Naval Headquarters — atop the battlefield.
"This blade is tempered with a deadly toxin!" the World Government's Python Knight boasted, spitting out a slithering line of venom and licking it across his scimitar's edge. Time seemed to freeze for a heartbeat.
A smug smile curled the Python Knight's lips. "How's that? Surprised? Did you really think I'd be stupid enough to poison myself? Of course not—this is my toxin. It won't touch me."
He expected to watch Erza's face crumple in horror. Instead… nothing.
Erza remained utterly composed. "That's a childish trick. Let's get this over with."
The Python Knight's smile vanished. "Fine—if that's what you want, then die like you deserve."
He lashed out with his serpentine tail and swept forward like a shadow. Steel rang on steel as Erza met him; her fairy swords collided with his twin scimitars and the force pushed her back a step.
"Is that all? That's your strongest armor?" the Python Knight taunted, sneering. "Is that really all you've got?"
Erza's expression never wavered. Up to now she hadn't revealed the true depth of her Fairy Armor—only threading her blades with Armament Haki, not the full enchantment. Against a thick-skinned Zoan beast warrior, that half-measure made the Python Knight cocky.
Erza advanced again. The Python Knight braced to parry—confident, arrogant—when, at the last meter before contact, everything changed.
Magic erupted.
The ordinary sword in Erza's hand flared into a blinding cannon of light. Before the Python Knight could register what was happening, the radiance cut through his scimitar and severed one of his arms in a single, horrifying instant.
"AAAHHH!" The scream cut across the battlefield like a slaughtered pig.
"Die!" the Python Knight roared and shifted into his full python form, attempting to crush Erza with sheer mass. But his beast-body defenses held no sway against the Fairy Armor fired to its fullest.
Boom. Boom. Boom. Light cannons detonated in sequence; the Python Knight's scaled hide was shredded by streaming bolts. Beaten nearly senseless in snake-form, he forced himself back into his hybrid, half-human shape. Cold, vertical pupils fixed on Erza. From his lips poured a dark, purple venom mist.
"It's over!" Erza said, voice low and steady.
She changed stance. Magic flickered; the Fairy Armor reconfigured.
Now Erza stood in a stripped-down, lethal set—the minimalist battle form that left her both nimble and fiercely dangerous. She inhaled, eyes steady, and lifted Sakura, her demon blade.
With a crack the air itself split. Steel flashed; Erza and the Python Knight blurred past each other in a killing exchange. The Python Knight's remaining scimitar shattered with a brittle trill. Blood blossomed—bright, explosive—across his chest, a long, narrow wound from shoulder to abdomen revealing bone and quivering organs beneath.
The Python Knight crumpled. The outcome seemed decided.
Then Erza staggered.
Her body trembled; her knees folded and she sank to one knee without meaning to. The battlefield hushed, eyes snapping to her for the first time.
"Heh heh," the wounded Python Knight gasped through blood and venom, pride still tasting the air. "Don't underestimate the mortal python. My toxin doesn't need to bite to kill—exposure to the venomous mist is enough. If you'd kept that heavy armor on—maybe you wouldn't be like this. It'll take effect soon… and I'll drag you into the grave with me!"
He spoke with the certainty of a man who believed the poison would finish the job.
All across the ruined field, silence tightened. Erza's lips parted, breath visible. Around them the war — the crack of magic, the roar of colossi, the clatter of steel — seemed to hang, waiting to see which would fall first.
(End of scene.)