That night everyone returned to the hotel, and Charles heard about Raven Tail.
According to Erza, the malice coming off that black-robed man went far beyond mere jealousy.
Charles had a few theories but couldn't be sure which it was. Even so, he told everyone to be especially careful of Raven Tail during the matches.
They barely had time to rest before a signal in the middle of the night jolted them awake for the preliminaries.
As in his memory, the prelims were a labyrinth break. Once the two teams entered the magic-formed maze, Charles began to move as well.
With Fairy Tail's current strength, losing would be the strange result. And unlike the original story, everyone wasn't carrying such a heavy burden. All they needed to do was show off to their heart's content.
So most of Charles's attention was on the Eclipse Gate.
Seven years earlier he had already pinned down the gate's location, and he now slipped inside.
Perhaps because the plan was nearly complete, the guards around the Eclipse Gate had thickened considerably.
Even so, infiltrating was a breeze for Charles. He slipped past the sentries and reached the gate.
As expected, the magic gathered on the Eclipse Gate was far greater than seven years ago—enough to activate it.
Charles had investigated before; the Eclipse Gate had indeed been held by the Heartfilia family for generations. But Lucy's father failed in business, the family went bankrupt, and he sold the gate.
It was ultimately acquired by the Kingdom of Fiore, which led to the Eclipse Plan.
Speaking of which, Teacher Anna had crossed through the Eclipse Gate with Charles's party and arrived in this era, but Charles had found no trace of her despite searching.
In the original story, she found a time rift and planned to use it against Acnologia. She feared ill-intentioned people would exploit it, so she guarded it.
She was a mage even Igneel acknowledged. Though she had lost the Celestial Spirit Keys she had contracted, her skill was by no means low.
If she intended to hide, Charles would have a hard time finding her.
The Eclipse Gate's status was normal for now; the aberration must have been caused by the anomalous magic fluctuations on the day of the Dragon King Festival.
Unfortunately, no one happened to discuss their plans in front of him this time. After confirming the basics, Charles withdrew.
When he returned to the hotel, it was no surprise to learn both teams had cleared the preliminaries.
The announcement stunned everyone. Though the Games didn't limit the number of teams, most guilds struggled to field a single elite squad, yet Fairy Tail entered an entire team of Dragon Slayers and still had another squad pass the prelims.
It made Fairy Tail's strength crystal clear to all.
Charles noticed something odd about Laxus's mood, and the first to pick up on it had actually been Gajeel.
Gajeel told Charles they'd run into Raven Tail again during the prelims, though no conflict broke out. But afterward, Laxus started acting strange.
Raven Tail also made it through the prelims this time.
Charles confirmed a certain suspicion in his mind and told Gajeel not to worry.
Laxus's reaction supported Charles's theory about Raven Tail, who hadn't appeared in the original story. It seemed that person had never given up targeting Fairy Tail.
Laxus was reliable. Leaving it to him would be fine.
After a night's rest, the Grand Magic Games officially began.
The format remained a mix of variable events and battles. The first event on day one was a hide-and-seek match.
As in the original story, Sabertooth's memory-make mage Rufus targeted Fairy Tail, and Gray indeed got hit and came away with the lowest score.
Even though Gray struck back, he still didn't put points on the board. Gajeel, on the other hand, took third for six points.
Because of that, Natsu kicked off his antics afterward. Since they weren't on the same team this time, Natsu swaggered up to Gray and taunted him nose-to-nose.
"Wahahaha! What's wrong, what's wrong? Someone went in all confident and didn't score a single point!"
"Damn it!"
Gray grabbed Natsu's scarf and shouted, "You didn't even go in! Don't act like you beat me, you slit-eyed jerk!"
"Huh? Say that again? If I'd gone in, there's no way I'd get zero like you, you droopy-eyed idiot!"
They butted foreheads, about to turn it into their usual brawl, but Erza barked once and the two immediately went to face the wall in the corner.
Charles smiled without comment. Gray had felt a bit guilty and down over his poor showing, but after a spat with Natsu he perked right back up.
Sometimes Natsu was oddly sensitive. Maybe he noticed Gray was in low spirits and gave him his own kind of "comfort"… even if the comforted party ended up thoroughly annoyed!
After the scuffle, the afternoon battle phase began.
Since the organizers designated the fighters, there was no room for strategy.
Fairy Tail's representatives were Sting and Lucy.
Charles felt the organizers were intent on suppressing Fairy Tail: Sting's opponent was Jura of Lamia Scale.
Jura had been one of the Ten Wizard Saints seven years prior and had grown even stronger since. Sting's lasers couldn't pierce his ironlike stone bulwarks at all.
Even in defeat, Sting's performance was beyond reproach. Even his opponent, Jura, praised him!
Compared to Sting, Charles was more concerned about Lucy, who was up next against Raven Tail—the ones with the worst intent toward Fairy Tail.
He glanced at the Pumpkin mascot on the dais and wondered how much the royal family knew about that man in Raven Tail.
If they knew, letting Raven Tail register was unreasonable—unless they wanted to deliberately insert someone with irreconcilable animosity toward Fairy Tail.
If so, the kingdom's little tricks were really crossing the line.
Lucy entered the arena. Her opponent was a woman in a swimsuit-like bodysuit with black eyeshadow.
Raven Tail mage Lubaca used Siren Magic, a branch of Take Over akin to the kind Mirajane and her siblings used.
She could take on various sea-fiends' limbs and abilities. She opened with Kraken's Soul, turning her arms into a mass of octopus tentacles that whipped toward Lucy.
Charles smacked his forehead. Did Lucy have some special attribute? Why did her fights always feature scenes that needed mosaics?
Right there before a full house, she was wrapped in a tangle of tentacles oozing slime that dissolved clothing, making Lucy let out one strange sound after another… What kind of shame-play was this!
Honestly, that kind of shot belongs in hentai, not here!
Lucy still found an opening to summon the Celestial Spirit Cancer, snipping the tentacles and dressing her in a Star Dress.
Lubaca immediately took on Siren's Soul and tried to hypnotize Lucy with an eerie song.
Thankfully, Horologium, the Clock Celestial Spirit contracted to Lucy, sensed her danger and appeared of its own accord, tucking Lucy inside its soundproof body.
Lubaca didn't expect that and ate a clean punch from Leo, the Lion, whom Lucy summoned next, handing Lucy ten points.
Raven Tail didn't resort to any dirty tricks this time, so Charles let his primed magic simmer down. Day one ended smoothly.
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