A magic merchant infiltrating Fairy Tail

"Oh right! That's also 'summoning'! Is there any connection between the two?"

Everyone became curious and looked at Kana... Kana was drunk and probably wouldn't get any information from her, so they looked at Kira instead.

Seeing how eager everyone was to learn, Kira was very pleased and generously explained: "The core concept of magic, 'sacrifice,' is one of the initial magic theories that mages believed to exist a long time ago."

"It's usually called 'cost-summoning magic,' but later some people found that name too cumbersome, so it came up with a series of other names such as 'sacrifice style,' 'insurance style,' 'sacrifice style,' and 'self-harm style'..."

Everyone: "Oh...I see!!"

Mavis (乛_乛): "..."

Why have I never heard of these terms before?! The 'some people' you're referring to are probably just yourself!!

"The currently popular 'summoning' magic is actually derived from 'cost-based summoning' magic, and the same goes for the 'Warcraft Cards' set I created."

To make it easier for the audience to understand, Kira began to use himself as an example: "When summoning a monster, the user needs to pay a large amount of magic power at once, and controlling the monster also consumes a lot of the user's mental energy."

"This is the 'price'!"

"The cost can be permanent or temporary, with magic and mental power falling into the latter category; similarly, the summoned objects can have either permanent or temporary summoning rights, depending on the cost of the contract."

"Under normal circumstances, mages usually set the 'cost' of acquiring power as something that can be recovered and is in line with the mage training system, such as 'magic power' or 'spiritual power'."

At this point, Kira's tone suddenly changed: "But some people don't do that!"

"Because the power gained from sacrificing magic is too weak, some people with extreme personalities, or even those who have fallen into darkness, choose to pay a greater price in order to obtain so-called power."

"Blood, hair, appearance, limbs, senses, talents, instincts, reason, lifespan, beliefs, freedom, emotions, soul, life, memory, existence... all these can be paid for!"

"The powerful force gained through sacrifice can easily lead people to extremes and make them uncontrollable!"

Glug...

The more they listened, the more attentive they became. After hearing Kira's series of examples, they immediately realized how terrifying this magic was and couldn't help but swallow hard to calm their nerves.

Suddenly, several people looked at Makarov's Mediterranean Sea, and an unbelievable thought popped into their minds: "Could it be... that the president's hair... no way?!"

Makarov looked completely bewildered: "??"

"Why are you all looking at me? I've never used this type of magic before!!"

Everyone nodded repeatedly: "Ah, yes, yes, yes..."

"That's right! Just as you thought!"

"What?! President, you really are..."

"No, that's not true!!"

"Ahem... Listen to me!!"

Kira's voice suddenly turned sinister: "Many mages, in order to become stronger, have sacrificed something important within themselves to sign contracts with powerful magical beasts or demons, gaining the power to control them at will. This is why the term 'self-harming style' exists."

"And some more cruel people chose to sacrifice their lives!"

"Don't we often see news like this? Some dark guilds slaughter an entire town, and in return, summon a demon or something called Zeref..."

Everyone: "..."

You mean Precito, right? You're practically naming him!

"The livestock used in sacrifices, such as pigs, cattle, sheep, and fish, serve a similar purpose!"

"And then, there are many such people in history."

"They believe themselves to be rational and self-controlled enough, so they choose to sacrifice other types of life, such as powerful magical beasts, in exchange for power. But most of these people will not stop at sacrificing magical beasts, but will continue to seek out more types of life. In the process, their minds will be devoured by darkness, and by the time they realize that something is wrong, it is too late."

At this point, Kira sighed and advised in a tone that said, "I've been there, listen to me, it's true," "So, never think you can control yourself and try things you shouldn't do!"

Seeing the serious expressions on everyone's faces, each head bowed in deep thought, Kira was quite satisfied and nodded secretly.

Not bad, not bad... My verbal skills have improved recently, and I'm starting to look more and more like a student council president!

Snapped!

Sensing the atmosphere becoming heavy, Kira suddenly clapped his hands, drawing everyone's attention: "That's right, the contract can only be valid if it's something useful, so wisdom teeth, pimples, leftover fish bones, unpublished novels, all of them are useless!"

"Who would use something like that?!" ×N

Natsu, Happy, and Lucy all simultaneously looked disappointed: "Huh?! It's not working?? What a pity!!"

"You guys are really considering this?!" ×N

Chapter 676 Laxus: That's right, I am the strongest.

Suddenly, a gasp broke the atmosphere.

"Look!! Laxus, he..."

Laxus?!

Kira's heart skipped a beat, and he quickly turned to look at the arena.

The tide of battle had turned dramatically. Arocus had become the attacker, while Laxus... was being completely overwhelmed!

Laxus is at a disadvantage?? How is that possible?! I'd be more inclined to believe that he's with Fidelity.

Kira stared wide-eyed at everything on the field, his mind reeling with disbelief: "What happened while I was daydreaming?!"

At this moment, Laxus lost the high spirits he had at the beginning of the battle. Not only was his coat knocked off his back, but he was also constantly under attack, retreating continuously under Aroc's frenzied attacks, seemingly powerless.

Kira could tell that Laxus's movements hadn't declined; they were still at the same level. The change was in Arocus; he had clearly become stronger.

Looking at Ivan in the distance, he was arrogant and smug, excited and somewhat surprised, seemingly not expecting things to develop this way—except for the still-present red claw marks on his face, which looked quite comical.

"Seeing his son beaten up like this and still being so happy, what kind of amazing father is this? Is this a family of 'filial piety and benevolence'?"

Kira muttered a complaint to himself, then turned to look at the battle again. He still couldn't believe his eyes, so he immediately released his magical perception to investigate carefully.

After a while, Kira opened his eyes again, both to himself and to answer Makarov's questioning gaze.

"It's not an illusion! It's real!"

Makarov's expression grew even more serious. He didn't say much; he didn't believe Laxus would lose.

At this moment, Kira was filled with doubt: Laxus has turned into Laxus? Absolutely impossible! Is Aroco really that strong? No way... Could he be stronger than Natsu in X792? Could he be stronger than the current Laxus?

You have to understand, the current Laxus is just as powerful as the Laxus from X792 in the original game! The only explanation is that Laxus held back and didn't go all out.

Of course, it's also true that the opponent has become stronger than at the beginning.

Seeing Laxus being overwhelmed by his opponent, the surrounding mages showed incredible shock, their gazes filled with tension and worry as they looked at the arena.

Bang! !

A violent magical beam blasted Laxus's body back several meters. Laxus used the force to tumble several times in the air before finally landing steadily on the ground.

After taking a step back, Laxus calmed his breathing and stopped his three-minute-long, ineffective attack.

"What exactly did you just do? Why do I feel like you've suddenly become much stronger?"

Perhaps because the original story didn't involve Wendy, Gray, and Lucy being repeatedly bullied by Raven's Tail, Laxus was unusually calm and didn't directly confront Aroc, but instead started chatting with him.

He looked at Aroc with a strange expression, but the other was wearing a mask, so he couldn't see any expression. He didn't say more than a few words from beginning to end, and his only physical movements were waving his staff, looking mysterious.

Arok replied succinctly, "This is the price!"

"I have absolutely no idea what you're talking about."

“In the Summoning Magic of Cost, there is a contract called Cost Exchange, which allows you to exchange ‘safety’ for a certain amount of power. That’s why I get stronger the more I fight—of course, using ‘magic power’ as the cost is also possible.”

Laxus wasn't an idiot, and immediately understood the reason: "So, the more you get hit, the stronger you become, right? That's really strange magic!"

Could this be the 'blood-selling strategy' that Kira often talks about when he plays cards?

Shaking his head to clear his mind, Laxus re-examined his opponent, undeterred by the previous ineffective attack: "But, if I use even greater power to render you unable to move, then no matter how strong you become, it won't matter, right?"

"That's impossible!"

Arok shook his head: "The fight only lasts 30 minutes, and half of that time has already passed. You can't possibly beat me in the remaining time!"

"That's not necessarily true!!"

Laxus grinned, his fighting spirit suddenly surging. He once again channeled his magic power, and a vast and dazzling lightning force instantly erupted from his body, crackling and scattering the surrounding dust.

The burst of magical power surrounding Laxus made him a completely different person from before. Arok was stunned by this sight: "You actually have this level of magical power?! Why didn't you use it sooner?"

"Hmph! I was just testing your skills before!"

Back at Fairy Tail's camp, seeing Laxus unleash his power again, yet remain calm and composed, Makarov finally felt relieved: "Honestly... this kid is such a worry..."

"I knew Laxus wouldn't be defeated so easily..."

"Exactly! The president was so nervous just now!"

Although Makarov was cursing, everyone could see how nervous he had been. Now, people were teasing him from behind, covering their mouths and making him blush with embarrassment.

The Thunder Gods suddenly appeared, proudly telling Natsu and the others, "Laxus is different from you guys! For the past six months, he's been undergoing unimaginable, super-level training every single day!"

"Oh my god!!! Unbelievable..."

"Cultivation?!"

Nazgray and the others were intrigued, their eyes sparkling with excitement. They wished they were the ones going to train, yet regretted that Laxus hadn't taken them with him.

"In the battle just now, Laxus didn't even use one-tenth of his strength!"

"That's right, that's right... Laxus might even be stronger than Kira right now!!"

Blow it! Just keep blowing it!

"hehe."

Kira glanced at the three admirers behind him and sneered, "You want to beat me? You'd better beat Gildarts first!"

Now the three of them fell silent. Beating Gildas was something they had never even considered!

Because Kira was about the same age as them, the three of them always felt that Kira was Laxus's rival, while Gildarts was an unattainable but achievable goal, so much so that they always forgot that 'Kira has already defeated Gildarts and is the undisputed number one in the guild'.

Sensing the magic emanating from Laxus, Aroc dared not be careless and immediately became extremely alert.

"I didn't expect this guild to have a mage of your caliber. You must be the strongest mage in Fairy Tail, right?"

No, the strongest is someone else entirely...