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*****
"Fairy Tail Guild's Lucky has been eliminated by Mermaid Heel's Kagura!"
"Fairy Tail Guild's Marcus has been eliminated by Blue Pegasus's Ichiya!"
"Fairy Tail's Alzack has been eliminated by Quatro Cerberus's Bacchus!"
"Fairy Tail's Bisca has been eliminated by Lamia Scale's Jura!"
These four announcements stunned the entire arena. Four members of Fairy Tail were eliminated right at the start of the match—and what's more shocking is that the ones who eliminated them were the team leaders from the four guilds that had held the arena titles in the previous round.
Could it be that all the major guilds believe Fairy Tail is too powerful and want to eliminate them early?
George, too, had that thought at first upon hearing the announcements. But he quickly dismissed it.
Mermaid Heel aside, both the Blue Pegasus and Quatro Cerberus guild masters were originally from Fairy Tail. Blue Pegasus in particular has an excellent relationship with Fairy Tail. In fact, he had even helped treat their mages before.
Given the character of the mages in those guilds, they wouldn't stoop to something so underhanded.
As for Lamia Scale, they also get along well with Fairy Tail. George could tell that Jura and Lyon are proud and upright individuals. It was even less likely that they'd resort to petty tricks like this.
Usually, the only guild that would pull this kind of tactic just for the sake of victory is Sabertooth. But oddly enough, they weren't among those involved this time.
"Could it be a coincidence? Or is something happening behind the scenes that I don't know about?"
George shook his head. There was no way to figure it out without concrete evidence—but honestly, he didn't really care.
Lucky and the others were only there to make up the numbers. If they're out, so be it. It actually made things more convenient for him. If the four hadn't regrouped with him yet, he would've had to hold back with large-scale magic just to avoid accidentally injuring them.
"How interesting. And they even came looking for me directly. Let's see what kind of trick you're playing."
Just as he was preparing to finish the match in one swift blow, he suddenly sensed the remaining mages from the five arena-holding guilds entering his detection range—all moving in his direction together.
That sparked his curiosity.
It was clearly a premeditated move. But the question was—why?
So instead of seeking out other mages to rack up points, he descended to the ground and waited for the mages from the five arena guilds to arrive.
Two minutes later, twenty-five mages from the five guilds appeared before him all at once.
"George, you're strong—but under these circumstances, what will you do now?"
Minerva swayed her hips and fluttered her fan as she provocatively addressed George.
George ignored her and turned his attention to the other four guild leaders.
"I can understand why Sabertooth would do something like this. But what about the rest of you? Think carefully before answering—because what you say will determine just how badly you're going to be hurt."
"We each had someone from our guild go missing this morning. She threatened us—said that if we didn't work together to eliminate you, then…"
Jura's face showed deep remorse. He didn't finish the sentence, but George already understood.
It was a classic tactic—but effective. Kidnap one person from each of the four guilds and use their lives to force Jura and the others to cooperate. It was the perfect way to manipulate good people.
"And you're not afraid of being disqualified for this afterward?"
George looked at Minerva, a trace of doubt flickering in his eyes.
Once the match was over, Jura and the others would surely report Minerva to the royal family. Even if Sabertooth came in first place, what would it matter? Their victory would be revoked, and their reputation destroyed.
But Minerva confidently shook her head.
"Empty accusations without proof are meaningless. And you don't need to know more than that."
"You have someone backing you?"
George's eyes narrowed. The answer came to him in an instant.
Right from the start of the match, Lucky and the others were eliminated. Even if Sabertooth used threats to force the other guilds to comply, how did they manage to locate and take out all four so quickly?
And after eliminating them so quickly, they were able to regroup and find him just as fast.
Combined with what he had done last night, there could only be one truth—
The royal family had intervened.
Most likely, someone from the royal court had secretly informed Sabertooth in advance, revealing the details of today's match. They had even manipulated things behind the scenes to place Lucky and the others near the five participating guilds.
That's why Minerva had confidently said that Jura and the others reporting this would be meaningless—because the royal family would be on Sabertooth's side. Without solid proof, it would all come to nothing in the end.
And the reason the royal family did this was simple:
They wanted to use the combined strength of the top five guilds' mages to defeat him and take back the Eclipse Gate.
"Well, looks like your clever plan is about to fall apart."
George smirked as the realization clicked into place.
The top twenty-five mages from the five great guilds—every one of them elite, the weakest already nearing S-Class, and several among them top-tier S-Class and even members of the Ten Wizard Saints. With this kind of force, even the Four Heavenly Kings of Ishgar might be forced to kneel.
But taking him down? They were still far from enough.
What he feared least was being ganged up on or dragged into a prolonged battle. Who could outlast him?
"Everyone, attack! Eliminate him, and I'll release the members of your guilds. After that, we'll compete fairly for the title of the strongest wizard guild!"
At George's words—especially the part about him "having someone above"—Minerva's expression shifted. She quickly flicked her fan.
Jura and the others wore expressions of helplessness and guilt, but for the sake of their comrades' safety, they each activated their magic circles.
"Fine then—come at me. I'll take all of you out at once. That'll save me the trouble!"
Seeing this, George spread his wings and rose into the sky. A massive magic circle lit up beneath him.
"Giant Magic: Transformation!"
His body began to swell rapidly in midair above the city—from a few dozen centimeters, to dozens of meters, to hundreds of meters—until finally, it stopped at a terrifying height of eight thousand meters.
Giant Magic was incredibly useful, which was why he had never stopped refining it.
As his magic power deepened and his control grew more precise, his achievements in Giant Magic had long surpassed those of the former guild master, Makarov.
In his cat form, his maximum enlargement could now reach eight thousand meters—bigger even than his dragon form.
The cat form had a weaker physical base, making it more compatible with Giant Magic. The dragon form was too physically powerful by default, so the effectiveness of Giant Magic on it was limited, maxing out at around five thousand meters.
However, in terms of raw physical strength, the five-thousand-meter dragon form still far surpassed the eight-thousand-meter giant cat form.
But in this world, transforming into a dragon would create massive panic—there was no need for that.
"That... that's enormous!"
Seeing George enlarge his body to a scale so vast it blotted out the sky, both Minerva's group of mages below and the spectators in the stands were collectively stunned.
Truly, the cat was so big—it couldn't even fit within an entire city.
(End of Chapter)