Even most of Fairy Tail couldn't figure out Makarov's reasoning behind this lineup, let alone the others.
"Oh my! This is quite unexpected. Fairy Tail's final-day lineup is certainly surprising!"
Chapati voiced the audience's confusion, his face full of disappointment. "I can understand Lucy, Natsu, and Gajeel needing to recover from their excellent performances yesterday. But Chase, the strongest, and Gildarts, who's reportedly already arrived in Crocus, aren't participating either!"
When he'd learned about Gildarts last night, he had been hoping to see Chase and Gildarts crushing the entire field together.
"Perhaps there's some special consideration at play."
Yajima raised a finger and explained with a smile. "Besides, Macao, who once served as acting guild master, is not to be underestimated~"
He, too, could see the deeper meaning behind Makarov's arrangement: allowing the younger generation to gain valuable experience while acknowledging the hardships endured by the members who had stayed behind over the past seven years.
"That Chase bas—ahem, Chase not participating is actually a good thing for the other guilds, pumpkin."
The Pumpkin Head's tone carried strong personal sentiment. He'd genuinely developed a psychological shadow from Chase.
If that bastard participated, the special rules he'd added overnight for the survival battle would probably be thrown into chaos again!
As he said, the other competitors all breathed heavy sighs of relief upon realizing that Chase, Lucy, and the others weren't there.
"Looks like we won't have to fight a monster in today's finals." Future Jura looked up at Chase in the stands and sighed.
Chase smiled back. "Don't celebrate too early. You might be in for a nasty surprise."
"We're lucky. Natsu Dragneel and Gajeel Redfox aren't here either." Future Rogue's gaze was low and heavy.
"Whatever it takes, we have to win." Future Sting clenched his fists tightly.
Similar to the original story's development, after returning to Sabertooth's base the night before last, the defeated pair had been brutally beaten by the enraged Jiemon.
Future Lector, the Exceed, couldn't help but plead for Sting, only to be blasted to dust by Jiemon with a single spell, on the grounds that "creatures like cats and dogs have no right to bear my guild's emblem."
Future Sting had snapped and killed Jiemon with a single punch, stunning all the Sabertooth members.
Afterward, Future Minerva had stepped forward and declared Sting the temporary guild master. Whether it was because she'd seen the importance of comrades in Lucy, or because she'd recalled what she herself used to believe in before her father Jiemon replaced it with "the strong are supreme," this time she didn't use the rescued Lector as leverage. She returned him to Future Sting instead.
"Erza-chan, still full of energy today!"
"Even if you're a former comrade, I won't go easy on you if we meet in battle, Millianna!"
"Gray, I'm definitely going to win you from Juvia!"
"I never agreed to that weird bet, and there's no way I'd lose to you!"
"Then I'll take Miss Cana."
"Ivan Loom? Sorry, little boys like you aren't my type~"
The competitors who knew each other exchanged greetings.
Outside the arena, an enraged father was furious. "That pretty boy dares to hit on my precious daughter?! Master, put me in!!"
Future Wakaba and the others hurriedly held him back as he tried to rush onto the field.
Just then, Chapati's voice rang out.
"Now then, let me explain the detailed rules for today's final survival challenge. First—"
The scope of the final "Survival Game" was no longer limited to the Grand Magic Games main venue, but expanded to all the streets of Crocus.
The participating teams would be scattered to random areas of the city. If they encountered each other during reconnaissance, they would have to fight.
Knocking out an opponent or rendering them unable to fight earned one point. If the target was the team captain, five points.
Teams would not be able to determine who the captain was in advance.
Additionally, five neutral NPCs had been deployed throughout Crocus. Defeating them earned an extra 3 points. The NPCs' locations were public information. They would only move within their designated areas and would not actively attack passing contestants.
However, if they were attacked, they would treat the attacker as an enemy and pursue them until the contestant surrendered, withdrew, or was incapacitated.
Every time an NPC defeated a contestant, their inherent score would increase by 1 point. If the target was a captain, it increased by 5.
Moreover, all points earned within an NPC's area would also accumulate onto that NPC.
For example, if two ordinary members from different guilds fought, and A defeated B, that NPC's inherent score would also increase by 1, rising from the base 3 points to 4!
"I didn't expect there to be hidden rules beyond what was initially announced."
Chase furrowed his brow, finding this special rule, which hadn't appeared in the original story, quite unfamiliar.
But on reflection, it made sense. Compared to the original timeline, Fairy Tail's current lead was simply too large, nearly double the second-place guild's score.
With such a massive gap, two extreme outcomes were likely: either everyone would gang up on them, or they would cruise to an easy victory.
Clearly, neither outcome was what the Grand Magic Games organizers wanted.
Given this, it was only natural they would add special rules to make the final battle more interesting.
"This is indeed unexpected. With these rules, the other teams could theoretically gain much more points," Makarov said with a serious expression.
"And it also makes determining a strategy much more strict," Mirajane added in analysis.
Should they move together as a group, or split up to defeat opponents one by one?
Should they prioritize taking the neutral points and risk being countered, or lie in wait for the NPCs to "fatten up" before sweeping in?
Could other enemies beat them to it? These were all questions they had to consider.
"I feel like this just got a lot more complicated."
The idiot Lucy was getting dizzy from all the analysis.
"Who cares about all that! Just go punch them, all five of you!!"
Natsu shouted at the arena, clearly putting himself in their shoes.
The other guildmates looked worried, mostly because of Future Macao.
"Wahhh, wahhh—"
Just then, two sobbing sounds suddenly reached their ears.
Looking up, both Mavises sitting on the railing were making the same gesture, covering their teary eyes with their hands, looking utterly wronged.
"Th-That's so mean. They should have told us about this rule in advance."
"We stayed up all night analyzing every contestant's personality, behavior patterns, and magic characteristics. After hundreds of millions of simulations, we finally helped them develop a battle plan."
"Now there's no time to re-simulate everything!"
As they spoke, the two Mavises became even more devastated and burst into tears, crying like fountains.
They'd finally gotten a chance to show off in front of their comrades and display the name "Fairy Tactician."
And then, just like that, it was all gone!
***
Dive deeper into the story with 30+ advance chapters, available now on Patreon!
patreon.com/CNBLUE
If you're enjoying the novel, please consider leaving a review. Your support is crucial and helps the story grow immensely. Thank you!