering above.
With a flick of his hand, another blade of condensed green spiritual energy formed—sharp, dense, and humming with pressure. He hurled it straight down at Kamil.
Kamil's face changed instantly.
"Full Reflection!"
He poured in all his magic power. After the first blast, he understood he couldn't afford to casually reflect Kael's weapon again.
And just as he predicted—at the exact moment he reflected it—
The condensed blade detonated midair into another savage burst of light.
The blast swallowed Kamil whole.
When the smoke finally thinned, Kamil was barely standing. His mask was shattered, revealing the face of an ordinary-looking man in his forties—the sort of man you would never notice in a crowd.
"It's over."
Kael Vane raised his hand and pointed his index finger at Kamil.
A dense black energy gathered at his fingertip, compressing into a small sphere so dark it seemed to swallow the light around it.
Cero Oscuras.
In Bleach, this was the black Cero only an Espada in Resurrección could wield—and Ulquiorra was the only one ever shown using it.
"Cero Oscuras!!"
A massive black beam hammered down on Kamil like a falling star.
"Full Reflection!!"
Kamil forced out every last bit of magic power he had left, trying to reflect the beam.
But Cero Oscuras was continuous. Even if he reflected the leading edge, the rest of the beam surged forward without pause. Already injured and far beyond his limit, he couldn't hold it back.
The beam engulfed him—followed by a devastating explosion that tore through everything around them.
Even the barrier seal protecting the house buckled under the shockwave… then shattered.
After a long moment, the violent blast finally faded.
A massive crater, dozens of meters wide, scarred the earth. Kamil lay at the bottom, motionless and unconscious.
Kael Vane descended and landed. The moment his feet touched the ground, his transformation ended, and he returned to normal.
"Hah… Hah…"
Kael's breathing was heavy. His magic power was completely empty. The First Resurrección had consumed far more power than he expected—most of it, in barely a minute.
"Elfman?!"
Kael looked around and didn't see him. For a moment, unease tugged at him—had the big guy been caught in the blast?
A chunk of broken wall shifted, pushed aside from underneath.
"I'm over here!"
Elfman's voice rang out. He was shielding the client, Mayor Kos, with his body.
Seeing Elfman safe, Kael finally relaxed and sat down hard on the ground.
Elfman stared at the crater, completely stunned. The fight had been short, but the power Kael displayed in that form had completely surpassed what he remembered from his S-Class sister, Mirajane.
"Kael, are you okay?"
"Yeah. I just used up a lot of power. I'm going to sleep for a bit."
The massive drain made Kael unbearably sleepy. As soon as he finished speaking, his eyes shut and he fell asleep on the spot. Elfman immediately moved to stand guard.
Not long after, reinforcements from the Magic Council's Rune Knights finally arrived. When they saw the devastation, their faces went stiff with shock.
After hearing the report from the few conscious Rune Knights, they were stunned. An entire squad of Rune Knights hadn't been able to stop the enemy.
But one mage from Fairy Tail had wiped out all of Phantom Lord.
It was unbelievable.
Even so, they still had work to do. They quickly arrested all the unconscious Phantom Lord members.
The next morning, sunlight spilled through the window and fell across Kael Vane's face.
Kael slowly opened his eyes and stretched.
He opened his system panel with practiced ease.
[Ding! S-Class Mission: Exterminate the Phantom Lord. Complete!]
[Reward: One Ten-Pull!]
It was true: the bigger the risk, the bigger the reward.
If he had done normal A-Rank missions, he would have had to complete at least ten to earn a ten-pull.
And one mission could take about a week. Even if he worked nonstop, it would still take two or three months to earn the same reward.
Now, a single S-Class mission got it done.
His gaze drifted to the ten-pull option, and his finger twitched with the urge to tap it. No one could resist the temptation to pull.
But in the end, he stopped himself.
He would wait until he was back at the guild—until he had the goddess's blessing.
He knew from his old gaming days that gacha was a mysterious thing. If you wanted an SSR, you needed the right time, the right place, and the right people.
This wasn't superstition.
This was quantum mechanics.
He glanced around and saw Elfman asleep on a nearby sofa.
Kael walked over and tapped him lightly. "Get up. The sun is already high."
Elfman opened his eyes groggily. When he saw Kael, he sat up in surprise. "Kael! You're okay!"
"I was always fine. I just ran out of magic power. Where's the client? Is he okay?"
"He's fine. He's staying in the room next door."
"That's good."
Kael let out a breath of relief. He was genuinely afraid the client had died. It would've been a disaster to finish the job only to find the person paying him was gone.
Kael straightened, rolling his shoulder once as if checking that his body was back to normal.
"Let's go. We finished the job. Time to get paid."