Kali tightly gripped the hilt of the katana, with the blade facing backwards, she dashed forward while preparing her final strike.
"Requitp Blade! Heaven's Wheel!" Erza shouted as her blade changed into a long sword with wings and marks. Doing the same as Kali, she also dashed forward.
Kali was surprised again, she didn't expect Erza to be able to only switch her sword instead of both her armor and sword.
"Ah, my katana is going to break." Kali muttered.
The crowd grew more anxious, two of their strongest wizards were going to release their final attacks that would make them the winner.
Once Kali and Erza were within range of each other, they both unleashed their final attacks.
"Requip! Heaven Wheel's Armor!"
"Slice of Time, Eternal Suffering!"
An immense amount of pressure erupted from them. Even the barrier that was said to be able to withstand Natsu and Gray's strongest attacks had broken just by the pressure.
The pressure was so strong that numerous wizards had to line up in the front to cast a barrier to protect them since their pressure was starting to push them back.
There were even several cracks on the surrounding buildings.
*CLING* *CLANG*
In an instant, the two disappeared and reappeared on the opposite side with their backs facing each other.
The crowd couldn't take their eyes away, the anticipation they had to see the winner was making them impatient. Suddenly, one of them fell to their knees.
Everyone was silent.
Erza placed her hand on her hips which was where the sharp pain was coming from. When she retracted her hand, she saw blood on them. Due to the pain, she had to use one of her knees to keep her balance.
Suddenly, there was also the sound of pieces of meal dropping on the ground.
Kali's blade had shattered.
Kali was the first one to speak.
"Ah, it seems our fight is a tie. There is no winner." Kali said.
The crowd wasn't pleased with it but kept quiet since they understood what she meant. If only Kali's blade didn't shatter, then she would've won. But because it did, the outcome was forced into a tie.
"No, you win." Erza said as she got up. The wound she had was already healing.
The crowd turned their eyes to Erza. If Erza announces Kali as the winner, then that would break the tie between them, but that's only if Kali accepts.
Which she didn't.
"I refuse to accept that. This was a battle of swordsmanship. It's an unwritten yet official rule that if one's blade breaks, then they lose. But since you also lost, it is a tie."
Erza couldn't say anything in response since Kali was correct. In the end, she had to accept it, and call the match a tie.
An hour has passed since the fight and everyone inside Fairy Tail was talking about it. Most of them believed Kali won and some believed it was a draw. But most of them didn't care about that, all they cared about was that the fight finally happened and that they were there to witness it.
"So, what do you think?" Mira asked the two.
"Who won doesn't matter. I'm just glad I was able to fight Kali using her real strength." Erza replied as she ate her strawberry cake.
"Erza is a monster, improving mid-fight? Crazy talent." Kali said as she prepared her homemade strawberry cake special. "Perhaps Erza was born to fight, it gives me shivers thinking about it."
"Though, I didn't expect the outcome to be a tie." Erza said as she took a slice of strawberry cake for herself.
"Oh? Then who did you expect to win?" Kali asked.
"Of course, it was Erza." Mira replied with an innocent smile.
Kali felt her world shake, her heart shatter into quadrillion pieces, and life seemed to be meaningless.
"Haha!" Mira laughed. "I'm joking, I expected whoever won to win."
"Not funny." Kali said with a displeased look.
"It was funny," Erza agreed. "You should've seen the look on your face, it was as if the world ended before your eyes."
"I…" Kali was left speechless, in the end, she grabbed a slice of strawberry cake and sat at the other end to avoid the two.
"Did we take it too far?" Erza asked.
"Nope, she'll be fine." Mira replied with a reassuring smile.
.
.
.
Everyone was having a good time talking about the fight until they started feeling sleepy.
"Master, could it be?" Mira asked.
"Mhm. Mystogan, he's coming." Makarov replied.
"I see…" Mira muttered before passing out just like everyone else.
"Mystogan, huh? It's been a while since I've seen him." Kali said cheerfully while eating the cake.
Makarov looked in Kali's direction. "To this day, I still don't know why Mystogan's sleeping spell never affects you."
"It does affect her." a figure with a cloak and a mask said while taking a mission.
"Hmm?" Makarov hummed.
"What he's saying is that because I'm stronger than him by a lot, I'm basically immune to his sleeping spell." Kali answered.
"I see."
"I'll be back." Mystogan said as he started walking towards the exit.
"Hey! Don't forget to lift your sleeping spell!" Kali called out.
"Count to five." Mystogan replied as his figure disappeared into the distance.
After five seconds, everyone seemed to be awake except for Natsu who was still sleeping soundly.
"Th-this feeling… Mystogan?"
"That bastard…!"
"His sleep magic is as powerful as ever…"
"Mystogan?" Lucy questioned.
"He's in the running for the strongest man in Fairy Tail." Elfman replied.
"Huh?"
"And for some reason, he doesn't want anybody seeing him." Gray added. "So he puts everyone to sleep like this whenever he takes a job."
"Huh?! That's way too suspicious!" Lucy explained.
"So no one but the Master knows what he looks like." Gray said.
"No. I do." a voice said from above.
"Laxus!"
"You're here?"
"This is rare!"
"Another candidate for the strongest man in Fairy Tail." Gray said.
"Mystogan is shy, so don't get too noisy." Laxus said.
At the same time, Natsu woke up. "Laxus! Fight me!"
"Erza just gave you a beat down!" Gray said.
"That's right!" Laxus said with a grin. "You don't stand a chance against me if you can't beat mere Erza."
"What's that supposed to mean?" Erza said as she sent a sharp glare to Laxus.
"I mean that, I'm the strongest!" Laxus stated.
"Laxus! Come down and fight me!" Natsu shouted.
"You come up!" Laxus replied.
"Fine by me!"
However, before Natsu could even reach the stairs, he was pummeled to the ground by Makarov's fist.
"You're not allowed on the second floor! Not yet!"
"Heh, got yourself in trouble." Laxus teased.
"Laxus! That's enough out of you!" Makarov yelled.
"I won't let anyone else take the title of "The Strongest" in Fairy Tail!" Laxus said. "Not even Erza or Mystogan! I'm the strongest!"
"Oh? You dare say that whileI'm here?" Kali questioned as she sipped on her tea.
Everyone's attention turned to Kali and felt a sense of pride.
"That's right Laxus! There's Kali!"
"She's the strongest of Fairy Tail!"
"You don't come close to beating her!"
Laxus became angry, streaks of electric sparks started to appear around him.
"Natsu can't go to the second floor right? How about I take his place and come up?" Kali suggested.
Laxus frowned, if he let Kali come up here, his pride would surely get trampled on. But if he said nevermind, his pride would also be trampled on. It was a lose-lose situation.
"Why can't Natsu go to the second floor but Kali can?" Lucy asked quietly.
"It's still too early for you but jobs on the second floor are far harder than the jobs on the first floor. The second floor's board contains jobs from S-Rank to Calamity Rank." Mira replied.
"S-Rank?!"
"Mhm, they are dangerous jobs in which even a momentary lapse in judgment can prove fatal." Mira replied. "The rewards are far higher and only wizards given by our master's approval can take those jobs. There are only 6 qualified for them."
"I see, but I have a question."
"What is it?"
"What is Calamity Class?"
"Ah, like I said earlier, it's still too early for you to know."
Suddenly, a streak of golden lighting zipped through the air and went towards Kali's direction.
"Kali! Watch out!" Gray warned, but there was no point.
In a split second, Kali had moved from her seat and was above Laxus with a chair in her hand.
"Thousand years of back pain!" Kali shouted as she slammed the chair on Laxus's back causing him to pummel into the ground.
Kali gazed at Laxus's back pitifully.
"It's an eon too early for you to be challenging me."