I am extremely sorry it took this long to publish this. I have a lot on my head at the moment, plus writing this chapter was not the easiest. Hopefully you can understand after reading. Enjoy!


You do realize going through with this based on suspicion alone might just cause a mess?

Rickard gripped his phone tighter and cursed inaudibly. He was currently speaking to one of the officials through a lacrima phone, their newest standard issue addition. The situation was, as expected, tough to handle without creating trouble. The will to share his sources was almost unbearable to keep a secret.

"Yeah, I know." he said calmly. "Call it a random visit. Worst case scenario we find nothing and I get a warning, I'm pretty sure I've still got a spot or two left before I get in real trouble."

How did you even get this idea? asked the voice in the phone. Did you notice something, anything we could use?

"If I were to tell you it's just a hunch, would you believe me?"

The voice remained quiet, thinking about the question. Your record speaks for itself. Very well, I'll pass it along. I'll call you in a few hours.

"Fine by me." said Rickard while playing with the hilt of his sword. "As long as I can go there within 48 hours from now I'll be a happy man. I wish I could go now, though..."

You know the rules, nothing happens without the presence of a Guild Master.

"I'm afraid if my hunch is right, then his presence will only make things worse." said Rickard. "I need this to happen behind his back. He's made a fool of us before, he will do it again."

The voice remained quiet for a moment.

Fine, I'll trust you. But, keep this in mind: you've got one spot left. If you end up wasting our time, there will be no other chance. You'll be sent packing on a leave of absence.

Rickard snorted. "You'd all die of boredom without me." he chuckled.

Probably. agreed the voice. Talk to you later.

Rickard shut the phone close and sighed. He looked back to the commentator booth and put it back in his pocket. He may not have been in the room directly, but he's been guarding the door for a solid few hours now. Whatever continued to roam the arena was still hell bent on getting to Yajima. both of these matters, combined with the recent reports of a black dragon roaming over Ishgar took a great toll on the young Captain's mental well-being.

He planted his back against the door whilst massaging his tired eyes and prepared himself for another few hours of duty.


Upon catching all the high-fives from her team, Mirajane leaned over the railing and sighed tiredly. Although the event was rather short, the last few moments were surprisingly taxing. She waved to her guild, which was screaming at her from afar and gave her siblings a thumbs-up. They responded passionately, so much, that Elfman knocked a few people over with his arms yet again. The crowd that saw her off with cheers and chants was slowly calming itself down.

Makarov felt a tap on his shoulder. Upon turning he saw a small boy leaning over the railing from above, who silently handed him a note and, without a word, disappeared into the crowd above. Confused Makarov blinked a few times and opened the note, the previous joy on his face now giving in to concern. Laxus watched him in silence, but did not act.

Sting shifted his eyes to the side upon hearing the sound of Minerva's heels behind him. He could feel the air change upon her arrival and wanted absolutely nothing to do with the woman, much like the rest of his guild. He clenched his fist in frustration, the questions he's been asking himself for months resurfacing yet again. Why was it that they had to feel the way they felt? He traced his eyes over the other guilds, all of them welcoming their members with open arms and words of appreciation. Even Arya, the member of the most brutish guild in the arena received a slap on the back from one of his guildmates.

All of this spying only made him angrier, which he did his best to hide from everyone. Everyone but Rogue, who'd noticed his trembling but said nothing. There was nothing to be said that they haven't already discussed.

The referee stepped out into the arena and clapped his hands to summon the screen. "Allow me to explain the rules of today's battle section! The timelimit is as always 30 minutes! The battles will be fought two-on-two. A battle ends if one team loses both its fighters, however, if the time runs out and one team has more active fighters left in the arena than the other, they will be the victors! A draw can happen in three situations: all mages knock one another out simultaneously, both teams have all of their fighters remaining, or when both teams have just one fighter left standing!"

"In other words, they are encouraging ganging up on one of the opponents." deduced Gray.

"In their mind they are encouraging teamwork." shrugged Natsu.

"Can't imagine how that could backfire." added Mirajane.

"I will now announce the match-ups for today's battles!" said Kabo and four rows of letters began to roll. After a very suspense minute they settled down, revealing the match-ups for the day:

Quatro Cerberus vs. Mermaid Heel

Sabertooth vs. Lamia Scale

Raven Tail B vs. Blue Pegasus

Fairy Tail vs. Raven Tail A

"There you have it, folks! The final match-ups of the Games!" said excitedly Lola

"These are all very interesting." Yajima nodded. "I am particularly interested in second and fourth matches."

"The final match will indeed bring some emotions! The two related guilds battling it out once again!"

"The time has come!" roared Albert. "Whoever assists me in this battle, let us give our best!"

"It's not certain you're the one told to go down there, though." told him Svenar.

"No, I know it's my time!" Albert pounded his chest with a wide grin. "I can feel it in my bones!"

"Has he ever been right about the feeling in his bones?" Leord asked Ellia.

"Once." she said. "When he guessed the cargo of a carriage of that dark guild we were supposed to catch."

"I'm not sure it should even count." threw in Emilia. "The carriage was marked."

"Failure is what nurtures success!" said the giant and puffed his chest out. "Mark my words, today is the day!"

Ellia blinked and looked to her right. "What's up with you?"

Svenar shifted his puzzled gaze aside and mumbled something that sounded like "Nothing.". The girl narrowed her eyes and leaned on his shoulder.

"Is it about that?" she asked. "You should have known by now, that they get like that for anyone who brings any form of excitement. This isn't the same, you know?"

The man pushed her aside, not convinced. "You wouldn't understand." he said. With a loud sigh, Ellia decided to give up and leave her gloomy friend alone.

"Them again." Gajeel scratched his head. "You'd think someone behind all this just wanted us to slug it out."

"I'm sure it's a coincidence." said Levy. She was sitting next to him with Pantherlily on her lap.

"Coincidence or not, at least some of them can sort their differences out." shrugged Cana. "Like Lucy."

Lucy laughed nervously. "I'm not sure we've sorted anything out...We haven't talked since our fight."

"Sometimes words are not necessary, for a moment." said Carla. "The way she's looking at you has changed drastically."

Lucy blinked. "How do you know?" she asked curiously.

"Because she doesn't look like she wants to skin you alive anymore." threw in Laxus. Lucy had no further questions.

Back with Raven Tail A, Ellia walked up to Emilia. The woman was deep in thought, her usually focused eyes staring out into the distance.

"What do you think?" the younger girl nudged her with her elbow.

Emilia blinked. "What do you mean?"

Ellia rolled her eyes. "You know. How are you feeling? Same as you have few days ago?"

Emilia looked across the arena at the redhaired girl in Fairy Tail's stands. For probably the first time in a few days, her grip on Nemesis' pummel she so liked to play with did not increase.

"I guess I will figure that out." she said. "If I'm lucky." she added with a small smile. Ellia smiled back at her knowingly and then looked at the arena.

"The first match of the day is...!" Kabo announced and pointed at the screen, which was once again rolling letters around.

Bacchus and Jäger

vs.

Kagura Mikazuchi and Millianna

Bacchus roared on top of his lungs and jumped over the railing in excitement, with Jäger following him in suit. Kagura and Millianna, on the other hand, sticked to stairs.

The two parties met at the center of the arena and eyed each other up.

"We haven't gotten the pleasure to meet that time during the event." Bacchus said to Kagura. "I'm dying to find out just how wild you are, miss."

Kagura's face remained as stoic as ever. "Your arrogance may cost you." she warned him. Bacchus merely whistled.

The ring of the gong echoed across the arena. Both teams jumped back as their first move, unwilling to engage just yet. Jäger and Millianna settled as support to their respective teammate and stood just behind them, as the two stronger mages circled around one another.

Bacchus' figure was low, his knees bent and relaxed, but his hands were still hanging by his sides, which made him look like an ape. To a normal bystander this appeared to be a taunt, but to Kagura, it was an obstacle. The man was well prepared to parry and block her strikes, which she made easy for him, granted her blade was always sheathed.

After a minute of no action, Kagura decided to make the first move and planted her pivot hard into the ground, before kicking it. Bacchus was forced to lean back under Archenemy, almost as if he was playing limbo. His left arm twitched and Kagura had but a split second to raise her blade and block a palm strike to her head, which pushed her back. Bacchus recollected his posture and charged at her, before suddenly stepping to the side mid-charge. The ground he was just standing on sunk and broke into pieces, courtesy of Kagura's gravity magic. He jumped up in the air and delivered a kick to Kagura's head, which she once again blocked, but was blown back anyway. She slid back on the balls of her feet and recollected herself a few meters away, ending the first exchange of the match.

"Looks like we've got the greetings out of the way." Bacchus said and shook his palm. He then charged straight at Kagura, who stayed on guard. Suddenly the drunk found himself levitating in the air, unable to move forward, or backward. Kagura clenched Archenemy and dashed right at him, before striking him with her weapon. Although it was blocked, the strike sent Bacchus flying aside and crash into the boundaries.

Continuing the momentum Kagura rushed at Jäger, who, in panic, summoned a giant carnivorous plant to defend himself. Kagura merely sliced the plant in half and closed the distance, ready to strike him down.

Her strike turned into a block, as Bacchus caught up to them and kicked her from the side. With her sense of balance lost, Kagura grit her teeth in frustration with her own skills and braced for the incoming palm strike. But in didn't come.

Millianna joined the battle and tried to attack the drunk, who quite easily dodged her claws by bending at an unnatural angle. He redirected his strike aimed at Kagura to her and blasted Millianna away with a direct hit to her stomach. The girl gasped in pain and rolled on the ground, unable to even kill her fall.

Kagura used her friend's misfortune to kick Bacchus under the chin and jump back to regroup. Bacchus massaged his sore chin and cracked his neck, with now recollected Jäger by his side.

"Sorry, I thought she got you." apologized the plant user.

"Don't sweat it." Bacchus waved his hand. "Here's what we're gonna do next time she does that to me."

"I'm sorry, Kagura." Millianna moaned on the other side of the arena and tried to get back up.

"Don't worry about it. You were covering for my poor lack of judgment." said softly the swordswoman. "I am the one who should be apologizing. Focus on recovering."

"Okay."

"As usual, Bacchus is a formidable opponent." Erza bit her nail.

"Even though he's been discharged some time ago, Elfman still has trouble sitting down." said Mira. "This guy packs a punch."

Kagura carefully observed her opponents, who were just about to make a move. She gripped her blade firmly and watched Bacchus take off once again, once again in a straight line. Just before he was about to get to Kagura, she made him float again and stepped in to strike. This time, however, instead of the man she struck a giant stem that grew out of the ground: Jäger used his magic to lift Bacchus up in the air and out of the way of Archenemy.

Clicking her tongue, Kagura looked up and watched as Bacchus, now free of the effects of her magic, was currently descending upon her from above like a bullet. She blocked his palm by raising her weapon above her head and felt her whole body cry out from the weight of his strike. Bacchus grinned from ear to ear and pushed himself off of Archenemy to jump over Kagura and deliver a clean strike to her lower back while in mid-air. The woman gasped and swung her blade horizontally, only for Bacchus to duck underneath it. He rose up to strike her once again but instead was met with a kick to his right cheek from Kagura. Bacchus' head flew backwards with a cloud of blood and the man staggered backwards, rocked and off-balance. Before Kagura could use this chance she had to jump away from another giant plant with razor-sharp leaves and spikes.

She landed next to now recovered Millianna and massaged her sore back with a pained expression.

"I will not slip next time!" said the catgirl and retracted her claws.

"Good. I need you to stay close to me and follow along."

"Right!"

The girls dashed at the men, with Kagura in the lead. Bacchus met her half-way through and the two clashed. Millianna ran out from behind Kagura and swung at Bacchus, who dodged her attack and kicked her aside like she was a doll. The girl grunted in pain but remained strong and recollected herself rather quickly. In the meantime Kagura landed a hit on Bacchus and was about to hit him yet again, only for Jäger to stop her blade with one of his plants. The girls locked their eyes for a split second and Kagura circled around the plant to follow after Bacchus. The man was caught by surprise but met the woman's challenge.

Both mages began to throw down in the middle of the arena with everything they had, with Kagura focused like never before and Bacchus laughing like a maniac each time he landed a hit and got hit. The woman threw an overhead at Bacchus, who caught it with his bare hands, albeit struggled like never before. Well aware he couldn't hold it for too long he let it slide to the side and kicked Kagura in the neck, which knocked the lights out of her eyes for a brief moment. Upon their return Kagura's reason seemed to vanish, as she bared her grit teeth in frustration and anger and punched Bacchus in the stomach with her fist coated in gravity magic, which greatly increased its weight.

"This is starting to get a bit gruesome..." gulped Wendy. The crowd around her thought otherwise, their cheers loud and pleased.

"That's the thing about Bacchus." said Erza and bit her nail. "He has the ability to drag you down to his level, regardless of how much one tries to remain composed. The longer the fight, the higher his chances become."

"That and she just refuses to unsheathe her sword." mentioned Natsu. "Is that some sort of a technique, or a form?" he asked Erza.

"Nothing I am familiar with."

Bacchus bent over and coughed out blood, but grinned nonetheless. He grabbed Kagura by her uniform and brought her closer to headbutt her in the nose, which he bloodied upon impact. The girl grunted in pain and took a few steps back, before being struck in the face and knocked down. Just when Bacchus was about to finish the job, Kagura raised her right hand and lifted him off the ground. Putting the pieces together that she must have left some sort of a magic circle on him after the punch, Bacchus tried to get back down to the ground, but to no avail. Kagura lifted him up in the air and then slammed him against the ground. She repeated this process a couple times before Bacchus could finally turn in the air and land on his feet, the ground breaking and cracking as he did. He then attempted to put his hands on Kagura once again, but instead he was smashed in the ribs with Archenemy, a feat that cracked at least a couple of them in the process. The man slid back on the balls of his feet and bent over, struggling to breathe. This strike was coated in gravity as well, a countermeasure Kagura must have developed to make up for the gap in their raw strength.

"You're good, Kagura..." he snickered like a maniac. "Let us continue this slugfest until one of us falls!" he roared on top of his lungs and charged at her faster than ever before. Without enough time to defend herself, Kagura was thrown into the air by a palm strike to her left breast. Her entire body began to shut down, with her consciousness hanging on just a thread. Regardless of her pain, however, she focused on her plan and looked up to see if the requirements were met. Upon confirmation, the girl released a big sigh of relief and released her magic.

Bacchus stopped in his tracks upon hearing a loud noise coming from behind him and turned around, only to see Jäger's unconscious figure squashed into the ground, with Millianna crouching on his back.

"What the-" questioned wide-eyed Bacchus and barely avoided Kagura's attack. She did, however, catch him with the follow-up kick and pushed him aside. The two women regrouped and now stood between Bacchus and his defeated friend.

"He's down! Jäger has been defeated by Mermaid Heel's Kagura and Millianna!" Lola exclaimed to the pumped up crowd.

"Kagura used her magic to carefully transport her friend above their heads to deliver a sneak attack on Jäger." said Yajima. "Although obvious to us, it must have been quite a shock for Quatro Cerberus."

"I see, so you did it back then..." Bacchus slapped his face and snickered. "I knew it was weird she suddenly vanished behind that plant...You got him good!" he laughed. "Tough luck, Jäger! Next time make sure to look up once in a while!" he yelled to his defeated teammate and laughed even more.

"Are you okay?" Millianna asked Kagura with concern. It's been years since she'd seen her friend break her usual stoic behavior during battle.

The swordswoman wiped the blood off her chin. "No. I've grown frustrated and allowed this brute to drag me down into his own game. It appears we both have plenty of training to do."

Millianna nodded with a smile and looked back at Bacchus. "You should give up, you can't beat the two of us!" she told him.

Bacchus snorted. "Ain't no way in hell I am letting a chance to keep throwing down with your cute friend here slip past me!" he cackled and readied his stance.

Kagura's eyes narrowed. "I won't let you drag me down to your level ever again." she said and readied her blade by her left hip.

"I guess we'll just have to find out!" he roared and kicked the ground.

Kagura's eyes widened and her sword arm let itself go. With a sense of danger and terror in his stomach, Bacchus desperately leaned to his left side and felt something incredibly heavy and cold fly past him. The sound of the boundaries of the arena breaking and crumbling reached his ears not even a second later and upon turning around he noticed a big, giant dent in the wall just below the crowd. The dent was rough and uneven, but deep nonetheless.

"That ain't no cut..." Bacchus gulped nervously. "You put gravity into that strike. If that had hit me..."

"It would have broken every bone in your torso." Kagura finished his thought. "I'd reconsider giving up if I were you."

Bacchus sighed and reached back. "I am way too sober for this..." he declared and opened his bottle.

Both Kagura and Millianna threw themselves at him almost immediately. The now drinking Bacchus kicked the ground and split it into pieces, that rose up before him, effectively blocking their path and another of Kagura's gravity slashes as well. Kagura clicked her tongue and easily destroyed the obstacle with her sword, but Bacchus was no longer on the other side. Millianna caught him running behind them, still drinking, and tried to chase him, but he stopped her by throwing his cork at her face. The catgirl staggered back with a red spot on her forehead and allowed him to create more distance.

Bacchus sighed with relief upon taking the last sip and put the bottle back in its place, his body already swaying, which made it easier to dodge Archenemy and retaliate with a palm strike directly to Kagura's face. She was bound to be hit by another one, but Milianna managed to move her out of the way with her tail. This little trick gave Kagura just enough time to shake the damage off and block an incoming strike with her sword.

The fight became a desperate game of cat and mouse, where whenever one of the women was in trouble, the other did everything they could to save her. Although Bacchus was starting to wither away at an incredible pace in the last minutes of the fight, he refused to go down and made Mermaid Heel's time a living hell.

By the end of the fight both Kagura and Millianna were sore and exhausted, but standing nonetheless. Bacchus, on the other hand, was quite severely battered and scratched, his magic and stamina running so low even Millianna could start hitting with her attacks. As the gong rang to signalize the end of the match and the girls were declared the winner, Bacchus merely laughed and clapped to the winners, disappointed but not vicious.

"You got us good, ladies!" he cackled. "I haven't had this much fun since 2 days ago!"

Kagura, who had just calmed her breathing down, readjusted her clothes and looked at Bacchus. "It appears our definitions of fun are vastly different." she told him, which made him laugh even more.

"Don't lie, Kagura." he smiled. "You know just as well as I do, that you enjoyed yourself. You strike me as that type of a lady, who holds onto grudges and lets the emotions pent up. You looked pissed most of the fight, but somehow I could tell it wasn't meant for me."

Kagura said nothing, be it with her face, or her mouth. Millianna looked at her friend, who, after a few seconds, simply started to walk away, leaving laughing Bacchus alone to collect his still unconscious friend. As she caught up to her she could have sworn she saw a very mild smile on Kagura's face, one that disappeared as quickly as it appeared. Not feeling brave enough to mention it, Millianna merely walked behind Kagura to the infirmary, but not without a smile of her own.

"What a battle!" said Lola. "Quatro Cerberus' Bacchus gave quite a fight to Mermaid Heel!"

"Both sides displayed superb knowledge of magic and combat." agreed Yajima. "We could not have asked for a better opening match."

"I agree! Now, let us proceed with the second match of the day!"

"They sure are in a hurry." noticed Lucy.

"Tomorrow is a day off, so it doesn't matter if they give the participants time to heal today." said Levy. "They can rest later."

"Next up it's Saber and Lamia." Gray leaned over the railing and glued his eyes to the screen. "I hope Jura gets picked."

"So does he, I'm sure." smiled Erza.

The letter on the screen rolled for the second time this day and soon formed into the second match-up:

Sting Eucliffe and Rogue Cheney

vs.

Lyon Vastia and Sherria Blendy

"There they are!" Lola roared to beat the over the top screams of the excited crowd. "Sabertooth's Twin Dragons make their appearance at last!"

"Sting did participate two days ago, however, it has been over a year since we've seen him in battle." smiled Yajima.

"That alone explains the atmosphere in the arena!"

"Let's do this." said Sting and extended his fist.

"Yeah." said Rogue and bumped it back, before both men turned to the stairs.

"Remember: failure is not an option." reminded them Minerva.

Sting stopped in his track for a second, but decided to drop it and continued to walk. A couple stairs down the way he clicked his tongue. "Look who's talking." he said quietly.

"Time to go." said Lyon back in his stands

"Be careful, both of you." said Jura. "The battle will not be the easiest."

Sherria smiled. "When is it ever?" she asked and followed Lyon.

"You better win!" Obaba yelled after them. "I won't accept a fourth loss to these felines!"

"Let's not tell her it'd be the fifth." Yuka nudged Toby with his elbow, who nodded in agreement.

Both teams met at the arena and eyed each other up. The Dragon Slayers looked confident and stoic, carefully watching their opponents.

"You rooting for your friend?" Mira teased Gray.

"I actually am." he said truthfully, much to her disappointment.

"Go, Sherria!" cheered loudly Wendy. "You can do it!"

"Just listen to these cheers! The Twin Dragons surely are fan favorites!" said Lola.

"They've yet to provide a disappointing performance, after all." agreed Yajima.

"Until today." said Lyon.

Sting snorted. "Sure of yourself, aren't we?"

"Not as sure as you lot." replied Lyon. "It looks like you've yet to grasp the reality."

"What reality?" Sting asked while spreading his arms to the sides. "That some other guild gathered a couple more points than us? We can easily make up for that." he said cockily.

Lyon smirked. "Yes, absolutely. Your friend demonstrated that not even 20 minutes ago."

Sting's smile dropped, replaced by a scowl.

"Don't let him get to you, Sting." said calmly Rogue. "His guild has proven to be nothing but bark. Even with one of the most powerful mages in their ranks they can hardly reach our feet."

"I don't like these guys." stated seriously Sherria.

"Yeah." said Lyon and waited for Kabo to signalize the beginning of the match. His right hand was emitting cold mist. "Neither do I."

As soon as the gong rang Sting and Rogue were attacked by a spiked iceberg. Although they both managed to jump away unharmed, Rogue's coat was pierced just under his armpit, which annoyed him greatly.

"A sudden and violent start by Lyon! He's not giving the Twin Dragons a chance to gain their pace!" commentated Lola.

"Their teamwork is their greatest aspect." said Yajima. "While blunt, it is the perfect strategy for Lamia Scale to begin with."

"As if we needed each other to take care of you both!" yelled Sting and kicked off a spike to launch himself at Lyon.

The ice mage punched his palm and erected a wall of ice to protect himself with. The Dragon Slayer clicked his tongue and flipped in the air, before crashing into the wall with his feet and jumping back.

"Don't let him get back with the other one!" Lyon ordered Sherria.

"Yes!" she nodded and ran around the wall to engage Sting. She launched herself with her wind and charged straight at him. Their forearms clashed and their respective elements splattered to the sides.

"Sorry, but I don't use wind." smirked Sting. "The only thing that makes your magic special is gone!"

"It makes no difference." replied Sherria. "I'm going to beat you!"

Both mages threw a punch with their free hand. Their fists collided and caused another clash, however, this one pushed them both away and created distance with torrents of black wind and white light in the middle.

Lyon punched his palm and readied an attack on distracted Sting, however, before he could launch it he felt weird, itching pain in his left side. Upon looking down he saw, much to his shock, a black blade sticking out of his side that has been pierced. The blade retracted itself and allowed Lyon to stagger forward and clutch his wound, with the pain finally hitting him like a train so hard he had trouble remaining composed. Upon looking behind he noticed half of Rogue's face sticking out of the shadow of his very own creation, along with the blade that had stabbed him, that has returned back to the shadows.

"Wha...What?" gasped the Maker and fell onto his knee. "Since when can you blend with the shadows?!"

Rogue slowly rose out of the shade. "The strong will always evolve to find new ways of obtaining victory." he said.

The crowd gasped at the sight of the rather brutal attack. It was a nice change from the mindless cheers for whoever made things even remotely exciting.

"What the-" gasped Gray.

Mirajane clicked her tongue. "Sneaking around like that...Strongest guild my ass."

"If that was any of us we'd end up in the same situation." said nervously Erza. "As unfortunate as it is, let us use this chance to study them."

Gray put his hands on the railing but agreed with Erza in silence. It wasn't him fighting down there, it was his friend.

"This is coming off to a bad start." said nervously Yuka. Jura said nothing, instead staring at the arena intensely.

"Lyon!" called out worried Sherria and tried to reach him, only to be blasted further away by a beam of light, followed by a kick to the face. She staggered before she recollected herself and sucked air in, before releasing it all at once.

SKY GOD'S BELLOW!

Sting planted his feet and puffed his chest out, before unleashing his own variant of the attack.

WHITE DRAGON'S ROAR!

The Roar pierced right through the black torrent of wind like a hit knife through butter. Sherria had only a split second to move her head to the side, otherwise she'd have been hit directly in the face. This caused her to lose balance and cancel her spell out, with the wind never actually reaching Sting.

Sherria clicked her tongue in frustration, as some of the hair she'd lost from the spell flew around in front of her face. "If he can do that to my Bellow, then he can do it to all of my attacks. My wind doesn't work on such concentrated light..."

"Well spotted!" said Sting and rushed Sherria, who jumped out of the way. She carefully watched the situation. Sting was currently chasing after her while simultaneously blocking the path towards Rogue, who had Lyon at his mercy thanks to his sneak attack. She locked eyes with Lyon, who gave her a very gentle nod and put his hand on the ground.

Rogue was forced to go back into the shadows to avoid getting skewered by spikes of ice, that effectively created a circular wall around Lyon. In the meantime, Sherria did her best not to reveal her ace until the very last moment and, just when Sting was convinced he'd get a hit in, he was blasted by a point-blank Bellow that blasted him back and covered his body in cuts.

Sherria jumped in the air with her wind and landed inside Lyon's protective barrier, before starting to heal his wound with her magic. The Twin Dragons recollected on the other side of the arena, with Rogue emerging from the shadows and Sting landing on his feet after freeing himself from the currents. He was covered in shallow cuts all over his body, but it appeared his pride took more damage.

"Cheeky little..." he grumbled and spat some blood aside that gathered in his mouth from his split lip. He wiped his lips with his glove and straightened his posture. "Looks like we're back to square one." he said to Rogue.

"Not exactly." he replied and returned to his human form. "She won't be able to heal him completely with so little time, but she'll heal him enough to make him a threat again."

"Let's cut that time even shorter, then." said Sting and ran towards his opponents, with Rogue following him in suit.

Lyon, who was still kneeling on the ground, punched his palm and created a thin, irregularly shaped wall of ice. Sherria stopped healing him and aimed her arms at the wall.

SKY GOD'S AURORA!

A massive blast of black wind struck the wall, shattering it into hundreds of small, sharp pieces. The wind continued to travel towards the Dragon Slayers, now mixed with the shards of Lyon's ice. Sting and Rogue were forced to desperately jump out of the way to avoid being shredded by the combination of ice and wind.

"Hey, hey, hey, seriously?" said nervously Sting upon seeing the ice plunge itself into the boundaries of the arena. Cold sweat ran down his neck at the thought of not getting out of the way in time.

"You played this card first." said Sherria in an unusual for her serious voice and helped Lyon, who has been treated enough to resume fighting, get back on his feet.

Sting laughed nervously. "Yeah, I guess we have." he agreed and pulled a single shard of ice, that stabbed him just before he was fully out of the way, out of his forearm.

"This is becoming longer than it should be." said quietly Rogue. He sounded nervous.

"You saying it for your own sake, or his?" replied sharply Sting.

"At this stage, I suppose it is both." replied Rogue, this time more softly.

Sting narrowed his eyes and sighed through his nose. "I suppose it is." he said and planted his feet hard on the ground.

The Twin Dragons began to emit more magic power, which was now starting to form its own auras. Sherria and Lyon could feel the air becoming heavier, as their auras grew more and more, before they started to wrap around each of them with their respective colors of white and black.

Minerva smirked at the sight and licked her lips. "Smart boys." she said to herself and looked toward the crowd. Her father, the Master of Sabertooth, who was seated by his lonesome among the crowd, straightened himself in his seat, clearly paying attention to the events unfolding in the arena.

"Lyon..." gulped Sherria.

Lyon scowled. "Yeah, I know. It's that."

Both Sting and Rogue were now clad in their own elements, their magic increased and their pupils gently changing their shape from circular to slits, which made them look like a cross between both shapes.

WHITE DRIVE!

SHADOW DRIVE!

"There it is!" yelled Lola with excitement. "The ace card of the Twin Dragons! They have yet to disappoint the crowd upon using this technique!"

The crowd confirmed Lola's statement by growing even louder than before, having clearly gotten over their previous sensation of dread upon seeing all of the stabbing that happened just minutes prior.

Erza looked around the crowd with a slight frown. It has bugged her ever since day one, but she chose not to pay attention to it, yet at this point it was impossible to ignore.

"You've noticed too, huh?" Natsu's question knocked her back to reality.

"What?" she blinked.

"These people will cheer for whoever makes eating their hot-dogs slightly more exciting." he said bitterly. "They don't care what guild you're representing, as long as you punch someone in the face with a fancy spell."

Erza leaned over the railing to get closer to him. "Where are you going with this?" she asked.

Natsu looked at her. "We've been trying so hard to win the people over, ever since we came back, we've been trying to show the people, that despite all the things Raven has revealed about us, we're not the monsters they made us out to be. That we're just a guild full of rejected by the world kids who have done stupid and horrible things to survive, to cope with our own issues. That we're now trying to live our lives as best as we can, and try to make up for our sins."

Erza remained silent, awaiting the continuation.

"Well, I say there is no point in trying anymore." he finished with a slight smile on his face. "We did it. The people no longer throw trash at us in the lobbies, we're not boo'd to shit whenever we enter the arena. We did it, we've redeemed ourselves to the people. We brought some excitement into their boring lives, we punched people in the face, which they thought was entertaining. All the damage Raven Tail has done to us has been reversed - we've fulfilled our purpose!"

His voice was soaked in sarcasm towards the end, and it rubbed Erza in a wrong way. She found it hard to disagree with him, however, and turned back to the fight with thoughts racing in her head.

"Making up with people we've actually hurt should be our main objective." he added, now more composed.

That Erza agreed with wholeheartedly, and squeezed his hand with a small smile on her face.

"You recognize that?" Mira asked Natsu about Twin Dragons' strange boost of magic.

"No, I don't. But they are different than me, or Laxus. Maybe it's something only they can use." he replied.

"Let's get this over with." said Sting and gently shifted his pivot on the ground.

As soon as he started to move, Lyon quickly dropped to his knees and placed both his hands on the ground, before freezing the entirety of the arena's floor. Sting, who was currently moving around at very high speed, had to stop and recollect his footing after almost slipping on the ice. Seeing this, Rogue decided to stick to his new way of transportation and sunk into his own shadows, before disappearing from sight.

"One thing after another..." said annoyed Sting and jumped in the air to attack Lamia Scale from above.

Sherria, who was standing behind Lyon, raised her arms and aimed them at the incoming enemy, before blasting him with a massive torrent of black wind. Sting raised his arms and created a big ball of light, which he then used to block the wind with. He then clenched his fists and made the ball burst along with the wind, canceling out Sherria's spell.

"I told you it wouldn't work!" he yelled and began to ready another spell.

In the meantime Rogue slowly started to emerge from the shadows behind Lyon and Sherria, however his plan was swiftly stopped by a kick to his face that knocked him out of the shadows and exposed his whole figure, which was now sliding away on the ice.

"I knew you'd do that!" said Sherria.

Lyon punched his palm and created an eagle which he sent after Sting. The Dragon Slayer, who was seemingly blinded by his own spell, was outmaneuvered by the creation and was knocked off air, effectively crashing into the ground.

Rogue, who has just recollected himself, had to jump back to avoid being skewered by spikes of ice and landed next to cursing Sting, both Dragon Slayer feeling more and more irritated as the battle went on.

"I'm done playing with them." said Sting. "Let's power through!"

Rogue didn't need to be told another word. He planted his feet and puffed his chest out, before releasing a whirlpool of shadows directly at Lamia Scale.

SHADOW DRAGON'S ROAR!

Sherria did exactly the same and released her own version of the spell.

SKY GOD'S BELLOW!

Both elements collided and canceled one another out just several meters away from Lamia's team, the mix of shadows and wind creating a grim looking black mist, that scattered across the arena. Lyon, who was just about to ready a following-up attack, was greeted with the sight of a grinning Sting just an inch before his face.

"Wha-" was all he could muster before being punched in his wound, which knocked all the air out of his lungs and made him collapse to his knees.

"Lyon!" Sherria called out after him and charged at Sting, however just when she was about to reach him with a kick she felt something restraining her from behind, courtesy of Rogue, who once again used the shadows to his advantage and secured the young God Slayer in a full nelson.

Lyon raised his head, still trying to comprehend how he could have been jumped this easily, and the answer revealed itself as soon as the black mist cleared out.

His ice has been reduced to nothingness directly under the path of Rogue's Roar, which allowed Sting to freely use his increased speed without worrying about losing control.

"He aimed it low to destroy the ice..." deduced Lyon and cursed himself for not catching onto it in time.

"That's right." said Sting and lit up his fist. "Now sleep."

He struck Lyon under his ear with his light enhanced fist. The Maker's eyes grew misty and he dropped to the ground, unconscious.

"Lyon is down!" proclaimed Lola. "Lamia Scale is down to one!"

"Lyon!" called out Gray. He was shocked and frustrated, his grip on the railing tightening and the metal freezing under his touch. His old friend didn't even get a chance to show off, shut down just barely a minute into the match and left crippled.

Seeing this filled Sherria with anger. She jumped while still being held by Rogue and used her legs to send a massive torrent of wind straight at Sting. The Dragon Slayer was hit square on his chest and was blown back all the way into the boundaries, which he crashed into.

The spell caused Rogue to lossen his grip, which Sherria slipped out of and blasted him away, before jumping toward Lyon. He was unconscious and, as a result, out of the match. She was all alone now.

Sting climbed out of the debris, his clothes torn but no additional damage done to his body. Same with Rogue. Both Dragon Slayers dusted themselves off and began to circle around Sherria like vultures awaiting its prey to die.

As if on mark both of them threw themselves at Sherria, who struggled to block both of them at the same time. The trio engaged in a sequence of quick and swift blows, with Sherria being on its receiving end. Each time she blocked a strike she was hit with another, with one of the Dragons landing at least one hit per exchange. Despite it being only seconds since the assult started, Sherria was quickly deteriorating.

She blocked Rogue's shadows enhanced headkick with her forearm, only to be struck in the kidneys by Sting's punch. She threw a swift backfist that landed flush on his cheek, only to be kicked in the ribs from behind by Rogue. Sherria jumped back to have them both in sight, but their Drives allowed them to quickly close the distance and surround her once again and drown her.

"Don't give up!" yelled loudly Wendy, now standing on Natsu and Gray's shoulders, as if standing taller would help her words reach Sherria. "You can do this!"

"Lamia Scale's Sherria is in a pinch! She can not escape the Twin Dragons!" said Lola.

"With her teammate down she is entirely alone against their teamwork." said worried Yajima. "Perhaps it'd be wise to surrender the match."

Sherria grit her teeth. She did not want to bring shame to her guild, surrender was not an option. Not after what she'd gone through yesterday. Being in this situation has given Sherria more perspective on how Wendy must have felt during their fight, and it filled her with both respect to her new friend, and determination to keep fighting.

Much to Sting and Rogue's shock Sherria managed to block them both at the same time with each of her arms, and unleashed the full power of her wind, pushing both of them away. She then chased after Rogue and caught him off-guard with a powerful right hook to the jaw that both rocked him and made him fly towards Sting. He caught his friend and helped him get back on his feet.

"That's exactly what I wanted!" said Sherria and clapped her hands, before trapping the Dragon Slayers inside of a black cyclone. She then raised her arms above her head and began channeling all of her magic, which took form of black spirals made out of wind, with more coming along the way. Her magic power increased tremendously, so much, that the Slayers felt the gravity change drastically, their knees bending under the pressure.

"She's going all out." noticed Yuka.

"It appears she crossed all of her limits." said Jura and gulped nervously. "She is betting everything on this move."

"Sherria has trapped Sabertooth! Can she pull out the comeback?!" yelled Lola.

"This is bad." said Rufus. "If this hits..."

"They're done." finished Orga, a drop of cold sweat flowing down his chin.

"Shit...We can't take that, it's too risky!" yelled Rogue. Sting said nothing and clenched his teeth in frustration.

The spirals turned into wings of black wind, that surrounded Sherria's arms like snakes. Despite being made out of wind, they gave the impression of being dense and robust, and that any contact would result in a catastrophe.

"This is the end!" yelled Sherria and threw her arms at the Slayers along with the spell.

GOD SLAYER'S SECRET ARTS: HEAVENLY GATHERING OF CLOUDS!

The spell made its way towards the Slayers and blew up on impact, the entire section of the arena trapped by the cyclone exploding with enough force to cover most of the arena in dust and debris.

"What power!" yelled Lola. "Has the match been decided?! Will the Twin Dragons survive?!"

The crowd yelped in shock and took cover. After a short while the tremors and dust settled down and allowed everyone to see the conclusion.

Sherria stared right ahead with her eyes wide open, as if she was suspended in time. She slowly shifted her eyes down to notice two fists submerged into her stomach one next to another, courtesy of both Sting and Rogue, who stood back to back in front of her. Although her vision was very blurry, Sherria could have sworn both of their faces were covered in weird marks, and as she fell down to the ground, just before her consciousness faded, she could have sworn her hand that gently slid down Sting's arms felt something hard and scaly.

The Twin Dragons stood over Sherria's defeated figure, both of them breathing hard. Their magic was slowly going down, with their hair falling back down and their elements being absorbed into their bodies. The ground behind them was destroyed into bits, shattered like thin ice with a rock, with a massive crater now in the ground where they previously stood.

The crowd roared in excitement as the gong rang, signalizing the end of the match, an emotion that was not shared by the Twin Dragons.

"If we were a split second late..." said quietly Sting, his eyes wide open.

"We would have been done in." said bitterly Rogue.

Sting grit his teeth and clenched his fist. It was shaking. "How can I expect to face him?!" he muttered to himself in frustration.

"You're still going on about that?" frowned Rogue. "Let it go."

Sting's shoulders relaxed. "As if you're one to talk. I see the disappointment on your face every time he's not in their roster." he said, which appeared to hit Rogue's spot, for he said nothing in return.

Sting turned his head and looked at Fairy Tail's stands.

"Hey, is it me or is that Saber guy staring at us?" asked Mira.

"I think so, yes." said Wendy and looked at Natsu. He was staring back at Sting, their eyes locked. He gently clenched his fist and recalled their first meeting, the words he said still rubbing him the wrong way.

Gray took a deep breath and straightened his posture. "They did well." he said about Lyon and Sherria, who were being transported out of the arena on stretchers.

"Don't get too focused on these guys, you've got that memory guy already." told him Mira and playfully punched his shoulder.

"I know, they won fair and square." he said and smiled at her. "I'm still giving them hell when I meet them, though."

She grinned. "You better."

"She was so close..." said frustrated Yuka.

"One might say Sabertooth's victory was one in a hundred." said Jura. Although he was sad his friends have lost, there was a hint of excitement in his voice, one he could not hide. "It all came down to fractions of a second."

Obaba sighed. "Let us watch this day end and then we shall all visit them in the infirmary." she said. "These two numbskulls need to be reminded just how proud they make this guild."

The rest of the guild smiled and expressed their approval loud and clear.

"You could say Saber made our post-Games job a little bit easier, eh?" asked sarcastically Svenar. No one replied to him, their solemn faces being his only reply.

"We're up after this fight." Ellia said with a dry voice, as she watched letters being rolled yet again.

Akatsuki Ren and Hibiki

vs.

Arya and Erigor

"Guess we won't have much time to warm up, then." she sighed and cracked her knuckles.

"A truly hard match for Blue Pegasus!" said Lola. "Although now free men, Arya and Erigor were once feared criminals!"

"I think you are a little too harsh on Arya, my dear Lola." said Yajima. "Between those two there should be no comparison."

"He said it." said Erigor with a smirk as he reached the arena with his partner. He then grimaced and grasped his head, the throbbing pain drilling into his mind so hard he could not help but shed a tear.

"Calm down, my friend." said Arya in his booming voice. "It shall become much easier once you cleanse your mind of all barriers. Our options are quite limited, for the the time being."

Now gasping from the pain, Erigor wiped his eyes and straightened his posture, the grip on his scythe so hard the hilt began to crack. He sent a glance filled with more hatred than he could possibly muster towards the crowd and grit his teeth in frustration.

"For now, that is our fate." said grimly Arya.

The two met their opponents, who weren't exactly thrilled to see them.

"Just our luck to run into these creeps." said Ren.

"There must be something very wrong with you if you think you're lucky, boy." said Erigor and readied his scythe.

The gong signalized the beginning of the match.

Without a split second of hesitation, Ren raised his hands and created two bubbles or air, each around the necks of his opponents. Raven Tail blinked in surprise, confused. They tried to break them by force, but their hands wnt right through the bubble, almost as if it was thin air. Soon their eyes widened and their breaths became louder and more aggressive.

"Sorry, but fighting you lot in a dragged out fight is a lost cause for us." said Ren and clenched his fists to make the bubbles smaller. "I'm stealing your air. You won't die, but you will lose consciousness."

Erigor raised his scythe and threw it, only to have it blocked by a table created with Hibiki's Archive. The weapon fell to the ground and now both of the Raven Tail men were on their knees, their faces purple.

"What a cunning yet deadly strategy!" exclaimed Lola. "Blue Pegasus' Ren is giving it all he has from the very beginning!"

"Well, the rules allow this. Brutal as it may be, it is a very effective strategy to go for." said concerned Yajima.

Erigor, now on his last breath, managed to crack a smirk. He raised his fingers and launched a small blade of wind directly at his own face, with Arya doing the same next to him. The blades cut through the bubbles and dispelled them, allowing both mages to take a deep breath of air.

"What?!" gasped Ren and raised his hands to repeat the spell, only to be blasted by the combined wind of his opponents. He was almost blown away, but Hibiki's magic kept him in place, as they surrounded themselves in a cage made out of data.

"I'm not sure if you know, but wind is still air." said Erigor and massaged his face, its color returning with each taken breath. "We may not be able to breathe in your little trick, but we can still break it with ease."

Ren smirked nervously. "If that's so, then why did it take you so long to do it? You almost passed out there!"

Erigor grinned from ear to ear. "Because it'd be more fun to watch you fall into despair after being a hair away from victory." he said.

Ren took a step back in his cage. Arya sighed and wiped his blindfold off. "I was awaiting your signal, but to await it for such trivial reason..."

"No one asked you to wait for me." replied Erigor. "You could have done it from the beginning and beat them yourself."

"It appears fate has granted me another lesson today."

Ren grit his teeth and in an act of desperation trapped both men in giant bubbles of air. Before he could do anything else, however, they broke out of them and have each cast a powerful torrent of wind. The two merged together and blasted through Blue Pegasus' barrier like thin glass, sweeping Ren and Hibiki off their feet and smashing them into the boundaries of the arena. With their consciousness being snapped upon the moment of impact the referee crossed his hands and signalized the end of the match.

"Just like that!" said Lola alongside the explosion of cheers from the crowd. "Raven Tail B has defeated Blue Pegasus!"

Pegasus watched solemnly as their friends were being taken out on stretchers. The other guilds were not particularly thrilled either - with their performances up until now it was quite easy to forget just how formidable of an opponent Raven Tail was, regardless of team.

"We're up." said Emilia and looked at the screen with anticipation, and so did her guild.

"It's time." said Laxus and glanced at the screen together with his guild. Everyone was tense.

Ivan smiled, completely free of stress. His mind was focused on the next couple of days. The outcome of today's match was irrelevant.

Makarov watched his son from afar, his grip on the pummel of his wheelchair tight. The note he'd received earlier was being squashed under the wight of his grip, the writing on the note smudging into unrecognizable mess.

"There it is, ladies and gentlemen." Lola said to the anticipating crowd as the letters rolled on the screen. "The final match-up of the day, between two sister guilds with tension as thick as it gets!"

After what felt like eternity for the two partaking guilds the letters calmed down and revealed the final match of the fourth day.

Erza Scarlet and Mirajane Strauss

vs.

Emilia and Svenar

The crowd erupted upon the reveal, the performances put by the women still in their memory.

"Listen to these cheers!" said excited Lola. "This truly is the best way to finish the regular part of Grand Magic Games!"

"Each of these mages has put on an outstanding performance during these past 4 days." nodded Yajima.

"Well, almost each of them." said Ellia and nudged Svenar with her elbow, which he brushed aside. He was not in mood for jokes, his mind focused solely on the match. With a sinister grin on his face he jumped out of the balcony.

"Good luck." said Leord.

Emilia nodded and followed her friend, however unlike him she took the stairs.

"Looks like someone's raring to go!" said Mira upon seeing someone jump down into the arena and did the exact same. Erza sighed, but retained her composure and looked at her team with a smile on her face. "I'm off."

"Good luck!" screeched Wendy.

"Give them hell." smirked Gray.

Natsu grinned from ear to ear and gently punched her chest with his fist. "Go get them."

The knight smiled and punched him back, before turning around and jumping down as well, much to Gray's amusement.

"That's my Sis!" roared Elfman, much to everyone's annoyance.

"Yeah, they know. She was down there not even an hour ago." said Cana while massaging her ears.

"I'm getting excited. I've never seen Erza and Mira fight together!" Lucy said and sank into her seat in anticipation.

"I don't think any of us have, to be honest." said Laxus.

Ivan watched his subordinates in silence with anticipation. Depending on this match's outcome his goal would be either made easier, or harder to achieve. The stress of putting trust in these people he knew despised him made it all the more taxing on his already brittle health.

Both guilds were slowly making their way to the center of the arena, each to their own thoughts. The tension was so thick one could hang an axe in the air. Both teams met face to face, none of them listening to the referee who stood in the middle.

"We finally meet." said Emilia.

"Yes." replied Erza. "It's been a while since we've crossed swords."

"Physically, yes."

Svenar scoffed and stared at Mirajane, who watched him with composure.

"I guess it doesn't matter how much shit we put on you, you're always people's favorite pet." he snarled at her.

Mira tilted her head to the side. "You jealous?"

"Why would I be?"

"Seeing how you're not even Ivan's favorite pet I figured it must be upsetting for you to see others being praised."

Kabo was forced to stop explaining the rules in order to stop Svenar, who charged at Mira, with his own body. Erza put her hand on her blade and Emilia threw herself at her friend to pull him back, as the commotion caused a stir in the arena.

"It appears Svenar is unable to wait for the gong." Yajima tried to release some tension with humor.

Svenar's eyes were glued to Mira's. They were full of hatred, so much, that it disturbed the Demon.

"Control yourself." Emilia snarled into his ear and pulled him back, much to the referee's relief. The man shook her off of him and made no further attempts to start the match early.

"Typical of Demon Mirajane. No matter what she does, she's the center of everyone's attention." he said spitefully.

"I don't even know who you are." she replied truthfully, her voice more calm than one could expect.

"I know you." he said. "That's enough."

As Kabo raised his hand to signalize the start of the match all four mages prepared to attack. As soon as the gong rang all four dashed forward and clashed instantly, Erza and Emilia's blades crossing and Mirajane and Svenar's fists colliding. Kabo was blown back by the shockwave caused by the clashes, his hat falling off in the process.

Svenar threw another punch with his left hand, which Mira parried with her right hand, canceling it out. The two were pushed back from one another.

Erza tilted her blade and tried to slide it up Emilia's, however the girl was quick enough to raise her blade higher and block the strike aimed at her face. Her blade glowed and turned into a heavy greatsword with a gigantic crossguard. She pushed the sword down and caught Erza's blade with the crossguard, which knocked the knight off balance. Emilia then changed her weapon once again and tried to smash Erza with a club, but she jumped back just in time to avoid it. Nemesis turned back into a longsword, which Emilia raised in the air and placed by her right shoulder, ready to strike again.

Meanwhile Svenar charged at Mirajane and tried to kick her in the head, which she blocked. She grabbed his leg and spun around before throwing him, from which he recovered with a flip. He caught Mira's punch with his right hand and gripped her fist with a devilish grin on his face. Mirajane grimaced in pain from the heat that began to scorch her hand and unleashed her magic along with her Satan Soul. She snapped her hand out of Svenar's grip and kicked him in the stomach so hard he spat out blood onto her leg. He was blown back and crashed into the boundaries, before being buried by debris.

Erza ducked under Emilia's blade but was pushed back by a kick, which she blocked with her own sword. The kick made her slide back and before she could even retaliate she had to block an overhead from Emilia that was powerful enough to sink her feet into the ground a little.

"I suggest you change into a more suitable armor." Emilia said calmly as she pushed her blade down. "One of the drawbacks of my magic is lack of control over my own strength. I'd hate to cripple you before I could beat you at your absolute best."

Albeit strained, Erza smirked. "No matter if friend or foe, I will always respect someone capable of backing their words up." she said and soon after her figure began to glow.

Emilia's eyes grew wide behind her glasses, as her arms were completely overpowered and blasted high into the air along with her weapon. She had only but a split second to jump back and avoid being smashed into the ground by Erza's Purgatory Club, which broke the ground like thin ice upon impact. Emilia managed to drag her arms down but not in time to block a kick to her ribs, as Erza, clad in Flight Armor, pushed herself off the hilt of the stuck in the ground club and smashed her with all her might, effectively forcing her to slide back on the balls of her feet.

Erza began to zap from one spot to another with speed so great her figure became a blur. Throughout all this showcase of speed Emilia's eyes clearly followed the knight's movement and her body reacted accordingly to each position and angle she'd take. Their blades crossed again and the two began to exchange strikes, with Erza being pushed back during this exchange.

Svenar climbed out of debris and spat aside. He took a couple deep breaths to asses his damage: his ribs weren't broken. With a sigh of relief he began to channel his magic power.

"Last time I was robbed of my chance to finish you off." he said, as his body began to glow. "I won't let it happen again. I see you've been kissed by fire once already," he pointed at Mira's deformed right hand "so I will finish what was started!"

Mira put her guard up. "The person who burned my hand ended up becoming my friend. Is that what you want, be acknowledged by me?"

With a deafening roar Svenar charged at Mira and missed her with a flaming kick by just a hair. She jumped back to make some distance but was blasted by more flames instead. Although they hurt, they were not strong enough to cause any major harm and soon she was able to fight back by punching him straight in the face. Svenar moaned and staggered back, but recollected himself rather quickly and tried to burn half of the arena at once, which caused Erza and Emilia to jump out of the way to avoid being burned. Mirajane, who was caught in the flames, flew out of them with the help of her wings, covered in light burn marks but relatively unharmed.

Emilia sighed and put the fire on her right sleeve out. "Typical..."

She had to stop in order to block Erza's attack. The redhead was now dosing Black Wing Armor in order to match Mirajane's flight.

"Letting your guard down will cost you." she said.

"Thanks to my magic it is impossible for me to lower my guard." replied Emilia. "Your heartbeat alone makes it impossible for you to ambush me."

Erza slid her blade a bit to the side to get a better angle, but Emilia skillfully maneuvered her blade to counter that. "Sounds like a very unfortunate ability." Erza said with concern.

"Yes, it is quite difficult to fall asleep in a city." Emilia replied with a gentle smile.

Erza blinked. "So, what happens now?"

"We fight until either of our teams is annihilated, like everyone before us."

"You know very well what I meant."

"I do. I simply ruled out the part where I put a little more killing intent into my blows than other participants."

Erza frowned. Her face was lit up by flames being thrown around by Svenar, who attempted to knock Mira out of the sky. "Does this mean you've chosen violence?"

"Not necessarily. I simply have the needs to strike you, and I shall use my chances while I can." deadpanned Emilia.

Erza sighed through her nose. "I suppose everything that could have been said has been said already. Not many alternatives left."

"My thoughts exactly."

Svenar roared and unleashed a hellstorm of flames at Mira, who dispelled them with a point-blank explosion of dark magic. "You trying to burn the whole arena down?" she taunted him.

Svenar took a deep breath to calm down. "Clown while you can." he said. "You don't have much time left."

Mira frowned. "You know, usually I take challenges on without thinking too much. Some say it's my biggest weakness, and I agree, it's a tough habit to lose. But with you...I just don't feel it. I feel like I should know why you hate me so much before clobbering you in the face. It's a really weird feeling." she said. "What do you say, hothead? Wanna tell me why you've got such a hateboner for me?"

"It doesn't matter." growled Svenar.

"It kinda does." Mira growled back. "Because your guild was right about one thing: we do have a lot of dirt under our nails. For all I know you could be a resident of Blackhill, a village we've utterly destroyed, or someone from Magnolia like that midget from your guild who hates Lucy. I just feel I should have the right to know the reason behind your hatred."

Svenar's body began to blow even more than before, his magic rising along with the temperature in the arena. "I'll give you a hint."

His body began to change. His arms began to expand, both in length and horizontally. His head changed shape and became longer, with his neck thinning. He appeared to have grown in height by at least two feet, and his legs changed drastically, especially the feet that have now turned his toes into claws, with an additional claw growing in place of the heel. The more Mira watched him change the more sense it made to her, and as the light faded out her suspicions became clear.

TAKE OVER: PHOENIX SOUL

Svenar became utterly unrecognizable, now in the shape of a giant humanoid phoenix. His feathers appeared to be made out of living flames as he burned intensely, with fire pulsating over his whole body like a separate entity with colors of heat varying from the brightest of white, through colors such as gold, blue, and orange, up to the darkest of crimson. The golden tint, however, was the most distinguishable, especially on the tips of his wings and head. Although her mind was full of dread and questions, she could not help but think of the form as utterly beautiful, at least up until her eyes met his. They did not resemble that of a human being in the slightest, now resembling that of a vulture, with their color reaching the coldest shades of blue, and just looking into them replaced the sense of beauty in Mira's heart into pure fear.

"What a spectacular transformation!" gasped Lola.

"Now that is something you don't see every day." said curious Rufus and touched his temple to memorize the sight.

"I knew there was something special about this young man, but to witness something this rare..." said amazed Jura as he stroked his beard.

The crowd appeared to be intrigued by the form, although some were more terrified. The reception was mixed and utter silence fell in the arena.

Elfman and Lisanna have both paled.

"Are those flames colored for fun, or is that supposed to mean something?" asked Cana.

"It reminds me of Totomaru." blinked Juvia.

"Mr. Yajima, is there anything you could tell us about this form of magic?" asked Lola.

Yajima exhaled with dread. "Never would I have guessed I'd get to witness a phoenix in my lifetime." he said. "These beautiful creatures are even more ancient than dragons, in fact, no one has seen one in over 300 years. Their flames are rumored to be as lethal as those of a dragon."

"That true?" Gajeel asked the Strauss siblings.

"Yeah." Elfman said with a dry throat. Cold sweat ran down his face. "They are a legend amongst Take Over mages."

"They say their flames look the way they look to show the complete mastery over fire." added Lisanna. "Each color represents a different level of heat."

Laxus scoffed. "Just her luck. First she fights a dragon, now a phoenix."

"Pretty..." said quietly Wendy.

"Do those colors mean what I think they do?" Gray asked Natsu.

"Yeah." he replied nervously.

"How screwed are they?" he asked, now also anxious.

"The hottest I can get my flames is white. In exchange I have to sacrifice my area of effect and pour a lot more magic into the spell, and even that is not the hottest fire can get." replied the Dragon Slayer and looked at Gray. "Let that be your answer."

Gray chose to say nothing in return.

"If what Yajima said is true..." said Mirajane "Then how come you have this form? Ivan stuffed you with lacrimas?"

"No, this power is my own." replied calmly Svenar. "I was born with it, it's been passed down my family for generations."

Mira snorted. "Ain't that a bitch?" she asked sarcastically.

Erza and Emilia clashed blades at the other end of the arena.

"It's about to get hot." said Emilia. "I suggest you take necessary precautions."

"Thank you for the warning." replied Erza with a small smirk. "But I've spent the past three months drowned by heat, I can take it."

Emilia smiled. "I've been thinking that to myself every day for the past nine years."

Svenar bent his knees and, with a massive explosion of flames that scattered across the arena blasted into the air, his claws leaving scorched marks on the ground. He spread his wings and flapped them, which only added to his great speed. Before she could even finish blinking Mirajane was staring right into his terrifying eyes that were but a foot away from hers. She raised her left arm to block an incoming kick, but the sheer power of the strike had sent her flying through the air. She yelled out in agony, the spot she used to block the kick with already red and blistered from contact.

This easily?! she thought to herself in panic. It's almost as bad as when I was fighting Natsu, and even that took several hits! He did that with just one touch?!

She flipped in the air and recollect her posture and was forced to dive down to avoid a head-on charge from Svenar. The man flew right behind her and the two engaged in a game of cat and mouse, as they zapped back and forth in the arena, with Svenar leaving a trail of colorful flames behind him with each move.

"That's right, run away you witch!" he yelled after her. "Know what it feels like, to not have even a second of peace with someone constantly stepping on your heels!"

"What the hell are you even talking about?!" she yelled back in response and dodged a ball of flames that hit the ground instead. The two zapped right by Erza and Emilia.

What should I do...wondered Mirajane in panic. I'm not even sure if I could sustain using that, or if it'd even work. For now I just have to pump as much magic into my limbs as I can!

They began to fly by each other, trying to land a hit but unable to do so. Svenar began to cast small projectiles made out of fire at Mira, who swiftly dodged them all in the air. After a moment the two met and collided their fists, before engaging in a high-paced exchange of blows that, after a couple seconds, Mirajane won with a spinning back kick to Svenar's face. He flew back, with Mira chasing him, ready to attack him some more. Instead she was forced to desperately throw away her entire body weight and momentum to lean back and avoid being hit by a massive torrent of colorful flames. This position compromised her movement and allowed Svenar to appear above her and strike her in the stomach with a joint hammer fist threw from way above his head. Mira was bent like a pocket knife and almost crashed into the ground, before flipping in the air and landing safely on her feet. She immediately jumped back just in time to dodge Svenar who smashed into the ground. He quickly launched another torrent of flames, but Mira was ready for it. With a calculated dose of magic power she used her dark magic to blow it up and effectively dispell it, free of damage. She did not, however, expect him to literally fly alongside his own flames and was struck in the jaw with a powerful punch as soon as her spell vanished. She fell to the ground and slid on her back, before flipping back to her feet, her face burned, and taking off the ground, with Svenar already chasing her with countless projectiles of flame.

Erza, now clad in Flame Empress Armor, pushed Emilia and her giant greatsword back and followed with a kick to her stomach. The girl stepped to her right to dodge it and catch Erza's exposed back with a short-spear, but her thrust was blocked by a shield Erza had Requipped a split second prior. The women jumped back to make some distance and recollected their stances, and in Emilia's case weapons from short-spear to a katana, before dashing forward.

Their blades and figures soon became a blur from the rapid exchanges and strikes, each clash of steel causing sparks and some loose hair that was cut off to fly around like some sort of spectacle effects, especially from Erza's side, whose blade kept splashing fire that landed everywhere but on its actual target. Emilia always made sure to obtain a position that allowed her to utilize her strength to its maximum while dodging the fire at the same time, which ended up in her having to take some ridiculous and unorthodox stances that made it all the more difficult to hit her. It was a practice Erza had to deal with thanks to her training with Natsu since he joined the guild. It did not, however, make it any less frustrating over time.

Once their blades collided for more than just a split second, Emilia took a breath. "It appears your friend is struggling." she pointed out. Her voice was barely audible from the combined sounds of the aerial battle causing havoc in the sky, the commentators trying to make anything out of it, as well as the crowd's excited reactions to the battle.

"So it seems." replied the knight in a strained voice. Despite using an actual armor as opposed to her guild's uniform, Emilia was still physically superior thanks to her magic.

"I should hurry up, then." said Emilia and broke contact, before turning her short-spear into a glaive. "I would hate it to turn into a one-sided battle."

"It appears you have forgotten the goal of today's matches." said Erza and gripped her blade tighter as her eyes wandered behind Emilia. "We fight in teams for a reason!"

Before she could react Emilia was smashed in her back by smoking and burned Mirajane, who quite literally ran into her. Erza, on the other hand, dashed forward to pass the falling women by and blocked Svenar with her blade, their clash splashing flames all over the place along with a small shockwave. Erza was pushed back, but held her ground and stood her ground.

"Out of my way!" roared Svenar and raised his winged arm to strike her, only to be pushed off-balance and kicked in the face. He fell to the ground just when Erza landed back on her feet.

"How can you not be burned?!" he questioned in mild shock.

"This armor grants me 75% resistance to fire." explained the knight and pointed her blade at his chest. "The advantage you have over Mirajane no longer exists while you're facing me."

Svenar's eyes narrowed. He raised his right arm and lit his palm ablaze, the bright blue color being cast onto his face with malicious intent. "We'll see about that."

Mira leaned back to avoid being cut in half and was kicked aside as a follow-up. Once recollected she spun in the air and landed a highkick right on Emilia's raised arm, which pushed her off-balance. Mira used this chance to spin once more and landed a roundhouse flush on the girl's chin. Emilia's head was blown aside and she had to stick her glaive into the ground to prevent falling. She slowly turned her head around to reveal her bruised chin, with some blood leaking down from a cut on her lip. She calmly wiped it off with her sleeve.

"Smart move from Fairy Tail." said Yajima. "The grudge between these two guilds must have made it easy to forget this is a 2-on-2 match. By switching opponents they increased their chances at victory."

"It matters not!" roared Albert. "Our guild shall be victorious!"

"Svenar must be pissed." chuckled Ellia.

"It may just cause his downfall." said quietly Leord.

The other two looked at him. "What do you mean?" asked Albert.

"His form eats a lot of magic. He has the most magic power out of all of us, even me, but the form is still very taxing." he explained tiredly. "He's been throwing nothing but big flames since the match started. He's bound to slow down soon."

Ellia whistled. "Aren't you observant?"

Leord shrugged. "It's crucial to know your allies. The least I could do is watch and listen."

Erza grunted and felt her knees bend under the weight of Svenar's claws. He continued to push as hard as he could, his flames slowly starting to heat up her sword, its color chancing from red to a gentle tint of yellow.

Even with my resistance his flames are formidable. And to think Mira fought him head on for as long as she did while basically barehanded... the redhead thought to herself in amazement, both for her friend and her enemy.

"I said out of my way, Titania!" growled Svenar and pushed even harder. "You're not the one I want!"

"Why are you so obsessed with her?" asked Erza.

This appeared to be a mistake. With a loud shriek Svenar raised his left wing and swooped Erza off the ground with a powerful wave of colorful flames that was big enough to tower over a giant. She was blown aside like a ragdoll and crashed into the boundaries of the arena, her whole body in so much pain she couldn't even muster a breath. While her armor absorbed vast majority of the heat, the impact of the spell was still strong enough to shake every organ in her body to its absolute core.

While he achieved what he wanted, Svenar appeared to not acknowledge his now cleared way to Mirajane and instead flew after Erza. He conjured a massive ball of flames in front of his chest and was ready to throw it. Erza looked past him and in a last attempt at stopping him from landing the spell threw her sword into his face. He dodged the weapon with ease by shifting his head to his right and was just about to throw the fireball, only to be interrupted by a sword piercing straight through his chest. He coughed out blood that covered his shocked "What?!" and instead turned it into an ear hurting gargle.

What appeared to be a pathetic attempt at self-defense by Erza was actually a plan to arm Mirajane with a sword capable of hurting Svenar's form without risking damaging oneself. The Demon was flying right behind The Phoenix and caught the blade in the air, before stabbing him with it.

As soon as Mira pierced Svenar she felt something small and hot hitting her right shoulder with enough force to make her recoil in the air and loosen the grip on the blade. It was Emilia, wielding a rifle, who shot Mira a split second after she stabbed Svenar. Cursing her incompetent timing she watched her friend fall to the ground, with his spell being broken as he was falling. Mira, lucky the bullet went through, grimaced in pain and clutched her wounded shoulder, before flying away to avoid more rounds.

"They got him." smirked Gray.

"You think?" asked Natsu and looked to his right. Raven Tail looked as stoic as ever, despite their comrade being skewered.

Ivan smirked under his beard. "Naive, Fairy Tail. You're still too naive." he cooed.

Erza crawled out of the rubble and looked at Svenar's figure sprawled on the ground. She frowned sadly and pulled her blade out of him, before shaking his blood off. She turned to Emilia, who aimed her rifle directly at Erza's face.

"It's just you now." said the knight and readied her blade.

"You just don't get it."

Erza's eyes lost all of their light as Svenar's foot connected with her neck from behind. She crashed back into her spot, only now just barely holding onto her consciousness.

"Erza!" Lucy gasped and leaned in her seat in terror. Everyone in the guild grimaced at the strike, scared for Erza.

"Damn it!" Gray punched the railing. "He got her clean on the neck!"

Wendy covered her mouth. Natsu, on the other hand, although worried, remained calm. He narrowed his eyes and tried to remember what he'd just witness, and whether his eyes were playing a trick on him or not.

"Damn it!" cursed Mira and took a spike towards her almost defeated friend.

Svenar spat aside and patted his wounded chest, his wound already closing on its own. He then turned to Mira and launched himself off the ground to meet her, as they clashed in the air in a massive explosion of fire and magic power.

"Out of my way!" roared Mirajane, both from worry and the pain of her skin burning; she was just about to reach her limit.

The two began to play a game of cat and mouse yet again, only this time a much slower one, for both of them were slowly but surely running out of either magic, or health. With each clash Mirajane's patience was thinning, and soon she'd reached her boiling point.

"Will you fuck off already?!" she yelled out furiously. She was just about done with his persistence. "What do you want from me?!"

"I want you to get it!" he screamed. "Someone like you will never understand what true loneliness is! What it feels like to be hunted no matter where you go! People like you, spoon fed and praised for anything, no matter the consequences of your actions!" Svenar yelled at Mirajane with despair. He sounded like he was throwing everything he had at the Demon, both with magic and words.

"I wouldn't?!" she roared back, as they flew past each other and clashed their fists in midair, before flying in opposite directions. "What do you even know about me?!"

"I know that while me and my family were being lynched for being different, people like you, who had it just bad as me, cursed by this power, were idolized, looked up to!" he said, small tears forming in his eyes upon remembering the images he tried to forget. "I've seen you before, in person! The way you belittled others, the way you looked down on anyone who dared to even look at you! Someone with this little regard to others was somehow idolized, while my parents were beaten to death by the very same people they cured out of disease! They were good people, kind people, and they were killed, because I accidentally used my magic and burned a shed down! How the hell is that fair?!"

They collided once more, this time with their forearms. With their eyes so close to one another they could see each emotion, each thought racing through their minds.

"I don't hate you for who you are, as self-possessed as you are." he added. "I hate you for having everything I've always wanted, but was never allowed to. You asked me before if I was jealous. Yes, Mirajane. Yes I am."

"Did they ever try to burn your house down during the night?" she asked him, her tone surprisingly calm.

Svenar blinked, taken back. "What?"

"Did they try to burn your house down when you were sleeping. Or put poison in your water, or called the Council on you in hopes you and your family would get dragged away for an imaginary crime?" she asked agaim.

Svenar remained quiet. Taking it as an answer, Mira smirked sadly. "There's more to someone's story than what's told by others. The others see only what they were allowed to see, first rule of popularity. I suggest you take this advice, because it looks like you're about to become pretty fucking popular."

With his rage dialed down a notch, Svenar could finally hear the excitement of the crowd, who was beyond taken away by the spectacular aerial battle, something they have yet to see during this year's Games. The commentators have taken the experience to another level, as Lola was now yelling into the microphone to relay his excitement. Mira used this chance to break contact and flew away to catch a breath.

Emilia, who's been watching and listening to the exchange between the two has finally approached the downed knight and looked down at her. She aimed her rifle at Erza and pulled the trigger, only to see the bullet being deflected and fly right next to her right cheek. Erza jumped out of the rubble and slashed at Emilia, who raised her weapon to block the strike.

"I saw you shifting your head to catch most of the kick on your jaw." said calmly the girl. "If he'd kicked your neck you'd be left paralyzed. Nice reflexes."

"I will gladly accept the compliment." smiled Erza. The two broke contact and engaged in another barrage of slashes and strikes, while the air above them burned like the sun.

Mira flew out of a cloud of flames with a grimace so extreme her whole face was cramping. She couldn't take it any longer, and had to do something to put an end to this.

"Emilia!" Svenar roared on top of his lungs. He was still confused, but as committed to victory as ever.

The woman kicked Erza away and bent her knees, before jumping high in the air. She was caught by Svenar, who allowed her to use his back as a platform for her to sit on. He'd canceled his flames out in that exact spot to avoid damaging his friend. He then flew up higher into the air and spread his wings, which began to glow in a new color that was a mix of white and gold.

Gravity in the arena changed, as he unleashed his magic power upon Erza and Mira, who regrouped on the ground. The heat was becoming unbearable.

"I don't like where this is going." admitted the knight and changed her boots into those of the Flight Armor. Mira, on the other hand, conjured balls of dark magic in each hand, ready to either block or attack whatever was coming.

"I'm going to fly into them." she declared.

"Don't." told her Erza and took a close look at their opponents. "She can shoot at us from above with her weapon, if either of us tries to stop this she will fire. We're not fast enough to dodge them while midair, not with her wielding that weapon."

"Give me a sword, then." snapped Mira. "You blocked one, right?!"

"I was lucky. She took her time and I knew where she was aiming."

Mira clicked her tongue. "All right, there's another way."

"Raven Tail's Svenar appears to be preparing a spell meant to finish the match! The heat is certainly something! Will Fairy Tail prevail?!" wondered Lola.

Svenar spread his wings and started to conjure blue flames under each of them. With the preparations ready and his flames as hot as he could possibly get them, he unleashed a massive condensed pillar of fire upon Fairy Tail.

HELLSTORM!

The pillar made its way downward, its heat so unbearable people started to collapse. Mages from each guild stood tall and guarded the civilians from both heat and magic, some with their own spells, others with their bare bodies. All guilds moved as if on instinct, not one of them remaining in their stands.

"Mira, Erza!" Lisanna called out after them in despair, uncertain what has become of her sister and friend. Elfman held her hand, possibly a bit too tightly than he ought to, but she didn't mind. The dull pain helped kept her mind in place.

SOUL EXTINCTOR!

All of a sudden Svenar's flames have been cut through by a black beam of dark magic, that has narrowly dodged his head. He was forced to fly back a couple meters, as the black pillar extended into the sky and divided his pillar of flames into two.

"What?!" gasped The Phoenix and looked down at smirking, but tired Mirajane, untouched by his hellish flames. This filled the man with both anger and fear, for the attack ate majority of his remaining magic power.

Emilia clicked her tongue and aimed her rifle at Mirajane, ready to end this once and for all. Before she could do that, however, something emerged from the flames. It turned out to be Erza, clad in the full set of her Flame Empress Armor, which was now bright yellow from the heat of Svenar's flames. Deducing that she must have used the flames as a way of concealment, Emilia turned her weapon towards the already Requipping knight, who was now dosing red pants, bandages and Benizakura, and slashed at Emilia with her blade. The girl had no other option but to block it and was pushed off of Svenar's back, with both women falling towards the ground in a locked stalemate, with Emilia being at the bottom of it. Erza gripped her blade and pushed Emilia's weapon aside, before kicking her flush in the stomach and causing her to crash into the arena.

"Damn it!" growled Svenar and watched Mirajane take off the ground to charge him. Her body, however, began to glow, which was a complete surprise to him.

As I am, I can only sustain this form for a very short moment. she said in her mind, as her wings and ears became longer, with both of them chancing color to white and blue respectively. If I am to finish this fight, I'd rather do it when we can both freely fight in your flames, you overgrown chicken!

"She's using it!" roared Elfman and threw his arms in the air. "Sis is using the thing! The fight is over!"

"Shut yer trap." grumbled Gajeel and swirled his finger in his ear. "What 'thing'?"

"Mira spent a lot of time training us during those past three months, but she was also hunting something down." said Lisanna with a smile. "Something fast, strong and ferocious. And that something is..."

Mira emerged from the light, her form looking completely different than usual. Her hair, usually standing up as if electrocuted, was now down and more wavy. Her wings, previously boney and connected with skin were now made out of white, thick feathers, that looked both soft and sharp at the same time. Her ears have become longer and scaly, and her hands bigger, with longer claws and wider forearms.

SATAN SOUL: HALPHAS

"What the hell is that?!" asked Svenar in panic and blasted his flames at Mirajane.

The Demon extended her hand and stopped them, before deflecting them aside with little to no effort. She then clenched her fist and lit it ablaze herself, before punching Svenar square on his jaw.

"What?!" he moaned in pain and flew away to create some distance and try to make some sense out of this.

"Halphas is one of the most powerful demons, the original ones." said calmly Mira. "It is known for its enormous magic power, ferocity, and the ability to control elemental magic." she explained. "The one I happened to hunt down used fire."

Svenar grit his teeth. "You think flames will work on me?!" he asked and unleashed his own fire.

"I have no idea." she admitted truthfully and unleashed hers.

Back on the ground Emilia slashed at Erza, who blocked the attack with ease. She then extended her left pivot, put her blade by her right shoulder and unleashed a barrage of thrusts at Emilia, who dodged all of them with quick rapid dodges and head movement.

"You're quite fast." praised her Erza and slashed horizontally, only to miss.

"Thank you." said the girl while leaning back and immediately stepped in before Erza could recollect her posture. She slashed her right shoulder with a katana and turned her weapon around to strike again, this time with a giant mace. Erza jumped out of its way, only to be shot in the leg by Emilia's rifle while still mid-air. The knight grit her teeth in pain and Requipped into Heaven's Wheel Armor and used her swords as shields to deflect the incoming bullets.

"Tricks will not save you." said Emilia and charged forward with a longsword by her side.

Erza raised her main blade and ordered her blades to form a circle behind her back, before unleashing them all upon the enemy.

BLUMMENBLATT!

Emilia dodged, jumped over and deflected all of the incoming blades, but not without paying the price of slowing down. Erza used this chance to change armors once again and zapped Emilia with a powerful thunderbolt that shook the girl to the very core. Pushing through pain, Emilia slashed at Erza, who was no longer there. Another thunderbolt brought Emilia to her knees, with Erza standing right behind her in Flight Armor and Lightning Empress Armor's spear in hand.

"How irritating!" growled Emilia and turned her weapon into a spear as well, before trying to cut Erza's legs with a wide swing. The knight jumped over it and threw an overhead with yet another blade, this time from her Sea Empress Armor.

"I must commend you for moving this well with just one leg." said Emilia.

"I can't remember the last time I fought without a handicap." replied the knight. "You get used to it."

"I see. Being injured is quite new to me. Normally my way of engagement is rather different from what I've showcased today."

"Does that mean you're not fighting at your best?" asked Erza.

"I am not holding back, if that is what you're asking. I am not, however, fighting how I'd like to, either." replied Emilia.

Erza frowned. "It makes no difference. I still have to defeat you!" she said and tried to slash Emilia again.

Her plan was interrupted by Svenar kicking her with both his legs, with Mira chasing after him. The two flew over the girls and circled aroumd, before spicking down again. Erza, now back on her feet, Requipped and launched another Blumenblatt, this time at Svenar. The Phoenix managed to dodge most of the incoming swords, with the exception of one that nicked his face and drew blood. Erza clicked her tongue and prepared to dodge more flames, but was held in place by Emilia, who tried to slash her chest open with a greatsword. The two were about to be consumed by the flames, but Emilia kicked Erza's bullet wound and jumped back, leaving the knight to be consumed alone. She cried out in agony, but stood her ground and remained on her feet.

Emilia, on the other hand, had her face smashed into the ground by a kick to the back of the head, courtesy of Mirajane. She quickly stood back up and readjusted her broken glasses, blood leaking down her face from a cut near her right eye.

Mira tried to kick Svenar, but he dodged the attack and flew away. Despite that, the Demon had the widest of grins on her face. Don't think I don't see it, flamebrain! she thought and picked something up from the ground, before flying after him.

Emilia spat some dirt out and, before she could even react, felt her left breat opening from a cut made by Erza, who zapped through her in a weird combination of Flight Armor's boots, Purgatory Armor's breastplate and Heaven Wheel's Armor's sword. The two clashed their blades and got locked in a power struggle, both tired and injured.

Svenar noticed Mirajane flying after him and prepared to stand his ground. With his magic running low he knew he had one good shot left in him before collapsing. Unbeknownst to him, Mira was the same. He tried to repeat his Hellstorm attack once again, this time with just one wing, and unleashed his blue flames on Mirajane. She raised her left hand and conjured a magic circle that blocked the flames and redirected them aside. With Svenar's last card being blown away, she spiked towards him and pierced his right side with Erza's sword she picked up from the ground.

The Phoenix gasped and spat out blood, some of it landing on Mira's face. She looked him in the eyes and saw them smiling, the confidence in his abilities as strong as ever, the wound meaning nothing to him. She calmly watched his eyes, only to then see them stare back at her with a terrified gaze of confusion, as the wound did not close itself as he'd hoped for.

"W-what?" he choked out. "Why is my wound...what...what is this blade?!"

"The cut Erza gave you is still on your cheek." said The Demon as she watched the blood flow down his cheek as they spoke. "The swords she's throwing around are not special in any way, no enchantments, nothing. They are just pieces of iron made out to look fancy." Svenar's eyes grew wide. "That's right. Iron. Every other piece of armory she uses is made out of steel, but just these ones are made out of old, brittle, and cheap iron. The only thing that can cut through your regeneration."

"How did you know they were made out of iron?!" he gasped.

She smirked. "Because I was the one to suggest to her she would save up money by not throwing her precious steel toys around, if she only replaced them with a cheaper metal."

Svenar's eyes began to shift back to his human ones, along with his form. Mirajane left the blade inside of him and caught him in the air, before slowly flying back to the ground and placing him down right next to Erza and Emilia, their blades still crossed.

"Stand up, Svenar!" roared Albert. He sounded desperate. "Something like this will not keep you down! Get up and show them your might!"

"Get up, you stupid bird!" Ellia yelled next to him.

Emilia sadly looked at her defeated friend and closed her eyes. She pushed Erza away and jumped back, before taking up her position again. "It looks like I've got my work cut out for me." she said, her voice weirdly broken and choked up.

Mirajane turned back into her usual form and stood next to Erza, ready to attack. Before either side could make a move, however, the gong has been rang by the referee, who signalized the end of the match. With time running out and only Emilia left standing, the victory belonged to Fairy Tail.

The crowd exploded with cheers and screams, as they chanted each of the fighters' name, as well as their guilds. The commentators could be barely heard in these circumstances.

Fairy Tail blew up in joy, as they hugged each other. Lucy was trying to hug Cana, Levy, Carla and Lisanna all at once, while Elfman caused half of his guild to fall over in his celebration. Makarov danced in his chair and threw silly gestures at his son, who looked like someone placed a bag full of crap under his nose.

Emilia took a deep breath and turned Nemesis back to its usual form. Just as she sheathed it she heard something drop to the ground, which turned out to be Mirajane, face flat on the ground, and back in her human form. Erza sighed tiredly and Requipped back into her uniform, before picking Mira up with a tender smile.

"Well done." she praised her rival.

Emilia watched Svenar being taken away on a stretcher. She looked at his face and smiled gently. "If only you could hear these cheers." she said under her nose and accompanied him to the infirmary after being asked to by one of the doctors. Before she left, however, she gave Erza one more look, which the knight retaliated. A look of a new found respect for each other, as well as acknowledgement, that their feud has yet to be put away for good.

Both guilds left the arena with accompaniance of clapping and yelling, and the commentators closing the fourth day of Grand Magic Games, along with the scoreboard that showed these scores:

Sabertooth: 55 points

Raven Tail A: 54 points

Fairy Tail: 54 points

Lamia Scale: 41 points

Mermaid Heel: 35 points

Raven Tail B: 26 points

Blue Pegasus: 24 points

Quatro Cerberus: 11 points

End of Chapter 44. To be continued in Chapter 45: Day Five: Battle Royale.


Iron is the mythical weakness of a phoenix. Just how silver is lethal to vampires and werebeasts, those beautiful beasts could not regenerate wounds caused by iron. Why? No one knows, but it is a weakness I thought evened Svenar's form out. I may not have done a good enough job of portraying just how ferocious he is, but Mira was basically fighting for her life ever since he used his Soul. Expect to see more of his backstory in the next chapter.