While the contradictory Erza had silently accepted and was now looking forward to tonight's date, the charm showdown on the field had reached its boiling point.
After several rounds of playful contests—glasses girl, swimsuits, S&M, wedding dresses, and more—based on audience feedback and votes from the three perverts on the commentary panel, the scores for Future Mirajane and Future Jenny's camps had reached a deadlocked 30:30.
"The wedding dress theme is over. It seems we must return to the swimsuit theme to decide the final winner!"
True to his professional nature, Chapati remained passionate even without the adrenaline of magical combat. In some ways, he seemed even more excited than during Elfman's match against Future Bacchus.
"Hehe. I suppose it's about time for this old woman to make her entrance~!"
A rough, low voice suddenly echoed from high above, drawing everyone's attention.
"Th-That is?!" Chapati exclaimed.
"Lamia Scale's Oba Babasaama!"
Standing atop a giant stone statue, Babasaama's spinning finger pointed directly at the arena.
The sunlight behind her served as a natural spotlight, making her shine brilliantly.
"What is a woman's charm? Let this old woman teach you, you milk-drinking little girls!!"
Her red dress blotting out the sun, Babasaama leaped from the giant statue.
After landing with grace and poise, she inserted her wrinkled hand into her mouth and began twisting her "sexy" waist in full public view.
"..."
As if struck by an irresistible petrification spell, the entire arena fell into dead silence. Everyone stood frozen like wooden statues.
Even the background turned monochrome—all color had been utterly eclipsed in that instant!
"With that single blow, the arena's atmosphere has plunged into a winter ice age," Chapati said, using a deflated, listless commentary tone for the first time. "The intruders have all cooled off and returned to their respective guild seats."
However, the winter ice age dissipated faster than anyone expected.
The scheming Jenny, following the example of the two previous matches, made a bet with Future Mirajane: the loser would have to publish nude photos in the next issue of Weekly Sorcerer Magazine!
Amidst the thunderous cheers from the audience, the rejuvenated Chapati loudly announced the final theme: "Battle Form Showdown!"
And it was over in a flash.
In the blink of an eye, Jenny was floored by Future Mirajane, who had taken on the Halphas Take Over form, completely incapacitated.
According to the Grand Magic Games battle round rules, the victory naturally went to Fairy Tail Team B!
Before exiting, Future Mirajane twisted the knife with a tilted-head smile: "I'm looking forward to it, Jenny—you looking like a newborn~"
Jenny clutched her chest and wept.
Immediately after, the final battle round of the day commenced.
Sabertooth's Celestial Spirit Mage, Yukino Agria, versus Mermaid Heel's gravity mage, Kagura Mikazuchi!
In a bid to salvage Sabertooth's losses in the competitive events from yesterday and today, Yukino—who had just joined the guild this year—followed the example of the previous three matches and wagered her life right from the start, shocking the entire audience.
As the holder of the Twelve Golden Keys Pisces and Libra, as well as the 13th Gate Ophiuchus, her strength and talent were undeniable—even surpassing her older sister Sorano.
(In the 100 Years Quest, she learned Celestial Spirit Dress just by watching Lucy once.)
Unfortunately, her opponent was Kagura, wielding the Grudge Sword: Unfearing Heaven!
After a fierce battle, with the massive Ophiuchus cleaved in two, Yukino suffered a crushing defeat, and her life was claimed (temporarily held) by Kagura.
And so, all events of Day Two of the Grand Magic Games came to a close.
The guild standings were displayed on the holographic screen for all to see, ranked from highest to lowest:
Fairy Tail Team B — 31P
Fairy Tail Team A — 30P
Raven Tail — 18P
Mermaid Heel — 18P (tie)
Blue Pegasus — 16P
Sabertooth — 14P
Four Little Puppies — 11P
Lamia Scale — 10P
Fairy Tail remained firmly in the top two. In stark contrast, the "son guild" Raven Tail had leaped from last place with zero points yesterday to third place.
Kurohebi, who had single-handedly scored 18 points, became the guild's MVP—even though Ivan only cared about targeting Fairy Tail, not rankings.
Sabertooth, having dropped to third from the bottom, had all their members wearing grim faces. The second-to-last "Four Little Puppies" were all petrified. And the last-place Lamia Scale members were all spinning in circles.
"Ahaha! Look! We're only one point behind Team B!!"
The moment he saw the rankings, Natsu inside the card started shouting excitedly.
As for why it wasn't Future Natsu—Chase had knocked him out, and he was still lying in the rest area.
"R-Really?! I didn't even notice!"
"Does this mean we actually have a chance to beat those monsters on Team B?"
Lucy was also beaming with surprise, cackling slyly. "What punishment should we decide on... I definitely want to see Chase in a maid outfit!"
At last night's celebration, Makarov had revealed the internal punishment system to them.
"Aye~ That would be punishing us," Happy said, frantically wiping the horrifying image from his mind. Future Happy, dropping all pretense, suggested: "Exactly! Make him catch fish for us all day!"
"A real man would give me a back scrub!"
"I'd make Chase pick up clothes for me all day."
"I... I'd want Chase to read a book with me for a while."
Listening to these increasingly ridiculous punishments, Lucy's lips twitched as she launched into a barrage of complaints: "You cats have no right to talk! What kind of punishments are 'picking up clothes' and 'back scrubbing'?! And Wendy, yours is way too gentle!"
Future Lucy muttered quietly: "I somehow feel really sorry for Chase..."
"It looks like we've suddenly been challenged. What do you all think?" Chase said, smiling at Team B.
"Oh my, I'd love to try out my new ability (the little demon)~" Mira said with a kindly smile.
"If we run into them, I'll zap them senseless," Future Laxus said, clenching his sparking fist.
"Heheh. Priority target—that damn Fire Dragon!" both Gajeels said with fierce grins.
"Leave the blonde to Juvia," both Juvias said in perfect unison.
The fearsome display left the substitute member Cana wide-eyed: "Wait—are you guys serious? There are some strong people in the other guilds too."
It wasn't just them—even non-participants had subconsciously assumed Fairy Tail had already won the championship, shifting their attention to the competition between Teams A and B.
Future Macao had even started a betting pool for it. Both Makarovs and both Mavises eagerly joined the gamblers, the scene heating up.
The Grand Magic Games, once a source of dread, had unknowingly become an "internal guild war," an air of casual confidence settling over everyone.
***
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