'Oh no, I forgot about this!'
Alzack was now filled with regret.
Wendy rarely showed her full combat abilities in the guild, so amidst the heat of battle, he had completely forgotten that as a Dragon Slayer, Wendy could absorb magic of the same attribute as her, just like Natsu could eat fire.
However, Alzack was a professional; he had already reloaded his bullets while Wendy was busy consuming his previous attack.
"This is the decisive moment! Contestant Alzack is using his ultimate move! Sparking Shot: Full Burst!" Raizel announced.
Full Burst was Alzack's signature technique, where floating firearms surrounded the target and fired all their ammunition simultaneously.
The strength of this move lay in its overwhelming power and wide area of coverage, but the drawback was its high Magical Power consumption.
With his remaining reserves, if he used this, it was all or nothing—either Wendy would fall, or he would be the one to lose.
"Contestant Wendy's speed is increasing rapidly!"
The cameras in the arena couldn't keep up with Wendy's movements, capturing only her afterimages as she dodged the barrage of projectiles in the air.
"Sky Dragon's Wing Attack!"
Wendy generated a whirlwind from her arms, slamming into her opponent.
"It hit! Contestant Alzack was struck head-on!"
The cameras quickly flew over to check Alzack's condition.
Raizel saw Alzack lying on the ground with his eyes closed and began counting down loudly.
"Three, two, one! Contestant Alzack has lost the ability to fight. The winner is Contestant Wendy!"
"UOOOOOOOO GO WENDY!!!"
"Thank you, everyone!!!"
Wendy turned to all sides of the arena, continuously waving and bowing to her cheering fans.
"Alright, next up is a pair of old rivals! They've known each other since their youth in Fairy Tail, both drinking buddies and opponents. They are Macao Conbolt and Wakaba Mine!"
Wakaba, holding a pipe in his mouth, spoke fiercely. "I didn't expect to face you so soon. I won't go easy on you."
Macao laughed heartily, appearing quite confident. "How about the loser buys drinks for a month?"
Macao and Wakaba were essentially the middle-aged versions of Gray and Natsu, and true to form, the two began bickering right in the arena.
In the end, they agreed: as Macao wished, the loser would have to cover the bar tab for a month.
The match between Macao and Wakaba was intense, filled with Purple Flare and Smoke Magic, but the final result was no surprise to Raizel—Macao, with his superior skills, won the match.
Over the years, Macao had surpassed Wakaba in both training intensity and the number of missions completed.
If Macao had lost, Raizel would have been genuinely shocked.
...
The first day of the competition came to a close under the setting sun.
There were no particularly surprising upsets, as contestants with both strength and reputation advanced one after another.
The newly joined members—Lucy, Juvia, and Gajeel—also stood out and successfully advanced to the Round of 32.
Lucy, however, accidentally continued to showcase her "comedic talent."
In the middle of her match, she and the Celestial Spirit Virgo performed what looked like an impromptu comedy routine, delighting the audience with laughter while she secured her advancement.
Though, it wasn't her intention at all...
Unfortunately, Virgo always spoke seriously about all sorts of inappropriate and nonsensical things (usually involving punishment), and Lucy couldn't help but retort loudly, living up to her identity as the group's Tsukkomi.
She retorted instinctively, but she didn't expect the cameras to be so sharp, capturing her words and exaggerated expressions and projecting them onto the giant Magic Lacrima screen for the whole town to see.
Lucy became famous instantly!
...
Back at the Guild
"Ah..."
Lucy's chin rested directly on the table, her arms hanging limp in defeat.
"Wonder how Weekly Sorcerer will write about me? They wouldn't portray me as some kind of comedic woman, would they???" she groaned. She knew the magazine all too well; they loved a funny headline.
"Hey, it's fine, Lucy. It's better than being completely unknown," Happy said, patting her head.
"Thanks for that, you really know how to comfort people, Happy," she sighed sarcastically.
"I feel more exhausted than if I'd competed myself..." Erza struck the same pose as Lucy, slumping over the table and looking completely worn out.
If given the choice, Erza would rather fight a hundred monsters than maintain order in that crowd—it was truly exhausting work.
Raizel understood perfectly how tiring crowd control could be. "You've all worked hard. There seem to be more people this year—while there were always crowds before, it never reached this level."
He smiled at Erza and Ultear. "But fortunately, most members have finished their matches today. I've already contacted some other members to help with crowd control tomorrow, so you two can just relax and watch the matches!"
"I'll treat everyone to a big meal after the matches!" Raizel offered.
There was no way he could treat them tonight—all the hotels in Magnolia were fully booked, nearby restaurants were packed with tourists, and even Fairy Tail's own open-air café had crowds coming to eat late into the night.
Going out to eat now would just be asking for trouble.
Mirajane squinted with a smile, actually enjoying this lively atmosphere.
She looked at Erza and said, "I'm not tired at all. How about I make you a cake?"
"Really!!! But... wouldn't that be too much trouble?"
Erza's first reaction was pure delight, her eyes sparkling.
However, remembering that Mirajane had also been maintaining order all day and must be equally tired, despite really wanting cake, she hesitated to inconvenience her.
Mirajane smiled gently and shook her head. "I'm not tired at all. In fact, I'm quite enjoying myself."
After saying this, Mirajane stood up and headed toward the bar counter to get started.
"Mira-san, I want to learn too!" Wendy raised her hand from nearby.
"Sure, let's do it together."
Making a cake wasn't particularly strenuous, and since Wendy wanted to learn, Mirajane was happy to teach her.
...
Laxus arrived late, looking disheveled.
He immediately ordered a beer upon sitting down.
After gulping it down in large swallows, he let out a long, ragged sigh.
Raizel found his appearance quite amusing. "How was your first experience with crowd control?"
Laxus seemed to recall something horrific, shaking his head frantically.
"Don't even mention it. Its terrifying."
Laxus had been assigned to Gray's area for crowd control, and Gray had witnessed all of Laxus's predicament firsthand.
Gray laughed and explained, "Laxus was surrounded by female fans everywhere. Forget about maintaining order—he was lucky not to get mobbed and eaten alive by them."
Raizel and Natsu laughed shamelessly.
"HAHAHA!!!"
Ultear and Erza also wanted to laugh heartily, but out of respect for Laxus's pride, they covered their mouths, trying desperately to suppress their giggles.
Laxus looked like he wanted to hit Raizel for laughing at him.
Suppressing the urge, he said with a somewhat traumatized expression, "Know why I'm back so late? They dragged me around. I couldn't use magic on civilians, and I only managed to escape with help from the Thunder god tribe."
"BAHAHAHA——"
This time everyone couldn't hold back anymore, because they could all picture the scene—and Laxus's flustered expression during it, given how tsundere and tough he usually acted.
Even without looking, Raizel could easily picture the scene—it was likely Freed risking his life to save Laxus from the horde of women.
After all, Freed was Laxus's number one devoted fan.
Over the years, Laxus's female fanbase had grown exponentially.
Whenever he appeared in competitions or was featured in Weekly Sorcerer Magazine, his female fans would buy everything in sight!
As for Raizel... his fanbase consisted mainly of children, making him somewhat of a king among kids.
But he didn't mind—Raizel thoroughly enjoyed it.
Some time ago, out of boredom, Raizel had joined Erza and Lucy in performing a stage play, and he found himself surrounded entirely by children, which wasn't so bad.