The Mansion's Backyard—
Erza and the others were enthusiastically grilling barbecue.
However, they soon noticed something unusual.
Ever since they returned from Magnolia earlier, Kagura had been somewhat distracted. She was absentmindedly fiddling with the rose-gold necklace around her neck, seemingly lost in thought.
Erza shaded her eyes with her hand and whispered, "Did something happen earlier?"
Mirajane shook her head. "No idea. I didn't notice anything."
Kiria furrowed her brows. "All I saw was Lord Aegon helping her put on the necklace, but as for what was said... I couldn't hear."
Jenny, a bit indignant, chimed in, "Also, also, Lord Aegon asked me to turn away, but he didn't ask Kagura to turn away!"
Kagura, the subject of their conversation, was too lost in her thoughts to realize she was being discussed so intensely.
"It's beautiful."
Aegon's words from earlier echoed in her mind, and Kagura quickly closed her eyes, shaking her head to clear the thought.
"Kagura, come over here!"
Hearing this, Kagura turned to see Erza and Mirajane waving at her cheerfully... with skewers of meat in their hands.
Even though Kagura wasn't in the best of moods, she couldn't refuse when she saw Erza and Mirajane acting like that.
As for the other key person involved, Aegon, he was lying on a lounge chair, enjoying a massage from Mera.
Unfortunately, there were too many people around, so Selene and Irene didn't have the nerve to shamelessly join in on the massage.
Even when Aegon offered to massage them, they turned him down.
Lying on the chair, he turned his head to look at Irene and raised an eyebrow. "You sure you don't want one? This is authentic Hong Kong-style pressure point massage, passed down from father to son, never to daughters."
"No need," replied Irene, who was also enjoying a massage from Heine. She simply turned her head away.
"What kind of massage are you talking about?" Selene felt like something was off.
...
"This one's burnt."
"This one's raw."
"And this one... half-cooked and half-burnt. How did you even manage that?"
Aegon kept a straight face as he examined the legendary, half-cooked, half-burnt skewers that Erza had grilled herself.
Erza's face turned red with embarrassment, unable to say a word.
Misaki tried to explain, "She pressed the skewers with the iron plate and then got distracted doing something else... and forgot."
Kiria frowned. "No, this one was clearly on the tray where the burnt ones were."
Erza hurriedly snatched the ruined skewers from Aegon's hand, glancing around protectively like an animal guarding its food. "That's right! These can't be eaten! Who brought them over here?"
Mirajane raised her hand silently. "Huh? I thought it was some local specialty..."
"..."
What place serves half-cooked, half-burnt food as a specialty?!
The entertainment for New Year's Eve was a ranking match between Erza and the others.
Erza now had many sets of armor, but there were four that she used most often, each one a masterpiece.
There was the armor forged from the silver radiant scales of the Celestial Sound Dragon, fitting closely to Erza's body, along with the striking dark-red metal wings of the Celestial Sound Dragon Armor.
This armor didn't fly by flapping its wings. Instead, it used the jet thrusters at the end of the wings to release crimson magic power. The intense energy from the blast reaction provided the necessary propulsion for flight, allowing Erza to reach speeds exceeding Mach 1.
Next was the defensive armor—Adamantine Dragon Armor—crafted with scales from the Armored Dragon, Steel Dragon, and Adamantine Dragon, fused with the most renowned and resilient dragon steel from Earth Land, Drossigon Steel, provided by Selene with great care.
This armor didn't feature a massive shield but was equipped with a full-body suit, even covering the eyes with a pair of slightly futuristic orange goggles. The weapon was a pair of heavy gauntlets (similar to Vi's from League of Legends). When Erza brought her fists together, a defensive magic array, enchanted by Irene, would activate.
Another armor, thin as a cicada's wing, was forged from Sword Dragon and Blade Dragon scales, as well as their blood and dragon steel. This set had minimal defensive capabilities, focusing entirely on offense. The accompanying sword was intriguing—its crimson blade with a transparent edge appeared like glass with embedded red bone ridges. The sword, only slightly curved, was named "Red Tassel" by Erza herself.
Lastly, there was the Heaven's Wheel Armor, originally designed abstractly by Erza. After a brainstorming session with a designer, the armor was re-imagined. Irene reforged it, maintaining the exterior but completely overhauling the internals.
The new Heaven's Wheel Armor was enhanced with the spatial and lunar attributes of Selene's Moon Fox Dragon, the fire of Irene's Wise Dragon, the magic of Katherine's Law Dragon, and the elemental properties of earth, metal, and water from the Armored Dragon, Blade Dragon, and Misaki's Sea-Covering Dragon, respectively.
This armor could unleash energy swords with multiple attributes for ranged attacks or be used with various elemental swords in close combat, making it an extremely versatile set.
Selene didn't show any favoritism either. Due to her fondness for Kagura, she also provided materials to Irene, who forged a sword for her.
The sword, with a slender, jet-black blade veined with blood-red cracks, was slightly longer than Erza's Red Tassel. The cracks formed because Kagura's blood was used during the forging process. At the point where the blade met the hilt, the bloodlines gathered into a strikingly beautiful red rose, giving the sword a hauntingly gorgeous appearance.
Since Kagura wasn't interested in naming it, Selene called the sword "Blood Rose."
As for the others, Mirajane was still figuring out how to master her Demon Takeover, while Misaki and Kiria, being Dragon Slayers, didn't really need weapons, as their bodies were their greatest tools. They had no use for physical weapons.
Along with Jenny, who had taken on the soul of machines, and Lisanna, who had taken on the soul of animals, the six of them started a free-for-all ranking match.
Lisanna and Jenny were quickly eliminated...
"They went after Lisanna..."
In her full Satan Soul form, Mirajane narrowed her eyes, locking onto Kiria, who had just knocked Lisanna out of the air with her dual Blade Dragon attack.
"..."
Kiria shivered under Mirajane's gaze. Mirajane's usual gentle demeanor had made her forget that Lisanna was her untouchable soft spot.
"If you want to beat Kiria, you'll have to go through me first."
Misaki stepped forward, blocking Kiria behind her, locking eyes with Mirajane, who was hovering in midair.
"Then I'll just take care of both of you..." Mirajane closed her eyes, and a blue light enveloped her body. She transformed from Satan Soul to Demon Halphas, her eyes turning blood-red, exuding an overwhelming killing intent.
"Who's going to take care of whom, we'll see!" Misaki folded her arms, her gaze turning icy.
"Ugh..." The two's overpowering aura not only left Kiria feeling helpless, but also drew the attention of Erza and Kagura, who were in the middle of their own sword fight with Red Tassel and Blood Rose.
However, Erza clearly had no time to intervene, as she suddenly realized that the still-sheathed Blood Rose had already tapped her armor several times!