It wasn't just the person Erza had patted on the shoulder; everyone else who heard her name also turned their heads to see her.
At this time, Erza played the role of a disciplinary committee member in the guild, prohibiting members from fighting each other (except for herself and Mirajane). So, the first thought of those who saw her was whether she would stop this duel.
Erza noticed the strange expressions on their faces and asked again, "What are you all doing gathered here? What's happening inside?"
"Um, Erza," knowing they couldn't hide it, and that even if they lied, Erza would expose it as soon as she pushed her way in, the few people quickly recounted the details of the duel.
"Oh, so Natsu is dueling Statiw this time, is that right?" Erza said, understanding.
"Yes, Erza," the guy she had patted on the shoulder asked, "You're not going to stop this duel, are you?"
"Why would I stop it? Duels can also promote understanding between guild members. I just don't allow Natsu and Gray to fight under the guise of a duel." After a brief explanation, Erza continued, "You must have set up a betting pool, right? Tell me, who should I place my bet with?"
"Eh?" The few of them froze, unconsciously pointing to the person who had set up the betting pool.
"So it's him." Erza strode over to the person running the betting pool and said, "What's wrong? You look worried. How are the bets going?"
"Eh? Erza?" The guy, who had been looking troubled, looked up and was startled to find her in front of him. But he still sighed and replied, "Sigh, everyone is betting on Natsu. Only Mirajane is betting on Statiw. Although Mirajane bet a lot, still…"
Before he could finish, Erza interrupted, "Oh? Mirajane bet on Statiw? Then I'll bet on Statiw too."
With that, she took out her reward from the current mission and handed it to the guy running the betting pool.
"What?" The people around immediately became agitated when they saw Erza also betting on Statiw.
It was known that both Mirajane and Erza were top-tier A-Class Mages. Their ages were similar to Statiw and Natsu, so they naturally knew each other much better than others, and understood their situations more thoroughly. Mirajane and Statiw were in the same team, so it was understandable for her to bet on him, but for Erza to also bet on Statiw was a bit hard to explain.
However, despite this, these guys still had great confidence in Natsu. After all, the Magic Statiw used was Pict Magic, and its weakness in combat was known to all mages worldwide. In contrast, Natsu used Fire Dragon Slayer Magic. That was Magic used to fight Dragons, and in terms of combat and destructive power, it was one of the strongest Magics.
At this moment, Natsu and Statiw in the arena were about twenty meters apart, in a standoff. A drawing easel was placed in front of Statiw, and with the support of his magic power, he only took one second to sketch the scene in front of him onto the drawing paper.
Natsu, on the other hand, clapped his fists together, flames blazing on them. He excitedly took a combat stance and roared, "Statiw, are you ready? I'm coming for you."
With that, he started running towards him.
Statiw was very aware of his Pict Magic's current combat capabilities. He wasn't sure how strong it would be in the future, but currently, it couldn't directly contend with Natsu. Therefore, seeing him running towards him, Statiw immediately sketched a few strokes on the painting.
The next second, without anyone in the guild noticing, a floor tile in front of Natsu's toes, as he was running, suddenly rose slightly, just enough to trip him. Immediately after, in everyone's eyes, his foot caught, and his body began to fall forward.
This wasn't over yet. Statiw was very clear about Natsu's weakness. He couldn't ride any form of transportation. As soon as he was on a vehicle, Natsu would feel nauseous and collapse, completely powerless.
So, at the same time Natsu was tripped, Statiw sketched a few more strokes on the painting. Before he hit the ground, a simple, flat four-wheeled cart appeared in front of him, perfectly catching him as he fell forward. Then, the cart, carrying Natsu, began to spin in the arena, driven by the kinetic energy from his fall and Statiw's magic power.
"Ugh—!" As Statiw expected, Natsu, lying on the cart, immediately covered his mouth, his face pale, and collapsed on it, completely powerless.
"Natsu—! Hold on, you just need to roll over to get off it." At this moment, those who had bet on him never expected that, from the start of the duel until now, in just a few seconds, he already showed signs of defeat.
In fact, everyone in the guild knew about this weakness. Usually, no one paid attention to it, but who would have thought it would now become the key to easily defeating him? However, they had all placed bets on Natsu and were very unwilling to lose like this, so they immediately shouted encouragement to him while giving him advice.
"Statiw, I won't fall for your tricks this time!" Natsu naturally didn't want to lose like this. Enduring the nausea and weakness, and with everyone's prompts, he struggled to roll over and managed to get off the flat cart onto the ground. The moment he left it, Natsu completely revived, shouting loudly as he charged towards Statiw again.
Seeing him charging again, Statiw immediately added a few more strokes to the painting. In an instant, a thin layer of fine sand covered the ground. When Natsu, completely unprepared, stepped on it again, his foot slipped, and he fell forward once more. Just then, many vines suddenly emerged from the ground around his body. These vines, controlled by Statiw, bound him tightly.
"Ah, damn it!" Natsu, who had fallen for it again, felt extremely frustrated at this moment. The feeling of having strength but nowhere to use it made him very uncomfortable. Therefore, he raised his head and shouted loudly, "Statiw, let me go quickly! Let's have a fair fight!"
Upon hearing this, Statiw immediately rolled his eyes. Although he had been rigorously trained by Erza and Mirajane for a year and was not weak in close-quarters combat, he wasn't confident of a sure victory against Natsu. So, he remained unmoved and said, "Do you think I'm an idiot? A fair fight is only fair to you, isn't it? For me, it would likely just be getting a good beating from you. If there's another way to defeat you, why would I take a risk?"
At this point, Natsu, realizing that Statiw wouldn't release him, immediately ignited fierce flames on his body, and at the same time, shouted, "Watch me burn all your stuff down!"
"Don't dream of such good things. Knowing you use fire Magic, do you think I wouldn't guard against that move?" Statiw watched indifferently as the flames ignited on Natsu's body.
The result was exactly as he had said; the vines binding Natsu were completely immune to fire. Even after he had completely exhausted all his magic power, the vines binding him remained largely unchanged…