Chapter 103
It took nearly two hours for all the candidates to reach the mountaintop.
The journey itself obviously shouldn’t have required that long.
However, as proud members of Fairy Tail, everyone had immediately understood the true purpose of the first round.
It was a test of how effectively they could make life miserable for their competitors!
They had spent the entire journey setting traps, attacking one another, and placing every possible obstacle in each other’s way.
Naturally, it took ages for anyone to finish.
Marshall had been the first to arrive.
By the time the others reached the summit, he was already sitting comfortably on a large rock and chewing on his travel rations.
The candidates arrived one after another until the last participant finally dragged himself over the edge of the mountain.
Natsu came in eighth, panting heavily with an equally exhausted Happy sprawled across his head.
"You people are so underhanded!"
He climbed onto the summit with all the dignity of a half-dead dog.
"I can’t believe you actually—"
Then he noticed everyone staring at him with amused expressions.
Natsu froze.
"Damn it! How did all of you get here so fast?"
He whirled toward Makarov.
"Old man, what place did I get?!"
"Eighth."
Makarov stroked his beard.
"Now rest for a while. I’ll explain the rules for the second round shortly."
Marshall continued waiting patiently as though none of this concerned him.
Half an hour later, Makarov announced that the tournament round was about to begin and reached for the lots that would determine the first pair of opponents.
That was when Marshall finally moved.
"Master, I have a suggestion that could save everyone a great deal of time."
He floated into the center of the arena and proudly raised his chin, wearing the most obnoxiously smug expression imaginable.
"Since certain idiots have questioned whether I deserve to participate in the S-Class Promotion Trial, I’d like to answer everyone at once."
"First, let me make one thing clear."
Marshall swept his gaze across the candidates.
"I’m not targeting anyone in particular."
"I mean every single person standing here."
"You’re all small fry~"
"Small..... Fry."
The candidates’ expressions darkened.
"So instead of wasting time drawing lots, all seven of you can attack me together."
"I’ll defeat everyone at once."
"NANI?!"
"Fine."
Makarov studied him briefly before putting away the lots.
"If that’s what you want, I’ll allow it."
Even the S-Class examiners watching from the sidelines were surprised by his confidence, but no one stepped in to stop him.
Natsu was the only one stood there grinding his teeth.
The climb had consumed much of his stamina, but anger alone seemed capable of keeping him upright.
Marshall said nothing further as he simply released his magic power.
A terrifying wave of pressure swept across the summit.
A huge amount of magic surged into the open without the slightest restraint, and several candidates immediately went pale.
Gray and Cana looked as though their entire understanding of the world had collapsed.
"Y-You’ve got to be kidding."
Gray stared at him.
"That’s already higher than Erza’s magic power, isn’t it?!"
"So this is Marshall’s real strength?"
Cana clenched her cards.
"Damn it! When did he become this powerful?!"
Two years earlier, when they had fought Marshall together, his magic power had only been a little higher than them.
Back then, the difference between them had still seemed manageable.
Marshall had shattered that expectation.
After opening his Second Origin and reaching Level Four Meditation, his reserves had continued rising at an absurd speed.
"M-Master, I object."
Gray forced himself to speak despite the pressure.
"There’s no way this can still be considered a fair match."
Makarov glanced at Marshall.
"Since they’re all saying that, perhaps we should forget this idea."
"What?! Even Master agrees?"
The others were unwilling to admit defeat before the battle had begun, but if even Makarov acknowledged Marshall’s overwhelming advantage, then they truly had no chance unless they cooperated.
Juvia screamed internally.
’No!’
’Being surpassed by a boy several years younger than Juvia is unacceptable, even if its Marshall!’
Marshall nodded in satisfaction and handed a specially modified terminal to Ruby.
"Ruby, you’ll be responsible for recording the battle."
"Make sure you capture my best angles."
"Aye, Boss! Ruby guarantees she’ll make you look amazing, nya!"
"This is ridiculous!"
Natsu charged forward.
"I’ll never accept it! Marshall, eat my fist!"
Marshall smiled.
"Natsu, you really never learn."
He snapped his fingers.
"Bind."
A golden character appeared, and the space around Natsu instantly locked into place.
Before the spell could fully stabilize, however, a block of ice formed around the glowing word and shattered it.
Gray had frozen the magical script itself, disrupting the spell.
Natsu broke free and grinned.
"Don’t underestimate Fairy Tail’s bonds, you bastard!"
Marshall showed no concern.
He floated high into the sky until no one on the ground could reach him, placed both hands on his hips, and laughed triumphantly.
"You people think you’re qualified to dance with me?"
"Go ahead and try!"
"Let’s remove the first one~"
A pink flash crossed the battlefield.
Marshall’s Thought Projection appeared beside Juvia without warning and struck her with its staff.
She was sent flying before she could turn into water, her eyes rolling back as she nearly lost consciousness.
"That’s his Thought Projection!"
"Watch out for his teleportation!"
"Damn it! Is that bastard planning to beat all of us with nothing but a projection?"
Freed raised his head and shouted, "Idiots! His real body has taken the highest possible position!"
"He can see everyone on the battlefield from up there."
"If we leave him alone, his projection will teleport to our blind spots and eliminate us one by one!"
"We have to bring him down!"
"Ice-Make: Bow!"
Gray formed a large bow of ice and aimed it toward the sky.
Cana drew another card from her deck.
A blast of freezing air spread around her as an ornate bow appeared in her hands.
It was one of her strongest offensive cards—Ice Bow.
"Where is he?"
Cana stared into the clouds.
"I can’t see him anymore!"
A magic staff appeared in Mystogan’s hand.
"I can detect Marshall’s position."
"I’ll mark it for you."
He hesitated.
"However, I don’t wish to attack him directly. I can only support the rest of you."
"That’s enough!"
Cana drew the bowstring.
"Marshall, prepare yourself!"
At that moment, Marshall’s infuriating voice echoed through everyone’s minds.
[Hahaha~ Haven’t you forgotten something important?]
[Telepathy Magic is still my greatest specialty.]
[When it comes to information warfare, I’m the professional here~]
A moment later, the candidates’ coordination collapsed.
"Natsu! Why did you hit me?!"
Gray staggered away from a flaming fist.
"Huh? I thought you were Marshall!"
"Stop making excuses! You want a fight?!"
"You two—this isn’t the time!"
Freed frowned.
He could feel Marshall quietly taking control of the surrounding space.
Freed rapidly completed a Jutsu-Shiki.
The rule activated, forcing Marshall out of the sky.
Before he could hit the ground, however, Marshall teleported beside his Thought Projection.
"Excellent work, Freed!" someone shouted.
"A Jutsu-Shiki? Not bad."
Marshall casually dusted off his clothes.
"I could rewrite it immediately, but fighting from the air really would be a little too unfair."
"I’ll stay down here and play with you."
"However..."
He swept two fingers through the air.
A new Jutsu-Shiki formed almost instantly.
[The creation of new Jutsu-Shiki is prohibited within this area.]
Freed’s forehead broke into a cold sweat.
"How advanced is his Script Magic?"
"That creation speed is impossible..."
"I need time."
Mystogan planted several of his staves into the ground.
"I must construct a magic circle powerful enough to threaten him."
His reliance on prearranged magical arrays still limited his ability to react quickly during battle.
"Leave it to us!"
Gray and Natsu rushed forward while Cana supported them with her cards.
They couldn’t match Marshall’s raw strength, but their Energy attributes had also crossed the ten-thousand threshold.
They were hardly weak.
Marshall met them with Light-Make constructs.
Although his Light-Make Magic was currently slightly inferior to Gray’s Ice-Make in hardness and destructive force, Marshall’s enormous magic reserves made up the difference.
He simultaneously fought both opponents while still maintaining several other spells.
"Ora ora ora ora!"
Marshall deflected Gray’s barrage with a glowing staff.
"Did you forget to eat breakfast, Gray? Put some strength into those punches!"
"So weak~"
"Muda muda muda muda!"
He twisted aside from Natsu’s flames while several light constructs battered him backward.
"You can’t even touch my clothes!"
"Small fry~"
Gray and Natsu’s faces turned crimson.
Marshall wasn’t fighting seriously at all!
He was openly playing with them!
Even while dividing his attention across several spells, he continued suppressing both of them with ease.
Compared with their previous battle, the difference between them now felt hopeless.
"Everyone, move!"
Mystogan’s voice rang across the summit.
"Marshall, this is my strongest spell."
"Let me see the true extent of your power!"
Five enormous magic circles appeared above one another in the sky.
"Five Layered Magic Circle: Sacred Song!"
A devastating beam of concentrated magical energy descended toward the arena.
Marshall looked up in genuine surprise.
"Wow... Master, isn’t that slightly excessive for an examination?"
He hadn’t expected Mystogan to possess such a powerful hidden magic.
The spell gathered the surrounding energy into a destructive pillar of light.
Even Marshall could sense a trace of danger from it.
Mystogan breathed heavily beside his staves.
"Well?"
"That’s my strongest spell."
"It’s certainly troublesome."
Marshall remained completely calm as the beam descended.
"But the match ended the moment I agreed to remain on the ground."
"I control all the space around us."
"I could simply banish an attack of this level into another dimension, and nothing would happen."
"But there’s an even easier solution."
Marshall grinned.
"After all..."
"This is light."
He opened his mouth and inhaled.
The enormous beam twisted in midair and poured directly into him.
"What?!"
"Damn it! Marshall is a Dragon Slayer too remember!"
"He can eat light!"
Marshall patted his stomach and released a small burp.
"I ate a little too much."
"That flavor was rather intense."
The other candidates were exhausted.
They had used nearly everything they possessed, yet Marshall had casually swallowed Mystogan’s strongest attack.
This was blatant cheating.
How were they supposed to fight someone like that?
"Honestly, you people will never defeat Marshall like this."
Everyone turned toward Cana, who had barely participated in the battle.
Gray’s eye twitched.
"Hey! You’ve been slacking off this entire time, haven’t you?!"
Even Marshall became curious.
He didn’t remember having any obvious weakness Cana could exploit.
Unable to resist, he listened to her thoughts.
His expression changed instantly.
"Cana?!"
"Wait!"
"Stop!"
"Hahaha! Too late!"
Cana raised a card triumphantly.
"This was my plan from the very beginning!"
"It’s my turn!"
"I activate my trap card—Marshall’s ultimate weakness!"
"Swimsuit Beauty Ambush!"
A flash of light filled the arena.
More than a dozen beautiful women wearing swimsuits suddenly appeared around Marshall, surrounding him from every direction.
"Marshall has no resistance against pretty girls!"
Cana pointed dramatically.
"Now’s our chance! Everyone, attack together!"
The atmosphere on the battlefield became strangely awkward.
Everyone could see Marshall’s face turning bright red.
Only Marshall knew that it wasn’t excitement.
It was humiliation.
And fury!
’What the hell has been going through Cana’s head?!’
"Ca... na...!"
Light gathered inside Marshall’s mouth.
"You—!"
"Light Dragon’s—"
Cana’s face changed.
"W-Wait! Marshall, don’t—"
"ROAR!"
A towering mushroom cloud rose into the sky.
The mountaintop Makarov had worked so hard to prepare was completely flattened.
...
After the incident, twelve-year-old Marshall successfully became an S-Class Mage.
However, everyone who participated in that year’s S-Class Promotion Trial refused to discuss the final battle.
To this day, no one else knows exactly what happened on that mountain.