"The second event is..."
Carla said suspensefully as she unfolded the slip of paper hidden inside the ball and held it up to the camera.
"Dodgeball!"
Jason immediately took over the commentary. "The second event is Dodgeball!"
"The rules of Dodgeball are simple: all teams stand together within the designated area of the competition field. Team members can only dodge or catch the ball with their hands. If the ball touches any other part of their body, they are eliminated!"
"As the number of eliminated players increases, the playing area will gradually shrink to increase the difficulty."
"In the afternoon, 100 audience members will be randomly selected at the competition venue to throw the balls at the mages!"
"Similarly, the last three teams remaining will be ranked based on the number of players left standing."
"We can participate too?!"
"Doesn't that sound fun?"
Hearing that audience members would be randomly selected, the crowd buzzed with excited discussion.
The idea of being able to go up and throw balls at the famous Fairy Tail mages gave everyone a sense of involvement.
"Dodgeball... They even have this kind of event?" Lucy didn't know where to begin with her complaints.
Cana nodded in agreement. "It really is a rather unconventional competition..."
Everyone quickly analyzed the situation. "This event should be an advantage for Erza, Kagura, and Natsu, right? They have high reflexes."
Gray had a different opinion. "Wouldn't it be good for Raizel and Laxus too?"
Ultear shook her head. "They're too bulky. If the area shrinks, it might not be easy for them to dodge in a crowded space."
Raizel looked at Reedus's round physique and said, "Reedus, hurry up and draw yourself thinner."
Reedus's current chubby appearance was his own artistic choice using his Pict Magic—done for the convenience of painting.
However, during the morning Water Gun Battle, he had been too big a target and was eliminated easily.
Reedus raised his paintbrush proudly.
"No problem! How about I draw myself as a lightning bolt?"
...
In the afternoon, the participating Fairy Tail members all stood within the marked rectangular area.
"Isn't this area a bit too small?" Raizel estimated that there probably wasn't even enough space for everyone to stand in a single row without bumping into each other.
Before Jason could answer, people began filing into the field from both sides, lining up and jogging slowly.
Some attention-seekers enthusiastically waved and greeted the cameras.
Since the audience members were randomly selected, there were men, women, and even some children.
"There's no way to dodge like this..." Wakaba and Macao smiled wryly as they looked at the large crowd surrounding them.
The 100 audience members orderly formed a circle around the field.
"COOL! As we can see, the ones throwing the balls at everyone are these one hundred audience members! The last three teams remaining will win. If teams have the same number of members, the competition will continue to determine the ranking."
"Please, we're counting on you..."
"Go easy on us, take it easy..."
"Please be kind, please be kind..."
"Help us out a lot..."
Raizel understood human relations perfectly.
He went around the circle, holding the audience members' hands and pleading in various ways, giving everyone a psychological sweetener first to avoid being targeted.
The other members followed his example.
Natsu even ran around in a circle, high-fiving every single audience member to build the hype.
"Get ready, it's starting!"
With Jason's whistle, the match officially began.
"Wendy, hide behind me." Mirajane pulled Wendy behind her for protection.
The spectators seemed to have coordinated or practiced beforehand; instead of throwing directly, they constantly kept the ball in the air, tossing it across the circle to make the members run around and lose formation.
Every time the ball flew up, the group of mages shifted like a massive animal migration.
"Whew~"
Lucy breathed a sigh of relief as the ball had nearly hit her just moments ago.
The ball flew back and forth within the rectangular area, picking up speed.
"MANLINESS!!"
Accompanying the ball's movement were various screams... mostly from Elfman...
Another person, however, was thoroughly enjoying himself.
"Woo-hoo! Faster!" Natsu shouted various nonsense while dodging the ball with a grin.
"COOL! Powerful shot! Unfortunately, it didn't hit."
Just now, a muscular spectator suddenly accelerated after catching the ball, aiming a fastball straight for Raizel.
The ball flew toward Raizel at high speed, but fortunately, Raizel was tense and ready; he managed to dodge it by crouching just in time.
"Please, please..."
Levy understood the situation perfectly.
Seeing a ball aimed at her, she clasped her hands together while backing away, begging for mercy with her puppy eyes.
The spectator, seeing it was Levy and that she was pleading so earnestly, decided to let her off and lobbed the ball to the other side instead.
"Ouch!"
A sudden cry of pain came from the crowd.
"Did it hit?" Kagura asked, turning to the screaming Laki.
Laki pressed her lips together and nodded helplessly—the ball had struck the top of her foot!
"Direct hit! Contestant Laki is eliminated!"
The male spectator who hit Laki covered his mouth apologetically.
He had been aiming for a guy but missed...
"COOL!!! Laxus is so agile! Is this what agile muscles look like?"
Facing a high-speed ball, Laxus simply lowered his right shoulder slightly and dodged it with minimal movement, drawing gasps of admiration from the spectators.
The spectators hadn't scored a hit in a while and resumed their passing strategy to tire the mages out.
While running around, Max got separated from the group. In his panic, he was hit squarely on the butt, eliminating him from the game.
"An incredibly fast ball! Raizel dodged it! But Elfman didn't! COOL!"
Raizel and Elfman ended up running together.
Raizel slightly blocked Elfman's line of sight, and when Raizel dodged, Elfman couldn't react in time, getting hit in the back.
Elfman was left speechless... eliminated by his own guildmate's agility!
The spectators gradually found their rhythm and eliminated Lisanna with another well-placed ball.
"Wait, I've noticed—you seem to specifically target the girls!"
Raizel glared at the spectator wearing a hat and covering his mouth.
It was the same guy who had hit Laki earlier, and now he'd struck again, taking out Lisanna.
"How could you do that?"
"Is that even allowed?"
Protests erupted from Macao and Wakaba in the arena.
THWACK.
The next to be eliminated was Wakaba... struck by a powerful shot to the back while he was distracted protesting.
Another muscular man clasped his hands together in apology.
"I was just running, and someone hit me from behind..." Wakaba complained to Raizel as he walked off.
"It's alright, it's alright. Go rest for now." Raizel patted Wakaba's shoulder.
The screen above showed a replay: Wakaba had been jogging leisurely in the arena, completely unaware of the ball coming at him...
"So he only managed to dodge earlier because the spectators weren't aiming at him..."
Raizel nearly burst out laughing after watching the replay—Wakaba had been acting like he wasn't even part of the game...
...
The number of players slowly dwindled...
The arena became increasingly spacious for the remaining members, making it harder to hit them as they had more room to dodge.
"Can we join in? Let us join in!" Elfman shouted from the sidelines.
Beep~ Beep~
Two whistle blows from Jason temporarily paused the match.
"Getting bored sitting on the sidelines, everyone?"
"Yes!" The eliminated members responded loudly.
"Join the throwing audience then!"
"Yay!!!" Elfman and Lisanna jumped up excitedly.
"MANLINESS!!!"
"Oh no... It's Elfman, everyone be careful..." Raizel muttered.
"That guy probably doesn't see anyone but Mira in his eyes..."