Alabasta.
The Dream City, Rainbase.
Although now, it should probably be called the Desert Water Capital, Rainbase.
After Crocodile's defeat at Erza's hands, the group didn't leave right away.
In fact, Gajeel, Cana, and Levy, who had arrived with Erza, all gathered here to reunite with Eden and the others.
"Erza, I challenge you!"
"I've learned a brand-new ability recently."
"With this power, I can definitely defeat you!"
As soon as everyone was assembled, Natsu ran right up to Erza, issuing his challenge.
"Huh?!"
"That Fire Dragon's a real glutton for punishment."
"Is he asking for another beating already?"
Before Erza could even speak, Gajeel voiced what everyone was thinking.
"What a coincidence."
As for Erza, she couldn't help but smile when she heard Natsu's words.
"My new ability is called Elementalization!"
"It can nullify all physical attacks!"
"In other words, Erza, unless you use your Flame Emperor Armor, you have absolutely no way of defeating me!"
Natsu was completely oblivious to what awaited him in the near future. Instead, he looked at Erza smugly, showing off his new power.
"Is that so? Well, that really is quite the coincidence."
At this point, Erza didn't even know what to say.
You see, the new ability she had learned was specifically designed to counter so-called 'Elementalization.'
Hmm, this world was just full of coincidences~
"Place your bets! Place your bets!"
"Natsu versus Erza."
"Whether you'll be able to afford a Magical Quad-Racer next year... it all comes down to today!"
Cana, having finally shaken off her drunkenness, was now holding a handful of Berries, calling out to the Fairy Tail members present.
Even so, the current members only consisted of Eden, Happy, Gajeel, Levy, and Nami—a grand total of five people.
"Natsu versus Erza, huh?"
"Speaking of which, isn't Erza a monster on the same level as Eden?"
"Looking at it that way, Natsu has no chance of winning, right?"
Nami asked the group, her arms crossed over her ample chest.
"Indeed."
"Natsu has challenged Erza countless times."
"And he has never won. Not once."
Happy nodded in agreement with Nami.
"So, who are you going to bet on, Happy?" Nami asked, looking at the cat with curiosity.
Hmm, Nami had already figured out the nature of this cunning little cat. Betting along with Happy was a surefire way not to lose.
"You have to know, Natsu is my best partner!"
"So, do I even need to say who I'm betting on?" Happy declared, looking as if he were ready to sacrifice his own interests for the greater good.
"Could it be?"
Nami looked at Happy in shock, as if she were seeing him in a new light today.
"So I think I'll just bet on Erza to win."
"My bond with Natsu doesn't need to be proven by me wasting my precious few riches."
With that, Happy handed the few Berries he had on him to Cana.
"What a heartless and treacherous cat! He'll do anything for his own gain!" Nami couldn't help but吐槽 (tsukkomi).
To this, Lucy would have strongly agreed. She thought so too.
"Battle, start!"
At the same time, the long-awaited battle between Natsu and Erza was officially announced by the referee, Eden.
"I'm all fired up!"
As Natsu spoke, his body erupted into a column of fire, soaring into the air. He looked down at Erza smugly. "See that, Erza? This is my new ability—Elementalization!"
"Natsu's body turned into fire?"
On the ground, a flash of shock appeared in Levy and Cana's eyes.
"It's just the same kind of ability as Juvia's. What's there to be so proud of?"
As for Gajeel, after a brief moment of surprise, his expression quickly returned to calm as he commented with composure.
"Oh."
In response, Erza simply nodded lightly, then shot forward like an arrow, appearing right in front of the airborne Natsu and throwing a punch.
"It's no use! It's no use! It's all useless!"
Natsu watched Erza's approaching fist with a smug look in his eyes. He was about to show everyone what it meant to be completely immune to physical attacks.
BAM!
However, all of Natsu's fantasies vanished the moment Erza's fist landed.
Erza's fist, wreathed in pitch-black energy with crackling sparks of lightning, struck Natsu's body...
Natsu's Elementalization was instantly canceled, and he was sent plummeting from the sky by Erza's single punch, smashing a large crater into the ground right in front of everyone.
"So Natsu got one-shotted after all, huh?"
"That's not surprising."
"After all, his opponent is that Erza."
The onlookers, Cana and the others, all showed expressions that said, "I knew it." They had long since predicted the scene of Natsu being instantly defeated by Erza.
To be precise, it would have been stranger if Natsu hadn't been instantly defeated.
"That hurts!"
On the ground, after being punched out of the sky by Erza, Natsu clutched his swollen head and said with a look of utter confusion, "Why could your fist still hit me even though I was elementalized? You didn't even use your Flame Emperor Armor! This is too weird!"
"Because an attack filled with love is impossible to defend against," Erza said smugly, crossing her arms.
"Erza, you've already mastered Armament Haki?" Eden, who was standing nearby, said with sudden realization.
"After a few days of serious training with Teacher Garp, I've managed to grasp the basics of this ability," Erza explained, no longer joking but speaking seriously to Eden.
"To master Haki in just a few short days... that's some incredible talent. As expected of you, Erza~" Eden said, praising her earnestly.
"Not at all, not at all..."
"Your talent is nothing to scoff at either, Eden."
Upon receiving Eden's praise, Erza quickly waved her hands and returned the compliment in a similar tone. "In fact, when it comes to magical talent, you're still a cut above, Eden."
"Alright, alright."
"You two can stop showering each other with compliments."
As Erza and Eden were busy praising one another, Levy and the others standing around them couldn't take it anymore and spoke up, exasperated.
"In any case, the Alabasta incident is finally over."
"As for that guy Gray, he should have been rescued by now."
"Next up is the matter of our other comrades."
As Eden said this, he seemed to suddenly remember something and turned to Erza. "Oh, right, Erza! After we arrived in Mock Town, we ran into Mirajane. She had already become the queen of the entire town."
"As for why Juvia isn't with us on this trip to Alabasta..."
"It's because she's currently heading to the South Blue with Mirajane to rescue that guy, Gray."
Eden shared the intel he had about their comrades with Erza.
"The Queen of Mock Town, you say?"
"That really is Mirajane's style."
Erza let out a soft laugh upon hearing that Mirajane had become the Queen of Mock Town. She seemed to reminisce about the old days when they were younger, and she and Mirajane would fight all the time in the Fairy Tail guild. Back then, Mirajane was quite the little delinquent.
"Oh, right, I have some intel to share with you as well."
Then, as if remembering something, Erza looked at Eden, Natsu, Happy, and Nami. "We received intel from the Marines about Gildarts. He's currently in the New World, acting alongside one of the Four Emperors, 'Red-Haired' Shanks."
"Gildarts and Shanks... are hanging out together?"
"But to be fair, those two would definitely have a lot in common."
Erza's words caused Eden's brain to short-circuit for a moment.
Gildarts and Shanks hanging out together? He could immediately picture it, couldn't he?!
However, given Gildarts' and Shanks' personalities, them joining forces would be an absolutely devastating blow to the World Government and the Marines.
"Oh, and Eden!"
"You're no longer the person in our Fairy Tail guild with the highest bounty issued by the World Government."
"Gildarts' bounty, after multiple revisions and discussions by the government, has finally been decided..."
Erza paused here, deliberately building the suspense, waiting for Eden to take the bait.
"How much?" Eden asked after a moment of thought.
"Two billion."
After Eden's question, Erza answered directly.
"Two... billion?"
After Erza revealed Gildarts' current bounty, everyone fell silent.
Natsu, in particular, grumbled with unwillingness, "I work so hard and only get a sixty-million-Berry bounty from the World Government, but Gildarts does nothing and gets two billion? That's not fair!"
"Two billion?"
"No matter how you look at it, that's a bit excessive, isn't it?"
"He's on a completely different level from us..."
"I finally understand what you all meant by 'Fairy Tail's strongest combatant.' A monster among monsters!"
At this moment, Nami finally grasped just how terrifying Gildarts' strength was, through the numbers she understood best.
"Now you finally get it, right?"
Eden said, gently patting Nami on the shoulder. "As long as Gildarts is around, nothing is a problem."
"Anyway, our next target is the sky island."
"Let's go get the start-up funds for the Fairy Tail guild!"
Then, Eden announced the Fairy Tail guild's next plan to everyone present.
However, in a place unnoticed by the Fairy Tail members, a beautiful, intellectual-looking woman in her late twenties, with fair skin and a cowboy hat, was watching them silently.
"Marines and pirates... are companions? How interesting."
That beautiful woman was none other than Nico Robin. Right now, she was intrigued by her discovery, muttering to herself.