A Battle in a Single Breath

"Laxus!"

After coming back to life, Eleven stormed back into the guild. The moment he entered, he started shouting, looking for Laxus.

"Laxus, get out here! I didn't even use my full strength last time!"

Seeing Eleven lose his temper for once, everyone in the guild was excited. They got their beer and fried chicken ready and sat in rows to watch the show. Erza, however, frowned slightly and stepped out to block Eleven's path.

"Eleven, I think if you lose, you should train hard. Showing off like this will only make you embarrass yourself again." Erza wore a solemn expression as she stood in front of Eleven.

Eleven stared at Erza in confusion. What's that supposed to mean?

"Hahaha, well said! Eleven, you'd better not make a fool of yourself!" Laxus walked in through the back door, a smug look on his face. Clearly, he was pleased to have someone speaking up for him.

Eleven glanced speechlessly at Erza. I didn't expect you to be a traitor!

"Laxus, let's go again. This time I'll use my full strength!" Eleven looked at Laxus, his eyes blazing with a rare fighting spirit.

Laxus kept his mocking smile and teased, "You'd better listen to the little girl and train some more before you come back! That way you won't embarrass~ yourself~ again~"

"What, are you afraid you won't be able to keep your winning record? Afraid you'll lose to me?" Eleven had calmed down instead. He knew very well how to provoke Laxus.

(▼皿▼#)

"You little punk, you deserve to die!"

Sure enough, veins bulged on Laxus's forehead as soon as he heard that. He clenched his fists, and electricity began crackling around his hands.

"That's enough. You're guildmates, so you should get along!"

Erza suddenly stepped between them, raising both hands to keep them apart.

"Huh? Who the hell are you, anyway? What gives you the right to order me around?" Laxus changed his attitude in an instant, completely forgetting that Erza had just spoken up for him.

"My name is Erza Scarlet. I only recently joined the guild. It's a pleasure to meet you." Erza introduced herself to Laxus with a solemn expression.

"I don't have time to help out a newbie. Out of my way!" Hot-tempered as he was, Laxus didn't care whether she was a newcomer and showed her no consideration.

Eleven also intended to ignore Erza. He waved at Laxus and said, "Come on, let's fight outside."

"You two, stop right there!" Erza had never backed down from anyone when it came to stubbornness, and she huffily followed them out.

Once again, a duel was about to take place outside the guild, and once again, the spectators and referee took their places. This time, however, there was one difference: a red-haired girl had joined the fray.

"Ready to die, Eleven?" Laxus clenched his fists and knocked them together in front of his chest, setting off a burst of sparks.

"You won't get another chance this time, Laxus!" Eleven's eyes gleamed as he too got ready.

"I'll stop you both!" Erza summoned her greatsword and took up a stance.

The three stood facing one another, their auras rising. Even some of the guild's veterans were intimidated for a moment.

Makarov didn't stop the three-way brawl. Instead, he was delighted to be able to act as referee again.

"Begin!"

At that instant, Eleven entered Super Acceleration Mode and swept his mind toward Laxus.

To his surprise, he saw Laxus enter Lightning Transformation Mode even from his accelerated perspective and shoot into the air. Laxus was so fast that even Eleven's Spiritual Power in Acceleration Mode couldn't keep up, leaving him no way to attack.

How fast is that? Is he really moving at the speed of lightning?

There was no time to think. Since he couldn't attack, he could only defend. Eleven just barely managed to form a shield around himself before Laxus closed in.

Boom!!!

Almost instantly, Laxus and Eleven collided. Laxus kicked the shield at Eleven's side, and the shockwave from the impact compressed the air and blasted outward.

Erza, standing off to the side, hadn't even finished starting her move before the shockwave blew her away. The gap was too great.

"Oh? So you do have a way to react!" With his foot planted on Eleven's shield, Laxus pushed off, moving away and dodging Eleven's sneak attack with Telekinesis.

"But can you use that move a second time?" Laxus suddenly grinned smugly.

As soon as Eleven heard that, he knew another attack was coming. As fast as he could, he used Telepathy to connect to Laxus's Spiritual Power—not to communicate, but to read his mind. He wanted to know the direction of Laxus's attack in advance!

"Hahaha, Eleven, I'm going to win!" Laxus laughed wildly as he once again began gradually turning into electricity.

Eleven focused his mind, preparing to enter Acceleration Mode once more while listening carefully to Laxus's thoughts.

Time froze again, and Laxus shot forward once more. In that split second, Eleven was shocked to discover that Laxus wasn't thinking about anything at all! Or rather, his thoughts simply couldn't keep up with his own speed. He attacked wherever he flew, with no pattern whatsoever.

With no other choice, Eleven put up another defense on all sides and met Laxus's attack head-on.

Rumble~~

"I didn't expect you to block it a second time, Eleven!" Laxus's panting voice rang out.

"I've made progress over the past six months too, Laxus!" Eleven's voice also betrayed his weakness.

As the dust cleared, the two separated again. Neither was in good shape.

Eleven had entered Acceleration Mode twice in succession. Though he hadn't overdrawn his Spiritual Power, he had consumed a great deal of it, leaving him dizzy and bleary-eyed.

Laxus looked a little worse off. Countless tiny wounds had split open across his muscles, and the blood seeping out had even stained his shirt red.

Electrification placed enormous demands on the body. The strain of moving one's physical body at the speed of lightning was easy to imagine.

"Eleven!!"

Laxus suddenly roared, gathering lightning in both hands as he charged at Eleven with great strides. Clearly, he had no intention of giving up yet!

Eleven slapped both palms against his temples, roused himself, and floated into the air. His eyes flashed as he gathered his Telekinesis and moved to meet the attack.

For a time, the rumbling never ceased. They put everything they had into every move, showing no sign of holding back.

Meanwhile.

The peaceful orphanage received two special visitors. A man and a woman with hoods concealing their faces sought out Miss Maria.

"Excuse me, is Eleven Brain still here?" the man asked Maria first.

Maria looked at the two people sitting in her reception room, their faces still hidden. She couldn't help frowning as she said sternly, "Who are you? I can't just give out information about the children."

"Oh, I'm sorry. How rude of us."

The man realized that the two of them really didn't look like good people, so he took off his hood first. Seeing this, the woman beside him followed suit.

Beneath the hoods were two finely featured faces. The man was handsome, his facial hair shaved clean without a trace of untidiness. The woman was exceptionally beautiful, her long, wavy hair falling over her shoulders and displaying her feminine charm.

"Beautiful Miss Nun, allow me to introduce myself. My name is Teng Brain, and I am Eleven's biological father."