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"George! George! George!"
The moment Mirajane finished speaking, the Fairy Tail wizards erupted into cheers, unanimously chanting George's name.
It was clear who their preferred successor was. Despite George having only been in the guild for less than a year, while Laxus had grown up in it since childhood, their hearts leaned toward the feline contender.
"Laxus! Laxus! Laxus!"
Fried, who had just regained consciousness, immediately shouted in response, rallying Bickslow and Evergreen to join him. Their voices cracked from the strain, barely managing to stand out amidst the overwhelming chants for George.
The only reason their voices were even somewhat noticeable was because the rest of the guild members, seeing how desperate they were, took pity and slightly lowered their own volume.
"It seems you're the people's choice."
Laxus listened to the overwhelming cheers for George, his tone carrying a trace of disappointment. However, he quickly composed himself.
"It doesn't matter. As long as I defeat you and prove that I'm the strongest wizard in the guild, they'll naturally support me."
"In this world, the strong always reign supreme!"
"Then you'd better win first before making such claims."
George knew that no matter what he said, this battle was inevitable. He had no interest in lecturing Laxus with words—only action would suffice.
In truth, he didn't entirely disagree with Laxus's philosophy.
Strength ruled the world. No matter where or when, without sufficient power, emotions and bonds alone could never rewrite tragedy.
Laxus, however, was simply too extreme.
"Then let's do this!"
Laxus extended his hand toward George and commanded:
"Lightning Strike!"
A bolt of lightning descended from the sky, aimed directly at George's head.
Bathed in crackling electricity, George raised his paw and swiped to the right, effortlessly redirecting the lightning away from himself.
At the same time, he retrieved a coin from his dimensional storage and flicked it toward Laxus.
"Railgun!"
Charged with electricity, the coin accelerated to supersonic speed, shooting straight at Laxus.
Yet, Laxus remained unfazed.
Taking a deep breath, he sucked in all the electric energy surrounding the coin, absorbing it into his body.
Then, with a swift motion, he caught the half-eroded remains of the coin between his fingers.
The first exchange of attacks was over.
George confirmed that Laxus, like Natsu, could devour energy of his own element, while Laxus took note of George's precise control over lightning.
"I can't use any more electric-based magic or abilities against him."
George quickly came to a conclusion.
Railguns, plasma cannons, the Thunder Titan form, and the ancient magic Thunderstorm Descent—none of these would work. Instead, they would only serve to strengthen Laxus.
His only option was to use his ability to manipulate electricity to weaken Laxus's own lightning attacks.
But that was fine. Lightning was merely one of the many weapons in his arsenal.
His wand—one of the finest from any world—could amplify the magic of the Harry Potter universe to its fullest potential. Even without lightning-based abilities, he had more than enough firepower to take down Laxus.
"Thunder Battle Mode!"
On the other side, after gauging George's abilities, Laxus abandoned long-range lightning spells. Instead, he channeled all his magic power and electricity into his body, massively enhancing his physical strength for close combat.
There were mages in this world who specialized in controlling elements—like Totomaru of the Phantom Lord's Element 4, who could manipulate fire and had given Natsu a hard time in the past.
But unlike that useless Dragon Slayer, Laxus wasn't so easily subdued.
His lightning wasn't something that could be controlled by others.
Against mages with elemental manipulation abilities, using direct lightning magic was ineffective. Even if he forcefully overpowered George's control and landed a hit, the attack's strength would be greatly diminished.
The best strategy was to internalize his magic power and lightning, relying on enhanced physical combat instead.
As a Dragon Slayer, his body was already immensely powerful—amplified by lightning, it became even stronger.
George had inherited Makarov's Giant Magic and had taken down Fried with a single strike, proving his close-combat skills weren't lacking either.
But Laxus had more faith in his own strength.
He was convinced—when all was said and done, he would be the one still standing in the arena.
"Thunder Fist!"
Laxus' body transformed into a flash of lightning as he charged toward George, aiming a devastating punch at him.
But George simply flicked his wand.
"Impedimenta!"
A flicker of blue-green sparks danced at the tip of his wand, and in an instant, Laxus—who had been moving at lightning speed—suddenly slowed down, forcibly ejected from his elemental state.
The Impediment Jinx.
A high-level spell he had only recently discovered, and one that had proven to be exceptionally useful.
At first, he had assumed it was just a minor barrier spell that created physical obstructions on the battlefield—something seemingly unimpressive. Because of that, he hadn't bothered learning it.
But during his studies of time magic, he realized that the Impediment Jinx, much like the Freezing Charm and the Repairing Charm, was actually an extension of time-based magic.
In reality, the spell worked by slowing down the target's perception of time, indirectly reducing their speed.
When used on small creatures like bees or pixies, it could even function similarly to a Freezing Charm, suspending them mid-air.
According to Dumbledore, at its highest mastery, the Impediment Jinx could even reverse an opponent's time by a few seconds, making their movements rewind.
A spell with immense potential.
Of course, George wasn't at that level yet. Right now, all he could do was slow down his opponent.
"Disillusionment Charm!"
With Laxus' speed reduced, George swiftly cast another spell, vanishing on the spot with the Disillusionment Charm.
He had no intention of engaging Laxus in close combat.
The reason he had fought Fried in melee was simple—he knew he could end it in a few moves with no risk.
But against Laxus? That was a different story.
With even a hint of risk involved, there was no need to force a melee fight.
Why fight head-on when he could elegantly dominate the battlefield as a ranged mage?
Unlike Laxus, he wasn't restricted to using only lightning magic. He had a vast arsenal of ranged spells at his disposal.
Recently, under Dumbledore's guidance, his mastery of magic from the Harry Potter world had improved drastically. This was the perfect chance to put it to the test.
And more importantly—unlike this world's mages, whose magic reserves were finite—his magical power was limitless.
As long as his opponent wasn't overwhelmingly stronger, he could simply kite them from a distance, gradually wearing them down.
And Laxus? His overall strength was clearly inferior.
This battle would be a demonstration—Laxus wouldn't even get the chance to fight in close quarters.
He would lose before he ever got the opportunity.
"He can use invisibility magic too?!"
Realizing that his speed had been drastically reduced and that George had disappeared entirely, Laxus' expression darkened.
Immediately, he halted his charge, shifting into a defensive stance as he scanned his surroundings.
He needed to find George—fast.
(End of Chapter)