"You recognize me?"
Natsu looked completely puzzled.
"Acnologia... as a Dragon Slayer, you couldn't beat the dragon, right?"
"Huh?"
Natsu's expression darkened as soon as he heard those words.
"A long time ago, I used to admire you. I wanted to become a Dragon Slayer just like you. Oh, and this here is Rogue. The one he admires is Gajeel."
Rogue turned his head away and spoke, "That's all in the past. There's no need to bring it up anymore."
"Dragon Slayers?! Both of you?!"
Natsu was shocked. He hadn't expected the people in front of him to be Dragon Slayers.
"You should call us 'true' Dragon Slayers. After all, if it were us, we might have actually been able to repel Acnologia."
"You only say that because you didn't see Acnologia with your own eyes!"
Seeing the other party's arrogant and conceited attitude, Lucy couldn't help but retort. The power of the Black Dragon Acnologia was already beyond anything humans could fight against.
Only Kael was able to stand against it. No one else could possibly be an opponent for the Black Dragon Acnologia.
Happy also spoke up, "Exactly! You have no idea how terrifying that guy really is!"
"It looks so stupid, this cat."
"You're a genius, Lector."
The two small cats spoke, making Happy incredibly angry.
"It doesn't matter if we've seen it or not."
"There is a fundamental difference between us and you as Dragon Slayers."
Rogue and Sting spoke while looking at Natsu.
The small cat Lector spoke up, "Let me explain. Natsu received Dragon Slayer Magic from a real dragon, making him a First Generation Dragon Slayer. Those who have Dragon Lacrima implanted in their bodies to use Dragon Slayer Magic are called Second Generation. As for Sting and Rogue, they were taught by dragons and have Dragon Lacrima implanted in their bodies. They are the Third Generation—the Ultimate Dragon Slayers!!"
"Third Generation?! Then did your dragons also disappear in the year 777?"
Natsu was curious upon hearing this, because the dragons of Gajeel and Wendy, whom he knew, had all vanished on the same day.
"No. We killed the dragons who taught us Dragon Slayer Magic with our own hands. In order to become true Dragon Slayers."
"What?!!"
"They killed... dragons?!"
"You actually killed your own parents?!"
Natsu found it hard to believe. He couldn't imagine they were capable of such a thing.
"Alright, Sting. We should go."
Rogue spoke and turned around, preparing to leave.
"Then we're off. If the main event of the tournament is decided to be a duel, we'll let you witness the true power of a Dragon Slayer."
Sting finished speaking and followed Rogue away.
The small cat Lector said, "That cat following that outdated Dragon Slayer looks stupidly out of style, right?"
"Frosch thinks so too."
"Let's go, Frosch. If we spend too much time around a stupid cat like that, we'll become stupid too."
"Frosch thinks so too."
The two small cats spoke as they followed after the others.
Happy was furious. This was the first time someone had mocked him so directly. He wasn't an idiot.
"Forget it, let's go back. If we really run into them during the tournament, we must teach these arrogant guys a lesson!"
Lucy said. What was so great about being the number one guild? Fairy Tail had a monster like Kael. Even if she couldn't win, there was still Kael. She would complain to Kael when they got back and let Kael put them in their place.
Natsu and Happy were fuming from the encounter and lost interest in sightseeing. They followed Lucy back to the inn.
When Kael returned, Lucy complained to him, making it sound as if the other party had belittled both Fairy Tail and Kael as if they were worthless.
"Kael, you have to give those guys a proper lesson!"
"Sabertooth? If I run into them, I'll give them a piece of my mind."
Kael raised an eyebrow. They didn't even respect the Black Dragon, Acnologia? They had no idea what they were up against.
DING-DONG————!!
At night, the hands of the clock pointed exactly to twelve o'clock.
Several spotlights lit up the night sky of Crocus, and a projection of a person wearing a pumpkin head appeared in mid-air.
[To all the guilds gathered here to participate in the Grand Magic Games! Good morning!!]
[In order to reduce the number of participating teams from 113 down to 8, we will now begin the 'Preliminaries.']
"Preliminaries?!"
"I never heard anything about this!"
"What is that?! It's huge!!"
"A giant pumpkin~~!"
[The number of participating teams is increasing every year, which means this tournament is starting to be underestimated!]
[Therefore, this year we have decided to cut the number of teams entering the final games down to 8.]
[The rules of the preliminaries are simple!]
Suddenly!!
RUMBLE———!!
The hotels where all the contestants were staying began to rise.
[You will now compete against each other. The goal is the tournament stadium, Domus Flau.]
[The first 8 teams to arrive will qualify for the finals.]
[Any magic can be used freely. There are no restrictions. Just squeeze into the top eight.]
[If all 5 members of a team do not arrive, you will be disqualified.]
[Additionally, one more point: we are not responsible for any deaths or injuries that occur within the labyrinth.]
[Grand Magic Games Preliminaries! Sky Labyrinth! Begin now!!]
At this moment, a giant ball appeared in the sky, looking incomparably spectacular. Tunnels connected to the various hotels where the guilds were staying.
"Tsk tsk! This is quite a sight!"
Kael couldn't help but marvel at the spectacular scene. If he wasn't mistaken, this was likely Molding Magic. Molding Magic involved creating objects out of thin air using magic power; it was a very powerful mechanic.
"Yeah! Truly spectacular!"
"How did they make this?!"
The others also had looks of amazement. Magic technology had advanced so quickly in these few years.
"Alright, we should head out too. For the sake of those S-class requests!"
"Ohhh!"
"Fairy Tail team! Move out!!"
Several people ran quickly up the stairs toward the labyrinth in the sky. At this time, the teams from other guilds were also moving.
Soon, they reached the entrance of the labyrinth.
"Is the inside a massive 3D maze?"
Gray started to feel a headache upon seeing this.
Natsu held his head, his eyes spinning. "Ugh, I'm the worst at this kind of thing!!"
Erza said, "We should head East, because the actual stadium is to our East."
Lucy said, "In that case, leave it to me!"
"Open! Gate of the Compass! Pyxis!!"
A bird-like Celestial Spirit with a compass on its head appeared, and the needle on its head spun around.
"That way is East!"
Lucy pointed excitedly in one direction.
Erza couldn't help but say, "Thanks, Lucy. Actually, now that we have a compass, let's head out."
The group prepared to leave immediately.
"Wait a second!"
"What is it, Kael?"
"They said any magic can be used, right?"
"Yeah!"
Kael smiled and said, "Then I have a simpler and more convenient way."
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