BOOM!
The streak of light exploded against Erza. Dark Magician Girl was knocked back by Purgatory Armor's terrifying monstrous strength, spinning backward through the air.
Holding her skirt, she had just stabilized herself with a surge of magic when the pitch-black, violent figure pursued and arrived before her.
Erza naturally wouldn't allow Dark Magician to charge up. She decisively went all out to eliminate Dark Magician Girl in the shortest time!
"Purgatory: Rend!!"
SWISH!!
The jagged heavy sword moved too fast. Dark Magician Girl had no time to erect a defensive barrier. She could only watch helplessly as the heavy sword rapidly zoomed in her field of vision.
CRASH!
The shockwave unleashed by the heavy sword tore through space, carving a deep and messy trench into the ground below.
"Hat?"
Erza's expression shifted. The expected scene of Dark Magician Girl being shattered didn't appear. Instead, she was replaced by four magician's hats inscribed with question marks.
And what she had sliced through was merely one of them!
"Don't forget about me, Erza." Chase smiled, flipping open the trap card he'd previously buried.
[Trap Card · Magical Hats]: Triggered when attacked. Summons four hats that can conceal the user to evade (with the risk of the true body being hit).
"Too bad, you guessed wrong, Erza!"
Dark Magician Girl leaped out from the furthest Magical Hat, her staff raised high, blooming brilliantly surrounded by purple lightning.
"So take this! Dark Magic Burst!"
BOOM!
The magical energy sphere exploded midair. Erza was sent flying backward, crashing heavily into the ground below.
The spell was powerful, but Erza wasn't too severely injured—in that instant, she had used the other half-shield of Adamantine Armor to neutralize most of the force.
However, Dark Magician Girl had anticipated this. Her hastily executed Burst was merely a feint.
HUM!
She waved her staff, and a pink chain of pure magic shot forth, binding Erza tightly!
"Teacher! Now!"
Dark Magician slightly slightly in acknowledgment, then stepped forward and swung his fully charged staff at the immobilized Erza.
"Dark Magic!!"
A high-density magical energy sphere, far surpassing Dark Magician Girl's in power, shot forth. Where it passed, space twisted, carrying unparalleled breath of destruction!
BOOM!!!
The extreme compression energy exploded instantly. The resulting black-violet beam shot straight into the sky, the entire earth violently trembling!
"Yay! Victory!"
Before the terrifying commotion had completely subsided, the airborne Dark Magician Girl happily struck a victorious peace sign.
"Watch out, idiot!" Chase shouted in warning.
Too slow.
Stirring cyan lightning shot from deep within the smoke, piercing through half of Dark Magician Girl's body!
"Ah... I got careless..."
Dark Magician Girl ruefully scratched her hair, then dissolved into specks of light, returning to the deck.
"This airhead. Never can shake that careless habit." Chase pressed his hand to his forehead and sighed.
The sole remaining combatant on the field—Dark Magician—spun his staff and assumed a ready stance, facing Erza ahead.
She now wore a light purple sleeveless kimono and carried a slender naginata.
She had just used "Faraway Robe's" super flexibility to break free from Dark Magician Girl's chains and evade the Dark Magic!
Erza swung her naginata, slightly lowered her stance, and exploded with strong footspeed, charging straight at Dark Magician.
"Requip! Clear Heart Armor!"
In the instant before collision, she Requipped again, simultaneously stomping the ground to force her trajectory, bypassing Dark Magician and charging straight at Chase in the furthest rear!
Going for the Master?
Dark Magician was momentarily surprised. Glancing back at the unflinching Chase, he thought it over and ultimately gave up pursuit, actively dissolving into specks of light.
After all, this wasn't a life-or-death struggle. He'd leave this final contest to his Master...
"Come, Chase! This is the final blow!!"
In full sprint, Erza thrust forward with Clear Heart Armor's sword, freeing all her magical power, creating an energy field of electricity and light. "Clear Heart: Light Particle Sword!"
"Perfect! Try to break through my defense, Erza!"
Chase waved his hand, flipping open his last face-down card.
It was...
Mirror Force!
"RAAAAAAAAAAGH!!!!" x2
Amidst Chase and Erza's passionate shouts, the electromagnetic field and holy barrier collided like meteors!!
The roar echoed across the entire suburb. The resulting impact instantly swept for a thousand meters!
The blazing light was so intense that the watching Fairy Tail members could barely open their eyes!
The raging energy storm continued for over a full minute.
By the time the trembling earth gradually calmed, Lucy looked up and was terrified by the scene before her.
In a huge circular pit, dug over ten meters deep, broken white specks of light danced everywhere.
Chase and Erza gazed at each other from across the pit. Both were in tattered clothes, their chests heaving violently, both utterly breathless!
"What? Chase's Mirror Force was actually broken?!"
"This is the first time I've seen Mirror Force fail. Does that mean Erza won?"
"No! Look, Erza's Clear Heart Armor is also shattered!"
"No way! They pushed each other this far and still ended up evenly matched?! What kind of monsters are those two?!"
The Fairy Tail members buzzed with discussion, quickly began to argue again.
"No..."
Demon Mira slowly stepped forward, her gaze fixed on Chase and Erza in the distance. In an extremely calm tone, she stated, "Chase won."
"EH?!!!"
Gasps of surprise erupted everywhere.
The Tucao-loving Lucy spotted the obvious: Just to announce the result, she didn't need to take in Satan Soul, right...
Wait, Chase won?
I WON!!
At this thought, unconcealable joy appeared on Lucy's pretty face. Those who had bet on Chase cheered loudly.
Happy and the others, however, hung their heads in dejection, looking super dissatisfied.
They wanted to protest how Mira could so easily reach a conclusion, but one glance at that terrifying demon form, and they immediately backed down.
In the end, the most senior Makarov provided the explanation.
"Looking at the final result, Chase and Erza are indeed evenly matched. But don't forget, Clear Heart Armor itself possesses considerable light resistance."
"And there's only one way to shatter Chase's Mirror Force: surpassing him in magical power."
"With one rising and the other falling, the attribute restraint canceled out the slight gap in their magical power. That means Chase's magical power is higher than Erza's."
"Granted, attribute restraint exists between mages, and such tiny magical power gaps can be offset by combat experience, reaction speed, strategy, and so on—but that applies to life-or-death struggles between mortal enemies."
"Based on the context of a 'friendly spar,' Chase indeed won."
Having spoken, Makarov sighed heavily.
He hadn't realized these two kids had grown to this level without him noticing...
It was a sigh of relief.
Hearing the Master's detailed explanation, the last vestiges of hope in Happy and the others were shattered. They accepted reality, tears flowing as they waved goodbye to their money.
Lucy was overjoyed. She ran to Happy and gleefully waved her winnings.
Winning money wasn't the point—finally getting one over on this damn cat felt amazing!
Chase, too, was all smiles, unable to conceal his joy.
Just moments ago, he'd gotten very lucky and received a new card from the all-out Erza.
It was a monster card—the lowest one-star at that. Yet in a way, its value could rival the God Card Slifer the Sky Dragon!
Its name: [Right Arm of the Forbidden One]!