"Queen of Dance? Erza has a title like that?"
Seeing Erza's confident demeanor, Lucy couldn't help but exclaim softly in disbelief.
"That's right. People who dance with Erza find their minds and bodies wonderfully relaxed."
Mira, now in casual attire, walked over slowly. Smiling as she watched Erza, who had already changed into a light blue dress, she coaxed, "Lucy, why don't you give it a try?"
"Um, well, I think I'll watch for a bit first."
Lucy noticed something off in the expressions of her guildmates around her.
"Ahaha…"
Levy's forced smile only confirmed her suspicions.
As they spoke, Erza had already extended her hand, gracefully inviting Natsu: "Come, Natsu!"
"Huh? Me? Maybe Gray should go. He's better at this sort of thing."
Natsu instinctively tried to shove his good buddy forward—only to find nothing there.
Gray was already ten meters away, sitting shirtless with Max, who was playing with sand!
"That bastard! When did he?!" Natsu was stunned.
"Enough, Natsu. Don't be so indecisive. The most important thing in dance is presence!"
Giving Natsu no chance to refuse, Erza grabbed him and then…
Natsu became a human spinning top, whirling at high speed in Erza's effortlessly capable hands.
"So… so dizzy… ugh… I'm gonna pass out, Erza… I'm gonna pass out, aaaaaah!"
After just a few moves, even someone as tough as Natsu had swirling spirals for eyes. He staggered two steps and then collapsed with a thud.
Lucy, who had witnessed the entire process, stood frozen. "This is what Mira called 'wonderfully relaxed'?!"
"My, my. Isn't Natsu quite relaxed now?" Mira said with a smile.
Lucy snapped back to reality and looked again at the white-haired woman beside her, whose smile was still gentle. Instinctively, she clutched her chest and edged closer to Levy, suddenly feeling a bit wary.
In a way, staying close to Mira might be pretty dangerous too…
"You're too weak, Natsu! As a man, is that all the spirit you've got?!"
Elfman walked over to Natsu, a look of disdain on his resolute face.
He didn't seem to realize the gravity of the situation yet.
"Well said, Elfman."
Erza nodded firmly in agreement, then grabbed his shoulder with a serious expression. "Which means you're next!"
"W-Wait, I—"
Before Elfman could finish, the world around him began spinning rapidly.
His guildmates' faces flashed past, and then everything was a blur.
"Aaaah!! A real man! Ugh! A real man feels so sick!"
True to being Fairy Tail's most manly man, he lasted a full three seconds longer than Natsu before staggering and collapsing.
"So even you have such little presence? How disappointing!"
With a deep sigh, Erza lifted her gaze to find her next victim—ah, next dance partner.
But the other men, having witnessed Natsu and Elfman's miserable fates, were no longer content to stand idly by. They quickly paired up, launching into awkward duets.
Those with girlfriends grabbed their girlfriends. Those without grabbed the nearest female drinker. Those who couldn't find anyone just paired up with another man. And one resourceful fellow even used Pict Magic to conjure a partner out of thin air.
The previously raucous atmosphere suddenly gained a strangely elegant air.
On a large tree far from the center of the banquet…
"A dance? Hahaha, looks pretty fun."
Chase, holding a large beer mug, glanced at Mystogan beside him. "Not thinking of joining?"
"No interest. That kind of atmosphere isn't for me."
Mystogan's calm eyes reflected the banquet's flickering flames.
"You really are something…" Chase shook his head with a smile and didn't press further.
Getting Mystogan, the aloof and mysterious type, to join in that chaotic, wild style of dancing would probably be harder than taking down Acnologia!
"Well, I'll leave you to it, then."
After finishing his drink with Mystogan, Chase leaped down from the tree and dove into the festivities with enthusiasm.
"You're all too weak! What's there to be nervous about dancing with Erza? Just apply an equal and opposite rotational force, and you can break her technique!"
"Ohhh! It's Chase! He's challenging Erza!"
"Now this should be good! Anyone wants to start a pool?"
"Go for it, Chase! Win back our manly honor!"
"Damn it! How long are you going to keep your hands on my waist?! Erza's already got a partner!"
"Aye! Lucy, who are you putting your money on?"
With Chase's entrance, the awkward atmosphere instantly turned electric.
Up in the tree…
Mystogan slowly lowered his wooden cup and reached up to adjust his black mask.
"Being able to just stand here like this is enough."
Watching Chase spin wildly in Erza's grip, yelping loudly, a rare smile tugged at the corner of his mouth. He murmured quietly, "Thanks, Chase."
Meanwhile, in the adjacent area…
In stark contrast to Fairy Tail's lively commotion, Phantom Lord's side was dead and gloomy.
To the victor go the spoils; to the loser, ruin. Jose, foreseeing his fate, sat alone in his dim tent, wallowing in despair.
The battle with Fairy Tail had made the proud wizard realize the fundamental gap between their guilds.
The final image—of Chase summoning the entire guild with a single card—had become an inescapable shadow in his mind.
Magic was power born from the heart and will.
It went without saying that a broken, despairing Jose would never amount to anything now. He was destined to spend the rest of his life in a cell.
As for Phantom Lord's other members, they leaned against the dividing barrier, watching Fairy Tail's lively territory with expressions of envy, resentment, or dejection.
Leading them were Gajeel and the Element 4.
"A sight I've never seen before. So there really are guilds in this world that feel like home. How I long for it… how I truly long for it…"
Aria's eyes still flowed with endless tears, though he'd found a new catchphrase.
"NoNoNo! So frustrating! So frustrating! That gentlemanly celebratory dance should have been ours to perform!"
Sol gritted his teeth, his body was writhing like a worm.
"So… this is the real reason we lost to them?"
Totomaru let out a quiet sigh, seeming to have made up his mind about the future.
"A man that powerful, looking so ridiculous in front of those weaklings…"
Gajeel stared blankly at Chase, who had just been defeated by Erza, his gaze flickering. "Fairy Tail… what kind of guild is it, really…"
As for Juvia…
With hearts in her eyes, her attention was naturally fixed on a certain shirtless man.
"Aaaaah~ Juvia… Juvia wants to take off her clothes and dance with Gray-sama too~"
***
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