Toby, having lost his paralyzing claws, was left scrambling like a stray dog and was quickly taken down by Walter Son.
Ding! Ding! Ding!
"He's down! Toby can't get up! The winner is Walter Son of the Croix Knights!"
Jura covered his face with his hand, feeling helpless for his guildmate.
"He's pretty strong." Erza nodded as she watched Walter Son.
Gray agreed. "Yeah, and it doesn't seem like he used his full strength."
"That kind of power isn't S-Class?" Lucy had cold sweat on her forehead.
Raizel yawned out of boredom.
Toby being toyed with by Walter Son was dull. "It's just that his opponent was too weak. This Toby guy is still a bit green."
"Alright, let's move on to the second match! This match is also designated by the tournament committee!" Chapati Lola's voice boomed through the stadium.
"Bacchus of Quatro Cerberus... will face Kagura of Fairy Tail Team B!"
Bacchus was designated by King Toma, and Kagura was designated by Arcadios.
That day, Kagura's swordsmanship had greatly impressed the captain, who decided to abuse his power just to watch her fight a few more times.
"Eh? It's Kagura?!?"
"Her opponent is on par with Erza..."
Kagura didn't pay attention to her guildmates' reactions. She silently picked up her blade and turned to walk toward the passageway.
"Good luck."
Hearing Raizel's encouragement, Kagura didn't look back, only raising her sheathed sword in a silent promise.
"Kagura... can she win?" Lucy asked with concern.
"Don't worry, Kagura is a monster, you know," Cana said, wrapping her arm around Lucy's neck.
Amid the thunderous cheers of the audience, Kagura stepped into the center of the arena, where Bacchus was already lying lazily on his side, waiting for her.
"Rock terrain. The match begins, kabo!"
The Pumpkin Head announced before frantically running off the field.
The rock terrain raised massive boulders across the arena, serving as cover, springboards, or makeshift weapons.
Bacchus lazily said from his side-lying position, "I didn't expect my opponent to be you, Kagura-chan. Want to make a bet?"
Kagura replied expressionlessly. "No need. I don't like betting. And don't call me that."
Bacchus scoffed and stood up. "Boring."
"Gravity: Suppression!" A massive purple magic circle covered the sky above the entire arena.
The air instantly grew heavy, crushing the loose debris into the dirt under immense pressure.
"Interesting! Very interesting!" Bacchus laughed heartily, channeling his magical power throughout his body to resist the crushing gravity.
"Archenemy: Strength Form!" Archenemy remained sheathed, but Kagura wielded it single-handedly, launching a devastating downward slash that tore through the heavy air.
This moment revealed Bacchus's true martial arts prowess.
He used a precise Crane's Beak hand technique, clashing directly with Kagura's heavy strike.
He struck the exact tip of the scabbard, forcing the heavy weapon back with pure technique.
Erza frowned slightly. "This guy has improved again. His timing perfectly countered Kagura's strike."
But Kagura was no pushover.
After over a decade of brutal training, her hands knew only the sword.
She instantly adjusted her stance, swinging horizontally with immense force, slashing at Bacchus once more.
Bacchus leaned backward to evade the sweeping strike, then swiftly snapped back to his original stance.
He crossed his arms to block Kagura's follow-up slash, spun to dodge a direct thrust, and retaliated with a spinning kick aimed right at the blade's hilt.
Raizel watched Bacchus's movements and nodded. "Precise distance control and striking at weak points. This guy is truly impressive."
Natsu clicked his tongue in disapproval. "Isn't he just running away?"
Laxus gave Natsu a solid knock on the head. "Idiot! That's his strategy. Kagura has the reach of a sword, while he's fighting barehanded."
Bacchus utilized various rocks for evasion, but wherever Kagura's Archenemy struck, the massive boulders exploded into dust.
"Archenemy: Strength Form!" Kagura slammed her blade into a massive boulder, sending jagged, high-speed shrapnel flying toward Bacchus.
With a horizontal elbow strike, double hammer fists, palm strikes, and a rapid succession of straight punches, Bacchus shattered all the incoming projectiles in a blur of motion.
But the boulder in front of Kagura was merely a decoy.
"Archenemy: Slash Form!" Kagura cleanly sliced a rock taller than a person and hurled the massive slab directly at Bacchus.
Facing the oncoming boulder, Bacchus calmly pivoted, gathered strength, and delivered a devastating straight punch.
His fist struck the giant rock, shattering it, as he stepped back to dissipate the kinetic force.
Kagura had followed closely behind the rock. The exact moment Bacchus halted it, she launched a blinding surprise attack.
Caught off guard, Bacchus was struck head-on and sent flying, crashing hard into the dirt.
Kagura released her gravity suppression, leaped high into the air with a heavy stomp, and descended like a meteor with a fierce Strength Form strike.
Bacchus performed a lightning-fast kip-up, narrowly evading the crater-forming blow, and attempted to step on her blade to pin Kagura down.
However, Kagura saw through his move.
She kicked the flat of her own blade, using the intense recoil to send fragments of stone and dirt flying into Bacchus's face as a distraction.
Bacchus raised his arms to block, and Kagura seized the opening, spinning into a brutal horizontal slash that slammed into his forearms.
Bacchus's armored gauntlets shattered under the force, leaving his hands bleeding.
But the Drunken Falcon had no time to tend to his wounds.
While dodging, he launched a vicious surprise sweep kick. As Kagura jumped to avoid the sweep, she counterattacked, slashing at his ribs.
Upon landing, she immediately followed up with a flipping overhead chop.
Bacchus sidestepped the lethal attack, supported himself with one hand on the ground, and spin to kick Kagura's incoming blade away.
"I'm getting serious now!" Bacchus grabbed his gourd from the ground, took a drink and assumed his true fighting stance.
The air around him warped with intense magical pressure.
He executed a dizzying series of fist techniques, transitioning fluidly into palm strikes and straight punches, followed by consecutive jabs and double pushing palms.
Bacchus faced the heavy blade with his bare hands, his erratic movements allowing him to hold his own against Kagura in a high-speed stalemate.
Lucy watched Bacchus's blurred movements, her jaw dropping. "Why are his actions so bizarre?!"
Erza crossed her arms, her eyes tracking the fight. "His magic concentrates magical power in his palms—a very orthodox form of magic. But the secret to his strength lies in the martial arts he's mastered. It allows him to utilize his magic to its absolute limits. He hasn't just learned one style, he's integrated them seamlessly."
"When he drinks, his stance becomes even more unpredictable, and his destructive power skyrockets. This is his Drunken Falcon mode."
Jason stood excitedly on the commentator's platform, waving his arms frantically. "The match between Kagura and Bacchus is so COOL! COOL! COOL!"
But as the brutal exchange continued, Bacchus's bare hands couldn't withstand the relentless punishment from Kagura's cursed blade.
His hand injuries worsened with every blocked strike.
"Bacchus seems to be in a tough fight!" Chapati Lola yelled over the roaring crowd.
Finding the perfect opening in his drunken rhythm, Kagura stepped inside his guard.
With a blindingly fast swing, she struck him squarely on the head with her heavy scabbard.
Bacchus's eyes rolled back, and he crashed straight into the ground, motionless.
"Contestant Bacchus is down!!!" Chapati Lola announced, the stadium erupting. "The winner is Kagura Mikazuchi from Fairy Tail Team B! Team B gains another ten points!"
Kagura stood amidst the ruined rock field, drenched in sweat.
Her battle with Bacchus had required serious effort, consuming energy, stamina, and magical power far beyond her usual training.
Of course, her seriousness was mainly due to her intense displeasure with Bacchus's earlier flirting.
Expressionlessly, she raised Archenemy into the air, basking in the deafening cheers of the audience.