The crowd fell silent.
Natsu and Kael Vane stared at each other. Natsu's instincts told him this opponent was terrifyingly strong. But that just made him more excited.
Flames ignited around Natsu's hands, and heat rolled off him as he dropped into a fighting stance.
"Great! Now I can go all out without worrying!"
"Begin!" Makarov announced.
With a shout, Natsu charged at Kael. His flame-wrapped hand swung in, but Kael just stood there with his hands in his pockets, as if he hadn't reacted at all.
Just as many thought the match was over...
Kael Vane moved so fast he became a blur.
In the next instant, he was behind Natsu, and a kick landed squarely in Natsu's back.
"Uwaa!"
Natsu lost his balance and rolled forward.
"So fast!"
"Is that teleportation magic?"
To everyone watching, it looked like Kael had teleported behind Natsu.
Makarov shook his head. "No. It's not teleportation. It's an extremely skilled high-speed movement technique. It's just so fast that it looks like teleportation."
Makarov was shocked. The speed was too fast. He had only barely seen an afterimage, which was how he knew it wasn't teleportation. Teleportation leaves no trace at all.
"What?!"
Jet was shocked. His magic specialized in speed, and he was known as one of the fastest in Fairy Tail—but this new guy was even faster. He was a monster.
"Fire Dragon's Iron Fist!"
Natsu sprang back up and drove a flaming fist at Kael Vane.
Kael raised his left palm.
Natsu's punch slammed into Kael's open hand.
Everyone expected Kael to be sent flying. But another shocking thing happened—Kael didn't move an inch.
"He blocked it?!"
They had all seen how strong Natsu's Iron Fist was. It could easily smash rocks. But Kael had blocked that powerful attack with just his palm. Was this guy a monster?
Kael closed his grip around Natsu's fist and swung.
Natsu's body was flung off-line, thrown hard through the air.
"Uwaaah!"
He crashed into a large rock, splitting it apart.
Natsu pushed himself up at once and took a deep breath, his chest swelling as magic gathered in his throat.
Kael Vane lifted his hand and extended an index finger toward Natsu. Green spiritual pressure condensed at the fingertip, compressing into a dense sphere of energy.
"Fire Dragon's Roar!!"
A violent storm of flame erupted from Natsu and surged straight toward Kael Vane.
"Cero!"
A beam of green energy lanced out from Kael's fingertip, meeting the roar head-on.
The crimson firestorm and the green Cero collided in midair, erupting into a violent blast that rippled outward like a shockwave.
"Waaaah!"
"Yaaah!"
The force rolled over the spectators. Many guild members cried out, and some were knocked off their feet.
A moment later, the air settled. A giant crater had been carved out between Kael and Natsu, left behind by the impact.
Kael was unscathed.
Natsu, however, was injured. He couldn't stay up and fell to the ground.
In that exchange, Kael had clearly won.
"The match is decided! The winner is Kael Vane!!"
Makarov announced Kael's victory. He was very surprised. He never thought the new guy was this strong.
From his appearance, Kael looked like a normal person who hadn't trained much.
But after using Take Over, he was like a different person: calm, cold, and clearly a veteran fighter.
"The new guy won?!"
"He beat Natsu!"
"He's so strong! That has to be S-Class strength, right?"
"Definitely! Only an S-Class mage could beat Natsu!"
"He's a monster!"
Hearing Makarov announce the winner, the guild members finally snapped out of their shock. The new guy had won.
Even though most of them had lost their bets, they were all excited. The guild had gained another S-Class-level powerhouse. This was great news.
Kael Vane let out a breath and canceled his transformation, returning to his normal self.
His magic power was empty. If the fight had lasted any longer, he would have lost.
But he was thrilled. He had beaten Natsu, the main character. As expected of his favorite Espada, Ulquiorra. This victory gave him a huge boost of confidence.
Kael Vane walked over to Natsu and offered his hand to pull him up.
Natsu had lost the ability to fight, but he wasn't badly hurt. He could have kept going, but the fight would have just gotten ugly.
Kael had overpowered him at every turn—speed, strength, and attack power. Natsu couldn't see any way to win, so he didn't struggle and just accepted the loss.
"You're so strong! Just like that monster Erza. I'm going to beat you next time!"
Even though he lost, Natsu wasn't discouraged at all. It just meant he had one more person to surpass. This fired him up even more.
"Alright," Kael Vane nodded.
Even though he won this time, he knew it was a lucky win. At the same time, as a man, he didn't want to lose to anyone, not even the main character.
The guild members returned to the guild hall, all excitedly talking about the fight.
Cana was happily counting her money. She had her drinking money for the week. If she had known Kael was this strong, she would have kept quiet and bet more herself.
"What am I supposed to do? There's another monster! When will Elfman the Man become an S-Class mage?! Ohhh! The road to S-Class is too hard for Elfman the Man!"
Elfman grabbed his head and cried. Everyone in Fairy Tail was a monster. Erza, Mira, Mystogan... just as he'd waited for them to become S-Class, now Kael Vane showed up.
Gray shot back, "You say that as if you could have become S-Class if Kael hadn't shown up. You haven't even qualified for the trial yet."
Kael was definitely a monster. He had a high chance of becoming the next S-Class mage. But they could just avoid him. It just meant waiting one more year.
Cana's face froze when she heard that.
She had qualified for the S-Class trial three years in a row. The first year, she ran into the monster Erza and was eliminated. The second year, she ran into the monster Mira and was eliminated. The third year was easier; she was eliminated without even seeing her opponent, Mystogan.
This year, Kael Vane showed up. She had watched the whole fight. She would probably lose to Kael even faster than she lost to the other three. Did she have to wait another year?
Thinking of this, her whole mood soured.