96. Equal?
Ben & Juan's battle continues and both of them are still equal. They can't find each other's gap because they used their power well. But they know one thing, a prolonged fight will be disadvantageous for Ben.
'Damn, if I can't defeat him fast enough, then I'll run out of MP before him. Sure, I can replenish it by consuming sunlight, but it will take time. He will use that chance without a doubt,' thinks Ben.
Juan also realizes that and now starts to get defensive. He knows that Ben has more MP than him. So he needs to save his MP by getting on the defensive position.
Even if he uses magic items that reduce his MP usage, Juan's MP capacity is still low. His low MP is also the reason why he stole these magic items. He is a skilled Mage, but his low MP has become his greatest weakness.
Seeing Juan gets defensive makes Ben clicks his tongue. Now the battle will be more difficult for him. With tough armor, Juan has become a human fortress that is difficult to be breached.
"Fine, if you want to stay in your place, then stay there until roots come out of your feet," says Ben while raising his right hand to the sky.
A dark purple magic circle appears on Ben's right palm. Juan looks at it and frowns while wondering what Ben is planning. He wants to attack Ben, but he knows he can't catch up to Ben's speed.
Ben then chants his spell's name, "Sun Dragon's Gravity Press!"
A big dark purple gravity ball appears on Ben's right hand. He looks at Juan and grins before throwing the ball. The gravity ball flies to Juan while creating a pressure that dents the ground.
Juan widens his eyes as the ball flies toward him. The dents on the ground show that the pressure is strong. He tries to run, but Ben suddenly appears in front of him and stops him.
"Where are you running?" says Ben with a mocking tone.
Juan grits his teeth and keeps trying to escape. But Ben doesn't let him and keeps attacking him. Juan can't go anywhere with Ben attacking him continuously. Ben is too fast for him to do anything.
"BASTARD, GET OUT OF MY WAY! DISCHARGE!" shouts Juan.
Suddenly, the lightning on Juan's magic items explodes. It creates a big lightning explosion that pushed Ben away. Juan finally can get away from there and evade the gravity ball right on time.
The Gravity ball falls on the spot where Juan stands before. It pushed the ground down and creates a very deep dent. If it falls on Juan, then he will get pinned underneath the ball.
"*pant pant* Bastard, he forced me to use discharge," says Juan while panting.
The lightning on Juan's armor reduced significantly after he discharged it. That technique consumed a lot of his MP. It also reduces his golden armor's durability. That's why this technique is one of his last resort for dangerous situations.
Ben returned to the battleground after he was sent flying 100 meters back. He only gets small injuries from that, but he is disappointed because his plan failed. But then, he grins when he sees Juan's lightning is weakened.
"Of course, a big technique like that always comes with a big price. That's a good thing for me," says Ben while grinning.
"Tch, it's not over yet," says Juan while getting into a stance again.
"Yeah, it's not over yet. But now I know what I need to do," says Ben while deactivating his Light Mode.
Juan frowns seeing this and asks, "What are you doing?"
"Changing my plans," says Ben.
A dark purple magic circle appears above Ben. It goes down and passes through his body to his feet. Then Ben's body gets covered in a dark purple aura that has many black vertical stripes.
"Gravity Mode!"
The ground where Ben stands suddenly dented. His gravity mode makes him heavy enough to dent the ground. Even so, Ben still can move normally because the gravity only affects his surrounding.
Ben runs to Juan at his normal speed that is very slow compared to his speed in Light Mode. But this doesn't make Juan happy and he gets warier instead. He knows Ben won't do this without any plan.
'If he is this slow, then I will just run around to stall time until he runs out of MP,' thinks Juan.
Juan just wants to execute his plan to run around. But suddenly he feels his body gets very heavy and he can't move. Juan looks at Ben who has his left hand raised in Juan's direction.
Ben has raised the gravity around Juan to stop him. Juan's plan to run has been anticipated by Ben as he used the Gravity Mode. He knows he will be slower than Juan without Light Mode, so he needs to stop Juan's movements if he wants to win.
In Gravity Mode, Ben can control gravity easier. He can use any element in every mode. But it will get stronger and easier if he uses the same magic element as his mode.
Juan clicks his tongue because he can only fight Ben head-on again. He raised his shield & longsword with a lot of effort to face Ben. Juan is strong enough to be able to move in this gravity, albeit with some difficulties.
*CLANG*
Ben's dagger clashed with Juan's shield and creates a loud impact sound.
"You're good. It's the first time I met someone who can resist the gravity effect in their first time. Is it because of your magic items?" asks Ben while grinning.
"Don't underestimate me! Something like this isn't heavy enough to stop me," says Juan with a rather angry tone.
Ben frowns seeing Juan gets angry because of such a question. But he ignores it and continues to attack Juan. They get into close combat again and Ben is surprised to see Juan can keep up with him under such heavy pressure.
What Ben doesn't know is that Juan has trained his physique to a high degree. His low MP made him focus on raising his physical strength to cover his weakness. He has lifted heavy weights for years, that's why the gravity can't stop him.
As Ben fights equally with Juan, Mira also fights equally with Elise. They are on open ground, but Elise still can use the smell of her magic items to attack Mira. Her use of wind magic is very good that she can manipulate the wind to send the smell at Mira.
Mira's Demon transformation reduced the effect of the smell. But it doesn't remove the effect completely. That's why Elise still can hit her many times using wind magic. But Mira also hit Elise many times using her dark magic and physical attacks.
Both of them have many injuries on their body. Mira has a tougher body in her Demon transformation. While Elise has her magic armor that is very durable despite not having toughness and durability as its strong points.
They fight back and forth in close or long-range. These 2 girls are really strong and hard-willed. No winner can be predicted from their battle so far, just like Ben's battle with Juan.
On the other hand, the battle between Elfman and Herry has started to show its winner. Herry's armor already has some cracks and holes after clashing with Elfman in a punching contest.
Elfman also has some broken scales in his Lizardman transformation. Both of them have just kept punching without defending since they started. They never make an agreement, but it's like they understand each other and decide to fight like a man.
Bella is pissed seeing their fight and keeps protesting inside her barrier ball. She is angry because she thinks they fight like idiots. But they ignore her and just keep fighting like that.
"*Pant pant* Let's settle this with one last attack, Lizard boy. I don't think I can move again after this. So if you can take this punch, then you win," says Herry.
Elfman grins and says, "Sure."
Herry also grins before he cocks his fist and charges it with his magic. Then he punches Elfman's chest using all his power. Elfman is sent flying and crashes to the ruins.
Elfman doesn't stand up after half a minute, so Herry thinks that he has won. But then, Elfman stands up slowly and looks at Herry while grinning.
Then Elfman says, "My turn."
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1. Chapter 126 of Fairy Tail: Sun Eater
2. Chapter 137 of Transcended as Lord Buggy
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