"The winner of the molding magic showdown is Gray Fullbuster!" Chapati Lola's voice boomed.
The broadcast crew knew exactly what they were doing.
Not only did they show Gray on the massive screen, but they also cut to a shot of Ur smiling warmly, alongside the rest of Fairy Tail cheering together.
"Ooooh!!!"
"As expected of Gray-sama!!!" Juvia squealed.
"Well done, Gray," Ur said softly.
Gray saw Ur's encouragement on the crystal screen above and broke into a wide, toothy grin.
Gray's battle was over, but brutal fights were still erupting across the city.
Sherria had tracked down Kagura.
Attacking from the high ground, she condensed violent black wind in both hands and blasted it toward the swordswoman.
"Sky God's North Wind!"
Kagura simply leaped backward, gracefully evading both the blast and the flying rubble.
"There she is, little Sherria!" The moment Sherria made her move, Chapati Lola started shouting again.
"Gravity: Suppression." A massive purple magic circle snapped into the sky above them.
Faced with the crushing gravitational weight, Sherria wisely retreated to the ground.
It was too easy to make a fatal mistake fighting on a rooftop under that kind of pressure.
"Archenemy: Slash Form." Kagura seized the exact moment Sherria landed.
In a blinding flash, she swept past her.
Sherria had zero time to react before she was slammed into the dirt.
Turning around, Kagura didn't press the attack.
She just planted Archenemy into the ground and watched to see if the God Slayer could stand back up.
"How could this be?! Little Sherria! Hurry and stand up!" Chapati Lola leaned over the commentary desk, looking like he wanted to jump down into the arena himself.
Raizel tugged at the corner of his mouth, torn between annoyance and amusement.
"This guy is way too biased! At least Jason gives everyone an equal 'COOL'..."
Mira smiled gently. "Let it go. He was like this when commentating on Wendy too. Besides, Kagura is going to win anyway."
On the screen, Sherria used her magic to heal herself and stood back up.
Healing required precious time, but Kagura didn't interrupt her.
She just waited in silence.
Once Sherria finished healing, Kagura expressionlessly raised Archenemy, signaling for Sherria to attack first.
"What confidence! What composure!!!" Chapati Lola was swept up in Kagura's sheer aura.
"I'm getting serious!" Sherria clenched her small fists and began rapidly gulping down mouthfuls of air to refuel.
...
Meanwhile, on another battlefield, Gajeel was losing ground, forced back step by step.
He was seriously considering if he should just make a run for it.
This so-called 'two-on-one' had turned into a brutal four-on-one.
Even if his body was made of iron, he couldn't withstand a beatdown like this forever.
Capricorn and Panther Lily attacked relentlessly, hitting him high and low.
They kept coordinating sneaky, lethal strikes using Lily's size.
Thankfully, Gajeel used Iron Dragon Slayer Magic. If it were anyone else, they'd have been finished on the spot.
Lucy wildly cracked her Fleuve d'Étoiles whip, while Cana threw out magic cards like she had endless magical power.
Ice, lightning, water, fire, and wind barraged him in turn.
Sometimes, they even combined the elements for explosive damage.
However, their brawl was soon interrupted.
The intruders were from the Croix Knights: the Giant Elephant Knight, Talant, and the Black Panther Knight, Ilina.
The two appeared out of nowhere and launched a sneak attack on Cana and Lucy, forcing Panther and Capricorn to fall back and protect their summoners.
Gajeel seized the chaotic opening to break away from the battlefield.
"Gajeel actually managed to escape. His luck is pretty good." Raizel watched the screen with a hint of surprise as the Iron Dragon dodged a disaster.
Gajeel had been on the ropes.
Capricorn was tough but manageable, but Panther was just too sinister.
Every time the Exceed struck from the shadows, he aimed exclusively for vital areas.
'The cat wasn't just black on the outside, his heart was dark too!' Raizel strongly suspected Cana had taught him those dirty tactics.
Gajeel only had two ways out of that mess.
The first was to run.
The second was to get pushed to the brink, awaken his Dragon Force or forge a new metal mode, and unleash a Dragon Slayer Secret Art.
Otherwise, he really was going to lose to Lucy and Cana.
Even then, Lucy still held her ultimate trump card with Gemini—Urano Metria.
And Cana possessed one of the guild's Three Great Fairy Magics: Fairy Glitter.
According to Mavis, Cana actually had an insane amount of talent for that specific spell.
A Dragon Slayer Secret Art versus two Grand Magics... who would win was anyone's guess!
…
After defeating Lyon, Ultear tracked down the Golden Lion Knight, Ren. It couldn't really be called a random encounter.
She had used her crystal ball to lock onto his coordinates and personally hunted him down. Generally speaking, the captain would be the strongest member of the team.
The captains they had identified so far fit that pattern perfectly.
As the strongest knight, the probability that Ren was the captain of the Croix Knights exceeded ninety-nine percent.
However, Ren was a terrible matchup for Ultear.
For a while, she struggled to take him down. Although his lion companion could transform into armor, it was still a genuine, living being.
Ultear's Arc of Time had no direct effect on living creatures.
Fairy Tail's Twin Dragons versus Sabertooth's Twin Dragons—at the moment, Natsu and Wendy held a solid upper hand.
Compared to their previous bout, Sting and Rogue had improved, but their raw combat experience still fell short of Natsu's.
Especially with Wendy continuously boosting Natsu's speed, strength, and defense, the fight was firmly in their control.
Even so, Sting and Rogue's relentless persistence earned cheers from the crowd.
Erza faced off against Minerva and Mermaid Heel's captain, Millianna.
Both Minerva and Millianna knew their solo chances against the Fairy Queen were slim to none.
It had only been a day since Erza's heroic feat of annihilating one hundred monsters in the Demon's Temple.
Minerva used her spatial magic to help Millianna dodge Erza's lethal slashes.
It was Erza's first time fighting an enemy who could warp space so freely, even shifting Erza's own coordinates mid-strike.
For a brief period, Erza struggled to adapt to the bizarre rhythm.
…
Amid the passionate screams of his female fans, the screen shifted to Laxus and Jura.
The moment the Wizard Saint appeared, the male fans erupted as well.
The stadium's atmosphere hit an absolute fever pitch.
Led by Freed, the Thunder God Tribe practically lost their minds cheering for their boss.
"Laxus! Hurry and show them your true power!"
"Go! Laxus! Go!"
Makarov sweatdropped, grumbling, "You're all way too noisy."
Raizel watched Laxus and Jura squaring off, the raw magical pressure between them distorting the air on the screen.
"For Team A, this is the most crucial battle. Looks like Laxus is going all out from the start."
The two titans stood on the central avenue of Crocus, near the royal palace.
It was a fair distance from Domus Flau, but the violent tremors caused by their surging magic power could still be felt vibrating through the stadium seats.
All the other competitors had tacitly evacuated the area.
No one dared to interrupt this clash.
Jura's terrifying reputation as a Ten Wizard Saint, combined with the memory of Laxus carpet-bombing the valley with his lightning, was still fresh in everyone's minds.
Getting caught in the crossfire of these two monsters and eliminated by an aftershock would be the ultimate joke.