Rematch: Eleven vs. Laxus

Early the next morning, a blond boy appeared in the guild, acting a little furtive.

"Laxus!"

Hearing that voice, Laxus instinctively shrank back. It wasn't that he was afraid of its owner; he was simply fed up with being pestered every day.

It was bad enough that this guy insisted on tagging along and working out with him every day, but his damned mouth never stopped moving. He kept asking questions, and whenever he came across an exercise he couldn't do, he actually made Laxus help him! Even if Laxus beat him up, he was full of energy again the next day, and his stamina even seemed to have improved. Most infuriating of all, this guy was always thinking about beating him up. He brazenly learned techniques from Laxus while just as brazenly launching sneak attacks, and he even claimed Laxus was the one who had taught him to do it! It made no sense at all!

When Laxus heard the voice, he wanted to turn around and leave, but that would make it look as though he were afraid of the guy. So he could only pretend he hadn't heard and carry on with what he was doing.

"Hey, Laxus, don't be so cold!"

Seeing that Laxus was ignoring him, Eleven ran over to him, gave his shoulder a hard pat, and grinned.

"Huh? Who are you?" Laxus deliberately put on a fierce expression. He knew it probably wouldn't help much, but he still had to put on an act.

"Hahaha, Laxus, you're such a joker. Aren't we good friends?" Eleven laughed as he slapped Laxus's shoulder hard, as if encouraging him.

(▼皿▼#)

"Are you asking for it, punk?" Veins bulged on Laxus's forehead, and golden lightning flickered around his hand.

"Hehe, want to give it a try? I've got a secret weapon this time, you know?" Eleven kept smiling carefree as he gave Laxus's shoulder a squeeze.

Boom!!!

An explosion rang out, sending a shock wave spreading in all directions.

The Fairy Tail members nearby had automatically moved out of the way the moment they saw Eleven approach Laxus, but the shock wave still knocked quite a few people head over heels. The peaceful guild erupted into noise once again.

"Oh? This is your so-called secret weapon?"

A thin, transparent film had stopped Laxus's lightning-clad fist ten centimeters from Eleven's face. Ripples spread across the film like the surface of water, yet even against Laxus's full-powered punch, it showed no sign of breaking.

"Yep. Well? You can't hit me now, can you? Mad?"

(艸皿艸)

Boom! Boom! Boom!!!

As Laxus struck punch after punch, everything around them, from tables and chairs to the people who hadn't managed to escape in time, went flying into the air.

"If you're going to fight, take it outside, you little brats!"

Someone had finally had enough.

The Fairy Tail guild's doors shattered with a crash, and two small figures were thrown outside. Neither had any intention of stopping, however. The golden figure had barely landed before he charged at the gray figure like lightning.

Another lightning-wreathed kick slammed into Eleven's telekinetic barrier. Eleven, who had only just landed and hadn't yet found his footing, was startled and stumbled back two steps.

Laxus was also an experienced fighter. He seized the opportunity to step forward and sweep Eleven's legs, throwing him off balance and sending him falling backward. Laxus swung his fist, ready to follow up with another blow.

"Heh." A mischievous smile appeared on Eleven's face.

His falling body suddenly stopped in midair, leaving him lying flat in the air.

"Telekinetic Kick!"

He kicked upward with both legs, striking the charging Laxus squarely in the stomach. With a bang, Laxus went flying.

While roughhousing with Laxus, Eleven had also learned to use telekinesis to control his body, allowing him to exert greater force than his muscles could. But that also required a thorough understanding of his own body. He shouldn't think that controlling himself with telekinesis meant he could do the splits—it really hurt!

"Haha, Laxus, did you forget I can fly?"

Eleven looked at Laxus, who had been sent flying and was now clutching his stomach, and grinned smugly. He didn't bother landing, remaining suspended in midair with his telekinesis.

By now, the Fairy Tail members had all crowded out through the broken doorway and were standing there, shouting at the top of their lungs.

"Yeah! Go, little Eleven!"

"Don't you lose either, Laxus!"

"Place your bets! Place your bets!"

Eleven looked at the Fairy Tail members, speechless. Whenever a fight broke out, these guys not only failed to break it up, they got especially excited! Was this what normal looked like? Then again, when you saw people fighting, standing to one side and cheering them on counted as a kind of courtesy, right?

"Hey! You dare get distracted?"

At some point, Laxus had leaped directly above Eleven. His eyes gleamed coldly, and his face looked especially terrifying in the shadows.

Boom! Smack!

Explosive lightning crashed into the barrier above Eleven's head, and the tremendous force slammed him straight back to the ground. Laxus dropped after him and planted his big foot on the shield in front of Eleven, lightning flashing around it.

Eleven discovered that he couldn't get up!

"I'd like to see how many of my punches you can block!"

With his foot planted on Eleven's shield, Laxus hammered down punch after punch. Lightning flashed and thunder roared before Eleven's eyes, and the explosive blasts made his ears ache.

That's Laxus for you! He figured it out so quickly. Eleven couldn't help admiring him. Although his telekinetic shield could block attacks and dissipate most of their force, it still exerted force to keep itself at a distance from his body, which was why he had been knocked out of the air. There was another crucial problem: when Eleven put up his shield, he had to concentrate all his telekinesis, making it difficult to use any other telekinetic attacks. Something like using telekinesis to throw Laxus off him was completely impossible. Ah, well, no choice. Time to use my second secret weapon!

"Laxus! Look into my eyes!" Eleven suddenly shouted.

Laxus, who was looking down as he pounded away, instinctively looked at Eleven. What met his gaze were Eleven's pale blue glowing eyes and his cheeky grin.

"Oh, crap!"

Laxus reacted quickly and immediately looked away, but it was already too late. Eleven was vanishing bit by bit beneath him. He froze instinctively for a moment, and by the time he reacted and punched downward, there was nothing beneath him.

"Oh ho ho, he's already developed an illusion technique to this extent? That really is impressive."

At some point, Makarov had climbed onto the head of one of the guild's big guys. Standing there, he stroked his beard as he watched the battle.