Irene gave a disdainful snort.
"Just make sure you don't start crying when you lose."
Raizel had to admit that a match between Irene and Selene did sound interesting.
And with the two of them, Mercphobia, and Zeref all entering the tournament, there were finally enough opponents on the roster to catch Raizel's interest as well.
After hearing Selene and Irene out, he stopped worrying about the tournament.
They simply needed to keep a closer eye on Guiltina while the matches were underway.
If anything, bringing Mercphobia here might actually protect him. Of the Six Dragon Gods who had appeared so far, Ignia was quite possibly the strongest.
Sabertooth, Blue Pegasus, Lamia Scale, and the former members of the Oración Seis all participated in the qualifiers for the Round of 64.
Selene also used her Spatial Magic to bring the remaining members of Diabolos, along with Mercphobia and Karameel, directly to Magnolia.
As Levy had predicted, qualifying for the Round of 64 was not especially difficult.
Fried and the rest of the Thunder God Tribe made it through, as did Lucy, Natsu, Gray, Gajeel, Kagura, Wendy, and even Levy herself.
The real surprises began once the Round of 64 started.
Cana drew Erza in the opening round, immediately pitting two Fairy Tail members against each other.
Cana gave the fight everything she had.
She summoned her black panther to buy time and successfully cast Fairy Glitter, only for Erza to Requip into the Nakagami Armor and cut straight through the spell.
Cana's Fairy Glitter simply did not possess the same overwhelming power it had when Mavis herself used it, and she was eliminated in the first round.
Cobra, meanwhile, drew Gajeel.
It became a battle between two Dragon Slayers, but Cobra's poison had little effect on Gajeel.
Gajeel had also gone out of his way to collect rare metals and incorporate them into his body, making his defenses so absurd that Cobra could barely hurt him.
Eventually, Gajeel entered Iron Shadow Dragon Mode, slipped underground, and approached Cobra from beneath.
Then his arm transformed into—an Iron Dragon Microphone.
And Gajeel unleashed a noise attack directly at Cobra.
The sound temporarily deafened Cobra, robbing him of the enhanced hearing he relied on and allowing Gajeel to defeat him cleanly.
Unfortunately, Gajeel's "noise attack" was exactly what the name suggested.
It was loud.
And absolutely atrocious!
Even Raizel could barely tolerate it, while Selene, Irene, and the others with particularly sharp hearing looked like they wanted to die.
'If I draw Gajeel, I'm finishing him immediately.'
Several people silently reached the exact same conclusion.
Kagura and Lyon also found themselves facing each other again.
After training under Jura, Lyon had gained far finer control over his Ice-Make creatures, manipulating them almost as naturally as extensions of his own body.
His improvements caused Kagura some trouble early on.
In the end, however, Kagura used Gravity Magic to crush his Ice-Make dragon into the ground before finishing the match with Archenemy: Azure Phoenix Form.
Gray faced Fried.
Ice Devil Slayer Magic against Dark Écriture.
Gray entered his Devil Slayer state, black markings spreading across his body, while Fried invoked the forbidden spell Darkness, transforming himself into a demonic form.
In the end, Ice Devil Slayer Magic proved stronger, and Gray advanced.
The match between Desert King Ajeel and Macao turned into something closer to a private lesson between master and student.
Macao lost, but he benefited enormously from the fight.
It was, after all, the first time Ajeel had ever fought him seriously.
Bickslow had the misfortune of drawing Raizel.
Evergreen drew Mira.
Both were eliminated in the Round of 64.
Lucy's opponent was Sorano, turning their match into a battle between Celestial Spirits and Angels.
But Lucy could also use Star Dress and fight in close quarters herself now, and that versatility ultimately allowed her to defeat Sorano and advance to the Round of 32.
Sherria, Ultear, Selene, Irene, and several of the other top competitors received comparatively easy matchups and won without much trouble.
Sherria, for example, had drawn Bisca, one of the more manageable opponents among the final sixty-four.
It was not as though Bisca could drag Jupiter or Uranus onto the battlefield every time she wanted to fight.
And after receiving guidance from the many monsters currently gathered around Fairy Tail—Mavis most of all—Sherria's God Slayer Magic had improved tremendously.
Makarov, meanwhile, drew Precht surprisingly early.
The Second and Third Masters of Fairy Tail faced one another, pitting Makarov's Light Magic against Precht's Amaterasu Magic.
Even Makarov's strongest defensive spell, Three Pillar Gods, ultimately failed to withstand Precht's Amaterasu techniques.
Makarov was eliminated in the Round of 64.
"Old man! You got knocked out in the first round! Hahaha!"
Laxus laughed with absolutely none of the sympathy expected from a grandson.
Makarov buried his face in his mug and refused to respond.
Privately, though, he was quite satisfied with the result.
Losing to Fairy Tail's Second Master was hardly embarrassing.
And now he could sit back with Macao and Wakaba—who had not even made the Round of 64—and comfortably drink while watching everyone else beat each other senseless.
The final match of the Round of 64 featured Jura against Jellal.
Jellal activated Meteor, accelerating into close combat with Jura while simultaneously tracing Celestial Magic formations through the sky.
He first used Grand Chariot to bait out Jura's defensive spell, Rock Mountain.
Then, before Jura could properly recover—
"Celestial Magic: Star Collapse!"
The second spell came crashing down.
Jura was defeated.
Jellal advanced to the Round of 32.
By the end of the first knockout round, the remaining thirty-two competitors were:
Ishgar: Raizel, Gildarts, Kurnugi, Laxus, Ur, Ultear, Mira, Erza, Kagura, Natsu, Gajeel, Gray, Lucy, Precht, Wendy, Sherria, and Jellal.
Guiltina: Selene, Mercphobia, Kirin, Misaki, Suzaku, Kiria, and Enny Signario.
Luso had been unfortunate enough to draw August.
Her World Transmutation looked like a children's trick in front of him.
August had calmly created an even larger world on the spot.
Luso had expected the result, though.
Ever since seeing what August casually accomplished during Christmas, she had known she could never defeat him.
The difference between them was simply too vast.
Still, the loss brought her an unexpected opportunity.
Immediately after the match, Luso asked August to take her as his student.
That single move opened an entirely new world of possibilities in everyone else's minds.
Haku, the White Tiger Dragon, had been eliminated by his own guildmate Kirin.
Skullion Raider lost to Dimaria.
Neinhart used Historia of the Dead to manifest an army of the deceased and eventually overwhelmed Madmole through sheer numbers.
Alakitasia: Zeref, Irene, August, Dimaria, Brandish, Ajeel, Larcade, and Neinhart.
Only Invel and Jacob had failed to advance from the western continent.
Jacob's elimination was particularly bizarre.
He had drawn Brandish.
Then he complained that Brandish's outfit was far too indecent and refused to open his eyes.
Brandish, unwilling to waste time on such nonsense, proposed that they settle the match with rock-paper-scissors instead.
Best two out of three.
Thus began the pinnacle of competitive combat.
Jacob, who still refused to open his eyes, lost the first two rounds consecutively.
And just like that, he was eliminated.
...
Mavis and Makarov handled the draw for the Round of 32.
The opening match was Kurnugi against Gray.
It was essentially a repeat of the previous year's S-Class promotion trial.
Gray unleashed everything he had, using both his Ice Devil Slayer Sword and Ice Devil Slayer Bow at full power.
He still lost.
Kurnugi advanced.
The next match was Enny Signario against Misaki.
Guiltina's strongest female alchemist against its strongest female Mage.
Contrary to what many spectators expected, there was no hostility between them.
Both had been serving under Selene and Irene for some time now, and by this point they could reasonably be considered friends.
Misaki casually twirled a lock of hair around her index finger.
"Even so, I'm going all-out."
Enny did not back down in the slightest.
"I'd expect nothing less."
Both women possessed abilities that created their own "worlds."
Enny moved first.
She dragged Misaki into her Purgatory.
But the moment they entered Enny's world—
Misaki dragged Enny into hers.
Blue Dimension.