"Oh..."
Hibiki felt a cold sweat.
"Er-chan..." Milianna also had a cold sweat as she stuck to Erza.
"Hmm... this will be interesting."
Yet Jura was the only one who seemed excited.
Still, Cana just drank her alcohol as she glanced at Finn before looking away, since, in her mind, the strongest one had always been Finn, and this guy, who had come out of nowhere, definitely wouldn't be his opponent.
"..." Finn.
"You have come."
Meanwhile, Erza was preparing for this battle.
"All the stronger ones are coming, so I need to step in."
Finn knew that his coming might end in a way that no one had expected, especially when yesterday, he had been fighting so many battles, so when he came, no one could prepare for it.
Yet, he knew well that compared to Natsu, he felt that Erza was the one that he needed to watch out for, at least, in Fairy Tail.
More importantly, beside him, it was either Flare or Ultear who could represent them at this event.
Flare aside, as he knew well that while the Obi magic that he had created was powerful, it was also interesting, and had a lot of potential, as it became that of a drill, spiral, and
"Shit..."
"Erza..."
"Seriously?!"
All of the members of Fairy Tail were at a loss as they saw Finn, who came out. If it were before, they would have strong confidence in Erza, or even Cana, yet with Finn coming out, their expression turned into one of grave concern.
"Erza..."
Yet, despite their worry, Erza was calm. "I have always wanted to have a chance to fight you, and it seems there is a chance now."
"Don't worry. We have a lot of chances. The Grand Magic Games are still in the middle stage, and there is a lot more to come, right?" Finn turned his gaze to Mato, the petite pumpkin mascot, who stood together with everyone.
"That's right, Pumpkin!"
Mato nodded several times, showing that, despite his expression not changing under his mask, his actions revealed how excited he was.
"Me too."
Unlike others, who felt intimidated, Jura stepped forward, as he said, "I can't wait to compete with you, too, Finn-san."
"Jura Neekis." Finn nodded, since, among all the participants, Jura was, without a doubt, the exception, as he was one of the Ten Wizard Saints.
In other words, Jura was one of the strongest mages on the continent.
Frankly, if Finn hadn't appeared, Jura would have been fighting Jellal at the beginning of the Grand Magic Games, but as he appeared, Jura didn't face Jellal, and he was also the one who would face Jura on the third day of the event.
Ten Wizard Saints...
Finn had been ignoring this group of the strongest mages on the continent before, since despite their titles, it didn't mean that they were really that strong.
Yes, they were strong, and he couldn't deny it, yet when he thought about how the majority of them were defeated by a mere God Serena, the strongest among the Ten Wizard Saints, yet the one who was defeated by Acnologia in a single hit, he just couldn't take them seriously.
However, he also had to admit that many of them had unique magics, including God Serena, who held eight Dragon Slayer Magic Lacrima on his body.
As for Jura, he was a master of earth magic and a master at defensive magic, which probably made him one of the best in terms of durability.
Then again, while Finn didn't look down on Jura, he didn't think he would lose to Jura, since, besides Fairy Tail, everyone else was more or less average.
However, he knew that he shouldn't underestimate them, since many of the comedic characters somehow had strong powers, too, such as Ichiya Vandalay from the Blue Pegasus, who, despite his comedic appearance, was the strongest within the guild, which was also the reason for this event's outcome: the Blue Pegasus guild probably had the worst result, as each of those who participated in this event was a monster.
Erza, Jura, Finn, Orga, and also Cana.
As for the rest, Hibiki Lates and Millanna, it was better not to mention them, as they probably wouldn't amount to much within the event, but Cana?
Cana was the wild card, the joker.
"I also can't wait to fight you, too."
Jura smiled and made a polite gesture, since he also had to admit that even if he knew that Finn's attack was just too powerful, as it might be able to cut through anything, he wanted to test which was strongest.
His mountain-like defense, or Finn's blade?
"Now, I know that everyone can't wait for it, so let's start the third event, the Pandemonium!"
Along with Lola's words, suddenly a massive, floating, demonic castle appeared out of a giant magic circle on the stage, stunning everyone.
"W-What is this?!"
The size and the presence of this castle stunned everyone, yet what made them even more tense was the growl of several monsters that could be seen from this castle!
"What is that?!"
"Now, let me explain what this pandemonium is about."
Mato explained that the game of Pandemonium was all about defeating magical monsters to earn points.
"The castle houses exactly 100 magical projection monsters. They are divided into five different tiers based on difficulty: D, C, B, A, and S-Class! While you might underestimate it, even the D-class monsters are highly dangerous, while a single S-class monster possesses enough power to potentially rival a Wizard Saint."
Mato reminded everyone of how dangerous those monsters were, and even the projection screens showed how fearsome and powerful the monsters that resided within the castle were, making many people pale, thinking they would die if they were told to go inside.
"Participants draw lots to determine their turn order. When it is a wizard's turn, they must choose a specific number of monsters to fight. So, for example, if one said that they would challenge 3 monsters, then those monsters will come out, and you will have to defeat them, but..."
Mato showed a mischievous smirk and said, "If one somehow summons a random S-Rank monster within those three monsters, then good luck, okay~?"
"....."
"Hmm..."
When many heard that explanation, they all showed a tense expression, since if one could just summon many of the D-Rank monsters, or at worst, B-Rank, then even if the numbers of monsters was a lot, they could earn a lot of points, since they could defeat them, but on the other hand, if they asked for two monsters, yet somehow two S-Rank monsters came out, many of them knew that they would be unlucky.
"If a wizard successfully defeats all their chosen monsters, they earn points equal to the number of monsters cleared. If they are defeated or knocked unconscious, they are eliminated; they keep any points accumulated from previous rounds, but the defeated monsters are returned to the general pool for the next player."
As Mato finished his explanation, he quickly said, "Now, it is time to pick the lottery! Let's start, Pumpkin!"
While everyone made various expressions as they thought about their strategy for this event, Finn wondered whether he should kill all those monsters directly.