"A brand new magic festival, the Grand Magic Tournament, is about to begin!"
"I am Chabati Lola, in charge of live reporting."
"And the narrators are the twin sisters from the current Ten Wizard Saints, the Ice Spring sisters, Heidi and Sandy. Welcome, both of you!"
"Please take care of me."
As a new day dawned, the entire Grand Magic Tournament venue was packed, and each guild had its own viewing area.
Caesar led Fairy Tail to the VIP seats, and the Grand Magic Tournament officially began amidst the host Chabati's excited words.
"Now, please welcome the top eight guilds to the stage!"
Accompanied by Chabati's hoarse, high-pitched voice, eight teams led by their captains took the stage one after another, and Chabati dutifully reported on each guild.
"Miss Heidi, Miss Santi, which of the eight teams do you think has the best chance?"
His throat grew dry from speaking, so Chabati took a sip of water and gestured for the two sisters to continue.
"Fairy Tail."
The two women answered at the same time.
"Are you so sure?"
Chabati was helpless. They clearly could not continue the conversation without disagreeing.
"Of course. We have great faith in the guild that King Caesar belongs to."
"After all, he's a man who can take on five opponents at once. His guild must be very strong."
As the two spoke, Chabati flipped through his documents.
"Here, let me share some background with you. As a former veteran of the Ten Wizard Saints, Caesar fought against the five new Wizard Saints after they joined to test their strength. In the end, he defeated all five at the same time, proving their worth."
The audience was stunned as they listened, and their admiration for Fairy Tail grew even stronger.
"The opening match of the first day, Reincarnation, is about to begin!"
"Each team will send one person to participate. The rules will be announced after the participants are chosen."
Fairy Tail did not hesitate. Mirajane said to Natsu, "Natsu, let's go."
"Good!"
Natsu smashed his fists together, flames rising. "I'm fired up!"
On the other side, Blue Pegasus sent Ren. Snake Scale sent Sherry. Mermaid Heel sent Miliana. Four-Headed Hound sent Roca. Saber-Toothed Tiger sent Minerva.
The weaker guilds, Sirius Fang and Colorful Unicorn, sent an invisible mage and a fire mage.
The eight chosen contestants stayed in the arena while the others returned to their seats.
"Activate the arena! South... Pumpkin!"
The mascot of the tournament, who was actually King Thomas of Fiore, raised his hand. The entire arena trembled.
"Wait... this is..."
Natsu instantly sensed something was wrong.
Up in the Fairy Tail VIP section, everyone covered their faces in embarrassment.
Last night they had overthought the meaning of Reincarnation and assumed it was related to time, so they picked Natsu, who had crossed four hundred years.
But what they never expected was...
What kind of ridiculous Reincarnation was this?!
A giant circular running track appeared, and the track began to spin as everyone started running.
The rules were simple. Maintain running rhythm and knock as many people off the track as possible.
If there were no track, Natsu would win instantly.
But with the bumpy, spinning track, and with Dragon Slayers being naturally bad with vehicles, Natsu was doomed.
He passed out before the match even began and was the first to be kicked out.
"What a huge upset! Fairy Tail, the favorites to win, are eliminated in the first round with zero points!"
Chabati shouted in disbelief as the crowd erupted in laughter.
Natsu lay on the ground, ashamed and wishing he could disappear.
They had all gotten the same instructions, but their reading comprehension had betrayed them.
But honestly...
Who names a running track Reincarnation?!
Caesar was impressed by the Fiore royal family's wild imagination.
He wanted nothing more than to roll up his sleeves and have a talk with Thomas about naming things seriously.
But no amount of talking would change the zero score.
After the match, the results were announced.
Mermaid Heel: 10Saber-Toothed Tiger: 8Blue Pegasus: 6Snake Scale: 4Four-Headed Hound: 3Colorful Unicorn: 2Sirius Fang: 1Fairy Tail: 0
Mermaid Heel took first place thanks to Miliana's performance.
Her cat leash ability was extremely restrictive on a speeding track. A single trip would send opponents flying.
So Miliana won straight through and took first place.
Fairy Tail had no choice but to accept the result. Dragon Slayers were too easily countered by vehicles.
But still...
How could even a single track defeat Natsu?!
Natsu got thoroughly scolded afterward and felt embarrassed.
However, losing the first round didn't mean much, because what followed were true battles of skill.
The only downside was that the teams could not choose their matchups. The organizers assigned them.
"Alright, the battle matchups for today have been posted."
Once the track vanished, Chabati received the duel schedule.
"First duel of the first day. Fairy Tail's Mirajane Strauss versus the Ten Wizard Saints representative of Snake Scale, Jura Regis!"
"Huh? Me?"
Mirajane heard her name and pointed at herself in confusion.
"It's Mira! We've got this!"
"Ten points, guaranteed!"
But when they heard who Mirajane's opponent was, the entire guild froze.
On the other side, Snake Scale felt the same way Fairy Tail felt—they thought they had already won.
Caesar leaned against the VIP railing, watching Mirajane and Jura enter the arena, and smiled.
If this were the old Mirajane from the original storyline, this match would be unpredictable.
Maybe 30/70, maybe 70/30.
But the Mirajane of today?
Caesar was certain Jura would be crushed.
Mirajane's current strength far surpassed Jura's. Even the Twelve Shields of the Alvarez Empire might not be able to defeat her now.