"Huh, turning into stone, what's that?"
"So strange."
"Is it part of the performance?"
The audience discussed among themselves, not realizing immediately that this was an unexpected event.
Fairy Tail has always been chaotic, turning oneself or a companion into stone might even be part of a performance.
But as the host, Marcus knew this was Ibarglin's magic. Judging by her expression, she wasn't joking.
Seems like there's going to be a big commotion in the guild! Marcus had this intuition, so he immediately shouted to the audience, "Citizens, please evacuate at once!"
He even used the Magic of Sand to create directional arrows, to warn everyone to leave quickly.
The ordinary people among the audience saw his seriousness and started fleeing in panic.
Although they didn't know what was happening, it seemed dangerous. That woman might be here to launch a terrorist attack.
The area below the stage was in chaos, and Makarov couldn't sit still any longer, leaping up and shouting towards the stage, "Ibarglin, what are you doing? Do you want to ruin the festival?"
"Let's just say it's a sideshow of the festival."
The folding fan in Ibarglin's hand snapped shut with a swish, and she lightly flicked her right hand, igniting a blazing fire on the curtain behind.
As the curtain quickly burned away, five stone statues were revealed to everyone: Kana, Jubia, Reby, Bisca, and... Erza.
The crowd had just witnessed the entire process of Lucy being turned into a statue, so they immediately realized these statues were indeed them.
All the Miss Fairy Tail contestants, except for Mira who had jumped off the stage in advance, were turned into stone by Ibarglin in the waiting room.
Mira covered her mouth, "How can this be..."
Rhode also showed shock on his face; could the Petrification Magic even overcome Erza?
"What are you doing? Restore them immediately!" Makarov's tone was extremely stern, as this seemed to have gone beyond an ordinary joke.
A golden flash of lightning fell with a thunderous sound at the center of the stage.
Fried and Biguslo appeared beside Ibarglin, while Laxus, draped in a cloak with arms crossed, stood before the three.
"Hey, folks of Fairy Tail, the festival has just begun!" Laxus greeted everyone with a flippant tone.
Faces were full of surprise and confusion:
Could it be that Laxus and the Thunder God Tribe infiltrated the guild backstage and attacked the resting contestants, turning them into statues?
The scene appeared this way, leaving many struggling to process the information.
In everyone's view, although Laxus was rebellious and foul-mouthed, he was still part of the guild, the president's grandson, and surely wouldn't do such a harmful thing to his comrades.
What is really happening here?
Laxus, appreciating the expressions on everyone's faces, curled into a self-satisfied smile and said to Makarov, "Let's play a game, old man!"
"Stop fooling around, Laxus!" Makarov scolded angrily, "Even if it's a joke, it's too much; restore them immediately!"
A golden bolt of lightning struck near Lucy's statue, cracking a piece of the stage floor as the crowd watched anxiously.
"I'm not joking, old man!" Laxus placed a hand on Lucy's statue's shoulder,
"These women are now my hostages. If anyone breaks the game rules, I'll shatter them all!"
With the speed of Lightning Magic, unless someone anticipated when and who Laxus would target, no one could stop him from shattering the statues at such a close distance.
Makarov's face was stern. "What exactly do you want?"
Laxus spread his arms wide: "Simple, to determine who is the strongest in Fairy Tail. From now on, I'm initiating the Battle for the Strongest in Fairy Tail, and the last one standing is the winner!"
"Just what I wanted!" Before anyone else could react, Natsu was the first to jump out, responding to Laxus's challenge.
He took big strides, charging directly at Laxus: "Take this, Fire Dragon's Iron Fist!"
"I appreciate your eager attitude..." Laxus effortlessly caught Natsu's fist, "But I don't like your unpolished personality."
He flung Natsu away, releasing powerful lightning to envelop Natsu completely.
"Wahh..." Natsu flew back the way he came, landing face down on the ground, with black smoke rising from his body.
"Natsu!" Hapi rushed over with concern to check on him.
Fortunately, it seemed like just an ordinary beating; nothing too serious.
"Impulsive fellow." Ibarglin said with a smile,
"In short, to make these girls return to normal, you must defeat us. The time limit is three hours, and if you fail, they... will turn to dust."
Everyone was incredulous: "What did you say?!"
"Even if you want the strongest battle, there's no need to go this far, right?"
"Are you serious?!"
No one answered; Fried simply took a step forward to further supplement the rules: "The battle area is the entire city; as long as you can find us, you can start battling immediately."
Biguslo stuck out his tongue with a sinister laugh: "There are only four of us, but nearly 100 of you. The situation doesn't look advantageous for us, ha ha ha!"
"Unfavorable!"
"Unfavorable!"
The five barrel-like puppets floating beside him echoed his words chattering.
At this moment, the black Fairy Tail emblem on Biguslo's tongue was glaringly visible.