As Raizel slowed to smash through the spikes, Jura turned to evade the strike.
Raizel, having landed after missing his target, used his body's momentum to execute a horizontal reverse slash with one hand.
"Rock Cliff!"
A massive, sheer stone wall appeared before Jura, blocking the heavy slash with a deafening crack.
"Rock Iron Fist!" Two giant, clenched stone fists, each about two meters tall, surged toward Raizel from the left and right.
Raizel flapped the golden wings on his back and leaped backward, dodging the colossal stone fists aimed at him.
Jura then manipulated the two Rock Iron Fists to engage Raizel in brutal close combat.
Jura's rock magic was exceptionally defensive and relentless.
Raizel swung the King Dragon Sword upward from below, followed by a forward slash, cleaving through the two giant fists assaulting him.
He launched into a Cyclone Slash—a forward leap with a powerful overhead strike, immediately followed by an upward thrust.
Seizing the moment, he sliced cleanly through the connection points of both giant fists with a single stroke.
Not all parts of Jura's Rock Iron Fists were equally hard, the joints were actually quite soft to allow for better magical manipulation.
"As expected of you, to discover the weakness of my Rock Iron Fist so quickly."
Even as Jura spoke, the two severed giant fists instantly regenerated from their cut ends, catching Raizel off guard.
He promptly raised the King Dragon Sword flat in front of him, blocking the two heavy punches.
Forced back by the powerful blows, Raizel plunged the King Dragon Sword into the ground to anchor himself.
He stepped back with his right foot, and the energy from his right palm began condensing into a dense sphere of green flame.
The energy sphere wasn't large—roughly the size of a normal person's palm—but the faint magic power fluctuations emanating from it put Jura on edge.
Judging by the speed of the previous palm beam, Jura knew he couldn't dodge it.
He wasn't a particularly fast mage, his magic excelled in sheer defense and battlefield control.
"Rock Iron Wall - Chain!!!" Jura quickly pressed his palms together, activating his strongest barricade with all his might.
Raizel didn't casually toss the green flame sphere; instead, he thrust it forward forcefully with an open palm.
The green flame energy sphere, accompanied by a sonic shockwave, pierced through layer after layer of the Rock Iron Walls at an unstoppable speed.
It finally struck Jura's body, the shockwave penetrating straight through him before blasting against the arena's outer wall.
BOOM— The arena shook violently once again.
The magical power around Raizel intensified, a pillar of purple-black magical energy shooting into the sky.
After expanding briefly, the magical pillar instantly contracted and converged onto the blade of the King Dragon Sword.
Jura knew this was the final move.
If he could block it, he still had a chance, if not, he would lose.
Facing Raizel, who leaped high into the sky and slashed downward with catastrophic force, Jura yelled.
"Rock Mountain!" Jura, who used Rock Mountain for defense, simultaneously unleashed one of his strongest offensive magics.
"Overlord Rock Crush!!!"
Numerous jagged rocks erupted from the ground around Raizel, trapping his movements before instantly detonating.
BOOM!!!
The entire competition arena was enveloped by a hemispherical green light shield. The audience only saw a blinding flash of light too brilliant to keep their eyes open.
As the light gradually faded, the audience looked down at the arena, the green shield slowly shrinking.
The arena had cracked open and lay in utter ruins.
Standing atop the rubble, leaning casually on the King Dragon Sword with his cape fluttering in the wind and his armor gleaming like new, was Raizel.
And Jura Neekis slowly collapsed to the ground, unconscious.
Ding ding ding—
"Contestant Jura is down! The winner is..... Raizel Baeeeeeeeeeeeeel!" Chapati Lola screamed.
"Woooo!!!"
The audience erupted in thunderous applause.
Though unclear about the exact final clash in the blinding light, they had thoroughly enjoyed the preceding spectacle.
In truth, Raizel had always maintained a loyal following throughout the Fiore Kingdom, with fans consistently advocating for his strength, though Raizel himself remained notoriously laid-back.
Had he not defeated Jose of the Ten Wizard Saints last year, these supporters would have remained silently lurking.
But seeing Raizel on the substitute list for Team A alongside Jura of the Ten Wizard Saints, they knew the moment to prove Raizel's power had arrived.
Now with the outcome decided, the skill gap between him and Jura appeared substantial indeed.
"Raizel!!!" The Fairy Tail members were cheering for him wildly from their box.
"With this, the first day of the Grand Magic Games concludes! The current rankings are as follows:"
"Team B with 18 points, Team A with 16 points—both teams claiming first and second place! A fine start indeed."
Mavis expressed full approval of the first day's results from the stands.
"Jura!!! Spin spin spin!" The Lamia Scale guild master was deeply displeased with Jura's loss, randomly selecting a guild member to become the victim of her spinning magic.
"Other guilds who didn't achieve ideal results needn't worry—this is only the first day's competition! We hope everyone will persevere in upcoming matches to deliver spectacular performances for our audience!" Chapati Lola declared. "Master Yajima worked hard today!"
"Our guild scored thirteen points—quite respectable! Let's keep striving tomorrow!" Jenny from Blue Pegasus boosted her teammates' morale.
The Croix Knights merely glanced at the rankings before departing early.
Sabertooth had obtained twelve points today, yet remained deeply dissatisfied.
Master Jiemma was furious, and Rufus seemed discouraged, having remained seated with his head lowered ever since his loss to Kagura, lost in contemplation.
...
The Tavern—
"To commemorate today's victory! Let's make some noise!!!" The day's major contributors—Lucy, Kagura, Gajeel, and Raizel—received everyone's congratulations.
Particularly Lucy, whose performance today proved especially brilliant, demonstrating dual gate openings, remarkable close-combat capabilities, and superb adaptability.
"You've truly grown, Lucy," Layla smiled at her daughter with half-closed eyes.
Receiving rare praise from her mother, Lucy felt somewhat shy, her cheeks flushing rosy—though conveniently masked by the alcohol-induced glow already tinting her face.
Even as a child, she had been mischievous and rebellious—whatever Layla forbade her from doing, she would deliberately do.
Her defining trait was defiance.
"Mira, you're our other substitute member, right? Do you plan to compete? If so, just tell me, and I'll swap with you," Erza patted her chest plate, making it clang loudly.
After seeing Raizel called up as a substitute today, Erza made the suggestion to Mira, knowing full well that Mira's strength was no less than her own.
Mira lightly tapped her chin with a finger, pondering for a moment before saying, "Hmm... How about this? If Raizel vote to put me in, then I'll join."
Makarov had originally intended for Mira to participate, but she insisted she would only step in if there were absolutely no other willing participants.
With everyone else so enthusiastic about competing, Mira chose to stay in the background.
"Tomorrow should be my turn! I want to fight that Jura too!!!" Natsu was causing an uproar in the tavern.
"Don't be stupid. If you go up there, one punch," Laxus took a sip of his drink and held up a single finger.
"Ho! You mean I can knock Jura out with one punch? Hahaha!!!" Natsu laughed wildly, hands on his hips.
"It means you'd be the one knocked out with one punch!"
The guild members instantly shattered Natsu's dream.
Of course, if Natsu went all out with his Lightning Fire Dragon mode, even Jura would have to fight seriously.
But as everyone knows, Natsu has never been good at internal, rule-bound tournament fights.
Makarov, growing more intoxicated, climbed onto the bar counter and spread his arms wide.
"Listen up, you brats! Our goal is to take the top two spots! Our target is 50 million Jewels!!!"
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