"Gravity: Suppression." Kagura had noticed on her way here that there weren't even any clones around Rufus, which was a good thing for her.
"No, no. I also have memories regarding Gravity Magic." Rufus raised a finger and shook it, acting pretentiously.
An anti-gravity magic circle also appeared at his feet, counteracting Kagura's gravitational pull.
"This Memory-Make magic seems pretty unfair," Lucy complained from the waiting room.
Ur nodded. "Memory-Make is indeed powerful, but Rufus has one major problem—he's still too young."
"What problem?" Lucy tilted her head, confused.
Ur looked at the expressionless Kagura on the crystal screen. "The vast difference in raw magical power, and the difference in body control under the suppression of Gravity Magic."
Having watched Kagura grow up, Ur knew exactly how much effort this young girl had put in.
During the day, she trained with Raizel and Erza, sparring under the brutal suppression of heavy Gravity Magic.
At night, when the other girls in the dorm were playing around or playing cards, she would meditate facing the moon.
Even during the month they went on vacation, Kagura never interrupted her meditation practice.
She always found time to train, to meditate.
Ur wasn't with Kagura every day, but she knew that Kagura's magical reserves must far exceed that of her peers.
She had natural talent, and she understood the principle that hard work pays off.
"Gravity: Suppression, full power."
A massive purple magic circle appeared in the air above the rooftop where Kagura and Rufus stood.
"Didn't I say it? Gravity Magic doesn't work on—" Rufus could no longer speak.
Suppressed by the overwhelming gravity, he was having difficulty breathing. He felt as if his throat was being crushed.
His knees weakly hit the roof tiles, his hands barely supporting him, cold sweat covering his entire body.
Rufus struggled to stand up, but found he simply couldn't.
He didn't know how many times normal gravity this was.
BOOM—
The houses around the town couldn't withstand the immense pressure and collapsed into dust with a roar.
"What is this situation?!?" Chapati Lola exclaimed in surprise as a city block vanished into a crater.
Yajima looked approvingly at Kagura on the screen. "Unbelievable. Kagura's magic power is actually this high, and her Gravity Magic training has reached such incredible depth."
"Mr. Yajima, what do you mean?"
"The houses collapsed because they couldn't withstand Kagura's localized Gravity Magic, and they were in perfect condition before that."
"This is terrifying!!!" Chapati Lola screamed, clutching his cheeks with both hands.
"Kagura is so amazing!!!" Lucy exclaimed with her fingers tightly clasped.
"This is the first time Kagura has shown her true capabilities, right?" Raizel was also surprised as he looked at Kagura on the screen.
Usually, she didn't compete or show off, keeping a low profile.
She just trained all day, polishing her swordsmanship—a perfect example of honing one's skills over years.
Kagura slowly walked up to Rufus, holding her sword upside down.
"Since you said there's no time... let's end this."
With a swift raise and fall of the blade, the heavy scabbard struck Rufus precisely on the back of his neck.
The heavy blow instantly knocked Rufus unconscious.
Kagura estimated that by the time he woke up, the match would long be over.
Kagura watched expressionlessly as the fallen Rufus slowly vanished, teleported away.
Rufus had lost his combat ability. Being teleported elsewhere was merely a matter of collecting his body and preventing point scavenging.
Thus, the pumpkin head made the decision to remove Rufus from the arena entirely.
Rufus's avatar immediately grayed out on the scoreboard, his score showing -1 point.
"Wooooah!!!"
"Kagura! Kagura! Kagura!"
The entire arena cheered Kagura's name, but she simply sheathed her blade and continued walking toward the sounds of battle.
What followed was a chaotic melee, with Beth and others being eliminated one after another.
In the end, only Eve, Gajeel, Ren, and Kagura remained.
Eve was struck in the abdomen by Gajeel's Iron Dragon Club and slammed against a wall.
Battered and bruised, Eve could no longer hold on and collapsed.
"Now remaining on the field are Kagura from Fairy Tail Team A, Gajeel from Team B, and Ren from the Croix Knights!"
"Their current scores are: 5 points, 3 points, and 4 points! Kagura is currently in the lead!"
The three stood in a tense triangular formation amidst the ruins of a town square.
Gajeel glanced at Kagura, then at Ren.
He was well aware of Kagura's strength—definitely not inferior to his own, not someone he could easily handle without taking damage.
Gajeel quickly made a decision.
"In that case, I'll take care of you first, then decide the outcome!" Covered in metallic scales, Gajeel bared his teeth in a grin and charged toward Ren.
He had already observed Ren's techniques earlier—using his spear for close combat or unleashing fiery energy blasts.
He just needed to watch out for that long weapon.
ROAR——
A loud, vast, and soul-shaking animal roar echoed through the entire stadium.
A flash of fiery red suddenly appeared in Gajeel's vision.
Ren's full-body armor began glowing red.
The armor started transforming, gradually shifting into a massive golden lion whose mane was covered in raging flames, charging toward Gajeel.
Faced with this unexpected magical assault, Gajeel had no time to defend and could only rely on his iron scales to withstand the impact.
The golden lion's striking power was stronger than Gajeel had anticipated.
The flaming lion's head slammed into Gajeel's abdomen, pushing him backward continuously, crashing through multiple brick walls.
"I'M NOT GONNA LOSE!!!" Grimacing in agony, Gajeel tightly wrapped his iron-scaled arms around the lion's neck, exerting relentless pressure.
The golden lion's flames continuously scorched Gajeel's arms, while he showed no mercy in tightening his grip on the lion's throat in a chokehold.
Neither Gajeel nor the golden lion would yield, both engaged in a brutal contest of strength and willpower.
Everyone had thought the lion head on Ren's armor was merely decorative.
Ren was known as the Golden Lion Knight, and everyone knew he possessed a powerful lion—they just never realized his lion was his armor.
The Golden Lion Knight's face was now fully revealed to the audience: curly golden hair, thick eyebrows, and a full beard.
Beneath it all, he wore silver chainmail.
"SO COOL!!!"
"I WANT ONE TOO!!!" Erza and Natsu were already drooling over that golden lion armor.
One coveted its transforming armor properties, while the other craved to eat its flames.
"So this is the so-called Golden Lion Knight..." This got Raizel excited too.
"Their guild also has Giant Elephant Knights, White Horse Knights, Silver Wolf Knights, Griffin Knights, and so on," Levy read from her notes.
Ever since Levy saw this lion, she started flipping through the member profiles of the Croix Knights.
"Those with armor are probably the ones," Raizel pursed his lips, signaling the members to look toward the stands where the Croix Knights were seated.