Dragon and Devil vs. Gildarts (1)

"Why? What's Gildarts doing here?" Laxus asked, puzzled.

"Still don't understand?" Yuri rolled his eyes at him, pointing to the magical cursor on Gildarts that carried the aura of Makarov: "He's the real boss of this test!"

"Yuri is right!" Gildarts admitted, "I am the 'monster' with the highest score in this assessment."

"If any of you can defeat me, then no matter how high your score is, you will directly become S-Class Mage."

"Get ready, kids, I'm the kind of person who hates to hold back."

Gildarts's statement, which was tantamount to a declaration of war, caused a moment of silence in the room.

Even though the other party wasn't unleashing any particularly powerful magic at the moment, and seemed to be just an ordinary, unremarkable middle-aged man, he still put considerable pressure on the two people on the shore.

"So? Shall we continue?" Yuri asked with a smile.

"Tch... it's not a question of whether we fight or not anymore," Laxus scoffed.

"Although it's a duel, there's no rule that it has to be between the two duelists themselves," Yuri suggested. "How about we have a contest and see who can defeat Gildarts first?"

"Hmph, you really dare to say that."

Laxus chuckled at Yuri's boastful words, "However... that's what I think too!"

Having said that, his entire body surged with magical power, and violent lightning enveloped him, transforming him into a bolt of lightning that flew towards the center of the lake at an extremely fast speed.

"Trying to get a head start won't help; I'll be the only winner." Yuri smiled confidently and transformed into a series of afterimages as he chased after the enemy.

Gildarts is the strongest mage in Fairy Tail; this is a fact universally acknowledged by all guild members and is absolutely beyond doubt.

In addition to his immense magical power, the magic he uses is also a super-powerful, high-level Crush Magic.

The power of this magic is so exaggerated that it can instantly shatter the bonds between the atoms of any substance it touches.

In other words, anything, even a person, can be turned to dust the instant their magic strikes if they are not careful...

But that's no reason for them to be afraid!

As Fairy Tail mage, when fighting a powerful enemy, you don't need to care how strong the enemy is; what matters most is whether you dare to stand up and challenge them again and again.

Lightning Strike Fist!

Laxus instantly appeared in front of Gildarts, his entire body crackling with lightning as he gathered it in his right fist, forming a lightning gauntlet in his hand, which he then swung fiercely at Gildarts.

"Boom!"

The lightning coiled around his hand exploded in a terrifying burst, instantly pushing back the surrounding seawater.

But Gildarts simply raised his hand and caught this terrifyingly powerful attack with nothing more than a nonchalant gesture.

"Impossible!"

Laxus's eyes widened in disbelief.

He knew the gap between himself and Gildarts might be large, but how could it be this large?

"Is that all?" Gildarts's calm words immediately instilled a great sense of pressure in Laxus.

A bead of cold sweat trickled down his forehead...

The next moment, he felt a tremendous force pulling him forward.

Gildarts sidestepped Laxus's body, raising one hand and clenching it into a fist.

It slammed down on Laxus's back with a thud.

"Bang--!"

With a loud bang, Laxus's body was embedded in the ground by the attack.

Bones cracked and flew everywhere, countless fissures spreading along the monster's hard shell like a spider web.

It's important to understand that what they're standing on right now is a genuine S-Class magical beast, whose shell and hide are far more durable and resilient than ordinary ground.

Even so, Gildarts could still shatter it with a single, casual strike.

The strength of the strongest mage in Fairy Tail is evident.

Just then, Yuri appeared behind Gildarts, his Devil Bringer glowing blue, and a magic fist the size of a person swung out.

Gildarts raised his other hand behind him, lightly blocking the magical arm.

Yuri grinned immediately; in terms of pure strength, he had never met an opponent.

"I'm not only skilled in physical combat, Yuri."

As Gildarts spoke, a burst of white light suddenly shone from his palm, and the magical arm extending from the Devil Bringer instantly dissipated into fragmented cubes.

Then, to Yuri's astonishment, a powerful magical shockwave instantly engulfed him.

"Hey, Yuri!" Laxus shouted excitedly from the ground.

"That's why I said I hate going easy on people the most," Gildarts said expressionlessly.

"Who asked you... to let the water go!"

Yuri's roar suddenly echoed from within the white pillar of light. His Devil Bringer, radiating a dazzling blue light, tore the white pillar apart and delivered a punch to Gildarts's face.

Gildarts was shocked, and was thrown backward by a tremendous force.

"You're alright?!" Laxus was equally shocked and puzzled.

"What, are you concerned about me?" Yuri teased with a smile.

"Who cares about you?" Laxus stood up expressionlessly. Talking to Yuri was definitely going to kill the conversation...

However, everything that had just happened made him even more certain that this guy had definitely held back something incredible during the previous battle.

"Tch, what a tsundere."

Yuri pursed his lips and frowned as he looked at Gildarts not far away.

He took a punch head-on and only staggered back a few steps; this guy is a monster.

At the same time, Gildarts was also sizing him up. Gildarts had rarely encountered anyone in his life who dared to rush up and beat him up despite the Crush Magic.

'So... it's because of that hand?' Gildarts thought to himself.

From the moment Yuri burst out of the pillar of light, he had a strange feeling, as if something had sliced through his Crush Magic.

At the time, I thought it was my imagination. After all, it was always his Crush Magic that cut others to pieces. How could anyone possibly cut through his Crush Magic?

But after taking that punch, that feeling became clear; there really was something strange about that arm.

"You'd better stop holding back. This old man is no easy opponent. Be careful you don't get beaten to a pulp in the first round," Yuri said, drawing his Red Queen with his left hand, ready for battle.

Laxus remained silent for a moment, then stopped holding back, his magical power surging wildly, and his already well-defined muscles began to swell.

It continued until it burst through its own shirt, and the lightning surrounding it became even more violent.

"This feels like Dragon Slayer Magic?" Yuri raised an eyebrow, slightly surprised.

I never expected that Laxus, that arrogant guy, would have been hiding something like this.

"Because that old jerk keeps nagging in my ear, I wasn't originally planning to use it in this test," Laxus explained.

Whether it was the S-Class Exam or the duel with Yuri, he initially only planned to use ordinary lightning magic.

If Gildarts hadn't suddenly appeared, he might have chosen to continue hiding.

"Thunder Dragon and... Devil?" Looking at the two young men before him, brimming with fighting spirit, Gildarts felt himself become much younger, a rare surge of adrenaline rising within him. "Then let me see, the new era of Fairy Tail!"