A magic merchant infiltrating Fairy Tail

For me at the time, only romance was worth sacrificing everything to pursue; everything else was bullshit!

Of course, the romance here mainly refers to beautiful poetry, distant places with infinite possibilities, unattainable or even absurd dreams, and passionate, unwavering love.

How could a grown man give up a true treasure for such vulgar things as money and power? So I refused that woman's invitation without hesitation.

Looking back now, that was probably the boldest and craziest decision I've ever made in my life!

It wasn't until her terrifying magic pressed me to the ground, and her icy gaze rendered me unable to move even a finger, that I finally understood the meaning of the 'Imperial Conscription' that woman spoke of. I also finally understood the difference in strength between myself and her, and that there are different mages among mages.

how is this possible! !

How could there possibly be such a powerful mage?!

Is this world really that big?! Is the distant place I long for really that far away?!

The moment that magic wand pierced the floor in front of me, just three centimeters from my eyes, I completely... completely understood!

Yes, money and power are indeed not enough to shake the place of poetry, distant places, dreams, and love in a man's heart, but life can!

At that moment, my future suddenly became clear, and my goal became to dedicate myself to the empire until my dying breath!

Thinking about it carefully, even without poetry and distant places, without dreams and love, without romance, as long as you can contribute your strength to the empire, it's still a pretty good life...

Ten years have passed, and I have almost completely forgotten what I longed for back then. The only thing I remember is the face and the eyes that changed my life.

And now, I have finally realized half of my dream from back then—I have come to the Kingdom of Fiore in Ishgar.

On the second day of the Grand Magic Games, I saw a girl whose face and eyes were seven parts similar to that woman from before.

I know that the girl is that woman's daughter, named Erza, who is a very popular young mage in the Kingdom of Fiore.

But what I didn't expect was that on the fourth day, I ran into this girl.

(Flashback ends)

'That look! How similar! How terrifying! They truly are mother and daughter…'

Seeing the change in Erza's gaze, Neinhardt felt like crying, his legs trembled involuntarily, and he felt a surge of fear.

He felt as if he had returned to ten years ago, to the day when Eileen beat him, forced him, and made him do manual labor, thus overturning his original worldview and common sense about magic.

'Am I going to be defeated by that red-haired woman again?!'

Neinhart's eyes widened, and he muttered to himself, "No...no way..."

"What's wrong with that guy? Why does he look so scared?"

Erza naturally noticed the changes in their opponents, but unaware of the details, she was filled with doubt and looked at Kira and Jacob, asking, "Am I that scary?"

As she spoke, she blinked her bright, bewildered eyes.

"Don't you know in your heart whether you're scary or not?"

Kira quipped, pointing to some people on the guild's side who were watching this scene, "Natsu and Gray must have unique insights into this issue."

Erza straightened her back, facing the sunlight overhead, and confidently declared, "Natsu and Gray... I think the answer is definitely 'no'!"

"Um... I don't think so..."

Erza was taken aback: "Huh?? Why?? We're clearly on good terms!!"

"Are you serious...?!"

Kira chuckled, knowing he was powerless to correct Erza's self-perception.

"What do you think?"

Both of them looked at Jacob on the other side at the same time.

Jack: "..."

You're asking me these questions? How would I, an outsider, know the answers?

"You're not scary at all!! You're not scary at all!!"

After a moment of silence, Jacob slowly said, "A young, beautiful, and powerful mage like you should be admired, respected, and a reliable companion and family member in the eyes of your fellow comrades!"

The old man's quite the flatterer...

Kira looked at Jacob, whose survival instincts were strong, and thought to himself: He's a true professional! He must have done a lot of research beforehand. His answers... almost every word was scrambled from a code dictionary!

You flatter me.

Erza was indeed satisfied with Jacob's answer, and gave a feigned humble smile, "By the way, Kira! When you start fighting later, remember to go easy on him!"

His words implied confidence in Kira's strength.

Jacob froze for a moment, then hesitated and said, "No... um... if possible, could we just not fight?"

His voice grew softer and softer until it was barely audible.

Why be so cowardly?

"That's impossible!"

Kira was about to make a sarcastic remark when Erza preemptively replied, "You said yourself that I'm a reliable ally, right? Nothing is more reliable than winning this match!"

Jack: "..."

Well, now they've shot themselves in the foot...

Chapter 707 Useless Assassination Magic

At the very end, it all boils down to a clash of magic.

Now that we've decided to fight, there's no point in continuing to argue.

"Pay attention!"

Kira raised his hand to attack first, his magic power condensing into several chains of light that shone brightly and looked like some kind of metal. The chains burst out at an astonishing speed, shooting towards Jacob from several directions, including above, below, left, and right, in an attempt to bind his opponent.

Light magic, due to its remarkable effectiveness in offense, defense, and control, has become one of Kira's most frequently used spells.

"Huh? This move..." Makarov's eyes lit up when he saw Kira's magic.

"What's wrong?" Mavis asked.

Makarov shook his head: "It's nothing, it just feels very similar to the magic of the second generation..."

Mavis blinked and said, "That's normal, isn't it? Let alone ordinary magic, that kid can learn it just by watching it. Even if he studies and learns on his own, it wouldn't be difficult for him to create magic of this level."

This level? You really think this magic is simple? It took me quite a while to learn light magic back in the day, and that was under the guidance of the second generation. And Kira? I've never seen him study seriously!

Makarov subtly averted his gaze, silently grumbling to himself. He suddenly regretted bringing up this topic with Mebis; chatting with these geniuses always meant enduring their unconscious Versailles-esque remarks.

Kira's chains of light are different from Precht's; they are a unique red color, a result of Kira's magic. The chains are long, large, hard, and thick, and they move very fast. An ordinary mage wouldn't even have time to react, let alone catch them.

Even knowing he couldn't defeat the much younger boy in front of him, Jacob didn't give up easily. Instead, he aimed at the chains in front of him and swung them forcefully.

Snapped--!

A burst of dark red magical energy exploded in mid-air, covering half of the chains of light.

The collision of energies temporarily slowed down the movement of that part of the chains, but Jacob was not relieved that the chains' attack had been hindered. Instead, his eyes widened in surprise.

"It didn't explode? Just how strong are these chains...?"

That shot, called the "transparent shot," was the simplest and most brutal of all his assassination methods.

Before this, this move had a hit rate of over 90% and a lethality of over 50%. It was only used to break through other people's defenses and had never been used to defend against other people's attacks, let alone defend against them.

The chains wrapped around him from all sides, and just as they were about to bind Jacob into a meat dumpling, he immediately bent down and then dodged to the side, effortlessly avoiding the swift chains.

"Truly worthy of being a professional assassin, their eyesight and reaction speed are exceptional!"

Rather than constantly emphasizing his own strength or belittling his opponent's abilities during battle, saying things like "So-so" or "Let me show you what XXX is all about," Kira prefers to flatter his opponents, such as saying things like "I would call you the strongest in XX," thus elevating his own strength after defeating them.

Of course, this only applies to truly powerful characters, since he can't possibly tell an unknown extra, "In terms of XX magic, you are the best I've ever seen in my life."

If it were Natsu, Gray, or the others who had just used that attack, they would either have been unable to dodge the chains and would have been bound, or they would have had to unleash their magic to block it. They would never have been able to dodge it so easily and effortlessly.

This is the difference in experience!

As one of the Twelve Shields and a professional assassin, Jacob's combat experience is naturally far greater than that of young people like Natsu who take on any job. Even Kira might not be able to match him.

"You flatter me!"

The chains shattered the ground, kicking up a cloud of dust, and Jacob's voice came from within, but when Kira looked up, the voice of the thug in the suit was no longer in sight.

"Oh no! Mr. Jacob has vanished right before everyone's eyes!!"

Chapati exclaimed in shock, "Could this be his magic again? Will Kirasan be able to find it? Or will the match remain deadlocked until the end?!"

During the race just now, it was obvious to everyone that Jacob possessed spatial magic, so his disappearance wasn't too surprising. The main concern was how Kira would react.

Kira looked around and simultaneously activated his magical perception to the maximum.

On the other side, Erza and the two demons controlled by Neinhart have clashed again. However, because Erza is so aggressive, she is able to fight three opponents with ease, which has amazed countless viewers.

They were even more shocked when they learned that this was a move from the 'Nine Demon Gates', because it meant that Erza alone could defeat the combined forces of the 'Nine Demon Gates'. Such strength was something that even the legendary Four Heavenly Kings might not be able to achieve, let alone Jura.

Of course, the main reason is that viewers at this point won't scrutinize minor details such as 'being able to use all spells doesn't mean being able to use spells simultaneously,' 'having skills doesn't mean spell power and magic power are superimposed,' and 'the strength of the manifested object will not exceed that of the magic user,' otherwise they wouldn't think that way.

You definitely can't find Jacob by just looking. He was able to become famous in the Western Continent with his assassination magic, so his strength is naturally not simple. Kira relies more on his magical perception, which is far beyond that of ordinary people.

"There it is!!"

Magic perception is still useful. Envelop the entire arena in magic, and aside from Erza's battlefield, any other place with even the slightest difference is where Jab is.

This was also thanks to the ingenuity of assassination magic, which could minimize the user's magical fluctuations and hide himself completely, but it backfired. However, Kira distributed his magic power as a torrent throughout the arena. In that area filled with dense magical particles, the only place where magic power was almost imperceptible stood out.

"Light Prison!!"

Driven by magic, more than a dozen beams of light shot up from the ground, then elongated and connected with each other to form a multifaceted cage.

"Huh?! We've been discovered?!"

Jacob was startled. He hadn't expected to be exposed so quickly. Even among the Twelve Shields, only Magic King Augustus could discover him at this speed. Apart from him, even Irene, who was also one of the Twin Shields, was a step behind.

"We absolutely cannot let our guard down for even a moment!"

With a sigh in his heart, his hands and feet moved before he could even react.

The instant the pillar of light rose, Jacob jumped forward without hesitation. His amazing jumping ability allowed him to move several meters to the side in an instant, and he pulled out the cage just before the light prison was formed.