Soon, Erza and Lucas stood facing each other.
"Requip: Heaven's Wheel Armor!"
Erza's body emitted a brilliant light. In the blink of an eye, a suit of steel armor appeared on her, and she slowly floated into the air.
Dozens of swords hovered around her.
"Heaven's Wheel: Blumenblatt!"
Erza controlled the multitude of swords to shoot toward Lucas.
Lucas moved quickly, easily dodging all of Erza's sword attacks.
Seeing Lucas dodge her attacks so effortlessly, Erza's eyes lit up. As expected, Lucas was strong.
"Hey, hey! It's just a spar, do you have to be so serious?"
"I told you this is a serious match! You'd better get serious too. Laxus is even stronger than I am. If you can't even defeat me, there's no need to fight Laxus. Also, I want to know why the Master chose you."
"Heaven's Wheel: Circle Sword!"
Erza spun the multiple swords in a circle at high speed and slashed toward Lucas.
Lucas raised his hand and shouted softly, "Crash!"
Bang—!!
All of Erza's steel swords were shattered.
"Heaven's Wheel: Trinity Sword!"
Erza dived toward Lucas, the swords in her hands tracing a triangular pattern at high speed.
Lucas leaped backward powerfully, dodging Erza's attack.
Erza shouted at Lucas, "Is running all you can do? If you don't use magic to defeat me, this duel will never end!"
Knowing Erza's personality, since she had said so, if he didn't truly use some strength to defeat her, she might really get angry.
The affection points he had painstakingly accumulated might bottom out instantly.
The greatest respect for an opponent was to defeat them with real strength.
Crackle, crackle!
Golden arcs of electricity appeared around Lucas's head.
Erza's eyes changed upon seeing this. She knew Laxus's magic clearly, so her body quickly leaped backward.
Boom—!!
A bolt of lightning erupted from the ground where Erza had just been standing.
Crackle!
The arcs around Lucas's head flashed again, and Erza hurriedly leaped away once more.
Boom, boom, boom!!
Bolt after bolt of lightning erupted from beneath Erza's feet, forcing her to constantly dodge in exhaustion.
Erza leaped with all her might, her body flying into the air.
Lucas raised his palm, golden electricity condensing in it.
Zap—!!
A golden thunderbolt descended from the sky, crashing down toward Erza.
Seeing Lucas raise his hand, Erza knew he was about to cast a spell. She immediately summoned several steel swords to fly above her head.
Boom—!!
The thunderbolt sent all the steel swords flying.
"Requip: Black Wing Armor!"
Erza seized the opportunity to requip. In a blink, a black armor with bat-like wings appeared.
She rushed down toward Lucas at extreme speed. She knew if she let Lucas keep casting spells like this, she would be the first to fall.
"Black Wing: Moon Flash!!"
Erza rushed in front of Lucas, slashing her sword at him.
Snap!
Lucas snapped his fingers with his right hand.
Whoosh—!
A spherical protective barrier enveloped Lucas's body.
It was a magic shield Lucas had created by modifying the Ice-Make magic he learned from Gray.
The barrier was white overall, constructed from small hexagonal pieces.
Clang—!!!
Erza's sword slashed onto the barrier but was easily blocked.
"What?!"
Erza was shocked to see her attack blocked and quickly retreated.
"Requip: Heaven's Wheel Armor!!"
"Heaven's Wheel: Blumenblatt!!"
Erza switched back to the Heaven's Wheel Armor, shooting massive amounts of steel swords at Lucas again.
Clang, clang, clang!!!
All the steel swords were blocked by the magic shield.
Whoosh—!!
A massive fireball about a meter in diameter appeared on Lucas's palm and shot toward Erza.
"Requip: Flame Empress Armor!!"
Erza switched to the Flame Empress Armor, which drastically increased resistance to fire magic.
She raised the Sword of the Flame Empress and slashed at the giant fireball.
Boom—!!
The fireball was split in half by Erza, exploding behind her.
When Erza looked up toward Lucas's position, his figure suddenly vanished from her vision.
She immediately sensed him and slashed her sword behind her at extreme speed.
Slap!
Erza's Sword of the Flame Empress was caught by Lucas's bare hand.
Whoosh—!!
The flames in Lucas's hand intensified, and the sword in Erza's hand began to melt at a speed visible to the naked eye.
Erza's eyes widened in disbelief. "Impossible?! My Flame Empress Sword... actually melted?!"
This was a sword with super-high fire resistance, yet it was melted just like that. How high was the temperature of Lucas's flames?
Looking at Lucas, who didn't continue attacking, Erza exhaled.
"I lost."
When Lucas appeared behind her, Erza knew she had lost.
That she wasn't injured was due to Lucas's mercy. There was no point in continuing, so Erza admitted defeat gracefully.
"Uh... sorry," Lucas scratched his head.
Seeing Lucas like this, Erza smiled brightly. "What's there to be sorry about? You won, you won. You're stronger than me. That's a good thing; it proves the Master didn't make a mistake."
"Besides, the stronger you are, the greater the possibility of you becoming an S-Class Mage. Let's work hard together. I will definitely help you become an S-Class Mage."
Erza extended her hand.
Hearing Erza say this, Lucas smiled too. This was why he liked Erza. He reached out and shook her hand.
"I will definitely become an S-Class Mage."