Some Scenes Are Bound to Be Awkward

While Eleven let his imagination run wild, endlessly fantasizing about Erza's love life, Erza was fighting with all her heart.

By now, Erza had given up trying to pull her swords free. Instead, she braced both hands on their hilts and used them for leverage, kicking both her stubby legs at Eleven.

Eleven had been so lost in thought that he couldn't react in time. Besides, he didn't regard Erza as an enemy, and he wasn't on edge enough to respond on reflex.

And so Eleven, his head wrapped in rags, took a kick to the stomach and went flying.

"Splat~pfft!"

That was the sound of Eleven hitting the ground, with even the gas in his stomach kicked out of him.

"Why is this girl so strong?"

Eleven clutched his stomach and could barely get back to his feet. His stomach churned like a stormy sea. He was certain that if he lifted his shirt now, he would see a shoe-shaped bruise.

The situation reminded Eleven of his first fight with Laxus, though it hardly counted as a fight. That time, too, he had taken a heavy blow to the stomach that left him in agony.

Thinking of Laxus, Eleven suddenly remembered that the guy had been very cold back then too. They had never interacted except to fight, so how had he gotten better?

Hmm... oh, right. I beat him better!

In Eleven's rose-tinted memory, Laxus seemed to have become friendly after Eleven had given him a thoroughly satisfying beating.

"Hmm, that's a good idea!" Eleven looked at Erza, the expression beneath his wrappings gradually turning lecherous.

When Erza saw Eleven stand up again, she couldn't see his expression, but she shivered anyway. She felt certain that the guy before her was up to no good.

"Requip!"

Erza made a snap decision to abandon the two swords still fixed in midair and channeled her magic. With a ripple in space, another crimson longsword appeared in her hand.

Eleven could easily have attacked Erza while she used Requip; she was still rather slow at it. But he didn't. Instead, he watched her cast the spell with great interest. He had never seen Requip Magic before.

Since it's called Requip, does that mean she can change the clothes she's wearing too? But how would she do it? Summon them and put them on herself in front of the enemy? That'd be way too ridiculous!

Unlike Eleven, who was easily distracted, Erza was full of fighting spirit. She swung the longsword in her hand and slashed at him.

Honestly, though Erza was fast, this kind of straightforward physical attack still bored Eleven. It lacked the exhilaration of the lightning and thunder when he fought Laxus. That clash of magic was how wizards ought to fight.

With a casual wave, he froze Erza's blade in midair once again. This time, Eleven gave her no chance to struggle and used Telekinesis to fling the blade away. He had only meant to disarm her, but to his surprise, Erza clung tightly to the hilt and was sent flying along with it.

Bang!

Erza crashed into a group of thugs watching the fight. Thanks to her thick armor, she was fine and patted her backside before standing back up, but none of the human cushions beneath her could still speak.

Eleven had been a little worried that Erza might get hurt in the fall, but when he saw that she was perfectly fine and had jumped up to prepare another big move, he relaxed.

That was right, Erza really was preparing a big move. Not only did she summon a sword into each hand, she also summoned twelve more in succession to hover above her head.

The series of actions left Erza a little out of breath, but she smiled and looked at Eleven with what seemed like a hint of pride. "I've figured out your magic's weakness!"

"Huh?" Eleven tilted his head, his face full of confusion.

Erza offered no explanation. Instead, she sent all fourteen swords, each a different style, charging at Eleven. This time, Eleven took her seriously. Though he didn't know what weakness Erza meant, she probably wasn't speaking without reason.

The fourteen longswords whirled before Erza, tracing dazzling patterns that left onlookers dizzy. Of course, from Eleven's mental perspective, there were no sword patterns. To him, a few swords were simply wobbling toward him.

Clink...

The fourteen swords struck the air almost simultaneously, unable to move another inch, forming a beautiful pattern.

Just then, Erza suddenly charged out from behind the pattern, a victorious smile on her face. "Your object-control magic can't control human bodies, can it? Otherwise, I wouldn't have kicked you just now!"

As she spoke, Erza's little iron-booted foot kicked at Eleven once again.

But this time, Erza didn't get her way. She was frozen in midair in a flying-kick pose, an invisible force gripping her body tightly.

Eleven looked at Erza's pose as she hung in the air, then at her dumbfounded expression, and almost laughed. It was really awkward! She had just been so confident, even making a declaration of victory! Pfft~

Forcing back his laughter, Eleven put on a profound air and said, "I have no weakness! Give up, little girl!"

The moment he finished speaking, Eleven once again hurled Erza away.

Erza didn't give up as Eleven had told her to. Instead, she rallied herself once more, stood up from the pile of thug cushions, and cast another spell.

"Damn it, I'm still not very good at this, but..."

Erza muttered under her breath, but her movements didn't stop. White light radiated from her body, and after a ripple in space, her armor vanished, revealing a simple black undershirt. A pair of leopard-print cat ears appeared on her head, while her bracers and shoes also changed to a leopard-print style. A pair of short blades appeared in her hands.

"Oh, oh, she really can change what she's wearing!" Eleven was quite amazed. Not only could this magic change clothes quickly, it even provided holy light for protection. It truly was wondrous.

"Flight Armor—components."

Holding her short blades in reverse grips, Erza charged at Eleven once more. This time, her speed had increased by leaps and bounds, seemingly thanks to those strange pieces of armor.

Erza moved at tremendous speed, darting and weaving as she constantly changed position. The thugs around them could barely track her. But just as she flashed behind Eleven and slashed down with her blades, she was caught again, her body frozen in midair.

Eleven turned and gave Erza a smug smile, but he had forgotten that his face was still wrapped up. So Erza didn't see a thing before she was thrown away yet again.

"Damn it, is the mission going to fail? Why won't he attack me? Why does he keep throwing me away..."

Erza knelt on one knee, propping herself up with a sword as she muttered. Her mind raced through ways to deal with the enemy. Stubborn as she was, giving up could never be an option.

But her offhand words suddenly reminded a certain smug someone of something!

"Mission? Damn, that's right! Erza's doing a mission for the guild!"

Eleven suddenly realized that this was no time to bully Erza! He had promised the guild master he wouldn't help with her mission, but he sure as hell hadn't said he'd make trouble for her!

If Erza failed her mission and told the guild master what had happened when she got back, wouldn't he beat the shit out of Eleven?

Erza saw her opponent suddenly clutch his head and start acting crazy for some reason. Though she had no idea what was going on, this should be a good opportunity.

So Erza began gathering magic, and the swords Eleven had taken from her and thrown to the ground all flew back to her side.

"Go! Consecutive Blade Slashes!"

More than a dozen longswords shot toward Eleven at astonishing speed. Eleven, still squatting in regret, immediately sensed danger. Telekinesis surged out, forming a barrier in front of him.

Clang, clang, clang... boom!!!

Erza's control wasn't that precise. To maintain the power of so many swords at once, she had to sacrifice accuracy. Only a few swords struck Eleven's Telekinesis barrier, producing several clear clinks. More swords slammed into the wall behind him. With a tremendous crash, the load-bearing wall collapsed, and the whole building seemed to shake.

But just then, inspiration struck Eleven once again!

"Ah! How... how could I be defeated by you? I can't accept this..."

Eleven knelt on one knee, clutched his chest with one hand, and cried out. Delivering his stilted lines, he slowly fell to the ground.

(｡-ω-)-ω-)-ω-)...

The scene became awkward for a moment...

((´-_-)-_-)-_-)...

Even the thugs watching had no idea how to react. They all looked speechlessly at their boss.

"What are you plotting?"

Erza, however, was extremely tense. She gripped her sword and stared fixedly at Eleven.

Eleven was very unhappy. He had finally gotten a chance to act, and these guys weren't giving him any face! So he gave up on restraint! Even if his acting was awkward, he was determined to finish the scene!

"Ah! What tremendous magic!"

Eleven, who had just been ready to die, suddenly sprang back to life. As if he had suddenly realized he hadn't finished his lines, he started acting his heart out again!

"What a dazzling figure!"

"What magnificent blades!"

"As expected, I'm just an ordinary person too. If I'm killed, I'll die!"

"I believe the reason for my defeat was that I made an enemy of thee!"

"My mission shall end here, but thou shalt carry on the flame!"

"I, E... cough, cough, cough... E... Elizabeth, acknowledge thee as my queen!"

Finally, Eleven didn't forget to use an illusion to create the scene of his body breaking apart bit by bit, then being carried by the wind through the hole in the wall behind him and dispersing beneath the blue sky, bringing the performance to a stylish close.