A magic merchant infiltrating Fairy Tail

Looking at their respective magical paths, Erza didn't awaken her magic until she left the Tower of Paradise at the age of 11, and has been training for 9 years; while Laxus grew up in Fairy Tail from a young age, receiving care and influence from Makarov and many other elders, giving her an advantage in the first step of her education.

Although Laxus was physically weak as a child, it was because his magical energy was too high, and his body couldn't handle it. His condition was similar to Ultear's, only not as severe.

It wasn't until later, when Ivan implanted the Thunder Dragon Slayer Crystal into his body, that his magic and body were balanced.

In other words, Laxus is currently using the power suppressed by the Dragon Slayer Crystal. Only by removing it can he unleash his original power.

In other words, Laxus's magical talent is undoubtedly superior to Erza's! He is also four years older than her, so he naturally has more time to cultivate magic!

After comparing the software, let's look at the hardware. Laxus is male, physically strong, 24 years old, and at the peak of his strength growth, while Erza is 20 years old and has only recently entered this state. Although she is also growing rapidly, she is still not as good as Laxus.

This comparison reveals that the outcome of this battle seemed predetermined from the very beginning.

"Huh...huh..."

"Heh...ha..."

Two heavy, rapid breaths, coming from Laxus and Erza, rose and fell, accompanied by sweat dripping from their foreheads, revealing their exhaustion.

Bang! !

Another powerful blow! Laxus's fist bypassed the sword that was already blocking the path of the attack and landed heavily on Erza's chest, sending her flying dozens of meters away. She rolled several times on the ground until she crashed into a pile of stones that had been gradually built up due to the damage from the battle and finally stopped!

After getting used to Erza's "black and white swords + Thunder Emperor Armor" fighting style in 5 minutes, Laxus once again pressed Erza's advantage, giving her almost no chance to breathe.

"You...you're really strong! No wonder Kira always tells me that you're the undisputed second-best among the younger generation in the guild. I really can't beat you..."

Erza, supporting herself with her twin swords, rose from a pile of tombstones, stones, and weeds, panting as she spoke.

Unexpectedly, this seemingly complimentary remark ignited Laxus's anger: "Huh?! That guy... I knew he'd been talking badly about me behind my back! What do you mean by 'undeniably second'? Who does he think he is, saying something like that?!"

"Uh...actually, I think he's not wrong..."

Erza whispered, trying to stir things up, "If Kira is first, then it's not shameful for anyone to be second. Besides, haven't you never beaten him before? It's understandable that he'd say that..."

Laxus was instantly enraged, veins bulging on his forehead, his fists clenched even tighter: "Excusable? I'll make that kid excusable! In this tournament, I'm going to give him a good fight and wash away my years of shame!!"

Great! His target has shifted to Kira, so Kira shouldn't have much time or attention on Wendy anymore.

Erza chuckled inwardly, pleased with her silent scheme.

As for whether Laxus would shift his focus to Wendy, she wasn't worried at all.

Please, they've known each other for years, doesn't she know Laxus's personality? With his arrogance, he would never lay a hand on a minor girl in the guild!

On the other hand, Kira... well...

Just as Erza was about to unleash her ultimate move to settle the score with Laxus, she suddenly felt a series of tremors behind her.

Boom!Boom!thump...

Brief, rapid tremors occurred frequently, causing the two people present to become suspicious and turn their gazes in that direction: What's going on? Could it be an earthquake? But is an earthquake the danger here? But an earthquake doesn't feel like this...

The tremors subsided quickly, and then a flurry of footsteps could be heard from the thick smoke.

"Huh? What's going on?"

Not only Erza, but even Laxus was drawn to this anomaly: "It sounds like someone is coming."

"Speaking of which... I remember the guild leader saying before that each region has its own unique crisis, right? But we've been fighting for so long and it seems like we haven't encountered anything."

"If you put it that way, it does seem to be true."

Erza frowned, sensing something was amiss: "Is it just a coincidence that we haven't encountered it yet, or... has someone stepped on the landmine before us?"

Laxus smiled confidently, "It doesn't matter which one! In short, as long as we have enough strength, we don't need to worry about any crisis!"

The footsteps grew clearer, indicating that someone was moving in their direction; and the tremors from the ground grew stronger, indicating that an unknown danger was gradually approaching.

Suddenly, a familiar figure darted out from the thick fog.

"It's Lucy!"

Erza's eyes lit up at first, but then another question naturally came to mind: "Then who's chasing her?"

Soon, the answer to this question was found.

"Kana?!"

Compared to Erza's incredulous exclamation, Laxus wore an amused expression: "Oh? They're fighting?"

It turns out that even Laxus enjoys watching women fight.

"How could that be? Based on my understanding of them, they should have joined forces first in this situation..."

"It's a rare opportunity; perhaps they've been wanting to have a showdown for a while now?" Laxus offered a wrong guess.

"I think it's more likely that they had to fight for some other reason."

When Cana, piloting the powerful monster, finally appeared before the two and began digging rocks to throw at Lucy, Laxus and Erza realized the source of the tremors.

"Hahaha...Come drink with me!!!" Kana, sitting on the monster, was completely drunk, looking like she had drunk a lot of alcohol, and was acting recklessly.

In contrast, Lucy's response was extremely pitiful: "No!! Stop it!!"

Laxus raised an eyebrow and chuckled gleefully, "Although Lucy isn't very strong, being able to beat her so badly that she can't fight back at all... Cana has worked so hard for so long, she's finally starting to look like an S-class mage..."

Erza, as usual, sternly criticized, "Drinking so much during a match, that's just too reckless!"

Unbeknownst to the two, a ghost slowly approached.

Chapter 456 Ghost

Kana is very tired right now, not only physically but also mentally.

After entering the arena, she felt that something was wrong with her surroundings.

Beneath their feet lay slightly damp earth, before them stood rows of eerie and terrifying tombs, and thick, bluish-white smoke filled the air. The atmosphere above and below was eerie and unsettling.

After Makarov's notification sounded, she quickly learned her location—the Ghost Tomb—and her situation—she was alone, and her two teammates were fighting their own battles.

It seemed that the cemetery sensed someone's presence, and before she could even begin to explore, the surroundings quickly changed: first, there was the crying of an infant, then ghostly blue flames, and finally, something half-white and half-transparent, clearly not a ghost that could be touched by physical means.

These ghosts have two large, round, black eyes, long red tongues sticking out of their mouths, and occasional giggling sounds, just like the vengeful spirits described in fairy tales.

Fortunately, these were no big deal for Kana and did not scare her.

You should know that she's usually a bit of a charlatan in the guild, but she mostly uses tarot cards for divination and doesn't deal much with ghosts. But that doesn't stop her from being resistant to things like ghosts and spirits.

Therefore, Cana was not flustered at all at first, and this mindset continued until Lucy appeared and the two went on an adventure together.

A dozen minutes ago...

"This place is really unpleasant..."

Lucy trembled all over, hugging her frail body with both hands, her fair and soft neck slightly hunched, as she walked forward, glancing around anxiously, afraid that the wandering ghosts around her would suddenly attack her.

As Erza had predicted, for safety reasons, Cana and Lucy hit it off immediately after meeting and quickly formed an alliance, embarking on a journey to explore the graveyard.

"Are you scared?" Cana said casually as she walked ahead of Lucy.

She was in much better shape than Lucy. Lucy was afraid of ghosts, but she wasn't. Moreover, because she had already decided to regain her reputation in this competition, she hadn't drunk any alcohol today, which made her mental state quite different.

Caught off guard by Cana's words, Lucy didn't try to hide it, simply retorting, "Of course I'd be scared! This place looks dangerous. I'd rather be somewhere else right now, at least it's much better than ghosts or a cemetery..."

"Don't worry! If anything happens, I'll protect you!"

Cana chuckled and put her arm around Lucy's neck, then paused, and asked with a gossipy smile, "Or would you rather have Natsu protect you?"

What are you talking about?!

Two small fists pounded on Kana like raindrops, "pat-pat" sounds.

Seeing Lucy's anxious and shy appearance, Kana felt extremely pleased, and even her desire to restore her reputation faded a bit.

Lately, almost the entire guild has been talking about Xia Lu's pairing. Not to mention those uncles who do nothing all day but drink and brag, from 80-year-old old men to 8-year-old children, not one of them is not interested.

As a result, the entire guild was filled with gossip from morning till night.

Natsu, whose emotional intelligence is almost negative, didn't seem to notice anything and continued living his life as usual, but Lucy was different.

After all, she was still just a 19-year-old girl, and she was easily embarrassed. Even if she had feelings for Natsu, she couldn't stand being teased like that. So every time she heard others gossiping, she would get anxious, and when she got anxious, others would laugh even harder.

As a result, the entire guild was filled with a pleasant atmosphere from morning till night.

Seeing Lucy's obvious embarrassment, Cana also put away her joking thoughts and began to speak seriously: "Speaking of which, this place is called 'Ghost Cemetery,' so there are indeed ghosts and graves, but it doesn't seem dangerous... Are these ghosts just there to lighten the mood?"

The moment the words left his mouth, the surroundings suddenly changed!

The ghosts that had been wandering around, completely ignoring the two of them, seemed to suddenly notice the two extra oddities and all looked in the direction of Cana and Lucy.

Kana: ...

Lucy: ...

"Uh... I suddenly have a bad feeling..."

"A jinx..."

"Run!"

Without anyone saying a word, even a fool could see that the situation was dire. Without the slightest hesitation, Kana and Lucy turned and ran.

Although we don't know what will happen if you get hit by a ghost, it definitely won't be a good thing!

Half-white, half-transparent ghosts flew out from the graves, accompanied by a sharp "hahahaha" laugh that made the two people's eardrums sting, their scalps tingle, and their whole bodies break out in goosebumps.

A large number of ghosts began to gather, gradually forming a white torrent. They chased after Lucy and Cana like soldiers under the command of a general.

While running, Kana grabbed a rock and threw it at a ghost that was sneaking up from the side. As expected, it passed right through the ghost.

"As expected... I can't hit it with physical means! This is troublesome..."

"Why did this sudden change happen?!"

"Who knows... Could it be that you got angry because I said they were just for lightening the mood?"

Lucy was immediately embarrassed upon hearing this: How could such a thing be?! Has Cana spent too much time with Kira, causing her thinking to become as abnormal as his...?

Wait a minute! This place seems to have been built by Kira himself, so it's not impossible that such a setting exists! ...No, no! Now is not the time to think about this!

There were many ghosts, but they weren't fast. Lucy was quick-witted and alert, leaping and dodging swiftly and nimbly dodging the attacks of numerous ghosts.

The experiences of this year have indeed greatly improved her ability to cope with challenges.