If you re-read the fight, the one and only 'disadvantage' that Erza had came as a result of her making the decision to hold back initially because she underestimated how strong Laxus is. Laxus turned out to be far stronger than what she thought, so it proved to be an erroneous decision from Erza. As far as it goes, that was poor judgement from Erza as opposed to an unfair disadvantage that was imposed against her will. You are framing it to look like as though Erza suffered from a handicap that did not allow her to go all out, when the truth is she chose to hold back on her own accord. Never did Laxus depended on an external factor, or relied on a form of deception or trickery to gain an upperhand on Erza in their fight.
Look. There is a good reason why most readers think Laxus is more powerful after reading the fight. Laxus was visibly dominating Erza for a lengthy portion of their fight, to an extent that Erza herself never managed to achieve. In one particularly impressive exchange, Laxus evaded Erza's attack who charged at him with her spear before destroying her lightning empress armour with one hit.
In another, after Erza busted out the Dragon Slayer Seal: True Benizakura, Laxus closed the distance to her in an instant and delivered a punch to her abdomen that sent her flying in the air before hitting the deck.
Then another, Laxus no sold Erza's kick to his face before sending her crashing to the ground and kicking her away.
Those were three instances where Laxus clearly outclassed her, before Erza could inflict even her first attack on Laxus.
Then another exchange where Laxus smashed her down again and destroyed the ground they were standing on.
Read this page at the end of chapter 44 and ask yourself who seems to be having fun with a grin on his face, while who looked to be in difficulty.
It was only until Erza busted out her second power-up with another Enchantment from Wendy, Natsu and Gray did she managed to clash with Laxus on an equal footing. Erza had a double page spreader where she attacked Laxus with her newly acquired powers, yet Laxus remained standing and grinned before quickly counterattacking.
Mashima has a renowned track record of dedicating a double-page spreader to a character's finishing move. Case in point, when Laxus defeated Kyria and Jura with his Metsuryū Ōgi: Narumikazuchi/Secret Art: Roaring Thunder.
On other hand, Laxus did not utilise any of his most devastating spells against Erza. He did not use Roaring Thunder that he defeated Jura and Kyria with. Neither did he use any Secret Art. He did not use the Raikō: Akamikazuchi/Megaton: Red Lightning, the attack that he used to wreck and killed Wall with.
Those are two of his most devastating attacks that he did not utilise in his fight with Erza. He used simply a lightning dragon's roar and a heavenward halberd; two regular moves in his arsenal. Then entered red lightning dragon mode to increase his attributes. Erza busted out the Dragon Slayer Seal: True Benizakura, and the Enchanted twin swords. Even if we were to ignore the portion where Laxus was beating Erza up when she was holding back, Laxus' performance was nonetheless more convincing. Erza's power-up felt forced and contrived. If you read the chapter discussion thread when she suddenly introduced the Enchanted twin swords back then, there were numerous posters claiming BS. There remains a huge question mark if Erza's Enchanted twin blades is freely usable. Can Erza use the DS Seal and those swords with Natsu and Gray's powers single-handedly going forward? Or does she require assistance from Wendy, Natsu and Gray again to re-enchant those swords. If it's the latter, then it is only fair to say that she needs a power-up from external sources that are not within her direct influence to be able to fight on par with Laxus.
Furthermore, Laxus did not once fell throughout the entire fight with Erza. But we saw Erza being sent to eat dirt by Laxus on several occasions. Even the double page spreader with the Enchanted twin swords only made him stagger briefly. That was the most Erza could managed to move Laxus. Towards the end of the fight, Erza fell this time to her knees and prostrate herself in front of Laxus in a submissively prone position
We could see that she had zero energy left, and was supporting her weight with her arms. During all this time, Laxus was still standing upright whilst engaging in conversation. Truth to be told, had Laxus not fought Kyria beforehand and wasted a chunk of his magic power utilising a DS Secret Art to defeat an opponent whom Erza herself claimed to be formidable, or if he was bloodlusted, it is fully within his capability to go for the decisive blow on an Erza who was completely powerless there and then. However Erza is still one of the main protagonists and Mashima is obviously not going to humiliate her to such an extent. And fact of the matter of is, when Erza was completely out, Laxus was still standing.
Hence, we conclude the following.
- If Erza holds back, she will evidently get dominated and beaten up by Laxus
- Erza needs to go all out to fight on equal footing with Laxus
- Erza needs the DS Seal and Enchanted twin swords to inflict any damage on Laxus
- It remains dubious if Erza could use those powers freely
- Laxus has mastered his red lightning dragon mode and can enter the mode freely without assistance
- Laxus did not use his most powerful spells in his fight with Erza
- Laxus had already used a Secret Art to defeat Kyria beforehand, an opponent whom Erza herself claimed to be formidable
- The moment when Erza fell unconscious, Laxus was still standing on his own two feet
The thing that bothers me the most though, is some posters selectively picking what some of the characters said and taking it as gospel to suit their narrative. Despite being proven time and again, that statements made by characters can often be incorrect. On top of that, it was a line by the very character who was directly involved in the fight himself who has shown exactly why his thinking is not correct and hence his statement is not reliable. Let me ask you this. What do you think about the fact that Laxus said he does not possess any strength and proclaimed himself to be a weakling?
The man is humble and extremely modest. As much as I like him, Laxus' words have been proven to be unreliable. Over the course of the series, there are many other examples of statements being debunked due to wrongful thinking on said characters' part. Hence we should take statements with a pinch of salt. Actions speak louder than words. Given the evidence from the visual depiction of the panels drawn, how the fight actually took place and went down as it progressed, a simple eye test by any reader without an agenda or bias would point to Laxus having the better display of the two.
If the shoe was on the other foot, and Laxus was dominated by Erza for a lengthy portion or he required Enchantments from his team mates to fight on equal footing with Erza, we can bet our house that the Erza supporters would be claiming how those factors show Erza is superior to Laxus. Or better still. If Laxus knelt to Erza and fell unconscious while she was still standing, the Erza supporters would proclaim "There we go! There we have it! I always knew Erza was more powerful of the two!" Don't pretend you wouldn't. We are not fools.
I don't care about what Laxus said, neither do I care about what Erza said about how she will win next time, implying that she lost this time. I don't need to use what they say as evidence to prove my point. I have, and always will, go by feats and illustrations. Erza, with all due respect, is very strong. She is on the same tier as Laxus, However, Laxus have the edge.
I am glad you brought that up
If you are insinuating that the characters regain their magic power when they broke free from Faris' (it's Faris, not Touka btw) Whiteout, it would naturally mean their magic power were being held back while they were under the effects of Whiteout. To how much extent was their magic power being restricted by the effects of the spell, is something that would be interesting to explore. So if Laxus had fought with full access to his magic power, he would have fared even better in his fight with Erza. Regardless, waking up earlier does not mean that the wounds and injuries he sustained in his fight with Erza miraculously healed by themselves. It has been pointed out before that stamina/MP and physical endurance though connected, are still two separate things.
You could a valid point if you claim that Laxus woke up earlier than Erza due to him regaining his lost magic power/stamina after Faris freed him from Whiteout. This however, does not explain how Laxus managed to move around despite those wounds. When Laxus encountered Jellal, the latter made it a point to remark about Laxus' injuries.
Yet not only could he move, he could fight while carrying Erza on his as well. In contrast, Erza struggled to stand after she regain consciousness. She dropped to her knees when she tried to stand, was visibly hurt and shivering.
Laxus could move around and fight despite the wounds he sustained against Erza. Erza could not stand from the wounds he sustained against Laxus. Hence, Laxus has better endurance than Erza.
