On the battered arena floor.
"Haha! Still needs work, Jura."
Chase walked over to Jura, who was lying flat on the ground, and extended his hand with a smile.
Future Jura was momentarily taken aback, then let out a resigned sigh, a smile tugging at his lips as he took Chase's hand and pulled himself back to his feet.
"You really gave me quite the lesson, Mr. Chase."
Recalling the nearly overwhelming clash of ultimate techniques at the end, he couldn't help but ask with curiosity, "May I ask—was that last move your full power?"
Aside from its overwhelming destructive force, what had unsettled him even more was the divine pressure that reached deep into his soul.
As a Ten Wizard Saint, Jura had certainly encountered God Slayer Magic before and had battle experience against it, but he had never felt such a disturbing sensation before.
It had nothing to do with magical power—the very essence of their auras was fundamentally different!
"What are you thinking? I still have plenty of support cards I haven't used. And honestly, the magic I've consumed so far is almost negligible," Chase said with a casual wave.
He wasn't the type to offer comforting words, especially not to a burly man like Future Jura!
"Ahaha..."
The blunt, cutting words left even the humble Jura at a loss. He stood there for a few seconds before letting out a heavy sigh, speaking from the heart: "There's always someone stronger..."
Looks like I'll have to work even harder from now on!
"Congratulations, Chase. This match is yours, Pumpkin," Pumpkin Head said, walking over slowly.
It was clear that his tone was much lighter than before—no more resentment or sarcasm. In fact, he even seemed a bit smug: As expected of me—perfectly selecting the two strongest among dozens of contestants and delivering such a spectacular peak battle on the very first day of the Grand Magic Games!
Compared to that, taking the blame for the preliminaries was nothing. He was the King, after all—far too magnanimous for such petty grudges!
Of course, he had conveniently forgotten that his original intention had been to have Jura beat the stuffing out of Chase.
Just as he was thinking this, a piece of paper was suddenly handed to him.
"What's this supposed to mean?" Pumpkin Head blinked in confusion.
"My autograph," Chase said with a grin.
"Who the hell would want this junk?!" Pumpkin Head snatched the autograph and flung it to the ground in a huff.
This arrogant, self-absorbed brat—he really couldn't bring himself to like him!
After exchanging pleasantries, Future Jura returned to Lamia Scale's section.
"Sorry, old hag," he said apologetically to Oba Babasaama.
"It can't be helped. There's no way around it when you run into someone who's transcended human limits," Babasaama said with understanding, then launched into a grumble: "I don't know where that old bastard Makarov found such a monster, and letting him compete—shameless, absolutely shameless!"
"Ahaha. Actually, Mr. Makarov and Mr. Chase were already being generous with us. If Chase had gone all out from the start, I probably would have been taken out in one hit," Jura said, defending Fairy Tail.
It was also the truth.
"Jura, taken out in one hit?!"
Future Lyon and the others stared in disbelief, completely unable to fathom such a massive gap in strength.
The guy looked like he was in his twenties—just like them!
"That's true enough. At least Makarov still values our old friendship," Babasaama admitted without retort. "But it's still infuriating! So infuriating I could spin around!!"
"Ahhh—she's already spinning! And why me?!"
Future Sherry, dizzy and twirling through the air, looked utterly innocent.
Over on the other side, after teasing Pumpkin Head, Chase returned to his guild's section.
He was greeted by emotional, excited comrades—especially Future Macao and the others, who had endured seven years of humiliation. They were crying buckets.
Makarov raised his hand to quiet the cheering crowd and stepped out from among them, his eyes fixed seriously on Chase.
"Haha, no trouble at all, old man."
Before he could speak, Chase predicted what he was about to say. "It's all for the guild's honor, after all~"
"Who the hell said anything about 'trouble'?!"
Makarov's expression instantly shifted. He leaped up and delivered a loving chop to Chase's head.
"Do you have any idea how dangerous that was?! If I hadn't successfully blocked that energy blast, you would have torn this entire venue to shreds!"
The old man was fuming, his beard and mustache bristling as he scolded: "And you dare say it's for the guild's honor?! If anything had gone wrong, Fairy Tail would have become a dark guild for attacking the venue the very next day!!"
Chase deftly stepped back half a pace, dodging the flying spit, and smiled: "That's because I always believed in you, old man, with your Heart Magic—I knew nothing would go wrong. You're just that reliable of an elder."
"Ahem, ahem! Hmph! Don't think flattery will get you off the hook!"
Even so, the praise was music to Makarov's ears. He instantly switched gears, standing tall with his hands on his hips, chest puffed out with pride.
"Oh my, oh my~" Mira giggled behind her hand.
"Mm! As expected of Chase!" Erza nodded seriously.
"Hey, Natsu—doesn't it feel like the Master's become just as easy to fool as Lucy?" Happy said openly, leaning toward Natsu. "He was already done for the moment Chase inscribed Heart Magic on him."
"You stupid cat! I heard that!" both Lucys snapped in unison.
Hearing the little brats behind him gossiping about him, Makarov finally realized he had been duped. He glared and shouted at Chase: "As punishment for going overboard, Chase—you're banned from the remaining matches!"
This wasn't a spur-of-the-moment decision made in anger. After Chase had defeated Future Jura and won the crowd's ovation, he and Future Makarov had already reached a mutual agreement.
The goal of making a statement and washing away seven years of humiliation had essentially been achieved ahead of time.
Keeping Chase in the competition would only make the other participants feel overly relaxed and secure—which wouldn't help them grow as they should through the Grand Magic Games.
Makarov firmly believed that even without Chase, the others could still win the championship.
Beyond that, he was genuinely afraid that Chase might accidentally tear down the arena—or even all of Crocus!
Hearing this, guild members from both worlds were taken aback. They hadn't expected the old man to be serious, and they rushed forward to plead on Chase's behalf.
Mira and Erza, however, saw through the Master's true intentions. They stood smiling and remained silent.
"Always thinking about the guild, Third Master," both Mavises said, swinging their feet and smiling in approval of the decision.
Even Chase had no objections, agreeing without a second thought: "No problem."
The only opponent worth fighting—Future Jura—had already dropped a new card. The rest, like Sabertooth's young lady, Ivan, Bacchus, Kagura... he just couldn't muster any interest.
Just as the old man had said, those experience points were better left to the others.
This also freed up time for him to focus on investigating which "future" timeline this world actually belonged to!
"Sigh. Boring. He didn't even put up a fight," Natsu grumbled, squatting on the ground inside the card.
"What are you even disappointed about?" Lucy didn't understand.
Wasn't Chase's early withdrawal great news for them, who saw Team B as rivals?
This blockhead actually wanted to run into Chase in the tournament!
***
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