King Thomas wore a bright smile, clearly in a good mood.
After entering, he first went over to President Makarov and the other guild masters, exchanging a few words with them.
Then he turned around and precisely locked onto Kabe in the crowd.
With a pleasant expression, he quickly walked over and praised him.
"Long time no see, Kabe. Congratulations on taking first place in the preliminary round. As expected, you didn't disappoint me."
Kabe slightly bowed in return.
"Your Majesty has placed too much trust in me. Naturally, I had to do my best."
"Good, good. Then I look forward to seeing your performance in the upcoming matches."
After giving Kabe a few words of praise and encouragement, King Thomas did not stay for long.
He continued speaking with Jura, Laxus, Ichiya, and the others one by one, expressing his approval toward all the participating mages.
At this moment, Irene and Selene quietly separated from the group and came over to Kabe's side.
Kabe subtly turned his head and quietly asked:
"What happened? Why did the king call you two over?"
Irene kept looking straight ahead and answered in the same low voice.
"Nothing much. He just called us over to talk for a while and asked about Selene's strength."
Kabe turned back and looked at Selene with a questioning gaze.
Noticing his eyes, Selene proudly raised her chin slightly and silently mouthed:
'He's trying to recruit me.'
Although Kabe did not know how the old king discovered that Selene was unusually powerful, after learning what happened, he no longer questioned it.
By this time, Thomas had finished building up the atmosphere.
He picked up a wine glass from the tray carried by a servant, raised it high, and spoke loudly.
"I am very happy to have this opportunity to meet all of you talented young people."
"I also know that this tournament was organized rather hastily, and because of that, many aspects were not fully prepared. So here, I would like to apologize to everyone first."
As he spoke, Thomas lowered his head and bowed slightly toward the group.
Everyone present was smart enough to immediately put on a respectful expression.
They quickly said things like, "Your Majesty is too humble."
As if they had not just been complaining about the tournament rules earlier.
"I appreciate everyone's kindness. However, a mistake is still a mistake. After this tournament, I will carefully reflect on everything and strive to make next year's competition even better."
"But before that, let us focus on the current matches."
"Next, I will announce the teams that passed the preliminary round and explain tomorrow's competition rules."
At those words, the six participating teams and the three guild masters all held their breath, waiting carefully for the king's announcement.
"First, the rankings of the teams that passed the preliminary round are as follows."
"First place: Fairy Tail A Team."
"Second place: Fairy Tail B Team."
"Third place: Lamia Scale Representative Team."
"Fourth place: Blue Pegasus Representative Team."
"Fifth place: Quatro Cerberus Representative Team."
"Sixth place: Fairy Tail C Team."
Hearing that their team had only placed last, the members of Fairy Tail C Team all lowered their heads in embarrassment.
They felt that they had embarrassed their guild.
Little did they know, nearby, Bob and Goldmine were already so jealous their eyes were turning red.
If not for the current situation, they would have definitely dragged Makarov aside and challenged him right there.
"Next, I will explain tomorrow's competition rules."
"Tomorrow's match will be held as a team battle."
"Each team of six members will randomly draw one of six identities: King, Duke, Earl, Viscount, Baron, and Knight."
"Participants may use their assigned rank to attack and eliminate members from other teams who have the same rank or a lower rank than themselves."
"However, lower-ranked participants cannot attack those with higher ranks."
"For example, an Earl can attack a Viscount, Baron, or Knight, but cannot attack a Duke or King."
"Additionally, each team must protect their own King. If a team's King is defeated, that entire team will immediately be eliminated."
"After the match ends, each team will receive corresponding points based on the order in which they were eliminated."
"Once all matches are completed, the team with the highest score will become the champion of this year's Grand Magic Games!"
Thomas clearly explained all the rules in one breath.
After hearing them, everyone's expressions and moods varied.
However, one thing was the same.
Except for Fairy Tail A Team, every other team silently turned their gazes toward one person.
Kabe.
Feeling all the looks coming from every direction, Kabe could not help but feel a chill.
'Damn, isn't this stupid rule obviously targeting me?!'
Thinking about this ridiculous system, Kabe almost cursed out loud.
If he had bad luck tomorrow and drew the Knight role, wouldn't he be completely screwed?
He would have no choice but to run around like a helpless mouse while everyone chased him down.
Clearly, everyone else had the same thought.
Toby from Lamia Scale had even already closed his eyes and started praying, hoping that Kabe would draw the lowest possible rank tomorrow.
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