"So fast?"
Seeing Moen arrive with Cana and Joey, Laxus was a bit surprised. If Moen had made it here, that meant the first stage was already over, and the nine teams that passed were all on their way here.
The clearance speed of this first stage was indeed a bit fast. What was strange, however, was that Moen, who wrapped things up at the end, had already arrived, so why hadn't those who set off earlier reached here yet?
Were the strange creatures on Tenrou Island really that difficult to deal with?
Laxus probably hadn't expected that some idiots hadn't even found the way.
Laxus felt that the traces he left behind were already quite obvious, it shouldn't be to the point that they couldn't even figure out which direction to go.
Pathfinding, scouting, tracking, wilderness survival, these were all essential skills for a mage. The S-Class Mage Exam covered quite a wide range of aspects.
It could only be said that Fairy Tail had very high standards for S-Class mages.
"They should arrive soon."
Moen spoke. With such a huge commotion here, along with thunder and lightning, anyone who wasn't stupid would know to head this way. It wasn't like they didn't know the examiner Laxus's magic.
"How is it? Are you alright?"
Arriving beside Erza, Moen asked with concern. Erza didn't seem to have any injuries, she had just overused her magic power.
Facing an opponent like Laxus, Erza had no choice but to go all out. No matter the result, at least she had no regrets.
"..."
Facing Moen's concern, Erza pulled at the corner of her mouth, as if trying to smile, but only managed a forced one. With such heavy magic consumption, a person would become extremely weak, yet Erza still stubbornly used her longsword to support herself and remain standing.
She was still wearing the Clear Heart Clothing, but she was no longer holding the "Demon Blade Benizakura." In her current state, she couldn't use that blade anymore.
"I'm fine…"
Erza replied to Moen, then her gaze turned toward Laxus. She wanted to know whether she had passed this stage of the exam.
Looking at Erza forcing herself to stand beside Moen, Laxus frowned. Just as Moen thought he would eliminate her, Laxus actually frowned and gave a "pass."
This result even surprised Moen. Frankly speaking, Erza's current strength in Fairy Tail absolutely did not reach S-Class. Yet Laxus.
"That's great…"
After hearing Laxus say "pass," Erza was very happy. but her body could no longer hold on. Before she could even finish speaking, she collapsed straight to the ground.
Moen was standing right beside her, so naturally he wouldn't just stand by.
He stepped forward and caught the girl, who could no longer continue to the next stage, into his arms. Lightly dressed, Erza was small, her body completely devoid of strength, it was clear she had fully fainted. Her exam had essentially already ended.
The "pass" given by Laxus was actually more like a "consolation prize."
And that was what surprised Moen, Laxus actually knew to give a "consolation prize" at a time like this?!
If it were before, Laxus would definitely have coldly given an "eliminated" judgment at this moment. Even if he acknowledged Erza's talent and strength, not meeting the standard meant not meeting the standard.
As time passed, everyone was changing.
Eighteen-year-old Laxus had not become more extreme—instead, he seemed to have begun stepping out of his rebellious youth.
Mirajane approached, wanting to take Erza from Moen's arms. Although she and Erza had always been competing, sometimes exposing each other's flaws and arguing, she couldn't just leave Erza like this.
Besides, Erza was only wearing a tube top on her upper body. Lying in Moen's arms like this wasn't very appropriate.
"Next."
However, before Mirajane could speak, Laxus spoke first, directly stopping her.
Laxus had no intention of dealing with Erza. With Moen here, even if Erza fainted, someone would take care of her.
"..."
Mirajane fell silent.
"Go on, Mira. You've already entered the exam how could you not give it a try? I'll take good care of Erza."
Seeing Mira hesitate, Moen spoke with a smile, encouraging her and reassuring her not to worry about Erza. With him here, nothing would happen to her.
"..."
Mira looked at Moen's smiling face with a strange expression. She didn't want to say that it was precisely because Moen was here that she felt worried.
But just as Moen said, since she had already come, if she didn't try, she would definitely regret it.
Thinking of this, Mirajane no longer hesitated and shot straight into the sky.
Her hands continuously struck, and purple-black magic projectiles rained down toward Laxus. The demon she had taken over used "Dark Magic," so these magic projectiles felt very familiar to Moen.
Not only did Moen find them familiar, Laxus had made his name by defeating Jose Porla and earning the title of "Thunder God."
Seeing this move from Mirajane, his expression also turned strange. However, Mirajane's dark magic projectiles were far inferior to Jose Porla's, they weren't even on the same level.
"Boom!"
Laxus waved his hand, lightning crackling as it collided with the dark projectiles. Not only did it easily block them, but the lightning continued relentlessly toward Mirajane.
Mirajane's expression changed as she immediately flapped her wings to dodge. Although she had only intended to fire a few projectiles as a test, Laxus's response was far too effortless!
'As expected, there's no real chance of winning…'
Mirajane accepted reality. After witnessing Laxus's battle with Erza, she had no choice but to accept it.
She also knew that what she needed to do now was just like Erza, display her strength as much as possible to gain Laxus's recognition.
Flying in the sky, Mirajane thought for a moment and stopped wasting time.
Dragging things out was pointless. This was an exam, no one else would come to help her. What she needed to do now was directly use her strongest move and let Laxus see her attack power. Maybe then she would also be given a "pass."
"Buzz!!!"
Thinking of this, Mirajane decided to use her ultimate move. Just like Erza, she would release the strongest magic she currently had.
"Sigh."
Watching Mirajane raise both hands in the air, continuously gathering dark magic power, Laxus let out a sigh. Although Mirajane's talent was not bad, she was still inferior to Erza in many aspects.
Whether it was magic power, combat talent, battle experience, or even determination in battle, Mirajane was lacking compared to Erza.
So Laxus did not give Mirajane another chance. In a real battle, no one would give her such an opportunity either. Charging up magic like this to release a big move, did she think the enemy was stupid?
"Crackle! Crackle!"
Laxus directly threw out a rapidly moving sphere of lightning. The lightning ball traced a strange path as it shot toward Mirajane in the air.
Mirajane, who was gathering magic to unleash her ultimate move, was directly interrupted. She had no choice but to forcibly stop and release the magic in her hands.
A tidal wave of dark magic surged out, but the lightning sphere rapidly flickered through the air, easily passing through it and crashing straight toward Mirajane.
"Crackle! Crackle!"
The lightning sphere struck her body with a series of crackling sounds. Mirajane released magic to resist it. Thanks to the overall enhancement brought by her demon takeover, the lightning sphere didn't cause her too much damage.
At the side, Moen, who was holding Erza, could see that Laxus had indeed changed quite a bit. That attack just now didn't use much magic power at all—otherwise, Mirajane wouldn't have been able to block it.
"Damn it!"
In the sky, Mirajane clenched her teeth tightly. She had a very strong personality, and being defeated in such a teasing manner by Laxus made her feel humiliated. This was even worse than Erza's situation! At least Erza's attack hadn't been stopped.
In a sense, this also directly showed the gap between her and Erza. Laxus had to take Erza's full-power attack seriously, but Mirajane's ultimate move couldn't even be released.
In this situation, Mirajane could still continue fighting, but she also understood that if this weren't an exam, Laxus could have severely injured her just now.
"I lost…"
Mirajane landed back on the ground and spoke dejectedly.
"You couldn't have won anyway."
Laxus said. Although it was the truth, it was indeed a bit hurtful to say it out loud—but he didn't stop there.
"You're eliminated, Mirajane. Your problem is significant, you're far inferior to Erza."
If Mirajane could still calmly accept the earlier statement, this one immediately made her flare up.
"Why do you say that?! How am I that bad?!"
Mirajane protested, unwilling to accept it. Although she knew she was slightly inferior to Erza and had accepted that reality, Laxus's statement was going too far!
"Far inferior to Erza" made it sound like they weren't even on the same level. The gap between them wasn't that big, right?!
"Your problem isn't your talent or strength—you're not much worse than her in those aspects."
Facing Mirajane's defiant expression, Laxus began to explain. But halfway through, he suddenly realized, he was the examiner. He needed to maintain his authority. Why was he explaining himself to someone questioning him?
So he simply stopped talking.
"?"
Mirajane stared at Laxus, waiting for what came next, but he only frowned and said nothing more.
"And then? If it's not those things, what am I lacking?!"
Mirajane asked in frustration.
"You're not decisive enough. You're not focused enough. You don't have the same all-in determination as Erza."
Laxus didn't speak, but Moen explained on his behalf. Watching from the side, he had also noticed Mirajane's issues.
During the battle just now, Mirajane had clearly not been in the right state. Perhaps she had been affected by witnessing the fight between Erza and Laxus. In any case, she seemed like she was just going through the motions, never fully entering a combat mindset.
This was understandable. After watching that battle, Mirajane already knew she had no chance of winning. She had even seen the gap between herself and Erza, it was hard not to be affected.
But none of that justified hesitation or overthinking in battle. She lacked decisiveness. There were too many unnecessary actions and thoughts. She was far less focused than Erza in combat.
"..."
Hearing Moen's words, Mirajane opened her mouth as if to refute, but after thinking it over, she found nothing to argue.
Some things don't seem wrong while they're happening, you might not even notice them but once you reflect afterward, the problems become obvious.
Mirajane wasn't the type to stubbornly deny things. After Moen pointed it out, she immediately understood her issue. She had indeed been distracted during the fight, not fully focused, nowhere near as clean and decisive as Erza.
Laxus looked at Moen with a somewhat satisfied expression. As expected, Moen had also noticed these things, they were on the same level.
"It's fine. These are things you can gradually fix."
Moen had no idea what Laxus was thinking. He simply comforted Mirajane. These were matters of combat experience, minor personal flaws that could be corrected over time.
In a sense, this also suggested that Mirajane might not have taken the S-Class Mage Exam too seriously. When it came to matters involving Elfman and Lisanna, she wouldn't be this distracted.
'A total family person.'
Moen joked inwardly. But being a "family person" suited Fairy Tail perfectly. Moen himself was the same, if anyone caused trouble for Fairy Tail, he would definitely go all out and crush the enemy.
"Leave Erza to me."
In response to Moen's comfort, Mirajane smiled freely. She accepted her shortcomings and the fact that there was indeed quite a gap between her and Erza—but instead of discouraging her, it only motivated her to work harder.
Deep down, Mirajane had always known there was a gap between her and Erza. She had always treated Erza as her goal, that was the main reason she constantly competed with her.
Mirajane wanted to become stronger so she could better protect her younger siblings. Moen was too strong, and also a boy—otherwise, he would have been her target instead.
"Then I'll leave her to you."
Moen nodded and handed the unconscious Erza over to Mirajane.
Mirajane hadn't suffered much injury and could still fly, making her perfect to take Erza back to rest. Overuse of magic required proper rest—after some time, she would recover.
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