"Guess how many Erza will choose for her first attempt? There are five ranges to bet on—place your bets, place your bets!" Cana had already set up a betting stall in the stands.
"I'll take this one." Macao pulled out a 10,000J note and slapped it on the 10–20 range.
"30–40!" Wakaba closed his eyes, gritted his teeth, and slammed his bet down.
Many people went to place their bets; even Makarov threw in 10,000J.
Everyone was just betting for fun, wagers within the guild were usually small and harmless, so no one took it too seriously.
Raizel glanced over.
The smallest range was 1–10, and the largest was 40–50.
He immediately lost interest.
Actually, Cana was already quite bold, but unfortunately, she wasn't bold enough to include a '100' option.
After all, Pumpkin had stated that even a Ten Wizard Saint might not be able to defeat the S-Class monster.
Even if that was an exaggeration, it could at least rival one.
And on top of that, there were still ninety-nine other lethal monsters waiting in the dark.
But even if there was a 100 option, Raizel wouldn't bet.
There was no need for it.
...
"Now, let's decide the order. Please draw lots." A lottery box appeared in Pumpkin's hand.
"Number 1." The wooden stick Erza drew displayed a glowing green magic circle showing '1'.
"I'm actually number 8!!! Damn it! Damn it!" Natsu stomped the ground in frustration.
Hibiki looked at Erza's stick with obvious envy. "You have great luck, Erza. Number 1 gets the most turns, right?"
"I think so too. The key to victory in this competition depends entirely on the luck of the draw."
Erza looked up at the looming shadow of the Demon's Temple.
"Entirely on the luck of the draw? That's hard to say, isn't it?" Pumpkin Head had a different opinion.
"Compared to the order of battles, adjusting your pace and judging the situation are the true keys to this game."
"No, this game is no longer valid." Erza chuckled lightly and walked toward the massive doors of the Demon's Temple.
"Huh?" Pumpkin Head tilted his oversized head in confusion.
"These one hundred monsters... I'll take care of them all."
Erza raised her voice, letting it carry across the entire stadium. "My challenge right is... all one hundred!"
"What?!"
"Kabo?!?" Not only the contestants and the audience, but even the members of Fairy Tail were stunned.
"My secret savings!!!" Wakaba sobbed.
"It's okay, it's okay, I only bet 10,000J for fun..." Macao muttered, trying to comfort himself.
"My money!!!" Makarov howled at the sky.
"All bets are off!!" Cana yelled.
The audience was bewildered seeing the Fairy Tail stands instantly break into tears and chaos.
Chapati Lola, Yajima, and Laharl were dead silent, completely at a loss for words.
"Hahaha!!!" Natsu and Gray laughed heartily, understanding Erza perfectly.
"Still so fond of showing off," Ultear sighed with a smirk.
"She will win," Kagura's tone was ironclad.
"Ara ara." Mira gently touched her cheek, smiling with her eyes closed.
"As expected of you, Erza." Raizel leaned back, prepared to admire Erza's legendary entrance.
The pumpkin-headed mascot sweat dropped, speaking nervously. "Um... you said a challenge right of one hundred... that's impossible. We didn't design a scenario where one person could defeat all the monsters!"
"It doesn't matter." Erza resolutely ascended the stone steps, marching upward.
...
As Erza climbed, she was met with a tidal wave of cheers and shouts of doubt from the stadium.
But when she finally stepped into the Demon's Temple, the entire audience fell dead silent.
On the giant Magic Crystal screens, Erza slowly emerged from the darkness.
Over a dozen tall stone pillars, lit with eerie blue flames, illuminated the massive hall of the Demon's Temple.
"The Demon's Temple is quite spacious," Gray remarked.
"Why is it upside down?" Lucy tilted her head in confusion.
"Ugh... I can't... just looking at it makes me nauseous..." Natsu felt sick after just one glance at the warped gravity and bizarre architecture.
One more look and he might puke!
"Challenger: Team A of Fairy Tail, Erza Belserion! Challenge right is... one hundred monsters!" The breathless audience instantly erupted into a deafening roar.
"Really one hundred?!?"
"Is she out of her mind?" The crowd thought Erza had just been posturing, but she was dead serious.
As soon as the announcement finished, the monsters in the Demon's Temple swarmed out from the shadows.
The white D-Class monsters roared. The tall, red-armored C-Class monsters charged toward her like a stampede.
The blue B-Class monsters clung to the stone pillars, looking down at her with glowing eyes.
"So many at once..." Wendy covered her mouth, frightened.
"Even the D-Class monsters from earlier were tough."
"With so many, does she really plan to handle them alone?" Despite his absolute trust in Erza, Gray couldn't help but worry.
Raizel stared intently at the crystal screen. "Don't worry. She can definitely do it."
Kagura nodded immediately. "That's right. Erza can do it. I have faith in her."
"Requip!" Facing the relentless onslaught of monsters, a brilliant light engulfed Erza as she switched to her Heaven's Wheel Armor.
After slicing through a lunging D-Class monster with a single strike, she flew high up to a stone pillar.
"Heaven's Wheel: Circle Sword!" Dozens of magical light swords hovered behind her, forming two glowing halos—one large, one small—before shooting like meteors toward the monsters.
"A rain of swords is falling in the Demon's Temple!!" Chapati Lola screamed.
The D-Class and C-Class monsters were pinned down by the barrage of blades, forced to halt their advance. "Erza took the initiative, attacking from all directions! The D-Class monsters are being defeated one after another!"
With a single devastating move, Erza eliminated over a dozen D-Class monsters.
The counter in the Demon's Temple and the Magic Crystal screens updated the remaining numbers in real time.
"Is Erza trying to wipe them all out at once?" Bisca wondered. Mavis shook her head.
"No. I think she's using an omnidirectional attack to gauge the reactions, speed, and defensive capabilities of the monsters at each level against her magic." Makarov nodded. "She's calculating exactly which armor to use against which type of monster."
"Requip!" Erza switched to the Black Wing Armor, swooping past two D-Class monsters in a black blur. The beasts were effortlessly sliced in two by her blade.
"Her attack power just spiked," Panther Lily noted, his combat sense sharp.
Happy nodded proudly. "That's the Black Wing Armor! It greatly enhances the destructive power of her attacks!"
Carla watched closely. "So, she intends to thin the herd first by relying on sheer offensive force, right?"
On the screen, a single black flash from Erza's sword eliminated several more low-level monsters...
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