"You know me?" Natsu looked puzzled.
"Acnologia... as a Dragon Slayer, you still couldn't beat the Dragon, right?"
"Huh?"
Natsu's face darkened at those words.
"Long ago, I used to look up to you. I wanted to become a Dragon Slayer just like you. Oh, this is Rogue, the one he admired was Gajeel."
Rogue turned his head away. "That's all in the past, there's no need to bring it up."
"Dragon Slayers?! You two?!"
Natsu was startled, he hadn't expected them to be Dragon Slayers.
"You should call us 'true' Dragon Slayers. After all, if it were us, we might actually be able to drive Acnologia back."
Seeing how arrogant they were, Lucy couldn't help but speak up, "You say that because you've never seen Acnologia in person."
The might of Acnologia had long surpassed anything human could contend with. Only Takeshi could stand against it, no one else could possibly be a match for Acnologia.
Happy chimed in, "Exactly. You have no idea how terrifying that monster is."
"That cat looks so dumb."
"You're the genius, Lector."
The two little cats spoke up, leaving Happy fuming.
"Whether we've seen it or not is irrelevant."
"There's a fundamental difference between you and us as Dragon Slayers."
Rogue and Sting said to Natsu.
Lector explained, "Let me clarify. Natsu received Dragon Slayer Magic from a real Dragon—he's called a First-Generation Dragon Slayer. Those who use Dragon Slayer Magic by embedding a dragon lacrima in their bodies are Second-Generation Dragon Slayers. As for Sting and Rogue, they were taught by Dragons and also have lacrimas implanted, making them Third-Generation, ultimate Dragon Slayers."
"Third Generation?! Then did your Dragons also vanish in the year 777?"
Natsu grew curious, since both Gajeel and Wendy's Dragons disappeared on the same day.
"No. The Dragons who taught us Dragon Slayer Magic were personally slain by us, so we could become true Dragon Slayers."
"What?!!"
"They killed... the Dragons?!"
"You actually killed your own fathers?!"
Natsu couldn't believe they were capable of such a thing.
"Alright, Sting, let's go." Rogue turned to leave.
"Then we're off. If the main event of the tournament turns out to be duels, we'll show you the true power of a Dragon Slayer."
With that, Sting followed Rogue away.
Lector added, "That cat following the outdated Dragon Slayer looks downright stupid, doesn't he?"
"Fro thinks so too."
"Let's go, Fro. If we hang around a dumb cat too long, we'll get stupid too."
"Fro thinks so too."
The two little cats trotted off.
Happy was livid—no one had ever mocked him to his face like that.
He was no idiot!
"Forget it, let's head back. If we really meet them in the tournament, we'll teach those arrogant jerks a lesson." Lucy said.
So what if they're the number-one guild? Fairy Tail had a monster like Takeshi. If she couldn't beat them, Takeshi could.
She'd tattle to Takeshi and have him teach them a lesson.
Still fuming, Natsu and Happy had no mood to keep sightseeing and followed Lucy back to the inn.
When Takeshi returned, Lucy lodged her complaint, making it sound as if the other side had trashed both Fairy Tail and Takeshi himself.
"Takeshi, you have to teach those guys a lesson."
"Sabertooth, huh? If I run into them, I'll be sure to teach them a thing or two." Takeshi raised an eyebrow.
To dismiss even Acnologia—those kids didn't know anything.
...
Ding-dong!
At midnight, the clock hands pointed straight at twelve.
Several spotlights lit up the night sky over Crocus, and a projection of a man in a pumpkin head appeared mid-air.
"To all guilds gathered here for the Grand Magic Games, good morning!"
"To reduce the number of participating teams from 113 down to 8, we will now commence the Preliminary Round."
"Preliminary round?!"
"Never heard of it."
"What the—?! It's huge!"
"Big Pumpkin!"
"The growing number of entrants shows this tournament is being taken too lightly."
"Thus, this year we will limit the final eight slots to eight teams."
"The rules for the preliminary round are simple."
Suddenly—
Rumble-rumble!
Every contestant's hotel began to rise.
"All of you will now compete: the goal is the tournament arena—Thomas Braus."
"The first eight teams to arrive will earn the right to enter the finals."
"Any magic may be used without restriction. Just squeeze into the top eight."
"If even one of a team's five members fails to reach the finish, that team forfeits its right to compete."
"Additionally, we accept no responsibility for any deaths or injuries occurring within the maze."
"Grand Magic Games Preliminary Round—Sky Labyrinth—begins NOW!"
At that moment, a gigantic sphere appeared in the sky, with passages connecting each guild's hotel.
"Tsk, spectacular indeed." Takeshi marveled.
If he wasn't mistaken, this was Requip Magic—conjuring objects from nothing with magic power, an incredibly potent mechanism.
"Yeah, amazing!"
"How'd they make that?!"
Everyone stared in awe—magical technology had advanced so fast in recent years.
"All right, let's move—for the S-Class Quest!"
"Ooh!"
"Team Fairy Tail—charge!!"
They sprinted up the stairs toward the aerial maze, while other guilds sprang into action as well.
Soon everyone reached the maze entrance.
"It's a giant 3-D maze in there?" Gray groaned at the sight.
Natsu clutched his head, eyes spinning. "Ugh, I'm terrible at this stuff."
Erza said, "We should head east. The tournament grounds were originally to our east."
"In that case, leave it to me."
"Open, Gate of the Compass! Pyxis!"
A bird-like Celestial Spirit with a compass on its head appeared, the needle spinning.
"That way's east." Lucy cheerfully pointed in a direction.
Erza couldn't help but say, "Thanks, Lucy. Actually, a compass would have worked. Let's go."
They prepared to set off at once.
"Hold up!"
"What's up, Takeshi?"
"They said any magic can be used, right?"
"Yeah."
Takeshi grinned. "Then I have a much simpler way."