Chapter 10: Time to Get Paid
Shua!
Ren instantly formed a pale-green sword of light in his hand.
The next moment, he was in front of Camille, slashing down with his Luz de la Luna.
BOOM----!
A terrifying explosion erupted. Pale-green light spread in every direction, obliterating the ground and trees in its path.
"Gwaaaaaah!!"
Elfman, despite bracing himself, was sent flying by the shockwave. If the mayor's house hadn't been protected by the runic barrier, it would have been completely destroyed in the blast.
Peng!
Camille shot out of the blast, looking wretched. He had several new wounds. He had activated Total Reflection, but the magic's destructive power was simply too terrifying; his reflection hadn't been able to block it completely. After all, the larger the area he tried to defend, the weaker the reflection effect became.
"You brat! Are you crazy?!" Camille roared at the figure standing in the smoke.
That insane kid... the very instant Camille had reflected the weapon, Ren had detonated it. This was completely outside his expectations. What was the difference between that and a suicide attack?
Just then, Ren walked out of the smoke, completely unharmed. Only then did Camille remember: this kid was a monster with terrifying defense.
"Monster!" Camille spat, gritting his teeth.
"So that's your limit."
Seeing Camille injured, Ren knew he had finally broken his defense. As long as the defense could be broken, this was manageable.
Ren flapped his wings, rising into the air to hover.
Shua---!
He formed another Luz de la Luna in his hand and hurled it straight at Camille.
Camille's expression changed dramatically.
"Total Reflection!"
He unleashed his full magic power. After that last explosion, he knew he couldn't just reflect the weapon.
And sure enough! The instant the weapon was about to be reflected...
BOOM----!
It detonated.
The terrifying explosion engulfed Camille. When the smoke cleared, he was heavily injured. His mask was shattered, revealing the face of an extremely ordinary-looking man in his forties, the kind of person you would never notice in a crowd.
"It's over."
Ren pointed his index finger at Camille.
Black energy began to gather at his fingertip, forming a small black orb, compressing rapidly.
Cero Oscuras!
In the Bleach anime, this was the black Cero that only Espada-level Arrancar in their Resurrección state could use. And even then, Ulquiorra was the only one ever to show it.
"Cero Oscuras!"
SHOOOOOM----!
A massive, wide beam of black light shot down toward Camille.
"Total Reflection!"
Camille used every last drop of his magic power to try and reflect the Cero Oscuras.
But it was useless. The Cero Oscuras was a continuous beam. As soon as he reflected one part, the rest of the beam pushed right through. Coupled with the fact that he was already injured and this power was far, far beyond his reflection's limit, he couldn't hold on.
BOOM----!
"Uwaaaaaaaaaaaah!!"
The black Cero engulfed Camille's body, and the horrifying explosion destroyed everything in the vicinity.
KRAK----!
Even the runic barrier couldn't withstand the shockwave and shattered.
After a long moment, the explosion finally subsided. A massive crater, dozens of meters in diameter, was all that remained. Camille lay in the center of it, completely unconscious.
Ren landed on the ground, his transformation releasing, and he returned to his normal appearance.
"Hah... hah..."
He panted heavily. His magic power was at rock bottom. The Resurrección's consumption was even greater than he'd imagined. Just one minute in that state had drained most of his magic.
"Elfman?!"
Ren scanned the rubble, a note of panic in his voice. The big guy hadn't been caught in the blast, had he?
Crash--!
A pile of rubble was shoved aside.
"I'm over here!" Elfman shouted. He was shielding the client, Mayor Kos, with his own body.
Seeing Elfman was safe, Ren let out a breath of relief and collapsed onto the ground, sitting.
Elfman stared at the massive crater, completely shaken. The fight had been short, but in that form, Ren's power had completely surpassed his S-Class sister, Mira.
"Ren, are you okay?"
"I'm fine... just, completely drained. I'm gonna sleep for a bit."
An overwhelming exhaustion hit him from the magic depletion. He was asleep as soon as he finished speaking. Elfman immediately stood guard over him.
A short while later, the Magic Council's Rune Knight reinforcements finally arrived, looking on in shock at the horrifying destruction.
They were stunned to learn from the few conscious knights what had happened—that a whole platoon of Rune Knights hadn't been able to stop the enemy.
And that a single mage from Fairy Tail had taken out the entire Phantom Marauders. It was unbelievable.
But unbelievable or not, they quickly moved to arrest the unconscious mages.
The next morning, sunlight streamed through a window, falling on Ren.
Ren slowly opened his eyes and stretched comfortably.
He skillfully opened his system panel.
[Ding! S-Rank Mission: Eliminate the Phantom Marauders, complete!]
[Reward: One 10-Pull!]
High risk, high reward. Just as I thought.
If he had stuck to A-Rank missions, he'd have to complete ten of them just to get one 10-pull. At an average of a week per mission, even working nonstop, it would have taken two or three months to get that chance. This one S-Rank mission took care of it all at once.
He stared at the 10-pull button, itching to press it. Who could resist the lure of a gacha pull?
But with supreme willpower, he held back. He'd wait until he was back at the Fairy Tail guild, with a blessing from the "goddess" (Mira).
He knew from his old gaming days that gacha pulls were a whole metaphysical thing. To get an SSR, you needed the right time, the right place, and the right people. This wasn't superstition; it was quantum mechanics.
He glanced around and saw Elfman snoring on a nearby sofa.
Ren walked over and nudged him. "Get up! Rise and shine!"
Elfman's eyes fluttered open. He sat up, overjoyed. "Ren! You're okay!"
"I was always fine, just drained of magic. Where's the client? Is he okay?"
"He's fine. He's sleeping in the room next door."
"Good."
Ren sighed in relief. He was terrified the client had been killed. It would have sucked to do all that work just to find out the guy paying for it was gone.
"Let's go. The work is done. Time to collect our fee."