Third day of the Grand Magic Games.
Although it was already the third day, the excitement of the grand event hadn't diminished at all.
Looking around, the massive venue was packed with people, extremely lively.
"Now then, let's begin today's matches!"
"As with the previous two days, we'll start with the competitive event. Today's competitive event is called [Pandemonium]!"
"Before announcing the rules of the competition, please have each team select one contestant to participate in this match!"
As soon as the live commentator finished speaking, the spectators in the surrounding stands instantly erupted in cheers.
And the various participating teams also began discussing animatedly.
"Pandemonium? What kind of content is it? I can't guess at all!"
Facing Kenichi, Erza showed a thoughtful expression.
Although Kenichi knew the specific content of Pandemonium, he still said to Erza: "We'll know soon enough!"
"I'm participating in this match! Don't any of you argue with me!"
While Erza and Kenichi were talking, Natsu, who had long been impatient, immediately stepped forward and said.
"No one's arguing with you!"
During the competitive events on the first and second days, Natsu had always wanted to participate but couldn't for various reasons.
For this third day's match, since Natsu wanted to participate, Gray didn't argue with him.
Kenichi glanced at Erza, Mirajane, and Wendy in front of him. Seeing that none of the three women intended to participate, he then said to Natsu: "Then Natsu will participate in this match!"
In Kenichi's memory, this Pandemonium was Erza's stage.
In the original story, Erza single-handedly wiped out all the monsters inside the Pandemonium.
She shocked the entire audience at the time and even forced the organizers to bring out a backup plan.
Of course, with Erza's current strength, she could definitely take on the entire Pandemonium alone as well.
But she would still get injured somewhat.
Seeing that neither Kenichi nor Gray objected, Natsu slammed his fist into his palm excitedly and said: "It's finally my turn to appear! Time to go all out!"
"He's so motivated, Natsu-san!"
"Do your best, Natsu!"
Wendy and Mirajane both said with smiles.
At this moment, looking at Natsu's posture, Kenichi could already picture the upcoming situation.
'This guy would definitely choose to take on all the monsters in Pandemonium alone, just like Erza.'
While Kenichi's team selected Natsu, the other seven teams also sent their respective contestants onto the arena.
"Cana?!"
When Kenichi saw Cana taking the stage, his expression shifted slightly, and his gaze then fell upon Mavis, who was sitting on the railing over there, swinging her small feet.
'I wonder if the First Master has lent Fairy Glitter to Cana.'
In the original work, Mavis lent Fairy Glitter to Cana so that Fairy Tail could score as many points as possible.
If Mavis has also lent Fairy Glitter to Cana now, and Cana successfully uses it, Kenichi could collect the Fairy Glitter attribute.
Back on Tenrou Island, Kenichi had wanted to collect the attributes of Fairy Tail's Three Great Fairy Magics: Fairy Glitter and Fairy Sphere.
It was just a pity that he didn't get to see Cana use Fairy Glitter at that time.
And when Mavis used Fairy Sphere, Kenichi, to avoid being sealed, took Erza, Mirajane, and Wendy to a different dimension, thus also missing the chance to collect the Fairy Sphere attribute.
If Cana uses Fairy Glitter now, it would be an opportunity for Kenichi.
While Kenichi was looking at Mavis, she seemed to sense something. She turned her head to look in Kenichi's direction and gave him an innocent smile.
"Something is coming out!"
Just then, Wendy's voice reached Kenichi's ears.
Kenichi withdrew his gaze and looked towards the arena. There, a huge tower appeared out of thin air on the arena.
The tower hovered in the sky, connected by numerous chains on the outside, giving it a feeling somewhat reminiscent of a ghost house.
Since the organizers had used magic to create an entire town on the first day, the shock at seeing this giant tower now wasn't as strong.
"Appearing before everyone is the Pandemonium! Next, the Pumpkin Man will explain the rules and content of this match!"
As soon as the live commentator finished speaking, the Pumpkin Man on the stage raised his microphone and said: "I am the Host, Pumpkin!"
"First, let me explain this Pandemonium!"
"Inside this Pandemonium, there are 100 magical creatures!"
"Let's take a look at these creatures!"
As soon as the Pumpkin Man said this, a series of virtual screens appeared around the tall tower.
And on the screens appeared various monsters of different forms.
Some of these monsters looked like rhinos, some like giant bats, some were as huge as dragons.
They looked fierce and exceptionally terrifying.
"These magical creatures are created by magic and will not escape. Please rest assured!"
Seeing the frightened expressions on the faces of the audience in the surrounding stands, the Pumpkin Man explained, then continued: "The monsters are divided into five grades: S, A, B, C, and D!"
"The number of monsters in these five grades is as shown on the screen!"
At this moment, everyone saw the screen display:
S. 1
A. 4
B. 15
C. 30
D. 50
"So, how strong are these monsters?"
Soon, the content on the screen switched to the interior of the Pandemonium.
There, a steel monster somewhat resembling a kangaroo crashed headfirst into a wall.
Instantly, the wall was shattered to pieces.
"As you can see, this is the strength of a D-grade monster!"
'D?'
As soon as the Pumpkin Man said this, Lucy and the others exclaimed one after another.
"Something that strong is only D-grade?"
"Then wouldn't the other grades be even stronger?"
The Pumpkin Man seemed to hear everyone's words and added: "The strength doubles with each grade increase. Among them, the S-grade monster would probably be very difficult for an average Wizard Saint to defeat!"
When the Pumpkin Man used the Wizard Saint as a benchmark, the contestants on the arena, including Cana, all showed expressions of fear.
"Really? A Wizard Saint? We have to fight monsters of that level?"
"This is too difficult!"
However, Natsu over there shouted excitedly: "A Wizard Saint-level monster? I'm fired up! I'm going to defeat them all!"
Sweatdrop-
Hearing Natsu's words, a large sweatdrop instantly appeared on the back of the Pumpkin Man's head...
He had said all that originally to scare the contestants and make them choose carefully.
But Natsu's words directly ruined his plan.
And Gray on the high platform also had an expression that said 'I don't know this guy'.
"Good grief… does this guy Natsu even understand the situation?!"
While Gray was talking, the Pumpkin Man spoke again: "Next, let me explain the rules of the match!"
"Before entering the Pandemonium, each contestant can choose how many monsters they want to challenge!"
"If you choose three, after entering the Pandemonium, three magical creatures will randomly appear before you!"
"Since the creatures appear randomly, it's possible all three are D-grade, or one S-grade and two A-grades. So everyone must choose carefully!"
"When a contestant enters the Pandemonium and defeats all the monsters that appear before them, the contestant will receive points corresponding to the number defeated!"
"When the next contestant enters the Pandemonium, the monsters appearing before them will be drawn from the remaining pool of monsters!"
Hearing the Pumpkin MC's words, Cana looked at the cards in her hand and said: "It's a bit like a card game!"
"That's right, it's exactly like a card game. 100 monsters correspond to 100 cards. If the first contestant draws three cards, the second contestant draws from the remaining 97-card deck, and so on until 0!"
The Pumpkin MC looked at Cana and said.
"What happens if someone falls inside the Pandemonium?" Milianna approached the Pumpkin MC and asked.
"If you fall, the contestant will be directly eliminated. The monsters killed previously will reappear in the monster pool, but the points the contestant earned will not be reset to 0!"
After the Pumpkin MC explained, he immediately took out a jar: "Next, each contestant will draw lots to decide the order of entering the Pandemonium!"
"Ho, I'm number 1!"
When Milianna saw the number in her hand was 1, she was overjoyed.
"Number 3, what a shame."
Natsu looked at the number 3 in his hand, his face full of disappointment.
"So, Number 1, how many monsters do you choose?"
Pumpkin walked up to Milianna and asked.
"This..."
Milianna showed a thinking expression, then said with a smile: "Then... let's choose 50!"
"5... 50? There's a monster comparable to a Wizard Saint in there, you know? Are you sure you want to choose 50?"
Hearing Milianna's words, the Pumpkin Man asked somewhat incredulously.
"I just need to avoid that S-grade monster, right? Also, you said just now that even if I fall, the points won't be reset to 0. So before I fall, I just need to kill as many monsters as possible to score more points!"
'Uh… That's a very logical argument. I actually can't refute it.'
The Pumpkin Man was speechless.
And contestants like Cana and Hibiki seemed to understand something.
"I see! So you just need to score as many points as possible before falling!"
"Then I'll also try to choose as many as possible later!"
Hearing Cana and the others' words, black lines appeared on the Pumpkin Man's forehead: 'These guys are completely not following the script.'
He had originally talked about how strong the monsters were to make everyone carefully choose the number of monsters.
But Cana and the others wanted to go all out, completely disregarding how strong the monsters were.