Crystal, Ice and Fire ✔

CHAPTER 47

Finally, Erza came right at me, summoning another sword to slice me from the side while she charged. I braced myself, my eyes alternating between the path of the sword and Erza’s footsteps. 

And then she was on me.

I dodged and side stepped, trying to get a feel of her style. Since we had never fought before, I had absolutely no idea of her speed, reflexes, agility, balance or armor preferences. 

I knew that there was a long list of things I didn’t know about her and that she was great at everything, but it’s different when you’re up close and fighting. You can experience the strength of your opponent and not observe it from afar, which ignites a feeling if urgency, telling you that this is it, it’s now or never. 

I wasn’t fighting for my life, but it felt like it. 

Of course, Erza would never cause me any major harm until I proved to be a worthy opponent. This put me at a slight advantage. I saw the hesitation in her strikes. She wasn’t anywhere near her full potential. 

I jumped back, panting. I had a rough idea of her strength, agility and stuff like that now, but I had no idea what armor she would change into to fight me. I wasn’t Dragneel, her Flame Empress armor would have no effect. So far, the only armor that would put me at a disadvantage would be…

‘You’re being very cautious today,’ Erza remarked. ‘why don’t you loosen up a bit and show me what you’re capable of?’

 ‘Very well, then,’ I smirked, ‘but just remember, you asked for it.’
Erza smirked back, then re-equipped into the very armor I was hoping she wouldn’t.

‘Reequip! Purgatory Armor!’

I grit my teeth. That armor was trouble, I had to force her to change as soon as possible. 

Time for my combo attacks. 

‘Let’s get serious,’ I said. There were cheers all around. 

Erza flew at me. I planted my feet firmly in the ground. 

‘Improvised Crystal Hail!’
 
It slowed her down enough for me to launch my next attack.
 
‘Crystal Dragon’s Scale Attack!’ 

Erza was quick enough to deflect most of the scales and the hail, but some of it got through and hurt her. I used these wide scale attacks on purpose, so that they would force her to change into a new armor which gave her more defense.  

‘Reequip! Black Wing Armor!’

Jackpot. 

Though I had to worry about her flying around now, it was better than her Purgatory Armor, because wearing that, she could break through most of my attacks. 

‘Pancake Formula! Crystal Dragon’s Tail Slap!’

Erza was on defense now, blocking my attacks and gouging whatever information she could out of it. 

This was it. Time for my Premium Combo. 

‘Crystal Dragon’s Dance of Death!’

I jumped high with Crystal Mirrors forming all around us, like a dome. 
This blocked everyone’s else’s view and disrupted Erza’s. Because of my reflections in the crystal, she wouldn’t know which one was the real me. I quickly traded positions with one of my clones. 

Erza was at the center of the dome, looking around cautiously. I knew she didn’t know which one the real me. I needed to defeat her fast, before she figured out how to get out of here or which one was real. 

I came at her. According to Erza, a hundred of me were charging at once. She slashed the air while I sneaked up from behind. As I was about to land the fatal blow, she turned and blocked it. 
I was shell shocked. 

How did she know??!!!

Since I stopped moving, all the other reflections were still too.

 Erza smirked. 

Crap.

I quickly evaded what would’ve been the death blow. I dissolved the dome, knowing that it was no use now, she had it all figured out. 

In my head, I was panicking. 

What should I do? She made my Premium Combo useless, and I hadn’t even gotten to the combo part yet. I had only casted half the spell. Think. Her weakness…

I got it. 

Now, I just had to make this count, because after I did it, I would be completely wiped out. 

I started preparing myself. But then suddenly…

The match was over. 

Erza stood above me, wearing her Purgatory Armor. 

‘Chikuso,’ I cursed. She got me. 

‘I sensed what you were about to do,’ she said. ‘if that had hit me, I would have been defeated for sure. You put up a good fight, Star. Be more careful next time.’ 

She gave me a small smile. ‘You’ve improved a lot,’ she said, helping me up.

‘Thanks,’ I said, ‘but next time, I’ll beat you for sure.’ 

‘We’ll see.’

‘THE WINNER OF THIS MATCH IS ERZA!’ Master proclaimed. ‘STAR COMES IN SECOND PLACE!’

‘Uh, Master,’ Mira interjected, ‘there were only two people to begin with.’

‘I know,’ he said, ‘but I wanted to congratulate Star for putting up a very good fight. Most people who go up against Erza get taken down in a flash. Good job, Star!’ 

I smiled. ‘Thanks! But it’s Erza who should get all the praise, she took me down even before I could cast another spell.’

‘Yes, Star,’ Gray said, ‘Erza’s amazing. But then, so are you.’

‘Aye!’
I couldn’t stop smiling, even though I was defeated. That’s the kind of guild Fairy Tail is. 

‘Star.’ I heard a very serious voice say. I turned to see Dragneel.

‘Next time,’ he said, ‘I’m going to challenge you to a match. And when I win, I’ll challenge Erza  again.’

I laughed. ‘Looking forward to it, Dragneel,’ I said, ‘but you’ve gotta go way further than beating me to defeat Erza. She’s on another level…’ 

I gave Erza an innocent smile, then
continued my statement. 

‘…for now.’

****

Hey guys!

So... here's my latest update. I wasn't planning on it, but I just had this sudden urge to finish the book. I'm sorry this is so short, my original plan was to make Star forfeit the match because she felt like she couldn't attack Erza. But because I got a lot. of negative review about that I decided to change it.

The next chapter will also be kinda short because this whole conflict kind of carries on into that and I have to cut that while part out. Anyway, I hoped you enjoyed the fight! Please let me know if it wasn't detailed enough, because I'll do my best to change it!

Thanks for reading,

Please vote, comment and share,

Enjoy life,

Mareska.

P.S. TWO MORE CHAPTERS TO GO!!!!!