The individual competition quickly concluded, with Raizel ultimately defeating Laxus to win the championship.
The team competition began the day after the individual competition ended.
This phase was divided into multiple events, with the top three teams in each event earning five, three, and two points respectively.
The final rankings would be calculated based on the total points accumulated across all events.
"And now it's time to draw lots to assign teams! Let's welcome the Ten Wizard Saint, the Guild Master of Fairy Tail Makarov-san, to come up and draw the lots!"
Makarov reached into the box.
"The first contestant is Jet! He will be assigned to Team A!"
"The second contestant is Nab! He will be assigned to Team B!"
"The third contestant is Gajeel! He will be assigned to Team C!"
"He's here!!! Raizel, he belongs to Team D!!!"
The crowd murmured with anticipation, waiting to see who would be paired with the champion.
"What's this!!! Laxus is also in Team D!!!"
"Levy! Two members of the Shadow Gear team are reunited in Team A!"
"Erza is in Team E! Next is Mirajane! Team F!!!"
"The draw results are out! Please look at the big Lacrima screen for the final team assignments!"
Final Draw Results:
Team A: Jet, Bickslow, Levy, Ultear
Team B: Nab, Juvia, Freed, Warren
Team C: Gajeel, Bisca, Kagura, Loke
Team D: Raizel, Laxus, Wakaba, Reedus
Team E: Evergreen, Elfman, Erza, Gray
Team F: Alzack, Wendy, Mirajane, Macao
Team G: Lucy, Droy, Cana, Lisanna
Team H: Max, Natsu, Vijeeter, Laki
Once the draw results were announced, some were happy while others were devastated.
Two people whose sadness knew no bounds found themselves standing together.
Juvia and Freed.
One kept muttering "Gray-sama," and the other kept muttering "Laxus-sama," yet neither ended up on the same team as their respective idols.
On the other hand, Raizel and Laxus, teaming up together again after a long time, were immediately seen as the overwhelming favorites to win the championship.
After all, they were the Champion and Runner-up of the individual competition.
But Raizel wasn't very confident.
The team competition didn't focus solely on Magical Power and combat training.
It had a strong element of randomness.
In the end, they didn't even impose a limit on the number of S-Class Mages per team, simply because even Raizel didn't know what the events would be.
There were many different events, and they were also chosen by random draw.
Event 1: The Water Gun Battle
"The first event will be drawn by the mascot of this Magic Games, Happy!"
Happy flew up to the box and pulled out a slip of paper.
"The first event is..... Let's have Happy announce it!"
"I'm gonna fall over..." Happy struggled with the paper before reading it.
"Aye! It's a Water Gun Battle!"
"Let's have Happy explain the rules for us!"
"Aye! Water Gun Battle. The teams are the units drawn by lot. The props team will place various equipment within a designated area. Each team sends two people to scavenge for equipment. After gathering the equipment, everyone will have newspapers taped to their chest and back. If both the chest and back newspapers get soaked, that person is eliminated."
"Magic cannot be used in this Water Gun Battle. There will be multiple water bars to refill water. The equipment includes water guns of various models and sizes, and shields."
"Every interval, the playing area will shrink. Each team must select one member as the [Fairy]. If both the front and back of the Fairy's clothing get soaked, the entire team is eliminated immediately. After one hour, the guild with the most remaining members wins."
"This Water Gun Battle will be broadcast live. Everyone can choose to watch from the seating area or go out to the field to watch live."
"Water gun battle???"
"Is this even allowed?"
Many members were bewildered upon hearing about this type of competition.
"I'm fired up!!!"
Natsu, on the other hand, was very interested in this competition—at least he wouldn't get instantly eliminated by complicated rules.
"Let's settle this! Raizel! Laxus! Erza!" Natsu immediately issued the challenge on the spot.
Laxus looked at Raizel with a puzzled expression and asked, "Was this your idea?"
He felt that only Raizel would come up with such a strange competition.
Raizel hadn't expected the first event drawn to be the Water Gun Battle.
He nodded and said, "One of them, just one of them."
As soon as Juvia heard it was a water gun battle, she got excited—at least she had a chance to shine.
"Juvia has an advantage in this competition. Juvia is confident!"
Freed snapped back to reality and said, "But didn't they say magic isn't allowed?"
Juvia whispered in response, "Juvia's entire body is made of water. If I sneak some in, no one will notice."
Warren and Nab quietly gave a thumbs-up.
Warren then added, "We can communicate via telepathy. I'll form a link—we have an advantage. Besides me, only Raizel can use telepathy."
...
Now, a dilemma faced Raizel, Laxus, and the other two members of Team D.
"How do we choose the [Fairy]? Who should we pick?"
Wakaba asked, "Should one of you two—Raizel or Laxus—volunteer?"
Normally, to win, it would make sense to choose the strongest member to survive.
"Not me."
"Not me either."
Raizel and Laxus shook their heads vigorously.
Wakaba then realized, "Right, you two attract too much attention."
Over the years, whenever there was any strange competition, Raizel had always been the primary target of the entire guild.
As for Laxus, he often betrayed others or acted arrogantly—now, it wouldn't be an exaggeration to say he was notorious.
If either of them were the Fairy, every other team would hunt them down instantly.
Raizel stroked his chin thoughtfully and then proposed, "How about this: we draw lots... That way, none of us will know who the [Fairy] is until the end, and we'll just shoot whoever we see."
Wakaba's eyes lit up as he nodded in agreement. "Great idea!"
Reedus, who wasn't as competitive, also nodded. "No problem, I agree."
"Why are you looking at me? Let's just draw, then." Laxus noticed all three pairs of eyes on him.
"We'll show the slip to the camera after drawing."
Raizel's team was the last to select their Fairy.
After drawing lots, they showed the slip to the camera hidden from the other teams.
"The Fairies for each team have been chosen! Now, please proceed to a water refill station as your base and prepare for the competition!"
"Attention all participants: the countdown begins now—ten seconds to start."
"Three, two, one!"
"Charge!!!" Natsu roared as he rushed out from the base.
"He's crazy, he's crazy... Natsu has lost his mind..." Max kept muttering, seriously wondering if Natsu was evolving backwards right before his eyes.
"Contestants Laxus and Raizel aren't out searching for water guns—instead, it's Wakaba and Reedus!"
Lucy ran while searching for weapons. "I never thought it would be this kind of competition..."
Cana also said with a speechless expression, "Me neither..."
...
Team D Base
"Wakaba! Go! Run faster!"
Raizel and Laxus sat comfortably, drinking tea while watching Wakaba struggle on the monitor.
Wakaba was successfully being in last place; even Wendy ran faster than him!
"I'm already fast!!! This isn't a game about speed either!" Wakaba yelled back at the screen.
"Found it! Contestant Wakaba has found the first piece of equipment!"
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