Pergrande: 130

Active: Keele, Aki, Blair, Mii, Lucia, Shade, Cloud, Elly, X, Rajaron.

Alvarez: 125

Active: Brandish, Jacob, Oriana, Julius, Alice, Ken, G, Zero, Little Queen, Ragen.

Fiore: 115

Active: Natsu, Lucy, Erza, Jellal, Sting, Minerva, Kagura, Luke, Reve, Bacchus.

Seven: 105

Active: Ace, Tia, Jack, Heartless, Joker, Spade, Spark, Daigo, Strong, Diamond.

Joya: 105

Active: Allegretto, Polka, Beat, Rondo, Tuba, Jazz, Yeager, Marx, Yumia, Yukia.

Bosco: 90

Active: Gaia, Edna, Nasir, Verona, Alex, Daryan, Lore, Magnus, Hiruka, Yakuza.

Minstrel: 70

Active: Rob, Raku, Renae, Asbel, Medusa, Byrnhild, Tyson, Amadio, Felix, David.

.

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Natsu and Jack decided to team up to fight Yumia and Yukia. This was technically a free for all bit; Fiore vs. Seven vs Joya, meaning that whoever came out on top of this exchange would gain plenty of points. But seeing how the Wizard Hunters had reached the end of everyone's patience, it was only natural people would want to see them gone as fast as possible. "Don't fall behind!" Jack said to Natsu while shooting forward, grinning since he was certain with Natsu's handicap from his flames, he was the strongest and most able bodied person on the field right now.

"Like I'll lose to you!" Natsu roared while sprinting after Jack at full speed! There was too much on the line for him to lose here when the day just started!

"Here they come~" Yukia told her sister.

"I got this!" Yumia cupped her hands at her sides, a sphere of water forming within the empty space between her palms. Once it was around the size of a basketball, she threw it forward. "Mizu no Hadou!" The sphere of water soared towards Natsu, seeing as how he was currently the weaker link in that thin alliance.

Natsu realized that he was being picked on because of his condition. This made him scowl. "Don't TAKE ME LIGHTLY!" Natsu roared while throwing a blazing fist forward, the heat from this punch turning the water into steam almost immediately. So what if his magic was draining faster than usual? He still had plenty of firepower to spare!

"Muh!?" Yumia's eyes widened. She wasn't expecting Natsu to punch right through her attack. Nor was she expecting him to throw a punch at her! She crossed her arms, sliding back a few feet from his impact. "Sis!"

Yukia was already on it, leaping over her sister and onto Natsu. Natsu tried to fight Yukia off, b but she flipped and spun around his body, ultimately ending up behind him, placing her feet on his back and used him as a springboard. "Thanks for the lift!"

"Guh!" Natsu grunted and was pushed onto the dirt.

Yukia made her way to Jack, flames appearing along her arms. She then spread them out and crossed them down; creating a twister of flame that enveloped the Dealer mage. "Inferno!"

"Gh…!" Jack was caught in a surprisingly strong inferno. Even though he wielded flame based armor, he could still feel the heat and intensity from the attack. "This chick's firepower is pretty harsh…!"

Yukia stood on the outside of the tornado, hands on her hips with a confident smile. "Of course it is! You think we're Hunters without reason? We're basically everyone's rival!"

"I said it was harsh, but I didn't say it was better than mine!" Jack corrected while flying out of the twister, gritting his teeth as his armor suffered noticeable burns, but protected him from any serious injury. "Wicked Flame!"

"Water Veil!" Yumia threw her hands outward, creating a barrier of water around herself and her twin sister. This barrier significantly reduced the effectiveness of fire based attacks on those within it. So when the Wicked Flame hit Yukia directly, she not only suffered minimal damage, but she wasn't ailed by the secondary effects either. "Sorry, but you're gonna need a LOT more fire power to break through us!"

"Heh…" Natsu gave his toothy, menacing smile and went to a nearby tree, simply plucking it out of the ground with his sheer strength. Much like how he finished off Franmalth during the Tartarus incident, if magic wasn't going to work, he'd just resort to brute force. "Try this, then!" And with no warning, he slammed the tree down on the two girls, forcing them to jump in different directions.

"WHO THROWS A TREE AT SOMEONE!?" Yumia screamed. Before her feet could even touch the ground, Jack grabbed her hair and flew off into the air. "Huh!? Hands off!?"

"Separating you two is a good idea! You're both annoying!" Jack said while lifting his free hand, slamming his claws into Yumia's water barrier. It was taking a bit of time to break through with his fire, but he was getting closer and closer to inflicting damage.

Yumia wrapped her legs around Jack's arm, pointing her hands forward at his face. "Whirlpool!" A cyclone of water enveloped Jack, the intensity of it pushing him backwards towards the ground. "Our coordination is way better than yours!"

"Gah…!" Jack was taken aback by this attack, spiraling against his will. That was until he smirked, his armor changing from black and orange to black and red, activating his Crimson Corvus upgrade. He flew through the Whirlpool, the sheer heat his armor gave off evaporating the water. "But individually…" Jack's talon ripped through Yumia's water barrier, cutting her across the chest while sending her towards the ground.

Natsu was closing in on Yukia. Her flames had no effect on him as it stood, but she was still able to use her petite size to evade Natsu's attacks. If she played her cards right she could still damage him even with her magic! She formed a gigantic orb of flame in one hand, ducking low after evading Natsu's punch. Just as she aimed to slam this orb into Natsu's body, he kicked her wrist, sending that orb soaring high above him, leaving Yukia open. "You're not better than us!" As Natsu shouted this, he slammed his blazing fist into Yukia's chest for a powerful direct hit, the flames and lightning now jutting from his elbow giving his punch an extra oomph.

The twins flew back and slammed into each other with a yelp. "Ouch! How dare you!" Yumia stood up, huffing as she shook the impact off. Natsu was now in Lightning Flame while Jack donned Crimson Corvus. The increases in magic power outweighed their own individually, true…but together… "We can take them!"

"Yeah!" Yukia held her sisters hand, linked their fingers together, and slammed their hands into the ground. "Inferno Pool!" Before Natsu and Jack had a chance to react to what was happening, a whirlpool of fire and water suddenly enveloped the area, sweeping them in its wake. Because of the dual properties, Natsu couldn't eat this.

"GWAAAAH! IT'S GOD SERENA ALL OVER AGAIN!" Natsu groaned.

"Damn it…!" Jack grunted. He and Natsu couldn't afford to stay in this for too much longer. But they didn't have to worry about that as the whirlpool then exploded, knocking them both skyward while receiving more damage than they expected. Jack coughed after landing, barely managing to stay on his feet. "Damn these two…"

Natsu was starting to feel it, only because of his condition. He slammed his fist into the ground, silently motivating himself to stand back up. "Ghh…"

"What's the matter!? I thought you were better than us!?" The twins exclaimed in sync while pursing separate targets. Yukia went after Jack while Yumia went for Natsu.

Yukia lifted her hands into the air a few times, as though she were fanning flames, now pointing her hand forward towards Jack. "Dynamic Full Flame!" From her open Palm, a gigantic orb of fire shot forward, growing larger and larger while it soared towards Jack, incinerating the grass it travelled over.

"Shit…!" Jack's eyes widened and he crossed his arms, the Dynamic Full Flame exploding violently against him, a towering cloud of black smoke rising the instant it struck him.

Natsu tried to swing at Yumia, but she easily evaded his weakened punch, now circling around him to create a vortex of water that swept him away. As it were, water and fire were in a constant struggle, but water overpowered fire this time, rendering Natsu unable to use his flames as he was sucked into a high powered vortex. "Hydro Storm!"

"Gwaaaaah!" Natsu cried out as he was swallowed by the vortex that ultimately exploded, throwing him to the ground. But he didn't stay down for long, flipping and lunging forward head first, lightning blazing around his body. "Lightning Flame Dragon's Sword Horn!" Yumia was shocked that Natsu just kept going despite that hit, so she received a painful strike to the stomach, being thrown backwards in the process.

"Aaaaah!" Yumia cried out. Due to her Water Veil, the fire portion of the attack was all but negated, however the electricity still did a number on her in turn.

Jack flew from the smoke before Yukia could react; clawing at the girl with so much force she flew back and hit her sister. But as soon as he finished the attack, he fell on the ground next to Natsu on a knee. "Ugh…"

The twins rebounded from the heavy hits fast. They were already sprinting towards Natsu and Jack despite them having just landed. "In an instant we echo and our hearts meet…IMPACT CROSS!" They both slashed at Natsu and Jack with their respect elements, passing by them in an X formation. They were incredibly surprised at how Natsu and Jack were barely capable of avoiding such a blow. That surprise turned into annoyance, as they were still in sync and felt like they had the upperhand.

Yumia used her Elecrosyis spell to take advantage of the lightning Natsu used against her, merging this with her water like she did against Luke. This resulted in a swirl of fire, water, and lightning to appear within their joined hands. "Boss is counting on us to finish this. We can't let her down after everything she's done for us. We have to win! We're going to win! We're gonna finish this right now! INFERNO TIDE!" The twins threw their hands forward, prompting a gigantic tidal wave of the three elements they had to appear, threatening to crash down on Natsu and Jack.

Jack grit his teeth, using his strength to fly and grab Natsu's scarf, using that to lift him in the air. It was a close call since the tidal wave nearly crashed down on them, but they barely managed to avoid it. "How much magic do you have left!?"

"Enough to take you out when this is over!" Natsu grinned. Despite everything, he wasn't going to quit now. Truth be told, he had far less than he was hoping to at this point, but this was Natsu. He always made due with what he had, whether it be more or less.

"That's the right answer! GO!" Jack spun around and threw Natsu forward at full force.

"Huh!?" The twins looked up as Natsu came soaring towards them.

Natsu held his hands up, one hand containing a sphere of fire, while the other hand lightning. The dragon slayer held his hands over his head, merging the two of them together into one gigantic sphere. "THIS IS FOR MII! DAZZLING BLAZE OF THE LIGHTNING FLAME DRAGON!" Natsu then hurled the dual fireball at the twins, watching as it exploded on them, sending them flying into the air against their will.

"KYAAAAH!" Yumia and Yukia cried out, still holding each other's hands as they were rocketed into the air.

This is where Jack shined. Once airborne, his Wicked Flames took the shape of two scythes. He flew forward, arms crossed as he approached the two annoying women. "Wicked Reaper!" As he passed them by, he uncrossed his arms, slashing at Yumia and Yukia's chest in an X motion. The slash inflicted heavy damage, but the finishing blow was the Wicked Flames that exploded upon impact. The two wins hit the ground, eyes pure white to signify their KO. Jack landed on the ground with a victorious grin. "I win."

"AND THE FIRST VICTORY OF THE FINAL ROUND BELONGS TO JACK CORVUS OF SEVEN!" Chapati loudly exclaimed, the announcement carrying to every corner of Joya so every participate could. "THAT'S 10 POINTS FOR SEVEN!" Seven's score bumped up from 105 to 115, putting them in second place with Fiore.


While Erza was clashing with Lucia, the announcement was made. "Not the result I was intending for, but there's no doubt in my mind that Natsu had a hand in that.

"Yumia…Yukia…!?" Lucia's demeanor shifted for a moment.

This was a distraction. Erza pushed this opening and swung at Lucia once more, managing to land a cut across her chest. "HAH!"

"Gh…!" Lucia staggered backwards. How sloppy of her to get so distracted she let Erza land a direct hit on her!? She recomposed herself and went to swing again, only for Erza to be replaced by Byrnhild at the last second. The two women were confused for a moment, but managed to evade each other since they were in mid swing. "…!?"

"Losing focus already? What a shame." Minerva spoke tauntingly. "I haven't even gotten to warm up yet!"

"This is troubling…keep your focus." Byrnhild snapped. But this battle was going to come to a halt as a shadow loomed over all four of them. It was Alice overhead, smiling at the group she found. "Is that…?"

"Oooh! Four birds with one stone…" Alice snapped her fingers. Nothing happened at first…but there were then several red dots gleaming from the clouds overhead. The clouds parted…revealing a only part of a gigantic serpentine dragon overhead, spanning miles in terms of length. All they could really see was its face, and the outline of its body from within some clouds. "Since we're going all out, Em told me I could use my true power! That's my true body! I'll make sure you don't die from this!"

All eyes were wide at the dragon overhead. THAT was Alice!? No wonder Nasir and Rajaron were so on edge when fighting against her, this was unreal. "What the…" Erza was stunned into silence.

"That's real…?" Byrnhild was trembling simply from the sheer presence of Alice's dragon form. "Two bodies linked together…? If one is slayed, the other must fall…"

"But do you really think you'll have the chance for that?" Alice wasn't denying it. Injuring one body would indeed harm the other. She snapped her fingers, commanding her true body to act. The dragon overhead inhaled, gathering a large amount of poison within its mouth. "I was experimenting all night with the perfect amount of poison to render a human unconscious! I finally found it too! Poison Roar!" The dragon overhead then let loose a colossal beam of poison magic directly towards the four women.

"We're leaving!" Minerva told Erza and didn't give her any choice in the matter. She grabbed Erza's wrist and used her territory to warp them to a location that wasn't here. She had the lay of Joya's land pretty well in her head, so there were plenty of places to escape Alice's wrath.

"I'm not done with you, Titania!" Lucia exclaimed while swinging Excailbur forward. This holy blade was perhaps one of the few things that could stand up to Alice; a beam of light shot forward to pierce through some of the poisonous roar and strike Alice's dragon form in the eyes, temporarily blinding it. But she couldn't tell if it did damage…

"Heeeey!" Alice whined, covering her eyes as well, since that kind of damage extended to her as well. "That's so mean!"

"Ghh…this is where our partnership ends." Byrnhild told Lucia. With the threat of Alice looming over them, she didn't even want to stick around and fight. This was her chance to escape while she could.

"I agree…" Lucia glared at an unholy creature…but not something she could devote her time to just yet. She too would escape, but worried about Yumia and Yukia all the while.

"Mmm…" By the time Alice got her sight back, everyone was gone. "Aw…" She messed up such a goldmine for points! Oh well. She had all day to make up for it. The clouds closed over her dragon form and she simply flew away, her large body lingering in the skies above…


Yeager managed to fend off Tia and Lucy at once. It was an uphill battle for the two of them, but it all came to a halt when Chapati made his announcement. "Ah…so the Twins are down. Unfortunate, it seems that Plan A is out the window."

"Hah! I told you Natsu would shut them up!" Lucy said confidently.

"But Jack was with Natsu, and he got the points! So it looks like my brother was the winner again!" Tia said proudly and smugly.

"Oh yeah!?" Lucy turned to face Tia. "I bet Natsu's gonna finish beating Jack any second!"

"Natsu's probably on the floor as we speak!" Tia shouted back. This sure was a shouting match between two friends and two competitors. They didn't forget about Yeager, but this argument was a little too compelling for them to stop.

"Ah, worry not ladies." Yeager pointed his rifle at Lucy's feet. "There is plenty of time for you to argue once this tournament is over. Auf Wiedersehen!" He then fired a surprisingly powerful shot at Lucy's feet. The impact caused an explosion, which blew Lucy backwards and into the river.

"Kyaaaaaah!?" She was off balance, so she had no hope of catching herself in time. She just flailed about while the river carried her downstream.

"Lucy!?" Tia gasped as her friend was sent forcefully downstream. She then glanced at Yeager, ready to fight, but the in split second she turned her attention to Lucy, he was already gone. "Huh!? Damn it…!" She knew Lucy would be fine, once she remembered which Star Dress she was in. So for now, Tia relaxed, letting her armor fade, and just took the time to rest, yawning against a tree. "…Man…I'm tired…"


[Flashback: X786, 10 years ago.]

A village was in ruins thanks to the work of a demon. Young Yumia and Yukia were hiding in a shed, away from it all. They didn't have anything but each other at the time, being orphaned and all. The screams and roaring came to a halt some time ago, but they were too afraid to leave. "D-Do you think it's over…?"

"I-I don't know…" Yukia meekly replied. The silence was then broken by the door creaking open, causing them to huddle into each other.

"…Oh, suriviors…!" Lucia opened the door, letting out a sigh of relief. "I'm so very sorry I couldn't make it sooner. I only just got the request to purge the demon when it was already rampaging. Are you two alright?"

"Ah…!" The girls were startled at first, but soon relaxed when they saw it was a human. Still, they were fearful and shaking.

"Oh, poor things…" Lucia frowned, taking careful steps forward. "Are you two alright…? I'm…sorry I was unable to save…"

"We don't live here…" Yumia weakly replied.

"We just…had bad timing…" Yukia said quietly.

So they had nowhere to go…Lucia paused for a bit. "…Um…my brother and our comrades have camp set up not too far from here…we have food to spare."

"…" The twins looked at each other. They then nodded slowly…

"My name is Lucia. Who are you two?"

[End Flashback]


It was such a simple gesture back then…but it led those two to having a live they loved. Yumia and Yukia lied on the ground, tears stinging their eyes as they accepted their defeat. There wasn't anything more they could do. The failed the woman who took them in and raised them… "We're so sorry, Mom…" Yukia whimpered.

"We tried our best…but we're not as strong as you are…" Yumia sobbed. With their defeat, they were teleported out of the field and into safety elsewhere. Such would be the norm for anyone defeated or knocked out of bounds.

"Good riddance." Jack huffed, before turning to Natsu. The both of them had been knocked around pretty intensely from their own fight and against the twins, but Natsu was worse for wear. "I can take you out now…"

"Try it." Natsu narrowed his eyes. Jack then charged at him and Natsu sprinted ahead, but only to leap on top of Jack and open his mouth. Earlier, he knocked an attack of Yukia's up in to the air, and now, that orb of flame came down for him to swallow. He had been watching that timing carefully the whole time, and it finally worked out! Now that he'd eaten, it resorted magic lost from Jack's magic. "Oh yeah! That's not bad fire!"

"Huh?!" Jack was absolutely shocked at Natsu's maneuver. "You kept tabs on that!?"

"It was my backup plan." Natsu grinned. He wasn't back up to full magic power, but he felt extremely better compared to a moment ago. "Now I'm fired up!"

"Let's finish this!" Jack was about to lunge again, but he was halted by a hand grabbing the back of his neck. "Huh!?"

"That's enough." It was Daigo. He was halfway through a heart shaped gate, presumably leading to another location. "Your lack of sleep is catching up to you. You're reckless when tired."

"But I can beat him now!" Jack exclaimed.

"Perhaps so…and while it would be extremely impressive to take him out now, you still have all day. You've used more magic than you've needed to so far." Daigo narrowed his eyes. "There will be time. For now, you need to rest. The barrier is about to close soon anyway."

"….." Jack silently conceded. With a nod, he allowed Daigo to pull him through the portal.

"HEY, I'M NOT DONE!" Natsu sprinted to leap into the portal, but it closed before he reached it. So he just ended up rolling along the ground, grunting in annoyance. "Damn…" It wasn't the best outcome, but it wasn't the worst either. Two Wizard Hunters were down, but plenty remained. If they were planning coordinated assaults like that, he was going to have to keep his eyes opened…


Asbel walked quietly through thickly forested area. He heard the announcement but that didn't concern him. It just meant that there were some weakened foes out there that he could finish off. "…" It was quiet…too quiet. His senses tipped him off and he stopped walking, glancing around with his one eye. "I know you're there."

Jacob was invisible, hiding behind a tree. The fact that Asbel could even sense his presence said enough about his skill and profession. So, Jacob simply dropped the charade; he was a smart man. The only thing he needed to hide were witnesses and dead bodies after all. "So, you noticed."

"I'm surprised you came out." Asbel admitted.

"There's no point in hiding when your target knows you're there." Jacob said. "You're different from the rest. Her Majesty suggested I remove you from the equation as quickly as possible."

"She's smart." Asbel said, his hand resting on the hilt of his sword. "I had a feeling you'd come for me. I know you're work…you were basically the reason that place worked so hard to turn me into what I am now."

"Hm?" Jacob rose a brow.

"You're not the only assassin in this tournament." Asbel said calmly, a purple aura shining from the eye covered in his eyepatch. "I was raised and trained to be just like you. Thankfully that's a life I don't have to follow anymore thanks to the Martells…but I can't say I haven't been looking forward to this moment for a long time, Jacob Lessio."

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Next Time: Your Shadow.