The sudden human voice gave the two Yuri's a fright.
A tall and burly man strode out from a corner of the arena, his gaze filled with the playful teasing of a cat watching a mouse.
Around his body, several wisps of golden lightning crackled and hissed.
"Who are you?"
"What kind of place is this??!"
Yuri barked out the questions.
Hearing this, the man raised an eyebrow.
"I should be the one asking you two that!"
"Who are you two?"
"And how did you break in here?"
Yuri snorted two puffs of white air from his nostrils defiantly: "Hey, I clearly asked first!!"
The man seemed amused by Yuri's ill-timed stubbornness; he clenched his fists, and the golden electricity surrounding him jumped, emitting an even louder crackle.
"In that case... whoever loses speaks first!"
As soon as he finished speaking, he charged toward Yuri.
As expected, he was also using Lightning Magic!
"Ho ho? You're charging at me instead of running away?"
"Suits me just fine!!"
Yuri was instantly ecstatic; he likewise clenched his fists, circulated his magic, and aimed a punch at the incoming opponent.
Rumble—!!!
Fists collided, magic clashed, and a massive roar immediately echoed throughout the arena.
The violent power of lightning erupted from the point where their fists met, sweeping across all directions.
Sizzle—!!
The man's clothes were shredded by Yuri's current, and the tips of Yuri's hair were cut by the other's lightning.
Bang-pop-pop—!!
The floor was whipped with thick scars, and gravel flew into the air, only to be pierced by the current and scattered into ash.
Those lying on the ground were swept into corners by the gale kicked up by the lightning, their lives or deaths unknown.
"Ho ho... you use Lightning Magic quite well!"
"Tch, what the hell are you being so arrogant about?!"
With neither side gaining the upper hand in a single punch, their fighting spirit soared, and the excitement on their faces grew more intense.
The next second.
By silent agreement, they stopped using Lightning Magic to blast each other from a distance and instead engaged in tense and thrilling close-quarters combat.
Their fists struck faster and more fiercely, punch after punch hitting home.
Thump!!
The man landed a punch on Yuri's abdomen, hitting him so hard he almost threw up everything he had eaten at the banquet earlier.
Bang!!
Yuri slammed an elbow hard into the opponent's neck, causing a brain concussion and blurring the man's vision.
Not far away, Edolas-Yuri, who had long since hidden in a corner of the arena using "corpses" as shields, watched the two fighting passionately on the field and couldn't help but complain.
"Those two idiots!"
"Why do they have to start a fight just to ask a question?!"
In truth, he understood in his heart that the reason for the fight was simple.
The man opposite was clearly a battle-crazed fanatic, and Yuri... was a Wizard of Fairy Tail!
Wizards of Fairy Tail were exactly like this, fighting at the drop of a hat.
After a dozen exchanges, the man jumped back a step to open up some distance and wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth.
"Do you have what it takes, newcomer? I haven't even used half of my strength yet. I think you should just surrender!"
"What a joke, I've only used thirty percent of my power too!"
Facing the opponent's provocation, Yuri naturally showed no weakness.
Having spoken, the two exchanged glances and simultaneously detonated the magic power within their bodies.
Only a "rumble" was heard.
Dazzling golden light instantly covered their entire bodies, as if they had donned a suit of golden lightning armor.
Their aura was even stronger than before by thirty percent.
Sizzle—!
The two transformed into golden lightning at the same time, beginning the second round of their duel.
This time, they still didn't use magic for ranged attacks, but instead wrapped the power of lightning around their arms, fists, knees, and feet to enhance their attacks.
The golden lightning was no longer splashing in all directions but was instead like two violent giant pythons, crazily entangling, biting, separating, and then crashing back together in the air.
The blinding light made the entire arena as bright as day, and the roaring sound made eardrums ache with pain.
Explosions occurred on the floor one after another, and a large amount of smoke and dust spread out, interfering with their vision.
Thus, the golden pythons continuously ascended during their entanglement, shifting the battlefield to a more open space.
But the result of shifting the battlefield was that the ceiling suffered.
The two golden pythons scurried back and forth across the ceiling, occasionally crashing into each other.
These two people using Lightning Magic seemed to have truly become lightning itself, completely ignoring the effects of gravity, using the ceiling as a floor while fighting upside down!
Under the repeated washing of the two currents of lightning, the ceiling shook violently, showing signs of collapse.
A large amount of stone chips fell to the ground, paving the arena floor with a thick layer of dust.
Edolas-Yuri, hiding in the corner, was also showered with dust, but he was already slack-jawed from watching the battle on the ceiling and had no time to manage his hair.
"No, are they even human?"
Before this, he had always thought his strength was roughly the same as Yuri's.
Looking at it now, they were far apart!
No matter how capable he was, he couldn't fight someone while hanging upside down on the ceiling for this long!
"How on earth do they do it?"
"Don't they get a brain hemorrhage?!"
Finally—
After one last "thud" of a collision, the two golden pythons separated again and descended from the ceiling back to the floor.
"Ha... ha..."
"Huff... huff..."
Separated by several meters, the two panted heavily.
They both wanted to stand up and run to the other's face to throw another punch, but the numbness coming from their arms and legs was sending signals to their brains, strictly forbidding them from doing so.
After resting on the spot for a minute, Yuri stubbornly straightened his body.
"A... again!"
"Until a winner is decided!"
The man opposite also stood up, but upon hearing this, the corners of his mouth curled up slightly, revealing a mysterious smile.
"Are you sure?"
"If we go again, I'm going to get serious."
"When the time comes, the battle might end in an instant!"
Oh?
What big talk!
Yuri became even more defiant: "Come, come, come, bring it on. I refuse to believe it!"
"Heahhhhh!!"
With a loud shout, Yuri again channeled magic power from his body.
But this time, he didn't cover his entire body; instead, he condensed it in his hand into a two-meter-long weapon.
"Thunder... Halberd!!"
The weapon was ready; next, as long as he threw it, the resulting explosion would definitely defeat him!
Yuri subconsciously looked at the man opposite, wanting to see how he would handle this move.
However, the opponent's reaction made him freeze.
Because the man opposite didn't make a move at all; he just stood quietly on the spot, seemingly intending to take this move head-on with his body.
Furthermore, Yuri even saw a hint of anticipation in his eyes.
Anticipation?
Wait, something's not right!
This is definitely a trap!
In that instant, Yuri thought of the lightning scars on those people in the arena just now, and thought of the strange nature of the magic power he had felt from the opponent during the fight.
Could his magic be...
Yuri narrowed his eyes, let out a cold laugh, and slowly dispersed the Halberd.