The outcome of the battle between Erza and Mirajane held no suspense—Erza emerged victorious.
"Huff... Huff... Huff..."
In the dueling arena, Erza bent over, gasping for breath as her arms trembled uncontrollably.
Not far from her, Mirajane lay on the ground, having reverted from her "Demon Take Over" state back to normal.
"So... I still couldn't do it, huh?"
Lying on the ground, staring at the sky with a dust-covered face, Mirajane wore a smile.
Though she hadn't won in the end, she had thoroughly enjoyed the fight.
"Can you still stand?"
Erza staggered slightly as she approached Mirajane, extending a hand to help her up.
"Of course."
With some effort, Mirajane reached out and pulled herself up with Erza's assistance.
"Next time, I'll definitely beat you!"
Looking at Erza, Mirajane declared with conviction.
She felt the gap between them was steadily narrowing.
Though she had started learning magic later than Erza, her talent wasn't lacking, and she was now in a rapid growth phase—naturally, she was full of confidence.
"Alright, I'll be waiting for your challenge."
Erza smiled in response to Mirajane's determined expression.
After this duel, the tension between them seemed to have eased somewhat.
Recently, their once "hostile" relationship had been gradually changing, possibly due to their culinary exchanges.
Though Erza had no intention of becoming a master chef like Mirajane, she occasionally sought cooking advice from her, making their interactions far more harmonious than before.
"Erza wins."
Marco suddenly appeared beside them, announcing the result of the match.
"Go get some rest."
Seeing how exhausted both girls were, Marco offered a word of concern.
The two nodded in unison before helping each other off the field—mostly Erza supporting Mirajane.
"Now, the top eight have been decided."
On the judges' platform, the three guild masters wore varied expressions, as the distribution of the top eight spots was uneven.
Fairy Tail had four members advancing, while Quatro Cerberus and Blue Pegasus each had only two.
Fairy Tail's quarterfinalists were Erza, Natsu, Hisui, and Gray, who had advanced by default.
The battle between Natsu and Gajeel had ended with Natsu's victory, and the fierce clash between the "Fire Dragon" and "Iron Dragon" had thrilled the audience.
Gajeel was slightly weaker than Natsu in every aspect—after all, Natsu frequently challenged Marco, the "Fire Dragon," giving him an edge in combat experience, magical power, and physical ability.
Meanwhile, Cana whose luck had been poor today, was defeated by Bacchus' Drunken Fist.
As a card Mage specializing in versatility, Cana struggled against Bacchus, who excelled in close-quarters combat.
Juvia, on the other hand, fell victim to her lack of experience.
Hibiki, who had thoroughly analyzed her abilities, managed to stall her before exploiting an opening to secure victory.
Though Hibiki had advanced, he didn't feel particularly happy—after all, he had only made it by defeating two young girls from Fairy Tail.
Lisanna and Juvia were both three or four years younger than him, yet he had to sweat buckets just to win against them.
What was there to be happy about?
Juvia had indeed showcased her talent.
Even among the monstrously skilled members of Fairy Tail, she stood out as one of the top in her age group.
As for Hisui, her opponents weren't particularly strong, and she breezed through this round with ease.
Her luck with the draws was so good it made Cana green with envy.
Her first opponent was quite famous but suddenly ran into issues and couldn't even use magic.
The second was an obscure and mediocre opponent—no one knew how they even made it to the second round.
After these two duels, Hisui was probably the most relaxed participant in the entire event, likely not even breaking a sweat.
If everyone hadn't witnessed the draws firsthand, and if the draws hadn't been conducted by the leaders of the three guilds in rotation—with two different people drawing Hisui's matches—some might have seriously suspected she was a "royal favorite."
Though Hisui was indeed of royal blood, she hadn't paid anyone off.
Even she was surprised by the outcome and felt somewhat deflated.
What she wanted was to make a name for herself, to uphold the prestige of her master's legacy.
Yet after two matches, all people remembered was her incredible luck.
"..."
Pouting unhappily, Hisui stared intently at her master Marco on the stage.
'Please draw me a strong opponent! I'm begging you, Master!'
Amid Hisui's silent prayers, the crowd erupted in gasps as Marco drew the first ball—Erza.
'BUT NOT HER!'
At the sight of Erza's name, Hisui immediately changed her tune.
There was no way she could win against her!
"Hisui."
However, the name Marco announced next left Hisui frozen in shock.
"Erza vs. Hisui."
The first matchup turned out to be an internal battle within Fairy Tail, making Marco's eye twitch.
"Talk about luck—the queen of in-house matches," he muttered, shaking his head helplessly.
He could only hope the next draw wouldn't be another internal clash.
Unfortunately, fate had other plans.
After Ichiya and Goldmine finished their draws, the last group didn't even need to be picked—only two names remained.
"Natsu vs. Gray!"
Pulling out the final two balls, Marco announced the contestants.
This time, it really wasn't his fault—Ichiya and Goldmine had just been too good at drawing, leaving the other two groups as internal battles as well.
Unlike Fairy Tail, who felt shortchanged, the Mages from Blue Pegasus and Quatro Cerberus breathed sighs of relief.
At least this way, they could each secure one spot in the semifinals, rather than letting Fairy Tail sweep all four.
After witnessing the strength of Fairy Tail's Mages, no one could confidently say the semifinals wouldn't be entirely dominated by them.
"Lucky you," Makarov grumbled, though deep down, he was actually satisfied with the outcome.
This joint S-Class exam was the first of its kind, held on Fairy Tail's turf and entirely organized by them.
If the two visiting guilds didn't secure even a single semifinal spot, it would've been far too embarrassing for them.
Going too far makes it hard to keep friends, but deliberately going easy or rigging the draw was something Makarov couldn't bring himself to do either.
This outcome actually left everyone satisfied.