"Sorry, but I don't return things that fall into my hands—especially not items confiscated from enemies."
Marco held the Ten Commandments Spear and laughed as he responded to the furious Erza Knightwalker, as if stating the obvious.
Naturally, this response only made Erza Knightwalker angrier, but Marco simply ignored her.
Feeling the weight of the weapon in his hand, Marco was quite surprised—the Ten Commandments Spear was actually quite heavy.
Being able to wield this spear with such force without using magic proved that Erza Knightwalker's strength should not be underestimated.
Marco had to admit that he had somewhat underestimated this Erza from Edolas.
She was clearly not just a pure Holder-Type Mage relying solely on the Ten Commandments Spear.
In this regard, she was far superior to Hughes and Sugarboy.
Without their magical tools, those two could be easily subdued, barely stronger than ordinary people.
This highlighted the biggest difference between Mages from Edolas and those from Earth Land.
Even as Holder-Type Mages, those from Earth Land still possessed considerable combat ability even without their magical tools.
"Come on, Knightwalker! I can defeat you even without a weapon!"
Erza shouted at Erza Knightwalker across from her.
Even without using Requip Magic, she was still the "Fairy Queen," and her confidence in victory remained unshaken.
Erza Knightwalker remained silent, her expression somewhat grim.
Although she had confidence in her physical strength, compared to Erza, whose magic power was still abundant, she was clearly at a disadvantage.
Erza could use magic to enhance herself—a basic ability of Mages and the reason they were generally more resilient.
They could use magic to protect their bodies.
However, Erza Knightwalker had no magic power within her.
In this aspect, she naturally couldn't compare to Erza.
She needed the Ten Commandments Spear to bridge this gap.
"Don't worry, I won't even use magic."
Erza could guess what Erza Knightwalker was thinking.
"Let's compete with pure martial skill." Erza spoke calmly, clearly serious about her proposal.
It was evident that Erza was also somewhat fired up.
At this moment, she was determined to defeat the version of herself from another world in a fair and square manner.
"Fine!" Erza Knightwalker agreed immediately.
As for Erza's words, she had no choice but to trust them.
After all, whether Erza used magic or not was entirely up to her.
Even if she did use it, Erza Knightwalker had no grounds to complain.
"You two really aren't taking King Faust seriously, are you? He's putting on quite a show right now."
Marco sighed helplessly, commenting on the two Erzas' one-on-one duel.
"Please help us mark out a safe area, Marco."
Erza looked at Marco, clearly having planned this in advance.
To duel Erza Knightwalker without interference, she would need Marco's help—otherwise, it would be impossible.
"Alright."
Looking at Erza's serious expression, Marco reluctantly nodded in agreement.
He then waved his hand, enclosing both Erzas within four walls made of "Crystal Wall."
This "Crystal Wall" arena wasn't particularly large, but it was sufficient for the two Erzas to battle without using magic.
"You're just letting her do whatever she wants?"
Seeing Marco so readily indulge Erza's whims, Laxus frowned so deeply it looked like he could snap chopsticks with his brow.
"No harm done, why not?"
In response to his cheap older brother's doubt, Marco answered simply.
It was just a small request, so of course he would try to accommodate it.
"Hmph, when you could just defeat the enemy outright, you have to go and do something like this."
Laxus was clearly displeased.
This wasn't a contest—why bother with fairness? Strength was strength, and the enemy should be defeated swiftly and decisively.
Moreover, he was also irritated by the idea of using this "Dorma Anim" for training.
No matter how much these weaklings trained, they wouldn't improve much and it might even lead to unnecessary casualties.
"You, you..."
Seeing how stubborn Laxus was, Marco shook his head helplessly, at a complete loss.
Marco actually understood Laxus's perspective—in fact, he might be the one who understood Laxus best among those present.
Laxus's idea was for the strong ones like them to resolve the battle quickly, sparing the weaker members from struggling pointlessly and potentially getting hurt.
Although he kept calling them "weaklings," Laxus's true intention was to prevent these weaklings from sacrificing themselves—he wanted to protect them.
The plight of the "Fairy Tail" in the world of "Edolas" had only reinforced this belief in him.
Weaklings should just stay safely at home.
Otherwise, their fate would inevitably be grim.
When a crisis struck or a major trouble arose, the "weaklings" would only end up pointlessly throwing their lives away.
While Makarov was merely protective of his own, Laxus had taken it a step further—he was outright domineering, to the point of completely disregarding the personal wishes of his other comrades.
Such domineering behavior, in a family-like atmosphere like "Fairy Tail," was naturally unacceptable to everyone.
It contradicted the guild's spirit and represented extreme individual heroism.
"Actually, everyone is doing well aren't they? Why can't you trust them a little more?"
Watching his comrades—who, despite being battered and covered in dust, were still stubbornly reorganizing their formation and relentlessly grappling with the colossal beast amid scattered magical beams—Marco gestured for Laxus to truly feel the atmosphere of mutual support and unwavering perseverance in the face of adversity.
As for how the adversity came about? Don't ask.
"Doing well where? They're all bruised and battered. If it weren't for your protection, someone might have been killed just now."
Laxus scoffed at this.
He didn't think these guys were doing well at all—they were only managing because Marco was there to back them up.
Marco opened his mouth but found himself at a loss for words, because he had indeed stepped in to help earlier.
"This training session is mainly for those charging at the front. The ones in the back are the support group to begin with."
Marco pointed at the "vanguard group" charging at the forefront—those who had never been protected by his Crystal Wall—and explained to Laxus.
Natsu, Gray, Gajeel, Elfman, Joey, Nab, Jet, Bacchus from Quatro Cerberus, and several close-combat specialists from Blue Pegasus now looked rather disheveled.
Nearly every one of them bore injuries and was covered in dust, yet their spirits remained high.
With the support of the "backup team," they continued to launch relentless attacks.
"Win first, then talk." Laxus' response was brief.
He still didn't believe these guys could win.
Marco fell silent again, finding nothing appropriate to say.
After all, despite their prolonged efforts, Natsu and the others had failed to inflict any substantial damage on the Dorma Anim.
Though Marco wanted to speak up for them, he couldn't ignore the objective reality and blindly exaggerate their progress.
"Step it up, you brats!"
Marco fretted inwardly, itching to jump in and fight on their behalf!