Kira stepped forward, pulling his hands through the air like he was drawing an invisible bow. Several spells trailed along in two glowing arcs: "Elemental Surge!"
Flames, ice, whirlwinds, lightning, yellow sand, mud, rocks, steel, water flows, light beams, shadows, smoke... Countless elemental orbs fanned out in the air around him, casting a rainbow of colors that lit up the whole arena.
The crowd gasped. "Whoa, that's insane! This spell looks powerful just from the sight of it!"
"He can juggle that many magics at once? No wonder they're calling Kira the 'Sage'—totally earned it!"
"I can't believe I thought he just got here by hawking those weird XX gadgets. What a jerk I was!"
Elemental Surge wasn't the strongest spell in terms of raw power, but it was perfect for wizards practicing mental focus and magic control, thanks to all the element-shifting involved.
Plus, it had one huge perk: it looked awesome. All those elements swirling around you, bending to your will? Total ego boost.
"Go!"
Kira swung his hand, and the orbs shot forward like soldiers charging on a general's order. No need to worry about hitting the mark—this wasn't about landing real blows anyway.
Boom! Whoosh! Zap! Crack! Bang!...
The spells smashed into the ground randomly, and amid the barrage, a figure darted around with crazy agility, weaving through the chaos. Whenever a stray orb got too close, he'd smack it away with his staff—like he was playing some intense game of baseball.
"So tough! Dodging that dense an attack!"
"Nah, he's not dodging everything—check it! Mystogan's countering!"
On the field, Mystogan skidded to a halt and drew three staves: "Pomerae Dream!"
A whirlwind scooped up the incoming magic orbs and hurled them skyward. They clashed and fused in the vortex, exploding high up where no one could see—zero damage to the opponent, the crowd, or even the stage.
The blasts whipped up wind gusts that rippled out, and the background extras in the stands threw up their hands to shield themselves. "Whoa, no kidding—this is S-Class level. Magic so strong it reaches all the way here."
Erza: "..."
Seeing his spells get swept away, Kira clenched his right fist mid-air. The orbs froze in place, then rocketed straight back at Mystogan.
The extras yelped. "Ah! That's bad! Magic like that could kill someone!"
Mystogan stayed cool: "Triple Magic Array: Mirror Water!"
Three arrays popped up in front of him, bouncing back the endless barrage like a peacock fanning its tail, scattering them every which way.
Whoosh! Pop! Boom! Pfft! Thud! Clang!...
A bunch looped back toward Kira, so he flicked his other hand to the right. "Disperse!"
The spells shattered on command, leaving just faint sparks, a gentle breeze—remnants of water droplets, dirt, fine sand, iron flecks, ice shards, even a lingering zap of lightning. Proof they'd been real a second ago. Right then, Kira looked like the king of magic, commanding their birth, death, and dance with a single word.
"Awesome! So cool! Man, I wanna learn magic too!"
But those fading sparks, breezes, droplets, and bits started swirling together in the air, slowly merging into a massive black orb. It swelled until—pop—it burst into a flurry of gorgeous dancing maple leaves.
The illusion kicked in, but this time, it wasn't aimed at Kira—it hit the crowd hard. Soon, they were all lost in it, hooked.
Kira pointed with two fingers, layering it on: "Illusion Dream!"
The sorrow-tinged red maple forest only lasted under ten seconds before the air plunged cold. The leaves all dropped, blanketing the ground in red and yellow. Old trees withered and bent, and then the wind and snow rolled in.
It was winter's biting gale, laced with damp chill that cut right to the bone. The snow? Deep midwinter flakes, forming from who-knows-how-high into nail-sized white clumps that settled softly on the red leaves—a serene, breathtaking scene.
"So cold!"
Someone muttered it first, then the echoes rippled out: "Yeah, freezing!"
A guy looked down. "Huh? When'd we get this much snow piled up?"
His voice snapped folks out of the snowy sky trance, and they saw the maple woods were gone—replaced by a vast white mountain range.
"Maple Lady... where's my Maple Lady?"
"Look! Isn't that the legendary Snow Woman? Skin like porcelain, so pretty, killer figure!"
"Huh—no Maple Lady, but a Snow Woman? Not bad at all..."
"Yeah, yeah! That's the kinda magic we came for!"
Mystogan: "..."
Kira: "Knew it!"
Down in the stands, Gray and Erza clocked the so-called Snow Woman. "That chick... she's the demon from Zonia..."
A fresh wave of magic pulsed, spring breeze sweeping through. Snow melted, life sprang back—green grass sprouting, flowers blooming again.
Mystogan struck back, his powerful illusion shattering Kira's winter scene. It yanked the crowd—who'd nearly had their souls snagged by the Snow Woman—back to reality: they were still at a magic tournament.
"Right, the tournament! So it was illusion magic... Almost got dragged off by the Snow Woman. Magic's wild!"
Seeing Mystogan's move, Kira nodded to himself inside. Exactly the vibe he wanted! No big flashy stuff—how else to show these muggles they'd been hit with magic? A slick illusion duel was the way.
But spring had barely budded when thunder cracked, followed by a steady drizzle. In their eyes, the rain was like miracle grow—the grass shot up visibly fast. When it hit about waist-high, the rain quit, clouds parted, and a blazing red sun blazed out.
The illusion slipped into summer without a hitch—right on season. Scorching heat, sun beating down, brutal midsummer swelter.
"So hot..."
"Ah, that's... the Sun Goddess!"
A fancy-dressed woman hovered in the sky, every move dripping with noble grace. She pointed a delicate hand, and heat rays fanned out.
"Goddess, no... can't take it..."
The goddess spoke: "Aw, don't you love a good show?"
A few sharp folks knew who was behind this spell: 'Idiots! What goddess talks like that...?'
Her searing beams scattered, cracking the earth, piercing the sky. Landslides, tsunamis, typhoons, mudslides, volcanoes—all hit at once, the world rumbling like crazy.
The crowd freaked—some even tried to bolt, but their feet were glued, forced to watch the doom close in.
"Nooo!!!"
"We're done for!! Gotta be dead!!"
The world started splintering. In a haze, a massive beast claw ripped space open. Behind the tear? Endless void. Then—bam—countless red lights flared.
"It's... a monster!!"
"How's there a beast like that?!"
The unknown terror shook everyone to the core—hearts pounding loud enough to hear. Out of a thousand spectators, maybe a hundred still remembered it was all illusion.
Right then—a dragon roar echoed from the dark!
Space tore wider, the rift growing huge. Then, dragons poured out!
One... two... three... endless dragons surged through, wings blotting the sky, fangs and claws gleaming. They soared and shredded that horror-beast to bits without breaking a sweat!
"Dragons... actual dragons..."
"Do they really exist?"
"Idiot! Snap out of it! It's an illusion!"
"Oh... yeah..."
In the dream, once the dragons wiped the beast clean, they took over the whole world, running wild. Soon, a band of familiar human wizards banded together to fight back.
"It's Fairy Tail wizards!"
The dragon-human clash? Way more epic than the seasons shifting, the earth-shattering goddess, or the beast-dragon brawl!
"Hang on... what's that noise?"
Like answering the extras, a voice boomed across the field: "That's... Fairy Tail's battle anthem!"
Thump thump thump thump thump, thump thump thump thump thump...
All the spells they'd seen these past days replayed in the illusion—these fearless wizards, humanity's last hope, fighting like mad, lost in the frenzy!
Down to the wire: one man, one dragon left. The human's beat to hell, exhausted, but eyes burning fierce. The dragon's missing an eye and a limb, but its killer instinct's as sharp as ever.
The finale froze: human raising sword for the slash, dragon roaring wide—scene locked!