Boom!
A blinding flash of light exploded around Erza as her heavy blade clashed against something unseen. The Dark Magician Girl was knocked back by the sheer shockwave of Erza's Purgatory Armor. She spun through the air, her skirt fluttering as she struggled to regain balance mid-flight.
Just as she managed to stabilize herself using a burst of magic, a brutal and overwhelming presence rushed toward her with killing intent.
Erza wasn't going to give the Dark Magician even a second longer to finish casting. She made a snap decision.
She'd end this in one blow.
"Purgatory RIP!!"
Whoosh!!
The jagged heavy sword carved through the air, cleaving directly toward the Dark Magician Girl with monstrous speed.
Too fast!
The Black Magician Girl's eyes widened there wasn't enough time to raise a barrier. The enormous blade expanded in her vision like a wall of death.
Crash!!
The savage blow tore through the earth, carving a deep trench and hurling debris high into the air.
But…
"Eh?" Erza's brows furrowed.
The scene she had expected of the Dark Magician Girl being torn apart never happened.
Instead, what emerged from the dust were four magician hats, each marked with a question mark. And her sword had only struck one of them.
A trick?
"Don't forget about me, Erza." Chase's voice echoed calmly as he flipped a trap card on his Duel Disk.
[Trap Card: Magic Hat] – When your opponent attacks, summon four magical hats to conceal an ally. One of them hides the target. There's a risk the attacker may strike the real one.
A faint grin touched Chase's lips. "Sorry, you picked the wrong one!"
Far behind Erza, the farthest hat popped open and from it leapt the Dark Magician Girl, glowing with brilliant purple energy as she spun her wand overhead.
"Then take this Black Magic Explosion!"
BOOM!
The magic detonated in the air like a firework. A shockwave of arcane energy blasted outward, hitting Erza head-on and sending her flying backward. She slammed into the ground, carving a groove in the earth as she skidded to a halt.
The crowd gasped but Erza wasn't gravely wounded.
Through the fading smoke, one could see that she had raised the remaining half of the Diamond Armor's shield in time to block most of the magic's destructive force.
Chase narrowed his eyes.
Just as expected.
The Black Magician Girl also knew that wouldn't be enough.
That blast had been a decoy.
Buzz!
Before Erza could stand up again, the Dark Magician Girl raised her staff and whipped it forward. A pink magic chain shot out like lightning, wrapping tightly around Erza's body before she could react.
"Master! Now!" she cried.
In that moment, the tide of battle shifted again
The final move was about to be made.
The Dark Magician gave a silent nod, then stepped forward. His staff crackled with deep magical energy, and without hesitation, he swung it down toward Erza, who was still restrained and unable to move.
"Black Magic Guide!"
A dense energy sphere, far more concentrated than the Dark Magician Girl's earlier spell, burst forth. As it surged forward, it warped the very air around it, crackling with an overwhelming aura of destruction.
BOOM!!!
The sphere detonated on impact. Black and violet energy spiraled into the sky like a pillar of raw force. The ground trembled underfoot, and a deafening roar echoed throughout the battlefield.
"Yeah! We won!" the Dark Magician Girl cheered midair, throwing up a V-sign in celebration.
"Be careful, idiot!" Chase shouted from behind, eyes wide.
But he was a step too late.
From deep within the explosion's smoke, a sharp blast of blue lightning ripped through the haze. It struck fast far too fast.
Zzzzap!!
The bolt pierced right through half of the Dark Magician Girl's body.
"Oops... I let my guard down again..." she muttered with a sheepish grin, scratching her head. A second later, her body dissolved into shimmering particles of light and returned to the deck.
"This girl will never learn to stop being careless..." Chase sighed, massaging his forehead.
On the field, the only one left was the Dark Magician, who twirled his staff and shifted into a defensive stance.
Across from him now stood Erza completely unharmed.
She was clad in a sleeveless lavender kimono-style armor, her long crimson hair fluttering. In her hands, a gleaming guandao shimmered with deadly elegance.
Just before the explosion hit, Erza had used the extreme agility of her "Distant Clothing" armor to slip out of the magic chains and dodge the Black Magic Guide completely!
She didn't waste a second.
With a powerful kick of her legs, she lunged forward, slicing through the air like a bolt of lightning.
But she didn't head toward the Dark Magician.
No at the last moment, she pivoted.
"Change armor Star Armor!"
She stomped against the ground, launching herself past the Dark Magician. Her target was clear:
Chase.
The master himself!
The Dark Magician blinked in surprise. For a second, he hesitated, considering whether to give chase.
But then he glanced back at Chase calm and collected, even with Erza charging full force.
The Dark Magician let out a silent breath and nodded. This was no duel to the death.
So he let go of his magic.
With a shimmer of violet light, his form scattered into particles and returned to the deck.
Now, it was just the two of them.
No summons. No interference.
"Come on, Chase! This is the final blow!!"
Erza's shout roared through the battlefield as she thrust her guandao forward, golden and violet arcs trailing in her wake. The blade gleamed like a shooting star, slicing the air with pure concentrated magic.
"Star Light Particle Sword!!"
Her entire body radiated with blinding brilliance, her magic power surging like a wave ready to burst.
But Chase was ready.
He raised his hand, a quiet grin forming on his lips.
"Perfect. Let's see if you can break through this."
With a swift motion, he flipped the final card face-up from his trap zone.
The final countermeasure was about to be revealed.
"That's… Holy Shield – The Power of Reflection!"
As Chase's final card flipped face-up, a brilliant golden hexagonal shield formed in front of him, radiating divine light.
"Haaaaah!"
Their voices roared out in unison.
Amid the impassioned cries of Chase and Erza, the radiant Star Light Particle Sword collided fiercely with the blazing Holy Shield like a comet smashing into a celestial barrier!
BOOOOM!!!
The resulting shockwave thundered across the land, echoing over the entire outskirts of Magnolia.
A pulse of raw magical force surged outward, devastating everything in a thousand-meter radius. The earth split, trees bent backward, and rocks were flung like pebbles.
The sheer radiance of the collision was so blinding that the Fairy Tail members watching from afar had to shield their eyes.
The blinding clash of energies continued for over a minute an eternity in battle.
At last, the tremors subsided, the howling wind died down, and the scorched ground settled.
Lucy hesitantly opened her eyes and gasped.
Before her was a massive, circular crater more than ten meters deep. The very earth had caved in under the overwhelming force of the impact.
All across the sky, faint white fragments of light drifted like feathers residual traces of divine and stellar magic.
At the center of the crater, Chase and Erza faced each other from opposite ends.
Their clothes were ripped and singed, their breathing ragged and labored, and their bodies covered in bruises.
"What the...?! Chase's Holy Shield was shattered?!"
"That's the first time I've seen the Holy Shield fail… does that mean Erza won?"
"No way! Erza's Star Armor is completely destroyed too!"
"You've got to be kidding! After all that, it's still a draw?! Just how terrifying are those two?!"
The guild was in a frenzy once again, everyone shouting and speculating, voices layered over each other in excitement and disbelief.
Then
"No…"
Mira stepped forward, calm and composed, her eyes locked on the two exhausted warriors standing in the pit.
Her expression was clear and resolute.
"Chase won."
"WHAAAT?!!"
Everyone erupted in shock.
Even Lucy, queen of snarky comebacks, froze in place. Her brain short-circuited.
Wait… if she was just going to announce the result, why had Mira entered her Demon Soul form?
More importantly… Chase won?
Her stunned face slowly turned into one of realization
"I WON!!!"
She shot up into the air, hands raised triumphantly, startling everyone around her.
"Let's gooo!! My 20,000 J is saved!! With interest!!!"
As soon as that thought crossed Lucy's mind, a wide, uncontrollable smile bloomed on her pretty face. The excitement was infectious those who had bet on Chase burst into jubilant cheers.
Meanwhile, Happy and the others who had backed Erza were slumped over in despair, their expressions twisted in disappointment.
They wanted to complain. They really, really wanted to stand up and protest Mira's abrupt declaration. But…
The moment they looked up and saw the shadowy figure of Mira still partially engulfed in her Demon Soul: Satan Form, their complaints got stuck in their throats.
Not. Worth. Dying over.
In the end, it was the calm, authoritative voice of the one with the most seniority Makarov who delivered the final verdict.
"Judging by appearances, it does look like a draw between Chase and Erza…" the tiny Guild Master said thoughtfully, stroking his beard. "But don't forget Erza's Star Armor has exceptional resistance to light-based magic."
His eyes narrowed as he continued.
"And for her armor to still be broken by Chase's Holy Shield which itself is a sacred defensive spell it can only mean one thing…"
He paused.
"…that Erza's magic power was less than Chase's."
Gasps rippled through the crowd.
Makarov went on, his voice calm but firm. "As one rises, the other falls. The elemental resistance nullified the gap in their power but not the truth behind it."
"In other words… Chase had more raw magic energy than Erza."
The murmuring resumed, but the Master raised his hand to settle the crowd before concluding:
"While it's true that things like battle experience, reflexes, tactics, and timing can often balance out a difference in power, that usually applies in real fights where people are fighting for their lives."
"But in a competition like this, where both sides are on equal footing… Chase is the winner."
As he finished, Makarov let out a heavy sigh, more emotional than disappointed.
He looked at the two figures still standing in the crater and quietly smiled.
Those two… when did they grow up so much?
It was a sigh of relief, and of pride.
Back with the betting crowd, Happy and the rest finally accepted reality. The last fragile thread of hope snapped and so did their wallets.
"Goodbye… my money…" Happy whimpered, wiping his tears with his little paws.
Meanwhile, Lucy was absolutely beaming. She ran straight to Happy, fanning the bills in his face with pride.
"Guess who won, you sneaky little cat!" she grinned, eyes gleaming with payback.
Winning money was nice, sure but nothing felt better than getting a bit of sweet revenge after being conned by this smug flying feline so many times!
At the same time, Chase stood at the center of the battlefield, still catching his breath. But a smile spread across his face.
He wasn't happy because of the victory.
He was happy because
He'd just obtained a card from Erza.
In the heat of the clash, as their powers collided with everything on the line, her magic had responded to his call.
A single card manifested.
It was a monster card.
Not flashy. Just a humble, one-star card.
But Chase could feel it its significance was immeasurable.
In terms of potential value, it might very well rival the legendary God Card, Slifer the Sky Dragon.
Its name?
[The Right Wrist of the Sealed One].
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