"Boom! Boom! Boom!"
As the ceremonial cannons fired, Chapati Lola began his daily introduction.
"The Grand Magic Games! Day Four! Today's competition event is about to begin!"
"This event is a Battle Royale! The eight participants will be randomly placed in a valley terrain. Unlike the first day's event, being hit will not teleport you away—only losing the ability to fight will end your participation!"
"Who defeats whom is not important, scoring is strictly based on the order of elimination! Additionally, each participant will wear a wristband that allows them to sense the real-time locations of other competitors! Your own color is red, while opponents will appear as blue!"
"Mermaid Heel is first to send out Risley!"
"Blue Pegasus sends out Jenny!"
"Croix Knights sends out the Black Panther Knight, Ilina!"
"Then I'll take the stage today," Cana said, patting her card pouch as she stepped forward.
Team B's girls were quite harmonious.
Since Cana had decided to compete, they automatically stepped back.
Team A, however... aside from Wendy and Laxus, who were watching from the sidelines, the other three were arguing fiercely, their faces flushed with anger.
They were practically fighting over who got to go!
Laxus took off his heavy coat and casually tossed it to Natsu. "Since we need to catch up on points, it's my turn to step up."
"Nani?!?"
"Traitor!"
Ignoring their loud protests, Laxus waved his hand and stepped into the passageway.
"Sabertooth's young lady, Minerva, takes the stage!"
"Lamia Scale sends out Sherria! Damn it! Why didn't Team A send out Wendy?!"
"Valley terrain, activate, kabo!"
The pumpkin-headed announcer raised his arm and swung it downward.
The rugged valley terrain, much like the town from the first day, suddenly materialized across the entire arena, complete with hills and rocky outcroppings.
The participants turned into blue lights and were randomly distributed across the valley.
"Go for it, Cana! And Laxus... well, give him a little encouragement too..." Mira shouted encouragement for Cana with her hands cupped like a megaphone, but when it came to cheering for Laxus, her voice became unusually soft.
It was almost better not to cheer at all!
"Your way of cheering is quite unique," Gajeel remarked.
"Contestant Laxus has started moving! His direction seems to be... the hills!"
Laxus, wearing a tight, sleeveless black tank top, drew the most attention due to his terrifying raw power.
He didn't even glance at his tracking wristband.
From the moment he appeared, he began running in one direction, confident he wouldn't get lost—his target strategy was obvious.
Meanwhile, Jenny and Risley immediately encountered Rocker from Quatro Cerberus.
Risley was quickly swayed by Jenny's honeyed words, and the two teamed up to defeat the man.
The moment Rocker fell, Jenny immediately betrayed Risley, blasting her in the back and eliminating her from the competition.
Just moments after the match began, two participants were already out.
Gajeel couldn't help but glance sideways. "That woman really knows how to seize an opportunity..."
"That's very much like Jenny's fighting style," Mira said with a closed-eye smile.
"I assume that's not a compliment?" Lucy blinked.
"Laxus has taken the high ground!!! What is he planning to do?!" Chapati Lola yelled.
Laxus answered him with action.
Raising his right arm high into the air, he sent a surge of pure lightning straight into the sky.
The originally clear sky suddenly darkened. A blinding flash of white light appeared, followed by the deafening roar of thunder.
Boom!
Thunder cracked across the heavens, dark clouds rolling in like ocean waves.
[Today's weather forecast: Clear, turning to Laxus!]
"Thunder Pressure: Raging Waves!" A massive thundercloud covered the entire arena, lightning crackling dangerously within.
Raizel looked up at the thundercloud and chuckled softly. "Taking out all opponents at once, huh? That's very much your style."
With a thunderous roar, an apocalyptic bombardment of lightning rained down across the entire valley.
"Contestant Jenny eliminated!"
"Contestant Ilina eliminated!"
"Sherria eliminated!"
Meanwhile, Cana was still struggling to hold on, frantically stacking earth-shield cards.
Minerva kept dodging, using her Spatial Magic to redirect unavoidable lightning bolts away from her.
Laxus glanced at his wristband and increased his magical power once more.
"Eliminated!"
"Wait a moment! Contestants Cana and Minerva seem to have been eliminated simultaneously! We need to verify the footage!"
...
The stadium screen quickly switched to a slow-motion replay—Cana had held on exactly 0.25 seconds longer than Minerva.
"Complete wipeout!!! This match was over so quickly!!"
"Contestant Laxus has overwhelmingly crushed all opponents with an unstoppable display of power!"
"Is this what you call not liking to fight women?!?" Chapati Lola posed a soul-searching question to Laxus.
Raizel admired Chapati Lola's observation. "He really did fight only women this round..."
"Hey, Laxus! That's way too harsh!" Cana angrily protested from the dirt, furious about being eliminated without even getting to show off her strength.
"Our team is behind. I can't afford to go easy." Laxus shrugged, totally unconcerned by her complaint.
"This loss is so embarrassing..." Facing her teammates, Cana scratched her head sheepishly.
If Laxus hadn't used such a massive area-of-effect spell, Cana could have dodged with the speed of her Storm Wings.
But who could have expected Laxus to go for an all-out carpet bombing? She didn't have many defensive cards and had only held on this long by using earth-attribute cards to form temporary shields.
She wasn't like Natsu, that indestructible cockroach who could charge head-first through lightning!
"You came in second. Everyone else lost the exact same way, there's nothing to be embarrassed about," Ultear shook her head.
"Miscalculation from me. I didn't expect Laxus to be so serious."
Kagura comforted Cana. "Actually, it wouldn't have made a difference. If he was serious, any of us going up would have ended the same. Second place was already the best outcome."
Laxus had sparred with all of them—in normal conditions, both Ultear and Erza could trade blows with him fairly evenly.
But if Laxus activated his Lightning Fire Dragon Mode, they wouldn't really be a match.
Meanwhile, at the Sabertooth balcony...
The guild's spectator stand was enveloped in a suffocatingly low-pressure atmosphere.
Guild Master Jiemma mercilessly berated his own daughter, even resorting to brutal physical violence in front of the other members.
The rest simply hung their heads, not daring to speak.
Sting and Rogue clenched their fists tightly, yet they still did not dare to resist.
Jiemma's voice wasn't particularly loud, but a Dragon Slayer Mage's ears could hear it perfectly.
"That guy! I'm going to teach him a lesson!" Natsu's forehead bulged with veins as he grew genuinely furious.
He leaped down from the arena and charged toward the spectator stands where Sabertooth was seated.
No one expected Natsu to rush over so suddenly.
Lucy reacted quickly, but she still couldn't catch him in time.
"You bastard!" Natsu's fist wreathed in flames as he leaped high into the air.
Makarov stretched out his giant, elongated arm and yanked Natsu back by his scarf.
Seeing that Natsu was still trying to charge forward, Makarov punched him, slamming him to the ground.
Makarov casually pulled Natsu back, glanced coldly at Jiemma in the distance, and said, "I don't know what made you so angry, but now is not the time."