Sure enough, the violent current directly spun Lisanna unconscious.
And when the water finally vanished, Lisanna struggled to transform into a bird, only to fail because she had been spun completely dizzy.
In the end, only her head changed into a bird's, while her body remained in the form of a fish.
Plop.
Lisanna fell toward the ground, but Juvia caught her with a stream of water, preventing her from crashing directly onto the arena floor.
"Ugh..."
Lisanna canceled her Take Over Magic and returned to her original form.
Her head was still spinning, and the whole world felt like it was turning upside down.
"We surrender! We surrender!"
Elfman shouted from outside the arena.
Since they were one team, the entire team decided to surrender and give up the match.
"Miss Lisanna, do you still wish to continue fighting?"
Although Elfman and the others kept shouting that they surrendered, King Toma naturally could not simply declare Lisanna's defeat based on their words alone.
He still had to ask Lisanna herself.
"Ugh..."
Lisanna struggled to nod and directly admitted defeat.
The difference between them was too great, and Juvia had clearly held back against her.
Buzz!
A stream of water rose swiftly and carried Lisanna back to the side of Elfman and the other members of Fairy Tail Team B.
"Fairy Tail Team A, Juvia wins!"
King Toma loudly announced the result of the battle.
Fairy Tail Team A had won this match.
At the same time, they had also secured first place in the points tournament.
"It really has to be Fairy Tail. Everyone doubted them at first, but even after their S-Class Mages were pulled out and placed into a separate team, the remaining A-Class mages still defeated the other guilds with overwhelming superiority!"
"Fairy Tail is in a league of its own! The value of other guilds' S-Class Mages is far too different from Fairy Tail's. Mage ranking reform is absolutely necessary!"
"Lucy and Hisui shine as twin stars of the arena! A great teacher truly produces great students!"
For a time, praise for Fairy Tail and Fairy Tail Team A swept through the arena like a storm, as if the doubts toward Fairy Tail at the beginning had never happened at all.
It had to be said that Fairy Tail's participating members had truly convinced everyone with their performances.
And it was not only Fairy Tail Team A.
Team B, though defeated, had lost with honor. After all, they were only weaker than their own guildmates. Compared to the other teams, they were still much stronger.
They had even defeated S-Class Mages from other guilds, further proving just how terrifyingly valuable Fairy Tail's own S-Class rank was.
"The next match will be Fairy Tail Team D against Quatro Cerberus!"
Although first and second place in the points tournament had already been decided, the remaining matches still had to continue.
The rankings behind them could still change, and every match remained extremely important.
Fairy Tail Team D still needed to fight for points, while Quatro Cerberus also had to fight for their honor.
The next battle would surely be fierce.
In fact, it could even be said that every remaining battle might be more intense than the first match.
In a certain sense, Juvia and Lisanna's battle had disappointed the audience.
Fairy Tail Team B had dropped a massive stinker.
What the audience had wanted to see was a fierce clash between dragons and tigers before first place was decided, not a nearly one-sided result like this.
Because of that, the remaining matches might actually suit the audience's taste better.
Regardless of the true level of strength involved, at least the fights would be exciting and intense enough to make the spectators feel their tickets were worth it.
Looking at it from another angle, battles at too high a level were not necessarily suited for the arena.
The audience might not understand them, and they might not even realize how the battle ended.
Besides, the magic used by truly powerful mages tended to be incredibly destructive.
In an arena like this, they could not exactly use large-scale destructive techniques, could they?
Taken together, battles between mages of upper-middle strength might actually look more "entertaining," "exciting," and "intense."
Marco had already noticed this.
Watching Joy and the Quatro Cerberus mage trade heavy, flesh-and-blood blows below, it was obvious that the crowd's emotions had been stirred up.
This was a fight anyone could understand.
"Fairy Tail Team D, Joy wins!"
After Joy knocked his opponent out with a punch, King Toma announced the result of the match.
Fairy Tail Team D gained another ten points, while Quatro Cerberus had completely become Quatro Puppies!
One by one, their members hung their heads, thinking that maybe it would have been better not to enter the points tournament at all.
After advancing, they had done nothing but embarrass themselves.
But from another perspective, being able to embarrass themselves in the points tournament already meant they had surpassed more than ninety percent of the Mage Guilds in the country.
Even if they ranked eighth, they had still beaten over a hundred teams.
Their name had still been made known.
Clients who found the higher-ranked guilds too busy or too expensive might instead choose them.
At the very least, they were better than guilds whose names had barely appeared at all.
From now on, they could advertise themselves as "good quality at a fair price."
Before long, all the remaining battle rounds ended, and the final rankings for the points tournament were released.
Some were delighted, while others were miserable.
"First place: Fairy Tail Team A!
"Second place: Fairy Tail Team B!
"Third place: Blue Pegasus!
"Fourth place: Lamia Scale!
"Fifth place: Fairy Tail Team C!
"Sixth place: Fairy Tail Team D!
"Seventh place: Mermaid Heel!
"Eighth place: Quatro Cerberus!"
King Toma loudly announced the results of the points tournament.
Perhaps because he had gotten tired by the end, his tone had clearly dropped by the time he reached Quatro Cerberus.
"Hey?! What's that supposed to mean?"
With such obvious differential treatment, the members of Quatro Cerberus naturally found it hard to accept.
Unfortunately, their results really were terrible, so they could not even stir up a proper protest.
Barely anyone echoed their complaint.
Moreover, now that the points tournament had officially ended, Quatro Cerberus no longer had any matches left.
Naturally, they had even less say.
The organizer was King Toma himself. Aside from Marco, no one should even think about receiving special treatment from him!
"Next, the first-place team of the points tournament, Fairy Tail Team A, will challenge the final boss team—the S-Class Mage team from Fairy Tail!"
King Toma ignored Quatro Cerberus's strange protest and continued pushing the event forward.
His voice once again rose with excitement.
At that moment, the deafening cheers had not yet fully settled, and the air still carried the joy of Fairy Tail Team A winning first place in the points tournament.
In the center of the arena, Lucy, Hisui, Juvia, Cana, Wendy, and Levy had only just finished receiving the audience's congratulations.
There was joy from victory on their faces, but they did not fully relax.
Because they knew the true challenge was only beginning now.
...
King Toma's voice rang through the entire arena through magical amplification.
This time, his words carried a level of excitement and reverence that had never appeared before.
"Ladies and gentlemen! The moment we have all been waiting for has finally arrived!
"Next, Fairy Tail Team A will face opponents from the very same guild, yet these opponents represent the absolute peak of power!
"They... are the backbone of Fairy Tail. Every single one of them is a mage whose fame resounds across the entire continent! Let us hold our breath and welcome them...
"The final boss team, enter!"
The moment King Toma's voice fell, the light across the entire arena seemed to dim for an instant.
It was not true darkness descending, but rather the sudden arrival of a heavy, invisible pressure so suffocating that it felt like the air itself had thickened.
Terrifying magic power surged outward, instantly filling every corner of the arena.
Buzz!!!
With a mechanical rumble, a viewing platform above the arena, positioned even higher than the Guild Master viewing area, slowly opened after remaining sealed until now.
There were no dazzling light effects, no flashy fireworks.
Only five figures slowly walked out, arriving at the edge of that high viewing platform and looking down upon the arena below.
Laxus stood in the center.
His blond hair stood upright, and thin golden arcs of electricity danced around him, releasing low crackling sounds.
The Thunder God crossed his arms, his face arrogant and proud.
His eyes were filled with eagerness for battle and absolute confidence in his own strength.
Even though he was not deliberately releasing it, the violent lightning magic power surging through his body made the very air feel charged with static.
"It's the Thunder God!"
Just by standing there, Laxus naturally radiated overwhelming pressure.
Laxus, who had once become famous alongside Marco as one of Fairy Tail's twin stars, was still extremely well known.
Everyone also recognized his strength.
A step behind him on his left was Erza.
She was not wearing the ordinary armor she usually kept on, but had directly changed into a plain Robe of Yūen.
The sharp aura around her struck the crowd like the edge of a blade.
Erza's long scarlet hair was tied into a ponytail, drifting slightly in the invisible waves of magic power.
Her gaze swept across the whole arena like that of a hawk, carrying scrutiny and absolute confidence.
Just being within reach of her gaze made the Fairy Tail members instinctively want to shrink their necks back.
The oppressive force of Titania was obvious at a glance. If anything, her own guildmates feared her even more.
Standing on Laxus's other side was Mirajane.
She stood in the same row as Erza, but the expression on her face was completely different from the gentle image she usually showed at the front desk.
At this moment, Mirajane had not yet used a demon Take Over, but a deeply unsettling demonic aura was already radiating from her body.
Although The Demon had not appeared often in recent years, the Mirajane standing there now still made people remember the fearsome reputation she once held.
Further out to both sides were naturally Natsu and Gray.
Natsu's scarf fluttered as flames burned around his fists.
Gray stood bare-chested, surrounded by drifting ice mist.
Both of them looked especially excited.
Although they were trying hard to keep their expressions composed, at a glance they still looked like two fresh recruits.
The audience's attention mainly remained on Laxus, Erza, and Mirajane.
The fame of these three was known to almost everyone.
By comparison, Natsu and Gray really did look like rookies. Although they had also gained quite a bit of fame by now, compared to the "old guard trio," they were still lacking a little.
It was not quite to the point of them standing there like background extras, but not many people were paying attention to them either.
The five stood in a line.
They simply stood there, and a surge of magic power mixed with various images rose into the sky, making the entire arena seem to let out a low hum.
The dust in the air was instantly pushed aside, and visible magical pressure began pressing down over all the mages.
"This entrance..."
Looking at the five-person group putting on such a show, Marco could not help making a comment.
He had no idea whose idea this had been.
They were just making an entrance, yet they had turned it into such a huge spectacle.
Faced with this scene, the audience first fell into an extremely brief silence!
Then came countless sharp inhales.
Hundreds of thousands of spectators seemed to have been collectively grabbed by the throat, their faces filled with shock.
They could clearly feel that terrifying pressure rushing toward them. Even though that pressure was not actually aimed at them, it still affected them.
Some timid spectators even instinctively shrank back in their seats.
And after that, what followed was an even more frenzied eruption of screams, shouts, and cheers, like a volcano bursting open.
That frenzy was filled with awe and worship toward absolute power.
"Monsters... the real monsters have arrived!"
"This is Fairy Tail's foundation!"
"They're too strong! Just looking at them already makes it hard to breathe!"
The audience shouted, already filled with anticipation.
They were waiting for these monsters to display their terrifying strength.
At that moment, the mages all had complicated expressions as they looked at those five figures.
Their eyes were filled with envy and longing.
Who would not want to stand in that position?
Who would not want to receive the cheers and worship of everyone present?
A real man should be like that!
Of course, everyone knew exactly how difficult that was.
Right now, most of them could not even defeat Fairy Tail's other teams, let alone challenge this boss team.
The expressions on the Guild Masters' faces were even more complicated.
Shock and a deep sense of powerlessness filled their hearts.
These five might even be stronger than the vast majority of them.
At this moment, they finally understood with absolute clarity that Fairy Tail's "S-Class" and their guilds' "S-Class" were existences on completely different levels.
The necessity of reforming mage rankings was now presented before everyone in an unbearably glaring way.
Buzz!
The five members of the boss team leaped down from the high platform and landed in the center of the arena.
On one side stood Fairy Tail Team A, who had just won first place in the points tournament and were burning with fighting spirit.
On the other side stood the final boss team, descending like Demon Kings and radiating terrifying pressure.
On the host platform, even King Toma's voice carried a slight tremble.
"The final battle! Fairy Tail Team A challenges Fairy Tail's final boss team! Begin now!!!"
As King Toma's voice fell, the entire arena erupted with thunderous cheers.
Every gaze focused on the two teams of Fairy Tail that were about to collide.
This final battle was a team battle.
A battle between two full teams!