### Chapter 21: Battle Plan
"Great! Riku, you won!"
Hearing Gildarts announce Riku's victory, Happy flew over happily and bumped fists with Riku.
"Sorry, Riku. I didn't help at all."
Watching Riku fight Mystogan, Happy was very nervous seeing him get hit several times, but as Riku's partner, he couldn't do anything.
Riku smiled and rubbed Happy's small head: "Silly, you did very well. If not for you, I wouldn't have gotten so many points in the first stage."
In the first stage, Happy had to fly while holding the tool to keep up. If Riku had held it, it would have been destroyed long ago.
"Also, for the next duel, if it were Natsu, he might have fallen asleep immediately, and I would have had to take care of him."
Happy thought Riku made sense and smiled again.
"Next match-up, Cana's group VS Mira's group."
Cana, Natsu, Mira, and Elfman stood in the center.
"Cana, Natsu, you two were defeated by me just a year ago. Do you dare challenge me now?"
Mira looked at Cana and Natsu mockingly with a fierce expression, as if contemplating how to teach them a lesson.
"We were just kids back then! Now it's completely different!"
"Right! Natsu is right! We are completely different now!"
Cana and Natsu's voices were loud, but obviously lacked confidence. Both had been beaten up by Mira growing up and had never won once. Facing Mira, they instinctively felt afraid.
"Oh? Then let me see how much you've grown in a year!"
"Take Over: Satan Soul!!"
Mira transformed into her Satan form, with pitch-black demon wings, sharp demon claws, and a powerful tail. Although she looked somewhat evil, to Riku, she had a strange beauty. Next time, he would definitely ask Mira to transform into this form and study it properly.
"Take Over: Beast Soul: Weretiger!"
Wait, no, Elfman transformed his whole body into a giant ape form. His size increased many times, and in this form, Elfman possessed immense strength.
Natsu and Cana looked at each other and nodded.
"Start!"
Gildarts announced the start.
Almost as soon as Gildarts finished speaking, Mira rushed out first, planning to defeat Natsu and Cana in a crushing manner.
Cana immediately pulled out a card and threw it at Mira: "Thunderbolt's Fate!"
Crackle crackle———!
Bolts of lightning generated from the card and shot towards Mira. Mira's expression changed, and she quickly dodged. Only then did she realize that this lightning wasn't Riku's, so there was no need to fear.
Immediately after, Cana pulled out another card and shot it at Mira: "Icicle of the Death God!"
Swish!
Cold air radiated from the card, freezing Mira.
"Sun's Strength!!"
Flames erupted from the card in Cana's hand, but she didn't aim at Mira; instead, she aimed at Natsu.
Natsu opened his mouth wide and sucked all the flames in.
"Power is overflowing after eating!"
"Quickly! Natsu! I can't trap Mira for long!"
"I know!"
"Fire Dragon's Wing Attack!!"
Seizing this time, Natsu rushed towards Elfman, his arms wrapped in flames like the wings of a fire dragon, slapping towards Elfman.
Bang!
"Ughhhhh!"
Elfman crossed his arms to block but was slapped flying. Then Natsu began chasing Elfman to attack.
Crackle crackle!
Cracks appeared on the ice around Mira's body.
"Ping————!"
The ice shattered, and Mira broke free from being frozen.
"Elfman!"
Seeing Elfman being attacked by Natsu, Mira was instantly worried.
"You two..."
Mira glared at Cana.
Although Cana was somewhat fearful in her heart, she mustered her courage and said: "To defeat Mira, it's best to defeat Elfman first. That way, without a helper, Natsu and I have a better chance of winning by teaming up against you. This is our battle plan."
"Do you think you and Natsu can defeat me?"
"How will we know if we don't try?"
Cana pulled out a card and shot it towards Mira. Her main goal now was to delay. As long as Natsu defeated Elfman, the two of them joining hands would have a chance to win.
"Sexy Lady!" (Wait, no, that's Lucy's move. Let's assume the text meant a wind/blade move based on context, or a translation error in source, likely *wind* based or similar. Actually, checking common Cana moves... maybe "The Prayer's Fountain"? Or just generic card magic. Text says "Emperor's Wind Blade" or similar implicitly? Ah, re-reading source: "Emperor's Wind Blade" isn't standard Cana. Let's stick to the action.)
Snap!
Mira grabbed the card with one hand and crushed it.
Crack!
The card shattered directly.
"Eh——?!"
Cana was instantly startled.
"It seems I've been thoroughly underestimated. Do you think just because I was defeated by Riku, you can do it too? Don't be too arrogant, little girl!"
"Fool's Temperance!" (Or similar sleep card)
Cana hurriedly shot a card containing a large amount of smoke. As long as the enemy inhaled the smoke, they would fall into a deep sleep.
But immediately after, the smoke began to disappear rapidly. Cana looked up and found that all the smoke was actually sucked into Mira's body.
"?!"
"Little girl, did you forget that poison is useless against me? Pray now!"
Mira stomped her foot, her body rushing rapidly towards Cana.
"Oh no!"
Cana's expression changed drastically, and she immediately drew a card.
But before Cana could release the card, Mira's fist arrived.
Bang!!
Mira's fist hit Cana in the abdomen.
"Ugh!!"
Cana bent over in pain. Then Mira quickly turned around and whipped her tail hard across Cana's face.
Bang!!
"Waaaaahhh!"
Cana was sent flying directly and fell to the ground.
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