Chapter 378 - 378: 100 Draws
Makarov and the others watched the unfolding spectacle with perfectly calm expressions. Having witnessed far more outrageous feats from their guildmate over the years, this level of destructive power was relatively average in their eyes.
Seeing the rapidly cratering earth beneath him, Wolfheim felt his heart race in sheer panic. If this devastating attack landed squarely on him, he honestly doubted if his transformed, behemoth-like body could withstand the brunt of it.
"Murakumogiri!" Ren called out. His palm immediately gripped the massive, polished haft of Whitebeard's Supreme Grade naginata as it materialized from thin air.
The moment the legendary blade rested in his hands, Ren fully activated his Three Types of Haki.
Boom—!
A terrifying wave of Conqueror's Haki swept across the battlefield in a localized cataclysm. The sheer pressure of his willpower distorted the air, crushing the loose debris into dust. Ren rushed toward the towering behemoth that was Wolfheim, swinging Murakumogiri with earth-shattering force.
Wolfheim roared. Clenching his massive, beastly fist, he threw a desperately heavy punch to meet the descending blade.
Boom—!!
Two immense forces collided head-on. Black-red lightning erupted from the clash, violently tearing upward into the sky and completely splitting the dense cloud cover in two. The earth shook with violent tremors, an undeniable testament to the destructive power generated by a direct collision between the absolute highest echelon of the 10 Wizard Saints.
"Ugh... Argh!!" Wolfheim cried out, ultimately failing to withstand Ren's overwhelming strike.
The physical force behind the naginata shattered his momentum entirely. His massive body was sent flying backward like a broken doll, slowly shrinking and forcibly canceling out his Take Over magic as he crashed heavily into the dirt.
"Lord Wolfheim!" Mest and Jura cried out, rushing forward with genuine worry. They feared that Ren might have accidentally dealt a lethal injury to the veteran mage.
Coughing through a cloud of dust, Wolfheim steadily climbed to his feet. He waved a hand dismissively and grunted, "I'm fine."
Seeing that the spar was decidedly over, Ren reverted to his original appearance, the massive naginata vanishing from his grasp. "Good match."
"What 'good match'? A loss is a loss," Wolfheim replied, admitting defeat decisively. He dusted off his clothes and glared at the younger mage. "Kid, you're very strong, arguably even better than me. But you might not necessarily compare to that guy, God Serena."
God Serena... he's no match for me, Ren scoffed inwardly.
Ren recalled the established timeline of God Serena clearly. That man's greatest achievement was taking on the other four Gods of Ishgar simultaneously and utterly crushing them without breaking a sweat. From that moment on, the once lofty and unapproachable title of the 10 Wizard Saints had suddenly become quite underwhelming in Ren's eyes.
However, soon after that legendary display of power, God Serena was effortlessly and instantly killed by the human form of Acnologia. While it was partly because the man had been too arrogant and careless, the outcome would have remained identical regardless of his attitude. Even if he had fought with the utmost caution, God Serena wouldn't have lasted more than a few desperate rounds against the Black Dragon.
Acnologia's absolute resistance to magic was simply too high. Against him, even the magic of eight different Dragon Slayer Lacrimas would just be effortlessly devoured and turned into his own power.
It was only then that people truly realized the unfathomable, despair-inducing gap between God Serena and Acnologia. Ren knew he might not be able to instantly kill God Serena at his current level, but dragging that arrogant defector down wouldn't be terribly difficult.
"Kid, don't talk big! You must know there is always someone better out there!" Wolfheim snapped, misinterpreting Ren's casual silence as youthful arrogance.
"He's not talking big, Mr. Wolfheim. Ren genuinely possesses the absolute strength to defeat God Serena," Makarov spoke up firmly. Seeing Wolfheim constantly questioning his child's capabilities was starting to make the protective Guild Master a bit annoyed.
Wolfheim was momentarily stunned by Makarov's confident defense. If it were just Ren boasting, he would assume the kid was just young and impetuous. But since Makarov, a seasoned veteran who never exaggerated his children's strength, said so, it meant the young man's power really might surpass God Serena's.
"What Guild Master Makarov said is correct. The Council Chairman's true strength is several times greater than what he has just shown you," Jura added with a respectful bow.
Ren was a peerless powerhouse who had single-handedly defeated seven Dragons during the Grand Magic Games. Even if Wolfheim's Beast Take Over was formidable, his raw strength was at most on par with a single Dragon, perhaps even slightly inferior.
Mest also nodded fervently and said, "Yes! The Council Chairman's true strength is much, much greater than this."
Mest knew the horrifying truth even better than Jura. The catastrophic scene of Ren's battle with the Black Dragon Acnologia on Tenrou Island was still permanently burned into his memory, a lingering nightmare of god-like proportions.
Wolfheim and Hyberion's eyes widened in profound shock. They usually isolated themselves from the petty squabbles of the magic world, preferring to stay out of guild politics. When exactly had such an unfathomable powerhouse like Ren suddenly appeared?
Hyberion adjusted his glasses, looking at Ren with newfound, heavy reverence. "Ren... no, Council Chairman. Just how strong are you, exactly?"
"In terms of raw magic power capacity, I'm probably about half a tier lower than all of you, and likely a full tier lower than the elite Spriggan 12," Ren explained casually, leaning against a nearby pillar. "However, in terms of actual combat power and lethality... I should be at least a full tier stronger than the Spriggan 12."
He paused, offering them a reassuring smirk. "In short, there's no need to worry too much about the Alvarez Empire. If they dare to deploy their troops across the ocean, I will personally make sure they suffer the heaviest blow imaginable."
Everyone was completely silenced by Ren's declaration. After all, the Alvarez Empire was a monstrous, militarized superpower that had violently unified the entire Western Continent of Alakitasia. Even the absolute strongest mage of the Ishgar continent, God Serena, was merely one of the Spriggan 12.
For Ren to casually state there was no need to worry about such an overwhelming enemy—what level of supreme confidence or sheer arrogance was that? Yet, looking at the cratered earth around them, none of them dared to voice a single doubt.
Soon after, the group returned to the Magic Council's temporary meeting room to commence their bureaucratic work.
Having personally experienced this physical spar, Wolfheim and Hyberion—the third and second seats of the 10 Wizard Saints, respectively—no longer possessed a single shred of doubt regarding Ren's qualifications. They were now fully and unconditionally convinced of his right to become the new Council Chairman.
Next came the formal, grueling meeting. To handle the current chaotic situation in Ishgar left in the wake of Tartaros's rampage, everyone shared their views and intensely discussed how to resolve the power vacuum.
It was finally decided to completely outsource most of the heavy enforcement work to the legal mage guilds, with the Magic Council acting solely in a supportive, final-stage administrative capacity.
This was the only logical way forward. They had looked through the surviving profiles of the Rune Knights and Magic Council enforcers, only to find a depressing reality. The absolute strongest soldier's MPF value barely exceeded a paltry 1,000.
For a humiliating context, one only had to look at Sabertooth's Lightning God Slayer, Orga, who had casually scored an MPF value of around 4,000 during the Grand Magic Games. In other words, the entirety of the Council's remaining military force couldn't even produce a single talent on par with Sabertooth's Orga.
And Orga was merely one of the five Tigers of Sabertooth. It severely highlighted just how pathetic and artificially inflated the Council's authority had truly become. The central organization that arrogantly managed all the guild mages in Ishgar couldn't even field one decent fighter. No wonder their entire headquarters had been effortlessly decimated by a single bomber from Tartaros.
The previous Magic Council had simply been far too arrogant. They genuinely believed they could solve everything with political mandates, looking down on the very guild mages who actually bled for the continent, which inadvertently allowed numerous dark guilds to proliferate in the shadows.
Ren's new policy was quickly and efficiently promulgated. Since it was now highly sanctioned official work accompanied by incredibly generous jewel rewards, thousands of powerful mages across the legal guilds naturally leaped at the opportunity to take the jobs.
After just one short week, the once chaotic and terrifying Ishgar continent suddenly became peaceful and orderly. Even though many dark guilds still existed on the fringes of society, they no longer dared to be too arrogant or operate out in the open, terrified of the unified front of the legal guilds.
With the immediate crisis resolved, Ren officially appointed Hyberion as the Acting Council Chairman to handle the endless mountain of paperwork, while he promptly packed his bags and returned to Fairy Tail.
To be completely honest, he didn't find holding the supreme political power of the Ishgar magic world interesting in the slightest. He couldn't fathom why old men fought so bitterly to sit in a stuffy office chair all day. For him, actively improving his own strength and living freely with his guildmates was the most comfortable lifestyle possible.
Back in the familiar comfort of his own room, Ren relaxed on his bed and silently called up his System interface.
[Host: Ren]
[Age: 19]
[Race: Human]
[Magic Power: ★★★★★★★☆]
[Magic: Take Over Magic]
[Character Cards: Ulquiorra Cifer (Gold), Edward Newgate (Gold), Minato Namikaze (Gold), Gojo Satoru (Gold), Uchiha Itachi (Gold), Escanor (Gold).]
[Current Draws Available: 100]
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