Continuing to Torment Gildarts
Sparkling lightning flashed, water rippled, and the lake water evaporated rapidly amidst the raging golden-blue thunder, revealing the damp ground beneath.
"Sizzle~ Sizzle!"
The terrifying lightning slowly dissipated after evaporating the entire surface of the lake.
Both claiming to be unharmed, Hughes and Gildarts stood with their arms crossed at the bottom of the lake, the evening breeze ruffling their hair, making them appear triumphant.
Hughes secretly pressed his stiff little finger down and shook his head. "Laxus, if this is your full strength, then I'm very disappointed in you!"
After saying that, Hughes lowered his head and sighed in a mocking manner.
With the paralysis subsiding slightly, Gildarts was finally able to open his mouth and speak, his tone still filled with disappointment. "Laxus, how can I accept you as S-Class Mage of the guild with this level of strength!"
"We didn't even put up the slightest resistance just now, and you still couldn't defeat us?"
"Hey!" X2
Laxus did not respond, but clenched his fists tightly.
He turned and left, as if he had made up his mind. He didn't even take his favorite Sound Pod with him. His back view exuded an indescribable aura.
Hughes scratched his head, looking somewhat flustered. "Haven't we gone too far?"
"It's alright. Laxus needs to suffer severe blows to advance further. Simply cultivating peacefully won't help him overcome his bottleneck."
Gildarts flicked his wrist and stomped his foot, clearly indicating that Laxus's lightning still had an effect on him.
Hughes glanced at him with a strange expression; this seemed like an opportunity.
The third place hasn't been decided yet!
"Hey, Laxus, what are you doing in the back?" Hughes feigned shock, opening his mouth wide and pointing forcefully behind Gildarts with his left index finger.
"What?" Gildarts turned his head curiously.
"Bang!"
Hughes, who had been preparing his right fist, struck out fiercely, slamming it into Gildarts's abdomen.
Caught completely off guard, Gildarts's eyes bulged out instantly, his body contorted into the shape of a lobster, and then he transformed into a shooting star in the sky.
"Hughes, you're very good!!" The angry howl came from afar on the wind, seemingly filled with endless rage, making people tremble.
Hughes calmly clapped his hands. Of course he was good. Little Gildarts would be taken down without breaking a sweat.
[Host detected to have completed an intra-pirate crew competition, acquired ultimate skill: Shigan (Beginner)]
The system notification suddenly sounded in his mind, and Hughes paused slightly.
Is this yet another task completed?
A transparent panel unfolded in front of Hughes.
[Ultimate Skills: Tekkai (Perfect Level), Geppo (Perfect Level), Shigan (Beginner Level)]
Hughes glanced at it twice, and indeed, one of the Six Powers, Shigan, had been added to the list of ultimate techniques.
Two perfect levels and one beginner level – it's a bit of a test for perfectionists!
Following the instructions in his mind about how to use Shigan, Hughes raised his index finger, which, despite its different skin color and size, remained the same.
The hardness of the fingers changed drastically in an instant. Hughes stared at them for a few moments, then casually put them away.
With a freely movable Tekkai on his body, the Shigan had little effect on him.
Considering the difficulty of the task, Hughes didn't complain.
Shaking off the water droplets, Hughes turned and walked towards Mira. After a day of playing around, he was hungry.
"The competition is over! Congratulations to Hughes for winning third place!" Marcus emerged from the grove, raised the microphone, and announced the result loudly.
Macao and Wakaba exchanged a glance and almost burst out laughing.
Although they gave Hughes 5 million J, they still made a considerable profit from this deal.
Tapping their gongs, the two men blocked the people who had placed bets but hadn't yet paid, excitedly shouting, "We've collected the money! We've collected the money! What's the rush to leave!"
"A conspiracy! We refuse to accept this! How could Gildarts have lost!"
"Macao, this match is clearly rigged, refund our money!"
The penniless gamblers, their eyes red with anger, surrounded Macao and Wakaba, protesting loudly.
"Hey, a bet's a bet. If there's a problem, blame Gildarts. He's the one who didn't win!"
Seeing the large group of people fall silent after Macao's words, Hughes shook his head speechlessly.
With this level of skill, how dare they compete with seasoned veterans like Macao and Wakaba?
No wonder people always say that gamblers can't beat the house.
Inside the Fairy Tail guild, Hughes devoured bowls of food, and the pile of empty plates on the table grew rapidly.
As it was getting late, and considering they would have to cook and clean up when they got home, Hughes and Mira decided to eat at the guild first before heading home.
Hughes wasn't the only one with this idea; everyone else did too. The guild was bustling with noise, and if you didn't look at the sky, you'd think it was broad daylight.
Natsu and Gildarts sat opposite Hughes. Natsu was eating flaming food, each bite bursting with flames.
Hughes stretched out his palm, condensed a flame, and handed it to Natsu.
He was somewhat Natsu whether Natsu could satisfy his life needs simply by eating fire.
Natsu took it without hesitation, swallowed it whole, and beamed with a smile, looking just like a docile husky.
"Hey, Hughes, your flames taste even better than last time. They're the most delicious flames I've ever tasted."
Hughes observed that Natsu's body was slowly becoming rounder and then shrinking back to its original size. He understood something and casually conjured an even more intense flame for him.
"Ha, Hughes, this is even tastier! After eating it, all the power surges forth!"
As Natsu finished speaking, wisps of flame shot out from his five orifices.
"Hey, Natsu's on fire!" Happy, perched on Natsu's head, Happy. No one noticed that a tiny flame was leaping onto its little tail.
Gildarts burped. "Hughes, Natsu is still too young to handle such fierce flames."
He borrowed some money from Wakaba, paid back nine times out of ten, and now he's carrying a barrel of liquor straight from the front desk, drinking it with great relish.
Having swallowed Hughes's flames and feeling considerably stronger, Natsu stood up angrily. "Gildarts, I'm not a child! I want to get stronger! I don't want to be defeated by Hughes and Laxus like you!"
Natsu's voice was loud, and many people heard it; those who had just bet on Gildarts to win echoed his sentiment.
"Yes, Gildarts is a piece of trash."
"Natsu, you can't be like Gildarts. Gildarts is a loser. He couldn't even beat Wakaba, let alone Hughes and Laxus."
Gildarts's face flushed red, and he slammed his wine glass down. "Wakaba is a fool who can counter a master. I was careless and that's why I lost."
Hughes chimed in, trying to defend Gildarts, but his words were a bit off. "I can only say that Gildarts relaxed; with his ability, he could definitely have won the championship."
You are not allowed to slander Gildarts. Gildarts is the face of Fairy Tail and my idol. I will not allow you to say such things about him.
What? What you're saying is true? That's still not acceptable.
The noisy guild fell silent for a moment or two, then erupted in deafening laughter, as if it would blow the roof off the guild.
Gildarts stared at Hughes in utter shock, his lips twitching slightly. "Hughes, couldn't you find someone else to mess with?"
"No way. When you insulted Wakaba earlier, Wakaba gave me 100,000 J to fight back for him." Hughes waved the 100,000 J in his hand. Wakaba was a good man; he paid up now.
Amidst the laughter and conversation, Hughes caught a glimpse of darkness out of the corner of his eye and was greatly shocked. "Hey, Happy, why have you gotten so dark?"
With Lisanna's help, Happy finally extinguished the flames on his body, and with his mushroom-shaped haircut, he exhaled a heavy cloud of black mist from his mouth. "Hey, I'm alright!"
Haha, Happy, you're so ugly!
The guild's lively atmosphere continued until the next day, when a weary and injured Makarov returned at the crack of dawn.