Grand Magic Games Stadium.
At this moment, all 8 teams that passed the preliminary round had appeared on the stadium grounds.
The live commentator on the commentator's stand said clearly: "Many teams are participating in the Grand Magic Games for the first time, so let's go over the rules!"
"The tournament schedule lasts for 5 days in total!"
"Except for the finals on the 5th day, the other 4 days will feature one competitive event and one combat round each!"
"For the competitive event, each team sends one participant. After the event concludes, the 8 teams will be ranked!"
At this point, a huge virtual screen appeared in the sky above the stadium.
The screen displayed:
1st: 10 points
2nd: 8 points
3rd: 6 points
4th: 4 points
5th: 3 points
6th: 2 points
7th: 1 points
8th: 0 points
"As shown on the screen, the first-place team gets 10 points, and the last place gets 0 points!"
"For the combat round, the 8 teams will fight in pairs. Within the time limit, the winning side gets 10 points, the losing side gets 0 points, and in a draw, both teams get 5 points!"
Hearing this, Natsu slammed his fist into his palm, his face full of fighting spirit as he said with a grin: "Combat? I'm fired up!"
But soon, the commentator's words felt like a bucket of cold water poured over Natsu's head.
"The pairs for the combat round will be entirely selected by the organizers!"
Natsu said discontentedly: "Huh? What kind of stupid rule is that?"
Erza also said with some displeasure: "It's a really unpleasant rule. If the organizers make our team fight Gildarts's team, it would be very disadvantageous for our guild!"
While Natsu and Erza were speaking, Kenichi turned his gaze to the Pumpkin Man.
Although he couldn't see the Pumpkin Man's expression, he was emitting an extremely excited aura.
Clearly, this rule was set by this Pumpkin Man, i.e., the King.
However, the King wouldn't simply target a specific guild, and he just wanted to watch the excitement.
"The above are the rules of the Grand Magic Games. Next, we will proceed with the long-awaited opening event!"
"The name of the opening event is [Hidden]! Please have each of the 8 teams send one participant for this event. The specific rules will be announced after the lists from all 8 teams are submitted!"
As soon as the commentator finished speaking, Natsu, Gray, and the other eager participants all became eager to have a go.
"I'll take the first match!"
"No, let me!"
…
Just as Natsu and Gray were fighting to go first, Kenichi spoke up: "I'll take this one."
Hearing Kenichi, Natsu and Gray both stopped arguing and looked at Kenichi.
And Erza and Mirajane also looked at Kenichi.
After seven years together, Erza and Mirajane knew Kenichi quite well.
In their view, Kenichi shouldn't be competing with Natsu for a spot.
But now, Kenichi was actively requesting to participate in this opening event.
Perhaps Erza and the others didn't know the specific content of the opening event, but Kenichi did.
This opening event wasn't one where the strongest necessarily won.
Natsu and Gray's magic wasn't suited for this event.
But Kenichi's Sensory Magic could play a key role in the event.
Seeing Kenichi wanted to participate, Natsu and Gray naturally had no objections.
At the same time, the other 7 teams also selected their participants.
After the organizers received the participant lists, the commentator said clearly: "Please have the 8 participants remain. All other participants, please retreat to your respective guilds' waiting areas!"
"Kenichi, do your best!"
Erza, Mirajane, and the others called out to Kenichi, then exited the stadium grounds.
Finally, only 8 people remained on the stadium grounds.
Kenichi scanned the other 7 people on the field.
He saw Sabertooth's Rufus, Blue Pegasus's Eve, Lamia Scale's Lyon, and Fairy Tail B Team's Freed were all present.
As Kenichi looked at Freed and the others, Freed and the others also looked back at Kenichi.
After all, Kenichi's team had gotten first place in the preliminary round.
"Fairy Tail, let me see your true strength!"
Rufus looked at Kenichi, a slight curve forming on his lips.
At the same time, the big-headed man from Raven Tail stared at Kenichi with a mocking gaze.
Kenichi took note of all this, but he didn't care.
As everyone was looking at each other, the huge stadium suddenly began to change.
They saw numerous dense runic symbols appear in the air.
Soon, those runes solidified together, forming a massive town.
The town was full of tall buildings and crisscrossing streets, as if it were a real town.
"They created a town using magic?"
"That's too exaggerated!"
Erza, Natsu, and the others, who had already moved to the stands, were all exclaiming in amazement upon seeing the huge magical town on the stadium grounds.
And soon, Lyon, Freed, and the others located within the stadium were teleported into that magical town.
Bzzzt Bzzzt Bzzzt-
Immediately after, numerous virtual screens appeared around the magical town.
The images displayed on those screens showed the situations of the 8 participants within the town.
To be precise, 7 participants.
Because Kenichi was still outside the magical town.
He hadn't been teleported into the magical town.
"What's going on?"
"A teleportation malfunction?"
Seeing Kenichi still outside the town, the commentators and spectators were all stunned.
At that moment, Wendy, Erza, and the others in the stands all had a realization.
"Could it be because of Kenichi-nii's magic?"
Perhaps others didn't know, but Wendy, Erza, and the others knew that all spatial magic was ineffective against Kenichi.
And teleportation magic was a type of spatial magic.
"Cough..."
While Wendy was speaking, the Pumpkin Man ran up to Kenichi.
Before the Pumpkin Man could finish, Kenichi used his own spatial magic and vanished from the spot.
In the next second, when he reappeared, he was already inside the town.
"That was just a small mishap!"
"Everyone in the stands can see the real-time status of the 8 participants in the magical town through these screens!"
"But the participants inside the magical town do not know the situations of the other participants!"
"The rules for this event are simple: the 8 participants located in the magical town just need to find the other participants and launch an attack. Regardless of whether the attack causes damage, as long as they hit the opponent, they gain one point. Conversely, the one who is hit loses one point!"
Hearing this, Natsu crossed his arms and said with a smile: "That's way too simple!"
However, as soon as Natsu finished speaking, numerous figures materialized out of thin air on the various streets within the magical town.
These suddenly appearing figures looked exactly like the 8 participants.
"What's going on?"
"Suddenly there are so many Kenichis and Freeds!"
Seeing many, many Kenichis and Freeds appearing on the streets of the magical town, Natsu and Happy looked as if they had seen a ghost, holding their heads and exclaiming.
"Now, numerous duplicates have appeared in the stadium. These duplicates look identical to the 8 participants. If any participant attacks these duplicates, they will lose one point!"
Hearing this, Erza showed an understanding expression: "I see. They're using these duplicates to interfere with the event. But for Kenichi, it should be no problem at all!"