"Oh my! Risley, Sherria, and Jenny have been eliminated!"
"Sabertooth's princess Minerva chose the most direct and brutal way to take out three opponents in an instant!"
"After three days of silence, has this fierce tiger finally begun to bare its fangs?!"
Chapati's highly infectious voice rang out like a depth charge, igniting the arena's atmosphere!
As the former champion of the previous Grand Magic Games, Sabertooth's popularity in Fiore was nothing to scoff at.
After three days of pent-up frustration, their die-hard fans finally let loose, chanting Minerva's name wildly and with utter arrogance.
With all other guilds eliminated, the only voice that could rival them was Fairy Tail's support.
Both sides erupted in an intensely heated battle of cheers, neither backing down.
"Just then, the five-minute rule has taken effect! Will Fairy Tail return to the top, or will Sabertooth hold onto the throne?"
"This Sea Battle competition has finally reached its most exciting moment!"
The Pumpkin Head referee waved his hand, and a five-minute countdown hourglass appeared.
Inside the massive water sphere.
Lucy and Future Minerva stood facing each other across the water. Neither seemed eager to attack despite the countdown timer.
Lucy now had only Loke by her side.
Gemini had returned to the Celestial Spirit World early because two consecutive transformations had drastically shortened their summoning time.
As for Aquarius, her reason was typical: she wanted to continue her date with Scorpio.
"Fairy Tail..."
Future Minerva stood with one hand on her hip, looking down at Lucy with cold eyes. "Thanks to you, our support this year has dropped considerably."
She was extremely displeased that Fairy Tail's cheers could still be heard in the arena. In past years, that never happened.
Sabertooth would have crushed everyone already!
"If I wanted to, I could eliminate you in an instant too. Do you know why I haven't?"
Seeing Lucy purse her lips without responding, Future Minerva's expression darkened further. Her voice turned icy. "Because that would be too boring. I need you to fully understand Sabertooth's power and terror!"
Hearing that, Lucy's hands at her sides clenched slightly into fists. She looked up with complex emotions to meet her opponent's gaze.
She remembered the little girl who would apologize out of guilt for her own weakness, who wouldn't hesitate to stand up and protect her teammates in times of crisis, who always looked at Chase with admiring eyes.
It was hard to imagine and even harder to accept that such an active, brave child could grow into this inexplicably unpleasant person.
"Minerva, you..."
Lucy slowly spoke, voicing the question on everyone's minds, including Natsu and Wendy outside the arena. "You're not standing here for such trivial reasons, are you?"
Making others recognize power and terror didn't sound like something the child Minerva would say!
Through the refraction of the water, Future Minerva saw faint sadness and disappointment in Lucy's eyes.
This was unacceptable to someone who had been raised on Jiemon's "the strong are supreme" philosophy. It felt like a grave insult.
"Trivial reasons? Don't be so arrogant, Fairy Tail!!"
Future Minerva instantly flew into a rage and raised her hand, distorting the space behind Lucy.
BOOM!!
The distorted space exploded violently!
It was too fast and completely without warning. By the time the audience reacted, Lucy's area was already covered in thick smoke.
"Heh, with only this much ability, you still dare to talk big. Truly—"
Mid-sentence, Future Minerva's pupils suddenly contracted.
Soft, light pink mist replaced the smoke, billowing through the water.
Deep within, Aries timidly hid behind Loke, with Lucy standing beside them completely unharmed!
My Spatial Magic... was blocked by this weak woman?!
Future Minerva's expression turned incredibly sour.
From start to finish, she had never taken Lucy seriously. She thought only Mirajane, Erza, and those of their caliber were worth a modicum of effort.
In her expected scenario, Lucy should have been screaming in pain!
"Someone like this... I really can't bring myself to like you..."
Lucy sighed softly. Her gaze swept to the dejected Wendy in the stands, and her heart ached.
That man Jiemon was an absolutely terrible father!
Future Minerva found these words baffling, and her anger only surged further. "I don't believe your luck will hold forever!"
She remained confident in her judgment after watching Lucy's battle footage with Flare, chalking her failed sneak attack up to "sheer luck."
So she activated her Spatial Magic again without warning.
This time, her target wasn't Lucy herself, protected by two Celestial Spirits. It was the keys at her waist.
This was every Celestial Spirit Mage's weak point. Once she had them firmly in her grasp, she could toy with her opponent at will!
The water space trembled slightly. From the audience's perspective, Future Minerva simply reached out and closed her hand on empty air.
The next second, Lucy's belt appeared in her hand out of thin air!
"My judgment was correct. Someone as weak as you couldn't possibly have noticed."
Future Minerva's lips curled into a triumphant smile as she waved the belt tauntingly at Lucy. "So, without your keys, what do you plan to do now?"
But Lucy looked completely relaxed and smiled back. "What are you talking about?"
"That Lucy-sama... I think she means she took your keys," the simple and naive Aries explained weakly.
"Hey, you might want to take a closer look~" Loke said, not even bothering to look.
Future Minerva's expression shifted slightly. She brought the belt up to her face and examined it closely. Sure enough, there were no Celestial Spirit Keys attached to it!
"How is this possible? I clearly—"
Not only did she fail to understand what had happened, even the Fairy Tail members outside were completely confused.
"What happened? The keys on the belt are gone?" Juvia looked puzzled.
"Lucy must have hidden them inside her swimsuit!" Natsu nodded heavily, completely convinced.
"That seems highly unlikely. Do you think Minerva is stupid enough to steal an empty belt?" Gray immediately shot back.
"It doesn't seem like she handed them over to Loke or Aries for safekeeping either," Erza said thoughtfully.
That would make opening and closing the gates incredibly cumbersome.
"Pretty clever. She knew to protect her keys in front of Minerva and came up with this solution."
Chase chuckled with admiration, a knowing look on his face.
During the earlier Oración Seis operation, Lucy had already witnessed Minerva's Eighteen Demon Gods Magic. She knew it could manipulate space within her "Absolute Territory."
And that was precisely why she had summoned Aries in time to block the first attack.
Everyone's attention immediately turned to him.
"Chase, what exactly happened here?"
***
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