A giant purple ice rose bloomed magnificently behind Ultear.
Countless smaller ice roses extended from that massive central flower, surging toward Raizel and enveloping the entire arena, forming a colossal ice rose garden.
The figures of Ultear and Raizel were completely concealed within the dense, frozen thicket.
Jason raised his microphone and roared to the sky.
"COOL————!!!"
Reporters from Weekly Sorcerer kept snapping photos, the sound of shutters incessant as they continuously captured the breathtaking scene.
"Rotating Flower Dance!"
The four yellow blade-like ribbons from the LordKnightmon armor extended out.
Raizel lightly rose on his toes, spinning continuously.
The four blades, accompanying his rotation, relentlessly sliced through the rose garden and charged toward Ultear.
"Ice Make: Quintuple Ice Shield!"
Ultear, standing within the ice rose garden, quickly detected the change in magical pressure and saw Raizel spinning toward her.
She erected several overlapping ice shields in front of herself for protection.
CRASH!
A section of the rose garden shattered, and Ultear was sent flying out from the broken area, landing hard on the ground.
The entire rose garden crumbled, turning into fine ice crystals that scattered across the floor.
Under the sunlight, a beautiful rainbow appeared in the center of the arena, refracting through the ice dust.
Seeing Ultear unable to get up, Jason began the count.
"Three, two, one! Contestant Ultear is unable to battle!"
"Therefore, the winner is.....Raizel BAELLL!"
"At the same time, let's thank both contestants for the spectacular performance they brought us!"
Raizel deactivated his Take Over and rushed to Ultear, helping her up gently as he asked.
"Are you okay?"
Ultear shot Raizel an annoyed glare and said, "I told you not to go easy, and you really didn't hold back at all, did you?"
The audience and commentators didn't rush them, quietly waiting as Raizel helped Ultear off the stage.
...
The next match was in the lower bracket, another bout with little suspense.
Cana Alberona vs. Bisca Connell.
Cana didn't use her ultimate card, The Black Panther, engaging Bisca in a duel of bow versus gun.
In terms of accuracy, Bisca surpassed Cana, but Cana had the upper hand in raw power and magical reserves.
In the end, Cana emerged victorious, advancing to the next round.
...
Next up was another highlight—the showdown of the two Dragon Slayers.
Fire Dragon Natsu vs. Sky Dragon Wendy.
From the moment the two stepped onto the stage, the support was overwhelmingly one-sided.
We're talking about the supporters...
Natsu seemed to be universally disliked in this context; even all the Fairy Tail Guild members were all supporting Wendy.
Jason held the microphone out to Happy, who was sitting on the commentary table.
"This is when your friendship with Natsu truly shines, Happy!"
Happy didn't answer immediately, merely turning around to rummage through his green backpack.
Then, he pulled out a cheer flag...
The cheer flag slowly unfurled, its color a bit off....it was blue.
It was a cheer flag printed with Wendy's face!
Blue was also Wendy's support color.
"Aye! Go, Wendy!"
"NANIIIII?!"
The audience and members were petrified, everyone wearing an expression of stunned disbelief at the betrayal.
"Natsu is really against the whole world," Gray remarked, crossing his arms and nodding solemnly.
Then, out of nowhere, he pulled out a flag of his own and cheered.
"LETS FUCKING GOOO WENDYYYY!!!"
'Love rival...' Juvia gritted her teeth secretly upon seeing Gray cheering for another girl.
Then she shook her head.
'No, she's too young to be a threat... It must just be family support...'
Juvia kept hinting to herself to stay calm.
Juvia's thoughts were all over the place, always racing straight to the edge of the city with wild imagination.
But this time, she was right.
To Gray, Wendy was just the beloved little sister of the guild.
...
"Sky Dragon's Roar!"
"Fire Dragon's Roar!"
The two in the arena remained unaffected by the crowd's bias, continuously using magic to battle.
"Sky Dragon's Wing Attack!"
"Fire Dragon's Wing Attack!"
"Evenly matched! Contestant Wendy is putting up a great fight! COOL!"
"Your commentary is way too biased..." Raizel, standing in the stands, was speechless.
Raizel could tell that Natsu was intentionally holding back.
Natsu always waited for Wendy to make the first move before countering with the same technique, and he was strictly controlling his output.
With his super-strong combat intuition, Natsu had the confidence to do this, which was why the match appeared evenly matched to the untrained eye.
Watching Natsu fight, Kagura couldn't help but remark, "Natsu is unexpectedly gentle."
Erza nodded in agreement. "He's always been like this. He talks tough, but his actions are different."
Not just Raizel, but Ultear, Laxus, and Erza—they all noticed that Natsu was holding back.
Thinking of this, Ultear shot Raizel a glance, unsure whether to be annoyed or amused.
'I held back too, okay...' Raizel scratched his cheek awkwardly, forcing an embarrassed smile.
Ultear, of course, knew Raizel had held back, but that didn't stop her from teasing him with her gaze.
"What, Natsu is holding back?" Lucy caught the implication and was surprised.
Gajeel said disdainfully, "Of course, this isn't his full strength."
Gray took the opportunity to tease Gajeel. "Why are you acting all high and mighty with your commentary, Mr. Top 32?"
Gajeel was furious but had no retort!
"You're only in the Top 16 at best," Gajeel growled.
"Top 16 is still better than Top 32," Gray shot back.
Gajeel felt like vomiting blood—the truth was too painful.
Gray's words stabbed at his fragile heart like knives!
Pfft—
That hit right in the feels.
..
In the arena, after enhancing herself with the power of the swift wind (Vernier) and the power of the iron fist (Arms), Wendy took the initiative to engage in close combat.
"Sky Dragon's Crushing Fang!"
Once up close, Wendy unleashed her Sky Dragon Slayer Magic attacks one after another.
But Natsu dodged or blocked every single attack.
Natsu was intentionally testing Wendy's strength.
With the power of the swift wind, Wendy had speed, but due to her age and magical power, her attack power wasn't very high.
Over the years, Natsu could be considered half a teacher to Wendy.
All of Wendy's offensive Dragon Slayer Magic had been taught by Natsu.
In short, she was taught by the same master—there was no way to break through his guard.
In the arena, Wendy was already panting heavily.
Her relentless attacks had drained her magical power and stamina.
"Feel this move carefully, Wendy," Natsu said seriously.
"Dragon Slayer Secret Art: Crimson Lotus: Phoenix Blade!"
Watching Wendy charge toward him, Natsu deliberately slowed his movements—just enough for a Dragon Slayer Mage's dynamic vision to capture.
Hearing Natsu's reminder, Wendy instinctively focused on sensing the flow of magical power.
The flames swirling around Natsu's hands converged into a massive fireball that shot toward Wendy.
Other techniques could have defeated Wendy, but Natsu chose to teach through combat.
This was a good opportunity—after all, even he usually hesitated to strike Wendy.
Letting her experience a Dragon Slayer Secret Art in practice was worthwhile, especially since she hadn't mastered it yet.
In truth, during their match... even he...
Was rooting for Wendy...
--------
Gigachad Natsu moment!