Honey Bone Inn. Just as Kenichi, Erza, and the others were discussing matters related to the Grand Magic Games, a clear voice suddenly reached their ears.
"Greetings to all mages participating in the Grand Magic Games!"
Hearing this sudden greeting, Kenichi, Erza, and the others all stood up and looked outside.
They saw a huge virtual projection in the sky above the capital.
The image in the projection was none other than a person wearing a pumpkin mask.
"What's going on?"
"This pumpkin guy appeared right at twelve o'clock?"
"Speaking of which, this pumpkin guy is huge. Is it a projection?"
As they spoke, Kenichi, Erza, and the others all walked out onto the balcony outside the room, looking at the giant virtual image in the sky.
"Next, to select 8 teams from the 113 participating teams..."
"The preliminary round begins now!"
As soon as the Pumpkin Man said this, the mage guilds in the capital became restless.
"Preliminary round?"
"What's going on? There wasn't a preliminary round last year, was there?"
"Why this year..."
The Pumpkin Man couldn't hear the mages' voices and continued on his own:
"The rules are simple: the first 8 teams to reach the main tournament venue will successfully advance to the main tournament!"
At that moment, the hotel where Kenichi, Erza, and the others were staying began to transform.
And outside the balcony, rows of stairs materialized out of thin air, seemingly connecting to somewhere.
"Wow, the hotel is transforming!"
"Other hotels are too."
"Is this a race? Great..."
Just as Natsu and Gray were gathering their strength, ready to charge out along the stairs from the balcony, Kenichi walked over, directly shrunk Erza, Mirajane, Natsu, and Gray, and grabbed them in his two hands.
"Ke... Kenichi, what are you doing? So suddenly?"
"Let us down quickly!"
Natsu and Gray, held in Kenichi's left hand, immediately started shouting.
But Erza and Mirajane, held in Kenichi's right hand, trusted Kenichi completely and said nothing.
They knew Kenichi must have some plan.
"Wendy, we're going ahead!"
"Kenichi-nii, do your best!"
Hearing Kenichi's call, Wendy clenched her fists and cheered for him.
With that, Kenichi's figure vanished from the spot.
Although the teams from Fairy Tail, Blue Pegasus, and Sabertooth all had six members, according to the organizer's requirements, only 5 people needed to participate in the match.
As per their prior agreement, Wendy would rest on the first day of the competition.
So, Kenichi left Wendy behind.
After Kenichi disappeared from Wendy's view, he arrived at the finish line in the next second.
"Eh? Could it be... you are a mage participating in the competition?"
The Pumpkin Man, holding a microphone and announcing the rules, saw Kenichi walking over and tentatively asked.
"Correct!"
After getting Kenichi's confirmation, cold sweat appeared on the Pumpkin Man's forehead.
He was utterly shocked inside.
The distance from the mages' hotels to this finish line was over ten kilometers.
In the Pumpkin Man's view, even the strongest team, Sabertooth, would need at least several minutes to get here from the start.
But now, before he had even finished announcing the rules, someone had already reached the finish line.
How could the Pumpkin Man not be shocked?
However, the Pumpkin Man was no ordinary person.
He was the old king of the Fiore Kingdom.
Of course, others didn't know he was the king.
Soon, he figured out what happened: "A Spatial Mage?"
If it was a Spatial Mage, they could indeed arrive here instantly.
"Cough... I haven't finished announcing the rules. If you don't arrive at the finish line with five people simultaneously, you will be disqualified!"
As soon as the Pumpkin Man said this, Kenichi casually waved his hand. The shrunken Erza, Mirajane, Natsu, and Gray all appeared before the Pumpkin Man out of thin air.
"That makes five people now."
Hearing Kenichi and seeing the five people before him, a large sweat drop appeared on the back of the Pumpkin Man's head.
"Congratulations on passing the preliminary round!"
As soon as the Pumpkin Man said this, Natsu and Gray were stunned.
"Eh?"
"We've already reached the finish line? When..."
"Kenichi, you're really amazing!"
"Ahahaha, are we the first to arrive?"
Hearing Natsu's question, the Pumpkin Man answered: "You are first, pumpkin!"
"Ahahaha, first place!"
After saying that, Natsu and Gray walked into the main tournament venue with a very arrogant posture.
And Erza glanced at Kenichi, then smiled and shook her head: "Let's go!"
Watching the retreating backs of Kenichi, Erza, and the others, the Pumpkin Man thought to himself: "The revived Fairy Tail, huh? It seems this year's Grand Magic Games should be very interesting."
Then, the Pumpkin Man continued announcing the preliminary round rules.
A few minutes later, after Kenichi and Erza's group, five more people arrived before the Pumpkin Man.
These five were none other than Sabertooth's Sting Eucliffe, Rogue Cheney, Rufus Lore, Yukino Agria, and Orga Nanagear!
"Yo, Pumpkin Man, good to see you again this year!"
Sting, walking at the front, casually greeted the Pumpkin Man.
"Hello, everyone from Sabertooth!"
The Pumpkin Man, looking at the five from the strongest guild, also responded very warmly.
"As expected, our guild is first again!"
Rufus, wearing a hat beside Sting, said very elegantly.
Just as Sting, Rogue, and the other five were about to walk past the Pumpkin Man, the Pumpkin Man spoke up: "No, you are not first."
"Hmm?"
As soon as the Pumpkin Man said this, the expressions of Sting, Rogue, and the other five all changed.
In the seven years since the Tenrou Island incident, Sabertooth had always been the champion.
The arrogance of the champion was almost engraved in the souls of Sabertooth's members.
In the view of Sabertooth's members, they were the strongest guild.
No other guild could surpass them.
Now, hearing the Pumpkin Man say they weren't first, Sting, Rogue, and the others felt as if the dignity of the champion had been challenged.
"If we're not first, who is?"
Sting bent down and leaned close to the Pumpkin Man to ask.
"Several minutes ago, five people from Fairy Tail arrived before you."
Fairy Tail.
Upon hearing this name, Sting and Rogue's spirits were stirred.
Long ago, Sting and Rogue greatly admired Fairy Tail's Natsu and Gajeel.
But since they had been winning first place year after year, they had come to believe they had surpassed Natsu and Gajeel.
Now, hearing the name Fairy Tail again and learning that Fairy Tail had surpassed their guild in the preliminary round, Sting and Rogue weren't angry… instead, they became even more excited.
"Fairy Tail, huh? It seems this year's competition will be interesting, right, Rogue?"