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*****
"I share Mr. Yajima's opinion,"
Lahar nodded in agreement.
Although he hadn't met George in person, he had read intelligence reports about the cat in the new Magic Council's archives.
According to the reports, George's abilities were rated highly—his strength was believed to be close to that of a Wizard Saint.
With that level of power, defeating the Mechanical Arcane Gorilla below should be no problem.
"It seems the two of you still have great expectations for Fairy Tail. Let's hope they advance successfully and perform even better in the official matches."
The host nodded, then announced the start of the day's ninth preliminary match.
Inside the steel chamber, Alzack eyed the slowly rising Mechanical Arcane Gorilla and rationally suggested to George:
"George, why don't we handle this one? You should conserve your strength."
The slightly stronger guilds had all made efforts to hide their full power during the preliminaries, aiming to avoid being targeted in the official rounds.
Fairy Tail's chances of progressing further would ultimately rely on George's performance. The other four could only play supporting roles.
So if the four of them could somehow defeat the gorilla themselves, George could enter the official matches on an even playing field with the other top-tier mages—without his abilities being exposed and exploited.
"No need for that. A true powerhouse doesn't fear being targeted. I'll take care of this one. You four conserve your strength and focus on tomorrow's solo matches!"
George shook his head, the fur on his feline face shifting as he looked toward the charging Mechanical Arcane Gorilla. From his Requip space, he pulled out a silver coin and gave it a flick.
Targeted? That didn't worry him at all.
He was a well-rounded mage, skilled in every aspect: mental, physical, and magical. He wasn't like most mages in this world who focused on just one or two types of magic.
Whether elemental spells, close combat techniques, physical enhancements, or soul magic—he had mastered them all. With his abilities, he was the one doing the targeting, not the other way around.
Besides, being "targeted" only mattered when power levels were close. If the gap was too large, no amount of strategy could make a difference.
It was like water beating fire—but if the fire is hot enough, it can still boil the water away.
Among all the contestants he had sensed so far, none had made him feel the need to be as serious as he was when facing Soren.
So there was no reason to put on a show of struggle now—no need to hide his strength and let the others fight themselves half to death just to earn a hard-fought win.
Even if they scored highest that way, it just wouldn't feel satisfying.
He wanted a clean, overwhelming victory from start to finish—something that would leave every spectator and mage in awe of Fairy Tail. He wanted them to see that even without most of its main members, Fairy Tail remained an unbeatable force.
Only then could the guild attract more talented mages and wealthy clients with commissions.
"Railgun!"
Over a billion volts surged through George's body. He gently tapped the falling silver coin with his paw, and in an instant, it became a devastating railgun shot.
BOOM!
With a thunderous explosion, the Mechanical Arcane Gorilla—only halfway through its charge—crashed violently to the ground.
A hole twice the size of a basketball was blasted clean through its chest.
"Instan-instant... instant kill!!!"
Laki and the others hadn't even processed what George had just said before the battle was already over. They stared in disbelief at the fallen Mechanical Arcane Gorilla, their words stuttering in shock.
They had known George was strong—after all, he had defeated Laxus, one of Fairy Tail's strongest.
But they hadn't expected him to one-shot a magical beast with near-S-Class power—a creature that had caused so many teams to suffer crushing defeats.
And the ease of it… It looked as effortless as swatting a fly.
"All right, time to prepare for the official matches."
George returned to Laki's shoulder, closed his eyes again, and continued researching his Fairy Sphere magic within his mind.
In his eyes, this Grand Arcane Martial Tournament posed no real challenge. The preliminaries, even less so.
He didn't even need to rely on magic. With his psychic powers now surpassing those of Misaka Mikoto, a single railgun blast was enough to instantly defeat any ordinary S-Class mage in this world—outside of Fairy Tail, that is.
If not for the sake of the guild's growth, he wouldn't have bothered showing up at all.
At present, the only opponents in this world who truly interested him were the Five Dragon Gods of the Northern Continent—and that world-ending black dragon.
When George and the four others from Fairy Tail exited the steel chamber, the audience outside still hadn't fully reacted. Everyone stared at the screen, jaws practically on the floor.
Even the most popular guilds before them had needed a considerable amount of time to bring down a Mechanical Arcane Gorilla, even when only one mage was sent in.
But Fairy Tail, having sent only a single cat, managed to defeat the Mechanical Arcane Gorilla with a single strike.
The contrast was simply shocking!
Most of the spectators in the arena were ordinary people. While they were aware of mages and magic, their understanding was not very deep.
For many, Fairy Tail was a well-known name, often associated with the destruction caused by its mages during their missions, or they may have seen Mira's seductive magazine covers.
Apart from the die-hard fans and the citizens of Magnolia, most people were unaware of George's existence.
So when they saw the least expected group—Fairy Tail's four members and a cat—walking in, and that same cat casually unleashed such a powerful spell to defeat the terrifying Mechanical Arcane Gorilla, how could they not be amazed?
"Fairy Tail!"
"Fairy Tail!"
"Cat!"
"Cat!"
As the realization dawned on the crowd, the arena erupted with thunderous applause and cheers.
And just like that, George became an instant sensation, truly entering the awareness of all the mages and commoners across the kingdom.
"Fairy Tail's strongest mage, a rival even Geraral recognizes. It looks like winning first place won't be easy this time."
The Saint Ten mage, Jullara, from Serpent's Scale, clasped his hands together and sighed with a kind expression.
During their previous collaboration against the Six Magic Generals, Jullara had seen Gerard's strength firsthand. A fellow Saint Ten, he was no weaker than himself.
"So that's the cat Lucy always talks about," one of the handsome trio from Cyan Pegasus recalled. During the time when they were ambushed by the Six Magic Generals, Lucy had mentioned that if George hadn't been off on a century-long mission, their team wouldn't have been caught off guard.
Meanwhile, other mages from different guilds also began discussing the four Fairy Tail members, who had just returned to their spots.
Now, in addition to keeping an eye on the usual famous guilds, they'd also need to watch out for the cat from Fairy Tail.
"Can't believe how weak the guilds have become. One move to defeat that trash, and everyone's so amazed."
Oga, one of the mages nearby, stood up and boasted loudly.
"I'll take care of that trash. I'll show them what real lightning magic looks like!"
As George and his companions returned to their spots, a loud, arrogant voice rang out across the arena.
Everyone turned to look. It came from a burly old man wearing a black hat, with a guild insignia branded on his forehead, a necklace of prayer beads around his neck, and white hair and a beard.
Next to him, a muscular man, bare-chested and wearing a tiger-skin loincloth, loudly responded, "Don't worry, I'll show them what the strongest Thunder Magic really is!"
"Sword-Bite Tiger?" someone muttered. "I've never heard of them before. Why are they so arrogant?"
Upon hearing the conversation, mages nearby began to discuss among themselves.
A well-informed mage explained, "You probably don't know this, but Sword-Bite Tiger was once a small, obscure guild. They only became famous in the past few months after adding five new mages.
Rumor has it, each of those new mages possesses the strength of an S-Class mage."
(End of Chapter)