"What exactly are Wendy and Sherria doing?"
"Is it just my imagination? The air feels thinner and thinner!"
"Dragon Slayer Secret Art!" Wendy raised her arms horizontally, and a brilliant blue magic circle snapped to life beneath her feet.
'Has she already learned the Dragon Slayer Secret Art this quickly?!'
Watching from above, Porlyusica's pupils suddenly contracted.
Through Levy's theoretical teaching and Natsu's practical guidance, Wendy had mastered it in no time.
"Wendy, are you going to use the Secret Art?"
"Hmph, Wendy is definitely going to win." In response to Lily's question, Carla snorted proudly.
"What is this? A wind barrier?" Sherria observed her surroundings.
She was trapped inside a massive dome of swirling wind.
"Shattering Light: Sky Drill!"
The wind barrier instantly compressed the airflow, firing a dense, highly pressurized beam of wind rushing straight toward Sherria.
"I can't lose either!"
"God Slayer Secret Art: Heavenly Gathering Clouds!" Sherria gathered a massive amount of black wind in her hands, merging it into a colossal, black-purple horizontal tornado that collided head-on with the Sky Drill.
The aftermath of the dual Secret Art collision created an even stronger, explosive gust, and this time Makarov truly fell over.
Raizel, however, was quite surprised.
Sherria was only nine years old, had completely self-taught God Slayer Magic, and had even mastered a Secret Art.
Her talent was truly remarkable.
In comparison, Zancrow and Orga were utterly weak!
"Those who can't stand steady, crouch against the wall!" Ur commanded.
The sheer wind pressure from this collision made it impossible for even Raizel to remain standing casually.
He used Take Over to become Omegamon and continued watching the show.
The gales this time were so powerful that even someone of Elfman's weight class was almost unable to stand steady.
After dumping their magical reserves into their Secret Arts, both girls had little magical power left.
In an unspoken agreement, they dashed forward and began raw close combat.
Fists clashing against flying kicks.
"Sky Dragon's Crushing Fang!"
"Heavenly God's Fist!"
"This time it's close combat, with neither side giving an inch! Their small fists are colliding repeatedly!!" Chapati Lola screamed.
The audience had only wanted to see the lolis fight a cute match, but the battle turned out to be unexpectedly brutal and thrilling.
Wendy and Sherria refused to back down, exchanging heavy punches and claw strikes.
The cheers from the audience soared to the heavens.
Ding ding ding—
"Time's up for the match!"
Wendy and Sherria, covered in bruises and scrapes, leaned heavily on their knees, panting for air.
"The match is over! This match ends in a draw! Both teams earn five points each!"
The audience applauded enthusiastically.
"Amazing!!!" Natsu shouted excitedly.
"Both of them are incredible." Erza smiled as she watched the two young girls on the field.
"Uncle has decided to declare this match the best of the tournament! This is just a personal opinion!" Chapati Lola got carried away with his commentary but managed to recover at the end.
On the field, Wendy and Sherria began using their remaining magic to heal each other's injuries.
"From now on, we're good friends!" They shook hands warmly.
"That's great. Wendy has made a new friend." Raizel was also very happy.
"What a touching ending! Uncle thinks the tournament could end right here!"
"It's only the third day, how can it be over already..." Yajima shook his head helplessly.
"I didn't manage to win..." Wendy looked somewhat ashamed at her teammates when she returned, as Team A's score had once again been widened by Team B.
"What are you talking about? You did great!" Carla praised.
"Well done, Wendy." Laxus gently patted her head.
"I ain't gonna complain about teammates," Gajeel yawned.
Laxus draped an arm over Gajeel's shoulder, teasing him. "Nonsense, you complain about Natsu every single day."
"..." Gajeel's silence was deafening.
He actually had no way to refute it!
"We'll run into Team B eventually, and when we do, we'll just knock them out!" Natsu grinned, flexing his right arm and slapping his bicep.
"Are you sure it won't be us getting knocked out?" Gray glanced at Team B's terrifying lineup.
Ultear, Erza, Cana, and Kagura—which of them was an easy opponent? Lucy could now summon two gates at once, and Capricorn's martial arts were extremely troublesome.
And the substitute was Mira the Demon.
...
"You were amazing, Wendy!"
"Hungry? Let's go eat, Wendy!"
"Let Wendy change her clothes first! Her clothes are all dirty!"
"Shouldn't we let Wendy tend to her injuries first?"
Upon returning to the tavern, Wendy was greeted with a barrage of warm concern from the guild, and for a moment, she didn't know who to answer first.
"Alright, there are too many people." Ur waved her hand impatiently, signaling everyone to step back.
Wendy smiled and shook her head.
"As for the injuries, Sherria already helped me treat them just now, so I'm fine."
Their physical injuries weren't serious; they had just exhausted their magical power and would recover after a good night's rest.
"Speaking of which, you really recovered quickly, Erza," Lucy remarked, looking at Erza, who was practically bouncing around.
Although Erza was currently covered in fresh bandages, she was still at the counter, wholeheartedly devouring her meal.
"Don't fight me for it, Raizel! I'm injured!"
Erza, fighting for the last slice of cake, managed to reply between bites.
"It's because of Wendy and Ms. Porlyusica."
"Truly manly!"
"None of them have anything to do with being manly!" Lucy retorted irritably to Elfman.
"Barrel surfing is here!"
"Aye, sir!" Natsu and Happy, full and satisfied, used wooden barrels and planks to surf inside the tavern.
Actually, they were just rolling on top of barrels.
Then they crashed headlong into Gajeel, who was sound asleep on the floor.
"What are you doing, you brat!"
"Urp... Wanna give it a try?"
"Is it necessary to play until you're dizzy?!?"
"No problem, let me give it a go!" Gray also imitated Natsu and started playing.
"Go, Gray-sama!" Juvia cheered.
When Gray inevitably crashed into the wall...
"Ah!!"
"I say, where are your clothes, Gray?!" Cana frantically complained.
"In that case, it's my time to shine!" Erza leaped into action and started barrel surfing too.
"Surfing! Surfing!"
"This is really dangerous!"
"Someone stop them!"
Members who didn't want to suffer collateral damage quickly ran for cover under the tables.
"Playing around like this while covered in injuries..." Ultear pressed a hand to her forehead, letting out a helpless sigh.
"Honestly, everyone's having way too much fun, aren't they?" Lucy stood with one hand on her hip, smiling as she watched the rowdy chaos.
"It's starting! Sis, Lisanna, Yukino, hold on tight! A real man is about to get this rolling!" Elfman helped Mira, Lisanna, and Yukino onto the barrel, then went to push it himself.
"Ever, do you want a ride too?"
"There's no room left!" Evergreen huffed, smacking Elfman's arm with her fan.
"Is your guild always like this? It certainly lives up to its reputation." Jenny rested her chin on her hand, watching the noisy members with great interest.
"This isn't even that loud," Laxus remarked casually, taking a sip of his drink at her table.
"Fire Dragon's—" Natsu's flames had barely appeared before Makarov knocked him out with a single, gigantic punch.
"I said, this is someone else's tavern!" Makarov slurred, scolding Natsu in his drunken stupor.
"But with a hit like that, you made Natsu's head smash straight through their floor!"
"What! Is the floor okay?!?"