"Whew—"
Levy finished eating her egg in twenty-six seconds and blew the whistle immediately.
TWEET!
"Alright, alright, all finished!"
Next up was Ultear drinking the carbonated drink.
As soon as Levy finished blowing the whistle, Ultear directly grabbed the bottle from the table and opened the cap.
Ultear was full of momentum, chugging the drink relentlessly without pausing for breath.
"Wow... first time seeing someone drink a carbonated drink like that..."
"Is there a water pipe connected inside her throat?"
The members kept exclaiming in amazement at her speed.
"Finished drinking!"
Everyone was waiting for Ultear to blow the whistle to signal the next person.
"Hoo!"
"Hahaha!!!"
Ultear instantly covered her mouth, laughing so hard she bent over.
She wanted to blow the whistle, but a strange burp-like sound came out instead.
Ultear forcefully pinched her own thigh, forcing herself not to laugh out loud.
After calming down, she blew the whistle properly.
TWEET!
Jet stepped up.
He forked a huge pile of ramen noodles but gave up almost immediately after stuffing them into his mouth—they were boiling hot.
"Go Jet!" Levy kept cheering him on from the side.
Hearing her voice, Jet directly transformed into a passionate man unafraid of heat, determined to swallow the scalding noodles even if it meant making funny faces in agony.
Finally, Ultear ate the ice cream as calmly as if it were just ordinary food, despite the carbonation in her stomach.
"Final time! 3 minutes and 45 seconds! The other teams haven't gone yet, so we don't know how this result compares."
"The carbonated drink and the ice cream might be the difficult parts," Raizel noted.
Next, Juvia performed by chugging the carbonated drink for everyone, downing it without a hint of hesitation and without even burping.
Kagura performed a one-handed egg crack, crushing it and swallowing it in a move that successfully shocked everyone present.
The way she cracked that egg... looks like she's been around the block... definitely not someone to mess with...
This was the shared thought of all the male Guild members present.
"What are you blowing over there for! Hurry up and eat!" Natsu yelled.
Contrary to his tough exterior, Gajeel actually blew on the noodles carefully after forking them.
"We're not even teammates! Why are you rushing me!" Gajeel declared, finding Natsu's interference unbearable.
"Oh, right, I guess we're not." Natsu scratched the back of his head and laughed awkwardly.
Raizel also chose the drink chugging.
He chugged too fast; he didn't manage to blow the whistle immediately because he let out a massive burp first.
Laxus ate the ice cream and started dancing over there—likely from a sudden brain freeze.
Natsu and Gray showed their true prowess this round.
The two of them had been having so-called eating contests since they were kids, unfazed by either hot or cold food.
They possessed iron teeth and stomachs of steel trained since childhood.
Natsu ate the chocolate without any hindrance, chewing and swallowing the dense block just like he would normally eat a biscuit, functioning like an emotionless eating machine.
Erza and Elfman were also formidable characters who ate very quickly.
...
Somewhat unexpectedly for Raizel, Team B came in First, probably because Juvia chugged the drink with supernatural speed.
Team E, which Erza was in, was slightly slower, placing Second.
Team H, which Natsu was in, ultimately ranked Third.
All eight competition events were finally completed.
A podium was already set up in the middle of the venue. The members of the top three teams were standing behind the podium.
"Everyone, the final results of this year's Harvest Festival competition are out!"
"Third Place goes to Team C!"
Kagura, Bisca, and Gajeel stepped onto the third-place podium, waving enthusiastically to the crowd.
Staff members presented them with bronze medals engraved with their achievement.
"Second Place goes to Team B!"
Juvia nearly teared up watching the cheering audience—this was the first time in her life she had experienced such warmth from strangers.
The competition results no longer mattered to her; the audience's cheers were her most precious treasure.
This was the second time she felt certain her existence in this world held value—not just for a few people, but for thousands of spectators.
"And now, the Champions of this competition—Team F!"
Team F had uneven strength, with Macao and Alzack being only mid-tier in the Guild.
This was truly their first championship in life, even if it wasn't a traditional Magic Games victory.
Some events had seemed downright bizarre to them, but from today onward, Macao could proudly declare to the world—We are Champions!
Though he usually appeared carefree, he still wanted Romeo to be proud of him.
"So close..." Natsu punched the wall, his face full of regret.
"How can you say that... Your team only scored two points... Undoubtedly dead last..." Gray crossed his arms, sweating profusely as he deadpanned at Natsu.
Gray was the one who truly felt it was a pity—his team finished fourth with just a two-point gap from the podium, which was genuinely disappointing.
"Stop, stop criticizing us!"
Max, Bickslow, and Loke wished they could dig a hole and hide.
"Full of brute strength, yet never achieving victory," Raizel added salt to the wound.
"Not making Top Three... My prize money..." Lucy also looked dejected.
Jason was still interviewing the winners, with Juvia currently giving her acceptance speech.
Though she wasn't expressing any coherent thoughts—she was crying too much—the audience understood she was crying from overwhelming emotion and cheered her on encouragingly.
Raizel cupped his hands around his mouth like a megaphone.
"Everyone, the Harvest Festival competition has concluded! If you're free tonight, return to the Guild—we're throwing a huge party!"
"Wooo!!"
"I'm all fired up!"
Raizel and Laxus leaned against the wall, watching an overly excited Natsu and Gray run off.
Raizel was actually just relaying Makarov's message, as Makarov was still on the main stage.
Ultear turned to ask Raizel beside her, "I heard Weekly Sorcerer is doing another feature on us?"
"Yes, they seem to be preparing a Fairy Tail Special Issue. They've even chosen the cover—it's our newly rebuilt Guild Hall."
"What? Weekly Sorcerer???"
Lucy instantly forgot her depression, clutching her cheeks as she fell into a deep fantasy.
'Interview... special feature... journalists... Does this mean I could become famous???'
Lucy covered her mouth with her hands, snickering ominously.
"Natsu, Lucy's brain broke," Happy said with a blank expression, staring at her.
"Probably just a stomach ache from eating too much?" Natsu glanced sideways at Lucy, who was radiating strange, ambitious energy.
"I actually think it's because all kinds of pressures have overwhelmed her," Gray quietly appeared and joined the conversation.
If Lucy hadn't teamed up with Raizel for a mission recently, she would have long been unable to make ends meet and evicted by her landlord.
"No time to dawdle, I need to..." Lucy was already prepared to run off to get ready.
Ultear quickly stopped Lucy, who was about to flee.
"Stop! Not today, it's the day after tomorrow. Our Guild building plus members can't be interviewed in just one night. You don't need to be so excited yet."