Inside the Fairy Tail Guild hall, the atmosphere was being pushed toward a completely different climax.
"Hello everyone, thank you for waiting."
Marcus, wearing a blue-purple suit and a bright red bow tie, was hosting the main event of the festival on stage.
"The beautiful fairies compete for charm—the Fairy Tail Miss Selection Contest officially begins now!"
The audience instantly erupted in earth-shattering cheers.
Cana, Juvia, Mirajane, Erza, and Levy, among others, took the stage one after another.
Lorne held a glass of juice, blending into the crowd and enjoying the festive atmosphere.
Watching the familiar faces on stage and their carefully prepared performances for the contest, the gloom caused by Laxus in his heart dissipated considerably.
'This is more like it,' he thought contentedly. 'What's the point of fighting? Looking at beauties is much more pleasing to the eye.'
"Next, please welcome our contestant number seven, Lucy..." Marcus announced loudly.
The spotlight shone on one side of the stage. Lucy, wearing a cheerleader uniform and holding pom-poms, took a deep breath, her face filled with nervousness. This was a major event that concerned several months' worth of her rent, and she absolutely could not afford to lose.
Just as she made up her mind and prepared to go on stage to perform using Celestial Spirit Magic, a slightly sharp and arrogant female voice rang out from backstage, rudely interrupting the MC's procedure.
"Contestant number eight."
Everyone looked over, only to see a woman in a gorgeous green dress, holding a feather fan half-covering her delicate face, slowly walking out with elegant and confident steps.
Evergreen walked to the center of the stage, covered half her face with the fan, and declared in a matter-of-fact tone:
"Fairy refers to me, and beauty refers to me. That's right, I am the epitome of all this, and the winner is naturally me... Evergreen."
After speaking, she snapped the fan shut and pointed it at the entire audience.
"Alright, this boring competition can end now."
The Fairy Tail members below instantly fell silent, everyone stunned.
The look of contentment on Lorne's face vanished completely. The cup in his hand was unconsciously gripped tightly, and the sense of unease he had suppressed instantly overwhelmed his thoughts like a bursting dam.
'The Thunder God Tribe...' His heart sank. 'Laxus was sealed by me, so why are they still appearing? Could it be...'
The sliver of hope he had earlier was shattered at this moment.
Lucy on stage couldn't care less about all that. She looked at the woman who had suddenly appeared to disrupt the event, so anxious she was almost jumping.
"Hey! Don't mess things up here! This is a huge problem that concerns my livelihood!"
Hearing this, Evergreen slowly turned her head, her eyes hidden behind her glasses locking onto Lucy. She raised her right hand to her glasses frame, carrying a hint of disdain and curiosity.
"And who are you, little girl?"
"Lucy! Don't look at her eyes!" Gray below reacted suddenly, shouting hoarsely.
This shout was like a sudden clap of thunder, instantly waking Lorne from his shock!
'Petrification Eye!'
He didn't have time to think. He tapped his foot, and an almost imperceptible ice crystal flower instantly bloomed and instantly withered.
The next instant, Lorne's figure appeared out of thin air in front of Lucy, completely shielding her behind him, meeting Evergreen's gaze head-on.
"Get down." Lorne said softly to Lucy behind him without turning his head.
Lucy was startled by the sudden turn of events, but seeing Lorne's expression, she instinctively nodded and quickly ran off the stage.
The audience members below also realized something was wrong. This was no longer part of the contest—it was a real conflict.
Panic began to spread. People screamed and rushed toward the Guild doors, fearing being caught up in a Mage battle.
Evergreen internally "Tch'd" as she looked at Lorne, who had suddenly appeared and was completely unaffected by her Petrification Eye.
She withdrew the hand that had reached for her glasses, covered the lower half of her face with the fan again, and scrutinized Lorne with interest.
"It's a festival, after all. It needs some side entertainment to be lively, right?"
As soon as she finished speaking, the huge curtain behind the stage was suddenly ripped open with a "huala" sound.
Behind the curtain were not backstage props, but six lifelike human statues.
Mirajane, Erza, Cana, Juvia, Levy, Bisca... all the female members who participated in the selection contest had been turned into cold, Gray stone carvings, standing silently there.
Seeing this scene, Lorne's body froze. An indescribable chill shot straight from the soles of his feet to the crown of his head, followed by towering rage.
He wasn't angry at Evergreen; he was angry at himself.
Angry at his complacency, angry at his arrogance, thinking that sealing Laxus meant extinguishing the source of the conflict, forgetting that the viper's fangs are not always displayed openly.
"Evergreen."
Lorne spoke slowly, his voice devoid of emotion, but the surrounding air temperature was dropping rapidly.
His normally calm eyes were now surging with deep, unfathomable gloom.
"Undo the magic immediately. Otherwise, I guarantee you won't want to know the consequences."
A terrifying magical aura burst forth from him, its dreadful might causing souls to tremble.
The smile on Evergreen's face instantly froze. She felt the terrifying power contained within that magic, and cold sweat beaded on her forehead.
Just then, two figures appeared on either side of Evergreen.
On the left was the stern-faced Fried, and on the right was Bickslow, wearing a strange helmet and surrounded by five floating dolls.
"Don't get so agitated, Lorne," Fried said in his characteristically rigid tone. "This is just part of the game. If you act rashly, these beautiful works of art might accidentally shatter!"
Bickslow also chuckled strangely, his Guild mark on his tongue faintly visible: "Yeah, yeah! My children really want to see what shattered stone looks like! Bababa!"
It was naked coercion; they intended to use their companions' lives to threaten Lorne.
This statement completely ignited the last trace of Lorne's rationality.
Boom!
An even more terrifying aura exploded from his body. The entire Guild hall shook violently, and the chandeliers on the ceiling swung wildly, groaning under the strain.
Looking through the windows, the sky outside could be seen darkening in just a few seconds, with dark clouds gathering as if the apocalypse had arrived.
"Very well."
Lorne's voice became incredibly chilling. He looked at the three stubborn members of the Thunder God Tribe before him, too lazy to utter another word.
Reasoning? Threats? To these obstinate fellows, it was all useless chatter.
He slowly raised his right hand, but his target was not the three people in front of him, but the row of cold stone statues behind them.
Fried and Evergreen's nerves instantly tensed. They thought Lorne was going to attack forcefully regardless of the hostages.
"I said don't move!" Fried shouted sharply.
However, Lorne completely ignored him. A subtle, almost transparent ripple emanated from Lorne's fingertip, silently enveloping the six statues.
The next second, fine cracks began to appear on the hard stone surface, but these were not signs of shattering; rather, they looked like a film being played in reverse.
The Gray, lifeless stone color receded like a tide, and the colors of life returned at a visible speed.
Erza's dress regained its luster, Mirajane's hair became soft again, and Levy's astonished expression became lively.
In a brief moment, the petrification was completely reversed.
The six girls blinked blankly. Their memory was still stuck at the moment before they were petrified.
"Huh? What happened?" Mirajane looked at her hands confusedly.
"I... I felt like I couldn't move just now." Erza frowned and moved her body.
The expressions on the faces of the three Thunder God Tribe members completely froze at this moment.
Evergreen's typically arrogant smile was replaced only by pure shock and stupefaction.
Bickslow's surrounding dolls dropped onto the floor with a "patta" sound.
A crack finally appeared on Fried's perpetually stern face, filled with incomprehensible astonishment.
Their strongest trump card, the absolute hostages they used to restrain the entire Guild, had been effortlessly... undone right before their eyes?
The three froze in place, their minds blank, a fear originating from the depths of their souls chilling them to the bone.
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