Chapter 251
On the tournament’s main viewing platform sat Fairy Tail’s Master Makarov and several of the guild’s S-Class Mages.
The host was currently interviewing the group of "judges," although in practice it was mostly Makarov doing what he did best—talking.
"Mr. Makarov, which four teams do you think will ultimately qualify?"
"Hahaha! All the kids have been working hard, and they’re all strong in their own ways. I honestly couldn’t tell you who’ll make it."
"It certainly sounds as though you have plenty of confidence in your guild members. Quite a few guild masters from other Mage Guilds are here today as well, and many of them have said they’re extremely impressed by the tournament. Some have even expressed interest in participating themselves. Is there a possibility that the next Magic Tournament could involve multiple guilds?"
"Absolutely! The response to this one has been excellent, and I’m already considering making it a regular event. If our fellow guilds want to join in next time, I’d be more than happy to welcome them."
The host glanced at his notes before moving on to another question.
"One spectator has raised a concern. This battle-royale format is certainly exciting, but what happens if a team simply hides the entire time, avoids fighting, and survives long enough to sneak into the top four? Wouldn’t that be rather unfair?"
Makarov burst out laughing.
"Hahaha! There’s still a hidden part of the event you haven’t seen yet. Just keep watching and you’ll understand~"
He answered the reporter’s questions cheerfully, as casual as ever about saying whatever happened to be on his mind.
Makarov had become extremely fond of the tournament and was already considering continuing it in future years.
Seeing so many "concerned citizens" enthusiastically cheering for Fairy Tail’s youngsters had put the old man in an excellent mood.
As for how the newspapers might twist his comments afterward... that was no longer his problem!
...
Meanwhile, the battle inside the sandbox had entered its most intense stage.
The poison zone contracted rapidly once again, but this time something had changed. Instead of shrinking evenly toward the center, the safe area was shifting in an entirely different direction.
Natsu’s team was the first to realize what was happening, largely because they had Mest and his Teleportation Magic.
Mest himself had quite the story.
𝗳𝐫𝚎𝗲𝚠𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝘃𝚎𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝗺
He had accepted a mission from the Magic Council to investigate Fairy Tail and had decided to infiltrate the guild personally in search of "evidence" that Makarov intended to dominate the magical world.
Fairy Tail had simply become too prominent.
The Council had failed to resolve the Tower of Heaven incident, while Fairy Tail had handled it with ease.
Then the Council had struggled with Oración Seis, only for Fairy Tail to wipe them out almost casually.
At this point, some members of the Council were apparently beginning to wonder whether they might eventually be the next problem Fairy Tail decided to "handle" in passing.
So they had sent Mest, one of their strongest Teleportation Magic users and therefore one of their best escape specialists, to infiltrate the guild and determine whether Fairy Tail truly harbored rebellious intentions.
When Marshall learned the truth from Mest, he had nearly laughed himself sick.
He couldn’t help wondering what the Council would think if they ever discovered that the special agent they had dispatched to infiltrate Fairy Tail was, in fact, already a member of Fairy Tail himself!
Mest was still operating with his own memories sealed.
After planting vague impressions in the guild members’ minds that he had always belonged there, he had slipped into Natsu’s team without much difficulty.
Originally, Mest hadn’t even intended to participate in the World’s Number One Magic Tournament.
Then he heard that only competitors who performed well would be eligible for that year’s S-Class promotion trial.
And this year, the trial would take place on Fairy Tail’s sacred ground—Tenrou Island.
Mest immediately became convinced that the island must conceal some important Fairy Tail secret.
So he had no choice but to enter the tournament.
To improve his chances of surviving the preliminaries, he deliberately chose relatively dependable teammates.
He even wore a mask so nobody would recognize him as a member of the Magic Council.
From his perspective, he was being extraordinarily cautious.
When the poison zone shifted again, Mest originally intended to teleport Natsu and the others directly toward what appeared to be the new center, securing their qualification almost immediately.
But halfway through the teleportation, the spell abruptly stopped.
The entire group slammed into something invisible and tumbled to the ground as though they had run headfirst into a wall.
"Wh-What happened?!"
Mest quickly examined the area and frowned.
"The space ahead has been sealed. Teleportation Magic won’t work."
Only then did they realize where the shrinking zone had pushed them.
They were standing before a towering stone wall surrounding an enormous city.
Judging from the direction of the poison field, that city was clearly the tournament’s new final safe zone.
Natsu climbed to his feet, looked toward the top of the wall, and suddenly spotted several familiar figures standing near the gate.
"Freed?!"
His eyes widened.
"Why are the Thunder God Tribe here? Isn’t Laxus’s team supposed to skip the preliminaries?"
Standing before Natsu’s team were none other than Freed, Bickslow, and Evergreen.
Freed smiled.
"Technically, only the S-Class Mage is exempt from the preliminary round. The rest of us still have another job."
He gestured toward the gate behind him.
"We’re here to filter out teams that aren’t strong enough to enter the final stage~"
"Oh?"
Natsu immediately grinned.
"Then why are you blocking us? You think I can’t get past you?"
Bickslow stretched out his tongue and laughed theatrically.
"Hahaha! Natsu, you guys look way too fresh. Don’t tell me you’ve managed to avoid every real fight so far?"
He rolled his shoulders.
"We’ve been standing around here getting bored. Come on, play with us for a while~"
Mest immediately tried to stop Natsu before things got out of hand.
"Natsu, their mission is just to guard the gate. Ignore them! We can go around and enter somewhere else!"
Unfortunately, asking Natsu to ignore a direct challenge was pointless.
He charged forward with a roar.
"Hahaha! Let’s fight! I’M ALL FIRED UP!!!"
Back in the stadium, the spectators quickly noticed the sudden battle involving Natsu’s team.
The appearance of members from the S-Class teams immediately sent another wave of excitement through the crowd.
"Look! It’s the Thunder God Tribe!"
"So the S-Class teams really do have people inside the battlefield! Hahaha, look at that—the team that kept sneaking around and avoiding fights finally got caught!"
"Whoa! There are so many beautiful women in this tournament! That ticket was worth every Jewel!"
As the poison zone continued forcing everyone toward the city, the other teams that had spent the match hiding, sneaking, and avoiding direct confrontations began encountering members of the other S-Class teams as well.
After all, one of the tournament’s main purposes was to display Fairy Tail’s strength to the public.
The members of the S-Class teams also needed a chance to show what they could do.
Since their teams were already guaranteed places in the final eight, they had instead been inserted into the preliminary round as a special obstacle.
The final safe zone was an entire miniature city enclosed by thick, towering stone walls.
Each of the four S-Class teams guarded one of its four gates.
To them, the whole thing had essentially turned into a tower-defense game.
They didn’t need to worry about outrunning the poison field themselves, so they could simply stand at their assigned entrances and entertain themselves by making life miserable for whichever guildmates happened to approach.
For someone like Lucy, who preferred winning with the least possible physical effort, this was practically a dream match.
She and Cana were both summoner-type Mages, which made defending a fixed position almost absurdly favorable for them
. Between Celestial Spirits and Cana’s cards, the two nearly wiped out every team that attempted to attack their gate.
The arrival of the S-Class team members made the preliminaries even more exciting and unpredictable, and the cheers inside the stadium rose wave after wave.
That was simply Fairy Tail’s culture.
Nobody felt any need to go easy on their guildmates.
Ambushes, betrayals, surprise attacks, dirty tricks—everything was fair game.
Anyone unfamiliar with the guild might have assumed these people genuinely hated one another.
For the spectators, however, that complete lack of restraint made the tournament far more entertaining.
After round after round of elimination, the preliminary battle finally reached its conclusion.
The four teams that successfully qualified were Natsu’s team, Gray’s team, Gajeel’s team, and Macao’s team.
The first day of the tournament could safely be called a tremendous success.
All that remained was to draw the bracket for the next day.
Eight teams.
Four head-to-head matches.
The quarterfinal pairings were soon announced:
Match One: Laxus’s Team vs. Macao’s Team
Match Two: Natsu’s Team vs. Gray’s Team
Match Three: Marshall’s Team vs. Gajeel’s Team
Match Four: Erza’s Team vs. Mira’s Team
And with that, Fairy Tail’s final eight were decided.