Sting and Rogue were exceptionally brutal, leaving nearly every other competitor hobbling towards the finish line.
Fairy Tail achieved a resounding triumph in the opening event, securing a commendable ten points. The subsequent combat segment proceeded without untoward incident, augmenting Fairy Tail's score to a noteworthy 20p, thereby propelling them to the apex of the leaderboard.
The combat format of this particular iteration deviated markedly from that employed seven years hence. In the subsequent event, not only were the competing teams assigned by the competition organizers, but the selection of individual combatants was likewise subject to external determination.
The objective underlying this procedural modification was ostensibly to orchestrate engagements between competitors of comparable skill, thereby facilitating the more efficient harvesting of magical energy.
However, the inaugural Grand Magic Games conspicuously lacked such meticulous planning, rendering a modicum of fortuitousness indispensable to success in the combat segment.
Each participating team was afforded a total of four engagements. Those favored by fortune would encounter relatively feeble adversaries such as Twilight Ogre, while those less fortunate would be compelled to confront formidable opponents, necessitating a resignation to their fate.
Naturally, Drake harbored no trepidation regarding such contingencies. Even a confrontation with Lamia Scale would merely entail a more protracted and arduous undertaking!
In any event, the inaugural combat engagement pitted Fairy Tail against Raven Tail.
Raven Tail, a dark guild founded by Ivan Dreyar, the estranged progeny of Fairy Tail's third guild master, Makarov Dreyar, following his expulsion from the guild.
In prior circumstances, Raven Tail had operated as an autonomous entity, existing outside the purview of the guild alliance. Consequently, they would ordinarily be ineligible to participate in the Grand Magic Games.
Drake recalled that, in the canonical timeline, Raven Tail did not secure formal guild accreditation until the return of the Tenrou Team seven years hence.
Moreover, in that particular iteration, their actions were manifestly antagonistic towards Fairy Tail, motivated by a desire to comprehensively discredit and humiliate the guild.
However, in this instance, Ivan had, through means unknown, obtained qualification for participation in the Grand Magic Games in advance of schedule.
Furthermore, they made no effort to conceal their animus towards Fairy Tail.
During the Chariot race, Raven Tail had engaged in the most perfidious and underhanded tactics against Sting and Rogue.
The combatants selected for the ensuing engagements proceeded to discharge virulent miasmas into the arena, ostensibly intending to secure victory through such unscrupulous means.
However, Kagura, upon entering the fray, merely executed a single, devastating "Gravity Blade - Abyss," the resultant gravitational surge bisecting the miasma and instantaneously terminating the Raven Tail combatant who had been ensconced within its confines, engaging in incessant, self-aggrandizing pronouncements.
While antagonists who succumbed to logorrhea typically managed to inflict some measure of damage upon the protagonist prior to their demise, this particular individual, having merely discharged a cloud of toxic vapor, presumed victory to be assured, thereby revealing himself to be an utter imbecile.
In any event, Drake observed that Ivan's countenance, positioned within the grandstand, betrayed a profound sense of discomfiture, presumably stemming from the egregious ineptitude displayed by his subordinate.
Thus, the inaugural day of competition drew to a close, affording all present a glimpse into the formidable power wielded by Fairy Tail.
Moreover, it served to underscore the incontrovertible fact that, even in the absence of its core members, no entity could usurp Fairy Tail's position as the preeminent guild within the Fiore Kingdom.
The assembled competitors retreated to their respective domiciles to recuperate, the day's events having engendered a palpable sense of trepidation among them, necessitating diligent preparation for the trials to come.
One individual, however, deviated from this normative pattern!
Under the cloak of nocturnal obscurity, Drake surreptitiously exited his lodgings via a window, proceeding with spectral alacrity towards the Royal Palace of Fiore, the Mercurius Palace, also known as the City of Illuminations.
During the morning's competition, Drake had meticulously monitored the flux of magical energy throughout Crocus, confirming his suspicion that the entirety of the city's arcane energies were converging beneath the royal palace.
That location, therefore, was the likely repository of the Eclipse Gate.
Confirming the operational status of the Eclipse Gate constituted one of the primary objectives motivating Drake's participation in the Grand Magic Games. The cover of darkness provided an ideal opportunity to accomplish this task.
Without alerting the palace guard, Drake stealthily infiltrated the royal residence.
In all candor, Drake's recollection of the precise means of subterranean ingress to the palace was somewhat fragmented. Even for Drake, memory was subject to inherent limitations. Thus, from the outset, Drake had deliberately prioritized the retention of critical intelligence.
Conversely, less pertinent and somewhat nebulous recollections were relegated to the periphery of his cognitive faculties, thereby optimizing the available capacity for the retention of essential data.
Familiarizing himself with the palace's internal topography constituted another objective of Drake's nocturnal foray.
Rather than engaging in aimless peregrinations, Drake elected to trace the conduits through which magical energy was being channeled. Predictably, this approach proved efficacious, facilitating his expeditious arrival at the threshold of the Eclipse Gate.
Surveying the colossal portal, adorned with an intricate network of arcane glyphs, Drake could not suppress a wave of nostalgia.
It was through this very portal that Anna had conveyed Drake, along with Natsu and their compatriots, to this epoch. However, Drake's journey had been truncated by the intervention of World Magic, diverting him to alternate realities.
Speaking of which, the operational mechanics of this portal were predicated upon celestial magic, leveraging the temporal disparities between the celestial realm and the terrestrial plane to facilitate trans-temporal displacement.
While celestial magic might appear to be merely a specialized form of summoning, encumbered by the inherent limitation of requiring celestial keys for its activation, its potential applications were manifold. The Eclipse Gate was merely one such manifestation. Super Magic: Fairy Sphere was another potent technique exclusive to celestial mages.
Furthermore, the sacrifice of golden keys enabled the invocation of the Celestial Spirit King at his zenith of power. Truly, the magic wielded by the protagonist was not to be underestimated!
Upon closer inspection, Drake ascertained that the Eclipse Gate was indeed connected to a complex array of magical matrices, undergoing a protracted process of energization.
However, the efficiency of this energization process was demonstrably suboptimal, with the complete activation of the Eclipse Gate remaining a distant prospect.
Apart from these observations, Drake detected no anomalous phenomena in the immediate vicinity.
The Eclipse Gate not only constituted a pivotal plot device within the Grand Magic Games arc but was also shrouded in an aura of considerable enigma.
Given that the contrivance was a product of Zeref's ingenuity, an abundance of circumspection was warranted.
Drake suspected that the enigmatic black entity that had possessed Rogue in the alternate timeline was somehow linked to the Eclipse Gate.
Furthermore, the circumstances surrounding Acnologia's emergence in that particular timeline remained perplexing.
A plausible explanation posited that Acnologia had detected the emanations of Zeref's power from the activated Eclipse Gate.
This hypothesis was corroborated by the fact that Acnologia did not reappear following Natsu's destruction of the Eclipse Gate in the canonical timeline.
At present, however, the Eclipse Gate remained dormant, precluding any definitive confirmation of this hypothesis. Nevertheless, Drake could, at the very least, ascertain that the Eclipse Gate posed no immediate threat.
At that juncture, Drake detected the approach of footsteps, prompting him to seek refuge within the adjacent shadows, suppressing his magical emanations and bodily effluvia.
A series of footfalls, accompanied by the sonorous clang of metallic accoutrements, drew nearer, ultimately terminating before the Eclipse Gate.
Based upon the auditory cues, at least one of the approaching individuals was adorned in a suit of armor of considerable mass.
"Knight Commander, what is the current status?"
The timbre of the voice was strikingly familiar. Drake cautiously extended his cranium from his concealed vantage point, discerning that the speaker was a diminutive, middle-aged individual.
Drake recognized the voice as that of the master of ceremonies from the Grand Magic Games, the entity with the pumpkin-shaped cephalic appendage.
The individual's true identity, as Drake recalled, was that of Toma E. Fiore, the reigning monarch of the Fiore Kingdom.
The individual clad in the ponderous suit of armor positioned proximate to Toma was none other than Arka Dios, the commander of the royal knighthood.
Arka responded: "Your Majesty, I appreciate your concern. While I would prefer to report unmitigated success, I am compelled to acknowledge the existence of an ongoing impediment. The rate of magical energy accretion remains suboptimal. I fear that even with further refinements to the 'Eclipse' magical matrix, we shall be unable to expeditiously accumulate the requisite energy."
Toma demurred: "Fear not. We presently lack the indispensable zodiacal keys. Even a diminished rate of energy accretion is of little consequence.
Speaking of which, were there not reports of the recovery of the Pisces zodiacal key?"
Arka confirmed: "Indeed. However, by the time we arrived at the designated location, the key had already been appropriated by an unidentified individual. The prime suspect is a mage affiliated with Fairy Tail."
Toma paused in contemplative silence before remarking: "In that event, a preponderance of the zodiacal keys are now concentrated within the custody of Fairy Tail. This development obviates the need for further exertion on our part."
Drake, ensconced within his concealed vantage point, remained unmoved by the revelation that he had been identified as a person of interest. With so many celestial keys in Lucy's possession, he had long anticipated such scrutiny.
Moreover, the kingdom's intelligence apparatus was demonstrably sophisticated. Drake had secured the Pisces key during the course of a remote mission, yet the kingdom had evidently apprehended this development.
However, they remained ignorant of the fact that Drake had also acquired the Libra key, thereby consolidating all twelve zodiacal keys within the possession of Fairy Tail.
Having ascertained that the kingdom harbored no ulterior motives, Drake, with characteristic stealth, absented himself from the royal palace, returning to his lodgings.
With the primary objective of his nocturnal excursion successfully accomplished, Drake could now dedicate his undivided attention to the forthcoming competitions.
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