Gajeel's body glimmered with a metallic sheen, and his iron hand firmly gripped Rogue's wrist.
"You..." Rogue's right hand was completely out of his control, unable to advance or retreat.
But what surprised him more was not this, but why Gajeel suddenly came to support—by speed, Stinger should be faster than him.
Could it be...
Rogue turned his head in disbelief, only to see Stinger already collapsed on the ground, clothes tattered and half-buried in rubble in a deep pit.
He was defeated so quickly even in the state of Dragon Power?!
Rogue swung his left fist towards Gajeel's face, trying to escape.
But Gajeel did not dodge, letting the other's fist hit his cheek.
With a bang, Gajeel slightly turned his head, the iron-like skin on his face shining even more, confident in his defense exceeding that of the Fire Dragon.
The one getting hit was fine, but the one hitting, Rogue, felt a sharp pain in his fingers as if punching a real piece of iron.
Gajeel smirked and retaliated with a punch to Rogue's face, releasing his grip on Rogue's wrist.
Rogue flew back and smashed into the ground, bouncing and rolling back like skipping a stone, finally landing beside Stinger.
Free for a moment, Gajeel asked, "How are you?"
Wendy smiled, "I'm okay."
Though she said so, Gajeel noticed Wendy's damaged clothing and abrasions on her shoulders, elbows, and knees, feeling a sudden sadness.
—Wendy got this injured while working with him; how was he to answer for this upon returning?!
Being mocked and ridiculed by Natsu was one thing, but being pestered back and forth by that impatient Wind Dragon was a big deal!
It was all that shadow brat's fault!
Gajeel's anger flared up.
Even though that guy looked a bit familiar, it was still unforgivable.
If they are familiar, then he could hit them even harder!
On the other side, Rogue helped Stinger to stand up: "No choice, let's use that move."
Covered in wounds, Stinger said with effort, "Okay!"
The two tried to maintain their Dragon Power state, standing back to back, gathering magic power.
In their fists, black and white magic power merged together, becoming a peculiar black-and-white interwoven orb of light.
Gajeel exclaimed, "Combined Magic? Can light and shadow combine?"
In the realm of magic, using combined magic is far more difficult than regular magic, sometimes even more so than super magic.
It can fuse the magic power of two people to the maximum, releasing a power far exceeding that of the individuals.
Of course, it also requires high coordination and trust, almost reaching a mutual understanding, to succeed.
Wendy said, "Mr. Gajeel, I have a newly learned magic which might help."
Gajeel stood in front of Wendy, fully shielding her: "Go ahead, even without it, those brats can't do anything to me."
Wendy raised her head, lifting her right hand high with her palm facing the sky, releasing magic power far exceeding her usual, her long blue hair dancing in the wind, faintly turning purple under the magical glow.
"All-round Ability Enhancement, Divine Knight!"
A blue-green magic array lit up, coating Gajeel with a thick layer of magical brilliance.
Gajeel was astonished, this feeling was stronger than any support magic he had received before!
The little one truly was remarkable.
The opponents' attack was already underway, leaving him no time to assess the power's enhancement, he directly clasped his hands above his head.
His hands instantly fused into a wide-bladed iron sword, extending upwards over a hundred meters.
With magic power surging from Gajeel, four canine teeth faintly protruding, the appearance of the broadsword suddenly widened more than twice, then swung down with the momentum of splitting mountains and cutting through ridges:
"Dragon Slayer's Secret Art, Karma Demon Iron Divine Sword!"
Stinger and Rogue also stood back to back side by side, synchronously throwing out their fists, "Holy Shadow Dragon Flash Fang!"
The black and white interwoven light wave shot towards Gajeel, destroying the floor ahead, tossing up shattered debris, forcefully creating a trench.
The momentum seemed capable of piercing through an entire arena.
Yet Gajeel's Iron Divine Sword cut through the light wave like slicing tofu, heading straight for the spot between Stinger and Rogue.
Rumble...
Despite the reinforced arena, it couldn't withstand the destruction, and a wide fissure started forming ahead of Gajeel.
Everything the sword blade touched collapsed, and even places it hadn't reached cracked apart with the power of its extended strike.
The long fissure extended to the stands, reaching the outer walls of the arena, and even impacted a massive statue on the side of the field.
"This is bad!"
"Get out of the way!"
"Help!"
Chaos erupted in the stands, with people near the crack running aside.
The giant statue was about to crash down, but fortunately, Jura was in that direction, creating a Stone Giant with a clap of his hands to support the statue, pushing it off the arena.
On the commentary platform, Jabadi confirmed that no horrific accident occurred and then marveled at Gajeel's magic, drawing everyone's attention back to the field.
By now, the arena had almost been split in half by Gajeel, and Stinger and Rogue were nowhere to be seen.
Several floating camera drones flew into the dark fissure.
The audience watched the big screens, following the camera's view, confirming the thickness of the floor and seeing a mound of rubble, and there at the bottom lay Stinger and Rogue.
Both had exited their Dragon Power state, their clothes tattered, bodies covered in wounds, seemingly unconscious.
Pumpkin Man waved his hand, and two soldiers went down to check the state of the two, shaking their heads upwards to indicate they indeed had lost combat capability.
"Winners, Fairy Tail B Team, Gajeel and Wendy!"
"Oh!!!" Cheers erupted first from the Fairy Tail spectator zone.
Then came applause and cheers from the audience.
Even those who had almost been killed by Gajeel's sword joined in the enthusiastic applause.
Perhaps it was because their adrenaline soared from the earlier scare.
Gajeel smirked.
Wendy, though somewhat tired, also smiled happily.
The two soldiers carried Stinger and Rogue out of the fissure.
Gajeel went over to lend a hand, and Wendy immediately began administering emergency healing.
Though those two had been somewhat excessive, Wendy still felt a bit guilty for injuring them this badly just in a match.
Moreover, she also sensed a strange familiarity with them.
Perhaps it was because they were all Dragon Slayer Mages.
In the Sabertooth participant zone, only Rufus and Oroga remained. Seeing Wendy helping their companions, they felt a mix of emotions.
After some thought, they walked up to the field and thanked Wendy.