Earth Land, Ishgar, Kingdom of Fiore, Crocus.
July 6, x790.
After her teammates left to search for opponents, Minerva stayed in the Shirotsume recreation's central plaza contemplating what she should do if her team were to lose the Grand Magic Games. While doing so, she thought back to the piece of paper that appeared in the locker where she stored her clothing during her trip to Ryuzetsu Land to spy on Team Fairy Tail.
"I'm certain it was that Irene Belserion who put that note in my locker." Minerva muttered to herself. "She actually gave me her phone number for when/if I make the decision to betray Sabertooth... Betray my father. But will it really come to that?"
Before Minerva could think over the issue again, the sound of footsteps drew her attention. And from what she could tell, they were coming from the direction of the Everlue Mansion.
"I guess one of the Fairy Tail wizards is coming this way." Minerva said to herself as she turned her head in the direction of the footsteps.
And just as Minerva expected, one of the Fairy Tail wizards, a short girl with long light brown hair cut into square shaped bangs that covered her forehead and hazel eyes was walking in her direction. She also had a shirasaya sheathed on her hip.
"It looks like I finally found someone." The light brown-haired wizard, Sun, said cheerfully as she continued walking towards Minerva. "Oh! And you're one of the wizards from Sabertooth. Alfonzo said to not go easy on any of you if I were to find you. So, I can only apologize."
"If you think defeating me will be that easy, then you are sadly mistaken.' Minerva replied as she took her fighting stance and coated her hands in [Spatial Magic].
In response, Sun only shook her head while dropping into an iaido stance.
"Territory Magic: Territory Explosion]." Minerva chanted before Sun could take action.
With Minerva's chant, the space around Sun began to distort. Seeing that, Sun's eyes widened. Yet, she was quick to act, drawing Kanade and beginning to move with dance like steps as she slashed at the spatial distortions.
"[Water/Sword compound Magic: Fourth Form: Flowing Dance]." Sun chanted while moving gracefully and cutting the spatial distortions that she could.
*boom!* *Boom!* *Boom!*
Despite reacting quickly, Sun was unable to cut all the spatial distortions in the area. As a result, those she was unable to cut through and disrupt, exploded. Yet, thanks to her use of [Magic Power Detection], Sun was able to move through the explosions unscathed.
Meanwhile, Minerva looked on in shock. Not once in all the years she had been using [Territory Magic] had she seen someone evade [Territory Explosion] with such ease. Even so, just like Sun, she had trained harshly. Add to that the years of experience she had gained as a wizard meant that she did not stay shocked for long.
"[Territory Magic: Territory Drain]." Minerva chanted, manipulating the space around Sun once again.
This time, however, instead of letting the spell form around her, Sun acted quickly, drawing Kanade back into a thrusting stance.
"[Water/Sword compound Magic: Seventh Form: Drop Ripple thrust]." Sun chanted as she threw herself forward, the tip of her shirasaya aimed at Minerva.
Not even a second after Sun initiated her thrust, the space where she once stood was manipulated to the point that Sun would no longer be able to leave the designated area if she were still inside. Luckily for Sun, she acted quickly. And now, it was Minerva's turn to react to her opponents moves.
"[Territory Magic: Territory Nihility]." Minerva chanted as her hands were coated in solidified [Spatial Magic].
Minerva then took what appeared to be a Chinese Kenpo fighting stance. Yet, before Sun could close the distance, Minerva vanished from where she stood, using her magic to teleport into Sun's path before she could perform her thrust.
*Bang!*
Minerva, with Sun barreling towards her, raised her left knee, aiming it at Sun's rib cage. However, before her knee could strike true, Sun cancelled her thrust and brought the pommel of her shirasaya down and slammed it against the side of Minerva's knee, throwing it off course.
Then, with the blade now held outwards at her left hip, Sun once again tried to thrust it towards Minerva, whose balance had been broken by sun's parry. Yet, to Sun's surprise, Minerva reacted quickly. Using the momentum from being forcefully turned by sun's parry, she jumped. This caused Sun's thrust to pass just under her raised left leg.
At the same time, while continuing to spin, Minerva lashed her right heel at the side of Sun's head.
However, with equally quick reactions, sun managed to lower her posture before rolling forward, passing right under Minerva. However, as soon as Minerva landed on her quickly lowered left leg, she swung her right heel down, like the blade of an axe, at Sun's shoulder.
*Boom!*
Yet, Sun was able to raise Kanade just int time to block the axe kick with the flat of the blade. She then intended to push Minerva's leg to the side before performing [Second Form: Water Wheel] as she jumped forward to create some distance. However, before she could put that plan into action, another fighter joined the fray.
"[Gravity Magic: Jupiter]."
In the next instant, the gravity around Sun and Minerva increased immensely. As a result, Minerva almost fell to her knees due to the added pressure. However, before she could, she teleported herself out of the affected area. Sun, on the other hand, only flinched momentarily due to the change in gravity. Yet, she was otherwise unaffected.
"I never expected a sneak attack from you, Kagura.' Sun said as she turned to look in a particular direction.
Seeing Sun looking towards the edge of the plaza, Minerva, while getting her breathing under control, also looked in the direction where Sun was looking. When she did, she saw a young woman with a slim figure, a large bust, long black hair styled into a hime cut, and brown eyes wearing a white blazer and skirt with a white shirt and red tie approaching them.
"This is a battle royale, not a duel, Sun." Kagura replied almost emotionlessly. "And the only aim in an event like this is to gain the most points possible. So, there should be no talk of dishonor here."
Despite being retorted so completely, Sun smiled brightly. She then raised her blade and prepared to fight both Kagura and Minerva while the other two prepared to fight, as well.
A moment later, the three young women dashed towards each other, ready to begin a three-way battle. However, before the first moves could be exchanged, they all jumped back.
"Fire Magic: Flare]."
*Boom!*
In the next instant, originating from the spot where Sun, Kagura, and Minerva would have made contact, flames burst from the ground, engulfing an area about 10' in radius in a conflagration of flames.
"Well, I guess that didn't work.' A female voice said as she overlooked the plaza from a nearby rooftop.
Hearing that voice, Sun, Kagura, and Minerva looked in its direction. And while Sun was aware of who had shown up before she even attacked, Minerva and Kagura were surprised to see the green-haired swordswoman in red from Final Fantasy.
"Terra, you're here, too." Sun said with a smile. "This is gonna be a lot of fun, huh?"
"I'd rather my spell have taken you all out at once, though.' Terra replied while shaking her head.
"Well, since you're here, why don't you..." Minerva began to say.
Before she finished her sentence, however, she disappeared before reappearing behind Terra with both her hands drawn back. She then thrust both palms forward at the center of Terra's back.
"... stay for a while." Minerva said, finishing her sentence.
Feeling Minerva's presence behind her, Terra did not try to defend herself. Instead, she loaded her legs with magic power before kicking off the rooftop, sending herself towards the plaza. Unfortunately, just as she avoided Minerva's attack, she had to deal with Kagura's only a moment later.
"[Gravity magic: Saturn]." Kagura chanted with her sheathed Zanpakuto, Archenemy, pointed at Terra.
Just as she had with Sun and Minerva, Kagura raised the gravity around Terra. However, she chose a lower level of amplification because Terra was in the air. And she was unsure if Terra would be able to withstand slamming into the ground under her strongest gravity amplification.
"[Float]." Terra chanted as soon as she felt the change in gravity around her. She then swung her sword around her in a circular motion before chanting her next spell. "[Reflect]."
*Boom!* *Boom!* *Boom!* *Boom!* *Boom!*
With Terra's two spells, a few things happened in quick succession. First, just before she slammed into the ground, her downward momentum stopped completely. And though it did put a little strain on her body, it was not so much that she could not handle it. After that, a translucent pink barrier appeared around her. And lastly, the space surrounding her began to distort before exploding.
Luckily, because of the [Reflect] that Terra cast, she was not damaged by the explosions. Instead, because they were caused by magic, the force and flames from the explosions were sent outwards, affecting an even larger area of the plaza.
"Voice Magic: Howling Voice]." Sun chanted/screamed in the direction where Minerva was standing after sneak attacking Terra.
As a result of Sun's scream, the building where Terra first appeared, as well as where Minerva was currently standing, was completely obliterated by the shockwave. However, Minerva was able to get out of the way of Sun's spell by once again teleporting to safety. However, instead of getting away from the, now, four-way battle, Minerva teleported right back into the thick of it.
Reappearing behind Sun, Minerva was ready to strike her with aright straight aimed at the back of her neck, to try and render her unconscious. However, before her punch could connect, Sun dashed forward, causing Minerva's punch to miss by less than an inch.
However, after only a few steps, Kagura, having used the [Flash Step], a technique she learned from Retsu, appeared in front of Sun with Archenemy raised in a thrusting position and coated in [Gravity Magic].
"[Meteor Kata]." Kagura chanted as she thrust her sheathed sword forward.
To anyone familiar with the [Style of the Undrawn Long Sword], Kagura's attack would look a lot like the [Strong Kata] she had used so many times in the past. However, with the addition of her [Gravity magic], the [Strong kata] was transformed into the [Meteor Kata], it's power amplified by the additional gravitational force.
Recognizing the force behind Kagura's blow, Sun decided that trying to block or parry would be a bad idea. So, she did the only thing she could think of, she jammed her blade into the brick-paved floor of the plaza before jumping back with all her might.
As a result of Sun's quick evasive maneuver, Sun spun around the hilt of her blade, narrowly evading Kagura's heavy strike.
*Boom!*
Unfortunately, the ground was not so lucky. As Kagura's sheath slammed into the ground, chunks of brick were shot forward from the point of impact. And as luck would have it, Minerva was right in the way of the flying debris.
"[Silence]." Terra, finally able to move after Minerva's [Territory Explosion] ran its course, chanted, aiming her spell at Minerva.
In the next instant, what appeared to be a speech bubble with a slash drawn through it appeared over Minerva's head. As a result of Tera's spell, Minerva was unable to cast the spell she was about to use, a teleportation spell. Meaning, she was unable to avoid the incoming pieces of brick that were shot at her after kagura's attack.
Yet, Minerva was undeterred. With her [Territory Nihility] unaffected by Terra's [Silence] spell, as it was already active before [Silence] was cast, Minerva through a rapid series of punches, destroying all of the brick pieces that would have struck her, while allowing the rest to sail right past her.
At the same time, Sun, after her spin around Kanade, pulled her blade from the ground. She then performed a horizontal slash aimed at Kagura's waist. As she did so, she compressed a layer of [Water magic] around the blade.
"[Water/Sword Compound Magic: First Form: Water Surface Slash]." Sun chanted as she swung her sword.
*Clang!*
*Splash!*
Kagura, instead of trying to avoid or reposition her sword, as she knew she would not have the time to do either, simply pulled Archenemy from its sheath just enough to intercept Sun's slash. As a result, Kagura was blown away from where she stood, Archenemy completely leaving its sheath in the process, while water was splashed all around the area.
At the same time, Sun dashed forward once again, intending to strike kagura down before she could right herself. However, Minerva and Tarra also dashed towards the others, thinking to do the same, as well as secure more points for their teams.
*Cheer~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~!*
Meanwhile, the audience in the Domus Flau was losing its collective mind over the action they were seeing. However, they were not the only ones excited by the battles taking place in the arena, as the two announcers, Loli and Yajima were also commentating excitedly. In fact, Loli had been so energetic that he had to change his wig because he lost the first one when it popped off during an especially exciting exchange of blows during the fight between Alfonzo, Yoruichi, and Sui-Feng.
{"Things are really heating up down there, aren't they, Yajima?"} Loli asked while holding down his wig as Kagura landed between Sun, Minerva, and Terra. {"Just who do you think will come out on top during this battle of femme fatales?"}
{"Honestly, I couldn't tell you, Loli."} Yajima replied. {"But from what I know about kagura, despite being in the worst situation of the four, I'm sure she's got something up her sleeves. Oh! And I think she's about to show her hand right now."}
And just as Yajima said that, Kagura raised her sword, which had a pristine silver blade, making it look as if it had never been used before. However, that blade was quickly colored in swirling black and purple magic power. A moment later, all three opposing wizards, Sun, Minerva, and Terra were forced away by a shockwave. And from what everyone watching could tell, what they had seen so far was only a warm-up. And the real battle was about to get underway with Kagura's latest move.