[Next up, please welcome the brand-new Fairy Tail team!]
Takeshi stepped onto the stage with several companions.
Boom—
The entire arena erupted.
Takeshi, the undisputed king of day one, had toyed with Sabertooth and Raven Tail in the race segment. No one dared provoke him.
In battle he crushed Jura, fifth of the Ten Wizard Saints, forcing him to surrender.
Erza single-handedly cleared Pandemonium—one hundred monsters, leaving none for whoever followed.
They hadn't seen Laxus fight, but they saw the result: He steam-rolled Raven Tail's five-man team almost unscathed.
Natsu and Gajeel hadn't shown their strength yet, but standing here proved Fairy Tail itself endorsed them.
After all, plenty of powerhouses had already shone in earlier matches.
Cheers completely different from the boos on day one.
In just a few days, Fairy Tail has won this much popularity.
One lucky day might be chance. But topping the charts four days straight made even everyday spectators realize Fairy Tail dominates by sheer might.
Due to team reorganization—
Current overall standings:
1. Fairy Tail — 41 pts
2. Mermaid Heel — 36 pts
3. Sabertooth — 35 pts
4. Lamia Scale — 34 pts
5. Blue Pegasus — 27 pts
6. Quatro Cerberus — 22 pts
Grand Magic Games, Day Four: Pair Battles.
Match One: Blue Pegasus – Ren & Ichiya vs Quatro Cerberus – Bacchus & Roka
"Bacchus, let's go wild or we'll—"
Roka was anxious, their 22 pts came only because Sabertooth had handed them 2nd-place points to balance the field. Still last, they had to win here to stay in title contention.
"Shut it. We just gotta make our souls quiver—hic!"
Bacchus, beaten and stripped two days ago, would've mortified most. He merely shrugged—he often drank himself unconscious on the curb anyway.
The Games' medics had him patched up fast. Not 100 %, but stronger than anyone else in Quatro Cerberus.
"Ichiya-san, our score's shaky too. We need to climb." Ren was serious.
Blue Pegasus led Quatro Cerberus by only five points and trailed the leaders by sixteen. Tomorrow was the final, this was the last chance to close the gap.
"Indeed. Time to show the audience our true power." Ichiya struck a pose.
[Begin!]
Clang—
As the gong sounded both sides moved instantly.
Air Cannon!
Ren fired first, blasting a burst of pressurized air at Bacchus and Roka.
Boom—
The pair split and dodged.
"No retreat—let's rip them apart!"
Swirling with wind, Roka charged Ichiya, aiming to wipe out the weakest link first.
"H-hold on! I'm not ready—"
Smack!
Wind-wrapped heel to the face.
"Should've been ready sooner!"
Everyone knew Ichiya's magic: sniffing perfumes for buffs. Without them, he was a sitting duck.
Drunk-Chop HangingPalm – Under Moonlight!
Bacchus joined the assault on Ichiya.
"Ichiya-san!"
Ren rushed over, only for Roka to intercept him.
"Bacchus—finish Ichiya before he sniffs anything!"
"Leave it to me!"
Bacchus pummelled the helpless Ichiya.
"Ichiya-san!"
Ren released an orb of vibrating air that flung Roka aside. Then he dashed at Bacchus, but the brawler simply caught his fist.
"Ichiya's down—now it's just you."
"What?"
Ren glanced: Ichiya lay motionless.
Opening!
Bacchus slammed Ren's chest, then chained blow after blow.
"Aargh!"
Ren crashed, paralysed by pain.
"Done!"
Bacchus raised a victorious arm.
"I told you to wait! Where's the sportsmanship?"
Riiip!
Ichiya rose, his clothes shredding over bulging muscle.
"W-what the! Suddenly savage?" Bacchus blinked.
"Power perfume?"
Knowing Ichiya's magic, Roka turned serious.
"Ren-kun, thanks to you I could cast. For you, I dedicate this bouquet of victory."
"Less talk!"
Bacchus and Roka charged, determined to drop him.
Smiling Smash!
One punch sent both flying into the arena wall.
[They're down! Quatro Cerberus is down! Winner: Blue Pegasus!]
"Ugh…"
Half the crowd felt sick at the sight of Ichiya.
"So dashing!" Ren gazed in awe.
Natsu stared. "He's actually amazing."
[Match Two: Lamia Scale – Lyon & Yuka vs Mermaid Heel – Kagura & Millianna]
After a fierce thirty-minute brawl, neither side could claim victory and the bout ended in a draw.
"Kagura's tough." Yuka nursed his wounds.
"She hasn't even gone all-out." Lyon said.
His Ice-Make's mobility had been cramped by her Gravity Magic, so he'd mounted no decisive strike.
With blade still sheathed, Kagura couldn't break his defenses either, so the deadlock dragged into a draw.
"Every year it's the same, no one has ever seen Kagura fight at full strength."
Yuka's body trembled slightly. He'd gone all-out yet hadn't forced her to reveal her true power, and that left him deeply frustrated.
"We'll finally see it in the finals."
Lyon, too, had waited for Kagura to draw her blade, so he'd held back, wary to the end, yet she never unsheathed it.
Millianna asked, "Kagura, are you all right?"
Kagura nodded. "I'm fine. That man named Lyon is very strong, and he didn't use his full strength either."
[The crowd's excitement hasn't dimmed, and the next bout is already setting hearts racing! Both guild crests now hover above the arena!]
[Seven years ago's mightiest guild clashes with today's strongest—an epic grudge match!]
[Fairy Tail's Natsu & Gajeel VS Sabertooth's Sting & Rogue!]
[And all four of them are Dragon Slayers, each wielding the lost magic to fight Dragons!]
[The moment of fierce battle is here at last!]
[Will victory go to the fairies or the tigers? The four dragons on this field have been fully unleashed!]
"I never imagined it would turn out like this." Levy stared nervously at the four in the center.
Dragon Slayers are vanishingly rare, a lost magic, yet four of them stand ready to clash.
"Natsu and the others will win, right?" Romeo gulped.
Mirajane smiled. "Relax, they'll win. They've spent every day chasing that man's back. A goal close enough to see yet distant enough to reach lights a fiercer fire than wandering without one."
She knew it firsthand. Takeshi was her age, yet far stronger—likely the mightiest Mage in Ishgar. With a monster of the same generation beside you, even Laxus couldn't afford pride. All you could do was chase Takeshi's footsteps, and that pressure could draw out astonishing potential.