Bang—
The twin swords in Erza's hands flew from her grip.
She stumbled back several steps in succession, her eyes filled with surprise as she stared at the girl before her.
The girl held her blade in one hand and chuckled softly. "Still want to continue?"
Erza's expression turned serious, and her mind rapidly replayed the exchange just now.
There had been no obvious mistake.
Although Erza had not used her full strength, the girl had still broken through her close-range swordplay with the smallest and most efficient movements, even using the momentum to knock both swords from her hands.
'It felt like she saw through every movement. Was that a coincidence?'
Erza frowned at the girl.
Then magical light flared around her body, and in the next second, the Flame Empress Armor appeared over her.
Elysia's beautiful eyes curved into crescents, and her voice was gentle as she said, "In that case, I'll do the same."
Erza froze for a moment.
Then she saw light shining from the girl's body as well.
When the glow faded, Elysia stood before her in the same kind of crimson armor, holding a katana in her hand.
...
"So what kind of magic does Elysia use, exactly?"
Ankh looked at Anmi, who seemed to deeply resent his older sister, and asked curiously.
Anmi sighed and said weakly, "Elysia is proficient in High Enchant Magic, and she applies it to The Knight Requip. Every suit of armor she owns was personally created using High Enchant Magic. They all carry Dragon Slayer attributes, and after equipping them, she can completely become a Dragon Slayer of that element."
"She calls it—Dragon Knight Requip."
...
Erza shouted, and the Flame Empress Blade in her hand erupted with scorching fire, burning toward Elysia.
Elysia smiled faintly.
Her ruby-like eyes shimmered with lively light, and the armor on her body, which resembled crimson dragon scales, completely blocked all the flames.
The dragon-headed katana in her hand released a fierce, predatory gleam.
She raised her blade and slashed toward the sea of fire. The raging flames seemed to be soothed like wild beasts in an instant, surging into the blade.
Before long, the overwhelming blaze had been completely absorbed.
"What?"
"Hehe…"
Seeing Erza's astonished expression, Elysia immediately felt especially happy.
Flames rose from her body again, and the katana began releasing the power it had accumulated.
"Dragon Slayer Secret Art—"
Elysia spun the blade.
Spiral flames burned fiercely, rotating wildly as they turned into a sharp flaming edge that slashed toward Erza.
"Crimson Lotus: Exploding Flame Blade!"
Looking at the Dragon Slayer Secret Art that was almost identical to Natsu's, Erza's pupils shrank slightly, and her entire body was swallowed by the wave of fire.
Erza escaped from the flames in time, her expression grave as she looked down at the Flame Empress Armor on her body.
The shoulder armor had already shattered halfway, and even the arm guard showed signs of breaking apart.
For armor with maximum fire resistance, this situation was clearly abnormal.
"That's because I enchanted the blade with 'Armor Break,'" Elysia said, seemingly seeing through what she was thinking.
She exposed her own trick on the spot, then even personally demonstrated it.
"High Enchant—Weight."
Elysia lightly ran her hand over the blade. A scarlet magical glow flashed and vanished, and the dragon blade seemed to change slightly.
Then she lifted the sword and swung it straight at Erza from the front.
Bang!
Erza blocked with her katana, but her expression changed instantly.
The ground beneath her feet cracked and sank, and her waist bent slightly under the force.
'So heavy!'
Reacting quickly, Erza immediately angled her blade aside, redirected the terrifying weight pressing down from the dragon blade, and retreated to the side.
The dragon blade struck the ground heavily, and huge cracks split across the earth.
It was difficult to imagine just how much weight had been enchanted into it.
As the caster of the Enchant Magic, Elysia could naturally lift it as though it weighed nothing.
She raised the dragon blade onto her shoulder and looked at Erza with effortless confidence.
Erza discarded the Flame Empress Blade, which had begun to crack and chip, then calmly Requipped again.
Clear Heart Clothing.
Demon Blade Benizakura.
This was also a symbol that Erza had abandoned defense and was focusing entirely on offense.
Seeing this, Elysia also dismissed her Flame Dragon equipment.
She now wore a close-fitting combat outfit and held a plain white blade in her hand, yet her presence did not weaken in the slightest.
...
"The Knight Requip against Dragon Knight Requip, huh… If Erza isn't serious, it does sound like she really can't win."
On the other side, unaware of the mother-daughter duel taking place elsewhere, Ankh continued gathering information and asked, "But if Erza gets serious, the gap in magic alone won't be enough."
Grinju carried over a stack of books and gave his opinion. "But Elysia also has the power of two gods. If it were seventeen years later, Aunt Erza would definitely beat Elysia until she couldn't tell north from south, but when their ages aren't that far apart in this era… it's hard to say."
Ankh asked curiously, "So what are her two divine powers?"
Anmi flipped through the pages in boredom and said, "With her natural talent for combat, Elysia gained the recognition of Atush, God of Combat and Technique. She can see through and instantly learn any combat art in the world. On top of that, she can also become an excellent pharmacist, blacksmith, and most other technical professions."
"At the same time, she inherited one of your most troublesome powers, the power of Velti, God of Illusion and Reality. Elysia is also planning to integrate that divine power into her own combat system and evolve her Requip Magic even further."
Ankh nodded thoughtfully.
Looking at it this way, Elysia had grown in every direction, both physically and supernaturally.
Combat and Technique made her fearless against any close-range fighting style.
Illusion and Reality was currently the most mind-over-matter power Ankh possessed.
It could define anything as "false" or "real," and aside from its enormous consumption, it had no real weakness.
Just judging from the trump cards on paper, there truly might not be many people on the entire continent who could compare with Elysia.
Seeing Ankh smile instead of worry, Grinju asked in confusion, "What is it? Do you still think Elysia can't beat Aunt Erza?"
"Of course," Ankh said calmly. "No matter how many cards you have in your hand, it still depends on whether the person playing them can make them work."
"But Elysia has the combat awareness all of you trained into her since she was little," Anmi said, curling his lip disapprovingly.
"Erza's combat awareness was cultivated from childhood through danger and blood," Ankh replied with a smile.
Anmi and Grinju exchanged a glance, unable to argue.
In their era, Ishgar was already quite peaceful.
Since the day this group of youths was born, the greatest danger they had faced was probably the current disaster in the Celestial Spirit World…
"She's Erza. Paper data can't bind her."
Ankh's confidence in Erza was practically unshakable.
And Erza did not betray that trust.
...
On the other side, the mother-daughter battle reached a small turning point.
Elysia was shocked to discover that Erza's battle rhythm was gradually matching her own.
Downward slash and block, upward cut and straight thrust. Erza, who had originally been suppressed by Elysia's exquisite swordsmanship, was gradually adapting, even beginning to push back in return.
"Atush…"
Elysia's eyes trembled.
She could feel it.
The divine power of the God of Combat and Technique inside her body had actually begun to fluctuate with excitement.
"My apologies."
Erza's blade light descended, cutting through several strands of scarlet hair scattered over Elysia's shoulder.
Elysia looked at Erza from up close as Erza pressed in with her blade.
She saw the smile on her mother's face and heard her voice, confident and bold just like it would be seventeen years later.
"That disobedient power of yours seems to favor me more."
---------
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