"Water Slicer!"
"Thunder Dragon's Crushing Fist!"
At that same moment, the real Pumpkin Man, whose massive projection everyone had just seen, was sitting in a monitoring room lined with screens.
The screens showed different sections of the three-dimensional labyrinth: some empty corridors, some moving shadows of teams passing through, and several intense battles.
The Pumpkin Man nodded at some screens and shook his head at others.
"As expected, the participants this year are really uneven in skill."
"To take out two teams from the same guild at once… that's Sabertooth for you."
"But honestly, how could they be so weak and still send two teams? And they were even lucky enough to bump into each other in the labyrinth."
"And Mr. Jura… always a one-hit KO."
He kept muttering commentary as if running his own sports broadcast, clearly enjoying himself.
"Speaking of which, Fairy Tail sent two teams as well, didn't they…?"
He shuffled through the screens and finally spotted a flash of golden hair, Lucy.
"Hm. That young man with them looks a bit clueless, but he's unexpectedly strong. And the one fighting while drinking, is she a Bacchus fan?"
"And where's that Celestial Spirit girl Lucy entrusted with the mapping? She's… doing clerical work back at the guild?"
He stared at Team A for a while, nodded, and decided they were actually quite solid, especially considering they'd defeated so many teams with just four people actively fighting.
"But where's the other team?"
He searched all the screens again, but found no trace of Team B.
"Mr. Pump...Pumpkin."
The staff member monitoring the screens called out reluctantly, using the title he requested.
"Fairy Tail Team B is over there."
"Hm?"
Pumpkin Man looked over, just in time to see a figure flash past a camera view. A huge hole burst open in a wall, and then the figure instantly retreated and vanished.
"What's going on, Pumpkin?" He reflexively slipped into his verbal tic.
"It appears to be their battle plan," the staff member explained, pointing to several screens.
"You see here, here, and here, they're forcing their way straight through the labyrinth toward the exit. Blowing through the walls directly."
"They're moving so fast, and using concealment magic, that we can only guess at their techniques. Seems to be lightning, water, and close-quarters combat. So we deduce that's Mr. Rhode's team."
"Breaking through the labyrinth like this is far too reckless, Pumpkin." Pumpkin Man wiped the cold sweat from his brow… or rather, from his pumpkin hood.
He had always heard that Rhodes was a "tactical genius," so why was his approach so… crude?
He knew the labyrinth rotated periodically, weren't they afraid all their progress would be wasted?
No…
At their current speed, they would finish before the first rotation even began.
"Does this count as a rule violation?"
Pumpkin Man hesitated. When they designed the labyrinth, they definitely didn't expect anyone to blow holes through the walls. But since they had said beforehand that all magic was allowed, he couldn't suddenly change the rules now.
Looking at it another way, their ability to do this only proved their strength. And the preliminaries existed precisely to select the eight strongest teams.
That settled it.
The Pumpkin Man hopped off his stool. It was time to go greet the teams that had cleared the stage.
Inside the labyrinth, Rhode's team advanced smoothly.
Aside from one detour, when they accidentally got too close to Team A and avoided fighting them, they basically bulldozed straight through.
When Mira smashed down the final wall, the exit was already right in front of them.
Gajeel and Juvia were visibly exhausted; today had essentially been the equivalent of punching their way through an entire city, a city reinforced with magical construction materials.
Rhodes dispersed the alchemy mist, stepped into the last corridor with his teammates, and walked toward the finish.
The Pumpkin Man stood waiting at the exit, clapping cheerfully."Congratulations on clearing the preliminaries and taking first place!"
Rhodes and the others smiled, but before they could reply, a deep rumbling echoed behind them.
They turned back in surprise.
The giant sphere floating in the sky rotated a full 180 degrees, flipping upside down.
The Pumpkin Man explained,
"No need to be alarmed. The labyrinth rotates at fixed intervals, but its internal structure doesn't change. I just didn't expect all of you to finish before the first rotation."
Juvia shuddered.
"How dangerous… if we'd been just a little slower..."
/
She didn't finish her sentence, because after thinking about it for a moment, it really didn't matter. They had been advancing toward the upper-east section near the middle layer of the sphere; now, after the rotation, they were simply heading toward the lower-east. And with a teammate who could fly, even if the entire labyrinth flipped upside-down, no one would fall.
The Pumpkin Man continued,
"Please proceed inside and follow the signs to the lounge. The main competition starts tomorrow morning, so you'll have plenty of time to rest."
"Thank you," everyone replied politely before heading into the passage behind the door.
Gajeel stretched and laughed.
"That idiot Fire Dragon still isn't here. Figures."
"I wonder how Gray-sama is doing…" Juvia pressed her hands to her cheeks, looking both shy and hopeful at the thought of beating Team A.
Rhodes smirked mischievously.
"Don't worry about Gray. Erza, Cana, and Lucy will all take care of him."
Juvia's pink blush instantly drained into ghostly white.
"Why does Team A have three girls? My love rivals have increased!"
Mira burst into laughter, even raising a hand as if to wipe away tears."How wonderful. Erza has finally been promoted to 'love rival' in Juvia's heart."
Gajeel blinked at her, confused.
"That's what you're celebrating?"
Laxus frowned in concern.
"At this rate, can Juvia even fight properly if she ends up facing Team A?"
"Just don't let her fight Gray," Rhodes replied.
"Let her go up against Lucy. That might… create some interesting results."
Mira clasped her cheeks dramatically.
"Oh my, wouldn't that be a little too cruel?"
Everyone laughed.
If Juvia were truly given that matchup, the scene would indeed be… intense.
Still, they all knew their own guildmates wouldn't actually hurt each other. At worst, it would turn into something similar to Aquarius bullying Lucy, something Lucy was unfortunately already accustomed to.
The group walked into the designated lounge, chatting and laughing along the way.
The lounge itself was quite ordinary, not much better than their previous hotel, but perfectly adequate for a simple rest.
Rhodes glanced around the spacious room, noticed no "no-fire" signs posted anywhere, and casually took out his camping cookware.
Mira and Juvia immediately got to work, preparing late-night snacks for everyone.
"Juvia's cooking is pretty good," Rhodes commented approvingly.
"To become Gray-sama's wife, Juvia has been diligently doing her bride training!" Juvia declared proudly, her face reddening as she slipped into another fantasy.
"Gray-sama, whether it's cooking, laundry, washing your back, or having children, please leave everything to Juvia!"
Something strange seemed to be mixed in there.
Rhodes gave Mira an incredulous look.
"Have you ever done anything like bride training?"
Mira smiled confidently.
"Do I need training for that?"
Fair point. Mira already had the experience, charm, and personality of a perfect wife. She didn't need any training at all.
...
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