"Heh."
Watching Laxus's roar, Gildarts raised the corners of his mouth and lifted his hands.
"Crush."
The roar was broken down into elements before it could even touch Gildarts' hands.
"How?! Such a powerful roar neutralized so easily! COOL!" Jason had already climbed onto the table, commentating with explosive energy.
"Lightning Fire Dragon's Jaw."
After his initial roar, Laxus used it to obscure Gildarts' vision, transformed into an arc of lightning, and circled above Gildarts.
Clasping his hands together, he slammed down from above toward Gildarts.
Without even turning his head, Gildarts raised his left hand to block the attack. The ground beneath was crushed downward by the force of Laxus's strike.
Yet Gildarts remained completely unmoved, and the two locked in a stalemate.
As the deadlock continued, Jason, unsure how to commentate, shifted his gaze to Raizel.
"Why isn't Raizel making a move?" Jason watched as Raizel stood with his arms crossed, even wearing sunglasses as if he were merely spectating.
This was part of the agreement Raizel and Laxus had made the previous night—to let Laxus test the gap first.
Raizel was content to watch for now.
"Not a bad idea, but still too weak." Gildarts formed a fist with his right hand and swung it toward Laxus's abdomen.
Laxus tightened his abs just before impact, bracing himself to endure the blow.
The punch sent Laxus flying backward.
"BOOM—" The audience could even feel the shockwave.
"The tree!!!" Makarov's hand trembled as he raised it.
The tree, which would have taken several people to cut, was snapped in half by Laxus's impact.
"It's! Raizel! Raizel is making his move!"
Seeing that Laxus's backward momentum hadn't slowed even after crashing through the tree, Raizel quickly used Take Over to become the UlforceVeedramon and transform into a blue light.
He moved at top speed to catch Laxus, but even so, the impact forced him back, barely stopping at the very edge.
From that alone, Raizel was certain—Gildarts had grown even stronger!
"Can you still fight?" After setting Laxus down, Raizel switched to Jesmon.
"If you hadn't caught me, another hit like that and I'd really be done for. This old man is seriously insane." Laxus steadied himself, raising his right hand to wipe the blood trickling from his mouth.
"Good. Ending it this quickly would disappoint your fans."
Gildarts grinned, raising both hands and beckoning them with the backs of his hands, signaling for the two to come at him together.
"Let's go!"
Exchanging a glance, the two stepped back with their right feet, then pushed off from the wall of the park, each leaving a large crater where they kicked off.
Gildarts used both arms and legs simultaneously.
The three clashed fist against fist, leg against leg, with Raizel even sweeping with his tail blade.
Gildarts occasionally sidestepped or leaped to evade unexpected attacks.
"It's close-quarters combat now!!! COOL!"
Watching the three battle fiercely in the center, Jason noted how Gildarts held his own against two opponents without losing ground.
...
Laxus raised his left leg high, aiming a kick at Gildarts' head.
Gildarts blocked with a bent-arm guard using his right hand. Immediately after, Raizel and Laxus followed up with sweeping kicks—one with the left leg, the other with the right.
Gildarts executed a backward flip into a kip-up, then raised his knee and bent his arm again to block their side kicks.
"He could have done a backflip to dodge and give himself more space and preparation time! COOL!!!"
Gildarts first crossed his arms to block, then switched to single palm changes, parrying left and right.
As Laxus launched a side kick, Gildarts countered with an elbow strike to the captured leg, followed by a turning arm swing to fend off both attackers.
Raizel descended from the air with a downward chop, while Laxus swept low with a leg sweep.
A flying elbow smash and whip kick came in rapid succession.
This time, Gildarts didn't underestimate them, evading with two consecutive backward jumps.
Raizel and Laxus coordinated seamlessly—one attacking high, the other low—catching Gildarts somewhat off guard.
"Whip kick plus side thrust! COOL! Great teamwork!"
"Now it's an elbow smash combined with a leg sweep! COOL!!"
"It's an all-out brawl now! I throw a punch at you, you return a kick—Laxus gets pushed back by a stomping kick!"
"Raizel spins into a sweeping leg kick, Gildarts ducks under it, and Raizel follows up with a high left kick aimed at Gildarts' head. Gildarts blocks with a bent arm!! SO COOL!"
"I've never seen anyone handle Raizel's attacks so effortlessly," Erza remarked, her brow furrowed and expression grave.
"And it's two against one," Kagura added, her gaze fixed on the trio, her right hand gripping Archenemy tightly.
Erza had never seen Gildarts fight seriously and had only heard Raizel say he was no match for him.
Now she understood the terrifying extent of Gildarts' strength.
When Raizel sparred with Erza, she struggled to keep up—his arm blades, leg blades, and tail blade, not to mention the Three Sword Spirits.
Even with Clear heart clothing and Benizakura, it wasn't enough; his speed was overwhelming, leaving no time for her to react.
It must also be due to Gildarts' magic—infusing his body with Crush allowed him to fearlessly confront Raizel's armor hardness and Laxus' Thunder Fire Dragon Slayer attacks.
Sent flying by a punch from Gildarts, Raizel used his tail blade to strike the ground and stabilize himself.
His arm blades glowed white, crossed together, and he charged at Gildarts with godlike speed, unleashing a rapid flurry of slashes.
"Crushing Evil, Spreading the Truth: Empyrean ." Gildarts repelled Laxus with his left hand and formed a fist with his right, sending the charging Raizel soaring into the sky with a single punch.
Laxus stomped forward again, closing the distance, and relentlessly unleashed Thunder Fire Dragon's Demolition Fist, Hook Claw, and Crushing Fang.
"Contestant Raizel is flying into the sky!!!" Jason exclaimed, watching as Raizel's red cloak wrapped around him, his body curling into a ball spinning rapidly mid-air to dissipate force and ascend higher.
A winged camera followed him up into the sky.
Spinning, Raizel forcefully swung his arm blades and finally spread into a starfish shape, halting in mid-air.
Behind a dark cloud, the Three Sword Spirits—"At," "Rene," and "Pol"—formed a triangular green prism.
"What is this?" Jason wondered, staring at the green prism.
He'd found it strange that the Three Sword Spirits had disappeared at the start, but the fight had been too intense for him to comment on it earlier.
Raizel channeled his Magic power into it.
The Three Sword Spirits had been hiding behind the clouds since the match began, forming a triangle and gathering energy.
"Raizel even used this move - I'd need my strongest defense to block it." Makarov responded at just the right moment.
He recalled when Raizel had said he would help deal with the wyverns, and Makarov had insisted he'd have to defeat him first.
Raizel used Take Over to become Jesmon and launched a surprise attack!
He'd toyed with Makarov and even used this One for All move to force him to deploy the Three Pillar Gods.
"This is even stronger than when we fought Deliora," Ur remarked, sensing the magic power fluctuation and remembering this move from their battle against Deliora.
"So incredible!!!" Jason had heard of Makarov's Three Pillar Gods before.
For Makarov, as one of the Ten Wizard Saints, to need the Three Pillar Gods for defense, the offensive power of One for All was clearly extraordinary.
Laxus had already grasped the situation.
After stopping his rotation and exchanging a blow with Gildarts, he transformed into an electric arc and flashed away.
"BOOM————"
The move blasted a massive crater in Southgate Park.
"What a huge crater!!! Can Ultear fix this?" Makarov stared at the gaping hole in the center, his eyes rolling back and jaw dropping open.
Strong tremors shook Southgate Park.
Fortunately, most people were seated, or many would have fallen.
"Direct hit! Contestant Gildarts has been hit by this move! COOL!" Jason waved his left hand continuously while holding the microphone in his right.
"The camera has flown down. We'll see the results once the dust settles."
The dust took a long time to dissipate.
The large screen showed only swirling dust with no visible figures.
Jason quickly offered an explanation to avoid an awkward silence.
...
"Saw that one coming."
The camera was equipped with a microphone for real-time audio transmission.
Though Gildarts' figure was barely visible on the screen, his voice already reached the audience, as well as Raizel and Laxus' ears.
As the dust cleared, Gildarts appeared before everyone with his hands crossed, palms facing upward and blood trickling from the corner of his mouth.
"I knew from the start those three sword spirits were hiding above, building up power. We've fought side by side, Raizel - I know you too well."
Gildarts had crossed his hands and unleashed Crush at full power, shattering the impact beams one by one.
However, due to the continuous nature of the attack, he'd been forced down by the beams' impact force.
...
Three Pillar Gods (三柱神 Sanchūshin): Apparently a powerful defense spell, Makarov crosses his arms before him with the fists clenched. This prompts three ethereal pillars composed of dark seals to appear, two before Makarov, at his sides, and one behind him. This spell is strong enough to protect Makarov from the effects of Hades' Amaterasu Formula 100, which engulfed a large part of Tenrou Island in an explosion, with Fairy Tail's Master receiving only minor injuries; even Hades himself went on to praise Makarov for his use of such a spell.
Un Pour Tous (Fra: One For All): Fires a beam from a triangular shield formed by At, Rene, and Pol.
Crushing Evil, Spreading the Truth: Empyrean (破邪顕正・一天 Haja Kensē: Itten): Gildarts first negates the spell cast by his foe and then hits them with a powerful strike, imbued with Crush, capable of launching said opponent great distances.