Wakaba, blessed with dumb luck, charged around the designated area recklessly.
As he lagged slightly behind the others, a flash of yellow caught the corner of his eye from a bush.
"Contestant Wakaba has successfully found a Chick Water Gun!"
The camera captured Wakaba holding the small, yellow, chick-shaped water pistol.
"Seems extremely impractical..." Raizel commented from the base, cracking sunflower seeds while watching the monitor.
"Better than nothing," Laxus replied, shrugging.
He thought it was acceptable—having a weapon, no matter how silly, was better than being unarmed.
"Attention all contestants: All props used in the competition must bear the Fairy Tail Guild Emblem. Items without the emblem are considered illegal."
"They're calling me out... Targeting me, aren't they!"
Gray sighed, carrying a bucket in one hand filled with assorted pots, pans, and kitchen utensils he had scavenged.
Gray's principle for finding items was simple: as long as it worked to block water, he took it... regardless of the emblem rule.
"An important announcement: The main road between the weapon shop and clothing store has excellent weapons!"
"A shield! Contestant Lucy has found a shield!"
"She's lucky! She also found a Mega Water Gun! Long-range, suitable for distant attacks!"
Lucy complained to the camera following her, "Aren't you revealing all our secret weapons to the enemy?!"
"This has the emblem!" Cana shouted, finding a small bucket.
"Hey, a shield! Contestant Ultear has found a powerful shield!"
Ultear had found a large inflatable mat, like those used for surfing, which was perfect for covering her upper body and protecting the newspaper targets.
"Such great luck! She found another Mega Water Gun!"
...
"Did you find anything, Reedus?" Wakaba ran into Reedus near an alley.
Reedus shook his head sheepishly. "No, I haven't found anything..."
"It's fine, I found three items."
"Hey, this is good!" Wakaba spotted another guild emblem out of the corner of his eye inside a mesh box. It was a waterproof cloak.
"This is great—it can perfectly cover the upper body."
"Attention: There is an Ultimate Weapon inside the Central Mall."
"Attention: There is an Ultimate Weapon inside the Central Mall."
"Ah, we're too late..." Wakaba and Reedus rushed over, but Kagura had already taken it.
"Cafe! Cafe! There's also an Ultimate Weapon at the Cafe."
"Running me to death!!!" Wakaba howled at the sky and dashed toward the cafe.
"Contestant Reedus has obtained the Ultimate Water Gun!"
"There's one last Ultimate Weapon near the Dessert Shop!"
Wakaba estimated the distance. "The Dessert Shop... too far, I can't run anymore."
Reedus nodded in agreement. "Then forget it, let's leave it at that."
Both Laxus and Raizel had emphasized participation over winning—otherwise, it wouldn't have been just the two of them searching for items while the powerhouses sat back.
"Contestant Wendy has obtained the final Ultimate Water Gun!"
"I didn't find anything..."
Meanwhile, Natsu returned to his team's base dejectedly.
He had run the fastest out of anyone but had found absolutely nothing.
"Natsu is indeed a strength-type contestant—he's not suited for this kind of scavenger hunt," Loke noted. He patted Natsu's shoulder to comfort him.
"It's fine, I found several items, that's enough."
Loke revealed his haul: a small chicken water gun, a watering can for plants, a bucket, a cloak, and... a dinner plate.
God knows what he thought when he saw this dinner plate—what kind of water could this thing possibly block?
"Attention all contestants, the Fairy Water Gun Battle is about to begin."
Before heading out, Ultear gathered her team (Jet, Bickslow, Levy).
"Our goal is to spray anyone we see. Don't trust anyone except our own teammates. And do not accept any alliance proposals especially from Raizel and Laxus."
Ultear understood Raizel and Laxus too well—they were always forming alliances with people, only to betray them later.
And there were always young, innocent kids who fell for it.
...
'Erza, how about we form an alliance?'
Right as the match began, Raizel sent a secret message to Erza using Archieve.
'Since the top three will win points anyway, let's eliminate the other teams first, then decide the winner among ourselves. How about it?'
'Alright, let's ally for now,' Erza quickly replied.
As soon as the communication ended, Erza turned to Elfman and said, "Let's pretend to ally with them and see what tricks Raizel and Laxus are up to."
...
But Raizel wasn't done.
'Kagura, how about we form an alliance?'
'Mirajane, Wendy, let's ally, let's team up.'
'Lucy, team up with me, let's take out Natsu first.'
Raizel was spreading his offers evenly, sending messages to every team simultaneously.
Ultear and Levy exchanged glances before Ultear said, "I think Raizel has messaged every team. We should be careful."
Jet raised his massive water gun. "Then why don't we start with Raizel first?"
...
On another team, Lucy was full of questions. "Isn't this cheating? He's using magic to communicate, right?"
Cana wore an expression that said 'you're still too young' as she replied, "Rules are meant to be broken."
...
Reedus thought Raizel was being too obvious. "Won't you be easily exposed doing this?"
Raizel answered nonchalantly, "No big deal. Nobody trusts each other anyway. I'm very confident about that."
In this kind of game, there were too many traitors.
Everyone's first reaction now was distrust—those who actually believed others were in the minority.
...
"Hello there Fairy! you're wrapped up so tightly you're practically impregnable!"
Raizel soon encountered Ultear, who had the inflatable pad tied to her front like a shield.
"Such a huge gun???" Raizel stared in surprise at the giant water gun Jet was carrying on his shoulder.
Even the Ultimate Water Gun Reedus found wasn't this big.
Raizel held up his hands defensively. "Hold your fire! This game has Seeded Players! We S-Class Mages should stick together!"
Ultear aimed her water gun at Raizel with a "let's see your performance" expression.
Raizel continued smoothly, "Think about it. Bisca, Alzack, and Cana—these are the real threats in a shooting game. We should join forces first and eliminate those teams."
"That makes sense. I'll spare you for now."
Ultear decided to give Raizel some face for the moment.
Besides, with that waterproof cloak Raizel was wearing, if he decided to run, there would be nothing she could do to eliminate him quickly anyway.
...
"First to attack! Contestant Elfman!"
Elfman was carrying a water bucket.
The bucket was already small, but it looked even smaller in his massive hands.
But his physical strength was tremendous, allowing him to splash water exceptionally far.
"Contestant Natsu dodges!"
"Contestants from Team Erza and Team Natsu engage in a firefight!"
"Wow, they're all masters of missing their targets."
Raizel hid in a high place, watching their chaotic water battle.
The scene was intense, yet not a single person had been drenched yet.
Erza shouted to her teammates, "We have the advantage in range! Spread out a bit!"
The water guns and squirt bottles in Natsu's team had extremely short range compared to Erza's team.
Meanwhile, Mirajane's team and Juvia's team immediately engaged in fierce combat upon encountering each other without any exchange of words.
"Direct hit!"
Alzack, the sharpshooter, hit Macao while Freed managed to strike Nab.
"Macao eliminated!"
"Nab eliminated!"