Everyone was on their own and following the plan that Mavis had given them. The only strategy provided to them was their opponent and how they should maneuver around the map. Although Mavis was aware of what kinds of magic they used, she could only direct them to their suitable opponents. The way they won their fights was completely up to them.
Apart from the obvious cheers coming from the stadium where the audience watched their every move, it was absolutely quiet in the streets of Crocus. Karissa almost found it unnerving, but she kept an ear out for any abnormal sounds. She was no Dragon Slayer with acute hearing, but her ears still helped her detect any alarming noises during missions.
Which is how she ended up in her current situation.
Karissa deadpanned as she trailed behind Lamia Scale's Toby, who kept making dog-like noises with every turn he took. His noises made her alert, and she was able to spot him without being spotted herself. As he kept moving, she only followed him. She was actually finding it sad that he didn't notice her soundlessly flying above the buildings. Her body was positioned in a way where she looked like she was sitting in a reclining chair with her legs out. It would have been wiser to just take him out and earn that point while there was no one around that could steal the point from her… but come on, she wanted to see how long it would take for him to find her.
She stuffed her hands in her pockets and listened as he whispered to himself how quiet it was.
While she flew in the air, she caught sight of a small device which was most likely a lacrima camera broadcasting the sight of her and Toby to the audience.
She looked at it and shrugged her shoulders.
"Could she just stop playing with her food?" Cana slapped her hand over her face. "We get it! He can't see or sense you! Stop embarrassing him!"
"For real." Max sighed. "I'm getting second hand embarrassment over here."
"I think it's funny." Van snickered along with the crowd who found Karissa's nonchalant shrug hilarious.
"Just take him out already!" Makarov groaned. "Focus your time and energy somewhere else!"
"I agree with Van." Bickslow cackled. He was loving the way she kept maintaining a straight face as she observed Toby. She looked borderline at a loss with him.
Okay. Now it was getting ridiculous.
Karissa cupped her hands over her mouth and let out a dog bark.
Toby whirled around and began growling like a dog. But Karissa wasn't there, as his ears had told him she would be.
She was just gone.
"Wait. What."
Cana squinted her eyes and leaned her head back, lost. "Why'd she leave?"
"She just left without taking an easy point!" Makarov exclaimed, flabbergasted. "Karissa! Go back!"
"No. It's fine." Mavis told him and the others who were protesting Karissa's decision. "I advised her to not take out any enemy in her path."
"Advised?" Lisanna echoed. "What do you mean? Shouldn't we rack up as many points as possible to ensure our victory?"
"There are times when instant victory is not important. There is a saying that if you go to war early then you will win your first battle. However, if you arrive late after much preparation then you will win thousands of battles, maybe the entire battlefield."
Makarov tensed when Mavis spoke with the obvious experience of a strategist.
The lacrima vision zoomed in on Karissa who was now walking on the street while checking her surroundings.
"Ideally, I don't want any wasted moves on Karissa. Not a single shred of magical power should be wasted until her upcoming battles. It is crucial for her to stay at her best until she meets her true enemies."
"She's going against tough opponents then?" Levy guessed.
Karissa's image on the lacrima vision displayed her apathetic face before her eyes shifted to the side cautiously. It was obvious how focused she was on this Battle Royal.
…
…
…
"It's Gray Fullbuster! He took down Rufus! The much-vaunted Rufus is down! The winner is Gray! Gray of Fairy Tail! 46 points for Fairy Tail!"
Gray was the first to win his match for the team. He did well.
Karissa had been glancing over to some available screens that she passed by to keep track of how he was doing while she took her time walking down the streets of Crocus. The smile on her face as she watched him pick up Rufus' hat and plop it on his head with a smirk couldn't be restrained. It made her laugh giddily as she silently clapped for his wonderful victory. The crowd was roaring with cheers for his victory as well. It was the complete opposite from those mocking booing and laughs he got on the first day.
"Yay!" Karissa silently cheered with a grin. She was super happy that the crowd was cheering for him and that he proved himself, beating the First Master's expectations. "Good job, Gray~!"
"Now the only team with a full roster is Fairy Tail, isn't it?" Chapati exclaimed.
"It puts them at quite an advantage." Yajima hummed.
"Whaaa! Rufus has never been defeated before!" The pumpkin freaked, shocked by the outcome.
"Well, he just got his ass kicked on live. It'll be in the history books." Karissa muttered to herself in response to the pumpkin's disbelief, her happy mood dampened by that little mascot's comment.
With a sigh, she crouched down and tilted her head upwards a little just in time to see a girl with pink hair and swirling black winds above her.
"Sky God's Boreas!"
With a backwards leap, she avoided the attack that drilled into the cobblestone and caused fragments of it to fly.
Perfect. Now I can finally start. I don't know how much longer I could stay tense like that.
"Wow! You dodged it! I'm impressed!" Sherria praised with a smile. "But don't think you can keep dodging without using magic to defend yourself!" She maneuvered around in the air as she neared the ground which caused the whirlwinds to rotate and create a larger attack to fly her way.
Karissa blinked at the attack before side stepping a little and then proceeded to dash in between the gaps of her attack. She had to use her magic to enhance her movements so that she wouldn't get hit. This little trick was something Mavis gave her after observing the fight between Sherria and Wendy. Big attacks like these could easily have a weak point or two. Sherria's was at the center point where her body was positioned. The attacks may cross in the middle but they'll still part and make way for her to pass through.
It was a risky move for someone who didn't have the means to move quickly. Laxus or Karissa were suitable people to avoid Sherria's attacks.
Sherria gasped at the recklessness Karissa displayed when she all but darted in her direction.
"Howling Gust." Sharp wind surrounded Karissa's body when she came close, dealing slashes to Sherria's body before expanding and knocking her back with a shockwave, ceasing her attack. The younger girl lost her footing and tumbled on the ground which she quickly recovered from with quick movements. Karissa's shoes scratched the floor when she skidded to a stop.
A gentle breeze left behind from Sherria's attacks rustled Karissa's black long open sleeveless vest and swayed some of her hair.
"Isn't Sherria that girl who can cure her wounds?" Macao remembered how Sherria kept getting back up after getting hit from Wendy's attacks.
"Yeah, how's Karissa supposed to take her out?!" Wakaba asked the First Master, seeming to imply that she hadn't considered this beforehand.
Mavis grinned. "I'm glad you remembered such a crucial thing but how can you forget another crucial thing about your own guildmate?"
"… Huh?" Wakaba blinked stupidly.
"She's talking about Karissa's magic power." Max pointed out to the older man as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. "If you forgot, Karissa's got insane amount of magic power in her."
"Correct." Mavis chuckled quietly. Everyone was watching the fight between Sherria and Karissa. There was no pause. The two mages on screen were instantly fighting. "Sherria can heal herself all she wants but it won't matter in the long run if she cannot restore her energy. She'll lose the battle of endurance. And if Karissa defeats her earlier then that's fine too. It will still end up the same."
"Aren't you worried Sherria might actually be too strong and might defeat her?" Wakabe asked the First Master. He didn't doubt Karissa's abilities but he had seen a lot of impressive mages recently, slightly swaying his judgement. But the First Master simply looked towards him and smiled as she shook her head. They all sweat dropped at the obvious gleam of excitement she had over Karissa's victory.
"She won't lose. My calculations tell me she won't because the odds are in our favour!"
"Then…!" Max watched the way Karissa discreetly covered her mouth to hide her grin when Sherria continued healing herself after suffering from ice attacks. Karissa was using powerful attacks on the younger mage, she wasn't holding back against her at all.
Simply put, Karissa could not lose this fight.
"For Sherria," Mavis looked up from beneath her bangs with eyes that seemed glow. "Karissa is…"
…
…
…
"Fighting Sherria first?" Karissa repeated.
"Yes." Mavis nodded. She lifted the picture of a dark cloud which represented the black whirlwinds that Sherria could conjure up. "That's why I insisted that you conserve all your strength no matter what."
"Oohhh…" It made sense now. The healing part was Sherria's advantage in the long run.
"I see," Erza stared at her guildmate thoughtfully. "Her fight with Sherria would include an endurance battle. And after that, she still needs to be ready for another fight."
"Precisely. And I don't want Minerva getting close to her because Karissa will be the only one capable of taking out the second opponent. For that to work, she needs to save as much energy as possible so that nothing is wasted. It'll give her a chance to recover more of her power once she finishes with Sherria."
Her second battle would require more energy than her first.
"If that's the case, then I will make sure Minerva doesn't leave my sight." Erza swore. If Mavis' plan for Karissa was going to be very precise then she could not let others interfere with the plan. She needed to let Karissa concentrate on her fights and keep her odds in her favour.
"The faster you finish her off the better." Gajeel pointed out to the girl thinking quietly.
"Yeah, I know." She stared at the image representing Sherria. "I'll just have to be careful not to get hit too hard by her attacks and suffer too much damage. That's my only concern. Taking my magic power into consideration won't be too difficult since I have two trump cards up my sleeve for the final game."
"Second Origin?" Gray chirped. That was the trump card for almost everyone.
Karissa looked over her shoulder to see him giving her a knowing look. In response, she smirked and nodded with a thumbs up.
Karissa was a trap and the worst enemy Sherria could face.
…
…
…
A fight with Karissa was always cold.
Wind and ice made it so.
The two girls were no stranger to hand to hand combat. Sherria's blows were enhanced by her God Slaying Magic which were helpful in breaking through enemy defenses because of how heavy the blows were. Karissa's blows were enhanced with Wind Magic which created a double impact on her opponent to destabilize them.
As a distraction, Karissa aimed at the ground between them to make Sherria think she was aiming at her feet which indeed forced her to look down for a second. When she looked, Karissa clenched her fist when it swirled with wind and backhanded Sherria's face to stun her as well. The double impact had the young mage stumbling backwards and then quickly backing away.
"Ice Make: Ice Cleaver!"
Two large tilted spikes shot out from the ground, positioning Sherria in between them when she moved further back. It caught her wrist when it slammed close on her.
"Ow!" Sherria cradled her wrist in shock. It broke.
Ice Cleaver was such a nasty spell, especially when it broke something...
The wrist needed immediate treatment so Sherria started running while healing to put some distance between her and the Fairy Tail mage. Her healing abilities were very impressive. The broken wrist was already halfway healed when Karissa caught up to her. When she did, she launched a wind orb that she barely dodged.
So far, the attacks that struck Sherria were powerful spells that were obviously created with a lot of magic power. She could sense the power behind them.
Karissa was fighting her with reckless output.
With her wrist healed, the Sky God Slayer smirked when she deflected the thousands of ice spears that came her way. Currently, Sherria was on the defensive since Karissa's attacks were relentless, forcing her to heal her wounds. However, unlike Wendy, Karissa didn't have any healing magic with her. She could only expend her power to try and defeat Sherria.
With that in mind, Sherria was starting to see how she was going to win the battle.
"Lyon speaks very highly of you," Sherria began as Karissa calmly walked towards her. "He said that you were very skilled and I'm beginning to see why. You employ ice and wind efficiently, and none of your moves are wasted."
Karissa hummed thoughtfully. She didn't think Lyon would praise her when she wasn't around. This little revelation made her happy since he acknowledged her strength. "Thanks, I guess."
But thanks to Lyon… Sherria knows not to hold back. So far, I've been able to avoid or deflect them. In response to me using powerful spells, she has also been using powerful spells this whole time. That's great.
It's perfect really.
She keeps healing and using strong spells.
"He said that you have a lot of magic power as well."
"Oh? He told you that part?"
"Yes, but I won't go—" Sherria was suddenly blasted by a severe wind gale that slammed her into a nearby building. The wind slashed her body in several areas which included her tendons, limiting her movements. The younger mage couldn't believe how fast the attack came at her. She didn't even see it coming!
With Sherria knowing about her fuel, Karissa decided to crank up the difficulty and use everything she had. She reappeared above Sherria and lifted her foot which had swirling wind around it. The younger mage's eyes widened before she quickly jumped away and avoided the hit that exploded the ground where she was laying just seconds ago.
Debris flew in the air. Big rocks and wood.
The wall of the building and the cobblestone was destroyed.
"That was close!" Sherria breathed in relief. With a leap, she flew in the air by using her magic to keep her upright and then concentrated in healing her wounds. However, before she could finish, all the debris was flung at her because of Karissa's wind. The young mage let out a yelp and maneuvered around the air to dodge the debris.
However, she didn't realize that Karissa flew in the streets and rose up in the air behind her just as fast during that moment.
"Ice Make: Crescent Lancer!" She fired off a barrage of ice crescents into Sherria's body, who screamed as she crashed into the ground.
She didn't stop there.
"Fangs of wind, screech forth…" A big number of storm blades appeared behind her and rapidly swirled like drills, ready to fire on her command. She swung her arm down towards the falling Sherria. "Ventum Crepitus."
All the storm blades rained down mercilessly. Sherria, who landed on the ground hard, groaned and pushed herself up on her feet as best as she could. With a powerful leg, she moved away from the attack. One storm blade pierced into the ground just behind her, missing her.
Great. Now, if she could just avoid doing the same for the others—
The storm blade exploded behind her, destroying the ground and shattering the window of a nearby building. It sent more debris flying in the air. And the shockwave broke Sherria's balance and enabled her from dodging the rest of the attacks.
The smoke hid a large portion of the street, hiding Sherria from her view.
"Sky God's Bellow!"
A powerful breath attack came her away from behind the smoke. It was such a large-scale attack that Karissa got hit on her back while fleeing from it.
"Ow…!" Karissa hissed and put her arm back to feel where she got hit. "Damn it… that's going to bruise tomorrow!" When she fully made it out of its trajectory, Sherria copied her and flew up behind her. Karissa's eyes darted to the side when she saw the young mage in perfect condition. She healed herself behind joining her up in the sky. How fast.
"Sky God's Dance—!"
"Whirlwind Snap!" Katsuko rapidly spun on her heel and raised her leg as if to kick her. However, her foot was too far from the girl's body. To make up for the distance, an arc wind in shape of a whip extended from her leg and struck her right on the side of her head, stunning her. Whirlwind Snap could either be a quick stunner or a way to pull enemies closer once they were left defenseless.
Whenever she came close to an enemy and knew she couldn't dodge, it was better to disrupt the spell to weaken the damage that could possibly still happen if the spell still went off. It was a good risk. Perhaps because Sky God Slaying Magic was a Lost Magic and it required precise concentration, Sherria's attack ceased completely in midst of her daze.
She couldn't dodge the ruthless kick to her abdomen and the ice claw that slashed her body. Sherria lost her focus in the sky and fell.
"Ice Make: Waltz!" With the wind, she went after Sherria and started slashing at her body ruthlessly. The ice blades attached to her wrist and ankles cut into Sherria's skin with precision when she spun her body into her. However, the attack stopped when Sherria unleashed a barrage of wind that dealt damage to Karissa's body when it pushed her back.
Due to the abrupt attack and almost non-existent time to save their falls, they landed on a roof and bounced off it before landing on the ground. Sky Magic and Wind Magic was their safety net but they were only able to save their fall on the roof, not their landing on the ground.
With the amount of damage Karissa dealt, it was no surprise Sherria started healing herself as they got back up on their feet.
Sherria was planning on wearing her down by forcing her to use strong spells and healing from them afterwards. But as they stood back up after recovering from their fall, Sherria was noticing how unbothered Karissa looked. She didn't look like she was breaking a sweat after all of that. Sure, she got hit a couple of times by Sherria's magic, but she never got hurt as bad as Sherria. She was fine… as if she never wasted her energy in the first place.
The young mage blinked, confused when Karissa stood tall.
Ah, she might be noticing it now.
Karissa grinned mysteriously but she didn't provide her with any type of hint. Why should she? If she couldn't figure out the math just yet then that was too bad.
The Sinclost's hands were emitting swirls of ice while Sherria tried racking her brain for an answer. Without any more delay, she slammed her hands on the ground after briefly putting her fist in her palm that caused numerous spikes of ice to spawn after Sherria's position. Unlike usual ones, these were bigger and sharper. Sherria immediately used her magic to blow away all of the ice so that nothing would remain.
Ice Make: Cold Ritual!
Several swords gathered around Sherria' body. They formed three rings around as they spun with the readiness to strike. Sherria's clothes rustled from the wind and she felt the dangerous chill surrounding her body. When she saw Karissa raise her hand, she got into position to deflect her attack.
"Sky God's Boreas!"
Sherria's spell was cast before the swords could make contact after Karissa gave the signal. They stopped when her black whirlwinds expanded and pushed it all away, making them pierce into nearby buildings. Sherria let out a cry as she directed the whirlwinds towards Karissa.
Karissa maneuvered around so that could slide into the shadows behind a building to get out Sherria's sights while black whirlwinds obliterated her ice. She flinched when it chipped off the side of the wall she was hiding behind.
What a strong attack.
The ice mage jumped in surprise when Sherria skidded to a stop in front of her and unleashed a powerful whirlwind right into her face. However, Sherria's magic just stopped and hit an invisible wall while Karissa gritted her teeth with eyes still widened from the surprise, her hair was flying back while she remained put in place without getting touched by the smaller mage's magic.
"What?" Sherria gaped when she couldn't push through.
"You scared me!" Karissa exclaimed.
…
…
…
"It's not really perfect yet but I'm trying to make it work. So, step closer to me and try to touch my hand." She lifted her right hand and wiggled her fingers. He slowly lifted his hand and approached her. His eyes darted from her hand to her face when he got closer.
He blinked.
"What the…?"
When his hand was only a few inches away from hers, he found himself having trouble pushing his hand forward. He couldn't touch her. It was like something was pushing his hand back the more he tried to push. He could feel some type of pressure on his hand. He snapped his head towards her with puzzled a look. "What did you do? I know you didn't stop my hand."
"I'm using Wind Magic." Karissa answered obviously. "My idea was to try and create a new spell to defend myself, a strong spell that could make use of the amount of power I have. So, I used condensed wind magic to surround my body. It's so condensed and concentrated that you barely feel any breeze when it's active unless you get within range. But that might be because it's still not perfect yet. All you feel is wind or air pressure pushing you back the closer you get because it gets stronger."
…
…
…
The spell isn't perfect since it's still in the middle of being perfected... but it's enough right now!
Air pressure shattered Sherria's balance, forcing her to stumble back when the wind suddenly increased in power when it released the invisible wall. Her magic shot off in a different direction and destroyed something in the process.
"Ice Make: Frigid Thorns!"
The ground!
Sherria gritted her teeth when Karissa wasted no time in doing another spell. This time, the ice thorns began poking out of the ground simultaneously. It was a sign that Sherria needed to get off the ground and move up. As she flew up in the air, she wasn't able to dodge the thorns that pierced her thigh and arm which held her back for a few seconds. It slowed her down a little. This would only give Karissa the opportunity to strike her again. She couldn't let her get the next hit again. With that in mind, Sherria's cloaked her legs in black whirlwinds and forced herself to drop down.
"Trailing Sky Arrow!"
Karissa's eyes widened when the young girl rammed her feet into her stomach. She wasn't expecting Sherria to focus on offense so quickly!
That was my mistake.
I'm taking things too lightly.
I shouldn't do that just because she's younger than me.
The impact caused a minor crater beneath them and smoke and rubble exploded in the air. Karissa's right cheek was pressed on the ground when she realized she was on her back with Sherria still on her body. The young mage was making sure the ice mage was down for the count.
Karissa forced herself to snap out of it and get her bearings together while she wheezed. Her other eye was hidden thanks to her bangs, leaving only her left eye visible which suddenly slid to the side and looked directly at Sherria, spooking her. With an iron grip, she grabbed Sherria's ankle right as she was about to get away and stared at her almost eerily.
"You're not going anywhere."
So, I'll stop holding back.
Sherria saw a stigma suddenly appear where she was being held and quickly tried kicking her off. Surprisingly, Karissa actually released her hold which caused her to stumble backwards since the ground was uneven.
"Or you can." Karissa drawled and then coughed.
Just before Sherria could balance herself in the crater, the stigma burst from her ankle and enveloped her in a violent storm that proceeded to slash at her body relentlessly. With cries, Sherria winced when the wind kept attacking her body and preventing her from leaving the small storm. It was purposely attacking her limbs to prevent her from escaping. Usually, Stigma Detonation would explode as a final impact, but Sherria used her magic to break free forcefully only to be greeted with a giant ice hammer. Karissa was holding the end of it and was in mid-swing as if she was going to smash it into Sherria while she was still caught in Stigma Detonation. The handle was thing but the head of the hammer was enormous. The young mage didn't have time to protect or escape with magic. The hammer slammed into her body ruthlessly and threw her into a nearby building. The Sky God Slayer was hidden again behind a smokescreen, leaving Karissa unaware of her next moves.
Karissa breathed out a sigh after dropping her hammer and letting it shatter. She took a moment to put her hands on her knees to cough, still recovering from Sherria's drop kick. It was always annoying to get hit in the stomach.
Knowing how she could be wasting an opportunity, she clicked her tongue and started darting down the street in the opposite direction from where Sherria was. She used wind magic to propel herself onto one of the roofs which she landed on with ease. Once she stood straight, she raised her hands and pointed her palms at the ground.
Zephyr Sensory.
A gentle breeze began to spread out towards the area where Sherria fell into. The wind that flowed in that direction was picking up on movement somewhere towards the north. It felt like she was running with how the breeze increased when she passed it by.
She'll want to take this up in the air since the buildings are getting in the way. She needs to land an attack on me and she would have a better chance at it if she had a better vantage point. There's no way she won't make use of her magic that could help her fly to do it.
"Ice Make: Rime Cannon."
A large ice cannon formed and landed on her shoulder. Her body got into position and she closed one eye to focus on the space in front of her.
"A sniper shot?!" Jet exclaimed. "She's seriously about to cannon a girl in the sky?!"
"Better to shoot the bird out of the sky than let it shit on your head." Van droned.
"That's a terrible analogy." Elfman shook his head in disapproval.
…
…
…
Karissa shot Sherria with her ice cannon.
When a flurry of ice exploded in the sky, Karissa dropped her cannon and leaped off the roof to rapidly zoom after Sherria in the air. She prepared twin ice blades in her hands.
Other participants of the game who saw the ice thought fireworks were going off in the middle of their map.
Erza eyed the ice in the sky with a pensive look. Karissa was located behind her just as the First Master predicted she would be. An encounter with Minerva was most likely going to happen soon.
Gajeel, who saw the whole thing since he was nearby, actually pitied Sherria for getting caught in that unmerciful attack. It reminded him of how Karissa dragged Evergreen into the Fairy Tail building. This and that gave off the same vibe.
Laxus only hummed to himself, a sound of approval.
Gray squinted his eyes when he saw the ice in the air. He figured Karissa was fighting her first battle right now. As he kept walking, he noticed a lacrima vision up ahead. Eager to see what was going on, he jogged over to it. It displayed a split screen. One showed how Karissa apathetically shot the cannon, and Sherria getting struck by the ice cannon in midair just as she flew away from the ground. The other was broadcasting Karissa jumping off the roof and flying to where she might have landed.
Since he was finished with his battle, he decided to take his rest by watching the fight between the two. He was wondering how she was going to take down the young Sky Mage.
…
…
…
After catching up to Sherria, Karissa wasted no time in attacking by throwing her blades but Sherria shattered her swords with powerful whirlwinds. The ice mage was still in her throwing position on a rooftop while Sherria was on the ground, her body was glowing a pink light as her wounds started to heal completely. All the damage she suffered until now was disappearing.
"You're not bad, Karissa." Sherria smiled, dusting off her clothes. Her clothes looked roughed up from taking those hits. "You've got great battle experience."
Karissa twirled an ice trident in her hand. "You're not bad either." She reciprocated her praise.
"No, no, I know I still have a long way to go." Sherria humbly shook her head. The journey to become stronger was a never ending one. She still had room to get more experience in fighting.
"You know how to use your magic well."
Sherria smiled. "It's one of the things I'm most proud of...
Karissa liked that. The confidence as a mage was important to one's abilities. "That's great."
"That being said... You're not an opponent I can hold back against so...!" The petite girl got into position and raised her arms to conjure up a giant black whirlwind around them. It reminded Karissa of Erigor's wind barrier around the train station. "I took inspiration from my new friend Wendy." Sherria revealed.
Rapidly, Karissa started conjuring up wind around her to increase her defenses. While doing so, she balanced the trident horizontally on her arm. "But tell me, how are you feeling? Tired perhaps?"
Sherria laughed sheepishly. "Yeah… I've been using a lot of magic to attack and heal my wounds so it's only natural I'd be getting tired fast. But I can keep going! I'm going to win for my team!" Sherria's big blue eyes were shinning with confidence as she got into position to cast her follow up spell. "I suppose you're the same, right?"
Karissa resisted the urge to laugh and simply shook her head. "Not even close."
Sherria paused. "… Eh?"
"I mean, yeah, I'll win for my team… But it's as Lyon told you. I have a lot of magic power. That's not an exaggeration." She increased the wind's defenses. "I haven't even burned through have of my power in comparison to yours in this fight." If she represented a sixth phantom member of her team thanks to her magic power, then their team was slowly losing that sixth member with this fight. In other words, she was getting closer to the threshold of being average since she kept trying to incite Sherria into using her magic.
The Sky God Slayer paused when Karissa revealed this fact. She didn't know if she was bluffing to give her a sense of crisis or if it was true. Either way, it was succeeding in making her unsure.
"But you've been using so many spells without rest…" Sherria pointed out. This whole time, Karissa and Sherria were using spells left and right to win their fights. "You can't possibly have insane amount of power…!"
"I used a lot of spells to have you heal your wounds to accelerate your use of magic power." Karissa said as a matter of fact before stabbing the trident into the roof while lowering her head to hide her face. "The longer this fight drags out then the more tired you'll feel by the end of it. I don't mind, because I don't need to reinforce my spells with power since you'll exhaust yourself first by constantly healing and attacking." She tilted lazily while keeping a firm hold on her trident.
Sherria's eyes widened when she realized she was dancing in the palm of Karissa' hand. The wind barrier around them ceased completely.
A silver tongue. A basic skill.
"No way…"
The fairy fooled the God who realized it too late.
Karissa tore out the trident and suddenly flung it at Sherria who dodged it with a back step. "And if you choose not to use your magic anymore to save your energy, then that'll just give me an opening to take you down when I have the chance."
The youngest Sinclost was laying out all the cards for her to see. She no longer cared that Sherira knew her strategy since it was too late to change anything. Now, Sherria was going to have to second guess everything to preserve herself in the long run.
"No matter what you do, I'll still end up enduring longer than you." The ice mage smirked, and her eyes seemed to glow orange with the intent to win undeniable victory once more. "And I won't even let you eat the air to give yourself a boost. You won't have time when the wind catches up to you."
This whole time, Sherria thought she was wearing her down by making her use spells to reduce her energy. She didn't realize Karissa was doing the same to her. There was no chance for victory for Sherria. The odds were no longer in her favour. Knowing this, the young mage immediately started fleeing on foot. She needed to find Lyon or Jura in order to get support. She needed another person to help her defeat Karissa because it was too risky! She couldn't risk being defeated on her own like this!
"Lyon didn't tell me all of that!" Sherria whined to herself while occasionally glancing back to see if Karissa was following her.
She wasn't.
I can't let you find your allies either. You might heal them or they could back you up which complicates the First Master's plans. As instructed, I need to defeat you by myself.
Karissa created an orb of wind and threw it downwards before leaping off the roof. It caused a whirlwind that spiraled and lifted her into the sky. At the same time, she summoned powerful wind and sent it flowing after Sherria who began to get lifted off the ground by it. She let out a scream when it flung her in the air.
As wind began accumulating around Karissa, large ice spears began forming within it to create a tempest of wind and ice, lowering the surrounding air temperature.
Sherria's blue eyes caught sight of the maelstrom of ice and wind. Panicking, she tried to come up with a way to get out of this. But… if she used her magic to defend against the spell, she would still receive damage because it was hard to defend against the wind itself. Her mind already told her that this incoming spell was a devastating one. And even if she could block it, Karissa would mostly likely be able to conjured up another spell like this one and attack her once more while Sherria couldn't afford to block and heal with magic repeatedly.
Or could she?
Could she still be able to do it?
What if she was bluffing—
Her arms were thrown open as she gave her spell the greenlight. "Glacial Cyclone!"
Under the sun, the wind that swirled smaller pieces of ice shined brightly around Karissa, adding a sense of beauty to the coming spell. Her long black hair flowed with the wind. Her blue sleeves fluttered and they looked almost like mismatched wings, transforming her into Winter Fairy in Sherria's awestruck eyes.
"Pretty…"
As if excited by her command, the maelstrom of ice and wind soared high in the air with a screeching sound before rushing after Sherria, trapping her inside the merciless and severe ice storm.
Mavis smiled proudly at the young ice-wind mage. Karissa didn't use thoughtless moves in her fight. Every single action she took was for a single purpose: to wear Sherria down, to isolate her, and defeat her with certainty. She took her surroundings in account to limit her use of magic power, using it all to injure the younger mage enough to have her heal herself.
Fights do not have to be won by using power alone. The strength of intellect and analysis was incredibly powerful.
And when Sherria got caught in her maze of self-doubt, Karissa landed the finishing blow, ending the match.
Max couldn't help the grin stretching on his face when Karissa's victory was assured. "Damn, I love that girl. She's fun to watch."
"Lamia Scale's Sherria Blendy is down! The winner of the aerial and ground battle is Karissa! Karissa Sinclost of Fairy Tail! Fairy Tail now has 47 points!"
Karissa was the second person in their team to win a match.
"Alright! You did great, Karissa!"
Proud, Gray fist pumped and grinned when Karissa's ultimate victory replayed several times on the lacrima vision with the word 'winner' followed by the name of their guild. After a few more replays, the screen showed how Karissa, while still in the air, used her magic to lower Sherria on top of a roof as gently as possible, a wonderful display of sportsmanship that had Chapati cooing over.
Then she tilted backwards to appear as if she was lying down. Her body remained levitated in the air looking as if she was basking in the atmosphere and her victory. The lacrima camera flew nearby her and took in her expression to show the audience how she was feeling. She noticed the little object flying towards her and faced it, face appearing like a curious child until she realized what it was.
Her guild was watching her.
They were all cheering for her.
On screen, everyone saw one of her rarest smiles.
Gray couldn't help but smile at the sight of it, adoring the way she looked.
Magnificent.
…
…
…
"The Final Day of the Grand Magic Games, and Lamia Scale is currently in the lead! Behind them is Fairy Tail, Sabertooth, and Mermaid Heel! Fairy Tail hasn't yet lost a member! They're strong, and they're slowly climbing back to first place!"
Lamia Scale – 52
Fairy tail – 47
Sabertooth – 45
Mermaid Heel – 41
"Amazing…!"
"Whoaaa!"
"Fairy Tail still has a full roster!"
"But they can't possibly take down Sabertooth!"
"I'm surprised Lamia Scale is at the top!"
In a city far away from Crocus, somewhere in the northeast of Fiore, people gathered in the central plaza of their town where a huge lacrima vision was broadcasting the Grand Magic Games live. The area was filled with tables, chairs, and food stands for the purpose of watching the event. It was extremely lively. The people were brimming with excitement and anticipation for the end of the event.
A man slipped off the chair of a small drink stand that had a counter a few chairs, and he waved his hand to the bartender. He had a pleasant smile on his face while waving until he turned around and suddenly had an air of cool composure. In contrast to everyone's enthusiasm, this man did not express such emotion as he was focusing his mind on his personal side mission which required gathering intel for now. He was dressed in a long sleeve shirt that was gray and white on the chest while the sleeves were gray. His trousers were not too noticeable beacuse they were simply dark brown tucked inside his black boots that matched the colour of his hair.
As he eyed the people around him, he could spot a few families sitting at their own tables, smiling and enjoying their lives. His obsidian eyes couldn't help but eye the one family of three that had a son with red hair and green eyes. The little tyke was jumping up and down and pointing at something. The parents were wondering what he was pointing until another child came into view. It was a little girl with short brown hair wearing a purple summer dress. Ah. A little friendship, that makes sense.
The man finally tore his eyes away and looked at the joyful people around him. Everywhere was just filled with positivity.
If he was a normal man, he would probably be excited for the event as well.
It was an interesting thing to watch to keep up to date but it wasn't something he could watch and enjoy simply because he wanted to. Life made it hard to enjoy simple joys sometimes.
With a brief sigh, he started maneuvering his way through the crowd. It was just his luck that the center of the plaza was filled with an audience who were watching the big lacrima vision. He was trying to make it to the back of the crowd to have more breathing space to walk through.
"That victory was insane!"
"Can you believe that everyone was booing him on the first day? Look at them now!"
"They were the first to win for Fairy Tail!"
"I think I remember them. They used to be one of the focus of that gossip article."
"That's crazy."
Currently, the screen was showcasing Gray Fullbuster and Karissa Sinclost due to their recent victories. It was showing their performance throughout the entire event.
The man grunted when an overly excited teen bustled him. The boy was wearing glasses, and he was dressed in some plain clothes that consisted of a long sleeve maroon shirt and some jeans. His apologies spewed out of his mouth quickly when he realized what he did. He didn't mean to.
"Don't worry about it." The man raised his hand to dismiss him, looking at him briefly before looking in front of him again. But he still glanced back towards the teen's direction because he was just a little curious to know what excited him.
Time froze.
The man stopped moving completely.
What.
His eyes widened in disbelief as he stared at the lacrima vision. The sounds around him faded into the distance. He couldn't quite comprehend what he was looking at. He thought that he was simply seeing things on the screen or that perhaps he was dreaming of an impossibility.
And yet, he knew that what he was looking at was real.
Two people who he thought had died during that terrible night, that night when he lost everything which made him determined to kill anything that was connected to the cause, were well and alive. The boy, his flesh and blood, that he was always so proud of was standing tall with a smirk as he wore his opponent's hat. And the girl, the one he undoubtedly adored and cared for as if she was his own, was in the sky smiling so magnificently.
They prospered and grew into two beautiful people that he never thought would be possible.
At that moment, he forgot about everything.
He cared only about looking at the two.
And the longer he stared, the more his feelings intensified. Pure joy and relief caused tears, the manifestation of his emotions to appear in his eyes.
His cross earring shined when he took an uneasy step back. It shot light directly into someone's eyes behind him. They flinched in annoyance since he was in the middle of watching what was displayed on the lacrima vision. The sight of mages fighting on screen had stopped him in his tracks earlier when he was walking in his gray cloak, it piqued his curiosity. But the man in front of him unknowingly blinded him for a split second. His snow white hair under his gray hood couldn't block the light from attacking him.
His dark brown eyes slid to look at the man in front of him. For a second, he saw the side of his face that showed how he was visibly shaken with emotion.
It hinted that this man had some kind of attachment towards those two people on the screen…
The hooded figure eyed the man thoughtfully.
"Interesting…"
I finally realize that Gray's eyes ARE BLACK and not BLUE. I always thought so, but anime and wiki was tripping me up!
This chapter was supposed to be longer but... nah, that's too much. I'll save it for the next which might come out earlier than usual!
The fight between Karissa and Sherria was always going to be centered around endurance.
When I was going through the manga pages to keep track of the timing of fights, I saw how Sherria's fight was non-existent for several pages which was disappointing since I liked her character. Obviously, it was because she was paired with Juvia... so, no surprise there -_-
I wanted to give that girl some more screen time (or in this case... page time?)
Anyway, thanks for reading and I hope you have a nice day/night!
