It has been over two months since leaving the guild, and Laxus has been traveling.
Perhaps because of inner guilt, or because of the storms on the journey, Laxus's face appears leaner than before.
Natsu felt he hadn't changed much, Ibarglin just thought he got thinner.
Gray, however, felt there was a new maturity about Laxus.
Compared to the guy who seemed arrogant and domineering in the guild, this Laxus now appeared more trustworthy and more charming.
Especially when he's enveloped in lightning, punching the enemy in the face.
"Lightning Dragon's Shattering Fist!"
"Ugh..." Bruno was hit by the punch, his upper body jerked backward, but quickly countered, landing a punch on Laxus's chest.
Laxus didn't get blown away like Natsu and Elfman but only slid back a little with his feet.
He gently patted his chest to smooth out the wrinkles on his clothes, without a hint of underestimating his opponent: "Seems like you're not just any small fry."
Bruno looked at Laxus with a bit of admiration in his eyes: "Can you fly, buddy?"
Both sides moved almost simultaneously:
"Thunder Dragon Celestial Halberd!"
"Fall!"
"Ugh..." The ground within a three-meter radius under Laxus's feet was pressed into a depression by gravity, and he naturally bore the exaggerated pressure, his knees slightly bent.
"Whoa..." The Heaven-piercing Halberd formed of lightning shot out, hitting Bruno's left shoulder squarely.
If it were an ordinary person, they'd probably be pinned to the ground with a pierced shoulder by this move. But for Bruno, only his shoulder's clothing tore apart, suffering a severe electric shock.
He could even maintain the gravity pressure on Laxus.
The magic power erupted from Laxus's body, his entire being covered in golden lightning, leaping from the pit like a meteor, punching Bruno's chin.
Bruno was knocked back by the blow; Laxus pressed the advantage, clasped his hands into a fist, bringing down a powerful hit with golden lightning:
"Lightning Dragon's Jaw!"
The tightly clasped fists crashed onto Bruno's chest, the electricity rippling outwards like golden waves.
Bruno's body uncontrollably fell to the ground, causing the surface to crack with a crashing sound, as if lightning rippled even through the cracks.
Wendy and Jubia couldn't help but say: "So strong..."
Lisana compared him with her impression of Laxus: "Seems even stronger than before."
With pride, Ibarglin said: "Of course, Laxus is..."
She swallowed the words 'the strongest' back and amended herself: "Laxus has always been very strong!"
"Uh..." Lucy said weakly, "Shouldn't we maybe stand a bit further away?"
The others didn't have time to answer before they saw Bruno leap from the pit, landing a punch on Laxus's abdomen as he moved to pursue.
This punch sent Laxus flying upward, but Bruno gestured, and Laxus was immediately accelerated back under gravity, making the pit Bruno created even deeper.
Bruno lifted his foot for a heavy downward strike.
Laxus transformed into a streak of lightning and shot out in an instant.
Boom!
Bruno's foot caused the surrounding ground within nearly a hundred meters to shatter like a spider web, the earth shuddered, and stones shot up.
Laxus couldn't steady himself on the shaking ground, and even the spectators nearby were slightly affected.
Everyone suddenly realized Lucy might be right.
Bruno and Laxus rushed towards each other, their fists colliding, and the stones at their feet shattered, blown away by the shockwave.
Lightning shocked Bruno, while gravity oppressed Laxus.
At one moment, the two briefly separated; Laxus seemed to transform into golden lightning, landing a left punch on Bruno's side face, then a kick to his lower back.
He flashed around attacking with incredible speed, each move adding more injuries to Bruno.
Until Bruno suddenly unleashed a wide-range Gravity Magic, slamming Laxus to the ground.
Then a punch crashed down, the ground collapsing, burying Laxus in rubble.
"Laxus!" Natsu and Ibarglin shouted in concern.
The others also showed worried expressions.
"It's okay." Wendy said, "Mr. Laxus should be fine."
Everyone looked at Wendy, only to see a blue magic array glowing at her feet.
Wendy explained: "It's Defense-enhancing Magic, Alma."
The glimmer of magic shone through the rubble.
Wendy continued: "Next is Speed-enhancing Magic, Bania! And Strength-enhancing Magic, Ames!"
The rubble burst apart with a bang.
Laxus stood there in good shape, enveloped in the glow of Additional Magic: "Although I want to say there's no need for this, it seems more timely to say..."
He hesitated for a moment, then said, "Thanks."
Wendy smiled sweetly, adding, "Sorry, I can't keep up this magic power for too long."
"Troublesome pests!" Bruno extended his palm toward Wendy.
Laxus immediately stood before him, landing a punch on Bruno's face: "Where are you looking!"
Amidst flickering electrical light, Bruno flew backward, plowing a trench on the ground.
Laxus looked at his fist, spreading and clenching his fingers: "Seems like another remarkable mage has joined Fairy Tail."
Seeing Bruno get up, Laxus tore off his tattered cloak, took a deep breath: "Thunder Dragon's... Roar!"
A golden stream of lightning burst forth, far more exaggerated in scale than Natsu's breath.
With Wendy's Additional Magic enhancing it, this move probably surpassed the combined breath of Natsu and Gajeel.
Everyone optimistically thought such a powerful attack should secure the victory.
However, Bruno casually tore off his white coat. Unhurriedly, he steadied his stance, clasping his hands together.
A small black sphere appeared in front.
The sphere seemed to possess infinite attraction, like an unfillable black hole, continuously absorbing everything around it.
Stones, gravel, dust—all vanished completely upon contact with the sphere, seemingly creating a vortex in the air itself.
Even the golden lightning Laxus spewed forth was drawn in by the sphere, the several-meter radius golden torrent suddenly shrank and narrowed before being entirely absorbed!
And Laxus, standing opposite Bruno, found himself uncontrollably moving forward.
"This is the Infinite Gravity Field that can absorb everything; no one can escape from it!" Bruno yelled, "Fly, fairies! Show me how you fly!"