Chapter 23: Chapter 22: The Guardian

"What do you think? Are the stories true?" Jean asked Lucy when he saw her enter the forest.

"Yes, this place is definitely absorbing the magical energy from my body"

"I see, although it seems that we are lucky and the energy of the bracelet is not being absorbed"

"Good to hear"

"And how long do you think running completely out of magic would take? Without counting the bracelet"

"Maybe 1-hour maximum, it's a bit difficult to give an exact number, but I would say there is a 10-minute margin of error"

"The way to the temple should take us 4 or 5 hours, but being pessimistic, it could be 6, a couple of hours in there to explore it and deal with any problems gives a total of 14 hours to be back, and with the rate of absorption this place could consume almost 17 times the total amount of magic you have, and that's not counting what you would spend if you had to use magic to defend yourself or fight something, so I would say that in the worst case this trip could cost you 18 or 19 times your total magic power"

"That's a lot of magic power"

"Yes, it's quite obvious because this place is a death trap for any wizard, even if it was someone with a big amount of magic; I'd be surprised if by the time a mage got to the temple had more than 40% of his magic power, no matter if he doesn't have to use magic at all along the way"

"And how much has my bracelet stored now? Because I used it a lot during the last fight, especially with that final attack". Lucy asked, stretching out her hand; Jean held the bracelet and concentrated.

"You have enough for almost 46 refills; wow, you used quite a lot, didn't you?"

"Well, during the whole fight, I used magic reinforcement to protect myself from all the attacks I could, and to that is added the star dress, the aqua-terra, and also the super punch"

"I see; with all that, it makes sense that you would have spent so much". Jean said before standing up, turning her back to the forest, creating a dagger and throwing it, the small weapon flying several dozen meters before sticking in a rock.

"What was that for?" Lucy asked.

"An escape route, only in case of emergencies"

"Ah, to teleport us out of the forest"

"Yes, but as I said, it's only for emergencies; you know I'm not good at teleporting with someone unless I concentrate before doing it; otherwise, no one knows where the point of arrival would end up being"

"So, everything is ready?"

"Yeah, let's see what secrets this place holds". Jean said as they both entered the unexplored place.

In that way, their path was carried out in relative tranquility; as time passed, they both noticed how the ground was becoming thicker, the trees seemed bigger and bigger, the environment acquired a more humid atmosphere, and in general, the place was looking more and more like a jungle than a forest, it was when they had already walked about two hours they spoke again.

"This place is pretty weird"

"Yes, the change of environment is clearly not natural"

"Not only that"

"Um?"

"Don't you hear it?"

They both stopped walking, and Lucy paid attention to any sounds she could hear. "I hear nothing"

"Exactly, there is not a single sound other than the one we produce, normally we should hear animals, of any kind, like birds, wild boars or monkeys if we really go from a forest to a jungle, but until now I haven't been able to hear a single sound"

"And what does that mean?"

"To be honest? I have no idea; it could be many things, like this part of the forest is the territory of a predator that the rest of the animals do not want to approach, that there is something external that acts as a repellent, or…"

"Or?"

"Or the whole place is devoid of other forms of life besides plants"

"That's possible?"

"I don't know. Do you know if the lack of ethernano could drive away from the animals that lived here?

"Maybe? As far as I know, all living beings should have ethernano within their bodies to a greater or lesser extent, but the common animals and non-magicians can't use it because the amount their internal containers can store is too small"

"I see, so that could be a c-" Jean broke off and stopped Lucy.

"What's going on?" She asked, looking straight ahead, not noticing anything out of place.

Jean reached down and picked up a small rock and then threw it a couple of meters in front of him, the stone hit the ground, and a second later, it sank, revealing a well.

"A trap?!" Lucy asked surprised.

"Yep". Jean answered, leaning out to see the end of the well, where after a drop of at least 4 meters, metal spears were waiting to impale whoever fell. "Well, this confirms that whatever is in this forest is at least smart enough to prepare traps"

"Ugh, it is good that you noticed this"

"Yeah, but anyway, we have to keep our eyes open for anything that looks suspicious; the last thing we need is for a huge stone boulder to roll at us full speed or something like that"

"If that happens, couldn't you just punch it?"

"I could, but the problem would be the noise it would cause no matter if I break it or if we dodge it; so far, it seems that we have not drawn the attention of what inhabits this place, and I would like to keep it that way, after all, the element of surprise could make the difference in a battle"

Lucy agreed to the idea, and they both continued walking, getting closer and closer to where the temple was.

And they noticed that the more they did it, the more traps they found, and after four more hours of walking, they found trap number 22.

"These traps are starting to be more annoying than dangerous". Jean complained, avoiding stepping on a thin and well-hidden rope that seemed to be connected to a pair of logs carved to be giant stakes. "I hope the temple is close; this is starting to get tedious"

"I hope so too, but when you see these traps, don't you get the feeling that more than one person made them? Of course, if who made it was a person". Lucy responded by pushing a leaf that was in her way.

"I think the same; a single being cannot make all these traps, at least don't without magic. Do you think there is something like a tribe in this place?"

"I don't see any other answers; it's either that or whoever did it was a traps fanatic"

"I swear if we find that fanatic, I'll at least give him a kick for all the trouble we have come across". Said Jean with a menacing smile; after all, he did not notice one of the traps and ended up being sprayed by a horrible-smelling liquid that forced him to get into a river to wash until the smell disappeared, which delayed them on their way to the temple.

"Well, it looks like we'll find out whether or not you'll get your chance soon". Lucy said as she stopped in front of a bush and beckoned Jean to come closer; behind the branches and leaves was a large ancient-looking stone construction, if the vegetation coming out of every crack was any sign.

"Finally, we arrived". Lucy celebrated before sitting down on a rock to rest her legs.

"So this is the famous temple, home to the wish-fulfilling treasure and guarded by the guardian saint; a bit of a melodramatic catchphrase, in my opinion". Jean spoke, repeating the title that the newspaper gave to this place, his tone reflecting a bit of calm now that they had reached their destination, along with a bit of mockery at the bombastic title it had earned.

"Are you really one to say something like that?" Lucy asked with a clear mocking tone. "I don't know anyone who likes to overreact as much as you do"

Jean refused to look at her as he whistled. "I have no idea what you're talking about"

"Please, don't you remember what you did in the fight with Phantom Lord's mages? That whole act of yelling while using your aura, and when you said the name of your armor, you don't need to do that to use them, not to mention when you ripped your shirt in an attempt to look cool, I bet when you threw your final attack you yelled its name, What was it?" She said with a finger to her chin, as if she was really trying to remember the name of Jean's technique, even though she was the one who helped him decide on the name years ago.

"Oh I remenber, RAGNAROK!". She yelled as she put her hands in the same position Jean used when he launched the attack.

"Do not say like that!" Jean felt a chill run down his spine because of the embarrassment. "It's embarrassing; besides, every wizard I've ever met does the same thing!"

"That's because it helps to visualize all aspects of spells better, and when we mastered that aspect, most of us still do it out of habit, but I've seen you do all your techniques without saying a word"

"T-that's because I get too involved in the fight environment; what's the point of me being able to do incredible things if I don't fully live the situation?" He asked her trying to justify himself.

"What did you say that was called? Ah, chuunibyou". She said, giving a fatal blow to Jean's pride.

"Mark my words, I'm going to give this back to you". Jean said before looking at the temple. "Just let's go; let's finish this once and for all"

And while they both advanced, they did not notice how in the distance, at the top of one of the trees, a couple of figures watched them enter the temple; a few seconds later, the figures jumped between the trees, moving away from the place.

#####

"So, do you feel something different? As if the absorption of ethernano was faster or slower?" Jean asked as Lucy walked inside the temple; during the 20 minutes they had been inside, they had only walked in one direction inside the huge corridor that was in the place.

"No, so far, it stays the same". Lucy said as she looked at the walls; with all that they had walked, the passageway should already be completely dark, but on the walls, there were tiny lights that illuminated the entire place, each one the size of a firefly and emitting light that by itself it wouldn't make a difference. Still, in the number numbering in the thousands, everything on the site was fully lit.

"Well, if you feel any change, tell me; that could mean something"

"Okay". She replied when they both could see that in the distance, the corridor ended and gave way to a larger room.

And after another minute of walking, they finally reached a rectangular room with three exits.

Approaching them, they both noticed that the one on the right was stairs leading up.

The one in the middle was a corridor similar to the one they had just gone through

And the one on the left was also a staircase, but unlike the first, this went down.

They all had lower lighting than the one in the corridor they had just crossed, so it was impossible to see beyond about 100 meters.

"Now, where?" Jean wondered, looking at the three paths.

"Wait". Said Lucy looking in her bag and then taking out a small marble. "I knew this would come in handy at some point". She celebrated before throwing it down the stairs leading down.

They both kept silent and listened to the sound of the small sphere bouncing, again and again; the seconds passed, and the sound became lower and lower in the distance although it was still constant, showing that the high number of steps, and after a time the sound was so low that neither of them could hear it anymore.

"Ok, so the way down is incredibly long". Jean said.

"It's the only one we can check, the marble won't work up the stairs, and in the hallway, it will only go a little way before stopping". Lucy said.

"I think that decides it; we will go by the stairs that go down"

"Are you sure?"

"Honestly? No, but of the three roads, this is the only one we know something about, and although it seems long, it also seems that there are no traps, but to be sure, try to step on the same places where I do". Jean said before starting to go down.

"Whoever made this place definitely didn't have a good sense of taste." The blonde groaned as they both headed down the stairs.

"Yes, I give him a three if we talk about the way this place is done, the corridors are too long, and the three mysterious paths with poor lighting seem like a pretentious move". Jean replied, stepping forward carefully; after all, the last thing he wanted was another stink trap to hit him.

Minutes passed, and everything remained pretty quiet until finally, a light was visible at the end of the road.

"Well, it looks like we're finally getting out of here, but I swear if it's another annoying and unnecessarily long hallway, I'm going to carry you, and we're going to go full speed ahead". Jean said, tired of the boring structure that the place had.

"To be honest, at this point, I wouldn't mind if it saves us from walking for another hour in a dark and silent corridor". Lucy replied as they both walked through the exit, only for their eyes to widen.

Because from what they could see, they were inside a massive conical excavation that, even when they had been going down for so long, they could see the sky if they looked up.

They looked carefully at the place they both noticed that a few levels down the place had many bridge-like connections linking various ends of the site.

"Okay, I'll admit this is pretty impressive". Jean admitted with wide eyes.

"W-why would someone build a place like this? It doesn't make sense that the temple exists to cover the place if we could enter from above anyway". Said Lucy looking at the sky.

"It is true, this type of construction does not seem to be done intelligently, the entrance had a simple appearance with several stone blocks forming it, the passageways were quite long and adorned by lights, the three paths, look there". He said pointing up to 2 exits similar to the one they just went through. "They seem to lead to this place too; all this place has a strange configuration"

'To be completely honest, this seems like something a kid playing Minecraft would do in an attempt not to get bored'. Jean thought after remembering the absurd constructions that she had seen that some people made on the internet.

"In the end, it is no use asking ourselves about the shape of this place; for the moment, I think it would be best to go down; if there really is something here, it should be there".Jean said before starting to walk; for her part, Lucy also decided to stop looking for reasons and moved forward.

Throughout their walk, both Jean and Lucy observed the place in search of a secret door or passageway. However, they found nothing; it was after 30 more minutes of walking using the bridges to descend that something caught their attention.

"Help me". A childish voice sounded at the lowest level.

"That… was a child?" Jean asked.

"It looks like?" Lucy replied, just as confused.

Wanting to check if what he thought was correct, Jean leaned out of the side of the bridge, trying to see the bottom of the place, but while she narrowed her eyes trying to distinguish something, Lucy screamed.

"WATCH OUT!" She shouted in alert, Jean turned quickly with a sword in his hand, hearing the whistle of some kind of arrow flying towards him, but when he turned completely, he noticed that the projectile had been stopped by Lucy's whip, however.

"More are coming!" He said before they both jumped to the sides, dodging a shower of what looked like gray spikes.

"Something else is c-" Jean's words were interrupted when from above, a foot slammed into his chest, breaking the stone bridge and causing both him and his attacker to fall.

"JEAN!" Without wasting a moment, Lucy's whip, which now had a blade on the tip, flew to embed itself in another of the many stone bridges, swinging and coming down to reach Jean and the one who had attacked him.

#####

He had felt them both; he had done it since they entered the forest; after all, this was his domain; it hadn't been long since his last meal had entered, and yet he was happy in the expectation of having a new one.

But this time, something felt… different; the two he felt were not like any of the previous ones.

Until that moment, none of those who had entered before had been able to reach the temple with more than a third of their total magical power.

But one of these humans, her reserves always remained full no matter how much he absorbed them.

It was as if something else was replenishing her reserves at the same speed that he was absorbing them; it was… exhilarating, a seemingly endless reserve of energy; the mere thought did nothing but excite him.

And the other presence was much more disconcerting; if the first one gave the impression of an endless source of energy, the other felt… empty.

He would understand if that happened some time after the human entered the forest, a place where his energy would be drained constantly, but from the moment he entered, it felt like he was a completely and utterly empty vessel; if he only sought the energy that he normally fed on.

But when he concentrated more, he saw a glow like no other, energy other than magic running through the human, overflowing, powerful, vibrant, and delicious.

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It took all his willpower not to run away to devour him at that moment.

And the closer they got, the more he studied his two appetizing preys, the first was a woman, and from what it seemed, the object that kept her full of magical power was on her wrist, so he just needed to steal the item, and he could consume all that energy at once instead of slowly.

The second was a man, and after looking at him carefully, he noticed more differences between the energy he overflowed and the magic.

The first was that this energy was inherent in him, all the wizards he had devoured stored the ethernano by attracting it to them and being unable to produce their own energy, so if that was taken away from them, they were just like any other human.

But the energy that this prey radiated came from himself, produced by his very being, and although he tried for hours, he was unable to absorb even a hint of what the human had; it was a new element, different from everything he had seen, something unknown, which made him dangerous, even more so than the magician who seemed to have the inexhaustible source of energy.

But with the caution was also born the emotion. Could it be that the way to fulfill his objective had finally arrived?

In all the time he had been in this place, he had become stronger by consuming the magic and life of those who entered the forest, but it was insufficient.

He needed more; if he wanted to fulfill his objective, he would need more power, and now, in his domain was the container that he would need to accomplish his mission, he had to kill them; he would kill them, consume the unlimited energy source and take possession of the body of the irregular human.

So when they entered deep into his lair, he distracted them using one of the many magic he had obtained from all the humans who had served him as food, and when the most dangerous target was distracted, he attacked, a rain of stone stakes that he formed with another of the magics in his power, and when they both dodged it, he jumped hitting the human's chest with his foot.

The ground he was standing on gave way, and they both fell, the back of the human breaking several stone bridges; only at that moment did he notice how the place where he had hit was much harder than it should have been.

Dodging a sword that tried to cut his leg and moving away before they fell on one of the largest and strongest bridges, he noticed how metal that had not been there before had protected the human from receiving the full power of his attack, and along with that... was the energy that he so wanted to consume and make his own!

Taking a position and ready to attack, he saw how the human stood up with a sword in each hand, so he copied his movement a bit and used a Take Over that he absorbed from a magician less than 20 years ago, transforming his arms into mantis-like blades.

And when they launched against each other, his smile grew; after all, he was happy; because after finishing these humans, he would finally go to fulfill his objective.

Yes, because everything was to fulfill his life purpose, everything was to return to Zeref.

#####

As the blades collided and sparks flew, Jean couldn't help but grimace; the blow he had just received in his chest still hurt; even with his divine protection working, he had a hard time breathing, and if it hadn't been because he covered his chest and back with touki and a piece of his armor, he was sure he would have at least several broken ribs.

His eyes moved at full speed, as did his arms; it was only enough for him to exchange a few blows against his opponent to realize that he was different from everything he had faced so far.

The speed, strength, killing intent, and even technique were unbelievable, and if Jean's assumption was correct, the look on the being in front of him said that he wasn't fighting entirely seriously yet.

Blocking the incoming slash, Jean noticed the blades on the man's arms begin to emit a blinding glow, so he jumped back in an attempt to take distance.

However, this was futile as the attacker closed the distance again in a blink as his blades increased the brightness further.

Jean's eyes threatened to close, and even knowing that this could cost him the death blow, Jean closed his eyelids as he pressed a small button on the handle of one of his swords, and similar to his fight with Gajeel, a cloud of smoke was released surrounding both Jean and the one was attacking him.

Taking advantage of the darkness, Jean's eyes opened again, and he threw both swords forward as he backed away from the cloud to gain distance, and unlike the first time, his enemy did not jump to follow him.

This was because the smokescreen was not only that, Jean had made it to block not only the view but also confuse the senses of touch and smell of whoever inhaled it.

Taking a breath, a new pair of swords appeared in Jean's hands as he took a stance until suddenly, the cloud of smoke was dissipated by a strong current of air.

And standing there, without any concern and with a smile on his face, was the one who had tried to cut him in two a few seconds ago.

"An interesting move, to have been thought by a human". He said as the blades he had for arms began to twist until turn into normal hands again.

Taking advantage of the brief moment of calm, Jean could observe his opponent's appearance correctly.

He looked young, perhaps even a little younger than Lucy; his long dark brown hair, dirty and greasy looking, fell down his back like an old, neglected curtain, his tanned skin looked sickly like did his steel-colored eyes, and his teeth, pointed as saws gave him a wild touch that emphasized the word danger.

"You will not say anything?" He said with a tone of voice that, along with the smile on his face, gave Jean an unpleasant feeling.

"Are you afraid? No, of course you do; you humans always run like scared bugs when faced with the unknown". He finished saying before his eyes moved slightly up.

A second later, a figure landed next to Jean. However, his eyes never left the one in front of him.

"Are you ok?" Lucy asked without separating her gaze from what should be 'the holy guardian of the wish-fulfilling relic'

"Just a little sore". He responded before speaking for the first time to the one who had attacked him. "I take it you are the so-called guardian of this temple?"

"Oh". The so-called guardian made a sound that seemed to contain happiness as he clapped his hands once. "Finally you speak to me, although you took too long, it doesn't matter, you humans aren't particularly brilliant after all, but you're right, I'm the one your kind called as the guardian"

Jean's eyebrow arched at the guardian's words; taking into account how long the legend had existed, the youthful appearance, the power had shown up until now, and the way he spoke, it was very likely that he was not human.

"You've been saying that since the beginning, aren't you human too?" Jean asked in an attempt to confirm his suspicions and buy some time; every second would help him to lessen the pain and recover with the help of his divine protection.

"Ha haha hahaha, are you perhaps stupid? No, it's my fault, I know it is, I expected too much from you, humans, but as my last and best meal, I'll let you know who will eliminate you, Eclinox Etherias, a demon, and one who is above beings like humans". He introduced himself while smiling and making a mocking bow.

"Lucy, this guy is really dangerous, much more than anyone I've seen before; stay out of this". Jean said as he started to walk toward the demon, but before his first step, the blonde's voice stopped him.

"Don't count on it; if he's as dangerous as you say, you're going to need help". She told him with an expression that wouldn't take a negative for an answer.

And before anyone could say anything else, the ground at Eclinox's feet cracked from the pressure exerted as the etherias sped towards them both.

Jean's fist moved quickly to intercept Eclinox's as his armor materialized a second before the crash.

The pressure produced by the two of them colliding sent gusts of wind, cracking the ground where they stood and nearly sending Lucy flying if she hadn't strengthened her body and turned her bracelet into a stake that she drove into the ground.

"How wonderful! You are what I have been waiting for, a power so pure, a body trained to such a limit, and when I take it to myself, I can finally fulfill my mission!" The euphoria in Eclinox's scream couldn't have been more apparent, and as he unleashed a barrage of blows deflected or dodged by Jean, his predatory grin never stopped growing.

'He's crazy'. Jean thought as he caught both fists of the self-proclaimed demon.

"I'm sorry, but I don't want to go through the Captain Ginyu trope or a Black Jean arc; my body is mine and mine alone, so..." He said as he clenched Eclinox's fists, making the demon's eyes widen for the surprise. "GO TO HELL!" He yelled, lifting him off the ground, spinning several times before launching him up.

And as the etherias flew, Jean's palms joined to transform into a cannon; behind his helmet, Jean's expression showed discomfort for a split second; after all, where they were, there was not a shred of ethernano that could use for his attack, so he was forced to use the energy stored in his necklace even if it would delay his plans a bit.

"RAGNAROOOOOOK!" He screamed as a huge mass of blue energy shot out of the cannon, hitting Eclinox and going on its way up into the sky.

"Fuuuu…" Jean exhaled as his armor helm disappeared, revealing his face, a serious expression looking in the direction where he had fired his attack.

"Did you win?" Lucy asked as she stood next to Jean, her outfit changed to that of a maid showing that she was wearing the Virgo star dress.

"I don't think so, but even if I didn't, that attack must have hurt him enough to—"

"WATCH OUT!" Lucy yelled as she jumped up, pushing Jean out of the way a second before a stake emerged from the ground.

"Interesting, you anticipated my attack feeling the earth's vibration; both of you are certainly interesting". Eclinox said as he landed a few meters from both of them.

'He only has a few wounds even though that attack was more powerful than the one I used against Phantom's mages'. Jean noted the minor scratches and bruises on the etherias body.

"You really have confidence in yourself, right? Even when that attack left you in that state". Jean provoked a bit to get an idea of the demon's attitude to the fact that a human had harmed him.

"Yes, that hurt, it hurt a lot". He ran two fingers across his chest and collected a few drops of blood from his wounds.

"But it makes me happy, the fact that you can hurt me, that you can make me bleed, shows that you are what I need, that's why..." He said as his muscles swelled, his smile grew, and his brow furrowed went deeper. "I'M HAPPY!" He cried as he ran, ready to attack once more.

"Blocks his view!" Jean said, and instantly a stone wall rose between them and Eclinox.

The huge wall that was at least 1.5 meters thick was pierced as if it were a sheet of paper.

However, his goal was never to stop the demon; for a moment, Eclinox could not see what was in front of him, and that was all Jean needed.

Because the first thing the etherias saw after passing through the wall was Jean's armored foot about to spin kick him.

Saliva and blood sprayed from Eclinox's mouth as he backed up several meters, and when he finally managed to steady himself and take a step forward, the ground beneath his foot crumbled as a hand grabbed his ankle and yanked at him, causing his balance to waver.

"Wh-!" He was unable to finish his question when in front of him, Jean moved at full speed, connecting his right fist in a powerful uppercut to his jaw.

His eyes widened because of what he felt; it wasn't just because of the punch, the blow he had just received… it burned him; how could this be? Burn? To him? Anything that could burn him that much would instantly char the body of any human regardless of whether or not he was a mage.

With a great effort, he looked down and saw it, it was slight, so much so that he probably wouldn't have noticed it if he hadn't concentrated, but the human's fist emitted a slight glow.

A light that caused him disgust, repulsion, fear, and anger, all in a single instant, his fists clenched to the point that blood trickled from his palms.

HOW THAT HUMAN DARE?!

MAKE HIM FEEL FEAR?! TO HIM?!

UNACCEPTABLE!

HE WOULD CRUSH HIM! I WOULD CRUSH HIM LIKE THE INFERIOR BEING THAT HE WAS!

Eclinox turned in the air, being upside down and using another of the magics he had obtained from eating the humans who had entered the forest.

His legs stretched as if they were made of rubber until the soles of her feet touched one of the bridges, using it as a boost to go in Jean's direction as his right hand glowed red and his left blue; a second later, a ball of fire and other of water, both at least 2 meters in diameter, flew towards the boy in armor.

"That..." Jean said as he dodged the water attack, and his fist, which already was covered by metal, was also surrounded by a violent aura.

"IS NOT GOING TO WORK!" He finished when his fist connected with the fireball, sending it back at Eclinox like a soccer ball.

"LUCY!" He shouted without turning around, and as if more words were unnecessary, she understood what he was asking of her, so after climbing the bridge from which she hung to take Eclinox's foot, she changed her clothing once more using the power of her spirit of the water and intercepted the huge ball of water.

"Hm". She made a sound of effort to stop the attack, then took a single turn and sent it back a few meters behind the fireball Jean had hit.

The demon's eyes widened when he saw what had just happened; that human had just hit his attack while the other had just returned it?

His arms formed an x before the fireball released hit him.

"Grr". He grunted in annoyance as heat surrounded him. "AHHH!" He screamed, opening his arms and scattering all the fire around him.

"And also have this!" Jean said, kicking the ball of water, this time without using his touki to coat his limb because his divine protection allowed him to do that.

Eclinox raised a single arm as if it were a sword, and when he lowered it, he sent a slash of wind that split the water sphere before it touched him; the attack continued on its way to Jean before a new sword appeared in his hand, colliding with the blade of wind and dissipating it.

"It seems you can use multiple types of magic, earth, reinforced, take over, light, elasticity, fire, water, and now, wind". Jean listed every magic the demon had used in the fight until now.

"And if I had to guess, I'd say you have more; all snatched from the mages who came before us, right?" He asked him with a serious expression.

Eclinox refused to answer, looking at the armored human and the woman.

"Did you have fun?" Jean asked after noticing that he would not get an answer to the previous question. "Using them as mere food to make you stronger just because they were weaker than you? Because you thought they were inferior?" His voice didn't show an iota of feeling until his next line.

"Beings like you..." He said, remembering a scene full of misfortune and pain he had seen three years ago. "Really disgust me". His words emitted such an icy vibe that even Eclinox felt a slight chill down his spine.

"That's why I'll tell you this now, so you don't keep showing me the skills you stole; they won't work, there's no point in using them, thunder, speed, sand, gravity, surely you must have things like that too, but it doesn't matter, I have countermeasures for whatever you have because you use them in the simplest ways there are, you didn't train and polish them, so give up, because if you don't, this will only end one way". He said, looking directly at the etherias.

Everything was silent; none of those present made a single sound until a growl echoed throughout the place; Eclinox's teeth clenched and gnashed as a guttural sound came out of his throat, his pupils dilated as the whites of his eyes turned into blood red.

"You… warn me? YOU DARE TO THREATEN ME?! ME?! HUMAN FILTH! KNOW YOUR PLACE!" He screamed as a purple aura surrounded his body, billowing and malicious, giving off a sense of danger and doom.

"From now on, I will crush both of you just like a demon would! It doesn't matter if I use every human soul I've ever consumed because when I get your body, I won't need anymore!" And accompanying his statement, the pressure emitted by her presence pushed the wind so hard that even Jean had to raise his arms to cover himself.

[Etherious Form]

Eclinox's body began to transform; his height increased, his swollen muscles compacted to the point of almost tearing, and his skin turned from tan to dark red.

Two fangs protruded from his mouth, two black horns emerged from between the skin on his forehead, and black patterns ran across his body like tattoos.

"A-!" Any words Jean had wanted to say died before they left his mouth when Eclinox moved so fast that although his eyes could keep up, his body couldn't, but that was not the reason.

What prevented him from speaking was the fist that sank into his stomach and sent him flying almost a hundred meters with enough force to crash into a wall and kick up a huge cloud of dust.

And before pain filled his senses, Jean saw something he didn't think could happen, his armor in the stomach area filled with cracks before shattering like it was made of porcelain.

His touki also did little to protect him, and proof of that was the sight of his stomach with a huge deep purple bruise.

---

Chapter 22 done.

As you can see, Jean screwed up, well, not so much actually, since while it is true that using Ultimate Armor and fighting completely seriously, he is superior to Eclinox no matter all the magics he has collected, it is also true that Eclinox would have found a way to gain a few seconds to use his etherias form.

So yes, this would have ended this way no matter how Jean had acted, but that doesn't erase the fact that he talked too much with his enemy, that he didn't take the situation seriously enough, doing the same he did in his fight with Gajeel, Aria, and Sol.

Therefore, he still has to mature and improve that aspect of himself.

But this is also linked to something he saw three years ago and how he died in his first life, but this will be explored more in the future.

Another thing is about the holy aura Jean used when he hit Eclinox, I always wondered why Devil Slayer magic wasn't just something to do with the holy, but since in the world of Fairy Tail, being a devil seems to mean being just from a different race (something like demi-humans) I guess using something different than holy things that would damage them is valid too.

And before anyone mentions it, Sting's Dragon Slayer magic, while said to be holy, at least in this story, will be, to a lesser extent, concentrating more on being light magic.

However, if he ate the holy energy from a sword that Jean created to be especially strong at it, he would receive a serious power-up.

That said, which do you think should be more effective at damaging demons?

Devil Slayer magic?

The holy aura of Jean's swords? (I am talking about the swords that Jean gives as much holy aura as possible)

Or both should do the same amount of damage.

For my part, I'm inclined to opt for Devil Slayer magic to deal more damage to any member of the demon race in the fairy tail-verse.

That's all for now, Ciao.

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