Raizel didn't realize Makarov had secretly registered him as a substitute player until right before he stepped onto the field.
He didn't planned on participating, but somehow, he got voted in.
"Foul play! This is rigged!" Raizel grumbled to himself, marching down the corridor.
Heaven knows he just wanted to sit back, relax, and enjoy the show.
"Ah well, since my opponent is Jura, at least I don't need to worry about accidentally killing him."
"I knew you wouldn't be happy about fighting."
A voice interrupted his complaining. Raizel recognized it immediately—it was Ultear.
"We're here to cheer for you!" Mira smiled, her eyes curving as she raised a supportive fist.
Kagura simply met his gaze, giving a firm nod. "Do your best."
Erza crossed her arms, letting out a sharp "Hmph!" before speaking up.
"It's only because it's you. If anyone else stepped in for Team A, I'd object. But since you're fighting, you'd better give it your all, understand?" Her aura shifted, projecting a deadly promise.
"Hehe, good luck, Raizel-san!" Wendy scratched her cheek awkwardly, feeling a bit out of place since she was technically on the opposing team.
Raizel chuckled and nodded. "I get it. Go back to the stands and watch. I'll take care of this."
By the time Raizel stepped out into the blinding light of the arena, Jura was already waiting.
The Ten Wizard Saint stood like a statue, his eyes closed in deep meditation, entirely unfazed by the roaring crowd.
Ultear and the others rushed back to the stands just as Chapati Lola's voice blasted through the stadium speakers.
"Raizel Baeeeeeeeeeeeeeeel! At just thirteen years old, he passed the notoriously brutal Fairy Tail S-Class Mage trial! He holds a flawless mission completion rate! Last year, he single-handedly crushed the former Ten Wizard Saint, Jose!" Lola hyped the crowd into a frenzy.
"And his opponent needs no introduction: Jura Neekis, currently standing as one of the Ten Wizard Saints!"
Once Raizel took his position, Jura opened his eyes.
"Raizel-dono, I don't care much for winning or losing. However, our matron is... persistent. I have no intention of losing today. Let's give this match everything we have."
Jura's gaze sharpened into daggers.
During their joint mission to subdue the Oración Seis last year, Jura had sensed Raizel's raw power.
He knew this boy was a monster.
"Jura-san, I'm glad my opponent is you. I got some threats before walking out here, so I won't hold back either." Raizel smiled. "Let's have a good match."
Jura brought his palms together, bowing slightly.
"The battlefield is the Rock Field! Let the match Begin!!!"
DONG—
The Rock Arena was the original stadium layout, just littered with massive boulders. But the moment the bell tolled, the clear sky above Domus Flau blackened.
Dark, swirling clouds blotted out the sun.
A black magic circle tore through the vortex overhead, sparking with jagged purple-black lightning.
The crowd fell silent, craning their necks upward.
Raizel vanished from the arena floor in a blur.
"This vortex... feels familiar." Makarov rubbed his chin, racking his brain.
Laxus stepped up to the viewing platform railing, looking up at the magic circle with a nostalgic smirk.
"Our first Harvest Festival."
"That's it!" Makarov slapped his forehead.
It had been over a decade—back when Raizel and Laxus were just kids.
Ultear caught the implication. "Wait. Raizel actually participated in a Harvest Festival?"
Laxus nodded. "Only once. In his words, he 'slacked off' ever since."
'I thought he'd matured, but he's still such a show-off!' Makarov grumbled internally, secretly wishing he could make an entrance like that.
A towering suit of armor plummeted from the magic circle, crashing into the Rock Arena and kicking up a massive cloud of debris.
Standing over two meters tall, the black armor gleamed with gold trim around the wrists and ankles.
Massive shoulder guards framed a white cloak whipping in the gale, while crimson crystals burned on its head, chest, and abdomen.
[Take Over: Alphamon Ouryuken]
A brilliant green ring of light coiled around Raizel's right arm.
It expanded rapidly, erupting outward before solidifying into a colossal, devastating blade.
The King Dragon Sword.
The Digital Alloy wings on his back flared to life, venting red flames before shifting into radiant golden feathers.
"SO COOOOOOOOOOOLLLLLLLLLL!!!" Chapati Lola screamed over the microphone.
Raizel planted the King Dragon Sword into the earth.
He locked eyes with Jura and a silent understanding passed between the two titans.
Raizel stomped his right foot, shattering the bedrock beneath him.
He rocketed into the sky, raising the massive blade overhead.
"Iron Rock Pillars!" Jura roared.
Dozens of massive stone columns erupted from the earth, acting like homing spears trying to impale Raizel mid-air.
Jura manipulated the very bedrock, twisting the pillars to box Raizel in from all sides.
Raizel didn't flinch.
He raised his left palm, unleashing a relentless, blinding barrage of golden energy blasts.
"Bundle of Light!" The beams shredded Jura's stone pillars into fine dust.
Using the falling debris to propel himself, Raizel kicked off a crumbling pillar to accelerate.
In a flash, he breached Jura's defenses, raising the King Dragon Sword high with both hands and bringing it down with earth-shattering momentum.
"Rock Mountain!" Jura planted his feet and slammed his palms together.
A colossal stone deity formed behind him, mirroring his defensive stance to catch the incoming blow.
The King Dragon Sword slammed into the Rock Mountain!
The impact unleashed a concussive shockwave that tore the arena apart.
The ground bedrock splintered into craters.
Gale-force winds ripped through the stands, sending spectators flying back into their seats and snapping Chapati Lola's wig right off his head.
The strong wind gradually ceased, and the dust in the air began to disperse.
The audience suddenly realized that the entire arena had sunk inward by several meters!
Raizel fired the golden beam from his left palm once again.
"Quintuple Rock Iron Wall!"
Well aware of the beam's destructive power, Jura didn't dare to be careless.
Five thick Rock Iron Walls instantly materialized in front of him.
While the walls blocked the attack, Raizel used the opening.
Accelerating in mid-air, he circled around the barricade and swung at Jura once more with the King Dragon Sword.
Jura seemed to have anticipated this.
"Rock Iron Spike!"
Dozens of cone-shaped, hardened rock spikes shot toward Raizel from all directions.
The spikes wouldn't cause much damage to Raizel's Alpha Ouryuken armor, but their purpose was simply to hinder his blinding speed.
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