Rickard Smith stood behind the commentators and watched the ongoing Games with a smile on his face. Although at first hesitant, he grew to like being stationed here, for he happened to catch many interesting matches and events.

A knock on the door interrupted his fun, and as he opened the door he was met with the face of one of his subordinates, who was out of breath and pale.

"What is it?" he asked and closed the door behind him.

"Another sighting of a black dragon, in a village south from Magnolia." said the trooper.

Rickard sighed internally. "What's the situation?"

"Several destroyed houses, many people dead and more trapped under debris. Locals say it happened during their annual festival, magic was involved."

Rickard slid his hand across his face. "Contact Lahar, tell him to gather whatever troops he can and march there. Tell him to contact the Fifth Division, they should be able to spare a couple medics. Bring food and clothes, too. Once you're done, contact the Chairman and ask for additional security here." he said in one breath.

"Yes, sir!"

With the trooper gone, Rickard returned to his post with his mood utterly destroyed. He had enough of that damn pest.

"It appears our meeting was fated." Rufus said.

"I wouldn't know." Gray replied. "I'm simply here to make sure you remember I was the one who beat you."

"I shall definitely remember this moment." Rufus said with a smile. "I remember each victory, no matter how insignificant."

"You might wanna make some room for your losses, then!" Gray yelled and aimed his hands at Rufus. "Here I come, you masked bastard!"

ICE MAKE: LANCE!

A dozen of ice lances emerged from the ground and thrust at Rufus. The man utilized his own magic and blocked them by making the bookshelf he was standing on to grow out several wooden arms, each of them stopping the ice creations before they could even reach Rufus.

"Wood Make?! Have you met Laki?" Gray asked, surprised.

"The beauty of magic lies in its frequency. No magic is ever the same, it evolves with each user." Rufus said and snapped his fingers. The wooden arms shattered the lances and attacked Gray with the shards, which he blocked with an ice shield.

After dispelling it, he punched his palm yet again and threw a hammer at Rufus, who blocked it with a shield made out of ice, remarkably similar to that of Gray's.

"What the-" he gasped.

"Memories become weapons." Rufus smiled. "By watching, I can memorize magic and utilize it however I so desire. Just so..."

Rufus pointed his hand at Gray with a sinister smile and cast a spell.

MEMORY MAKE: ICE LANCE!

A dozen of ice lances were launched at Gray, who quickly punched his palm.

ICE MAKE: SHIE-

FORGET!

Gray hissed in pain upon being cut by at least three lances, the rest miraculously missing him by just an inch. He jumped away and assessed his damage, the cut on his right shoulder being the deepest and most bloody.

"What did you do?!" he growled in frustration and fear.

"I made you forget how to use that spell." Rufus explained. "By forcing my magic upon your mind, I can make it so that you are unable to remember the shape of your creation, thus making it impossible for you to use it. Memories are everything to a Maker, no matter the type."

"Gray..." Lucy covered her mouth. "What are you going to do?!"

"It's okay."

The blonde looked at Juvia, who was smiling at her. "There's no need to worry." she said.

Sabertooth's Master, Jiemma, watched his man fight with an disinterested expression and his arms crossed.

"Finish him off instead of talking." he grumbled to himself and impatiently tapped his bicep with a finger. "The strong needn't speak to the weak."

Erza, who stopped in her tracks to take a look at one of the screens scattered across the arena, watched as Gray's face was starting to be overtaken by despair.

"Come on, Gray. This is unlike you..." she muttered and frowned in worry.

Rufus adjusted his hat and swiped his right arm to the side.

MEMORY MAKE: SHRINE OF TURBULENT FANG!

The library was covered in small whirlpools of wind, their rotation pulling the books in one by one. Gray tried to dodge them, but was caught in the biggest whirlpool and thrown towards the ceiling like a doll. He fell to the ground with a loud thud, some of his bones cracking upon impact, and cowered on the floor in pain.

"Now, to finish this." Rufus declared and touched his temples, before casting a ray of lightning heading directly toward Gray.

MEMORY MAKE: A NIGHT OF FALLING STARS!

Gray cried out in agony upon being hit , but went quiet after short moment. The smoke coming from him was enough to cover him from Rufus' sight, making it hard to determine whether he was truly defeated.

"Gray has suffered major damage! Is this the end?!" Lola wondered.

Rufus waited patiently to see the effect of his work. To his shock, instead of being met with Gray's defeated figure splattered on the floor, he saw him crumble into pieces, with cold steam coming out of the cracks and color leaving his skin and clothes, leaving just the blue color of ice.

"What?!" he gasped and heard something rustle behind him.

"Like I'd get hit by the same spell twice." Gray said from behind.

The bookshelf Rufus was standing on has been shattered by Gray's axe, which he swung so hard he split the entire thing in two. Rufus jumped out of the dust, coughing, and landed on the floor. He was unharmed, having moved out of the way just in time, but he was clearly distraught by the event.

"See?" Juvia asked with a confident smile on her face, which definitely put the rest of the guild at ease.

Gray emerged from the dust and rested the axe on his right shoulder with a loud sigh. To Rufus' shock, he was completely unharmed, as fresh as he was at the start of the fight.

"Why are you not injured?" Rufus asked him.

"I've swapped with a clone before revealing myself to you." Gray explained. "I used it to spy on you and learn what you can do, although it eats up a lot of magic power. I think I've lost about a fourth in just those few minutes."

Rufus composed himself and smiled. "It appears I was wrong about you." he said and swiped his left hand.

MEMORY MAKE: SWORD OF FROZEN BLACK LIGHTNING!

Icebergs covered in black lightning started to emerge from the ground one by one, making their way towards Gray at incredible speed. The Maker threw his axe at them, breaking the closest one, which gave him enough time to punch his palm.

ICE MAKE: SHIELD!

Rufus was shocked once again, this time at the sight of a massive ice shield blocking his spell and stopping it in its tracks.

"Impossible! I've made you forget that spell!" he declared.

"No, you made a clone forget this spell." Gray smirked and began to conjure another creation.

ICE MAKE: SAUCER!

The giant saucer made out of ice crashed with another ice saucer, courtesy of Rufus, who copied the spell and used it as well. Gray clicked his tongue and molded dozens of ice dagger that he then launched at Rufus, only to be met with the same result.

"You can not beat me." having regained his composure, Rufus declared as such with a cocky smile and snapped his fingers.

MEMORY MAKE: SHATTERING GROUND!

The ground between Gray and Rufus began to sink and split, which forced Gray to jump back. He wanted to attack from his safe position, but subconsciously stopped himself in fear of being copied again. With a loud click of his tongue, he jumped out of the way of another spell, this time a wave of water mixed with lightning, and hid behind a bookshelf.

"Hiding is pointless." Rufus said and touched his temple. "I can easily pinpoint your location, have you forgotten?"

Gray peeked from behind his cover. Rufus' back was turned to him, as he searched for Gray's location. He then noticed books scattered on the floor and picked one up, before starting to turn it page by page.

"I don't like where this is going." Gray muttered to himself.

"I see...I see..." Rufus mumbled. "So this is how you use it...nature...I understand."

Gray watched him with gears turning in his head. Now that he thought about it, thus far the only spells of his that were copied were the ones he openly showed to Rufus, from start to finish. The Maker looked around the area and a smile started to form on his face. He finally knew how to get this guy with his pants down.

Rufus snapped the book shut and smiled. "I've just learned quite a lot about Ancient Magic, Gray." he declared and placed the book on its original place on the bookshelf.

"That so?" Gray asked from behind his cover and punched his palm. "Anything that could help you find me?"

"As a matter of fact, yes." Rufus said and placed his hand on the floor. The floor started to shake, along with the entire library, and soon the wood began to scorch and catch on fire.

MEMORY MAKE: THIRD RING OF HELL!

The floor began to turn into a pitching pool of lava, that burned everything in its path. Gray barely managed to jump to the second floor and hold on to the railing, his right shoe catching on fire. He wiggled his way out of it and kicked it down to drown alongside the bookshelves, which were now being devoured by flames.

"That was close..." Gray sighed and jumped over the railing to land on the floor.

"There's more coming!" Rufus declared with a smile and touched his temple, but before he could cast his spell he heard something above. Upon looking up he felt all of the hair on his body stand up, as a giant ice hammer descended upon him and crushed everything in its path, excluding Rufus, who ran out of the way just in time.

"Why you..." he scoffed and located Gray, ready to begin casting his spell once more.

Gray grinned and ran behind a bookshelf, and upon emerging from behind it he was holding a bow and arrow made out of ice. He pulled on the string and released the arrow at Rufus, who blocked it with Gray's ice shield. Gray ran behind cover again and emerged with yet another spell, this time a spear, which he threw at Rufus' head. The spear, although dodged, grazed his right cheek and cut it ever so gently, and plunged itself into the wall directly behind Rufus. The wound may not have been deep, but it certainly hurt Sabertooth mage's pride.

"Looks like I was right." Gray smirked in triumph.

"Gray counterattacks!" Lola exclaimed. "Did he manage to find a hole in Rufus' defenses?"

"He's not as dumb as he looks, huh?" Sting asked while watching the fight from somewhere within the city.

Rufus glared at Gray and slowly wiped the blood off his cheek. "About what would that be?" he asked.

"You can't memorize something you can't witness fully." Gray said and molded a sword in his hand as a demonstration. "For all I know, this blade is now in your arsenal, because you saw me make it. But if I were to make something out of your sight, you can't copy it, because you have no idea what it is exactly."

"I can still make you forget." Rufus reminded Gray with a smile.

Gray sent Rufus a smile of his own. "What if I'm a clone? You'll be risking a lot."

Rufus' smirk was extinguished, as he was now scanning the area. Gray hid behind at least two massive shelves on this floor alone, either of them could be hiding his real self. With a sensation he was definitely not keen of, Rufus adjusted his hat and took a deep breath to calm down.

"It appears I haven't stripped you of hope just yet." he said and touched his temple. "Allow me to change that."

A massive ball of wind emerged from within Rufus and expanded rapidly, knocking everything and everyone down to the floor. Gray had to freeze himself to the floor to avoid being blown away, as he watched all the shelves and books being smashed into the walls of the library, effectively clearing out the entire floor and making it as flat as the circumstances allowed.

"Looks like you are not a clone, after all." Rufus said with a smirk.

Gray chuckled nervously to himself and braced for more spells. "This is gonna be hard..."

Emilia kicked a door down and entered the inn, sick of the game of cat and mouse. Ever since she encountered those two they have done nothing but try to outrun her, with pathetic results, to put it lightly.

"Come out and make this easy for yourselves." she said and gripped Nemesis. She then raised it to block a punch from Jenny, clad in one of her Machina Souls, while Hibiki ran out from behind a table and launched several tables of his Archive Magic to trap Emillia in a tight square. The woman pushed Jenny away and jumped above the tables, before landing on a table right before Hibiki. She delivered a swift kick to his chest and knocked him down, before dodging a kick Jenny threw at the back of her head with a head slip to her left. She grabbed Jenny's leg and threw her into the counter, before dashing across the inn and smashing the hilt of Nemesis into her exposed stomach, effectively knocking her out.

As Jenny's form dispelled on its own, Emilia walked up to Hibiki and presses Nemesis, still in its default, longsword form, against his throat.

After a moment of hesitation, Hibiki gulped and closed his eyes. "I surrender." he said shamefully.

Emilia raised her blade and holstered it, before leaving the inn, as the two behind her disappeared in thin air and two points were added to her guild's name. With her ears picking up a noise in the distance, Emilia strolled deeper into the streets of fake Crocus with grace and composure.

Ivan took a breath of relief and watched over one of his favorite subordinates with hopeful and hungry eyes.

"It appears we meet again." Ichiya said and reached into his breast pocket.

"You made a fool of me, Ichiya." Rocker said and began to spin his legs like a drill. "No one messes with the wild four of Quatro Cerberus!" he announced and drilled through the ground.

Ichiya sniffed the perfume he had taken out of his pocket and grunted unpleasantly. As Rocker emerged from the ground, Ichiya clenched his fist, with his entire right arm expanding in size with overgrown muscles, and struck Rocker directly into his face, knocking him out with a single punch. The man was blasted back into the hole he came out of. Ichiya released his form with a painful expression. His suit was partially ruined, but the pain caused by the morph was too great to make the gentleman lament over the fate of his clothing.

"Men...Perhaps I ought to change the formula to a less taxing one." he said to himself as he walked away from his defeated opponent.

"It appears while we were busy with Gray and Rufus, Raven Tail A's Emilia has defeated Jenny and Hibiki of Blue Pegasus!" Lola announced.

"Ichiya defeated Rocker, as well." added Yajima.

"Raven Tail A received 2 points, while Blue Pegasus gains 1!"

"The pace is picking up." Lucy said and pointed at one of the screens. "Look."

Her guild looked up and watched, as Ichiya clashed with another opponent, this time it was Quatro Cerberus' Semmes.

"You bastard, how dare you treat Rocker like that!" he boomed and began to spin, before rushing Ichiya. The man jumped back from the attack and uncorked a new bottle of perfume. As Semmes tried to attack Ichiya yet again, the man poured the contains on Semmes and moved a couple steps back. The man's spinning began to slow down rapidly, and soon enough he came to a complete halt, before falling onto his face like a log.

"Paralysis Perfume." Ichiya said and put the bottle back on its place. "I apologize, but you will be unable to move for the foreseeable hour or so."

"Just like that, another point for Blue Pegasus!" Lola announced, excited. "Quatro Cerberus has only one member remaining! Will they be the first ones to drop out?!"

"Man, this guy sure is scary when he wants to." Cana scratched her chin.

"Meanwhile, it appears things have gotten heated with Gray and Rufus, and quite literally!"

Just like Lola said, things were not looking good for Gray, who had to remain on constant move to avoid being burned by scorching flames being thrown around the entire library by Rufus. The walls and shelved began to catch on fire, as the entire building was slowly becoming a heated death trap.

"Memories can be merged. By memorizing, I can use them as a base for an entirely new kind of magic!" Rufus laughed and snapped his fingers.

MEMORY MAKE: HELLISH BLACK LIGHTNING!

Gray had barely a second to put up a shield to block an incoming storm of flames merged with black lightning. The shield began to crack and chip away, but somehow it managed to survive with barely enough ice to cover Gray's crouched down figure. He didn't get to breathe for long, for he had to jump out of the way to avoid being skewered by spears made out of wood.

"I do not even need to move from my spot." Rufus taunted with a smile. "You can not touch me without your little tricks. My magic is vastly superior to yours."

Oh, trust me, I know you haven't. Gray thought to himself and rolled under a massive iron pillar being thrown at him. He was breathing heavily, but felt relatively okay.

"Victory is within my grasp." Rufus declared and touched both of his temples. Gray remained cautious, for being hit with anything at this point could cost him the entire fight. He punched his palm and threw another set of daggers at Rufus, who merely deflected them with a weak torrent of wind.

"Your spells are losing their edge, Gray." he said and snapped his fingers, which made the entire floor of the library flood with water, which started to put out the spreading flames. Gray knew better,and made no contact with the liquid, having risen himself up with ice spikes under his feet. The water, just as he suspected, began to crackle with black lightning.

"Your tricks are becoming stale, too." Gray said and jumped to his right to land on top of a ruined bookshelf and punched his palm.

"Too slow!" Rufus exclaimed and swiped his hand to his right.

One of the lightnings covering the water snapped upwards and struck Gray right in the chest. He gasped in pain, numbness taking over his body, as he dropped to his knees, twitching.

"Gray!" Wendy exclaimed and stood up from her seat.

"He got him." Cana bit her lip.

"Oh! Rufus lands a clean hit on Gray! Is this the end?!" Lola asked.

"You've fought well, Gray." Rufus said and touched his temple. "But this is the end for you."

Gray grinned through the pain and punched his shaking palm. "Oh, it's the end all right."

Ice started to from out of various spots around the floor, from the floor, walls, and even the ceiling. Rufus frowned in confusion and looked around. "What is this?"

"You've made me a great favor, standing still for so long. Thanks to that I had enough time to set this up." Gray said and raised his hands up to the front of his chest. "And now it's ready."

Rufus smiled. "This can be easily avoided." he declared and tried to jump away, only to feel himself being stuck in place. He looked down in horror and saw his legs being frozen in place, as the ice began to crawl up his body from under his feet. I see, he left it after he dropped that hammer!

"You're mine!" Gray yelled and cast the spell.

"Too slow!" Rufus exclaimed and pointed his finger at Gray.

FORG-

A big, but thin wall of ice erupted in front of Gray, covering him from Rufus' sight. The man's spell was rendered useless, for he failed to witness Gray casting the spell.

Each marked spot erupted a thick pillar of ice, as they all made their way directly towards Rufus. The man yelled out in fear, and as all of the pillars hit their mark, he was encased in ice, his mouth still wide open and his scream smothered.

Gray lowered his hands and panted tiredly, but did not drop his guard just yet. His hunch came out to be correct, for the ice broke under the pressure of crimson flames being released by Rufus from within. Gray grit his teeth and jumped into the flames, focusing his magic on his skin to counter the heat. He managed to break through with only minor burns and was now directly above Rufus, who looked up in shock at his smoking form.

"How can you still be standing?!" he asked in panic.

"I've fought someone with much hotter flames before!" Gray said and molded an ice blade in his hands.

Rufus did the same, and molded the very same ice blade Gray created earlier as demonstration. As Gray brought his sword down he completely shattered Rufus' on impact, hitting the man across the chest. Once he landed back on the floor, he gripped his blade and muttered under his nose.

ICE BRINGER

Rufus cried out in pain as ice burst out from his chest. His hat fell off his head and Rufus himself began to fall to the ground. As his body hit the wooden surface, Gray caught Rufus' hat and put it on as a final taunt to the defeated Sabertooth mage.

The crowd erupted in cheers, and so did Fairy Tail.

"Gray has won! Fairy Tail receives another point!" Lola announced with excitement.

"You...you did that on purpose." Rufus muttered. "You made that blade weak...You knew I would..."

"Always try to stay one step ahead of your opponent. That's what my Masters taught me." Gray said and took the hat off. "Looks like yours has only taught you guys how to be insufferable, cocky little shits." he added and threw the hat at Rufus' chest.

Rufus chuckled weakly. "That may be so." he admitted.

The hat landed just before Rufus vanished, leaving Gray alone in the library.

Sting closed his eyes and exhaled through his nose. He never expected to lose one of his guildmates this early into the competition. Knowing full well this may be the last he will see of him, Sting ran out into the city with a stinging feeling of anger and frustration in his heart.

Gray stretched his arms and took a deep breath. "All right, time to go back out there." he announced and left the library.

"Master!" Ren called out to Ichiya, whom he'd spotted in the distance. He was together with Eve, as the two of them decided to stick together and increase their chances.

"Ah, you two!" Ichiya smiled and approached them. "I am so pleased to see you."

"We've seen what you've done, as expected of the Captain!" Eve said with a smile.

"Captain, huh? Well, this must be my lucky day!"

The three members of Blue Pegasus had to cover their eyes from the dust raised by Bacchus, who landed in-between them from a nearby roof. Once they could finally see, they raised their defenses and attacked the man all at once.

Bacchus covered his face from a blizzard launched directly into him from close distance, the cold snow already making his arms and chest ache. In the meantime, Ren ran up behind and attacked with a torrent of air, that hit Bacchus directly into his lower back and made him grunt.

"Well done, you two" Ichiya said and uncorked a bottle of perfume. "Now it's my turn to-"

Bacchus grinned and jumped as high as he could. The snow and air collided, with Eve being on the receiving end of this exchange.

"Eve!" Ren called out and canceled his spell, but that's what Bacchus wanted. He landed in front of him and delivered a devastating palm strike to his stomach that most likely cracked a couple of ribs and knocked him out in an instant.

Bacchus then turned toward Ichiya and dashed as quick as he could, ducking underneath the perfume spilled by the man. He struck Ichiya in the same fashion as Ren, only with both of his palm simultaneously. Ichiya managed to block this strike with Armor Perfume, which turned his suit into a hardened piece of clothing. This, however, was bypassed by the drunk with a powerful kick to the jaw that rocked Ichiya and dropped him to the floor.

Now that Eve was the only one left, Bacchus jumped over his assault of snow and kicked him in the head. With Eve dropping to the floor like a log, Bacchus secured 7 points to his guild's name.

"What a display of power! Bacchus defeats all the remaining members of Blue Pegasus and claims 7 points for his guild!" Lola exclaimed excitedly.

"This ain't personal, but you did knock out half of my team." Bacchus said to Ichiya and lifted his bottle of booze. "I'll drink in your name, as a sign of respect." he said with a smile and watched all three disappear into the infirmary.

"Oh! It looks like we've got some action in the northern block of Crocus!"

Arania panted heavily and took a corner. She got separated from her teammates, and so far she was on the receiving end of the pursuit, although she couldn't stop thinking how weird it was. It was as if every now and then he'd purposefully let her run off further away, only to catch up after a minute.

Yet another burst of colorful flames lit up the alley and scorched the buildings. Sweat ran down Arania's face, both from the heat and fear. Her magic was completely useless against this man, and running was all she could do.

She dove behind a corner and tried to compose her breathing, her heart pounding in her chest. "At this rate..." she wheezed and resumed running after her hiding spot was showered with fire.

Once she cut through the alley she bumped into someone, the familiar curly black hair putting her mind at ease, even if just briefly.

"There you are!" Risley said and grabbed her friend by the shoulder. "Come, Beth should be this-"

Beth bumped into Risley's stomach and bounced off of it. "Oh, here you guys are!" she said happily. "Have we lost him?"

"Not even close."

Svenar was up in the air above the three women, flying thanks to his partial transformation. He grinned at the sight and began to gather his flames in his wings.

"Did he lure us all out here on purpose?!" Beth squeaked.

Risley clenched her fists. "We ain't going down without a fight, damn it! Don't underestimate us!" she declared and used her magic to run up the building towards Svenar.

The man merely scoffed and flapped his wings, effectively burning all three women at once. Risley fell down to the floor and cried out in pain, the flames burning her arms and legs. All three members of Mermaid Heel laid defeated beneath Svenar, who retracted his flames and shook his head.

"I went easy on you. You'll be fine." he said to them through their painful grunts, and soon enough all three were transported to the infirmary.

"Raven Tail A's Svenar makes quick work of Mermaid Heel! They lose three members at once!" Lola said.

"A very big hit." nodded Yajima.

Svenar sighed tiredly and scratched his fatigued eyes. "They wouldn't do, right?" he asked the air. He turned around towards a small square. "I think Jura was somewhere around here..."

"Indeed I am."

Before Svenar could even react he was struck in the back of his head by Jura's joint hands in the form of a hammer. The strike caused Svenar to crash into the ground with enough speed to render it impossible for a regular human to register, and so hard he split it into dozens of pieces and left a significantly deep crater.

Everyone in the arena went quiet at the sight. No one saw Jura approach the area, nor anticipated such a turn of events.

Jura landed gracefully on his feet next to Svenar, his sandals causing an echo to run wild throughout the street and approached the crater. The man was done, his pupils rolled up into his head, some blood flowing out of his open mouth and his consciousness in a place far, far away.

"What power!" Lola stood up from his chair. "We've all seen how mighty Svenar is, and yet it took Jura just a single blow to eliminate him from the Games! Lamia Scale enters the competition and earns one point!"

"I have no words." Yajima shook his head in disbelief.

"That's going overboard, old man!" Warren grabbed his head in shock.

"How the hell are they supposed to beat this monster?!" Macao asked his guild.

Obaba smirked. "There's more of that where it came from. You fools have made the mistake of making him more excited with each passing day. Now you will get to taste it. Don't blame us for what happens!"

"It appears I overdid it." Jura said with a gentle smile and put his hands back into his sleeves. "I was hoping for a little more."

With that said he left the crater, with Svenar already gone, and peacefully strolled deeper into the city.

Ivan grit his teeth in fury and gripped his robes as hard as he could. He knew obtaining Jura would be a difficult task, but never in his dreams did he think he'd see one of his subordinates being defeated in merely one blow. With sweat dripping down onto his lap, he impatiently watched the Games in hopes his plans return to their original tracks soon enough.

"Oh! Looks like we've missed something! Fairy Tail's Mirajane found Raven Tail A's Ellia!" Lola pointed out.

The cameras switched to the fight between the two women just in time to see Mira kick Ellia in the face, already in her Satan Soul form. The smaller girl staggered backwards and wiped her bloodied lip with an annoyed expression.

"Not going easy on me, eh?" she asked with a mocking smirk.

Mira lowered her leg down to the floor and blinked. "I ain't got time to play with you. If you wanna tell me your sobby story first, save it." she said.

Ellia spat to the side. "I've already said it to blondie." she said and reached into the breast pocket of her suit. "That's all that matters to me."

"I know." Mira said with a sudden low growl and clenched her fist. "Thanks to you she's been nothing but a wreck ever since. I'll make sure to clobber you in her name."

Lucy sunk in her seat, embarrassed. In no way did she want Mirajane to do that, especially in her name. Still, what she said wasn't exactly that far away from the truth.

Finding out so much in such a small time window was too much for the blonde, no matter how hard she tried to play it off. She was aware of what her father had done, she'd confronted him about it already, yet this reminder in the shape of a broken, confused girl who'd lost everything because of her family was enough to knock her down into a spiral of doubt and fear.

Lucy gripped her lap gently and watched, as Ellia threw several small, hardened pieces of cloth at Mirajane.

"Get her, Sis! She's no match for you!" Elfman yelled from his seat.

The Demon raised her hand and aimed it at the projectiles, before blasting them away with a small Evil Explosion. She then flapped her wings and dashed straight at Ellia, who did the same. The women clashed their forearms, with Mira's eyebrow twitching from pain: Ellia had already hardened the sleeve of her suit and turned it into something even harder than steel.

She then slid out a piece of clothing from her other sleeve and stabbed at Mira's face, missing it by just an inch. Fed up, Mira clenched her fist and punched Ellia's head, who caught the blow on her, as expected, hardened sleeves, as she put up her guard just before the blow connected with her face. Mira pushed the blow and the girl alongside with it and clenched her numb fist. She was growing irritated, and fast.

"You might want to watch your feet." Ellia taunted with a smile just as Mirajane took a step towards her. Before she knew it, the Demon was high in the air, launched by the ground turned into rubber.

Mirajane flapped her wings and stabilized herself in the air with the intent to stay here for a short moment and come up with a quick and effective strategy. To her surprise, instead of staying on the ground, Ellia began to hop between the softened buildings and launched herself at Mira. She dodged the incoming human bullet with a gentle shift fo her right and looked up, her magic already gathering in her right hand.

Ellia turned around in the air and crossed her arms in front of her face, before sliding them to their respective sides while throwing at least a dozen of knives made out of material. Mirajane scoffed and blasted them away with another Evil Explosion, this time a stronger one, with hopes it reached her opponent. It did not, and while Mira's field of view was covered by the spell, Ellia spiked down and managed to slash her across the left shoulder with her sleeve blade.

Mirajane grunted from pain, the weight of the blow dragging her down and knocking her off-balance. She watched Ellia kill her fall by turning the roof of a building soft and immediately spiked down at the girl. Anticipating it, Ellia jumped aside, but Mirajane was ready. Right before she made contact with the roof, which was already turned into something unpleasant for her, she took a rapid left and smashed Ellia in the ribs with her right knee.

The girl coughed up blood and spit and was blown away all the way to a roof of the building on the opposite side of the street. She rolled on the tiles and pushed herself to her feet, her hands grasping her aching stomach.

"She got her!" Cana pumped her fist in the air with joy.

"Now that's a high paced fight." Yajima said calmly.

"Indeed it is. We might be seeing the end soon, Ellia appears to be in pain!" Lola added.

She got me. Ellia admitted in her thoughts and tried to take a couple deep breaths, which only brought her more pain. She looked into the sky with a wondering look, disregarding her opponent, who looked like she was ready to pounce from her roof. Hey, Svenar...You think it's okay if I follow your lead?

"The hell are you looking at?!" Mira asked and charged Ellia so hard the tiles under her feet broke.

Ellia shifted her weight forward and fell off the roof in time to avoid Mira, who immediately spiked downward to chase her. The Raven Tail mage extended her hand and grabbed a windowsill, which then bent down under her weight and launched her up like a rocket. Mirajane's stomach was struck by Ellia's head, leaving her gasping for air. Ellia then grabbed Mira's left arm and pulled it down in order to stabilize her weight and deliver a powerful kick to Mira's left cheek with her hard as steel shoe.

Mirajane crashed through the window into the apartment by herself, while Ellia caught onto the window and pulled herself up to remain steady.

"That one felt juicy." Ellia stated under her breath, pleased with the result.

DEMON BLAST!

The entire wall, along with the window Ellia was resting on, was blasted away by a dark beam of energy. The small girl was launched into the air and her smoking body landed in the fruit stand on the opposite side of the street alongside with pieces of debris and glass.

'The cameras looked into the ruined apartment and caught Mirajane, with blood flowing down her lip and a purple bruise on her cheek, aiming her hands at what was left of the window with a look of gentle fury. She exhaled sharply and jumped out of the apartment to finish the fight, but Ellia was no longer buried by the debris.

The girl jumped down from above Mirajane and tried to slash her back with a long piece of wood she turned into a sword, but the Demon was faster. She quickly turned around and locked her right hand around Ellia's throat, while stopping her sword with the other one by locking it on Ellia's wrist. She then snatched the wood out of Ellia's hand and then grabbed her suit, before ripping it off of her, leaving her in just her white shirt. Mira cast the suit to the ground and quickly analyzed her damage: she was burned quite severely in many places, and her movements were much slower due to her injured ribs. Taking pity and seeing no point in using any powerful spells, she punched Ellia in the face, trading places with her as it was her turn to be in the apartment now.

"Give up." Mirajane said and landed on the floor before Ellia.

Ellia wiped her face and looked at Mirajane with amusement in her eyes. "You might as well kill me yourself." she said quietly with a sad smile.

Mira frowned. "Suit yourself!" she yelled and charged at Ellia.

In her seemingly last attempt at defeating Mira, Ellia gathered splinters and pieces of the table they destroyed in their fight and threw them at Mirajane. The Demon ducked underneath the projectiles so low her chin was barely above the ground and quickly raised herself up while throwing an uppercut. The blow landed under Ellia's chin and launched her entire body up in the air, effectively knocking her out.

Ellia's limp body fell on top of the wooden pieces. Her face looked surprisingly peaceful, albeit with a small dose of sadness.

"It is over! Fairy Tail gains yet another point!" Lola announced.

"She did it!" Lisanna hugged Lucy happily. "Another one down!"

"Yeah." Lucy said with a gentle, but sad smile.

"That's my Sis!" Elfman roared on top of his lungs. "No one can beat my Sis!"

"Calm down." told him annoyed Wakaba and Max.

Ivan massaged his eyes with a trembling hand and grit his teeth tight. He was starting to lose his cool, which didn't go unnoticed by his father.

Mirajane stared at defeated Ellia with a puzzled look on her face. Something was not right, and she could feel it in her bones. In few moments it looked as if she was holding back, whether by choice or not wasn't clear. This fight should have been harder, and Mira decided to stick with this thought for the time being.

She jumped out of the apartment and dispelled her form in order to rebuild some magic. Her job was not done yet.

Erza aimlessly ran through the city, unable to find anyone else. She knew all about the success of her team and was proud beyond belief, but her own inaction soured this feeling more than she'd like.

All of a sudden, as if her wish was granted, she was forced to draw her blade to block a strike coming from Kagura's Archenemy, who descended at her from above. Their clash created a small wave of wind that shook the curtains of the nearby windows.

"Looks like we finally meet." Erza said to her from behind their crossed swords.

"I have something I'd like you to tell me all about." Kagura said and pushed her blade harder.

"Is there room for one more, perhaps?"

Both swordswomen were blasted away by green balls of heat. They recollected their posture on opposite sides of the alley and looked to the side.

They were greeted with the sight of Minerva, who stood upon a roof of the small coffee shop, her figure blocking out the sun that blinded them both with its light.

Suddenly, both Erza and Kagura were submerged in colorful bubbles of magic, courtesy of Minerva, who smiled sadistically and clenched her fists.

IH RAGDO!

The bubbles began to glow, but before anything could happen both swordswomen safely cut their way out. Erza gripped her blade and dashed at Minerva, but had to block Archenemy appearing in front of her face. The redhead clicked her tongue and took a swing of her own, but Kagura blocked it with little to no effort.

"I feel like I am being left out of fun!" Minerva laughed and tried to attack the two women again.

While still crossed with Kagura, Erza spotted something in the distance. A tower, that stood several blocks away from them, was reflecting weird light. Deeming it weird, for the tower had no windows by the roof, it took the knight but a split second to feel fear wash over he entire body.

Erza pushed Kagura away and dodged a bullet that grazed her left cheek by barely a hair. The sound of the rifle going off reached them only a second later, with another round most likely cocked it already. The knight hid behind a wall and watched Kagura do the same, leaving confused Minerva as the sole target for the sharpshooter.

"What is the meaning of this?" Minerva asked and soon enough was forced to catch an incoming bullet with her magic, the round floating just before her chest. "Such nerve..." she said with a gentle growl and utilized her magic on herself. "I shall let you two bugs deal with this bothersome situation. We shall meet again soon." she added with a smile and disappeared from sight.

Kagura scoffed and ran in the opposite way, leaving Erza alone.

"This is going to be challenging..." she said and gripped her blade.

Up in the tower, Emilia laid on her stomach on the floor and pulled the lever of Nemesis, which was now in the shape of a scoped rifle, to load a new bullet in. The empty cartridge fell to the floor and bounced with a loud ping. She was fully aimed at Erza's location and patiently awaited the knight to move.

She was fully aware of her guild's recent failures, and knew the consequences. These consequences alone fueled her drive to succeed, no matter how unwilling she was to carry the task out. If there was even the slightest chance she could make up for everything that went wrong and let things stay the same way they were now, she'd take it. No matter the cost.

She fired again and watched the bullet pierce through the wall, but not Erza, who'd used Emilia's reload against her and crossed the alley to hide in a new spot. Each bullet carried her will to not lose everything again, and the more she was forced to fire, the tighter the feeling in her chest was.

Another round pierced through the thick, wooden door Erza was stuck behind, grazing her ponytail enough to take a couple of hair with it, and again, she dashed across to hide behind a corner of an apartment building. Each hiding spot brought her closer to Emilia, but in return carried a huge risk, for the rifle was powerful enough to pierce through walls.

If I leave her be, who knows who she might hit. I can't let the others become her targets. decided the knight and ran out form behind her cover. The bullet gently grazed her right shoulder, but it wasn't enough to stop the knight. With a single kick she broke through the front window of a shop and barged inside, effectively running out of Emilia's range.

First things first, I must make sure she does not move from her spot. Erza thought and picked up a piece of glass. I must first locate all of the nearby buildings as tall as her current hideout.

Erza peeked the glass outside and used it as a mirror to find anything of similar height to Emilia's tower. Seeing no other buildings that could be deemed worthy, she nodded to herself and cast the glass aside, before running out the backdoor into the backstreet. She then kicked down a door to a pub and ran across. I must stay outside of the streets, she shouldn't be able to hit me when I'm indoors-

A bottle on the table next to Erza exploded upon impact, the glass nearly taking Erza's real eye out. The redhead grit her teeth and continued to run, now through a large bank that had no windows for Emilia to see through.

"So this is how you want to play, huh." Emilia hummed to herself and looked away from her scope.

"Looks like Emilia and Erza are playing a game of cat and mouse." Lola said, amused.

"That rifle appears to be very formidable." Yajima stated.

"It's that girl again." Levy said.

"I'm getting sick of that guild." Max added with a small frown.

His guild agreed with him in silence.

Gray ran across a vast and open square, his eyes open and searching for any enemies. The trees were shaking rather violently, which he found weird: so far, the day was nothing but bright and calm.

Upon hearing a sound behind him, he smirked to himself and turned around with an ice sword in his hand to block a massive scythe aimed at his head, with Erigor being on the opposite end of the weapon.

"It's been a while, ice wizard." he licked his lips.

"Not long enough!" Gray said and pushed Erigor back. The man utilized his magic to stay in the air and rested his scythe on his shoulder.

"Gray is in battle once again, this time against Raven Tail B's Erigor!" Lola said.

"Is he gonna be okay?" Lisanna asked. "He did fight just a few minutes ago..."

"He beat the guy once already, he can do it again!" Elfman said with confidence.

Ivan took a deep breath and closed his eyes.

"Why would you even agree to join them?" Gray asked Erigor and punched his palm. "To get back on us?"

"Revenge is complicated." Erigor said. "My will is my own, and it is to crush you for what you've done." he added with a snarl. "You-"

Suddenly, he hissed and grabbed his head with his left hand, veins popping out on his forehead. He grunted and thrashed, as if he suddenly got a massive headache.

"My...will...is...my own..." he grunted under his breath. He then snapped his eyes open and slashed his scythe in the air in Gray's direction.

STORM BRINGER!

A massive tornado swallowed Gray whole and began to leave cuts all over his body. The Maker yelled out in pain and quickly coated himself in ice, which not only protected him from the wind, but also increased his weight and allowed him to drop back to the ground.

"Bastard...not even a warning?!" he yelled from within his ice and punched his palm inside his icecube.

ICE MAKE: LANCE!

The cube erected several spears of ice at Erigor, who flew above them with ease. He then spun his scythe and aimed it at Gray.

STORM SHRED!

Gray broke out of his protective block and jumped out of the way of a rain of vicious wind blades that shredded it into pieces. He landed on his feet and began to run in a circle around Erigor, while sending move spears and lances of ice at the man.

Erigor deflected them all with either his wind or scythe and aimed it at Gray, before blasting yet another torrent of wind at the Maker. Gray quickly raised a shield and blocked it, but it soon began to break under the weight of the spell.

"My will is my own!" he roared and increased the strength of the spell, which chipped more and more of Gray's shield as it went on.

"What the hell are you blabbing on about?!" Gray asked him, annoyed, and jumped away from his broken shield. The pieces of ice went flying everywhere, but neither of them cared about that.

ICE MAKE: GUNGNIR!

The massive spear missed Erigor by just a hair, as he flew higher in the air. To his surprise, Gray was on top of the creation and used it as a jumping pad to get to Erigor. He nailed him across the face with a mean right hook, his fist coated in a gauntlet of ice. Erigor's head was blown to the side with rivers of blood coming out of his cut lip and nose flying in the air. With one more blow left in him, Gray tried to nail him with a hammer, but Erigor blocked it with his scythe and kicked Gray in the chest, knocking him out of the air. The Maker landed on the ground safely and watched his opponent fly higher in the air, who'd already cast another spell.

Gray scowled and jumped away from more tornados. He's not gonna come down, huh? Looks like he doesn't want to make the same mistake again. he thought and watched the clearly hinged man grasp his head yet again, his face painted with pain and anger.

"Shut the hell up!" Erigor roared on top of his lungs all of a sudden and clapped his hands. The entire area they were fighting on was swallowed by a tornado unlike any other, its strength big enough to rip trees out of the soil and tiles from the pavement ground.

Gray found himself being sucked in along with everything else and, just like before, he was being cut by the wind, this time much deeper. He cried out in pain but did not lose his focus, and tried to find a way to get to Erigor, who'd risen to the very top of the eye of the storm. If he used his coating trick again he'd simply increase the distance between them and get torn to shreds.

"What I do is out of my own choice, and no one else's!" Erigor yelled at Gray and raised his arms high in the air. "I'm not going to stay his pawn!"

"Am I supposed to know what you're talking about?!" Gray asked him and molded himself a relatively light ice armor to protect him from the wind. Like he suspected, it didn't do much and was soon torn off of him along with the top of his uniform.

Just when Gray yelled out after being cut across his chest, he noticed Erigor cross his fingers into a shape of an X in front of his chest, and every hair on his body stood up at attention. In an act of desperation he punched his palm as hard as he could and began to mold the thickest and biggest shield he had ever made.

ICE MAKE: GIANT SHIELD!

EMERA BARAM!

Erigor launched a gigantic whirlpool of wind that crashed into Gray's shield and utterly destroyed it into tiny pieces, shredding it so cleanly it's as if he'd used a scalpel. Gray was struck in the chest and his entire torso exploded with a cloud of blood from various cuts he'd received in an instant. His eyes lost their focus and he began to descend towards the ground, crashing into it like a brick.

Erigor canceled out his wind. The picked up trees, tiles, dust and pieces of debris have begun to fall to the ground one by one, while he observed the dust cloud Gray was lying in. He lowered himself in the air to get a better look and noticed something gleaming in the dust.

ICE MAKE: BAZOOKA!

Erigor was struck in his stomach by a powerful projectile of ice, which made a very good job at stealing all the air he had in his lungs, the spell catching him off guard and hitting him with its full extent. He buckled over in the air and clutched his stomach while sending Gray a hateful look.

The Maker was standing on his last legs, his eyes half-open and breathing irregular. Juvia covered her mouth at the sight, her confidence gone in an instant.

"It appears Gray is on the verge of defeat!" Lola said.

"Mirajane, who's been running down a street on the opposite side of the city clicked her tongue as she listened to the commentary. "Come on, Gray. Don't drop on us." she said.

Erza, who'd been checking whether Emilia was still in her spot stopped peeking the broken piece of mirror from a window and bit her lip in worry, as she tried to listen to the outcome of Gray's fight.

"You're half dead already." Erigor told him and massaged his sore stomach. "Just let me finish you!" he yelled and spun his scythe again.

Gray grit his teeth in anger and punched his bloodied palm for quite likely the last time. "Like hell I'm losing to the likes of you" he roared.

He began to mold an exact copy of himself, only rid of damage, and soon Erigor was staring at two copies of his old enemy.

Both Gray's began to mold bows and arrows into the hands, albeit smaller versions of the usually large weapon. They both knocked their bows and aimed them at Erigor, who aimed his scythe at them both and cast his spell.

STORM BRINGER!

Gray's loosened their bows and launched their arrows at the incoming torrent of wind. To Erigor's surprise, neither of them were aimed directly at him and he watched one of them fly way too leaned to his right. To his shock, the arrow began to change its course and zipped just past his right ear. The other one, launched slightly later than the previous one, did the same, only to his left and before Erigor could even react he got hit in his left shoulder.

"You bastard...You used my own wind against me to change the course of your shot?!" he asked Gray and dispelled his wind to focus on ice, that began to sprawl over his chest from his wound. He punched it and cracked it, successfully stopping the spreading, but in doing so failed to notice, that Gray had risen his clone upwards with a pillar of ice.

ICE MAKE: WAR CLUB!

Clone-Gray struck Erigor in the back of the head with a club made out of ice, effectively knocking him out. The man began to fall freely to the floor along with Gray's clone, and they soon both crashed into the ground.

Real Gray collapsed onto his knees and panted heavily, both his magic and consciousness running on their last fumes. He watched his destroyed clone being taken by the gentle wind, pieces of ice flying off into the distance, and Erigor, who vanished in thin air before his eyes.

"He's done it! Against all odds Fairy Tail's Gray defeats Erigor and scores a point for his team!" Lola exclaimed to the pumped up crowd.

"He did it!" Juvia yelled and stood up in her seat, her relieved eyes glued to the screen, Gray's bloodied face being its very focus.

"Atta boy." Mirajane smirked and dashed forward upon spotting an enemy, her fist connecting with Rustyrose's unsuspecting face and knocked him down to the floor, his glasses falling off his face.

Gray panted heavily and looked at himself. He was in no shape to fight any longer and it was miracle he hadn't been turned into a point for Raven Tail already.

"I'm out of magic...Can't really walk...I guess I've got no choice but to let tincan have some fun." he chuckled to himself weakly and raised his head. "Switch! I want to be replaced!" he announced to the arena.

"We have ourselves the first switch! Fairy Tail's Gray will be replaced by another member of his guild, and therefore, his guild loses 3 points!" Lola said.

"Do I even have to say it?" Makarov said with amusement.

Levy turned to the Dragon Slayer with a wide smile. "Good luck out there!" she cheered him on.

Gajeel did his famous laugh in response and jumped over the railing into the arena with a grin on his face. He looked like a kid on Christmas Eve.

"Send me in there already, damn it!" Gajeel told Kabo, who nodded and pointed at a circle on the ground. Soon enough Gajeel was teleported into the arena, while Gray vanished into the infirmary. Fairy Tail's 61 points turned into 58, which knocked them down from fist place to second, just behind Raven Tail A, who stood tall with 59 points.

"All right, time to get wild!" Gajeel punched his hand and ran into the city in search of people to clobber.

"Oh my, it appears we've missed quite a spectacle! Bacchus had made contact with Sabertooth's Sting, and it looks to be a rather wild fight!"

Bacchus and Sting struck one another at the same time and knocked each other back. They were both bruised and bloodied, with Bacchus clearly being on the receiving end of more exchanges.

"Ha ha, now this is what I was hoping for!" Bacchus cackled and jumped high in the air.

Sting lit up his fists with white light and grit his teeth. "I don't have time to be stuck with the likes of you!" he said and jumped as well. His fist connected with Bacchus' face, but the blow did nothing for the drunk. He grinned through the pain and grabbed Sting by the throat, before hitting him in the stomach with his open palm. Sting coughed up spit and crashed to the ground onto his back. With no chance of recovery, he had to roll his body backwards and jump away just in time to avoid Bacchus crashing into his landing spot with his feet.

Feeling glad he avoided in time to not have his ribs turn into dust, Sting puffed out his chest and unleashed a Roar at Bacchus. The drunk dodged it and began to run at Sting in a straight line, making it impossible for the Dragon Slayer to change its course. Sting shut his mouth and raised his guard to block Bacchus' kick and retaliated with another Roar, this time pointblank. Bacchus was blasted away by the light and rolled on the floor, but not for long, for he pushed himself off of it to jump back to his feet and charge at Sting yet again, hitting him with both of his palms directly in the stomach.

Sting coughed up blood and flew through a window of a shop and landed on a wooden table, which he destroyed into pieces. Feeling angry and humiliated, he tapped into his White Drive and dashed forward faster than ever and began to pummel Bacchus with vicious blows that shook the man's entire body with their weight.

"Just...go...down...already!" Sting said with each landed blow and kicked Bacchus in the face to finish his combo. Bacchus staggered backwards and cackled through pain, his hand reaching out to his bottle of booze.

"Now we're talkin'!" he roared and uncorked it. "Ever since I've found ya you've been lookin' at me like I was nothing but a pebble for you to kick aside. Well, let me have some fun first, before ya get past me, Mr. Tiger!" he said with a laugh and began to down his booze.

Sting clenched his fist. The man was half right. While he was still following the strategy imposed on him by his Master, he was also trying to get to his real goal, who was getting further and further away from him as time passed.

"Sting, go for it!" Lector cheered from the stands. "You won't lose to the likes of him!"

In his dwelling on thoughts, Sting failed to realize Bacchus had already finished his booze and was woken up by a hard hit to the face. Sting grunted and tried to kick the drunk, who ducked underneath it and struck Sting's supporting leg with his palm. Sting fell to the ground and was kicked in the ribs as a follow-up. Fed up, he clenched his right fist and struck Bacchus in the stomach as hard as he could.

WHITE DRAGON'S JUSTICE FIST!

Bacchus buckled over, but Sting's onslaught did not end there. He landed an uppercut on Bacchus and launched him up in the air, before spinning around and kicking him in his exposed ribs.

WHITE DRAGON'S TALON!

Bachcus caught the blow at the last second and spun Sting around, making him fly into a nearby wall. Bacchus ran after the Dragon Slayer and missed him with a kick by just an inch, his leg going through the wall like butter.

Sting jumped aside to create some distance and touched Bacchus' stomach while muttering.

WHITE DRAGON'S CLAW!

"The hell? I can't move!" Bacchus exclaimed drunkenly and tried to move, to no avail.

"It's a seal. You can't move while it's on your body." Sting cracked his knuckles and began to pummel the drunk with strikes to every exposed area, the damage piling on within seconds.

"Bacchus is in a pinch! Quatro Cerberus is on the verge of being eliminated, will he find a way to turn the tides?!"

"Nope." Sting said aloud and threw one last punch at Bacchus' face. The man caught it with his hand, much to Sting's shock, and landed ten devastating hits within a second on the Dragon Slayer's unsuspecting body. Sting buckled over from the sustained damage and jumped back, even if only but a couple feet.

"Looks like if I focus my magic well enough that seal of yours breaks!" Bacchus said while wiping blood off his face. He looked like a man one step away from death, caused most likely by the alcohol he drank just a minute ago. Despite his injuries he was just as eager to fight, and was already bending down to charge the still injured Dragon Slayer.

"Shit..he's still coming." Sting cursed under his breath and began to focus his magic, the sweat flowing down his face lighting up.

Bacchus dashed forward with speed that should by no means be possible for a man with his injuries. Much to his joy, Sting charged forward as well, and Bacchus could have sworn he looked different, with weird marks over his face and chest and his hair standing up. The last thing the drunk could register before losing consciousness was Sting's fist crashing into his face at incredible speed, and with enough strength to flip the man in the air backwards and make him fall to the ground like a sack of potatoes.

The crowd went quiet, confused and unable to comprehend what just happened. From their perspective, Bacchus randomly spun around, and Sting, who was covered in weird light, somehow managed to get behind him in just a blink of an eye.

"Quatro Cerberus is no more!" Lola exclaimed upon recovering from the shock. "Sabertooth gains 5 points!"

"I have no words." Yajima shook his head with a smile.

Sabertooth jumped over Raven Tail and Fairy Tail into 1st place, now with 60 points. The crowd was loving the chaos that was unfolding in the fake city, and continued to cheer, hungry for more.

"Took you lot long enough." Jiemma said. "Don't you dare slip, even by a step."

With the battle already well hidden at the back of his mind, Sting exhaled tiredly and ran deeper into the city, his nose already working at full capacity. He would get what he wanted, no matter what.

Sherria gulped loudly and took a step back upon encountering a certain redhaired, freckled boy in baggy clothes and exhausted expression. His hands were, as usual, in his pockets, his back hunched and his shoulders pushed in. They were standing on an open square just barely next to the very center of the city, with gardens and big fountains within sight just to their right.

"I'd really rather not face you as my fist opponent." Sherria said nervously, but through a smile.

Leord blinked and looked at the screen above them, which was currently showing Mirajane, back in her Satan Soul, trying to avoid cannons conjured by Rustyrose. "Ellia and Svenar are down, huh? I guess I can't lazy around anymore." he said with a tone of sadness in his voice and looked back at his opponent. "I'm sorry."

Sherria had barely a second to jump out of the way of spikes growing out of the ground, one of them catching her hair and breaking a ribbon. With her hair falling down onto her shoulders, she wondered how in all hell could he mold things without as much as a single twitch of his body.

"I guess we're doing this the hard way!" she said and puffed out her chest.

WIND GOD'S BELLOW!

The black torrent of wind was stopped by a wall growing out in front of Leord. Once the spell was finished, he retracted it back into the ground and tried to catch her with giant hands made out of earth, which she dodged by jumping in the air.

There is a reason Leord is special, even amongst his other peers. Ivan thought as he watched his ace relentlessly chase after Sherria with various creations of earth, from spikes to dozens of arms. His control over magic power is that beyond anyone else's. The reserves and strength of his magic power do not match his external appearance, and the way he alternates between the simplest of molds, to spells capable of crushing even the strongest makes it incredibly difficult to predict his next move. He was the only one fully compatible with his magic upon the transplant, a true prodigy.

Sherria was hit by a small boulder thrown at her from the ground and landed on her feet, her left side pulsating from pain. Looks like I won't be able to reach him...I'm sorry, Wendy, but I'll borrow something of yours!

The girl bent her knees and created a small bubble of black air underneath her right foot. She kicked the ground and launched herself straight at Leord, who was almost caught off guard. He stepped out of the way and felt Sherria zap past him. To his surprise, she quickly stopped herself in tracks by sending a torrent of wind forward and came to a halt within her punching distance. She clenched her fist and was just about to send all of her wind at the teenager, but the plan was stopped by a pillar of earth smashing her in the stomach from underneath. The pillar had risen high in the air and launched her in the air.

With a clap of his hands, Leord created a rock golem, about twice as tall as he was, who punched Sherria and sent her flying across the square directly into one of the fountains. She landed in water and caused it to spill over, with some water reaching all the way to Leord's feet.

"Give up." he said and stationed his golem in front. "There's no need to drag this out any longer." Although that's probably what I should be doing...

The fountain exploded all of a sudden, with water splashing in all directions. Before Leord could even react to it he spotted something fly in his direction and witnessed his golem being cut in half by a blade of black wind. The golem fell to the ground, leaving Leord defenseless and off guard.

Sherria emerged from the water and intensely stared at the redhead.

Leord narrowed his tired eyes. "You're not going to make this easy, are you?" he asked sarcastically.

Erza carefully peeked from behind the corner, the scope continuously reflecting its light at her. She found it weird, however, for it's been minutes since she's been shot at. She knew it could very well be a trap, however, she was so close to the tower it was possible Emilia had no angle to shoot her from, making her focus on other targets. She made a very good use of the interiors to cut the distance as well, which definitely must have made it hard to track her movements.

Deciding to risk it, Erza ran out and bolted straight for the tower. In an unfortunate turn of events she tripped on her way and felt regret regarding her decision a mere second later, once she felt a bullet hit her right forearm and pierce right through it into the ground, with the shot coming not from the tower, but an apartment building 50 meters to her right.

The knight hissed in pain and dove through the first window that was available. She landed inside a pub and felt all of the hair on her body stand up: there must have been at least ten windows here, all of them facing the building Emilia was hiding in. Erza threw herself over the counter and planted her back against the thick wood, Emilia's shot shattering a beer keg above her head. The alcohol began to pour down the counter, some of it flowing down Erza's back.

She got me. Erza thought and rolled up her sleeve to assess her damage. She began to move her fingers around one by one, along with her wrist. Thankfully, the bullet went through, and didn't damage anything important. She refused to think how things would have turned out had she not tripped on that uneven sidewalk.

As Erza ripped a piece of her uniform off and wrapped it around the wounds, she lifted her gaze up to the bottles in front of her. She could clearly see the building reflecting on the glass, with Emilia's scope blinking from the second floor. Erza knew, that if she could use them to her advantage, so could Emilia, and quickly Requipped a sword, which she used to cut the bottles and destroy the display.

Drowned in more booze, Erza made nothing out of the strong smell hitting her nose and her body getting wet. Instead, her mind was fully focused on how to get out of this situation in one piece. Her eyes drifted to the left, where she spotted a couple of chairs, neatly hidden behind the counter and ready to be put out the very next day. An idea began to form in the knight's mind and as she grabbed one of them by the leg and pulled it closer, she decided to take it a couple steps further.

From her hiding spot, Emilia watched the bar fill up with smoke, most definitely caused by a smoke bomb. Her trigger finger remained as steady as ever, but her arm was ready to shift the rifle in whichever direction it needed to be moved in.

Erza took a deep breath and closed her eyes. It's been a very long time since I've used it last, but I this should be the least I can do...

One of the chairs began to float within the smoke and positioned itself over the counter. Pleased with herself, Erza quickly stood up and lifted another chair up. Using the rays of sun peeking through the smoke, she used it to guide her aim and threw it into a window, breaking it in the process.

Emilia quickly shifted her rifle towards it and almost pulled the trigger, but retained at the very last moment. Another window broke and this time, she did not hesitate, her bullet shattering the chair into pieces. Cursing under her nose, she watched a third window break, this time with her actual target being its cause, and helplessly watched Erza zap towards her hiding spot with her Flight Armor's boots faster than she could reload.

Looks like my time here is over. she thought and lifted herself off the floor. She will be here momentarily, the least I should do is get into a better-

Her thoughts were interrupted by something breaking through the window of the bedroom she resided in. She quickly put up her weapon, but she ended up aiming at one of the chairs from the bar. With her ears picking up a sound coming from the roof Emilia had only but a second to change her weapon into something more fitting for close encounters, as Erza crashed through the roof in her Purgatory Armor and swung her club from above. The weapon clashed with Nemesis, now in the shape of a massive greatsword, and successfully smashed Emilia through the floor.

With her arms crying out in pain, the woman scowled and shifted her weight while in the air to move out of Erza's way and kick her in the stomach. Erza grunted and Requipped into Heaven's Wheel Armor, before sending her blades in Emilia's direction.

BLUMENBLATT!

Emilia landed on her feet with a flip and successfully deflected or dodged the incoming blades. She did not, however, defend from Erza's charge, who zapped past Emilia in a weird combination of Flight Armor and Black Wing Armor. Emilia grit her teeth in pain, her left shoulder slashed open, and changed Nemesis into a club, which was met by Erza's Lightning Armor spear. The weapons collided with each other, Erza's creating many cracks of lightning, and caused a massive shockwave that shattered all windows on the floor and cracked the foundations of the house, which was starting to fall apart from all the sustained damage.

"We ought to be grateful to the Council, who so graciously agreed to create this replica for us." Yajima said with amusement.

"I am sure whoever's home it is must be extremely grateful!" Lola added.

Erza and Emilia jumped back and jumped out of the crumbling house. They both landed next to the bar and stared at one another, the sounds of bricks and glass shattering under their own weight echoing across the city.

Neither of women had anything to say to another: there was nothing else to be said. All they were right now was mages competing against one another, albeit with different purposes that did not have to be disclosed.

Sherria raised two fingers of her right hand and swiped them in the air, sending yet another blade of wind. Leord tried to block it, but his rock wall has been cut in half, just like the golem did.

"You leave me no other choice but go all out on you!" Sherria said and put her arms behind her back, Leord recognized the spell and watched black wings made out of wind begin to form around Sherria, spiraling and casting black leaves of wind all over the place. Her magic power went off the charts, so much, that Leord began to sweat.

Sherria aimed the wings at Leord and threw them as hard as she could.

GOD SLAYER'S SECRET ARTS: HEAVENLY GATHERING OF CLOUDS!

Leord put his hands together before being seemingly swallowed by the wind. The spell obliterated everything in its path, cutting it into tiny pieces. Once she thought it was enough, Sherria dispelled it and waited for dust to settle in. To her shock, instead of looking at defeated Leord her eyes were stuck on a massive, thick, black in color hill of earth, that looked as if it somehow melted. The place that was struck by her spell was heavily damaged, but the spell itself failed to penetrate through.

"I have to regroup!" she muttered to herself and began to eat air to replenish her magic. All of a sudden she felt something wrap around her ankles and before she noticed she sunk into the ground, with her head being the only part of her sticking out. She desperately tried to set herself free, but her wind was ineffective.

Leord emerged from behind his abomination and squatted before Sherria. "Give up." he told her.

Reluctantly, the girl muttered the words and disappeared with a flicker. Leord stood back up and dusted his pants off. A sound of footsteps forced him to turn around and his eyes landed on a head of pink hair and a scaly, white scarf flowing in the gentle breeze.

"Looks like I've missed something." Natsu scratched the back of his head and curiously looked around the destroyed area.

Leord's eyes narrowed and his posture changed. He straightened his back and pulled his hands out of his pockets, ready to attack his new opponent.

Without a single warning he sent over a dozen of earth spikes at Natsu from beneath his feet. The Dragon Slayer jumped back and avoided them all, but he had more coming to him. He narrowly maneuvered out of the way of massive hands trying to flatten him into the ground with his flames propelling him aside and landed back on the ground, which softened and began to drag him down. Natsu blew it up and jumped away, using the dust as a cover. Upon emerging out of the dust he noticed a massive boulder flying in his direction. He scowled and smashed his fire enhanced fist into it and broke it into pieces, but got hit in the back by a fist growing out from the ground.

Natsu had no time to even land properly on the ground before being attacked by even more spikes. With no way out, he was swallowed by the creations and potentially skewered like a piece of meat on a grill.

"Despite barely arriving at the scene, Fairy Tail's Natsu is in a pinch! Has the fight ended already?!" Lola wondered.

"Come on..." Lucy bobbed her leg nervously. "This isn't like you..."

Leord took a breath of relief and eased up his tense body. Suddenly, he heard a weird noise behind him and upon turning around he got smashed in the face with a fire coated fist. The boy cried out in pain and was blown away by a couple feet, landing on his back on the broken ground.

Natsu retracted his fist and exhaled through his nose. His legs from the knees down were crackling with weak lightning, which Leord deduced helped him escape.

"Looks like our answer is no." Yajima smiled.

Lucy, along with the rest of her guild, took a breath of relief and took the cheers of the crowd in with joy.

Ivan watched the scene with shock plastered over his face. Never in his life has Leord been struck in actual battle, his reflexes and magic always there for him to prevent it from happening. And yet here he was, flattened on the floor and blood pouring down his face from his bloodied and burned nose.

The boy stood up to his feet, although on very shaky legs. Natsu noticed it and frowned gently at the sight.

"Don't tell me this is the first time you've been hit?" he asked with a scoff.

Leord wiped his face off with his sleeve. "And what if it is?`" he asked in return and put his hands together.

Natsu clenched his fist and set his entire body on fire. "There's more of that coming." he said with a gentle grin.

"Fairy Tail is busy as ever!" Lola said and soon the screens began to show its members currently engaged in battle. Mirajane continued to deal with Rustyrose's creations, Gajeel encountered Rogue in a small tunnel in the southern parts of the city, Laxus was still roaming the streets with no opponent in sight, Erza and Emilia were still eyeing each other up, and Natsu and Leord were ready to throw another attack.

The main screen showed close-ups of Natsu and Erza's faces, each taking half a screen. They stared at their respective opponents with focused, determined, and calm, eyes, as well as matching faces to go along with. Their guild watched them with confidence, as well as pride in Lucy's case.

The Games were coming to an end, and it was only becoming tenser as it progressed. With the weak out of the game, it was time for the strong to bare their teeth, and it would not be pretty.

End of Chapter 46. To be continued in Chapter 47: Day Five: Family.

I apologize if the chapter feels a little rushed, but if I did it usual way Day Five would have taken 6 chapters to tell.

Erza vs Emilia will be short, since they have met in battle already. This is just closure for those characters. Natsu's fight will also be relatively short, although for different reasons. You'll find that out soon enough.

I will be posting the scoreboard in the next chapter, somehow I just couldn't find a suitable place for it in this one.

If you see the story be updated in the next few days it's because I am catching out mistakes I've failed to catch before. I'm sure despite spending a few hours on reading through this thing I've missed at least a few.

I hope you liked it and have a nice day!