Originally this chapter was supposed to contain much more, but due to how long it'd become I had to axe it. That means there will be two more chapters in this arc, but they will be smaller than the rest. Sorry about that, I want to put this arc behind me as much as you guys do.

Once again, sorry for delay and thank you for supporting me for so long. You guys rock.

Dark clouds began to gather in the distance, quite the contrary to the currently clear sky hovering above Crocus. Some could say it was a bad thing, the storm possibly impacting the current entertainment going on in the city, but it was, in fact, quite fortunate, for it masked the sight that would no doubt terrify anyone.

Several miles from Crocus, the black dragon of destruction descended from the dark clouds to the ground, his sharp talons digging into the soil. With a loud growl he sniffed the air and his form began to rapidly shrink.

A young looking man with black hair and clad in black and white robes snickered at the sight and continued to bounce the ripe, red apple in his right hand.

"Acnologia, the dragon of chaos, bringer of death...the one and only human to ever become a dragon, achieved through endless killing and bathing in dragon blood. Never fails to amuse me whenever I hear it." he said with a smile whilst watching the dragon shrink into a humanoid form before him.

Acnologia emerged from the crater he created with his paw and glared at the man, his messy, dirty blue hair dancing in the gentle wind.

"What do you want, Black Wizard?" he growled, speech clearly coming with difficulty to him.

Zeref caught the apple with a loud slap and turned to the dragon. "I'd rather you didn't go this way." he said. "There is something I am looking forward to and your appearance would ruin it...to put it lightly." he said.

Acnologia scowled. "Why would I care about that?" he asked.

"I understand this much magic is tempting, but I promise you, whatever happens within the next fortnight will be worth the wait." Zeref said with a lick of his lips. "You may make your appearance, then."

Acnologia's eyes rapidly opened. He clenched his fist and unleashed his magic power upon Zeref. The trees around him began to crack and fold, like matches broken between fingers.

"Do you want to die, Black Wizard?" he asked with a growl in his voice. "You dare giving me orders?"

"Be my guest." Zeref said and stood up from his stone, his smile replaced with a face of gentle annoyance. "But make sure not to scatter me around too much, I wish to accomplish something within near future and I'm afraid all of me is required."

He looked the dragon dead in the eye and unleashed his magic to match that of Acnologia's. The apple in his hand rotted and turned to dust within a second.

"I shall warn you this one time, Acnologia." he said with a tone so cold it was a miracle the air did not freeze "Leave this place. There is nothing for you here other than death. This era is coming to an end, and my inaction along with it. Even you must know it would be a disaster for us to engage in battle."

Acnologia's arm twisted, as if he contemplated an attack. The two behemoths stared at each other for what could be described as eternity. Finally, the black dragon was the one to take a step back and with a loud growl he grew in size, before flying away into the distance with a flap of his destructive wings.

Zeref watched the beast fly away and took a deep breath to calm his nerves down, his sweaty hand trembling. He hated this feeling with passion, the uncertainty of victory he felt only when standing before this monster. He turned toward Crocus and smirked gently at the thought of everything that was bound to happen.

Sabertooth: 60 points

Raven Tail A: 60 points

Fairy Tail: 58 points

Lamia Scale: 42 points

Mermaid Heel: 35 points

Raven Tail B: 26 points

Blue Pegasus: 26 points

Quatro Cerberus: 18 points

"As you can see, the scores keep shifting with each passing moment!" Lola said.

"Fairy Tail lost their advantage by exchanging one of their members. They must be confident in their ability to make up for it." Yajima nodded.

"They most certainly are trying!" Lola added and pointed at the screen. "Erza is baring her fangs at Emilia, and vice versa!"

The giant screen showed both women in a dual exchange of blows, their right fists landing flush on their respective left cheek. They both recoiled from the blow, their lips cut, and quickly retained their composure, ready to attack again.

After clashing their blades in vain one too many times, in the heat of the moment, both women abandoned their skill in using weapons and began to exchange brutal and heavy blows inside of the ruined house.

Erza caught Emilia's right hook on her guard and retaliated by nailing her in the gut so hard Emilia barely restrained her urge to vomit. She grit her teeth so hard she chipped one of them and caught Erza with an uppercut so brutal it almost knocked the redhead out on the spot. With her last shred of consciousness the knight grabbed Emilia's uniform and landed a headbutt flush on her face, breaking her glasses in the process.

"Why is she engaging in hand to hand?!" Makarov caught his head. "She is throwing away her advantage!"

"She let herself be dragged into it." Freed shook his head.

"This is unlike her, being so reckless." Evergreen frowned.

"Then again, this fighting style..." Wendy said nervously and scratched her cheek.

"Yeah, she picked it up from him." Cana said.

Lucy frowned. All she had were her suspicions and feelings coming from having spent a lot of time with Erza, but she had no reason to doubt them. Although both women thought their grudge was settled, their subconsciousness had other plans, thus giving birth to this brutal slugfest.

Frustration, anger, regret, anxiety, fear. All of those emotions resurfaced from the depths of their memories in this one final stand these women would ever have, all of their cards flat on the table.

One was torn between her seemingly quenched thirst for justice, nurtured and grown for years, and the noose that was hauntingly hanging over her neck had she failed her objective. The other wanted to redeem the name of her guild, while also trying to make right with the one soul who dared to oppose her darkest days by trying to punch a hole in her face as quickly as possible, without dragging it more than necessary.

Emilia grunted, the glass having stuck itself into her face in several places, and decided it was enough. She clutched her probably broken nose and kicked Erza away and ran up to pick Nemesis off the ground.

Her hand was almost impaled by a spear thrown by Erza, and upon picking her weapon up she clashed with the charging redhead.

Both women began a violent and aggressive exchange of strikes and slices, their blades causing sparks with each collision, which lit up the blood spurting all over the place from the many small cuts on both of their bodies.

Erza Requipped into Fire Empress Armor and blasted Emilia with a torrent of flames. The woman countered it by jumping over it and changed Nemesis into a rifle, which she shot at the knight. Erza felt a bullet graze her cheek and miraculously dodged the other one, before throwing her blade at Emilia. The woman swiped it away with her weapon but left herself open for enough time to let Erza jump toward her, now in Black Wing Armor, and attack from above.

The force of catching the blow on her weapon has caused Emilia to crater downward and barely manage to land on her feet. She quickly jumped away from an incoming storm of blades and changed Nemesis into something big and powerful.

Erza felt all of the hair on her body stand up at the sight of the giant bazooka resting on Emilia's right shoulder, and as she pulled the trigger all of her instincts began to scream on top of their lungs. She desperately threw her main blade at the incoming projectile and managed to set it off before it could reach her. She could not do so with the other one, however, and dropped down to the ground, now in Flight Armor, to try and outflank Emilia and her devastating toy.

Emilia's aim was on point, so much, that even with her enhanced speed Erza found it hard to dodge the explosions going off around her. A piece of wood managed to plant itself in her right calf, which gently threw her off guard. Emilia used this chance and launched a spot on projectile that seemingly hit Erza square in the chest and blew up the remains of what was left of the kitchen.

"Erza!" her guild cried out.

"Is this it?! Will Erza even remain in one piece after a hit like that?"

Emilia carefully watched the dust subdue and widened her eyes upon the sight of two enormous shields of Adamantine Armor being stuck into the floor. The woman clicked her tongue and prepared to attack once more.

Her sensitive ears picked up a sound behind her and in a split second Emilia turned around and changed Nemesis into a longsword, which successfully blocked Erza's Benizakura.

The girl was clad in her red pants and bandages, with some remaining light still hovering over her feet.

"I see. You left those shields in there as a distraction and used your speed armor to circle around me in the smoke." Emilia deduced calmly.

"Guilty." Erza said. "I was hoping to catch you off guard with this blow. I'd like to end this as soon as possible."

"Looking past me already? I'm hurt." Emilia taunted.

"Explaining myself would not benefit anybody." Erza gripped her blade tighter. "Let us put an end to this, once and for all."

Both women jumped back and recollected their postures. Emilia gripped her blade and put up her guard.

"Yes. Let us."

Natsu roared and punched the earthen hand chasing him with all his might, shattering it into pieces. Those pieces then gently shifted and grew out spikes that Natsu dodged perfectly. He landed back on the ground and sighed out loud.

"Aggressive, aren't you?" he asked Leord and wiped the sweat off his chin as pieces of soil fell to the ground around him. "That's the third time you tried to skewer me."

Leord frowned. "I don't have time to play with you. I have a job to do, and your defeat is crucial."

Natsu noticed the tension in his voice and frowned. From what he'd seen the past few days this guy was not one to easily show off his emotions, yet his nervous voice, sweaty face and shaking hands were dead giveaways of his current mental state.

"You...have never faced adversity before, have you?" Natsu asked him.

Leord looked at him with wide eyes. "What?"

"After I nailed you, you said you don't get hit too often." Natsu struck the palm of his hand. "I am also the very first person to give you trouble in this event. As soon as you face a wall you begin to crumble, isn't that right?"

"Shut up." the angry teenager said and clenched his fists. "Do not speak as if you know me. Adversity? I've known nothing but that since I was taken into this guild."

Natsu noticed the air around him grow heavier and suffocating with each passing second, Leord's surfacing emotions raising his magic power, that felt surprisingly hot to the Dragon Slayer.

Leord shifted his head to look at Natsu from behind his messy hair. "I have things I want to keep through means I don't want to do. I have a burden on my shoulders that I hate with passion, but would rather die than let go. That alone is enough adversity to condition me for life."

The ground began to shake as he started to raise his hands. New cracks and tremors continued to shake the area, and before he could notice Natsu found himself being lifted up with the ground. He quickly jumped off to safe ground, but it did not remain safe for long, as it also began to raise and change levels. The entire area began to shift levels and became uneven, with chasms and hills being created throughout the area. Natsu held tight to his current foothold and watched Leord carefully, as well as tensed his senses; the chances of being attacked from any side were high.

"Your punches are nothing in comparison." Leord said and took a deep breath as his magic subdued. "No matter how hard you hit, losing here would be much more painful."

Natsu narrowed his eyes. He set his right hand ablaze and leveled the rocks attacking him with ease. He then bent his knees and generated enough lightning in his legs to propel himself across and land a devastating blow on Leord's face. The unable to even react teenager rolled back on the ground and forced himself to halt by building a wall that stopped his momentum seconds after being struck. He slowly stood up and wiped his bloodied lips, using the wall as support and glared at Natsu with misty, yet hateful eyes.

Natsu straightened his posture and blinked. "Two strikes and you're on death's door..." he sighed. "You talk tougher than you should." he added and scratched the back of his head.

Leord grit his teeth. "Do not get cocky over being a little better than the rest of these weaklings!" he roared on top of his lungs. "You'd never know what it feels like to constantly fight for approval, to stay relevant to those around you!"

Natsu's eyes widened.

Leord wiped his face and stomped the ground, which began to violently shake. "Not a single bit about me is natural." he said as he began to prepare a powerful spell. "The magic that was given to me, the enhancements they put in me, the trust and pressure they put on me, the image they created of me inside their heads...None of that is mine! I despise that to my very core, but I would rather die than disappoint them, betray this image they have of me."

The ground began to crack and heat up, and, much to Natsu's shock, bubble and flow.

"Compared to being alone again, I'd gladly eat a thousand of your punches!" Leord yelled and raised his hands.

The terrain began to rapidly change. Hills even higher than before began to rise up from the ground and change color into black and crimson, as they then began to melt, magma flowing down the creations like a bad omen. The floor began to crack and break, splitting into chasms that could have easily swallowed a whole vehicle. Nearby buildings began to change shape, slowly becoming yet another subject to Leord's will, as they expanded and changed both shape and state. The water from a fountain dozens of yards away from them began to rapidly vaporize, and Natsu felt heat that surely would have damaged him had it not been for his magic.

"Lava?!" Elfman stood up from his seat in shock. "This guy can change earth into lava?!" he exclaimed in horror. His guild could only watch the fight in silence.

Ivan smiled to himself upon the sight, as his only prodigy capable of calming his wrecked nerves proved yet again why he was the ace of Raven Tail, its ultimate weapon and creation.

Kagura, who'd been watching the match from within the arena, frowned at the sight, the pieces inside her head putting themselves together.

"That explains the incident during Pandemonium." she muttered to herself, the sight of the cauterized, clean cut on a monster's head still vivid in her memory.

Natsu watched Leord work his magic with a face so stoic it in way matched actions happening before him. Although his eyes registered what was going on before him, his mind dwelled on something else, and as he watched Leord clap his hands before his chest, his eyes narrowed with realization.

Ah. He's like me.

CATACLYSM!

Leord's roar was almost instantly drowned out by the sound of all the lava and earth mixed together flowing towards Natsu like a tsunami of death. The Dragon Slayer had managed to jump away the first time, but he was soon caught from behind by a second wave, and soon both of them collapsed on top of him, burying him in the sea of magma, ash, dust and rocks.

"Natsu!" horrified Lucy called out to him from the stands.

Their guild anxiously watched the lava subdue and begin to harden on top of Natsu, its sizzling loud enough to overshadow Lola and Yajima's commentary, as well as the crowd's reaction to the fight.

Leord was breathing heavily, the strain the spell had on him visible to just about anyone with a pair of eyes. His face had become even paler, with sweat piercing through his baggy clothes and dripping down his chin.

"Is this it for Fairy Tail's Natsu?!" Lola wondered, finally able to speak clearly.

After a couple seconds of silence the giant shell of hardened magma began to crack, and Leord felt every hair on his body stand up on its own. Shortly after something broke straight out of the shell, as Natsu made his way upwards, his legs turned into propellers thanks to his flames.

Fairy Tail erupted in cheers and relief, and watched their friend land on one of the leftover hills created by Leord earlier.

Natsu landed on his feet and stared at Leord from above. His clothes, particularly his jacket, were severely damaged, his left sleeve gone up to the shoulder and his right sleeve up to the elbow. His pants had several holes in them and he was missing his left shoe. The holes in his clothing showcased the burns he had sustained from the spell, but none of them appeared to be more than just an annoyance, the worst of them being on his left calf with a couple blisters and flaky skin.

Leord took a step back in shock. "How...how can you..." he muttered.

"Is he so strong, that even other heat based magic can not harm him?" Levy pondered out loud, her fingers holding her chin.

"Magic has levels of mastery that can be unthinkable to us humans." Freed said. "Although there are laws, they can become less effective over time. It should be perfectly possible for someone with a fire immunity to obtain stronger resistance to other magic of the same family."

"Erza told me he once took a massive explosion that should have killed him to save me." Lucy added with a small smile. "This isn't the first time he did something like that."

Ivan leaned forward in his seat with a creepy grin plastered onto his face. His hands squeezed his robes greedily, his eyes stuck to Natsu's face like glue.

Natsu took a deep breath and puffed out his chest. The air around Leord became heavy and dense, so much that he felt as if someone put a massive block of cement on his shoulders. What is this magic?! Has he been holding back this entire time?!

FIRE DRAGON'S ROAR!

Natsu puffed out his cheeks and snapped his head down at Leord. He unleashed a massive torrent of flames that swallowed everything in their path and purged their way directly to Leord.

In an act of sheer desperation the redhead raised a giant wall enhanced with lava. The flames crashed against the creation and began to break it off, piece by piece, with Leord desperately trying to keep it sustained long enough to avoid even looking at the flames of death on the other side. A yell of despair escaped his lips as he watched more and more of his wall being chipped off, and after what felt like eternity the flames subdued, leaving barely enough of the wall to cover Leord's cowering figure.

Natsu loudly breathed out some smoke and jumped off the hill. He landed heavily on the ground and raised his head to look at the horrified Leord with a glare that only nailed the fear deeper into the teenager.

Now that I think about it, I've been doing nothing but taking from others these past few months...

"You're scared of losing, because that'd make your friends turn on you." he told Leord and took a step forward. "The image you've built of being unbeatable would crumble down if you lose, and it terrifies you, doesn't it?"

Leord gulped.

Maybe this is my chance to give, rather than take again.

Natsu tilted his head to the right and looked at Leord with an expression of complete lack of empathy and indifference. "I guess you'll just have to take your chances." he said slowly and raised his magic.

Right, Gildarts?

A cry of despair and fear escaped Leord's mouth as he raised his own magic and raised several new creations from the ground, ready to throw everything he has at Natsu.

Their fight has entered a whole new level.

Rustyrose adjusted his glasses and looked around the dark warehouse he had landed in. He could hardly see anything, with the exception of his opponent, whose wings glistered in the dark with a menacing tint of red and black.

"Do you suppose cameras reach in here?" he asked her and dusted his coat off.

"Hell if I know." Mirajane replied and clenched her fist.

"I'll just assume they don't." he said and stood up from the ground.

"What difference does that even make?" Mira frowned.

"It decides whether I must continue being an actor or have a chance to drop character." he said and pushed his glasses up. "From your face I assume you have no idea what I'm talking about." he added after seeing Mira's confused face.

"None what so ever." she admitted.

Rustyrose sighed. "You'd think it's natural to conduct research on your enemy, not to mention one with family ties..." he said. "So you have absolutely no idea what Ivan Dreyar is planning?"

"Are you going to tell me or you're just gonna keep annoying me?" asked him annoyed Mira.

"Tell you? I'm not so sure." Rustyrose said and scratched his right temple. "My hatred for the man is great enough to cooperate with others, that being said, your guild has destroyed mine. In my eyes, you both equally share my willingness to watch you burn.."

Mira sighed tiredly. "Let me guess, I have to beat it out of you?" she asked with a transparent voice.

"Although your approach is that of a caveman, it is, indeed, what I had in mind." he smirked. "Initially, at least. I realize that defeating you would be rather difficult, and any additional minute of being here under the orders of that man would make me want to puke. Therefore, I have a proposition."

Mira focused on the finger held in the air by the man with a gentle frown.

Rustyrose smiled. "First, you will never, ever reveal what happened here to anyone."

"Done."

"Second, you will give me one good reason why I should surrender to you, as well as let you in on Ivan's plans."

Mirajane looked at him with widened eyes. "What?"

"You heard me. Give me one solid reason why I should help you, and I will." Rustyrose said and adjusted his hair. "My hearts burns with flames of hatred you can find only in legends, and they burn for your guild, as well as Ivan. I want you to convince me to extinguish them, even if briefly, in a way that will satisfy me."

Mirajane opened her mouth and closed it with a deep sigh. She scratched her head and tiredly looked the man in the eye.

"I don't care." she said after a while. "I don't care if you tell me, if you forgive us, or if you decide to obey him after all. If you wanna tell me, go ahead, if not, then don't. If you had no intentions of sharing this information with anyone, you wouldn't have even mentioned it to me in the first place, and kept it to yourself while trying to take my head off. You hate Ivan so much you've convinced yourself to set aside the grudge you have against Fairy Tail, and right now you're simply trying to stay true to yourself by pretending you haven't. So either do what you wanna do, or save yourself the trouble and give me a sign to kick your face in and move along."

Rustyrose stared at the Demon with wide eyes. He tried to mouth some words, but nothing would come out of his throat. He gently grit his teeth and took off his glasses, before wiping them with his jacket.

"Well, if that's how things are, then..." he said quietly and put his glasses back on with a gentle smirk.

Toby and Yuka cut through an alley and emerged into a big, open square, the shadows chasing them giving in to the sun that was still hanging over the arena.

Yuka panted heavily and wiped the sweat off his chin with his sleeve. "Damn freak...Chasing us all this way."

Toby smiled through the wheezing. "He must be stupid! He chased us into the sun! Look, there is no shade here!"

"Yes, he did." Yuka said slowly and looked around. It was exactly like Toby said, there was not a single shadow to be seen in the proximity.

"As soon as he shows up I'm gonna scratch him with my claws!" Toby announced and bared his fangs.

Yuka stopped looking around and shifted his eyes downward. Both him and Toby were casting stretched shadows on the ground. With his gears turning at mach speed, Yuka pushed Toby away and cried out. "Get away from here!"

But it was too late. Rogue emerged from Toby's shadow and struck the man with a chop to the neck that was enhanced with his shadows, effectively knocking him out. Yuka cursed and tried to attack Rogue, but the Dragon Slayer took off his cloak and threw it toward Yuka. He then traveled through his cloak's shadow directly into Yuka's and emerged from beneath with a devastating gut punch as a greeting. Yuka collapsed to the floor and Sabertooth was granted 2 points.

Rogue picked up his cloak and put it back on, before calmly leaving the area as his beaten opponents vanished behind him.

Lyon clicked his tongue and raised a wall of ice that effectively blocked torrents of winds trying to turn him into minced meat. He jumped away from his cut into pieces ice and dived behind a thick concrete wall, his back feeling the impact of the wind crashing against it.

"What the hell is wrong with your eyes?!" Lyon yelled from behind the wall. So far he had the upper hand over the giant, but ever since he took his blindfold off his attacks felt like that of a child's.

Arya blinked and clenched the bandages in his wounded right hand, the ice stuck to his body from Lyon's previous attacks falling to the floor. "Master Ivan's kindness is that worthy of my full allegiance." he announced with his booming voice. "Thus, I shall use my full strength in this final trial of this tournament. You and all the others shall receive my sorrow in its full glory!"

The man raised his left hand at Lyon's hiding spot and focused his magic.

ZETSU!

The wall began to be chipped away piece by piece by invisible blows of wind with speed great enough to catch Lyon with one of them. The Maker gasped for air but retained his composure and jumped away before any more damage could be dealt. He punched his palm while in the air and sent an eagle at Arya, who merely blew it up without even moving a finger.

Lyon cursed upon landing and began to prepare another spell, but Arya vanished in thin air, much to his shock. He started to look for the giant, only to hear wind behind him and upon turning around he was blasted with a massive torrent of air that sent him flying across the street and straight through a window of a butchery store.

"He can even teleport?!" Lyon gasped under his breath and pulled out a piece of glass stuck in his left shoulder.

Arya stepped into the store through the cracked window, his airspaces slicing and hacking the meat into tiny chunks, blood splashing all over the store.

"Unfortunately for you, despair and pain are your only solutions." he said. "My orders prevent me from utilizing my desirable spell upon you, therefore you will suffer until you are defeated."

"What are you even blabbing about?!" Lyon growled and punched his palm.

ICE MAKE: SABERTOOTH TIGER!

Arya was attacked by a big tiger, who successfully submerged his ice teeth in the man's left leg. Arya grunted in pain, but Lyon was not done. Fully aware that his tiger was just about to be blown up, he molded yet another creation and trapped his opponent in an ice cage with thick bars and floor that started to freeze him from feet up.

Arya clapped his hands and utilized dozens of airspaces that severely damaged both the cage and tiger and rendered them practically useless in the process. The tiger was missing half its head and two legs and the cage had holes the size of a small carriage.

Lyon grit his teeth and punched his palm yet again, this time molding an ice cannon that would blow Arya away once and for all. The man opened his eyes ad wide as he could and focused his magic to its highest point, before unleashing his own spell.

KATSU!

The entire store was blown up by a massive bubble of air that obliterated everything in its path. The meat and furniture were blown to the sides, most of it falling out into the streets or lodging itself in the walls. Lyon and his molds have been vaporized and the Maker himself, who was right in the middle of focusing his magic on a new mold, flew right through the back wall of the store and ended up landing in the local behind it, buried by debris and his own ice.

Arya took a deep breath and temporarily lowered his magic before walking through the hole Lyon made. He watched his opponent rise from underneath the debris, his head split open and some of the wood and ice lodged into his body.

"How surprising, I wasn't expecting you to stand up." the giant said truthfully.

Lyon wiped his face with his sleeve and glared at the man. Had it not been for my cannon that blast would've caught me head on...I got lucky.

"There will be no more chances!" Arya announced and clapped his hands yet again.

Lyon grit his teeth and quickly punched his palm.

"Too slow! My sorrow will reach you before you can create a new sculpture!" Arya announced.

Lyon smirked. "I don't have to." he said and looked to his left.

Arya's eyes shifted to his right and cold sweat began to flow down his face as he stared down the barrel of an ice cannon, twice the size of that Lyon made before. The cannon launched its projectile which hit Arya square on the chest, effectively cracking his ribs and beginning to freeze his torso and arms. The man fell to his knees and collapsed to the floor with a loud thud, defeated and unconscious.

Lamia Scale erupted in cheers at the sight of Lyon's victory along with the crowd. Five points have been added to his guild's name, something that slightly closed the gap between them and Fairy Tail.

Lyon pulled out a piece of wood stuck in his right thigh and threw it aside with a grunt. "That took more out of me that I'd like to..." he mumbled to himself and stepped outside the ruined building, Arya disappearing behind him as he passed by.

Lyon frowned and raised his hand to block the remaining sunrays hitting his face from behind the oncoming dark clouds. Once they subdued he lowered his hand and immediately felt his face drop, as his eyes landed on a light-haired Dragon Slayer standing before him.

"Yo." Sting said with a smirk and lit his right hand up.

Lyon sighed deeply through his nose and slowly punched his palm, icy mist emitting from his hands. "Just my luck, huh?" he asked rhetorically and prepared for his next battle.

Gajeel marched through the already ruined square where Gray fought Erigor and whistled to himself.

"From up close it does look impressive." he said quietly. "I guess I should praise ice-brain, must've been annoyin' to deal with."

His nose picked something and his whole body came to a halt, tensing up. He knew that smell, and hoped he'd get through this whole thing without sensing it.

"Come out." he said out loud and took his hands out of his pockets. "You're just wastin' my time hiding."

A shadow of one of the larger pieces of debris began to stretch and mold into a humanoid shape, and soon Rogue's head began to emerge from within, followed by rest of his body.

"I'd never known my smell lingered when I was one with the shadows." he said truthfully.

"You might wanna learn to mask it before hidin', then." Gajeel said and cracked his knuckles. "If ya had become a shadow someplace else you could've traveled without leaving a trace. I'd have thought you were waiting someplace else."

Rogue smirked gently. "Is that a years overdue lecture?" he asked sarcastically.

"Just a tip to turn this into an actual challenge." Gajeel snickered loudly.

Rogue frowned. "You mock me even after all this time?" he asked and clenched his fist in anger.

"Ya haven't shown anything that'd make me do otherwise." Gajeel told him in response. "Ever since you were a kid all you did was try to impress me, rather than just focus on being yourself. Others may like being copied, but to me it's just annoying."

"They do say imitation is a form of flattery." Rogue said with a small smile. "I admit, I did want you to look at me like an equal, instead of a bug."

"Ironic." Gajeel scoffed. "You got the exact opposite effect instead."

Rogue frowned gently. "For years I tried to understand why you joined Fairy Tail after what they did to our guild, and I am still coming up short on an answer."

Gajeel remained silent. He turned his body fully towards Rogue and sighed. "You had nothing better to do?" he asked.

"Not for a while, no." Rogue said. "But after some time I stopped caring. Instead, I focused on becoming better than you, and I am going to prove it right here, right now."

Gajeel smirked devilishly. "Now you're talking about something that's actually interesting!" he punched his palm and readied his fighting stance.

Rogue blinked slowly and submerged his feet in his own shadow. He then charged at Gajeel at full speed, who patiently waited for the Shadow Dragon. Suddenly, Rogue submerged his whole self into the floor and disappeared. Gajeel did not even move a single muscle, and instead continued to wait. His nose gently twitched and his eyes shifted to their right, and he moved his head to the left just in time to avoid Rogue's kick. Gajeel reached over his shoulder and grabbed Rogue's leg, before lifting him off the air and throwing him over his head into the ground.

Rogue coughed from the impact of his back smashing into the ground and quickly put his hands up to block Gajeel's punch that drilled him even deeper into the ground.

What strength...I can feel it pierce right through me, even though I blocked it! he thought to himself and pushed Gajeel away. He tried to submerge back into the shadows, but was caught by the collar and dragged out by force. Gajeel lifted Rogue up in the air and nailed him with a right cross to the jaw that effectively rocked Rogue and caused him to fall down to the ground.

"What'd I say?" Gajeel asked and cracked his knuckles. "Nothin' changed."

Rogue grit his teeth and stood up from the ground. His body began to emit black light as he entered his Shadow Drive and prepared to attack once again.

"There it is." Gajeel sighed. "That thing is the reason you can't improve. You neglect your basics and instead focus on those forms of yours."

Rogue said nothing. Instead, he dashed at Gajeel with even greater speed and managed to land a punch on the man's face. Gajeel recollected himself and retaliated with a punch of his own, only to hit nothing but air. Rogue circled around and tried to claw at Gajeel's back, but the man turned around and nearly cut Rogue's head off with sword-turned right arm. Gajeel followed after him and attacked with his other hand, this one turned into a club, but Rogue caught it with his right hand with little to no effort. He then pulled it and forced Gajeel to take a few steps back before getting nailed in the stomach with a sidekick.

Gajeel coughed up some spit and bent forward.

"I suppose this will be disappointing after all." Rogue said.

Gajeel smirked and flexed his stomach, effectively pushing Rogue back. He turned his hands back to normal and tapped his abdomen. "Ya finally startin' to get it, huh?"

Rogue grit his teeth in anger and charged at Gajeel, punching him right in the face. He then followed with a barrage of strikes than landed all over Gajeel's torso and head. The Iron Dragon Slayer attacked with his club once more, which was blocked yet again.

"Your attacks are meaningless!" Rogue said and took a wide swing.

His ears began to ring after getting hit with a devastating punch to his jaw that dropped him for the second time this fight. As he looked up from the ground in confusion and in search of answers. Gajeel turned the very same club he used to strike Rogue with back into his hand.

"I see you're still throwing nothing but 10's." Gajeel said and massaged his sore face. "If ya throw nothing but bombs, your opponent will quickly adapt and leave ya with nothing else up your sleeve. That's why you ate that third one just now."

Gajeel raised his right leg and kicked Rogue in the ribs. The kick sent the younger Slayer flying straight into a massive piece of debris that broke upon impact and buried him under several smaller pieces of rock.

"Now, bring out that Dragon Force of yours." Gajeel said. "It's your only chance at winnin'."

Rogue stood up from underneath the rubble and wiped blood off his cut lip. He looked Gajeel straight in the eye with anger and resentment he'd never shown anyone before.

"What are you trying to play at?" he asked. "We're long past being student and teacher. Your words serve no purpose other than making me angry."

"I know." Gajeel smirked. "Brats like you are easily manipulated through emotions, that's why you're still listening to that prick of a Master."

Rogue's magic began to grow and expand, black marks slowly creeping onto his face. "What could you possibly know about our guild?!"

"Anyone with a pair of eyes can see what kind of a guild Sabertooth really is." Gajeel said, his voice turning serious all of a sudden. "You and Raven Tail are both the same, like slaves to someone too ambitious to do things on their own."

In the crowd, Jiemma clenched his fists so hard veins began to pop on his arms, his anger resonating around him like heat. Ivan, on the other hand, was too busy watching Leord and Emilia to pay attention to the insults being sent his way.

Rogue bared his now extending fangs and bent his knees. His hair stood up and black, scaly marks creeped onto his arms and face, and shadows consuming most of his body. Rogue sent Gajeel a stare that sent a chill of fear and excitement through the older Dragon Slayer and dashed faster than ever before.

His fist submerged into Gajeel's stomach like into butter and bent the man forward. He then launched an uppercut into Gajeel's exposed chin and straightened him back up, before jumping and kicking him in the face. Gajeel fell to the ground, but quickly jumped back to his feet and dodged Rogue's enhanced shadows. That was the end of his good streak, however, for he got caught with the next attack and toppled back to the floor.

Rogue jumped above him with the intent to drop down right on his chest, but Gajeel puffed out his chest and unleashed his Roar. Rogue clicked his tongue and turned into shadows, effectively dodging the attack and resurfaced not far away. Gajeel's keen eye noticed that and he quickly turned his right arm into a sword, which he then extended toward Rogue. The Twin Dragon remained in his shadow form and circled around the extended blade, before resurfacing on its beginning and kicking Gajeel in his left cheek. Rogue flexed his leg and dragged Gajeel to the ground, ultimately stomping him into the ground. He then moved his leg and kicked the downed Slayer in the ribs a couple times, before puffing out his chest to unleash a Roar of his own.

SHADOW DRAGON'S ROAR!

Gajeel, dragged through the ground by the spell, rolled on the ground inside the Roar and grunted in pain, the damage to his body piling up faster than he'd like. He turned his right hand into a small sword and stabbed the ground with it, before lifting his own weight and jumping out of the spell into safety.

Rogue snapped his mouth shut and watched his beaten down opponent from distance.

"I envy Sting." Rogue said to the standing up Gajeel. "While I still find his obsession with Natsu Dragneel ridiculous, unlike me he will get an actual challenge upon facing him. His strength is greater than yours by a vast margin. You offer nothing but disappointment."

Gajeel spat aside and wiped his bruised face. "His strength is greater than mine?" he repeated. "No shit, guy's a monster." he stated calmly. "He is the top dog...for now." he added with a wide grin.

Gajeel reached down to his jacket and took it off, revealing his torso, covered in iron scales, alongside his arms from shoulders down to his wrists. Rogue blinked in surprise.

"Were you hiding your iron armor from me on purpose?" he frowned.

"I told ya, you're still green." Gajeel said with threw his coat away. He covered his whole body in scales and smashed his fists together before his chest. "Let's continue the lesson, punk."

Levy smiled to herself. Seeing Gajeel speak about topics that used to make him angry with a smile on his face made her feel proud of how far he'd come since he first joined the guild. She could not, however, get rid of the sensation of fear for the Slayer, who despite having more experience was clearly having trouble keeping up with his opponent.

"He'll manage." Lucy told her friend after reading her face like a book. The blonde smiled at her reassuringly and put her hand on hers. "He's not going to lose."

"Gray got 2 points, no way in hell Gajeel drops before he gets 3." Elfman said with a grin.

"Exactly. There is no reason to worry." added Pantherlily.

Levy nodded and looked back at the screen, now with more confidence in her eyes.

This time it was Gajeel who initiated an attack and run straight at Rogue with his right hand cocked to strike. Rogue merely dodged the punch by moving his head away and put his hand on Gajeel's chest, before blasting him with his shadows. Gajeel smirked, having taken no damage thanks to his armor, and tried to reach Rogue yet again. This time the younger Slayer used a stronger spell and coated the entirety of his arm in shadows.

SHADOW DRAGON'S SLASH!

Gajeel stumbled back with blood spurting out of the cut on his chest. He looked shocked, but didn't get to think about what just happened for long, for Rogue followed up with two more of those strikes. Although blocked, they both left cuts on Gajeel's arms and rendered him unwilling to continue the exchange and forced him to jump back. Rogue quickly submerged into the shadows and traveled around Gajeel, before resurfacing out of his shadow and blasting him with another spell.

SHADOW DRAGON'S WAXWING FLASH!

Gajeel was struck by several shades at once, all of them either cracking or denting his iron scales. Although he survived, his body was more than battered and sore, which made the fight even more difficult than it already was.

"You little-" Gajeel grunted and attacked Rogue with a barrage of iron spikes, but to no avail. Rogue knocked them away with another Roar and Gajeel had no other choice but to attack with his own.

SHADOW DRAGON'S ROAR!

IRON DRAGON'S ROAR!

Although the two torrents remained even for a short while, the difference in magic power of a regular Dragon Slayer going up against Dragon Force was becoming clear, and after a brief struggle Gajeel was hit with both spells at once, as his own Roar was pushed all the way back to its owner.

Gajeel was consumed by the explosion of iron and shadows and dropped to his knee, severely bleeding from underneath his iron scales. His breathing was hard and painful, but his eyes were still as strong as ever. Just a little more... he thought to himself.

All of a sudden he felt something wrapping itself around him and before he could even fight back Gajeel was pinned to the ground by shadows, formed into a very tight and heavy blanket that completely restrained his movement.

Rogue calmly walked up to Gajeel and stared him down. "This is the end." he announced and raised his hand.

Now was the time Gajeel started to feel panic creeping down his neck. He desperately tried to break out of his binds, but was too weak to do so. He was about to get hit with something and he had no way of defending it. His mind began to race in search of a solution and ultimately led him to an event that happened a long time ago in the past, but still vividly visited him in his dreams.

With nothing to lose, Gajeel decided to trust his gut and, much to his own surprise at how easy it was and Rogue's shock, began sucking the shadows up.

"What the-" Rogue gasped in confusion mixed with fear and watched as his own shadows continued to get sucked in by Gajeel. who was now mostly free and slowly getting back to his feet.

"That's it, go Gajeel!" Levy roared on top of her lungs, while everyone around her simply stared at the screen, dumbfound.

The Iron Dragon Slayer finished his meal with a deep sigh of relief and wiped his mouth off, which then curved into a sinister grin.

"How did you do that?!" Rogue asked in shock.

"Hell if I know, I just thought if it worked for one Dragon Slayer, why wouldn't it for another?" Gajeel replied. "Though it looks like I can't bring them out yet..." he said and tried to use his newly acquired power to no avail.

Rogue grit his teeth and launched himself at Gajeel, who simply slipped the punch and nailed Rogue with a nasty counter that bloodied his nose. Rogue stumbled back with blood dripping down to the floor, while Gajeel laughed. "Well, then, looks like we're finally even!" he said. "That form of yours eats a lot of magic, doesn't it? And yet you gave so much of it to me!" he chuckled and kicked him in the gut. "This is where the fight truly starts!" he announced and stabbed Rogue in the stomach with his sword. The Shadow Dragon Slayer gasped and quickly pulled the blade out of the shallow, but heavily damaging wound, already focusing his magic power on to stop the bleeding. That, combined with the already taxing Dragon Force began to quickly sap his remaining magic away at terrifying speed.

Rogue roared and tried to blend in with the shadows, but, just like before, was dragged out of them by his collar. Gajeel landed a nasty headbutt flush on Rogue's face and then punched him under the chin with all his might. Rogue groaned and punched Gajeel back, but ate one more strike before landing a follow-up.

Both men began to throw down with all their might, Gajeel's scales chipping off and Rogue's body slowing down respectively with each taken hit. Despite Gajeel's efforts, Rogue was still landing the heavier shots and soon began to win the exchanges. He blasted Gajeel away with a barrage of shadows and dashed at him with the intent to finish the fight.

"Gajeel!" Levy gasped and put her hands together in a prayer.

Gajeel watched the incoming Slash Rogue was about to hit him with and cursed his too heavy to raise arms under his nose. The strike was just mere inches away from his face and just when he grit his teeth in an attempt to survive it, his entire body lowered itself and the spell went above his head, slashing some of his long hair off in the process.

Both men were dumbfound at what just happened and upon looking down Gajeel noticed that his feet were submerged in his own shadow. He quickly snapped his eyes back at Rogue and he needed just a split second of looking at his panicked and confused face to realize, that it was not in fact his doing. With his lips curving into a sinister grin Gajeel clenched his right fist and transformed it into a massive iron club right before smashing it into Rogue's exposed, and still confused face. The younger Dragon Slayer took a couple steps back which allowed Gajeel to focus the remaining magic power he had in his lungs.

IRON DRAGON'S ROAR!

Although it endured the spell much better than it would have without Dragon Force, Gajeel's torrent of iron took the last breath out of Rogue and wounded him enough to cause his knees to buckle under his weight and fall to the ground, defeated and sprawled on his back. The man stared at the cloudy sky in disbelief and shock, his markings slowly fading and scales chipping off his face.

While most of Fairy Tail erupted in cheers, Levy took a deep breath of relief and only then joined in on the celebration, free of her anxiety and stress.

"Oh, it appears we have missed quite a battle!" Lola said upon witnessing the finale of the battle between dragons. "Fairy Tail's Gajeel has defeated Rogue in a stunning climax! He scores a point for his team!"

Gajeel dispelled his scales and allowed himself to drop to his right knee, the fatigue and damage finally catching up to him.

Rogue shifted his eyes at Gajeel. "Save whatever it is you want to say to yourself." he said quietly. "I-"

"Phantom Lord was no guild for you." he was interrupted by Gajeel's sudden proclamation. "You would never fit in there, you've always been too soft and cowardly."

Rogue weakly clenched his fists in anger. "Is that why you've pushed me away? To protect me?" he asked mockingly.

"I just thought there should be just one Dragon Slayer with issues in that guild." Gajeel shrugged. "But I do regret doing what I did. I could have handled it better, I probably would have if I was given another chance. So, I guess what I wanted to say is...I should have been honest with you, Ryos."

Rogue scoffed. "Is that your way of apologizing?"

"If you want it to be, I don't really care." Gajeel snorted and stood up to his feet.

Rogue watched him for a moment, before asking a question that bugged him for a very long time. "Why Fairy Tail? Why join a guild that destroyed your home?"

"Hell if I know." Gajeel replied truthfully. "But what I do know, is that it's my home now. I've learned what it means to have people who give a damn about ya, and a place ya can always be sure will be there to welcome you. Those people can make whatever place feel like home. They're family. That's all that matters to me."

Rogue's expression softened. Gajeel cracked his aching neck and turned around from the fallen Slayer. "Hopefully ya can find something like that, too." he said in farewell.

Rogue smiled gently to himself and looked up into the sky. "I might already have. Just didn't realize it." he said softly, before being taken into the infirmary.

Gajeel smirked to himself and limped deeper into the fake city with a significantly lighter chest.

Nemesis clashed with Benizakura with enough force to send sparks flying in all directions. The owners of both blades glared at one another from behind them. Blood from their wounds splashed the steel upon impact, forming patterns on the blades.

Both women have finally decided to return back to their roots and stop punching each other like mad dogs rolling in mud. In their very brief, but short exchange of blades, Erza managed to cut Emilia's left shoulder, but at the cost of having the back of her left hand split open.

Emilia sensed Erza's difficulty of holding her blade right and took her hand off Nemesis' hilt to grab Erza's. The redhead hissed in pain which Emilia used to her advantage and headbutted her in the face. Erza staggered back and grabbed her aching jaw, which Emilia used to change Nemesis into a small pistol. She fired two rounds at the knight, with one of them plunging itself into her right thigh. Erza cried out in pain and threw a dozen of blades at her opponent, who deflected them all with ease. Erza limped to the side and hid behind a wall to recollect herself.

"Erza's in a pinch! This injury may cost her the fight!" pointed out Lola.

"She's on her last legs already." Freed said nervously. "Even she can't keep such a high paced fight going for too long."

"She totally lost the sight of why she's there to begin with." Evergreen sighed.

"That Raven chick must have gotten into her head more than we thought." added worried Elfman and scratched the back of his head.

Lucy watched her friend assessing her wounds on the screen and frowned gently. Erza...

"Hiding is pointless." Emilia said and spun her weapon on her finger, which then began to grow in size into a rifle. "You should know by now that my weapon can easily penetrate such obstacles." she proclaimed and shot a round at Erza's hiding spot.

The knight closed her eyes upon feeling the bullet fly by her head, her red hair torn by the shot slowly falling to the ground next to her. "I am well aware." she said shortly before her hand began to glow with bright light. She unfolded the bandages she had just Requipped and wrapped them around her left hand and right thigh, tying them tight to stop the bleeding and regain some movement.

"Is that so?" Emilia asked and changed her weapon into a bazooka, which she then launched. Erza quickly jumped from behind the wall and threw a spear in Emilia's direction, as the wall behind her exploded into smithereens.

Emilia easily dodged the spear by shifting her head to the side and readied another round. She then cried out in pain and confusion, as the spear behind her began electrocuting the ground, and in result, her. She grit her teeth and kicked the spear out of the ground, which stopped the attack. Still stiff and sore, she raised her now turned into a longsword weapon and blocked a strike from clad in Black Wing Armor Erza.

Erza began an offense of fast, fierce and precise cuts and stabs that had Emilia completely on the ropes. Her enhanced senses ran on full capacity and allowed her to either block or dodge everything that was being thrown at her. That being said, keeping this up at such pace cost both women important stamina, which would soon catch up to them.

Emilia blocked an overhead slash from Erza and felt her feet sink into the ground a little bit. Just when she wanted to prepare to block another strike, she noticed that Erza's timing has slowed down, and her breathing was heavier than before. With this golden opportunity laid down by her feet, the woman pushed Erza away and unleashed a barrage of her own, this time pushing the knight on the ropes.

Unlike her opponent, other than experience and her own thoughts, Erza had no way of predicting her opponent's movements and soon felt it on her own skin, as Nemesis left small, but building up wounds on her body. She dodged a stab by sidestepping to her right and tried to strike back, but Emilia kicked her in the ribs, nullifying it completely. She then changed her weapon into a spear and threw it at Erza, who barely dodged it and felt it fly under her armpit. She tried to fly away, but the spear had hit her wing and pinned it to a wall. Emilia dashed forward and delivered a powerful punch to Erza's gut that took away whatever air she had left in her lungs. Erza had no other choice but to turtle up and block the oncoming punches and kicks best to her ability.

"This might just be the end." said Yajima.

"Come on..." Cana bopped her leg up and down nervously. "This isn't like you..."

"Don't give up!" Wendy called out to her friend. "Don't let her beat you!"

"Easier said than done, kid." Evergreen scratched her cheek nervously.

Makarov watched the redhead desperately try to survive with a stoic face. Despite the odds, he had nothing but complete faith in one of his finest S-Class mages.

Emilia kicked Erza in the abdomen and grabbed her spear. She then pushed herself off of Erza and pulled it out. The knight fell through the crumbling wall and fell onto the debris with a painful hiss.

"I've had my share." Emilia announced stoically and jumped back while transforming Nemesis into a bazooka. "Consider this the personification of the last bits of my hatred towards you." she said and aimed it at Erza, who chuckled sarcastically.

"How convenient of you to place it in something that might just kill me." she said weakly and stood up to her feet.

Emilia smirked. "Busted." she said and fired.

The projectile hit Erza directly and swallowed her with a small explosion that shook the remains of the house they battled in. Fairy Tail stood up from their seats, genuinely terrified for their friend.

"With no regards for the rules Emilia fires her weapon, is Erza all right?!" disturbed Lola wondered out loud.

Kabo ran up to the screens and cautiously waited for smoke to subdue, ready to disqualify Emilia if need came. Much to his and practically everyone's shock, it didn't.

Emilia lowered her weapon and stared ahead with pure shock written all over her face. As the smoke subdued, Erza emerged from the rubble and set her smoking Adamantine Armor shield aside, revealing the weirdest combination of armors they have seen from the knight in the entire tournament. Her feet dosed the boots of Flight Armor, her right hand was armed with one of her Fire Empress Armor blades, her torso was a mix of Purgatory Armor's chestplate and Black Wing Armor's wings and her head was protected by the helmet of Adamantine Armor.

Emilia blindly stared at her opponent, lost for words. Erza's guild, on the other hand, was once again loud and cheerful, as was the crowd, who got riled up by the new twist thrown into the fight.

"What is this?! Erza survives and emerges in a form we've never seen before!" Lola said.

"This might just be the ultimate mix of her Requip." Yajima said with a smile.

Erza lifted her shield up and readied her stance. "This will be the end, Emilia." she announced and flapped her wings to launch herself forward.

Her speed knocked Emilia out of her shock. She launched another round at the redhead, who blocked it with her shield. She then moved it aside and slashed at Emilia from her right, forcing her to block the blade with her bazooka. The blade then began to glow with orange-yellow light and flames burst out of its tip, effectively making Emilia jump back and put out her left sleeve that caught fire. She turned Nemesis into a rifle and tried to shoot Erza, but the redhead flew out of the way of all the bullets and circled around. Anticipating that, Emilia rolled to the side and shot Erza straight in the stomach from the ground. The round failed to pierce Erza's armor, who unleashed more flames onto Emilia. The girl had to run away from the fire, but not before firing a couple more rounds at Erza, all of which were blocked.

Seeing that she had no other choice but to close the distance, Emilia went back to melee weapons and attacked Erza with a giant axe. The knight caught it on her shield and let it slide to the side, following with a devastating knee that landed flush on Emilia's stomach. The girl grit her teeth in pain and grabbed a hold of Erza's chestplate, before pulling her in closer and nailing her with a right cross to her jaw. Erza fell to her back and dropped her shield, which Emilia kicked aside. She then picked up Nemesis, now in the shape of a katana, and tried to slash Erza with it, but missed when the knight zapped out of the way thanks to her boots and wings.

Erza did a small circle around Emilia and planted her feet deep in the ground, before kicking it with all her might and charging straight at Emilia. The woman braced herself and stepped forward herself, ready to meet Erza with her blade.

Both women were spiking toward one another at their full speed and gripped their blades tight. Emilia, who had already grown accustomed to Erza's new speed, had her timing down to split of a second, and positioned her weapon in a way that would guarantee her victory.

With only a couple feet away from one another, Emilia began her strike and raised her blade from her hip. Erza, on the other hand, began to glow and dropped her combination of armors in favor of her red pants and Benizakura.

Emilia, confused beyond belief, watched herself slash nothing but air, as Erza's sudden Requip significantly slowed down her speed and threw her opponent off enough to make her prematurely launch her attack. With Emilia now practically defenseless, Erza grit her teeth and slashed her Benizakura, from right hip all the way to the left shoulder.

Emilia began to fall back with blood gashing out of her new wound and Nemesis falling out of her grasp, while Fairy Tail and Ivan watched the finale of this fight. Just as Emilia's back touched the ground, the crowd exploded from excitement, with Fairy Tail not being any better.

"She's done it! Despite the odds, Fairy Tail's Erza defeats Raven Tail A's Emilia in an outstanding duel! Fairy Tail scores 5 points!" Lola exploded into his microphone.

"What a fight." Yajima shook his head in disbelief.

Ivan watched the screen with terror written all over his pale face. His sweat had began to pierce through every layer of his clothing, as he slowly but surely began to imagine his dream fall apart. Terror began to give in to rage, and those seated next to him began to leave the area, disturbed by both his physical appearance, and his resonating magic.

Erza panted heavily and lowered her weapon. She walked up to Emilia with a weird combination of emotions written on her face. The girl looked up from the ground and smiled gently.

"I can't believe you. You just cut me down in the exact same way as all those years ago." she said weakly. "Ironically, you may have just killed me, this time for real." she added with a small scoff.

"It's not the same." Erza replied, much to Emilia's surprise. "Last time, in my rage and sorrow, I cut down an innocent little girl. Today, I cut down a warrior worthy of every praise that is pinned to her name."

Emilia chuckled. "Is that what you're going to tell yourself from now on?"

"Yes." Erza replied shortly. "I needed this, I needed to face you again. I've gotten to know quite a bit about you, and I have all the confidence, that despite everything you turned out to be a respectable and fine woman. Now I can finally look you in the eye not with guilt, but respect as a fellow swordsman and mage. Whether you do the same is up to you, I can not change your mind."

"That's quite selfish of you."

"Everyone is selfish, no matter how selfless they may appear on the outside. I needed to close this chapter of my life, now it's your turn. If you wish to continue trying until you finally cut me down, so be it. I will always welcome your challenge and answer it as a warrior should. But do not think for a second that I will just curl up and let you cut me down." Erza told her.

Emilia looked at her for a longer while. Her body began to glow and just before she disappeared, she smiled. "That'd be no fun at all." she said in farewell.

Erza stared ahead into the distance and smiled to herself. Although still sore all over, she began limping away form the house.

"We're finally alone." said a voice behind.

Erza turned around and raised her blade, which was currently aimed at Kagura, who emerged from behind the corner. She walked up to the knight and gripped Archenemy by the handle. "It's time we talked." she said.

"About what?" Erza asked her.

"You and Jellal. I know you're connected to him." Kagura said, much to Erza's surprise. "You will tell me everything you know."

Erza stared at the girl for a long time. She felt like she'd seen her before, but couldn't quite pinpoint where and when exactly.

"This isn't a discussion that could be held here and definitely not under these circumstances." she said after a long pause and readied her blade. "I will face you as a fellow competitor, but not as someone who knew Jellal. I will gladly discuss that with you later-"

"You are in no position to dictate." Kagura cut her off and readied her blade. "You will answer me, here and now."

Erza bit her lip. This would turn ugly.

Natsu dodged out of the way of a giant spike and began climbing it. After a couple steps he kicked it and jumped high in the air in order to send a giant fireball in Leord's direction. The teenager blocked it with a wall and then created a magma golem that tried to grab Natsu by the leg, which he avoided by the skin of his teeth. He kicked the golem with his flaming foot, shattering it, and spiked towards Leord like a bullet, but was forced to abandon his attack by a rain of small heated rocks flying in his direction and used his flames to change the trajectory of his flight. He landed on what remained of one of the buildings and wiped the sweat of his face, his breath uneven.

Although his magic was fine, all the running and jumping left Natsu breathing heavier than he'd like. He carefully watched his opponent's every move and patiently looked for an opening in his defenses, but Leord's new attitude towards the fight made him paranoid to the point where he would not let Natsu get anywhere near him in a 50 meter proximity.

"Looks like I've hit the nail on the head, huh?!" Natsu taunted him and readied his stance to attack once again. "You're getting paler by the minute!"

"Shut your mouth." Leord growled through his teeth and raised two giant lava golems and sent them after Natsu. The Dragon Slayer dodged a punch from one of them and clenched his own fist, smashing it into the golem's face. Much to his surprise, the attack did not shatter it completely, and as the golem clinged to life with half its face gone, it grabbed Natsu by his left leg. Natsu hissed in pain, his leg beginning to get scorched from the heat, and put his hand in front of the golem before blasting it with a concentrated torrent of flames that completely shattered whatever was left of its head into bits and pieces.

With his freedom reclaimed, Natsu tried to create some distance, but was punched by the second golem that flanked him instead. Although he caught it on his guard, the punch sent him flying and crashing right into a mountain of debris, some of it leaving small cuts on his body.

"Natsu is unable to get close to Leord!" Lola said. "How could he possibly get past his defenses?" he asked Yajima.

"This fight could be compared to a very rough game of chess." Yajima said softly. "As we've seen, Leord is not a very durable mage, and Natsu specializes in close combat. Whoever makes a mistake first will most likely lose."

"It's only a matter of time." Cana said with a smirk. "Sooner or later that kid has to get tired, and once he slows down Natsu will catch him and win the fight."

"I wouldn't be so sure..." Lucy said slowly. "They've been going at it for a while now, and this guy has been molding some pretty big things, yet he doesn't even look tired."

"He looks more concerned with whatever Natsu said to him than the fight itself..." Wendy added.

"It's as Yajima said, the one to make a big mistake first will be the one to fall." Makarov said.

Leord's golem tried to punch Natsu a second time, but the Dragon Slayer blasted him with an incredibly heated Roar that broke it into a million pieces. He then jumped out of the mountain of debris and landed on the ground, with Leord standing right before him a good distance away.

The redhead frowned and wiped the sweat off his face with his sleeve. He's shaking off everything I throw at him, that golem could knock out a giant and yet he's still standing...I guess I'll try something else.

Leord aimed his hands at the ground and then raised them up, along with two very small hills. He then clenched his fists and broke the hills into millions of tiny pieces, that formed two piles of small rocks. Natsu watched him with mild confusion, but stayed on guard regardless. Leord took a deep breath and raised his hands once again, only this time in order to lift a few dozen of small stones in the air. The stones then began to get heated up to the point where they now looked like miniature meteors. Leord then took a swing and threw his hand at Natsu, alongside the rócks on his right side that zapped through the air like bullets.

The Dragon Slayer didn't even have a chance to dodge, as he felt and heard dozens of heated rocks fly past him at speed so great he couldn't even see them. One of said rocks hit his right forearm and flew directly through it, leaving a small, cauterized wound behind, that acted as a wake up call. Natsu quickly threw himself to the side to avoid the second barrage of rocks and listened in shock and disbelief as they pierced through everything in their path.

Leord began to wildly swing his arms around and essentially turned himself into a machine gun that used heated rocks as ammunition. Natsu jumped over a wall and hid behind it, only to have one of the rocks pierce right through it and zap right past his cheek.

With some fear now crawling on his neck, Natsu started to run and jump over the uneven terrain, while desperately trying to stay in cover from Leord's line of sight. The rocks continued to fly everywhere, leaving sounds that could only normally be found on battlefields.

With his confidence slowly coming back, Leord continued to throw his rocks at Natsu and used the ground to sense his whereabouts. His piles were growing smaller by the seconds, however, and soon he'd launched the last of his ammunition.

Having been waiting for this, Natsu jumped out from behind one of the pillars of now hardened lava and puffed out his chest.

FIRE DRAGON'S ROAR!

Leord clapped his hands and raised three walls made out of mixed earth and lava, that effectively blocked the spell. He then transformed these walls into a lava golem, even bigger than the ones before, and sent it charging at Natsu while he prepared more rocks to throw.

Natsu dodged the golem's punch and focused lightning in his feet, which helped him zap right between its legs. He got closer to Leord than he has in a long while and was just about to strike him when he got stopped by spikes growing out of the ground around the redhead.

Natsu grit his teeth in annoyance and broke the spikes with a kick. Just when he was about to connect with a punch, he was punched himself, as the golem caught up to him and swatted him aside like a fly. Natsu rolled on the ground, before getting on all fours and baring his teeth like a rabid dog. He launched himself off the ground and set himself on fire.

FIRE DRAGON'S HORN!

His head connected with the golem's chest and broke right through it like a missile. He began to descend to the ground and just when he was about to land on his feet he raised his hands and smashed them into the ground, breaking it and causing his hands to sink.

Leord watched his opponent with brief confusion, but soon picked up what was happening. The ground began to shake and soon broke from beneath under the pressure of a giant pillar of mixed fire and lava that spiked toward the sky like a beacon.

Both men stared at one another through the pillar, one with fear and anger, the other with calm, but cold demeanor, his previous rage already subdued and under control.

"Is it just me or does the heat reach all the way over here?!" Lola asked and waved a tissue in front of his face.

"It's just you." Yajima told him calmly.

"That might be the case! After all, we are left with nothing but spectacular battles!"

"And it looks like we're missing out on action as we speak." Yajima interrupted him with a smile and pointed at the screens.

Natsu, much to everyone's shock, dashed right into the pillar of lava and fire and zapped right through it with the help of his enhanced speed. He emerged on the other side and pulled his right arm back, with a punch cocked and ready to be thrown.

Leord, however, having seen enough of Natsu's madness to begin anticipating his next move, as bizarre as they would be, expected this and began to melt the ground around him and turn it into a deep pool of boiling lava.

Natsu, who was in the air above the pool, clicked his tongue in annoyance and turned his feet into thrusters. He prevented himself from falling into the lava and instead began to fly higher into the air, before turning around and launching himself straight at Leord. The teenager, now panicking and with barely any place to mold something new out of, created a single spike which Natsu maneuvered around with his flames. He then landed on the ground next to Leord and struck him flush on his left cheek with a flaming right hook.

Leord was sent flying over the pool of lava and fell to the ground on the other side. His ears were ringing and his vision was blurry, but he was still conscious. His panic, now reaching critical level, has caused him to let out a cry of fear, accompanied by the lava pool raising and trying to swallow Natsu.

The Dragon Slayer jumped out of the danger and landed safely on the other side. Leord picked himself up and stood on his wobbly legs, his shaking eyes glued to Natsu.

"Nothing about me is special." he said quietly. "Everything I am praised for has been given to me. Ivan just took me off the streets and gave me magic, that's where my story starts and ends. Just because I was getting by on luck alone he started to put pressure onto me, and soon others joined in. I didn't want to say anything. For the first time I had something resembling a home, and the fear of losing it made me despise being praised for nothing a little less. It made it bearable."

Natsu blinked and bent his knees, ready to attack. Leord grit his teeth in anger and molded four lava dragons. "I don't want to end up alone. I won't let someone like you just come and take it away from me! If I lose, then it might as well be the end!"

Natsu charged the dragons and easily broke one of them into pieces. Noticing that they have become weaker, he deduced that Leord must finally be getting tired and picked up his own pace, effectively breaking another two with a kick and punch respectively. He then turned to the last one, who was guarding Leord, and rushed him.

"If they really care about you, they won't care if you lose once in your life." he told the teenager and ducked under the dragon's lava breath. He ran between its legs and stopped just before Leord's scared and sweaty face, his own only mere inches away. "They care about you, not the image you've built up in fear of losing them. Even if you win, you'll just continue living like this. You might as well face your fears and find out what the truth is by yourself."

His fist connected with Leord's stomach and bent him like a pocket knife. With his remaining air, Leord recollected himself and successfully swatted Natsu away with the combined forces of his golem and an earth wall.

"I don't...want to..." he panted out and focused his magic to transform the terrain once again. Natsu spat aside and grinned at him in a sinister fashion.

"I've already told you, you don't get a say in this." he said and raised his own magic that easily overpowered that of Leord's. The boy was now only a single push away from falling apart, and he sensed it himself. With the held back urge to throw up, he unleashed one more wave of lava at Natsu, who watched it approach him with a wide grin on his face. He raised his hands and blasted the wave with a concentrated torrent of flames that dispelled it.

FIRE DRAGON'S PURGATORY!

Leord watched his attack being splattered over the area like water on the side of a bowl and took a step back. He helplessly watched the Dragon Slayer charge him in a straight line, his speed greater than the spikes and walls being raised behind him in a last attempt to stop him. With a grin that would only fit the devil himself, Natsu retracted his right fist and struck Leord flush on his left temple, seemingly severing whatever connection to consciousness he had left in an instant and dropping him to the floor like a sack of flour in the process.

The crowd exploded in cheers as Leord hit the ground, and so did Fairy Tail, who celebrated yet another fall of one of their rivals.

Ivan Dreyar stood up in his seat and blankly stared into the screens. His skin was so pale it created an illusion of being transparent. Sensing that all hope was gone, he began to leave the crowd, and in result the arena. Seeing this, Makarov jumped off the railing into his wheelchair and began to drive away, mumbling something about bathroom to his kids. He knew he had to get to the guild first, and quickly.

Natsu breathed out loudly and turned around to look at Leord. Much to his surprise, the teenager was still conscious, albeit unable to move. He stared into the cloudy sky with a dead expression that could only fit someone convinced their world has just come to an end.

Natsu knelt by his side. "It's tough to realize what others really think of you, or how to fit in with the others. Trust me, I get it." he said with a small smile. "But there really is no other way than just finding out on our own. It's scary, but unless we make the first move nobody will give us the answer. Even if you beat me, would you have reached out by yourself?"

Leord slowly shifted his eyes to meet Natsu's. "Why are you trying to help me?" he asked with a gentle frown on his face. "Were you just antagonizing me to make me realise I was wrong? To prove a point?"

Natsu sighed and stood back up. "I once knew someone who exposed all my fears so that I could see how wrong I was and that I could change. All the people who helped me, who had the biggest impact on my life, as well as the most important person in my life had red hair." he said. "In one way or another." he added under his breath. "After listening to you I just felt like I'd be returning the favor, in a way."

Leord raised his eyebrows. "That's...dumb." he deadpanned as his body began to glow. He didn't sound as scared as before, however.

"Yup." Natsu agreed shortly. He then looked Leord in the eye one last time, before smiling. "Good luck. This is where it gets the scariest."

Leord released a sigh of his own and vanished. Natsu cracked his neck and turned to the parts of the city that have not been swallowed by lava. His part was not done just yet.

End of Chapter 47. To be continued in Chapter 48: Day Five: Thunder.