Oh? You're a Swordsman Too?

Zoro's retort made Erza pause slightly.

She had anticipated all sorts of possible reactions from him—continued disdain, an immediate fight, or an explanation of his intentions. But she had not expected him to completely ignore her question and instead focus on her identity as a "swordsman."

Those words were like a key, instantly opening another way to communicate.

"I am Fairy Tail's S-Class Mage, Erza Scarlet." Erza straightened her back, one hand resting on the hilt at her waist, her gaze as sharp as an eagle's. "I use Requip Magic known as Knight. Swords are my primary weapons."

She did not deny being a swordsman; instead, she admitted it openly. Because in Zoro's all-seeing eye, she could sense that any concealment would be futile. Before this man, she was a swordsman first and a mage second.

"If you intend to keep resorting to violence here," Erza said, her voice ringing like clashing steel, "then you'll have to get past me first!"

Before her words had even faded, a dazzling light erupted from her body!

"Requip: Heavenly Wheel Armor!"

The ordinary suit of Knight armor instantly came apart within the light, replaced by a silver suit that covered less of her body yet appeared far more sacred and imposing. Two pairs of enormous metallic wings, like an angel's wings, sprouted from its back, and every single "feather" was an incomparably sharp short sword!

As the requip completed, Erza's presence soared to its peak. Dozens of swords of varying lengths materialized around her like loyal satellites, slowly revolving as every blade pointed at Zoro in the crater.

The entire guild hall was instantly enveloped by a chilling sword aura.

"That's Erza's Heavenly Wheel Armor!"

"Great! Erza's getting serious!"

"Let that Moss-Head see what our Titania can do!"

The guild members' morale immediately surged at the sight. In their hearts, Erza clad in Heavenly Wheel Armor was the embodiment of victory.

Yet faced with this magnificent and deadly Requip Magic, as well as the immense sword pressure bearing down on him from dozens of blades, Zoro's expression gradually shifted from faint interest into an... indescribable disappointment.

"Requip... magic?" He rolled the term over in his mouth, seemingly trying to understand its meaning. "So these swords were all created from that energy called 'magic power'?"

"That's right," Erza answered gravely. "Every one of them is as sharp as a real sword, and they are controlled by my will!"

"I see." Zoro nodded, as though he understood something. He slowly moved his hand away from the hilt of Wado Ichimonji.

That action left everyone confused.

Had Erza's overwhelming presence frightened him into giving up resistance?

Just as everyone was speculating, Zoro merely placed his hand on another sword—the most unremarkable one at his side, with a black scabbard and an ordinary cloth-wrapped hilt.

He did not even draw it fully. He simply used his thumb to push the guard up by an inch.

Shing—

A faint blade cry, as though from the depths of hell, quietly rang out.

With the blade drawn only an inch, an indescribably cold and piercing "Demonic Aura," filled with ominousness and curses, spilled from the gap in the scabbard like a tide!

This aura was completely different from Erza's righteous sword pressure. It was sinister, evil, and filled with a thirst for blood and life, as though what was sealed within the scabbard was not a sword, but a demon from the abyss!

The guild's mages merely brushed against that Demonic Aura and felt their souls freeze over. Their bodies began trembling uncontrollably, gripped by a fear born from the instincts of life itself.

Erza's face, too, turned deathly pale for the first time. She could feel the flying swords formed from magic power around her letting out faint, frightened hums before that pure "Demonic Aura"!

Zoro looked at Erza and shook his head, his tone carrying a trace of regretful instruction.

"A sword is a weapon for killing. Its soul should be forged through repeated slashes and clashes, nourished by an enemy's blood and one's own resolve."

"Something created from energy, no matter how much it resembles one, is ultimately just a soulless toy."

With that, he slowly pushed the cursed sword, drawn only an inch, back into its scabbard.

"But... since you use swords too, let me see just how far your 'toys' can go."