A magic merchant infiltrating Fairy Tail

The two of them didn't have much magic power to begin with, and after fighting with Brea before, they were now facing Ultear's ultimate attack. They were completely defeated and had no chance to fight back.

Left with no other choice, he could only endure the pain and shout that he was surrendering.

With the commentator's judgment, the outcome was decided, and Urutia then removed the rose garden and released the two women. The two women looked at Urutia with regret and fear before obediently following the staff to the medical room.

In the stands, Laxus's expression was unpredictable.

He was not surprised by the two girls' defeat. Although they were both second-generation Dragon Slayer Mages, he had long seen that their talents were average and their training time was still short. At most, they were at the level of Levy. Therefore, he did not count this match as a victory in the first place.

However, he did not expect Urutia to win so easily.

'Although I often see that woman hanging out with Kira in the guild, I always thought she was at most on par with Natsu or Gray. Now it seems she might even be stronger than Erza…'

Miscalculation!

This is Laxus's only thought right now.

Yesterday, when he compared the top-tier combat power of the two teams, he placed Ultear slightly below Erza and Mira, but now the opponent's performance has surprised him greatly.

If I had known Ultear was this strong, I shouldn't have used the 'strong against strong, weak against weak' strategy last night!

'Forget it, the starting lineup has already been submitted, and there's no point in changing it now. Thinking about it further is pointless!'

Having composed himself, Laxus refocused his attention on the upcoming one-on-one battle.

'Kira's choice for the second one-on-one battle should be Natsu, right? Judging by the current situation, they're more than capable of winning!'

In Laxus's view, Kira would never put Natsu in the final one-on-one match because he wasn't strong enough to be the trump card to decide the outcome.

"Next up is the second singles match of the day. Let's welcome the mage 'Emperor's Shield', Timaria Yesta, and the mage 'Snake Princess Scale', Jura Regis!!"

"Huh?? It's that guy?!"

Laxus looked at Kira in surprise, clearly not expecting this turn of events.

"This is bad..."

He had heard of Timaria's magic before, and had even seen it during the guild's S-rank assessment last year. He knew that she possessed the ability to stop time and could also receive the soul of Chronos, the god of time, to gain even greater power.

Faced with time stop, a mage without sufficient magical power simply cannot cope; once the opponent enters a state of receiving divine power, unless one possesses god-slaying magic, the most likely outcome is failure.

Now he can only hope that Jura can handle it.

"Don't let me down, uncle..."

"Don't let me down, uncle!"

In the arena, Timalia said the same thing to Jura, but her tone sounded more like she was speaking to a challenger who was weaker than her.

"Young people these days... they're really something else!"

Timalia's simple words made Jura break out in a cold sweat on his bald head.

During the team meeting last night, he had already learned about Timalia's magic from Inbell and others, so he knew that he was not at a disadvantage in terms of magic in this duel, and could only hope to turn the tide with magic power.

"Be careful, the match could end in an instant!"

Timalia drew a golden dagger from the golden shoulder armor on her right arm, and a mocking sneer immediately appeared on her face.

Her concise movements, beautiful abs, and slender hands make her look like a money-grubbing female leopard with both speed and power.

"The battle begins!!" Chapati, the commentator, shouted into the microphone from the judges' stand.

No sooner had she finished speaking than Jura made her move: "Iron Net!!"

After a night, he had figured out a way to fight against the Time Seal. Time stop is not a panacea. If he doesn't have enough time to react during the battle, he will have to make up for it with magic.

Rumble...

Jura frantically channeled his magic, casting the spell almost instantaneously. All the onlookers saw was a series of thick, long, and hard stone spikes rising from within a two-meter radius around Jura, then quickly bending and closing above his head to form a spacious stone cage.

This move was originally intended to trap the enemy, but now Jura has trapped himself in it!

Wow!! Amazing!!

Seeing Jura's actions, Kira immediately understood his plan: "As long as I trap myself, even if I can't react to Timaria's actions during the pause, she won't be able to attack me!"

Previously, due to Timaria's underestimation of her opponent and her desire to see how Jura, one of the "Ten Wizard Saints" of Ishgar, would deal with her magic, she did not attack immediately. Now she has been left outside the stone prison.

The stone prison is net-like, with a hollowed-out section in the middle that allows both sides to see the battlefield clearly.

Since Jura's rock magic is a ranged combat type, being trapped in the stone prison does not affect her combat power; on the contrary, Timaria, who can stop time but mostly uses melee combat, has her attacks restricted—she cannot cross the stone prison to attack Jura inside.

"To be able to come up with a solution so quickly, Jurasan's combat experience is indeed extensive!"

"However, you can't just build a tortoise shell to defend against time magic. Otherwise, Timaria wouldn't be one of the twelve unshakeable shields of the Alvarez Empire."

"Time magic isn't that simple!"

As if in response to Kira's words, Timalia's eyes suddenly sharpened in the arena.

Chapter 721 When Time Stands Still

In the tense and solemn arena, Jura and Timalia stared at each other silently across the earthen-yellow stone cell.

Timaria held the dagger in her hand behind her back, her eyes darting around, constantly searching for flaws in her opponent's magic; Jura stood ready, her body as steady as a mountain, not daring to relax for a moment.

Knowing that regardless of whether time was paused or not, the stone cage was the opponent's greatest asset, Timalia immediately raised her dagger and charged forward at lightning speed.

Inside the stone cell, Jura naturally wouldn't let Timalia attack like that, and quickly pointed his fingers to block her path.

"Iron Pillar!!"

A massive rock pillar rose abruptly in Timalia's path, and if she didn't slow down or take a detour, she would inevitably crash into it in the next second.

However, in the blink of an eye, Timalia seemed to teleport or spatially shift, her figure rising several meters and leaving the stone pillar behind.

The audience, bewildered, gasped in surprise.

"They crossed it?!"

"How did she do that?!"

"So beautiful and cool, so handsome!!"

The official organizers of the competition will not publicly disclose the magic used by the contestants, so unless informed by a knowledgeable mage, ordinary viewers have no idea what kind of magic these mages are using.

Of course, those who have some knowledge of magic, or who have carefully investigated various magic guilds, such as those from organizations like Magic Weekly, may be ordinary people, but they know exactly who uses which magic. And having seen so much, they naturally possess a certain level of insight and imagination.

clang!!

The dagger struck the stone cell, producing a crisp metallic clang. The stone cell remained unmoved; instead, Timalia herself was thrown back by the recoil.

Timalia, having stepped back, revealed a hint of surprise in her eyes: 'My dagger was crafted using a special technique; it can easily cut through steel, truly slicing through iron like mud, yet it couldn't cut through this stone prison?'

Although the stone prison in front of her was essentially rock, it had become harder than steel under Jura's magic, so it was only natural that she couldn't cut it!

Gazing at the impregnable stone prison before her, Timalia's eyes flashed with resentment: 'Hmph! Since you won't confront me directly, don't blame me for using magic!'

The next moment, Timalia gritted her teeth as usual, and an invisible, formless, and colorless magical power burst forth, instantly spreading outward in a form that could not be perceived!

Time stops!

In the frozen moment, very few spectators remained in the venue to continue watching the rest of the match.

To be precise, only Kira, Zeref, Mavis, August, and Ultear remain on the surface.

Kira's skill in time magic is now no less than that of Timalia. As long as he releases his magical perception, he can immediately detect who is in a state of time stop and who is in an active state.

"Are there two more people hiding in the shadows?"

"One is Precito, and the other is..."

Sensing a powerful yet unfamiliar magical force, Kira immediately turned his head and saw an incredible figure.

"This is... Eileen? Wendy??"

What Kira saw at that moment was Wendy from the future of World 5, who had 'kidnapped' Wendy the night before and caused a guild riot!

"Could they be visitors from another world again?"

Kira immediately recognized the other person's identity by noticing that she possessed the same magic as Wendy, and also guessed that she was the one who had taken Wendy away yesterday.

"Are all mages this impolite these days? Entering someone's house without even saying hello, and then taking someone else's child out to play... Wendy has definitely been corrupted by Natsu and the others!!"

"Seriously, is this outfit... for cosplay?"

Kira's clear eyes swept over the larger-sized Wendy again, then she sighed softly, "She's grown taller, but not by much. Wendy must be disappointed, right? What a pity about this outfit! No one with Erin's figure can pull it off..."

Suddenly, a scene from a movie flashed through Kira's mind—

'How are you going to withstand this?!'

'I can handle it.'

You can't handle this!!!

Just then, Wendy, number 5, who was hiding in the crowd in the distance, seemed to have noticed something. She turned her head and swept her gaze over. When she saw Kira's gaze, her body paused instantly.

Surprisingly, after realizing she had been exposed, Wendy (number 5) did not show any embarrassment at being caught. Instead, she waved casually and greeted Kira from afar.

Kira waved back, then turned his attention back to the duel in the arena—the match was still going on, not the time for them to talk.

Time seemed to stand still, and Timalia became the only one who could influence the course of the battle. She smiled slightly, sheathed her dagger, and then extended a finger toward Jura.

"Time Convergence!!"

Whoosh—Bang!

As the only mage who relied solely on magic to operate during the 'Sealed Time', Ultear kept a close eye on the changing battle. In her eyes, Timaria's beam attack seemed to transcend time, moving so fast that she couldn't react at all.

The beam of time struck the stone prison, and the powerful energy detonated directly, shattering the cage, which was harder than steel, into countless tiny stones that flew out and scattered all over the ground.

The hurricane caused by the explosion carried scattered debris that slammed into Jura, leaving several small wounds.

Time resumes...

"Huh?? What's going on?!"

"Jurasang's stone cell has been breached? What just happened?"

"Here we go again... Is there something wrong with my eyes? Could it be because I watched too much of that stuff last night...?"

The audience gasped in surprise as they watched Jura, who was bleeding from being hit by a stone and looked disheveled.