Chapter 122: They Were Terrified of Me
In fact, Ren himself hadn't noticed that his current magical power was already extremely high. He had just taken over Whitebeard, the man renowned as the "Strongest Man in the World" from another reality.
His previous battle with Jose Porla, the Guild Master of Phantom Lord and one of the Ten Wizard Saints of Ishgar, was a prime example. Even Jose was no match for Ren in this form.
The Ten Wizard Saints were not just any random people; they were figures who could be counted on one's fingers in the entire Ishgar continent, the absolute pinnacle of human magical power.
If this mysterious Mr. Teru truly possessed such powerful strength, he wouldn't have been a simple priest for a cult hiding in the Troll Kingdom. He wouldn't have fallen to this state. Ren had been expecting a "boss battle," but the priest was just a weakling.
Ren picked up the "Hamil Flute" from the ground, where it had fallen from Mr. Teru's bisected robes. He sensed the power of black magic on it, a greasy, foul-feeling energy. But it was completely different from Zeref's. Compared to Zeref's ultimate technique that could bring magic itself to life, this flute was more like a crude, pathetic imitation.
'No wonder it only had the useless ability to hypnotize children under 12,' Ren thought with contempt.
Crack!
Ren directly crushed the flute in his hand, and the dark magic dissipated into nothing.
The Troll King, who had been frozen in shock by the sudden death of his human ally, was instantly enraged when he saw Ren actually crush such a precious, one-of-a-kind flute.
"You bastard!" he roared, his greed for the item turning into murderous fury. "How dare you destroy my treasure! Go to hell!"
The Troll King, with his colossal body of 50 meters, raised a giant, gnarled wooden club—more like a petrified tree trunk—with both hands and brought it down towards Ren with the force of a collapsing mountain.
Ren, still in his Whitebeard form, didn't even flinch. He simply raised Murakumogiri with one hand to block.
Boom!
The powerful collision of forces caused the surrounding ground to tremble violently. A shockwave of air and dust blasted outward, but Ren stood his ground. His one, relatively small arm, holding the bisento, had completely stopped the two-handed, full-powered strike of a 50-meter-tall monster.
"How is that possible?!"
The Troll King's eyes widened in disbelief when he saw Ren blocking his attack with just one hand.
He was the Troll King; his strength was unmatched in the world! Even the Giant King wouldn't dare to directly withstand his attacks.
Yet, this shorty, less than seven meters tall, actually blocked his attack with one hand. How could he believe it? But the fact was happening right before his eyes. His arms were screaming in protest, and he had no choice but to believe it.
"Get lost!" Ren commanded, his voice a low growl.
He exerted a slight force with his right hand. The Troll King felt an irresistible, monstrous surge of power from the wooden club, a power that wasn't just strength but something else, something... vibrating. It forced his massive body to stumble backward.
Boom boom boom!
The Troll King's body crashed through the ruined palace wall and fell to the ground outside.
Just as the Troll King was about to get up, a foot directly stomped on his face, pinning him back to the ground with a sickening crunch.
Ren, using his bisento to vault, had already arrived outside the palace. Many trolls saw that Ren had actually trampled their King underfoot, and they all roared in anger. Then, raising their weapons, they charged towards Ren in a massive, green-skinned wave.
"Perfect!"
Ren gripped Murakumogiri with both hands, his white coat fluttering behind him.
"Buzz!"
The power of the Tremor-Tremor Fruit (Gura Gura no Mi) entwined around Murakumogiri's blade, encasing it in a shining, white, bubble-like aura.
[Akarin's Note: The Gura Gura no Mi is Whitebeard's power from 'One Piece'. It allows him to create powerful vibrations, or "quakes," capable of shattering the very air.]
Then Ren swung it with force.
Boom boom boom boom boom boom!
A combination of vibration and a physical slash merged, unleashing a terrifying attack. The air itself cracked like glass in a horizontal line. The shockwave tore through the charging trolls, and the ground beneath them erupted.
All the tall trolls standing in Ren's path were injured by this single slash, their crude armor shattering, and they were simultaneously sent flying like ragdolls.
"Ow ow ow ow ow!" ... The trolls let out painful howls as they were thrown into buildings and onto each other.
The path in front of Ren was instantly cleared over a large area.
Suddenly, the Troll King, roaring in pain and humiliation, launched a sneak attack. He lunged from the ground, grabbing Ren with both of his massive, clawed hands.
"Die!"
The Troll King exerted all his force with both hands, intending to crush Ren to death like an insect.
"Hmph! Didn't your mother teach you that it's rude to grab people without permission?"
—!
A shockwave, with no wind-up, emanated from Ren's body.
"Ugh ah ah!"
The Troll King felt his finger bones about to shatter from the inside out. The vibration was so intense, so painful, that he instinctively, reluctantly, separated his hands, his claws broken and bleeding.
Ren, now free, raised his hand and punched the Troll King's massive gut.
—!
Crack crack—!
The air shattered again.
"Pfft—!"
The Troll King spat a fountain of blood and his eyes went white. His colossal body flew backward like a cannonball.
Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!
Tall, crude buildings were shattered by the Troll King's body crashing through them, one after another, until he disappeared into a cloud of dust and debris far in the distance.
"King!"
"Kill him!"
Seeing their King sent flying, a large number of trolls once again charged towards Ren, their numbers seeming endless.
Ren gripped Murakumogiri with both hands. The power of the Tremor-Tremor Fruit entwined around Murakumogiri's blade, causing immense destruction with every casual swing.
He slammed the butt of his weapon on the ground. A shockwave radiated outward, buckling the very foundations of the Troll Capital. Buildings
tilted and collapsed. Trolls charging him stumbled and fell as the earth itself became his weapon.
Watching the trolls' pained roars and the continuously destroyed city, a sense of pure, unadulterated exhilaration rose in Ren's heart.
'So this is what Natsu feels...' he thought, a savage grin on his Whitebeard-face. 'No wonder he likes destruction so much. Sometimes, destruction is indeed incredibly satisfying.'
Here, he didn't need to suppress his combat power; he could destroy to his heart's content.
Boom boom boom boom boom boom—!
The land and buildings of the Troll Capital were constantly torn apart. The trolls charging towards Ren were continuously injured and fell, not just to his weapon, but to the quakes he sent through the ground.
After about 10 minutes, no troll dared to attack Ren anymore.
The capital was in ruins. The royal palace was a pile of rubble. The ground was split open with chasms.
Every step Ren took forward, the hundreds of remaining trolls took a step back, their eyes wide.
Their eyes, when looking at Ren, were filled with a primal, abject fear. They were looking at an incredibly terrifying monster, a walking natural disaster that had single-handedly leveled their home.
Seeing that the trolls no longer attacked him, Ren also stopped attacking. Although these trolls looked like monsters, they were also intelligent beings. As long as they didn't provoke him, he was too lazy to act against them.
Using Murakumogiri as a cane with one hand, Ren walked step by step along the main street of the Troll Capital, appearing very calm and at ease. And every time the butt of his "cane" touched the ground, the trolls' hearts would tremble.
The trolls stood on both sides of the street, cowering in the ruins, not daring to approach Ren.
At this moment, sounds of fighting—a new, booming sound—came from outside the royal city.
Immediately after, armored giants were seen rushing through the main gates of the Troll Capital.
The Giant King led the charge, his face a mask of heroic fury. He raised his axe and shouted, "Brother Ren!!! We've come to save you—!!!"
The Giant King's voice echoed over the Troll Capital, as if telling Ren not to be afraid, that they giants would not betray friends, and if a friend was in danger, the Elbaf Kingdom would come to their rescue, no matter the cost.
"Wait! Your Majesty! It seems something is wrong..."
The subordinates following the Giant King immediately noticed something amiss. The imagined scene of trolls rushing out to fight them to the death did not occur. The entire capital was strangely quiet, save for the sounds of... whimpering?
Hearing this, the Giant King looked up. Indeed, many parts of the Troll Capital were destroyed. Actually, all of it was destroyed. The Troll Royal Palace had completely collapsed.
Immediately after, he saw a relatively short figure (to him) in the Troll Capital walking slowly down the main street, amidst the fearful, cowering gazes of many, many trolls.
"Oh? Your Majesty the Giant King, why are you here?"
Ren heard the Giant King's shout and, leaning on his bisento, quickly walked over.
"You... you... are you Little Brother Ren?!"
The Giant King looked at the greatly changed Ren, somewhat daring not to recognize him. Wasn't Ren a young man? How did he become an old man? And wasn't that white beard a bit too prominent?
Ren also noticed the Giant King's expression, so he deactivated his Take Over Magic. The massive, powerful form of Whitebeard dissolved, and his entire body reverted to its original appearance.
Seeing Ren's original, 18-year-old appearance, the Giant King then realized he hadn't been mistaken.
"Little Brother Ren? This... what's going on?!"
The Giant King was a bit bewildered by the situation before him. His army was ready for a bloody war, but... the trolls didn't attack Ren. They just watched as Ren swaggered away, and they seemed... afraid.
"Oh? Them?" Ren said, glancing back at the trembling masses. "They were scared stiff of me."
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