A collective shiver ran through the arena.
While the majority of the battered competitors boiled with rage at the masked archer's absolute arrogance, a select few couldn't help but feel a strange, masochistic thrill at being looked down upon from such an untouchable height.
Watching from the Fairy Tail balcony, Jellal—hidden beneath Mystogan's heavy mask—gripped the railing in sheer frustration. Who is she? he wondered desperately. Heavenly Blue's overwhelming power made Fairy Tail look entirely helpless.
Ultear, Meredy... where are you?
Jellal bitterly regretted his strict orders instructing his guildmates not to contact him. He had wanted to protect Fairy Tail from the fallout of his criminal identity, but now that Crime Sorciere had vanished off the grid, he had no one to investigate this terrifying new faction. He had absolutely no idea that the arrogant sniper standing at the pinnacle of the holographic city was the very girl he was looking for.
Down in the arena, the remaining competitors realized they had no choice. Rufus, Gray, Juvia, Lyon, Beth, and Eve had silently forged a desperate, temporary alliance to take down Meredy!
"Blizzard!"
Eve Tearm moved first, unleashing a howling snowstorm that blanketed the miniature city in a blinding whiteout, severely obscuring Meredy's line of sight.
"CARROT MISSILES!"
Using the blizzard as cover, Beth Vanderwood unleashed her ultimate attack, sending a barrage of massive, explosive magical carrots hurtling toward the tallest spire.
Yet, standing at the apex, 'Meredy' didn't even flinch.
BOOOM! BOOOOM! BOOOOM! BOOOOM!
Meredy's fingers blurred across the glowing bowstring. A rapid-fire volley of light arrows intercepted the missiles in mid-air, detonating them harmlessly before they could even breach the spire's perimeter. Without pausing for a fraction of a second, two more arrows pierced through the thick snowfall, finding their marks flawlessly.
"Dammit!"
"Ugh!"
Eve and Beth were blasted off their feet, their bodies dissolving into pixels as they were eliminated from the field and stripped of their points.
Meanwhile, a second volley of arrows rained down relentlessly on Rufus, Lyon, Juvia, and Gray.
"Ice-Make: Hawks!" Lyon roared, slamming his fists together to summon a flock of jagged ice birds to intercept the incoming projectiles. The ice hawks collided with the light, shattering on impact, but Meredy's rate of fire was simply too overwhelming.
"Shit!" Lyon cursed, gritting his teeth. It felt like she could effortlessly rain down thousands of arrows and bombard the entire city into dust without breaking a sweat.
"Showering Ancient Wisdom!"
Before the next wave of arrows could skewer them, Rufus Lore summoned a brilliant cascade of light that exerted a crushing gravitational pressure on the incoming projectiles, forcing them to veer off course and slam harmlessly into the cobblestones.
"Hmm..."
Standing atop the tower, Finn analyzed the vanguard's defense. "You can stop a few of them, but can you stop a deluge?"
Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh!
Meredy's physical fingers moved like phantoms. Thousands of glowing arrows materialized in the sky, forming a blinding canopy of golden light before raining down upon the four remaining mages like a divine judgment.
"Hurry up!" Lyon roared, pouring his remaining magic into a massive, serpentine ice dragon to act as a shield.
"Colorful Slashing Attack Flame!" Rufus broke into a cold sweat, unleashing a sweeping, prismatic blade of fire to incinerate the arrows flanking their makeshift fortress.
It was a desperate, suffocating battle of attrition. Four of the continent's strongest mages were burning through their reserves just to survive a single sniper.
But their frantic defense was merely a distraction.
Behind the ice and fire, Gray and Juvia had linked hands, their magical auras intertwining in perfect harmony. They were preparing a Unison Raid—an incredibly advanced, highly synchronized magical fusion that exponentially amplified the destructive output of two compatible mages.
"WATER NEBULA AND ICE-MAKE: ICE GEYSER!"
"Take this!" Gray roared, thrusting his hands forward.
This was the true culmination of the alliance's desperate gamble. Eve and Beth had provided the initial distraction, while Lyon and Rufus had sacrificed their offensive capabilities entirely to buy Gray and Juvia enough time to cast their ultimate trump card.
A torrential, swirling vortex of pressurized water erupted from the streets, immediately followed by towering, jagged spikes of ice that spiraled upward, merging into a devastating, sky-piercing surge of absolute destruction aimed squarely at the spire.
"Now... let us see you survive this," Rufus panted, a triumphant smile finally breaking through his exhaustion. He had orchestrated this entire sequence flawlessly.
"Beautiful..." Lyon whispered, falling just a little bit deeper in love with Juvia as he witnessed her raw power.
Yet, facing a cataclysmic surge of ice and water that threatened to erase the entire building, Meredy remained impossibly calm. She simply widened her stance and drew her bowstring back one final time.
There was no wasted movement. The ambient magic in the air violently condensed into the tip of her drawn arrow, shifting from a simple bolt of light into a spiraling, hyper-dense hurricane of golden energy resembling a lethal drill.
"Your magic is impressive," Finn murmured, his voice echoing across the arena. "But unfortunately, it is still far too weak."
He released the string.
"Star of Bethlehem."
The arrow shot forward like a falling star. The moment it collided with the Unison Raid, the massive vortex of ice and water didn't just shatter—it was completely vaporized. The spiraling drill of light pierced straight through the alliance's ultimate attack without losing a fraction of its momentum.
"Eh?"
Gray, Lyon, Juvia, and Rufus could only stare as the blinding star descended upon them.
In another timeline, Rufus would have utilized his Memory-Make magic to effortlessly sweep this event, reading the battlefield flawlessly and securing an easy victory for Sabertooth. But now, staring into the face of a spell that defied all conventional magical logic, his vast intellect was useless.
"I... have no memory of this..." Rufus whispered in absolute despair.
BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMM!
The explosion of light swallowed the alliance whole, wiping them from the board in a single, blinding flash.
"What did you think?"
Inside the mental cockpit, Finn turned to the spectral projection of Meredy. She was sitting in her chair, entirely in a daze, utterly mesmerized by the sheer, God-like destruction her own body had just unleashed.
"I can't wait for my reward later," Finn chuckled.
With a seamless mental shift, Finn relinquished control, logging out of Meredy's consciousness and returning her to the driver's seat.
Meredy gasped, suddenly feeling the cool night breeze on her face. She stood entirely alone at the apex of the holographic city, her bow glowing softly in her grip. Looking down at the empty, cratered streets below, she looked like a higher being that had just descended from the heavens to pass judgment on mortals.
"AND TIME IS UP! THE WINNER OF THE FIRST EVENT IS HEAVENLY BLUE!" Chapati Lola screamed, his voice cracking with absolute euphoria.
"OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!"
The stadium erupted into a deafening, earth-shaking roar. But down in the contestant dugouts, the atmosphere was suffocatingly grim.
The other guilds stared up at the lone archer in absolute, soul-crushing despair. If just one member of Heavenly Blue possessed this level of monstrous, untouchable power... how were they possibly supposed to survive the rest of the team?
---
Just to ask.
Frankly, I have never thought to stop writing the "Checking Out at 5:15 PM" since I have to admit that it is my first original novel in a while and I am having fun writing it, but at the same time, I am thinking of making a new fanfiction.
Still, I don't have the energy to write both, so I am just asking for your opinion: should I stop my original novel for a bit?
As for what kind of fanfiction novel I wrote, it would be a mixed world, like Starting by Becoming Mangaka, or I Refuse to Become a scumbag, and for this novel, I am thinking of having Bocchi the Rock, Yofukashi no Uta, and probably HigeHiro?
Also, I might add an ability to have him travel to various worlds, which will be interesting.
Sometimes, I wonder why I only had this idea now, and not before I wrote the original story.
Still, as this happened, I am asking for your opinion, as I don't think the Checking Out at 5:15 PM will end soon, nor will the Suzuki.
Also, if I put HigeHiro, should I make Sayu remain as she is, or should I make her a virgin?
Yet, I have to say, the story will be gritty if I don't change Sayu's original background setting.
Lastly, happy 400 chapters!