All members of the Croix Knights wear armor, but not everyone has a helmet, and not every suit of armor has chest decorations.
Most of their armor appears to be standardized.
The wolf head and griffin head mentioned by Levy for the Silver Wolf Knight and Griffon Knight are located on their shoulders.
In addition, Raizel spotted one with a golden giant elephant and two long curved tusks.
This person is the Giant Elephant Knight, whose height is striking.
Elfman, standing over two meters tall, is already quite big, but from a distance, Raizel estimated this knight's height might exceed 2.2 meters.
His armor differs from the full-body plate of the Golden Lion Knight—it only covers his upper body and is sleeveless.
Unlike Elfman, who has decent muscle definition and lines, the Giant Elephant Knight's arms show no visible muscle lines.
Though his abdomen isn't visible, Raizel guessed he likely has a large belly—bulky, broad-shouldered, with a powerful build and arms thick enough to race horses on.
On the battlefield, he'd be a fierce warrior.
While Raizel's thoughts drifted, Gajeel and the Golden Lion had already settled their match. In the end, Gajeel emerged victorious.
The Golden Lion was squeezed so tightly by his immense strength that he foamed at the mouth and passed out.
But Gajeel paid a heavy price—his arms were burned bright red.
"I'll leave the rest to you." Gajeel turned and walked away, dragging his injured arms.
After lengthy discussions with Chapati Lola, Yajima, and the event organizers, a ruling was decided: Gajeel had struck the Golden Lion, but was also hit by him.
Thus, their scores canceled out, and Gajeel withdrew with 3 points.
After deducting one point, Gajeel exited the battlefield, knowing there was no use staying.
Helping Kagura eliminate that lion to ensure a fair fight between her and the Golden Lion Knight, Ren, was enough.
Gajeel's avatar gradually dimmed, temporarily holding third place.
"Four minutes remaining in the match! Contestant Ren has 4 points, Contestant Kagura has 6 points—Kagura currently leads!"
As soon as Chapati Lola finished speaking, the Golden Lion Knight Ren charged at Kagura, holding his spear inverted in his right hand, and launched a one-handed thrust.
Kagura raised her sword to block and deflect it.
Ren spin around with a sweeping spear attack.
Calmly, Kagura lifted her blade to parry upward, then seamlessly shifted into a bow stance, pressing low to sweep with her sword.
Clang—
Ren had already leaned back slightly but still failed to dodge Kagura's strike.
Although Ren had lost his Lion Armor, he still wore a silver chainmail for protection.
Even so, being struck horizontally by the heavy sword sheath was far from pleasant.
But Ren had no time to dwell on the pain.
He brought his spear down in a Lion Slash, halting Kagura's follow-up assault before advancing again with quick steps to close the distance.
On the scoreboard, Ren lost a point, dropping from 4 to 3, while Kagura gained one.
Chapati Lola explained the rules: "Since only two contestants remain on the field, being hit won't teleport them away now, but they will still lose points!"
Ren launched another attack at Kagura, starting with a backward head-and-tail horizontal strike, followed by a Snowfall Covering the Summit overhead blow.
Kagura's Archenemy remained sheathed as she deflected attacks with lateral parries before executing an upward blade tilt to dissipate the heavy force.
Seeing his maneuver fail, Ren raised his left leg to kick the spearhead, accelerating its sweeping motion.
Kagura leaned back slightly, evading the swift spear sweep—a move so rapid it would have been nearly impossible for an ordinary person to dodge.
Fortunately, during her regular sparring sessions with Erza, Kagura had grown accustomed to such sudden shifts in tactics.
Erza, ever the unpredictable combatant, would often switch from a single blade to dual blades for surprise attacks.
Though Kagura had also faced Erza in single-blade-versus-spear duels, Ren's spear technique surpassed Erza's—after all, Erza was more suited to pure swordplay.
Ren showed mild surprise at the failed sweep but pressed his assault, swinging his spear sharply to the right.
The exchange of blows continued, yet apart from Kagura's initial spear thrust, all subsequent strikes were deflected by both combatants.
Pivoting on her blade, Kagura spin and delivered a powerful kick to deflect Ren's diagonal spear thrust.
The force of her kick was unrestrained, wrenching the spear from Ren's left hand.
Unfazed, Ren fluidly twirled the spear behind his back, creating defensive patterns as he retreated while blocking Kagura's advances.
Just as he seemed to be in full retreat, Ren bared his fangs—thrusting backward in a classic "returning horse" spear technique.
Kagura, as if anticipating this, leaped into the air and landed directly on Ren's spear.
The sharp spearhead slammed entirely into the brick floor. Still composed, Ren rotated the shaft, causing the flames on the spearhead to burn more fiercely.
With his right palm supporting the spinning spear, Ren charged forward, the weapon whipping up flames, brick fragments, and dust.
Kagura retreated in a series of leaps, stepping on the spear as she moved, while Ren spin into a side kick against the shaft, flexing it like a giant bow.
Though Kagura blocked with her blade, the tremendous force of the flexed spear made it impossible to maintain her grip.
Archenemy spin through the air before clattering to the ground.
Ren didn't press the advantage. After a few elegant spins where he twirled the spear at his waist, he stood firm.
Kagura examined her trembling wrist and sore palm, then leaped repeatedly while using anti-gravity magic to retrieve her weapon.
Without a word, Kagura silently drew Archenemy from its scabbard.
The unsheathed blade gleamed as if new, yet its aura was overwhelming.
Steeped in blood and shrouded in resentment, Archenemy possessed the terrifying presence of a blade capable of severing all things—a true demonic weapon.
"A fine blade," Ren remarked—his first words since entering the arena.
"Contestant Ren finally speaks!!!" Chapati Lola nearly wept with emotion.
He had begun to suspect the knight was mute!
"You who can wield such a cursed blade are a remarkable warrior."
Kagura offered no reply, simply charging forward to resume her attack.
Seizing the moment, Ren executed a flipping spear slash.
Kagura evaded with a high kick, then stomped downward, immediately following with a horizontal slash toward Ren.
This time, it wasn't the scabbard that struck him, but the actual blade.
His chainmail was cleanly sliced open in a straight line, and crimson blood began to flow.
Ren's score decreased by another point.
Simultaneously, the 30-minute countdown timer reached zero.
"Time's up!!!"
Ren's disappointment was palpable—he clearly wished to continue the fight.
"You're strong. I hope we can both enjoy ourselves in our next battle." After saying this, Ren turned and left.
Kagura simply nodded silently in agreement.
In terms of actual combat, the two hadn't truly determined a winner yet, but judging by the scores and the situation on the field, Kagura held the upper hand.
Kagura hadn't used much of her Gravity Magic, but Ren, known as the Golden Lion Knight, was somewhat weakened without his lion, if not by half his total combat power.
For a moment, all screens showed Kagura's stern expression.
The audience cheered the winner's name.
"Kagura! Kagura! Kagura!"