Fairy Tail: The Faint Smile in Earthland

The arena floor pulsed with controlled magical currents, its containment walls humming softly. Above, crystalline projections magnified every movement, transmitting the fight to Council balconies, guild envoys, and select observers scattered throughout Crocus.

Though limited in audience, powerful eyes watched.

Sabertooth. Lamia Scale. Blue Pegasus. Mermaid Heel. Quatro Cerberus. Each had dispatched envoys—opportunists eager to seize influence while Fairy Tail's core remained absent.

And standing alone beneath Fairy Tail's solitary banner:

Teresa. The Silver Valkyrie.

Marvolo Skane smiled, fingers flexing as his hovering metal rings spun faster.

"You come unarmored," he sneered. "Or perhaps... overconfident."

"No." Teresa's voice was calm. "Only precise."

The Councilor's voice echoed through the arena once more:

"Begin."

The instant the match started, Marvolo struck.

Three runic rings detached, spinning high into the air, releasing waves of compressed kinetic force. Pale green shockwaves spiraled toward Teresa—layered pulses designed to bind, pummel, and crush.

The arena's barrier walls rippled softly as the first wave tore toward her.

Teresa's silver eyes narrowed.

A breath.

"Walking the Razor Edge."

Her footing shifted, surface control engaging. She slid half a step sideways, as though friction itself had yielded to her will. The shockwave sliced harmlessly past her shoulder.

The second pulse followed immediately—tighter, faster.

"Phantom Step."

In a blur, she vanished and reappeared several meters closer. Her stride was smooth and graceful. Observers gasped aloud.

"Short-range teleport?" whispered one Council scribe.

"No... pure movement amplification," another murmured. "She's using the arena's magic field to enhance raw motion."

Marvolo scowled, adjusting quickly. The remaining rings widened their spin, forming a lattice of slicing wind blades—an oscillating shell to prevent further approach.

"You won't reach me so easily, Valkyrie," he spat.

Teresa advanced, unbothered.

"Void Sever."

Her right hand swept behind her back. A shimmer of light answered as her Claymore Requip Arsenal activated instantly. Only the wide silver blade materialized, perfectly balanced.

With one smooth arc, she raised it across her chest.

The air froze.

The rotating blades of wind shattered—not by brute force, but by precise harmonization. Her blade intersected the oscillating resonance perfectly, slicing its core structure cleanly.

Council observers leaned forward sharply.

"That's impossible precision…" whispered Lamia Scale's envoy.

"She's cutting the resonance points—not nullifying magic directly," said a Blue Pegasus observer.

"Like slicing silk along the grain," added Sabertooth's representative.

Marvolo stumbled, sweat beading under the suppression fields.

She was reading him like open anatomy.

From the noble balcony, Ralven watched with growing interest.

The Silver Valkyrie.

Marvolo unleashed his next trap.

Three new rings expanded, releasing synchronized sonic bursts—oscillating pulses designed to destabilize equilibrium and overwhelm nervous control.

Most mages would collapse instantly.

Teresa inhaled.

"Silken Nerve Control."

Her body relaxed, muscles flowing like water. Each joint flexed independently yet perfectly aligned, allowing her to glide through the destabilizing waves as though floating.

The sonic pulses washed harmlessly over her.

The audience shifted, disturbed by the unnatural grace.

Even Rune Knights exchanged uneasy glances.

"Stop dancing and fight me!" Marvolo shouted.

He consolidated his rings into a final dense spear of spinning metal shards, launching it directly toward her chest.

A faint smile appeared.

"Requip: Full Armament."

The white cloak unfurled as her Claymore armor locked into place—breastplate, pauldrons, gauntlets, boots—all perfectly synchronized.

The black Fairy Tail emblem stood bold against the flowing white fabric.

The spear struck—

—and shattered against her silver chest plate.

Fragments scattered harmlessly across the stone.

A collective gasp swept through the arena.

"Her armor isn't enchanted—"

"No—she timed her Requip activation perfectly with the impact threshold."

"She absorbed the kinetic strike in the instant before critical contact!"

Teresa advanced, steps calm and precise.

Marvolo staggered backward, defenses gone.

"No—stay back—!"

Her voice was quiet. Almost compassionate.

"You are already defeated."

She halted exactly one meter from him.

Her blade never struck.

The edge hovered—grazing the aura just above his throat. Enough for him to feel the weight of death.

His knees gave out.

The Councilor's voice echoed:

"The match is concluded! Victory — Teresa of Fairy Tail."

The suppression fields disengaged.

The arena remained eerily silent, punctuated only by formal applause—polite, measured. No wild cheers. Observers processed what they had witnessed.

"Not brute force..." murmured Mermaid Heel's envoy. "Precise control."

"Surgical precision..." added Blue Pegasus.

"Even with lethal openings, she exercises restraint," whispered a Council adjudicator. "Perfect obedience to suppression protocol."

From the upper balcony, Ralven smiled faintly.

Impressive.

As Teresa sheathed her Claymore into her Requip space, her silver eyes briefly swept the gallery.

She had sent the message.

The Silver Valkyrie was no rumor.

And the Council's deeper game had officially begun.