Gajeel's entire body gleamed with a metallic sheen, his arm fully transformed into hardened iron as his fingers clamped around Rogue's wrist like a vice.
Rogue's eyes widened.
His right arm, his whole right side, was completely immobilized. He couldn't advance, couldn't retreat, couldn't even twist away.
But what truly shocked him wasn't the strength of the grip.
It was the timing.
Gajeel had arrived faster than Sting.
Impossible.
Rogue turned his head sharply, and his breath hitched.
Sting was already down.
Half-buried in a crater of shattered stone. Clothes torn to ribbons. Dragon Force scales flickering weakly.
Gajeel… had defeated him in Dragon Force that quickly?!
"No way!" Rogue growled and swung his free left fist at Gajeel's jaw.
Gajeel didn't even flinch.
BANG!
Rogue's knuckles smashed against an iron wall disguised as a cheek. Gajeel's head turned slightly, metallic skin shimmering brighter under the impact. His eyes glinted.
He was confident his durability surpassed even the Fire Dragon's.
Rogue, on the other hand, felt as if his fingers had cracked against solid steel. Pain shot up his arm.
Gajeel smirked.
Then he drove a backhand punch square into Rogue's face and released his grip.
Rogue shot across the arena, bouncing across the ground like a stone skipping across a pond before finally rolling to a stop right beside his fallen partner.
Gajeel dusted off his hands and turned around.
"You alright?"
Wendy stood a few meters back. Breathing hard.
Clothes torn at the shoulders and knees. Hair undone and fluttering freely.
But she smiled. "I-I'm fine!"
She said it bravely, but Gajeel's expression darkened as he took in every scrape, bruise, and tear.
This kid, she fought with him. She held the line.
And still got beaten up this badly.
How was he supposed to explain this when they got back?! Being mocked by Natsu was tolerable, but being lectured into the ground by that Wind Dragon?
Absolutely not.
All of this was that shadow brat's fault.
Gajeel's anger ignited instantly, hotter than molten iron.
Even if the kid looked vaguely familiar, that only made him more beatable.
On the opposite side of the arena, Rogue staggered to his feet and pulled Sting up by the shoulder.
"There's no other way," Rogue said lowly. "Let's use that."
Sting grit his teeth. "Yeah…!"
The two maintained their Dragon Force as best they could, standing back-to-back.
Magic surged outward from them, one light, one shadow. The opposing powers spiraled together, merging into a whirling sphere of black and white energy between their fists.
Gajeel's eyes widened.
"Unison Raid? You're telling me light and shadow can combine?!"
Unison Raids, the highest form of joint magic.
Far more difficult than most Great Magic. Only possible when two mages shared absolute synchrony and trust.
The power produced could exceed even their combined individual strength.
Wendy stepped forward.
"Mr. Gajeel, I...I just learned a new spell. It might help!"
Gajeel planted himself in front of her, shielding her completely.
"Go for it. Even without it, those two brats aren't bringing me down."
Wendy's eyes firmed.
She raised her right hand high, palm facing the sky.
A vast surge of magic poured from her small body, far stronger than her usual support spells.
Her long blue hair lifted and streamed around her, faint hints of purple reflecting in its strands.
"All-Round Ability Enhancement, Deus Eques!"
A glowing blue-green magic circle formed beneath her hand. A thick radiance wrapped around Gajeel like armor.
Gajeel sucked in a sharp breath.
This sensation, this was stronger than any support magic he'd ever felt.
This little girl… was amazing.
But the enemy's attack had already begun.
Sting and Rogue thrust their fusion of holy and shadow dragon power toward him, a swirling black-and-white vortex that warped the air around it.
No time to test his new strength.
Gajeel clasped his hands above his head.
His arms merged into a massive, broad-bladed iron greatsword stretching upward for hundreds of meters.
Wendy's spell flared brighter. His magic roared.
His canines sharpened, just a bit, as if the Iron Dragon inside him stirred awake.
And with the force of a mountain cleaving apart, Gajeel swung down.
"Dragon Slayer Secret Art -Karma Demon: IRON GOD SWORD!!!"
Sting and Rogue shifted their stances, standing back-to-back, both turning sideways at the same moment.
Their fists shot forward.
"Holy Shadow Dragon's Flash Fang!!"
A wave of black-and-white interwoven light exploded forth, tearing up the arena floor, pulverizing stone, hurling debris skyward, and gouging a deep trench in its wake.
The attack's force looked strong enough to pierce straight through the entire coliseum.
But;
Gajeel's towering Iron God Sword cleaved straight down the center of the oncoming blast as if slicing through tofu, the blade continuing forward unimpeded, aiming directly between the Twin Dragons.
Rumble!
The arena floor, reinforced days ago specifically for destructive matches, shuddered violently.
It still couldn't withstand the devastation.
A massive fissure ripped open from beneath Gajeel's feet, racing outward like a living beast.
Everywhere the blade passed, the ground collapsed.
Even places the blade didn't touch shattered under the extending force of the slash.
The crack shot across the arena, across the spectator seats, all the way to the outer wall, shaking the entire coliseum.
Even the massive stone statue by the arena began to tilt.
"Whoa!!"
"Move!!"
"Help!!!"
Panic erupted in the nearby audience seats as people bolted away from the widening fissure.
The enormous statue finally toppled, but Jura was already there.
He slammed his hands together.
A gigantic Stone Giant erupted from the floor, catching the statue mid-fall and gently pushing it away from the stands, dropping it harmlessly outside the arena.
On the commentary stage: Chapati gasped, then quickly confirmed no casualties.
Only then did the shock of Gajeel's magic hit the crowd all at once.
And the arena exploded with cheers.
Meanwhile, Sting and Rogue were nowhere to be seen.
Magic cameras hovered down into the dark crevasse, their feeds projecting on the giant screen.
Thick rubble. Broken stone.
A cavernous space beneath the arena.
And there, wearing shredded clothes, covered in wounds, their Dragon Force long faded, Sting and Rogue lay unconscious.
Pumpkin Man immediately waved.
Two soldiers descended into the fissure and checked their condition.
A moment later, they signaled upward with a clear shake of the head:
Unable to continue.
"Winners, Fairy Tail Team B: Gajeel and Wendy!"
"OOOOHHHHHHHH!!!!!"
The loudest cheers came from Fairy Tail's section, but a heartbeat later, the entire arena erupted.
Even the spectators who had almost been sliced in half by the shockwave were cheering the loudest, adrenaline still racing through their veins.
Gajeel grinned, baring his metallic canines.
Wendy, exhausted but radiant, returned the smile.
Soldiers carried Sting and Rogue out of the fissure.
Gajeel stepped forward to help lift them, and Wendy immediately knelt beside them, using healing magic to stabilize their injuries.
Even though Sting and Rogue had been rude and aggressive, Wendy couldn't bear to leave them hurt.
And besides, there was something faintly familiar about their magical aura, perhaps because they too were Dragon Slayers.
From Sabertooth's waiting area, only Rufus and Orga remained.
Seeing Wendy tending to their teammates, complicated emotions flickered across their faces.
Finally, after a brief hesitation, both of them walked out onto the battlefield, stopped in front of Wendy, and bowed their heads in gratitude.
...
You can support me and read chapters ahead @Keepsmiling 818 p@reon