"Your Majesty, this is the revised participant list for Fairy Tail."
Arcadios, clad in knight's armor, respectfully handed a roster to the elderly man before him.
This elderly man was the King of the Fiore Kingdom.
The old king took the roster and scanned it.
"Kenichi, Erza, Mirajane, Gildarts, Laxus, with Wendy as the substitute."
"They are all formidable mages, aren't they, Pumpkin?"
Arcadios naturally knew the old king was the Pumpkin Man on the arena.
So when the old king added the suffix 'Pumpkin', his expression didn't change at all.
However, the old king himself gave an awkward dry cough, then asked: "This Wendy... it seems she hasn't participated in a single match yet, right?"
"It appears so, Your Majesty."
After getting Arcadios's confirmation, the old king said: "Then for the next match, let Wendy take the stage!"
"Erza and Wendy, versus Mermaid Heel's Kagura and Milianna!"
"Yes, Your Majesty. I will see to it immediately."
Arcadios saluted respectfully and withdrew.
And the old king put on the pumpkin headpiece: "This year's Grand Magic Games is really interesting, Pumpkin!"
When the Pumpkin man walked onto the arena, the live commentator on the announcer's stand had already received the notice from the organizers.
"Alright, thank you for waiting!"
"Due to Raven Tail's disqualification, the remaining 7 teams cannot be properly matched against opponents. The organizers have decided to merge Fairy Tail's two teams into one!"
As soon as the commentator said this, the audience buzzed with discussion.
"Huh? Merged into one? Isn't that unfair to Fairy Tail?"
"There's no other way. If they don't merge, the upcoming matches can't proceed normally!"
While the audience felt sorry for Fairy Tail's merger, Jenny from Blue Pegasus's side clenched her fists joyfully: "Lucky! This way, Fairy Tail's chance of winning the championship is greatly reduced, and our guild's chance increases a lot~!"
"Now is not the time to celebrate. Even after merging, Fairy Tail's current ranking is still far ahead, isn't it?"
As soon as Ren finished speaking, a virtual screen displaying the points ranking for the 7 teams appeared in the sky above the arena.
The virtual screen displayed:
Fairy Tail, 60 points.
Sabertooth, 30 points.
Mermaid Heel, 26 points.
Lamia Scale, 26 points.
Blue Pegasus, 18 points.
Quatro Cerberus, 10 points.
Jenny looked at Fairy Tail's points, then at her own guild's points. The joy on her face instantly vanished, replaced by dismay.
"How can the gap be this big?" Jenny asked with a bitter smile.
Hearing Jenny's question, Hibiki, who was fiddling with a virtual keyboard nearby, said while looking at the data on the screen: "And this is the score after the merger. Before the merger, Fairy Tail A alone had 68 points, almost perfect scores in every event!"
"Uh…"
Hearing Hibiki's words, Jenny was utterly deflated.
"Don't be discouraged! It's only a 42-point difference. We still have a chance!"
Ichiya struck an exaggerated pose and said to Jenny and the others.
Only a 42-point difference.
'Ichiya-san, you're really optimistic.'
While Jenny was complaining in her heart, Hibiki, Iwan, and Ren also struck poses along with Ichiya.
"As expected of Ichiya-senpai!"
"With Ichiya-sensei here, our Blue Pegasus cannot lose!"
While the Blue Pegasus members were talking, the spectators in the surrounding stands, seeing the points ranking on the virtual screen, were all exclaiming in surprise.
"So amazing, Fairy Tail! They already have 60 points? That's 30 points more than the previously strongest Sabertooth! They are way too strong!"
"I just hope the reorganization doesn't affect Fairy Tail's performance in the matches!"
"Fairy Tail, do your best!"
…
Amidst the audience's cheers, the points ranking on the virtual screen soon changed into a match schedule.
Fairy Tail vs. Mermaid Heel.
Sabertooth vs. Lamia Scale.
Blue Pegasus vs. Quatro Cerberus.
"The upcoming battle matches are different from those of the previous three days!"
"The battle matches for the first three days were one-on-one, but today's battle matches are two-on-two!"
"The rules remain unchanged. The winning side gets 10 points. In a draw, both sides get 5 points each. The losing side gets 0 points!"
"The teams for the three matches have been announced in advance!"
While the live commentator was speaking, all the participating mages, Kenichi, Kagura, Jenny, Sherria, and the others, fixed their gazes on the match schedule on the virtual screen.
"Oh, our opponent is Mermaid Heel?"
Kenichi looked at the match schedule, his gaze then falling upon Kagura, Milianna, and the others over there.
"It's actually Mermaid Heel... I hope we don't encounter Kagura and the others. After all, we have a good relationship with them, and we even did a job together before!"
Wendy clenched her fists, speaking as if in prayer.
"I, on the other hand, hope to encounter Kagura."
Erza looked at Kagura, her face full of anticipation.
"Huh? Why?"
Hearing Erza's words, Wendy was very surprised.
"Friendship is friendship, competition is competition. They don't interfere with each other."
Erza looked at Kenichi and Wendy and said with a smile.
While Kenichi and Erza were looking at Kagura and Milianna… Kagura, Milianna, and the other Mermaid Heel members were also looking at Kenichi, Erza, and the group.
"Eh?! We have to fight little Erza and the others? I really wish this wouldn't happen!"
Milianna shared the same sentiment as Wendy.
However, Kagura's thoughts surprisingly aligned with Erza's.
"Titania..."
Kagura looked at Erza, her hand gripping the sword tightened instantly, her face full of fighting spirit.
"Kagura, you want to fight Erza and the others? What if our opponent is Kenichi?"
Seeing the fighting spirit on Kagura's face, Milianna asked.
Perhaps Milianna just asked this casually, but when Kagura heard Milianna mention Kenichi, Kagura immediately panicked.
"Ke... Kenichi? Right, we might also encounter Kenichi... If we encounter Kenichi..."
Kagura looked at Kenichi beside Erza, her pretty face slightly flushed, her expression flustered.
"Alright! Next, let's begin the first battle match of the day!"
"The contestants are: Fairy Tail's Erza and Wendy, versus Mermaid Heel's Kagura and Milianna!"
The flustered Kagura immediately calmed down upon hearing the commentator's words.
'Thank goodness it's not Kenichi.'
Kagura thought to herself, then turned her gaze to Erza.
And Erza was also looking at Kagura.
At that moment, the air between Kagura and Erza grew heated.
"What should we do? We really ended up facing Erza (Kagura) and the others!"
While Kagura and Erza both showed fighting spirit, Wendy and Milianna spoke with worried expressions.