"Nani?!" Natsu couldn't quite accept this outcome.
He wanted real stakes!
Raizel grabbed Natsu, who was about to make another run for the commentator's platform.
"That's enough. As long as you win, he won't have the face to continue his tyranny and oppressive rule. He might even resign as Guild Master himself out of sheer embarrassment."
"Really?" Natsu, frozen in his running pose, was stunned.
Ultear nodded in agreement. "Exactly. He forbids his members from losing, meaning he's extremely concerned with saving face and has a fierce, toxic competitive spirit. If he loses to a kid in front of the entire country, there's a high probability he won't have the dignity to remain Guild Master."
"Ladies and gentlemen, up next is the exhibition match of the Grand Magic Games! From Fairy Tail, Natsu Dragneel! Versus the Guild Master of Sabertooth, Jiemma!" Chapati Lola yelled.
"Mr. Yajima, what are your thoughts on this match?"
"As for Natsu, he is an incredibly talented Mage. His previous brilliant performances have demonstrated his raw strength. His opponent is a Guild Master. Jiemma possesses the power of a Ten Wizard Saint. This should be a very explosive match."
...
"Natsu... can he win? His opponent is a Guild Master..." Lucy bit her lip, her fists unconsciously clenching as she watched Natsu in the arena.
"He will win." Raizel's tone was ironclad.
"Natsu has no limits." This might be the first time Laxus had shown such genuine interest in a match.
"Match start!"
Natsu's right hand wreathed in roaring flames, and he charged forward like a rocket. Jiemma responded with a heavy charging punch of his own.
Their first move was a direct, brutal clash, fists meeting fists.
The veins on both their arms bulged under the immense pressure.
Natsu was already incredibly strong in terms of raw power, further enhanced by his Dragon Slayer flames.
However, Jiemma, who stood nearly two heads taller than Natsu, still held a slight advantage in sheer physical mass and strength.
Natsu was sent flying back several meters by the shockwave of the punch.
"In the contest of pure strength, Guild Master Jiemma gains the upper hand!"
Natsu casually tore off his vest and flung it away, leaving only his white scarf on his upper body.
Thick flames intertwined with violent arcs of golden electricity once again enveloped his body, and fine dragon scales began to ripple across his skin.
His physique, now subtly more robust, became even more defined.
"It's here! Lightning Fire Dragon Mode!!!" Chapati Lola was ecstatic.
Facing Natsu's renewed, high-speed assault, Jiemma initiated with a forward step and a left charging punch.
Seeing Natsu dodge it, he pivoted, adjusting into a standard straight punch for a direct confrontation.
The two clashed once more.
Natsu, having activated his Lightning Fire Dragon Mode, clearly held the advantage this time.
In their direct punch exchange, Jiemma was forced back several steps, sliding through the dirt.
Against Natsu's blindingly fast follow-up punch, Jiemma simply curved his massive arm to block it.
"Is this all you've got?" Jiemma, his magical power surging violently around him like a shockwave, pushed Natsu back.
Natsu, stubbornly resisting the pressure, planted his feet and landed a devastating flame-wreathed uppercut squarely on Jiemma's chin.
Seizing the opening, Natsu unleashed a furious, lightning-fast barrage of flame-encased iron fists.
"Ora ora ora ora..."
Fiery, explosive punches rained down mercilessly on Jiemma's face and guard.
"Lightning Fire Dragon's... Iron Fist!"
Boom!!
Struck directly in the abdomen by the final, charged punch, Jiemma was sent flying backward like a cannonball.
His clothes were torn with a large hole, his abdominal muscles scorched black by the heat.
But Jiemma had not yet lost his fighting ability.
As he stood up, the magic power around him intensified, purple energy transforming into a massive pillar of light that shot into the sky, then quickly condensed to cover his body in a dense layer of dark purple magical armor.
Chapati Lola said in confusion, "What is this?!?"
Yajima frowned slightly. "It should be a physical buff state similar to Natsu's Mode."
This time, Jiemma chose to attack, closing the distance instantly with a spinning side kick that Natsu barely dodged with a bent elbow.
Jiemma's straight punch was again met head-on by Natsu's upward elbow block.
Jiemma hadn't expected Natsu's Lightning Fire Dragon Mode to be so terrifying—his heavy punch was forced back by the sheer kinetic force of the block, leaving his guard wide open.
Seizing the opportunity with his razor-sharp combat instincts, Natsu drove a brutal shoulder slam hard into Jiemma's chest.
Not letting up as Jiemma staggered backward, Natsu accelerated with a burst of flames, wrapped his elbow in fire, and struck Jiemma's chest again with a vicious upward elbow thrust.
Even with Jiemma's exceptional physical conditioning, taking a shoulder slam followed by an explosive elbow strike to the sternum was agonizing.
If he weren't an elite Mage, his ribs would have shattered and killed him on the spot.
Jiemma knelt on one knee, coughing and clutching his chest to ease the pain.
But as he struggled to stand, Natsu was already on him again.
With roaring flames and cracking lightning wrapped around his fists, Natsu unleashed a straight punch, a step-in punch to the face, and a brutal hook to the abdomen, then spun into the air with a Fire Dragon's Claw.
Jiemma was sent flying by the flaming kick, crashing heavily into the arena's stone wall and leaving a massive, spiderwebbed crater, rubble scattering across the ground.
After this devastating combo, Natsu accelerated again, appearing right before the stunned Jiemma.
He unleashed a rapid series of straight punches with Fire Dragon's Iron Fist, ending with a massive, explosive uppercut to Jiemma's chin that sent the giant man flying high into the air.
Natsu inhaled deeply, his chest expanding.
"Lightning Fire Dragon's... Roar!"
Jiemma, hurtling backward through the air, had absolutely no way to dodge. He was completely engulfed by the soaring, apocalyptic beam of fire and lightning.
The Lightning Fire Dragon's Roar pierced straight through the clouds!
Jiemma slammed into the ground, completely scorched black.
He exhaled a misty breath of smoke from his mouth as he's unconscious.
The Pumpkin Head quickly ran out to check Jiemma's injuries, counting down five seconds, but Jiemma failed to move an inch.
"The winner is Natsu Dragneel of Fairy Tail!"
"It's over!!!" Chapati Lola shouted into the microphone.
Yajima looked at Jiemma's injuries with some pity. "It was just too brutal."
"He won!!"
"Natsu!!"
"Hmph, it took longer than I expected." Gajeel crossed his arms. He knew better than anyone how terrifying an angry Natsu could be!
Sabertooth fell into an eerie, dead silence.
Sting and Rogue were utterly stunned.
"The guild master... lost..." Orga took two steps back, completely unable to believe it.
"I have no memory of this ever happening..." Rufus adjusted his hat, visibly shaken.
Minerva was somewhat lost.
Her father, Jiemma, had instilled the toxic concept of absolute strength in her since childhood, berating and beating her for being too weak to bear the "strongest bloodline."
It had led to Minerva's personality showing serious signs of distortion and cruelty.
Her father had lost.
Did that mean he was wrong? The so-called "strongest" seemed to be nothing more than a bully who got knocked out by a real fighter!
Natsu snatched the microphone back from the Pumpkin Head, looking up toward the Sabertooth viewing stand.
"A guild isn't like that! What guildmates should do is support each other! Help each other! Encourage each other!" Natsu's voice echoed through the stadium. "Everyone has their strengths and weaknesses. True companions complement one another—that's what a real guild is! No one is perfect; everyone has flaws. And it's our guild members who help us overcome those flaws when we fall! There's no such thing as the strongest individual—only the strongest guild!"
Jiemma could no longer hear him, but he was the type who wouldn't awaken or change even if he could.
What Natsu really wanted to rouse were the broken members of Sabertooth.
The fourth day of the Grand Magic Games was yet another unsettling day.
Sabertooth's ruthless Guild Master, Jiemma, had been beaten unconscious by Natsu in a one-sided brawl.
The audience once again witnessed just how monstrous the Mages of Fairy Tail truly were.
And the Mages of Sabertooth fell into deep, heavy contemplation.