"Since we've successfully obtained this crucial gold coin—the key—we'll wait a bit longer before dealing with that detestable Fairy Tail!"
"Hahaha… let the other Guilds wear down Fairy Tail's strength first!"
Minerva triumphantly held the box in her hand, a smug and sinister smile gracing her face, and her tone clearly revealed malicious intent.
"This way, the subsequent matters will become much easier for us!"
"Without a doubt, Sabertooth is the undisputed number one Guild in this kingdom!"
Minerva proudly lifted her head, her chin slightly raised, her gaze fixed steadily forward!
"However, if the Guild Masters of the other Guilds find out… I'm afraid it won't be easy to explain to the Master then!"
Sorano crossed her arms over her chest, teasing Minerva with a playful expression.
In reality, their participation in this competition was a conspiracy pre-arranged by the Master and numerous other Guilds, who intended to unite and directly kick Fairy Tail out of the entire competition.
Only then would Fairy Tail, once high and mighty and hailed as the head of all Guilds, plummet into an abyss.
After all, if even Fairy Tail, supposedly the number one Guild, couldn't pass this preliminary round, the scene would be quite lively.
By then, no one in the entire kingdom would likely be willing to entrust missions to Fairy Tail anymore.
"No need to say more, I will handle the Master…" Minerva stopped Sorano's subsequent words without even turning her head.
"Boom~" Accompanied by a loud bang, a deafening explosion and thick smoke billowed from afar.
At the same time, waves of miserable screams also came through.
"Looks like the battle has begun… it's time for us to act!" Erik suddenly emerged like a ghost from behind, completely disregarding Minerva's obstruction. His figure leaped through the labyrinth like lightning, heading straight for the source of the sound.
"This guy…" Minerva's face instantly turned incredibly grim. Purple-black magical power surged like tumultuous waves, and an eerie aura rapidly spread.
She gritted her teeth, enunciating each word: "How dare he defy my orders!"
Sorano's gaze shifted slightly at this moment, staring at this young lady of the Guild.
It had to be admitted, this young lady's strength was indeed extraordinary, especially her masterful spatial magic and terrifyingly immense magical power.
Over here, Erik…
"Natsu, I can't wait, let's continue our last fierce battle!" Erik mused to himself.
He directly ignored the instructions given by the so-called young lady behind him.
Since the key had been obtained, his remaining target was Natsu.
Suddenly, a glimmer of light flashed in Erik's eyes, and the corners of his mouth curved slightly upward.
After taking a deep breath, a black and red magic circle appeared at his mouth.
Immediately after, he roared loudly at Natsu below: "Poison Dragon's Roar!"
With this roar, a black and red roaring tornado swept towards Natsu like surging waves.
"Bang~" After successfully kicking away an enemy, Natsu used consecutive aerial steps to narrowly dodge the attack by turning sideways.
He looked up with a face full of confusion, surprised to find that it was Erik who had launched the attack.
"Erik? You escaped from prison!…" Natsu shouted at the top of his lungs, but his voice clearly reached Erik's ears.
"Too noisy, Natsu, and your voices, I'll take them!" Erik whispered for a moment, then triumphantly snapped his fingers.
In an instant, the surroundings were filled with deafening noise. The ground began to crack under the impact of these noises, eventually shattering into countless particles.
"Damn it, it's so loud~" Natsu and his companions showed painful expressions, hastily covering their ears.
They leaped while trying to maintain their balance to avoid falling out of the competition arena.
However, Laxus's reaction was exceptionally quick.
His figure was like lightning, vanishing from the spot in an instant. In a flash, he had appeared beside Erik and, with lightning speed, kicked towards Erik's face.
"So fast!" Erik was secretly alarmed. At this moment, he had no choice but to stop his sound attack and hastily crossed his hands to protect his head.
With a loud "bang," as soon as their bodies made contact, Erik was sent flying backward like a cannonball, crashing through several walls before finally stopping.
"Such heavy force! Your sound magic has no effect on you!" Erik struggled to his feet, his arms trembling slightly, clearly indicating that the blow had left him somewhat uncomfortable.
He gritted his teeth, gave a forceful flick, and reset his dislocated arm.
"Tsk~ It's this thing!" Erik looked up, his gaze falling on the headphones on Laxus's head, a hint of displeasure flashing in his eyes.
It turned out that it was these noise-canceling headphones, gifted by Zorn, that allowed Laxus to be completely unaffected by sound.
"When choosing headphones, choose noise-canceling ones!" Zorn suddenly interjected from outside when he saw this situation, while Makarov, the First Master, and August looked over with confusion.
"Hahaha, these are the new headphones I picked for Laxus, aren't they great? Master Grandpa, would you like one!…" Zorn immediately began to promote them to everyone.
He completely disregarded the fierce battle within the labyrinth.
Meanwhile, Laxus in the labyrinth directly took off his headphones and hung them around his neck, a disdainful smile playing on his lips: "Even without this, your move won't work on me!"
His confident voice echoed in the air.
"No matter how loud it is, can it compare to the sound of thunder?" Laxus raised one hand, his eyes gleaming with pride and disdain.
His words, like a clap of thunder, shook people's hearts, directly mocking his opponent's overestimation of his own abilities.
The moment his words fell, countless lightning bullets, like dense raindrops, filled the area around Erik.
These lightning bullets shone with dazzling light, carrying powerful energy and destructive force, seemingly ready to devour everything.
However, facing such a fierce attack, Erik displayed extraordinary calmness and agility.
His ears twitched slightly, his eyebrows subtly raised, and his figure leaped continuously like a phantom, skillfully dodging the pursuing lightning bullets.
Each leap was so precise and flexible, as if he had already foreseen Laxus's attack trajectory.
Laxus, seeing this, remained completely unperturbed, instead showing a hint of appreciation.
He was like a guiding teacher, effortlessly controlling the lightning bullets, constantly adjusting the direction and speed of the attack, attempting to force Erik into a desperate situation.
Meanwhile, Natsu, Gray, Gajeel, and Elfman continued to deal with the remaining other Guild Members.
They cooperated perfectly, unleashing their respective magic, knocking down enemies into the labyrinth one by one, causing them to lose their eligibility for the competition.
The entire scene became exceptionally intense, with sparks of battle flying everywhere, making it dazzling to behold.
"Spatial Guardian!"
"Spatial Link!"
Accompanied by a clear female voice from behind, a strange space suddenly appeared around Erik, blocking the lightning bullet attack.
The next moment, Erik was pulled back by this space to the speaker's side.
"Laxus, Fairy Tail's S-Class Magician! As expected, he's very powerful!" Minerva said with a cold and mocking tone.
At the same time, she looked around and found that the members of the other Guilds had also been completely cleared out by Natsu and the others.
Clearly, their estimation of the enemy's strength was seriously off.
"Your Guild is behind this, isn't it!"
"Any Guild that dares to attack our Fairy Tail will not pass this preliminary round today!"
Laxus crossed his arms over his chest, lightning power flickering around him, and a powerful aura instantly spread.
His voice, moreover, was like thunder, resounding throughout the entire labyrinth!
On the other side, Erza's team.
"Are these your team members?" Erza held a member of another Guild, threw him to the ground, and then coldly questioned the Guild below.
"How dare you attack Wendy!"
"Unforgivable!"
Erza lunged downward, her sword hilt directly striking the masked person standing at the forefront.
To be continued~
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