The destination of the sightseeing bus this year was different from previous years, where it would always stop at the town warehouse.
This year, it drove to the area above South Gate Park, serving as part of the spectator stands.
The Town Mayor, Makarov, and Jason – a reporter and commentator from Weekly Sorcerer – set up a commentary booth on the bus, sitting at the very front.
Mavis sat on the commentary desk, swinging her legs, while Wendy sat in Makarov's lap.
Some Fairy Tail members and a few brave spectators sat behind them.
Other sightseeing buses also carried tourists.
For safety reasons, the buses were specially fitted with railings.
The terrain of South Gate Park was basin-like, requiring descent via over thirty layers of steps.
Defense Formulas were inscribed all around the upper perimeter of South Gate Park.
Porlyusica watched from a distance, far from the crowd.
Today, she was acting as a medic.
Although she constantly claimed to hate humans, she would still save them when necessary.
Makarov, Ur, Erza, Kagura, Natsu, Ultear, and Gray each guarded a side, ready to contain the Magic power that might scatter if the formulas collapsed.
Besides commentating, Makarov also served as a security guard.
While it was a match, they couldn't afford any casualties.
Jason, as the commentator, wasn't very professional.
He talked a lot but failed to fully announce the sponsors, only repeatedly exclaiming "COOL! COOL! COOL!" instead.
Eventually, the Town Mayor snatched the microphone and read out the list of sponsors first, to prevent having to insert advertisements mid-match.
"Everyone, I'm Jason, a reporter from Weekly Sorcerer! Today is the long-awaited main event of the Harvest Festival – the showdown between Fairy Tail's three strongest Mages! I've been looking forward to this day for so long! COOL!!!" Jason introduced, even tearing up.
"Just get on with hosting already..." Macao muttered, facepalming with his head lowered.
Even standing behind him felt unbearable.
"Enough with your nonsense!" Wakaba chimed in with cigarette in mouth, his remarks also broadcast throughout South Gate Park via the microphone.
"Then, without further ado, let's welcome our long-awaited combatants!!!" Jason completely ignored their complaints.
"First to enter is Laxus Dreyar! He's actually not wearing his coat or his audio pots!!! Does this mean he takes this match very seriously?"
Laxus appeared wearing only a black sleeveless tank top on his upper body, leaving behind his usual audio pots and coat.
"GO LAXUSSSS!!!" Laxus's fans screamed wildly, holding up support signs.
'Laxus has quite a lot of female fans', Raizel, still inside the tent and not yet out, watched the fans cheering through a small window.
"Next, let's welcome the youngest Mage to become S-Class in the Fiore Kingdom, RAIZEL BAEL!!!"
Hearing his introduction to enter, Raizel, dressed in a suit, slowly emerged from the simple tent that had been set up.
"Raizel-san, do your best!!!" Most of the cheers came from young childish voices, along with some middle-aged and young men.
"Raizel-san, you must win!!!" Kevin sat on Duke Grant's shoulders, leaning against the sightseeing bus in the front row.
Among the many fans, Raizel still managed to hear his voice clearly.
'Why is my fanbase either kids or men!!!' (Cause Digimon is a man romance!)
Unlike Laxus who walked out with crossed arms, Raizel kept waving to all directions.
'How come Laxus is more popular with female fans than me...'
"Finally, let's warmly welcome the strongest Mage of Fairy Tail—Gillllllllllllllllllldarts Clive—————COOL!!!"
'I see what you're doing, Jason. Why didn't Laxus and I get a 'COOL'? And why was Gildarts' name drawn out so much longer than ours!!!', Raizel mentally complained furiously.
Across the way, Gildarts slowly emerged, dressed no differently than usual, his cloak fluttering in the wind, his expression was uncharacteristically serious.
"GILDARTS!!!" The Fairy Tail members shouted in unison.
They had cheered for Raizel and Laxus earlier too, but not as enthusiastically.
Gildarts had many female fans, plus many residents of Magnolia.
While Laxus and Raizel were quite famous, Magnolia would always be Gildarts' home turf.
This was, after all, the Magnolia with Gildarts Mode.
"I missed the showdown between Raizel and Laxus last time, but I never thought I'd get to see these three face off!" Gray punched his palm, his face excited.
"Hey, put your clothes on! There are so many people here!" Ultear scolded Gray, who had somehow lost his clothes while talking... again.
"NANI, when did that happen!" Gray's eyes nearly popped out of his head.
"Raizel and Laxus are staring intensely at Gildarts! The air is thick with tension right now!" Jason stood up from his seat, leaning on the commentary desk as he energetically provided commentary.
The three stood firm on the grass of South Gate Park.
"Before the battle begins, does anyone have anything they'd like to say?" Jason, seeing the three just standing there without making a move, stepped in to commentate so everyone wouldn't just be watching them stare deeply at each other.
Three small microphones with wings flew up to each of them.
Raizel and Laxus exchanged a glance.
"Gildarts, this moment has finally come. Today, I will definitely win!" Laxus raised his right hand, clenching it tightly, electric arcs beginning to dance around him.
"Gildarts, give it your all. Only defeating you at your strongest would be meaningful to us." Raizel too, felt a long-lost surge of excitement, his voice noticeably more animated than usual.
"Oh~ Nice declarations. But in front of Cana and the others, I have absolutely no intention of losing." Gildarts narrowed his eyes, his gaze turning sharp.
Their voices spread throughout South Gate Park via the microphones.
Watching the three of them, Makarov felt that South Gate Park was in for trouble today, especially that tree...
The electric arcs around Laxus surged dramatically, shooting straight into the sky.
His upper body swelled to twice its size, his sleeveless shirt tearing apart from the expansion.
Scales began to appear on his upper body and face, with golden lightning and red flames dancing around him.
The intense pressure from both lightning and fire distorted the air around him!
"Laxus is enveloped in golden lightning and orange aura, with scales on his body—what's going on! Isn't he a Lightning Mage?" Jason stared at Laxus' aura, which had never appeared in their weekly magazine before, and turned to ask Makarov beside him.
Laxus was very obedient to Makarov's words, and he had never revealed his Dragon Slayer Magic to anyone outside the guild except when fighting Raizel.
"Dragon Slayer Magic, Lightning Dragon Slayer Magic." Makarov crossed his arms and explained calmly.
Laxus had mentioned last night that he would use it today.
Laxus' current strength was sufficient to protect himself, so there was no need to hide it anymore.
"NANI?!!" Natsu hadn't expected there to be another Dragon Slayer Mage here.
He had been in the Guild for over two months, and no one had mentioned it.
In the past few days, Laxus had defeated him with a single punch every time they fought, without using any Dragon Slayer Magic.
BONK
"The Master didn't allow us to say it before." Natsu was being too noisy, so Erza threw a punch to calm him down.
Natsu temporarily exited the scene.
"Lightning Fire Dragon's Roar!"
Laxus opened his mouth and released a shockwave, two meters in diameter, woven with golden lightning arcs and orange flames, rushing toward Gildarts!
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