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*****
The second day of the Grand Magic Games was held in the same grand arena, still packed with spectators.
As the thirty guild teams of mages entered, the cheers from the audience were deafening.
Compared to yesterday, when only Macao and a few others were cheering for Fairy Tail, nearly a quarter of the crowd was now shouting in support of them.
All of this was thanks to George's one-shot victory yesterday.
Admiration for strength is a common human instinct—if you display overwhelming power, followers and admirers naturally emerge.
After a brief opening speech, the host handed the mic back to the same pumpkin-headed man from yesterday.
"Now, let us welcome Mr. Pumpkin to explain today's competition rules!"
Mr. Pumpkin's magical projection appeared above the arena.
"Today's event is the individual match. Using our magic system, we'll conduct random pairings for battle, excluding matchups between members of the same guild.
The winner will earn ten points for their guild, the loser gets zero, and a draw earns five points each."
As the magical projection faded, ten magic circles lit up across the arena. Ten round platforms simultaneously rose into place.
"Attention: losing combat capability or surrendering constitutes a loss. Killing your opponent results in immediate disqualification and the elimination of your entire guild from the competition."
"This spatial magic array is pretty interesting. Once the Grand Magic Games are over, maybe I should visit the Royal Magic Development Bureau and the Royal Library."
He had already noticed it yesterday—the magic array in the arena could not only teleport objects but also retract them.
In fact, this world does have large-scale teleportation arrays. The Magic Council had used one before, but he hadn't found any relevant magic books in the Fairy Tail library.
Most likely, that's because such large-scale teleportation magic is considered a national strategic asset, monopolized by the royal family and the Magic Council. Or perhaps the requirements for using it are extremely strict—like massive consumption of magic crystals.
Even if the conditions are demanding, he felt it was still worth learning.
He had already mastered the crafting of gate keys, which could also be used for teleportation—though they couldn't transport many people at once. Studying these large-scale arrays might help him improve upon the current method.
Besides, the Royal Magic Development Bureau and the Royal Library were both quite renowned—definitely worth a visit.
There might even be clues about time magic hidden within.
"Now, let's begin the first round of the draw!"
Mr. Pumpkin pointed to the large screen in the arena. The names of 150 mages began scrolling rapidly across it.
"Stop!"
Ten seconds later, the names stopped scrolling, and the first group of contestants was displayed from top to bottom.
At the top of the list was none other than George of Fairy Tail and Orga of Sabertooth.
The moment the two breakout stars from yesterday were paired up, the entire audience jumped to their feet in excitement.
Both had instantly defeated terrifying mechanical gorilla mages with a single strike yesterday, and both specialized in lightning-based magic—this battle promised to be spectacular.
"There's definitely something fishy going on."
Seeing the lineup, George muttered to himself.
What were the chances? The two most eye-catching contestants from yesterday just happened to get matched in the very first round?
It was obvious the royal organizers wanted to kick off with a high-profile clash to hype up the event.
It reminded him of those reality shows from his previous life—if you want drama, you have to script it ahead of time. Otherwise, how would there be so many hilarious unscripted moments?
Since this was the first-ever Grand Magic Games hosted by the royal family, they naturally wanted to capture the nation's attention and lay a solid foundation for future events—so it had to be entertaining.
The so-called "random draw" was clearly a behind-the-scenes setup.
They arranged the matchups in whatever way would stir up the biggest reactions from the crowd.
Otherwise, if a top-tier mage were randomly paired with an average one and instantly ended the match, what fun would that be?
Looking closely at the matchups on the screen, George noticed that the skill levels of the paired contestants were generally well matched.
Top students fought other top students, while weaker mages were matched with similarly ranked ones.
This ensured the point gaps between guilds wouldn't widen too much by the end of the individual matches, keeping the suspense alive for the remaining two events.
Of course, it was also possible that the royal family was using this opportunity to have all the mages show off their full range of magic—secretly recording data and gathering intelligence.
He couldn't shake the feeling that there was something off about this whole tournament.
"First group of contestants, please take the stage!"
Nineteen mages and one cat stepped onto the ten arenas.
"I can't believe my opponent is just a cat. I heard you beat Laxus?"
On the arena, Orga stood with his arms crossed, his face full of arrogance.
George asked curiously,
"You know Laxus?"
"No, I've just heard he uses Lightning Dragon Slayer Magic and is supposed to be strong. But if he lost to a cat, he can't be that impressive."
Orga sneered with disdain.
They were both users of Lost Magic, both S-Class. Orga had always seen Laxus as a rival and wanted to challenge him one day to prove he was the strongest lightning mage.
It was a pity that Laxus had actually lost to a cat—and even died at the hands of a dragon. Orga was thoroughly disappointed.
"So you're not acquaintances. That's good."
George nodded at his words.
Orga frowned.
"What do you mean by that?"
"Nothing in particular."
George shrugged his cat paws.
If Orga had been a friend of Laxus, he might've held back a little in their fight. But since that wasn't the case, it didn't matter anymore.
"Let the match begin!"
With the host's booming shout, two burly royal guards struck a massive gong carved into a stone statue with great force.
"You're done for."
As the gong echoed, Orga pointed straight at George.
"God-Slaying Magic: Black Thunder Orb!"
A massive black orb instantly enveloped George's body. Countless black lightning bolts crackled inside, striking ferociously toward him.
The audience gasped in alarm, many of them clutching their seats—especially the girls who were fond of cats.
But to everyone's surprise, every bolt of black lightning inside the orb seemed to hit an invisible mirror as they approached George. They all reflected back automatically—none actually struck him.
"Interesting, I'll give you that."
George raised his paw, and blue lightning burst forth, wrapping around the black thunder orb. In an instant, it shrank and condensed into a compact sphere nestled between his claws.
The black thunder orb indeed contained a unique power—far stronger than ordinary lightning—but to someone who had already grasped the essence of lightning, it posed no threat at all.
"You and I aren't even on the same level. Even compared to Laxus, you're still a step behind."
With a flick of his paw, the orb crackling with black lightning was launched straight at Orga's face.
(End of Chapter)