"_hello, hello, hello! Welcome to the third day of the Grand Magic Game!" said the little pumpkin man. Nox still didn't know his name, but his presence was enough to annoy the woman. "Today will start with the plague of Mages, the Pandemonium!"
The plague?! Really? Wondered Nox, taken aback. That must have been one of the stupidest thing she ever heard. Mages could take on anything. Anything and everything. They just had to train.
At that word, her thoughts strayed to her two friends, standing with their teams up in the stands. She caught Sting staring at her, and a smirk blossomed on her lips. The smirk of the winner. He chuckled and shook his head, that woman was going to be the death of him.
"_in this event, you will fight the number of demons you chose! Up to a hundred demons can be summoned, and you will write the number you wish to fight against on a piece of paper. They will be sealed in an envelope and once every one has chosen, the numbers will be read aloud! Once a number is written, you cannot change it! But careful! The demons all have a different level, from one S-class to several D-classes! You cannot chose which one you will fight against and your opponents will be randomly chosen! All beast are equal in value, and once defeated cannot be recreated. The game will keep going until all members have fought or the machine used to create the demons runs out! Good luck and now, write the numbers!"
Pen and paper appeared in front of her, along with a black envelope with Midnight Fear's mark on it. She quickly wrote her number down and sealed the envelope, careful as to not leave any prints on the various things she used. The pumpkin man gathered all the envelopes and opening the first one, shouted:
"_we will proceed with the highest bidder, and thus until the last one is standing! Here is the first envelope; going first is Fairy Tail's A team; Erza Scarlett. She will be fighting all hundred demons! Wow! This has never happened before! The demons have not been made to be fought altogether! How is Titania going to do, knowing if she loses her team will come last with zero points for this match?"
Cheers erupted from Fairy Tail's area, and she saw Rogue and Sting carefully watch her to guess her reaction. They were wondering how she would react to Titania unknowingly defying her but were met with a grinning and relaxed Nox. What has she planned?!
Nox was looking at Erza, gauging the woman. Even if Erza could fight all hundred of them, Nox was not going to let the woman have this win. Nox was dying for a fight against a member of the light team, and could not wait for her turn. They were in for a surprise.
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The Fairy should have fallen long ago, suffering from some injuries. But she kept going. Always and always. The Fairy kept flying.
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Nox grinned. She was not expecting anything less from the one who had killed her brother, but even if she was impressed by the standard this mortal had managed to gain, she was not ready to forget. Or forgive.
"_this is Fairy Tail, this is the power of the strongest guild in all Fiore!" shouted Erza, raising her katana. Nox grinned. Wait, she thought. Erza could just wait and see. And she would learn what being the strongest meant.
The arena burst in applauses. Nox grinned even wider, catching a worried look from her Twin Dragon Slayers.
"_wow! Is this what seven years' ago strongest guild can do? It shall be hard for the next opponent! And the next is..." the pumpkin man opened a few more envelopes, reading each time who and how many monsters would fight. Finally, he reached the last envelope bearing her guild's mark and opened it. "Do we have a highest bidder than 51 demons, from Jera of Lamia Scale?!"
The crowed held its breath, and Nox turned to her two, only friends. Their eyes locked for a second, before she winked and turned to Fairy Tail. She held their gaze, and a smirk stretched her lips. Revenge. Sweet little revenge.
"_we do! Nox of Midnight Fear has agreed to take on no less than a hundred demons! How is she going to follow up from that miracle Erza Scarlett has shown us?! If Nox, our second competing member in this trial could come forward?!"
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Silence had fallen upon the amphitheatre. You could have heard a fly. Nox took a step forward, placing herself in front of the demons the machine was creating.
"_it seems that the machine has created not one, but TWO S-class demons! How is Nox going to bear the pressure of two monster kings?"
The woman paid no heed. Slowly, delicately as if she was made of glass, she faced the demons.
The machine sent a last demon out, a weaker one and suddenly, with a cloud of black smoke fell into pieces.
"_what is going on? It seems the machine has broken down from the amount of power it used to create all these demons! What are the judges going to..."
The pumpkin man fell quiet when he saw Nox extend her hand.
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Thousands of people holding their breaths together, it creates a serious roar. Under the form of absolute silence.
One of the S-class animals slowly bent down, placing its horrid face into the palm of the woman's hand. Sting wondered who out of the two the real beast was. Nox slowly patted the demon, taking a confident step forward.
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"_sit."
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The order was clear, harsh. The beasts sat. All hundred of them, leaving the other S-class defying the woman. Her onyx eyes locked onto it and the beast whined.
"_sit." The voice was even harsher. Even colder. The beast sat down.
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The amphitheatre was still quiet as dead, when she slowly turned around. Once her eyes were located onto Erza's, she said in a loud, cold and commending voice.
"_die."
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The spectator and competing mages watched, wide eyed the arena. All were holding their breath, not daring the break the silence. Then, the sound of something hitting the sand was heard.
One by one, the beasts fell.
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Nox's eyes were still defying Erza. She heard stutters coming from the pumpkin, as the redhead looked away from her. She turned to the fairies, bowed mockingly and said in a clear, loud voice.
"_It is only the start..."
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An uproar of shouts, praises as clapping was heard as Nox made her way back to the entrance of the arena. She carelessly sat down on the sand, her cloak hiding her features and smirked at her two friends. They rolled their eyes, mouthing 'show-off'. She childishly stuck her tongue out. The small silver ball that she had put, this morning through her pierced tongue caught the light and Sting shook his head.
"_this... what..." the pumpkin had a hard time finding its words, before it found it s footing again; "this has never been seen before! Nox takes the lead of this fight! Since the machine has broken down, we will now hold a magic level contest. Here is the machine the rune knights use to assess their strength. Each remaining member will hit the scale and their magical level and hence ability will be classified."
The Fairy brat in their B team, Alberona, had a trick up her sleeve, which resulted in her getting third place. Nox sent a sour look toward the fairy's stand. She was going to have to fix that.