The knockout stage on the second day was not held in a special venue like the floating labyrinth.
Instead, it would take place in a true arena.
Domus Flau, this ancient coliseum with a long history, was finally about to witness battles between mages again after who knew how many years.
However, the first segment of the first day of the official matches still would not be held inside Domus Flau's fighting arena.
For now, everyone had gathered in the coliseum simply to hear the rules. The format of the official matches had changed.
"The official matches will use a points system. The team with the highest final score will be the winner."
King Toma explained the format very simply.
Unlike the preliminary round, even though this phase was supposed to be the "knockout stage," the eight teams would not actually be eliminated one by one. Instead, they would be ranked by points.
Officially, this was now called the main tournament.
"The main tournament will be held over five days. Each day will be divided into a first half and a second half. Different events will have different requirements for the number of participants. Each team may decide for themselves whom to send."
King Toma continued his explanation.
The format itself was easy to understand. No matter what the event was, they just had to send someone up and win.
The winners would earn many points, while the losers might not earn even a single point.
In short, for the sake of final victory, every match had to be fought with everything they had. Otherwise, they could very easily fall behind the others.
The participating mages listened carefully to the rules, all of them wearing serious expressions.
After all, these five days would decide everything.
"The first half of each day will be a competition event. Each team will send participants according to the event's requirements and compete for points. Every team will have the chance to earn a large number of points."
"The second half of each day will be a battle event. Each team will send participants, and matches will be decided by drawing lots. The winner earns ten points, while the loser earns none. These battles will be key opportunities to widen the gap against your opponents."
King Toma continued speaking.
He had clearly made a great deal of preparation for this year's Grand Magic Games.
He was determined to turn this year's event into something legendary, giving the royal capital's version of the Grand Magic Games a brilliant beginning and turning it into Crocus's signature event from now on.
"Now, I will explain today's competition rules. Today's competition theme is Hidden. Each team will send one mage to participate. The participating mages must search for the other seven opponents within the designated competition streets and attack them."
"Successfully striking a real participant earns two points. Striking a dummy deducts one point. You cannot repeatedly score by attacking the same person. Once a participant is hit, they can no longer score by attacking the person who hit them."
King Toma explained with great passion, but the contestants did not fully understand what they were hearing.
"What are these dummies supposed to be?"
It was not only the participating contestants who were confused. Natsu also looked at Marco with a puzzled expression.
He genuinely had not understood the rules.
"We'll know once we see it."
Marco shook his head.
He did not know the event details either. Even Hisui, the princess, had not known.
In the face of the competition's fairness and integrity, King Toma had completely stopped recognizing his own daughter. With his whole heart set on making the Games a success, King Toma had become utterly impartial.
Before long, each team chose its participant for this competition.
Although none of them knew exactly what the "dummies" were, the rules required them to score by attacking other participants.
That meant they at least needed to send someone who could fight, or someone capable of damaging targets from a distance.
"Being able to quickly tell real from fake is also important. Since hitting a dummy deducts points, those dummies must be capable of passing as real."
Freed quickly activated his "supercomputer" of a brain. His intelligence ranked near the top even within Fairy Tail.
"You mean these so-called dummies might be magic—or perhaps magical items—that can impersonate us contestants?"
Evergreen frowned.
If hitting dummies deducted points, then large-area attacks were dangerous.
If there were many dummies, one wide-range attack might instantly drag a contestant's score into the negatives.
That was clearly not worth it.
Because of that, precise attacks would also be very important.
"Then wouldn't Evergreen be perfect for this?"
Lisanna tilted her head and offered her opinion.
"Me? You mean my Stone Eyes?"
Evergreen understood what Lisanna was trying to say.
"But that depends on whether the dummies are truly dummies," Freed said, shaking his head.
"Otherwise, Evergreen's petrification magic still won't be able to distinguish them."
If the dummies were truly fake bodies, Evergreen would naturally have an advantage.
After all, her Stone Eyes required eye contact to activate, so she would be able to tell the difference between a human and a dummy.
"Haha, looks like it's still up to me."
Bickslow laughed.
Evergreen's Stone Eyes might not work, but his magic, Figure Eyes, definitely would.
Because what his eyes saw was the "soul."
His magic could manipulate a target's soul.
No matter how those dummies were disguised, and no matter whether those things were alive or not, he would know with a single glance.
He would be able to see their true nature and would absolutely not be deceived by appearances.
"That's right. Bickslow is very suitable."
Freed nodded.
Bickslow's Figure Eyes could determine whether a target was real or fake. His floating dolls could also carry him through the air, and he had long-range attacks as well.
He was indeed the best candidate.
"Then we're counting on you! Win this like a man!"
Elfman said solemnly to Bickslow.
Fairy Tail Team B sent Bickslow to participate, while the other teams also quickly chose their contestants.
Fairy Tail Team A: Hisui.
Fairy Tail Team B: Bickslow.
Fairy Tail Team C: Warren.
Fairy Tail Team D: Miki.
Quatro Cerberus: Warcry.
Blue Pegasus: Hibiki Lates.
Lamia Scale: "Iron Rock" Jura Neekis.
Mermaid Heel: Millianna.
Clearly, every guild had a different idea.
Because their strategies and priorities differed, the people they sent were different too.
Some directly sent out their trump card, intending to secure a strong opening victory through raw strength.
Others valued magic type more, choosing someone whose abilities might produce an extraordinary effect in this event.