Ben & Juan exert more power to finish their battle. Juan's magic items' power has returned to normal after being weakened by the lightning discharge. Now he can use all of its power again even with lower durability.
But Ben realizes it and it makes him worried a little. These magic items are the best of the ones that Juan stole. Surely, the Magic Council will want these things to return in good condition.
Unlike the Fairy Tail Mages who don't really care about the magic items' condition, Ben cares about it. His Guild is small and they won't be able to take the consequences if he messed up.
Ben is still in Gravity Mode and has expanded his domain to 100 meters radius. It is to prevent Juan from getting away with the lightning armor's speed. He can't strengthen the gravity with such a wide domain, but it's better than letting Juan move freely.
Both of them clash with their weapons very skillfully. Ben uses his gravity-coated daggers while Juan uses his lightning sword and shield. Juan's defense is very solid and Ben still can't breach it.
'This guy is very good at defense like he has used to it for his whole life,' thinks Ben while attacking Juan.
Ben's hunch is right because Juan is specialized in defense. His low MP has forced him to get defensive in his battles. That way, he will be able to use a counterattack using his MP without worrying about running out of it.
The battle is also difficult because both Ben & Juan are smart and experienced fighters. They can read each other's moves and counter them perfectly. Both of them are also the same type of fighters who use their brain a lot in a battle.
But there are things that Ben has and Juan doesn't. He has sharp senses and instinct from his Dragon Slayer's traits. Ben trusts his brain, but he trusts his senses and instinct more.
It is proved when Ben suddenly jumps backward even though Juan doesn't strike. Right after he jumped, a bolt of strong lightning struck from the sky. It hits Ben's initial position and destroys the ground.
"Tch, you saw it," says Juan in disappointment.
Ben doesn't say anything but he frowns and thinks, 'Where did he summon that lightning from? He didn't prepare anything before. Did it come from the sky directly?'
Ben peeks at the sky and sees that the sky is covered with dark clouds. He is stunned to see this because he just realized it. He was too absorbed in his battle that he doesn't realize the change.
"You can gather clouds too?" asks Ben.
"It's not me, but Elise. She must've used her ultimate magic that creates multiple giant tornados. Those tornados affect the sky and create dark clouds. I don't know how that can happen, but it's my luck, so I will use it," says Juan while grinning.
Ben clicks his tongue as he jumps to the side and evades another lightning strike. He jumps around many times as Juan keeps using the lightning strikes. Ben can't take these natural lightning strikes because it is very strong, a lot stronger than Juan's lightning magic.
'This can't go on, I need to stop him from using the natural lightning. Even I won't be able to take a natural disaster like this,' thinks Ben.
A barrage of natural lightning strikes rain on Ben. He uses his senses & instinct to the max to dodge the lightning strikes. It will be easier to change his elemental mode to Light Mode. But it will make his gravity domain disappears and Juan will be able to move freely.
However, the lightning strikes aren't getting slower and they get faster instead. It makes Ben has a harder time to evade and he almost gets hit a few times. He finally feels a very strong sense of danger and can't find a way to stop it.
"DAMN, FUCK IT!" yells Ben as he changes his elemental mode to Light Mode as fast as he can.
Ben flashes very fast to the left at the right time to avoid a lot of lightning strikes that rain down on his initial position at the same time. Juan has gathered those lightning strikes to attack Ben at the same time.
Although Ben can evade that attack, Juan is still satisfied. The gravity domain has disappeared as the result of Ben's Mode change. Now Juan doesn't feel the pressure again and can use all his strength.
"This time, I will end this for real. CHARGE!" shouts Juan while lowering his stance.
Suddenly, a very loud rumbling sound is heard from the sky. Ben looks at it and sees the clouds are swirling above them. Then suddenly, a very big & strong lightning strike down.
But the lightning doesn't strike at Ben, it strikes at Juan instead. The strike creates a loud booming sound and a shockwave. A big charred crater appears beneath Juan who now has wild lightning currents on his body.
"Hehe, now you won't be able to do anything, boy," says Juan while grinning sinisterly.
Juan suddenly flashes at a very high speed and appears in front of Ben so suddenly. Ben who is in Light Mode can't even react to Juan's speed. The Light Mode doesn't give him a speed of light, but just enhanced his speed greatly.
Juan swings his lightning-coated sword at Ben diagonally. The sword moves very fast and Ben can't dodge it. It hits Ben's torso and a clanking sound is heard from the contact.
"What?!" says Juan in surprise as Ben flings back from the impact.
Juan is surprised to hear that clanking sound. It means that Ben wears something hard under his shirt. He also felt his sword doesn't cut Ben's body at all just now.
"Damn, you became very fast all of a sudden. You've just charged yourself with that lightning, huh? Are you an electronic or something?" asks Ben jokingly as he stands up.
A diagonal cut can be seen on Ben's shirt as he stands up. But there's no wound at all on his body and a black cloth can be seen under his shirt. It's an armored shirt that Ben made using the Etherious' skin that he fought on his S-Class exam.
Ben made this armor in his 2 months of rest. His old armor shirt has been destroyed by Grossalia, so he made this. It is a lot more durable than the previous one that used the Giant Serpents scales.
"Hmm? The clouds have dispersed. You've used all of their lightning, huh? Thanks for that, then. Now I can charge myself too," says Ben while grinning.
Juan frowns hearing that, but then he widens his eyes when Ben starts to eat the sunlight. With the disappearance of the clouds, the sunlight can reach the ground again. So this is Ben's chance to fill his energy again and finish this battle.
"*BURP~* Ah, thanks for the meal," says Ben while grinning.
"Oi, that's cheating," says Juan in protest.
"Say that if you didn't do the same thing," says Ben.
Ben & Juan flash to each other at a very fast speed and clash again. Now their speed and strength are really equal. But Ben has thought of a strategy to defeat Juan after battling for this long.
As Juan swings his sword at Ben, Ben parries it away with his dagger. Ben also hit Juan's shield to the side and now Juan's body is wide open. Juan gathers his lightning on his body armor to block any attack from Ben.
However, Ben's target isn't Juan's body armor. Ben swings his dagger upward to Juan's face. It hits Juan's helmet and makes the helmet comes off.
Ben grabs Juan's hair with his right hand after releasing his dagger. Then Ben pulls Juan's hair down while sending a knee attack. Juan pulls his shield at the right time to block Ben's knee.
But it doesn't really change anything as now Juan's face hit his own hand & shield. Ben's kick also still pushes the shield and makes Juan's face gets hit harder.
"UMPH!" grunts Juan as his face hits his own hand.
Ben takes his knee back and slams Juan's face to the ground strongly.
*BAM*
It hasn't finished yet as Ben creates a gravity ball on his left hand and places it on Juan's head. Now Juan can't move as his head is pinned down. Ben grins then he finish the battle by punching Juan's head multiple times until the guy faints.
"Job's done."
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You can read up to 30+ chapters ahead of this fanfic novel & the other one on my Pa_treon page if you are interested.
I've uploaded:
1. Chapter 128 of Fairy Tail: Sun Eater
2. Chapter 139 of Transcended as Lord Buggy
https://www.pa_treon.com/CaptMermain
(the web didn't use _underscore_, it's to avoid censorship)