"Only one team remains to be introduced among those who passed the preliminary rounds—the first-place team of these preliminations!!!"
"Their name is!" Chapati Lola, caught up in his hosting duties, even started interacting with the audience.
"FAIRY TAIL!!!"
"FAIRY TAIL!!!"
"That's right! Just as you all imagined—Fairy Tail Team B, also from the number one guild in the Fiore Kingdom—" Chapati Lola kept dragging out his words.
'Goodness, is he the Roaring Emperor or something?' Raizel was afraid he might run out of breath and pass out.
Fortunately, Chapati Lola seemed to have decent lung capacity, managing to stretch out the words to the end.
"The composition of Team B is particularly eye-catching! They have a total of four Dragon Slayer Mages in the team!!!"
"Hey, if you're not one of us, why not just quit the group..."
"Nani?" Gray wondered if he had misheard.
"I said, if you're not one of us, just quit the group. Didn't hear me clearly? Let me say it again—quit the group," Natsu picked his ear, answering as if it were no big deal.
"What did you say?!" Gray's fists suddenly clenched.
Even though he often ended up without clothes, wearing them only to end up in just his underwear!
But he couldn't possibly wear a skirt like the girls in Team A—how improper would that be?!
No way! Absolutely not!
There are only two types of people who cross-dress: those who never do it and those who do it countless times.
Wait... Gray suddenly had a bad memory.
He recalled that as punishment for coming in last in the 24-hour endurance race, he had worn one.
Looking at it that way, maybe it wasn't unacceptable?
"Um, you two should stop fighting... stop arguing. It's time for us to make our entrance." Wendy gently pushed the two apart with her hands, not using much force—just making a gesture to give them a way out.
They would take the hint on their own.
The members of Team B all wore black coats draped over their outfits.
Yes, this was Laxus's idea—insisting on looking cool even in such hot weather.
Outmatched in strength, Natsu, Gray, and Gajeel silently accepted it.
Wendy glanced at Laxus and the others' coats, then looked down at her own outfit.
Only hers was different—a little blazer and a black short skirt.
Wendy's expression showed a hint of seriousness, as if she felt isolated by the group.
It seemed she was the one who didn't fit in.
'You guys secretly excluded me!'
"Let's cheer their name together!!!" Chapati Lola couldn't sit still anymore, standing with one foot on the commentator's platform as he shouted.
Raizel felt as if Chapati Lola had suddenly been possessed by Jason.
"Goodness, Chapati Lola is really fired up."
"Wendy-chan!!!" "Wendy-chan!!!" "Laxus!!!" "Salamander!!!"
In reality, the audience was cheering for everyone, but these three were indeed the most popular.
Wendy, needless to say—when people saw her, one could say that sexiness paled in comparison to cuteness.
As for Laxus, everyone had seen him before—he had countless female fans.
As for Natsu, he was quite the oddball, building his fearsome reputation through widespread destruction of towns and mountains.
He frequently made front-page headlines in Sorcerer Weekly, with reports always focusing on where Natsu had caused havoc that day.
If any issue lacked news of Natsu's destructive exploits, the publication would feel incomplete.
Led by Laxus, the other four except Wendy looked as if the audience owed them five million Jewels.
Wendy smiled warmly and waved enthusiastically to the crowd.
The other four maintained deadpan expressions.
Especially Laxus—not only did he cross his arms, but he didn't even wear his coat properly, just draped it over his shoulders.
He also wore headphones, closed his eyes, and slightly bowed his head.
"Seriously, why is Laxus being so pretentious?"
"Such an edgy teenager!" Macao and Wakaba couldn't bear to watch any longer from the stands.
"Give it a rest! You're just jealous that Laxus has so many fans!"
Laxus's fangirls in the guild protested indignantly on his behalf.
Mavis sat in the stands, swinging her feet while gazing at the face that somewhat resembled Yuri's.
Her eyes grew distant with memory as Mavis happily thought, 'Yuri, you'd probably be very happy to have such a wonderful greatgrandson, wouldn't you?'
Ever since Laxus awakened his greatgrandfather Yuri's Crimson Lightning on Tenrou Island, Mavis had been paying close attention to Laxus.
Unfortunately, since that time, Laxus had never been able to summon the Crimson Lightning again.
"Who's the one that isn't a Dragon Slayer Mage?"
"Not sure, is it that little girl?"
"Four Dragon Slayer Mages... imagine how awkward it must be for the one who isn't one."
Behind where Raizel and the others were positioned sat the audience stands, with discussions drifting from behind—some spectators just had naturally loud voices.
There was nothing Raizel could do to help the situation, as Gray's version of Dragon Slayer magic hadn't arrived yet, making him stand out awkwardly among the four Dragon Slayer Magic users.
"Hey! Don't chat behind my back! Are you isolating me?!!"
In this situation, Gray felt all the whispering was people talking behind his back.
"Don't feel bad, it's not your fault that you can't use Dragon Slayer Magic," Laxus suppressed a laugh while pretending to comfort Gray by patting his shoulder.
"Haven't you noticed? Someone's been staring at Natsu and Gajeel the whole time." Laxus decided to stop teasing Gray, nodding his chin to indicate that Gray should look toward where Sabertooth was positioned.
"What's going on here?" Ultear and the others had naturally noticed this too and came forward to ask Natsu and Gajeel.
"No idea," Natsu shook his head wildly, equally confused.
"That guy looks somewhat familiar, but I can't remember," Gajeel glanced at Rogue, feeling a sense of recognition but unable to recall exactly why, so he dismissed it.
Gajeel looked back at Rogue, who was staring at him with intense focus.
The gaze was so intense that people nearby couldn't bear to watch.
If it were a girl, Gajeel might have been pleased, but since it was a guy... forget it.
Lord Gajeel preferred women!
Even after Gajeel glared back, Rogue continued staring at him relentlessly.
Gajeel's expression instantly turned vicious as he glared at Rogue. "What are you staring at me for?!"
An ordinary person might have backed down upon seeing Gajeel's menacing face, but Rogue showed no fear and continued staring back.
Gajeel felt unnerved by his intense gaze, but since the event had just begun, he decided to tolerate it for now.
He figured he would find out the reason eventually.
Meanwhile, things were much simpler with Natsu.
Sting was gazing at Natsu with starry-eyed admiration, addressing him respectfully as "Natsu-san."
Erza and the others quickly realized that Sting was likely Natsu's fan or admirer.
As for Rogue, his expression remained too stoic to read.
They reasonably speculated that Rogue might hold some grudge against Gajeel.
Perhaps Gajeel had crossed paths with Rogue and incurred some debt of enmity during his time with Phantom Lord?
"Do your best, Sting!!!"
"Frosch will cheer for you too, Rogue."
Lector and Frosch waved energetically from the spectator stands, shouting their encouragement to the Sabertooth team.
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