Chapter 253
There had never been much suspense in the Thunder God Team’s match.
Laxus casually called down a bolt of lightning and nearly charred the four older men on the spot; if Marshall hadn’t previously helped them develop their Second Origins, they probably wouldn’t have lasted more than a few minutes.
After an overwhelmingly one-sided battle, the Thunder God Team advanced without difficulty.
The tournament quickly moved on to the second match:
[Fire Dragon Team] VS [Ice Lion Team]
Happy folded his arms across his chest and nodded smugly. "We’ve got five people, and they’ve only got four. The advantage is ours!"
Natsu glanced at him. "Aren’t you a cat? That still makes us four people."
Happy’s eyes widened. "Aye! You’re right!"
Natsu cracked his knuckles together, his grin becoming almost vicious.
𝒇𝒓𝙚𝒆𝔀𝓮𝓫𝒏𝓸𝙫𝓮𝓵.𝓬𝙤𝙢
"Hehehe, perfect! I’ve wanted to beat the crap out of that bastard Gray in front of everyone for ages. A few days ago, I remembered that fight from five years ago and realized I actually lost to him. I’ve barely slept since! Anyway, Gray’s mine. Can you guys handle everyone else?"
Mest nodded. "I’ll keep Loki occupied."
Nab and Marcus exchanged sinister smiles. "Hehehe... leave Alzack to us. We’ll make sure he gets a very warm welcome!"
"Hey, what about Bisca?"
"That’s fine. If we go after Alzack, Bisca will definitely come running to help him. Those two are always flirting with each other around the guild, and I’m sick of watching it! Damn it... why does talking about this make me feel even worse?"
Happy scratched his head. "What about me?"
"Happy, you stay home and defend the base. Just keep an eye on our flag."
"Oh... okay."
The battlefield for the second match had been constructed like a vast basin, with each team’s camp positioned on high ground at opposite ends.
Anyone who wanted a proper fight had little choice but to descend toward the center.
Naturally, Natsu and Gray started by standing in their respective camps and shouting insults at each other from across the battlefield.
When words stopped being enough, Natsu started hurling fireballs while Gray answered with giant chunks of ice.
Before long, both of them leaped down into the basin.
Their fists collided head-on.
Fire and ice exploded outward from the impact point, transforming one side of the basin into a frozen wasteland while the other became a blazing sea of flames.
Where the two extremes met, an enormous cloud of steam rose like a mushroom cloud, turning the entire collision into a spectacular display.
The spectators immediately erupted into cheers and astonished shouts.
The previous match had been overwhelmingly one-sided and hadn’t produced anything remotely this flashy.
Up on the judges’ platform, Laxus raised an eyebrow. "Those two idiots have improved quite a bit."
Marshall chuckled. "Ever since they opened their Second Origins, their growth has been ridiculous. Better be careful, Laxus. Don’t lose to one of them in the next round~"
Laxus snorted. "They’ve still got a long way to go before that happens."
Down in the basin, Natsu opened his mouth and unleashed a torrent of scorching flames.
Gray immediately raised a thick ice wall in front of himself, and the collision between fire and ice filled the battlefield with dense white mist.
Then an ice spear suddenly shot toward Natsu from the right.
Natsu smashed it apart with one punch, only to realize that the spear had been strangely brittle.
A feint.
By the time he noticed, walls of ice had already risen around him, surrounding him from every direction.
Even more strangely, a figure of Gray seemed to be standing in front of every section of ice.
Another ice spear suddenly shot out from the right and struck Natsu squarely in the side, coating part of his body in frost and making him jerk in surprise.
Gray’s voice echoed from every direction.
"Ice Mirror Magic. Works pretty well against a brainless idiot like you, doesn’t it~?"
Eight ice spears launched simultaneously from eight different directions, each mixed among real and false attacks so that Natsu couldn’t immediately tell which ones carried genuine force.
"Enough with the flashy crap! I’ll just melt all of it!"
Magic Power erupted violently from Natsu’s body.
An enormous lotus of flame suddenly blossomed around him, instantly melting every ice spear and ice wall in the area and filling the basin with another wave of thick steam.
"Damn that reckless bastard...!"
Gray immediately started retreating before the attack could engulf him.
Then something moved inside the steam.
A blazing figure burst straight through the white haze.
Gray barely had time to raise his guard before Natsu’s flaming fist was already in his face.
Natsu grinned viciously. "Heh. You thought I couldn’t find the real you? I know your scent way too well!"
The punch landed squarely.
Gray twisted through the air from the impact, but instead of being sent flying helplessly, he covered his right arm in thick ice armor and swung back at the charging Natsu.
Their fists collided again.
The resulting boom was so violent that even the spectators outside the miniature battlefield could hear it clearly.
Gray clicked his tongue. "Damn animal! Fighting you is seriously annoying."
Natsu grinned back at him. "Right back at you!"
The two incompatible idiots immediately resumed their close-range slugfest, smashing fist against fist as fire and ice burst around them.
For the moment, neither side could gain a decisive advantage.
From the judges’ platform, Laxus watched for a while before commenting, "Looks like Gray’s starting to fall behind. Natsu’s improved even faster than he has."
"Their individual fight could still go either way," Marshall replied cheerfully, "but I think Gray’s team is about to lose~"
He pointed toward a quiet corner of the battlefield.
"Happy’s gone to steal their flag, and somehow none of them have noticed."
Mira covered her mouth and laughed softly. "Happy’s doing wonderfully. I suppose this really is the advantage of having an extra member."
Sure enough, while everyone else was busy fighting, one suspicious little blue cat was sneaking around the edge of the battlefield and carefully avoiding every confrontation.
Happy eventually reached the Ice Lion Team’s camp without anyone stopping him and casually pulled their flag out of the ground.
Gray was still exchanging blows with Natsu.
Loki was busy searching everywhere for Mest.
Meanwhile, Alzack and Bisca were caught up in a ridiculous running battle against Nab and Marcus.
Aside from the spectators watching from outside, not a single member of Gray’s team noticed what Happy was doing.
Happy wrapped the stolen flag around himself like a cape, flew straight across the battlefield, and even passed above the ongoing fight between Natsu and Gray.
"Aye! Good luck, Gray!"
Then he kept flying.
After realizing that absolutely nobody had noticed him, the shameless cat returned to the edge of his own camp and didn’t even bother planting the flag immediately.
Instead, he pulled out a dried fish, sat down beside the flagpole, and leisurely watched everyone else continue fighting.
The spectators outside were nearly dying with laughter, while the people actually inside the battlefield remained completely absorbed in their battles.
Only after Happy finished his dried fish did he dust off his paws, pick up Gray’s flag, and plant it beside his own.
The host’s voice immediately rang across the stadium.
"Second match—the winner is the Fire Dragon Team!"
Natsu and Gray had been halfway through another exchange of punches when the announcement came.
Both of them froze.
They turned around at the same time and saw Happy standing proudly between the two flags, hands planted on his hips and looking unbearably smug.
"WHAT?!" Gray shouted. "That’s dirty! You bastards actually snuck in and stole our flag?! Where’s your sense of honor?!"
Natsu stared blankly for a second before immediately planting his own hands on his hips and laughing right back at him.
"HAHAHAHA! Didn’t see that coming, did you?! That was our brilliant strategy! You bunch of brainless idiots!"
Gray was obviously unwilling to accept such an ending, but there was nothing he could do about it. His team had one fewer member, and Happy had exploited that advantage perfectly.
And just like that, the second quarterfinal ended in an unexpectedly ridiculous fashion.
"Next, please welcome the teams competing in our third match! Give it up for the Marshall Team and the Iron Dragon Team!"
The moment the matchup was announced, Gajeel’s teammates looked noticeably less enthusiastic.
Jet lowered his head in despair. "We’re doomed. There’s no way we can beat Marshall. Maybe we should just surrender now."
Droy looked equally miserable. "Yeah... and I don’t want to fight Levy either. Even if Levy and I were never meant to be together, she’ll always be the angel in my heart."
The newly arrived Panther Lily looked at both of them and spoke with brutal honesty.
"I heard both of you confessed to Levy and were rejected. Apparently, each rejection took only 0.1 seconds, setting the fastest rejection record in the guild."
"AAAAAH! STOP TALKING ABOUT THAT!" Jet cried. "Why do you even know the details so well?!"
Lily blinked. "I didn’t ask anyone about it..."
"Enough! Quit whining!"
Gajeel opened his mouth, spat out a screw he had apparently been chewing, and gave a satisfied burp.
"What’re you scared of?"
He grinned confidently.
"Nah.."
"We’ll win."
...
a few moments later...
"All right! Now, let’s welcome the competitors for our fourth quarterfinal match—"
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