### Chapter 26: Promoted to S-Class Mage
"ROAR——————!!!"
The ancient mythical beast Kirin roared in the sky.
Descending from the heavens like divine punishment, it intended to destroy everything before it.
Gildarts also unleashed his strongest Magic.
He gathered all his Magic Power into his fist.
"Empyrean!!"
Gildarts shouted loudly, punching upwards.
A terrifying shockwave met the Thunder Kirin head-on.
BOOM—————!!!
The shockwave generated by the collision of two powerful energies was unimaginable.
The earth shattered amidst the tremors, trees were uprooted and pulverized in the shockwave.
"Hide behind me!"
Erza shouted.
"Requip! Adamantine Armor!!"
Erza requipped into the Adamantine Armor, the one with the strongest defense among her armors.
"Adamantine Barrier!!"
Erza held two giant shields, combining them to form a huge Magic barrier.
BOOM—————!!
The powerful shockwave hit.
"Wooooooaaaahhhhh!!"
Erza roared loudly, resisting the violent impact with all her might, but the powerful shockwave pushed Erza backwards.
Natsu, Mira, and the others also hurried forward to help Erza resist.
It took quite a while for the shockwave to subside.
The trees around everyone had vanished.
"How is it?!"
Several people hurriedly looked towards the battlefield. At this moment, the dark clouds in the sky had completely dissipated, seemingly blown away by the impact generated by the collision just now.
A huge clearing had been created in the dense forest.
A bottomless pit appeared on the ground. In the middle of the pit, only a single pillar stood tall, and Gildarts was standing on top of that pillar.
Seeing the scene before them, everyone was deeply shocked.
"So... so terrifying..."
"I didn't expect Riku to be this strong..."
Everyone knew Riku was strong, but they never expected him to be *this* strong.
There was also Uncle Gildarts. They all grew up watching Gildarts and knew he was the strongest mage in Fairy Tail.
But they never had a concept of *how* strong "strongest" was. They only knew that every time they challenged Gildarts, they were easily defeated.
But seeing Uncle Gildarts safe and sound amidst such a terrifying attack, they finally realized how powerful he truly was.
Of course, they could accept Uncle Gildarts' strength; after all, he had always been strong.
But Riku's strength seemed too perverse.
After all, having known Riku for a few months, they all knew it had only been a little over four months since he awakened his Magic Origin.
Over four months. Natsu remembered that when he had been training for over four months, he could at most breathe a fireball. Riku, however, was about to destroy the world.
This guy isn't human at all!
"Teacher Gildarts is indeed more powerful. I surrender."
Riku looked at Gildarts and spoke to surrender.
Kirin was a move created by drawing inspiration from Uchiha Sasuke's "Lightning Release: Kirin."
It utilized lightning to emit high heat, causing the air to warm up rapidly, thereby generating updrafts, which in turn generated cumulonimbus clouds.
Then, positive charges formed in the upper part of the cloud layer, while negative charges dominated the lower part, causing the cumulonimbus clouds to discharge electricity.
Finally, by combining his lightning with natural lightning and simultaneously performing shape transformation, this move—Kirin—was created.
Currently, the highest voltage he could develop with the Goro Goro no Mi was 60,000,000 Volts.
But with the boost of natural lightning, the strongest voltage he could release could reach 200,000,000 Volts.
Kirin was currently his strongest move.
Moreover, as he continued to develop the Goro Goro no Mi, the power of this move could be continuously improved; its potential was immense.
Gildarts appeared in front of Riku and gave him a flick on the forehead: "You stupid brat, are you trying to kill me?!"
He knew Riku was very strong and his strength grew fast.
To prevent this kid from becoming too arrogant, he wanted to give him a good final lesson before leaving for the 100-Year Quest, to make him understand that there are always people better than you.
Unexpectedly, he was taught a lesson by this stupid brat instead. If he hadn't used his full strength just now, he might have really failed.
"This kid is ruthless! Those who know me know I'm your teacher; those who don't would think I'm your father's killer!"
Riku scratched his head somewhat awkwardly: "Teacher told me to use my strongest move. I was just listening to you. Besides, I knew Teacher could definitely block it."
Seeing Riku's look of complete trust, Gildarts couldn't help but feel a little guilty. He had to use his full strength to block it.
"Of... Of course! But this move is too dangerous. In the future, unless dealing with an enemy, you can't use this move on your companions."
Gildarts warned.
Riku nodded: "I promise, I absolutely won't."
A smile appeared on Gildarts' face as he patted Riku's shoulder: "Kid, although I didn't teach you Magic, I'm proud of you for having such strength. Perhaps it won't be long before you surpass me."
"But there is one thing I must urge you. You are very strong now, but this world is very vast. Outside this country and this continent, there are many strong people. You must understand the principle that there are always people better than you, and heavens beyond heavens."
"Only in this way can you continuously improve. I look forward to the day in the future when you become a top-tier powerhouse on this continent, and even in this world."
"I will definitely work hard."
Riku looked determined. He knew there were many terrifyingly strong people in this world.
Knowing what crises Fairy Tail would face in the future, to protect the guild and everyone, he must become stronger. Being top-tier wasn't enough; he had to become the strongest.
"Congratulations, you passed the exam!"
"Promoted to the new S-Class mage of the Fairy Tail guild."
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