Gray said, "That's only if you can even get on the field."
"Besides, even if you do get a chance to play, taking down one person is already good enough. Thinking about taking them all down? Have some self-awareness."
Lucy couldn't help but be curious when she heard this. "Is Phantom Lord that powerful?"
Natsu gritted his teeth and said, "Those guys aren't worth worrying about."
Mirajane explained, "Phantom Lord is quite formidable. If the two sides really fought, it's very likely both would suffer heavy losses. Otherwise, Master wouldn't have chosen to endure."
"They have the Element 4, who are on par with S-Class Mages. Besides these four, there's an even more troublesome guy, Gajeel, the Iron Dragon Slayer Mage, who is also the biggest suspect in this attack on the Guild."
"A Dragon Slayer Mage?! Besides Natsu, there's another one?" Lucy was very surprised.
She now clearly understood how strong Natsu's Dragon Slayer Magic was. She hadn't expected Phantom Lord to also have a Dragon Slayer Mage.
Erza said with a serious expression, "These five people are troublesome, but the truly troublesome one is the Master of the Phantom Lord Guild, Jose, one of the Ten Wizard Saints."
"Ten Wizard Saints?"
Lucy heard a new title again.
Gray explained, "The Magic Council's chairman designates the ten strongest Mages on the continent, granting them the title of Ten Wizard Saints. Both our Master and the Phantom Lord Guild Master hold the same title."
"Wow! That's amazing!"
Only then did Lucy realize that the perverted old man she saw every day was actually such a powerful person.
"Yes. So, in order to deal with Phantom Lord, we also need to send out strong candidates."
Lucy said, "Wouldn't it be perfect to have all the S-Class Mages plus Master?"
Each S-Class Mage is a candidate for the Guild's strongest Mage, so they must be very strong.
Erza shook her head. "No, Gildarts is not here, Mystogan is a loner and can't be contacted at all. Even if he could be contacted, he wouldn't show his face in front of Guild members, let alone in an arena with so many people."
"Isn't Laxus still here?"
"Laxus... if he could participate, he could guarantee us one or even two wins, but he might not agree to fight."
"Why?! Isn't he also a member of Fairy Tail?" Lucy looked puzzled.
Since he was a member of Fairy Tail, he should naturally fight for the Guild's honor.
"He... never mind, don't consider him. So, the worst-case scenario is that among the S-Class Mages, only Erza and Takeshi can fight, with Master as the finale. In that case, we'd still be short three people."
The young Laxus would definitely have fought, but as he grew older, Laxus became more and more extreme, and there's a very high possibility he wouldn't participate.
"Of course I'm going to fight!" Natsu shouted.
"Natsu, huh... if Natsu gets serious, he certainly can."
Natsu himself uses Dragon Slayer Magic, and his strength is very great. Although he was beaten up by Erza and Takeshi, that doesn't mean he's weak.
"Since Natsu is fighting, I can't just watch from the sidelines either." Gray also spoke up.
He and Natsu had been fighting since they were kids. If Natsu was going to fight, he naturally couldn't fall behind him.
Happy said, "In that case, we're still missing one last person."
"Hmm... it seems I really have to make an appearance."
Lucy felt it was time for her to step up. As a frontline female Mage of Fairy Tail, she had the responsibility and obligation to take on this important task.
"Hmm... how about Loke?"
"He's a little short of what we need."
"How about Cana?"
"Cana is pretty good. Let's keep her as an alternate."
"Hey! Don't ignore me! I'm strong too!"
Seeing that the others were discussing without considering her, Lucy couldn't help but shout angrily.
"Lucy, huh?"
"Yeah. She's just a Lucy."
"Hey! What do you mean 'just a Lucy'?! What do you take me for?!"
Takeshi said indifferently, "There's no need to fuss over the candidates. This isn't a best-of-three, but a gauntlet match. With me in charge, this match won't be lost."
Erza frowned. "But Takeshi, your endurance..."
Takeshi's lack of endurance had become a recognized fact in the Guild, especially the more powerful Takeshi's displayed strength, the lower his endurance.
"My transformation time might not be long, but I can make those guys stand in front of me for an even shorter time."
Since he proposed this method, Takeshi had naturally prepared himself mentally to take on five opponents alone.
"So domineering!"
Natsu, Gray, and the others all felt Takeshi's words were super cool. Of course, Takeshi also had the strength to say such a thing.
A short while later, Mirajane finished making the food, and everyone enjoyed a sumptuous dinner together.
"Time to sleep."
After eating and drinking their fill, everyone started going to bed. Fortunately, Takeshi's house was large enough, with several bedrooms.
The three girls shared one, Natsu and Happy shared one, and Gray and Takeshi each had their own separate rooms. This was to prevent the two of them from fighting and tearing down the house.
The three girls were whispering. Girls' topics naturally revolved around boys and romance.
"Mira, do you like Takeshi?"
"I do."
Mirajane admitted generously, which made Lucy and Erza's gossipy hearts burn with interest. They were very curious.
Lucy asked in a low voice, "When?"
Mirajane said, "I can't say exactly when, and liking someone isn't love at first sight, but something built up over time. Little things in daily life gradually make you pay more attention to him and care about him, and before you know it, you've fallen in love."
"Did you pursue him or did he pursue you?"
"I think I pursued him."
"Wh—?!"
Lucy and Erza were greatly surprised and they were about to shout but Mirajane quickly covered their mouths.
"It's hard to imagine that you actually went to actively pursue a boy."
Who was Mirajane? She was a national idol.
To actively pursue Takeshi was too unexpected. Usually, it seemed like Takeshi was the more proactive one.
Mirajane smiled and said, "What's so unimaginable about it? When you meet a good boy, you naturally have to be a little more proactive. To be honest, if I hadn't actively claimed Takeshi, who knows how many girls in the Guild would have wanted to pounce on him?"
Erza nodded. "Mira is right."
Takeshi was very popular among the girls in the Guild. If it weren't for Mirajane, these girls would have been much more proactive. And also because the opponent was Mirajane, many people were consciously deterred.
Moreover, Takeshi seemed calm and collected, but sometimes his words could really stir one's heartstrings.
Like the last time during the Eisenwald incident, Takeshi inadvertently said that if he could marry a girl like her, he would wake up smiling in his dreams.
Erza was greatly moved at that time. She had never heard anyone say such words to her since she was a child. That kind of sincere affirmation was more impactful than any love confession.
While the girls were chatting, Takeshi was waiting in his room.
This time, when he returned to the Guild, he had naturally asked Cana for another divination to find out when his luck would be best. The answer he received was exactly midnight tonight.
Dong! Dong! Dong!
As the clock struck twelve, Takeshi immediately opened the system interface.
[Do you want to perform a 10× draw?]
'Confirm.'
***
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