Erza snapping out of the illusion so quickly was totally within Mystogan's expectations—he'd figured it out yesterday. Her right eye was a prosthetic, which halved or even nullified illusion magic, so he hadn't banked on it stalling her for long anyway.
"Hou Rai Sei!"
He jammed one staff into the ground, then pulled out another, shifting into "three-staff style." Seizing the brief opening, he went on the offensive. The three staves clashed together, channeling magic into a swirling vortex that roared toward Erza.
But she broke through his Maple Dance way faster than he'd anticipated!
"Requip: Wind God Armor!"
A tribal-style robe draped over her body, fur-trimmed at the collar, triangular patterns dangling from the sleeves, and a fur-lined belt cinching her waist. White bandages wrapped her forearms from wrist to elbow, while black pants and lightweight boots covered her legs. Wing-like adornments framed her head on both sides, her hair tied back in a low ponytail.
In a flash, Erza was armored up, a bizarrely shaped Wind God Sword materializing in her hand. With a single swing, a gale-force blast howled out, slamming right into the incoming vortex.
In that moment, Erza looked like the wind god himself had possessed her. The two winds collided and canceled each other out, sending shockwaves scattering everywhere.
But Erza wasn't done with that result. She slashed twice more: "Wind God Sword, whip up the storm!"
Against the wind assault, Mystogan planted his dual staves on either side of him, expertly drawing the last two. Now with five uniquely shaped staves, each packed with power—different combos unlocking all sorts of rare spells.
"Quadra Magic: Ri Jin Rai!"
Ding—ding—ding—ding—!
Blue, red, white, and black magic circles popped up one after another, lining up in front of Mystogan and forming a massive fan-shaped zone. It trapped the raging winds from Erza's sword, holding them tight until the magic fizzled out and everything calmed.
"A sealing spell for magic?" Erza clocked its purpose instantly. Thinking back to the Edolas folks' physiology, she got the intent. "Talk about unexpected... but it makes total sense!"
"Requip: Demon Armor!"
This was a purple-black suit forged from beast king hide and steel—tough as nails. The matching Demon Sword resembled a humerus bone, pale white against the dark armor, striking a unique pose. No guard or tip on this thing; it was more like a club for bashing heads.
Erza charged in close with the sword, opting for her specialty: hand-to-hand combat.
"You say your magic doesn't work great on me, but mine's useless against you too!" She swung hard. "In the end, we're stuck fighting like this..."
Mystogan had no comeback, just silently blocking with his staff.
"This feels so familiar—they're out of options?" Kira grumbled from the stands, sounding kinda let down. "Is the flashy, special-effects magic battle over? This close-quarters brawling doesn't scream 'wizard' to me."
Lucy, next to him, piped up: "Why'd they stop using magic?"
Kira turned and saw everyone else eyeing him, waiting for his big explanation moment. He cleared his throat. "Erza's strongest offense is the Heaven's Wheel Armor—it controls a bunch of swords at once. But she tried that yesterday, and Mystogan's Mirror Water just bounces the blade rain back. Total waste."
"Same deal from that earlier probe: long-range spells get locked down by his Ri Jin Rai binding, so melee and swordplay it is."
"Then look at Mystogan—his go-tos like Skyscraper, Mist Hell, Dream Illusion, Maple Dance, Ri Jin Rai, all mental tricks or hypnosis. Erza counters 'em hard."
"They might have ultimate moves tucked away, but those are for life-or-death scraps. This is just a friendly guild match—no way they're pulling those out."
"So yeah, that's how you end up with two S-class wizards duking it out like straight-up warriors."
Kira's breakdown clicked for the puzzled crew—they all lit up with "aha!" faces.
Meanwhile, Rocky, glued to the match, spotted something: "That sword Erza's got looks weird. If I'm not seeing things, it doesn't even have an edge?"
Natsu, baffled beside him: "No edge? So it's just a metal rod?"
They both glanced at Kira, knowing full well whose handiwork that armor was.
"Oh, you're spot on—it's a club!" Kira explained. "Not metal, though—bone. Made from some super-tough beast bone with a special forging technique. Don't let the plain look fool you; it hits like a truck! Regular iron? Might as well be tofu against it."
"Tch! Sounds so badass—then why can't it snap Mystogan's staves?"
Kira gave them an idiot stare. "Duh, 'cause I made those too. Same damn material!"
Everyone: "..."
Lucy: "Can't argue with that..."
Natsu: "Yeah..."
Mystogan and Erza were battle-hardened pros—even without magic, they turned it into a blazing showdown. With Dispel's colorful play-by-play, the crowd's energy ramped up, cheers echoing nonstop.
10 minutes... 20... 30...
Ping-ping-pong... clang-clang-clang... The metallic clashes rang out endlessly.
Kira rubbed his ears. "At this rate, my eardrums are gonna burst!"
Thud!
A heavy blow slammed the ground, cratering it and spiderwebbing cracks outward. The stage was littered with spots like that now—pockmarks and fissures everywhere.
Thankfully, probably to keep match costs down, they kept the action confined to a small zone. The tighter the space, the more it highlighted their slick combat skills.
Erza whipped her Demon Sword horizontally. Mystogan stepped back, snagging three staves from his side and clamping them in both hands. He sidestepped right to dodge a downward chop, dipped low, and spun forward in a leap—attacks whirling from his shoulder, waist, and knee levels, whistling through the air.
Five-staff fighting? It was fresh, bizarre—something you'd never seen or heard of. Mystogan's angles were sneaky, speeds varying wildly, unpredictable shifts, strikes light one second and crushing the next. Hard to read, and the spin added momentum to amp the power. Slip up, and even if you shrugged off his hypnosis, you'd still get clocked dizzy.
Erza faced this Mystogan without a hint of fear. She could tell their gear was all Kira's work, same material—but different purposes meant different limits.
Mystogan's staves were mainly for casting: arrange the magic circles in specific combos and orders for spells. The bone club? Straightforward—bash, bludgeon, maybe poke. Simple as that.
Clang! Ding! Thud!
She swung, leaving three afterimages in the air. With insane eyesight and god-tier hand speed, Erza tagged each of Mystogan's spinning mid-air strikes in under a second, using the force to pull back.
"Penta Magic: Go Jin Rai!"
Hearing that, Erza realized—about a meter to her left and right behind her, two of his dropped staves from the fight had been planted who-knows-when.
Whoosh-whoosh-whoosh—
She whipped around, and three shadows descended—she was suddenly smack in the center of all five staves!
"Has all this close combat made you forget how wizards fight?"
Anyone else might take that as trash-talk, but not Erza. She saw it as a friendly heads-up: don't get sloppy in a fight.
She had slipped up, but...
"That move's useless now!" Erza said with total confidence.
"Is it?"
Ding—ding—ding—ding—ding—ding—!
White, black, purple, blue, red, blue—six magic circles bloomed in sequence within the encirclement of the five staves, the dazzling display reigniting the crowd's hype.