The instant Allen announced the start of the match, Gajeel's eyes widened. Erza, who had still been far away, had appeared right in front of him in an instant. Gajeel reacted quickly enough, however, transforming his right hand into an Iron Dragon Staff and swinging it at Erza.
Erza didn't dodge. Instead, she thrust the sword in her hand straight at him.
"Iron-Cutting Flash!"
A tremendous force came through the iron staff in Gajeel's hand, directly knocking his right arm aside. A sword aura then pierced through his right shoulder, and the accompanying impact sent Gajeel flying.
Bang!
Gajeel's body was sent crashing against the wall by Erza's sword.
After waiting ten seconds and seeing that Gajeel still hadn't come out, Allen went over to check on him. Only then did he discover that Gajeel had passed out.
Allen shook his head. This was the price of recklessly charging in without thinking. Gajeel had gone straight for the strongest opponent right from the start, and Natsu would probably never stop mocking him for it.
After confirming that Gajeel wasn't seriously injured, Allen immediately announced the result of the battle.
Erza, meanwhile, had already sheathed her sword and was preparing to leave. She still had to prepare for the S-Class Mage promotion examination and didn't have much time to waste on this.
Unlike Jellal and the others, who remained perfectly calm, the newly arrived Dragon Slayer Mages were all extremely shocked to see Gajeel defeated so cleanly in a single move. In their minds, although Erza was ranked first, Gajeel should at least have been able to exchange several blows with her, just like Natsu and Gray.
At that moment, Kana, who was sitting beside them, noticed the expressions on their faces and said matter-of-factly, "She's Erza, after all. This result