Escanor walked out into the field, with each step causing a slight shake in the ground for everyone to feel, making some of the really nervous people (cough.... Lucy, cough...) internally weep in fear of what was to come. If the footsteps along affected the very ground and people alone, then what would come from his combat abilities.
Gildarts walked out after Escanor reached his spot. His footsteps were just normal, not shaking the ground at all or doing anything. The S-Class mage then turned to face his opponent.
"May the best man win, hehe..." Gildarts said to Escanor, receiving a slight chuckle from the strawberry blond behemoth of a man.
"No need to wish for that, for you're already facing him!" Escanor responded.
"Hm... seems you're the prideful type, aren't ya?"
"Indeed, I am Escanor, the Lion Sin of Pride, and the one who stands alone at the peak of all species!"
"Wow, pretty big claim there." Gildarts jokingly said.
"As much as I would like to start the fight, I'm worried about the collateral damage which might be caused..." Makarov confessed, concerned about having a fight that's worth at least two Gildart's worth of power, and no control or restraint at all in front of his guildhall.
"I believe I may be able to help..." Merlin said out of nowhere behind the tiny guildmaster. With the snap of her fingers, Escanor and Gildarts became engulfed in a 'Perfect Cube', ensuring their fight would not affect anything around them now.
"Perfect, thank you miss Merlin!" Makarov gratified, earning a small smile from the Boar Sin of Gluttony.
"Alright then, let the fight... BEGIN!"
Escanor lifted Rhitta off his shoulder, getting a more combat prepared stance. Gildarts simply stood as he normally would, with neither of his arms raised or even looking like he had his guard up.
"What's wrong? Understanding the situation you're in?!" Escanor taunted, with only Gildarts to chuckle as a response.
"(Hehe) Me? Nah. I just wanna see how serious you're gonna get..."
"Hmph, how impudent..."
Escanor then summoned a miniature sun in his open hand which increased in size to twice as large as it was, holding it out for Gildarts to admire. The S-Class mage could only whistle in amazement, as he was able to feel the heat from all the way he was standing.
"Well... that's a thing. Let's see what you got..." Gildarts taunted, making a 'come at me' gesture.
"If you insist... CRUEL SUN!"
Escanor launched his attack straight at Gildarts, flying at an incredible speed. Most of the crowd felt wary about what was to happen. Gildarts himself however didn't even flinch, instead raising his left hand up open and saying a single phrase.
"DISASSEMBLE!"
In a flash, Escanor's attack multiplied and separated into several tiny flames which all flew past Gildarts, completely missing him in the process and eventually fading to nothing.
"I see, you specialise in counter techniques. However... you aren't the first I've fought, and you're certainly not the first who shall defeat me!" Escanor declared, summoning another 'Cruel Sun' in his hand as Gildarts stared with a smirk.
"Are you serious? That's not gonna work again!" Gray shouted.
As Escanor was about to throw his newly summoned sun, halfway through his swing it separated into several miniature suns that were flying at great speeds in Gildarts direction.
"Let's see if you can counter that!" Escanor declared.
Gildarts simply gained a bigger smirk and swiped his hand across his body, completely disintegrating the numerous miniature suns heading straight at him, successfully neutralising the magic assault.
"(Hehehe) Was that really your big plan?"
"Indeed... but that was only the distraction..."
Gildarts could only look in confusion at Escanor's statement, until he noticed a bright light emitting from behind him. In a quick spin he turned around to find himself faced with a larger magically conjured sun that had a devastating aura, slightly burning him from the inside out, causing slight damage that couldn't be avoided even if using his Disassembling magic. Before it could actually hit him however, Gildarts was hit in the back from a devastating punch by Escanor, who appeared behind him in an instant and sent him flying all the way across the 'Perfect Cube', bouncing off the wall and soaring all the way to the other end, crashing with a huge amount of force on the other wall and leaving a few bloodstains among the walls.
"You may be able to disable magic powers, but what happens if you're too slow to do so or unable?" Escanor taunted, walking towards the fallen man as he struggled to get back on his feet.
"(Cough) I'll admit. You're the best challenge I've had since fighting Natsu the last time, (cough)..." He managed to spurt out, slightly spitting out blood and finally getting back on his feet, but only after using his hands for support.
"(Hm) Impertinent. However, this is quite the warmup for me..." Escanor admitted.
"Y-You mean, h-he's not even trying right now...?" Lucy scaredly asked out loud.
"Escanor's power rises throughout the daytime, seeing as it's only a few minutes away from noon, he's at a great level currently, but not his maximum..." Merlin explained.
"Yeah, his power level is 122,000 currently, but it's also still rising higher by the second." Hawk added.
"You should be happy he's still in this state, just be glad that it isn't high noon..." King said.
"Why?" Erza asked.
"Ni shi shi, let's just say it's enough to defeat me at my strongest with a single strike..." Meliodas answered, earning shocked looks from everyone in the crowd and even the most hardened of them to sweat in fear, including Erza and Makarov.
They all just managed to witness the Seven Deadly Sins's Captain's fraction of potential just earlier, which easily devastated Natsu without even trying even when he used his 'Fire Dragon King' power. If Escanor was able to incapacitate an opponent like that so easily, the thought of his peak made a few too fearful to even fully imagine.
"Well, looks like its time for me to get serious I guess..." Gildarts said.
Standing in the same spot, Gildarts suddenly erupted with an enormous aura of white energy, causing a huge wind gush effect to occur which was slightly pushing Escanor back. The Lion Sin of Pride didn't show any signs of weakness however, instead he walked towards Gildarts slowly as he kept emitting this aura. Once close enough, he readied Rhitta for a large vertical swing.
"This is the end!"
Escanor swung his axe, bringing it straight downward in hopes of ending the fight without needing to seriously injure Gildarts. Before it could make contact though, Gildarts caught it with one hand, bringing his head up to show his changed state as white energy was literally emanating out of his eyes. Escanor raised an eyebrow at the sudden change and laughed, finding more enjoyment in the older man's change in status.
"(Hahaha) Looks like there's more to you than I first thought, well let's see how you d-"
Gildarts used his magic to completely disassemble Rhitta, leaving Escanor barehanded and slightly shocked at first. Now without his weapon, Escanor decided to throw a punch at Gildarts. However, the Crash magic specialist simply blocked the strike and threw Escanor over his head into the ground, creating a huge slam which could be felt by everyone, despite them being in an indestructible cube.
"I c-can't believe it. H-His power level i-is 100... IT'S 160,000!!!" Hawk exclaimed.
Everyone in Fairy Tail could only smirk at the number, knowing that their pride and glory lied within Gildarts, their strongest member.
"Shouldn't expect anything less!" Natsu shouted.
"Yeah, Gildarts is the best!" Happy added.
Back to the fight, every time Escanor attempted to throw a punch, Gildarts would either block or dodge it, counterattacking with a punch to Escanor's gut or face. From this going on for a few minutes, Escanor was dripping everywhere with blood, even spitting out a few drops. He was bruised head to toe, all the while Gildarts looked uninterested. This kept happening for a short while, with time passing on slowly as Escanor's tenacity just wouldn't give, leaving Gildarts to have to continuously stop every attack, until finally deciding that it was enough now.
Escanor attempted one final strike, throwing a right cross straight towards Gildarts. However, the S-Class mage stopped the attack with such force, he broke the Lion Sin of Pride's arm, creating a snapping sound that was worth a shockwave amount of force. Gildarts then disfigured Escanor's leg by kicking in the joint section, causing the huge man to fall onto his knees. Escanor was left still trying to stand in a single spot with a slight tired and swaying motion. Gildarts then lightly flicked him on his chest, and just like that, the Lion Sin of Pride fell down like a domino.
"G-Gildarts won?" Gray asked.
Everyone in Fairy Tail cheered, glad that they managed to beat the strongest member of the Seven Deadly Sins. The Boar Hat group simply stared in anticipation, knowing what was to come next.
"Hey, what's the time quickly?" Meliodas asked Erza.
"Well based around the angle of the sun and from the last time I checked... it should just be reaching midday now..."
"Okay, good..." He replied, snickering in a suspicious manner as the redhead stared down at him with confusion.
As the crowd continued cheering and Gildarts turned his back to boast a bit over the victory, Escanor suddenly flipped back up, with all his wounds suddenly sealed and his body growing bigger by the second, with flames beginning to flicker off every part of him. Everyone who witnessed this had looks of slight surprise, with Meliodas and Merlin smirking in awareness of what was to come next.
"Oh boy, he's gonna die..." Diane said.
Everyone in the crowd soon stopped cheering, as they all stared in shock at Escanor. Not only was he still active, but becoming so powerful that it felt like a volcano was erupting in their faces.
It was now high noon, meaning that now was the special minute of the day. Now at the peak of his power, Escanor is not only the Lion Sin of Pride, but he is now power personified, the indomitable being of pure destruction, he had become... 'The One'.
Once turning around, Gildarts suddenly lost his calm demeanour, and instead adopted a look of seriousness, understanding this change to be not only a mere change in appearance.
"I was trying to be a nice guy, but you won't go down. Guess one more will do it!"
Gildarts flew straight at Escanor, charging up a huge amount of magic in his fist. Before it could hit him however, 'The One' Escanor flicked the attack back, sending Gildarts's arm back with so much force that it completely disfigured the limb, making it bend in at least four different ways now. With Gildarts temporarily distracted from the pain, Escanor made a swiping down motion with his hand shaped like a knife.
"DIVINE SWORD ESCANOR!!!"
After a few seconds of performing the action, Gildarts gained a massive slash mark across his chest, creating an explosion of blood to be emitted from the newly made wound and a bleeding frenzy to also occur from how large it was, nearly cutting him in half and causing him to vomit out an enormous quantity of blood. He was sent a few feet back from the force, grasping his wound with his good arm and weakly staring in shock at Escanor at his peak, until finally falling on his knees and breathing heavily, trying his best with all of his will to remain conscious.
"I'm sorry about this, but to ensure this is the end... CRAZY PROMINENCE!!!"
Escanor then launched a whole volley of smaller miniature suns straight at Gildarts, all successfully hitting him and creating a huge smokescreen within the cube. All everyone could see was the smog that clouded any clear view of what was happening, until it finally cleared away and revealed Gildarts greatly injured and burned to near death, with Escanor standing strongly, regaining Rhitta after it was temporarily disassembled.
"How does it feel to be a man stared down by a god?!" Escanor taunted, holding his axe up in the air, which compared to his size now, could be held with just his pinky.
"W-What?" Gray said,
"I don't believe it..." Max added.
"Gildarts is down..." Erza said.
"Just how much power do these guys have?!" Lucy yelled.
Everyone else just stayed silent, completely horrified at the capability of the Seven Deadly Sins whether trying or not trying, especially the fraction of power displayed by the one and only Master of the Sun.
"But how?! You said his power level was only 122,000! And Gildarts was 160,000!" Natsu yelled at Hawk.
"That's true, but that was a few minutes ago. Escanor's power was still rising by the second, and when it became complete high noon, his power suddenly became unreadable for a whole minute. The last number I managed to read was 216,000 before it reached immeasurable heights." He explained, causing everyone to drop their jaws.
"S-So much power, from ONE GUY?!" Gray yelled.
"Yeah. Luckily though, it's past noon now, and so his power is lowering. Currently it's 130,000." Hawk stated.
"That doesn't help the fact that it's freaking huge!" Lucy exclaimed.
"So if his power is based on what time of day it is, then what's his power level at night?" Levy asked, being one of the most curious and knowledgable people around.
"Like we said before, it's 15 at night." Meliodas answered, causing everyone to say one thing...
"WHAT?! SO WEAK! HOW?!"
"Ni shi shi, that's just how it is." He added.
"So what you're saying is if I wanted to, I just have to wait for night time to beat him without any problems?" Elfman asked, evilly smirking at Escanor in hopes of making him pay for crushing his hand earlier.
Merlin finally used 'Absolute Cancel'' to rid of the 'Perfect Cube', allowing Escanor and Gildarts to be free. Elizabeth then rushed towards Gildarts, kneeing next to him and opening her hands above the fallen man. Seconds later a light aura emitted from her palms, almost immediately healing all wounds and disfigurations, making it seem like nothing happened. A few seconds after that, Gildarts woke from his unconscious state, coughing out loud violently.
"(Cough) Wow! Haven't been that hurt since fighting Acnologia, (cough) thanks kid..." He said, turning to Elizabeth.
"You're welcome. Don't be so sad about your loss though, even Meliodas wasn't able to last longer than that." She encouraged.
"Yeah (cough) I'm not doubting that. He's got some seriously powerful magic... how is he even this strong?"
"Yeah! It doesn't make sense that any random guy can increase his power by the second every day without even trying. How is he capable of manifesting this must magical energy?!" Natsu demanded, rushing to the front of the crowd with annoyance in his voice. A few guild members also nodded in agreement as they wanted an explanation as to how this is possible.
"Oh, we'll ever since the day he was born, Sir Escanor was granted the power 'Sunshine'. But the power's origins are a bit more complicated. You see, it's actually a 'Grace', which are blessings granted to the Four Archangels, the Goddess Clan's elite warrior group. When its original owner lost the power, it for some reason it choose Sir Escanor as its new vessel..." Elizabeth explained.
Everyone in the crowd stared in absolute shock. A human who was granted the powers of the Goddesses. Just when literal Fairies and ancient dolls were enough to keep people in shock forever, they then bring in the fact that Escanor is a human who wields a fraction of a deity's almighty power, essentially making him a technical god.
"Yep, it's a long story, but we'll be happy to tell you all later, Ni shi shi." Meliodas said, gaining most people's attention.
"So you mean his power can be passed on to anyone?" Gray asked.
With that question in consideration, everyone now wondered what it would be like to wield the power of 'Sunshine'. Natsu was imagining having Erza and Laxus now to him with fear in their eyes and treating him like a god, Gray imagined if he could make Natsu and Lyon bow down to him anytime he wanted, Erza thought about using it to fully protect everyone without any problems at all, Lucy imagined being able to become the strongest mage in the guild and be able to buy a house with all the money she could make on solo jobs easily, Wendy imagined that the increase in size during the day would also mean and increase in, well... breasts...
As they had their own thoughts, the rest of the guild imagined what it would be like to wield the power Escanor possesses, finding the idea of their strength and magic rising with simply the sun rising and becoming literally invincible, even if for a minute, very tempting.
"HEY OLD GUY! GIMME THAT POWER RIGHT NOW!" Natsu demanded, pulling on Escanor's face as the large man looked disinterested at him.
"Puny child, I am the only human alive worthy to wield 'Sunshine', it would destroy you to the centre of your soul if you even tried to use it." Escanor explained, throwing Natsu off of himself with one hand.
"Well then how can you wield it?" Lucy asked.
"It's because I am truly the strongest in the world!"
From the statement, everyone gained a deadpanned state at the large man, thinking only that Escanor was very fitting to be titled as the 'Lion Sin of Pride'.
"A-Anyway, thank you Seven Deadly Sins, you are indeed mighty warriors beyond legend. I'm glad that you agreed to display your power for us, and in return, we'll throw a huge party with plenty of booze!" Makarov declared, earning cheers from the crowd and breaking the silence.
"Alright! Time for some alcohol!" Meliodas yelled.
"Hope you got great booze!" Ban added.
"It would be nice to learn more about you guys." King admitted, with Diane walking to his side.
"The privilege would be ours, noble companions. You must have some truly amazing experiences." Erza responded, giving a respectful bow towards King.
"Alright everyone, enough talking, let's PARTY!"