The voice of the Pumpkin Man was clearly transmitted to every hotel in the Royal Capital through the loudspeaker.
Every participating team at this time opened their windows, some were on the balcony, some ran to the roof, paying attention to the projected image of the Pumpkin Man.
"What's that, a pumpkin?" Gajeel's attention was completely on the strange projected image.
Jubia also noticed the information: "There are actually 182 teams, such an exaggerated number."
Mira said: "Because there have been a lot more guilds in recent years, although some have also disbanded due to poor management."
Rhode speculated: "And it is very likely that we are not the only ones who noticed that rule, other guilds may have also formed two teams."
Laxus asked: "What does the preliminaries consist of?"
Rhode didn't know either: "There has been no precedent for preliminaries before, the rules of each match are announced temporarily, let's listen carefully to what he says and pay attention to the details in his words."
Just then, the Pumpkin Man began to speak: "Since the inception of the Great Demon Fighting Martial Arts, it has now reached its seventh edition, with each edition becoming more exhilarating.
"However, as the number of participating teams increases year by year, the event has gradually become lengthy and dull. The organizers have thus faced a lot of criticism from the public.
"Therefore, we have decided that starting this year, regardless of how many teams register, only the top eight teams will be selected through a preliminary round to participate in the final competition."
Rhode found it interesting, wasn't the organizer the Royal family of the Fiore Kingdom? They actually like to listen to popular opinion so much.
Is it because the King is particularly wise, or is it because he genuinely loves this kind of event?
"Next, I'll explain the rules for the preliminaries, to put it simply — a race! Starting from the hotel where you are currently located, the first eight teams to reach the official venue of the Great Demon Fighting Martial Arts, Thomas Brau, will be the winners.
"Of course, the race also has more specific rules, which are —"
The Pumpkin Man trailed off at this point.
Rhode and the others felt a slight tremor on the ground.
Mira glanced downward: "The Ferris Wheel has stopped."
The Ferris Wheel Hotel they were staying at, known for its continuous rotation, suddenly stopped operating and happened to halt their room slightly below the middle.
Laxus looked into the distance: "Other hotels are starting to move."
Countless magic contraptions simultaneously activated; hotels built at lower levels were lifted upwards by mechanisms, while those built higher descended slowly.
For each contestant's room, a wall descended at the front, revealing steps that extended upward.
At the same time, above the Pumpkin Man, a futuristic array of flickering lights appeared, revealing a massive spherical structure that had been hidden in the sky.
Judging by its size, it could almost be called a small city.
Every set of steps extended towards the space above the Pumpkin Man, ultimately connecting to the aerial city.
On the eastern side of this massive sphere, a road stretched out horizontally, pointing directly to the official venue, Thomas Brau, built on a mountain outside the Royal Capital.
"Aincrad? Ren Ming loves this kind of thing," Rhode muttered.
"Please proceed through the passage into the labyrinth, then find the exit to reach Thomas Brau; of course, all five members must arrive together to count as having arrived.
"Throughout the competition, the use of magic is not restricted, additionally, if there are any casualties, the organizers hold no responsibility. Now, the Great Demon Fighting Martial Arts Preliminaries — Aerial Labyrinth, begin now!"
"Not giving any preparation time at all." Rhode stepped onto the stairs first, "Let's go, get a victory, for the 30 million!"
Mira smiled and followed: "Isn't it for the guild's honor?"
"Well, there's no outsiders here." Rhode said, "Even the President has accidentally let it slip more than once."
Laxus silently continued onward without speaking.
Gajeel got fired up: "Then I'm doing it to teach the Fire Dragon a lesson."
"Jubia is doing it for Master Gray!"
Over 180 teams each set off from their starting points, rushing upward with all their might.
Each set of stairs was very long and quite steep.
Ordinary people would be half-dead just climbing these stairs, but mages not only had to climb, but also had to run for a chance to advance.
Rhode and his team gradually quickened their pace; fortunately, none of the five had poor stamina, and they soon reached the entrance with ease.
The group looked up and saw more stairs ahead, with passages on either side, and no safety barriers or handrails beside the passages. Looking down, one could see the lower floors.
Looking up, instead of a ceiling, there were all sorts of half-walls, rotating gears, and oddly shaped doors.
It turned out to be a three-dimensional maze.
Unconsciously, the group looked at Rhode: "Any strategy?"
Rhode said, "The simplest way is, we don't even enter the entrance, just stick to the outside of the maze and either climb or fly to the exit over there."
Jubia said, "But, aren't we supposed to enter the maze?"
"There's indeed the risk of violating the rules." Rhode tossed his cloak and struck a pose, confidently smiling, "So on the way up the stairs, I've thought of three strategies: higher, middle, and lower."
The others were taken aback: "Higher, middle, lower?"
Rhode smiled and nodded: "The lower strategy is to explore slowly, marking the path as you go, either figuring out the pattern or drawing a map until you get lucky and pass through quickly.
"The middle strategy is to find teams who also thought of the lower strategy, beat them up, grab ready-made maps, and piece together the correct route.
"The higher strategy... is to target the direction of the eastern exit, proceed in a straight line, breaking through whenever you encounter a wall. After all, the organizers did say using magic is not restricted."
Having explained the three strategies, Rhode felt very pleased. Being called a Fairy Tail Strategist for so long, he finally said something a strategist should say.
He asked, "Which one do you choose?"
Laxus: "Higher strategy."
Gajeel: "I like beating people up, but piecing together maps is too much trouble, let's go with destruction, destruction!"
Jubia: "Jubia is okay with anything."
Mira: "I'll go with whatever everyone else decides."
So they all chose the higher strategy, leaving Rhode a bit disheartened.
Shouldn't it be that the higher strategy is too urgent, the lower strategy too slow, and the middle strategy neither too fast nor too slow?
"Then it's settled." Rhode didn't waste any more words, spewing a cloud of green smoke that hid their figures.
He officially gave the order, "Head east, at an angle of about 30 degrees, one person takes down a wall in turn, and after each strike, return to the mist range immediately, advance stealthily all the way. Starting with... Gajeel."
The group stepped forward, and after climbing just over a dozen steps, they encountered the first wall.
Gajeel stepped forward: "Roar of the Iron Dragon!"
Boom...
The wall didn't immediately break apart; instead, cracks slowly appeared, and with Gajeel's effort, it finally shattered, creating a hole large enough for a person to pass through.
Gajeel, possibly feeling embarrassed, explained: "It's not an ordinary wall; it's built with special magic materials."
The others nodded, realizing that ordinary mages simply couldn't use their 'higher strategy'.