"Winner, Alzack."
"Sarusuk and Troy have lost their combat abilities."
"Fairy Tail remaining members: 82."
Everyone was stunned for a moment, taking a few seconds to remember who Sarusuk was, finally realizing it was Jet's original name.
They always used nicknames, so they'd almost forgotten what his real name was.
Makarov frowned, "Is this a battle briefing? Why did the three of them start fighting?"
"Joy vs. Wang."
"Winner, Wang."
"Again, why is Joy fighting Wang?" Mira was very puzzled.
The relationship between Joy and Wang Qiangji was similar to that of Macao and Wakaba; while they usually brawled a bit, they spent more time drinking together.
Especially at such a critical moment, they shouldn't be having internal conflicts.
"Krof vs. Nicky."
"Both sides lost combat ability simultaneously."
"Fairy Tail remaining members: 79."
In Rhode's memory, Krof and Nicky were also two people who usually got along well, even trying to prank him together once.
One had buck teeth and the other a mushroom haircut; Rhode never held a grudge against them.
People who usually got along so well suddenly started fighting at such a crucial time, with some even fighting to mutual destruction. This was surely not their intention.
"There must be some unavoidable reason for fighting... no, maybe it's precisely because they are close that they ended up fighting,"
Rhode looked at the technique floating before the door, recalling the encounter with Fried that morning, "In the worst-case scenario, Fried might have set up numerous techniques across Magnolia.
It's precisely because they are close that they act together, thereby stepping into the same technique.
The rules of the technique might be 'only the winner can leave' or more strictly, 'only when one loses consciousness can the other leave.'
Impatient people might attack their companions directly, while those with softer hearts might sacrifice themselves to let their friends leave, calmer individuals...
There are no calm people; those who can maintain some calm are still in the guild."
This explains why Laxus dared to take only three people to fight the entire guild, and why he told Rhode that it didn't matter how many people he brought to find him.
This guy's goal is to use Fried's techniques to filter out those with enough strength, perhaps even requiring a second round of selection by the Thunder God Tribe before being 'qualified' to fight him.
A considerable number of pre-arranged techniques by Fried gave him the confidence to act this way.
Others wouldn't be able to detect the presence of the technique before stepping into the trap, but they had complete knowledge of the trap's location, allowing them to use the techniques to gain easy victories or straightforwardly use some peculiar traps to fight.
Under such rules, the number of people naturally holds no significance for Laxus.
"Stop it! Stop it now, you foolish brats!" Makarov stomped anxiously; this wasn't your usual brawl but a forced self-slaughter to save companions turned into stone statues.
In such a situation, whether it's the person being hurt by a companion or the one who had to hurt a companion, no one would feel good.
But the person who feels the worst must be Makarov, who can only watch as the kids kill each other, watch Laxus wreaking havoc, yet is unable to stop it.
His body swelled, his fists enlarging and smashing against the wall beside the door.
The wall shattered with a crash, but the giant fist couldn't extend beyond the wall's range by even a bit.
Fried's technique naturally enclosed the entire guild.
"Wolian, immediately use your magic to tell the people outside about Laxus's intentions, warn them of the traps, and tell them not to gather but to scatter..."
Halfway through speaking, Rhode suddenly stopped, realizing what good would scattering do?
Sure, it might reduce some infighting, but after dispersing, forget Laxus, there might be very few who can match the Thunder God Tribe.
"Let's stop the infighting first."
"Understood!" Wolian immediately complied, but his face quickly revealed a troubled expression; once again, the group was arguing on the public channel, with few actually listening to what others were saying.
"Macao vs. Wakaba."
"Both sides lost combat ability simultaneously."
"Fairy Tail remaining members: 77."
Natsu was both anxious and angry, "Damn it, let me out! I want to join in too!"
Gray cursed, "Idiot, it's all part of Laxus's scheme, what do you want to join?"
"Of course, the strongest battle! I want to defeat Laxus!"
Gray grabbed Natsu by the collar, pointing at the stone statues on the stage, "That guy is using Erza and Lucy's lives to force us into infighting, what kind of 'strongest battle' is that? Three hours later, if we don't solve this, they will..."
"They won't! Even that annoying guy Laxus wouldn't go that far; it must be to scare us! Right, old man?"
Makarov was initially surprised by Natsu, not expecting that even at this point, Natsu still believed Laxus wouldn't really take their companions' lives.
The others weren't necessarily as optimistic as Natsu.
Rhode also dared not bet on whether this impulsive youthful Laxus might, in a moment of impulse, have Ibarglin remotely shatter the statues.
"Mickey vs. Sally vs. Iz."
"Winner, Mickey."
"Fairy Tail remaining members: 75."
"Marcus vs. Tono."
"Battle in progress..."
...
Battle reports flashed rapidly, clearly, quite a few people had already stepped into traps during Wolian's notification, or were outright in a heated battle, unable to stop.