"Ah, now that's an expression I was hoping to see!" King chuckled at Cana's shocked expression. The way the confidence drained from her face was absolutely amusing to King. "200 monsters! I highly doubt she'll make it out alive. HAHA!"

"You've gotta be joking…" Cana said while gritting her teeth. "C'mon, Erza…" She had faith in Erza, but she knew a challenge when she saw one.

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The monster slaying was on! Erza and Knightwalker took off in two different directions to deal with the swarm of 200 monsters. Who would come out the winner? Let's find out!

"Kanso!" Erza exclaimed, requipping into her Flight Armor, dual wielding two blades. She raced in a zig zag pattern, slashing every single monster that crossed her path. "Sonic Claw!" One monster was fast enough to evade her strike and leapt back, but Erza wasn't having that. She leapt up a second later and slashed the monster, destroying it completely. She touched down later, looking to see how Knightwalker was holding up.

"C'mon, you shouldn't stop even for a second!" Knightwalker said while swinging her spear, batting away any monsters that tried to pounce her. The spear then changed into the Cannon Head Spear, which caused multiple explosions that blew away the monsters, killing them quickly. Then, about twenty monsters all tried to pounce on the Edolas Knight, but she was unfazed. "Heh…" She chuckled before slamming the head of her spear into the floor, causing a wide spread explosion that eliminated all the monsters coming her way.

"Just making sure you could keep up…" Erza replied before turning to the horde she was facing, now requipping her Purgatory Armor, wielding the giant spiked sword that struck fear into the heart of humans, and now monsters. Coming Erza's way were a pack of charging Brutal, the large bulls coming towards her with their electrified horns. She lifted her spiked sword into the air, and then brought it down with a mighty swing. This prompted a powerful shockwave to rip through the floor, erupting underfoot of the charging bulls, throwing them into the air. Once their were airborne against their will, Erza shifted into her Heaven's Wheel armor, spinning swords appearing around her as she flew forward. "Pentagram Sword!" She sliced through the Brutals with ease, killing them on impact.

Knightwalker scoffed at Erza's display, refusing to be left behind. Mel Force was active and she spun around, creating a tornado that drew in a multitude of monsters. Once they were drawn in, she shifted to her Explosion Spear, stabbing it into the ground to cause a widespread explosion that destroyed everything around her. "I'm just getting started!"

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"It should only be a matter of time before Erza Scarlet falls, and then everyone else will fall as well. You will understand the price of meddling in affairs that don't concern you," King said to Cana as she was promptly tied up tightly by Joker.

"King, there are some pests I wish to attend to…I'll be taking a short leave," Heartless told King before walking out of the throne room.

"Heartless is joining the action, hm…?" A slow grin appeared on the ruler's face, absolutely delighted while he shuffled his deck of cards. "My, my, you all really don't stand a chance, do you?"

"Just wait and see…!" Cana shot back while struggling to free herself from the magic sealing rope, but to no avail.

"Excuse me, King…" Daigo said while appearing out of nowhere.

"Daigo? What is it? Don't you have somewhere to be?" King asked with some agitation in his voice. "Whatever it is, it better be worth you abandoning your post."

"W-Well you see…" Daigo started nervously.

"Spit it out," Joker commanded.

"W-Well…!" Daigo shouted from his nervousness, unsure how King would react to the news. "You see…the number of monsters in the basement is…steadily dropping…twice than how we expected it to."

"Repeat that…?" King's confidence grin turned into a scowl of disapproval at the news.

"The monsters are dying faster than we thought and more than we thought…!" Daigo repeated. "It's as if Erza is killing them at a rate double than what we were anticipating!"

"What? But how?" King growled. "That shouldn't be happening…! What's going on down there!?" And so, King pulled up a screen of the Monster's chambers, only to see Erza and Knightwalker fighting together. "What!? Two Erzas?! Who is that!?"

"..." Joker folded his arms across his chest silently.

"I told you!" Cana said with a sly grin. She had no idea how or why Knightwalker was here, but if they were working together, that absolutely spelled doom for anything that crossed their path! "With Erza, nothing's impossible!"

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"AGH!" Erza and Knightwalker were both slammed into the ground by a Pterobronic. Even if there were two Erzas, they were still vaslty outnumbered and this was a reminder of that. The second they hit the ground, a few more Pterobronics flew over them, releasing multiple bursts of flames from their beaks. Numerous fiery explosions surrounded the two Erzas, drowning out their cries of pain. The fire didn't last long, as a wounded Erza emerged from the fire in her Flame Empress Armor, leaping into the sky to slash a Pterobonic and knock it out of the sky. She then shifted to her Black Wing Armor, attempting to contest the birds in the air.

"Black Wing Flash!" She brought her sword down on one of the birds, but it blocked it with its wings, much to her surprise. Erza then looked up, realizing the tail of a Pterobronic was coming down on top of her! She was bracing for impact, however...

"Gravity Core!" Knightwalker lifted her spear into the air, an orb of gravity appearing at the tip. She then slammed it into the ground, the gravity in the room shifting and causing everyone and everything in the air to fall, including Erza. "I'm clipping their wings!" From Gravity Core, to Blue Crimson; two lances of fire and ice respectively appeared in both hands. Knightwalker lunged forward with the frozen lance. "Glacial Lance!" The ice spread out and completely froze over the opposing birds; Knightwalker then hurled her icy lance forward, watching as an explosion of ice shattered everything caught in its wake.

It was at that moment the two were assaulted by quick moving tails. They were able to defend against it, but they slid back. After the birds were dealt with, they were surrounded by Fenrirs. The wolves circled around the two of them, like a pack ready to leap at their prey. "I could keep this up for a bit longer, how about you?" Erza glanced at Knightwalker, her words a bit more playful and goading. Despite her injuries, it would take far more than that to slow her down.

"I haven't even broken a sweat yet." Knightwalker replied with a wry, irritated smile. They were both Erza, so it was going to take plenty more than 200 monsters to keep them down. The Fenrirs lunged at the Scarlet haired duo. Knightwalker brandished the flames of Blue Crimson, while Erza stayed in her Black Wing Armor. The Fenrirs near the fire did fear it, but their hunting instinct overcame that fear. "It's your funeral!" Knightwalker said with a malicious smile, swinging her lance to engulf the white wolves in a sea of fire.

Another bright light surrounded Erza's body, fading to reveal her Heaven's Wheel armor. She flew up into the sky and raised her arms to her sides, a wheel of swords appearing around her. "Dance my blades! Circle Sword!" The blades around Erza then began to spin around her rapidly, and shew flew forward into a horde of monsters, slicing and dicing everything in her path. There were still plenty of monsters remaining, and she wasn't granting them any quarter.

Knightwalker had her sights set on a particularly large monster; one that towered quite a few feet over her. She grinned and gripped her spear, sprinting towards the monster at an alarming rate. The monster attempted to swipe her with its claw, but she dodged swiftly, her grin growing. "You're mine!" She exclaimed, slashing the monster several times with her spear. After the final slash, she expected the monster to kneel over and die, but that wasn't the case. Instead, it let out an angered roar that took her off guard. "…!"

"Move!" Erza exclaimed, unleashing a bombardment of swords upon the monster. Knightwalker slide away at the last second. The monster fell to its side and died in a miniature explosion.

"I didn't need your help," Knightwalker immediately spat towards Erza with a look of disgust. "Nor did I want it."

"It's not a competition if one goes down," Erza replied before turning her back to Knightwalker, choosing to face another horde of monsters on her own.

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"Why the hell is this place poker themed…?" Flynn asked while glancing at the wall.

"I think the correct term you're looking for is casino themed," Rylo corrected the speed mage. "I should know, I've been to a few back in my day."

"But did they ever have anything like this?" Flynn questioned.

"A power mad king who wants to take over the country with a dragon that can kill everyone? Yeah, no," Rylo replied with a soft chuckle, trying to make some light of the situation.

"Stop chattering…" Evanee demanded of the two. "We're in enemy territory, the slightest action could alert them of our presence."

"Not to be rude, Shorty…" Ceaser said, causing Evanee's eye to twitch at the nickname. "But I think we passed stealth when we fell, ya know?"

"I'm surprised you remembered something that happened more than five minutes ago…" Alexander commented.

"What?" Ceaser blinked cluelessly now; he already forgot what he was talking about.

"I think we should get on track…" Melanie suggested, able to tell that Evanee was getting a little peeved from the current chatter.

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Erza leapt from side to side, evading the massive swipes coming from a nearby beast three times her size. She flew forward and slashed the beast in the shape of a pentagram, appearing behind it after the slice. "Pentagram sword!" She yelled, looking over to see if she fell the beast with the blow. She didn't, and her eyes widened as the beast quickly turned and slammed its claw into her side. A yelp of pain escaped Titania's lips and she was sent hurtling to the nearest wall, dazed from the power of the strike. "Ugh…" She groaned. With now blurry vision, she could make out the monster preparing to finish her off, causing her eyes to widen. Her body wasn't responding the way she needed it to. "…!"

"HA!" Knightwalker exclaimed, jumping from above with her vacuum spear. "Melforce!" She yelled, unleashing a potent burst of wind from the head of her spear, blowing the monster away a few feet. She followed up by changing her spear back into the Cannon Head and plunged it in the monster's chest before it had a chance to recover, the massive explosion blowing the monster away. Knightwalker landed after and looked over her shoulder at Erza. "Now I don't owe you anything.

"Fair enough…" Erza replied as she finally freed herself from the wall. "How many are left?"

"I estimate 100," Knightwalker replied. "I'm sure you can keep going, Scarlet?"

Erza merely gave the slyest of smirks to Knightwalker, now requipping into her Lightning Empress Armor. "Of course I can. I'm only worried that you'll start to fall behind. It'll cut down on some of the fun."

"Very funny…" Knightwalker replied with a roll of her eyes. The two charged in again, while the monsters were determined to completely take them down. Erza stabbed the tip of her lance into the ground, sending an electric shockwave through the floor to shock anything that was grounded. Knightwalker followed this up by shifting to her Silfarion spear, granting her an incredible boost in speed. Before any monster had a chance to realize what was happening, they were cut down by the speed that Knightwalker possessed.

The airborne monsters attempted to fly at Knightwalker while she wasn't moving, but that's when Erza came in. She used her Flight Armor's speed to leap into the air, the combination of her Wind God's Sword and Flame Sword resulting in a fiery trail behind her. "Gale Claw!" With the speed of Sonic Claw, and the fire and winds at her disposal, she was able to incinerate anything that even looked at her funny. Before they even had a moment of rest, a large footstep caused the room to shake. Erza and Knightwalker both looked up, only to see the shadow of several large behemoths towering over them.

"They just don't give up." Knightwalker sucked her teeth. As much as she hated to admit it, these monsters were strong...but she was stronger.

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"Welcome, welcome!" Strong exclaimed as Ace, Natsu, Takeru, Gajeel, Happy, and Pantherlily all stepped inside his "room" which was a wide open space. Nothing but them and Strong. "I'm glad to see you slowpokes could finally make it, I was starting to get a little bored you know?"

"Is this the real one?" Takeru asked while folding his arms across his chest. "I don't want to waste time with another stupid thought…"

"It's the real deal!" Strong grinned towards Takeru, resting his signature club over his shoulder.

"Good, so we can make this quick…" Ace said while stepping forward.

"Not so fast!" Strong said while bringing his arm up. "You gotta work for it!" He then slammed his club on the ground once more, causing the floor to break apart underneath their feet, just like before.

"Oh no you don't!" Natsu roared while sprinting forward, Happy picking up him up midway to turn the sprint into a fast, low altitude flight. Natsu's right hand lit up in flames as he reared it back. "Iron Fist of the Fire Dragon!" He exclaimed, throwing his fist towards Strong's face, but Strong blocked with his large arm. "Tch!" Natsu and Happy backed up, looking over their shoulder to see Gajeel and Takeru taking to the air.

"Iron Dragon's…" Gajeel said while leaping high into the air, cheeks puffing out. "Roar!" Gajeel threw his head forward, unleashing a funnel of iron shrapnel in Strong's direction.

"Shadow Dragon's roar!" Takeru followed suit, unleashing his roar from the ground. The two roars raced towards Strong, cutting through the very floor that was ready to break apart.

"Strong pulls back!" Strong commented in third person as he reared his club back. "And he goes for his signature Strong Swing!" Strong then swung, smacking both roars sent at him away, directing them right towards Ace.

"Whoa!" Ace dove to the side, quickly recovering as flames engulfed his arm. He dashed towards Strong at a low angle and prepared a quick, devastating uppercut aimed at the opposing male's chin. "Heat Upper!" It was a direct hit, Strong staggered back a step from the blow, but quickly recovered. Ace jumped back just swung with his bare hand, avoiding the hit just in time. "He's certainly stronger than I remember. Hey, Strong!? Have you been working out!?" He asked mockingly.

"Just a little bit!" Strong replied with a cheeky grin. "Have you been getting slower!?"

Pantherlily came in in his Battle Form, ready to slash strong with his fully extended blade. Strong smacked Lily away with a powerful punch, causing the Exceed to tumble across the floor before coming to a halt. "That one stung…"

"You guys can't beat me!" Strong laughed with utter confidence. "I'm too powerful!"

"Power goes to your head fast…" Lily commented. It was at the moment that the floor made a loud cracking noise. Everyone froze for a second before looking down, then at each other with comical "oh crap" expressions.

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Erza and Knightwalker were both heavily damaged by this point. Fighting 200 monsters was no easy feat, even for two Erzas. Yet, together they managed to reduce the number from 200 to 1. All that stood before them was a large behemoth of a monster, horns protruding from its mouth. It towered over the two of them, its shadow cast powerfully over them both. "This one's mine…" Knightwalker sneered towards Erza.

"Mine…" Erza replied. In that second, they were both off, dashing towards the final monster with their incredible speed. The monster raised its leg and stepped on the ground, creating a massive shockwave towards the two knights. Both redheads leapt into the air, weapons raised. They then cross slashed the beast across the chest at the same time, sliding behind it. "Not dead yet?" Erza asked with a raised brow.

The monster turned, striking the two knights with a single claw strike, causing them both to go flying back. They caught themselves and panted heavily, looking up at the beast with glares. "This thing is strong…" Knight bit her tongue at what she was about to say. "I'm not working together with you…but we should stay out of each other's way this time…"

"Isn't that what we've been doing?" Erza asked, though she knew what Knightwalker was implying. "No matter…Just follow me." A bright light surrounded Erza's body, and she dashed forward in her Giant's armor. The monster slashed again, but with the overwhelming strength she was given in this armor, she caught the claw and hurled the monster to the ground. "Now!"

"As if you had to tell me!" Knightwalker replied while changing her spear into two, the dual fire and ice spears of Blue Crimson once again. She jumped forward, pointing both spears at the belly of the beast. A mixture of fire and ice shot out, slamming right into the monster's exposed stomach. The monster laid flat on its back, not moving an inch. Knightwalker grinned to herself and Scarlet, proclaiming victory. "My kill."

"You wouldn't have gotten that without me," Erza replied. "It's more like it was our kill, don't you think?"

"Piss off!" Knightwalker shouted angrily. "I didn't need you!"

"Just accept the fact that we're equals…?" Erza sighed while shaking her head. Of course, Knightwalker wasn't having this.

"I killed more monsters, clearly," Knightwalker scoffed.

"Are you sure…?" Erza questioned with a brow raised. "I'm certain I killed 101 of them."

"No. I killed 101." Knightwalker replied with a eyebrow twitch.

"...Knightwalker..." Erza pinched the bridge of her nose. But she realized she didn't have time for this either. "We will have to find some way to settle this, so you can be happy. And then...perhaps we can get you back to where you belong."

Knightwalker already had her back turned. "I'm not leaving this world until I surpass you. There's nothing worse in any world than finding your equal. This was a one time thing, don't ever expect it to happen again."

"...You sound like someone I know." Erza said with a faint smile. But she was quickly reminded of Knightwalker's true animosity when her spear was pointed at her neck. "..."

"...I respect you, Scarlet. But I intend to surpass you. That is what I was brought into this world to do. My drive was reignited by Hyde. I forgot who I was for a long time. I am a proud knight of Edolas. I serve His Majesty...and I will do whatever I need to, to prove my strength. Even if that means taking your life. Don't forget that." Although she had been reformed...that murderous intent that was drowned out over the last seven years was reborn. "If there's one more Fairy I have to hunt, it will be you." But for now? Out of respect for the fight they just had...she lowered her spear, and walked off.

"..." Erza let out a heavy sigh. Knightwalker's heart was clouded...but there wasn't anything she could do about it right now. In fact, she felt her body sting from her injuries now that the adrenaline was flushing out of her for the time being. "...I have to regroup with the others." Knightwalker was a later problem. Right now, King was the major threat.

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"It's like this hallway doesn't end…" Lucy said with a slight groan.

"We've been walking for a while now…" Aira nodded, looking around at the walls.

"Hm…" Juvia kept to herself.

"Wait…" Lucy glanced at the walls, eyes narrowing as she noticed something funny. "These walls…" She walked to the wall, thumping it with her fists. Off came a piece of the wall, and it showed a tube filled with fire and lightning; almost as if it was going somewhere. "…!" Lucy was off, leaving Aira and Juvia in the dust.

"W-wait up!" Aira cried out, chasing after Lucy.

"What's gotten into her?!" Juvia asked while keeping up with Aira.

"I don't know! She just looked at the wall and took off!" Aira replied.

Lucy slid into a generator like room, eyes wide with what she was looking at. Taurus Fire and Gemini Spark. Standing in front of them was Heartless. "Taurus! Gemini!" The celestial blonde cried. Aira and Juvia slid into the room right after Lucy, both immediately narrowing their eyes at the sight.

"So you made it…" Heartless said with a nonchalant nod.

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Lucy: "Taurus! Gemini! Just hold on, I'm finally here to save you!"

Aira: "Lucy-chan, be careful! Who knows what they can do!"

Heartless: "You can't save them, it's been too long."

Lucy: "We'll see about that! We don't know anything until we try! And I won't stop trying, no matter what!"

Next time: Lucy's Stand!