Seven vs Bosco, the first fight of Day 3 of Ishgar's Strongest; Heartless and Daigo vs the mysterious Verona Partheon. As the three stepped into the arena, it didn't shift like it did yesterday. The RNG determined that they would be stuck with the regular battlefield, not that it bothered any of them that much. As Heartless stepped forward, the one who held the strongest reaction was not any of her guild mates, not even the temporarily revived King. It was Lucia. It was a silent reaction, but her sword was trembling in anger. It was rare for her to show any other type than snarky confidence. "….."

"What's up with her?" Blair motioned to Lucia, who looked like she was barely containing her anger.

"Oh? I rarely see her angry." Rajaron remarked. "It seems that one of the people down there has sparked the glint of rage within her."

"I'm fine." Lucia's face made it seem like she was telling the truth, but the ironclad grip on her sheathed weapon told a different story. "I just want to see 'Clarissa' win this bout."

"Come on, kick her ass!" Jack exclaimed.

"We're with you, Clarissa! Daigo!" Tia shouted alongside her brother.

"Hmph." Joker didn't say anything, always proving that despite being on their side, he had no intentions of being chummy with them. It was just something about him that they could never change no matter how hard they tried.

"Hah…" Heartless managed to crack a smile. Even though most emotions were nonexistent within her heart, she had gotten much better at responding towards emotion aimed at her. It was all thanks to the people sitting in those stands. "I will not disappoint you all. Daigo, are you prepared for combat?"

Daigo adjusted the tie of his suit, slicking back his black hair. His appearance was ever changing based on how Heartless 'summoned' him, yet his personality remained the same. "Ready as always, My Lady."

Verona placed her finger on her cheek, staring at the two people before her. The woman tilted her head to the side curiously. "Huh…you two are among the handful of mages that are different. I can't place my finger on it, but something about you two is…odd."

"Now then…the 15 minute timer begins now. Let the battle start!" Waltz threw his hand down, signifying the start of this battle.

"Daigo." Heartless said.

"As you wish." Daigo then sprinted forward on Heartless' command. They had no idea what Verona was capable of and it was his duty to find out! Verona didn't budge an inch, allowing Daigo to close the gap between them, His left arm was brought back, a sword manifesting into his hand. "Sword Beam!" Sliding to a halt, Daigo swung his sword horizonally, sending a wave of energy flying towads Verona to test her mettle.

"…" Verona didn't move. She didn't have to. As soon as the shockwave was within her vicinity, most of it simply dispersed, while the remaining edges of it slashed into the opposing wall, leaving a sharp fissure in it. "Huh."

"What's this? It looks like Daigo's attack had absolutely no effect on Verona!" Chapati remarked.

"Reflector magic?" Spade asked.

"No…" Tia shook her head. "The magic was redirected, it just vanished around her, but the wall was still damaged."

"You know, now that I think about it…" Yakuza sat up in his seat, staring at Verona. "We don't actually know what our new guild mate can do, huh?"

"She did say to be surprised when the time came…" Alex replied. After watching that first interaction, the red head was admittedly extremely curious as to what tricks Verona had under her sleeve.

"…" Heartless was silence, but her stance changed. It was only the first attack, but she needed to see more in order to reach a proper conclusion. "Keep attacking."

"Indeed!" Daigo responded without hesitation. "Let's see how you handle this!" Daigo then began to preform multiple attacks with his Sword Beam, slashing the air from various angles. Multiple beams flew towards Verona, but every single one had the same result as the prior ones; they dispersed when nearing her, yet the damage they caused the arena was still present. "What in the?"

"I don't think you'll be able to touch me like that." Verona said while raising a hand into the air. "But it's my turn now." She then swiped her hand in a diagonal motion, sending a crescent slash of water and fire towards Daigo that sliced through the ground.

"What the!?" Daigo's eyes widened at the unbelievable power coming his way. "Barrier!" A magical barrier formed around his body to take the incoming attack. It was capable of withstanding the attack for several seconds before shattering, damaging Daigo while throwing him back across the ground. "Gaaah!"

Heartless had seen enough and decided to make her move. She needed to test Verona's mettle a bit more and see what it was they were truly up against. The woman held three cards within her hands, fusing them together to form her Life-Sword attack. "Life Sword – Inferno!" This magical blade was imbued with flames. Heartless swung this blade vertically, and Verona moved her arm to block the hit. The flames dispersed, but the physical blade remained and cut into her arm. "…?"

"Ow…!" Verona pouted as the blade cut into her skin. "So that blade is real!" She then held her free hand forward, releasing a potent gust of wind. "Shredding Palm!" A sudden whirlwind overtook Heartless, slicing her clothing and skin, violently throwing her backwards. She then shook her injured arm, placing her hands on her hips. "I was right! You two are definitely different!"

Heartless flipped and landed on her feet, grimacing from the hit. "I see now. Not only does she have control of the elements, but she can also nullify magic that comes her way."

"So what is the plan?" Daigo questioned while adjusting his tie.

"She's strong…so I will need your support. If a physical object is imbued with magic, she can still stop the magic, but the object itself can still harm her. I believe my curse is the one thing that she cannot disperse, but we have to test that." Heartless came to this conclusion mere moments into the battle. "Now, let us begin! Taurus Fire, I summon thee!" Heartless threw a card down, calling forth the altered version of Taurus; Taurus Fire. The flaming bull let out a loud moo while staring down Verona.

"Mooo…!" Taurus said as flames blazed around its body. It was a copied version of Taurus, so…of course it had hearts in its eyes when gazing on Verona. The personality couldn't be altered no matter what. "What a nice body!"

"Eh?" Verona blinked.

"Forget that, just charge her." Heartless commanded.

"As you wish!" Taurus Fire then ran forward like the bull it was, charging forward with its horns first! It was a solo stampede, but this single bull had the power of three stampedes! That was made clear with each step forward shaking the earth.

Verona held both hands forward, her black and red hair waving in the wind. "I think you need to cool down!" A burst of water exploded from her hands, completely dousing Taurus Fire as it charged! It didn't stop the charge, but it did put out his flames. Once this was done, the woman then planted her feet onto the ground, gripping Taurus Fire's horns as it reached her! She slid back, narrowing her eyes as she dug her heels into the ground, coming to a standstill before…she completely tossed Taurus Fire onto its back. "Hah!" She then released a wave of her mysterious magic, forcing Taurus Fire to vanish.

"She overpowered Taurus!?" Lucy gasped. Taurus Fire was still Taurus, so to see his strength be trounced so easily…!

Daigo used this chance to appear to Verona's left, gripping a fan within his right hand. "You have quite a bit of strength, but let's see how you handle this! Windy Strike!" Swinging the fan forward, the ensuing gust of wind brought unparalleled destruction, uprooting the ground with such ferocity you'd think a tornado blew through the stadium. Tons of rubble had flown into the air and Verona was knocked sky high, but she used the rubble as footing.

"Now that one could've hurt!" The woman quipped before leaping from one piece of rubble to another. They were exploding under her feet so she had to leap into the air one after another, until she was high in the sky. "Huh, so what was the purpose of that?"

"This." Heartless responded, using her curse to create a gigantic heart on top of Verona. "Heart Stamp!"

"Muh-?!" Verona turned around, but she was slammed by the Heart Stamp. Just as Heartless predicted, she was unable to do anything about this curse power and was promptly crushed into the ground!

"And Clarissa lands a solid blow from up high! Is that enough to finish Verona?" Chapati shouted.

"Let's go Clarissa!" Tia shouted.

"Oh, that looked painful…" Lore crossed his arms.

"I think she's fine." Gaia said. "Despite her lackadaisical attitude, Verona is far stronger than she appears."

As the smoke cleared, Verona was seen standing, bruised due to the impact and height she fell from. Her neck rotated and she let out a slight chuckle. "That hurt…I haven't felt pain like that in a while. I was right about you. You really are something special…" Her lips then curled up into a malicious grin. I supposed that means I don't have to hold back any longer. I suppose it's a bit cliché to say this late in the game, but magic truly does not affect me. So I'm eager to see what you'll do." She then swiped her hand forward yet again, releasing numerous blasts of fire towards Heartless and Daigo.

"Allow me!" Daigo stepped forward, swinging the fan that was in his possession to quell the flames. The result was an explosion, and when the smoke cleared, Verona was gone; she was not in sight, above or below them. "What? Where did she…!?"

Verona then appeared from thin air, her body rematerializing between Heartless and Daigo within mere seconds. She already had her arms extended, pointing at the two individuals before her. "Flame Burst!" Fire exploded from her palms, burning and blowing Daigo and Heartless away.

"Tch!" Heartless sucked her teeth, tumbling along the ground before she came to a halt in a crouched position. "Daigo…!" She went to move, but suddenly the earth had a strong grip on her legs! It felt as though the planet itself was holding onto her and refused to let go. The pink haired woman struggled but even she couldn't break free! "What in the…!?"

"You stay right there!" Verona said with a wink. "I'll be right back~"

Daigo had just landed, but it seemed as though Verona was focusing solely on him. "This is our date now, so I'll have to ask you to leave!" A tornado exploded underneath Daigo, causing him to cry out as he was forcibly lifted into the air. Verona vanished once more, but her presence was seen as numerous shockwaves rag dolled Daigo's helpless body within the tornado. He was then slammed down, and as his body bounced from the impact, Verona was before him, a sphere of flame within her palm. "Dynamic Flame." This sphere of fire struck Daigo's chest, carrying him to the opposite side of the arena where it then exploded brilliantly.

"…!" Heartless' eyes were wide in surprise. It all happened so fast, she hadn't the time to even take more than three steps forward. "Daigo!?"

As the smoke cleared, Daigo was seen unconscious, buried underneath the broken arena wall. Since this was just a single iteration of him, he would ultimately be fine, but when it came to this battle… "Daigo has been both KO'ed and kicked out of the ring." Waltz stated.

"I-Incredible! Verona was so efficient she took out a competitor within a matter of seconds!" Chapati said.

"Holy shit…! Daigo!" Jack leaned over the railing.

"S-She took him out so fast…" Spark gasped.

"Whoa." Edna blinked. "That was, like, really fast."

"Indeed. Even I had trouble keeping up." Nasir hated to admit that.

"Verona Partheon…it couldn't be…" Mii stroked her chin.

"That was a good warm up." Verona then turned her attention to Heartless with a wide grin. "You're the one who interests me. You're not like these humans here…so why don't we have some fun!" Verona then slammed both hands onto the ground, sending a trifecta of elements at Heartless in the form of pillars; fire, water, and earth!

Heartless was still stuck, but she was able to break free with some time to spare. The guild master of Dealer held her hands forward, creating a heart shaped barrier around her body to withstand the three pillars. Most doubted that Heartless would be able to hold strong, but her barrier protected her for the entirety of the attack. She let out a silent sigh before staring at her excited opponent. "If magic has no effect on her, then I have only a few ways I can finish this." She then lifted her hand up, creating a single heart in front of Verona. "Have a heart."

"Huh-?" Before Verona could say anything, the heart exploded in her face! This caught her off guard and she staggered back, only to be blown around by several more exploding hearts. "Ahhhhh!"

"Heart Burst!" Heartless exclaimed. She caught Verona in her trap, but any confidence she may have had was blown away as Verona took each explosion with stride! "No good?" Even though she could hit her, she was hardly doing as much damage as she wanted. "Very well."

Verona dusted herself off before sprinting forward, clearly wishing to get a little physical with Hearthless. Fire wrapped around one hand, while wind wrapped around the other. As soon as she was close, she began assaulting Heartless with a myriad of blows! Heartless countered with her own curse infused strikes, each woman focusing solely on offense. "Now this is a great way to loosen up!"

"They're really going at it." Song remarked. Both women held her interests, so she was watching the fight with intrigue. "But I think it's clear which one will win the day."

"She's fighting Heartless evenly…" Erza remarked. Considering that Heartless held back during their battle once before, Erza could understand what she was watching.

"Evenly?" Reve scoffed. "This is far from even. The only thing that keeps it from being a stomp is the fact that she's a demon."

Verona's punches did hurt quite a bit, but Heartless did have one advantage: her curse. Her ability to drain the heart and soul of anyone she made contact with. With each successful blow against Verona, Heartless kept her vitality by stealing her opponent's, all while slowly draining their magic instead. At the same time, by tasting this magic, she understood how strong her foe was… "You're quite strong, but…" Heartless ducked a punch from Verona, now weaponizing her curse by creating a hammer. "Heart Hammer!"

"…!" Verona gasped as the Heart Hammer slammed into her ribcage. She grunted while sliding backwards, grimacing a bit from the impact. "Such a leech…" Verona hummed while rubbing her side, grinning despite her words. "I've never had the chance to fight a demon before…even though that's what the people back then may have called me."

"You may be an invincible woman when it comes to magic, but against me, you're just like everyone else." Heartless then turned the hammer into a large, double barrel cannon that rested on her shoulders. "Heart Cannon!" And as one would expect, what came out of the barrel was a bright pink beam that took the shape of a heart, shooting directly towards Verona. Heartless had her one advantage and she had to make the most of it.

Verona held her hands forward, allowing the blast to collide against her palms. The longer she touched it, the more she could feel her vitality and magic slipping away. Heartless was truly a troubling one indeed! This only made Verona smirk and she deflected the blast into the arena wall, not even showing any signs of exhausting aside from soft panting, meanwhile Heartless' pants were weighted. "Getting tired? I'm just getting started!"

"Ugh…" How annoying. Heartless shifted the cannon into two blades with heart shaped hilts. She then sprinted forward, taking numerous slashes at Verona's body. She had completely worked around Verona's invulnerability to magic; a feat that very few people in this tournament could even attempt. Heartless slashed and slashed, but Verona wised up by this point, shifting her body to the side to avoid the blades of curse.

Verona was biding her time. Heartless was probably the most troubling person she could face right off the bat, but her movements improved considerably than when the fight first began. "…Ah, your form is excellent, but you should watch your footing!" Just as Heartless used her pivot foot to attack, Verona tripped her up, causing her to lose her balance.

"Nh…!" Heartless gasped. Verona then used this opening to strike her in the stomach, a gust of wind and water exploding from her elbow to jettison her forward and increasing the potency of the strike! Heartless hit the ground hard, coughing a few times as she needed to catch her breath from being winded. "She's far stronger than I anticipated…even though I've been draining her magic for a while now, it's as though her reservoir is endless."

As Lucia watched this, her grip tightened on the railing. "….."

"I've been kicking your rear up and down this arena and you still haven't gone down yet. You're far more resilient than that sidekick of yours." Verona remarked while inhaling, crimson red flames appearing around her mouth. "Let's see how this trick works! Omega Fire Dragon's Roar!"

"…!?" The eyes of Natsu, Lucy, Erza, Happy, and Alex all widened.

The crimson red funnel soared towards Heartless, exploding once it struck her…but it didn't hit her. She held her sword up, using her curse to absorb the magic into the blade, leaving her unharmed, and with a blade supercharged with magic! "…I wonder how you learned that trick."

"Oh…so you can use your curse to absorb magic too?" Verona asked.

"Yes, and while it would make a fantastic counter attack on anyone else, you seem to be the one person I can't strike with it…" Heartless said while standing up, both blades in hand. "At least, until now."

"Huh?" Verona lifted a brow.

Heartless then took the uncharged sword and threw it forward, sprinting after it. "You'll find out."

Verona rolled her eyes but kept her guard up. She knew she couldn't defend against these blades, so her only option was to avoid them. Just as the plain blade came her way, she jumped to the side, but felt something…off. It was then that Heartless came in with a diagonal slash, one that she planned to deflect, but Heartless slipped passed her defense, slicing her with the magical blade. "….!?" Verona let out a cry of pain as Heartless followed up with an upward slash, the omega flames leaving their mark on Verona's body. "H-How…?!"

Heartless held a smirk on her lips. "When I was slashing you earlier, I absorbed the heart of your passive magic into my blade…your Dispelling Magic. You keep a barrier of that around your person, which leaves you immune to magic! But if used against you, the effect cancels out!" She figured out Verona's gimmick in such a short time. Even if the difference in strength was sizable, Heartless sent her message loud and clear. "So I used your invincibility against you!"

"That's our Clarissa!" Ace said with pride. "Take it home!"

"She landed a hit." Calium knew what was going on from the beginning. "Kudos to Clarissa for finding a way around that wall. There aren't many competitors here who have that ability of turning someone's strength into a weakness."

Verona stared with wide eyes. Not out of shock, but out of admiration. This woman was something else. "You…have my utmost respect." Verona's held a smile. Despite the damage she took, the fact that she was taking it in stride was not unnoticed. "But you're not the only one who can abuse someone's strengths!" A fierce kick to Heartless's chest caused her to stagger back.

Heartless nearly fell over. In truth it was taking all she had to keep standing. Verona hit very hard and she wasn't able to keep up for very long. "Oh?"

"Let's test…the limit of your magic absorption!" A multicolored magic seal appeared in front of Verona, the colors representing the elements at her disposal. "Elemental Mastery Cannon: Fire!" From the seal, a condensed blast of the four main elements exploded forward, soaring across the sky while racing towards Heartless, who had no other choice but to defend!

"…!" Gasping, Heartless creating a large heart shaped barrier in front of her body. If she could use this against Verona, she could turn the tide of battle! The only issue was that the magic within the heart was rapidly filling up. It wasn't going to be able to withstand the entirety of the blast and she knew it. Heartless held strong for as long as she could until…the heart overflowed and exploded, shaking the entirety of Crown Stadium.

"Clarissa!" The members of Dealer, excluding Joker, all cried out in worry.

"Whoa…" Daryan rubbed his head.

It took a while for the thick cloud of smoke to clear, but as it did…Heartless was still standing, albeit she had seen far better days. "…Ngh…" Her body refused to move, but she refused to yield. "….I will not…fall…"

Verona clasped her hands together. "Wow! You took that explosion head on and still stand? Maybe I should call you the Invincible Woman! That attack creamed so many weak ones before." And right after she said that, the bell rang. Time was up.

"That is the of the 15 minute timer. This battle is a draw." Waltz said. This was the first draw of the tournament, but it was bound to happen at some point.

"Uh…so what happens with the points now?" Strong scratched his head. "Daigo was out, but Clarissa and Verona are still standin'…"

"Good question…" Diamond crossed her arms.

"Hm…" Waltz glanced at the state of things before coming to a decision. "Normally, a draw fo scenario would be divided for 10 points per team, since each side is worth 20. However, since one member of Seven was taken out in the fight, that is an additional 5 points for Verona. Furthermore, since Clarissa, Seven's captain, was involved in the draw that is another 5 points. So Verona makes off with 20 points for Bosco, while Clarissa and Daigo will make off with 5."

"She made off like a bandit…" Edna remarked.

"Had she won, she would've gotten 25 points total. I guess it's totally fair she didn't make out with all of them." Magnus reported.

"It's better than losing, I suppose…" Heartless felt her body nearly collapse now that the fight was over.

Verona walked over to Heartless to shake her hand. "That was a wonderful fight!"

"Yes…" Heartless said with a nod, though there was a strange, bitter feeling about being on the losing end of the battle she couldn't remove from the void that was her lack of a heart…

"HOHOHO! Was that truly the best you could muster, Clarissa!?" King was having the time of life laughing at his former right hand woman, but Heartless was ignoring him. "Respond to me, peasant…!"

"…She didn't lose outright. Good." Lucia seemed to have calmed down now. "Only I am allowed to slay that demon."

"…." Little Queen was oddly silent during that entire fight. Something about Heartless just…seemed to familiar.


"Now, it's onto the next fight of the day. Fiore vs. Alvarez." Waltz said.

"Oh, a wonderful chance." Emeraude suddenly perked up. Crushing Fiore would be a great boost to moral.

This made Lucy's face pale. "Alvarez!? So soon!?" Good thing she didn't offer to fight. While she knew that Natsu wouldn't let her fight Alvarez alone, she knew for a fact Emeraude gave special directions to ensure that she would be taken out in a fight first. She did not have the energy to deal with that.

"Allow me, Your Majesty." Little Queen bowed and floated into the ring. "I will win in the name of Her Majesty!"

"And Little Queen steps into the ring! Who will Fiore challenge her with!?" Chapati asked.

Fiore continued to look around for a bit. "Where did Zelos go!?" Lucy frantically looked around. "He said he'd fight today…!"

"It's been too long. He's never not shown up when his name is called." Erza said. Something was wrong.

"Did he skip out on us?" Luke asked.

"Oh no…" Lucia placed a hand on her cheek. "Did your planned fighter suddenly go missing? How terrible!"

"…..What did she do?" Minerva lifted a brow. Lucia's tone was a dead giveaway that she was behind this somehow.

"Did you do something to our guild mate?!" Natsu roared.

"Your guild mate?" Lucia had to keep herself from laughing. This was exactly what she needed after watching Heartless fight. "I don't know what you mean. But if fighters are going missing in Crown City…"

"She did something!" Lector accused Lucia.

Waltz crossed his arms, tapping his foot impatiently. "Fiore, you have 10 seconds to bring at least one person down, otherwise you'll be met with a disqualification and Alvarez will win 10 points automatically."

"We don't have the time to argue with her." Kagura said. "Someone has to go down there and fight. We should send someone else to hunt for Zelos."

Natsu, Sting, and Luke were all silent, staring at the arena. They all had the same idea, but they were not on the same wavelength. "I GOT THIS!" All three of them shouted, and as they leapt forward, they looked at each other with shocked expressions. "HEY! NO! I SAID I GOT THIS!" They yelled in unison.

"…Oh no." Minerva sighed.

"Well, this just took a wild turn…" Bacchus said with a laugh.

"Three of you?" Little Queen tilted her head.

"I was gonna kick her ass!" Natsu shouted at Sting and Luke.

"You!? She'd kick your ass up and down this arena!" Luke scoffed. "I can take her."

"You!? Lucy has a higher chance of winning since she beat you!" Natsu was rubbing that in Luke's face.

"She got lucky!" Luke exclaimed.

"Please don't bring my name into your argument…" Lucy said with a sweat drop.

Waltz looked at Sting with an agitated expression. Someone had to settle this before it got out of hand. "Oi! Natsu-san! Luke-san! I have an idea. Let's have a competition between Fairy Tail, Sabertooth, and White Eclipse. Whichever one manages to land the finishing blow…has to make the other two admit their guild isn't as strong as the winners!"

Pride was on the line? Natsu and Luke turned to Sting immediately, both wearing confident grins. That was one way to get their attention. "I'll make everyone admit that White Eclipse has always been superior!"

"No way! Fairy Tail won the tournament, remember? You got nothing on us!" Natsu said with a smirk.

"It seems we have our fight, folks!" Chapati exclaimed. "Little Queen vs. Natsu Dragneel, Luke Cloud, and Sting Eucliffe!"

Sting managed to get it under control. While Little Queen was not the Spriggan he wanted to get back at, defeating one of them would show the world that Fiore was not as weak as they thought! "All right, are you two ready!?"

"Born ready!" Natsu and Luke exclaimed in unison.

"Hmph…" Little Queen started to float in the air as the battlefield changed. Buildings rose from the ground, the environment mirroring that of Crown City. She had no problem making her superior magic aura shown, causing the stadium to rumble as her purple gaze burned a hole into the copy mage and the two dragon slayers. "In the name of Emeraude Verde, I will inflict the highest form of suffering upon you peasants."

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Next Time: Triple Threat.