Death Loop
Wayne's maniacal laughter echoed through the desperate situation created by the triple magic array, each laugh filled with the madness of a cunning schemer's triumph.
However, faced with this perfect quadruple dead end, Jiang Bai made a move that surprised everyone.
He simply took an unlit cigarette out of his pocket and slowly put it in his mouth.
His relaxed demeanor made it seem as if he wasn't in a deadly trap, but rather in his own backyard, ready to enjoy a pleasant afternoon.
He raised his eyelids, glanced at Wayne, who had gone mad outside the formation, with the look of someone watching a clown's performance, and spoke indifferently.
"I've already detected your magic circle with my mental power."
"Can't withstand my 'Zi'!"
Wayne's maniacal laughter abruptly stopped, replaced by an even more morbid and extreme excitement.
"That's right!" he roared excitedly, his face flushed red with elation. "Of course I knew it couldn't withstand it! I've studied your battle with Gildarts! Your 'Zi' is an ultimate attack that can even distort and annihilate space itself!"
"But!" Wayne's smile turned incredibly sinister as he pointed at Jiang Bai, as if declaring an established truth.
"Even you can't handle it!"
"Haha! Using the sharpest spear to attack a body that has lost the shield of 'Infinity'! The result is obvious! You will be blasted into nothingness by your own attack!"
"I won! Jiang Bai!" Wayne spread his arms wide, gazing up at the sky in ecstasy, as if embracing his victory. "I am the strongest! The one who used my brain and my schemes to utterly crush you so-called geniuses!"
Upon hearing this, Mirajane, who was not far away, lost all hope in her eyes.
She knew better than anyone what this meant.
This is a vicious cycle.
If we don't attack, everyone will die in the vacuum and from the depletion of magic.
If attacked, Jiang Bai would be reflected back by his own strongest attack and die on the spot.
There is no third way.
This was a perfect trap designed to force Jiang Bai to commit suicide.
Despair, like icy seawater, instantly overwhelmed her heart.
She stared at the back of that man, cigarette dangling from his lips, his face still calm, and her lips trembled uncontrollably.
"Jiang Bai..."
Her voice was hoarse and broken, filled with endless pleading and reluctance.
Hearing her voice, Jiang Bai slowly turned around.
In that instant, all the laziness, disdain, and indifference on his face vanished without a trace.
Instead, there is an unparalleled gentleness that can soothe all unease.
He looked at the girl whose face was filled with despair, and a familiar, reassuring smile appeared on his lips.
"Don't worry."
"I'm invincible."
Having said that, Jiang Bai no longer hesitated.
Time waits for no one.
The air had thinned to a dangerously low level. Not far behind them, the faint breathing of Lisanna and Elfman sounded like a candle flickering in the wind, ready to be extinguished at any moment.
Jiang Bai slowly raised his hands, his index and middle fingers together, and began to gather the destructive power that was enough to distort space and annihilate everything.
The deep purple light is about to descend once more.
Mirajane knew she should trust him.
No matter the time or the dire situation, this man always manages to create miracles.
But...
Wayne's vicious and mocking words echoed wildly in her mind like a curse.
--It will completely negate your shameless 'Infinity' defense!
--All the attacks you unleash next will have to be taken solidly by your own physical body!
Mirajane was truly terrified.
It was a fear I had never experienced before, a fear that went deep into my bones.
She is not someone who is afraid of death.
If she could, she would use her own body to take the brunt of the devastating backlash that would destroy everything for Jiang Bai.
But she couldn't do it.
The first magic circle had drained all her magic power. Now, she didn't even have the strength to stand up and could only watch helplessly as a bystander.
Moreover, even if she still had the strength, that man would never agree to let her take that fatal blow for him.
A sense of powerlessness and fear intertwined, transforming into a chilling despair that nearly froze her heart completely.
Just then, Jiang Bai turned around and saw her face, which was filled with sadness and despair.
He sighed, a familiar, helpless smile appearing on his face, as if he had nothing to lose.
"Mira, stop looking like I'm about to die."
His voice remained as languid as ever, yet it carried an undeniable sense of reassurance.
"I don't only know 'Infinity' as a defensive spell."
That's what they say.
But Jiang Bai knew better than anyone just how terrifying his fully unleashed "Hollow Technique: Zi" truly was.
That move isn't so easy to catch.
The next second, Jiang Bai no longer hesitated.
Between his raised hands, the two extreme forces of attraction and repulsion, finally merged together after countless simulations.
"Virtual style--""!"
A purplish-black beam of light, indescribable in words and seemingly capable of reducing everything in the world to nothingness, burst forth from Jiang Bai's fingertips!
It didn't shoot towards the sky, nor did it attack Wayne outside the formation. Instead, it blasted straight towards the pitch-black "Absolute Reflection Prison" with an unparalleled momentum!
"Come on! That's it!"