"Hah? Bring it on!"

Facing Mirajane's challenge, Erza didn't back down.

She was quite eager to witness the power of Mirajane's take over magic.

Everyone said Mirajane was strong, calling her a genius in Take Over Magic and a candidate for S-Class Mage in the guild.

Naturally, Erza wanted to test her skills against this girl.

It wasn't that Erza was fighting maniac, but as the previous female magic prodigy in the guild who also awakened her magic naturally, comparisons were inevitable.

The two had too many similarities, even their initial states when joining the guild were nearly identical.

"Hum!"

Mirajane seemed to have been holding back for days.

Her body surged with magic power, her demon arm glowing as her entire being was bathed in a dark purple aura.

"Tin can girl! Today I'm going to beat you so hard you won't even dare to follow me to the bathroom again!"

Raising her demon arm, Mirajane spoke through gritted teeth.

"Tsk!"

Marco couldn't help but sharply inhale at Mirajane's shocking statement, which perfectly explained the source of her fury.

Glancing at the composed Erza beside him, Marco had to admit this was exactly something Erza would do.

'Erza... she was too aggresive.' Marco sighed inwardly.

He bore some responsibility too—he should have warned her earlier, knowing Erza's meticulous nature might cross boundaries.

"Marco told me to do it."

Erza replied calmly, seeing nothing wrong with her actions.

She had faithfully executed Marco's instructions, and the results proved she'd done an excellent job.

"Wait!"

Erza's matter-of-fact tone made both Marco and Mirajane react.

Marco quickly intervened to explain.

"Mira, I only asked Erza to keep an eye on you to prevent you from sneaking away! I definitely didn't say anything else!"

Marco's earnest explanation tried to clarify Erza's misleading implication that he'd ordered bathroom surveillance.

How absurd did that sound?

"..."

Mirajane's face flushed slightly but she remain silent.

Erza looked puzzled.

What's with Marco's? Wasn't she exactly do what he was ordering her?

"Are we fighting or not?" Erza asked, already eager for action.

"Of course we are!" Mirajane steadied herself.

She'd started this—no way she'd back down now.

"Mira-nee, don't fight..." Lisanna, standing behind Mirajane, tugged at her clothes and whispered a plea, while Elfman also wore a worried expression.

It was great that Mira had finally returned to her normal self, but this brought new troubles—Mira was always picking fights with others.

"Let's call it off for today, Mira. You've only just accepted the power of magic. It's better to wait until you've mastered it before challenging Erza. She's really strong, and you wouldn't want to lose to her just because you're not fully in control of your magic yet, right?"

At the critical moment, it was Marco who stepped in.

He immediately grasped Mirajane's thoughts and convinced her to abandon the idea of fighting—she didn't want to lose to Erza so easily.

"Marco's right. Even if I won now, it wouldn't mean much."

Erza nodded in agreement with Marco's words, realizing that even if she won, it wouldn't be a fair victory.

"You're right. We'll settle this another time. But don't think for a second that you're guaranteed to win!"

Mirajane took the opportunity to back down, though she couldn't resist a bit of stubbornness.

Deep down, she knew that while Erza's approach wasn't perfect, she had acted with good intentions.

But she still wanted to compete with Erza—partly to vent her frustration and partly because she was constantly being compared to her.

Though she never spoke up in the guild, she had always heard what others said about her.

The magic power around Mirajane dissipated and then something astonishing happened—her demonic arm vanished along with it.

"Wh-what's going on?" Mirajane looked at her hand in shock.

It had truly returned to normal—the demonic arm was completely gone!

But it wasn't truly gone.

With a thought, her magic power surged again, and the demonic power responded to her.

Mirajane's body transformed—this time, not just her arm, but her entire body changed.

"Full-Body Takeover: Satan Soul!"

A surge of purple Magic Power enveloped Mirajane.

Her hair fluffed up wildly, a pair of black demonic wings unfurled from her back and a large tail swayed behind her.

Both of her hands turned into scaled demonic claws.

Her clothes transformed as well, becoming much more revealing—though given her lean, boyish figure, there wasn't much to see anyway.

"She really is strong..." Erza's expression turned serious as she watched Mirajane in her "Full-Body Takeover" state.

Now she believed it—Mirajane truly had formidable power.

"So this is the power of a demon..." Mirajane examined her body, feeling the immense strength coursing through her.

This was actually her first time fully entering this state.

"Magic is a power that stems from the heart. Before, you despised and rejected the magic, so you couldn't control your own power—you couldn't even retract that demonic arm. But now that you've accepted it, it naturally submits to your full control."

Seeing the confusion on Mirajane's face, Marco explained it to her.

At the same time, he marveled inwardly—those who awakened magic naturally were truly monstrous.

They didn't need to learn; they just understood instinctively.

They really had a head start from the very beginning.

"So that's how it is." Mirajane suddenly understood.

She had accepted using this demon's power to protect her family, and the magic had accepted her in return.

Only now could she truly be said to have mastered this power.

[Ding! Mission completed.]

Mission progress: Have Mirajane accept her own power (Completed)

[Claim mission reward?]

Marco glanced at the system pop-up, his anxious heart finally settling.

After mentally complaining, Marco decisively chose to claim the reward.

[Congratulations, skill Diamond Dust Fist unlocked!]

As another pop-up appeared, a flood of knowledge related to the skill poured into Marco's mind.

At this moment, he had only one thought.

'The Bronze Saint skill pool is indeed overpowered!'

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