Chapter 463: Yes, This Old Man Is Also Participating in the Examination This Year

Several days later, early in the morning…

"Lucy, hurry up! The guild's S-Class Mage Promotion Trial is about to begin! If we're late, you won't be qualified to participate!"

The moment Natsu woke up, he grabbed Lucy by the arm and dragged her out of the rental apartment she was staying in, sprinting toward the Fairy Tail guild.

"Hey! Wait…"

"Isn't this a good opportunity for me?"

"I never intended to participate in this year's S-Class Mage Promotion Trial held by Fairy Tail in the first place!"

Lucy was dragged along by Natsu, her face filled with reluctance.

After so many days of inner struggle, Lucy had finally figured things out!

Yes, Lucy seemed to have completely given up on participating in this year's S-Class Mage Promotion Trial held by the Mage Guild Fairy Tail.

"Lucy, how can you just give up like this?!"

"You haven't even taken the trial yet! I absolutely refuse to let you say something so irrational!"

"Lucy, you have to actively participate in the trial and work hard! Maybe this year, you'll become a dark horse and become one of Fairy Tail's S-Class Mages! Although that basically won't happen, because I'm definitely going to be one of the people who passes this year's S-Class Mage Promotion Trial…"

Natsu held Lucy's hand and earnestly tried to encourage her. It was just that the things coming out of Natsu's mouth weren't exactly pleasant to hear.

"Yeah, yeah! The person who's going to pass Fairy Tail's S-Class Mage Promotion Trial this year will definitely be Natsu! Lucy, you don't have any hope at all…"

Happy flew beside Natsu, constantly agreeing with and supporting his words.

"Uh…"

Lucy's eye twitched violently. Her mouth hung slightly open as she fell into silence, unable to say a word for quite some time.

Because Natsu and Happy were simply far too straightforward, Lucy actually couldn't tell whether the two of them were trying to comfort her or deliberately making her feel worse?!

She even wanted to seriously ask Natsu and Happy whether they had accidentally said these irritating things without realizing it, or whether they had deliberately said them just to annoy her.

"I really, really appreciate your encouragement. Your encouragement has greatly inspired me, making me even less interested in the guild's S-Class Mage Promotion Trial, hehe…"

After a moment of silence, Lucy looked at Natsu with an utterly perfunctory expression.

"Isn't that obvious?"

"After seeing the combat power of all you S-Class Mage candidates from Fairy Tail, how could I possibly still have the mood to compete with you for an S-Class Mage position this year?"

"Sorry, unlike all of you, I'm merely an ordinary girl. I simply don't have the strength—or any desire—to compete against monsters like you in this trial!"

Lucy first complained about the absurd combat power of Natsu and the others before helplessly sighing.

After all, she had witnessed the valiant display Natsu and the others had shown when dealing with Acnologia!

When facing the invincible, arrogant Acnologia, Natsu and the others were actually bold enough to engage him in close combat!

As for her, the genius beautiful young Celestial Spirit Mage, she could only hide far away and cheer for Natsu and the others with a loud "666!"

Sometimes, Lucy wondered if perhaps she didn't have the talent to become a Mage, but, quite unexpectedly, she might have the talent to become a cheerleader instead…

"Anyway, Lucy, you have to cheer up!"

Natsu also knew what Lucy was worried about. After all, Lucy's strength really was somewhat too weak. But faced with this situation, Natsu himself didn't know how he should persuade Lucy, so all he could do was continue encouraging her.

"Cheer up, huh…"

"My opponents include you, Ajil, Gray, Invel Yura, Bradman, and Larcade—monsters who are ridiculously powerful!"

"On top of that, there are my good sisters Brandish and Dimaria. If those two actually get serious, I don't even know how I could possibly lose a match against them!"

"Come to think of it, isn't this whole free-team formation system full of loopholes? Take me, for example. All of you have already gotten along perfectly with your teammates, while I don't even know who my teammate is!"

"No, I don't even know whether I have a teammate, hehe…"

Lucy spoke somewhat self-deprecatingly.

After all, throughout this entire week, Lucy hadn't even seen her mysterious teammate named "XXX"!

There was no denying it—Lucy really had it rough…

Under such circumstances, it seemed that Lucy's resistance toward Fairy Tail's S-Class Mage Promotion Trial wasn't exactly difficult to understand…

"Anyway, cheer up!"

"Aye~!"

Natsu and Happy exchanged glances. Then, the boy and the cat loudly encouraged Lucy together.

"What are you 'aye'-ing about?" Lucy first complained about Happy, who did nothing but flatter Natsu and agree with everything he said. Then, under the sincere gazes of Natsu and Happy, Lucy finally gave in. Narrowing her eyes slightly, she spoke to Natsu in a tsundere tone, "Fine! Fine! If you're willing to go a little easy on me when you encounter me during the S-Class Mage Promotion Trial, then I'll reluctantly cheer up and work hard to participate in this year's S-Class Mage Promotion Trial!"

Perhaps because blondes tended to be tsunderes, Lucy's words were absolutely overflowing with tsundere energy…

As for Natsu, being the straightforward man he was, he frowned and directly refused.

"That won't do…"

"As a Mage of Fairy Tail, when participating in the S-Class Mage Promotion Trial, of course I have to give it my all! Even if I encounter you during the trial, Lucy, I absolutely won't go easy on you!"

Natsu patted Lucy on the shoulder and spoke seriously.

"Aye! Won't go easy!"

Happy continued echoing Natsu's words.

"Just as expected of you! You really are the role model for all the straight men in Fairy Tail!"

"Sorry! The fact that I had any expectations of you before you opened your mouth makes me feel like a complete idiot!"

Lucy smiled faintly at Natsu before speaking in utter despair.

"Aye! Lucy is an idiot!"

After Lucy finished speaking, Happy continued to agree.

"You're the idiot! You stupid cat! Dumb cat!"

"And stop saying 'aye' already! There's no love between us anymore!"

Lucy launched into a furious tirade at Happy.

Natsu and Happy, however, didn't care in the slightest!

The two of them simply dragged Lucy along as they raced through the streets, heading toward Fairy Tail…

Soon, Natsu and Lucy arrived in front of the Fairy Tail guild's entrance!

"Lucy, are you nervous?"

Standing in front of Fairy Tail's entrance, Natsu asked Lucy beside him.

"Not nervous, because I know I'm definitely going to be the first one eliminated!"

Lucy shook her head. She really was completely calm.

After learning about the fate that awaited her, Lucy had chosen to bravely face it head-on.

"Lucy, although I'll give it my all no matter who I encounter during the trial…"

"But I still hope that I can meet you in the second round! Anyway, let's work hard together and pass the trial, then successfully become S-Class Mages of Fairy Tail this year!"

Before entering Fairy Tail, Natsu spoke to Lucy.

"Sigh…"

Hearing this, Lucy looked at Natsu's clear eyes and helplessly sighed.

Then, with a smile on her face, Lucy nodded at Natsu and softly replied, "Mm!"

"Good! Let's move forward together!"

Natsu shouted loudly as he kicked open the doors of Fairy Tail.

At this moment, the guild hall was already filled with Fairy Tail Mages standing at the ready…

Whether they were the Mages who hadn't been selected by Makarov to participate in the S-Class Mage Promotion Trial this year, the selected S-Class Mage candidates, or the current S-Class Mages who had already passed the trial, everyone had been waiting inside the guild for quite some time!

Clearly, Lucy, Natsu, and Happy were the last to arrive!

"You're late, Natsu!"

"I thought you had already pissed yourself in fear and didn't dare to participate in the trial…"

"So I was already prepared to tear through the entire trial all by myself."

Natsu's teammate, the "Desert King" Ajil, looked unhappily at Natsu after seeing him arrive late.

"You said I pissed myself?"

"You've got to be kidding!"

"If you don't plan on participating in the trial, then just sleep in the guild! Even if I'm the only one, I can easily pass the trial! As for you, all you need to do is hold onto my leg, ahahaha…"

After hearing Ajil's words, Natsu snorted coldly before directly mocking him.

"What did you say?!"

The next second, Natsu and Ajil's S-Class Mage candidate team had their first internal conflict of the day.

"BOOM!!"

Violent flames of magic power and endlessly pure sand magic power erupted from Natsu and Ajil's bodies. The two of them clearly looked extremely displeased with each other.

"You two, calm down a little!"

"The trial is about to begin…"

The people inside Fairy Tail seemed to have grown accustomed to this.

Even though Natsu and Ajil had already spent a week getting used to working together, and had even gained experience fighting side by side, they still couldn't stand the sight of each other.

In fact, this kind of problem was fairly common among the S-Class Mage candidate teams.

For example, Gray and Invel had some minor conflicts as well. Then there was the conflict between Lisanna, Juvia, and Lucy. Lisanna and Juvia simply had different opinions regarding how to defeat Lucy, including which poses and methods they should use to beat Lucy senseless…

Although the conflict between Lisanna, Juvia, and Lucy was technically an external team conflict.

"Sigh…"

Lucy helplessly sighed.

From the moment she entered the Fairy Tail guild hall, she could already feel the murderous atmosphere directed toward her permeating the guild.

Some people already had considerable grudges against Lucy and intended to settle both their old and new grievances together during this year's Fairy Tail S-Class Mage Promotion Trial!

As for the others, the reason was that among all the teams participating in Fairy Tail's S-Class Mage Promotion Trial this year, Lucy's was the only team consisting of a single person.

In other words, her team was the easiest one to bully among all the participating teams this year, so everyone intended to eliminate her team first…

This was to prevent Lucy from once again pulling the same sneak attack she had used during the mock battle, picking up the leftovers after everyone else had fought…

Lucy could only helplessly sigh at this.

She really had it too hard.

"Everyone, which team do you think will successfully advance this year and become Fairy Tail's S-Class Mages?!"

"This year's S-Class Mage Promotion Trial is really difficult! Even we old members don't dare to make a conclusion easily…"

"Gildarts, who do you think will win this year's S-Class Mage Promotion Trial?"

A group of veteran gamblers within the guild gathered together, discussing the various possibilities for this year's Fairy Tail S-Class Mage Promotion Trial.

"To be honest, considering this year's situation, if we only look at the numbers on paper…"

"Then without a doubt, the teams of Natsu and Ajil, Gray and Invel, Mystogan and Wahl Icht, Brandish and Dimaria, and Bradman and Larcade are the five teams with the highest paper strength among all the teams."

"The average combat power of the members of these five teams is at the level of the Ten Wizard Saints or even above! They have no weaknesses whatsoever! If nothing unexpected happens, I think the winner of this year's Fairy Tail S-Class Mage Promotion Trial will probably emerge from these five teams, right?"

"As for who will ultimately become the true champion of this year's S-Class Mage Promotion Trial…"

"To be honest, perhaps because of my own personal bias, or perhaps because I'm being a little emotional, although the other teams aren't bad in my eyes—especially Gray's team, whose paper strength is actually quite impressive even among these five—I still favor Natsu and Ajil's team more!"

"Of course, if you ask me who I want to become an S-Class Mage in the guild this year the most, then without a doubt, it's my most mo… most adorable daughter, Cana-chan~"

Gildarts held a jug of alcohol in his hand and basically unwaveringly supported Natsu.

Perhaps because Gildarts had spent so many years with Natsu, he had genuinely come to regard Natsu as his own child?!

Although Gildarts' actual daughter, Cana, was also participating in this year's S-Class Mage Promotion Trial, Gildarts rationally believed that Cana would have a hard time passing.

It wasn't because Cana wasn't strong or outstanding, but because there were simply too many monsters participating in this year's trial…

"Cana, your father wholeheartedly supports you in winning the championship!"

"If Cana-chan needs it, I wouldn't mind taking out all the other teams right here!"

"Of course, I mean all the men among the other teams. If they're beautiful girls, then even your father is powerless. I'm truly sorry about that…"

After answering everyone's question, Gildarts encouraged his daughter Cana, even blatantly considering cheating on her behalf.

"Absolutely not!"

Regarding Gildarts' shameless plan to interfere in Fairy Tail's S-Class Mage Promotion Trial, Cana's face stiffened as she vigorously shook her head at Gildarts.

Although Gildarts could throw away his dignity, she, Cana, couldn't. She still cared about her reputation!

"What a pity…"

Gildarts helplessly sighed. He had originally intended to contribute a little strength on behalf of his daughter.

"So the competition really is going to be among these five teams?"

"That makes sense! After all, the weaknesses of the other teams are far too obvious…"

"Exactly! For example, the team consisting of Levy and Gajeel, and the team consisting of Wendy and Jacob. If these teams encounter any of the five teams above, they'll probably have a very difficult time, right?!"

After Gildarts spoke, the veteran gamblers of Fairy Tail, such as Macao and Wakaba, all nodded in agreement.

Just as Gildarts had said, the situation in their eyes was more or less the same. If they only considered paper strength, there was quite a significant gap between the strongest and weakest teams in this year's S-Class Mage Promotion Trial.

"Although we can't determine which team will win this year's Fairy Tail S-Class Mage Promotion Trial, I do know which team will be eliminated first…"

At this moment, Macao seemed to have thought of something and spoke with a grin.

"Hehe, we figured that out too…"

Wakaba echoed Macao's words, wearing the same sleazy and smug grin.

"If nothing unexpected happens, then the first team eliminated in this year's S-Class Mage Promotion Trial will probably be Lucy's team, right?"

"Probably…"

"How about we bet on who gets eliminated first this year?"

"Hehe, that actually sounds pretty interesting!"

"Right? Right?!"

For a moment, the veteran gamblers began a new form of entertainment.

This year, instead of betting on who would win as they usually did, they chose to bet on who would be eliminated first…

All the veteran gamblers wore wicked grins.

"Is that so? Then this old man will join in as well!"

"Since everyone thinks Lucy will be the first to lose, then I'll bet on whether Lucy will actually be the first one to lose~"

Just as the veteran gamblers were preparing to make a warm-up bet on who would be eliminated first from this year's S-Class Mage Promotion Trial, Makarov's voice rang out beside the gamblers' ears.

"Uh…"

"Then we'll gladly accept!"

The gamblers were stunned for a moment before all revealing sleazy smiles.

"I bet Lucy loses first!"

"I also bet Lucy loses first!"

"Lucy, one more…"

"Lucy will definitely lose!"

"Lucy definitely can't win…"

For a moment, the veteran gamblers of Fairy Tail all spoke with cheerful laughter.

"Hey, hey, hey! I can hear all of you!"

"You guys betting on me to lose are seriously making me angry…"

Lucy clenched her tender fist, but there was nothing she could do.

To be honest, even she wanted to bet on herself being the first one to lose.

"Hehe, I bet Lucy won't be the first one to lose! As for who will lose first, I'll bet that it could be any team other than Lucy's team. But Lucy's team is the one team that absolutely won't lose first!"

However, just when Lucy had completely given up on herself, Makarov smiled.

His voice sounded like heavenly music as it entered Lucy's ears.

"Master?! You trust me that much?"

When the nearly self-defeated Lucy heard Makarov's words, she slowly raised her head.

Her amber eyes were filled with disbelief, and for a moment, Makarov's image seemed to grow larger and larger within Lucy's eyes.

"Master, even if it's you, if you lose the bet, you still have to pay, you know~"

"Exactly, Master…"

"Master, even if you want to suck up to the Heartfilia family, you shouldn't be this irrational!"

"That's right, that's right…"

"This time, we'll definitely make you lose everything, Master! We'll make you cry on the streets!"

"Don't worry, Master! Even if you lose every last penny you have, we'll prepare a little blanket for you, so that afterward you can curl up under a little bridge with that blanket and wipe away your tears…"

"Exactly, exactly…"

For a moment, all the veteran gamblers in Fairy Tail happily looked at their great Guild Master and laughed.

"Fools. Do you think I, Makarov, am someone who cares about money?! It's merely money! If this money can buy our guild members' confidence, then it's worth every penny! Even if I have to suffer afterward, it will all be worth it!"

After hearing the words of Fairy Tail's veteran gamblers, Makarov snorted coldly and spoke righteously.

"This…"

As Makarov's words fell, his image suddenly became incredibly lofty within the Fairy Tail guild.

"We were petty. Guild Master Makarov truly is a gentleman!"

"Even if we win this time, we should leave some money for the Guild Master!"

"Agreed!"

For a moment, the gamblers all looked at Makarov with admiration.

"Laxus, Guild Master Makarov really is a gentleman!"

Freed stood beside Laxus. At this moment, he looked at Makarov with an expression of admiration, filled with immense respect for him.

"Idiot! Don't let the things you want blind your eyes!"

"No one understands my grandpa better than me. He absolutely isn't that generous! This bunch of gamblers is doomed…"

Laxus shook his head upon hearing this.

As the saying went, no one knew a family member better than their own kin.

Laxus knew his grandfather Makarov far too well. Of course he knew that Makarov was absolutely not that generous. Makarov was definitely planning something terrifying behind the scenes…

"Then let us begin this year's Fairy Tail S-Class Mage Promotion Trial!"

"But before we begin this year's trial, allow me to introduce this year's mysterious participant in Fairy Tail's S-Class Mage Promotion Trial! He is also Lucy's teammate…"

At this moment, Makarov saw that it was almost time. He stepped onto the platform inside the Fairy Tail guild and smiled mysteriously at the Mages present.

"Huh? Master, I really have a teammate?"

Lucy was stunned when she heard Makarov's words.

All this time, she had thought that she was the only person in her team?!

"Of course! Every team has two participants in the trial. How could your team possibly be the only one with a single person?"

Makarov looked at Lucy as though she were an idiot.

"Uh…"

Lucy fell silent.

"Then, allow me to invite the second member of Lucy's team participating in this year's trial—the great 'Black Dragon King'…"

Makarov stopped keeping everyone in suspense and directly revealed the identity of the second participant on Lucy's team.

"Black Dragon King?!"

"Hey, hey, hey! No way!"

"Could it be…"

As Makarov's words fell, the expressions of the Fairy Tail Mages changed one after another.

This was especially true for the S-Class Mage candidates who had participated in the mock battle!

If there was anyone throughout the entire continent of Ishgar who could be called the Black Dragon King, then a name immediately surfaced in all of their minds almost simultaneously.

His name was Acnologia!

"Sorry for keeping everyone waiting! I'm here!"

"And now this boring exam can end…"

Just as Makarov finished speaking, a figure clad in a black cloak emerged from the back of the Fairy Tail guild.

The man's cheeks were covered in strange markings. A black cloak covered his body, and he had long blue hair. His eyes radiated endless killing intent.

Although no magic power could be sensed from within his body, every step he took caused the surrounding air to distort!

It seemed that with his arrival, the magic power filling the entire Fairy Tail guild began to tremble slightly, emitting mournful cries!

The person who had arrived was none other than the great "Black Dragon King," Acnologia—the one who had had one of his arms severed by the "Fire Dragon King"!

"What the hell are we even taking this exam for?!"

For a moment, every S-Class Mage candidate in the Fairy Tail guild complained as they stared at the arriving man.

At this moment, everyone in the Fairy Tail guild who knew anything about the man before them had practically given up on the idea of passing the trial!

It wasn't that they didn't want to become S-Class Mages of the guild.

The main problem was that their opponent this time was someone they genuinely couldn't defeat!

"Ah…"

Lucy stared at her teammate, her eyes wide open.